Catching up yet again: Christmas at Stony Hall
Yet again, there would have been so much to talk about last month, but the posts didn't happen. But as picspams always seem a good way of remembering stuff and rambling about it, I'll do a holiday picspam! While the holiday season isn't entirely over yet, so this is still relevant! That way, we'll also catch up with the kids? I hope
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Interactive verbal communication is a different kind of listening from passively hearing and remembering. I have this same trait: I remember what I hear, whether words or music, but 'remembering' isn't the same as 'comprehending'.
In interactive communication, one has to comprehend what the other person is saying, and doing so requires a lot more than just knowing what words they spoke. There's all the non-verbal context to process simultaneously, and non-verbal context has a terrible noise-to-signal ratio. One could sum up the problem as, "I know what you said, but I'm not sure what you mean."
Heh, I fell down the rabbit-hole of research on moon-cut wood - or rather the lack of it, as I found no peer-reviewed studies. There is a strong folklore tradition claiming that wood dries best when cut in the Moon's waning, but the Moon's documented effect on vegetation is only really significant at the equator, and is negligible for us in the North. Of course wood cut in the cold months does dry better, because the sap's out of it.
In the making of magickal items, the timing of the Sun and Moon matter in the cutting of the wood - the kicker is that one can't just buy the wood, but must go out in the dark of the winter Moon to ceremonially cut it oneself. I guess if one wanted to build an enchanted violin, that would be the way to start.
*hugs*
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That is true, but it doesn't seem to be the problem that's at work here. Although who knows, maybe the signals I'm sending non-verbally don't match my words, and that's what confuses him? I'll have to watch out for that.
Of course wood cut in the cold months does dry better, because the sap's out of it.
Yep, and that's basically the relevant aspect! But that would lengthen the harvesting period from one week to at least four months, so, no more justification for quite such high prices! (Although wood, especially "better" wood than fir, is crazy expensive anyway. Anything that you can slap a "natural" or "organic" label on is crazy expensive, of course!)
Sure, if you're starting to involve magick, the exact timing becomes important, as does the act of creating an item - which you presumably shouldn't do immediately after having a major row with your significant other, even if the moon is in the perfect phase, unless you're really good at clearing your mind, right? But then, it also matters that you do it yourself, even if someone else might have more skill.
But when you're building a house, it's OK to let a carpenter do it!
To be fair, old houses have a fair bit of magic put into them - when we took out the attic floor in ours, we found mummified cats and witch's bottles and all that jazz, too - but ironically, you cannot even tell whether the wood was "moon-cut". After a mere four centuries, it makes absolutely no difference. ^^
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It's true; in making a magickal item, it's the making that matters. The item itself is no different from any item; it's just the focus for the construct one makes in one's mind. Having a major row would certainly alter that focus.
I don't see how moon-cut wood could make an iota of practical difference for anything but fine musical instruments. Even that seems dubious, but hey, if Stradivarius believed it, maybe there's something to it.
LOL 'after a mere four centuries' - the oldest timber-frame house in my entire country is only 380 years old.
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