For people who might not know - Wendy Carlos is a trans woman who was deeply influential in early electronic music and hugely involved with the push to have synthesizers seen as real instruments.
Some of the movies Wendy Carlos did the soundtracks for, that you may know:
A Clockwork Orange
The Shining
Tron
She has three Grammys, and a lifetime achievement award from the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States.
Oh and she also takes photos of eclipses that are so good Nasa uses them.
Billy Tipton (1914-1989) was a jazz pianist and saxophonist active from the 1930s through the 1970s. He began living as a man around 1933; his transgender status was only revealed to the world after his death. Tipton never formally married; however, he had five long-term partners throughout his life, all women, the last four of which were unaware that he was not a cis man. He concealed his trans status from them by stating that he was in a car accident which damaged his ribs and genitalia; he went on to adopt and raise three sons. After his death in 1989 it was discovered that he was transgender; a former lover of his had his body cremated as to not out him to the media, but one of his sons later came forward with the story.
А trans man in the photos was born in the 1890′s in Orel province, Russian Empire, and was named Ivanova Varvara. He used bandages for binding, and he forbade others to call him by his women's’ name. At a young age, he enrolled in a cavalry regiment, which was the armed force, and stayed in it until the very moment of disbandment. After the Russian revolution of 1917, he returned to his native village Limovoe, where he worked as a tractor driver and was a beekeeper.
In 1952, Christine Jorgensen appeared in The New York Daily News after her return to her native United States from Denmark, where she underwent sex reassignment surgery. The paper incorrectly stated that Christine was the first recipient of this surgery (two other trans women had undergone the procedure two decades previously). She was, however, the first trans person to undergo hormone replacement therapy. After her first surgery Christine wrote to a friend: “Remember the shy, miserable person who left America? Well, that person is no more and, as you can see, I’m in marvelous spirits.”
Christine was a sensation in her home state of New York. She used her newfound fame as a platform on which to advocate for transgender people. Complications in her personal life arose when Christine was blocked from marriage to a man because her 1926 birth certificate listed her sex as male. This prompted her later influence on other trans people’s decisions to change their assigned sex and names on birth certificates. As an advocate and spokesperson, Christine spoke publicly about her experiences. She was also not one to take offensive comments lightly, once walking off The Dick Cavett Show live.
Throughout the 70′s and 80′s Christine also performed as an actress and entertainer. In one act she sang a song entitled “I Enjoy Being a Girl” at the end of which she changed into a Wonder Woman costume. She was also known for her direct nature and great wit. Christine died in 1989 at the age of 62. Just before her death she said she had given the sexual revolution “a good swift kick in the pants.” She was inducted into the Legacy Walk in 2012.
[IDs: First image is a full body photo of Christine Jorgensen, a fair skinned blonde woman, sitting on a stairway railing. She is wearing a knee length black dress, black pumps, a white fur coat, and red lipstick. She is sitting with her legs crossed and smiling at the camera.
Second image is a scan of a newspaper headline that reads “Ex-gi becomes blonde beauty. Operations transform Bronx youth.”
Third image is another photo of Christine. She is wearing a black hat, brown fur coat, colorful scarf brown gloves, and red lipstick. She is surrounded by many microphones and has a cigarette in her hand. She is smiling and looking to the right of the camera. End IDs.]
‘In 1778, two Irish gentlewomen put on men’s clothing and ran away together. Lady Eleanor Butler had received several offers of marriage but was determined to share her life with her friend Sarah Ponsonby. […] They spent the rest of their lives in a black and white house called Plas Newydd outside Llangollen, cultivating their garden, improving their minds and filling the house with clocks, cabinets and “whirligigs of every shape and hue”. [They also had] a little dog called Sapho.’
besoms are a witch’s ritual broom; they are excellent tools for cleansing, blessing and spellcasting. i personally find besoms to be just as useful and integral in my craft as wands, if not more.
in tradition, besoms were made with sacred woods; a shaft of ash, twigs of birch as bristles, and strands of willow to bind it together. ash brings prosperity and protection, birch for cleansing, and willow for lunar goddess magick. of course, different woods have different properties, and based on what you want your besom to embody, you can use any of these woods:
alder for decision making and courage
ash for health and prosperity
cedar for power and strength
hawthorn for fae magick and rebirth
hazel for creativity and knowledge
maple for longevity and luck
oak for truth and protection
there are many ways to use a besom in witchcraft. a common use is to cleanse a ritual area or space before casting spells, by literally sweeping away any residual energies (though the besoms doesn’t have to touch the floor - leave the dust sweeping to the household broom!). similarly, you can cleanse your home by sweeping the energies up and sending them out the front door. if a guest brings negative energy with them for a visit, simply sweep the area in which they resided after they’ve left.
besoms are also protective. simply placing one by your front door is a powerful protective charm of its own. placing it under your bed is one way to prevent nightmares or harmful energies from influencing your dreams.
lastly, besoms are a symbol of unity, marriage and love; traditionally, pagan weddings involve the couple jumping over a besom as a part of the ceremony. for this reason, hanging a besom in your home can strengthen a relationship, bring marital harmony, or draw a powerful love to those without it.
