Monday, Monday…..

Monday is ruled by the moon. Magical work planned for a Monday should involve aspects of the Goddess and any rites to honor her. In Wicca, the phases of the moon are revered as natural symbols of the different phases of womanhood. Spells and rituals invoking change are appropriate for a Monday. The moon rules the tides, so spells involving water are also appropriate for this time. Think of purification and cleansing work that you may need to do. Even consecrating your chalice would be an appropriate work for a Monday. Meditate on the aspects of the Greek maiden huntress, Artemis, twin sister of Apollo, or on her Roman counterpart, Diana of the silver bow. The lunar energy will bless your work if you acknowledge it correctly.

 

Source

A Witch’s Grimoire: Create Your Own Book of Shadows
Judy Ann Olsen

On Monday, July 25th, We Celebrate….

Tenjin (Japan)

TAMAYORIHIME

Themes: Cleansing; Health; Children; Water

Symbol: Water (especially moving water or saltwater)
About Tamayorihime:
An ancient Japanese sea goddess, Tamayorihime rules not only moving water sources but also all matters of health. She also watches over birth waters to ensure a speedy, safe delivery for pregnant women.
To Do Today: This festival began in 949 C.E. as a way to get rid of summer maladies. If you’ve had a cold, the flu, or some other ailment, try an adaptation of Japanese custom. Take a piece of paper that you’ve left on your altar for a while and rub it on the area of your body that’s afflicted. Drop the paper into moving water (like the toilet) to carry away sickness in Tamayorihime’s power. Alternatively, burn the paper to purge the problem. Mingle the ashes with a few drops saltwater and carry them in a sealed container as a Tamayorihime amulet for health.

For personal cleansing and healing, soak in an Epsom-salt bath today. As you lie in the tub, stir the water clockwise with your hand to draw Tamayorihime’s health to you, or counterclockwise so she can banish a malady. If time doesn’t allow for this, add a very small pinch of salt to your beverages and stir them similarly throughout the day, while mentally or verbally reciting this invocation:

Health be quick, health be kind,
within this cup the magic bind!
Drink the beverage to internalize Tamayorihime’s energy.

365 Goddess: A Daily Guide To the Magic and Inspiration of the goddess
Patricia Telesco

The Goddess Book of Days for Monday, July 25th

The 25th In Haiti, the day of the Papa Ogou or St. James, who is also Ogu or Ogun. (Hephaestus, Eros, Vulcan.) In India Naga Panchami, day of the Serpent God who is Damballah, Ganesha, or Serpent Goddesses Tiamat, Atargatis, Nina, Nammu, Kwannon, Nu Kwa, Kwan Yin, Sedna, Coatlique, Cretan Snake Goddess, Rainbow Serpent, and Aida Wedo.

 
The Goddess Book of Days
Diane Stein

The Pagan Book of Days for Monday, July 25th

Furrina was an ancient Italian goddess of springs. This festival is related closely to that of 23 July. Now is the time when a drought may begin to “bite,” and the value of springs is appreciated. A good day to remember our vital reliance on sources of water.

Reference

The Pagan Book of Days
Nigel Pennick

Today is Monday, July 25th

 

Monday is the sacred day of the moon, personified as the goddesses Selene, Luna, and Mani. The moon is ruler of flow, affecting the changeable and impressionable aspects of people. If a full moon falls on a Monday, then the powers of the moon are at their most potent.

Deity: Mani

Zodiac Sign: Cancer

Planet: Moon

Tree: Willow

Herb: Chickweed

Stone: Agate

Animal: Crab

Element: Water

Color: Green

Rune: Lagu (L)

Celtic Tree Month of Tinne(Holly) – July 8 – August 4. Holly, an evergreen plant reminds us all year long about the immortality of nature. The Holly moon was called Tinne, pronounced chihnn-uh, by the Celts, who knew the potent Holly was a symbol of masculine energy and firmness. The ancients used the wood of the Holly in the construction of weapons, but also in protective magic.

Runic Half-Month of Ur (primal strength) – July 14 – July 28

Goddess of the Month of Kerea – July 11 – August 8

Source
The Pagan Book of Days
Nigel Pennick

 

Ritual Work Associated with Monday The Day of the Moon

Perfume: White Poppy, White Rose, Wallflower
Incense: Myrtle
Wood: Willow
Color: Silver, Grey-white
Influences: Agriculture, Domestic, Longlife, Medicine, Travels, Visions, Theft (new moon)

 

Reference:

A Book of Pagan Rituals
Herman Slater

Sky This Week for July 25 to July 31, 2016

This week is all about the planets, the Moon, and the Delta Aquarid meteor shower.
By Richard Talcott

Monday, July 25

Look toward the south-southwest as darkness falls and you can’t help but see Mars. The Red Planet shines brilliantly at magnitude –0.9 — trailing only Jupiter after dusk — against the much fainter background stars of Libra. And it remains visible until it dips below the southwestern horizon shortly after 1 a.m. local daylight time. When viewed through a telescope, Mars’ orange-red disk spans 14″ and shows a number of subtle dark markings.

Tuesday, July 26

Last Quarter Moon occurs at 7:00 p.m. EDT. It doesn’t rise until nearly 1 a.m. local daylight time, however, by which time its phase has diminished almost imperceptibly to 46 percent lit. Earth’s only natural satellite appears against the relatively inconspicuous background stars of northeastern Cetus.

Wednesday, July 27

Pluto reached opposition and peak visibility nearly three weeks ago, 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 0.8° west-southwest of 3rd-magnitude Pi (p) Sagittarii and 0.7° northeast of 4th-magnitude Omicron (o) Sgr. See “The quest for distant Pluto” in the July Astronomy for complete details on finding this world.

The Moon reaches perigee, the closest point in its orbit around Earth, at 7:37 a.m. EDT. It then lies 229,698 miles (369,662 kilometers) away from us.

Thursday, July 28

The Southern Delta Aquarid meteor shower reaches its peak overnight. Although the waning crescent Moon rises around 2 a.m. local daylight time tomorrow morning, it doesn’t really detract from the show. The meteors appear to radiate from the constellation Aquarius, which rises in late evening and appears highest in the hours before dawn. At its best, the shower produces 15 to 20 meteors per hour under a dark sky, a rate that stays nearly constant for a couple of days on either side of the peak.

Friday, July 29

The Southern Delta Aquarid meteor shower isn’t the only event you’ll want to keep an eye on this morning. As the waning crescent Moon marches eastward relative to the background stars of Taurus, it passes directly in front of the Bull’s luminary. Our satellite occults 1st-magnitude Aldebaran for observers south of a line that runs from southern New Mexico to northern Maine. While viewers north of this line will see the Moon and star just miss each other, those along the line will witness the star skimming Luna’s northern limb. Be sure to set up ahead of time, center the star in your telescope’s field of view, and watch the magnificent show.

Uranus’ eastward motion against the background stars comes to a halt at 10 p.m. EDT. This so-called stationary point marks the beginning of the best period to observe the outer planet. Uranus rises before midnight local daylight time and appears more than halfway to the zenith in the southeastern sky as morning twilight commences. The magnitude 5.8 planet lies in Pisces, 2.7° due north of magnitude 4.8 Mu (m) Piscium. A telescope reveals Uranus’ blue-green disk, which spans 3.6″.

Saturday, July 30

Although Saturn reached its peak nearly two months ago, it remains a lovely sight. You can find the planet nearly due south around 9 p.m. local daylight time. Saturn shines at magnitude 0.3 and appears far brighter than any of the surrounding stars of southwestern Ophiuchus. When viewed through a telescope, the planet measures 18″ across while its dramatic ring system spans 40″ and tilts 26° to our line of sight.

Sunday, July 31

The two inner planets lurk low in the western sky shortly after sunset all week. Your best chance to spot them comes when they lie highest in the twilight this evening. If you scan the western horizon through binoculars 30 minutes after sunset, you should pick up Venus standing just 3° high. It shows up only because in shines so brightly, at magnitude –3.9. Mercury appears 6° above the horizon but will be harder to see because it glows more dimly at magnitude –0.2. And if you have a haze-free sky, you might spot the 1st-magitude star Regulus between the two planets.
Reference:
Astronomy Magazine

MOON PHASES FOR JULY

New Moon – July 4, 2016
First Quarter – July 11, 2016
Full Moon – July 19, 2016
Last Quarter – July 26, 2016

The Sun & Moon Data for Monday, July 25th

The Sun
Sun Direction: ↑ 81.94° E
Sun Altitude: 22.47°
Sun Distance: 94.413 million mi
Next Equinox: Sep 22, 2016 9:21 AM (Autumnal)
Sunrise Today: 5:54 AM↑ 65° Northeast
Sunset Today: 8:07 PM↑ 295° Northwest
Length of Daylight: 14 hours, 12 minutes

 

The Moon
Moon Direction: ↑ 232.18° SW
Moon Altitude: 42.43°
Moon Distance: 230302 mi
Next New Moon: Aug 2, 20163:44 PM
Next Full Moon: Aug 18, 20164:26 AM
Next Moonset: Today11:56 AM
Current Moon Phase: Waning Gibbous
Illumination 66.1%
Reference:
timeanddate.com

Good Sunday Afternoon, my sweets! It seems like it has been forever since I have talked to you. Of course, I see Mystie has been doing a lot of talking, LOL! I appreciate her doing the postings but there are somethings she didn’t need to tell. But that is just Mystie what can I say? I just needed time to get my head on straight and cleared. Kiki’s death was sudden and unexpected. Whose life wouldn’t get thrown into a whirlwind?

 

I went to the dog pound yesterday to just look and Mystie threw a fit about me going. Couldn’t figure out why, so she finally told me. She said that everyone here had pitched in and collected enough money for a new little Pom to be delivered to our doorstep. That was a shock to say the least and something I never expected. The little fellow hasn’t arrived yet but he is suppose to be here next week. They delayed shipping him because of the weekend coming up is what Mystie told me. He should be here around Tuesday or Wednesday of this coming week. She handed me this lovely card and inside it was picture of my new Pom. He is absolutely adorable and I can’t wait for him to get here. It said on the card, “We love you, Lady A! From All The Members of the WOTC!” I don’t know what to say except thank you for caring and loving me the way you do. You are truly an amazing group of people. The things you have done for the WOTC and me are incredible. I can never ever say thank you enough and that I love you. What is very special to me is when you do something like this I know my love is returned, I know I truly have a family here. We might just be a spot on the internet but the WOTC and its members are much, much more than that. We have a bond not only of friendship but of love. A love I will cherish always, my dear brothers and sisters. It is just at times, thank you doesn’t seem adequate, really it doesn’t. You are outstanding, caring, loving and passionate people. When you are surrounded by those kind of people, the kind you all are, I wonder if I can ever say thank you enough or let you know how much I truly do love you. Thank you again so very much.

 

Besides thanking you for being incredible, loving people, I wanted to let you know that we will resume full operations Monday. Our routine has been out of sorts for a while but now it is time to return to doing the Goddess’ work. We are going to start our daily posts earlier than we usually do and we are also going to try to keep the Southern Realm site running and up to speed. The Great Morrighan was the one who pointed out the need for a site for our Southern Hemisphere brothers and sisters. I don’t want to disappoint Her or our Divine Mother. We still have plenty of work ahead of us and it is pass time to get back to it.

 

Take the rest of the day off to kick back and relax on your Sunday afternoon. We will see you tomorrow, ready to go. Thank you again for your love. I am so grateful for it and I can never repay you enough for it. I am truly blessed to be able to call you my brothers and sisters, my family.

 

I love you all,

Lady A

As you know, we are located out in the woods. I am getting ready to leave and go wire the money for Lady A’s new ball of fuzz. Thank you for making this happen for our dear Lady. I know this will mean the world to her, I know it does to me.

Thank you,
Mystie

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 July 20

Dark Dunes on Mars (Horizontally Compressed)
Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, MSSS

 

Explanation: How does wind affect sand on Mars? To help find out if it differs significantly from Earth, the robotic Curiosity rover on Mars was directed to investigate the dark Namib Dune in the Bagnold Dune Field in Gale Crater. Namib is the first active sand dune investigated up close outside of planet Earth. Wind-created ripples on Earth-bound sand dunes appear similar to ripples on Mars, with one exception. The larger peaks visible on dark Namib dune, averaging about 3 meters apart, are of a type seen only underwater on Earth. They appear to arise on Mars because of the way the thin Martian wind drags dark sand particles. The featured image was taken last December and is horizontally compressed to show context. In the distance, a normal dusty Martian landscape slopes up in light orange, while a rock-strewn landscape is visible on the far right. Curiosity unexpectedly went into safe mode in early July, but it was brought out last week and has now resumed exploring the once lake-filled interior of Gale Crater for further signs that it was once habitable by microbial life.

Sun enters Cancer on July 20

 

The Wisdom of Buddha

All that we are is the result of what we have thought. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him.

Your Daily Influences
July 20, 2016 

 

Seven of Cups
Deception, an overactive imagination, and the illusion of success. Strengths are not consolidated to work as one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fehu
Fehu reversed represents material stagnation, possibly poverty as well as infertility.

 

 

 

 

Sagittarius the Archer
This aspect of your life will be strongly influenced by a person who is blindly optimistic, careless, irresponsible, superficial, tactless and restless. This is a person who makes you nervous.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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