Day: March 21, 2018

Nineveh: The Discovery

Nineveh: The Discovery

THE COMMENTARY GAZETTE

 

The Discovery of the Tablets at Nineveh by Layard, Rassam and Smith

In 1845-47 and again in 1849-51 Mr. (later Sir) A. H. Layard carried out a series of excavations among the ruins of the ancient city of Nineveh, “that great city, wherein are more than sixteen thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left; and also much cattle” (Jonah iv, II). Its ruins lie on the left or east bank of the Tigris, exactly opposite the town of Al-Mawsil, or Môsul, which was founded by the Sassanians and marks the site of Western Nineveh. At first Layard thought that these ruins were not those of Nineveh, which he placed at Nimrûd, about 20 miles downstream, but of one of the other cities that were built by Asshur (see Gen. x, 11, 12). Thanks, however, to Christian, Roman and Muhammadan tradition, there is no room for doubt about it, and the site of Nineveh has always been known. The fortress which the Arabs built there in the seventh century was known as “Kal’at-Nînawî, i.e., “Nineveh Castle,” for many centuries, and all the Arab geographers agree in saying that tile mounds opposite Môsul contain the ruins of the palaces and walls of Nineveh. And few of them fail to mention that close by them is “Tall Nabi Yûnis,” i.e., the Hill from which the Prophet Jonah preached repentance to the inhabitants of Nineveh, that “exceeding great city of three days’ journey” (Jonah iii, 3). Local tradition also declares that the prophet was buried in the Hill, and his supposed tomb is shown there to this day.

The Walls and Palaces of Nineveh

The situation of the ruins of the palaces of Nineveh is well shown by the accompanying reproduction of the plan of the city made by Commander Felix Jones, I.N. The remains of the older palaces built by Sargon II (B.C. 721-705), Sennacherib (B.C. 705-681), and Esarhaddon (B.C. 681-668) lie under the hill called Nabi Yûnis, and those of the palaces and other buildings of Ashur-bani-pal (B.C. 681-626) under the mound which is known locally as “Tall al-‘Armûshîyah,” i.e., “The Hill of ‘Armûsh,” and “Kuyûnjik.” The latter name is said to be derived from two Turkish words meaning “many sheep,” in allusion to the large flocks of sheep that find their pasture on and about the mound in the early spring. These two great mounds lie close to the remains of the great west wall of Nineveh, which in the time of the last Assyrian Empire was washed by the waters of the river Tigris. At some unknown period the course of the river changed, and it is now more than a mile distant from the city wall. The river Khausur, or Khoser, divides the area of Nineveh into two parts, and passing close to the southern end of Kuyûnjik empties itself into the Tigris. The ruins of the wails of Nineveh show that the east wall was 16,000 feet long, the north wall 7,000 feet long, the west wall 13,600 feet, and the south wall 3,000 feet; its circuit was about 13,200 yards or 7 1/2 miles……Read more

The Jones’ of Mesopotamia

The Jones’ of Mesopotamia

THE COMMENTARY GAZETTE

Those who searched Antiquity:

So for nearly two thousand years has the haunting memory of the once-powerful city pervaded Christian literature, while its broken walls and ruined temples and palaces lay buried deep in desert sand. The history of the ancient land of which it was the capital survived in but meagre and fragmentary form, mingled with accumulated myths and legends. A slim volume contained all that could be derived from references in the Old Testament and the compilations of classical writers.

It is only within the past half-century that the wonderful story of early Eastern civilization has been gradually pieced together by excavators and linguists, who have thrust open the door of the past and probed the hidden secrets of long ages. We now know more about “the land of Babel” than did not only the Greeks and Romans, but even the Hebrew writers who foretold its destruction. Glimpses are being afforded us of its life and manners and customs for some thirty centuries before the captives of Judah uttered lamentations on the banks of its reedy canals. The sites of some of the ancient cities of Babylonia and Assyria were identified by European officials and travelers in the East early in the nineteenth century, and a few relics found their way to Europe. But before Sir A.H. Layard set to work as an excavator in the “forties”, “a case scarcely three feet square”, as he himself wrote, “enclosed all that remained not only of the great city of Nineveh, but of Babylon itself”……Read more

Hymn to ISHTAR

Hymn to ISHTAR

THE COMMENTARY GAZETTE

There were two dialects in ancient Sumeria, and the invocatory hymns were composed in what was known as “the women’s language”. It must not be inferred, however, that the ladies of Sumeria had established a speech which differed from that used by men. The reference would appear to be to a softer and homelier dialect, perhaps the oldest of the two, in which poetic emotion found fullest and most beautiful expression. In these ancient days, as in our own, the ideal of womanhood was the poet’s chief source of inspiration, and among the hymns the highest reach of poetic art was attained in the invocation of Ishtar, the Babylonian Venus. The following hymn is addressed to that deity in her Valkyrie-like character as a goddess of war, but her more feminine traits are not obscured:-

To thee I cry, O lady of the gods, Lady of ladies, goddess without peer, Ishtar who shapes the lives of all mankind, Thou stately world queen, sovereign of the sky,  And lady ruler of the host of heaven–lustrious is thy name… O light divine, Gleaming in lofty splendour o’er the earth–Heroic daughter of the moon, oh! hear; Thou dost control our weapons and award  In battles fierce the victory at will– crown’d majestic Fate.

Ishtar most high, Who art exalted over all the gods, Thou bringest lamentation; thou dost urge    With hostile hearts our brethren to the fray;  The gift of strength is thine for thou art strong; Thy will is urgent, brooking no delay; Thy hand is violent, thou queen of war Girded with battle and enrobed with fear…  Thou sovereign wielder of the wand of Doom, The heavens and earth are under thy control.

Adored art thou in every sacred place, In temples, holy dwellings, and in shrines, Where is thy name not lauded? where thy will  Unheeded, and thine images not made? Where are thy temples not up-reared? O, where Art thou not mighty, peerless, and supreme?…Read More

Agrippina: Nero

Agrippina: Nero

THE COMMENTARY GAZETTE

We do know, however, that after the death of Germanicus there was formed at Rome, in the imperial family and the senate, a party of Agrippina, which began an implacable war upon Tiberius, and that Tiberius, the so-called tyrant, was at the beginning very weak, undecided, and vacillating in his resistance to this new opposition.

His opponents did not spare his person; they did their best to spread the belief that the emperor was a poisoner, and persecuted him relentlessly with this calumny; they were already pushing forward Nero, the first-born son of Germanicus, though in 21 A.D. he was only fourteen years old, in order that he might in time be made the rival of Tiberius.  The latter, indeed, tried at first to moderate the charges of high treason, his supreme defense; he feigned that he did not know or did not see many things, and instead of resisting, he began to make long sojourns away from Rome, thus turning over the capital, in which the praetorian guard remained, to the calumnies of his enemies.  Of all these enemies the most terrible was Agrippina, who, passionate, vehement, without judgment, abused in good faith both the relationship which protected her and the pity which her misfortune had aroused.  She allowed no occasion for taunting Tiberius with his pretended crime to escape her, using to this end not only words, but scenes and actions, which impressed the public even more strongly than open accusations could have done.  A supper to which Tiberius had invited her became famous at Rome, for at it she refused obstinately and ostentatiously to touch any food or drink whatever, to the astonishment of the guests, who understood perfectly what her gestures meant.  And such calumnies and such affronts Tiberius answered only with a weary and disdainful inertia; at most, when his patience was exhausted, some bitter and concise reproof would escape him.

I have no doubt that Tiberius had resolved at the beginning to avoid all harsh measures as far as possible; for unpopular, misunderstood, and detested as he was, he did not dare to use violence against a large part of the aristocracy and against his own house.  Furthermore, Agrippina was the least intelligent of the women of the family, and her senseless opposition could be tolerated as long as Livia and Antonia, the two really serious ladies of the family, sided with Tiberius.  But it is easy to understand that this situation could not long endure.  A power which defends itself weakly against the attacks of its enemies is destined to sink rapidly into a decline, and the party of Agrippina would therefore quickly have gained favor and power had there not arisen, to sustain the vacillating strength of Tiberius, a man whose name was to become sadly famous-Sejanus-the commander of the praetorian guard…..Read More

Equinox Special

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Equinox Special

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Equinox March 2018

Celia Fenn
a message from Archangel Michael channeled by Celia Fenn
To read more of Celia’s insight, visit her website, Starchild Global with CELIA FENN

Diamond Light, the New Earth, Sacred Clarity and the Opening of Conscious ReGenesis

Beloved Ones, the Equinox on March 2018 is a powerful moment in the Spiral of the Sacred Year.  The Equinox Star Gate is an 8th Dimensional Solar Gateway and it is transmitting waves of Diamond Light to the Earth along with powerful magnetic waves of Light Codes and Water Codes.

What does this mean for you and for the Earth?

These powerful waves of Light that are being received at the time of the Equinox transition (change of seasons) are assisting you to release and clear away remnants of old Time Lines and to focus on the New Earth Time Spirals that are being activated in this cycle.  Whatever is leaving your life at this moment is not necessary for your New Earth creations and journey.

As the old Time Lines collapse and merge, old feelings and memories may come up.  Fragments of what was or what might have been will surface to be experienced and then released.  Do not hold onto old dreams or old wounds, simply let them go and bless them for what they have given you or what you have learned.

As you let go, you are making space for Dreams and Creations that have more clarity and are in resonance with the Higher Frequencies of the New Earth.

Diamond Light and Water Codes: Transmissions of Divine Love to New Earth

The powerful waves of light that are being received from the 8th Dimension and higher are transmitting the Diamond Galactic Codes for Light and Water.

In both cases, the Codes carry information from Source to create Clarity and Transparency on all levels of life.  When the Light is Clear and the Waters are transparent, then all life can exist in a state of Diamond-like clarity and purity that reflects the pure essence of Spirit through the Soul and into Matter.

As you ascend and evolve to higher levels of consciousness, you will embody these Diamond Codes for Light and Water and you will become more “pure” and translucent, more crystalline and more capable of being a transmitter of the clear radiance of Compassionate Divine Love.

To receive these codes, Beloved Ones, you will need to focus on the Heart and to breathe from the Heart.  For these codes, which are received via the Soul Star and sent to the Heart, are then spun out from the Heart into the manifestations of Time and Space that you call Reality.  In the Diamond Consciousness, the Creations of your Hearts will be Clear and Light and Beautiful.

And, the power of the Diamond Codes will cleanse and clear and regenerate life on Planet Earth so that Earth may become a multi-dimensional Paradise Garden.

Conscious ReGenesis: The Next Step in the New Earth Manifestation

Since 2012, the Diamond Children have been incarnating on Earth.

These are children with a very High Frequency and who are born fully aware of and connected to their Galactic heritage.

They have a very clear mission, which is to lift Earth into the Diamond Frequencies of the 9th Dimension so that these energies can be felt and anchored into the Fifth-dimensional New Earth.

At this time, these beautiful children are assisting many of you to rapidly upgrade your personal frequency to the 9th Dimension (Galactic connection), so that you may also begin transmitting the Frequencies of Clarity and Light to the Earth.

Soon, there will be many of you including Light Warriors and Light Workers and Diamond Children, who will be anchoring and holding these frequencies of clarity in a conscious way to assist the Earth to regain her Luminosity and her Sacred Clarity.

Beloved Ones, the process begins with you.  As you recognize that you have lost your sacred and clear connection with the Earth and with nature, you will seek to heal that within yourself.  You will relight the Sacred Earth Fire in your Heart and you will clarify the Sacred Earth Waters in your body so that Spirit may move through you in its pure and clear essence as Divine Love.

And then you will begin to see the miracles of the New Earth that will happen around you.

The Diamond Beings will come forwards as warriors of the New Spirituality to transform the Earth into a garden and to clarify the waters of the Planet.

One by one they will come forward as their Hearts motivate them, to be part of the conscious process of ReGenesis.  That is, the new beginning where the Diamond Light and Water Codes will spark waves of Creativity and Abundance in the Hearts and Lives of those who are holding these frequencies.

The process of ReGenesis starts with you Beloveds.  As you turn inwards and look at the deserts and the arid and barren places within, you will seek to heal these and once again create an inner Temple Garden of the Heart and Soul on Earth.

And, once you have created your inner Sanctuary garden, you will begin to create this on Earth.

The Earth is ready.  She is simply waiting for the Creators of the Diamond Frequencies to sing a New Song and speak the Languages of Light that will activate New Spirals of Creation.  Waves of Magical Sound and patterns of Light Dancing will weave the New Earth Reality across the Dimensions of Light and Magic on Earth.

ReGenesis is Now.

It is waiting for you to open your Heart and to receive the Light and Water Codes of these powerful waves of Equinox energy.  It is waiting for you to send forth your dreams and creations on a new Time Spiral in these New Frequencies of Light and Clarity.

What was before is over.

What awaits you is a New Creation.

Beloved Ones, open your Hearts and sing with your Souls.  Become Conscious Creators of the Planetary and Personal ReGenesis.

 

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Equinox Passageway

Lisa Transcendence Brown
a message from Lisa Transcendence Brown
To read more of Lisa’s insight, visit her website, Awakening to Remembering

This Equinox Passageway Floods Every Cellular Organism with the Highest Frequencies of PURE Divine LOVE as DEEP Cosmic Christed Heart Openings Continue Powerfully and Pristinely for/within ALL

Days upon days of LOVE frequencies, flooding our atmospheres (inner & outer) for this Super Powerful Equinox Gateway we are in….

These pristine frequencies, sooooooo very soft, so simple to hold immense love in every exchange, flooding all to experience Divinity with great ease. The beauty of Divine Essence available to all embracing and allowing themselves this.

One of the purposes of all of these ultra-high Light Frequencies (Codes), is for all to RETURN to the Purity of Love that they ARE and assist with the physical/energetic release of all that is not LOVE. Each will be SHOWN THIS through their own energy, their own feelings, their own actions, their own experiences and what presents in the physical to also observe/see…. Everywhere that IS NOT LOVE…. these are Catalysts that assist with a huge cleansing process, on every level, which is imperative for our NEW Earth Existence here.

Highest Consciousness is about how we behave, how we treat ourselves and others, how we view realities, how we show up, how we relate, how we communicate, how we “do” everything. It is each going so deep inside that the Light of their own SOUL can emerge, so that all that is not kind, respectful and aligned with LOVE can become visible for each to see. This can be by way of one’s own feeling or what plays out in the physical…

The beauty that is available to each is beyond, the ability to observe self/all in order to consciously shift/align is as easy as each allows.

For that which exists in DUALITY… this is ego programming that has to be dissolved/resolved within each. The observation that there are some heavy-duty clearings going on for collectives, this is an important part of this collective up-shift, so be patient and kind to yourself. Let the judgment go. It’s a cellular cleansing of old unconscious programs that held all to unconscious realities before (deep beneath the veils of amnesia that continually lift for all). Heightened emotions and physical pain are an akashic clearing, a dissolving of the ego constructs and where they were held within each. The process of UNIFICATION occurs AFTER these old frequencies have been released/cleared and the body template is allowed to re-structure/re-code with new programming to replace the old… which can occur without you even being aware, in your sleep, while  you are having a conversation, out in nature, working, playing… or you may be “full blown” in the depth of a huge clearing, which will pass when all of that energy is “gone” or the moment you come into full consciousness (when your heart opens and your head is no longer in control).

These frequencies are pristine…. the COSMIC WEATHER very calm for days…. as we prepare and continue through this passageway for the completion of this Gateway that anchors in with the 3/31 Full Moon, thereby shifting us to other Gateways we are also currently in.

This is a process of full self-accountability, full self-responsibility, full self-awareness, without creating judgment feelings of blame, guilt and more. These passageways are OPPORTUNITIES to release/let go of all that is not love, all that no longer serves your highest purposes, all that you held onto before, all that represents separation within you…. so that you can breeze through and come out on the ‘OTHER SIDE’ FREE’r, more expansive and Light’r than you were before. Those old unconscious programs/emotions/thoughts/actions are of a vibration that cannot “pass through”. They have to be released… for they can no longer “exist” (live) inside of you.

Your next reality awaits you, one that is of a much higher vibrational MATCH. Not just one, infinite ones, that prepare right now to come forth/materialize in the physical as you HOLD your own HIGHEST STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS and allow the physical to realign for you. Our realities are SIMPLE, where we allow them to be…. for all we have to do is HOLD and ALLOW, while “doing” each moment/day, that which is highest aligned too.

On a deep SOUL Level, that Light inside of you is bursting to come forth. That beauty, that magnificence, that amazingness and that simplicity and ease…. will flood your entire body/system as you allow yourself this. The deeper you go inside of yourself, the more you allow to fall away, the more you resolve all AS LOVE, the simpler everything is… and the easier it is to fulfill your highest purposes/missions/roles, because all that is aligned to support you, is also “allowed” to come forth.

On a DEEP SOUL LEVEL, we each are re-connected through the Purity of LOVE. The only difference is whether our current realities are fully aligned or if there is something vibrationally that takes us down different paths. That connection though, is always there, for it transcends the physical everything. That connection can only be temporarily “severed” by our own ego/separation, yet on a deeper level, it never can. ♥

This passageway is both subtle and profound, it’s visible and it is not, it’s FELT and EXPERIENCED so deeply from within us and emanates out through our breath, our essence, our FIELD to touch the hearts of all other Souls open and ready to fully experience the PURITY of this too. ♦

I love you. It’s been the most beautiful everything…. I do hope that each one of you will allow yourself to experience these GIFTS and the ABUNDANCE available through a fully open heart/mind/body/energy and through Unity Love Consciousness as it washes and weaves through you too. ♥

Lisa Transcendence Brown ☼

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Equinox & High Dimensional Light

Kara Schallock
a message from Kara Schallock
To read more of Kara’s insight, visit her website, Soulstice Rising

It may seem that we are in a deep freeze; silent; inactive and still, while we dissolve remaining illusions, old beliefs, and old patterns. A meditation that helps is to create a special room; perhaps a cave; with your favorite colors and items…or ask that it be created for you. This special space is your Pineal Chakra. When you meditate here, you activate and expand your connection to your Soul Guidance. Your Pineal Chakra is connected with your Crown and 3rd Eye Chakras, so these are activated as well. Your Pineal serves as the distributor of high dimensional Light when there are downloads, which is constant these days. It distributes this Light to where it needs to go. When we receive high dimensional Light, old energies surface; this is purposeful, for it readies us for action steps.

There are some choices to make through Heart-intention…to step into our Power as sovereign beings or remain in the old and predictable comfort zone of staying small. Those who choose to stand in their Power will experience such Bliss and Light; with the coming Equinox, there is a profusion of Light that infuses us with more Love. With this choice to expand into being more Soul-merged, you may experience some High Heart phenomena.This can appear as butterfly wings or pressure or something else; do not be alarmed. This pulsing, pressure or fluttering is an expansion of your Joy Chakra (Thymus) and is activated by high dimensional Light. It is whatever is necessary for you to rise to be more. These rays of Light are quite high in vibration and not only infuse us, but infuse Gaia. Our energetic bodies are heightened, as is Gaia’s and this shifts us to a higher expression of Ascension.

As we increase vibrationally, there is some surfacing of old beliefs, patterns, and illusions that bubble up for Transformation. These might include expectations of self and others and lies (illusions) we’ve been told and have allowed to integrate within us as truth and beliefs, only these illusions have only served to keep us asleep and in control. Many truths are slowly being revealed and as always, be sure you use Discernment with all you hear and read; allow it to resonate. And when you speak, speak with Integrity; your Heart’s Knowing (not your intellect). This includes no gossiping or complaining, for these keep you tethered to the lies of old. Be who you are, which may necessitate you to let go of wanting to belong. You belong to yourself and to a bigger version of who you have allowed yourself to be. If you are wearing a mask in order to be accepted, take it off and be the beautiful and shining being you are.

It is preferable to not be normal; in the New, there is no normal. Normal is an illusion. Express your Authentic Self and your sacred individuality. If fear or insecurity arise, release them, for they are driven by separate ego to hold you back in the old. Be free to be you. If this feels strange, let it be. Feeling strange and being unsure are wonderful aspects of the New. Follow your Guidance, for you are being led in the New, away from predictability and an unawakened state. Watch the children and learn from them. They are wise beings with fully immersed Souls. Allow for a new way of living, rather than the old “I gotta make money.” This frees you to manifest your Joy and Passion along with Freedom. Your Creativity kicks into high gear, so to speak, and helps you live in ways you thought you couldn’t. Be patient and trusting, as this is a shift and shifts take place only when you are ready.

We’ve never ever been in this new space before and this can bring up all kinds of fear. Release the fear and trust your Guidance completely. Trust yourself! There is so much change that is occurring within that it may feel as though you just aren’t you and you may feel very ungrounded. If this describes you, meditate and be in Nature as much as you can. Nature heals and grounds you. When you meditate, you access Truth, you ground to the New and you empower your Guidance, which comes as Intuition and Resonance. Everything happens in Divine Time, so let go of any penchant to look for results in your life. Continue to focus on your Guidance, for all comes when you have done your work and have placed complete Trust in your Guidance.

We have been in an unprecedented Expansion and with the Equinox, we expand even more into our True Selves. It may feel as though you’re being kicked out of your comfort zone. Remember that you have chosen this. Nothing or no-one does anything to you. Everything that is occurring is so you move beyond your self-imposed limitations. Get ready to blast forward. As you do, you release great life force. Be reminded that it is not just us who are expanding; Gaia is too. It is fascinating to observe how the long-standing countries, governments, religions, and institutions are undergoing a metamorphosis, even while they try desperately to keep things the way they always have been. If they would just relax and allow things to shift, they would not be in such turmoil. Suggestion: do not complain about the “state of affairs,” for that only keeps countries, governments, religions, and institutions strong in the old. Keep your focus on Source, rather than on the fascinating (separate ego) distractions of the world.

With all that is transforming within you and Gaia, this is when you shine bright. One way is to be strong in your Authenticity, another is to remove your attention from the distractions of the world and another is to anchor your Light within the New Earth Grid. Bring your Awareness to the New Earth Grid which is overlaid on Gaia. There you will find ley lines connected by small spheres of Light. You are one of these spheres. Simply by being a part of this grid, you activate all other Lights and they become part of this grid (all One). Remember too that the earthly distractions are there to take you from being you by instilling in you fear and self-minimizing. Continue releasing emotions such as fear, control, anxiety, confusion, judgment, etc; for these dim your Light. As you release the old, you activate your High Mind, which is your Heart and intellect together as One. When your High Mind is integrated, all thought is Heart-driven; your Divine Masculine and Divine Feminine are One; and you transcend any separation and all things that are born of separation. Drop your old stories; you are no longer that person. And don’t invent a new story, for any story puts you in a box of limitation. Stories are illusions, whether you see them as “real” or if you make them up. Stories come from beliefs. See what is beneath each story and then let it go. Replace the void created with Love.

The energies are intense, aren’t they? More of the old keeps coming up to be transformed. Those who don’t understand what is happening may explode in anger, blame, and judgment. And if you feel these things from others or from yourself, be sure to take a deep breath, place a hand on your High Heart and stay in Love; this is who you truly are. If you are guided to walk away from an unhealthy situation, please do; you need not take on others’ lower and separation energies; you can just love them. Everyone has a choice to react or respond to a situation. When you are focused on Love, that is what you create; how others perceive this is up to them.

The Equinox will accelerate us powerfully. It will accelerate our healing and wholing, as well as the Light we are. Wherever your attention is is what is accelerated in a big way. Choosing to be Love isn’t about saving or rescuing others; it is who we are; it is Source. You can’t be Love in one moment and judgmental in the next. You are Love in all moments. Love listens, accepts; it never judges or preaches.

Relax, Be and hold yourself in and as Love. Do only that which inspires you and keeps your vibration high. Even if others do not understand or accept you, do this for you; this is self-loving. Being Love is to stand strong in adversity. Honor who you are and who you are becoming.

Adonai.

 

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Pagan Study of Gods & Goddesses for March 21 – The Goddess Ostara

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Ostara The Goddess of Spring

Areas of Influence: Ostara the Germanic Goddess heralds the beginning of spring. She is the Maiden Goddess, full of potential, representing the opportunity of growth and rebirth after the stagnation of winter.

There are several different translations of the meaning of her name:- East, dawn and morning light indicating the returning warmth of the sun’s rays and the lengthening days.

In Germany her warm nature is still marked by bonfires lit at dawn on the Spring Equinox.

The Goddess was also known as Eostre and although much of her story has been lost, her name lives on as it is the root of the English words for both Easter and oestrogen.

Origins and Genealogy: Very little is known about the origins of this Germanic Goddess. She has many similarities to the Nordic fertility Goddesses Frigg and Freya.

Strengths: A warm, dynamic and compassionate Goddess.

Weaknesses: Her lateness nearly caused the death of a small bird.

Symbolism: The Rabbits and painted eggs are both potent symbols of fertility, reflecting the nature of this spring Goddess.

When the Goddess came across a young bird that was dying of cold due to her late arrival, she warmed him up and turned him into a rabbit.

These ancient symbols are still found in our Easter celebrations today when the Easter bunny hides chocolate eggs for the children to find.

Festivals: Dates of festivals to mark this Goddess range from the Spring Equinox to the first full moon after the Equinox.

Traditionally people would dress up in new cloths, light bonfires at dawn and decorate eggs as offerings to the spring Goddess.

 

Ostara’s Archetype

The Maiden

The Maiden Archetype represents purity and the innocence of childhood, where the soul’s dreams, magic and make believe still prevail.

It is also an aspect of the Triple Goddess, together with the Mother and the Crone they represents the cycles of the moon and the different stages of a woman’s life.

Shadow Maiden is very self centered all, her dreams and energy is expended on achieving her own personal needs and goals.

These qualities reflect the nature of this Spring Goddess who stands on the cusp of womanhood. Her self-absorbtion meant she was late and nearly caused the death of a young bird but undeterred the resourceful Goddess transforms the bird into a rabbit.

 

How To Work With This Archetype

The Maiden

The Maiden is one of your Archetypes if you are life still in touch with your childhood intuition and fantasies and have used these to fulfill your dreams. Hence you can still have the Maiden Archetype at any time of life.

The Maiden reminds you to look after the magical child that lies within us all.

Shadow Maiden asks you to look at whether your dreams and aspirations are selfish and take no account of the needs of others.

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Ostara/Eostre

Ēostre or Ostara (Old English: Ēastre [æːɑstre], Northumbrian dialect Ēostre [eːostre]; Old High German: *Ôstara ) is a Germanic goddess who, by way of the Germanic month bearing her name (Northumbrian: Ēosturmōnaþ; West Saxon: Ēastermōnaþ; Old High German: Ôstarmânoth), is the namesake of the festival of Easter in some languages. Ēostre is attested solely by Bede in his 8th-century work The Reckoning of Time, where Bede states that during Ēosturmōnaþ (the equivalent of April), pagan Anglo-Saxons had held feasts in Ēostre’s honor, but that this tradition had died out by his time, replaced by the Christian Paschal month, a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus.

By way of linguistic reconstruction, the matter of a goddess called *Austrō in the Proto-Germanic language has been examined in detail since the foundation of Germanic philology in the 19th century by scholar Jacob Grimm and others. As the Germanic languages descend from Proto-Indo-European (PIE), historical linguists have traced the name to a Proto-Indo-European goddess of the dawn *H₂ewsṓs (→ *Ausṓs), from which descends the Common Germanic divinity from whom Ēostre and Ostara are held to descend. Additionally, scholars have linked the goddess’s name to a variety of Germanic personal names, a series of location names (toponyms) in England, and, discovered in 1958, over 150 inscriptions from the 2nd century CE referring to the matronae Austriahenae.

Theories connecting Ēostre with records of Germanic Easter customs, including hares and eggs, have been proposed. Particularly prior to the discovery of the matronae Austriahenae and further developments in Indo-European studies, debate has occurred among some scholars about whether or not the goddess was an invention of Bede. Ēostre and Ostara are sometimes referenced in modern popular culture and are venerated in some forms of Germanic neopaganism.

Etymology
Old English Ēostre continues into modern English as Easter and derives from Proto-Germanic *Austrǭ, itself a descendant of the Proto-Indo-European root *h₂ews-, meaning ‘to shine’ (modern English east also derives from this root).

The goddess name Ēostre is therefore linguistically cognate with numerous other dawn goddesses attested among Indo-European language-speaking peoples. These cognates lead to the reconstruction of a Proto-Indo-European dawn goddess; the Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture details that “a Proto-Indo-European goddess of the dawn is supported both by the evidence of cognate names and the similarity of mythic representation of the dawn goddess among various Indo-European groups” and that “all of this evidence permits us to posit a Proto-Indo-European *haéusōs ‘goddess of dawn’ who was characterized as a “reluctant” bringer of light for which she is punished. In three of the Indo-European stocks, Baltic, Greek and Indo-Iranian, the existence of a Proto-Indo-European ‘goddess of the dawn’ is given additional linguistic support in that she is designated the ‘daughter of heaven’.”

De temporum ratione
In chapter 15 (De mensibus Anglorum, “The English months”) of his 8th-century work De temporum ratione (“The Reckoning of Time”), Bede describes the indigenous month names of the English people. After describing the worship of the goddess Rheda during the Anglo-Saxon month of Hrēþ-mōnaþ, Bede writes about Ēosturmōnaþ, the month of the goddess Ēostre:

Eostur-monath, qui nunc Paschalis mensis interpretatur, quondam a Dea illorum quæ Eostre vocabatur, et cui in illo festa celebrabant nomen habuit: a cujus nomine nunc Paschale tempus cognominant, consueto antiquæ observationis vocabulo gaudia novæ solemnitatis vocantes.

Eosturmonath has a name which is now translated “Paschal month”, and which was once called after a goddess of theirs named Eostre, in whose honour feasts were celebrated in that month. Now they designate that Paschal season by her name, calling the joys of the new rite by the time-honoured name of the old observance.

Jacob Grimm, *Ostara, and Easter customs
In his 1835 Deutsche Mythologie, Jacob Grimm cites comparative evidence to reconstruct a potential continental Germanic goddess whose name would have been preserved in the Old High German name of Easter, *Ostara. Addressing skepticism towards goddesses mentioned by Bede, Grimm comments that “there is nothing improbable in them, nay the first of them is justified by clear traces in the vocabularies of Germanic tribes.” Specifically regarding Ēostre, Grimm continues that:

We Germans to this day call April ostermonat, and ôstarmânoth is found as early as Eginhart (temp. Car. Mag.). The great Christian festival, which usually falls in April or the end of March, bears in the oldest of OHG remains the name ôstarâ … it is mostly found in the plural, because two days … were kept at Easter. This Ostarâ, like the [Anglo-Saxon] Eástre, must in heathen religion have denoted a higher being, whose worship was so firmly rooted, that the Christian teachers tolerated the name, and applied it to one of their own grandest anniversaries.

Grimm notes that “all of the nations bordering on us have retained the Biblical pascha; even Ulphilas writes paska, not áustrô, though he must have known the word”. Grimm details that the Old High German adverb ôstar “expresses movement towards the rising sun”, as did the Old Norse term austr, and potentially also Anglo-Saxon ēastor and Gothic áustr. Grimm compares these terms to the identical Latin term auster. Grimm says that the cult of the goddess may have worshiped an Old Norse form, Austra, or that her cult may have already been extinct by the time of Christianization.

Grimm notes that the Old Norse Prose Edda book Gylfaginning attests to a male being called Austri, who Grimm describes as a “spirit of light.” Grimm comments that a female version would have been *Austra, yet that the High German and Saxon peoples seem to have only formed Ostarâ and Eástre, feminine, and not Ostaro and Eástra, masculine. Grimm additionally speculates on the nature of the goddess and surviving folk customs that may have been associated with her in Germany:

Ostara, Eástre seems therefore to have been the divinity of the radiant dawn, of upspringing light, a spectacle that brings joy and blessing, whose meaning could be easily adapted by the resurrection-day of the Christian’s God. Bonfires were lighted at Easter and according to popular belief of long standing, the moment the sun rises on Easter Sunday morning, he gives three joyful leaps, he dances for joy … Water drawn on the Easter morning is, like that at Christmas, holy and healing … here also heathen notions seems to have grafted themselves on great Christian festivals. Maidens clothed in white, who at Easter, at the season of returning spring, show themselves in clefts of the rock and on mountains, are suggestive of the ancient goddess.

In the second volume of Deutsche Mythologie, Grimm picks up the subject of Ostara again, connecting the goddess to various German Easter festivities, including Easter eggs:

But if we admit, goddesses, then, in addition to Nerthus, Ostara has the strongest claim to consideration. To what we said on p. 290 I can add some significant facts. The heathen Easter had much in common with May-feast and the reception of spring, particularly in matter of bonfires. Then, through long ages there seem to have lingered among the people Easter-games so-called, which the church itself had to tolerate : I allude especially to the custom of Easter eggs, and to the Easter tale which preachers told from the pulpit for the people’s amusement, connecting it with Christian reminiscences.

Grimm comments on further Easter time customs, including unique sword dances and particular baked goods (“pastry of heathenish form”). In addition, Grimm weights a potential connection to the Slavic spring goddess Vesna and the Lithuanian Vasara.

Locations, personal names, and the matronae Austriahenae
A cluster of place names in England contain and a variety of English and continental Germanic names include the element *ēoster, an early Old English word reconstructed by linguists and potentially an earlier form of the goddess name Ēostre. The Council of Austerfield called by King Aldfrith of Northumbria shortly before 704 convened at a place described in contemporary records both as in campo qui Eostrefeld dicitur and in campo qui dicitur Oustraefelda, which have led to the site being identified with Austerfield near Bawtry in the West Riding of Yorkshire.[10] Such locations also include Eastry (Eastrgena, 788 CE) in Kent, Eastrea (Estrey, 966 CE) in Cambridgeshire, and Eastrington (Eastringatun, 959 CE) in the East Riding of Yorkshire.

The element *ēoster also appears in the Old English name Easterwine, a name borne by Bede’s monastery abbot in Wearmouth-Jarrow and which appears an additional three times in the Durham Liber Vitae. The name Aestorhild also appears in the Liber Vitae, and is likely the ancestor of the Middle English name Estrild. Various continental Germanic names include the element, including Austrechild, Austrighysel, Austrovald, and Ostrulf.

In 1958, over 150 Romano-Germanic votive inscriptions to the matronae Austriahenae were discovered near Morken-Harff, Germany. Most of these inscriptions are in an incomplete state, yet many are at least reasonably legible. Some of these inscriptions refer to the Austriates, evidently the name of a social group.

Theories and interpretations
Some debate has occurred over whether or not the goddess was an invention of Bede’s, particularly in the 19th century before more widespread reconstructions of the Proto-Indo-European dawn goddess. Writing in the late 19th century, Charles J. Billson notes that scholars before his writing were divided about the existence of Bede’s account of Ēostre, stating that “among authorities who have no doubt as to her existence are W. Grimm, Wackernagel, Sinrock [sic], and Wolf. On the other hand, Weinhold rejects the idea on philological grounds, and so do Heinrich Leo and Hermann Oesre. Kuhn says, ‘The Anglo-Saxon Eostre looks like an invention of Bede;’ and Mannhardt also dismisses her as an etymological dea ex machina.” Billson says that “the whole question turns […], upon Bede’s credibility”, and that “one is inclined to agree with Grimm, that it would be uncritical to saddle this eminent Father of the Church, who keeps Heathendom at arms’ length and tells us less of than he knows, with the invention of this goddess.” Billson points out that the Christianization of England started at the end of the 6th century, and, by the 7th, was completed. Billson argues that, as Bede was born in 672, Bede must have had opportunities to learn the names of the native goddesses of the Anglo-Saxons, “who were hardly extinct in his lifetime.”

Writing in the late 20th century, Rudolf Simek says that, despite expressions of doubts, Bede’s account of Eostre should not be disregarded. Simek opines that a “Spring-like fertility goddess” must be assumed rather than a “goddess of sunrise” regardless of the name, reasoning that “otherwise the Germanic goddesses (and matrons) are mostly connected with prosperity and growth”. Simek points to a comparison with the goddess Rheda, also attested by Bede.

Scholar Philip A. Shaw (2011) writes that the subject has seen “a lengthy history of arguments for and against Bede’s goddess Eostre, with some scholars taking fairly extreme positions on either side” and that some theories against the goddess have gained popular cultural prominence. Shaw, however, notes that “much of this debate, however, was conducted in ignorance of a key piece of evidence, as it was not discovered until 1958. This evidence is furnished by over 150 Romano-Germanic votive inscriptions to deities named the matronae Austriahenae, found near Morken-Harff and datable to around 150–250 AD”. Most of these inscriptions are in an incomplete state, yet most are in a complete enough for reasonable clarity of the inscriptions. As early as 1966 scholars have linked these names etymologically with Eostre and an element found in Germanic personal names. Shaw argues against a functional interpretation of the available evidence and concludes that “the etymological connections of her name suggests that her worshippers saw her geographical and social relationship with them as more central than any functions she may have had”.

Hares and Freyja
In Northern Europe, Easter imagery often involves hares and rabbits. Citing folk Easter customs in Leicestershire, England where “the profits of the land called Harecrop Leys were applied to providing a meal which was thrown on the ground at the ‘Hare-pie Bank'”, late 19th-century scholar Charles Isaac Elton theorizes a connection between these customs and the worship of Ēostre. In his late 19th-century study of the hare in folk custom and mythology, Charles J. Billson cites numerous incidents of folk custom involving the hare around the period of Easter in Northern Europe. Billson says that “whether there was a goddess named Eostre, or not, and whatever connection the hare may have had with the ritual of Saxon or British worship, there are good grounds for believing that the sacredness of this animal reaches back into an age still more remote, where it is probably a very important part of the great Spring Festival of the prehistoric inhabitants of this island.”

Some scholars have linked customs and imagery involving hares to Ēostre and the Norse goddess Freyja. Writing in 1972, John Andrew Boyle cites commentary contained within an etymology dictionary by A. Ernout and A. Meillet, where the authors write that “Little else […] is known about [Ēostre], but it has been suggested that her lights, as goddess of the dawn, were carried by hares. And she certainly represented spring fecundity, and love and carnal pleasure that leads to fecundity.” Boyle responds that nothing is known about Ēostre outside of Bede’s single passage, that the authors had seemingly accepted the identification of Ēostre with the Norse goddess Freyja, yet that the hare is not associated with Freyja either. Boyle writes that “her carriage, we are told by Snorri, was drawn by a pair of cats — animals, it is true, which like hares were the familiars of witches, with whom Freyja seems to have much in common.” However, Boyle adds that “on the other hand, when the authors speak of the hare as the ‘companion of Aphrodite and of satyrs and cupids’ and point out that ‘in the Middle Ages it appears beside the figure of Luxuria’, they are on much surer ground and can adduce the evidence of their illustrations.”

In popular culture and modern veneration
Jacob Grimm’s reconstructed *Ostara has had some influence in popular culture since. The name has been adapted as an asteroid (343 Ostara, 1892 by Max Wolf), and a date on the Wiccan Wheel of the Year (Ostara, 21 March). In music, the name Ostara has been adopted as a name by the musical group Ostara, and as the names of albums by :zoviet*france: (Eostre, 1984) and The Wishing Tree (Ostara, 2009).

In some forms of Germanic neopaganism, Ēostre (or Ostara) is venerated. Regarding this veneration, Carole M. Cusack comments that, among adherents, Ēostre is “associated with the coming of spring and the dawn, and her festival is celebrated at the spring equinox. Because she brings renewal, rebirth from the death of winter, some Heathens associate Eostre with Idunn, keeper of the apples of youth in Scandinavian mythology”.

Politically, the name of Ostara was in the early 20th century invoked as the name of a German nationalist magazine, book series and publishing house established in 1905 at Mödling, Austria.

Ostara is portrayed by Kristin Chenoweth in the TV series American Gods based on the novel of the same name. In the series, Ostara has survived into the modern age by forming an alliance with the Goddess of Media (Gillian Anderson) and capitalising on the Christian holiday. Odin (Ian McShane) forces her to accept that those who celebrate Easter are worshipping Jesus and not her, causing her to join his rebellion against the New Gods.

 

Reference
The Goddess-Guide.com

Wikipedia

The Witches Journal for Wednesday, March 21st

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The Witches Journal for Wednesday, March 21st

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Ostara Return to Us

 

The wheel has turned to our Goddess
Our lovely Maiden Goddess
Goddess Ostara
Who will return to us

 

Return to us
On Spring’s morning dawn
Return to us
When new life begins
Return to us
As the earth is reborn
Return to us
Wearing Her floral crown
and Her celestial gown

 

Return to us
The sun in the sky
with Her whispering sigh

 

The blossoming trees
that hold the birds of She

 

The beautiful butterflies
that fly thru Her sky

 

The blooming flowers
that spring from Her showers

 

Her soft green grass
that our bare feet will pass

 

As Ostara returns to us
Returns to us
On Spring’s morning dawn
Returns to us
When new life begins
Returns to us
As the earth is reborn
Returns to us
Wearing Her floral crown
and Her celestial gown

 

Ostara who will return to us
Return to us as this wheel turns on
Turns on past Spring’s morning dawn

Savannah Skye
Originally published on Pagan Library

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Today is Wednesday, March 21st

 

Wednesday is the day of the Teutonic deity known as Wodin or Odin, an aspect of the Allfather, god of knowledge, wisdom, enlightenment and combat, the parallel of Hermes, the planet Mercury.

Deity: Woden

Zodiac Sign: Gemini & Virgo

Planet: Mercury

Tree: Ash

Herb: Cinquefoil

Stone: Emerald & Sardonyx

Animal: Raven & Cat

Element: Air

Color: Red & Blue

Number: 6

Rune: Odal(O)

 

Celtic Tree Month of Fearn (Alder) (March 18 – April 14)

 

Runic Half-Month of Beore (March 14 – March 29)

 

Goddess of the Month of Columbina ( March 20 – April 17))

 

Source
The Pagan Book of Days
Nigel Pennick

 

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The Pagan Book of Days for March 21st

Tea and Tephi

In Irish tradition, the holy city of Tara was founded on this day by the Milesian princesses Tea and Tephi.
Source
The Pagan Book of Days
Nigel Pennick

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The Goddess Book of Days for March 21st

No-Ruz, Iranian New Year dedicated to Aphrodite and Adonis. They are Cybele/Attis, Venus/Adonis, Inanna/ Tammuz, Ishtar/Damuzi, Ashtoreth/Baal, Isis/ Osiris, Ata Bey/Yoko- Hoo, Aida Wedo/ Damballah. The twenty- first day of the Moon/ month belongs to Athena.

Source

The Goddess Book of Days
Diane Stein

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The Witches Magick Associated With Wednesday, The Day of Mercury

 

Perfumes: Sweetpea, Lavender, Mastic, Frankincense, Cloves

Incense: Cinnamon, Cinquefoil

Color: Yellow or Grey

Influences: Conjurations, Predictions, Knowledge, Writing, Eloquence

Reference:

A Book of Pagan Rituals
Herman Slater

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The Magickal Days of the Week – Wednesday

Wednesday is named for Woden himself, although the Romans called it dies Mercurii. This is a day associated with the color purple, the planet Mercury, and the metal quicksilver – which is also called mercury. See a pattern here?

When it comes to deities… yes, Mercury! However, there are a few other gods associated with Wednesday, including Odin and Hermes, Athena, and Lugh. Gemstones like adventurine and agate come in handy as well, as do plants such as aspen trees, lilies, lavender and even ferns.

Business and job-related issues, communication, loss and debt, traveling, and journeys are all tied in to Wednesday. This is a good day to do a working to open up lines of communication – especially if your own actions are preventing you from being an effective speaker or listener. Go someplace new or return to an old favorite stomping ground, step up your game, and settle up your accounts.

Source
Patti Wigington, Paganism/Wicca Expert
Article published on ThoughtCo

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Wednesday: On the way to the afterlife

The fourth day of the week is named after Odin (Wodan or Woden). In Anglo-Saxon world, Woden is not necessarily the mirror of the Norse Odin. Up to the seventh century, he was worshipped as the main deity. He was the psychopomp which is a word for someone who helps deliver human souls to the afterlife.

In Romance languages, the name of the day comes from Latin Dies Mercurii (miércoles in Spanish, mercoledi in Italian, mercredi in French), associated with Mercury, the Roman god of trade, profit and commerce.

In German, the word for Wednesday is simply Mittwoch, meaning the middle of the week.

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Wednesday–The Day of Woden

Woden, or Odin as the Norsemen called him, was the chief of the gods of our ancestors, and corresponds to the Jupiter of the Romans. Also, for reasons which we shall read later, he was similar to Mercury, and his name was given to the Roman Dies Mercurii, day of Mercury, which still survives in the French mercredi.

As in the case of Jupiter and the Titans, Odin led the Northern gods in a gigantic struggle with the giants of ice and frost, and finally overthrew them. With the help of the gods, he then fashioned the world from the body of the chief of the giants. From the flesh he made the earth, known as Midgard (middle garden), and from his blood the sea, while from his bones he made the mountains, from his teeth the cliffs, and from his hair the trees. The giant’s skull was then fixed over the earth to form the vault of the sky, and was held in place at the four corners by four dwarfs, Nordri, Sudri, Austri, and Westri, from whom we have obtained the names North, South, East, and West. Next the gods made the sun and moon, which were placed in golden chariots driven by Sol and Mani, the daughter and son of a giant who had named his children after the newly-created sun and moon. The Northmen thought that they could see on the moon the outline of two children carrying a pail, and the story goes that Mani, while travelling across the sky, one night caught up two children, Hiuki and Bil, who were compelled by their cruel father to carry water all night. Hiuki and Bil are still known to us in the familiar story of Jack and Jill. The sun and moon were said to be pursued continually by two fierce wolves, whose shapes could be seen in the clouds, and who, if they caught them up, would swallow them and plunge the world in darkness. Sometimes they nearly succeeded, and thus caused the eclipses.

Having completed the earth and peopled it with men and women, the gods, led by Odin, built magnificent palaces for themselves in Asgard, their home. The most famous of these was Valhalla, to which the bravest and mightiest of the mortals who fell in battle were summoned at their death. The walls of Valhalla were made of spears, and golden shields formed the roof. In the hall stood long tables, at which the dead heroes feasted.

The Northmen honoured a great fighter above all men, and they even thought it a disgrace for him to die in any other way than sword in hand. The great ambition of every fighting man was to be called to Valhalla after his death, there to spend his time in fighting and feasting. The fortunate ones were chosen from among the slain on the battle-fields by the Valkyries, Odin’s battle-maidens, whose horses carried them through the air and over the sea. They rode among the storm-clouds, and the flash of their spears was seen in the lightning.

Odin was often pictured as sitting on a throne from which he could see the whole world, and wearing a suit of armour, covered with a blue mantle, which represented the sky. In his hand he held a famous spear, Gungnir, which never missed its mark. On his shoulders sat two ravens, Thought and Memory, which he sent out into the world every day to obtain news of all that happened. Like Tiu, the God of War, Odin suffered from a disfigurement, having lost one of his eyes. This loss is explained in the following story.

After the creation of the world, Odin wished to obtain great wisdom which would place him far above the other gods. This he could only procure from Mimir’s spring, in whose clear waters the future was mirrored. Odin, therefore, visited Mimir and begged a draught of the wonderful water, but Mimir would only grant the request in return for one of Odin’s eyes. The god was willing to make even this sacrifice for the great knowledge the water would give him, and accordingly he plucked out one of his eyes and gave it to Mimir, who sank it deep in the spring where it could always be seen shining. Odin then drank deep of the water, and thus gained the wisdom for which he was always famous.

All the life of the world, including even the lives of the gods, was said to depend on an enormous ash tree, Yggdrasil, the Tree of Life. This tree was created by Odin, and had three roots, one in the Underworld, another in Midgard, near Mimir’s spring, and the third in Asgard. It grew to such a height that it overtopped the whole world, and in its topmost branches sat an eagle with a falcon between its eyes. The falcon could see all three kingdoms, and reported all that happened in them to the gods. In the Underworld was a dragon, which continually gnawed the roots of Yggdrasil in order to destroy it and so bring about the downfall of the gods. To prevent this disaster, the tree was daily watered from a fountain in Asgard, whose magic waters kept it continually green.

Joining Asgard and the earth was a bridge made of fire, earth, and water, whose colours were those of the rainbow. This bridge was guarded against the giants by a god named Heimdall, whose sight and hearing were so keen that he could see a hundred leagues by night as well as by day, and could hear the grass growing on the earth and the wool on the sheep’s back! He was armed with a flashing sword, and carried a horn with which he was to give warning when the giants should come against Asgard.

Odin was the inventor of Runes, the first alphabet of the Northmen. The letters consisted almost entirely of straight lines placed in different groups and positions, and were thought at first to have a magical meaning. Each god had a special rune or sign, and the use of the sign was supposed to bring help from the god. Thus all fighters carved the rune of Tiu on their swords in order that they might have his aid in battle. Runes were afterwards used in the ordinary way for writing, and very old runes have been found carved on stones in Scandinavia and in England. As the inventor of runes, Odin is like Mercury, who was supposed to have given the Romans their alphabet.

In addition to being the wisest of the gods, the inventor of runes, and the God of Eloquence, Odin was also the God of Poetry. The gift of poetry was guarded very jealously by the gods, and was only granted to mortals in special cases. Odin obtained the gift for himself and the other gods only with great difficulty. Hidden away in a hollow mountain, and carefully watched over by a giantess, were three vessels containing a magic fluid, which gave to anyone who drank of it the gift of poetry and song. Odin, knowing of this magic drink, determined to obtain it. Accordingly he set out for the land of the giants, dressed as a mortal, and wearing a broad-brimmed hat to hide the fact that he had only one eye. He hired himself as a servant to Baugi, the brother of the giant Suttung, to whom the vessels belonged, and asked as payment for his labour one draught of the magic fluid. As soon as his work was finished, Odin demanded payment, but Baugi was afraid to ask his brother for the drink, and suggested they should win it for themselves by trickery. They came to the mountain where the vessels were hidden, and bored a hole right through to the cave inside. Odin then changed himself into a snake and wriggled through the hole, just in time to escape the giant, who tried to kill him as he entered the hole. Having found his way into the cave, Odin again took on the form of a god, and begged the giantess who watched over the vessels to allow him just a sip of the magic drink. The giantess at last consented, but Odin, instead of taking a sip, quickly emptied all the vessels, and then, making his way out of the cave transformed himself into an eagle and flew swiftly towards Asgard. He soon discovered, however, that the giant Suttung was pursuing him, also in the form of an eagle. As he neared Asgard the gods caught sight of him, and, seeing that the giant was gaining on Odin, they gathered together a great quantity of fuel and piled it on the palace walls. Immediately Odin had passed over the wall the gods set fire to the fuel, and the flames rose so high that the wings of the pursuing giant were scorched, and he fell into the fire and was burnt.

Odin seldom used this precious gift of poetry himself, but imparted it to his son Bragi, who became the minstrel of the gods and sang many songs in honour of the gods and the great heroes in Valhalla. All the singers among men, the bards, or scalds, as they were sometimes called, were thought to have received the gift from Odin, and were greatly honoured for that reason.

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The Witches Guide to Wednesday

Ruler: Wodin, Mercury

Colors: Orange, light blue, and gray

Power Hours: Sunrise and the 8th, 16th, and 24th hours following

Keywords: Success, creativity, communication

The word Wednesday is reminiscent of the Norse wind god Wodin, which is referenced in the popular rhyme verse “Wednesday’s child is full of woe.” This does not mean that those born on this day are full of sorrow or trouble. To be full of Woden (Wodin) means to be full of wind, to be spirited. Woden was such a powerful pagan god that the German church fathers changed the name of his day to Mittwoch, meaning midweek, in an attempt to exorcise his influence.

In the Spanish word for Wednesday, miercoles, we clearly see its connection to Mercury. Under the guidance of Mercury; Wednesday is a day of swift activity, communication, correspondence, and phone calls. This is a good day for journalists, writers, poets, bargaining, hiring employees, and visiting friends.

On Wednesdays, the hour of sunrise and every eight hours after that are also ruled by Mercury, making these times of the day doubly blessed. These are the strongest four hours for ritual work. Check your local newspaper, astrological calendar, or almanac to determine when sunrise occurs.
Source
Gypsy Magic

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Wednesday’s Witchery

Be bold and daring today! Expand your knowledge of the Craft by working with the planetary energies of Mercury on this multifaceted day of the week. Consider the Greco-Roman gods Mercury and Hermes and all of the many lessons they have for you. Embrace change and movement, and work on your communication techniques. Conjure up a little good luck for yourself with that Mercury dime spell. Call on Athena to inspire you to try magickal arts and crafts and to be more creative in your own spellwork and witchery.

Meditate on Odin and see what you can discover about him. I wonder what sort of fabulous and fascinating magickal wisdom you will uncover? Odin is a shaman, after all; he may appear in many guises and faces. I guarantee that he will make you laugh at yourself before he is through with you, but you will learn. It’s up to you what you do with that knowledge. Will you let it shapeshift into wisdom?

Wednesday is the wild and wily day of the week, so try to go with the flow; don’t fight the quirky energies of the day. Most importantly, follow your heart, and always keep a good sense of humor, because of Wednesdays you will really need it.

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

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Magickal Applications for Wednesday

To the Romans, this day was called Dies Mercurii, or “Mercury’s day” Mercury was a popular character in the Roman pantheon. A messenger of the gods, he presided over commerce, trade, and anything that required skill or dexterity. The Celts also worshiped Mercury and eventually equated him with the Norse god Odin (some spelling variations on this name include Wotan, Wodin, and Wodan). In Norse mythologies, Odin, like Mercury, is associated with poetry and music. Interestingly enough, both Odin and Mercury were regarded as psychopomps, or the leaders of souls, in their individual mythologies.

Odin, one of the main gods in Norse mythology, was constantly seeking wisdom. He traveled the world in disguise as a one-eyed man with a long gray beard, wearing an old, beat-up hat and carrying a staff or a spear (which brings to my mind images of Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings). In the Old English language, this day of Mercury evolved into Wodnes daeg, “Woden’s day,” or Wednesday.

Wednesday carries all of the planetary and magickal energies and associations of the witty and nimble god Mercury himself. Some of these mercurial traits included good communication skills, cleverness, intelligence, creativity, business sense, writing, artistic talent, trickiness, and thievery. And don’t forget all of those wise and enigmatic qualities associated with the Norse god Odin/Wodin, not to mention the goddess Athena’s contributions of music, the arts, handmade crafts, and writing. Wednesdays afford excellent opportunities for seeking wisdom, changing your circumstances, and improving your skills, be they in trade and commerce, music and art, or in communication and writing.

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

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The Witches Almanac for Wednesday, March 21

Harmony Day (Australian)

Waxing Moon
Moon phase: First Quarter
Moon Sign: Taurus
Incense: Honeysuckle
Color: Brown

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Moon in Taurus

The Moon is traveling through comfy Taurus today. Eat something you love. Have a second serving.

We are motivated by the desire for serenity, security, peace, and comfort. The Moon is at her most sensual and constant in Taurus. Our basic impulses are to relax, resist change, and “stop to smell the roses”. Life slows down a little, and we get comfortable. We may also be inclined to stubbornness and materialism under this influence.

The Moon in Taurus generally favors the following activities: Substantial and material actions that yield solid results. Financial activities, and those involving personal possessions, applying for a loan, beginning a potentially long-term relationship, music, home decor.

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WEDNESDAY CORRESPONDENCES

Mercury/Neptune/Air/North/West/Southwest/Female/Male/Gemini/Virgo

 

Magickal Intentions: Communication, Divination, Writing, Knowledge, Business Transactions, Debt, Fear, Loss, Travel, Money Matters

Color: black, light blue, brown, gray, green, magenta, orange, peach, purple, red, silver, turquoise, violet, white, yellow; orange is the primary color

Number: 3, 5

Metal: mercury

Charm: distaff, rod, runes, staff, iridescent garments

Stone: moss agate, amethyst, bloodstone, emerald, hematite, lapis lazuli, lodestone, pearl, ruby, sapphire, sodalite, all blue stones

Animal: bear, dog, fox, magpie, swan, weasel

Plant: almond, bayberry, chamomile, cherry, cinnamon, cinquefoil, clove, coltsfoot, ginger, hazel, hazelnut, jasmine, lavender, millet, oak, peppermint, periwinkle, rosemary, sage, St. John’s wort, sweet pea, tamarind, lemon verbena, violet

Incense: cassia, cedar, cinnamon, clove, frankincense, jasmine, lavender, mastic, mint, rosemary, sage, sandalwood, storax, dried and powdered citrus peel, and all incense made from aromatic bark, wood, and seeds

Goddess: Carmenta, Hecate (Queen of Crossroads), Hel, Ishtar, Ma’at, the Morrigan, Nike

God: Anubis, Bragi, Elath-Iahu. Enki, Garuda, Hermes, Maximon (Black Magician), Mercury, Nebo (Wise God of Wednesday), Odin, Shango, Ullr, Vishnu, Wayland, Woden

Evocation: Agrat Bat Mahalat, Michael, Miel, Raphael, Seraphiel, Tiriel
Source
Moonlight Musings

 

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The Energy of the Moon

Planet: Moon

Day: Monday

Color: Silver, white, light blue, purple

Metal: Silver

Associations: Childbearing and family life, purity and virginity, healing, wisdom, intuition

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Ostara Magic

Spring is a time of rebirth and renewal as the earth comes back to life. Why not celebrate the themes of the season with a little bit of spring magic?

1. Spring Garden Magic
In the early spring, many of us who follow earth-based spiritual paths begin planning our gardens for the coming season. The very act of planting, of beginning new life from seed, is a ritual and a magical act in itself. To cultivate something in the black soil, see it sprout and then bloom, is to watch a magical working unfold before our very eyes. The plant cycle is intrinsically tied to so many earth-based belief systems that it should come as no surprise that the magic of the garden is one well worth looking into.

2. Serpent Magic and Folklore
Snakes have a long and colorful history in folklore and mythology, as well as in magical practice. Let’s look at some of the amazing customs surrounding snakes in magic and legend!

3. Egg Magic & Mythology
In many cultures and society, the egg is considered the perfect magical symbol. It is, after all, representative of new life – in fact, it is the life cycle personified. While many of us take note of eggs around springtime – the Ostara season is chock full of them – it’s important to consider that eggs feature prominently in folklore and legend all year long.

4. Rabbit Magic & Mad March Hares
Spring equinox, or Ostara, is a time for fertility and sowing seeds, and so nature’s fertility goes a little crazy. The rabbit — for good reason — is often associated with fertility magic and sexual energy.

5. Magical Spring Flowers
As spring arrives, our gardens begin to bud and eventually bloom. For hundreds of years, the plants that we grow have been used in magic. Flowers in particular are often connected with a variety of magical uses. Now that spring is here, keep an eye out for some of these flowers around you, and consider the different magical applications they might have.

6. Children’s Ostara Chant
If you have children, you may want to include them in your Ostara celebrations this spring. Teach them this simple rhyming chant, and clap along as you welcome the season of rebirth!

7. Garden Blessing for Ostara Planting Rituals
Getting ready to till the soil and prepare it for spring planting? Say this garden blessing before you begin.

8. Ostara Prayer for the Resurrection of the Earth
While many other religions celebrate the rebirth of Jesus, for those of us in earth-based faiths, the focus is often on the land and the soil. Celebrate Ostara with a simple prayer for the new life that begins as the earth itself is resurrected.

9. Prayer to Honor the Goddesses of Spring
Many Pagan traditions have goddesses that are associated with the new beginnings of the Ostara season. Whether you celebrate Flora or Eostre, use this simple prayer to honor the goddesses of spring.

Source

Patti Wigington, Paganism/Wicca Expert
Article published on & owned by ThoughtCo

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Magickal Goody for the Day – Make Yourself A Brand New Spring Wand

 

Any of the Equinoxes as wonderful times to make new ritual items that you might be needing. For Spring, how about making yourself a brand new Wand!

Items You Need:
A small tree branch
Three silver coins;
Three sugar cookies
Three each of walnuts, hazel nuts and almonds
A sharp knife
A paper bag

 

Use the guide below to choose the wood for the wand you want to make.

Birch – New beginnings

Hawthorn – Protection

Hazel – Wisdom

Poplar- Succcess

Maple – Longevity

Beech – Divination

Rowan – Magick

Oak – Power Magick

Apple – Love

Pine – Birth

Cedar – Strength

Elm – Dignity

Place the coins, cookies, and nuts in the paper bag. Choose the tree from which you want to make your wand. Go to the tree, and ask for permission to cut one ot its small, new branches. Neatly cut the branch from the tree. Thank the tree for its branch. Gently place the coins, cookies, and nuts at the base of the tree as an offering of thanksgiving.

Trim the branch so that is measures from the inside of your elbow to the tip of your middle finger. This measurement makes the wand uniquely yours. Scrape the bark off of the branch and allow the wood to dry. Once the wood is thoroughly dry you will want to carve or paint your own personal symbols on it.

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Celebrating Legends, Folklore & Spirituality 365 Days a Year for March 20 – 22, Ostara/Spring or Vernal Equinox

March 20 – 22

Ostara/Spring or Vernal Equinox

The Equinox is the time when the Sun crosses the plane of the equator, making day and night of equal length. This is the actual beginning of Spring and occurs somewhere between the 20th and 22nds of March. In fact, most of our modern-day Easter customs come from the Pagan Ostara, named after the Saxon Goddess Eostre. This is a time of balance, equality, and harmony between the masculine and feminine forces in Nature, the time of year when practitioners of the Wiccan and Witchcraft religions, both physically as well as symbolically, plant the seeds of their desires–seeds that in time will grow into plants representing individual, long-term goals, that began at Yule, the Winter Solstice and rebirth of the Sun.

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Magickal Activity for March 21, Ostara/Spring or Vernal Equinox – Prosperity Seed Spell

Prosperity Seed Spell

Items You Will Need:
Marigold seeds
A clay pot filled with Earth
One green candle
A small topaz stone
Green paint
Brush
A small square of paper

Paint the rune symbol for wealth (Fehu) on the clay pot and on the paper. Put the topaz stone along with the paper in the bottom of the pot, and fill it with the Earth. Place the pot and seeds, along with the candle, on a small table or altar covered with a green cloth.

Light the candle. Pick up the seeds and hold them as you meditate on what it is you need. For more than one participant, put the seeds on a small plate so that each person can take a seed and plant it, making his or her own wish. When you feel the time is right, plant the seeds as you chant:

“Seeds and earth,
To dreams gives birth.”

Leave the candle to burn for four hours. Extinguish the candle and place it along with the pot in a window. Each time you water the seeds, light the candle and repeat the chant. This is a great activity for the whole family, particularly if family members have a collective goal in mind.

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Equinox Chant

The day is balanced.

The night is balanced.

All is balanced this day.

Let balance be our way.

The God energy is balanced.

The Goddess energy is balanced.

All is balanced this day.

Balance in all we do, think, and say.

The Sun is balanced.

The Moon is balanced.

All is balanced this day.

Balance is the divine way.

The light is balanced.

The dark is balanced.

All is balanced this day.

From balance, may we never stray.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ginger Strivelli, Author
Source
Ostara Lore
Researched and Compiled by StormWing

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Ostara to Beltane

The advent of Spring marks the turning of the year, when hours of daylight begins to outnumber the hours of darkness again. New growth emerges around us and we experience renewed energy and hope, while fertility becomes the focus of the animal and human world and is also seen in the reawakening of the Earth and the flora it sustains. Because the Sun returns to our lives at the Spring Equinox, it is associated with the color yellow.

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