They Didn't Kiss But Their Destinies Are Intertwined Forever. They Didn't Kiss But In Every Universe

why cant you transition? what the fuck is stopping you? i dont give a shit about testosterone here. taking any steps is progress bros you can voice train and work out and change your wardrobe and buzz your hair. you can start t if you can get your hands on it, no one will know whats up for at least 6 months. save up to move out and play chicken with your transphobic family if you gotta. do not speak of your transition with a sense of defeatism, no one is able to stop you but you.

Paul van Riel - Sayoko Yamaguchi at Kenzo A/W RTW 1978-79

Scottish deities series

Part Two: Brighde

‘Là Fhèill Brìghde boidheach, Cunntar spreidh air mointeach. Cuirear fitheach chon na nide, ’S cuirear rithis rocais.’

‘On the Feast Day of beautiful Bride, The flocks are counted on the moor. The raven goes to prepare the nest, And again goes the rook.’ Carmina Gadelica p.173

Hello everyone! I have recently been doing a lot of research on Brighde, or Brigid, as I hope to start working with her in the near future. So I thought I would share some of the things that I’ve learned. This isn’t really in any particular theme or order, apologies, it’s fairly random! (I also haven’t talked about even most of the things that I could talk about so perhaps I will make a part 2 sometime)

Brigid or Brighde is a Celtic goddess, of Irish origin. She is spoken of in many early historic texts within Ireland as a member of the Tuatha dé Danann. She was known as a goddess of fire, the forge, poetry, healing, farming and livestock. In Scotland, Brighde is the mirror deity to an Cailleach, controlling the summer months and the arrival of spring. She is closely associated with Imbolc, it’s Gaelic name being La Fheill Brighde. With the advent of Christianity, Brighde got her name sake in St Brigid of Kildare, who is associated with healing and water.

There are many variations on the name, Brigid being the most common, Brighde is the name most commonly used in Scotland. And there are ither variations including Brigit, Bride, Bhride and Brede, Brig and Bric.

Brighde in Scotland

In Scotland, Brighde is most commonly seen as a weather deity, controlling the arrival of spring and having domain over the summer months. In this way, she is a mirror to An Cailleach, who controls the winter months. There are various stories as to how the two interacted, and what caused the change in seasons. One story tells that An Cailleach had a son called Angus, who fell in love with Brighde. The Caileach kidnapped Brighde, locking her away underground and causing the freezing winter. When Angus rescues Brighde on Imbolc, spring and life return to the land. Another story tells that when An Cailleach grows very old, she drinks from a loch which provides youth and she transforms into Brighde. Others see Brighde simply as the mirror Goddess to an Caileach, being youthful, warm and gentle, where an Caileach is hag-like, freezing and wild. 

Brigids mantle, or a brat Brighde

A piece of folklore associated with Brighde, is that a small piece of cloth would be left out on the eve of Imbolc in order to be blessed by Brighde. This would imbue the cloth with healing and protective properties throughout the year, and it is said that if the same cloth is used, it will grow stronger with each year that it is left out. Traditionally, this cloth would be of white cotton of silk - and was used to protect women in childbirth and new born babies from the Fair Folk.

Brighde’s crosses, or Brigid’s crosses

The Christian story for the origins of Brighde’s crosses is that St Brigid was trying to show a follower a cross and had only reeds to make one with. Although the origins of the crosses could be much older than this, as the shape has parallels with pre Christian symbolism. A new Brigid’s cross would be made at each Imbolc and kept, so that people amass a collection of crosses. They are said to be protective talismans, in addition to bringing fertility and luck.

Brigid of the flame:

In the medieval era at Kildare, in Ireland, nuns tended a perpetual flame for St Brigid until the 16th century. This practise was recently restarted. This is widely believed to be a continuation of a pre-Christian practice of women tending a flame in honour of the Celtic deity.

The following are taken from research as well as my own personal gnoses

Symbols associated with Brighde:

Cows Pigs Sheep and lambs Milk and dairy products The oystercatcher (being called Gillebride in Scots Gaelic) Dandelion (in Scots Gaelic beàrnan Brighde) Snowdrops Crocuses White, violet, pastel yellow and green Water Snakes (in Scotland) Eggs Reeds Wheat and bread Beer

Brighde’s domains:

Spring and summer Healing wells Fire Smithing and craft Poetry Farming and livestock Whistling Grief The home and hearth Childbirth Medicine Brewing

Sources: Daimler, M. 2016. Brigid: meeting the Celtic goddess of poetry, forge and healing well. Brigid: goddess and saint. Carmina Gadelica. image: A la Recherche du Temps Perdu by Charles-Amable Lenoir. 

See also: my post on Imbolc, my post on An Cailleach

𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕰𝖑𝖊𝖒𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖘

The Elements are the forces of Nature and life, and are incorporated into ritual and magick. Every aspect of existence is bound up in Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. And the fifth element which is Spirit (or also deemed Aether), which is present in each of the other four. Each of the four classical Elements is associated with one of the four cardinal directions; North, East, South and West.

There are also energetic associations, that add great depth to interpretations of how people with different zodiac signs interact with each other, for each sign is associated with an Element, and each Element is different.

𝐄 𝐀 𝐑 𝐓 𝐇

↟Direction: north

↟Energy: ♀

↟Rules: grounding, strength, healing, nature, stability, foundations, empathy, fertility, death, rebirth, and wisdom.

↟Season/time: winter/midnight

↟Zodiac: Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn.

↟Ruling Planets: Venus, and Saturn.

↟Colours: green, brown, black, white, and gold.

↟Plants: cedar, cypress, honeysuckle, ivy, magnolia, grains, primrose, oak, sage, and nuts.

↟Crystals: emerald, tourmaline, quartz, granite, dedrock, peridot, onyx, jasper, and amethyst.

↟Tools: pentacle, salt, crystals, dirt, herbs, wood, plants, and flowers.

↟Virtues: patience, truth, dependable, thorough, focused.

𝐀 𝐈 𝐑

↟Direction: east

↟Energy: ♂

↟Rules: mind, clarity, knowledge, logic, abstract, wind, consciousness, intuition, and memory.

↟Season/time: spring/dawn

↟Zodiac: Gemini, Libra, Aquarius.

↟Ruling planets: Mercury, Jupiter, Uranus.

↟Colours: yellow, gold, white, and light blue.

↟Plants: acacia, anis, aspen, clover, frankincense, lavender, lemongrass, pine, and vervain.

↟Crystals: topaz, amber, citrine, jasper, and agate.

↟Tools: feather, wand, staff, incense, pen, broom, and bell.

↟Virtues: intelligent, practical, optimistic.

𝐅 𝐈 𝐑 𝐄

↟Direction: south

↟Energy: ♂

↟Rules: energy, will, destruction, courage, strength, self-knowledge, power, passion, sexuality, self-healing, divinity, light, and flame.

↟Season/time: summer/noon

↟Zodiac: Aries, Leo, Sagittarius.

↟Ruling planets: Sun, and Mars.

↟Colours: red, orange, gold, and white.

↟Plants: allspice, basil, cinnamon, garlic, juniper, hibiscus, nettle, onion, poppies, peppers, and thistles.

↟Crystals: ruby, garnet, red jasper, bloodstone, quartz, tiger’s eye, and agate.

↟Tools: candle, lamp, athame, dagger, and burned herbs.

↟Virtues: courage, enthusiasm, willpower.

𝐖 𝐀 𝐓 𝐄 𝐑

↟Direction: west

↟Energy: ♀

↟Rules: emotion, intuition, psychic, love, deep feelings, the unconscious mind, fertility, tides, reflection, lunar energy, and healing.

↟Season/time: autumn/twilight

↟Zodiac: Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces.

↟Ruling planets: Moon, Neptune, and Pluto.

↟Colours: blue, aqua, silver, and green.

↟Plants: aloe, apple, chamomile, ferns, gardenia, jasmine, lemon, lily, lotus, moss, seaweed, rose, thyme, and willow.

↟Crystals: amethyst, aquamarine, beryl, blue tourmaline, lapis lazuli, opal, pearl, and sodalite.

↟Tools: seashells, ocean water, seaweed, moss, stones, chalice, and cauldron.

↟Virtues: love, compassion, receptivity, and flexibility.

Turn based sex. Take as long as you need to think of a strategy.

The Celestial System (Expansion Explained)

Alright.

The original Celestial System Expansion was deleted as per the wishes of @juparian, but people have been requesting explanations for the flags and their meanings anyway, which tells me the expansion is still gaining traction despite me saying (rather quietly) that I deleted it.

So as I put this out please note that using these flags and terms aren’t approved by them, and are 100% my coinage. I’d really like if you guys used their terms and flags if you can, instead of mine, because the idea is originally theirs and I can’t say that it was the best idea in the world for me to try and expand on it. I’ll say I did ask several times if I could expand the idea, across several months, but never received a response, and promptly made and then posted the expansion anyway. That was a douche move. Not even gonna make an excuse, it was a rude thing to do.

But anyway.

If you want you can just treat my expansion like a completely different thing? I don’t know how people are taking it now, I don’t receive notes for that post at all because it’s, well, gone. At the very least please nod to juparian for coming up with the original idea and they probably don’t want you using my ‘replacement’ flags. Throwing that out there for now. But if you really do like and want to use them, that’s fine I guess. Just be respectful.

That disclaimer out of the way here’s the ORIGINAL Celestial System and its flags/definitions.

JUPARIAN -  A nonbinary gender that is linked to softer celestial masculine energy.It is never hyper masculine and it’s not male-aligned nonbinary, but instead is simply linked. Someone who is juparian can feel different amounts of masculine energy at different times.

LUNETTIAN -  A nonbinary gender that is linked to softer celestial feminine energy.It is never hyper feminine and it’s not female-aligned nonbinary, but instead is simply linked. Someone who is lunettian can feel different amounts of feminine energy at different times.

MERCURIAN -  A nonbinary gender that is connected to a softer celestial energy. This energy can feel “gendered”, but is neither masculine or feminine. Someone who is Mercurian can also be “void” of gender itself.

SATURNIAN -  A  nonbinary gender that is linked to both softer celestial masculine and feminine energy. Like the others it is not masculine/feminine aligned, simply linked. And the amount of energy one feels can vary and change. (also spelled Saturnarian, I’ve seen)

NEPTUNIAN -  A nonbinary gender that is linked to the void and fluctuates with softer celestial masculine energy.

VENUSIAN -  A nonbinary gender that is linked to the void and fluctuates with softer celestial feminine energy.

CELESTARIAN -  A  gender that is a combination of juparian, lunettian, and mercurian. Someone who is celestarian can be fluid between all three/feel different amounts of each at different times.

MERLUNETTIAN -  Someone who is both and/or between lunettian and mercurian.

MERJUPARIAN -  Someone who is both and/or fluid between juparian and mercurian.

JUPARETTIAN -  Someone who is both and/or fluid between juparian and lunettian.

Starfluid was actually coined by someone else entirely, but it was basically ‘to be fluid between the celestial genders.’ I think that’s actually just a fluid version of Stargender, which is a completely different concept altogether and has nothing to do with the Celestial System whatsoever. I don’t know why it’s on the original graphic but that graphic is wrong anyway.

Now for my additions, which once again, are not official nor approved, so be respectful if you do want to use them. 

JUPARIAN - A nonbinary gender that is linked to softer celestial masculine energy. It is never hyper masculine and it’s not male-aligned nonbinary, but instead is simply linked. Someone who is juparian can feel different amounts of masculine energy at different times. Colors are based off of the planet Jupiter.

LUNETTIAN -  A nonbinary gender that is linked to softer celestial feminine energy. It is never hyper feminine and it’s not female-aligned nonbinary, but instead is simply linked. Someone who is lunettian can feel different amounts of feminine energy at different times. Colors are based off of Earth’s moon.

MERCURIAN - A nonbinary gender that is connected to a softer celestial energy. This energy can feel “gendered”, but is neither masculine or feminine. The colors are based off of the planet Mercury. (This definition is wrong.)

NEPTUNIAN - Someone who is both and/or fluid between juparian and mercurian. The colors are based off of the planet Neptune. (This definition is wrong.)

VENUSIAN -  Someone who is both and/or fluid between juparian and lunettian. The colors are based off of the planet Venus. (This definition is wrong.)

SATURNIAN -  Someone who is both and/or between lunettian and mercurian. The colors are based off of the planet Saturn. (This definition is wrong.)

CELESTARIAN -  A gender that is a combination of juparian, lunettian, and mercurian. The colors are based off of the colors stars twinkle at night.

KUIPERIAN - A gender that is fluid between multiple soft celestial energies. The colors are based off of nebulae. The name is based off of the Kuiper Belt, which has thousands of unique and different asteroids, like all the unique genders one can experience.

PLUTOIAN - A gender that is filled with the energy of the void.  Someone who is Plutoian can also be “void” of gender itself, or uncertain of their celestial energy. It’s also for those who have no celestial energy, or whose celestial energy is like that of a black hole or a gap, the absence of all, but still having celestial energy. The colors are based off of the dwarf planet Pluto. This is also called Plutian. (Think of this one as agender, gendervoid, neutral, nullgender or quoigender. Plutoian+some other type of energy can count as a form of demigender.)

CERESIAN - A gender that is both plutoian and lunettian. The colors are based off of the dwarf planet Ceres. (Think of this as demi-lunettian.)

SONNIAN - A gender that is both juparian and plutoian. The colors are based off of the sun’s ‘type’ in the star spectrum. (The sun is a main sequence yellow dwarf star.) (Think of this as demi-juparian.) This is also called Sonnean.

OURANIAN - A gender that is both plutoian and mercurian. The colors are based off of the planet Uranus. (Think of this as demi-mercurian.) The name is based off of the god Ouranos, which is what Uranus’s name is also based from. (Pronounced ore-ayn-ian)

TERRAEAN - A gender that is juparian, lunettian and plutoian. The colors are based off of the planet Earth. The name is based off of Terra, which is the Latin word for Earth (also spelled Terre or Terrae). (Think of this as demi-juparettian or demi-saturnian.) (Pronounced terr-ae-un) This is also called Terrean or Terran.

MARSEAN - A gender that is juparian, mercurian and plutoian. The colors are based off of the planet Mars. (Think of this as demi-merjuparian or demi-neptunian). 

ERISIAN - A gender that is lunettian, mercurian and plutoian. The colors are based off of the dwarf planet Eris. (Think of this as demi-merlunettian or demi-venusian).

ASTEROIDIAN - A gender that is lunettian, mercurian, juparian and plutoian. The colors are based off of meteors as they enter the atmosphere. (Think of this as demi-celestarian). This can also be called Asterian.

The graph now looks like this.

Here it is with gender symbols for easier recognition.

In case it was complicated or the images aren’t loading:

Juparian = masc Lunettian = fem Mercurian = neither but still gendered (nonbinary) Plutoian = agender/gendervoid/demi- Venusian = fem+nonbinary Saturnian = masc+fem Celestarian = masc+fem+nonbinary Neptunian = masc+nonbinary Sonnean = demi-masc Terraean = demi-(masc+fem) Ceresian = demi-fem Erisian = demi-(fem+nonbinary) Ouranian = demi-nonbinary Asteroidian = demi-(masc+fem+nonbinary) Kuiperian = fluid between energies

I’m gonna say it again: This design is based off of juparian’s concept, and is not approved by them. If you use this one, make it clear it isn’t theirs but mine, and show respect to juparian by using their idea first, if their terms/flags fit you. 

Wlastimil Hofman (Polish, 1881-1970)

After Bathing, 1935

Source : Nothing But The Girl ; The Blatant Lesbian Image ; A Portfolio and Exploration of Lesbian Erotic Photography - Edited by Susie Bright and Jill Posener