Sat 8/20/22: bumping this up as well because I like it.
A digital drawing from 2013, using Photoshop and a Wacom tablet. I signed with my old graffiti name, SHERM.
Author: savethesavages
bookmark_borderMagick is Real
Sometimes there are no words to explain how magick works in my life…so I just create.
I wanted to put a watermark on this but that would’ve been dumb, taking away from the beauty of this repeating animated symbol.
I don’t know what to call this symbol, I’ve seen it so many times in magickal works. I saw it on a tarot deck that I own and in the Psychonaut Field Manual. Since this PDF was shared with me for free, I figured I would share it with you because the original link seems to be missing.
bookmark_borderJust Minding My Business…
My life is pretty boring these days. I’m still trying to think of how to work less while making the same amount of money or even more and I still want to take a year off work. But I’m super thankful to have this creature in my life. Her name is Mika and she’s a black tortie British Shorthair. You can follow her on IG @mika_miriya_bsh . I couldn’t decide which pic I liked better so I made both into a gif.
What’s life like for me right now? Well I still can’t afford to buy a home in Los Angeles but at least I live where I want to live and it’s close to work so that’s a tradeoff I suppose. If you want to be in LA, you simply can’t have it all unless you’re rich AF.
I can hear my mom saying that I should’ve bought a home in 2003. Knowing myself at that time I was still hella irresponsible though and just wanted to paint and do whatever the fuck I wanted to do. I mean, why do parents project their dreams onto their children? She made me feel like THAT was supposed to be my ultimate goal in life.
Also it takes me a long fucking time to grasp real estate terms and concepts. I’m in my mid-40’s and I’m just barely starting to understand it. Sheesh.
And maybe I’m okay with living where I live WHILE not owning the place. Maybe we can normalize that homeownership is not as attainable as it used to be. Besides, we entered this world with nothing and we’re going to leave with nothing but our souls. So why even put myself through all that?
The so called American dream is dead and your life doesn’t have to look like everyone else’s.
bookmark_borderDrawing: Sherm 2014
Does the depression, sadness and self-pity go away because the season feels lighter and brighter? Maybe we just put it on the backburner until we feel the overwhelming pull of Pluto to take us back under to brood over our sins and aggressions. The neverending balancing act between love / self-forgiveness vs self-loathing, guilt and shame. Such a beautiful mess we humans are.
Everything is a cycle. Cycle of life – death and rebirth.
I really like this drawing of a geometric flower with my bunny in shades. I miss the way I used to draw. I feel like adulthood has robbed me of so much and I feel somewhat resentful. Like, what happened to the old me who used to just draw and create all day for no reason, no purpose whatsoever?
I know a lot of these thoughts are just passing through. I know I have much to be thankful for. It just feels like insanity at times when you realize that you have 12 signs, 12 houses, 10 planets and 4 elements existing within us all – every single one of them wanting to express themselves at any given time in an infinite number of angles.
Enjoy the aging process.
bookmark_borderThey’re Ghosts
I know I keep saying this but STS will fade out, eventually. It’s just a matter of WHEN.
I am not in the sharing mindset right now. I just want to be a ghost and wander around unnoticed.
There’s a lot of Saturn / Uranus influence in my long-term horoscope. Like part of me wants to preserve what I already have (Saturn), the other part of me wants to break away from it all and start over again (Uranus). I want to save for retirement/old age (Saturn) but at the same time I really want to take a year off from working (Uranus). These two ideas have been pushing back and forth in my psyche a whole lot lately; it’s maddening I tell you when transiting Saturn is in a strong square with my natal Uranus!
I do have a semi-random thought that I DO want to share:
There’s a part of me that wishes to save all the hoes. Yes, you read that right. I really wish I could provide a safe, ethical working space for sex workers – strippers, dancers, entertainers, etc. No matter how much we talk about them now, they still get treated like crap unfortunately. Of course I know nothing about the business of running a strip club whatsoever but from what I’ve observed online, the people who run these joints are for the most part sleazy and not ethical. It sucks to read this because there’s tons of sex workers who love what they do – they want to be safe and get paid fairly just like the rest of us.
bookmark_borderIn Memory of My Mom
18 years ago today (12/20/2006), my mom left her physical body and returned to Spirit so I’m bumping this post up. I don’t feel anything anymore but I appreciate it when she visits me through a memory or something that reminds me of her.❤️
Looking back, my suffering seems so insignificant now.
10 years ago today (12/20/2006), my mom left her physical body and returned to Spirit.
10 years later, I’m still here. I made it through the pain & suffering of not having my mom around anymore.
2006 and 4-5 years after that really felt like the hardest time of my life, but I can look back and say that it transformed me into who I am now, and who I am becoming. I mentioned this in another blog post and I will repeat it again: death is certainly the most painful of all teachers, yet at the same time it can also be life changing and transformative.
bookmark_borderComplex Thoughts, Feelings, etc…
It’s strange, isn’t it? The things we’ve spent time building up crumbles eventually as soon as people start to make fun of it.
Perhaps I’m too overly concerned…sensitive…about what people think but at the same time, you also have to put your feelers out there to see what people actually think.
It can be a downer on your energy for sure and it makes you want to hide (at least for me).
For example – my crystal shop. A few months ago on Reddit, I put up a photo of crystals for sale – some were natural while some were aura treated. It was then reposted in a subreddit forum called Mineral Gore. The purpose of the subreddit is to post unnatural, manmade or enhanced mineral specimens so people can comment at how ugly and atrocious they are.
One man’s treasure is another man’s trash. Again, to each their own.
But still, it personally affected me and I never wanted to post again.
The point of this post is that people ARE out there…UNCONSCIOUSLY making you feel bad for the things that you personally love. And when somebody shares their opinion that you don’t necessarily agree with regarding that thing you love, you’re most likely going to feel like shit and you’re going to want to hide.
Just understand that most people aren’t doing it on purpose or personally attacking you, they’re just sharing their opinion and preference.
But it still comes off harsh.
Reddit is a strange place…well, all social media in general. It feels good to have your posts or comments “liked” or “upvoted”, it feels awful to have them “downvoted” or when people leave shitty comments.
It’s hard to not take things personally, but I’ll keep on working on it.
(Yes, that’s me in the background with my husband taking a photo of this claw machine filled with kawaii stuffed animals).
bookmark_borderFrom The Sopranos
A screenshot from an episode of The Sopranos. It says:
Psychics are heretics and thieves who practice witchcraft.
It’s kinda true, isn’t it? As much as I love psychic topics and witchcraft, scammers ABOUND these worlds. Well, ALL worlds actually.
How do you spot a scammer these days? Here’s a few observations – patterns if you will – based on what I’ve seen on Instagram:
+ They usually DM you first, soliciting their services to you. You’re not interested yet there they are, sliding into your DM’s.
+ They steal other people’s photos and identity. People I’ve followed have had their original photos and content stolen. Hence, the fugly watermarks became a necessity. Unfortunately, people’s words tends to get poached too, making it a lot harder to spot where it came from.
+ As soon as you follow some real IG profiles, they seem to “follow” you out of nowhere.
+ Nothing about their page looks authentic. They’re probably not showing their face either. If they are showing a pic, it’s probably somebody else’s.
+ They might threaten you via DM, saying you are “cursed” if you don’t follow their instructions AND send them a ridiculous amount of money before removing the “curse”. They’re playing on your fear of the unknown. Like, WHAT IF you are cursed? The seed’s been planted into your subconscious and it starts to makes you wonder…
Perhaps the more cunning of these types of people observe their targets from afar first to see who is most likely to fall for their scam. Maybe you’ve been having a streak of bad luck lately; you got into a terrible car accident, or something tragic happened recently that would cause you to put your guard down and believe that you might be “cursed”. You’ve also been a total wreck emotionally and aren’t feeling very grounded.
That’s when opportunity strikes for psychic scammers.
It happens sometimes even if you think you’re smart and careful. You’re gonna feel like a complete dumbass when it happens and that’s ok, lesson learned. Just don’t let it happen again.
Does it go both ways? Yes. I think the universe allows us to be vulnerable to these situations so we can learn from the experience.
Conclusion:
This was written on October 29, 2021. Their methods might have changed by then. Either way, always stay aware. They always say ‘be aware of your surroundings’ and that includes people as well. If something is too good to be true, it probably is. Someone offering you something for “free” isn’t necessarily free. If you have any doubts with something, trust your instincts. Research the person reaching out to you. If you can’t find any legit info about them online, it’s probably a scam. Don’t forget to block and report.
bookmark_borderSocial Media Observations & Ramblings
Mostly based on my own behavior, I noticed that:
– People just aren’t paying attention as much. For me personally, my attention span dips in and out. The millions of people promoting or sharing something can be taxing and I have other things on my mind these days. Maybe it’s because I’m getting old? Idk. I was also one of those people promoting or sharing something for a hot minute…I got sick of myself.
– One of the things I learned about marketing your business is that if you want people to pay attention, then you have to post A LOT. This is how people will remember you, through repetition. It’s annoying as fuck tbh but it works. Posting a lot in my opinion though, eventually leads to burnout especially if it’s not producing some kind of return (a lead or a sale of your product). I definitely felt this with my crystal shop and that’s why I haven’t posted in some time now. Although I had a couple of loyal folks who always bought crystals from me (if you’re reading this – thank you, I love & appreciate you!), the majority of my crystal sales never came from posting on Instagram anyways.
– Posting a lot won’t necessarily bring the results you want. If anything, the majority of people just want to be entertained by what you post. They don’t always want to buy, which is why I think the shop section of IG is pointless. I’m definitely one of those people who also rejects a lot of ads (most of them are irrelevant anyway)…which is why it’s hard for me to do ads for my own business. Too critical for my own good.
– I haven’t been very successful with my own entrepreneurial endeavors; thanks to the neverending pandemic, I kinda gave up on it. I tried it, but wasn’t built for it. Did the universe spare me from struggling and putting myself in a situation I didn’t really want to be in? Probably. That or being programmed to be an employee for life has taken its toll.
– As usual, I’m bored with everything that I’m doing and I don’t know what’s next for me. A friend did a channeled card reading for me recently and also sensed my eternal state of boredom. Sigh. Anyways, here’s an excerpt from Mystic Medusa‘s Astral DNA Report aka her take on my natal chart that at least gives me some clues as to why I can’t just settle as a “personal brand”:
Neptune House X
Their public image can be mysterious: an alias, nom de plume or a brand conceals the true persona. Tenth House Neptune people are adrift in an ocean of treacherous career currents until they find or create their true vocation. Their c.v. is peppered with surreal episodes, a twilight zone of enigmatic gigs and of course, quite a few off-c.v. escapades. Whatever their official occupation, their title is really “magician” or “rainmaker.”
Enjoy this gif I made. Happy Scorpio season!
bookmark_borderI Like Creating Cute Things II
I didn’t realize how much digital stuff I’ve created over the years until I had to organize it this week.
This one’s super cute. I like creating cute things, remember? I made everything except for the baby chick. Unfortunately I don’t have all the time in the world to create everything from scratch so often times I gotta cheat.
Here’s one I did for work using the same concepts from
Photoshop Tutorial: How to Make DAT ASS Shake!?
Just literally two frames repeating over and over again.
I struggle with using the actual animation timeline in Photoshop so it seems easier to just animate things frame by frame. Also the file size needs to be small.
I’ve not been in a Halloween mood even though I’m glad it’s this time of the year and all. It’s been 2 years since Roxy left and I’m not feeling festive.