Day: October 19, 2015

Crystal of the Day for October 19 is Sapphire

Crystal of the Day

Sapphire 


                     (Sapphires may be all colors except red. If it is red it is called a ruby)

     The name Sapphire comes from the Sanskrit “sanipriya” (dear to the planet Saturn).

Hardness: 9              
Specific Gravity: 3.9 – 4.1                 
Chemistry: Al2O3 – Aluminum Oxide
Class: Corundum                     
Crystallography: Hexagonal                      
Cleavage: none
Fracture: uneven, conchoidal                              
Streak: white                               
Luster: vitreous


Healing: It is said that wearing a necklace of sapphires will cure a sore throat. Sapphire is used to treat blood disorders such as excessive bleeding and to thicken vein walls. Sapphire is the most effective healing stone for the nervous system. It also aids in regulating the function of the thyroid gland. 

Magical Workings: Sapphire is used to dispel bad feelings and to enlighten one’s mood, it is a crystal of harmony and peace.
It is often called the “Stone of Prosperity”. Sapphire is an excellent stone for meditation. Star Sapphire is used as protection from the evil eye.
The Blue Sapphire is traditionally associated with purity and love.
Yellow Sapphire attracts wealth and brings prosperity to the home.
The Black Sapphire provides centering, protection and grounding.
The White Sapphire is an extremely protective gem.
The Indigo Sapphire enhances psychic awareness. It eliminates negative energies from the aura.
The Green Sapphire improves internal and external vision and helps you to remember dreams.
India considered it to be the stone of Saturn, and believed it to be a portal to the heavenly realms.
Sapphire is thought to be one of the stones on the breastplate of the Hebrew High Priest.
Sapphire is associated with the astrological signs of Virgo, Libra and Sagittarius. It vibrates to the number of 2, though Sapphires of different colors will vibrate to different numbers.

Chakra Applications: The Blue Sapphire is traditionally associated with purity and love. It opens and heals the thyroid and the throat chakra and has a calming and balancing effect on the nervous system.
Yellow Sapphire is associated with the Solar Plexus chakra.
The Black Sapphire is associated with the Base Chakra.
The Pink Sapphire clears emotional blockages bringing peace and unconditional love. It is associated with the Heart chakra.
The White Sapphire is associated with the Crown chakra.
The Indigo Sapphire is associated with the Third Eye chakra.
The Green Sapphire is known as the “Stone of Fidelity”, and stimulates the Heart chakra.

Foot Notes: Sapphire is the birthstone for September. It is also a 45th Anniversary gemstone.
Sapphire is the non-red variety of corundum, and the second hardest natural mineral known to mankind. Many Sapphire deposits are the remains of metamorphic or igneous veins of granite and marble weathered away into stream beds and mountain valleys.
An ancient Persian myth tells of a giant blue sapphire that Mother Earth rests upon, and that the sky is the reflection of this massive blue crystal.
Source:
Author: Crick

Herb of the Day for October 19th is Valerian

Herb of the Day

Valerian

All-Heal, Garden Heliotrope

(Valeriana officinalis)

 

Medicinal Uses: One of natures most effective herbal tranquilizers. The roots are used for nervous tension, anxiety and insomnia. A powerful root for the nerves, valerian should not be taken for longer than a few weeks, as it can become addictive. It helps cure depression when taken once or twice. It is a good sedative for such conditions as neuralgia, hypochondria, insomnia, and nervous tension. It also appears to have real benefits in cases of sciatica, multiple sclerosis, shingles, and peripheral neuropathy, including numbness, tingling, muscle weakness, and pain in the extremities.                        
The tea is strengthening to the eyesight, especially when problems are due to weakness in the optic nerve. Valerian has been used as an anticonvulsant in epilepsy. It slightly slows the heart and thus is a good remedy for palpitations. Simmer two teaspoons of the root in a pint of water for twenty minutes, and take one-fourth cup, cold, four times a day. The tincture may be taken twenty drops in water, three times a day.  
                                                                       
The root is simmered with licorice, raisins, and anise seeds to make a cough sedative. The scent is very attractive to rats and is used to bait traps. Valerian is a warm and spicy herb that has a stimulating effect on the brain as well as being a sedative. If a person has a hot constitution it will be especially stimulating and may negate the calming and sedative quality. A hot constitution is one that is prone to constipation, dryness, redness in the eyes and skin and a warm body temperature (a cold constitution has the opposite qualities).                                                                             
Valerian is useful as a digestive aid, is helpful in cases of gas, diarrhea, and cramps, and alleviates the pain of ulcers. In the respiratory tract, it is believed to be of benefit in reducing the discomfort of asthma attacks. Valerian is used for irritability, mild spasmodic affections, epilepsy, migraine headaches, croup, hysteria, vertigo, nervous cough, delirium, neuralgia, muscle cramps, colic, panic attacks, emotional stress, PMS, menstrual cramps, despondency, insomnia. A marvelous remedy for fevers. Will often clear a cold overnight. Good for expelling phlegm from throat and chest. Will expel worms when everything else fails. Excellent for shortness of breath and wheezing. Tea can be used as an enema for pinworms and tape worms and externally as a wash for sores, wounds, chronic skin diseases, and pimples. Combines with with lemon balm, hops, passion flower and scullcap.

Valerian produces depression when taken over a longer period. Valerian is best suited to individuals with cold, nervous conditions. Those with heated conditions can experience opposite (stimulant) effects. Valerian may increase the effects of anti-anxiety medications or painkillers. It may also react with antiepileptic drugs. Valerian is contraindicated in pregnant and breast feeding women.

Magickal uses: Powdered valerian may be used as a substitute for graveyard dust to repel unwanted presences. Valerian is added to the chalice as an herb of peace. Valerian is a frequent ingredient in love and harmony spells and potions, including spells for sexual love. It is used to aspurge the ritual space and in incense for purification. Even though this is a rather foul smelling herb it is hung in the home as protection from lightning and the Greeks used sprigs of it at windows to keep evil out. For protection from evil and magick, use Valerian in sachets, amulets, or talismans and carry it with you. To prevent unwanted visitors, sprinkle powdered herb on your front stoop and say their name. For eliminating troubles, write the trouble on parchment paper, then burn and mix the ashes with powdered herb, then bury. Sachets placed around the home help protect the home from lightening strikes.  
                
Being an herb of peace, place some in the vicinity of a quarreling couple. Add it to love sachets and it is said if a woman wears a sprig of it, it will cause men to “follow her like children.” It will also help insomnia by placing it in the pillow. A few leaves placed in the shoes protect against colds and flu.                                                                              
To find out if your love is reciprocated, bend a plant in the direction of their home.  If the plant continues to grow in that direction, you are loved in return.  Growing the plant on your property ensures harmony with your spouse.          
Valerian stalks can be dried and soaked in tallow or oil, then used as a torch for spells and rituals.  The torch can then be used to light sacred fires.  Meditation in the light of a torch improves clarity for a given situation. Valerian is ruled by Venus and its Element is Water.

Properties: Calmative, antispasmodic, nerve tonic, nervine, sedative, anodyne, and carminative, aromatic, emmenagogue. Contains active components are called valepotriates. Valerianic, formic and acetic acids, essential oils, resin, starch, a glucoside, and 2 alkaloids (chatrine and valerianine).

Growth: Valerian is a tall perennial herb found in damp, elevated areas and grasslands. It consists of a long stem (3-5 feet in length) with pointed dark green leaves. It blooms in the summertime, with small, fragrant flowers (white, light purple or pink) that can reach four inches in diameter. A native of damp woods, roadsides, and riversides.

Harvest in the fall. Do not boil the root.

To obtain the maximum benefit take 1 tbsp. of fresh juice daily. The latter is often prescribed as a cure for insomnia, where its great value is that it calms the mind without having a narcotic effect. Non-addictive.

Drying roots is different from drying leaves. Roots should be dried at a high temperature, such as 120 degrees F. until the roots are brittle. If they are rubber-like, they should be dried longer. Store roots after drying to keep free from moisture.

Infusion: steep 1 tsp. root in 1 pt. boiling water. Take cold, 1 cup per day, or when going to bed.

Cold extract: use 2 tsp. roots with 1 cup water; let stand for 24 hours and strain. Take 1/2 to 1 cup when going to bed.

Tincture: take 20 drops on sugar or in water, 3 times a day.
Source:
Author: Crick

Deity of the Day for October 19th is The Norns

Deity of the Day

The Norns

The Norns, or Nornir, were the Norse and Germanic fates, the demi-goddesses of destiny. The Æsir often sought their council. They are similar to the Moirae  and Fates of Greco-Roman myth. As in the Germanic mythological tradition, they were known to be three sister goddesses: Clotho (“The Spinner”), Lachesis (“The Decider”), and Atropos (“The Inevitable”).

The original Norn was undoubtedly Urd, a word which can be translated to mean “Fate”. The Well of Urd, which was situated at the base of the great cosmic tree Yggdrasil, is named after this Norn. The two additional Norns that are known by name are Verdandi (“Present” [or “Necessity” in some versions]) and Skuld (“Future” [or “Being” in some versions]). All three Norns live at the Well of Urd in Asgard.

Domain

It was believed that the Norns decided the destinies of gods, giants, and dwarfs, and were responsible for the fates of every individual human being. The Anglo-Saxons referred to Urd by the name of Wyrd, and in England there was maintained a belief in the tremendous powers of the three sisters long after the arrival of Christianity. For instance, in Shakespeare’s tragic play Macbeth, the Three Sisters on “the blasted heath” were obviously inspired by the Norns and other mythological fate goddesses.

It would seem more than possible that the Norns were also originally conceived as spinners. However, in Germanic mythology, the Greek and Roman concept of the Fates spinning an individual length of yarn for each mortal life does not appear.

In Mythology

According to Norse mythology, nothing lasts forever, and even the great Yggdrasil has been said to decay one day. The Norns try to stop or slow this process by pouring mud and water from the Well of Urd over its branches. The magical liquid stops the decaying process for a short time.

In other versions pertaining the Norns, they were thought to give assistance to birth, and that each person has their own personal Norn.

 

Source:

Mythology Wikia

 

Astronomy Picture of the Day – The Southern Cross in a Southern Sky

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 October 19

The Southern Cross in a Southern Sky
Image Credit & Copyright: Carlos Fairbairn

 

Explanation: Have you ever seen the Southern Cross? This famous constellation is best seen from Earth’s Southern Hemisphere. Captured from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the four bright stars that mark the Southern Cross are visible just above the horizon in the featured image. On the left of this constellation, also known as The Crux, is the orange star Gamma Crucis. The band of stars, dust, and gas rising through the middle of the image mosaic is part our Milky Way Galaxy. Just to the right of the Southern Cross is the dark Coal Sack Nebula, and the bright nebula at the top of the image is the Carina Nebula. The Southern Cross is such a famous constellation that it is depicted on the national flag of Australia.

Your Daily Planet Tracker: Moon in Capricorn, Oct 18, 2015 to Oct 20, 2015

Planet Tracker

Moon in Capricorn

Oct 18, 2015 to Oct 20, 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.

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