Jasmine Oil
Use flowers. This oil is said to attract many good spirits. To bring about good luck and inspire love. Can be substituted for gardenia oil.
Jasmine Oil
Use flowers. This oil is said to attract many good spirits. To bring about good luck and inspire love. Can be substituted for gardenia oil.
Cinnamon Oil
Use ground cinnamon. Has been used for anointing heads and blessing room where voodoo ceremonies are held. Said to bring luck.
Power Oil
Said to help increase your own power. Anoint on the forehead, throat, breast bone and above navel. Mix together equal parts of grated lemon peel or lemon flowers with frankincense. Add two table spoons to two ounces of oil.
Blessing Oil
Used to purify or bless alter, candlesticks, incense burner, etc. Mix two parts frankincense and one part benzoin gum. Add two tablespoons of this mixture to two ounces of oil.
Saturday, February 19th, 2011

General Meaning: There is a turning point that recharges you and eventually brings success. This hexagram is associated with a turning back of long nights towards more light, the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, the seasonal change when our hours of daily light begin to increase again. This is the beginning of a turnaround; a time of letting go of the old and making way for the new; a time of new beginnings. Ironically, it all starts with rest.
Don’t move too fast. The new momentum is just beginning; the turn-around demands that your energy be recharged by adequate rest, so that your life force will not be spent prematurely. This principle of hibernation, of allowing energy to renew itself and be strengthened by rest applies to many situations — recuperation after an illness, the slow return of trust after period of estrangement, the careful development of new relationships after a splitting apart of old ones.
Today’s Tarot Card for Everyone:
The Anchoret

This Tarot Deck: Cagliostro
While the hourglass was an identifying feature on the earliest Hermit cards, more modern ones have shifted the metaphor, showing more or less light released from his lantern. In either case, the Hermit card reminds us of the value of time away from the hubbub of civic life, to relax the ego in communion with Nature.

You may imagine yourself to be as unrestrained as a soaring eagle today, but your responsibilities don’t leave you enough freedom to actually take a flight of fancy. Even if you think you know the escape route, it’s still complicated to make your first move. This is frustrating because you are usually skilled at starting something new. Don’t judge yourself harshly for not following through on your feelings. For now, doing the best you can is good enough.

You might feel as if satisfaction is a long way off now because your key planet Venus is still squaring somber Saturn today. You may be exhausted from a very intense interaction at work with someone who makes you anxious. However, facing your fears is one way to push beyond the comfortable boundaries. Communication is challenging, yet the potential for transformation can bring you closer to your relationship goals.

Your feelings can push and pull you all over the emotional landscape today, making it nearly impossible to know what to do. It’s not that you’re wishy-washy; it’s just hard to make a final decision when staying open to all the possibilities sounds better. One moment you’re eager to cash in your chips and walk away. The next moment you’re working hard trying to figure out how to save everything. An all-or-nothing answer is not acceptable when there is so much middle ground yet to explore.

You may have something very important to learn today if a close friend stands in the way of your progress. Unfortunately, your first impulse may be to turn a minor confrontation into a major fight. But you don’t need to prove that you’re better than anyone else. Instead, shift your attitude so you can minimize your own resistance, show your vulnerability and be more receptive of other people’s feedback.

Everything may seem more complicated than necessary today, yet you cannot simplify your life to reduce your current stress. The complexity arises from your heart desiring something that you just don’t know how to get. Holding firm to your goals now is a smart strategy that should ultimately pay off, but you’ll need to show some flexibility along the way.

You want to get ahead at work, but might not have the patience now that is required to succeed. You may feel frustrated because your job would be much easier without all the needless distractions from your personal life. Unfortunately, your friends and family aren’t as supportive as you wish. Don’t be afraid to set clear boundaries or withdraw from others in order to maintain your integrity.

You may feel stuck today, as if your creativity is temporarily blocked. Your regular routine could fall apart now, making it impossible for you to concentrate on realizing your dreams. However, don’t sell yourself short by thinking that you can’t do the miraculous. You are more capable than you realize, but you must have faith and patience for positive results to manifest.

You must decide if you can keep up social appearances today and still remain true to yourself. But your current choices aren’t as crucial as they seem because they are part of a long-term process that can redefine the structure of your relationships. Your key planets, physical Mars and passionate Pluto, are intensifying your feelings as the boundary between friendship and romantic love is tested. There are no wrong decisions now; just be clear about your overall direction.

Someone might give you a hard time about taking yourself too seriously today. Nevertheless, there is a lot going on now. You don’t like it when others disagree with you for no apparent reason other than spreading ill will, but it may be your own frustrations that are creating the bulk of the current stress. At least make sure that you continue to meet your obligations at home, even if you’re still sorting out how to handle everything else.

You may not be very happy if someone close to you wants something from you that you cannot deliver now. Unfortunately, these demands can precipitate a power struggle that won’t likely have a winner because of interpersonal complications. Don’t waste your energy trying to fix an irresolvable situation, instead change the rules of the game. It’s not a competition; if anyone is a loser, then no one wins.

Although you might want to shake up the status quo today, you won’t be successful unless you acknowledge the current limitations that are part of your life. Fortunately, circumstances won’t remain like this forever, even if you can’t see a path that will take you to your destination. Trying too hard now only pushes your goal further away. Paradoxically, relaxing your grip on the future may be the best way to make sure that you get there on time.

You are tired of learning hard lessons today and may rebel just to stretch your muscles. You are tempted to stir conflict by questioning an authority figure if one appears to be too rigid in his or her approach. Examine your own role in fomenting the current tension. When you stop projecting your internal battles onto others, relationships will become much easier to manage.

Friday, February 18, 4:26 pm PST, 7:26 pm EST
The Sun’s entry into Pisces closes out the astrological year with tender hearts and rich imaginations. It is a time to find inspiration in nature, in the arts and in our dreams. A vague feeling of vulnerability can increase doubts about our capacities to deal with the material world, making escapism more appealing. Spiritual retreat or substance abuse are two very different ways to salve the pain of disillusionment. Faith in forces greater than our own provides nourishment for the soul without polluting minds with religious prejudice and moral judgment. Forgiveness is the gift of this tender transit and is freely available to all of us.

Friday, February 18, 12:36 am PST, 3:36 am EST
The face-off between the self-conscious Moon in Leo and the Sun in cool collective Aquarius increases awareness of how the ego works. Yet the clarity that accompanies most Full Moons is obscured by nebulous Neptune’s conjunction with the Sun. Delusions of grandeur or inflated infantile behavior are neither beneficial nor illuminating. Fortunately, sharp minds may penetrate foggy stories with Mercury and Mars’ close proximity to the Sun. This is a powerfully creative time when the only limit on ideas is how to integrate individual genius within a group process.
Mannaz of Tyr’s Aett popped out of my pouch
pronounced “mawn-nawz” (M: Man, mankind) The Self; the individual or the human race. Your attitude toward others and their attitudes towards you. Friends and enemies, social order. Intelligence, forethought, create, skill, ability. Divine structure, intelligence, awareness. Expect to receive some sort of aid or cooperation now.
Someone who frightens you is your own image in the mirror. Find the roots of problems in yourself. Pay attention now to yourself because the reasons for both your joys and your difficulties come out of your own nature. You need to be modest in your approach because any excess in one part of your life imbalances another. By being more objective, you can balance your strengths and weaknesses and by doing so, the right way of action will come to you. There is no need to be over-assertive because if you are dedicated in your approach, all that is yours will come to you by itself.
Mannaz Reversed or Merkstave: Depression, mortality, blindness, self-delusion. Cunning, slyness, manipulation, craftiness, calculation. Expect no help now. (Note: the reversed or merkstave definitions are included only for reference as they apply to a multi-rune cast and not to a single rune that’s drawn blind from the pouch)
As with all, take only what feels right to you and disregard the rest.
**a portion of today’s rune meaning/description was kindly provided by Ingrid Halvorsen at sunnyway.com and used here with her gracious permission**
In the Light…
Tom
Local name: Clove Pink.
“The clove gilloflower is most used in physiche… and is accounted to be very cordiall.” John Parkinson.
Folk Names:
jove’s flower, gillies, gilliflower, sops-in-wine
Gender: Masculine
Planet: Sun
Element: Fire
Powers: Protection, Strength, Healing
When made into a syrup (5 pints boiling water to 3 pounds flower heads; 2 pounds sugar per pint), Parkinson claimed it to be “good for disorders of the brain.” Gerard said that it help ease heart sickness.
CAUTION!! Commercial Carnations are often “DYED”. Not knowing what the dyes used are, I would NOT ADVISE you to use Commercial Carnations!!
Magickally associated with: Sun, Fire. Was once worn by Witches to prevent capture and hanging. A sachet stuffed with the flowers and inhaled deeply, is said to help you to get over heartaches. Said to produce added energy in ritual when used in incense. Use in all-purpose protection spells. Gives strength and energy to the sick. Place fresh carnation on the altar during healing spells and add dried flowers to healing sachets and incenses.
“Carnations and streaked gillyflowers, the fairest flowers of the season…” William Shakespeare, A Winter’s Tale
Blessings,
Lady Becky
‘THINK on THESE THINGS’
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
It has become increasingly noticeable how the power grab has reached even the lower levels of living. It is a right thing for us to try to raise ourselves. To fail to try would earmark us for failure….and yet up the shaky ladder of success climb so many bodies without spirits, so little understanding of what is ahead….and often less of what is past.
If we could only realize our power comes not from grasping the coattails of others, but from a higher source that knows the way….that places before us the right steps, the correct manner, the much needed wisdom and inspiration.
Why is it that when all this guidance is available to us, we let the littleness of our souls hold us back, believing all the time that any forward motion is because we have learned how to twist situations to our own avail.
How sad the lot of those who discover all the rungs on their ladder are on the same level. “Power will intoxicate the best hearts, as wine the strongest heads,” wrote Caleb Colton. “No man is wise enough, nor good enough, to be trusted with unlimited power.”
Available online! ‘Cherokee Feast of Days’
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler.
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