if anyone, jewish or not (because I feel that non jewish people could also benefit from throwing out any lingering false associations between our core theology and christian core theology), is curious about learning more about how jewish thought / theology differs a lot from dominant christian narratives, specifically how “god” and “prayer” are very poorly executed english translations of our concepts of HaShem and tefilah/l’hitpalel, especially if you’re a jewish person struggling with the idea of religious judaism because you don’t feel compatible with what the dominant meaning and concept (heavily influenced by christianity) of the english words/concepts “god” and “prayer” are, please please watch some videos by Rabbi David Aaron specifically this one (x) and this one (x)
neither of them really come from a denominational perspective so don’t worry about if you’re heterodox or orthodox it’s just a really good look at authentic jewish theology. and some of the misunderstandings that he clarifies are, if left unclarified, big stumbling blocks for a lot of jews who are hung up on things like “do I believe in God” “do I have some ambiguous faith” “when I pray does God listen”, and those stumbling blocks could be avoided by having these conversations about what jewish theology really holds as true, especially since a lot of those phrasings we absorb from our non jewish surroundings that lead us to be confused and doubtful about our judaism are based in concepts that are… entirely unjewish.
like as a brief summary, “do I believe in God” is a question that is steeped in this christian dominant perspective that you sort of absorb in a lot of english speaking christian majority countries, where God = metaphysical dude far off in the sky that you have to profess blind faith towards, which… could not be further from what the concept of HaShem is in Judaism, aka HaShem is everywhere, HaShem cannot be depicted by any of our human conceptualizations of embodiment (like seriously depicting HaShem as a man in a flowing robe is a huge no no) and HaShem is more scattered divinity of Being than some humanoid ruler up in the sky (the video is a lot more eloquent than on this than me lmao). “do I have faith?” often references this idea that faith is blind and that “faith” is a state of mind not a set of actions. in Judaism there’s a lot more weight to actions than sitting around and thinking “yeah I have blind faith that there’s a God” (again that perspective draws on these weird ideas of HaShem as a distant and metaphysical being that are extremely unjewish) and “when I pray does God listen” comes from a non Jewish perspective of prayer as begging God to change his mind or something like that, which is again a very unjewish perspective and that second video link talks a lot about what the real meaning of l’hitpalel / tefilah is in Judaism and what are we doing when we daven, if not this english/christian centric concept of “to pray”
anyway I feel like those videos really solidified some things succinctly for me; I had the ideas cemented in my head theologically before but this was the first time I had heard them verbalized this simply so like check it out! the first video is very short, like under 10 minutes, and should be watched first imo, the second video is like 40 minutes, if you’re really interested but don’t think you’ll get to the second one on tefilah at least watch the first one on HaShem.
I had the first link wrong before! this version has the right link
@stepsonthejourney Not sure if any of this might be helpful to you, but thought I’d tag you in anyway!
What’s the Magick Meaning Behind what your Cat Does?
Curling up with you under the covers: this means they look to you as a place of comfort. They likely have comforted you in the past and look to you for the same for them.
Letting you rub their bellies: even if it’s a trap and they attack, this means they trust you and think of you as family
Rubbing their face on yours: this is telling you that they feel a connection. Maybe even saying they are your familiar!
Licking you after a spell: cleaning you of any residual energy
Getting in your way when you are collecting herbs: this means they are curious about your work and want to work with you! They think what you’re doing looks fun!
Climbing close to your candles: maybe you shouldnt do this spell, or maybe you need to add more protection!
Eating your herbs: this is cat approved! Also this kitty may need a little more fiber in their diet. Also make sure this is cat safe and probably don’t let them keep eating it!
Getting into your stock and making a mess: probably means you’ve got an issue or some sort of problem. Try taking your pendulum around and feeling out for possible bad energy your cat was trying to warn you about. Or try organizing it! Maybe you’ve got a lot of old stuff and it’s starting to clutter your energy feild.
Knocking over a bottle potion: especially if this is a love potion it might mean you shouldnt use it! Either using the potion at all is a bad idea or maybe you need to re-make the potion because you did it wrong.
Playing with magick Crystals/feathers/products: maybe you’ve been taking too long of a break and need to get back to magick!
Playing with your dream catcher/ other bad energy catcher/banishment: your kitty knows that something bad has happened but they want you to know that it’s going to be okay.
Easy Magick with your Cats
Give your kitty a diatomaceous earth bath to naturally chase away fleas and wash them in positive energy. Try blessing your DE for extra power!
Buy yourself a whole fish and filet it for you and your family, then boil the rest to make a fish broth and pour that over your kitt’s hard food for an extra treat! Fish oils help your cat’s coat and sharing food sources with your pets promotes cohesive community energy
Brush your cat’s hair while setting intentions for your kitty in your head! Or brush them while setting intentions for yourself and theyll comfort you!
Don’t be afraid to let your animals see you cry and laugh, and look for them to share with them those moments to strengthen your bond.
Draw sigils on your cat treat box to instill positivity when you treat them
Try painting and stitching sigils into their favorite hiding spots to protect them.
Want a fierce feline? Grow wheat grass and water it with storm water.
Want a kind cat? Grow wheat grass and water it with moon water.
Want a friendly cat? Grow wheat grass and water it with solar water.
(Reminder these arent to change your cat’s personality but to possibly inspire them to grow in a certain direction. Think of it like buying someone a paintbrush and watching them become an artist.)
Reminder to Protect your Kitty
Always make sure the herbs and plants you leave out are cat safe!
Try putting candles an incense into bird cages or other containers so your kitty can’t singe their tail!
If you want to add a natural supplement to cat’s diet check with your vet first! Just because humans can eat it doesnt mean cats can! And vets actually often have lists of what supplements are safe for kitties.
Remember no supplement or spell is a REPLACEMENT for a medical operation, a medicine or antibiotic, or a full and balanced diet.
Be careful what you put on your cat’s skin/pelt. Some things can irritate their skin or hurt the oils on their pelt!
If you’re burning things keep an eye on your cat. Some cats are allergic to smoke!
Dont force your cat to be around for a spell. If they’re upset when you cast it, your spell cna get infected with bad energy, and also they wont be too happy with you!
This texture pack contains 20 large astronomical textures from old books! Credit isn’t necessary but please like or reblog this if you use them and please don’t redistribute these without my permission, claim them as your own, or use them to make your own textures!
Most Tumblr theme-makers don’t submit their themes to Theme Garden, though having them on Tumblr’s official theme store is something that might appeal to many designers.
Before getting into it, however, it’s important to know the pros & cons of having your themes on Theme Garden, as well as the pros & cons of sharing them via external download links, like many of us do.
After my rebrand, I’ve decided to start uploading my themes to Theme Garden, since that’s the only way of having them actually “officialised” by Tumblr. Unfortunately, my experience with Theme Garden so far shows me that it’s not actually worth having your themes there at all.
On this post, you’ll read about:
Pros & cons of submitting your themes to Theme Garden
Pros & cons of sharing your themes through external download links
Basically@staff were pissing me off, so I decided to post this simple script I wrote to fix redirect errors that will hopefully piss them off too :^)
Make the external links on your blog go from this: http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http://example.com&t=blahblahsomelongstringofstuffhere to this: http://example.com simply by copying and pasting this following code into your HTML:
For ease of accessing links right from the comfort of your own dashboard/blog :)
How to use:
Select all of the below code and drag it into your Bookmarks Bar
javascript:(function(){var browserURL = window.location.href; if(browserURL.indexOf('t.umblr.com/redirect')>-1){ window.location.href = decodeURIComponent(browserURL.split('?z=')[1].split('&t=')[0]);} var elements = document.querySelectorAll('a[href*="t.umblr.com/redirect"]');Array.prototype.forEach.call(elements, function(el, i){ var originalURL = elements[i].getAttribute("href").split("?z=")[1].split("&t=")[0]; var replaceURL = decodeURIComponent(originalURL); elements[i].setAttribute("href",replaceURL); }); })();
Rename the bookmark to whatever you like (do not change the URL)
When you encounter a failed redirect, just press the bookmarklet! Or you could also press it before you click on any links, the redirect will be removed automagically :)
I’ve been getting a lot of asks and tags about how to support Palestine and Palestinians during this so here’s ways allies can support us (other Palestinians are welcome to add on):
Spread Awareness:
Taking a moment out of your day to spread awareness of the oppression Palestinians face is crucial to supporting our cause. You don’t need to be an expert on Israeli settler colonialism to speak out. Israel relies on media ignorance to enact most of it’s bombings and settler violence against Palestinians, silence equals Israeli violence - reblogging, retweeting and posting in Palestine hashtags (#freePalestine, #savesilwan, #savenaqab, #savesheikhjarrah etc) helps, please do not underestimate how much just interacting with our posts and sharing information helps us.
Support BDS:
BDS is a Palestinian-led movement to apply global pressure to Israel to comply with international law, part of the reason Israel maintains a regime of settler colonialism, apartheid, and military occupation over Palestinians is because of international support - so BDS calls for non violent boycotts, divestment, and sanctions on corporations and brands that are complicit with Israel’s oppression - this includes brands such as AXA, HP, Puma, Sodastream, Ahava cosmetics, Sabra, and Pillsbury. If you want to know more about BDS and other ways to support please check out their website here: x
Decolonize Palestine is an excellent resource for anyone wishing to know more about Palestine, Palestinians, myths and deconstructing over 70 years of Israeli propaganda. It goes into detail of Israeli propaganda methods including pinkwashing, bluewashing, greenwashing etc and includes reading sources and frequently asked questions about Palestine from Palestinian voices, please check it out if you haven’t: x
- If there is any doubt about what you’re doing, and it was instructed by your Dom, get clarification.
2. Are aware of what you need and what you want.
- A necessity and a desire are two very different things.
3. Remain observant.
- Be aware of your Dominants usual behavior, if something is off, mention it. Dominants are human too, they equally need and deserve comfort and understanding during rough times. D/s dynamic aside, be a good partner, care for each other on an intimate level, otherwise the relationship won’t last long.
4. Don’t shy from problems, even though confrontation makes you uncomfortable.
- It is important to address issues within the dynamic. If there is a conflict of interest, let it be known, otherwise it will never be resolved.
5. Allow your Dom to bend your limits, not break them.
- A gentle push is healthy, a rough shove is abusive.
6. Remain realistic.
- Your Dom can be in control of your world, do not let them be the only thing in it. Have hobbies, interests, work, school, something you can invest yourself into for your own benefit/growth and development. Also have other people to converse with, otherwise you are being isolated by your Dom, something that is common among abusers.
7. Do your own research about safety for certain activities. You are the first person responsible for keeping yourself safe.
- It’s like safe sex, never expect the other person to always have a condom when you can carry one yourself. The internet is a very useful/educational tool, if you’re reading this then you already have this at your disposal. Use it.
8. Remember to respect yourself while respecting your Dom.
- Retain your sense of self while you are with your Dom. Don’t let your need to submit blind you to an inadequate “dominant” who just wants to take advantage of you.
9. Communicate.
- Communicate your needs, your discomforts, your concerns, your interests, your perspective, your likes, and just your thoughts in general. Regardless of how good your Dominant is, they are not a mind reader. It is imperative to communicate, especially if you are in a long distance relationship.
However, there are times when you can be “too smart” of a submissive. Sometimes that’s a good thing, other times, not so much. This means that you’re beyond analytical, you never allow yourself to fully submit, and you obsess over being “the perfect submissive,” even though there is no such thing. This cautiousness can go from keeping yourself safe, to restricting yourself, very quickly. It is important to find that balance and more important to be with a Dom who has earned your trust.
Now this leads to the ultimate point that was to be made to me by writings this. I’m an educated, yet inexperienced, submissive. Am I a smart submissive? According to what I’ve written, it seems so, but I still disagree. I don’t see myself as being a “smart submissive,” I see myself as being a submissive with an intellect, an impulse to question the majority of things, and a reserved demeanor.
He’s talking about that stingy fucker. Not the thuddy one I like. The one with the big ouchies.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, to the point where you feel like you’ve had a spanking.”
Hmm. I‘m not sure what to say. It feels…not quite right. I mean, I do have that point—the point of being sated by a spanking, when I feel calm and relaxed. But it’s hard to characterize it as one thing. It’s not when I cry. It’s not when I’m close to safeword. It’s not when my interest turns to sex—that often creeps in when I still need more spanking.
In part, it depends on the type of spanking and the circumstances. But there are a couple of themes.
Reconnecting I need maintenance spankings to reconnect. When that connection is the focus, I feel like I’ve “had a spanking” when I stop fighting it and give myself over to what my partner chooses. Sometimes that is easier or harder for me. If we’ve had a disconnect, it will be harder for me to let go. Even if I want to. But to feel sated by it, I have to give myself over. I have to reach a point where I no longer think about how many more swats or if/when it will turn to sex. I just feel open and accept what is chosen for me.
Quieting my Mind My brain almost never slows down, even when I want it to. I am over his knee, and my brain is still chugging away at how a theory maps onto a problem at work. Or I’m thinking about whether I remembered to enroll my daughter for dance, or how I’m going to keep my dog from destroying more of my house. But at some point in a spanking, my mind goes quiet. I no longer feel the to-do list looping through the back of my brain. I am at peace and truly present in the moment.
And the thing is, neither of these things comes from the amount of pain. Maybe if the point is to remind me that I am a girl who gets spanked, then submitting to the pain would be a way to get there quickly. Stingy paddles, the accursed riding crop… But that does not sate me. I could have a spanking like that and still feel like I need a spanking. What sates that need is being spanked to the point where my mind goes quiet and/or I give myself over to my partner. If a spanking does that, I will be walking on clouds for days. But there’s no easy formula for getting there. It’s not an implement or a duration or an intensity; it is something we have to discover together.
I thought I would update the list of BDSM links and resources I posted a while ago, as some links were no longer working and I had several new ones to add, including a list of books. These should be particularly helpful to those who are new to BDSM and looking to explore D/s relationships, as the best way to go about that is to first read everything you can and then read even more! Not only will this allow you to educate yourself, help keep you safe and avoid any potential mistakes or regrets, but also the more you understand something, the less intimidating it will seem.
If you have anything to add, please don’t hesitate to let me know and I will update this list, in particular if there any books that a submissive might find helpful or informative, as most of the books I have read or included are intended for Dominants.
Note: For the sake of consistency and readability, I have used capitals throughout this document and have not used lower case when referring to submissives or slaves.
Websites:
Babygirls ‘n’ Daddy Doms: Website dedicated to littles, babygirls and Daddy Doms, with a lot of useful information on the subject.
Collarme: A free BDSM dating website and community, that is probably the most popular and a better option than the commercial alternatives.
DS Arts: Academy of DS Arts, fairly self explanatory.
Evil Monk: Ambrosio’s BDSM Website, featuring many useful articles.
Fetlife: An online BDSM community that I would highly recommend and which is perhaps best described as Facebook for the kinky, allowing users to create a profile, publish photos or writing and join interest groups where you can ask questions.
Kink Academy: An online resource with many educational and instructional videos on various aspects of BDSM, although users must pay a small fee to access all of the content.
Submissive Guide: As the name suggests, this is an online resource for submissives.
The Iron Gate: A general BDSM online resource, with many aticles, essays and even stories on the subject.
I’ve seen questions about how to handle aftercare long distance many times here in Tumbletown. It’s taken a long time to figure out what works for us. It certainly presents some challenges still, but we’re comfortable with the progress we’ve made thus far and will continue to try new techniques. In the meantime I’m going to share what I’ve learned in hopes it will help others facing the same challenges.
Presence- The very first thing is presence. He does NOT get to disappear just because we’ve both cum. Playtime doesn’t end when the fucking does. We both agree that aftercare is not optional, not even when the playtime is ‘soft’.
Comfort objects- Personally I have a stuffy I cuddle after long distance play. Some people use one of his t-shirts, or a special blanket they cuddle under. Whatever it is, I highly recommend you use this object at other times too. Holding the object when you’re just chatting, and laughing together, helps to build good associations and make the object more comforting when you really need it.
Liquids- You need to have something to drink already nearby when you begin. In fact it’s become a rule of sorts that I fill my water bottle before calls with Daddy, because I’m not always in a place where I can do that sort of thing after. Juice is also highly recommended, a bit of sugar can help after a lengthy session.
Chocolate- I feel chocolate needs it’s own category, because in addition to the pick me up of the sugar content chocolate has it’s own magic. There are hundreds of naturally occurring chemicals in chocolate, some of which affect the release of neurotransmitters, including serotonin. While your body is going through sub-drop (the precipitous drop in feel-good hormones post play), you can dampen the effects with chocolate. Giving yourself another little boost on the way down can prevent spiraling from feeling on top of the world, to feeling incredibly sad.
Voice-Sometimes drop lasts longer than anticipated, or starts later than expected, even hours after play. Daddy can’t always be there through all of those feelings. Having video and voice recordings of Daddy on hand can be really helpful. Be sure these recordings are not of a sexual nature, you want to hear a comforting voice and loving words to remind you that this isn’t all about being a sex object, but about his caring for you as a person.
This myth is not only illogical but puts our community in danger.
Even strong submissives have limits.
Even strong Dominants have limits.
Strong people can still say no.
Needing to stop does not make you weak.
Stop making BDSM into a competition of endurance.
You don’t owe anyoneanything.
xx SF
I need to be able to trust you to safeword when you need to. You won’t disappoint me. I won’t be sad or angry or unsatisfied or think less of you. I can’t always know exactly what’s going on inside you. I need to know that you won’t let me go too far. It’s an essential part of how this works.
Always use a safe word, it’s completely necessary.
Very True. Even committed relationships need safe words.
So true
All of this. ^^ Anyone who’s spent any time in the real world of D/s understands the strength it takes for an s type to safeword.
Need help with those ropeburns? Or maybe some nasty issues with subdrop, Maybe even the occasional mishap like a knife in your own foot ( @instructor144)? Or the big three, depression, self harm, or bipolar?
i am accepting theme commissions. for more information, dm me on here or on @lizzies. making content/resources is my main source of income on the internet, so if you’d like to support me, buy me a coffee?
↓ theme customizations under the read more. ↓
CUSTOMIZATION OF THE THEME:
make sure to add #!“ class=“click to the Pop Up box in the customization page to make sure the Pop up search engine works on your theme, if you need a visual ref:
if you want to change the icons on the sidebar navigation, go to boxicons,find the icon you want, and on the small pop-up window that will show up on the bottom right corner, click on the tab that says “Font” by the side of Web Component and copy the line of code there. if you need visual reference:
if you don’t want to use a faq/inbox page and don’t want a different /ask page, ctrl+fyour code and find the following code and delete it. if you want your faq or inbox url to be different from /msg, you can just change it on the line with location.replace.
create a new page, select the type as standard layout. on the text box, paste the code of the page on there, but make sure that <html> is pressed. if you need visual reference:
TO CUSTOMIZE THE ABOUT PAGE:
and if you want to change the sidebar links icons, head to cappuccicons,find the icon you want, and using ctrl+f find the icon you want to replace and on the line of code replace the name of the icon with the new one you want (keep the hyphens).
for ex: <i class=“cp cp-twitter”></i> you can change to <i class=“cp cp-facebook”>
if you need any help customizing the theme at all, just shoot me a message eiither here or on my main blog @lizzies & i will try my best to help you out!
fixed topbar with follow button, direct message redirect, pop-up search engine and scroll to top
day/night toggle by eggdesign (with fix by @maziekeen so the dark theme stays saved once you go to another page)
7 sidebar links
hide tags by seyche
full credits on the code
some customizations:
to make sure the pop up box for the search engine works, on the basic customizations tab in your customize page, scroll down to “Pop Up” and type: #!“ class="click.
If you need an image reference:
and if you want to change the sidebar links icons, head to cappuccicons.com,find the icon you want, and on the html (under ), ctrl+f
if you need any help with the customization of the theme or any issues, shoot me a message and i’ll help you!
i am accepting theme commissions. for more information, dm me on here or on @lizzies. making content/resources is my main source of income on the internet, so if you’d like to support me, buy me a coffee?
i am accepting theme commissions. for more information, dm me on here or on @lizzies. making content/resources is my main source of income on the internet, so if you’d like to support me, buy me a coffee?
↓ SOME IMPORTANT CONFIGURATIONS UNDER THE READ MORE ↓
*if you want to change the topbar links, go to cappuccicons.com and on the html (under <body>) find the field that has <div class=“navlinks”>, find the icon you want to replace and on the line of code <i class=“cp cp-icon-name”></i> replace the name of the icon with the new one you want (keep the hyphens)
** if you don’t want to use the faq/inbox page and want to keep the/ask page, on the code of the theme do a ctrl + f and find the script below and delete it.
^ the code above makes sure that everytime someone writes or clicks on the /ask link for your inbox, they will automatically be redirected to your ask page.
*** it is important to note that you need to change the /msg link to whatever you decide your inbox/faq link will be.
(ex. in location.replace('https://{name}.tumblr.com/msg’) change the /msg to the url of your custom page/inbox page)
**** in the about page, if you wouuld like to remove the blogs box and only keep the about box and the navigation box, delete the following from your html:
