Day: January 16, 2012

Daily Aromatherapy Tip – Aid To Quit Smoking

Daily Aromatherapy Tip – Aid To Quit Smoking
 
You may have heard about offices in Japan circulating essential oils of Lemon, Peppermint
and Cypress through the air conditioning systems to keep office workers alert.
Well, an interesting side effect, it seemed to reduce their urge to smoke.
A tip for the smokers out there.

‘A Cherokee Feast of Days’

‘A Cherokee Feast of Days’
 
What we take for granted someone else thinks is beautiful. What we want to get rid of is someone else’s treasure. Sometimes we stand so close to something dear that we cannot see that it is dear. Our lack of awareness robs us of what we assume is ours forever. We have many eyes, but most are closed or glazed over. The eyes of the mind and spirit perceive far more than our physical eyes will ever see. The eyes of our hearing detect sound but also feelings and attitude – and the music of he sphere. There is a word in the Cherokee language, agowhtvhdi, which means sight. When we touch something we not only feel but we also see the gentleness or the hardships, the depths and the heights. No, we are never blind except when we close ourselves off and deny the very Spirit of Life.

~ Give heed, my child, lift up your eyes, behold the One who has brought you life.~CEREMONIAL SONG

 
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

Spell Of The Day – All-Purpose Protection Spell

Spell Of The Day – All-Purpose Protection Spell
For a dose of all-purpose protection, mix sage and fenugreek (or fennel) with a pinch of allspice, and cover with enough boiling water to fill a mug. Stand over the pot and visualize it glowing first with bright green, then with potent blue protective energy. When the potion is thoroughly imbued both with the herbs and your positive thoughts, pour. As you sip the aromatic brew, think of its protective energies seeping into your body, and into your aura. Gradually, your personal emanation becomes brighter and denser. With each taste of your tea, visualize yourself increasingly surrounded by a psychic raincoat that is impermeable to negativity.

By Kala Trobe

VESTA / HESTIA

 

VESTA / HESTIA
..
Vesta was the Roman Goddess of the hearth and home (Hestia was her Greek counterpart). Her six Vestal Virgins (virgin in the sense that they belonged to no man – they were “one within”) tended her sacred fire in a round temple in Rome and the Romans offered a prayer to her every day at their own hearths. On March 1st, every year, her priestesses extinguished the fire and relit it. Her worship was connected with fertility and to let her light go out would mean that civilization would also end. On June 9th, the Vestalia was held when her priestesses baked salt cakes and sacrificed them on Vesta’s fire for 8 days, after which the temple was closed, cleaned out and then reopened the next day. She holds an oil lamp from 1st century Pompeii and wears a Roman earring from the 3rd-4th centuries. The statues of Senior Vestal Virgins in the background are from the House of the Vestal Virgins in the Roman Forum (heads and hands restored ). On the wall is a Roman frieze from the College of Vestal Virgins.
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http://www.goddessmyths.com/Vesta.JPG

Celebrations Aound The World for Jan. 16th

 

Ivy Day
Feast of the Abbot of Unreason
Hermit Day
Procrastinator’s New Year
Craft-Brew Day (Berkeley, California)
Feast of the Ass
Dia Del Maestro (Teacher’s Day; Venezuela)
Seijn-No-Hi (Adult’s Day; Japan)
Humanitarian Day
Pioneer Day (Idaho)
Hat Day
St. Paul of Thebes’ Day (aka Paul the Hermit; patron of weavers)
Moliere Day (France)
Coming of Age Day (Japan)
Massage Parlor Day
St. Maurus’ Day (patron against colds)
Iroquois White Dog Feast
National Strawberry Ice Cream Day
St. Macarius of Egypt’s Day
Top Junk-Food News Stories Day
Feast of Christ of Esquipulas (Black Christ Festival; Guatemala)

Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday (Actual)
Just Do It Day – Make the Connection
Basketball Day

Pagan Studies -Smooring Ritual

Pagan Studies –Smooring Ritual

 
In ancient times, the hearth-fire was rarely allowed to go out, especially in winter. When the fire had burned down to an ember, it was carefully preserved under a blanket of ashes. In Scotland, this was called “smooring,” and it was done in a ritualistic way. The embers were arranged in a circle divided into three parts, with an ember in the middle known as Tula nan Tri (Hearth of the Three). You can perform this fire magic with three candles, with a fourth in the center symbolizing what you wish to preserve and encourage in the season to come. Close your eyes and pass your hand over the candles, saying:
 
I am smooring the fire
As Bridget would smoor.
The gods’ protection
Be upon the flame.
I will build this power
As I build the hearth
At the dawn of the red sun of day.
By: Sharynne NicMhacha

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GrannyMoon’s Morning Feast Archives

Pagan Studies – Moon Miscellany

Pagan Studies – Moon Miscellany

 
New Moon – White Goddess of birth and growth.
Full Moon – Red Goddess of love and battle.
Old Moon – Black Goddess of death and divination.
 
All hail to thee, Queen of heaven!
Thou showest two horns to mark six days,
And on the seventh will divide thy crown in two.
On the fourteenth day, turn thy full face unto us.
 
Seven is the Moon’s mystic number, because each one of its four phases is completed in seven days.
 
Nineteen is a sacred number in Old Irish and Celtic lore, for the sequence of Moon phases within a single zodiac sign is repeated every 19 years.
 
The Mansions of the Moon, abodes of the soul, refer to the position of the Moon at noon on each of the 28 days in a lunar month.
 
Bow to the new Moon, especially the first new Moon of the year, as a sign of respect. It is courting disaster to point at the Moon at any time. Turn a silver coin in your purse or pocket at the first sight of the new Moon to gain luck.
It is bad luck to see the new Moon for the first time on your left, or behind you, or through the branches of a tree. A new Moon on Saturday means foul weather. A full Moon on Sunday brings bad luck and toilers of the sea should not set sail.
 
The Roman astrologers of classical times considered the Moon sign of a horoscope to be of far greater significance than the Sun sign.
 
Marsilioi Ficino, the Florentine philosopher of the Renaissance, defined the planetary image of the spirit of the Moon as an archer riding a doe, a huntress with bows and arrows, a little boy, a goose, or a single arrow.
 
Diana, Goddess of the Moon and patroness of witches, was regarded as a demon by the early Christians.
 
Waxing: as the size of the Moon increases, its form takes the shape of the capital letter D: D for Daring. This marks a time for creativity, expansion, and development. You may glance up at the sky in the late afternoon to see the pale waxing half Moon beckoning. Later on as darkness falls, it shines like a beacon of hope in the west, raising your spirits and assuring the success of your ventures.
 
Waning: rising later night after night, the Moon diminishes in size, now assuming the form of the letter C: C for Caring. The time has come to relax, restore energy, and quietly dispel negative influences in your life. Banish fear, unworthy desires, and selfish motivations as the Moon wanes.
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Excerpted From Elizabeth Pepper, The Witches’ Almanac, Ltd.

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Heartwings Love Notes 501: Having a Cold

Heartwings Love Notes 501: Having a Cold

 

Heartwings says, “If you have a cold you’d better not keep it too long.”

 

Commonly we refer to almost any illness or condition as something we “have.” We may not wish to keep it, yet we seem to indicate that like any possession, the cold, flu, or other sickness is ours. We even say that we have caught it, like a fish or baseball. According to the way some think, this is not a good idea. After all, if you have something, whether you want to or not, perhaps that makes it more difficult to get rid of.

 

The science of affirmation began around the late 1800s with a gentleman named Emile Coue¢. He taught people to stand in front of a mirror and repeat, “every day in every way I am getting better and better.” His method, known as autosuggestion, was later expanded upon and evolved into a school of psychology built around positive thinking. It became the basis for a whole way of improving one’s life through positive statements known as affirmations.

 

 

However, there is a reverse polarity to affirmations and these are negative statements, such as “I have a cold, a fever, or a problem of any sort.” If I “have” something I do not want, and I want to get rid of it, I’d best stop saying I have it. The basis of affirmation as well as that of avoiding negative statements is that the subconscious part of the mind can and will respond and help us achieve what we affirm.

 

When I find myself coughing and sneezing, it’s difficult to avoid saying I have a cold. I am however working hard to think of it as vanishing. This cold has bothered me for more than a week and I am eager to get rid of it. The next time I start to feel I have caught a cold, I am going to try to drop it somewhere rather than hold onto it. Perhaps instead I will stand in front of my mirror and say, loud and clear, “Every day in every way I am getting better and better.”

 

May you be able to release easily whatever you do not wish to keep.

 

Blessings and Best Regards, Tasha Halpert

 

For more Love Notes or to subscribe: www.heartwingslovenotes.com.

Lunar Lore for January 16th

Moon & Witch Comments & Graphics

 

 If the full moon rise pale, expect rain.
– Collected in R. Inwards, “Weather Lore”.
.

The Moon in opposition to Venus,
shews a laudable day in all kind of business.
– Bethem’s “Centiloquium”
.
The Moon in Scorpio or Pisces, having Latitude South
and descending, begin no Building, for if you do,
it will quickly fall.
– J. Partridge, “Mikropanastron”

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~Magickal Graphics~

Current Moon Phase – Waning

Moon & Witch Comments & Graphics
Current Moon Phase: Waning

 
Waning Moon Magick: The period between the Full Moon and the New Moon, from three-and-a-half to ten-and-a-half days after the Full moon. From the Full Moon to the New is a time for study, meditation,and magic designed to banish harmful energies and habits, for ridding oneself of addictions, illness or negativity. This is a time for banishing and rejecting things in our lives that we no longer wish to carry around with us.

~Magickal Graphics~

Calendar of the Moon for January 16th

Calendar of the Moon
16 Beth/Poseideion

Dionysia Agrous II: Askolia

Color: Purple
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon a purple cloth set a five purple candles, a wreath of grapevines, a jar of wine, a basket of raisins, the figure of a goat, and the figure of an erect phallus, wound with ivy.
Offerings: Wine libations, and a comedic mystery play to be presented to guests invited in.
Daily Meal: A fine lunch for guests, with wine and Greek food.

Askolia Invocation

Hail Dionysos, Lord of Theater!
For as the world is a stage,
So the stage is the smaller world,
And upon it we may witness your miracles.
May our minds be broadened
And our souls touched
By what we do witness here.
Hail, Dionysos, Lord of Sacrifice!
May our offering by taken kindly
In the spirit in which it is given.

Chant: Io Dionysos Io Dionysos

(This invocation serves as the opening to a comedic mystery play, to be presented to a group of invited guests. Its subject matter can be variable, although The Bacchae is always appropriate. Afterwards, the basket of raisins and the jug of wine is again passed, and libations made.)

Calendar of the Sun for Jan. 16th

Calendar of the Sun
16 Wolfmonath

Muspellheim Day: Surt’s Blot

Color: Red
Element: Fire
Altar: Upon cloth of red set a great burning brazier of fire, many red candles, and a bottle of high-proof hard liquor.
Offerings: Bring fire to sacred places. The windows should be opened for the hour before Sponde, allowing cold to penetrate into the House. Then at Sponde, the sacred fire should be lit.
Daily Meal: Hot spicy food, of any kind.

Muspellheim Invocation

In the beginning there was Ginnungagap,
The darkness ever-stretching in every direction.
Then came forth two worlds out of that darkness,
And one was the world of Fire, home to Surt the Black.
And the World of Fire touched the World of Ice,
And from that touch came the life of all the Worlds.
Hail, Master of Muspellheim,
Guardian of the Wand of Light,
Eldest of the elders, first upon the World Tree,
Primal Flame that shines in the dark,
Your soul is of the power that births universes,
Your heart is the power of the fire beneath the earth,
Your flesh is the molten stone pouring forth,
Your hands are the flame that leaps forth,
The smoke of your hair is as dark
As your sight is bright and blinding.
Hail, Master of Muspellheim,
Keeper of the Eternal Flame,
Bringer of the first red light
Into the darkness of Ginnungagap,
Bringer of the first red warmth
Into the frozen cold of Niflheim,
Melter of ice, destroyer of worlds,
Spark of hope that begins life again.
Bless us, Surt the Black, Obsidian Lord,
From birthing coals to funeral pyre.

(The liquor is poured into the fire as a libation. All come forth and take candles, and light them from the flame. Then the fire is carried into each room of the house, and the windows are closed, and the heat resumed, and all hearths relit. Fires should be fed well and burn high on this day.)

Lunabar Moon Almanack for Monday, January 16

Moon & Witch Comments & Graphics

 

        Lunabar Moon Almanack for Monday, January 16, 2012

Last Quarter Moon, at 4h. 9m. morning.

Moon in Via Combusta.

Moon in 23rd degree of the Sign Libra, the Balance;

also in 30th deg. of the Constellation Virgo, the Virgin.

Moonrise: 12:26 morn. Midheaven: 5:59 morn. Moonset: 11:24 morn.

 

~Magickal Graphics~