So, one of my favourite contemporary artists, Andreas Rocha, inspired me to take a fresh look at landscape painting by employing his painting techniques. Anyway, I purchased a few of his packages - including tutorials, guides, brushes and step-by-step instructions to achieve his style of painting. Well, so far this is the result of my first attempt. I'm using one of his paintings as a guide (which i presume is permissible as part of the package). It's a mountainscape with a treacherous pathway to a plateau on which a fortress sits. Once I perfect this technique, I am going full-drive on fantasy/pagan artwork.

One other possible origin of the Witches Broom is the distaff, this is especially important as spinning is often tied into witches, "The Good Women" are often identified with the Norns or Fates, or females ancestors, etc. The word witch actually derives from an older Germanic word that implied spinning or weaving, a reference to the weaving of Wyrd. Many Seeresses and Witches in lore would hold a distaff, and this symbol was often used as a symbol of prominent goddesses such as Dame Holda, Berthe, Frigg, Mokosh, and many more. Though a notable exception in regards to a witch being associated with a distaff, staff, broom, or animal spirit stead, is that of Baba Yaga who instead rides a Mortar and Pestle, which many take as a reference to the divine connection of the masculine and feminine, with Baba Yaga being an important deity who was related to trials and rites of passage for both men and women, as well as a guardian of liminal spaces.-TLK

It's two months before Halloween and we've got 4 different channels talking witches 🎃🧹👻. I am not unhappy about this. -TLK

Queen Berthe Instructing Girls to Spin Flax on Spindles Using Distaffs by Albert Anker 1888

Russian Distaffs (Prialka) differ from other distaffs by their ornate designs, they were often used as dowry, or as indicators of a woman's wealth or ability, spinning rooms were akin to places of men's work and community places like hunting, war, farming, fishing, etc. Functioning as important meeting places, and where oral tradition carried on, Russian women would throw parties to show off their distaffs and men would show up to find a bride, the distaff served as a signify of the woman's wealth or capability, a woman could keep their distaff their entire life and even bring it forward as a family heirloom, nowadays they are sought after as folk art, which is understandable as they are a beautiful example of what a simple everyday item can become when effort is placed to make it with quality in mind.-TLK

Some examples of Russian Distaffs in a folk museum at Ferapontov Monastery in Russia.

New Podcast- Creatures of Extremes:

Hello to all those out there in the Wastelands of Modernity. Today we spoke of our nature as a people of extremes, false binaries, false tribalism, our brutal yet kind disposition and much more.
https://anchor.fm/hyperborean-radio/episodes/Creatures-of-Extremes-e15e4tm

An interesting bit of folklore is that many gods would take forms that would be more familiar to the people, and help them blend in. Gods that would take the form of monks include Wode and Rubezahl, and notably the Mountain Monk and Mine-Monk. While others may appear as kindly old grannies such as Frau Holda. There are also the myriad of deities appearing as huntsmen or in animal form throughout various aspects of folklore and fairy tales. The idea that deities were somehow frozen into their forms in the tribal era, while aesthetically pleasing is simply inaccurate. Greek gods for instance were depicted either naked (as they personified perfection in bodily form) or in a toga, which was a symbol of their station. While I'm not about to argue that the gods should be depicted in suits and sundresses, I do think it pertinent to acknowledge that the continuation of the lore indicates their forms and disguises changed with the times, in many cases gods did not have specified forms, or physical descriptions.-TLK

In Scandinavian folk tradition,
there are two types of night riders in pertaining to the Wild Hunt:

The hunter and his dogs pursuing a woman, and the host flying through the air.
This is especially prevalent during Yule season.
In Norway, this host is usually called oskorei (procession of beings)
or jolareidi (Christmas or Yule riders).

“I’d rather be ruled by inbred monarchs that live hundreds of miles away that would kill me for hunting in my local woodland, gluttonous paedo bishops that assure me I’ll be rewarded in heaven for giving them all my money and accepting being a slave, and stuck-up urbanite intellectuals that have never worked a day in their lives and despise me and my customs for being backwards and primitive”.

So many people wishing to oppressed by the tyrants of the past just because they had better aesthetics and were “appointed by God” or some shit.

I’d rather live as a free man with a willing duty towards my local community and be rid of all these wankers, be they kings and popes or bureaucracy, academics and technoindustrialist billionaires.

The Bern Scholia, also known as the Commenta Bernensia, are commentary notes in a 10th century manuscript, in which Taranis is described as a “master of war.”
The association of Taranis with fire and storms is alluded to from Augustus Caesar's words; “the fire of the skies: the Sun, and the fire of the air: lightning and its voice thunder, giving the god his name, Taranis.”
It seems more likely that Taranis was firstly a weather deity, associated with storms and more specifically the thunder and lightning that accompanies them.
His most famous depiction is imprinted on the Gundestrup Caludron alongside other deities of Celtic origin.
In Celtic mythology, the mighty god of storms and thunder travels the world at great speeds using his wheel to produce lightning.

After a horrendous week of never-ending misfortune, bad luck and dispiriting news, I could only find solace in the one thing I love doing. No matter the trials and tribulations, there will always be the one thing you love that will pull you back from the precipice. Find that which you love to overcome life’s challenges. I’m almost done painting my fantasy landscape 🙂

There is something very important that needs to be said, that is we are the family of the gods. This is ingrained in our lore, the gods are legendary founders and ancestors, progenitors and creators, and even ascended ancestors. This divine spark is present in all of us, it creates an inner nobility, a bit of the divine within us all, something to strive for, to become the demi-god within. It is our duty to embody the divine in all we do. This is not to say many have not rejected such an inheritance, we are the children of the gods, and we better damn well act like it. Be great, be strong, be wise, be noble, be courageous, the divine ancestors are watching.-TLK

After Modeling by Adolf von Becker 1880

The concept of submitting to fate or submitting to god(s) will is not something that allows us to aspire to greatness, the idea that we have no will nor choice, but are mere puppets of some celestial game is a symptom of Christianity, "it's all a part of gods plan" you were born and someday you will die, heroes do not submit to fate they do as they wish and as they view as right. You have agency, you have a choice, the only true destiny any of us have is to die, we can be great or we can be a pointless bit of animate flesh. Which do you want to be? The Choice is not Yahwehs, or fates, or destiny's it is yours. No Excuses, now who and what do you want to be?

An interesting bit of lore is that of the Mouse and the soul. There are many accounts of house elves such as brownies turning into mice, but an even more intriguing bit of lore is in regards to Agrarian Witch Cults, where the soul would leave the body in the form of a mouse. While once it had left it could take near any form, mice were a common one with some onlookers viewing the soul as leaving as a mouse through the mouth. It would then go to the meeting alongside other souls and "witches" in physical form. Interestingly "the devil" the title given to the pagan leader of the meetings, would often show up in the form of a mouse in order to seek converts.-TLK

A 7th century depiction of the Founding of the Lombards, depicting the gods Godan and Frea