VervainTheWitch

I have logged in recently to try to rectify my old 1 ratings and I am in the process of reaching out to folks I flaked on a decade ago.

If you're curious as to what happened, I was a "gifted" honors student living with undiagnosed autism and adhd, and I experienced my first bout of autistic burnout. I fell into a deep depression, in a downward spiral that started with trying to juggle too many things and gradually losing the reins, and ended with me completely self-isolated, I stopped checking/responding to all messages, started failing all my classes, and dropped out of college.

The last ten years have been a crazy journey and I've learned a lot about my mental health. After I miscarried my first pregnancy last November, I started to really get back into crafting and making mixed media art, and remembered swap-bot. I really loved swapping here and it weighed heavy on my heart that I lacked the mental and emotional stability to followed with commitments I made here, commitments I WANTED to keep, but didn't know how.

Anyhow, I came back here thinking maybe I could Angel a few swaps if the site even still existed (I'm delighted to see that it does!). I am currently in the process of reaching out to folks I flaked on back in 2013 to see if they're open to me making it up to them now. We shall see!

In the interest of honesty, the rest of this profile after the break is frozen in time in 2013. I'm now 30, married, and much has changed... and if I can rectify my old 1 ratings, maybe I'll update my profile to reflect more of who I am now... but for now, I'll leave the below as is.

20-year old college student studying English, Art History, Japanese. Honors thesis on Japanese-Western cultural exchange 1853-present.

Polyamorous, pansexual, polymath, pagan, person... lots of P's.

I'm a Green Witch, a Wiccan. I connect with many goddesses and several gods, and I focus heavily on tarot. Also big into runes and tasseomancy.

I'm a Victoriana enthusiast, used to do some civil war reenacting, still definitely into the history, the fashion, and the dancing. I would still reenact if I had the means.

Victoriana is part of what got me into Japonisme, via French Impressionism. Japonisme is the reason I'm learning Japanese. 今、私は日本語を話すのが上手じゃないですが、毎日勉強します。ならっています！ I'm very musical--sing, compose, play piano, drums, sometimes other things. I've done rock bands, choirs, gospel choirs, musicals, and operas. I plan to do them all again. Also used to do more theatre than I do now, plan to get back into that after college. For now I'm writing screenplays.

I express myself through fashion. My clothes are an art form, not just shelter from the storm.

I'm an art addict, book addict, adventure addict, food addict. I once felt the need to point out to a friend which works of art on the walls of my four-person apartment belonged to me... and then realized they were all mine. I can't go to a museum without buying a book, and I definitely can't go to a used bookstore without buying at least five. Usually poetry, short stories, non-fiction, and classics. I love travel, and exploring. I love places, and getting to know them. I love to cook, and I'm trying to figure out how to cook for my boyfriend, who is deathly allergic to milk and pretty allergic to eggs.

Absolute favorite: Tom Waits

Folksy, Gypsy, World, &c.: Karine Polwart, Flogging Molly, Stan Rogers, the Pogues, the Dubliners, the Cranberries, Coco Briaval, Rogues' Gallery (compilation series), etc., Putamayo: A Jewish Odyssey, Jim Croce, Fiamma Fumana, Zaz, Emilie Loizeau, Indigo Girls, etc.

Music I probably only like because I'm pagan, but REALLY like: S.J. Tucker, Sharon Knight, Mediaeval Baebes, Blackmore's Knight, Emilie Autumn, etc.

Weird '80s stuff: Nina Hagen, Lene Lovich, Holy Sisters of the Gaga Dada, etc.

Pop & Rock: P!nk, Lady Gaga, Beatles, Annie Lennox, Eurythmics, Lucinda Williams, Neil Young, etc.

Indie & Alternative: Elliott Smith, Nick Drake, the White Stripes, Suzanne Vega, etc.

Jazz, Blues, & Swing: Ella Fitzgerald, Puppini Sisters, Pete Jacobs and his Wartime Radio Revue, Etta James, Ben Harper, Johnny Winter, Miles Davis, Fred Astaire, etc.

Opera & Instrumental: Cecilia Bartoli, Maria Callas, Mozart, Debussy, Beethoven, Zimmer, etc.

Electroswing: The Electro Swing Revolution (all three volumes), Movits!, etc.

Et cetera.

Novels: Harry Potter, Sherlock Holmes, Jane Austen, J.R.R.Tolkien, Neil Gaiman, etc.

Short Stories: Sherlock Holmes, Neil Gaiman, O. Henry, Edgar Allan Poe, fairy tales, etc.

Poems: Tony Hoagland, Seamus Heaney, Garrison Keillor, Tracy K. Smith, Ogden Nash, Rudyard Kipling, J.R.R.Tolkien, etc.

I'm liberal with my definition of god and goddess, and work with many from standard mythologies as well as women and men from history, literature, et cetera.

Goddesses/Women: Athena, Billow Maidens, Eowyn, Freyja, Hel, Jeanne d'Arc, Lilith, Ma'at, Mae West, Medusa, Nut, Persephone, Scheherazade, Queen Sigrith of Sweden, Sigyn, Veritas, Wyrd Sisters.

Gods/Men: Apollo, Cernunnos, Dumbledore, Gandalf, Heimdall, Loki, Odin, Poseidon, Sherlock Holmes, Thoth, Tom Waits.

My primary element is Earth, close second is Water, close third is Fire, but I feel almost no connection to Air. I'm working on creating one.

I feel very connected to Mermaids, Snakes, and Spiders. I wish I felt more comfortable working with Arachne, but I don't want the associations of excessive pride and suicide.

My Magickal name is Vervain.

No food allergies or dietary restrictions (but my boyfriend is deathly allergic to whey, a protein found in milk and dairy products).

No animal, plant, smoke, or drug allergies (but my boyfriend is allergic to cats).

In fact, no allergies.

Shoe: US Women's 8.5

B-W-H: 39-31-41"

Pierced ears, blue hair, no other piercings.

I smoke hookah.

I don't smoke anything else, ever.

Mermaids, Sherlock Holmes, Nancy Drew, Pagan, cooking, Japan, Japanese, food, black and white, Victorian, civil war, Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, pre-Raphaelite, Medusa, poetry, Shakespeare, tea, coffee, candles, incense, dried leaves/flowers, strawberries, chocolate, nuts, hot peppers, spicy food, garden pictures, fairy tales, circus, gypsy, Jessica Rabbit, architecture, runes, Norse, Celtic, Egyptian, scarabs, Mexican, foreign, travel, stamps, seals, wax, ink, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Darth Vader, James Bond, Disney princesses, Mario (especially Toad, Peach, and Daisy), mushrooms, Music, sheet music, underwater, fairies, witches, Halloween, mythology, spring, pirates, nautical, sea turtles, elephants, India, alphabets, riddles, codes, puzzles, recipes, art, magick, bottles, cameos, matryoshkas, dolls, celestial, glitter, nail art, dia de los muertos, bones, skeletons, skulls, cemeteries, graveyards, old photographs, Alice in Wonderland, jazz, opera, New Orleans, bottles, bottlecaps, tarot, languages, old cars, Volkswagen, HERBIES, steampunk, hot air balloons, Marie Antoinette, Arthurian legend, fish (yellow tang!), seahorses, cats, rabbits, rabbit fur, zebra, feathers, hookah, Scheherazade, Arabian nights, short stories, British humor, bento, books, Pokemon (first gen, especially Oddish!), surrealism, pumpkin, apple, vervain, daisies, vanilla, coconut, coffee, whiskey flavor, wine flavor, pin-up, piano, lipstick, Mae West, webcomics, corsets.

Favorite color is chartreuse, but I love all greens, most oranges, and all bright colors. I also really like black, and white and cream are really nice. What I tend not to be a fan of is beige, and colors that have been drabbed down... usually. It's actually really hard to find a color I don't like if you like it, but chartreuse is definitely my favorite.

Where metals are concerned, I prefer silver-tone. I really don't like multiple metal-tones on one piece.

Not a dog person, usually. My family has a papillon named Faraday whom I adore, though. I love cats, but I don't have one right now.

Favorite flower is the daisy.

Favorite Disney princesses are Esmeralda, Jasmine, Belle, Ariel... but seriously I love them all.

Favorite artists are Vincent van Gogh, Edouard Manet, John William Waterhouse, Paul Cezanne, Emily Balivet, Piet Mondrian, Pierre Auguste Renoir, Auguste Rodin, Edgar Degas, Katsushike Hokusai, Utagawa Hiroshige, Gustave Caillebotte, Childe Hassam, Berthe Morisot, Paul Gauguin, Emile Bernard, Georges-Pierre Seurat, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Alphonse Mucha, Heinrich Kley, Alberto Vargas, Roy Lichtenstein, Rene Magritte, Arthur Rackham, Jean Paul Gaultier, Salvador Dali, Elsa Schiaparelli, John Galliano, M.C. Escher, Henri Riviere... I'm going to stop now.

These may not ever be relevant, but just in case:

• bottlecaps
• handkerchiefs
• Japonisme/Japonaiserie
• pressed pennies
• novelty neckties
• novelty mugs/teacups
• white/clear/silver dishes
• mermaids
• International dolls/ dolls representing cultures across the world -- also dolls in general (yes, even including barbies)

AND FINALLY: Pins, especially for places I have been. I put these on the inside of my black leather jacket which makes a fantastic conversation piece. Places I HAVE pins for: Switzerland, Salzburg, Neuschwanstein, Prague, Dachau, Victoria & Albert Museum, Musee Rene Magritte, Munich, Budapest, Amsterdam, van Gogh Museum, den Haag, Holland, Brussels, Hampstead Heath, Sequoia, and Austin. Places I have been but DO NOT HAVE pins for: Paris, London, Venice, Liege, Bruges, Canterbury, Washington D.C., Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Yosemite, Utrecht, and Athens.

England:

• Yorkie raisin & biscuit bars (not plain)
• Aero Mint bars (not regular Aero)
• Fortnum & Mason Royal Blend loose tea
• Barry M makeup, esp. Dazzle Dust or Wink Marker Pen
• custard creams
• bourbon creams

Netherlands:

• de ruijter chocoladevlokken of chocoladehagel (puur, aub)
• stroopwafelen
• roomboterwafeltjes

• recipes
• watercolor paintings
• mail art
• ink drawings
• original celtic knotwork
• poetry
• upholstery fabric samples
• tarot readings
• rune readings
• numerology readings
• spells/charms/etc (I write my own or borrow with permission)
• shisha (new)
• photography (my own)
• salt dough dolls
• altered cigar boxes
• altered bottlecaps
• altered matchboxes
• let me know if there's anything else you're looking to get your hands on!