Day: July 13, 2015

Now, I am going to see if I can add something to yesterday’s posts

If you will remember Mystie posted some recipes for magick lamps. Unfortunately she forgot to put the recipe for some of the oils needed to make these lamps. I am going to see if I can track down the oil recipes and add them to those recipes. I know we have had several requests for these formulas, so we are going to do our best to find them.

 

After that, we will be off and running for the day. I hope everyone has a very beautiful day and please stay cool! Till tomorrow…..

 

Luv & Hugs,

Lady A

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Crystal of the Day for July 13 is Tarbuttite

Crystal of the Day

Tarbuttite

(Colorless, pale white, red, green, yellow or brown)

 

Tarbuttite is named after Percy Coventry Tarbutt, a Director of the Broken Hill Exploration Company who collected some of the first specimens at Broken Hill (now Kabwe), Zambia.

 

Hardness: 3.5

Specific Gravity: 4.2

Chemistry: Zn2(PO4)(OH) Zinc Phosphate Hydroxide

Class: Phosphates

Crystallography: Triclinic

Cleavage: perfect in one direction

Fracture: brittle, uneven

Streak: white

Luster: vitreous, pearly

Healing: Tarbuttite is used to draw out infections. It is also used to treat zinc deficiencies and to develop proper bone structure.

Magical Workings: Tarbuttite is utilized in automatic writing and for enhancing ones ESP abilities.
Tarbuttite is associated with the astrological sign of Cancer and vibrates to the number of 2.

Chakra Applications: Tarbuttite is associated with the Third Eye chakra.

Foot Notes: Tarbuttite is found in the oxidized zone of zinc deposits which has been subjected to phosphate rich solutions.

 

 

Source:
Author: Crick

Website: The Whispering Woods

Herb of the Day for July 13th is Fennel

Herb of the Day

Fennel

 

 

Medicinal Uses: Fennel is one of nine Anglo-Saxon herbs known for secret powers. In ancient days, a bunch of fennel hung over a cottage door on Midsummer’s Eve was said to prevent the effects of witchcraft. Try nibbling on the herb’s seeds, as Roman women did centuries ago, to help depress the appetite. Women in Roman times believed fennel prevented obesity.
Fennel is considered one of the oldest medicinal plants and culinary herbs. It is fairly certain that fennel was in use over 4000 years ago. It is mentioned in the famous Ebers Papyrus, an ancient Egyptian collection of medical writings made around 1500 BC. There it is referred to principally as a remedy for flatulence. Later authors of herbals, such as Pliny (AD 23-79), also describe fennel primarily as an aid to digestion. In the Middle Ages, it was praised for coughs. Fennel helps to take away the appetite. It is often used as a sedative for small children. It improves digestion, and is very helpful with coughs. It is also used for cancer patients after radiation and chemotherapy treatments.

Enriches and increases the flow of milk for lactating women. To help with indigestion and gas, pour boiling water over crushed seeds (one teaspoon seed to a pint of water). The seeds are simmered in syrups for coughs, shortness of breath, and wheezing. Place fennel inside a fish when you cook it to make it more digestible. The leaves and seeds when boiled with barley increase breast milk. The seeds and root help clean the liver, spleen, gallbladder, and blood. The tea and broth of this herb are said to help in weight loss.

It is eaten in salads, soups, and breads. The oil mixed with honey can be taken for coughs, and the tea used as a gargle. The oil is eaten with honey to allay gas and it is applied externally to rheumatic swellings. The seeds are boiled to make an eye wash: use one-half teaspoon of seed per cup of water, three times a day, and be sure to strain carefully before use. Powdered seeds repel fleas from pets’ sleeping areas.

Magickal uses: In several ancient civilizations fennel was used as an antidote for snakebite. The thyrsus, which were prominent in Dionysian ceremonies, was often made of giant fennel stalks with pine cones attached at the ends.

Use for scenting soaps and perfumes to ward off negativity and evil. Grow near the home for the same purpose. Hang it around the doors and windows at Midsummer to repel evil spirits. Carry the seeds to ward off evil and to influence others to trust your words. To prevent wood ticks from biting your legs, wear a piece in your left shoe. Use in purification and healing sachets and spells.

Properties: Stomachic, carminative (relieves gas), pectoral (relieves chest congestion and cough), diuretic, aromatic, antispasmodic, expectorant, mild expectorant, anti-inflammatory, stimulant. Contains anethole, calcium, camphene, cymene, chlorine, dipentene, fenchone, 7-hydrozycoumaarin, volatile oils, oleic acid, petroselinic acid, phellandrene, pinene, limonene, stigmasterol, sulfur, and vitamins A and C.

Growth: Fennel prefers dry, sunny areas. It is a perennial that can reach 4 – 6 feet high, and grows in most average to poor soils. A tall herb of the umbel family, with feathery leaves and yellow flowers. A stout, strongly scented perennial plant, with erect stems and blue-green leaves. The striated stems are solid when young, becoming hollow with age. The yellow flowers grow in compound, terminal umbels, each with 10-30 stalks. Aniseed-scented, egg-shaped fruits follow the flowers. Flowers appear July to October. Needs full sun; partial shade in warm climates. Zones 6-9. Found growing as a weed in waste places in much of the United States, in southeastern Canada and in southern British Columbia. Native to Mediterranean Europe where it is found growing wild.

Gather the root in the spring for medicinal purposes:

Infusion: steep 1 tbsp. freshly crushed seeds in 1 cup water for 5 minutes. Sweeten with honey to taste.

Decoction: boil 1/2 tsp. seed in water. Strain. Use as an eye-wash, 3 times per day.

Extract: mix 10 to 20 drops in water. Use warm water and 1 tsp. honey for a soothing drink daily.

Milk decoction: boil 1 tsp. seed in 1/2 cup milk for 5 to 10 minutes. Take for colic.

Tincture: take 10 to 30 drops in water, as required.

Fennel-honey: add 1 to 3 drops fennel oil to 1 tbsp. honey and mix. Take a teaspoon at a time. A natural cough remedy.

Source:
Author: Crick
Website: The Whispering Woods

Deity of the Day for July 13 is Baldur, Norse God of Light

Deity of the Day

Baldur, Norse God of Light

 

Baldur was the son of Frigga and Odin, and the twin brother of Hod, or Hodur. Baldur’s name sometimes appears as Balder, or alternately Baldr. Baldur was beautiful and radiant, and was beloved by all the gods. Hodur, on the other hand, was dark and moody, spent a lot of time in darkness because of his blindness, and was generally unpopular with everyone he met.

In one famous story, after Baldur reveals that he’s been having foreboding dreams, Frigga asked all of nature to promise not to cause any harm to her beloved son.
From Sæmund’s Edda:
“On a course they resolved,
that they would send
to every being,
assurance to solicit,
Balder not to harm.
All species swore
oaths to spare him;
Frigg received all
their vows and compacts.”

Unfortunately, in her haste, Frigga overlooked the mistletoe plant, so Loki – the resident trickster – took advantage of the opportunity and fooled Hod into killing his twin brother with a spear made of mistletoe. Baldur was later restored to life.

Because of the story of his life, death and resurrection, Baldur features prominently in Norse mythology. An important festival was held in honor of Baldur the Good at midsummer, because it was known to be the anniversary of his death and descent into the underworld. Celebrations were held involving big bonfires and outdoor festivities, much of which involved watching the sun rise and set. Bear in mind that in the extreme Northern latitudes inhabited by the Norse peoples, the sun never really sets at midsummer; instead, it touches the horizon and then rises again to begin a new day.

When Christianity moved into the Norse countries, Baldur’s celebration became the festival of St. John instead.

 

Source:
Author:aganism/Wicca Expert

Website: Article Found On & Owned By About.com

Astronomy Picture of the Day – Last Look at Pluto’s Charon Side

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2015 July 13

Last Look at Pluto’s Charon Side
Image Credit & Copyright: NASA, Johns Hopkins Univ./APL, Southwest Research Inst.

 

Explanation: Pluto surface is strange. As the robotic New Horizons barrels toward its closest approach to Pluto and its moons tomorrow, images already coming back show Pluto’s surface to be curiouser and curiouser. The featured image, taken two days ago, shows the side of Pluto that always faces Pluto’s largest moon Charon. Particularly noteworthy is the dark belt near the bottom that circles Pluto’s equator. It is currently unclear whether regions in this dark belt are mountainous or flat, why boundaries are so sharply defined, and why the light regions seem to be nearly evenly spaced. As New Horizons will be flying past the other side of Pluto, this should be the best image of this distant landscape that humanity sees for a long time. Assuming the robotic spacecraft operates as hoped, images taken of the other side of Pluto, taken near closest approach, will be about 300 times more detailed.

Daily Planet Tracker for July 13: Mercury In Cancer, Now Until July 23

 

 

Planet Tracker

Mercury in Cancer

Now Until Jul 23, 2015

Mercury is associated with intellect and Cancer with feelings. This combination offers us an opportunity to perceive and communicate our emotions more directly at this time. Conversation is likely to be more personal than usual, with a greater capacity for intimacy. However, objectivity may suffer as awareness is filtered through the powerful issues of security, family and safety.

Every astrological pattern offers its challenges and opportunities. In fact, they are really two faces of the same thing. In this case, the challenge is to articulate emotions without being overcome by them. The opportunity is to soften the separating aspects of the logical mind to connect with others in a more personal fashion.

Cancer is a water sign. The mysteries of water can not be spoken, only felt. Mercury’s passage here does not erase the rational aspects of perception, but it broadens them to include information that can not be put into words. Know that silence can be full of meaning. This time is a reminder that real listening is done with the heart, as well as with the ears.

Mercury in Cancer shows up in the charts of conservatives like Nancy Reagan, Bob Dole and Pat Boone. Prince Charles, a watery Scorpio, has met this placement with both Princess Diana and Camilla Parker Bowles.

David Duchovny and Isabella Rossellini speak with Mercury in Cancer soulfulness, as do storytellers Bill Cosby and Arlo Guthrie. Cat Stevens’ Mercury in Cancer helped lead him to Islam, while Salman Rushdie’s has led him away.

Cancer adores tradition, the home and the garden. So, it’s not surprising that food, style and do-it-yourself goddess Martha Stewart was also born with Mercury in this sign.

 

@Tarot.com is a Daily Insight Group Site

Your Daily Influences for July 13th

Your Daily Influences
July 13th, 2015

 

Six of Swords Reversed
Life is at a standstill. Difficulties will probably remain as they are.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Perthro
Mysteries will become known to you. You should be able to see your life’s path clearly at this time. Perthro is often thought of as “Gambler’s Rune.” You are in a lucky period right now. Chance is your ally. Take advantage of it.

 

 

Scorpio the Scorpion
This aspect of your life will be strongly influenced by a person who is determined, forceful, emotional, intuitive, powerful, passionate, exciting and magnetic. This person is probably an acquaintance you made at work

 

 

 

 

Your Daily Influences represent events and challenges the current day will present for you. They may represent opportunities you should be ready to seize. Or they may forewarn you of problems you may be able to avoid or lessen. Generally it is best to use them as tips to help you manage your day and nothing more.