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Slavic Polytheism and Magic Notes (1 of 5): Intro/Basics

Welcome to part 1 of 5 in my Slavic polytheism and magic 101 notes!

Disclaimer: I am in no way an expert. I’ve actually been worshipping gods from the Slavic pantheon (Veles mostly) for less than a year, so I’m very very new. However, I’m a researcher at heart, and since it can be very difficult to find reliable Slavic paganism resources in English, I decided to type up my current cited notes to make them available to others.

I will include a works cited at the end of each post, but the two resources I’m drawing from the most are: Slavic Folklore by Natalie Kononenko, and Forests of the Vampire: Slavic Myth by Charles Phillips and Michael Kerrigan.

The former is a more academic book mostly focused on Russian and Ukrainian stories and languages, the second is more of a coffee table book with condensed historical and mythological snippets, mostly Russian. “Slavic” encompasses a lot of cultures beyond these, so given the focus of my sources, these posts will obviously be limited. My posts will also be tailored to my own interests, especially Veles and death work, so if you’re looking for other information, I recommend reading these books on your own if you can.

Who can worship the Slavic pantheon or incorporate these practices into their lives?

Anyone, of any culture, race and ethnicity, sexuality, gender, etc, can respectfully learn, worship, and practice. This is an OPEN culture. I’m a QWoC who was called by Veles. Nazis fuck off.

Along those lines: some English resources for Slavic polytheism (sometimes called Rodnovery) are inaccurate and very scary, in the genocidal white supremacist sense. One such author to avoid is Dmitriy Kushnir. Please be careful.

What constitutes the Slavic ethno-linguistic geographical region?

It’s very broad, ranging from Central, Eastern, Southeastern, and Northeastern Europe, and North and Central Asia. The site of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster may have actually been the original home region of ancient Slavs (Kononenko 3).

What are the historical sources for pre-Christian Slavic beliefs?

In 988, Kievan Rus (under Prince Vladimir) formally accepted Byzantine Christianity conversion (Phillips & Kerrigan 23). The earliest known historical document in the Slavic world was compiled after this, titled the Primary Chronicle: “It covers the period from 850 to 1110 of the common era and was written in a monastery in Kyiv. The original no longer exists and we know of it from copies called the Laurentian Codex and the Hypatian Codex” (Kononenko 182).

Therefore, most beliefs prior to this only survived in writing filtered through this lens, or were passed down through storytelling, family traditions, and references in other historical documents. Piecing together the Primary Chronicle and other documents has resulted in some Slavic gods and practices being attested (182), but without much detail. Pre-Christian beliefs generally ended up merging with Christian beliefs and practices, and survived this way as well (Phillips & Kerrigan 24).

There is probably no known pre-Christian religious document depicting stories or worship of the Slavic gods. Only one “source” like this is known, The Book of Veles, translated by Kachur into English in 1973 (Kononenko 4-5), but this book is generally considered to be a forgery and not an authentic ancient document (186).

What does this mean for modern practitioners of Slavic polytheism?

Extracting lots of possibilities from tiny, incomplete snippets of information, untangling pre-Christian gods from their merging with Christian figures, learning from people’s descriptions of family traditions and magical practices, and lots of UPG!

My next (much longer) posts will be as follows:

2. Slavic Magic and Rituals: General 3. Slavic Magic and Rituals: Death Work 4. Slavic Gods and Entities: General 5. Slavic Gods and Entities: Veles

Thanks for reading! Please feel free to reblog and spread around, add information, ask questions, etc.

Works Cited

Kononenko, Natalie. Slavic Folklore: A Handbook. Greenwood Folklore Handbooks. Greenwood Press: Westport, Connecticut. 2007.

Phillips, Charles, and Kerrigan, Michael. Forests of the Vampire: Slavic Myth. Duncan Baird Publishers (text), Time-Life Books (series). Time-Life Books: BV, Amsterdam. 1999.

In the Western world, our conception of performance is intimately bound up with notions of “pretending,” “imitating” and “playing” (Foley, 1985: 27). When we see an actor on the stage, or in a movie, we do not assume that the actor actually is the character they are playing (even if we suspend our disbelief for the duration of the play or film). We implicitly assume that the actor portrays a role. A cross-cultural perspective, however, reveals that there are other ways of interpreting and understanding performance, which may provide alternative means for interpreting Western mediumship practices. For example, when in Candomble the medium “performs” as the Orisha, the movements are no longer understood to be under the medium’s direction; if this were not the case then the possession would not be a true possession. In fact, for the duration of the performance, the medium’s body is the body of the Orisha. Here performance is an actual transformation – not a simple role-play (Schechner, 1988). Similarly, for the Yanomamo Indians of the Venezuelan Orinoco Valley, when the Shaman incorporates the forest Hekura spirits, his body is transformed into a “cosmic body – the body is no longer under the control of the shaman’s consciousness but now the body of the Hekura spirit itself (Jokic, 2008). There is an understanding, therefore, that the body can be both a physical object and the locus of spiritual activity. In other words, the body is the point of contact between the physical and spiritual realms, and bodily performance is the means of expression for non-physical beings, just as Erving Goffman (1959: 253) suggests that the body is not only a “peg” on which a person’s self is “hung for a time” but also a primary means of self-expression for living human beings.[..]

Another interesting observation that the cross-cultural literature reveals is that in the mediumistic séance the altered states of the witnesses are very often just as important in establishing a dialogue with the spirits as the trance state of the medium. Indeed, it could be argued that the séance itself is a ritualized orchestration of consciousness: that the séance is specially designed to produce altered states in participants to enable this communication to take place.

Dr. Jack Hunter, Engaging the Anomalous

This is Zeus. He is a blind owl but still amazes people with his galaxy eyes. Zeus was rescued after he was found on the doorstep of someones house, it was thought that he flew into the house and injured himself because he couldn’t see where he was going. His home is in the Wildlife Learning Center. (Source)

At the same time, GM just complained that it was hurting their profits and was immediately switched back to Detroit water

https://www.autonews.com/article/20160131/OEM01/302019964/how-gm-saved-itself-from-flint-water-crisis

need more demon memes

Yeah sex is cool i guess (if you’re into that sort of thing) but have you ever tried blasphemy or moderate-to-severe heresy against the tyrant that calls himself “God”?

Traditional and Alternative Methods of Claiming Space

Casting a Circle is often believed to be a necessary step in the foundation of modern ritual. I would like to provide you with some alternative methods of ritual commencement and space-claiming which may assist in inspiring your creative exploration of the ritual world.

   Firstly, sacred spaces are not always circular, and various structures hold differing symbolism which can be applied to the scene of the ritual or spell. For example it is not uncommon for neo-Pagans to use a pentacle as their sacred spacial structure, or for modern-Kabbalists to use a tree of life or a star tetrahedron. As for magic being used in a ritualistic format in the first place, it is by no means a necessity. In fact some spells are best performed in the presence of everyday atmospheres. Much magic can occur without conscious intention, if we are going by Frazier’s definitions of magic as mimicking or imitating an action with the expectation that like produces like, or as a contagious substance with which the treatment of an object holding the contagious essence of the subject results in like treatment of the subject. The two clearly coalesce. As a scorned lover would throw away trinkets from one who has left them, and with those trinkets (hopefully) their feelings, so sympathetic and contagious magics are at work in our everyday lives.

   Now, there are still quite a few times when ritual and sacrament hold their place, of course, and I’m only barely touching on the importance and usefulness of ceremony in magic. Setting or claiming space is a universally acknowledged step in the process of magical and religious ritual. You should NOT however feel the need to abide by the popularized methods of circle-casting or space claiming. The structure of a circle with four main focus points and a central pillar has been used by various shamanic traditions from every corner of the world for as long as any can remember. The Golden Dawn order was one of the first to publish their Hermetic practices where the Western public could easily access them, so their method of calling elements from East/Air, to South/Fire, West/Water, to North/Earth is frustratingly common. It works great for some, but it doesn’t work as well for others, especially the magician who aspires to expand the forms of their ceremonial structures. One could subtly change that common method by substituting other deities or personalities into the structure, or mixing traditions. For example, calling down stars instead of elements, or adjusting the elements location to fit your hemisphere etc. I find it best to put it aside altogether.

   Other, less contemporary methods might be more effective for you, as they have been for me. For example sprinkling parts of plants in the space around me, lighting candles simply, presenting a dumb supper, beating the bounds, calling the spirits, bawming the thorns and briers, saining the participants, making rough noise, sweeping, treading the mill, smudging or meeting at a sacred place naturally made, rather than creating your own; e.g. crossroads, mounds or sacred groves or lakes.

   Beating the bounds is a way of raising energy and setting your territorial boundaries. One would take a sacred bough, branch, broom, cane, thyrsos, rattle, or scourge and walk the boundary of their sacred space, making a point of beating the space with their tools in the process. A less common and more cthonically inclined method would be urinating the boundary, quite literally marking your territory.

   Saining is an umbrella term for, essentially, liquid blessings, flung upon the participants with some sacred tool (again a bough, branch, wand or a staff) similar to how a common Chrisitan priest would bless a house with water. Holy Water is, blatantly, a ritual tool that predates the rise of the Christian empire, however it was not only water that was used to sain. More often than not, it was the blood of a sacrificed animal. Blood-saining, or Bleodsaining, would involve dipping the sacred tool into the revealed blood of the sacrificed animal and anointing the participants with its mark via whatever flinging tool is acting as mediator.

   Calling the spirits goes by different names depending on the method, one Cornish method is swinging a bull-roar around a few times which makes a loud droning sound. This noise echoes across hills and valleys far off. Other methods, such as the blowing of bone-horns or the playig of reed pipes, can be used and often include a repetitive, trance-creating movement or a loud or long noise.

   On the topic of loud noise is Rough Music Making, which is actually used to chase unwanted or harmful things away from the space (or the village on a larger scale) by making a huge ruckus with whatever instruments are available, even one’s own voice.

    Dumb Suppers are invitations to specific spirits or personalities by seating around a table which has set on it a place for an “empty” chair, to be filled by the spirit or personality. All the food set out on that place is for them to enjoy to whatever end they wish and various methods of disposal correspond. In neo-pagan ritual, this is a widely used practice on the eve of Samhain, because of its relationship to ancestor-worship. However, many examples of dumb suppers can be seen around the world separate from this British holiday.

   Bawming the Thorn–A kind way of setting space is bawming the area around it, otherwise stated as decorating or dressing the surrounding undergrowth or branches. Hanging flowers, ribbons and bells is a sweet way of creating the ambiance of a lively or gentile ritual.

   Treading The Mill is a term with a depth, but just on the surface it is often practiced as a space-claiming, energy raising dance. In one form of this dance the congregation would begin by clutching each other, hands to shoulder or elbow, turning outward to face away from the central pillar, and galloping or lame-stepping in one direction or the other.

   Smoke Cleansing is very common and just involves the burning of various plants or other materials to permeate the air with the intended energetic senses, generally for cleansing and protective purposes.

   It is important to try things out and see what works for you. I think when the appropriate time for a sacred space arrives, a well done space should protect, mediate, and give success to the operation at hand. See what types you can find or think up which do these for you.

-Dianaandpansson, July 29th, 2012

Avoiding scams in witchcraft

Not sure if someone has made a post like this or not, but I am seeing more and more obvious scams on my dash daily. As an experienced witch, let me tell you, I've come across my fair share of scams.

Here's how you can identify them:

"I have SECRETS that NO ONE ELSE has!! Also, NO ONE ELSE will teach you these secrets because they are MEAN and SECRETIVE. BUT I'M NOT. I will teach you. For a small fee for the 'risk'." You do not have to pay someone for "secrets" of any nature. Especially not as a beginner or even intermediate witch - you have so much information freely available to you. The most you might pay is the price of a book.

"I'm a psychic and I'm coming out of left field to tell you that you've been cursed, but no worries, I can lift it for you!! For a fee. :)" You would think this is obvious but verify, verify, verify. Also as a rule don't trust the spells of someone you don't know unless you know someone they've helped.

Be CAREFUL about magical services in general. People won't tell you this cause they want to make money, but SO MUCH is easy to fake. Jewelry with a companion in it? Bought that bulk for $1 a pop and scribbled in a .50 journal about it, sell for $35. No magic performed. Copy-pasted tarot, rune, and psychic readings. Sure, I cast that spell, send me $50. The thing is, unless you're talented enough to cast it yourself in the first place, you won't know when someone's conning you.

"This is DEFINITELY allnaturalorganicsupersafe scrub/balm/soap/lotion to apply to your *insert sensitive area* and yes it IS worth $85 I went to the rainforest myself to collect the ingredients." Just use some quick googling and your common sense, here. Certain herbs and essential oils are not meant for certain things. Just because they sell this stuff, doesn't mean they know what they're talking about.

Another good rule - if you're working with a vendor and they make an appeal to your guilt, your grief, your loneliness, etc.? Really good chance they're pressing that button to get you to spend. Some examples: "I see you are lonely let me cast a love spell $5 off for this thing you weren't going to get in the first place." "I can channel the spirit of your dead grandma via ouija. *disappears for three days* I was SHOOK her presence was SO powerful she said she loves you and she's happy, no I didn't ask her any identifying questions... $40 please."

"Ready to ADVANCE your CAREER as a WITCH??? WELL COME ON DOWN to LADY OF THE SILVER CHALICE DRAWN DOWN MOON DRAGON, ESQ.'s temple where I will PERSONALLY sign a $2 certificate saying you're a 3rd degree Ancient Knowing One after 3 sessions of 90 minutes of me ranting about how aliens built Egypt." Do some traditions observe degree systems? Yes. Make sure you're dealing with a reputable source before you fork over $300.

Cults. There are many good posts and online resources about this, but most cults are made to serve the creator in two ways: 1) Power/control. 2) Money. For me, it's not so easy to notice the power and control issues due to past trauma, but money? I sure as hell notice that. If they are pressuring you to make more, spend more, contribute more, and you can barely pay your bills? Get the fuck out of there.

If someone is giving you a service and they're asking for ANY method of payment that is not trackable, be wary. Now, it might be an old family friend and you hand cash over yourself, which is safer. But someone online asking to be paid through giftcards, or someone asking you to mail cash? Oof. Bad energy.

People can not so much "con" you but cost you extra money by playing the middle man for certain transactions. Sometimes it's worth it to have the middle-man; that can mean higher quality products and reliable delivery. But you could save yourself money if you know the item you're buying and go directly to the supplier. Often middle-men jack prices up considerably, sometimes more than they're worth, or even trade in worse quality products than they advertise. Consider your finances, look at who you're buying from, and look at the price tag.

Yes, it sucks to say, but some psychics really ARE just good cold readers (i.e., people who can read things off you with good questions and observing body language). Some may not even know it themselves. Any form of divination may suffer from this. Again, stick with those you trust, or at least consider that when you put down that money, it's a gamble.

"I can definitely make ALL your problems go away!!! except *insert small technicality I know won't make you say no*, with just 8 easy payments of $29.99!!" Big grandiose promises that ALMOST sound too good to be true are easier to let slide because they admitted there's a problem! They must be telling the truth! No, hon. They know exactly what they're doing. They're making big promises to get big money, and when you complain, they point to their terms of service and say "This was entertainment only." That exists there for a REASON, yes, and it does serve to protect legitamite practioners when, say, a tarot reading is slightly off because those readings are meant to guess at the future and that future can be changed. Some vendors abuse the hell out of it, though.

There ARE legitamite vendors and good reasons to spend cash in the community if you want to. But be careful out there.

Okay. You're not wrong, but I want to point out a few things.

1) I can't speak for what men experience in the OTO, so I won't. My post is about women so I will discuss women only. This post is specifically about misogyny, the hatred of women, so I would like to stick to that and not derail this conversation with "well it happens to men too" (though that I'm sure was not your intention). It's terrible this happens to anyone regardless of who they are, but we have to examine how the power structures and reasoning behind these evil actions differ.

With that being said, I hope these young men speak up and let their stories be heard. No one deserves sexual assault. I say that as a survivor myself.

2) Predators and misogyny have no politic, friend; let me be clear. I see this way too often--a rush to blame right wing sentiment instead of the actual problem, which is masculine culture and patriarchy as a whole. Maybe the top down facilitates the survival of bad behavior, but truly? By far the most insidious predators in my experience in OTO as a woman was not the obvious right winger with trad values. They were very easy to spot and avoid.

The most insidious predators were men who labeled themselves progressive and weaponized progressive ideology to invade women's spaces and manipulate their boundaries. Men who called themselves feminists solely so they could gain the trust and respect of others around them, then slowly poison the environment to their advantage. For real life examples:

Excusing unwarranted touching as simply being sexually libertine, a cherished value among Thelemic men,

Pushing someone's sexual boundaries as a kind of socio-political statement in the name of sexual freedom, with no regard to individual autonomy or individual comfort level,

Treating sexual attention like a special spiritual endowment, especially to young women/women with low self esteem,

Deflecting criticism of individual behavior by using social justice language, and hiding behind it ("I wouldn't do that! I'm a feminist! I voted for so-and-so!"),

Labeling women with strong sexual boundaries as "aggressive and belligerent" (something I was called when I reamed a dude out for the unwarranted touching), or labelling them "close-minded" or sexually unfree because of their personal choices, as a way to publicly degrade, humiliate and pressure them,

Abandoning feminist principles when it would have to apply to a woman they didn't like personally,

Playing women against each other by using social justice language to divide them, often over disagreements with men,

Performative feminism to gain the trust of younger women and girls, especially women and girls with low self esteem

These predators were smarter. They used language and ideology that is meant to protect women and instead used it as a cover and shield for their actions. They knew that being overtly sexual in a manner like Trump would not get them anywhere, so they instead manipulated progressive values to make women more sexually available to them and create an environment where vulnerable women were more accessible. I have seen far more toxic and snakelike behavior out of men that loudly yell at everyone how feminist they are than I have out of straight and openly misogynistic good ole boys. To this DAY I still look askance at men that say they have such huge stakes in feminism, or call themselves a feminist as opposed to a feminist ally. To me it has almost become a red flag for smoke screens, deception, and underhanded sexual manipulation.

While I agree Trump supporters are vile, I would really turn your eyes to some of these men inside the order that loudly declare themselves feminists to cover for their behavior. They are a much, much more cunning and deceptive bunch.

I met my rapist at an OTO lodge. And he was exactly that kind.

3) if you're ashamed to identify as a Thelemite....then maybe don't.

Just my two cents.

Enheduanna is the world’s earliest known author. A woman who wielded incredible power and authority, her legacy has stretched over time longer than she likely ever anticipated.

BASIC BIO: (c. 2300 BC) Enheduanna was the daughter of King Sargon of Akkad, and appointed by him to be the high priestess of the goddess Inanna and god Nanna in the Sumerian city of Ur. This politically-motivated move (he knew she’d be good for unity in the kingdom) exposed Enheduanna to great power, and she was essentially responsible for Sumer’s entire spiritual system. In her capacity as priestess, she composed a number of poems and hymns, not only in devotion to her gods, but also in reference to herself. She is, to date, the first example of an artist who signed her work.

HER IMPACT: Enheduanna continues to be celebrated around the world for not only her writings, but for the social and political significance of her role as high priestess. Her writings are available to read online, and offer an interesting insight into the education and literacy of women in Sumerian culture. Neil deGrasse Tyson’s Cosmos series dedicates some time to her, and she is the subject of many modern feminist debates. Perhaps my favorite thing about Enheduanna is that what we know about her is informed largely by what she wrote about herself - it’s not the most unbiased portrait, but I love that she herself was allowed to create it.

Vintage women being badass. You’re welcome.

www.outrageauxbonnesmoeurs.tumblr.com

Men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth – more than ruin, more even than death. Thought is subversive and revolutionary, destructive and terrible; thought is merciless to privilege, established institutions, and comfortable habits; thought is anarchic and lawless, indifferent to authority, careless of the well-tried wisdom of the ages. Thought looks into the pit of hell and is not afraid. It sees man, a feeble speck, surrounded by unfathomable depths of silence; yet it bears itself proudly, as unmoved as if it were lord of the universe. Thought is great and swift and free, the light of the world, and the chief glory of man.—Bertrand Russell, Why Men Fight

Mao Hamaguchi

“There is clear evidence for the symbolic importance of cattle in Predynastic Egypt, but little evidence of the particular importance for the cow, as opposed to the bull. The most cited ‘evidence’ for a Predynastic cow goddess is that of the Naqada II to First Dynasty depictions of a bovine head shown facing forward in conjunction with five stars, one on each ear and horn, and one on top of the head. 

This head is similar to a later, little-known deity, Bat, a bovine with curled horns and human-shaped eyes and mouth; it is also sometimes said to be like Hathor. Bat represented the seventh nome… She is shown, for example, in one of a series of triads depicting King Menkaure of the Fourth Dynasty accompanied by Hathor and one male or female nome deity. Thus, as far as we can tell, she was never a major deity. Hathor, as we shall see was a major goddess who sometimes took cow form.”

― Dancing for Hathor: Women in Ancient Egypt, by Carolyn Graves-Brown

This is incredibly funny

The story of the Distant Goddess is absolute proof that it’s a crime that Ancient Egyptian mythology hasn’t entered the popular conciousness in the same way as Greek stuff.

Homebrew celebration of summer solstice. Dedicated to Freyja.

As night approaches burn a bonfire by a lake or the ocean to honor Freyja by her parents, as they are the sea and the lakes. One can also have a cleansing swim to represtent Freyjas birth.

At midnight, when the sun never sets and darkness never swallows, bring forth your alter. Place upon it a bowl of water, three red candles, and representations of nature and your intent, of your liking.

If you have yet to be outside this night I recomend sitting outside for a while, simply enjoying the sounds, smells and feels of nature and the world around you. Let it soak into your soul and prais Freyja for all that she brings this season.

Burn the three candles clockwise to represent the comming time and sprinkle water from the bowl on your representation of nature, as a thank you for what they bring.

When done with your intended prayer, blow out the candles in the same manner as they were litt and pour the water outside, back into nature.

Don’t forget that in four weeks time it is midtsommersblot. The day in the midle of summer when offerings are made for the gods and our ancestors. And we drink and dine in their honour.

Witch Tip

the-eye.eu is a huge public database that has countless free PDFs of all sorts of occultist books and grimoires. Go forth and read.

an-gin mah-a-za he-zu-am ki-gin daĝal-la-za he-zu-am ki-bal gul-gul-lu-za he-zu-am kur-ra gu de-e-za he-zu-am saĝ ĝiš ra-ra-za he-zu-am ur-gin ad gu-u-za he-zu-am igi huš-a-za he-zu-am igi huš-bi il-il-i-za he-zu-am igi gun-gun-na-za he-zu-am uru-na nu-še-ga-za he-zu-am u-ma gub-gub-bu-za he-zu-am

Be it known that you are lofty as the heavens! Be it known that you are broad as the earth! Be it known that you destroy the rebel lands! Be it known that you roar at the foreign lands! Be it known that you crush heads! Be it known that you devour corpses like a dog! Be it known that your gaze is terrible! Be it known that you lift your terrible gaze! Be it known that you have flashing eyes! Be it known that you are unshakeable and unyielding! Be it known that you always stand triumphant!

Lines 123-133 from The exaltation of Inana (Inanna B)

Note: determinatives and sign numbers were omitted for formating reasons.

“National Geographic called me and asked me to write the feminist facts about how The Lion King gets lion pride dynamics all wrong. I happily complied. Lions are matrilineal!! 

When I contacted Craig Packer, one of the world’s leading lion researchers, to talk  about this story he was IMMEDIATELY AVAILABLE. He Skyped me almost instantly from a camp in Kenya and said he’s been waiting for someone to ask him this question since the original film came out.

Anyway, if The Lion King were real, Nala would be the star, Sarabi would be holding her up saying everything the light touches is our kingdom, Simba would have left and never come back, and when Nala got old enough Sarabi would have carved out a territory for her to rule.”

- Erin Biba‏ 

In real life, Simba’s mom would be running the pride

homophobes are not allowed to use computers because the inventor of the computer was gay

Assuming he doesn't get reelected, half of the Trump presidency is over. Your thoughts?

First of all, we cannot assume that we won’t be re-elected. We have to fight to elect a different President. We assumed that Donald Trump would lose in 2016, and look where that got us. No assumptions. Vote and organize others to vote. That’s what is most important.

As for my thoughts on the first two years of the Trump Administration, I genuinely believe that he is the worst President in American history. I believe that he is the most destructive force in American history. I believe that he is a dangerous and destabilizing force to the world as a whole. I am humiliated to be an American every time I see or hear him speak, and I often can’t tell whether I’m more angry or more sad when there is absolutely zero accountability when he does something or says something that no other President or major political figure would have previously gotten away with doing or saying. The President has accomplished nothing outside of appointing two radically partisan justices to the United States Supreme Court and nominating dozens of similar judges to the federal judiciary. He is the most blatant, despicable liar I think I have ever seen in any aspect of American life, and it usually doesn’t matter because he’s built a legitimate cult of personality that millions of Americans have completely bought into, devotedly support, and consistently defend – no matter what. He openly declares his respect for tyrannical leaders around the world and brazenly expresses his wishes for many of their authoritarian powers. Nothing about him or his Presidency is normal. Much of it is clearly dangerous to our system of government and threatens the rule of law. He is – according to the accounts of almost everyone who has worked with him closely – extraordinarily ignorant and careless about his job and the effect that his actions and words have on the everyday lives of each and every American, and people around the world. I could continue, but I’ll never be able to fully express all of the reasons why he is such a hazard to our country and our world. Donald Trump is an American embarrassment, and because he is never held accountable for what he says, what he does, and the things that are damaged by what he doesn’t do, he continues to be a menace and an existential threat to our democratic republic.