rhymo-s:

Happy bday to this boi

melungeonculture:

In order to understand Mekhashepha and its ties to Melungeoninity you must first understand some history.  In recent years there has been a lot of push back against cultural Melungeons sharing their traditional culture and practices, with new age Melungeons demonizing and invalidating Melungeon culture in search of something more “mystical” in the form of appropriating Indigenous tribes form which they have no proof of claim. It is no secret that this denial and invalidation is rooted in antisemitism, and denial of Hebrew Melungeons.  It is undeniable that Melungeon (and Appalachian) people have Hebrew influence, whether this influence is ethnic, cultural, religious, or both varies per family.  This can be substantiated by looking at many common Melungeon names (and old Appalachian names), surnames, dialect, and traditions. Examples can be seen in the common Melungeon surname Cohen>Cowen>Gowen>Goin/Goins as well as common Melungeon given names such as Mahala, Nehemiah, Keziah, Hezekiah, Uzziah, Etc.  Melungeon people also have undeniable ties to Spain/Portugal this can also be substantiated by things like surnames (chavis/chavez), traditions, dialect, Oral History, and DNA. Mekhashepha is an ancient Hebrew word, it has been in use since before we existed as Melungeon people, however in the early 1900′s a man named Eliezer Ben Yeuhda, a lexicographer, created the first Hebrew English dictionary, becoming a driving force in the revival of the Hebrew Language, giving terms like Mekhashepha a resurgence, even if temporary at best. Many words coined by Yehuda became part of everyday Hebrew language while others died out or never caught on. The ancient origins of Melungeon people remains unconfirmed today, but it was once a common rumor among colonizers that Melungeon people were born of an affair between The Devil and an Indigenous Woman. This is important to note because this is likely in part why the term Mekhashepha was weaponized against our people. Though Melungeon people are not specifically mentioned, the book “

Religious Authority in the Spanish Renaissance

“ by LuAnn Homza notes Nicholas De Lyra’s use of the Onkelos Targum when translating the term Mekhashepha to refer to a female soothsayer, sorceress, or witch, with carnal ties to the Devil.  Mekhashepha originally tended to refer to a title, usually that of a female, and not the name of their religious or spiritual practice, though today, following Yehuda’s dictionary, it seems to be used interchangeably. In the Torah and the Old Testament, the Mekhashepha are also included with “necromancers”, “those who cast spells”, “those who summon spirits” etc., as “an abomination to Yahweh” in Deuteronomy 18:9-10.  Mekhashepha does however have controversial translations as many scholars debate it may refer to an herbalist, healer, poisoner, or even pharmacist.  In some translations it is said Mekhashepha may be relied on to heal the sick, foretell the future, and predict agricultural outcomes. These are all things that were tied to Melungeon folk and traditional beliefs as well and can be seen still today in practices like faith healing, the man of signs, reading cards, using blood beads, folk remedies, etc. Due to the negative associations between Mekhashepha and Satan, many Melungeon people were not enthusiastic about identifying with the term, however neither were they about identifying as Melungeon.  In recent, with the rise of popularity in witchcraft, natural healing, cultural acceptance, and feminism, many Melungeons have made the decision to reclaim these terms and wear them and identify with them proudly, while others still feel uncomfortably with these terms. For further reading on Mekhashepha:

https://history.stackexchange.com/questions/39828/what-was-the-churchs-attitude-to-magic-prior-to-the-15th-century

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliezer_Ben-Yehuda

https://www.academia.edu/33078425/When_a_single_word_matters_The_role_of_Bible_translations_in_the_witch_hunt_in_the_Grand_Duchy_of_Lithuania

https://archive.org/stream/AbrahamAbulafiaAStarterKit/AncientJewishMagic_djvu.txt

decolonize-the-left:

socialpants:

decolonize-the-left:

kingchisum:

decolonize-the-left:

We aren’t doomed. Not yet.

So whenever y’all are done crying and are ready to get back up and keep going:

• Nobody is going to save us except for us.
• Companies won’t stop making plastic as long as someone is buying
• Ag farming will continue to be destructive as long as it’s supported, start growing local and buying from local farmers instead if you can (some will even deliver to your door)
• Corporations won’t stop laying oil pipelines unless we start Immediately demanding ALL infrastructure to switch to resuable/sustainable energy. (cars, businesses, government buildings, private homes, etc)
• Profits will always come before people as long we keep accepting “it’s too expensive” & “it’s too complicated to fix” as excuses for pausing progress
• The best way to make a difference is by starting in your own community. Ex: Clean up your local parks & rivers, garden with plants native to your area to help (& bring back) your local pollinators & ecosystems
• Look at your local native community and back their movements. For example the local tribe here is the Umatilla and they’re trying to get the dam removed as it’s affected the salmon runs which has negatively impacted the salmon, the Umatilla people, and the local fauna that have relied on a free running river for millenia.
• Settling for less is unacceptable. Our futures are not to bargained with.

Caring about your survival is not an extremist belief, do not be gaslit into believing it is. Do not be gaslit into believing better isn’t possible.

Caring about your future is not radical. Caring about the planet is not radical. Caring about natural disasters is not radical.

This is us trying to meet our most basic needs for survival: a healthy planet that isn’t trying to kill us.

All of these needs have to be normalized even in social circles, not just in political circles. Talk about it in friend groups. Bring it up on posts about climate change, bring it up with influencers/celebs/orgs/politicians who pride themselves on #GoingGreen & #ZeroWaste. Argue for these points when someone starts to settle for less. We can not continue settling.

Things will get better and can be better if we just put in the work for it, I promise

There is still time and there is still hope

Some of my least favorite people are the, “we need to find a new planet and a way to get there, this planet is done and we may have to destroy it further to get to the next planet”, type of people.

Just to be crystal clear: I AM saying we need to protest, harass oil execs, and harass oil lobbyists at their homes.

Change through Congress and broken bureaucracies won’t come fast enough but this needs to happen Now and in Our lifetime.

If that means we have to get a little in their face then so be it.

Hey also: we need to get in the face of our representatives.

Like a lot of these things are not just about yelling and shaming oil execs or lobbyist, because they, frankly, have no souls to feel ashamed or worried about burning everything down. They will continue to weasel out of any responsibility, UNLESS they’re legally made to. They systems and laws will not change with just marching, the systems will change when the amount of addresses politicians receive become a nuisance. When the pro-planet people get voted in on every level starting from your school council. When it’s public a disgrace for a politician to ever go within 10 block radius of oil money in a way that has real life consequences for them

You see someone hacking oil execs accounts to redirect their Cayman Island money? No you didn’t

To clarify: by harass I do mean assault

When you don’t have a soul it’s because you replaced it with selfishness. It’s been generations of asking to be treated like humans, for our rights to clean water and food to be respected. Generation after generation of protesting and voting. They don’t care. They don’t. If they did, we wouldn’t have to beg. They Know we want it. They Know our climate is in crisis.

They don’t care. Politicians and oil execs, both. Neither of them follow the law and find loopholes around it anyway. So why try to use the law to make execs do what we want. Why rely on politicians to do so in the first place. Be direct.

Direct action.

Go straight after the CEOs and execs in charge. And go after what we these heartless assholes do care about. Threaten that. Threaten their ego, their home, their public image, their success. That is where they will hurt. And they won’t believe you’ll do it unless you do. Egg them, use skunk bombs, set shit on fire in their yard, throw literal shit at them, maybe give em a couple of the ol’ Richard Spencer high fives. Protest with this level of rage daily around their homes as well. Where they work. Leaving the house should give them anxiety attacks until they resign or fix things. Hell they shouldn’t even be comfortable sitting in their homes.

I do mean make them fear you’re gonna set their fucking house on fire if they don’t change their policies tomorrow.

Congress is nothing but a middleman that serves to give people like oil execs time to scramble and look for another avenue. And look at how well they’ve done that job so far.

The planet is at risk. Everyone. Every animal. Everything. It’s okay to act like it. We should be acting like it. If congress won’t then it’s on us.

blackcrowcalling:

tenoko1:

Guys, stop being crap to creators. You aren’t hurting Amazon. You’re stealing from writers.

This is an extremely frustrating trend to watch happen. Indie writers already work so hard, and there’s nothing they can do. Amazon doesn’t give a damn, they profit either way.

Please download Libby if you want access to free ebooks that were legitimately purchased by a library. Hurting people like this means they can’t afford to write books.