Day: March 21, 2011
Herbal Facial Steam
After the herbal wash, prepare an herbal facial steam and get ready to relax.
8 tablespoons of a combination of any of the following herbs: mint leaves, chamomile flowers, rose petals, scented geranium leaves, lemon verbena, lemon balm, lemon grass, thyme, sage eucalyptus, bergamot, jasmine, gardenia or honeysuckle flowers.
1 quart boiling water
Simmer herbs in a covered glass quart of water. After 10 minutes, uncover your herbal facial and cover your head with a towel to catch the steam. Steam your face and 5 minutes to remove any impurities.
Simple Herbal Wash
Use this simple herbal wash to clean your face.
1/2 cup chamomile or lavender flowers
1/2 cup crushed fennel seeds
2 cups boiled water
Infuse chamomile or lavender flowers and fennel seeds in boiled water. Steep 20 minutes, strain and splash on your face.
Elder’s Meditation of the Day – March 21
Elder’s Meditation of the Day – March 21
“Each of us must know in our minds and believe in our hearts that even though we are different, you are like me and I am like you.”
–Larry P. Aitken, CHIPPEWA
One of the definitions of humility is having an awareness of one’s own character defects. To recognize and acknowledge that one has imperfections is being humble. We should never pray for ourselves unless by doing so it would help another person. To have self-importance puts self first and this is not humble. We each have strengths and we each have weaknesses. Both the strengths and weaknesses are sacred. Life is sacred. We learn sacred things from weaknesses also. Therefore, all lives are developed through trial and error, strength and weakness, ups and downs, gains and losses-all of these are part of life and life is sacred.
Great Mystery, let me see and know about the sacredness of life.
March 21 – Daily Feast
March 21 – Daily Feast
It seems there is often too much of one thing and not enough of the other. Balance has a way of disappearing when we need it most. But it is our fault for thinking that once we have things all working together it will stay in balance without our having to do anything else. Nothing is so set that it will never change. We should never give in to challenge that throw us off center. Wait a little while. Something may be working that we don’t know about. Don’t accept everything as it appears. It can change in a moment’s notice and swing our way. Very often the law of nonresistance is at work here. Some of our best decisions are based on standing still until we can get a true picture.
~ When life is easy, complex pattern of life can develop. ~
COOWEESCOOWEE
‘A Cherokee Feast of Days’, by Joyce Sequichie Hifler
Daily Motivator for 3/21 – Pointing the way
Pointing the way
What seems to be standing in your way is not really standing in your way. It’s pointing the way.What looks like it’s holding you back is not really holding you back. It’s building your determination to move forward.
The mountain is steep and treacherous, yet it gives you a pathway to get to the top. The work is challenging and complicated, and yet it gives you a way to create achievement.
Don’t you dare despair when things get tough. Rejoice in knowing that the reason you’re encountering so much resistance is because you’re moving so powerfully ahead.
Look in the direction from where the resistance is coming. That’s where value lives.
Feel your determination as it grows stronger each time you push forward. Now you have what it takes to bring great things to life.
— Ralph Marston
Daily OM for 3/21 – Knowing Our Heart’s Desire
Knowing Our Heart’s Desire Jealousy is one of the toughest feelings we come up against in our lives. There is not much worse than this aching sense that somehow life has been unfair to us, while amply rewarding someone else. It’s even worse if that someone else is present in our daily lives, making it difficult for us to get the space we need to feel and heal our pain. We may be jealous of a sibling, a dear friend, or even famous personalities. We may even face the challenge of feeling jealous of our spouse, our child, or one of our parents. Whatever the case, we can normalize our experience by understanding that, as painful as it is, jealousy is a common human feeling. Nevertheless, it is important that we not revel in our jealousy for too long, feeding it with inner talk or gossip with others. If we do, we run the risk of losing ourselves to its negative power. Jealousy has something good to offer us, though, and that is information about our own heart’s desire. When we are jealous of certain people, we want what they have, and if we are to be conscious, we must acknowledge that. In this way, we discover what we want for ourselves, which is the first step to getting it. It may be a certain kind of relationship or a career. Whatever it is, it is possible that we could create it for ourselves, in our own lives, if we are able to honor our own desires. Of course, there are times when we cannot heal our jealousy in this way, and then the lesson may be about acceptance and the understanding that our path is different from the paths of those around us. It may be hard to see now, but perhaps it will eventually be clear why our life has taken its particular path. In the end, the best cure for jealousy is the recognition that the life we have is full of its own meaning and beauty, utterly unique to us—a gift that could never be found in the life of another. |
The Goddess Companion
She is mad, her lover is mad, and I am mad for loving her!
This world is bewitched by the lovely Goddess.
No one can describe how lovely she is, how glorious,
how perfect her gestures, how sudden her moods.
Her lover, poisoned with love for her, calls out her name
endlessly, singing Kali’s name over and over and over.
Life has its currents, cycles, tides which ebb and flow.
She looks upon them all with equanimity.
Nothing is opposite in her mind: not life, not death;
not love, not hate; not the self, not the void.
Your raft, the poet said, floats upon the sea of life.
It drifts up with the tide, and down with the ebb.
But the goddess is there. The Goddess is always there.
~Indian Poet Ramakrishna
On this day, when light and darkness are briefly equal, before the light grows and swells and carries the world into summer, it is good to meditate upon the ultimate falsity of all divisions. Kali, the fierce Hindu goddess, reminds us of that truth: that existence is not bound by our false dualities. There is no light, no darkness in Kali’s world. What she offers us is not a gray mixture of black and white, but a paradoxical world in which both exists in all moments, at all points, in all ways. Life is both pain and pleasure, love and hate. Kali is beyond both, but includes both.
Meditating upon Kali is one of the great traditions of Hindu India. The paradoxes and mysteries she expresses are almost beyond words, though great poets like Ramakrishna have spent lifetimes trying. As the sun dances briefly in her perfect balance, let us join the poet in marveling at the power of the goddess.
By Patricia Monaghan
Daily Aromatherapy Tip – No Worry Blend
Daily Aromatherapy Tip – No Worry Blend
Here is a blend to help you let go of those worries, calm stress, relieve tension, soothe and comfort.
Very good for insomnia Do not use in a nebulizing type diffuser. Benzoin is quite thick.
Blend together
Lavender 4 drops
Benzoin 1 drop
Sandalwood 1 drop
Orange (Tangerine or Clementine)) 2-4 drops
Take care and be well
Brought to you by AromaThyme.com
PendragonNotes #5
PendragonNotes #5
IT’S A DOG’S LIFE
This happened last week, when there was still a bit of ice in some places. I have a wonderful puppy, Nanna, who was born Jan. 15th. She is at the exploring phase now–and has mastered the dog door so I run in and out checking her often, which I had done. I had not seen Barney and Belle, the two Beagles, for same hours–ends up they must have been napping near the stream–but I did not know this. I was in the kitchen when they both came screaming up to the front kitchen door like they were on fire! I let them in and asked what was up. Before they could answer, they sped, frantically through the room and out the dog door to the back yard. Of course, I followed. Once outside I heard a quavering howling–from the area of…THE SWIMMING POOL! You know the rest! The puppy had fallen into water so cold it had some ice in places. She was hanging onto the side. The water was so cold that it made my fingers ache in 2 seconds. I got her out–and inside–and into a series of warm towels. She stopped shivering only after 30 minutes. Then she was just fine and started playing after a nap. Barney and Belle, unquestionably, saved her life. I had music on and never would have heard her. Even checking on her every 15 minutes or so–it would not have been soon enough. Coming to the kitchen door was not the most direct route for the Beagles to take toward the puppy–they detoured specifically to come get me.
“You have good friends who will help you when you need it. Sometimes, they know you have trouble–even before you know it. Listen to them!” A.J.
By Anna James, PendragonDale
The Wiccan Stone Daily Update
The Wiccan Stone Daily Update
for Monday March 21, 2011
for Monday March 21, 2011
Recommended Stones:
Fluorite and Red Jasper
Fluorite and Red Jasper
Fluorite: Fluorite promotes creative thinking and lifts the mind. This stone gives rest and helps in case of disturbances in the brainwaves, enhances concentration, clears the mind and environment, inner peace and quiet, helps fulfill wishes, promotes love for others and total love. Promotes joy, this is the stone of the future and is suited for spiritually highly developed people. A protection stone. Use in case of arthritis, infections, flu, the early stages of cancer, lungs, liver, Down’s syndrome, for ears, skeleton and viral infections, sexual problems and all sorts of fears, strengthens teeth and bones, for spleen and veins.
Red Jasper: Against morning sickness in pregnancies, disorders of the stomach, liver and kidneys, epilepsy and cystitis, strengthens the bladder, against bladder stones. Protects against strokes, against anorexia and boulemia, use when you are retaining water, for the lungs, blood, strengthens the will and sense of smell. For liver, gallbladder, kidneys, nausea, stomach pains, against fear, gives insight and sensitivity. Against all sorts of radiation and negative rays. During the first three months of the pregnancy this is a very protective stone. Enhances concentration and makes one see difficult situations in a different light. Against egoism, promotes tolerance, strengthens the mind and dispels negative thoughts. Red Jasper is a protection stone and is used in defensive magick, it sends all negativity back to its sender!! Red Jasper is also used in spellwork that has to do with healing.
Greetings! Our theme is Balance.
Greetings! Our theme is Balance. This third week of the month we work with our being and intention for balance. Following today’s affirmation are comments about the affirmation, suggestions for your process, and information about related articles. Make this an attentive day!
Balance enhances all my thoughts and feelings.
I give my attention to balance.
I give my attention to balance.
About Today’s Affirmation
That to which we give our attention expands. So, let’s give our attention to balance! Many folks give lots of attention to imbalance, so imbalance expands. Certainly we need to be aware of aspects of imbalance and instability and disharmony, but too much attention to these dynamics expands them. We can notice in a matter-of-fact or detached way while giving our primary attention — our energy — to balance and to those ideas and feelings that help us to experience balance.
That to which we give our attention expands. So, let’s give our attention to balance! Many folks give lots of attention to imbalance, so imbalance expands. Certainly we need to be aware of aspects of imbalance and instability and disharmony, but too much attention to these dynamics expands them. We can notice in a matter-of-fact or detached way while giving our primary attention — our energy — to balance and to those ideas and feelings that help us to experience balance.
About Your Process
Today is the last day of the Being/Intending Affirmations. I suggest you do three things before moving into the next genre of affirmations: (1) consider if there is anything else you want to become or be or know or intend with respect to balance, (2) re-visit the over-arching intention you set for balance, and (3) ascertain if you are ready to be powerfully balanced. Since these affirmations are designed as a process, it is important that you feel ready to proceed. If you need more time to ponder being and intending with respect to balance, take the time.
Today is the last day of the Being/Intending Affirmations. I suggest you do three things before moving into the next genre of affirmations: (1) consider if there is anything else you want to become or be or know or intend with respect to balance, (2) re-visit the over-arching intention you set for balance, and (3) ascertain if you are ready to be powerfully balanced. Since these affirmations are designed as a process, it is important that you feel ready to proceed. If you need more time to ponder being and intending with respect to balance, take the time.
Copyright Jeanie Marshall, Empowerment Consultant
Affirmations for My Spirituality
Affirmations for My Spirituality
- I am free to be myself.
- I am a forgiving and loving person.
- I am responsible for my own Spiritual Growth.
- I have given myself permission to be at one with the Universe.
- My strength comes from forgiveness of those who hurt me.
- I am worthy of love.
- The more I love, the more that love is returned to me.
- Love is eternal and ever-lasting.
- I nurture my inner child, love her and have allowed her to heal.
- I am responsible for my life and always maintain the power I need to be positive and have joy
PAGAN THIRTEEN-STEPS TO INNER CONTROL
PAGAN THIRTEEN-STEPS TO INNER CONTROL
1. I honor the energy of *birch*, for a new beginning. I am able to change myself as I will to do. So mote it be!
2. I honor the energy of *rowan* for protection against evil enchantment. I will not hobble myself with the chains of past failures. So mote it be!
3. I honor the energy of *alder*, for the protection of my inner oracle. I will listen to the voice of the Goddess Within. So mote it be!
4. I honor the energy of *willow*, for the lunar rhythms within me as a woman. I will recognize and heed my own body’s cycles. So mote it be!
5. I honor the energy of *ash*, the magician’s staff. I will recognize that “as above, so below,” I play a part in the larger scheme of things. I will link my inner and outer worlds. So mote it be!
6. I honor the energy of *hawthorn* for cleansing and restraint. I will choose what I place within my body, and empty myself of all that violates my personal well-being. So mote it be!
7. I honor the energy of *oak*, the doorway to the mysteries. I will call upon the strength of the Horned One when I feel in need of protection. So mote it be!
8. I honor the energy of *holly*, spear of the warrior. I will not remain passive and victimized, but will choose to fight for my own freedom. So mote it be!
9. I honor the energy of *hazel*, the tree of wisdom. I will heed my own inner intuitions, and will be wise and informed in my choices. So mote it be!
10. I honor the energy of *vine*, the tree of conviviality and celebration. I will love myself and will celebrate life, not seeing the choices I make as deprivations but gifts. So mote it be!
11. I honor the energy of *ivy*, the spiral to center. I will do all that I do because of my own inner desires. I will listen to myself, and will remain balanced and centered while I do this work. So mote it be!
12. I honor the energy of *reed*, the tool of the hunt. I will take direct action when necessary to protect myself, including the “killing” of old patterns, friendships and associations which harm me. So mote it
be!
13. I honor the energy of *elder* which sees the end from the beginning. Throughout many lifetimes I have been here. I have the knowledge that I have changed myself again and again. I will start from where I am now, and continue to persist in my path. I will succeed. So mote it be!
As you see, the pagan focus is not to surrender responsibility for oneself to a higher power, but to take responsibility and make choices appropriate to a Goddess (that’s YOU…) Feel free to change this as you wish.
Crone’s Corner – New Beginnings Spell
Now is a time of new beginnings becoming visible, hope and inspiration dancing into being. Take a white and a black candle, and place them in front of you. Light them, and breathe in the glow that comes from the balance of light and dark. Speak this verse as you bask in the glow:
Wakening Earth,
Shake off your slumber
Feel the sunlight.
Kore has returned,
Spring has begun.
Shake off your slumber
Feel the sunlight.
Kore has returned,
Spring has begun.
All is possible,
Everything awakens.
Pulses quicken,
Rivers flow,
As each and every creature knows.
Everything awakens.
Pulses quicken,
Rivers flow,
As each and every creature knows.
Excitement fills each brook and stream,
Creatures living in a dream.
Energies bursting from the ground-
Magic,
Prana,
And possibility all around.
Creatures living in a dream.
Energies bursting from the ground-
Magic,
Prana,
And possibility all around.
Now awakening,
My powers are strong and true.
Surrounded by new life,
New visions are coming through.
My powers are strong and true.
Surrounded by new life,
New visions are coming through.
Maiden goddesses dance
To each bud’s joyous opening.
I am replenished,
Like the baby chick,
I am not finished.
To each bud’s joyous opening.
I am replenished,
Like the baby chick,
I am not finished.
Like the flower bud,
My powers are opening.
I am becoming,
My creative power
blossoming.
My powers are opening.
I am becoming,
My creative power
blossoming.
The promise of life is
fulfilled,
Spring has returned,
and we are renewed.
What I initiate now
Grows quickly,
And balance is easy.
So mote it be.
fulfilled,
Spring has returned,
and we are renewed.
What I initiate now
Grows quickly,
And balance is easy.
So mote it be.
~ Abby Willowroot
)0( GrannyMoon’s Morning Feast Archives and Crones Corner – http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Crones_Corner/
Pagan Studies – Ostara Spell
Pagan Studies – Ostara Spell
Ostara, otherwise known as the Vernal Equinox, marks the date when day overcomes night. Plants re-emerge from the earth, the air is filled with birdsong, and animals mate and bear young. Humans feel an overpowering urge to build now, to plant and to fall in love. This powerful time is when winter dreams need to be acted upon. The most potent talisman we have this time of the year is the egg, symbol of rebirth, new beginnings, and growth. Here are some old and new ways to use eggs in your spellwork. For a new love, take a raw egg and dye it red. Poke holes on either end of the egg with a needle or a small nail. Make the hole on the small end of the egg large enough so that you can insert a crystal and herbs. Blow the contents of the egg out the holes and thoroughly clean out the inside. Insert into the egg a the small rose quartz crystal, rose petals, and a sprinkle of catnip. Visualize a new love entering your life. Glue over the hole with pink tissue paper. You can modify this spell for abundance or any new venture with a change of color, crystal, and herb. To keep a family together, the eldest member of the clan divides a hard-boiled egg so that each member gets a piece to eat. Throughout one’s life, if any member of the family gets lost one must think about those he or she shared the egg with. This will cause the others to think of him or her. The combined physic energies will guide the lost one home. To ensure the safety and well-being of your household, bury a magically charged egg in each of the four directions. Charge an egg with visions of an abundant harvest and bury it in your garden before you plant. Hang decorated eggs from the trees around your property on Ostara to bring prosperity to your family for the year.
By: Lily Gardner-Butts
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GrannyMoon’s Morning Feast Archives
Today’s Goddess: ISHIKORE-DOME
Today’s Goddess: ISHIKORE-DOME
Sun Enters Aries (Various Locations)
Themes: Arts; Excellence
Symbols: Stone; Mirror
About Ishikore-Dome: This Shinto goddess is the protectress of all stonecutters and smiths, having fashioned the mold from which an eight-petaled mirror was made for Amaterasu (the sun goddess). The beauty of Ishikore-Dome’s creation was such that Amaterasu came out of hiding, bringing spring’s wonderful sunshine with her! Similarly, Ishikore-Dome tempts us to come out of our home-cave today, explore and express our talents, and enjoy the warmer weather.
To Do Today: The sign of Aries is said to produce a feisty, courageous spirit, which is exactly what it takes sometimes to stop being the proverbial wallflower and try new things. If there’s an art form you’ve always wanted to try, or one that you love but hesitate to try because of perceived shortcomings, let Ishikore-Dome’s encouraging energy nudge you into action today. Remember, Buddhists believe that developing artistic proficiency comes down to three things: practice, practice, practice!
To conduct yourself with greater courage and a unique artistic flair; make a simple Ishikore-Dome charm from a small mirror. Face-down on the mirror, glue a symbol of the area in your life in which you need more creativity, mastery, or mettle and carry it with you. This symbolically reflects your desire to the goddess
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GrannyMoon’s Morning Feast Archive
Light A Candle Today!
Light A Candle Today!
In many different traditions lighting a candle is a sacred action. It expresses more than words can express. It has to do with gratefulness. From time immemorial, people have lit candles in sacred places. You may want to begin or end your day by the sacred ritual of lighting a candle on this gratefulness. Or you may want to light a birthday candle for a friend. One single guideline is all you need: Slow down and do it with full attention.
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Seasons of the Witch! Ancient Holidays (and some not so ancient!)
Live each Season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each. ~Henry David Thoreau (1817 – 1862)
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Spring Eve – On the eve of Spring Day, Albanian children go out to search for fragrant greens and flowers to decorate doorways. They sing songs to the newly-awakened spring. Mothers twist red and white threads around the throats and wrists of young children, to keep them strong and healthy during the coming year.
Resources : GrannyMoon’s Morning Feast Archives
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NOTE: Because of the large number of ancient calendars, many in simultaneous use, as well as different ways of computing holy days (marked by the annual inundation, the solar year, the lunar month, the rising of key stars, and other celestial and terrestrial events), you may find these holy days celebrated a few days earlier or later at your local temple .
Lunar Lore
Lunar Lore
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If the moon is on its back in the third quarter,
it is a sign of rain.
– Collected in R. Inwards, “Weather Lore”.
…
it is a sign of rain.
– Collected in R. Inwards, “Weather Lore”.
…
Ah, Moon of my Delight who know’st no wane
The Moon of Heav’n is rising once again:
How oft hereafter rising shall she look;
Through this same Garden after me – in vain!
The Moon of Heav’n is rising once again:
How oft hereafter rising shall she look;
Through this same Garden after me – in vain!
– Edward Fitzgerald, “The Rubà’iyàt of Omar Khayyàm.”
Witches Of The Craft® 
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