MOON IN VIRGO

Magical Work Because the energy of the Virgo Moon lends itself to anything that requires detailed organization, use it to boost matters involving finance, structure, productivity, and the completion of old projects. It also lends itself to romantic endeavors where traditional values are important.

 

Mundane Event Planning
Since organization is key when the Virgo Moon appears, use it to clear away clutter and discard the old and useless; this includes not only material possessions, but worn-out ideas. Then devise new systems for handling everything in life more efficiently. This is also a good time to schedule surgeries, both major and minor. Other good bets for this energy might include the signing of contracts, financial planning, service-oriented efforts like volunteer work, and future plans that involve a committed relationship.

Gardening Tips
Another barren sign, this energy is best used to make initial garden and soil preparations, and handle weed and pest problems.

Everyday Moon Magic: Spells & Rituals for Abundant Living (Everyday Series)
Dorothy Morrison

The Witches Almanac for Saturday, July 9th

Saturday (Saturn): Longevity, exorcism, endings, homes, and houses.

Battle of Sempach Day (Swiss)

 

Waxing Moon
The Waxing Moon (from the New Moon to the Full) is the ideal time for magic to draw things toward you.

Moon Phase: First Quarter

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

Incense: Pine

Color: Gray

Magickal Days of the Week – Saturday

 

It’s the end of the week for many of us, so Saturday – named for the god Saturn – is a good time to wrap things up. Associated with the colors black and dark purple, and the metal lead, this day is also connected to the goddess Hecate. Gemstones like Apache tear, obsidian, and hematite are all connected to Saturday’s magic, as are plants such as thyme, mullein, and the cypress tree.

When it comes to magical workings, focus on agriculture and creativity, fortune and hope, protection and banishment of negativity.

Put up a barrier to keep the unwelcome out, eliminate the things that make you miserable, and wash your hands of anything other than your hopes, dreams and goals.

Author

Patti Wigington, Paganism/Wicca Expert
Article published on & owned by About.com

Saturday’s Witchery

 

Saturday is a day filled with opportunities to clean up and clear out. So if you are wondering why Hecate is assigned to this day, take another look at what she symbolizes and the magick that is associated with her. That should answer the question.

Hecate was the oldest form of the Greek Triple Goddess, as she presided over heaven, the underworld, and earth. Crossroads where three roads met were especially sacred to Hecate, earning her the title of Hekate of the Three Ways. It’s interesting to note that even after the worship of other goddesses waned, ancient people still worshiped Hecate as the Queen of the Underworld and the Guardian of the Three-Way Crossroad. It was also believed that if you left her an offering of food there, she would grant you her favors. As Hecate Trivia, her triple images were often displayed at these crossroads, where she was petitioned on the full moon for positive magick and on the dark of the moon for cursing and dark magick.

While this last bit of information sounds a little ominous, keep in mind that Hecate/Hekate was known by many titles and is a shapeshifter. Her appearance could and did change often. As a dark moon goddess, her faces are many. To some she may appear as a old crone, hunched over a smoking cauldron and draped in a midnight cape. To others she may appear as a dark beautiful, mysterious, and mature woman wearing a shimmering crown. To some she may be perceived as a maiden priestess. She was called the “most lovely one,” the Great Goddess of Nature, and the Queen of the World of Spirits. This dark goddess knows her way around the earth and the underworld. All the powers of nature, life, and death are at her command.

Book of Witchery
Spells, Charms & Correspondences for Every Day of the Week
Ellen Dugan

Saturday

 

The planetary correspondence for Saturday is Saturn. Matters dealing with the public, farming, family ties, legal matters (such as wills and estates), taking care of debts, dealing with lawyers, financing, joint money matters, real estate, older people, banishing or binding negativity, and getting rid of bad habits all fall under the charge of Saturn. It’s easy to see why “Saturday’s child works hard for his living.”

Saturday’s angels are Cassiel, Machatan, Uriel, and Orifiel. Cassiel is the angel of solitudes and tears. He is one of the rulers of the planet Saturn and occasionally appears as the angel of patience. Cassiel links himself to dragon energy. Regarding Machatan, the only information we get is that he works well with Cassiel and is also a power of Saturn. Orifiel is an angel of the wilderness, a ruler of the second hour of the day, and also associated with Saturn.

On Saturday, the hour of sunrise and every eight hours after that are also ruled by Saturn, and that makes these times of the day doubly blessed. These four hours are the strongest four hours for conducting ritual. Check the local newspaper, astrological calendar, or almanac to determine your local sunrise.

Source:

Gypsy Magic

Pagan Saturday

 

Saturday is the day of the week between Friday and Sunday. It is the either the sixth or seventh day of the week as discussed below.

Origins of the name
It was named no later than the second century for the planet (Saturn), which controlled the first hour of that day according to Vettius Valens. The planet was named for the Roman god of agriculture Saturn. It has been called dies Saturni (“Saturn’s Day”), through which from it entered into Old English as Sæternesdæg and gradually evolved into the word “Saturday”.

Saturday is the only day of the week in which the English name comes from Roman mythology. The English names of all of the other days of the week come from Germanic mythology. In India, Saturday is Shanivar, based on Shani, the Vedic God manifested in the planet Saturn. In the Thai solar calendar of Thailand, the day is named from the Pali word for Saturn, and the color associated with Saturday is purple. The Celtic languages also name this day for Saturn: Irish an Satharn or dia Sathuirn, Scottish Gaelic Disathairne, Welsh dydd Sadwrn, Breton disadorn.

In Jewish tradition Saturday is the Shabbat. Christianity adopted this tradition in terms of the Sabbath. Thus, in many languages the Saturday is named after the Sabbath. Eastern Orthodox churches distinguish between the Sabbath (Saturday) and the Lord’s Day (Sunday). Roman Catholics put so little emphasis on that distinction that many among them follow – at least in colloquial language – the Protestant practice of calling Sunday the sabbath (see Sabbath in Christianity). Quakers traditionally refer to Saturday as “Seventh Day” eschewing the “pagan” origin of the name. In Islamic countries, Fridays are holidays, however they are considered as the sixth day of the week.

In the Eastern Orthodox Church Saturdays are days on which the Theotokos (Mother of God) and All Saints are commemorated, The day is also a general day of prayer for the dead, because it was on a Saturday that Jesus lay dead in the tomb. The Octoechos contains hyms on these themes, arranged in an eight-week cycle, that are chanted on Saturdays throughout the year. At the end of services on Saturday, the dismissal begins with the words: “May Christ our True God, through the intercessions of his most-pure Mother, of the holy, glorious and right victorious Martyrs, of our reverend and God-bearing Fathers…”. For the Orthodox, Saturday is never a strict fast day. When a Saturday falls during one of the fasting seasons (Great Lent, Nativity Fast, Apostles’ Fast, Dormition Fast) the fasting rules are always lessened to an extent. The Great Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross and the Beheading of St. John the Baptist are normally observed as strict fast days, but if they fall on a Saturday or Sunday, the fast is lessened.

In Scandinavian countries, Saturday is called Lördag or Löverdag etc., the name being derived from the old word laugr (hence Icelandic name Laugardagur), meaning bath, thus Lördag equates to bath-day. This is due to the Viking usage of bathing on Saturdays.

Today, Saturday is officially called Samstag in all German-speaking countries, however, there are two names for this day in modern Standard German. Samstag is always used in Austria, Liechtenstein, the German speaking part of Switzerland and generally used in southern and western Germany. It derives from Old High German sambaztac, which itself derives from Greek Σάββατο, and this Greek word derives from Hebrew שבת (Shabbat). However, the current German word for sabbath is Sabbat. The second name for Saturday in German is Sonnabend, which derives from Old High German sunnunaband, and is closely related to the Old English word sunnanæfen. It means literally “Sun eve”, i.e. “The day before Sunday”. Sonnabend is generally used in northern and eastern Germany, and was also the official name for Saturday in East Germany. In the Westphalian dialects of Low Saxon, in East Frisian Low Saxon and in the Saterland Frisian language, Saturday is called Satertag, also akin to Dutch Zaterdag, which has the same linguistic roots as the English word Saturday.

Similarly, the Romance languages follow the Greek usage, so that their word for “Saturday” is also a variation on “Sabbath”: the Italian is sabato, the French is samedi, the Spanish and Portuguese is sábado and the Romanian is sâmbătă.

The modern Maori name for it, Rahoroi, means “washing-day”. For other languages, see Days of the week Planetary table.

Position in the week
The three Abrahamic religions, via their original languages, regard Saturday as the seventh day of the week (Judaism via Hebrew, Christianity via Ecclesiastical Latin, and Islam via Arabic) by naming Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday as the second through fifth days of the week. This is concordant with the European Pagan tradition, which named the days of the week after the seven Classical planets (in order Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn), naming the first day of the week for the Sun, perceived as most important, and moving to those perceived as lesser.

The Slavic languages of Eastern Europe regard Saturday as the sixth day of the week by naming Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday as the second, fourth, and fifth days of the week, although their name for Wednesday, middle, would imply that Saturday is the seventh day of the week.

Beginning in the twentieth century, many Europeans have considered Saturday the sixth (penultimate) day of the week, and Sunday the last[citation needed]. This current European labour-oriented convention has been formalized by ISO 8601 which is used by businesses such as airlines in drawing up timetables, etc

Pagan Calendar

 

Goddesses Associated with Saturdays

Ops, Rhea, Tellus Mater, Gaia, Eartha, Ge, Tonantzin, Ashera, Anath, the Shekinah, the Matronit, Mary, Gula, Herodias, Oddudua, Demeter

 

The Goddess Book of Days
Diane Stein

The Goddess Book of Days for July 9th

 

The Panathenaea in Greece, for six days every fourth year, dedicated to Athena. (Athena, Minerva, Sophia, Sarasvati, Maat, Oya.) The ninth day of the Moon/month is the birthday of the Goddess Rhea and God Dionysus (the Earth and the Sun).

The Goddess Book of Days
Diane Stein

 

The Celtic Tree Month of Tinne – Holly Lore

8th Moon of the Celtic Year – (July 8 – Aug 4)

Latin name: English Holly (also called Scarlet Oak) – ilex aquilfolium; American holly – ilex opaca. The Holly is an evergreen tree.

Celtic name: Tinne (pronounced: chihn’ uh)

Folk or Common names: Holly, Scarlet Oak, Kerm-Oak, Holy Tree. Holly actually means “holy”.

Parts Used: Leaf, berry, wood.

Herbal usage: The leaf of the Holly can be dried and used as teas for fevers, bladder problems and bronchitis. The juice of the fresh leaf is helpful in jaundice treatment. Holly can be used homeopathically as a substitute for quinine. Note: Holly berries are poisonous!

Magical History & Associations: The Holly, a masculine herb, is associated with the element of fire, and is an herb of Saturn and Mars. The bird associated with this month is the starling, the color is green-gray, the gemstone is yellow caingorm, and the day of the week association is Tuesday. Holly is the first moon of the dark half of the year, and the Holly is sacred to both the Winter and Summer Solstices. Summer Solstice is the time when in mythology, the Oak King is slain by his twin, or tanist, the Holly King, who rules until the Winter Solstice, when he in turn is slain by his tanist, the Oak King. Tanist is related to the tannin found in an Oak tree; Oak and Holly are two sides of the same coin, the end of one cycle and the beginning of the next. The Holly is also sacred to the deities of Lugh, Habondia, Tina Etruscan and Tannus. There are special spirits that dwell within Holly trees: the Holly Man lives in the tree that bears prickly Holly, and the Holly Woman dwells within that which give forth smooth and variegated leaves. Holly is also associated with unicorns, since the unicorn is one of the Celtic symbols for this tree – the other symbol is the Flaming Spear.

Magickal usage: The month of Holly is a good time to do magick designed to help bring about a successful harvest. The Holly has applications in magick done for protection, prophesy, healing, magick for animals, sex magick, invulnerability, watchfulness, good luck, death, rebirth, Holiness, consecration, material gain, physical revenge, beauty and travel. Holly also has the ability to enhance other forms of magic. As a symbol of firmness and masculine energy, Hollywood was used by the ancients in the construction of spear shafts, which were thought to then have magickal powers.

Uses of Holly in protective magick includes hanging a sprig of Holly in the home all year to insure protection and good luck. Holly is also an excellent charm to wear for protection. ‘Holly Water’ can be made by soaking Holly overnight in spring water under a full moon. This water can then be sprinkled over infants to keep them happy and safe. Holly Water can also be used to sprinkle around the house for psychic cleansing and protection. Holly leaves can be cast around outside to repel unwanted spirits or animals and a Holly bush can be planted close to houses to protect against lightning. Ensure that the Holly has a place in your garden because its presence wards off unfriendly spirits. Do not burn Holly branches unless they are well and truly dead, for this is unlucky. Holly, intertwined with ivy, is traditionally made into crowns for the bride and groom at weddings/handfastings. Holly and Ivy also make excellent decorations for altars. Holy is also a traditional decoration for Yuletide as in sung in the traditional Yuletide song:

“Deck the halls with boughs of Holly, fa la la la la, la la la la.”

If you gather nine Holly leaves in complete silence on a Friday after midnight, wrap them up in a white cloth, use nine knots to bind the cloth, and then place them under your pillow, your dreams will come true. When harvesting the leaves from the Holly, remember to ask the tree if it will allow you to take the parts and be sure to leave the tree an offering of thanks when you are done. Holly favors red and yellow stones as gifts.

 

Saturday, July 9th

 

Saturday is dedicated to the shadowy Anglo-Saxon God Saetere or Seater, equivalent to the God Saturn. It is a day also associated with the Norns, the Norse equivalent of Three Fates, and the trickster God Loki. It is connected generally with apprehension, austerity, caution, and excessive self-limitation.

Deity: Saetere

Zodiac Sign: Aquarius

Planet: Saturn

Tree: Alder

Herb: Daffodil

Stone: Amethyst

Animal: Eagle

Element: Earth

Color: Dark Blue

Number: 4

Rune: Dag(D)

Celtic Tree Month of Tinne(Holly) – July 8 – August 4. Holly, an evergreen plant reminds us all year long about the immortality of nature. A symbol of masculine energy and firmness.

Runic Half-Month of Ur (primal strength) – July 4 – July 28

Goddess of the Month of Rosea – June 13 – July 10

Source

The Pagan Book of Days
Nigel Pennick

 

Do You Really Know Saturday?

Saturday is the most awaited day in a week by everyone as we all temporarily disembark from our five day long official journey, only to continue after a couple of days on Monday, which could be possibly the most dreaded day of the week, for similar reasons.

Thus Saturday becomes the day for fun and recreation where most of the people indulge themselves in abandoned gay especially during the night, popularly called across various cultures as ‘Saturday Night’.

Memes can be found in plenty trolling Mondays and celebrating Saturdays and are mostly created as emotions out pour on a Monday lamenting its arrival and on Fridays when everyone is set ready to enter the weekend through a joyous Saturday.

This is what one can summarize about the Saturdays that we spend, which is routine in our lives, like everyone’s’. There are more interesting facts both fun and historical, about Saturdays that are worth knowing.

Birthday of Vampire Hunters
Traditionally, in olden days it was believed that Saturdays are the appropriated days to hunt down Vampires as they are restricted only to their coffins and are not allowed to get out on that day. In the Balkans tradition, those who are born on Saturdays are entitled to become vampire hunters as they can see vampires but not by others.

Swedish Saturday Candy
Children are allowed to have candies only on Saturdays, every week in Sweden. This is termed as Saturday Candy. The reason behind this practice of allowing children to have candies on Saturdays is to prevent tooth decays, yet it has an historical reason that was considered controversial in medical ethics.

Known as Vipeholm experiments, during 1945-55, mentally challenged people at the Vipeholm mental hospital in Lund, Sweden, are fed too much of sweets to study dental health. This was the result of an experiment sponsored by both the sugar industry personals and the doctor community to know if carbohydrates have a direct impact in the formation of dental cavities.

The only weekly off in Nepal
Saturdays are the only official weekly holidays in Nepal and not Sunday. Also, it is the last day of the week in Nepal. Even though there is no factual information about how long this is in practice, it is said that for a century Nepal follows the one weekly holiday procedure. It is even said that the idea to improve efficiency by making both Saturdays and Sundays as offs didn’t work. Strange? Very!

Election Day
In many countries Saturday is the preferred day for election of public representatives. In Australia, elections are held usually on Saturdays and in New Zealand, Saturdays are the only days in which elections can be conducted. It is also preferred by the State of Louisiana, in the United States.

Why the name Saturday?
The seven day week came into the practice of Roman Culture in 321 AD, after being originated in Mesopotamia. These seven days are based on the seven planets that were then believed to revolve around the Earth and thus control the events happening. Saturday is named after the planet Saturn, which is the god of agriculture in Roman mythology. The astronomical symbol of the planet resembles the sickle carried by the god of agriculture.

Saturday as the Seventh day

The calendar that we follow considers Saturday as the sixth day of the week and is the idea of the international standard ISO 8601 that was created to represent date and time in a seamless way, so that they are not confused as they differ to a great degree across various geographical locations of the world.

But the Abrahamic religions including Christianity, Islam and Judaism consider Saturday as the seventh day of the week.

The day of rest

As Genesis sums up the creation f world in seven days, it considers the seventh day, when God took rest after creating the whole universe during the previous six days. Thus the seventh day is considered to be a Sabbath or day of rest.

As religions consider Saturday as the seventh day, they also make it as a day of rest or worship, calling it as Sabbath. There is a lot of controversy around changing the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday, which just to mention and not go into the details, is the purpose of this article.

Saturday is no day for controversy! Sit back, relax and chill!

Author

readnlove
Published on the website ReadnLove

The Sky This Week: July 9 – July 17

Asteroid 7 Iris makes an appearance, Pluto still shines, and the Delta Aquarid meteor shower begins to fall.
By Richard Talcott

 

Saturday, July 9
Look toward the south as darkness falls and you can’t help but see Mars. The Red Planet shines brilliantly at magnitude –1.2 — trailing only the Moon and Jupiter after dusk — against the much fainter background stars of Libra. And it remains visible until it dips below the southwestern horizon around 2 a.m. local daylight time. When viewed through a telescope, Mars’ orange-red disk spans 15″ and shows a number of subtle dark markings. You also might glimpse the white north polar cap, which should be near its minimum extent now because summer ended in the planet’s northern hemisphere just last week.

Sunday, July 10
This should be a good night to hunt down asteroid 7 Iris through a small telescope. The 10th-magnitude object lies nearly due south and at its highest position in the sky as darkness falls. Even better, there’s a reasonably bright guide star to point you in the right direction. This evening, look for Iris 0.5° due south of the magnitude 5.0 star Lambda (l) Librae.

Monday, July 11
You can find the First Quarter Moon in the southwest as darkness falls, then watch as it sinks toward the western horizon, where it sets shortly before 1 a.m. local daylight time. Our satellite officially reaches its First Quarter phase at 8:52 p.m. EDT. The half-lit Moon spends the night among the background stars of Virgo the Maiden, some 5° north of that constellation’s brightest star, 1st-magnitude Spica.

Saturn lies nearly due south and at its peak altitude as darkness falls this week. Shining at magnitude 0.2, it is easily the brightest object in its host constellation, Ophiuchus the Serpent-bearer. When viewed through a telescope, the planet measures 18″ across while its dramatic ring system spans 41″ and tilts 26° to our line of sight. You also should keep an eye out for its brighter moons. A 4-inch scope easily shows 8th-magnitude Titan and the 10th-magnitude trio of Tethys, Dione, and Rhea. An 8-incher will bring in two more satellites that are well-placed this evening. Look for 11th-magnitude Iapetus 2.2′ north of Saturn and 12th-magnitude Enceladus 35″ west of the planet.

Tuesday, July 12
Pluto reached opposition and peak visibility last week, and it remains a tempting target all night. It glows dimly at magnitude 14.1, however, so you’ll need an 8-inch or larger telescope with good optics to spot it visually. Pluto currently lies in northeastern Sagittarius, some 0.4° west-southwest of the 3rd-magnitude star Pi (p) Sagittarii. See “The quest for distant Pluto” in the July Astronomy for complete details on finding this world.

Wednesday, July 13
The Southern Delta Aquarid meteor shower gets underway this week. Although the shower doesn’t peak until the end of July, you should start to see some meteors in the hours before dawn. The best time to look is between 3 and 4 a.m. local daylight time, after the Moon has set and before twilight intrudes. To tell a Southern Delta Aquarid meteor from a random dust particle burning up in Earth’s atmosphere, trace the streak of light’s path backward. A shower meteor will appear to originate from the constellation Aquarius the Water-bearer.

The Moon reaches apogee, the farthest point in its orbit around Earth, at 1:24 a.m. EDT. It then lies 251,201 miles (404,269 kilometers) from Earth’s center.

Thursday, July 14
The waxing gibbous Moon forms a flat triangle with Mars and Saturn tonight. The Moon stands highest and about 8° to Mars’s upper left once darkness falls; Saturn lies approximately 16° to the Red Planet’s left.

Friday, July 15
For observers in North America, the Moon appears 3° above Saturn this evening. The ruddy 1st-magnitude star Antares in Scorpius the Scorpion lies 10° below the Moon while Mars blazes well to the trio’s right.

Saturday, July 16
If you like observing challenges, tonight is your night. Mercury passes just 0.5° (the diameter of a Full Moon) north of Venus in the early evening sky. From 40° north latitude, the two lie less than 4° high in the west-northwest 20 minutes after sunset. With a flat horizon and pristine skies, you might just glimpse the pair through binoculars. At magnitude –3.9, Venus will be the easier of the two to spot (Mercury glows at magnitude –1.0).

Sunday, July 17
Observers of the outer solar system should target Uranus this week before the Moon sheds its unwanted light into the predawn sky. The best time to look for it is shortly before twilight begins around 4 a.m. local daylight time. Uranus then lies 40° high in the northeast among the background stars of Pisces the Fish. This morning, use binoculars to find the magnitude 5.8 planet about 4° west of 4th-magnitude Omicron (o) Piscium and 3° north of 5th-magnitude Mu (m) Psc. A telescope reveals Uranus’ blue-green disk, which spans 3.5″.

Astronomy Magazine

Your Daily Sun & Moon Data for Saturday, July 9th

 

The Sun
Sun Direction: ↑ 93.64° E
Sun Altitude: 43.55°
Sun Distance: 94.506 million mi
Next Equinox: Sep 22, 2016 9:21 AM (Autumnal)
Sunrise Today: 5:43 AM↑ 61° Northeast
Sunset Today: 8:16 PM↑ 299° Northwest
Current Length of Daylight: 14 hours, 33 minutes

 

The Moon
Moon Direction: ↑ 71.94° ENE
Moon Altitude: -16.79°
Moon Distance: 246228 mi
Next Full Moon: Jul 19, 20165:56 PM
Next New Moon: Aug 2, 20163:44 PM
Next Moonrise: Today11:01 AM
Current Moon Phase: Waxing Crescent
Illumination: 27.5%

 
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