under-a-blushing-moon

ghostlygraphist

ai generated mushroom guides could get people killed

'i'm not going to link any of them here, for a variety of reasons, but please be aware of what is probably the deadliest AI scam i've ever heard of: plant and fungi foraging guide books. the authors are invented, their credentials are invented, and their species IDs will kill you"

"update: i keep getting annoyed that the QTs are like "if this is true, it's horrifying" ..but you're right, you don't know me from a hole in the ground and you SHOULD worry about the veracity of anything you find online."

thread source

so i went looking

the full description:

How to quickly become a confident mushroom forager without fear of misidentifying poisonous lookalikes!

Have you dreamt about becoming more self-sufficient and sourcing your own fresh, local ingredients?

Do you want to start sustainably foraging so you can become healthier and happier?

Have you thought about harvesting wild mushrooms but afraid you won’t be able to tell the edible and poisonous species apart?

Then this book is for you!

Save money and enjoy the delicacies that nature has to offer. Mushroom hunting is easier than you think, and less dangerous than everyone assumes.

Wild plant foraging is increasing in popularity with celebrity chefs and small cafes jumping on the bandwagon and using locally foraged produce in their food.

There are so many benefits of foraging to your health (physical and mental) and even the environment!

In Fearless Foraging in the Rocky Mountains, you’ll discover:

Over 40 species of mushroom you can harvest all year round
Complimentary access to the mobile-friendly Digital Field Guide that includes high-resolution photos and descriptions of all edible mushrooms and any toxic lookalikes so you don’t have to worry about misidentifying species
How to correctly create (and use) spore prints to help you figure out what’s what
An annual mushroom calendar so you can keep track of the mushrooms by season and make the most of each foraging season
Detailed descriptions of the anatomical properties of fungi - gain the essential knowledge you need to correctly identify species
Tips on sustainable foraging - and ways to increase the natural mushroom count for next time you visit!

And much more!

Foraging is a tradition upheld for centuries by indigenous people who used ancient, respectful principles to live off the land. Connect with that history by embracing the artful skills and knowledge to confidently collect food for your meals.

Even if you're still worried about toxic mushrooms, let this guide reassure you. Included are incredibly high-level descriptions and details to use so you don’t get it wrong.

NOTE: To keep it economically prices, our paperback version is printed in black and white. Premium color is available in our hardcover version. Both will provide the quality necessary to identify wild mushrooms and plants and both come with access to the full color, high-resolution Digital Field Guide.

If you want to learn the skillful art of foraging mushrooms and enjoy nature's nutritious bounties then scroll up and click the “Add to Cart” button now.

end description

wild harvest publications... no named author? i n t e r e s t i n g

"To keep it economically prices" hmm *the design is very human meme*

this book that promises highly detailed descriptions doesn't even have color images unless you pay a premium

"Mushroom hunting is easier than you think, and less dangerous than everyone assumes." hmm. hmmmmm. yeah the government definitely put out those 'if you don't know what it is don't put it in your mouth' PSAs for no reason

tldr don't buy foraging guides off amazon if you can't locate a human author and verify their credentials yourself

lazywitchling

jasper-pagan-witch

Chamomile is wonderful in its own right and shouldn't just be downgraded to "what you use instead of lavender in a pinch/if you're allergic".

I definitely don't use those interchangeably at all like that's strange to me

lazywitchling

dduane

PSA: Beware AI-generated fungi guidebooks!!

…Not a phrase I imagined myself typing today. But, via @heyMAKWA on Twitter:

“i'm not going to link any of them here, for a variety of reasons, but please be aware of what is probably the deadliest AI scam i've ever heard of:

“plant and fungi foraging guide books. the authors are invented, their credentials are invented, and their species IDs will kill you.”

…So PLEASE be careful if you run across anything of this kind.

(ETA: Corrected egregious typo in the title. Apologies, as I was [a] in bed [b] typing hurriedly and one-handed on the iPad, and [c] I think its native keyboard may need recalibration, but also [d] I was upset about what I was having to post, because seriously, WTF?!!)

Source: twitter.com

satsekhem

wizard-of-interesting-failure

Reblog this post to cast Crumb of Serotonin on whoever you reblogged it from

friend-crow

The good news about the big tree reminds me that I've been wanting to spread the word about this, and while I'm not sure tumblr is the right demographic, I figure it can't hurt.

Trees get stressed during periods of prolonged drought and hot weather. A lot of people assume that a 100+ year old tree is well established and doesn't need to be watered, but the climate is no longer what it has been for the last 100+ years.

If there are trees on the property you live on and you're not in an area that restricts watering in summer, you might want to consider watering your trees every so often during periods of drought. I prefer to turn a hose with a sprinkler head on really low, for a fairly long time (I set a timer for like 30 minutes) so that the water has a chance to sink into the ground and doesn't just run off the surface and over the retaining wall. I do this every week or so in summer, and a few times a week during heat waves. I haven't found that this makes much of a difference to my water bill (though most of my "water bill" is sewer and off-site drainage, because Portland bills all three things together).

Large trees drop limbs and sometimes die when they're stressed. Over the last few summers I've watched the other large trees on my block lose large portions of their canopies as they dropped limbs. Elsewhere in my neighborhood heritage trees have fallen during heatwaves. Not only is this sad, but it's dangerous. Cars and houses can be damaged, power lines can be knocked down, potentially starting fires, and people can be injured or killed. It also means less shade, and less habitat for wildlife.

thechieftainandhistriangle

firewitchcafe

Witchcraft is a lot like cooking/baking.

When you think of spells as recipes, it puts in perspective why some spells are more flexible in what you use and others are not.

The best example I can think of is the chocolate chip cookie chart that shows how even the smallest difference in ingredients, temperature, and resting periods can effect the cookie. Its still a chocolate chip cookie, but the outcome will be different.

Of course you have some spells that are like mac n cheese where subsituting ingredients don't really matter bc itll still be mac n cheese.

But some are like macrons where you need the almond flour or the recipe won't work.

And both are still great! Not everyone follows the exact same recipe either, so while macrons are specific we still have chocolate macrons!

So if youre trying out a new spell and it doesn't work its okay, all recipes need adjustments eventually!

kheperuwy

its-a-me-a-morgan

fucc it-

*enchants stuffed animal as a protection ward*

friend-crow

People talk about how urban witchcraft can be hard because you have no access to nature, which I don't agree with. There are animals and plants everywhere, even though people tend to scorn the ones that thrive in an urban environment. Like yeah it would be nice to have easy access to some woods, but you've got weeds, you've got rats and raccoons -- you can make do.

The real problem with urban witchcraft is the lack of damn privacy. I can't even get ecstatic around a bonfire because my neighbors are ten feet away and I still have to face them every day.

breelandwalker

I keep seeing "Signs You're A Witch" type posts popping up in the tags and ohhhh I'm so tempted to start a fight.

For anyone that needs to hear it, there is NO SUCH THING as being a witch without knowing it.

Being a witch is not a birthright or a genetic marker or a secret superpower or some hidden trait that needs discovering. Being a witch is a conscious personal choice that is entirely up to the individual. There is power in walking the path BECAUSE it is a choice.

There is no quiz or infographic or reading that can tell you whether or not you're a witch. It doesn't matter whether you've had an affinity to magic and nature since childhood or are only just discovering the craft later in life. It doesn't matter if you've read every book on magic there is or only theorized about what you might like to do. (And yes, you can learn about witchcraft without ever being a witch.) The only one who can decide whether you're a witch is YOU.

And just to be SUPER clear on the matter, ANYONE can be a witch if they want to. Things like gender, race, religion, and physical ability are not determining factors.

Do you want to be a witch? Are you willing to self-identify as one, even just to yourself, and practice some form of witchcraft?

Congratulations! You can be a witch!

Give it a try if you want to. The path is yours to enter or leave as you will, for as long as you choose to explore it.

lazywitchling

asksecularwitch

No but seriously, the like - childlike wonder people have about "living in the woods" and how "nature is how you gotta connect" and shit is just fantasy. In some cases, it's rich people fantasy (and I say that knowing fully well there's a lot of folks who aren't rich in this community, but I'm really directing this arrow of poison to some of the forefathers of the occult new age book section), where they can safely play out their desires of interacting with nature in a safe, controlled environment.

And I don't just mean occultists do this shit, I mean there are others who do it too. But it's like a false thing. It's fake. So I don't really have time to work in that fantasy land where "connecting with nature" is done in a safe and control manner, and "nature has nothing to do with humans, or human civilization." Acting like homesteading or farming isn't exactly a human invention.

I tire of the fantasy. I tire.

It's part of the reason that the fantasy didn't work on me when I was coming around to witchcraft and the occult. No amount of Moon Moon Goddess was gonna change the very real danger of copperheads or cottonmouths or the wasps or any of the number of hundreds of natural things. The rich people new age fantasy just did not work.

Now I know a lot of folk magic comes out of farming and homesteading, and I'm not begrudging that section. But the majority of those folk magics are about saving that shit and surviving through things. It's not controlled. It's not safe. It's not contained in a neat little fucking package.

But anyway, it is what it is. And now we have a stereotype about how witchcraft must be nature based. And there's "no magic" in urban areas. And how humans are some how classified away from nature. It's weird. If you think long enough about it. You know? There's ... no magic? Are you sure? How many road spirits have you talked to lately? What about that building? Or the spirit that lingers there? Have you talked to them lately? IDK. You know?