Today’s Tarot for December 6th is The Fool

The Fool

Thursday, Dec 6th, 2012

Pamela Coleman-Smith’s artful rendition of an “innocent Fool” archetype (Rider-Waite deck) is often used to represent Tarot in general. Early classical versions of the Fool card, however, portray quite a different character — a person driven by base needs and urges, who has fallen into a state of poverty and deprivation.

In some instances, he is made out to be a carnival entertainer or a huckster. In others, he is portrayed as decrepit and vulnerable — as the cumulative result of his delusions and failures. Not until the 20th century do you see the popular Rider-Waite image of the Fool arise — that of an innocent Soul before its Fall into Matter, as yet untainted by contact with society and all its ills.

Modern decks usually borrow from the Rider-Waite imagery. Most Fool cards copy the bucolic mountainside scene, the butterfly, the potential misplaced step that will send the Fool tumbling into the unknown. Don’t forget, however, that the earlier versions of this card represented already-fallen humanity, over-identified with the material plane of existence, and beginning a pilgrimage towards self-knowledge, and eventually, wisdom. The Fool reminds us to recognize the path of personal development within ourselves — and the stage upon that path where we find ourselves — in order to energize our movement toward deeper self-realization.

Your Daily Horoscopes for Thursday, December 6th

We try to discriminate between useful information and unnecessary data as the discerning Virgo Moon dynamically squares the Sun and Jupiter. Virgo is often depicted as a maiden holding a bunch of wheat, and her job is to separate out the edible grain from the unusable chaff. Although the Virgo Moon makes spontaneity difficult, we can overcome the resistance. The morning’s good news may turn bad by midday before getter better again later on

Aries Horoscope

(Mar 21 – Apr 19)

You may feel emotionally conflicted today because it isn’t easy to restrain your impulses. Nevertheless, you have a feeling of inner power now and this reserve of energy is sufficient to stop you from wasting your talents by succumbing to your need for immediate gratification. Now, more than ever, you realize that waiting for the right moment can ensure you great success.

Taurus Horoscope

(Apr 20 – May 20)

You are a study in inertia today, making it difficult for you to change direction. If you have been inactive, you want to stay that way. But if you’ve been having a good time, it’s going to be tough to turn down the volume. Your sensual needs are strong now, and you won’t be denied the pleasures that you seek. Don’t let your fixed ways get the best of you, for this week brings change whether you are ready for it or not.

Gemini Horoscope

(May 21 – Jun 20)

You could go through a minor meltdown today as you temporarily become a perfectionist. It’s not that you are usually sloppy; it’s just that you’re often eager to let something go once you have completed it. However, you are driven to get everything correct now, and you’re not willing to let any loose ends remain untied. Your tenacity can bring on a power struggle with someone who isn’t as interested in your idea of making things right. Dig in your heels to honor your truth.

Cancer Horoscope

(Jun 21 – Jul 22)

Your feelings are larger than life, but you are still an expert at maintaining a healthy outlook on reality. Even if someone tries to manipulate you, you can hold on to your point of view without budging. The danger is that by clinging so strongly to your perspective today, others may think you’re trying to control them. Back off from any power struggles now. Ironically, the situation will take care of itself without you making such a fuss about it.

Leo Horoscope

(Jul 23 – Aug 22)

You may have to go through several ups and downs today, but you should be able to find a place where your energies are in balance. Your feelings and actions are harmonized only for short bursts now, yet others might not even notice the difference. Being overly exuberant one moment and more cautious the next requires you to be completely honest so there are no unrealistic expectations.

Virgo Horoscope

(Aug 23 – Sep 22)

Old problems that involve feelings from the past have been festering unnoticed beneath the surface. These could be your feelings or someone else’s, but in either case it’s probably a good time to talk it out. It may take an unpleasant encounter or difficult moment to act as a catalyst, but once the emotions are out in the open, there is great potential for resolving the problem. Visualize a positive outcome and it will be yours.

Libra Horoscope

(Sep 23 – Oct 22)

You are close to making a breakthrough that concerns your deepest beliefs, but you might have to hold on to your horses for just a little bit longer. Perhaps you have been scheming and dreaming, but keeping it all to yourself. Now you are finalizing your plans before putting them into motion. Some of your ideas may leak out prematurely, but don’t worry. The biggest obstacle to your potential success comes from glossing over details and spreading yourself too thin.

Scorpio Horoscope

(Oct 23 – Nov 21)

You may be so enthusiastic that you lose perspective today. Oddly enough, it is your confidence that can get you into trouble now. Be willing to question your own values. Listen to what others are telling you without putting up protective defenses. You have nothing to fear if you let someone into your heart. It’s only when you close people out that you have cause for worry.

Sagittarius Horoscope

(Nov 22 – Dec 21)

Your vision extends wide — after all you are the philosophers and travelers of the zodiac. However, your ideas are more carefully considered today, and this may make them become quite popular. It seems as if everyone can see your clear thinking at work and they want to climb on to your bandwagon. Make certain that your motives are clear. You will have better chances of meeting with success if you have the good of all in mind.

Capricorn Horoscope

(Dec 22 – Jan 19)

There are times for action and there are times for planning. You may be less productive today, but your analytical abilities are still working at top notch. Don’t worry if your physical energy is lower than usual. What you lack in stamina now is compensated by your practical organizational skills. For just a short while, forget about your shortcomings and focus on what you do best.

Aquarius Horoscope

(Jan 20 – Feb 18)

You are more philosophical about love now. This is a great time to take care of any lingering emotional issues that are on your mind. Your current advantage is your ability to see what’s happening with respect to your heart’s desires. If romance is unsatisfying today, be rational about the reality of the situation so you can make intelligent decisions about what to do next.

Pisces Horoscope

(Feb 19 – Mar 20)

Your current interactions with others are the source of both good news and bad news now. The good news is that opportunity comes knocking at your door. The bad news, however, is that you might be so entrenched with what you are doing that you don’t stop to let it in. Opportunity won’t just stand there waiting forever, so jump up and embrace it joyfully while you have the chance.

The Gems of Yule, Citrine

 

Citrine

Citrine, like bloodstone, is a powerful, uplifting healing stone. This stone helps with health in general, bringing the chakras into alignment. Specifically, it heals the muscles, heart, stomach and kidneys and will prevent blood problems. I have heard that this stone can heal gangrene as well. Besides health, this stone brings upliftment for the soul and battles depression, sorrow, grief, weakness, obesity, and guilt. Citrine will also purify any area in which it is placed. Keep a nice piece wherever you perform your rituals. Laying a strand of citrine along the spine or around the neck will help bring the chakras and the body back into balance.

 

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Daily Cosmic Calendar for December 6th

Here’s another full day of Virgo Moon. Health, dietary and nutritional needs are in the hopper every month when the Moon transits the sixth sign of the zodiac. Looking at life through the microscope is important since details can make or break your path to success at this time. Giving you a boost of vitality is a subtle and yet still dynamic, 30-degree link from the Sun to Mars (7:02AM PST).  A crisis in consciousness may be developing shortly thereafter due to the Last Quarter Sun-Moon Phase (activating 15 degrees of Sagittarius and Virgo) clocking in at 7:33AM PST. Cut through obstacles on the mental and even spiritual planes while keeping your business affairs as stable as possible. This won’t be that easy because the Moon parallels surprise-bringer Uranus (8:21AM PST) while Venus makes an off-kilter, 150-degree tie with Vesta (11:42AM PST).  Venus in league with Vesta in this manner is nothing to cheer about as there is a need for major adjustment in how you look at your investment plans and portfolio. Being too hasty is likely to backfire against you. A soul-sister may be able to keep you on track.  Fortunately, the Moon chimes in by making a supportive, 60-degree alliance with Venus (1:55PM PST). This lunar contact with the planet of love and beauty won’t necessarily neutralize the shadow side of Venus moving 150-degrees to Vesta, but it can take some of the emotional sting out of it. The Moon-Venus encounter is also the last main aspect of this 24-hour time-period — pointing you in a more positive direction tonight on the creative, artistic front.

The Gems of Yule, Alexandrite

Alexandrite

Alexandrite is a centering stone. Use this stone for stress or in other situations requiring you to be calm. This stone will allow you to become centered and balanced and will bring together the important aspects of  your life. For healing, use this stone for the brain and central nervous       system. It can also help when in a rut for it provides higher self-esteem and gives a feeling of purpose. In conjunction, it will help you achieve your goals.

Calendar of the Moon for December 6th

Calendar of the Moon

 

Elder Tree Month

Color: Russet
Element: Air
Altar: Upon a russet cloth set three black candles, a cauldron filled with water, a vase filled with elder branches, a cup of dried elderberries, and a knife.
Offerings: Give aid to the elders in the House, and outside.
Daily Meal: Soups and stews, and soft foods.

Ruis Invocation

Call: Hail the month of passing.
Response: For all things pass away.
Call: Hail the month of waning.
Response: For all things must fade and die.
Call: Hail the month of creaking wood.
Response: Hail the month of creaking bones.
Call: Hail the month of the dwindling Sun.
Response: Hail the time of all endings.
Call: For even as we began the year in silence,
Response: So we shall end the year in silence.
Call: For even as we began the year with chill winds of newness,
Response: So we shall end the year with chill winds of darkness.
Call: May the raven croak his warning from the bare branches.
Response: May the deer leave her footprints in the wake of the first snows.
Call: We will surrender ourselves to the darkness.
Response: Yet even with that surrender, we shall not pass away.
Call: For the seed that was grown in the spring still lives.
Response: Its life force is given back to the Earth.
Call: Its life force is given back to the Maker of new life.
Response: And new life shall spring forth in time.
Call: This is the moment of waiting for the end.
Response: This is the moment of bowed heads.
Call: Elder Goddess, teach us to praise loss, death, and the passing of all things.
Response: For from this flux we know your blessings flow.

Chant:

In the eye of the Moon
We walk willingly
Into the darkness.

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Calendar of the Sun for December 6th

Calendar of the Sun

 

6 Yulmonath

Day of the North Wind

Colors: White, grey and black
Element: Air
Altar: On cloth of shades between white and black, place four white and grey candles, a vase of flags and banners in the colors of a snowy night, a bell with a clear tone, a knife, a glass of white wine, and incense of cypress and juniper.
Offerings: Blowing curls of paper into the wind. Ringing bells or wind chimes. Study and learning, especially of a field of knowledge that is difficult for you.
Daily Meal: Raw cold food.

Invocation to the North Wind

Breathe in!
Breathe in the wind of the North,
Cold and chill,
Ice-flecked wind that brings
The order for all life to sleep,
Forcing closed our tired eyes,
Wind that sweeps down from the poles,
Wind that sweeps away our resistance,
Wind that invites us to lie down
And embrace the darkness,
Whistling wind that comes in
Through the cracks and chinks
Of our fears and longings,
Breath of winter, wind that strokes the starry skies
Over the dead fields, and calls to us
With sere and weathered voice,
Black wind of night that cuts us
Like the razor-edged knife,
Have mercy on us!
Breathe in
And cleanse your body yet again.

Chant:

Boreas Boreas Breath of the North
Wind of knives

Song:

Wind’s Four Quarters

(Wind chimes and bells are rung. Wine is poured as a libation. All process outside and release messages on small curls of paper into the north wind.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Current Moon Phase for December 6th: Last Quarter

Last Quarter Moon

(waning/52% illumination)

The time of reaping is at hand. There is a feeling of completion infused into the atmosphere during the Last Quarter Moon. The opportunity opens to recognize how far you’ve come in various parts of your life. This is not a good time for new beginnings, but rather a reflective period suited to evaluating how you have been using your time and what has been accomplished. Issues of authority may arise. This Moon phase supports taking responsibility for actively tying up the loose ends of projects that are already underway.

About.com: 12 Days of Yule Devotionals (Day 6)

About.com

 

Day 6: A Sunset Prayer for Yule                              
Patti Wigington
From Patti Wigington, your Guide to Paganism /Wicca                                                                           
As the sun descends into the horizon on the longest night of the year, take a moment to ponder what you will see when you wake the next day. 
 

A Sunset Prayer for Yule                            

Set aside some time to meditate upon the meaning of this time of year, and what it signifies for you and your life.


The longest night has come once more,

the sun has set, and darkness fallen.

The trees are bare, the earth asleep,

and the skies are cold and black.

Yet tonight we rejoice, in this longest night,

embracing the darkness that enfolds us.

We welcome the night and all that it holds,

as the light of the stars shines down.     

                        

 

Additional Reading                            

Make those long winter nights a little more refreshing with some freshly blended incense. Put together a batch of Winter Nights Yule Incense, and burn it during rituals, or just to make your home smell comforting in the cold of winter.
 

Tomorrow: A Nordic Yule Blessing                             

This email is written by:                                                                      Patti Wigington                             

Paganism /Wicca Guide                                         

The Snow Maiden

The Snow Maiden

(Russia)

Many readers will already be familiar with the tale of the Snow Maiden. It come to us from Old Russia, a land of sparkling forests and frozen palaces. The tale begins, as do so many folktales the world over, with an old childless couple. They are poor and devoutly religious (poverty and piety being de riguer for old childless couples in folktales). While cutting wood in the forest, they take a break to build a snegourochka, a little girl made of snowballs. Lo and behold, the snegourochka comes to life, and she is everything the old couple ever dreamed of in a daughter. She is pretty, respectful and well dressed in fancy boots, cloak and diamond tiara. She helps out around the house and conveniently for her elderly parents, she’s bypassed the diaper stage.

The storyteller would have us believe that this Snow Maiden is a gift from God, a reward for the old couple’s unwavering faith. Given the outcome of the story, however, the exercise seems cruel and pointless in God’s part. For Snegourochka is not a child of flesh but of snow. In some versions of the story, she crumples at the first sign of spring. In others, she lasts until Midsummer, only to be vaporized by the St. John’s Day fires. A few writers hint at the possibility that, like Frosty, she’ll be back again someday, but this is a modern gloss. When the girl is gone, she’s gone and the old couple is left with nothing but a soggy patch of forest floor.

No doubt it was a witch and not an angel hiding behind one of the snowclad fir trees in the forest that day–perhaps Baba Yaga or one of those pesky German witches flown over from the west. “Be careful what you wish for, “ she might have cackled to herself as she worked her magick over the doomed little snegourochka.

Excerpt from:

The Snow People
Linda Raedisch
Lllewellyn’s 2012 Witches’ Companion
An Almanac for Everyday Living

The Witches Correspondence for Thursday, December 6th

The Witches Correspondence for Thursday, December 6th

 

Magickal Intentions: Luck, Happiness, Health, Legal Matters, Male Fertility, Treasure and Wealth, Honor, Riches, Clothing Desires, Leadership, Public Activity, Power and Success Incense: Cinnamon, Must, Nutmeg and Sage
Planet: Jupiter
Sign: Sagittarius and Pisces
Angel: Sachiel
Colors: Purple, Royal Blue and Indigo
Herbs/Plants: Cinnamon, Beech, Buttercup, Coltsfoot, Oak
Stones: Sugilite, Amethyst, Turquoise, Lapis Lazuli and Sapphire
Oil: (Jupiter) Clove, Lemon Balm, Oak moss, Star Anise

Jupiter presides over Thursday. The vibrations of this day attune well to all matters involving material gain. Use them for working rituals that entail general success, accomplishment, honors and awards, or legal issues. These energies are also helpful in matters of luck, gambling, and prosperity.

 

 

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The Witches Almanac for *Thursday, December 6th

The Witches Almanac for *Thursday, December 6th

Thursday (Jupiter): Expansion, money, prosperity and generosity.

 

St. Nicholas’ Day

 

Moon Sign: *Virgo

*Virgo: Favors accomplishment of details and commands from higher up. Focuses on health, hygiene, and daily schedules.

*Waning Moon

*The Waning Moon is a time for study, meditation and little magickal work (except magick designed to banish harmful energies).

Incense: Carnation

Moon Phase: Fourth Quarter 10:31 am

Color: Green

 

 

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Good Blessed Thursday Morning, My Dearest Friends & Family!

This was simply too cute to pass up, also so true. You find a true friend hang on to them and never let go. They are a precious gift from the Goddess!

Down to business, lol! Me, business, PLEASE! I thought today we would put up the magickal correspondences for the gems associated with Yule. Some of the gems are familiar, I believe there might be one or two odd ones that we probably don’t use very often. Also I have the Yule Daily Devotional Course, which I signed up for you. Guess What? Today will be the current issue! In addition to all the, I tracked down the story of The Snow Maiden. It is a Russian tale which is not that well known in the States. The version I found doesn’t tell the story totally. It gives you a glimpse into the tale. The Snow Maiden is a tale we would associate with Frosty the Snowman. I have been trying to track down winter folklore and tales from across the world. I love to hear and learn things from other countries. Heck, I have been trying to get the Australians in the Southern Hemisphere site to teach me to speak Australian. Would you believe I have not had one offer yet. I am wondering if they think it is to hard for me to learn, hmm!

Sorry I got totally side tracked. I am through rambling now. I am off to work. I hope you enjoy today’s edition.

Have a very Blessed & Happy Thursday,

Luv & Hugs,

Lady A

 

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