Day: August 25, 2015

Magickal Goody of the Day for August 25th – Pentacle Dream catcher

Magickal Goody of the Day

Pentacle Dream catcher

 

A pentacle dream catcher is not difficult to make. It requires a circular ring; even a large curtain ring will do. You will also need some thread, string, or heavy crocheting thread to weave the design upon this ring. If you really want to be decorative, you can string tiny beads on the thread and attach little feathers where the string is wound around the ring.

To begin, tie one end of the thread to the ring. Wind the thread around the opposite side of the ring three times at a slight angle from the original attachment, pulling it tight. This will be part of the left leg of the pentacle. Each time you attach the thread to the ring, wind it three times.

Now wind the thread about the ring a short distance from the 1st tying. Your design should look like an inverted V-shape. Pulling the string to the let side of the ring, wind it about the ring a little more than half-way up the side. Adjust it until it looks like the lower angle of the cross-arm of teh pentacle. Now stretch the thread across to the opposite side and wind it about the ring. For the finishing angle, pull the thread back to the point of the beginning.

If you carefully check the angle of the thread each time you prepare to wind it at another point on the ring, you can adjust the design. Make a small loop for hanging at the top of the pentacle.

If you want to string beads on the thread, do it on each section before you wind the thread around the ring. I’ve seen one pentacle dream catcher decorated with a Samhain artificial cobweb and a tiny spider in the center.

Dream catchers do work. They are symbols of personal control over dreams. And the subconscious mind which creates dreams only understands symbols.

Gemstone of the Day for August 25th is Bavenite

Gemstone of the Day

           Bavenite

 

                                      Bavenite is named after the type locality of Baveno, Piedmont, Italy.


Hardness: 5.5                  
Specific Gravity: 2.7             
Chemistry: Ca4Be2Al2Si9O26(OH)2                
Class: Silicates                
Crystallography: Orthorhombic                 
Cleavage: perfect        
Fracture: uneven                     
Streak: white                    
Luster: vitreous – pearly


Healing: Bavenite is used to treat disorders of speech, hearing, sight, smell and touch.

Workings: Bavenite is used to provide incentive to grow spiritually, emotionally, and intellectually. It is used to enhance one’s self image. Bavenite is associated with the astrological sign of Libra and vibrates to the Master numbr 33.

Chakra Applications: Bavenite is associated with the Throat chakra.

Foot Notes: Bavenite is a rare silicate that forms radial crystals in shades of white. It is found in beryllium-rich granite pegmatites.
Source:
Author: Crick

Herb of the Day for August 25th is Lemon Balm

Herb of the Day

 

Lemon Balm

Bee Balm

(Melissa officionalis)

Greek physician Dioscorides would apply Lemon Balm to scorpion or animal bites for its antibacterial properties, and then give the patient wine infused with Lemon Balm to calm their nerves.

Medicinal Uses: Lemon balm is a member of the mint family. It is used to reduce stress and anxiety, promote sleep, improve appetite, and ease pain and discomfort associated with digestion. Combines well with valerian for a soothing, relaxing effect. For cold sores or herpes sores, steep 2 to 4 tsp of crushed leaf in 1 cup boiling water for 10 to 15 minutes. Cool. Apply tea with cotton balls to the sores throughout the day. An infusion of the leaves added to bath water is also said to promote the onset of menstruation.

Lemon Balm should not be used by pregnant or breastfeeding women. Lemon balm may interfere with sedatives and thyroid medications.

Magickal uses: Used in spells to ensure success.  It is used in spells associated with healing, health, friendship, love, and success.  Historically, it is a symbolic plant used to transmit messages between lovers. 
Carry Lemon Balm in a charm or sachet to find love, or burn it as an incense when doing spells related to success.

Properties: Lemon Balm is carminative,  emmenagogue, stomachic, diaphoretic, antibacterial, anti viral  and febrifuge. Lemon balm contains terpenes, tannins and eugenol.

Growth: Lemon balm is native to Europe but is now grown all over the world. In the spring and summer, clusters of small, light yellow flowers grow where the leaves meet the stem. The leaves are very deeply wrinkled and range from dark green to yellowish green in color, depending on the soil and climate.
Source:
Author: Crick

Deity of the Day for Tuesday, August 25th is Bellona, Roman Goddess of War

Deity of the Day


Bellona

Roman Goddess of War

Bellona was an Ancient Roman goddess of war. She was called the sister of Mars, and in some sources, his wife or an associate of his female cult partner Nerio. Bellona’s main attribute is the military helmet worn on her head, and she often holds a sword, a shield, or other weapons of battle.

Politically, all Roman Senate meetings relating to foreign war were conducted in the Templum Bellonæ (Temple of Bellona) on the Collis Capitolinus outside the pomerium, near the Temple of Apollo Sosianus. The fetiales, a group of priest advisors, conducted ceremonies to proclaim war and peace, and announce foreign treaties at the columna bellica, in front of her temple.

The name Bellona is transparently derived from the Latin word bellum “war”—the older form Duellona demonstrates its antiquity, showing the same sound change as duellum.

In art, she is portrayed with a helmet on her head, usually wearing a breastplate or plate armour, bearing a sword, spear, shield, or other weaponry, sometimes holding a flaming torch or sounding the Horn of Victory and Defeat. In heraldic crests, she may be shown as a goddess with spread feathered wings bearing a helmet or coronet.

Ammianus Marcellinus, in describing the Roman defeat at the Battle of Adrianople refers to “Bellona, blowing her mournful trumpet, was raging more fiercely than usual, to inflict disaster on the Romans”.

Near the beginning of Shakespeare’s Macbeth (I.ii.54), Macbeth is introduced as a violent and brave warrior when the Thane of Ross calls him “Bellona’s bridegroom” (i.e. Mars). In Henry IV, Part I, Hotspur describes her as “the fire-eyed maid of smoky war” (IV.i.119). And in The Two Noble Kinsmen (1613), set in pre-Roman Athens, the sister of Hippolyta will solicit her divine aid for Theseus against Thebes (I.iii.13).

The goddess has also proved popular in post-Renaissance art as a female embodiment of military virtue, and an excellent opportunity to portray the feminine form in armour and helmet.

The composer Francesco Bianchi and the librettist Lorenzo da Ponte together created a Cantata first performed in London on 11 March 1797 & called Le nozze del Tamigi e Bellona, (The Wedding of the Thames and Bellona), to mark the British naval victory over the Spanish at the Battle of Cape St Vincent.

Also, the “Temple of Bellona” was a popular choice of name for the small mock-temples that were a popular feature of 18th- and 19th-century English landscaped gardens (e.g. William Chambers’s 1760 Temple of Bellona for Kew Gardens, a small Doric temple with a four-column facade to contain plaques honouring those who served in the Seven Years’ War of 1756–64).

First World War poet Edgell Rickwood wrote a poem “The Traveller” where he marches toward the front line in company of Art, the God Pan and the works of essayist Walter Pater. As they approach the active war, they meet Bellona. One by one the pleasurable companions are forced to flee by the violence of war, until Bellona rejoices in having him to herself.

Samuel R. Delany’s 1975 novel Dhalgren is set in the city of Bellona.

The detective novel The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy L Sayers is set at a fictional London club whose membership is composed of active or retired military officers, and is named after the goddess.

Source:
Wikipedia

A Little Humor for Your Day – “What’s for Dinner?”

What’s For Dinner?

 

A man kills a deer and takes it home to cook for dinner. Both he and his wife decide that they won’t tell the kids what kind of meat it is, but will give them a clue and let them guess. The dad said, “Well it’s what Mommy calls me sometimes.” The little girl screamed to her brother, “Don’t eat it. Its an asshole!

 

Source:
The Laugh Factory

Astronomy Picture of the Day – Meteors and Milky Way over Mount Rainier

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 August 25

Meteors and Milky Way over Mount Rainier
Image Credit & Copyright: Matthew Dieterich

 

Explanation: Despite appearances, the sky is not falling. Two weeks ago, however, tiny bits of comet dust were. Featured here is the Perseids meteor shower as captured over Mt. Rainier, Washington, USA. The image was created from a two-hour time lapse video, snaring over 20 meteors, including one that brightened dramatically on the image left. Although each meteor train typically lasts less than a second, the camera was able to capture their color progressions as they disintegrated in the Earth’s atmosphere. Here an initial green tint may be indicative of small amounts of glowing magnesium atoms that were knocked off the meteor by atoms in the Earth’s atmosphere. To cap things off, the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy was simultaneously photographed rising straight up behind the snow-covered peak of Mt. Rainier. Another good meteor shower is expected in mid-November when debris from a different comet intersects Earth as the Leonids.

Your Daily Planet Tracker: Moon in Capricorn, Aug 24 to Aug 26

Planet Tracker

Moon in Capricorn

Aug 24, 2015 to Aug 26, 2015

 

Maybe you noticed. Things have gotten more serious with the Moon in Capricorn. No-nonsense suits around the office. Discussions about rules, disciplines, hard work and respect. Virtues that make employees squirm and bosses feel lonely. Structure-everybody hates it until something unruly occurs. Physics says a vast and wild emptiness dances between the molecules in a chair. But we don’t fall in due to the structuring thought in wood, respecting our need for a solid place to sit. That’s Capricorn in your life, structures that support. Its energy inspires your achievements and fears (funny how both can be motivating). Face a fear today. Be the authority in something. Devise a business plan. Recognize that diligence is nothing more than keeping what you want in mind. Strategize with a wise old one. And do something especially nice this Moontime for your skin, bones or knees.

 

@Tarot.com is a Daily Insight Group Site

Your Daily Influences for August 25th

Your Daily Influences
August 25th, 2015

 

 

The Moon
This card represents serendipity, creativity and the coming to life of psychic powers. It may also signify dangers yet seen, deception and bad luck for someone dear to you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Perthro
This may be a period of loneliness and stagnation you must fight through. This may not be a good time for you to take chances or indulge in any form of gambling.

 

 

 

The Food Charm
You must take steps to protect your body from what you ingest. This aspect is affected by a poor diet. You have a bad habit of filling your body with things you know are not good for you.

 

 

 

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.

Your Three Dragon MahJong Reading for August 25th

Your Three Dragon MahJong Reading for Today

In Chinese Culture the Dragon is generally considered a sign of great luck and power. However the Red, Green and White Dragons in Mahjong represent three distinct influences that can affect your life. The Dragon Reading creates a relationship between sets of tiles to each Dragon to explore how the Three Dragons will influence you now and in the near future.

 

The White Dragon is indeed a wily fellow. His domain is the great unknown, and the tile set under him suggests an area or areas that could affect your life in unexpected ways.

 

 

 

Bamboo 6
Symbol: Water
The Water tile denotes a need for communication. A trip may be necessary to communicate properly. You may be called upon to present proof of ownership or that an event actually took place.

 

 

South Wind
Symbol: Fire
The South Wind tile is considered to be a very good sign in a reading. It almost ensures a satisfactory end to any problem.

 

 

Bamboo 3
Symbol: Toad
The Toad tile indicates some troubling moments along your life’s path, but these aches will heal. It also suggests your ambition may be greater than your reach.

Your Animal Spirit for August 25th is The Dove

Your Animal Spirit for Today
August 25th, 2015

Dove

Are you going through life carrying old grief, pain or hate? If so, Dove (sometimes known as Mourning Dove) encourages you to let go of your emotional baggage so that true healing can take place. It’s time to forgive, release, and move forward. And, know that healing Dove is flying right beside you.

Shuffling The Ancient Symbol Cards, Your Past, Present & Future Reading for August 25th

Shuffling the Cards, Your Past Present & Future Reading for Today Using the Ancient Symbol Cards

 

Past Influence whose impact on your life is waning.

The Believer

The Believer represents Faith and the realization that you have an important place in the workings of the Universe. Although The Believer may not always understand why things are the way they are, they none-the-less feel an underlying cosmic rhythm which is moving events in a direction that is good. The Believer rejoices in their celestial role, because they realize their life has purpose on a grand scale.

 

 

 

 
Present Influence whose impact on your life is very strong.

Alturism

Altruism denotes the noble act of giving to those in need without the expectation of a return. The act of giving has been seen as one of humankind’s greatest attributes throughout history. It is honored in nearly every culture. To give is a gift to both those who receive and those who give. Giving is usually associated with addressing the material needs of others, but the gift given can take many forms such as wisdom or protection or simply a shoulder to cry on.

 

 

 

 

Future influence whose impact on your life is growing and will be very strong in the future.

Solitude

Solitude is represented by a single person standing at the end of a boardwalk staring out at a vast, empty panorama. They are truly alone, but may not feel loneliness. They are at a place in their life where the need to withdraw from the our secular world is strong, because their focus should be on their inner self, their morality, and their dreams. The view before them is empty, but it is a canvas on which they may paint their future–a future restricted only by the size of their imagination and courage. For them Solitude is a choice. They chose to take the walkway that distances them from the rest of us. It is also a choice that can be undone. Just as they chose to take a path that leads them away from us, they may choose to turn around and come back at anytime.

Your Ancient Symbol Card for Tuesday, August 25th is The Ancestors

Your Ancient Symbol Card for Today

Ancestors

 

Ancestors represents the ongoing influence and remarkable contributions those who came before us have made to our state of being. Ancestors also reminds us that sometimes old wisdom is the best wisdom–especially when events are moving in ways we do not understand. Ancestors can bring comfort to a shaken spirit. It is a card of warmth in the sense that it reminds us that the spirit of past generations remains with us and can be called upon for guidance at any time.

As a daily card, Ancestors suggests that you may be well served to by exploring your family tree to find solutions to current dilemmas. When searching for solutions to conflicts in your life, you might do well by asking yourself what a grandparent or great grandparent would do in your current situation.

Your Daily Witches Rune for August 25th is The Eye

 

Today’s Witches Rune

The Eye

Meaning: The eye has always been a powerful symbol for different cultures. Some believe that the soul resides in them, while others think it’s possible to curse a person merely by looking at them. Through our eyes we connect and express emotions and thoughts. Thus, this is one of the most powerful runes in the set, emphasizing the importance of any rune close to it. The Eye symbol is also related to “vision” is all senses, including the physical. This rune can represent our eyes and optic nerves. It can also represent activities such as research, analysis, photography and creative visualization. When it appears, there’s an urge to observe, to explore, to understand deeply what is before you. This rune is usually related to sudden realizations. Not necessarily a ‘shock’ (unless some violent rune is close it, like the Scythe and the Man), but more related to the lifting of veils. Your eyes are suddenly open, and you see things that were unknown to you before. A change of perception and focus in life is to be expected when this rune appears… whatever the situation is, the way you see it will be transformed. The Eye rune also says that now it’s time for you to go after what you want. Your focus is powerful right now, and everything you concentrate on can become successful.

 
This rune often represents a lonely journey towards a goal… it suggests a calling and a connection to something bigger, a sense of purpose. Your path is clear to you now; you know which way to go, even if you don’t know where exactly it’ll take you. In a spiritual level, This rune can represent a development of one’s psychic skills, or an advancement in one’s spiritual path. As you connect yourself to a deeper source, and learn to trust, you gain wisdom and your eyes see far. A higher power seems to be guiding you in times when the Eye appears. Like the Sun rune, this rune can mean that right now all eyes are on you. But unlike the former symbol, when the Eye appears there’s some discomfort related to such attention. It may be excessive and even unwelcome. In fact, this is one of this rune’s most negative facets: it may show an invasion of privacy, when someone (or even you) pry into another’s life and scrutinize their every move. Beware of flatterers and stalkers. The Eye cautions against obsession and the tendency to spy on other people’s affairs. In a relationship reading, the Eye can symbolize a predestined bond to another person.

 
Note that this does not promise a happy ending, but simply says that this connection is powerful and will be very important in your life. In fact, because the Eye rune is a solitary one, it is possible that the people in the relationship cannot be together due to difficult circumstances. Still, your bond that person will transform you. In a negative way, this rune can cautions against invading your partner’s personal space or stalking them.

 

 

Additional information about Today’s Witches Rune courtesy of Your Spiritual Journey Australia

Your Crowley Thoth Tarot Card for August 25th is The Hermit

Your Crowley Thoth Tarot Card for Today

The Hermit

 

The Hermit denotes a need to have some space between you and everyday hustle and bustle of our busy world. The Hermit needs to retreat. Indeed, happiness for The Hermit requires seclusion, freedom from material wants, and time for intense introspection. The answers The Hermit needs cannot be found in our physical world. The truths he seeks are internal, spiritual, and the distraction of a well developed social life can only impede his quest for his personal truths. Still, although not anything remotely resembling extroversion, The Hermit does sometimes need to share time with others; so he can learn or teach, guide and be guided. The Hermit’s time spent amongst people depletes his energy rapidly. To avoid an overload he has to retreat from social settings quickly.