Day: February 17, 2012

Spirits of the Element of Air

The Elemental spirits associated with Air are called sylphs, and their ruler is named Peralda. The word sylph comes from the Greek word sylpha, which means “butterfly.”  When you see butterflies fluttering on the wind, sylphs are inevitably nearby. Sylphs may be the easiest entities to invite to a ritual because air exists as easily in a tenth-floor apartment as it does in an outdoor circle. Sylphs especially tend to gravitate to creative endeavors, so they are most easily called by artists, writers, poets, and musicians. They inspire the creative spirit, much like muses, and aid in shaping clear communication. It isn’t unusual to feel a sylph touch your hand or toss your hair while you’re busy creating. Don’t be alarmed;they are just giving you some creative encouragement.

Sylphs stimulate mental balance, freedom, and curiosity. They assist us in coordinating our perception and in verbalizing them. They enhance the power of speech, music, and the written word, especially poetry. They, teach us about the relationship between all things, which allows us to see and know the great web that connects all of life. This, in turn, brings about a desire for greater harmony. Sylphs stimulate creativity, intuitiveness, and inventiveness, and they awaken the intellect. They can open us to the realm of ideas and help us with mystical experiences and world views.

Like the wind they dance on, sylphs are changeable, volatile, and occasionally flighty. If you’ve ever experienced writer’s block, you now what it means to have the sylphs disappear and take their creative energy with them. Bt it’s easy to call them back.

Symbols and Associations of the Element Air

Air has the qualities of coolness and dryness and associations with breath, life, and communication. In astrology, Air rules the zodiac signs Aquarius, Gemini, and Libra. People born under the Air signs think, communicate, analyze, and theorize. They love freedom, truth and justice, and have the ability to change circumstances with amazing speed. As thinkers, they rely on rationality rather than on intuition or emotions. Their philosophical approach to any situation allow them to endure hardship. Air signs can tolerate almost any circumstances, as long as there is a rational explanation for it. They have great leadership capabilities, with a reputation of being fair. Interested in almost everything, they are lifelong students.

The Element of Air becomes a negative one when Air folks require family and friends to uphold the same standards they live by. Air people cannot understand why everyone does not think and act as they do When they make a mistake, they tend to rationalize instead of using the situation as a learning experience. They are devoted to abstract ideas and have difficulty making decisions, making them sometimes exasperating to work with. In addition, they tend to procrastinate.

The Element of Air

Air is the Element of the East, and might be represented on an altar by incense, feathers or an athame. It can be as soft as a whispered breath and as violent as a tornado, so it isn’t an Element to be taken lightly. It should come as no surprise that particularly persistent winds have even been given names — the Scirocco winds in the Mediterranean and the Santa Ana winds on the United States West Coast, for example. When these winds blow, they can literally change people’s temperaments an often fan wild fires. When mixed with another powerful Element, Water, Air can produce a fury we call hurricanes.

But Air is a necessary and benevolent Element, too. Without even thinking about it, we use our breath to blow out candles, sing songs of celebration, and whisper secrets. How often have you “stepped out for a breath of fresh air?; Used during meditation and to alleviate the pains of childbirth, the Element of Air is healing and vital.

‘THINK on THESE THINGS’ (Feb. 17th)

‘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.

Elder’s Meditation of the Day – February 17

Elder’s Meditation of the Day – February 17

“Silence and self-control permeate the entirety of our lives.”

–Larry P. Aitken, CHIPPEWA

The Creator gave us all the Red Road and on this Red Road we are required to think and act in a spiritual way. To make sure I conduct myself according to the Red Road, I must make sure I develop my self discipline. Self control works best when we pray for the courage and power t do the will of the Great Spirit. We are here on the earth to do the will of the Great Spirit. Sometimes, we must battle ourselves to do this.

Great Spirit, help me to have my self-control guided by spiritual ways.

*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*

February 17 – Daily Feast

February 17 – Daily Feast

Touching the earth is a lovely thing, a feeling of once again finding our beginnings, a knowing that this place where we stand, whether to walk or plow or plant, is something created for us, for the pulse of the earth slows our own and tranquilizes our confusion. The Cherokees believe that seeing the sky in all its limitless depths stirs our imaginations and stretches our awareness of how much simple beauty is provided for us. We can see that bitterness lasts only as long as we allow it, but we have reached beyond the ceiling of our minds and are as unlimited as the sky. As currents of air stir the fragrance of flowers, we may not be able to see all things but we sense the influence and know that life is ours to enjoy. It comes by Divine heritage.

~ Ka wat lee OS, tat gat he. Peace for the Cherokees, Oh America, peace for the Cherokees. ~

‘A Cherokee Feast of Days’, by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*

The Daily Motivator for Feb. 17th – Stop putting it off

Stop putting it off

If there’s something that must be done, go ahead and get it finished. Get busy, get it done, and feel the freedom of no longer having it hanging over your head.

Sure, it will take some focused, concentrated effort. Yes, it may be annoying and inconvenient. However, those are not reasons to avoid it. Those are great reasons to go ahead and get it behind you.

Instead of filling your day with worry and dread and resentment and guilt, fill it with effective, productive effort. Instead of making excuses and ending up getting nowhere, make some real progress and get the task behind you.

The energy you spend putting it off is one hundred percent wasted energy. The energy you spend getting it done is what will make a real, discernable, positive difference in your world.

So get yourself going and get it done. Now is the time and this is the place from which you can move confidently forward.

— Ralph Marston

The Daily Motivator

Daily OM for Friday, February 17th – Below the Surface

Below the Surface
Finding Deep Strength
When we look back on our lives we see that we have survived many trials and often to our own amazement.

We have all faced moments in our lives when the pressure mounts beyond what we feel we can handle, and we find ourselves thinking that we do not have the strength to carry on. Sometimes we have just gotten through a major obstacle or illness only to find another one waiting for us the moment we finally catch our breath. Sometimes we endure one loss after another, wondering when we will get a break from life’s travails. It does not seem fair or right that life should demand more of us when we feel we have given all we can, but sometimes this is the way life works.

When we look back on our lives, we see that we have survived many trials and surmounted many obstacles, often to our own amazement. In each of those instances, we had to break through our ideas about how much we can handle and go deeper into our hidden reserves. The thought that we do not have the strength to handle what is before us can be likened to the hard surface of a frozen lake. It appears to be an impenetrable fact, but when we break through it, we find that a deep well of energy and inspiration was trapped beneath that icy barrier the whole time. Sometimes we break through by cutting a hole into our resistance with our willpower, and sometimes we melt the ice with compassion for our predicament and ourselves. Either way, each time we break through, we reach a new understanding of the strength we store within ourselves.

When we find ourselves up against that frozen barrier of thinking we cannot handle our situation, we may find that the kindest choice is to love ourselves and our resistance too. We can simply accept that we are overwhelmed, exhausted, and stretched, and we can offer ourselves loving kindness and compassion. If we can extend to ourselves the unconditional warmth of a mother’s love, before we know it, the ice will begin to break.

Special Kitty of the Day for February 17th

Buddy, the Cat of the Day
Name: Buddy
 Age: Five years old
Gender: Male
 Kind: Domestic Shorthair
Home: East Hartford, Connecticut, USA
Hi!! My name is Buddy. I am rambunctious and very playfull!!!

My Meowmie, who rescues guys like me and finds them great homes, came upon me after a woman called her to say she was going into a battered women’s shelter and couldn’t take me with her. She promised to come back for me once she found a permanent place to live. That never happened and I was very sad. I went to live with a cranky old man named Hal, who wanted desperately to mold me into his old RB cat. I love being in high places. But Hal would get angry and spray me with water and swat me with a newspaper.

After enduring six months of Hal’s wrath, Meowmie finally said enough was enough. She and got me. Because she was maxed out in her fur population, she asked a friend to foster me until a furever home could be found. I hated being alone. I would sit in the window and cry. Meowmie must have heard my cries, because after a month, she called her friend and told her I was coming home to live with her and my other fur sibs.

While I love my fur sibs, I had a rocky start. I was confused because didn’t know where I belonged. I peed on the kitchen floor and the bathroom floor. Meowmie took me to the white coats to rule out a UTI. After a couple of squirts of Feliway in the air, and lots of loving, I knew I was home for good.

Meowmie has been through a lot during the past two years. After losing two of my kitty siblings to the RB, she was inconsolable. It was only after I did my magic by knocking things off the shelf, did she start to laugh. I love making Meowmie laugh.

I have my Meowmie trained very well. First thing in the morning, when she has her first cup of coffee, I’m right there to supervise the pouring of Half & Half. I am rewarded by my own little “sippy” of the rich, creamy liquid. When she says, “Buddy, kiss-kiss”, I oblige by tilting my head her way for a smooch. I also have my own personal ceramic pet fountain. It’s called the bathroom sink. Meowmie leaves the water running so I can drink at my leisure. My favorite spot is on top of the refrigerator or the top shelf in the kitchen.

I’m very happy here and now know where I belong and that I am loved unconditionally!

Dog-gone Doggie of the Day for February 17th

Dixie, the Dog of the Day
Name: Dixie
 Age: Fifteen months old
Gender: Female Breed: Boxer, German Shorthaired Pointer
Home: Pennsylvania, USA
This is Dixie. She is such a fun loving dog and brings joy to everyone in the house. She shares a birthday with my younger sister, which makes her even more special to the rest of the family. We have two other dogs in the house as well, a female lab named Sandy who is only a week older than Dixie, and an elderly black lab mix named Bear. They all get along just fine, especially the younger two, who will wrestle and play all day long if we let them.

Dixie is a great companion, and she goes with me everywhere I can possibly take her, including school! I am studying to be a Veterinary Technician, and I often bring her to my campus with me; dogs are welcomed there with open arms. She loves going for rides in the truck, no matter how far, and she especially likes the small fries I sometimes get her at the drive through. She is a very active dog and enjoys going for walks and her favorite form of exercise is swimming! She could swim for hours upon hours if I didn’t call her out of the water so she could rest. I love going fishing, and she is always by my side-as you can see in the picture with water in the background. She is very curious about the fish I catch though – not quite sure what to make of them.

Dixie also makes me laugh every day, whether she won’t stop licking me or she is burying her body under my blankets in a game of hide and seek, I always get a kick out her. I love Dixie with all of my heart and she brings so much joy and excitement to my otherwise pretty ordinary life.

Make Your Pet, “Pet of the Day!”

I am reposting this just in case those interested missed it the first time.

 

We always need more
animals to be Pet of the Day!

To nominate your pet, (it’s free)
send the following information to Pet@PetoftheDay.com.

All pets are eligible – birds, bunnies, cats, dogs, ferrets, fish, gerbils, goats, guinea pigs, hamsters, horses, iguanas, lizards, mice, pigs, ponies, rats, snakes, turtles, and more.
 

1) E-mail us a clear picture of your pet.

Please use JPEG (JPG), PNG, or Photoshop’s format.
We prefer large colorful images.

If you have several photos please send them all, we may use a couple of them. If you have a movie or sound file please attach that too or include a link to them (from site such as YouTube).

2) Include the following information:

Pet’s name,
Pet’s age,
Pet’s species or breed,
Pet’s city/state/country of residence.
You do not have to indicate your city or state if you are uncomfortable sharing this information.

Tell us what makes your pet special!

3) Include your email address.

If your pet is selected, we will email you so that
you know which day is your pet’s special day.

We will not give your email address to anyone else.

Please be sure that your email address is correct otherwise we can not contact you.
If you have any questions please email us at help@PetoftheDay.com

All material submitted becomes the property of Pet of the Day and all copyrights are assigned to us. This is to protect us and prevent others from reusing your work. You do, however, retain the rights to your material for your own use.

What Does Your Birth Order Say About You?

What Does Your Birth Order Say About You?

  • Mel, selected from DivineCaroline

By Education.com, DivineCaroline

Does birth order shape our personalities? Scientists the world over have spent countless words and oceans of ink debating the issue of nature versus nurture. But how your child develops might have as much to do with the order in which they were born, as it does with their genes or environment.

Alfred Adler, a contemporary of Freud and Jung, first put forth the idea, claiming that when a child is born deeply impacts their personality. According to Adler:

Eldest children are socially dominant, highly intellectual, and extremely conscientious. Unfortunately, they’re also less open to new ideas, and prone to perfectionism and people pleasing—the result of losing both parents’ undivided attention at an early age, and working throughout their lives to get it back.

Middle children, sandwiched between older and younger siblings, often develop a competitive nature, making them natural entrepreneurs later in life. They tend to be the most diplomatic and flexible members of the family and often, eager for parental praise, develop musical or academic gifts.

Youngest children, according to birth order theory, tend to be dependent and selfish—as they’re used to others providing for them. But despite the negatives, they’re also quite often the life of the party—fun, confident, and comfortable entertaining others.

And only children? Like last borns, they are regularly spoiled, according to Adler, and have a hard time when they don’t get their own way. School can be a particularly difficult transition, as they’re used to being the center of the familial universe. But all that parental focus pays off. Only children are often mature for their age. They wow people with their vocabularies and their comfort in adult circles. Plus, all that self-entertaining fosters creativity.

Adler’s theories have been debated for generations. Whether they’re scientifically sound or not much more than hogwash, muse about them as you raise your children. And regardless of when they were born, help each of your kids recognize what makes them unique and resist the urge to compare them to their siblings. That’s sure to make every member of your family thrive.

Today’s Cosmic Calendar for February 17th

No matter where you are on the career totem pole, today and tomorrow offer you great opportunities for taking a great leap forward and making gains as a savvy entrepreneur. The Moon in Capricorn forms an uplifting trine with Jupiter in Taurus (5:45AM PST), and this expansive and yet also earthy combination has you begging for more celestial gift-giving. Utilize your spiritual willpower and mental concentration when the Moon makes its monthly union with Lord of the Underworld Pluto (12:42PM PST). Any lunar conjunction with Pluto has a shadowy component; therefore, making enemies of friends and barking commands at colleagues, associates or employees is bush league and foolish. Tonight’s Venus-Chiron contra-parallel (11:52PM PST) may manifest as a more tender and sensitive flow of energy that both you and a key partner can receive as a bounty of cosmic goodness. On the other hand, healing old wounds and pains from childhood days may also have its own rhyme and reason for showing up right now. Tune into universal currents and global causes that stir your heart and soul since this is the last full day of Solar Aquarius.

Calendar of the Moon for Friday, February 17th

Calendar of the Moon

Rowan Tree Moon

Color: Orange-red
Element: Fire
Altar: Upon a cloth of orange-red set a row of red candles, Brigid’s cross, and a bell.
Offerings: Votive candles. Quicken a newborn idea into birth.
Daily Meal: Hot drinks with every meal. Keep food warm.

Luis/Gamelion Invocation

Call: Now is the quickening of the year.
Response: Now is the time of the first movement.
Call: Now the child stirs in the womb.
Response: Now the seed stirs in the earth.
Call: Now the plains flood and our fire is threatened.
Response: Now the cold water drowns our spark.
Call: Now is the time of the hard struggle.
Response: Now is the month of desperation.
Call: Now is the time of desperation to live.
Response: Now is the time of desperation to be born.
Call: We turn in our sleep as the earth turns.
Response: We dream with the sleeping earth.
Call: Each of our dreams is a lit candle in the dark.
Response: Each of our dreams is a single point of hope.
Call: They shine faint and alone in the night of struggle.
Response: They are alone as we are alone.
Call: Yet we are not alone in our dreams.
Response: We are not alone!
Call: We will keep our fires burning.
Response: We will burn against the night!
Call: We will warm our dreams with the force of life.
Response: We will not die alone in the cold!
Call: We will ward off all evil.
Response: Only good shall pass our gates.
Call: We will care for each other.
Response: We will never cease to care!
Call: We will survive the winter.
Response: We will survive!
(Repeat last two lines twice more.)

Chant:
Protect the flame that warms your dreams
And dreams shall never die.

Calendar of the Sun for Friday, February 17th

Calendar of the Sun
17 Solmonath

Fornacalia: Day of the Ovens

Color: Brown
Element: Fire
Altar: This ritual should be performed in the kitchen, with the altar built on top of the stove or inside the oven. Set a brown cloth with a red candle and many loaves of bread on wooden trays.
Offerings: Give some of the loaves of bread to those who have need of it.
Daily Meal: Everything baked – breads, cakes, pies, casseroles.

Invocation to Fornax

Goddess of the Oven
Lady of Fire Enclosed,
Sacred Baker of our food,
We all started as dough,
Raw and soft and unformed,
And we were patted into shape
By those who raised us,
Yet we could not bring ourselves
Fully grown to the table
Until we had endured
The hardening flame.
Be kind to us, Lady!
As we go through life
Let us not be scorched
Or spared the fire
But bring us gently through
To be our final selves.

Chant: Baker of the Loaf of Earth
We endure your fire

(One of the loaves is broken and handed around and shared, some more are set aside to eat later, and then the rest are taken to some deserving place and donated.)

Friday, February 17th is a fabulous day for…..

Spring Comments
February 17th

 Cut Hair to Retard Growth, Mow to Retard Growth, Castrate Farm Animals, Harvest, Pick Apples and Pears, Wean, Quit Smoking, Potty Train, Perform Demolition, Wash Wooden Floors, Wash Windows, Start Diet to Lose Weight, Advertise to Sell, Buy a Car  

~Magickal Graphics~

Correspondences for Friday, February 17th

Days Of The Week Comments

 Correspondences for Friday, February 17th 

Magickal Intentions: Love, Romance, Marriage, Sexual Matters, Physical Beauty, Friendship and Partnerships, Strangers and Heart

 Incense: Strawberry, Sandalwood, Rose, Saffron and Vanilla

Planet: Venus

Sign: Libra and Taurus 

Angel: Ariel

 Colors: Green, Pink, Aqua

Herbs/Plants: Pink Rose, Ivy, Birch, Heather, Clematis, Sage, Violet and Water Lily 

Stones: Rose Quartz, Moonstone, Pink Tourmaline, Peridot, Emerald and Jade 

Oil: (Venus) Cardamom, Palmrosa, Rose, Yarrow

 
Friday belongs to Venus, and its energies are warm, sensuous, and fulfilling. Efforts that involve any type of pleasure, comfort, and luxury, as well as the arts, music, or aroma (incense and perfume) works well on this day. As Venus lends its sensuous influences to the energies of this day, use it for any magical work that deals with matters of the heart. 



Magickal Graphics

Prayer Of The Day for Feb. 17th – Prayer for Patience

Prayer for Patience

O eternal Goddess, Maiden, Mother and

Crone. I am made from your flesh, and

you know me better than I know myself.

You understand depression, frustration,

and anxiety. Please me to control

these emotions, and help me to convert

these powerful feelings into love.

 

O eternal God, King of infinite wisdom

and goodness. I am created from your

essence, and  I thank you for the gift of

life. Please teach me to be patient and

humble, tolerant and gentle, especially

when life’s problems become heavy and

difficult to bear.

 

So Mote It Be.

WOTC’s Spell of the Day for Feb. 17th – Cat Dreams

Cat Dreams

This spell teaches you how to energetically shape shift into a cat in your dreams. Shape shifting allows you merge with a particular animal spirit and to bring the power and wisdom of this spirit into your own being. It means you can be as sleek, sure-footed, and cunning as a cat when you need to be. These can be very good traits which is why cats are so adaptive and prone to survival. Their ancestors have been around for thousands and thousands of years.

You will need pictures of cats and sandalwood incense. Cats come in many different colors, sizes and personality types. Become familiar with these many faces of cats, and in particular, what face most closely resembles who you are as a person. Take time to observe as many cats as you can. Watch how they interact with other cats and how they interact with humans. Merge with the cat spirit and become one with the cat Goddess, Bast.

Tonight before you go to sleep, put the pictures of cats on your altar and light the sandalwood incense. Call out to the cat Goddess Bast:

Dear Bast, Goddess of the divine feline

Please come to me tonight during dreamtime.

Blessed dreams! Blessed Be!

As you close your eyes to go to sleep, let the images of cats move through your mind’s eye. Merge with the cat spirit, and repeat to yourself as you drift to sleep:

Tonight I dream with the cat spirit. Blessed be, Bast!