Litsy

Might is Right: The Authoritative Edition | Ragnar Redbeard, Arthur Desmond

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𝑶𝑨𝑲: 𝑨 𝑱𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝑨𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝑪𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒛𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, Issue 7 is available now, along with a plethora of new and old booklets related to that infamous misanthrope, Ragnar Redbeard.

Don't miss out❗️⬇️❗️⬇️❗️

https://mailchi.mp/911c8e6d0151/redbeardian-booklets-limited-prints-fresh-reissu...

bekakins

Silver Nitrate | Silvia Moreno-Garcia

pick

#roll100 read and a soft pick from me - the pacing was a little off but this ramped up by the end - it felt Rosemarys baby-esque to me. Eloped all the discussion of old film too!

PuddleJumper

PuddleJumper 🎉🎉 1mo

SamAnne Same for me. I loved the backdrop and the history of the story! 1mo

13 likes2 comments

monalyisha

Cunning Folk: Life in the Era of Practical Magic | Tabitha Stanmore

Stanmore couldn‘t have stood less of chance.

However, much as I loved Idle Grounds, Moominland knocked it out of the running on the left side of the board. AND, much as I loved Moominland, I expect my Wild Card to sideswipe it in the end.

The drama!!!

#2025ReadingBracket
#ReadingBracket2025

CSeydel

monalyisha *Technically,* Anne of Green Gables should‘ve won the spot this month. But it‘s a long-time favorite. If I include it, I know it‘ll cease being a competition. So, let‘s agree to ignore technicalities. I almost always do, anyway! 😜 2mo

peanutnine I don't count rereads for my brackets, it feels like cheating and I want to see what new favorites I acquire! So I totally get you on that 2mo

CSeydel @monalyisha @peanutnine Same!! 2mo

monalyisha @peanutnine @CSeydel Glad we‘re in agreement about how to rebel! 😎 2mo

52 likes4 comments

monalyisha

Cunning Folk: Life in the Era of Practical Magic | Tabitha Stanmore

June ended up being more about quantity than quality. I‘m still surpassing my reading goals but I didn‘t LOVE anything this month (other than Anne, of course, which was a reread). Cunning Folk seemed like it was going to really do it for me, for a while, but it fell short stylistically.

Better luck next month, me!

#AWreads2025

58 likes

UnderworldAmusements

Might is Right: The Authoritative Edition | Ragnar Redbeard, Arthur Desmond

Who was the Intellectual Hobo?

The truth is, we don't know. What we do know is that from outside respectable society, a fierce cry emerged in the pages of 𝑯𝒐𝒃𝒐 𝑵𝒆𝒘𝒔. A wandering wizard writing under the names J. William Schweitzer, J. Merrill Leighton, The Baron, Von Sinbad, or Silky, combined Stirnerite egoism, Redbeardean rhetoric, and hobo myth-making into a series of scathing critiques of the wage system and respectable reform.

UnderworldAmusements Now, for the first time, the Union of Egoists presents the only serious attempt to document the strange and interesting life of this enigmatic tramp poet. 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑨𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒆 SA1305 combines all known writings of the Intellectual Hobo with every known newspaper account of this obscure outlaw, and features a special Introduction by Editor Kevin I. Slaughter.

LIMITED TO ONLY 50 COPIES❗️ 2mo

UnderworldAmusements ——⬇️——
https://underworldamusements.com/products/the-forgotten-redbeardian-hobo-sa1305 2mo

2 comments

monalyisha

Cunning Folk: Life in the Era of Practical Magic | Tabitha Stanmore

pick

When I began reading this history of “practical magic” in 1300s-1600s England, I was nothing short of obsessed. My interest, however, slowly tapered off. There are interesting bits sprinkled throughout…but it started to feel like a lot of the same. I‘m also not a big fan of the stylistic, “as we will see in the next chapter” phraseology.

What initially hooked me was the close overlap of priests & “cunning folk”, religion & “service magic.”👇🏻

monalyisha 1/7: I know my understanding of the history surrounding witch trials is colored by my geography (I actually lived in Salem, MA for a spell, while the author‘s from the UK) but I still found a lot of what Stanmore uncovered shocking! I was under the impression that anything smacking of magic would‘ve been condemned as witchcraft & grounds for getting a person (usually a woman) hanged during this time period. 👇🏻 (edited) 2mo

monalyisha 2/7: Instead, Stanmore‘s research suggests that “cunning folk” (with proven track records of helping their communities) were largely safe & well-regarded (even the women!) for most of this time even amidst “witch fever.” Although she admits that “such a relaxed attitude towards magic becomes much rarer in the 16th & 17th centuries,” she writes that “scholars have noted that up until the 15th century, magic is largely portrayed as morally neutral.” 2mo

monalyisha 3/7: During that time, priests & monks could & did employ “cunning folk”; some even identified as “cunning folk” themselves! A few of the more popular practices included finding lost things, finding lost people, and healing the sick. The exact rituals, which Stanmore describes whenever possible, are hugely fascinating! 2mo

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monalyisha 4/7: I was particularly rapt when learning about how amulets were made (harnessing the unique properties of the stars, writing powerful inscriptions (sometimes prayers), and intentionally choosing metals based on which planet they corresponded with; as well as supplicating or trapping angels and/or demons). 2mo

monalyisha 5/7: I loved reading about how ghosts were believed to be attached to treasure as a form of penance for the person who‘d died, and therefore could be helpful to treasure hunters rather than a source of fear. It was believed that *some* ghosts wanted the pure-hearted to find the wealth they‘d selfishly hoarded while alive so they could be forgiven the sin of avarice and move on. So, a haunting wasn‘t always a deterrent; sometimes, it was desirable! 2mo

monalyisha 6/7: Folks also found biblical justification for the practice of palmistry (see: Exodus 13:9), stemming from the conventionally accepted idea that God commonly drew signs in nature — our bodies being part & parcel. These signs could be “read,” therefore, for wisdom or clues about the future. 2mo

monalyisha 7/7: This sort of fantastical & spiritual grey area is totally my jam. If I were a more diligent researcher, I imagine this is exactly the book I‘d write. But I‘m too dreamy & distractible to have written it at all, & certainly to have written it in the style that Stanmore did. She‘s academic & colloquial in equal parts but always, unfailingly direct. I like more pottering lyricism to my prose. Less enthusiastic a pick than I imagined…but a pick! 2mo

AnnCrystal Insightful review 👏🏼☺️👍🏼🧹📚💝. 2mo

Clare-Dragonfly I love a less-than-enthusiastic review that makes me want to read the book. 😄 This sounds right up my alley! 2mo

monalyisha @Clare-Dragonfly It‘s definitely thought-provoking and I‘m not mad I read it! 2mo

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monalyisha

Cunning Folk: Life in the Era of Practical Magic | Tabitha Stanmore

Puppy‘s first pool time. Summer is coming. 💦

dabbe 💜🐾🖤 3mo

AnnCrystal 💕🐕🌊🐾💝. 3mo

66 likes2 comments

monalyisha

Cunning Folk: Life in the Era of Practical Magic | Tabitha Stanmore

Fiction: Juno Loves Legs (book club)
Nonfiction: Cunning Folk (just started)
Audio: Of Time and Turtles (nearly done)

I just cracked open the middle book this morning & I‘m already slightly obsessed (despite the fact that it has endnotes, which make me want to rip my hair out; fortunately, it seems like they‘re mostly just crediting source material & I can ignore them without missing anything). Also, how gorgeous is that cover?! 🤩

#weekendreads

rachelsbrittain

rachelsbrittain Oo that one sounds super interesting! I'm going to have to check it out 👀 3mo

monalyisha @rachelsbrittain YES! I think what‘s been most fascinating to me so far is the close overlap of priests and “cunning folk”, religion and “service magic.”

I was under the impression that anything smacking of magic would‘ve been condemned as witchcraft & grounds for getting a person (usually a woman) hanged during the trials. But it seems like “cunning folk” were largely safe and well-regarded (even the women!). 3mo

monalyisha @rachelsbrittain And priests could/did employ and sometimes even WERE “cunning folk.” Practices included finding lost things or people, healing, etc. And the exact rituals are hugely fascinating!

I know my understanding is different because my witch trials history is US-based (I actually lived in Salem, MA for a spell) while the author‘s from the UK & digging into the history there. But still! 3mo

rachelsbrittain That's fascinating! 3mo

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AstroSK51576

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