Myth and Folklore as a gay Christian Witch

(Personal Photo) As the semester draws to a close, I have been stressing for the past week to accomplish tasks that I thought were impossible. If there is one thing that this semester has taught me it’s that with hard work anything is possible. I have truly enjoyed the semester. I did not like having to take French every day however I knew that it was enjoyable to take French over Spanish for my language requirement. Reflecting on the whole semester I have found that there have been tough times and there have been easy times. I have gone through a lot this semester and am continuing to go through things every day. I have also learned the meaning of hard times are the challenges on the road to success. The further I get into my degree the more I find myself writing more. I know that my career will be a fun experience. I look forward to reading more novels and getting to write more fiction and quite possibly writing a novel sometime soon. I also look forward to my tutorials cl...

(Personal Photo) I have found that reading out loud is definitely different than reading silently. Sometimes it helps me to catch grammatical mistakes that I would have missed originally. Overall I really dont like reading out loud because it makes me lose my spot often. I am glad that I was able to have the experiences I have had this semester with writing and reading so much material. I look forward to my future and will definitely be doing a lot of reading.

(Image made with Canva)      I saw this quote on my advisors computer and it resonated with me because I have been going through a small identity crisis in the recent couple weeks. This quote reminds me that I may have to make changes to move ahead in my life. It also gives me hope that as I improve my writing that one day I may be published. 

(Photo found on Wikipedia ) I have found the sport of archery to be interesting but my original search brought up the page about bracers. I found that this page was very interesting because the original bracers that were worn by Native Americans were made of bone. The way how the bracers became decorated is that they were made from different material so that elements of turquoise could be added as decoration on them. The next page was an arrowhead page. Arrowheads are wonderful pieces of art and it gives us a glimpse into how civilizations prior to us hunted for their food. These pieces of art were mainly made of stone and were sharpened often to ensure the clean kill of the animals that would be used for food and clothing. These were later modified to create the modern arrow that we know today the next page describes that arrowsmiths made arrowheads and fletcher's make the body of the arrow as we know it today. Arrows were used for centuries and they predate even record...

I dont have very many time management tricks that I could give but setting a timer for me never works. I found that many times I have found that I measure the time by just getting things done and then taking a cigarette break. Sadly I have learned how long fifteen minutes is by knowing how long it takes to smoke two cigarettes. I will say however when I am not smoking I tend to rely on my body to tell me when I need to take a break. The body has a way of letting us know if we need to take a break.

(Image found on Wikimedia ) I enjoyed reading this story so much I found it interesting that the coyote's ignorance and jealousy got the better of him. There is a great moral lesson in this story that we should not be quick to be jealous of others and we should also be careful about how ignorant we can become if we do get jealous of others things. I wish I would have read this story earlier in the semester as it would have given me a lot more ideas for stories. overall I have enjoyed this experience and I love bluebirds.  bibliography: How Bluebird and Coyote Got Their Colors by Kathrine Berry Judson 

(Image found on Public Domain Files ) Nick was sitting in his therapist’s office absorbing all the experiences he had had the past year. Nick was dealing with gender dysphoria and could feel the question coming up. He was about to ask for Hormone Replacement Therapy. He could remember the feeling of the bra he had been wearing for the past 4 months and always got self-conscious when he was wearing it. Nick was a chubby man and was about five foot six inches tall. He had been thinking about the hormonal change his HRT would make and was also thinking about the changes in his body he would experience. His bra would eventually begin to fit right as the breast tissue began to form. He was excited to be able to identify as the gender he so longed to become.  Ruby is what he planned to change his name to. He had gone through all the therapy that was needed to get his hormone referral letter. He had even gotten used to the change in pronouns. He was ready for a change. The the...

(Image found on Pinterest with credit to Disney )  The last half of the story cronicles the transition of the little mermaid into a human and goes into detail about how she would have to have the prince fall in love with her or she would die and turn into sea foam. She never manages to have the prince fall in love with her and so she is given a chance to return to a mermaid form as long as she kills the prince in his sleep. Because of her love for the prince, the little mermaid sacrifices herself instead of killing the prince which earns her the opportunity to earn an eternal soul as mermaids did not have eternal souls. This story is so inspirational that I am going to write a short story for it that incorporates the ideas in the story. I feel inspired because the longing to be loved is something everyone experiences in their lifetime. I plan to write a story from this that might even just be a queer retelling for this class. It should be interesting and as always I plan a...

(Image Found on Pinterest ) I have always enjoyed the story of the little mermaid. I decided this week that I would read parts 1-3 for my first reading assignment and then read parts 4-6 for my second reading assignment. This story has so much description in it and this inspires me to incoporate description in my last storytelling post  of the semester. I enjoy the story also for its nature. The idea of longing to be part of a world that you dont belong to is something that is very close to me and it describes the feelings I have had all my life. What if we couldnt become part of a world that is different? would that change the way we think about the world? Human life is wonderful in that there are so many things that we can do within our lives. The question to be asked is what would happen if the story of the little mermaid happened to a human who longed to be part of another world. In a way, I feel like transgender individuals understand this all too well. We shall see w...

(I really enjoyed this image posted by Professor Gibbs from Grant Snider, and I thought it really was true.) So many times as a writer we dont think about the complexity of the language we write in. Over the course of the semester I have truly enjoyed getting to learn French in my Beginning French continued class. We hardly ever think about the languages that are invented within fiction. Take J.R.R. Tolken's Elvish language in the Lord of the Rings trilogy for example. Tolken had to have given some serious thought to come up with a completely different language and I had to wonder if he wrote some of that language in a writers journal at some point in his career.  I enjoyed getting to watch the video about languages in fiction that I will link at the bottom for your entertainment. I really appreciate getting to write in this class. 

(Photo of a blank book. This image reminds us that there is always a story to be told. Found on Wikimedia ) As the semester comes to a close I have thought a lot about how many assignments and how difficult this semester has been for me. I have been thinking a lot about how much work that I have been working on. I found the readings this semester to have been extremely enjoyable and have enjoyed the story writing that has taken place this semester. Most of the time I prefer to write stories that come from my mind that I can feel like they are more original so it was a challenge to have to write stories while using other people’s work to create something refreshing. As much as I enjoyed it I look forward to getting further into my degree and I also feel as though my writing will continue to improve over the next year.  I do feel as though the semester has been a rough one. After working so hard these last few days I definitely have a better insight into what I will have...

(Photo found on Wikipedia about Mourning Dove ) I have always loved studying Native American Traditions because I am Native American myself. I enjoy learning about the culture and I also enjoy learning about the art forms from the artists. I have made my own dream catcher and have it hanging in my room at my mother's house. I am also very strongly attached to the lives of Native Americans and it was one of my favorite subjects to study within my history classes.  I appreciate the opportunity to see Native American art and to experience the culture in this class. I appreciated watching the video about the Ledger art and learning more about how the Native American's recorded stories.  (Found on YouTube)

(Feminist Books picture from Harpersbazzar ) I have always found the concept of sexism to be interesting. This led me to my first article titled Sexism. I enjoy reading about this because it helps me to understand why I relate to feminism as a whole and it also helps to see where the feminist movement comes from. This led me to my second article Androcentrism. Androcentrism is the exact opposite of feminism as it focuses strictly on lifting the male up while placing the female at a lower level. This of course is sexism at its finest and it is not fair to women to have to fight this type of prejudice. In similar fashion the article of Gynocentrism is about the same except it is the oposite of Androcentrism. This viewpoint does not consider that men also have feminine traits and this, therefore, negatively affects feminism because so much of the ideas of feminism is equality between the sexes. This led me to the article for Equality Feminism which is a viewpoint that holds th...

I used the pomodoro technique with my novel. I found that it was extremely benificial as after doing a lot of writing many times I will feel like my energy and my mind is exhausted. By allowing myself to have a small break within the times of writing it has helped me to be able to think clearer and it also helped me to write more on my novel than I ever have before. It also helped me to focus my attention on writing the words that I needed to write on my novel. I also feel like I could incorporate these things into my writing on my assignments for my writing classes and it would help me to get more of the assignments done. I hope to definitely use this technique in the future. (I found this photo because I am currently writing at night and have always thought skyline photos were beautiful. Found at Public Domain Pictures .)

I have always enjoyed word counts because it also helps me as an author know how much I have written. I cannot say, however, that the Chrome word counter helps me out a lot because i normally use microsoft word or pages since I do most of my writing on a macbook pro. I do feel like word counts are useful when writing short stories or novels because so many publishers are limited on their word count. I feel as though these publishers would not, of course, want a manuscript that is 30,000 pages long and it would be a pain to go through and read these manuscripts and edit all of them. As a writer I feel like a wordcount is useful for these purposes and also so that when I am writing I have a measurement of how many words I am writing as well as where I am at within my work.

(My Mantra created on Cheezeburger ) I have always felt inspired by Lady Gaga and so the picture was a nobrainer and I just had to remember why I am doing my degree to come up with my mantra. I am in no way sure that the mantra has not been used before but it helps me to motivate myself so that I will be successful. 

(Photo found on Pixabay ) For this extra credit reading assignment, I decided to write and read the selection that was suggested to me by professor Gibbs. I really enjoyed reading this article as it gives me insight into transgender fairytales that were written even years before the transgender movement. I think this reading also helped me to understand that we need more LGBTQ+ material being written because representation is necessary for these communities. Thank you, professor Gibbs, for allowing me to read this article because it also drew out the concept that I should also be mindful of how I present material to my future readers as an author of LGBTQ+ novels and stories. I think that more people should read this article. Thank you for a fantastic read. Bibliography: The Public Medievalist's Series: Gender, Sexism, and the Middle Ages Part 8 by Paul B. Sturtevant

(Photo found on MaxPixel )        There was once a princess named Emerald who was born as a prince. She was born within a poor family who worked hard for Queen Jude. Emerald loved to play in the castle’s gardens and one-day Queen Jude approached the young Emerald and told her that her daughter had been looking for a princess who would rule beside her. Emerald smiled at the queen and told her that she would like to meet the Queen’s daughter.       The Queens daughter Ruby was a tough princess and had set out on an adventure to retrieve the God’s crown. Emerald had heard tales of this crown and knew that the journey would be difficult.       “I will go with Ruby to obtain the crown if you would allow me to Queen Jude?” Emerald asked.       “Of Course my sweet child. If you come back and can lay on Ruby’s bed with a pea underneath the mattress then you will have my permission to marry Ruby a...

(Photo found on Pixabay . I thought that this photo would be helpful when placing God within a feminine role.)  The story of the Wicked Prince is interesting to read through I feel as though I can draw comparisons to the governmental persecution of LGBTQ+ people for a story that could be significantly efficient within my portfolio. I could take from the story the princess and the Pea and combine the two stories. I also found the idea of destroying God to be interesting simply because of how much people act as though they are superior to God in how they treat others. I am intrigued to see how I could turn this story into a possible coming out story and wonder how I could make God into the idea of a genderless being which would help aid the story. I have always found it interesting that within christianity God is always percieved as male throughout scripture and it would be nice to write God from a feminist viewpoint. Perhaps the Prince in this story did not think about the p...

I have always found this short story interesting and I look forward to utilizing it within a new story sometime soon. I also can see how maybe this could be used with a theme of transgendered fairytale as I could make the princess a transwoman or even make the princess a transman. It would also aid me to have the gender of the queen's child changed to create more of a genderbend version of the story. I can see multiple paths that this story could go and I look forward to reading more so that I can create a great story to write. Bibliography: The Princess and the Pea   by Hans Christian Andersen (Personal Photo. I thought the flowers on a personal journal of mine would emphasize the idea of the pea under the mattress.)

 (Picture found on Pixhere )       There was once a transwoman who lived in an enchanted forest. The forest that she lived in was visited several times a year by spirits of the land. These spirits were angry at the transwoman because she longed to change her village utilizing feminism ideology. The transwoman frequently spoke with the village leaders and fought them on many issues that pertained to the acceptance of transwomen within the society. The world outside of this village had come to accept transwomen and had provided security for them within the world.          The transwoman soon had a run in with the spirits of the land and one of the souls who were against trans rights as he saw it as unnatural. The Spirit waved its hand and placed a curse on the transwoman. The curse would not allow the transwoman to transition until she had true loves kiss. The transwoman was taken aback by how much pain the spirit wanted to give her....

(Photo found at Pixabay of a Celtic Woman witch)       Throughout these Celtic readings, I have found that the stories are inspiring me for a fantasy story. I am thinking about maybe a warlock and maybe he is working together with several other warlocks to cast a spell to aid a king but one of the warlocks gets jealous of the other warlocks and decides to use his magic for evil rather than good. The warlock clan uses runes in order to perform some of their spells. The king asks them for a fortune telling using tarot and the prophecy might come true and if it does it would put the world in a firestorm of war. Bibliography: The Fate of the Children of Lir by Joseph Jacobs.

(Photo from Pixabay and Shuttershock ) There once was a King who had everything that he could want or need but the King felt lonely, The King had travelled many places and had seen many sights. The King could not shake the loneliness that he had felt for so many years. He heard tales of a noble man that lived in a giant castle in the Fairy realm and waited for a handsome man to come and save him.     The King soon set out to find the man that he seeked. The King traveled with a Celtic Warlock that would help aid him should the King find himself in trouble. The  King came up on a bridge that appeared to be unsteady. The King knew that he needed to cross in order to reach the man in the castle on the other side. the area below the bridge was filled with what looked like lava. The lava in this area however, was black like coal and still appeared to be scalding hot. This kind of lava the King knew all to well. It was the result of a dragon that spewed green fire from...

(photo found on Pixabay )          I have truly enjoyed the readings this week. This story was a little bit sadder than the previous one. I am going to be brainstorming about how to make this story more positive. I can see how I could use the character of the saint within a story. especially because of how magical the saint appeared to be. I can also utilize the King in a new light.          While the King in the original story has no love interest it is quite possible that I could create another character that could be his love interest during this time. The original story provides the reader with no background of the King other than the fact that he enjoys hunting which I could also use within the possible love interest of the King.           Nobility is also very fun to write about because a whole world stands to be built around the King. Especially because we are given very little detail about the K...

(Photo found online through Google and was found on a clipart website )        This story was very interesting to read and I look forward to using it in a possible story for my portfolio. I really enjoyed how much the King attempted to keep the maiden and Connla apart. I feel like many people can relate to this feeling of their parent attempting to keep them away from the person they love. this is especially true within the LGBTQ+ community.        I can definitely write a story from a queer angle as part of a story. I look forward to reading more Celtic myths and legends and I also look forward to seeing how I can make a story from these tales. Bibliography: Connla and the Fairy Maiden  by Joseph Jacobs.

     Continuing with my theme of ghost stories that I wanted to read this week I have received another thought about how I can incorporate both of the readings this week into a new account. The man in this story could be changed into a woman. Or the other way around to add an LGBTQ+ twist to the story.         The story would also be interesting if I made the characters go into a spirit realm. I also might be able to utilize some fantasy elements such as a witch that transports the characters into the spirit realm. Maybe the woman chases her lover into the spirit realm to find her and possibly her child. Perhaps it was all a dream is another twist that I could use. (Picture found on pixhere ) Bibliography Pâtussorssuaq, Who Killed His Uncle

      (Photo found at Pixabay )       This story was very interesting for me to read as I truly enjoy a good ghost story. This story has inspired me to possibly write a story about a transgender male to female, who longs to become a woman but is under a curse that ghosts of his ancestors put on him. If the curse could be broken it would be from true loves kiss which is where my imagination is leading me. I feel like the boy could be haunted by the ghosts of his ancestors and possibly that he would meet a boy who would understand the transwoman's need to become a woman and would fall in love with him anyway. This would eventually lead to true love's kiss to be shared but possibly with a twist ending. we will see where my thoughts take me when it comes to this story. I may also incoporate some of my reading from the wednesday reading. bibliography: Qalagánguasê, Who Passed to the Land of Ghosts

(Owl picture from pixabay ) There was once an owl and a hunter. The owl was wise in her age and wanted more than anything to become a human. The owl was flying over the forest when she saw a hunter. The hunter was beautiful, and she was hunting for her meal. The hunter’s father called out to her and was calling her home early.  “Julie come home right this instant. We do not have time for you to be out hunting; we need to find you a suitor.” Her father called.  “Coming Father,” Julie said with a sigh. The Owl overheard this conversation and instantly realized that this could be her ticket to becoming a human she just needed to control her power to shapeshift long enough to really get to know the hunter. The hunter’s name stuck out in her mind and would not leave the back of her mind alone. From the creation of the world, the animals that had created them had designed them to be with the same gender, and the owl was not aware that she would be destined to fal...

      This story I could use to create a vision from the viewpoint of the owl and dive into how he became a man himself. I have always enjoyed the idea of a shapeshifting character. I can also use the wife in this story as an example to demonstrate that we should be grateful for what people give us. She bit the hand that fed her, and I wonder what happened to the woman in the story after the husband left. I also wonder what would have happened if the owl would have turned more majestic and if that would have changed the way how the story ended. I could expand on this story and could indeed experience this story from a different lens. I could also add more fantasy elements within the story. We shall see what I can come up with for a story this week, but this is a great start. (Photo found on google through pixabay .)

      Within this story, I found that the Tanuki would make an interesting character. I think instead of having it be a tea kettle, it could be a type of human shapeshifter who longs to be with humans. Maybe it cannot control its power when it shapeshifts. This would cause conflict, and the creature would wonder about where it fits into the world. The Tanuki may be mischevious in its non-human form and wishes to control this power for that reason. Maybe the color of the Tanuki would change depending on its emotion. This emotion could also influence the clothing that the Tanuki would wear in human form. A human who finds him could possibly try to help him control his powers. (Personal photo of an eerie night at my apartment that will serve as some inspiration for my story this week) Bibliography: The Magic Kettle