Not a colorist: Would you like to see five more items in color?

 Would you like to see five more items in color?

This antique brass lamp is too dirty and tarnished to fetch a good price at the market. A good hard hand-polishing is just the thing to maximize this particular lamp’s value.

Not an artist: Five items from Oracle of Seasons that are not exactly what they seem.

 Five items from Oracle of Seasons that are not exactly what they seem.

Engine Grease: Tick Tock, the Horon Village clockmaker, is in desperate need of a beautiful bird to complete his most recent clock. The magnificent bird that Syrup gave Link for the mushroom is just the piece Tick Tock has been searching for to finish his magnum opus. In exchange for the masterfully crafted bird, he gives Link some engine grease. To be fair, he probably only uses the highest quality lubricants, but the trade still feels a bit one-sided.

The grimy antique brass lamp is a fully functional lamp. Unfortunately, no amount of cleaning will ever restore its original luster. Also, no amount of rubbing will release a djinni to grant you three wishes.

Not an artist: Five items from Oracle of seasons that come up in a murder investigation.

Five items from Oracle of Seasons that come up in a murder investigation. 

Goron Vase: The fine details present in the Goron Vase’s surface imply that the Biggoron was not the potter responsible for its creation. The Biggoron gives Link the vase in exchange for the lava soup that cured his cold.

The murder weapon, if you can call it that, was a tea kettle with a secret compartment filled with poison. This devious kettle keeps the poisoned tea in a separate compartment that only pours when the kettle is held in a particular but innocuous way. The killer probably drank a cup of tea with the victim, disarming any fear of foul play.

Lucky Charms Collected: Nine lucky charms to keep you safe from harm and attract prosperity.

 Nine lucky charms to keep you safe from harm and attract prosperity.

Here is the complete set of lucky charms.

Which lucky charm do you like the most?

You can grab all nine lucky charms in one pdf for printing in the links below.

Lucky Charm: A cricket talisman to lure happiness and prosperity.

 A cricket talisman to lure happiness and prosperity.

Lucky Cricket: Crickets have been kept as pets to attract luck and prosperity. Their pleasing songs remind us to be happy and appreciate the small things in life. They have also invited wealth to their owners, either through a beautiful song or victory in violent cricket fights.

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In researching various good luck charms from around the world I was not able to confidently connect crickets as good luck charms outside of my memory of Mulan getting one for good luck. Disney isn’t the best at authentic representations, so I didn’t want to rely solely on that.

Cricket fights are a real thing that people bred prized lines of crickets to compete in. Truth is wilder than fiction.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Lucky Charm: A controversial lucky charm.

 A controversial lucky charm.

Figa charm: This charm shows a hand forever frozen in the fig gesture. The gesture is used as a lucky charm in some countries like Brazil and Portugal. Many cultures find this gesture offense. It is apparently similar to flipping someone off in America or the V-sign in the UK.

The charm’s protective powers are actually derived from the offensive nature of the gesture. It is so offensive as to rebuff bad luck or the harmful effects of, you guessed it, the evil eye.

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I’m sorry if I offended you, but this is just another situation where I learned something new in the research for a drawing project.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Not an artist: Five items from Oracles of Seasons that will get you feeling better in no time.

 Five items from Oracles of Seasons that will get you feeling better in no time.

Lava Soup: A hot new take on stone soup, this soup is part of the trading quest in Oracle of Seasons. Link gives the perfectly seasoned iron pot to the Subrosian Chef so that they can craft their masterpiece. This soup is pretty amazing as it is hot and enjoyable no matter how long Link has been carrying it around Holodrum before giving it to the Biggoron.

One bowl of this amazing soup will make you feel better no matter how sick you are. Two bowls of this delicious soup will fill you up enough to last you all day. Three bowls of this addictive soup will lash you to the will of a devious Chef that will stop at nothing until they have fed every person with great food and starved every person of their free will.

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Some people are avoiding their second dose of the COVID vaccine because of possible side effects. I had very strong side effects. I felt like garbage for about a day and a half. Now that is over and I feel confident knowing that I have 90%+ protection against getting, spreading, or dying from a disease that has ravaged humans all over the world.

Get any vaccine. Get all of the vaccine as it is recommended by the science that created it. It takes us all working together to be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Lucky Charms: Fight fire with fire, or in this case the eye with an eye.

  Fight fire with fire, or in this case the eye with an eye.

Nazar Eye: This lucky charm is another charm thought to protect the wearer from the evil eye, the curse cast through harsh staring due to jealousy or anger. While some peoples of the Mediterranian region fought the evil eye with the hamsa, other cultures in the Mediterranean and Asia combated the evil eye with these blue glass bead charms in the shape of an eye.

The protection offered by the Nazar is not limited to beads. The eye pattern is often painted on objects and buildings to ward them from ill fortune.

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I really wanted the blue sections of the drawing to look transparent but they did not in the end of all things.

This is another charm I had seen but had never had formally named before exploring this project.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Lucky Charm: Protect yourself from the evil eye with this hamsa charm.

 Protect yourself from the evil eye with this hamsa charm.

Hamsa Charm: The hamsa, also known as the Hand of Fatima or Hand of other important deific female figures, is a charm that seems to have originated in and around the Mediterranian region. Wearing such a charm wards the wearer from the evil eye, a baleful curse cast by others through their hateful stare.

While predating Abrahamic Religions, this charm has been adopted by members of those religions; conceiving of it as representing the protecting hand of an important female figure of their beliefs.

Hamsa relates to the hebrew and arabic words for five, both referring to the five fingers of the hand.

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I had seen this charm often, but it wasn’t until I was doing research for this project that I found out what it was called and why it was work.

Protect others from receiving mean looks by being excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Lucky Charms: Medal of a holy icon

Medal of a holy icon

Prayer Medal: Many cultures and religions believe that it is lucky or protective to carry a medal depicting a great spiritual teacher, prophet, martyr, or saint.

Many of you may not know that the day of the week a person was born connects them to one of seven depictions of the Buddha. All of which are in a different posture and have different meanings.

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Starting back up with the last five lucky charms I drew for the mini palette cleanser project I undertook to shake some creative dust out of my system. Expect the rest soon.

The best luck a person could have is knowing others are looking out for them. Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Not an artist: Four items from Oracle of Seasons you can find at a garage sale.

 Four items from Oracle of Seasons you can find at a garage sale.

Cuccodex: The Cuccodex is the comprehensive guide to all things Cucco. It provides invaluable advice on raising and caring for Cuccos. Link is given the guide by its author Dr. Left after Link lights the torches in Dr. Left’s house using ember seeds. He needed the light to read and continue his work and is overjoyed for the illumination. The lonely author Dr. Left is a heavy handed reference to Mr. Write, the mysterious sender of love letters Link meets during his journeys on Koholint Island during the events of Link’s Awakening.

What seems to be another Pokédex toy is actually a Persondex that gives you Pokémon style info blurbs about all the different people you meet. It is a great way to get to know people in a way you never could before. Can you meet them all?