A Fairy Tale for Assertive Women

Once upon a time, in a land far away, a beautiful, independent, self-assured princess happened upon a frog as she sat contemplating ecological issues on the shores of an unpolluted pond in a verdant meadow near her castle.

The frog hopped into the Princess’ lap and said: “Elegant Lady, I was once a handsome Prince, until an evil Witch cast a spell upon me. One kiss from you, however, and I will turn back into the dapper, young Prince that I am and then, my sweet, we can marry and setup housekeeping in yon castle with my Mother, where you can prepare my meals, clean my clothes, bear my children, and forever feel grateful and happy doing so.”

That night, on a repast of lightly sauted frogs legs seasoned in a white wine and onion cream sauce, she chuckled to herself and thought: “I don’t think so.”

Source

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.

2016 April 15

Mercury and Crescent Moon Set
Image Credit & Copyright: Miguel Claro (TWAN, Dark Sky Alqueva)

 

Explanation: Innermost planet Mercury and a thin crescent Moon are never found far from the Sun in planet Earth’s skies. Taken near dusk on April 8, this colorful evening skyscape shows them both setting toward the western horizon just after the Sun. The broad Tagus River and city lights of Lisbon, Portugal run through the foreground under the serene twilight sky. Near perigee or closest approach to Earth, the Moon’s bright, slender crescent represents about 3 percent of the lunar disk in sunlight. Of course as seen from the Moon, a nearly full Earth would light up the lunar night, and that strong perigee earthshine makes the rest of the lunar disk visible in this scene. Bright Mercury stays well above the western horizon at sunset for northern skywatchers in the coming days. The fleeting planet reaches maximum elongation, or angular distance from the Sun, on April 18. But Mercury will swing back toward the Sun and actually cross the solar disk on May 9, the first transit of Mercury since November 8, 2006.

The lions are out today. Stand in the Sun and shake loose your mane. Leo is exuberant, courageous, playful and full of heart. It’s a Moontime that inspires heroic feats. What makes a hero? A crazy willingness to do what only you can do. I like how Bob Dylan sang it, “If I’d paid attention to what others were thinking, the heart in me would have died. But I was much too stubborn to ever be governed by enforced insanity. Someone had to reach for the rising star, I guess it was up to me.” More often we’re like that proverbial cartoon figure, momentarily gliding on air, ten stories high, then plummeting the minute we realize what we’re doing-self-consciousness and pride spoil the show. Avoid those egos squaring off around you. Lose yourself in the spontaneity of the moment. Be innocent and happy as a child. Play will nourish your heart.

 

Part of the Daily Insight Group

The Wisdom of Buddha

Unity can only be manifested by the Binary. Unity itself and the idea of Unity are already two.

 

Your Daily Influences
April 15, 2016 

 

King of Cups
Fairness on all levels. Generosity and morality abound. A high degree of skill is displayed in all things attempted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Isa
The Ice Rune, represents stagnation and a passionless existence. Your life’s course may seem blurry at the moment, but if you persevere you will move onto better days.

 

 

 

Book of Charms
Someone will or has invaded your privacy with ill intentions, and created an atmosphere of distrust. The information they obtained will be used against 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 Daily Charm for Today

Today’s Meaning:
The hand indicates you will need to extend effort to protect this aspect from outside influences. The devices attached indicate you will need tools to be successful in your protection.

General Description:
The use of a representation of the Hand as a talisman can be traced back to at least 800 years B.C., when it was used as a charm against enchantment. Many varieties of the Hand exist; in some the elaboration is very marked, each devise represents some particular charm. Life size models of these Hands were supposed to guard the house against all the influences of magic and evil, and smaller replicas protected their wearers from every description of harm. The extended thumb and first two fingers, the third and fourth fingers closed, is the position still assumed during the benediction in some Christian Churches of today.

Your Ancient Symbol Card Reading for the Weekend of April 15th

 

 

Past Influence whose impact on your life will appear are waning.

Chance

The Chance card denotes a period in which taking risks may produce positive results. This doesn’t mean head off to a casino with your life’s savings! What is suggested is that you should make gains by taking a well calculated risk. For the power of Chance to be fully realized it is essential that you pick your risk carefully, move forward with conviction, and above all else don’t get greedy!

 

 

 

 

 

Present Influence whose impact on your life this weekend will be very strong.

The Journey

While physical travel may be involved, The Journey represents an individual’s spiritual trek from one point to another. The Journey is represented by a sailboat gliding across an open sea. Like those traversing the ocean The Journey requires that we move off the firm ground of our present state and strike out for a new destination. The trip itself may well be full of adventure and challenges. There may be times when we lose sight of where we came from and possibly not even know where we’re going. Storms may crop up without warning. Diversions may slow our progress to our destination down. While it’s good to have an idea of where you want to go, it’s equally important to remember that often it’s the getting there and not the destination that is the most rewarding. To take such a spiritual voyage takes courage and conviction that direction in which your are moving is right for you.

 

 

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

Love

Love indicates that love is either present in our life or a distinct possibility. Be open to all possibilities, remembering that true love is given freely, without condition, and does not have to be earned. This is the kind of love we want to welcome into our life and to give to others. Be open to new ideas, and beware of judging against someone in an unloving manner. When Love appears, return to the place where you can love yourself and then seek out the same love from others.

Your Ancient Symbol Card for Today

Venus

Venus represents those qualities we commonly associate with the female/yin persona. Venus traits include fertility and the drive to create, unblemished beauty, love, passion, and togetherness. The occurrence of Venus denotes the dominating presence or need of the qualities listed above. While often very subtle, Venetian influences may have a negative impact unless they are balanced with an influence that can temper the drive of Venus.

As a daily card, Venus suggest you should allow your more feminine traits to guide your actions through this period. Subtlety, efforts to bring people together and allowing your creativity to run free are likely to serve you well at this time. However, like Mars, the powers of Venus are very strong and can do more damage than good if not balanced by other influences.

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Unlocking Secrets with Tarot

The Tarot guides you toward truth

By Tarot.com Staff, Tarot

 

Article provided by AskNow

Are important secrets about your future, past and present life lurking in the shadows? Find out what they are quickly and easily with the help of the Tarot!

The deck of Tarot is an incredible tool, which can shed light onto the darkest corners of your life. These amazing cards make it possible to illuminate and bring to light what you have never been able to see before.

What do you want to know? Does something irk you but you can not seem to find the source? Are you ready to shake that nagging suspicion that something is not quite right under the surface. Unseen secrets can be uncovered by using the all powerful Tarot.

This could be your opportunity to no longer feel afraid to the unknown. It is not so hard to figure out what is really happening in your life. The missing piece of the jigsaw puzzle may be just the flip of a card away.

Listen to your gut and ask yourself a difficult question. Is there a person or people in your life who you suspect of keeping secrets from you? Aren’t you tired of sorting through shady behavior, half-truths, deception and disloyal words and actions for evidence and kernels of truth?

Consult the Tarot for honest answers. Remove the wool from your eyes so that you can see what your situation really is like and become more in tune with the reality around you. You need to know the whole story, not just the version others want you to know.

When it comes to knowing what is up in your world, you are not just left to your own devices. No one can be everywhere, all the time. Even with today’s modern technology, the Tarot is still the best private investigator. Why? Agendas, motivations and plans become clear and easy to spot with the cards.

With the Tarot acting as a skeleton key to the closet that holds all the secrets in your life, you never have to worry, wonder or feel powerless against the unseen energies of the universe. Like a honing device, the Tarot can help pinpoint the true, honest aspects of your concerns so that you can focus on solutions.

Does anyone in your life speak to you as though they are censoring what they say? When they share things with you does it sound as though they are using security software for their words? This is a red flag indicating a hidden wealth of secrets, carefully woven into a web of exclusion.

When you consult with the Tarot you have a chance to get the most privileged information about the people in your life: employer/employees, friends, family, lover, boyfriend/girlfriend, husband/wife, landlord, accountant, roommate and anyone else who might be keeping an impactful secret from you!

Who knows what vital tidbits you can get your hands on with the enlightenment of the Tarot? Just imagine having the ability to peer into the secrets you deserve to know! Ask the Tarot about your job, your love life or anything else that is on your mind.

Are they being faithful to you or are they cheating? Are you about to get a promotion or get fired? Are your kids telling you everything you need to know in order to keep them safe? Has an ex been thinking or talking secretively about you?

Furthermore, hard facts about your secret life may be on the verge of coming out. Find out who knows what! All the effort you have taken to skirt around the truth for fear of consequences, judgment or loss may be unearthed during a Tarot card reading. Be prepared to both accept and deliver full disclosure.

How does the Tarot reveal the concealed murky depths? Like a Cryptologist decoding an encrypted message, a Tarot card expert is able to receive messages from these ancient cards so you can put an end confusion and mysteries with trustworthy answers. Even the most enigmatic, classified and confidential events are not stealthy enough to hide from a covert operations specialist like the Tarot.

No matter whether they are trying to keep secrets from you because they love you and think it is best for you to be left in the dark on a particular matter or because they are wishing you ill-will or want to put you at a disadvantage in life, the fact of the matter is they are still hiding a secret from you.

Is whispering in the other room and their hush-hush attitude got your sixth sense tingling? Is cloak and dagger behavior leading you to wonder what is so private and under wraps? It is human nature to be curious!

It is time to expose the truth and unlock the answers. Ask and you shall know with the power of the Tarot!

 

Part of the Daily Insight Group