denise: Image: Me, facing away from camera, on top of the Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome (Default)
[staff profile] denise posting in [site community profile] dw_news

I'll start with the tl;dr summary to make sure everyone sees it and then explain further: As of September 1, we will temporarily be forced to block access to Dreamwidth from all IP addresses that geolocate to Mississippi for legal reasons. This block will need to continue until we either win the legal case entirely, or the district court issues another injunction preventing Mississippi from enforcing their social media age verification and parental consent law against us.

Mississippi residents, we are so, so sorry. We really don't want to do this, but the legal fight we and Netchoice have been fighting for you had a temporary setback last week. We genuinely and honestly believe that we're going to win it in the end, but the Fifth Circuit appellate court said that the district judge was wrong to issue the preliminary injunction back in June that would have maintained the status quo and prevented the state from enforcing the law requiring any social media website (which is very broadly defined, and which we definitely qualify as) to deanonymize and age-verify all users and obtain parental permission from the parent of anyone under 18 who wants to open an account.

Netchoice took that appellate ruling up to the Supreme Court, who declined to overrule the Fifth Circuit with no explanation -- except for Justice Kavanaugh agreeing that we are likely to win the fight in the end, but saying that it's no big deal to let the state enforce the law in the meantime.

Needless to say, it's a big deal to let the state enforce the law in the meantime. The Mississippi law is a breathtaking state overreach: it forces us to verify the identity and age of every person who accesses Dreamwidth from the state of Mississippi and determine who's under the age of 18 by collecting identity documents, to save that highly personal and sensitive information, and then to obtain a permission slip from those users' parents to allow them to finish creating an account. It also forces us to change our moderation policies and stop anyone under 18 from accessing a wide variety of legal and beneficial speech because the state of Mississippi doesn't like it -- which, given the way Dreamwidth works, would mean blocking people from talking about those things at all. (And if you think you know exactly what kind of content the state of Mississippi doesn't like, you're absolutely right.)

Needless to say, we don't want to do that, either. Even if we wanted to, though, we can't: the resources it would take for us to build the systems that would let us do it are well beyond our capacity. You can read the sworn declaration I provided to the court for some examples of how unworkable these requirements are in practice. (That isn't even everything! The lawyers gave me a page limit!)

Unfortunately, the penalties for failing to comply with the Mississippi law are incredibly steep: fines of $10,000 per user from Mississippi who we don't have identity documents verifying age for, per incident -- which means every time someone from Mississippi loaded Dreamwidth, we'd potentially owe Mississippi $10,000. Even a single $10,000 fine would be rough for us, but the per-user, per-incident nature of the actual fine structure is an existential threat. And because we're part of the organization suing Mississippi over it, and were explicitly named in the now-overturned preliminary injunction, we think the risk of the state deciding to engage in retaliatory prosecution while the full legal challenge continues to work its way through the courts is a lot higher than we're comfortable with. Mississippi has been itching to issue those fines for a while, and while normally we wouldn't worry much because we're a small and obscure site, the fact that we've been yelling at them in court about the law being unconstitutional means the chance of them lumping us in with the big social media giants and trying to fine us is just too high for us to want to risk it. (The excellent lawyers we've been working with are Netchoice's lawyers, not ours!)

All of this means we've made the extremely painful decision that our only possible option for the time being is to block Mississippi IP addresses from accessing Dreamwidth, until we win the case. (And I repeat: I am absolutely incredibly confident we'll win the case. And apparently Justice Kavanaugh agrees!) I repeat: I am so, so sorry. This is the last thing we wanted to do, and I've been fighting my ass off for the last three years to prevent it. But, as everyone who follows the legal system knows, the Fifth Circuit is gonna do what it's gonna do, whether or not what they want to do has any relationship to the actual law.

We don't collect geolocation information ourselves, and we have no idea which of our users are residents of Mississippi. (We also don't want to know that, unless you choose to tell us.) Because of that, and because access to highly accurate geolocation databases is extremely expensive, our only option is to use our network provider's geolocation-based blocking to prevent connections from IP addresses they identify as being from Mississippi from even reaching Dreamwidth in the first place. I have no idea how accurate their geolocation is, and it's possible that some people not in Mississippi might also be affected by this block. (The inaccuracy of geolocation is only, like, the 27th most important reason on the list of "why this law is practically impossible for any site to comply with, much less a tiny site like us".)

If your IP address is identified as coming from Mississippi, beginning on September 1, you'll see a shorter, simpler version of this message and be unable to proceed to the site itself. If you would otherwise be affected, but you have a VPN or proxy service that masks your IP address and changes where your connection appears to come from, you won't get the block message, and you can keep using Dreamwidth the way you usually would.

On a completely unrelated note while I have you all here, have I mentioned lately that I really like ProtonVPN's service, privacy practices, and pricing? They also have a free tier available that, although limited to one device, has no ads or data caps and doesn't log your activity, unlike most of the free VPN services out there. VPNs are an excellent privacy and security tool that every user of the internet should be familiar with! We aren't affiliated with Proton and we don't get any kickbacks if you sign up with them, but I'm a satisfied customer and I wanted to take this chance to let you know that.

Again, we're so incredibly sorry to have to make this announcement, and I personally promise you that I will continue to fight this law, and all of the others like it that various states are passing, with every inch of the New Jersey-bred stubborn fightiness you've come to know and love over the last 16 years. The instant we think it's less legally risky for us to allow connections from Mississippi IP addresses, we'll undo the block and let you know.

Magic Monday

Aug. 24th, 2025 09:58 pm
ecosophia: (Default)
[personal profile] ecosophia
weekend plansIt's just past midnight, and so it's time to launch a new Magic Monday. Ask me anything about occultism, and with certain exceptions noted below, any question received by midnight Monday Eastern time will get an answer. Please note:  Any question or comment received after that point will not get an answer, and in fact will not be put through.  If you're in a hurry, or suspect you may be the 341,928th person to ask a question, please check out the very rough version 1.3 of The Magic Monday FAQ here

Also:
 I will not be putting through or answering any more questions about practicing magic around children. I've answered those in simple declarative sentences in the FAQ. If you read the FAQ and don't think your question has been answered, read it again. If that doesn't help, consider remedial reading classes; yes, it really is as simple and straightforward as the FAQ says.  And further:  I've decided that questions about getting goodies from spirits are also permanently off topic here. The point of occultism is to develop your own capacities, not to try to bully or wheedle other beings into doing things for you. I've discussed this in a post on my blog.

(The image? I've finished the sequence of my published books; while I decide what I want to do next, I have some memes to share.)

Buy Me A Coffee

Ko-Fi

I've had several people ask about tipping me for answers here, and though I certainly don't require that I won't turn it down. You can use either of the links above to access my online tip jar; Buymeacoffee is good for small tips, Ko-Fi is better for larger ones. (I used to use PayPal but they developed an allergy to free speech, so I've developed an allergy to them.) If you're interested in political and economic astrology, or simply prefer to use a subscription service to support your favorite authors, you can find my Patreon page here and my SubscribeStar page here
 
Bookshop logoI've also had quite a few people over the years ask me where they should buy my books, and here's the answer. Bookshop.org is an alternative online bookstore that supports local bookstores and authors, which a certain gargantuan corporation doesn't, and I have a shop there, which you can check out here. Please consider patronizing it if you'd like to purchase any of my books online.

And don't forget to look up your Pangalactic New Age Soul Signature at CosmicOom.com.

With that said, have at it!

***This Magic Monday is now closed, and new comments will not be put through. See you next week!***

Ogham Readings on Saturdays

Aug. 22nd, 2025 09:19 pm
kimberlysteele: (Default)
[personal profile] kimberlysteele



I am happy to read your Ogham free of charge -- that's how I hone my divination skills.  Please limit your reading request to four or fewer Ogham cards: though this can take many forms, here are some common ones (all of them are basically combos of 4 cards):
 
-a single three card reading for the week or month and a one-off, one card reading
-four questions about four separate items that require one answer (card) per item
-a one card reading to answer a specific question and a three card for a more nuanced question
-Two separate readings, two cards a piece exploring the positives and negatives of two different choices
 
I am happy to do Ogham readings confidentially via email -- just email me at k steele studio at gmail during the allotted time/before deadline.  I cannot answer health questions.  If you have a question about health or another sensitive, private matter, provide a bunch of non-identifying information and the Ogham will be able to figure it out even if I don't. I'm serious... the Ogham actually tend to "know" things without me being privy to what is going on.

Please note I take time off during Solstices and Equinoxes for Druid stuff and because sometimes I simply need a break

My next planned break is from October 23 - November 6.

I take reading requests from whenever this post goes up on Friday night until 8pm US Central Time Saturday.  

For a more in depth look into how I read and interpret the Ogham's symbols, please visit my website druidogham.wordpress.com.

I am currently trying to minimize my use of PayPal.  If you'd like to make a donation, I would be grateful if you did it here:

http://buymeacoffee.com/kimberlysteele

Your prayers of blessing to the deity/deities of your choice are welcome whether or not you can donate.

Frugal Friday

Aug. 22nd, 2025 08:43 am
ecosophia: (Default)
[personal profile] ecosophia
domeWelcome back to Frugal Friday! This is a weekly forum post to encourage people to share tips on saving money, especially but not only by doing stuff yourself. A new post will be going up every Friday, and will remain active until the next one goes up. Contributions will be moderated, of course, and I have some simple rules to offer, which may change further as we proceed.

Rule #1:  this is a place for polite, friendly conversations about how to save money in difficult times. It's not a place to post news, views, rants, or emotional outbursts about the reasons why the times are difficult and saving money is necessary. Nor is it a place to use a money saving tip to smuggle in news, views, etc.  I have a delete button and I'm not afraid to use it.

Rule #2:  this is not a place for you to sell goods or services, period. Here again, I have a delete button and I'm not afraid to use it.

Rule #3:  please give your tip a heading that explains briefly what it's about.  Homemade Chicken Soup, Garden Containers, Cheap Attic Insulation, and Vinegar Cleans Windows are good examples of headings. That way people can find the things that are relevant for them. If you don't put a heading on your tip it will be deleted.

Rule #4: don't post anything that would amount to advocating criminal activity. Any such suggestions will not be put through.

Rule #5: don't post LLM ("AI") generated content, and don't bring up the subject unless you're running a homemade LLM program on your own homebuilt, steam-powered server farm. 

With that said, have at it!    
kimberlysteele: (Default)
[personal profile] kimberlysteele
Well, I have already lied... you can neither save nor destroy the planet. The Netflix TV series Love Death + Robots was a sort of comic book in cinematic form of CGI, animation, and puppetry presented as an anthology of short films. Much like the 1977 magazine Heavy Metal, its themes obsessively rotated around speculative sci-fi futures, sexuality, and violence. Love Death + Robots was especially fixated upon the leitmotifs of zombies, apocalypse, space travel, and the destruction of Earth. One semi-memorable episode featured tiny zombies overrunning Earth, causing a nuclear war, and blowing the planet into large chunks held together by a loose semblance of gravity. We humans have high opinions of ourselves and it seems our every fantasy these days is that we can destroy the Earth with one false move. Yet even catastrophic nuclear annihilation would result in a long nuclear winter and a reset where it is possible some humans might survive. Sure, their lives would be hell, but chances are their pale, etherically starved descendants might crawl up from underground cities like cockroaches to rule the planet again. Or not. It seems baked into the cake that humans will be gone entirely in a billion years. Ninety-nine point nine percent of life on Earth has gone extinct. We are a hardy species, but we aren't exactly tardigrades or jellyfish.

Humans are in love with the idea they have domination of Gaia, whether it is to destroy her or to save her. There is the delusion we can foment our hatred enough to make it substitute for action, or that if we aim one group against another, we can "save" ourselves from them. Paul Wheaton in his book Building a Better Backyard (Instead of Being Angry at the Bad Guys) puts it best:

"For each person who actually does write a letter or confront the bad guys, there might be a hundred people who simply develop an ulcer."


Building a Better Backyard is a must read and I highly recommend it as well as Permies.com, the website it often cites. I own a copy of the book that I am willing to lend by mail for free to anyone who wants it in the Continental US. That said, the book does descend into some regrettable Holier Than Thou awards, lauding various environmentalists for their "negative" carbon footprint because they go "above and beyond" according to the author as environmental influencers. Yet there is no such thing as a negative carbon footprint here on Meatworld. The main takeaway from the book is that we should turn instincts of anger that nobody is doing anything into personal, concrete action. Yes, I agree.

Environmentalism gets nowhere fast because it is so centered around shame. Though it feels good to point out hypocrisy in others, it does absolutely nothing as far as influencing the average person to change, especially when perfection is the goal. Case in point, Greta Thunberg, who has ricocheted from vegan climate activism to inserting herself in the Palestine situation. She's a perpetual child in more ways than one who believes that her anger makes a difference because she feels it so strongly. Her legacy will be a meme about impotent outrage.

In my upcoming book Sacred Homemaking, I emphasize the importance of starting small and where you are. The only way we are ever going to make positive change in this world will be if we discard perfection and appreciate and work with what we have right now. This means looking at what positive things we already have in place and building upon them instead of making a fetish of someone with a "perfect" approach. It means making do with what we have instead of freaking out, even when we are still making do with toxic inputs from industrial sources.

You may already be doing a great deal to help Gaia without realizing it, and you can use Sacred Homemaking's approach of building upon and amplifying the positive in order to go even further. This article will mention only a few bullet points, but I hope that it will inspire you to list what you are doing right and to pile up positive upon positive until your environmental beneficence is overflowing.

Living with family or roommates

The stigma of living with relatives used to be very strong. My husband and I lived with my parents no less than four times before moving to our little house in the western suburbs of Chicago, and each time we felt acutely judged by all and sundry, including ourselves. For him, it was deeply emasculating not to be the master of his own domicile. For me, it was profoundly painful not to have a space I could call my own. Yet the fantasy of an eco-cabin on the edge of wilderness is far more environmentally expensive than a shared house or apartment where people live cheek to jowl. For one, apartments don't require much climate control -- when my husband and I lived in apartments, we almost never turned on the heat in winter. For those who don't live out in the country, your close proximity to stores and work means that you're not driving anywhere near as much as your stranded rural counterpart every time you need something or go to your job.

Going the extra mile


Get in the habit of both saying and "doing" thank you to the people you live with. During the four times my husband and I lived with my folks, I never left a room messier than I found it. During the last two year stint, I cooked at least five communal meals a week, plus snacks and treats the entire time. I made sure I was contributing even when I did not feel like contributing. As a result, living with my parents was an experience for which I was grateful and will always be grateful. I am especially grateful for the times with my father, who is no longer with us. I got into the habit of saying "thank you" as well. "Thank you" starts awkwardly, but once you are used to the habit and don't allow any good deed to go unrecognized or unthanked, you will find the energy reverberates through your life and dramatically improves it.

Eschewing junk and buying used


We have unofficially entered the era of paring down. Boomer excess with its fine china, curio cabinets, figurines, vacation homes, grounded boats, and storage facilities is giving way to a new age of thrift, re-use, and Make Do or Do Without. Whenever you buy used, whether it is cars, clothing, silverware, or furniture, you are giving life to an item that was headed straight for the landfill.

Going the extra mile

Join a local Buy Nothing group and give things away even if you don't want any of the stuff other members are offering. When you give an item away and free it to its destiny, you say to the Universe that you're not into hoarding and that you would prefer that others make use of your stuff rather than it rotting in your hoard. It's a middle finger to the accumulation Wendigo.

Eating less and eating homemade

Unless you are part of the high riding Bathroom Class that is currently helping to ruin everything with the copious help of private equity firms, you cannot afford to spend a dollar more on groceries than you're already spending. You're eating in most or all of the time, not for lack of desire to have a meal you didn't cook but because you cannot afford it. A meal at home, as basic as it may be, saves gas, labor, and food waste. If you cook your meals, have done the brave work of mitigating or ending your dependence on convenience food, and that may be an act of necessity but it is also an act of extraordinary willpower.

Going the extra mile


To increase your knowledge as well as your palate, learn to forage your local weeds. Learn which are edible and which are poisonous and everything in-between. Once when I was working in a commercial building, I forgot to pack a lunch and I had no money or time to make a meal. Luckily, it was summer and there was purslane growing in an area where there were not any pesticides being regularly put on the ground. I gathered a bunch of it and that was lunch. Purslane is a superfood, containing more Vitamin C than oranges and an array of Omega 3 fatty acids.

Phasing out commercial cleaners and personal hygiene products

One of the funnier parts of Sacred Homemaking is the inclusion of a recipe for a household surface cleaner that triples as a leave in hair conditioner as well as a noxious spirit repellant. It works to clean countertops, detangle hair, and to repel demons all at once LOL. Using natural cleaners and deodorants saves tons of money, reduces plastic waste, keeps toxic phthalates and dioxins out of the water and air, and promotes your health and that of those around you.

Going the extra mile

Make the homemade equivalent of one cleaning or personal product this week. In my case, I make my own hairspray out of sugar and water: it's simple syrup with some drops of eucalyptus essential oil for scent. Combine coconut oil, arrowroot or cornstarch, and a pinch of baking soda to make a simple deodorant that can be used anywhere on the body. Make the afformentioned triple use surface cleaner by combining one part vinegar to one part water with a dash of essential oils for scent. Always know that almost any commercial product you use can be replaced with a cheap, nontoxic, homemade equivalent.

Not having kids... or having them!


If you are one of the many people in my boat who chose not to have children, congratulations, you just did the most impactful thing a human can do to reduce their environmental "footprint". According to a 2008 study, adding a child to the planet can add up to 9500 metric tons of carbon to the atmosphere. Children come with a lot of stuff: diapers, toys, packaging, housing, and the eventual chance he or she will replicate by having more children!

The logical thing to do is to advocate that we humans go voluntarily extinct, right? Well, that has been tried before. The Voluntary Human Extinction Movement, founded by Les U. Knight (let's unite, get it?) is still floundering along to this day, despite having been a mess of interpersonal dramas since its 1971 origin. VHEMT envisions a genteel end for the human race where everyone gets a vasectomy or a tubal ligation and enjoys what is left of civilization as we voluntarily bring it to a screeching halt. It's the movie Children of Men, minus the panic, and it isn't going to happen. The implosion of VHEMT was predictable. I myself chose not to have children. I had myself sterilized in my early thirties. Nevertheless, what is right for me is not right for everyone. If you want kids, please have them.

As Whitney Houston crooned in her song, the children are our future. We cannot get by without them. If you do have kids, bless you. You are doing the world's most difficult job.  If you are blessed with children, please do your level best not to raise them as entitled, spoiled products of their age.

Going the extra mile


Embrace different strokes for different folks. If you chose not to have children, shut up and appreciate those who were willing to take on the hard work of parenting. If you do have children, shut up and appreciate those who did not and freed up resources so you and your children could live more richly. Whether you are childfree or childfull, appreciate people for their differences and realize that if everybody made the same choices as you, life here on Meatworld would suck a great deal more, not less.

If you are turning listless anxiety into real environmentalism, choosing to make small improvements instead of spinning your wheels worrying about the machinations of the "bad guys", then you have taken the first steps in the journey of ten thousand miles. Stop feeling bad about what you have not done or what you cannot do and smart small and where you are. Give thanks compulsively.

Earth will take care of herself... eventually. Your job is not to oversee Gaia but to keep yourself in moderation and balance. Stay humble and always strive for small improvements.










Open (More or Less) Post on Covid 209

Aug. 19th, 2025 09:19 am
ecosophia: (Default)
[personal profile] ecosophia
the con is always the sameWe are now into the fifth year of these open posts. When I first posted a tentative hypothesis on the course of the Covid phenomenon, I had no idea that discussion on the subject would still be necessary all these years later, much less that it would turn into so lively, complex, and troubling a conversation. Still, here we are. Crude death rates and other measures of collapsing public health remain anomalously high in many countries, but nobody in authority wants to talk about the inadequately tested experimental Covid injections that are the most likely cause; public health authorities government shills for the pharmaceutical industry are still trying to push through laws that will allow them to force vaccinations on anyone they want; public trust in science is collapsing; new revelations are leaking out about just how bad the Covid vaccines are for human health; and the story continues to unfold.

So it's time for another open post. The rules have been slightly expanded due to a recent discussion here:

1. If you plan on parroting the party line of the medical industry and its paid shills, please go away. This is a place for people to talk openly, honestly, and freely about their concerns that the party line in question is dangerously flawed and that actions being pushed by the medical industry and its government enablers are causing injury and death on a massive scale. It is not a place for you to dismiss those concerns. Anyone who wants to hear the official story and the arguments in favor of it can find those on hundreds of thousands of websites.

2. If you plan on insisting that the current situation is the result of a deliberate plot by some villainous group of people or other, please go away. There are tens of thousands of websites currently rehashing various conspiracy theories about the Covid-19 outbreak and the vaccines. This is not one of them. What we're exploring is the likelihood that what's going on is the product of the same arrogance, incompetence, and corruption that the medical industry and its wholly owned politicians have displayed so abundantly in recent decades. That possibility deserves a space of its own for discussion, and that's what we're doing here. 
 
3. If you plan on using rent-a-troll derailing or disruption tactics, please go away. I'm quite familiar with the standard tactics used by troll farms to disrupt online forums, and am ready, willing, and able -- and in fact quite eager -- to ban people permanently for engaging in them here. Oh, and I also lurk on other Covid-19 vaccine skeptic blogs, so I'm likely to notice when the same posts are showing up on more than one venue. 

4. If you plan on making off topic comments, please go away. This is an open post for discussion of the Covid epidemic, the vaccines, drugs, policies, and other measures that supposedly treat it, and other topics directly relevant to those things. It is not a place for general discussion of unrelated topics. Nor is it a place to ask for medical advice; giving such advice, unless you're a licensed health care provider, legally counts as practicing medicine without a license and is a crime in the US. Don't even go there.


5. If you don't believe in treating people with common courtesy, please go away. I have, and enforce, a strict courtesy policy on my blogs and online forums, and this is no exception. The sort of schoolyard bullying that takes place on so many other internet forums will get you deleted and banned here. Also, please don't drag in current quarrels about sex, race, religions, etc. No, I don't care if you disagree with that: my journal, my rules. 

6. Please don't just post bare links without explanation. A sentence or two telling readers what's on the other side of the link is a reasonable courtesy, and if you don't include it, your attempted post will be deleted.

7. Please don't post LLM ("AI") generated text. This is a place for human beings to talk to other human beings, not for the regurgitation of machine-generated text. Also, please don't discuss large language models (the technology popularly and inaccurately called "artificial intelligence" these days) except as they bear directly on the Covid phenomenon. Here again, my finger is hovering over the delete button. 

Please also note that nothing posted here should be construed as medical advice, which neither I nor the commentariat (excepting those who are licensed medical providers) are qualified to give. Please take your medical questions to the licensed professional provider of your choice.


With that said, the floor is open for discussion.  

Magic Monday

Aug. 17th, 2025 09:23 pm
ecosophia: (Default)
[personal profile] ecosophia
fear nothingMidnight is only a few minutes away, and so it's time to launch a new Magic Monday. Ask me anything about occultism, and with certain exceptions noted below, any question received by midnight Monday Eastern time will get an answer. Please note:  Any question or comment received after that point will not get an answer, and in fact will not be put through.  If you're in a hurry, or suspect you may be the 341,928th person to ask a question, please check out the very rough version 1.3 of The Magic Monday FAQ here

Also:
 I will not be putting through or answering any more questions about practicing magic around children. I've answered those in simple declarative sentences in the FAQ. If you read the FAQ and don't think your question has been answered, read it again. If that doesn't help, consider remedial reading classes; yes, it really is as simple and straightforward as the FAQ says.  And further:  I've decided that questions about getting goodies from spirits are also permanently off topic here. The point of occultism is to develop your own capacities, not to try to bully or wheedle other beings into doing things for you. I've discussed this in a post on my blog.

(The image? I've finished the sequence of my published books; while I decide what I want to do next, I have some memes to share.)

Buy Me A Coffee

Ko-Fi

I've had several people ask about tipping me for answers here, and though I certainly don't require that I won't turn it down. You can use either of the links above to access my online tip jar; Buymeacoffee is good for small tips, Ko-Fi is better for larger ones. (I used to use PayPal but they developed an allergy to free speech, so I've developed an allergy to them.) If you're interested in political and economic astrology, or simply prefer to use a subscription service to support your favorite authors, you can find my Patreon page here and my SubscribeStar page here
 
Bookshop logoI've also had quite a few people over the years ask me where they should buy my books, and here's the answer. Bookshop.org is an alternative online bookstore that supports local bookstores and authors, which a certain gargantuan corporation doesn't, and I have a shop there, which you can check out here. Please consider patronizing it if you'd like to purchase any of my books online.

And don't forget to look up your Pangalactic New Age Soul Signature at CosmicOom.com.

With that said, have at it! 

***This Magic Monday is now closed and no more comments will be put through. See you next week!***

Ogham Readings on Saturdays

Aug. 15th, 2025 10:33 pm
kimberlysteele: (Default)
[personal profile] kimberlysteele



I am happy to read your Ogham free of charge -- that's how I hone my divination skills.  Please limit your reading request to four or fewer Ogham cards: though this can take many forms, here are some common ones (all of them are basically combos of 4 cards):
 
-a single three card reading for the week or month and a one-off, one card reading
-four questions about four separate items that require one answer (card) per item
-a one card reading to answer a specific question and a three card for a more nuanced question
-Two separate readings, two cards a piece exploring the positives and negatives of two different choices
 
I am happy to do Ogham readings confidentially via email -- just email me at k steele studio at gmail during the allotted time/before deadline.  I cannot answer health questions.  If you have a question about health or another sensitive, private matter, provide a bunch of non-identifying information and the Ogham will be able to figure it out even if I don't. I'm serious... the Ogham actually tend to "know" things without me being privy to what is going on.

Please note I take time off during Solstices and Equinoxes for Druid stuff and because sometimes I simply need a break

My next planned break is from October 23 - November 6.

I take reading requests from whenever this post goes up on Friday night until 8pm US Central Time Saturday.  

For a more in depth look into how I read and interpret the Ogham's symbols, please visit my website druidogham.wordpress.com.

I am currently trying to minimize my use of PayPal.  If you'd like to make a donation, I would be grateful if you did it here:

http://buymeacoffee.com/kimberlysteele

Your prayers of blessing to the deity/deities of your choice are welcome whether or not you can donate.

Frugal Friday

Aug. 15th, 2025 10:53 am
ecosophia: (Default)
[personal profile] ecosophia
domeWelcome back to Frugal Friday! This is a weekly forum post to encourage people to share tips on saving money, especially but not only by doing stuff yourself. A new post will be going up every Friday, and will remain active until the next one goes up. Contributions will be moderated, of course, and I have some simple rules to offer, which may change further as we proceed.

Rule #1:  this is a place for polite, friendly conversations about how to save money in difficult times. It's not a place to post news, views, rants, or emotional outbursts about the reasons why the times are difficult and saving money is necessary. Nor is it a place to use a money saving tip to smuggle in news, views, etc.  I have a delete button and I'm not afraid to use it.

Rule #2:  this is not a place for you to sell goods or services, period. Here again, I have a delete button and I'm not afraid to use it.

Rule #3:  please give your tip a heading that explains briefly what it's about.  Homemade Chicken Soup, Garden Containers, Cheap Attic Insulation, and Vinegar Cleans Windows are good examples of headings. That way people can find the things that are relevant for them. If you don't put a heading on your tip it will be deleted.

Rule #4: don't post anything that would amount to advocating criminal activity. Any such suggestions will not be put through.

Rule #5: don't post LLM ("AI") generated content, and don't bring up the subject unless you're running a homemade LLM program on your own homebuilt, steam-powered server farm. 

With that said, have at it!   

Three More Podcasts

Aug. 14th, 2025 05:20 pm
ecosophia: (Default)
[personal profile] ecosophia
On the off chance that any of my readers are interested in hearing me talk, here are three more podcast appearances of mine that might be of interest. All three were good lively conversations, and the topics were about as different as I can manage! 

podcast 1Magnetic Memory with Anthony Metivier: 

https://www.magneticmemorymethod.com/john-michael-greer/

The Art of Memory was the focus of this talk. 

podcast 2Pearl Snap Tactical with  Mark Booher: 

https://pearlsnaptactical.substack.com/p/the-warriors-path-through-collapse

We talked about myth, initiation, and how to learn from the heroic legends of the past. 

podcast 3The Paranormal Podcast with Jim Harris: 

https://content.blubrry.com/paranormalplus/The_UFO_Book-UFO_Encounters_228.mp3

We talked about my new book The UFO Book, and the UFO phenomenon generally

Enjoy!  

Open (More or Less) Post on Covid 208

Aug. 12th, 2025 10:11 am
ecosophia: (Default)
[personal profile] ecosophia
science then and nowWe are now into the fifth year of these open posts. When I first posted a tentative hypothesis on the course of the Covid phenomenon, I had no idea that discussion on the subject would still be necessary all these years later, much less that it would turn into so lively, complex, and troubling a conversation. Still, here we are. Crude death rates and other measures of collapsing public health remain anomalously high in many countries, but nobody in authority wants to talk about the inadequately tested experimental Covid injections that are the most likely cause; public health authorities government shills for the pharmaceutical industry are still trying to push through laws that will allow them to force vaccinations on anyone they want; public trust in science is collapsing; new revelations are leaking out about just how bad the Covid vaccines are for human health; and the story continues to unfold.

So it's time for another open post. The rules have been slightly expanded due to a recent discussion here:

1. If you plan on parroting the party line of the medical industry and its paid shills, please go away. This is a place for people to talk openly, honestly, and freely about their concerns that the party line in question is dangerously flawed and that actions being pushed by the medical industry and its government enablers are causing injury and death on a massive scale. It is not a place for you to dismiss those concerns. Anyone who wants to hear the official story and the arguments in favor of it can find those on hundreds of thousands of websites.

2. If you plan on insisting that the current situation is the result of a deliberate plot by some villainous group of people or other, please go away. There are tens of thousands of websites currently rehashing various conspiracy theories about the Covid-19 outbreak and the vaccines. This is not one of them. What we're exploring is the likelihood that what's going on is the product of the same arrogance, incompetence, and corruption that the medical industry and its wholly owned politicians have displayed so abundantly in recent decades. That possibility deserves a space of its own for discussion, and that's what we're doing here. 
 
3. If you plan on using rent-a-troll derailing or disruption tactics, please go away. I'm quite familiar with the standard tactics used by troll farms to disrupt online forums, and am ready, willing, and able -- and in fact quite eager -- to ban people permanently for engaging in them here. Oh, and I also lurk on other Covid-19 vaccine skeptic blogs, so I'm likely to notice when the same posts are showing up on more than one venue. 

4. If you plan on making off topic comments, please go away. This is an open post for discussion of the Covid epidemic, the vaccines, drugs, policies, and other measures that supposedly treat it, and other topics directly relevant to those things. It is not a place for general discussion of unrelated topics. Nor is it a place to ask for medical advice; giving such advice, unless you're a licensed health care provider, legally counts as practicing medicine without a license and is a crime in the US. Don't even go there.


5. If you don't believe in treating people with common courtesy, please go away. I have, and enforce, a strict courtesy policy on my blogs and online forums, and this is no exception. The sort of schoolyard bullying that takes place on so many other internet forums will get you deleted and banned here. Also, please don't drag in current quarrels about sex, race, religions, etc. No, I don't care if you disagree with that: my journal, my rules. 

6. Please don't just post bare links without explanation. A sentence or two telling readers what's on the other side of the link is a reasonable courtesy, and if you don't include it, your attempted post will be deleted.

7. Please don't post LLM ("AI") generated text. This is a place for human beings to talk to other human beings, not for the regurgitation of machine-generated text. Also, please don't discuss large language models (the technology popularly and inaccurately called "artificial intelligence" these days) except as they bear directly on the Covid phenomenon. Here again, my finger is hovering over the delete button. 

Please also note that nothing posted here should be construed as medical advice, which neither I nor the commentariat (excepting those who are licensed medical providers) are qualified to give. Please take your medical questions to the licensed professional provider of your choice.


With that said, the floor is open for discussion. 
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