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Faerie Queen in Spring )O(

Early spring blossoms

Merry meet all,

Snow coats the streets and sidewalks, determined to resist spring. The Pagan Association of Nova Scotia is hosting a Beltane Ball in May. I bought a ticket and I was completely inspired to work on my costume. I want to be a Faerie Queen! 

Although the event is in May, I”m busy preparing for it now. Faerie Queens are busy. I’m seized with inspiration. I pored over pinterest fae photos to get inspiration, including the faerie art by Brian Froud.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have a beautiful purple/ pink faerie dress. I examined the dress more closely and I noticed it’s in need of repair. The elastic in the casing in the sleeves was expired. I whipped out my sewing tools and patiently seam ripped the sleeves. I decided that clear elastic was too frail, even for a Faerie Queen. The sleeves are fixed. I want to add longer lower sleeves to the dress and make a shoulder ruffle. The faerie dress is fragile. The sleeve ruffle might stabilize the fabric. I lightly touched up the edges of the sleeves and bodice using clear nail polish to prevent fraying. I sewed  beautiful lavender colored embroidered flowers to the front of the faerie dress. That made the dress look even more beautiful. I want to sew a zigzag stitch to the dress hem. I sewed a shimmery trim to the dress hem. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also made a lovely hobo bag. I didn’t want to carry around a backpack all night, especially since I may be wearing faerie wings. I sewed myself a lovely magical hobo bag. I just love it. The faerie dress and the slip need more mending. 

I sewed a short overskirt to the faerie skirt and trimmed the overskirt with ribbon. The overskirt isn’t visible with the faerie dress, but I am sure if I dance or something, it will be visible then. The deep purple overskirt sprinkles faerie glitter everywhere. 

I am so proud of my faerie leaf mask. It turned out better than I expected. I don’t have the skills to work with leather (yet), so I used the cardboard from a cereal box. I painted the mask green using three coats and let the paint dry between coats. I used a scissors and an exacto knife to cut it out. I found a pattern and etched in the fine arched lines of the mask. I cut out the eyes. I used a hole punch on the far sides of the mask to be able to secure ribbon when I want to wear it. I plan to add moss, leaves (lots!), and feathers. I’ve decided to use artificial oak and maple leaves and glue them on with a hot glue gun. I promise to add photos when I am done. I also have to get my mitts on a pair of faerie ears. I found my faerie wand and wings. The fae gifted me a twig and I want to add it to the crown. I can’t wait till I get to Michaels arts and crafts. I glued green felt oak leaves, artificial leaves and flowers to the mask. I love how it looks. I have to make the large green felt oak leaf more stable and created a green butterfly from clay. I adhered a clay loop to the butterfly so I could hang it from a chain. The butterfly had to be secured with hot glue. I secured two long green velvet ribbons to the mask. I glued two green felt maple leaves to the back of the mask. I want the front and the back of the mask to look great. I repainted the back of the mask. I touched up the black paint on the mask with gold acrylic paint.  I painted a clear sealant to the mask. That makes it permanent and it also added a nice shine to the mask. The mask looks even more amazing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The corset – I seam ripped the fasteners on the corset. I’m installing eyelets to use as fasteners. Yup this sure is turning out to be a faerie queen costume. Today I installed the eyelets and laced up the bodice. I love how it’s all coming together. 

 I want to add herbs, gemstone chips and a tiny scroll to a small vial with a cork top, and coat green and purple candle wax on the cork, then insert a jump ring to attach to a chain, add another jump ring at the bottom of the vial, then add another fairyish charm such as a butterfly/ fairy feather or a gemstone. One vial is a gift for my friend and the second one will be for me. 

Today I attempted to sew the crinoline sleeve to the dress.  I could not sew the long sleeves to the shorter sleeves because both sleeves needed an elastic casing. I will use a safety pin to adhere the lower sleeves to the upper sleeves. The lower sleeves are beautiful. I did finally finish mending the slip, sewed in the zigzag stitch at the hem of the faerie dress, and sewed the shoulder ruffles but I still have to sew them onto the sleeves. I may have to sew by hand because my sewing machine does not like crinoline. I glued a few flowers to the dress. The faerie dress was a lot of work to repair, but I learned a lot in the process, so that made it worth it.

My crown

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I bought these beautiful butterfly clips which I will adhere to the dress. I have the faerie wand, mask, ears, wings and gown. The last detail I have to work out is a crown. I have a few options: the gold Arwen crown, a circlet, the circlet that came with the wings. I’ll figure it out. I have a few options for how to style my hair and makeup. I still have lots of time. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I want to coat the frayed parts of the faerie dress with clear nail polish. The fabric is fragile and tends to fray, so that should take care of it. I glued the fairy wings back onto the poor fairy. She can now fly and flit over tops of flowers or sip honey nectar tea. I touched up the faerie house a little bit. I painted a white crown of thorns with a spellbinding mixture of brown, green and gold. I love how it turned out. It looks regal, and earthy. The gold enhances the earthy brown color nicely. 

I sewed a second corset today. The corset is black with embroidered butterflies. I had to sew the black mesh fabric to natural black cotton because I didn’t want the interfacing to show. I sewed the lining separately then sewed them together. I had to make a slight adjustment to the corset size. Once I figured out how much extra fabric I needed, I stitched that to the corset. I have to install the eyelets. Then it will be complete. It looks great with the faerie dress and skirt! I used a pdf underbust corset pattern from Etsy. 

 

 

 

 

 

I finally installed the eyelets into the corset. The corset is complete. It was a lot of work to do that, but well worth it. I love how it looks now. Sweet and edgy. I set up my work area at the table, and hammered the grommets into the fabric. I hammered on a cloth covered board. I could see the indents from the hammering. I am happy the corset is done now. I chose deep blue velvet ribbon for lacing the corset. The corset looks beautiful. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I made a jar of faerie dust for a friend and I’m soon making one for another friend. I bought miniature bottles with chains from Michaels. I love that store! I ground chamomile, calendula, elderflower, lavender and rose petals to a fine powder then added the ground herbs to the jar. I sealed the jar with beeswax. It really looks like faerie dust. Well, it is!

 

 

This faerie queen will celebrate Beltane in style with my beautiful Beltane gown. Till then,,…

 

Blessings, Spiderwitch )O(

 

 

 

 

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Nature Allies

Merry meet all,

Hurricane Lee has blown and busted his way out of Nova Scotia. I am so relieved. The sun’s shining on my garden which is feebly picking itself up off the ground. Yes my garden is battered but my limp tomato plants have endured. My garden has endured a hurricane before and to my amazement, keeps going. I visited my garden and sent my plants healing energy. I fertilized a few plants this morning – peppers, tomatoes, beans, flowers. 

 Samhain is the next turn in the eternal Wheel of the Year. We are coming now to the time of the thinning of the veil. Or is it already thinning? Hear me out. I just endured yet another hurricane. There are a lot of natural disasters popping up and wreaking havoc in various parts of the world. The Goddess is pissed. Sorry for my language there but I just don’t know how else to say it. We have behaved badly and she is giving us a spanking. Perhaps the veil which in my opinion, is shredded and the dead are traveling closer to punish us. I actually believe this is possible. We are at the end. Like the Tower card in the tarot, the long end is coming. 

We ask too much of the earth. Everything we desire comes with a price. Unfortunately, those who expect the earth to keep providing and providing have zero intentions of ever giving up any thanks or acknowledgement for the blessings and gifts and instant gratification they have been given. They won’t stop there and that is the problem. I don’t believe the solution is to mess up another planet because we never learned our lessons here on Earth. The mandatory action is that we learn here – and get such a lesson as to get so scared we won’t repeat it ever again. So the lesson has to be severe and hard and relentless. It has to shake people into action, scare them, give them a vision of how bad it could get so we can then make it better. I would like to think we take that route but no, sadly it won’t happen. We will not revert to the 18th century way of living but if we are not more careful, then it may be apocalyptic, just like in the movies. I always wonder why more post-apocalypse movies aren’t being made. Many people choose to turn a blind eye. It is not in their backyard, so it’s not their problem. Wait till it creeps up on them. 

The actions we take now and the decisions we make can help though. It isn’t all gloom and doom. We can all take actions now, large and small, and perhaps ensure a bright future for ourselves and those we love. I leave offerings when I harvest/ forage from nature. I use only what I need. I have talked about this before on a post in the past but I do love to honour the nature spirits. I also forage and harvest sustainably and practice organic gardening methods. I use no pesticides and maybe my garden has tons of insects visiting it but it all somehow works out. 

We can also firm up our relationships with our chosen deities. Leave them offerings and pray to them more often. Include them a lot more in our daily actions. Be more grateful. This may help and it’s even better that we practice it consistently. Also, being positive helps. Be paws-itive! Pets can help hugely with this. Animals are amazing healers and are all about unconditional love. I love animals. Plants and animals are our friends, and the nature spirits are also our allies. We need to trust them again and be true to our word. 

The Fae are not our friends but they are not our enemies either. If they are returning, it is naive of us to assume it is for our benefit. They were driven into the hills and mounds and they probably remember that. That is why I try so hard to leave an offering, express gratitude and respect to them. I respect my elders and I can respect them too. I clean garbage up from the ground when I am waiting for a bus at the bus stop. I built a small fairy house and arranged the faeries in and around it. They probably appreciate that. 

The earth is not a trash can. Yet that is exactly how thousands of people treat earth. It is time to wake up. It is time to remember our mother and respect her. 

Blessings, Spiderwitch

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Bewitched Bookcase )O(

Coltsfoot in spring

 

Merry meet all,

Hello my dear readers! I have been so busy the last two days. I decided that since it’s spring, I needed to spruce up my kitchen. The bookcase was so much work to put together but it was so worth it! I am here to tell you how I created my beautiful spring bookcase. So sit back, have a cup of tea and read on…

I found the bookcase I liked on IKEA. The one catch was that the shelves aren’t wooden. I found a way around that. I might buy green placemats at the Black Market if they have them. The shelves are white steel, Epoxy/polyester powder coating. The bookcase is also made of wood. I got my Mom’s help to assemble the bookcase. We then realized I couldn’t paint the bookcase after it was assembled. Ok. So I had to paint the wood before we put it all together. I already had the perfect shade of moss green paint ready to go. So after she left, I set about preparing to paint. I gathered paint brushes, patience, the paint, a drop cloth and black garbage bags. The bookcase is an open shelf unit. 

It is still freezing outside. But I had to entertain a cat and paint a bookcase. Anyone who has a pet cat or dog knows how hard that can be. I barricaded myself in my bedroom with the bookcase and the paint supplies and got to work. First I cut up an old bedsheet, and 5 or 6 black garbage bags. I taped the garbage bags to the bedroom furniture and to the office chair to avoid paint stains. I put down the drop cloth. The drop cloth was so aggravating. The shelving sections kept sliding on the cloth. There was some paint on the floor by the time I was done. I did my best to avoid a big mess. The back door was open all day to let Penny see out the screen window. Eventually I finished and let the shelving units dry. I had taped a small section on the shelving units so I could turn them around and avoid paint on my hands which happened anyway. The next morning, I had to clean up my apartment which resembled a war zone because Mom was coming over to finish assembling it. 

 

 

 

 

 

Ugh. I made myself some coffee and tidied up the apartment. I touched up the shelving units and checked them over. They looked great. I washed the floor, threw away the garbage, and cleared an area to work in. We assembled the bookcase. We enjoyed tea and lemon bread as we worked. Penny stayed out of my way as we assembled and I painted the bookcase, which I really appreciated. She returned home. Now I was ready for the final and most fun step: decorating it!

I gathered the artificial moss, butterfly and insect stickers, hot glue gun and glue sticks, the pinecones I found outside, bird feathers, the birdhouse I painted and decorated, acorns, white glue, paint brushes, etc. I used the hot glue gun to adhere the moss to the bookcase. The colour of the shelving unit is perfect for the moss, which is why I selected it. Here is a sneak preview of how it looks: 

 

 

 

 

 

I have finished gluing the moss to the bookcase shelving units. It was the most time consuming part of the project. I am currently preparing the pinecones for the bookcase. I soak them in a solution of vinegar and water for half an hour then bake them to kill the mites and pests for a few hours. This is done to avoid having an infestation in your home. I also clean my paintbrushes when I am done using them. These extra steps go a long way in taking care of your crafting tools. 

I hung a hook from the bookcase. I hung the birdhouse up on the hook. The birdhouse is now accepting winged/ feathered occupants. I will glue the pinecones to the moss once they are dry. I use the timer on my phone to keep track of how long something is in the oven. Cellphones are so useful!

I still have to add the leaves and the fairy lights. I am so happy with it all so far. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love it and I think it looks great! I installed a paper towel holder under the kitchen sink, have stocked the new beautiful bookcase with the books and what I had stored there before. I love how it looks. I still have a lot of moss to glue on and more pinecones, acorns, feathers, butterflies and the birds. I love how it looks. I would love to hear how you are all celebrating Spring!

Enjoy Beltaine!

Blessings, Spiderwitch 

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Spring Creations

Merry meet all,

I am inspired by spring’s fresh  green renewal! My garden is coming to life. I have big plans: this month of May, I plan to deep clean and make big changes in the kitchen. The kitchen is, to me, one of the hearts of the home. I am a devoted hardcore kitchen witch and a kitchen witch always keeps a kitchen clean and in good order. I bought a bookcase. The bookcase that stands in my kitchen now has long since expired. I think spring which is about new life and renewal is the perfect time to redo the kitchen. I can’t wait to get the bookcase which has to be assembled first and then painted is the right time for this project. 

I bought artificial moss, artificial flowers and vines, butterfly and insect stickers, a tiny birdhouse, and I plan to make a faerie portal on a stand. I can paint the bookcase. That was good news to me when I read that on the website. My imagination was fired up. There was only one colour choice for me and I bet you can guess it- green! Green is the colour of spring after a winter of rustic browns and faded greys. 

I am going to paint it a deep forest green colour. I plan to paint the birdhouse. I have some wooden dowel rods. I want to glue the birdhouse to the wooden dowel rod. I’m going to glue the moss to the bookcase once it is painted. I also want to add fairy lights.  plan to glue on acorns, pinecones, the butterfly stickers, artificial leaves, and give it a real fairy/ witch bookcase feel and look. It will be amazing. The bookcase arrives on Saturday. 

I can’t wait to be rid of the old bookcase. It is fragile and could fall down any moment. It had too much weight on it. Plus, it’s plain and white and ugly and an eyesore.  The bookcase that arrives on the weekend will be absolutely amazing. I have been collecting a few items to use to decorate the bookcase: feathers, a besom made from lemon balm twigs, a wooden rune, spellite stone, a pinecone, birch bark, a black candle and another ornate thing I don’t have the name for but it looks so mystical. 

I added a kitchen cabinets organizer to the cupboard that stores my mugs, cups and thermos, etc. I could not believe the difference in the cupboard. I love it! Also, the organizer matches the colour of the cupboard and that was definitely an added bonus.! Yup, big changes here!

 

 

 

 

 

I am so inspired that I transformed the covers of my gardening journal. It had boring black covers. I love black and there’s nothing wrong with it. I am a ferociously creative person and it’s in my nature to grab a paintbrush to let my creativity out. I glued red tissue paper to the front and back covers. I painted the red tissue a deep green a few times. I made sure to hide all the red and trimmed the excess tissue from the edges. Then I twined two wires together to form a plant vine. I hot glued it to the front cover and painted it brown to look like an authentic plant vine. I cut the flowers and vines up from the main vines of the fake flowers and glued them to the wire to look they really grew from the wire. I glued on some butterfly stickers. It looks beautiful. The back of the book is now the front of the book. I glued designer papers to the insides of the front and back covers. The print designs are beautiful and match the theme. It’s going to be a gardening journal and should not be plain. I am inspired to write in it now!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I will keep track of the seeds I plant, the plants that I grow, the zone I live in, what worked, what didn’t, how well the plants grow etc. I hope you like it. I ordered a witchy book full of bewitching recipes. I shall soon add it to the collection of herbal books. I can’t wait to begin my new awesome project of transforming the bookcase. I have to buy green paint and I want to be certain I have the perfect colour of green. I am sure that the staff at the store will help with that. 

I‘m going to deep clean the kitchen too. Don’t you all just love spring. I found a light thin green curtain stored with my other linens. It is perfect to hide the herb jars from light but thin enough to not encourage mold. I found an old dead branch that I’m going to trim to size, scrape off the bark, and paint and hang up at my apothecary. I am just brimming with creative energy! I would love to hear about your own spring inspirations. Beltane is coming!

Enjoy spring!

Blessings, Spiderwitch

 

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Pumpkin Magic )O(

Merry meet all,

Today I want to post about my favourite orange cucurbit, pumpkins! Pumpkins are everywhere. Pumpkins are famous for fairy tale magic. Autumn colored leaves blanket my garden, as squirrels and bluejays gather nuts and seeds to store for the long winter ahead. Samhain is almost here. Now let’s gather our own Magick!

10 Ways to Use Pumpkins in Witchcraft

Long before Cinderella’s fairy godmother sent her bewitched pumpkin carriage careening towards a royal party under a reckless magic spell, this mythical fruit vined its way into the legend of witchcraft.

Here are a few ideas to bring this classic spell ingredient into your magical practice.

10 Ways to Use Pumpkins in Witchcraft

Dry roast the seeds and toss them in a mojo bag for prosperity.    The fertile abundance of seeds inside a pumpkin perfect for success mojo bags.

Use your jack-o-lantern to chase away negative energy.  Did you know jack-o-lanterns were originally carved to chase away demons?  In the spirit of this tradition, burn a charcoal disk with protection herbs like rosemary to turn away negative energy at the doorstop.

Bury your kid’s spent pumpkin in the garden to “fertilize” a wishing spell.    Never know what to do with your kid’s jack-o-lantern once Halloween is over?  The pumpkin’s magical lore makes it “ripe” for wishing magic.  Have your child write a goal for the springtime on a piece of (natural) paper, and bury it in the garden to bless his/her endeavors.   Kids move so quickly from one phase to the next, seeing their “wish” come up in the spring will remind them of how far they walked since the beginning of the school year!

Boil your cauldron.  If your kitchen-witchy, make a batch of crock pot pumpkin soup
Be sure to include plenty of “heart-warming” magical spices like chili powder or cumin.  Stir it clockwise four times and bless it for strong ties between family and friends.  Then serve it to everyone!

Leave it as an offering to the woodland spirits.  Samhain is a time to honor those who came before you. Once you’re finished with your pumpkin, take it to woods and leave it as an offering to your ancestors.   It also makes great deer food!

Use it in a group Samhain ritual.  Hollow out and carve a large pumpkin with symbols sacred to your tradition.  Light a candle inside, go around the circle and talk about your year together as a group or coven.  Discuss any remaining tensions, write them down and then agree to let them go with the start of the new Wheel of the Year.  Place a candle inside the pumpkin lantern, and one by one, burn the paper.  Watch it go up in smoke and let go. 

Save the stems.  The stem dries out and cures pretty quickly.  Leave it with your magical cabinet to boost wishing spells or prosperity spells during the next Wheel of the Year.

Draw out your inner beauty.  Mix 1/4 cup pumpkin puree with a splash of apple cider vinegar and an egg.  Use it as a mask to bring out the “enchanting” side of your inner beauty.

Place a pumpkin near your creative work space for inspiration and brainstorming.  Pumpkins connote fanciful thinking and fairy tales.  Use this energy in your work space to break out of box thinking and reach deeper.

Make a bird feeder to connect with the spirit of fire and air.  Invite winter-friendly birds near your home by making a bird feeder out a your pumpkin.  When you notice a bird near it, say a blessing and send him off with to carry a wish or prayer skyward!

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Blessed be, Spiderwitch

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Fairy House )O(

Merry meet all,

Summer Solstice is almost here. Here is a beautiful idea to celebrate the Solstice. I was inspired to create a fairy house. I am not sure what inspired me but I trusted it. I’m posting here to tell you how I constructed the beautiful fairy house. I almost want to move in, except I am not small enough. That’s why it is a Fairy House!

Let’s get started:

SUPPLIES

  • A glue gun
  • lots of glue
  • lots of popsicle sticks
  • acrylic paint
  • paintbrush
  • paint sticks
  • cedar bark
  • pinecones
  • acorns
  • twigs
  • ivy leaves
  • witch hazel leaves
  • oak leaves
  • arrowhead, miniature furniture, fairy doll (optional or add later)
  • a sealant of some kind to preserve your creation
  • Patience

To begin, set down newspaper and paper towel. You will need lots of it. That is now your workspace. Lay out all your supplies. Also, this can’t be done in one day. Don’t rush it and do take your time. It will turn out much better. Now snap the paint sticks in half and arrange them vertically in your workspace. This is the base of the house. Glue them together and paint them your desired colour. Set it aside. 

Now lay seven to nine popsicle sticks together horizontally. Keep them neat and very close to each other. Now without moving the sticks, set down two popsicle sticks on the right and the left of the sticks. Glue them together with the hot glue gun. Be sure they are glued together. Do this with 4 other sets of seven to nine sticks. This is to build the roof and walls of the house. Let them dry. Once they have fully dried and are truly glued together, you can paint them your desired colour. Or you can use popsicle sticks that are already coloured. I was going for a rustic look and so used lots of browns but it is your choice. 

I didn’t add windows but you can if you choose. Now here is the tricky part: assembling the house. Determine how you want the house to be. I set the walls of the house down on the base. I kept shifting the walls until I liked the way it was. Be flexible while you create your house. I glued a stick to the bottom of the walls. I glued a popsicle stick to the popsicle sticks then was able to glue it to the base. The popsicle sticks have curved ends. It would have been tricky to adhere otherwise. Once the walls are glued to the base, then work on the roof. Once you glue everything, it is permanent. Be certain it is the way you want it. Or maybe you want the roof removable. Glue the roof to the walls of the house. 

Once the whole house is glued and secure, you can decorate. I would suggest completing this step first. Now that that is done, you can go outside and gather pinecones, acorns, twigs, leaves, flowers, herbs or stones. It’s early summer here so I had a hard time finding any acorns. I finally found an intact acorn in a jar in my kitchen. Use twigs and leaves to hide any awkward ugly corners from view. Use twigs for windows or doors. I set a bird nest on the roof. It clipped on so I didn’t have to glue it. 

Before you adhere a pinecone to your masterpiece, you may want to clean them for critters. If it just came in from outside, insects may have been living on it. Soak pinecones, twigs, acorns, leaves and twigs in water and half a cup to a cup of vinegar for 20 minutes. Bake the pinecones and acorns in the oven at 200 F for half an hour. Let them dry then pat them dry with a paper towel. 

Now you can decorate. Oh and to make the door, stack five popsicle sticks together neatly then arrange a stick on the right and the left. Then glue and paint them. I snapped two popsicle sticks in half. I hope by now you can see why I said lots of popsicle sticks and glue earlier. Then I laid them on top of each other and glued them. I glued them to the five popsicle sticks. That made the door. 

Now feel free to decorate the house. You can decorate to your hearts content. I layered the leaves over each other on the roof. I set down two big cedar bark pieces on the roof. Then I added the cedar, oak and ivy leaves. I used the ivy leaves to cover bad spots and to create a path to the door. Search your house for tiny treasures such as the arrowhead I have on the roof of the house. I hope you have fun creating the house. You are only limited by your imagination. I wrote Fairy Home on a popsicle stick and glued that to the roof. I used the twigs as windowsills, to fill in spaces and add decoration. 

Have fun creating your fairy house. Don’t forget to add a fairy or two to inhabit the house. You can search toystores for miniature furniture. I don’t have a fairy or mini furniture yet but soon. Don’t leave the house outside or it won’t last. You can coat the entire house in a silicone sealant to preserve your creation. Don’t use cardboard to make the house. Wood is much sturdier. When you’re done, perform a fairy blessing on it. 

Enjoy!

Blessings, Spiderwitch )O(

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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