Native American Festival 2013

I visited the Ormand Beach Native American Festival this year, and as usual, I had an absolutely awesome time. The festival was so well-put-together; it was so beautiful and festive and straight-up happy. I met some lovely people there that I had a long conversation with about Native American culture. I also helped take some pictures while I was there, too. I only managed to save one of them, though; my favorite.

It was such a treat to witness something so full of Native culture all in one place. You rarely get to see something like that nowadays. Though, something felt off there for a minute. For a single moment, I thought I caught a glimpse of the Winter. Thinking back, it probably wasn't. It was most likely just a man in a business suit. There's been a few of those crawling around town recently. 

Anyway, I've finally moved into my new house, and I'm almost done moving all of my things. I'll keep this blog updated, and I'll get back to posting more of my research later.

A Tiny Update

I've been searching for citizens around my city and county who have Cherokee/Seminole background. I've checked the phone book, public records, everything, and there's no record of them anywhere. But that doesn't make sense, because the Solace of Birds occurred just weeks ago, indicating and celebrating the death of a tribe member. There has to be more tribespeople around here, and if there is, why isn't there a single recent record of them?

In other news, I'll be posting more of my research in the near future, which involves more information on artifacts, locations, and smaller entities. But first, I'm moving into a new house and will have to move all of my files to the new house. It won't be too far away from my last house, but far enough to be away from the comotion that was going on in my last neighborhood.

As for the teaching job that I was hoping to get at a local high school, I'm still waiting for a call back. Apparently there were a lot of people that were looking for a history teacher job around here. I have a good feeling about this job. There's just something calling me to it.

The 5 Days of Suffering

The Five Days of Suffering is known to be the aftermath of a bodily attack by the Winter, if the victim survived, causing the victim to undergo 5 consecutive days of physical/mental/emotional anguish. There is no known reason behind this occurrence.

What is know is the events that take place during those 5 days. While these events don't always happen in order, they do always happen, each having its own day:

1. Paranoia - The victim becomes anxious, tense, and very fearful and aware of their surroundings, claiming to hear noises and moving objects, and sometimes voices, even if they didn't actually occur.
2. Aching of the limbs - The victim's limbs begin to ache with a sort of stabbing pain, making it hard for them to move. The aching can start and stop at any given time. Some victims recall a sort of crawling sensation in their limbs, others a throbbing pain.
3. Bleeding of the face - Bleeding commences from the victim's nose, ears, gums, eyes, or any combination of the four. Once again, this starts and stops at any given time.
4. Fatigue - The victim becomes very physically and mentally tired, sometimes causing them to sleep numerous hours at a time. 
5. Insomnia - A loss of sleep causes the victim to become easily agitated and angry, along with making the victim delirious. The victim isn't able to gain any more sleep until that day ends.

The Solace of Birds

Today I stumbled upon something amazing.

About an hour ago, I was going to a job interview at a local high school for an American History teacher position. As I was leaving, I saw a large collection of white birds congregating in the sky. They were flying in one collective circle together. By the time I took out my phone to record it, they had already dispersed.

This congregation is called the Solace of Birds in the Seminole and Cherokee tribes. This only happens when a member of one of the tribes have died, but only if they are being taken to a "better place", whatever you may call it. This could mean that there are remaining tribespeople nearby. I must investigate this further.

The Sleeping Leaf

The Sleeping Leaf ("U-ga-lo-gv A-hu-lu" in Cherokee) is a leaf that is grown only once every decade from a tree in the central Florida area; it doesn't matter which tree it is. However, the tree that it is most grown from is an evergreen tree. The leaf usually resembles the type of leaf shown below:

The only real difference between the leaf above and the Sleeping Leaf is that the vessels of the leaf are colored blue and seem to sparkle brightly.

The leaf's effects do not vary; they are exactly the same each time. When the leaf is consumed, the consumer will immediately begin to doze and become weak. Within seconds, the leaf's full effects kick in and the consumer falls asleep almost instantly. The consumer is always asleep for 12 consecutive hours with absolutely no interruption. During the time they are asleep, they always have a good dream, never a nightmare. After the consumer wakes up, they always feel refreshed, full of energy, very hungry, and not fatigued in any way. 

Consuming one leaf is completely safe, but consuming more than one can be dangerous. Consuming two is known to cause 24-hour sleep, which causes harmful side effects when the consumer wakes up, such as headaches, dehydration, and blurred/tunnel vision. Consuming three or more will cause even stronger effects, causing the consumer to sleep restlessly, waking up constantly to vomit. The consumer will also experience terrifying nightmares that seem to last for hours. Other effects after the consumer wakes up are vomiting, shakiness, restlessness, temporary colorblindness, profuse sweating, and hallucinations.




As far as I know, none of these leaves are still preserved, but they are still growing. My theory is that the leaves that are grown every decade are destroyed my natural disaster, corrosion, insects, animals, etc. I'm not sure when the next one will grow, because I'm not sure if the growing cycle starts at the very beginning of each decade or during it. Maybe if I'm lucky it'll be soon.