RAVENCLAW: “Studying whether there’s life on Mars or studying how the universe began, there’s something magical about pushing back the frontiers of knowledge. That’s something that is almost part of being human, and I’m certain that will continue.” –Sally Ride
This was one of the biggest barriers I faced when starting to get into Irish myth (back in the days before Youtube, unfortunately), so hopefully this video by Lora O’Brien will help some folks.
anyway tear gas is actually a fucking nerve agent that can absolutely kill you and even though governments think its cool to spray it on kids the geneva convention disagrees
i’ve been thinking about this all day. speaking as a person who has been tear gassed to hell and back i wouldn’t fucking wish that sensation on my worst enemy let alone CHILDREN. it’s beyond words. don’t believe people when they tell you it’s for crowd control. it’s not. it’s to make crowds PANIC. it’s to make you fear for your life. it’s to make you feel like you’re dying. it can trigger panic attacks and asthma attacks in young people and heart attacks in the elderly. it’s fucking unconscionable is what it is and every single government who uses it should be shamed for eternity
Area of Origin: Inuit Cultures (Indigenous populations of Canada, Alaska, Greenland)
In Inuit mythology, an Ijiraq (plural: Ijirait) is a sometimes malevolent shapeshifter that kidnaps men, women and children alike. Though its true appearance can only be seen by Shamans, which is said to resemble that of a human with their eyes and mouths situated on their sides, so that they “blink sideways”, they’re rarely seen this way. Though they’ve developed among humankind and inserted themselves into every day life, they often transform into arctic animals or hybrids to disguise themselves. Ijirait are believed by some to be the same thing as or at least very much associated with the Tariaksuq, a similarly shadowy and deceptive creature that takes the form of a half-man half-caribou hybrid. Ijirait are reported to be very fast runners, incredibly strong, able to cause ground tremors, and are stated by some to be what people turn into after death.