May 2018 Ascension Energies – Peaceful Heart

To read more of Jamye’s insight, please visit her website, Jamye Price, Soul Progression for Ascension

The accompanying video to this article can be found here.

April Review

April had quite a bit of odd Ascension symptoms, like quick jolts of energy. As Areon spoke about the energy of Creative Action, they emphasized relaxing into creation. It’s not the first time they’ve covered this, it is a core aspect of Ascension because you are more consciously utilizing the subtle realm, the 99% invisible engine that creates life.

As you use your subtle bridge of communication (your thoughts, emotions and intuitive senses), you are “speaking” directly with the malleable subtle realm. When you relax into that, you don’t just apply the rules of the physical realm into the subtle realm (ie controlling thoughts or emotions), you open when you relax. Therefore, you are more open to new solution and receiving support. Receiving is a big one for many.

Peaceful Heart

The energies of May are Peaceful Heart. In this Year of Amplification, utilizing your most powerful electromagnetic engine is imperative. The theme of heart/mind unification is big this year. The mind is your perfect mechanism of linearizing the physical realm. It requires that you build your sovereignty and heal your subconscious patterning to develop your mind to a fuller potential.

The heart is your instrument of connection.

It is infinite and timeless, as it speaks in broad strokes of emotions that are vast libraries of information. Peaceful Heart is another way of saying:

Relax into your infinite nature.

The Heart of Connection

As you relax into creation more, you are allowing your human self and your divine self to merge more directly in the physical realm. You are softening your human experience into an expanded connection. Look for more information about connection in May.

What connected you to your current experiences? What connections have you put together in your mind that serve your growth or fuel your fear? What connections can you open to further that would help you understand yourself, another or life better?

Connection is the invisible aspect of the human experience.

We are in separate physical bodies having a unique experience. Yet there is more to that story—the connection. We are opening to our connection as a species, as part of Earth, as part of our universe as our cosmic connection becomes more obvious to us. As we move through the Ascension process, we are connecting more consciously with the subtle realm, and connecting more directly with universal law rather than just physical law on earth. With connection comes understanding.

Understanding

Understanding is a powerful connection. A key component of understanding is feeling or experiencing, at least in a broad sense. Quite often, people will mentalize their experiences and not allow feelings to flow to completion—which can take time as layers of healing express. You know you’re through something when you feel a neutral appreciation of what an experience has offered you.

To get to understanding, a state of connection; you may have to go through layers that contain some anger, resentment, sorrow or fear. It is important to let those feelings show you where your subconscious patterning is not supporting your empowerment and love them into resolution. They are just old information and as you observe and allow them, you create a Peaceful Heart that is open and courageous with Life.

As always, Ascension is an inside job—so begin with some understanding for yourself.

Feel some appreciation the unique Light you bring to the world. Appreciate your courage to do the inner work that truly transforms. Nothing stays the same in the physical realm. As you become empowered and amplify your Love into your personal world—life changes.

When your Peaceful Heart leads the way, Love follows.

In Summary

Observe the rapid flow of change that is not slowing down anytime soon in May. However, like that spiral tightening into faster flow, when you relax you are sustained in gravity-defying flow that supports you, movement and stillness are embodied within you. Your physical and infinite nature meet, time stands still and moves past you, freeing you to connect within and connect with life through your Peaceful Heart.

Happy May!

May 2018 Energy Report

a message from Jennifer Hoffman

To read more of Jennifer’s insight, please visit her website, The Enlightening Life

May 1 is traditionally known as May Day, which is both a celebration of spring, new growth, and fertility and the internally recognized distress call. It’s an interesting play of energies and a potent symbol of where we stand now. On one side we’re in distress and on the other we are stepping into our creative power. Which path will we focus on? One is the path of fear; the other is the path of transformation, evolution, and ascension.

One of May’s themes is the ‘eye of the needle’, which is symbolic for the birth we are undergoing where the doorway looks so narrow we don’t think we can possibly get through it. We can, but we have to release our energetic baggage first. It’s not easy but we already have a head start with all of the work we have been doing in the past few decades and since January 2018.

Are we going to ask for permission (May I?) or give ourselves permission (I May) to create the life, reality, and world we want to live in? That’s a key question this month.

May begins with the echoes of the April 29 full moon in Scorpio, a powerful energy cleanser that set a resounding tone for a month that will be marked by strong transitions. Note I said transitions, not change. The transition energy is available; we have to decide how we want to apply it to make changes. We’re going to see all of the personal planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars) changes signs, as well as Uranus move into Taurus, ending a cycle that began in 2011.

So we have lots of energy for change but what do we do with it and more importantly, what happens after that? The desire for change may be present but if we don’t know where it’s leading us or what will happen after we make changes, we will stay where we are. It’s something I have been seeing with clients for quite a while now, and once they have set the intention for where changes will lead them, they are easier to make.

Without a destination or outcome, making changes just creates a vacuum or a hole in our lives. We try to avoid those dark, scary spaces so why would we create them deliberately? It’s one of the major reasons why it is so hard to move out of that ‘stuck’ place because we know where we are where we are stuck, we don’t know where we will end up when we move out in the open, looking for a new place to land and hope that it is better than where we have been.

They use of May’s transition energy requires two things if we’re going to create new realities for ourselves. First, we have to pare down our emotional baggage to get through the ‘eye of the needle’ and second, we have to be willing to allow ourselves to create the change. This is the process of surrender which is not about giving up, it’s a process of ‘allowing and receiving’. Just remember that everything is a process that we complete, step by step, and we’re making these choices every day, even if we do not realize it. The people in our lives are making those choices too as they decide what energies they can align with and integrate.

The ‘eye of the needle’ reference is something I began talking about in 2012 and 2013, and I referenced it in the 2014 annual predictions, here’s the relevant part and you can read the 2014 predictions at this link:

“The ‘eye of the needle’ that I have referred to many times is from the Bible, Matthew 19:24, which says ‘It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of the needle than it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.’ I believe that the reference to a ‘rich man’ is a mistranslation and it should be ‘burdened man’. The burdens here simply refer to karma, guilt, shame, and anything that burdens us, which also refers to pain from the past. It is impossible for us to pass through the narrow portals into higher dimensions, which are karma free, when we are carrying the burdens of the past.”

The 3D/5D integration steps up a few notches this month with the movement of Uranus into Taurus. Since Uranus changes signs every 7 or 8 years, its impact heavily influences both the individual and the collective. All of the revolutionary energy that arose because of the ‘enlightenment’ of vast darkness and corruption in the world with Uranus transit in Aries and its conjunction with Eris, the soul warrior for justice, now has an opportunity to become grounded in our energetic realities as Uranus moves into Taurus.

Uncovering the density of 3D is one thing, deciding on what we want to change and how that will happen is another. It’s easy to criticize the corruption and talk against it but it becomes personal when we have to take collective action, set aside our differences to work for a common beneficial goal, to change the entire system. We have set the foundation for that in the last 7 years, now let’s see what we can do to activate the energy and use it for good in the world.

We have lots of planetary changes this month too, more than normal. All of the personal planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars) will cross multiple signs. Mercury is in Aries, Taurus and Gemini; Venus is in Gemini and Cancer, and Mars moves from Capricorn to Aquarius. And remember Chiron changed signs last month, moving from Pisces to Aries. What does this mean for you? Many different energy aspects are now available to us and you’ll work better with some than with others. Set your intention for your life and then make course corrections as necessary. The new moon on the 15th is in Taurus, highlighting the welcome sign for Uranus entry into Taurus on that date. The full moon on the 29th is in Sagittarius, highlighting Mercury’s entry into Gemini (its first sign of rulership and Sag’s opposite sign). All of this points to an augmentation of energy all month so the highs can be higher and maybe the lows a little lower. Keep your energy high, the transition needs a lot of energetic focus.

With all of this movement, potential, transition, and power one of our biggest fears is that we do not use the energy well, wisely, or fully. We do not make mistakes, we can always change our minds when things don’t work out as we want, and we have to give ourselves a ‘try-out’ period before we commit to anything. So don’t be afraid to take a step and know that if it is not what you expected you can always go back and try something else. It’s going to be a big month so be ready for some wild moments, big reveals, new potentials, and remember to shine on!

Famous Witches Throughout History: Morgan Le Fay

Morgan Le Fay

Morgan Le Fay (alternatively known as Morgaine le Fey, Morgane, Morgain, Morgana, Fata Morgana and other variants) is a powerful sorceress and antagonist of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere in Arthurian legend. Although always depicted as a practitioner of magic, over time her character became more and more evil until she began to be portrayed as a witch who was taught the black arts by Merlin.

The early works featuring Morgan do not elaborate her character beyond her role as a fay (fairy) or magician, although she became much more prominent in the later Old French cyclical prose works such as “Lancelot-Grail” and the Post-Vulgate Cycle. In these works, she is said to be Arthur’s half-sister, daughter of Arthur’s mother, Lady Igraine, and her first husband, Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall. She has at least two older sisters, Elaine and Morgause, the latter being the mother of Sir Gawain, the Green Knight, and the traitor, Mordred. As a fairy later transformed into a woman and King Arthur’s half sister, she became an enchantress to continue her powers.

Inspiration for her character may have come from earlier Welsh mythology and literature, and she has often been compared with the goddess Modron, a figure derived from the continental Dea Matrona, who is featured with some frequency in medieval Welsh literature. She is also sometimes connected with the Irish goddess Morrígan who was associated with prophecy, war and death on the battlefield.

Morgan first appears by name in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s “Vita Merlini”, an account written in about 1150 of the wizard Merlin’s later adventures, elaborating on some episodes from Geoffrey’s more famous earlier work, “Historia Regum Britanniae”. In the “Vita Merlini”, Geoffrey describes Avalon, the Isle of Apples, where Arthur is taken to be healed after being seriously wounded at the Battle of Camlann, and specifically names “Morgen” as the chief of nine magical sisters who dwell there (a role as Arthur’s otherworldly healer Morgan retains in much later literature, such as that of Chrétien de Troyes).

Medieval Christianity, however, had a difficult time assimilating a benevolent enchantress. She gradually became more and more sinister, until eventually she was portrayed as a witch who was taught the black arts by Merlin, and who was a bedevilment to Arthur and his knights, with a special hatred towards Queen Guinevere.

Morgan’s role is greatly expanded in the 13th Century French “Lancelot-Grail” (also known as the Vulgate Cycle) and the subsequent works inspired by it. In these stories, she is sent to a convent when Uther Pendragon (Arthur’s father) kills her father and marries her mother, Igraine. She begins her study of magic there, but is married by Uther to his ally Urien. She is unhappy with her husband and takes a string of lovers until she is caught by a young Guinevere, who expels her from court in disgust. Morgan continues her magical studies under Merlin, all the while plotting against Guinevere.

In his book, “Le Morte d’Arthur”, published in 1485, Thomas Malory mostly follows the portrayal of Morgan in the Vulgate and Post-Vulgate Cycles, although he expands her role in some cases. Through both magic and mortal means, she tries to arrange Arthur’s downfall, most famously when she arranges for her lover Sir Accolon to obtain the sword Excalibur and use it against Arthur in single combat. When this ploy fails, Morgan throws Excalibur’s protective scabbard into a lake.

The modern image of Morgan is often that of a villain, a seductive, megalomaniacal sorceress who wishes to overthrow Arthur, sometimes assigning to Morgan the role of seducing Arthur and giving birth to the wicked Mordred, although traditionally Mordred’s mother was Morgan’s sister, Morgause. Marion Zimmer Bradley’s “The Mists of Avalon” presents a different view of Morgaine’s opposition to Arthur, depicting her actions as stemming from her fight to preserve the native Pagan religion against what she sees as the treachery and oppression of Christianity. She has also been widely portrayed in comic books and other more or less speculative novels and movies.

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Morgan le Fae

Morgan le Fae alternatively known as Morgan le Faye, Morgen, Morgaine, Morgain, Morgana, Morganna, Morgant, Morgane, Morgne and other names, is a powerful enchantress in the Arthurian legend. Early works featuring Morgan do not elaborate her character beyond her role as a fay or sorceress. She became both more prominent and morally ambivalent in later texts, in particular in cyclical prose works such as the Lancelot-Grail and the Post-Vulgate Cycle, in which she turns into a dangerous enemy of King Arthur and is an unpredictable antihero and antagonist of some tales.

The earliest accounts of Geoffrey of Monmouth in Vita Merlini and Gerald of Wales refer to Morgan in conjunction with the Isle of Apples (Avalon) to which the fatally wounded Arthur was carried off after the Battle of Camlann. To the former, in early chivalric romances by Chrétien de Troyes, she also figures as a great healer. Her character may be partially derived from that of the Welsh figure of Modron and other myths. She is often said to be the daughter of Arthur’s mother, Lady Igraine, and her first husband, Gorlois, so that Arthur, the son of Igraine and Uther Pendragon, is her half-brother.

In Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur and in many other later versions of the legend, she is unhappily married to King Urien, with whom she has the son Ywain, and her sisters include Morgause. She becomes an apprentice of Merlin and a vindictive adversary of Arthur and the knights of the Round Table, with a special hatred for his wife Queen Guinevere. She is also wanton and sexually aggressive, with many lovers including Merlin and Accolon, and an unrequited love for Lancelot. Morgan is an indirect instrument of Arthur’s death, though she eventually reconciles with him and retains her original role, serving as one of the magical queens who take him on his final journey to Avalon.

After centuries of being mostly absent in post-medieval European culture, Morgan became very popular in the 20th and 21st century. Her character and role in the modern works varies greatly, but usually she is portrayed as a villainess, often associated with Mordred as either being his mother or in different aspect.

The earliest spelling of the name (found in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Vita Merlini, written c. 1150) is Morgen, which is likely derived from Old Welsh or Old Breton Morgen, meaning “Sea-born” (from Common Brittonic *Mori-genā, the masculine form of which, *Mori-genos, survived in Middle Welsh as Moryen or Morien; a cognate form in Old Irish is Muirgein, the name of a Christian, shape-shifting female saint who was associated with the sea). The name is not to be confused with the Modern Welsh masculine name Morgan (spelled Morcant in the Old Welsh period). As her epithet “le Fay” (from the French la fée, “the fairy”) and some traits indicates, the figure of Morgan appears to have been a remnant of supernatural female figures from Celtic mythology, and her main name could be connected to the myths of Morgens (or Morgans), which are Welsh and Breton water-spirits. While later works usually make her specifically human, she retains her magical powers.

Inspiration for her character likely came from earlier Welsh mythology and literature. Additional speculation sometimes connects Morgan with the Irish goddess Morrígan, though there are few similarities between the two beyond the spelling of their names. Morgan has been more substantially linked with the supernatural mother figure of Modron, a figure derived from the continental Dea Matrona and featured with some frequency in medieval Welsh literature. Modron appears in Welsh Triad 70, in which her children by Urien, Owain and Morfydd, are called the “Three Blessed Womb-Burdens of the Island of Britain,” and a later folktale preserved in the manuscript known as Peniarth 147 records the story behind these conceptions more fully. Arthurian legend’s version of Urien is Morgan le Fay’s husband in the continental romances, while Owain mab Urien is the historical figure behind their son Ywain. The historical Urien had a treacherous ally named Morcant Bulc who plotted to assassinate him, similar to how Morgan attempts to kill Urien in the later version of Arthurian myth.[8] Additionally, Modron is called “daughter of Avallach,” a Welsh ancestor deity whose name can also be interpreted as a noun meaning “a place of apples”; in fact, in the tale of Owain and Morfydd’s conception in Peniarth 147, Modron is called the “daughter of the king of Avallach”. This is similar to Avalon, the “Isle of Apples” with which Morgan le Fay has been associated since her earliest appearances.

According to the chronicler Gerald of Wales, Morganis was a noblewoman close relative of King Arthur who carried him to her island of Avalon (identified by him as Glastonbury), where Arthur was buried. Writing about 1216 in De instructione principis, Gerald claimed that “as a result, the credulous Britons and their bards invented the legend that a fantastic sorceress had removed Arthur’s body to the Isle of Avalon, so that she might cure his wounds there,” for the purpose of creating the possibility of King Arthur’s messianic return. Writing in his Latin encyclopedic work Otia Imperialia, around the same time and with similar derision for this belief, Gervase of Tilbury calls that mythical enchantress Morgan the Fairy (Morganda Fatata).

Early appearances
Morgan first appears by name in Vita Merlini, written by Norman-Welsh cleric Geoffrey of Monmouth. Purportedly an account of the wizard Merlin’s later adventures, it elaborates some episodes from Geoffrey’s more famous earlier work, Historia Regum Britanniae (1136). In Historia, Geoffrey relates how King Arthur, seriously wounded by Mordred at the Battle of Camlann, is taken off to the blessed Isle of Apple Trees (Latin Insula Pomorum), Avalon, to be healed. In Vita Merlini, he describes this island in more detail and names Morgen as the chief of nine magical queen sisters who dwell there, capable of shapeshifting and flying, and using their powers only for good. Her sisters’ names are Moronoe, Mazoe, Gliten, Glitonea, Gliton, Tyronoe, Thiten and Thiton. Morgan retains this role as Arthur’s other-worldly healer in much later literature, and Geoffrey might have been inspired by the 1st-century Roman cartographer Pomponius Mela, who described an oracle at the Île de Sein off the coast of Brittany and its nine virgin priestesses believed by the Gauls to have the powers of curing disease and performing various other marvelous magic, such as controlling the sea through incantations, foretelling future, and changing themselves into any animal. In Lanzelet, written by the end of the 12th century by Ulrich von Zatzikhoven, the infant Lancelot is spirited away by a water fairy (merfeine in Old High German) and raised in her paradise island country of Meidelant (“Land of Maidens”); his water fairy queen might be related to Geoffrey’s Morgen of Avalon.

Prior to the cyclical Old French prose, the appearances of Morgan are few. The 12th-century French poet Chrétien de Troyes mentions her in his first romance Erec and Enide, completed around 1170. In it, a love of Morgan is Guinguemar, the Lord of the Isle of Avalon and a nephew of King Arthur, a derivative of the legendary Breton hero Guingamor. Guingamor’s own tale by Marie de France has him in relation to the beautiful magical entity known only as the “fairy mistress”, who was later identified by Thomas Chestre’s Sir Launfal as Dame Tryamour, the daughter of the King of the Celtic Otherworld, and who shares many characteristics with Chrétien’s Morgan. It was noted that even Chrétien’ earliest mention of Morgan already shows an enmity between her and Queen Guinevere, and although Morgan is represented only in benign role by Chrétien, she resides in a mysterious place known as the Vale Perilous (which some later authors say she has created as a place of punishment for unfaithful knights). She is later mentioned in the same poem when Arthur provides the wounded hero Erec with a healing balm made by his sister Morgan. This episode both affirms her early role as a healer and provides the first mention of Morgan as Arthur’s sister; healing is Morgan’s chief ability, but Chrétien also hints at her potential to harm. Chrétien again refers to Morgan as a great healer in his later romance Yvain, the Knight of the Lion, in an episode in which the Lady of Norison restores the maddened hero to his senses with a magical potion provided by Morgan the Wise. While Modron is the mother of Owain mab Urien in Welsh literature, and Morgan would be assigned this role in later French literature, this first continental association between Sir Ywain and Morgan does not imply they are son and mother; she is first mentioned as Ywain’s mother in the early 13th-century Breton lai Tyolet.

The Arthurian tale Geraint son of Erbin, based on Chrétien’s Erec and Enide, mentions King Arthur’s chief physician, Morgan Tud; it is believed that this character, though considered a male in Gereint, may be derived from Morgan le Fay, though this has been a matter of debate among Arthurian scholars since the 19th century (the epithet Tud may be a Welsh or Breton cognate or borrowing of Old Irish tuath, “north, left”, “sinister, wicked”, also “fairy (fay), elf”). In Layamon’s The Chronicle of Britain, written c. 1215, Arthur was taken to Avalon to be healed there by its most beautiful elfen queen named Argante; it is possible her name has been originally Margant(e) before it was changed in manuscript transmission.

In his version of Erec, the 12th-century German knight and poet Hartmann von Aue describes the sorceress Famurgan (Feimurgan, Fairy Murgan) as a deceased mistress of dark magic who has lived her life “in defiance of God” and was capable of raising the dead and turning people to animals at will, commanding wild beasts, evil spirits and dragons, and having the devil in Hell as a trusted companion. Hartmann has Erec healed by Guinevere with a special plaster that Famurgan has given to her brother Arthur before she died and all of her wondrous knowledge was lost with her. In the 13th-century romance Parzival, another German knight-poet Wolfram von Eschenbach inverted her name to create that of Arthur’s fairy ancestor named Terdelaschoye de Feimurgan, the wife of Mazadan, where the part “Terdelaschoye” comes from Terre de la Joie, or Land of Joy. A great sorceress Morgaine also appears in the few surviving verses of the poem Merlin written ac. 1200 by French knight-poet Robert de Boron who described her as an illegitimate daughter of Lady Igraine and an unnamed Duke of Tintagel;[30] it was the first known work linking Morgan to Igraine and mentioning her learning sorcery after having been sent away for an education.

A recently discovered moralistic manuscript written in Anglo-Norman French is the only text in medieval Arthurian literature presented as being composed by Morgan herself. This late 12th-century text is purportedly addressed to Morgan’s court official and tells of the story of a knight Piers the Fierce (it is likely that the author’s motive was to draw a satirical moral from the downfall of the English knight Piers Gaveston, 1st Earl of Cornwall); Morgan (Morgayne) is titled in it as “empress of the wilderness, queen of the damsels, lady of the isles, and governor of the waves of the great sea.” She is also mentioned in the Draco Normannicus, a Latin chronicle written by Stephen of Rouen, which contains a fictional letter from King Arthur to Henry II of England, written around the same time for political propaganda purposes, in which ‘Arthur’ criticizes Henry for invading Brittany and claims that he has been healed of his wounds and made immortal by his “deathless nymph” sister Morgan on Avalon.

Morgan’s role was greatly expanded in the 13th-century Old French romances of Lancelot-Grail (the Vulgate Cycle) and the subsequent works inspired by it (the Post-Vulgate Cycle) that make her ways and deeds much more sinister than she was presented by Geoffrey and Chrétien, as she becomes an antiheroine in many texts.Morgan is now an ambitious nemesis of Arthur and Guinevere, a malicious and cruel sorceress and temptress, “the most ardent and most lecherous woman in all Britain” causing subversive mischief at the royal courts of both Arthur and Mark of Cornwall and having few positive values. The youngest of the daughters of Igraine and Gorlois, the Duke of Cornwall, Morgan has at least two elder sisters: Elaine of Garlot and Morgause, the latter of whom is the mother of Arthur’s knights Gawain, Gaheris, Gareth, and Agravain by King Lot of Lothian, and the traitor Sir Mordred by Arthur (in some romances the wife King Lot is called Morcades, a name that R. S. Loomis argued was another variant of Morgan).

The young Morgan is sent to a nun convent after Arthur’s father Uther Pendragon, aided by Merlin, kills Gorlois and rapes and marries her mother, who later gives him a son, Arthur (which makes him Morgan’s younger half-brother). There, Morgan begins her study of magic arts, mastering seven arts and goes on to specialize in astronomie (astronomy and astrology) and healing. She later continues her studies under Merlin, but is interrupted when Uther betroths her to his ally King Urien of Gore (possibly Rheged). Unhappy with her husband, she takes a string of lovers until she is caught by King Arthur’s newly married wife, Queen Guinevere to whom Morgan has served as a lady-in-waiting, with Guiomar (Chrétien’s Guinguemar), and Guinevere intervenes to break their relationship to prevent the loss of honor. This incident (introduced in the Prose Merlin and expanded in the Vulgate Lancelot) begins a feud between Guinevere and Morgan, who leaves the court of Camelot to seek out Merlin and greater powers. The pregnant Morgan later gives a birth to Guiomar’s son, who is said to grow up to become a great knight but is not named.

Morgan then continues her studies of magic under Merlin, whom she enamours and later scorns, all the while plotting her vengeance against the hated Guinevere and King Arthur. Through magic and mortal means, Morgan tries to undermine virtue, destroy Arthur’s rule and achieve Guinevere’s downfall whenever she can, most famously in the Post-Vulgate Suite du Merlin where she arranges (in conspiracy with Sir Damas) for her devoted lover Sir Accolon of Gaul to obtain the enchanted sword Excalibur and use it against Arthur in single combat. Failing in this, Morgan steals Excalibur’s protective scabbard (which has been previously confided to Morgan by Arthur himself as he had trusted her most, even more than his wife) from the sleeping Arthur and, pursued by him, throws it into a lake, before escaping by temporarily turning herself and her entourage to stone (the sight of which makes Arthur think they have been already punished by God). This action ultimately causes the death of Arthur, who would otherwise be protected in his final battle. Morgan also attempts to murder her sleeping husband Urien with his own sword, but is stopped in act by their son Ywain (Uwayne), who pardons her when she protests she has been under the devil’s power and promises to abandon her wicked ways. Later, Morgan saves Arthur’s knight named Manassen (Manessen, Manasses) from a certain death and enables him to kill his captor when she learns Accolon was Manessen’s cousin.

Failing to avenge Accolon’s death, Morgan retires to her lands in Gore and then to her castle near the stronghold of Tauroc (possibly in North Wales), and Malory mentions Arthur’s attempts to conquer at least one of her castles, which was originally his gift to her. She also plots an elaborate ambush in “The Book of Sir Tristram de Lyons”, after learning of the death of one of her favourites in a tournament, but Tristan ends up killing or routing thirty of her knights when the ambush ends in a disaster. Her attempts to bring about Arthur’s demise after being banished from Camelot by Guinevere in the Suite du Merlin are repeatedly frustrated by the king’s new sorcerous advisor Nimue (the Lady of the Lake), such as when Morgan sends Arthur a supposed offering of peace in the form of a rich mantle cloak (Morgan’s messenger maiden is made put on the gift first and its curse burns her to cinders); it is possible that this motif was inspired by Greek mythology motifs such as how Medea killed her rival for Jason’s affection, or how Deianira sent a poisoned tunic to Hercules. In the aftermath of one of her treacherous schemes, Merlin saves her from Arthur’s wrath and enables her to escape.

Morgan uses her skills to foil the Knights of the Round Table, especially Sir Lancelot, whom she alternately tries to seduce and to expose as Guinevere’s adulterous lover. Some sources have King Nentres of Garlot as a suitor of young Morgan before marrying her sister Elaine. Her many lovers include Corrant, Gui of Carmelide (Cameliard), Guyanor, Helians of Gomeret, and Kaz of Gomeret, as well as Sir Huneson the Bald (also known as Hemison or Onesun). Huneson is mortally wounded when he attacks Tristan out of his jealously for Morgan’s attention and dies after returning to her, and the anguished Morgan buries him in a tomb. In one version, she then takes possession of the lance that was used to kill Huneson, enchants it, and sends it Mark, who years later uses it to slay Tristan. In one of her castles, Tugan in Garlot, Morgan hid a magic book given to her by Merlin and that prophesied the deaths of Arthur and Gawain and who would kill them, but no one could read this passage without dying instantly. In the Prose Tristan, Morgan delivers by Sir Lamorak to Arthur’s court a magical drinking horn from which no unfaithful lady can drink without spilling, hoping to reveal the infidelity and disgrace Guinevere. With same intent, she also gives Sir Tristan (Tristam) a shield depicting Arthur, Guinevere and Lancelot.

Lancelot is Morgan’s prime object of sexual desire but he consistently refuses her obsessive advances due to his great love of Guinevere, even as Morgan either courts, drugs, enchants and imprisons the knight on several occasions. One tale has Lancelot captured in Cart Castle (Charyot) by her and two other lustful enchantress, Queen Sebile (Sedile) and the unnamed Queen of Sorestan, each of whom wants to make him her lover, but he refuses to choose and escapes with a help of one of their maidservants, Rocedon.[25] Sebile and Morgan are close companions, working their magic together, but they tend to fall into petty squabbles due to their rivalries and bad tempers, including a conflict between them when they both seduce Lancelot’s brother Sir Hector de Maris in the late 13th-century Prophesies de Merlin; a resulting contest between them is won by Nimue with a help from Merlin. Their friendship is further tested when a quarrel over a handsome widower named Berengier (captured by Sebile after Morgan kidnapped his child) ends in a violent attack by Sebile that leaves Morgan half-dead; Morgan swears revenge, but their relationship is later restored as usual. Morgan’s other allies in Prophecies include the opponents of chivalry such as Mark and Claudas, and she enlists the help of the latter in her failed attempt to eliminate the Lady of the Lake. Sometimes she is successful, such as when she sends Lucifer in the guise of a dragon against Sir Segurant.

Her realm becomes known as the Val sans Retour (the Vale of No Return). Morgan’s fancied good knights besides Lancelot include the rescued-but-abducted young Sir Alexander the Orphan (Alisaunder le Orphelin, a cousin of Tristan and Mark’s enemy), whom she promises to heal, but he vows to rather castrate himself than to pleasure her, but promises her to defend the castle of Fair Guard (Belle Garde), where he has been held for a year, and then continues to guard it even when the castle was burnt down. In the Val sans Retour, Lancelot frees the many knights entrapped by Morgan from her power, including Morgan’s own son Ywain and her former lover Guiomars who has been turned to stone by her for his unfaithfulness. Morgan captures Lancelot under her spell and keeps him prisoner in the hope Guinevere would go mad or die of sorrow, and otherwise torments the queen, causing her a great distress and making her miserable until the Lady of the Lake gives her a ring of protection from any power of Morgan. On one occasion, she lets the captive Lancelot go to rescue Sir Gawain when he promises to come back, and he keeps his word and does return; she eventually releases him when his health falters and he is near death.

The Death of King Arthur by James Archer (1860)
Morgan concentrates on witchcraft to such degree that she goes to live in seclusion in the exile of far-away forests. She learns more spells than any other woman, gains an ability to transform herself into any animal, and people begin to call her Morgan the Goddess. Lancelot has a vision of Hell where Morgan still will be able to control demons even in afterlife as they torture Guinevere. After Mordred spots the images of Lancelot’s passionate love for Guinevere that Lancelot painted on her castle’s walls while he was imprisoned there, Morgan shows them to Gawain and his brothers, encouraging them to take action in the name of loyalty to their king, but they do not do this. In the Vulgate La Mort le Roi Artu (The Death of King Arthur, also known as just Mort Artu), Morgan vanishes for a long time and stops troubling Arthur, who assumes her to be dead. One day, he wanders into Morgan’s remote castle while on a hunting trip, and they instantly reconcile with each other. Morgan welcomes him warmly and the king is overjoyed of their reunion and allows her to return to Camelot, but she refuses and declares her plan to move to the Isle of Avalon to live there with other sorceresses. However, the sight of Lancelot’s frescoes and Morgan’s confession finally convinces Arthur about the truth to the rumours of the two’s secret love affair (about which he has been already warned by his nephew Sir Agravain). This leads to a great conflict between Arthur and Lancelot, which brings down the fellowship of the Round Table. The goddess Fortune, who appears to Arthur to foretell his death towards the end the Vulgate Cycle, is regarded by some as a double for Morgan. At the end of Mort Artu, Morgan is the first among the black-hooded ladies who take the dying Arthur to his final rest in Avalon.

English writer Thomas Malory follows much of that portrayal of Morgan in his seminal 1485 compilation book Le Morte d’Arthur (The Death of Arthur), though he expands her role in some cases. Malory scholar Elizabeth Sklar described her as “an essentially sociopathic personality, respecting no boundaries and acknowledging no rules save those dictated by her own ambitions, envy, and lust.” Malory’s Morgan too has studied astrology as well as nigremancie (meaning black magic, sometimes mistaken with “necromancy”) in the nunnery where she was raised, before being married to Urien as a young teenager. In Malory’s version, Morgan is the leader of the four (not three) witch queens who capture Lancelot (the others being the Queen of the Northgales, the Queen of Eastland, and the Queen of the Outer Isles), who also rescues the young Elaine of Corbenic (Galahad’s mother) when she is trapped in an enchanted boiling bath by Morgan and the Queen of the Northgales, both envious of Elaine’s great beauty (also in Prose Lancelot). Despite all of their prior hostility towards each other and her numerous designs to destroy Arthur, Morgan eventually redeems and ends up being one of the four grieving enchantress queens (the others being Nimue and two of Morgan’s allies, the Queen of the Northgales and the Queen of the Wasteland) who arrive in a black boat to transport the wounded king to Avalon. Arthur is last seen in Morgan’s lap, with her lament of sorrow referring to him as her “dear brother” (dere brothir).

Other later appearances
Morgan turns up throughout the High and Late Middle Ages in a variety of roles, generally in works related to the cycles of Arthur or Charlemagne. They often feature Morgan as a lover and benefactor of various heroes, sometimes also introducing her additional offspring or alternate siblings, or connecting her closer with the figure of the Lady of the Lake. The Middle English romance Arthour and Merlin, written in 1270, casts Morgan herself in the role of the Lady of the Lake and gives her a brother named Morganor as an illegitimate son of King Urien. The Italian manuscript Tavola ritonda (The Round Table) makes Morgan a daughter of Uther Pendragon and a sister of the Lady of the Lake. The 14th-century Italian romance Pulzella Gaia (Merry Maiden) features the titular and otherwise unnamed beautiful young daughter of Morgan by Hemison. She is kidnapped by the knight Burletta of the Desert (Burletta della Diserta) and rescued by Lancelot, and later defeats Gawain (Galvan) in her giant serpent form before becoming his lover; she and her fairy army save Gawain from the jealous Guinevere (who wants Gawain dead after having been rejected by him) but she gets herself captured in her mother’s castle Palaus (as Morgan wants to marry her to Tristan), until Gawain in turn frees her from a cursed dungeon.

In some texts, Avalon is often described as an other-worldy place ruled by Morgan. In the Catalan poem La Faula, Guillem de Torroella claims to have visited the Enchanted Isle and met Arthur who has been brought back to life by Morgan and they both of them are now forever young, sustained by the Holy Grail. In the 15th-century Spanish romance Tirant lo Blanch, the noble Queen Morgan searches the world for her missing brother and finds him as an entranced prisoner in Constantinople; Morgan brings Arthur back to his senses by removing Excalibur from his hands, and after great celebrations they depart together back to Avalon. In the legends of Charlemagne, she is most famous for her association with the Danish legendary hero Ogier the Dane, whom she takes to her mystical island palace in Avalon (where Arthur and Gawain are also still alive) to be her lover for 200 years, and later protects him during his adventures in the mortal world as he defends France from Muslim invasion before his eventual return to Avalon; in some accounts, Ogier begets her two sons, including Marlyn. In the 13th-century chanson de geste of Huon of Bordeaux, she is a protector of the eponymous hero and the mother of the fairy king Oberon by none other than Julius Caesar, while Ogier le Danois calls Oberon a brother of Morgan. In another chanson de geste, La Bataille Loquifer, Morgan and her sister Marsion (Marrion) bring the hero Renoart to Avalon, where Arthur is the king, and Renoart and Morgan’s union gives him an illegitimate son named Corbon (Corbans).

Her enchanted realm would be placed elsewhere in the mythological landscape of medieval Europe. Morgan le Fay, or Fata Morgana in Italian, has been in particular associated with Sicily at least since the Norman conquest of southern Italy,[53] and European folklore describes her as living in a magical castle located at or floating over Mount Etna. As such she gave her name to the form of mirage common off the shores of Sicily, the Fata Morgana. References linking Avalon to Sicily can be found in Gervase’s Ottia Imperialia (c. 1211) and in Torroella’s La Faula, as well as in Breton and Provençal literature, for example in Jaufre (an Occitan language Arthurian romance from c. 1180), and in La Bataille Loquifer (c. 1170). The 13th-century romance Floriant et Florete places Morgan’s secret mountain castle of Mongibel (Montgibel, Montegibel; derived from the Arabic name for Etna), where, in the role of a fairy godmother, she spirits away and raises Floriant, the son of a murdered Sicilian king and the hero of the story; Floriant, with the help of her magic ship, eventually reunites with Morgan at her castle when he returns there with his wife Florete. The 15th-century French romance La Chevalier du Papegau (The Knight of the Parrot) gives Morgaine the Fairy of Montgibel (Morgaine, la fée de Montgibel, as she is also known in Floriant et Florete) a sister known as the Lady Without Pride (la Dame sans Orgueil), whom Arthur rescues from the Knight of the Wasteland.

At the end of the 14th-century Middle English romance Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, one of the best known Arthurian tales, it is revealed that the entire Green Knight plot has been instigated by Gawain’s aunt, the goddess Morgan (Morgue la Faye), who takes an appearance of an elderly woman (contrasting from the beautiful Lady Bertilak in the role evoking the loathly lady tradition), as a test for Arthur and his knights and to frighten Guinevere to death. Morgan’s importance to this particular narrative has been disputed and called a deus ex machina and simply an artistic device to further connect Gawain’s episode to the Arthurian legend.

In modern culture

Morgan le Fay has been featured in many works of popular culture, spanning fantasy and historical fiction across various mediums including literature, comics, film, television, and video games. As Elizabeth S. Sklar of Wayne State University noted in 1992: “Currently a cornerstone of the new Arthurian mythos, [she] occupies a secure position in the contemporary Arthurian pantheon, as familiar a figure to modern enthusiasts as Merlin, Lancelot, or King Arthur himself.”Additionally, she has become an archetype serving as a source of tropes for many characters in various other modern works, some of them borrowing her name in the modernized English form Morgana.

Prior to her 20th-century resurgence, however, Morgan has been largely absent in post-medieval Arthurian writings, sometimes replaced by inspired characters such as Queen Argante (using Layamon’s name for Morgan) in Edmund Spenser’s epic poem The Faerie Queene (1590). The relatively few exceptions of an actual Morgan character include William Morris’s epic poem The Earthly Paradise (1870) where he retells the story of Morgan (Morgane) and Ogier the Dane; in his satirical novel A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1889), Mark Twain cast her as Arthur’s antagonistic sister, a deceptively charmful sorceress who is also capable of the most vicious behavior.

Since the early 20th century, most modern works feature Morgan as a sorceress and sometimes a priestess, and usually a half-sister of Arthur and sometimes a femme fatale, but some also have her in other roles, including as a fairy or an otherwise non-human character. Many authors effectively merge Morgan with Morgause (traditionally a sister of Morgan and the mother of both Mordred and Gawain) and combine her with the less savory aspects of the Lady of the Lake (this is further positioning a modern Morgan as a nemesis for Merlin, who has never been truly her foe in the medieval Arthurian lore); such a composite character is then often turned into Mordred’s mother or partner.

Modern authors’ versions of Morgan have her usually appear in conventionally villainous roles of a witchlike and irreconcilable enemy of Arthur, recurrently in league with Arthur’s bastard son Mordred; be it in the time of the legend or still continuing her feud in the modern era, where she also may be just ruthlessly questing for power or even represent motiveless malevolence. Such Morgan is often merely a one-dimensional caricature, examples of which include the portrayals of her in several television films such as Merlin and the Sword (1985) (played by Candice Bergen), A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1995) (played by Theresa Russell) and Arthur’s Quest (1999) (played by Catherine Oxenberg). Sklar described a modern stereotype of Morgan as “the very embodiment of evil dedicated to the subversion of all forms of governance, express[ing] the fears that inevitably accompany the sort of radical cultural change represented by the social realities and ideological imperatives of escalating female empowerment during this (20th) century…a composite of all the patriarchal nightmare-women of literary tradition: Eve, Circe, Medea and Lady Macbeth compressed into a single, infinitely menacing package,” and whose “sexuality exceeds even that of her prototype and serves as the chief vehicle for her manipulation of others.” Notable examples of this pattern are two comic book supervillainesses, Morgan le Fay (created by Stan Lee and Joe Maneely in 1955) in the Marvel Universe and Morgaine le Fey (created by Jack Kirby in 1972) in the DC Universe. A modern Morgan is often an antagonist character for Arthur, Merlin and their followers to overcome and save Camelot, Avalon, or even the world; even in Excalibur (1981), John Boorman’s film adaptation of Le Morte d’Arthur, the evil Morgana le Fay (played by Helen Mirren) meets her end at the hands of Mordred, her son in the film, instead of accompanying Arthur to Avalon as she did in the source material.

Nevertheless, other modern versions of Morgan’s character can be more sympathic or ambiguous, or even present her as in an entirely positive light, and some also feature her as a protagonist of a story. Alan Lupack of the University of Rochester noted in 2007 that a modern Morgan has evolved to become “a woman whose own values and concerns [have] become central in some retellings of the Arthurian story;” in 2012, Fiona Tolhurst of the Florida Gulf Coast University pointed out how “some contemporary novelists sanitize or justify” Morgan’s origins as “the oversexed counter-hero in most medieval Arthurian texts.”[66] One notable example of this trend is Marion Zimmer Bradley’s The Mists of Avalon (1983), an influential novel that was later adapted into a television miniseries;other such positions in modern literature, sometimes told in first person from her point of view, include Mary Pope Osborne’s series Magic Tree House, Welwyn Wilton Katz’s The Third Magic (1988), Fay Sampson’s Daughter of Tintagel (1992), Nancy Springer’s I Am Morgan le Fay (2001), J. Robert King’s Le Morte D’Avalon (2003), and Felicity Pulman’s I, Morgana (2014). California State Library consultant Cindy Mediavilla praised two still antagonistic but in her opinion non-stereotypical portrayals of Morgan in the 21st-century television series Merlin (2008) (played by Katie McGrath) and Camelot (2011) (played by Eva Green) “as being among the most fully realized versions of her character in any medium.”

Furthermore, since the late 20th century, some feminists have also adopted Morgan as a representation of female power or of a fading form of feminine spirituality supposedly practised by the Celts or earlier peoples. These interpretations draw upon the original portrayal of Morgan as a benevolent figure with extraordinary healing powers. According to Leila K. Norako of the University of Rochester, “in addition to her appearances in literature, television, and film, Morgan le Fay is also frequently mentioned in the context of neo-pagan religious groups. She is alternately worshipped as a goddess, hailed as a symbol of feminine power, and adopted as a spiritual name.” This development was attributed to the influence of The Mists of Avalon, a revisionist retelling of the legend from a feminist and pro-pagan perspective. People who have been named or named themselves specifically after Arthurian figure of Morgan include Morgana Le Fay O’Reilly and Elizabeth Le Fey. Norako wrote:

Like many characters in the Arthurian legends, Morgan le Fay has been consistently transformed and interpreted by authors and artists for nearly a millennium. [S]he is alternately cast as a healer, villain, enchantress, seductress, or some combination thereof, depending on the needs of the work in question. This versatility has no doubt played a part in the continued cultural relevance that this character has enjoyed across the centuries and continues to hold in contemporary culture as well.

Reference

http://www.witchcraftandwitches.com/index.html
Wikipedia

The Goddess

The Goddess Within

The Witches Magickal Journal for Friday, May 4th

I have always believed in magic. I used to run into the woods as a little kid looking for witches. But I’m not superstitious, because I m not afraid of it. I see it as something really beautiful, and I wouldn’t want to live in a world without magic.

Anya Taylor-Joy

May–The Month of Maia

This month is named after the goddess Maia, to whom the Romans sacrificed on the first day of the month. Maia was one of the Pleiades, the seven daughters of Atlas and Pleione. They were all transformed into pigeons that they might escape from the great hunter Orion, and flying up into the sky were changed into seven stars, which form the constellation known as the Pleiades. On any clear night you may see these stars clustered closely together, but they are not very bright, one of them being very faint indeed. A story says that at first they shone brightly, but after the capture of Troy by the Greeks they grew pale with sorrow. Another story says that all but one were married to gods, and that when they became stars the one who had married a mortal did not shine so brightly as her sisters.

Maia was the Goddess of the Plains and mother of Mercury, the messenger of the gods. In order that he might perform his duties as messenger more swiftly, Mercury was given by Jupiter wings for his feet, and a winged cap for his head. He is said to have invented the lyre, or harp, and to have given it to the Sun-god Apollo, who gave him in return a magic wand called Caduceus, which had the power of making enemies become friends. Mercury, in order to test its power, put it between two fighting snakes, and they at once wound themselves round it. Mercury ordered them to stay on the wand, and, in statues and pictures, the god is nearly always holding in his hand this wand with the snakes twisted round it.

Mercury was not only the messenger of the gods, but was also the God of Rain and Wind, and the protector of travellers, shepherds, and thieves. Festivals were held every year in Rome in his honour during the month of May.

Atlas, the father of the Pleiades, was a giant who lived in Africa and held up the sky on his shoulders. The great Hercules, when seeking for the Golden Apples of the Hesperides (daughters of the Evening Star), came to Atlas to ask him where he could find the apples. Atlas offered to get them for Hercules if he would take his place while he was away, so Hercules took the heavens on his shoulders, and Atlas set off to fetch the golden fruit. But on his return he told Hercules that he must stay where he was, while he himself would take the apples to the king, who had set Hercules the task of finding them. Hercules, as you may imagine, had no wish to spend the rest of his life holding up the sky, and, by a trick, succeeded in getting Atlas back to his place, and so was able to set out on his homeward journey.

The last story of Atlas we read in the account of the great hero Perseus, who, after slaying the Gorgon Medusa, passed Atlas on his way home. Now the face of the Gorgon turned to stone all who looked on it, and Atlas, worn out by the terrible burden he had to bear, persuaded Perseus to show him the Gorgon’s head. “Eagerly he gazed for a moment on the changeless countenance, but in an instant the straining eyes were stiff and cold; and it seemed to Perseus, as he rose again into the pale yellow air, that the grey hairs which streamed from the giant’s head were like the snow which rests upon the peak of a great mountain, and that, in place of the trem bling limbs, he saw only the rents and clefts on a rough hill-side.”

Thus Atlas was changed into the mountains which bear his name, and are to be found in the north-west of Africa.

Hercules, whom we have mentioned in this story of Atlas, is one of the best known of the Greek heroes, and to this day we often speak of an especially strong man as a Hercules, and we also have the expression “a Herculean task”. Hercules was a son of Jupiter, and devoted his life to ridding the country of the fierce beasts which brought death and destruction to many of his people. But through the hatred of the goddess Juno, Hercules knew much sorrow, and underwent great trials. To atone for crimes committed in a fit of madness sent upon him by Juno, he was condemned by the gods to become for a year the slave of the King of Argos, who set him twelve labours. The first of these labours was to slay a lion known as the Nemean lion. In spite of the attempts of many brave men to kill this fierce animal, it still continued to carry off men and women, and steal cattle and sheep. Hercules at once set out, and, tracking the lion to its den, seized it by the throat and crushed out its life. He then tore off the lion’s skin and made it into a covering which he always wore.

The second task was also to destroy a monster–a seven-headed serpent, known as the Hydra. Hercules attacked the serpent with a sword and cut off one of its heads, but was horrified to see seven new heads spring from the wound. Thereupon the hero called to his help his friend Iolaus, who seared the wounds with a lighted torch and thus prevented the new heads from growing. In this way Hercules finally slew the cruel Hydra.

Another task set the hero was to capture and tame the horses of the King of Thrace. These horses were fed on human flesh, and the king had ordered all strangers who entered his kingdom to be executed and given as food to the horses. Hercules succeeded in securing these animals, and, after throwing the king to his own horses as a punishment for his cruelty, led them to his master, the King of Argos.

Of the remaining labours, one was the fetching of the Golden Apples of the Hesperides, which we have mentioned; but the most famous was the cleaning of the Augean stables. King Augeas possessed enormous herds of cattle, and their stables had not been cleaned for many years. Hercules might well have lost heart at the sight of such a task, but he very cleverly overcame the difficulty. Near by the stables ran a swift river; this Hercules dammed and turned from its course, making it run through the stables, which in time it washed perfectly clean. Then, his task accomplished, Hercules led the river back to its course.

After a life of trial and labour, Hercules finally met a tragic death. By a trick he was persuaded to put on a robe which had been stained with poison. The poison ate into his flesh, and all the hero’s attempts to tear off the robe were in vain, so at last he resolved to die. He built an enormous funeral pyre by tearing up oak trees by the roots, and then laid himself on the pyre, to which one of his friends put a torch. In a short time roaring flames rose up to the sky and consumed the great Hercules, the man of might.

The Angles and Saxons seemed to have called this month of May “Tri-milchi”, meaning that, owing to the fresh grass of spring, they were able to milk their cows three times a day.

Today Is Friday, May 4th

Friday is the day of Venus. It takes it name from Frigg, the Goddess of love and transformation. She rules the spiritual side of a person that manifests in the physical. Because of this, Friday is often thought of as dangerously unpredictable. This is expressed in an old East Anglian adage:

Friday’s day will have its trick
The fairest or foulest day of the week.

Deity: Frigg

Zodiac Sign: Taurus/Libra

Planet: Venus

Tree: Apple

Herb: Vervain

Stone: Sapphire/Chrsolite

Animal: Bull/Serpent

Element: Earth

Color: Yellow/Violet

Number: 7

Rune: Peorth(P)

The Celtic Tree Month Saille (Willow) (April 14 – May 12)

Runic Half Month of Lagu(flowing water) (April 19 – May 13)

Goddess of the Month of Maia (April 18 – May 15th)

Source

The Pagan Book of Days
Nigel Pennick

The Pagan Book of Days for Friday, May 4th

The hawthorn tree, sacred to the Good Goddess, is honored on this day. The hawthorn is often called the may tree. At the festival of the Veneration of the Thorn, holy bushes and tree~those marking sacred places and holy wells~are today acknowledged by having new scraps of cloth tied to them.

Source

The Pagan Book of Days
Nigel Pennick

The Goddess Book of Days for Friday, May 4th

Veneration of the Sacred Thom (Moon) Tree in Ireland, became St. Monica’s Day, the beginning of the Hawthorn Moon. The fourth day of the Moon/ month belongs to Hathor/Isis, Saoka, Arstat, and the Mothers. In Babylon, a sabbat or shapatu for Ishtar.

Source

The Goddess Book of Days
Diane Stein

Goddesses Associated With Friday

Friday For Freya: Astarte, Aphrodite, Erzulie, Aida Wooo, Eve, Venus, Diana, Isis, the Witch of Gaeta, Chalchiuhtlique

Source

The Goddess Book of Days
Diane Stein

The Wicca Book of Days for May 4th

Changeling Times

If you are the parent of a baby or young child, keep your offspring close to your side today, for human children are in particular danger of being snatched by fairies and spirited away to fairyland on May 4, according to Irish folk belief. You may not notice the abduction at first, for the “little people” may substitute a changeling for your baby, but as the days and months progress, you may develop an uneasy sense that your infant is not developing as he or she should. The telltale signs of a changeling child include a foul temper, wizened features, and withered limbs.

Take Precautions

Whether or not you have a child, the fairies may still wreak havoc through sheer maliciousness. If you consider yourself or your home to be at risk, wearing your cardigan coat, or jacket inside out and leaving a placatory cup of tea and a cake on your doorstep should ensure that you are left alone.

Friday: The day of beauty

Frigg was the Norse goddess of beauty, love, household, fertility and motherhood. She was Odin’s wife. She wonderfully balances out the dreadfulness of all the masculine gods sitting around our week table.

Derived from Latin Dies Veneris, Friday is viernes in Spanish, vendredi in French and venerdi in Italian. The day belongs to Venus, the Roman goddess of beauty, love and fertility.

Friday’s Magick

Magickal Intent:
Lust
Romance
Happiness
Travel
Friends
Beauty
Sexuality
Harmony
Growth

Planet: Venus

Colors: Pink, Aqua, Seafoam

Crystals: Coral, Emerald, Rose Quartz

Friday’s Conjuring

Friday – is associated with Venus

Candle colors – Green, Red, Blue, White, Purple

Spellcrafting Associations: Love, Marriage, Money, Attraction, Luck, Healing, Prosperity, Change, Road Opening work, Bring Peace, Relationships.

Reference:

Old Style Conjure Wisdoms, Workings and Remedies
Starr Casas

Magickal Days of the Week ~ Friday

Friday falls at the end of the work week for many of us, and that means we get a chance to relax for a little bit! Mark your Fridays with colors like pink and aqua, and metals such as copper. This is a day ruled by the planet Venus, so it should be no surprise that Venus and Aphrodite – goddesses of love and beauty – are associated with Fridays. This is a day named for the Norse goddess Freyja, so be sure to take a moment to honor her as well.

Gemstones associated with Friday include coral, emerald and rose quartz, and plants like strawberries, apple blossoms and feverfew are also related. This is a good day to do spellwork associated with family life and fertility, sexuality, harmony, friendship, growth. Take advantage of Friday’s correspondences and plant a seed, make something grow, and enjoy your blessings

*Note: There are a lot of disputes as to the origins of the word Friday, because there is still a great deal of discussion as to whether it was named for Freyja or Frigga, and whether they were the same deity or two separate ones. Some scholars believe that while they may have eventually become two distinctly different goddesses, they could have had their origins in a single, common Proto-Germanic deity.

Author

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

Friday–The Day of Freya

In the stories of the gods and goddesses of the Angles and Saxons we find two goddesses, Frigga, the wife of Odin and queen of the gods, and Freya, the Goddess of Love. Some people think that Friday was named after Frigga, and others that it was Freya’s day. Since very similar stories are told of each of them, it is quite probable that they were really the same person. The Roman name for the day was Dies Veneris, the day of Venus, who, it will be remembered, was the Goddess of Love, and so corresponded to Freya. The modern French name is taken from the Latin and is vendredi.

Frigga was the Goddess of the Clouds, and, when she was not with her husband Odin, spent her time in spinning clouds. Her spinning-wheel was studded with jewels, and at night could be seen in the sky as the constellation to which the Romans gave the name of Orion’s Belt, as we have seen in the story of Orion.

Frigga was also the Goddess of Spring, and as such was known as Eastre, whom we have already mentioned as giving us the word Easter.

Freya, the Goddess of Love and Beauty, like the Venus of the Romans, received a great welcome when she came to the home of the gods, and was given a special kingdom called Folk Meadow, where was a vast hall known as the Hall of Many Seats. Here she received half of those slain in battle, the other half being entertained by Odin, as we have seen.

Freya is depicted as having blue eyes and golden hair, and often as wearing a robe of feathers, which enabled her to fly through the air like a bird.

The goddess is said to have married Odur, who was probably Odin under another name. Odur once had occasion to leave Freya and travel over the world, and the goddess was broken-hearted at his departure. Her tears fell among the rocks and were changed to gold, while some which fell into the sea were transformed into amber. All nature mourned with her: the trees shed their leaves, the grass withered, and the flowers drooped their heads. At last Freya in her distress set out to find her husband, and, passing through many lands, where her golden tears were afterwards found, came to the sunny south, and there overtook the wandering Odur. As the lovers returned, the fields and the flowers rejoiced with them. The frost and snow fled before them, and the earth became green again as they passed.

“And Freya next came nigh, with golden tears;
The loveliest Goddess she in Heaven, by all
Most honour’d after Frea, Odin’s wife.
Her long ago the wandering Odur took
To mate, but left her to roam distant lands;
Since then she seeks him, and weeps tears of gold.”
MATTHEW ARNOLD–Balder Dead.

This story, of course, reminds us of Ceres and Persephone, and is only another fanciful explanation of summer and winter.

Freya was the proud possessor of a dazzling necklace of gold, which had been made by the dwarfs, and which she wore night and day. On one occasion only did she lend the necklace, when Thor, disguised as Freya, went to the land of the giants to recover his hammer, which had been stolen by the Giant Thrym. Loki, by borrowing Freya’s robe of feathers and flying over the country of the giants, had discovered the thief, but had also found that Thrym would only return the hammer on condition that Freya would become his wife. When Freya heard of the giant’s presumption, she became greatly enraged, and vowed that she would never leave her beloved Odur and go to live in that dreary and desolate land of cold. Heimdall, the guardian of the bridge Bifrost, then suggested that Thor should go to Thrym disguised as Freya, in company with Loki disguised as Freya’s attendant. The gods at last allowed themselves to be persuaded, and Thor, having borrowed Freya’s clothes and necklace and wearing a thick veil, set out with Loki, who was dressed as a handmaiden. On reaching the giant’s palace, they were welcomed by Thrym, who was delighted at the success of his plan, and who led them to the banqueting hall, where a great feast was held. At the end of the feast, Thrym ordered the famous hammer to be brought in, and he himself laid it in his bride’s lap as a marriage gift. Thor’s hand immediately closed over the hammer, and in a few moments Thrym and all the guests invited to the wedding feast lay dead.

Freya was greatly relieved to have her necklace returned in safety, but the evil Loki, attracted by its wonderful beauty, determined to steal it. One night the god, by changing himself into a fly, succeeded in entering Freya’s palace. He then resumed his own shape, and, creeping stealthily to Freya’s bed, gently removed the necklace from the goddess’s neck. The watchful Heimdall, however, had heard Loki’s footsteps, and, looking in the direction of the Folk Meadow, became a witness of the theft. He at once set off in pursuit of Loki, and, overtaking him, drew his sword and was about to kill the thief, when Loki changed himself into a flame. Heimdall immediately changed himself into a cloud, and sent down a shower of rain to put out the fire. Loki then took the form of a bear, and opened his mouth to catch the water. Heimdall also took the form of a bear and attacked Loki, who, finding that he was being overpowered, changed himself yet again, into a seal. Heimdall followed suit, and fought again with Loki, and at length compelled him to give up the necklace, which was returned to Freya.

On another occasion Freya was sought by one of the giants, and it was only by the cunning of Loki and by an act of bad faith on the part of the gods that she was saved. The gods, ever anxious lest the giants should invade Asgard, decided to build a stronghold which would prove impregnable. They received an offer from a stranger, who was willing to undertake the work in return for the sun, the moon, and the goddess Freya. By Loki’s advice they accepted the offer on condition that he should complete the work in one winter, aided only by his horse. To the surprise of the gods the stranger agreed to these conditions, and with the help of his horse, which could haul the heaviest stone, set to work. The gods, who at first felt sure that their conditions had made the task impossible, were alarmed to find as time went on that the stranger was working so quickly that it seemed certain that he would be able to keep his promise. The gods on their side had no intention whatever of keeping their promise, since they could not possibly part with the sun and the moon and the Goddess of Love, and they angrily pointed out to Loki that since it was he who had got them into this difficulty, he must find some way out of it. Loki replied that the gods need have no fear, for with his usual cunning he had thought of a plan whereby the stranger might be made to forfeit his reward. On the last day, when only one stone remained to be dragged into position, Loki changed himself into a horse, and, trotting out from the forest, neighed loudly to attract the attention of the stranger’s horse. Tired of his continual labour and longing for freedom and rest, the horse broke free from its load and galloped after Loki. The stranger, after pursuing it vainly through the forest, at last made his way to Asgard, and, full of anger at the trick which had been played upon him, took on his real shape, for he was a frost-giant, and was about to attack the gods when Thor hurled his hammer at him and killed him.

Frey, the god mentioned in the story of Loki and Sif’s golden hair, was Freya’s brother. He was the God of the Fields, and sacrifices were made to him for the crops. In the early spring his wooden image was driven in a chariot through the countryside, in order that he might bless the fields and bring a fruitful harvest: Frey, as we have seen, became the possessor of a ship which could travel over land and sea, and though large enough to contain all the gods, yet could be folded up like a cloth, and he also possessed a boar with golden bristles. The god often rode on this boar, which was swifter than a horse, and was no doubt a symbol of the sun, which ripened the crops. We find the same idea of sunshine in Frey’s flashing sword, which fought of its own accord as soon as it was drawn from its sheath.

The month of the Angles and Saxons which begins just before our Christmas was sacred to both Frey and Thor, and it was customary at that time, as we have already mentioned, to bind a huge wooden wheel with straw, and, setting fire to it, to roll it down a hill. The wheel was a symbol of the sun, which at that time began to chase away the winter. At this time, too, was held a great feast to all the gods, and the chief meat eaten was a boar’s head, in honour of Frey. The missionaries who first brought Christianity to the Northmen, finding this feast was of great importance and was celebrated by all the people, did not try to do away with it. Instead, they changed it from a heathen to a Christian festival by putting Christ in the place of the Norse gods, and calling it the Feast or Mass of Christ. A similar change was made, it will be remembered, in the case of the Easter festival, held in honour of Eastre or Frigga, the wife of Odin.

The Witches Guide to Friday

Ruler: Freya, Venus

Colors: Emerald green or pink

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

Key Words: Love, money, health

It is easy to spot the ruler of this day by its name. In the word Friday, we see the roots of the name of the Norse goddess Freya, a goddess of love and fertility, and the most beautiful and propitious of the goddesses thus the verse “Friday’s child is loving and giving.”

In Spanish this day of the week is called Viernes and is derived from the goddess Venus. Matters of love, human interaction, the fluidity of communication, sewing and the creation of artistic garments, household improvement, shopping, and party planning all fall under the aspects of Friday and its ruling planet, Venus.

Friday’s angels are Ariel/Uriel, Rachiel, and Sachiel. Rachiel also concerns himself with human sexuality and is a presiding spirit of the planet Venus.

On Fridays, the hour of sunrise and every eight hours after that are also ruled by Venus, and that makes these times of the day doubly blessed. These four hours are the strongest four hours for conducting ritual.

Check the local newspaper, astrological calendar, or almanac to determine your local sunrise.

Source

Gypsy Magic

The Witches Almanac for Friday, May 4th

Bona Dea (Roman)

Waning Moon

Moon phase: Third Quarter

Moon Sign: Capricorn

Incense: Violet

Color: Purple

FRIDAY CORRESPONDENCES

Venus/Water/East/West/South/Dawn/Female/Libra/Taurus

Magickal Intentions: Love, Romance, Marriage, Sexual Matters, Physical Beauty, Friendship and Partnerships, Strangers, Heart

Color: aqua, blue, light blue, brown, green, pale green, magenta, peach, pink, rose, white, all pastels

Number: 5, 6

Metal: copper

Charm: green or white garments, scepter

Stone: alexandrite, amethyst, coral, diamond, emerald, jade, jet, black moonstone, peridot, smoky quartz, tiger’s-eye, pink tourmaline

Animal: camel, dove, elephant, goat, horse, pigeon, sparrow

Plant: apple, birch, cherry, clematis, clove, coriander, heather, hemlock, hibiscus, ivy, lotus, moss, myrtle, oats, pepperwort, peppermint, pinecone, quince, raspberry, rose, pink rose, red rose, rose hips, saffron, sage, savin, stephanotis, strawberry, thyme, vanilla, verbena, violet, water lily, yarrow, and all flowers

Incense: ambergris, camphor, mace, musk, myrrh, rose, saffron, sage, sandalwood, sweetgrass, vanilla, violet, all floral scents

Goddess: Aphrodite, Asherah, Baalith, Brigid, Erzulie, Freya (Passionate Queen), Frigg, Gefion, Harbor (Beautiful One), Hestia, Inanna, Ishtar (Lady of Passion and Desire), Lakshmi, Lilith, Mokosh, Nehalennia, Nerthus, Ostara, Pombagira, Sarasvati, Shakti, Shekinah, Sirtur, Al Uzza, Venus (Queen of Pleasure), Vesta

God: Allah, Bacchus, Bes, Cupid, the Dagda, Dionysus, El, Eros (God of Love), Freyr, Frit Ailek, Shukra

Evocation: Agrat Bat Mahalat, Anael, Hagiel, Mokosba, Rasbid, Sachiel, Uriel, Velas

Courtesy of Moonlight Musings

Friday Is Ruled by Venus

Archangel: Anael

Candle colour: Green or pink

Incenses: Rose or geranium

Crystals: Jade or rose quartz

Use Fridays for spells for love, fidelity, healing, for anything to do with beauty, the arts and crafts and for all spells concerning the environment.

Where possible, work in any enclosed beautiful place outdoors, for example a botanical garden, a field, park or your own garden – even in a circle of plants indoors.

The Energy of Venus

Weekday ruled by Venus: Friday

Stones:

Rose quartz
Moonstone
Pink tourmaline
Peridot
Emerald
Jade

Herbs and Plants:

Pink rose
Ivy
Birch
Heather
Clematis
Sage
Violet
Waterlily

Magickal intentions: Love, romance, marriage, sexual matters, physical beauty, friendship and partnerships, strangers and heart matters.

Magickal Applications for Fridays

Friday is named after the Norse goddesses of love, Freya and Frigga. There seems to be some debate as to whom the day is actually named after, so I thought I would share a little information so you can decide for yourself.

In Latin, this day is known as Dies Veneris, “Venus’s day.” In Greek, it’s Hermera Aphrodites, which translates to the “day of Aphrodite.” In Old English, this day is called Frige- daeg, or “Freya’s day.” This day has the Germanic title of Frije-dagaz, which, once again, could be Freya’s day or Frigga’s day.

Both Freya and Frigga were Norse goddesses of love and were the Teutonic equivalent of the Greco-Roman Venus/Aphrodite. However, Freya was one of the Vanir—the gods of fertility who supervised the land and sea—and she was the leader of the Valkyries. Frigga, Odin’s wife, was the goddess of the heavens and of married love. She was one of the Aesir—the gods associated with battle, magick and the sky. Freya and Frigga could be looked upon as different aspects of the same goddess. They both were called on to assist in childbirth and then in naming of the new baby. Frigga represented the faithful wife and loving mother, while Freya, who really captured the hearts and imagination of the Norse people, was the passionate mistress and lover.

Fridays classically are days for love, fertility, romance, and beauty magick, as well as working for happiness, harmony in the home, and friendship. So let’s take a look at some of the mythology involved with this loving, voluptuous, passionate, and luxurious day of the week, and see where it leads us.

Source

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

The Witches Magick for Friday, May 4th

Banishing And Sealing Ritual For The Home

To be performed during at the New Moon, but may be performed at any time in need.

You will need a new white Candle (any size with holder), small bowls for Water and Salt, and a large bowl of water as well, and the censer and an appropriate incense. (Choose one that brings to your mind qualities you wish to have in your home.)

Banishing Ritual:

Meditate for a few moments on the task ahead; then make a brief invocation to the Goddess and the God, asking for Their Aid and Power in the Work you will do.

Light the white candle in its holder, and charcoal in the censer (or an incense stick may be used instead).

Consecrate Water and Salt in the usual way.

Consecrate the water in the bowl in the same manner, but do not add Salt; place this bowl in the center of the room.

Take the consecrated Water, elevate it to North, and say,

“In the name of (Goddess) and (God)
I banish with Water and Earth.”

Sprinkle the Water lightly widdershins around the perimeter of the room.

Bless the incense, then elevate the censer (or incense stick) to North, and say,

“In the name of (Goddess) and (God)
I banish with Fire and Air.”

Cense the perimeter of the room widdershins.

Take the Candle and cast a Banishing Earth Pentagram at North. (Draw the Pentagram with the censer or incense stick, starting from the bottom left point up to the top point, and so forth.) As you cast the Pentagram say,

“With this Sign I banish ye, foul shades of the (Quarter)!
Let this home be freed of your baneful influences!”

Then go widdershins around the perimeter of the room, casting a Banishing Pentagram at each Quarter beginning at the West and ending back at North, repeating the above at each Quarter. (Do not repeat it again at North.)

Now turn and face the center of the room, where the bowl of water sits.

With your hands, draw any negative energy or vibrations remaining, and cast them into the water in the bowl by flicking or snapping your fingers at it. Repeat this action until you are satisfied the room is cleansed. Do not touch the water in the bowl, as it is being filled with the negative forces you are eliminating.

Move the consecrated Water, the Salt, the Incense, the Candle, and the bowl of water (being careful not to spill it) into each room in your home and repeat this ritual.

After banishing every room in the home (including bathroom, closets, pantry, etc.) you have finished. Empty the large bowl of water into running water (a sink or toilet will do). Wash the bowl thoroughly with cold water, scrubbing with some of the consecrated Salt.

Sealing Ritual:

Take all the Elemental substances used in the Banishing Ritual (Salt, consecrated Water, wax drippings from the Candle, and ashes from the incense) and mix them into a paste.

Using your forefinger, use the mixture to draw an Invoking Fire Pentagram at each opening leading outside the home (the doors and the windows – and even the water pipes, if you should feel the need) while concentrating on the Intention of protecting your home from outside influences. (Draw the Pentagram from the top point to the bottom right, and so forth. Form the Star so that it is point up, or point out, as appropriate.) You may make two Stars at each opening if you wish – one on the sill or threshold, and the other on the door or window itself.

Remember that Intent is the key to success in this, as in all magickal operations; going through the motions without Will brings no results.

Celebrating Legends, Folklore & Spirituality 365 Days A Year for May 4th, Festival of Bona Dea

May 3 and 4

Festival of Bona Dea

Bona Dea is the Roman Goddess of the earth and bountiful blessings. In ancient times, her festival was held in secret, usually ally in the house of the officiating counsel or praetor of the city. Presided over by the mistress of the household, selected matrons, and the Vestal Virgins, special ceremonies were enacted acted at night for the benefit of the city and its inhabitants.

This festival was for women only, to the extent that all statues and paintings of male deities and male members of the household were covered with veils. The room where the ceremonies emonies took place was decorated with vine branches and fresh flowers. Wine was served but called milk, and the covered jar containing it was referred to as the honey pot.

Magickal Activity for May 4th, The Festival of Bona Dea

Wishing Pot

Items needed: A small ceramic jar or pot with a tight-fitting lid; 2″ square piece of parchment paper; a gold ink pen; a jar of honey; three silver coins.

Write out your wish on the parchment paper. Place the paper in the bottom of the jar. Add the coins and fill the jar with honey. Cover with the lid. Hold the jar close to your heart and the chant the following nine times to empower the wishing pot:

Goddess of blessings and bountiful earth
To my wishes and dreams give birth.

Place the pot on your altar until your wish comes true. Once you receive your petition, toss the pot into the nearest water way.

Dear Goddess

The Witches Astronomy Journal for Friday, May 4th

The Lady’s Prayer

Our Mother
Who art here present,
Honored be thy name.
Thy time is come
We shall be One
On Earth, which is our heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And love us in our imperfections
As we forgive those who trespass against us.
For thine is the spirit of the great transformation
Forever and ever.
So Mote It Be

Author Unknown
Published on Pagan Library

Your Daily Sun & Moon Data for Friday, May 4th

The Sun
Sun Direction: ↑ 89.38° E
Sun Altitude: 26.49°
Sun Distance: 93.729 million mi
Next Solstice: Jun 21, 2018 5:07 am (Summer)
Sunrise Today: 5:56 am↑ 69° East
Sunset Today: 7:46 pm↑ 291° Northwest
Length of Daylight: 13 hours, 49 minutes

The Moon
Moon Direction: ↑ 233.37° SW
Moon Altitude: 10.37°
Moon Distance: 250552 mi
Next New Moon: May 15, 20186:47 am
Next Full Moon: May 29, 20189:19 am
Next Moonset: Today9:24 am
Current Moon Phase: Waning Gibbous
Illumination: 81.1%

Source

timeanddate.com

Astrology of Today – Friday, May 4, 2018

The Moon is in Capricorn.
The Moon is waning and in its Waning Gibbous phase.
The Full Moon occurred on the 29th in the sign of Scorpio. The Last Quarter Moon will occur on May 7th.

Moon in Capricorn

The Moon is traveling through Capricorn today. Make a list of goals. Work overtime. Climb higher. Don’t sulk.

We become aware of the need for structure and planning ahead with a Capricorn Moon. We are instinctively aware of the limitations of time and motivated by a desire for success. Achievement and manifestation are more important to us now. We are resourceful and don’t want to waste time, energy, or resources. This can be a somewhat sober influence, but it can also be a productive time when we look reality in the eye.

The Moon in Capricorn generally favors the following activities: Long-term activities that yield slow but steady results, practical undertakings, career issues, making a business plan, practical investments.

A Look At Your Planets And Stars for Friday, May 4th

The Moon transits Capricorn all day, and we seek more order and structure in our lives. Our sense of responsibility is stronger than usual, and we aim for efficiency in most areas of life now. Our careers, reputation, and objectives are in focus with the Moon in this practical sign. The Moon aligns with Saturn in Capricorn this afternoon, which is sobering. We aim to be more responsible, practical, and efficient under this influence.

A Sun-Jupiter contraparallel active today, however, has us questioning and philosophizing, not only dealing with the practical world. Moral dilemmas may present themselves.

The sky this week for May 4 to May 6

By Richard Talcott

Friday, May 4

Although the calendar says May, the sky’s Summer Triangle returns to prominence this month. The asterism’s three bright stars — Vega in Lyra, Deneb in Cygnus, and Altair in Aquila — all clear the horizon by midnight local daylight time. An hour later, they rule the eastern sky. Vega shines brightest and appears at the apex of the triangular asterism. Look for Deneb to Vega’s lower left and Altair to the lower right of the other two. The Summer Triangle will grace the Northern Hemisphere’s evening sky from now through the end of the year.

Saturday, May 5

The waning gibbous Moon appears roughly halfway between Mars and Saturn this morning. All three objects rise by 1:30 a.m. local daylight time and climb nearly 30° high in the south by 5 a.m. Mars shines at magnitude –0.5 and is already a little brighter than it was earlier in the week. Saturn glows about half as bright, at magnitude 0.3. The trio stands against the backdrop of northern Sagittarius the Archer. If you view Saturn through a telescope this week, you’ll see its 18″-diameter disk surrounded by a stunning ring system that spans 40″ and tilts 26° to our line of sight.

The Moon also reaches apogee today, at 8:35 p.m. EDT. It then lies 251,318 miles (404,457 kilometers) from Earth’s center, the farthest it gets from our planet during its month-long orbit.

Sunday, May 6

The annual Eta Aquariid meteor shower peaks before dawn. Unfortunately, the waning gibbous Moon shares the sky, and its bright light will wash out fainter meteors and render the brighter ones less impressive. Don’t give up hope, however. For the best views, find an otherwise dark site and position yourself where a tree or building blocks the Moon’s direct light. The Eta Aquariid shower derives from bits of debris ejected by Comet 1P/Halley during its many trips around the Sun.

Although the Moon interferes with the Eta Aquariids, take a few minutes to enjoy a binocular view of our satellite next to Mars. The Moon slides 3° due north of the Red Planet at 3 a.m. EDT.

Source

The Astronomy Magazine

In the Sky This Month

Of the five planets easily visible to the unaided eye, only Mercury is missing from view this month. The other four are in good view, with one of them, Jupiter, putting in its best showing of the year. Venus climbs higher as the Evening Star, while Mars and Saturn remain in the early morning sky. Among the stars, Regulus and Spica climb to their full spring glory.

May 4: More Moon and Planets
Mars and Saturn will be easy to spot early tomorrow, because they will flank the Moon. Saturn will stand to the right of the Moon at first light, with Mars a little farther to the lower left of the Moon. Orange Mars is the brighter planet.

May 5: More Moon and Mars
The planet Mars is in great view early tomorrow. It looks like a bright orange star just to the lower right of the Moon as the first blush of twilight begins to paint the sky. Mars will grow much brighter over the next couple of months.

May 6: Ursa Major
Ursa Major, the great bear, is high in the north on May evenings. The bear’s body and tail form the Big Dipper. The bear aims nose-first at the northern horizon.

May 7: Jupiter at Opposition
Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system, shines at its best for the year this week. It rises at sunset and sets around sunrise. It is brightest for the year, too, outshining everything else in the night sky except the Moon and Venus.

May 8: Evening Lights
As twilight fades this evening, two lights will pop into view long before the others. In the west, look for Venus, the “evening star.” At about the same height in the southeast, look for slightly fainter Jupiter, at its brightest for the year.

May 9: Coma Berenices
Coma Berenices is in the eastern sky at nightfall. Its stars are faint. But under a dark sky, they offer one of the prettiest sights in the heavens: streamers of stars that represent the hair of Berenice, a queen of ancient Egypt.

May 10: Coma Star Cluster
The star cluster Melotte 111, in Coma Berenices, is a good target for binoculars or a small telescope. The constellation is high in the east at nightfall, and good binoculars reveal a small swarm of stars.

Source

StarDate

Your Daily Cosmic Calendar for Friday, May 4th

As indicated at the end of yesterday’s calendar entry, take a good look at investments, insurance needs, safety and security issues as well as soul-sister bonds as the moon in Capricorn makes its monthly rendezvous with Vesta (4:51am).

Emulate the tortoise with a slow-and-steady climb to the executive penthouse of your professional aims during the monthly lunar conjunction with discipline-encouraging Saturn (1:03pm).

Drop old fears and jettison chronic worries to the best of your ability. Giving you rays of hope is a contra-parallel between the Sun and Jupiter (7:33pm) as long as pride and arrogance are replaced by humility.

Strive to make progress empowering primary partnerships — courtesy of a 60-degree tie between Juno in Aries and underworld-chieftain Pluto in Capricorn (8:00pm).

[Note to readers: All times are now calculated for Pacific Daylight Time. Be sure to adjust all times according to your own local time so the alignments noted above will be exact for your location.]

Cosmic Weather Horoscope – May 2018

Jane Lyle, Astrology
From The Astrology Room

Thought for May:

‘May, the blossom of the hawthorn, smells of sex and death. This is neither hyperbole nor poetic licence: it contains a substance called trimethylamine that appears when bodily tissues and sexual fluids decompose. Perhaps because of this, and perhaps because of religious opposition to its ritual use as a portal to the otherworld, a folkloric fear of hawthorn exists in living memory.’

– Nina Lyon, ‘Uprooted: On the Trail of the Green Man’ (2016)

Traditionally the ‘Merry month of May’ is an enticing layer-cake of folklore, fairy-tale, pagan rituals and otherworldly beauty. Green Men, May Queens, the spirits of the dead, fairies and all manner of mischievous supernatural beings dance around the Beltain bonfires – even in our tumultuous, high-tech world.

May is always a portal. What lies on the other side of the mysterious door?

May 2018’s astrology signals movement, tension, and change. We are half way between the Vernal Equinox and the Summer Solstice in June (or the Autumn Equinox and Winter Solstice in the Southern Hemisphere), and six planets are due to change signs. Only the Sun and Venus moved home in April, so chances are we’ll all feel a shift in ourselves, our priorities, and in the world around us.

Certainly, there’s high global tension as May begins. Mars and Pluto in Capricorn foster a brooding, ruthless atmosphere, while revolutionary planet Uranus in war-like Aries clashes with Mars, and continues to signify a time of upsets, unexpected possibilities, and sudden upheavals.

Mid month astrology heralds an exciting, even shocking atmosphere as Uranus enters earthy, security minded Taurus, and Mars enters clever, geeky Aquarius. The warrior and the nutty professor clash beneath a potent, earthy new Moon in Taurus.

There’s more to say about this – but some essential themes are money and the stock markets, technology, earthquakes, and electrical storms. Its bumpy, with strange algorithms causing confusion, internet-based meltdown, or yet more leaks of information, documents, and shadowy hacking scandals – perhaps more aggressive than usual.

Cyber warfare or hostilities are a strong possibility, particularly between Monday 14th and Friday 18th May.

By the end of May, some love and inspiration flows – in one corner of the universe at least. Venus in Cancer, Jupiter in Scorpio and Neptune in Pisces offer beauty, healing, and inspiration then – and I think we’ll all be eager to drink deeply at that particular cosmic fountain, and look forward to happier times.

The Witches Current Moon Phase for May 4

Waning Gibbous
Illumination: 82%

The Moon today is in a Waning Gibbous Phase. This is the first phase after the Full Moon occurs. It lasts roughly 7 days with the Moon’s illumination growing smaller each day until the Moon becomes a Last Quarter Moon with a illumination of 50%. The average Moon rise for this phase is between 9am and Midnight depending on the age of the phase. The moon rises later and later each night setting after sunrise in the morning. During this phase the Moon can also be seen in the early morning daylight hours on the western horizon.

PHASE DETAILS FOR – FRIDAY, MAY 4, 2018

Phase: Waning Gibbous
Illumination: 82%
Moon Age: 18.94 days
Moon Angle: 0.49
Moon Distance: 404,652.15 km
Sun Angle: 0.53
Sun Distance: 150,870,103.87 km

Source

MoonGiant.com

The Waning Gibbous Moon

This intermediate Moon phase comes after Full Moon and lasts until half of the Moon’s surface is illuminated at Third Quarter Moon.

Just after Full Moon, when the face of the Moon is 100% illuminated, the intermediate phase called Waning Gibbous Moon starts.

Waning means that it is getting smaller. Gibbous refers to the shape, which is less than the full circle of a Full Moon, but larger than the semicircle shape of the Third Quarter Moon.

With some exceptions, the Waning Gibbous Moon rises after sunset but before midnight and doesn’t set until after sunrise.

During this period, the lit up portion of the Moon goes down from 99.9%% to 50.1%.

Technically, this phase starts as soon as the Full Moon moment has passed. However, it can be difficult to differentiate the first stage of a Waning Gibbous Moon from a Full Moon when as much as 98% to 99% of the Moon’s surface is illuminated.

Sun Lights Up the Moon
The Moon does not radiate its own light, but the Moon’s surface reflects the Sun’s rays. Half of the Moon’s surface is always illuminated by direct sunlight, except during lunar eclipses when Earth casts its shadow on the Moon. Just how much of that light we can see from Earth varies every day, and we refer to this as a Moon phase.

Primary and Intermediate Moon Phases
In Western Culture, we divide the lunar month into 4 primary and 4 intermediate Moon phases.

The Moon phases start with the invisible New Moon. The first visible Moon phase is the thin sliver of a Waxing Crescent Moon. Around a week later, half of the Moon’s surface is illuminated while the other half is in darkness at First Quarter Moon.

The illuminated part continues to grow into a Waxing Gibbous Moon, until 14 to 15 days into the cycle, we see the entire face of the Moon lit up at Full Moon.

The illuminated part then gradually shrinks into a Waning Gibbous Moon, and when it reaches Third Quarter, the opposite half from the First Quarter is illuminated. From there, it fades into a Waning Crescent Moon. Finally, the Moon disappears completely from view into another New Moon phase, only to reemerge and repeat this cycle over and over.

Same Phase Looks Different
Moon phases are the same all over the world. The same percentage and area of the Moon are illuminated no matter where on Earth you are. However, the Moon is rotated in different ways depending on the time, the date, your location, and the Moon’s position in the sky. Therefore, the illuminated part of a Waning Gibbous Moon can appear on the left, the right, the top, or the bottom.

No Gibbous Moon in Calendars
There is no symbol for the Waxing Gibbous Moon in calendars as it is an intermediate Moon phase.

Source

timeanddate.com

Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower, May 6th

The Eta Aquarids will peak on May 6, 2018. The best time to see the shower, which is visible from most of the world, is in the early morning, just before dawn.

Where Can I See the Eta Aquarids?
The radiant, the point in the sky where the Eta Aquarids seem to emerge from, is in the direction of the constellation Aquarius. The shower is named after the brightest star of the constellation, Eta Aquarii.

When Can I See the Eta Aquarids
Also sometimes spelled as Eta Aquariid, the meteor shower is usually active between April 19 and May 28 every year. In 2018, it will peak on May 6.

Dust From Halley’s Comet
The Eta Aquarids is one of two meteor showers created by debris from Comet Halley. The Earth passes through Halley’s path around the Sun a second time in October. This creates the Orionid meteor shower, which peaks around October 20.

Comet Halley takes around 76 years to make a complete revolution around the Sun. The next time it will be visible from Earth is in 2061.

The table below shows the exact direction of the Eta Aquarids from your location.

Location in the Sky Tonight
A slight chance to see η-Aquariids; the table below is updated daily and shows the position for the coming night.

η-Aquariids meteor shower for Kentucky (Night between May 4 and May 5)

Time Azimuth/Direction Altitude
Sat 3:00 am 96°East 5.9°
Sat 4:00 am 105°East-southeast 17.6°
Sat 5:00 am 116°East-southeast 28.7°

Direction to see the η-Aquariids in the sky:

Azimuth is the direction, based on true north; a compass might show a slightly different value.

Altitude is height in degrees over horizon.

Note that this is not the prime period to watch the η-Aquariids, so there may be few or no meteors visible this night. Set your location

How to Watch Meteor Showers
Check the weather: Meteors, or shooting stars, are easy to spot; all you need is clear skies and a pair of eyes.
Get out of town: Find a place as far away as possible from artificial lights.
Prepare to wait: Bring something to sit or lie down on. Stargazing is a waiting game, so get comfortable.

Source

timeanddate.com

A Little Goody To Share, One of My Personal Favorites ~ The Life of the Witch

Good Friday Morning Again! It Is Great To Be Back, Wishing You & Yours A Very Blessed & Beautiful Friday!

Before We Get Started, A Witch’s Public Service Announcement

Good morning, my sweets! I hope everyone is having a very beautiful and blessed Friday. I don’t know if you know it or not but…….Twitter has had a major security “glitch”(what they are calling it). They are advising everyone who has a Twitter account to change their password immediately. I guess they have learned from Facebook not to call a hack a hack. Instead, Twitter uses a “glitch.” Call it what it is! Anyway, while you are waiting on us, run over to Twitter (if you have an account) and change your password.

See you in just a minute or two…..

Love ya,

Lady A

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