My logical mind tells me I probably shouldn't be buying too much more stuff, as I have to move by October 1st. Mediating mind suggests it's perfectly okay to buy more stuff, if I make room in my storage unit by ditching stuff that no longer feeds my spirit or lifestyle.
Slytherin visceral / survival / emotional reptile mind says: "Grab it now, while you see the opportunity, so you can integrate it into your nest later. You don't know if you'll find another like it."
While it's not necessarily true that an item is unique and I'll never spot its twin, or something even better, it's also true I have the urge to nest, to create an aesthetic in my home centered around what I like looking at . . . even as my house is being shunted out from under me. Is that any reason to stop longing, planning, storing up, or grabbing goodies of opportunity? Reptile mind says no. One day, it suggests, I will have a less transitory nest . . . or more pertinently, a nest is wherever and whenever you make it, permanent or not. After all, there are none of us permanent: Live the life now!
One of the strengths of the HP series was that it did draw on so many archetypes, styles, aesthetics, personalities and, for lack of a better term, vibes: i.e. moods, colors, emotions. There is an aura that hovers around our ideas of what represents Slytherin House, for example. I feel the photo above captures the better end of that spectrum well, including Old-World elegance, even decadence; mystique; territorial comfort; wealth, of an inherited-mansion variety; distinction in quality; and passion. All this is in addition to general feelings and imagery we tend to default to about what is "witchy".
Of course, you may not be a rich Slytherin; you may be a moderately poor (like me) or even dead-arse broke Slytherin, yet still be drawn to those aesthetics. One of the ways I entertain my sense of taste, yet remain moderately broke instead of going dead-arse broke, is thrift-shopping. How many times have I seen witches on social media asking for tips for "broke witches"! Yes, the magick is all inside you, but, but, but . . .
"I want stuff!"
Reclaim-It is a store near my (current) home that specializes in retrieving and selling stuff originally bound for the landfill. I was in the other day --- What the hell was I in there for? Oh yeah, jumper cables --- and, while I nixxed out on jumper cables, I found other goodies. A cauldron stand, finally! A over-fire hanging hook (cauldrons again; Damn you, Severus, you've possessed my soul). And, this brass beauty: It was being used as a stand for some ceramic fountain doodad, but I thought: "That's a candle-holder ring, maybe for a holiday wreath. And, it's mine."
A few lengths of chain from the building surplus shop, plus some green candle stubs from the craft surplus shop --- get the idea? I know this town's cheap corners --- and, voila!! I got busy with the pliars, and soon had a decent Slytherinish chandelier. It needs a bit of work: It's cockeyed, though that only lends to its old, manky-mansion-full-of-doxies charm.
With all other room lights off, I just looked at my little chandelier, then at the rest of my small living space. It was sobering, actually. Even at quintuple candle-power, my room was pretty dim. I reminded myself: This is all people used to have for light. No electricity, until our species' yesterday, really. No fluorescents, no LEDs, not even a lousy Edison-Swan energy hog of a bulb. We are quite fortunate today. Still, it takes but one candle to keep total darkness at bay.
As for Hogwarts? It must be pretty dim, especially in winter. Having just made candles, and found it to be excessively tedious (granted, I'm not set up for it, factory-style), I can only assume Hogwarts has litters of candles, and magically replenishing, too! No wonder the Potions blackboard is nearly illegible.
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