Solitary Witchcraft

There are many reasons for performing witchcraft alone: your personal circumstances or the location of your home may mean that you cannot travel to a group, or you may live in an area where there are few others who share your interests. Many witches like myself choose to practise alone, drawing in my family and close friends to celebrate with me on the festival days. Most solitary witches initiate themselves, though some traditions, such as the Saxon Seat Wicca founded by Raymond Buckland in
the USA, do admit solitary witches.

Indeed, solitary practitioners are said by some to have been witches in seven previous lifetimes and to possess within them all they need to know about the Craft. Truth or myth, no one should underestimate the number of private practitioners who do work alone, some coming together occasionally in small, informal groups.

Solitary witches can use ceremonial magick very successfully, but many do follow the less formal folk magick, linked to the land and the seasons, that was practised by our ancestors in their homes.For this reason, some call themselves hedge-witches, from the times when a hedge, often of hawthorn, bounded the witch’s home, and it is sometimes said that they are walking on the hedge between two worlds. Such a witch may be in the tradition of the village wise women who knew about herbs and about the cycles of nature and used the implements of their kitchens rather than ceremonial tools.

She may also be gifted in divination, in spell-casting and in astral projection. Usually a woman, but occasionally a man, the solitary witch practises eclectic magick drawn from a variety of traditions. Those expert in brews and potions are also called kitchen witches.

Indeed, many of our grandmothers and great-grandmothers who possessed a remarkable intuition, read the tea leaves and made herbal concoctions, were jokingly called witches by their own families – and were just that!

You have your choice of groves, stone circles, the ocean shore, your garden or balcony, where you can connect with the powers of nature and
work unobtrusively. Whether you are working alone, or in a group, or coven, you will share the same aims and will need much the same equipment.

Tools And Treasures

You will need to collect some basic tools for your spells and rituals. If you are working in a group,these can be kept either by different members or in a safe place and brought out at meetings. They need not be at all expensive. Magick was traditionally carried out with the equipment of the home: the broom for sweeping the magical circle was the besom used for sweeping dirt (and negativity) out of the door and was stored with its bristles upwards to protect the home.

The cauldron was the iron cooking pot on the black kitchen range that served to heat the home as well as for cooking. Items often can be gathered from around your home: for example, a silver bell, a crystal bowl or a large wine glass. Attractive scarves or throws make ideal altar cloths. Car boot sales are an excellent source of magical equipment. Keep your magical tools separate from your everyday household equipment in a large box or chest, so that you can keep them charged with positive energies for magical and healing work.

Some items, such as the pentacle, you can make from clay, and herbs can be grown inpots or in gardens and chopped in a mortar and pestle. Fresh herbs have more immediate energies than dried, though the latter are better in sachets and poppets.

Always bear in mind that the magick is in you, not in your tools, and a wand cut from a fallen hazel or willow branch in the right hands can be more magical that the most elaborate crystal-tipped one purchased from a New Age store.

Practical Guide to Witchcraft and Magic Spells
Cassandra Eason

Wicca

Wicca, as it is performed today, is not modern witchcraft per se, but a contemporary neo-pagan religion. It is, however, one of the major forms of witchcraft. It began in its modern form with the teachings of Gerald Gardner after the repeal of the Witchcraft Act in 1951, though its descent can be traced to the ancient nature religions. This traditional method of Wicca is quite formal, with covens using ritual tools and learned invocations emphasising the Goddess and her representative, the High Priestess, as their head. The Goddess is the archetype or source energy of the ultimate feminine power or principle. All the named goddesses represent aspects of particular qualities of the Goddess in
different cultures. Her consort is the Horned God and his representative in the coven is the High Priest. Though each coven is autonomous, formal Wicca follows a system of degrees of learning and does not permit self-initiation. The High Priest initiates the female members and the High Priestess the male. They celebrate eight sabbats, or seasonal celebrations.

There are, however, numerous forms of Wicca and of witchcraft, many of which draw on ancient traditions. For example, the feminist Dianic Wicca, founded in the 1970s, is spiritually descended from the nature religion of the Italian witches who worshipped Diana as the Triple Goddess of the
Moon from about 500 BC.

Since the 1970s, less formal practices and covens have evolved, which may or may not have a structured learning system, and these create their own spells and ceremonies, rather than using an existing system, such as that recorded in Gardner’s own Book of Shadows, revised by his High Priestess Doreen Valiente. These individual ceremonies are recorded in books created to reflect the evolving rituals of each coven and its own emphases. This method is much more conducive to solitary practitioners who can incorporate magick into their domestic and working lives.

Wiccan Rituals And Ethics

Wiccans believe in polarity rather than a single godhead, both in magick and in life. Evil is therefore not a separate demonic force to be eradicated, and the darker aspects of life emanate as a result of
alienation from the natural order of things. However, even those things that are bad can act as catalysts for change; death and endings are as much part of the cycle of life as are birth and beginnings. Dark and light, night and day, positive and negative, destruction and creation are two sides of the same coin, a principle that finds expression in Eastern Taoism and underpins the ancient Chinese / Ching (The Book of Changes), often used for divination. Negativity can be transformed into
healing energies through positive ritual.

The Goddess is the source of all creation, from whom, in the original virgin birth, her son-consort, the Horned God, came. The Horned God and the Goddess are the creative male and female principles that act and react, not in opposition to each other, but as complementary and necessary parts of a whole.

There are variations on this idea within the teachings of Wicca. Some traditions consider the Goddess to be of greater significance than her male counterpart.

Others regard them as equal, assuming different aspects according to the season and ritual: she as the Earth or Moon deity, ruler of the summer months, he as the Sun or Corn God, ruler of winter and Lord of the Underworld after his death.

Along with other nature deities, the Horned God became demonised with the advent of Christianity,and the Goddess was either depicted as a wicked witch or downgraded to the status of a faerie. Thus the Celtic warrior goddess Maeve became the faerie Mab, described thus by Mercutio in
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet:

She is the fairy’s midwife, and she comes
In shape no bigger than an agate-stone
On the fore-finger of an alderman.

Contrary to popular belief, Wiccans do not ‘hex’ (cast curses) or seek revenge, although some Dutch and Pennsylvanian witches consider that it is justifiable to ‘bind’ those who harm children or animals or actively promote evil or corruption. Wiccans prefer to rely on the principles of natural justice that under karmic principles will redress the balance, either in this lifetime or the next.

The chief moral codes are the Wiccan Rede and the Threefold Law. The Wiccan Rede states simply:

‘An it harm none, do what you will’.

This deceptively straightforward statement refers to the self as well as others. I have already mentioned the Threefold Law whereby magical intent – and, many believe, actions and thoughts – return to the sender with three times the intensity.

Because people are responsible for their own actions, everyone -witch and non-witch alike – can choose to do good or evil. Many witches and Wiccans believe that they are reincarnated in some form and also that the results of past deeds can follow a person from one life to the next.

You can compare this to the concept of karma found in Hinduism and Buddhism, which says that the thoughts and deeds we accumulate in our lifetime may either progress us towards spiritual perfection – if good – or indicate, if bad, that we need to learn lessons in subsequent lives to right our mistakes or attitudes. Other witches say there is an afterlife, spent on another plane of existence. Known as Summerland, Avalon or Valhalla, and akin to Tir na n’Og, the Celtic Otherworld of eternal youth, it is a place where joy and light are experienced.

Reincarnation, on the other hand, is a form of bodily transformation. Some may choose to be reborn in another body, perhaps as an animal or bird, sometimes to teach or to complete unfinished work. For example, Merlin, the magician, was believed to have been incarnated in several lifetimes and to have entered willing bodies, including the sixth-century bard Taliesin.

Wiccan rituals are held at esbats and sabbats. An esbat is a monthly coven meeting, traditionally held 13 times a year during each full moon. The eight sabbats are described in the chapter Seasons and Festivals, and celebrate the eight major divisions of the Celtic year on the solstices, the equinoxes and the old Fire festivals. These festivals mark the coming of early spring, the start of the Celtic summer, the first corn harvest and the start of the Celtic winter.

There are also many lovely ceremonies to mark the transitions in the life cycle, such as handfastings, or weddings, and rites of passage to welcome recently deceased Wiccans to the familiar circle whenever they wish to draw near.

–Practical Guide to Witchcraft and Magic Spells

Cassandra Eason

The Origins and Practice of Witchcraft

A History Of Witchcraft

Witchcraft probably originated about 25,000 years ago in the Palaeolithic era. At that time, humankind and nature were seen as inextricably linked. People acknowledged every rock, tree and stream as deities in the life force, and the Earth as mother, offering both womb and tomb.

Prehistoric Witchcraft

Early man used sympathetic, or attracting, magick – in the form of dances, chants and cave paintings of animals – to attract the herds of animals that provided for the needs of the group, and to bring fertility to humans and animals alike. Hunters would re-enact the successful outcome of a hunt and would carry these energies into the everyday world. Offerings were made to the Mistress of the Herds and later to the Horned God, who was depicted wearing horns or antlers to display his sovereignty over the herds. Animal bones would be buried so that they, like humankind, would enjoy rebirth from the Earth Mother’s womb.

Where hunter-gatherers today continue the unbroken tradition that stretches back thousands of years – for example, among the Lapps in the far North of Scandinavia and the Inuits – these rites continue, led by a shaman, or magick man, who negotiates with the Mistress of the Herds or Fish in a trance for the release of the animals.

One of the earliest recorded examples of shamanism is the Dancing Sorcerer. Painted in black on the cave walls of Les Trois Freres in the French Pyrenees, this shamanic figure, which portrays a man in animal skins, dates from about 14000 BC and stands high above the animals that are depicted on the lower walls. Only his feet are human and he possesses the large, round eyes of an owl, the antlers and ears of a stag, the front paws of a lion or bear, the genitals of a wild cat and the tail of a horse or wolf.

By the Neolithic period, which began around 7500 BC and lasted until about 5500 BC, the hunter-gatherer culture had given way to the development of agriculture, and the god evolved into the son-consort of the Earth Mother. He was the god of vegetation, corn, winter and death, who offered himself as a sacrifice each year with the cutting down of the corn, and was reborn at the mid-winter solstice, as the Sun God.

The Neolithic period also saw the development of shrines to the Triple Goddess who became associated with the three phases of the Moon: waxing, full and waning. The Moon provided one of the earliest ways by which people calculated time. Since its cycles coincided with the female menstrual cycle, which ceased for nine moons if a women was pregnant, the Moon became linked with the mysteries first of birth, then of death as it waned, and finally with new life on the crescent. Because the Moon was reborn each month or, as it was thought, gave birth to her daughter each month, it was assumed that human existence followed the same pattern and that the full moon mirrored the mother with her womb full with child.

The full moon was also associated in later ages with romance and passion, originally because this coincided with peak female fertility. Moon magick for the increase of love and fertility is still practised under the auspices of the waxing moon. It was not until about 3,000 years ago that the male role in conception was fully understood in the West, and only then were the Sky Father deities able to usurp the mysteries of the Divine Mother.

A trinity of huge, carved stone goddesses, representing the three main cycles of the Moon, and dating from between 13000 and 11000 BC, was found in France in a cave at the Abri du Roc aux Sorciers at Angles-sur-l’Anglin. This motif continued right through to the Triple Goddess of the Celts, reflecting the lunar cycles as maiden, mother and crone, an image that also appeared throughout the classical world.

–PRACTICAL GUIDE TO WITCHCRAFT AND MAGICK SPELLS

Cassandra Eason

The Power of White Witchcraft

‘Merlin, give me the strength to carry on.’

I found this prayer not in some medieval book or carved on the wall of an ancient castle but written in ballpoint pen on a page torn from a diary and left – along with scores of similar pleas – on an ancient pile of stones in the Forest of Broceliande in Brittany.

Archaeologists say that this is the grave of a Neolithic hunter, but local tradition says that in this forest dwelled Vivien, the Lady of the Lake of Arthurian legend, and that here, having seduced Merlin in order to learn his secrets, she ensnared him with his own spells. The stone pile is known as Merlin’s tomb, and each year hundreds visit the site to thank the wizard or to ask for his aid. When I visited the tomb, prayers – written on scraps of paper or card – were squeezed into gaps in the stones or pinned to the tree that shelters the tomb.

Whatever the origins of the tomb, it has been transformed into a source of power. For this badly signposted spot, a short walk up a muddy track from a cramped, rough car park, had a tranquil, spiritual air that you might expect at a great cathedral or far more impressive stone circles. Such spots unleash the magick inside us. But even if you never visit Brittany or Stonehenge at sunrise on Midsummer’s Day, you can still make use of your own magick.

White magick and witchcraft as sources of wisdom, healing and positivity. Like Native American spirituality, to which true witchcraft is akin (some say both were carried by the people of Atlantis), the practice of white magick is based on the belief that that all life is sacred and interconnected in an unbroken circle. For example, every fully grown birch tree – defined in magick as a tree of new beginnings and regeneration – breathes out enough oxygen for a family of four and absorbs the carbon dioxide that we exhale, transforming it again to life-giving oxygen. And this sacred spark of a common source of divinity is contained not only by trees, but also the stones, the animals, the people and everything else on the Earth and in the waters and the sky.

Our higher selves, our souls, are influenced by the cycles of the Sun, the Moon, the stars and the natural world on a deep spiritual level. We can draw down their energies into ourselves to amplify and replenish our own, like tapping into a cosmic energy supply rather than having to recharge our powers from our own, separate dynamos. Through them and through us courses the universal life force, known as ch’i to the Chinese, and prana in Hindu philosophy. It is a source upon which we can draw not only nor primarily for specific needs, but also for energy, harmony and connection with others, the world and the cosmos. It is an energy that can permeate every aspect of our being.

A Very Special Spirituality

Witchcraft and Wicca (one of the major forms of witchcraft) both derive their names from the Anglo-Saxon words for wisdom; ‘witch’ is from the old English word wita, meaning ‘wise’ and the Wicca were the wise ones. Witchcraft is said to be the oldest religion in the world. It is the indigenous shamanistic religion of Europe that has, in spite of ferocious persecution from the fifteenth to the seventeenth centuries, survived in the folk tradition of many lands and through families who kept alive the old beliefs and worship of the Earth and the Moon Mother.

Not so many centuries ago, our ancestors burned yule logs at Christmas as a symbolic gesture to bring light and warmth back to the world on the mid-winter solstice at the darkest time. They danced around the maypole on May morning, the beginning of the old Celtic summer, to stir into life the Earth energies in a sacred spiral pattern. These rituals go back into the mists of time and appear in similar forms in many different cultures and ages. Today, however, too many modern societies have lost the sacred connection and scorn such gestures as superstition, treating the skies, the Earth and the seas merely as a larder, fuel store and garbage can. Once, things were very different, as Black Elk, the Sioux shaman, explained:

‘In the old days when we were a strong and happy people, all our power came from the sacred hoop of the nation and, so long as the hoop was unbroken, the people flourished. The flowering tree was the living centre of the hoop and the circle of the four quarters nourished it. The East gave peace and light, the South gave warmth; in the West, thunder beings gave rain and the North with its cold and mighty wind gave strength and endurance.’

And so the Earth was respected as the sacred mother, giver of life and crops, to whose womb the dead returned. It is no accident that the Sioux Medicine Wheel and the Celtic Wheel of the Year are so similar in formation and purpose, linking all life to the cycles of nature. So if we are to use magick in a positive way, we must remember that it brings responsibility along with benefits.

Magick And Knowledge

White witchcraft is essentially the process of drawing on ancient wisdom and powers via the collective mind that we as individuals can spontaneously but unconsciously access in our dreams and visions. In magick, we can use rituals and altered states of consciousness to access this cosmic memory bank at will and in doing so, some believe, draw on the accumulated powers of many generations, especially in healing magick.

This cosmic consciousness – or Great Mind or akashic record, as theosophists call it – is perhaps what made it possible for pyramids to be built at almost the same time in lands as far apart as Egypt and South America, and for shamanism to follow similar patterns in unconnected continents. By accessing this source of power, we may create a ritual or use certain crystals without consciously knowing their significance, only to find out that our invented spell closely resembles one from another time or culture; we know how to heal without being taught.

Gaining such knowledge has been described as ‘inner-plane’ teaching and if you can trust your own deep intuitions, you need very little formal teaching about magick. If you scry at the full moon or during one of the ancient festivals, by looking into water and letting images form, this deep wisdom will offer solutions to seemingly impossible dilemmas.

The practice of witchcraft demands great responsibility, for you are handling very potent material when you deal with magick. The benefit is that by focusing and directing your own inner powers and natural energies you can give form to your thoughts and needs and desires and bring them into actuality. The more positive and altruistic these focuses are, the more abundance, joy and harmony will be reflected in your own world.

Magick And Giving

It is said that if you smile in London in the morning, the smile will have reached Tokyo by evening. This principle, which lies behind all white magick, has been named morphic resonance, and has been investigated for several years by the Cambridge biologist Dr Rupert Sheldrake, author of a number of excellent books based on his extensive research into psychic phenomena. Dr Sheldrake suggests that as animals of a given species learn a new pattern of behaviour, other similar animals will subsequently tend to learn the same thing more readily all over the world; the more that learn it, the easier it should become for others.

So if we carry out positive magick and spread goodwill, then we really can increase the benign energies of the Earth and cosmos. Even banishing or binding magick can have a creative focus, diverting or transforming redundant or negative energy, for example by burying a symbol of the negativity or casting herbs to the four winds.

Magick And Responsibility

True magick is not like a cake in which everybody must vie for a slice or be left with none: it is more akin to a never-emptying pot. Like the legendary Cauldron of Undry in Celtic myth, the more goodness that is put in, the more the mixture increases in richness and quantity. The Cauldron of Undry, one of the four main Celtic treasures, provided an endless supply of nourishment, had great healing powers and could restore the dead to life, in either their former existence or a new life form.

Located on the Isle of Arran, it could be accessed by magical means or through spiritual quests, and many scholars believe it was the inspiration for the Holy Grail. But when using magick, you should take only as much as you need and perhaps a little more; you should not demand riches, perfect love, eternal beauty, youth, a fabulous job and a lottery win or two.

So, magick does not provide a help-yourself time in the sweetshop. The results could be like eating three times more chocolate than you really want and then feeling very sick. You cannot give the gods nor goddesses your shopping list and then sit back and wait for Christmas: the divinity is within you to be kindled, and so you need to demand of yourself far higher standards than someone who believes in the forgiveness of sins.

If you do wrong, you cannot just say sorry to the godhead and carry on without putting right the mistakes or at least learning from them. Confession may be good for the soul, but magick demands more than that: you’ve got to live with the consequences of your deeds, words and thoughts because the power of a blessing or curse may be even greater on the sender than on the intended recipient. You must also ensure that you cannot harm anyone in the process of getting what you want. If you do spells for revenge, then the effects will rebound on you threefold.

Effort And Will-Power

Magick is not like the magic a conjuror uses to bring a rabbit out of a hat: that kind of magic is just a trick, which relies merely on the art of illusion. White magick is much more than that. It is intensely exciting because it means that we can extend the boundaries of possibility, recalling the psychic powers of childhood when we could span dimensions as easily as jumping across a puddle. We can increase our personal magnetism to attract love and luck and regenerate the innate healing abilities

both of the human body and the planet.

What magick does not do is provide quick fixes with a twinkling of Stardust. It does not produce a faerie godmother, who turns up with a shimmering frock and a platinum credit card to pay the taxi fare home if the handsome prince is short of money and the faerie coach has crumpled into a pumpkin.

After the candles and incense have burned through and we sit, exhausted but exhilarated after sending our wishes to the cosmos through dancing or chanting, we then have to use every effort, every talent at our disposal, to make those wishes come true on the earthly plane. The psychic kick-start provided by the magick must be used to translate the magical thoughts into actuality. So we must work overtime with new enthusiasm and inspiration to get that project finished, send off to the publisher that typescript that has been gathering dust, do whatever it takes to help ourselves to get the results we desire.

My late mother would always say if I asked for extra funds, ‘Money doesn’t grow on trees’; and this holds true even in the magical world. Money, success and opportunities have to be generated and earned. We need to add our own will-power to the power we have drawn on.

What is more, under the cosmic profit-and-loss scheme, if we ask for a psychic overdraft, we must give back, if not immediately, then at a later date. So when your finances are better or your immediate troubles are passed, you should make a small donation or give time to a worthwhile cause connected with the area of the spell. This balances up the account whose cosmic energies you tapped into.

Many shamans or witches demand some sort of payment for services, and this is not from avarice, but because all too often if something is not paid for, it is not valued. So be sure that you pay the shaman – especially the cosmic one. This is grass roots magick, but it works.

Magick For Your Needs

‘Enough for my needs and a little more’ is another of the maxims of this incredibly moral craft, as I mentioned earlier. You would be amazed the number of times I am asked: ‘Okay, if you are a witch, how come you can’t predict the lottery numbers?’ The answer is that it all comes down to need: and do I need a million pounds? True, like any mother of five children I lurch from one financial crisis to the next and when things get really dire, perhaps I could magically bring forward an anticipated payment or attract an unexpected windfall from abroad. But I don’t really need a million pounds. And what about the negative effects? If I became incredibly rich, I would almost certainly lose the incentive to write. Credit card bills are a powerful focus for creativity. And, of course, my kids would never get out of their satin-sheeted beds.

Lotteries are generated by human hands primarily for the purpose of making money for their creators. They really are random affairs and so it often happens that it is the wealthy people who win even more money – although that does not necessarily bring happiness.

Casting your needs into the cosmos and trusting they will be met does work, but not if you areexpecting magick to compensate for an unnecessary shopping binge. Nor, after a period of overeating and no exercise, can you expect a miracle diet to work so that you shed a stone in two days while still eating chocolate. Spells tend to work best when there is a genuine need, generated by real emotion and linked to determination on a practical level.

The Rules Of Magick

Magick is not beyond or above life, but a natural though special part of your world. It is about not leaving fate, your fate, to any guru or deity, but shaping it with your own innate power, the power that emanates from some higher being, goddess or god, energy source, what you will – the divine spark within us all. There are no absolutes in magick, there is only what works for you and enhances your innate wisdom and spirituality. You should use this book as you would any other DIY guide and adapt its suggestions to suit what is right for you. Choose whatever you feel are the most appropriate herbs, crystals or even entire rituals for your specific purpose.

There are provisos, however. You must always remember that the form, the words and even ultimately the associations of particular oils, incenses and planetary hours are not what really matters. The truly important thing is that you should keep to the basic rules of witchcraft that are quite as strict and twice as hard as any conventional religion. These are rooted in wisdom, compassion, honesty, honour and common sense and are summed up in one short phrase:

‘An ye harm none, do what ye will’.

Put in modern-day language, this means, quite simply: ‘Do whatever you like as long as you don’t hurt anyone.’ Simple, did I say? It is in practice incredibly hard to harm none, especially if you are seeking promotion, fighting against an injustice or struggling to survive. But it may help you if you remember the other equally vital law of witchcraft, the Threefold Law. This states that everything you do to others, both good and bad, will be sent back to act on you with three times its intensity and strength. So, if you act always and only with positive intent to help and heal, you will automatically receive all manner of good things and you should become truly wise and happy.

According to the rules of magick, as I said earlier, you cannot be angry, mean or cruel and then expect to say sorry to a deity and have the slate wiped clean. Magick is about taking responsibility for your own actions all the time and that is incredibly onerous. But, on the positive side, the results are equally potent, and if you can learn to tap into the source of light and life and joy, you will amaze yourself and others by what is possible. Thus will your psychic powers also spontaneously unfold and guide you in your everyday world, increasing your spiritual power and wisdom.

The magick is within you, so let it flow and make the world a better place.

—-A Practical Guide to Witchcraft and Magic Spells

Cassandra Eason

Final Thought of the Day

Witches of the Craft’s Journal for Thursday, December 6

“Now the seasons are closing their files
on each of us, the heavy drawers
full of certificates rolling back
into the tree trunks, a few old papers
flocking away. Someone we loved
has fallen from our thoughts,
making a little, glittering splash
like a bicycle pushed by a breeze.
Otherwise, not much has happened;
we fell in love again, finding
that one red reather on the wind.”

– Ted Kooser, Year’s End

Current Planetary Positions

December 06, 2018
Tropical Zodiac

Sun: 14 Sagittarius 20
Moon: 05 Sagittarius 10
Mercury: 27 Scorpio 17 Rx
Venus: 02 Scorpio 15
Mars: 13 Pisces 02
Jupiter: 06 Sagittarius 14
Saturn: 08 Capricorn 26
Uranus: 29 Aries 01 Rx
Neptune: 13 Pisces 44
Pluto: 19 Capricorn 48

********

Planetary Aspects for the month of December

The planetary aspects listed below are for New York time.

December 06, 04:21 pm – Mercury Direct 27 16
December 07, 02:20 am – New Moon at 15 07
December 07, 09:11 am – Mars conjunct Neptune 13 44
December 15, 06:49 am – 1st Quarter Moon 23 26
December 16, 09:26 am – Venus sextile Saturn
December 17, 01:57 am – Mars sextile Pluto
December 20, 11:21 am – Sun trine Uranus
December 21, 12:11 pm – Venus trine Neptune
December 21, 12:36 pm – Mercury conjunct Jupiter 09 34
December 22, 12:48 pm – Full Moon at 00 49
December 24, 07:31 pm – Mercury square Neptune
December 28, 04:30 pm – Venus sextile Pluto
December 29, 04:34 am – 3rd Quarter Moon 07 36

A Cosmic Weather Yule List

Jane Lyle, Astrologer
From The Astrology Room

For Aries, Leo and Sagittarius – the Fire Signs:

The Sun, Mercury and Jupiter are in sociable Sagittarius. Uranus is back for the final time in fiery, impulsive Aries.

*Mercury’s most useful gift arrives early, on 6th December, when the planet of travel, media, tricks and communication turns forward again.

All our travel plans still need extra care though – Mercury (briefly in Scorpio) is arguing with disruptive Uranus until Wednesday 12th December, and then squaring off to discombobulating Neptune just before Christmas Day itself. Surprises, or a sudden turn of events, could scramble our holiday plans.

*December’s big cosmic boost from messenger Mercury and jolly Jupiter will be right on the Winter Solstice, 21st December. This one looks to be quite something. It’s at 9 degrees Sagittarius, aligning with the Watcher of the West, fixed star Antares.

Antares is a very potent, important star. It’s also known as the Heart of the Scorpion. Antares denotes success, but some kind of journey to the underworld and back again is always involved. This could be through an intense experience, or a psychological trip into your personal subconscious. Some kind of underworld beckons. Antares is also closely associated with news about nuclear energy.

So, do watch out for the days around this December event – they’ll more than likely be brimming over with intense news, passion, and major announcements. If you have planets at around 9-11 degrees in your own natal chart, this could herald important personal news for you, too.

*Jupiter in Sagittarius is surely Father Christmas in some of his many guises. For, just like Jupiter, Secret Santa is a shape-shifter.

He’s a Siberian shaman, flying high on magic mushrooms, and attended by sprites and elves on the inner planes. He’s Odin, galloping aloft on his magical horse in the dark December skies. He’s a close friend of the Holly King of pagan tradition, and somewhere or other he’s kindly St. Nicholas and jolly Sir Christmas too. And like Jupiter in Sagittarius, which is mostly lucky and wondrous, Santa Claus has a devilishly dark side called Krampus. Yes, you better watch out! He knows when you’ve been good or bad……

Santa – and Jupiter – contribute much more than just a sense of fun to this holiday season. Jupiter is radiating goodwill and a sense of adventure from his home in Sagittarius until next December. When Jupiter activates your own natal horoscope it’s time to be more expansive and open. How and where will depend upon the planets and houses involved for you personally.

*Gemini, Libra and Aquarius can all benefit from these planets in fire too, so they aren’t totally missing out during the Yuletide season’s astrology. The astrological element of air is, in fact, mostly absent until 20th January, when the Sun enters Aquarius. Meantime, air signs can enjoy an energising, imaginative and fiery boost to their dreams and plans.

For Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces – the Water Signs:

*Venus returns to Scorpio again on Sunday 2nd December, retracing her September and October path and perhaps reawakening deep thoughts and feelings we had then.

Venus is in new Scorpio territory just before the Solstice.
Fresh thoughts on love, friendship, money and fashion begin to emerge – it could all get very spiritual and romantic for some of us around Friday 21st December. Venus meets Neptune then for some intensely misty enchantment. There may be tears before bedtime, but the festive season always has many intricate emotional layers – and I can’t be the only person who’s welled up when watching certain Christmas ads!

*Mars is in musical, intuitive Pisces all month.

Christmas ghost stories, heavenly choirs, and supernatural Yuletide beings are extra energised between Sunday 2nd – Saturday 8th December, when Mars meets Neptune in Pisces. These are also days to be extra vigilant around your cash, online scams, and smooth-talking would-be lovers or salesmen. Fishy? Yes indeed.

*Neptune often represents a glamorous magician, or spiritual guru. This can be a misty, even delusional astrological influence, fond of mind-altering drugs, alcohol, and deception.

But Neptune has a kind-hearted side too. Astrological aspects involving Neptune this month can prompt us to give something back to our community, spend a little time helping others, or decide to donate to our local food bank or favourite charity.

For Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn – the Earth Signs:

*Serious Saturn and enigmatic Pluto are in earthy Capricorn now and on into 2019. They’re joined there by the Sun on 21st December.

This Sea Goat trio mean that business, finance, government and security are issues we can’t completely ignore during December. They’ll push their message home in January for sure, aided and abetted by a potent solar eclipse in Capricorn on 6th January. All this activity supports serious ambition, hard work, and practicality. It doesn’t wear a party hat though.

However, let’s give sober old Saturn, ruler of Capricorn, a holiday break too. December brings echoes of the Saturnalia, which was a wild party in the Ancient Roman world.

–The Astrology Room

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The Solar Almanac for Thursday, December 6, 2018

Sun Direction: 115.89° ESE↑

Sun Altitude: -2.84°

Sun Distance: 91.592 million mi

Next Solstice: Dec 21, 2018 4:22 pm (Winter)

Sunrise Today: 6:53 am↑ 118° Southeast

Sunset Today: 4:37 pm↑ 242° Southwest

Length of Daylight: 9 hours, 43 minutes

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The Lunar Almanac for Thursday, December 6, 2018

Moon Direction: 117.63° ESE↑

Moon Altitude: 6.08°

Moon Distance: 243276 mi

Next New Moon: Dec 7, 20181:20 am

Next Full Moon: Dec 22, 201811:48 am

Next Moonset: Today4:31 pm

Current Moon Phase: Waning Crescent

Illumination:
0.7%

—timeanddate.com

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Lunar Lore

The legend of the werewolf (were has etymological roots in Old English and means man) comes from the tales of the beastly side of men coming out at the Full Moon.

The Moon is the Queen of the Underworld and a bridge to the shadowy realms of the psyche.

The Moon is a passageway to the hidden (occulted) mysteries, including ancestral memory and past lives.

The natal Moon in the birth chart can be a symbol of feminine identity for women; for men, it’s the sought-after feminine ideal, and the kind of woman to form a soul-bond with.

Molly Hall, Author
Published on ThoughtCo

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Lunar Superstitions

The first time you see a crescent moon for the month, take all your spare coins out of your pocket, and put them in the other pocket. This will ensure good luck for the next month.

Some people believe that the fifth day after a full moon is the perfect time to try to conceive a child.

Many cultures throughout history have honored lunar deities, including Artemis, Selene, and Thoth.

In some Chinese religions, offerings are made to the ancestors on the night of a full moon.

In some Native American legends, the moon is held captive by a hostile tribe. A pair of antelope hope to rescue the moon and take it the village of a good tribe, but Coyote, the trickster, interferes. The antelope chase Coyote, who tosses the moon into a river each night, just out of reach of the antelope.

The night of the full moon is believed to be a good time for divination and scrying.

Patti Wigington, Author
Published on ThoughtCo

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The Sky This Week from December 6 to December 9

Venus dazzles in the predawn sky, and gets a little help from the Moon December 3. Meanwhile, Mars and Neptune appear closer to each other under a dark sky than they will until the 23rd century.

By Richard Talcott

Thursday, December 6
Mars continues to put on a nice show these December evenings. The Red Planet appears nearly halfway to the zenith in the southern sky as twilight fades to darkness. The ruddy world shines at magnitude 0.1, as bright as any other early evening object, against the faint backdrop of Aquarius the Water-bearer. As you gaze at Mars with your naked eye, you might assume it’s the only object of interest in the area. But target the planet through binoculars or a telescope and you’ll also see the much fainter glow of Neptune. The magnitude 7.9 ice giant lies 23′ east-northeast of Mars this evening. The two switch positions tomorrow night, with Neptune 16′ southwest of Mars. (The magnitude 6.1 star 81 Aquarii then stands 12′ north of Mars.) The actual conjunction between the two planets occurs at 9:08 a.m. EST on the 7th, when Mars passes 2.2′ north of Neptune, but both objects then lie below the horizon from North America. When viewed through a telescope, Mars appears 9″ while Neptune spans 2.3″. The two planets won’t pass closer to each other under a dark sky until October 19, 2210.

Friday, December 7
Although people in the Northern Hemisphere won’t experience the shortest day of the year for another two weeks (at the winter solstice December 21), those at 40° north latitude will see the Sun set earlier today than at any other time this year. Tomorrow’s sunset will arrive about one second later than today’s. The date of earliest sunset depends on latitude — the farther north you live, the closer it occurs to the solstice.
New Moon occurs at 2:20 a.m. EST. At its new phase, the Moon crosses the sky with the Sun and so remains hidden in our star’s glare.

Saturday, December 8
The days of viewing Saturn in the evening sky are just about over. In fact, tonight might be your last, best chance to see it this year. Although the magnitude 0.5 ringed world stands only 7° high in the southwest 45 minutes after sunset, a slender, two-day-old Moon serves as a guide. The two objects lie 3° apart and look beautiful through binoculars.

Sunday, December 9
Head outside in early evening this week and you can see the Big Dipper scraping the northern horizon. For latitudes north of about 40°, this conspicuous asterism never sets (“circumpolar” in astronomical parlance), though December evenings find it at its lowest ebb. This means that the constellation on the opposite side of the North Celestial Pole, the familiar W-shaped Cassiopeia, currently rides highest in the sky.

—The Astronomy Magazine

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Moon Phase Calendar

Thursday – 6th December 2018

Current Moon Phase: Waning Crescent

Moon Currently in Sagittarius

Moon in Sagittarius:
The greatest need is to always search for something. In order to feel safe you might find that you need to have a goal, mission or philosophy that gives your life meaning. With Moon in Sagittarius you have an optimistic approach to life and you believe that things will get better even if you get into trouble.

Organs influenced by Sagittarius Moon Sign:
Organs: Liver, sacrum, thigh bone, tail bone, hip muscles, hip joint, lumbar vertebra, lumbar muscle.

These organs are now more sensitive so provide them with extra care.
Surgical operations:

Surgical operations are recommended during the Waning Moon.

However, avoid surgeries of organs under the influence of the Moon Sign.

Today is Thursday, December 6th

Thursday is the day of the planet Jupiter, dedicated to Thunor(Thor), God of thunder and agricultural work. His parallels in various European traditions are Zeus, Taranis, Perun, Perkunas and St. Olaf. The faith of the Northern Tradition holds Thursday sacred, just as Islam reveres Friday, Judaism the Sabbath(calculated from sunset on Friday to sunset on Saturday), and Christianity, Sunday. This is why almost all adages about Thursday are positive, such as “Thursday’s child has far to go,” “Sneeze on Thursday, something better,” or “Cut nails on Thursday for wealth.” Thursday rules controlled optimism, energetic growth, physical well-being and material success.

Deity: Thor

Zodiac Sign: Capricorn/Pisces/Sagittarius

Planet: Mercury

Tree: Oak

Herb: Henbane

Stone: Turquoise/Bloodstone/Topaz

Animal: Fish/Goat/Aurochs

Element: Fire

Color: Brown/White/Orange

Number: 3

Rune: Thorn

Celtic Tree Month of Ruis (Elder) (November 25 – December 22)

The Runic Half Month of Is (November 28 – December 12)

Goddess of the Month of Astraea (November 28 – December 23)

—The Pagan Book of Days
Nigel Pennick

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The Goddess Book of Days for Thursday, December 6

Sinterklaas or St. Nicholas Day in the Netherlands. Santa Claus had female roots in Befana, Bertha, Perchta, Lucia, Brigid, and the Yule Child (Persephone or the newborn Goddess). The sixth day of the Moon/month is dedicated to the Mothers, or Spenta- Armaiti and Haitian Voodoun Goddess Erzulie.

Goddesses Associated With Thursday, The Day of Thor

Juno, Hera, Kwan Yin, Mary, Cybele, Tara, Mawu, Mbaba Mwana Waresa, Ishtar

—The Goddess Book of Days
Diane Stein

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On Thursday, December 6th, We Celebrate….

Kashim (Alaska)
TAKANAKAPSALUK

Themes: Providence; Purification; Strength; Thankfulness; Luck; Health

Symbols: Saltwater; Arctic Animals

About Takanakapsaluk: This Arctic sea goddess rules over the successful catching of game and over personal health. Takanakapsaluk lives far beneath the cold waters, where she also receives the spirits of the dead and cares for them.

To Do Today: Among Inuit hunters, this is the time of year when special rituals propitiate the spirits of Takanakapsaluk’s animals, who give themselves for the tribe’s food. Specifically, all the bladders of seals, whales, and polar bears are returned to her icy waters in thankfulness. In a similar spirit, go to any open body of water and toss in a small biodegradable offering to the goddess in thanks for your food. Consider abstaining from meat today, or from some other beloved food, as a way of showing appreciation for the goddess’s bounty.

The Kashim traditionally includes ritual fire jumping and sweat baths for purification. Try this yourself by jumping a small candle (carefully, please) or taking a steamy shower (the goddess is part of that water). Additionally, any show of physical prowess today brings continued strength. So, add a little exercise to your day. Take a brisk walk, do some jumping jacks. As you do, think of Takanakapsaluk filling you with revitalizing health.

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

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Thursday’s Magickal Correspondence

Wealth
Male Fertility
Ambition
Expansion
Luck
Happiness
Honor
Family
Harvests

Planet: Jupiter

Colors: Dark Blue, Green

Crystals: Turquoise, Amethyst, Lapis

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Thursday

Thursday: Is associated with Jupiter and the colors of – Blue and Metallic Colors

Thursday is the best time to deal with such matters as: Broadcasting, Business, Charity, College Education, Correspondence Courses, Doctors, Expansion, Forecasting, Foreign Interests, Gambling, Growth, Guardians, Horses, Logic, Long Distance Travel, Luck, Material Wealth, Merchants, Philosophy, Political Power, Psychologists, Publicity, Publishing, Reading, Religion, Researching, Self-improvement, Social Matters, Sports, Studying, and The Law

–Practical Magick for the Penny Pinching Witch
Carol Moyer

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Thursday’s Witchery

Today is the day for prosperity work of all kinds. It can also be used for healing work, whether that is a physical healing of an illness or an emotional healing. Also remember that you have to follow up your healing work and prosperity magick and physical action.

I can’t tell you the number of times I have met new witches who complain to me that their prosperity spell or “I need a better job” spell did not work as they expected. They’ll ramble on and on about how much time and money they spent working their magick….but, alas, they had no glorious manifestation of wealth or fabulous job that suddenly dropped out of the sky and landed in their laps.

Then, when I gently ask them, “Did you enchant your resume or application when you filled it out? Did you do a little confidence-boosting spellwork when you went to apply for the job or went to the interview?” typically they give me a blank, confused stare.

Nine times out of ten, their response is, “You mean I have to go out and actually look for the job too?” Um, yes, my dear, you certainly do. Magick follows the path of least resistance, which means it’s going to manifest along the simplest, quickest route. Get out there and hit the pavement. See what you can find. Times are tough and competition for good jobs is fierce, so you need whatever edge you can get. For folks like us, we’re going to get the edge by using our magick and our spellcraft.

Thursdays have such a rich source of magick for us to draw upon that, honestly, the sky is the limit. This is the day associated with the gods of the sky and heavens, after all. Get to know these deities and add their wisdom and magick into your days

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

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The Witches Almanac for Thursday, December 6

St. Nicholas’s Day

Waning Moon

Moon phase: Fourth Quarter

Moon Sign: Sagittarius

Incense: Balsam

Color: Turquoise

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St Nicholas Day

St. Nicholas of Myra is a popular Christian Saint among children across Europe because of his reputation as a bringer of gifts. Both the North American Santa Claus and the British Father Christmas are legendary figures whose attributes derive from the myths surrounding St. Nicholas.

What Do People Do?
St. Nicholas Day is a popular occasion for children in many parts of Europe because children usually receive gifts on this day. Some European cities such as Bari, Italy recognize St. Nicholas as the patron saint and celebrate with different activities such as gift-giving, parades, feasts and festivals.

St. Nicholas is referred to by many names throughout Europe such as Sinterklaas in the Netherlands or Nikolaus in Germany. In the days leading up to December 6, children throughout Europe put their shoes or a special St. Nicholas boot in front of the fireplace or the front door at night to find them filled with small presents the next morning. A larger amount of gifts is usually brought on the eve of St. Nicholas Day or December 5.

Public Life
St. Nicholas Day is a religious observance but not a nationwide public holiday in countries such as Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Background
The legendary figure of St. Nicholas is derived from Nicholas of Myra who officiated as a bishop in 4th century Greece. During his lifetime he developed a reputation for gift-giving by putting coins in other people’s shoes, which accounts for many of today’s Christmas traditions that involve leaving gifts in shoes or boots.

Having inspired both the figure of the North American Santa Claus and the British Father Christmas, St. Nicholas has in some countries been more recently joined on his visits to children’s homes by an evil companion who punishes the naughty ones: in Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic and northern Italy, this personification of evil is called Krampus, in Germany Knecht Ruprecht, and in the Netherlands Zwarte Piet.

—timeanddate.com

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Correspondences for Thursday, December 7

Thursday (Thor’s day)

Planet: Jupiter

Colors: Purple, Deep Blue

Crystals: Amethyst, Lepidolite, Sugilite, Tin

Aroma: Melissa, Clove, Oakmoss, Jupiter Oil, Cinnamon, Musk, Nutmeg, and Sage

Herb: Cinquefoil

Ruled by the planet Jupiter and dedicated to Thor, god of thunder and agricultural work. His parallels in various European Traditions include Zeus, Taranis, Perun, and Perkunas.

Magical aspects: controlled optimism, energetic growth, physical well-being, material success, expansion, money/wealth, prosperity, leadership, and generosity.

Thursday is the day of Jupiter, the largest of the planets and said to be the most powerful. Spellcasters would be wise to use this day for attempting wealth, success and prosperity spells.

Thursday is also associated (in Greek mythology) to Thor – Thor’s day – and some even say that Jupiter and Thor are one in the same. Both are strong and powerful, yet wise and just. Try a small prayer to Jupiter before commencing any ritual on Thursday as a sign of respect.

This is the proper day of the week to perform spells and rituals involving luck, happiness, health, legal matters, male fertility, treasure, wealth, honour, riches, clothing, money, desires, business, group pursuits, joy, laughter, and expansion

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Magickal Applications for Thursday

Thursday comes from the Latin Dies Iovis, which means “Jove’s day” Jove, or Jupiter as he was sometimes called, was the supreme god and patron of the ancient Romans. Jove/Jupiter is associated with wealth, leadership, thunder, and lightning. A lord of heaven, Jove/Jupiter was also a god of light, and his sacred color is white. In the Greek mythologies, this deity was known as Zeus. This fifth day of our bewitching week was eventually turned into the Old English Thursdaeg or Thunresdaeg, which translates to “thunder’s day” or, more simply, “Thor’s day.” This day of the week is named after Thor, the popular Norse god of thunder. Thor was the son of Odin. He carried a war hammer called Mjollnir, and it was this that made the thunder and lightning. All of these Thursday gods-Jupiter/Jove, Zeus, and Thor-were wielders of the thunderbolt.

Thursday has the planetary association of Jupiter, and this day of the week is associated with prosperity, abundance, leadership, and good health. Prosperity and abundance are the typical magickal concerns on a Thursday. However, the way people define prosperity can vary greatly between individuals.

Personally, I think prosperity and abundance aren’t about owning the biggest house, fanciest wardrobe, or the newest car. It’s about living within your means and living well. My definition of prosperity is having enough money in the checking account to cover the bills and to pay for the groceries; anything left over is gravy.

But with a family, there is always something. Just about the time you’re feeling confident, something pops up. Somebody has to go to the doctor or the dentist, or someone needs work done on their car. Or my daughter calls from college with the classic “send money” request. It’s enough to drive me bonkers! For instance, just this past month, I got hit up for sorority dues, book fees, dentist bills, a bit of car repair and, lest we forget, living money for my daughter while she is away at school. Ouch!

The aspiration to make your budget stretch and to find ways to cover extra expenses is a real need for just about everybody. So on this bewitching day, let’s look at some practical, magickal ways to increase your prosperity and try out a few enchanting ideas designed to create a little abundance and, last but not least good health.

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

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Thursday & The Perfect Corresponding Spell

Thursdays are good days for travel and change. It’s the perfect day to re-arrange the furniture of your house and gain a new perspective on something. Even if you are not able to do any traveling on this day, you can still use Thursdays to do spells for travel. You can even do spells for positive change, and re-arrangement of your life. It’s a good idea to exercise on this day, as well. That way, your body can be in-shape by the time Friday comes along.

Rock Safe Trip Spell

Items you will need are:
1 small rock
1 blue candle
1 tube of black paint or black marker

Walk around outside and find a small rock, with a flat surface on one side. When you return inside, write the rune symbol “Raido” on the rock, with your paint or marker This symbol looks like the letter “R.” After the paint or marker dries, take the rock and hold it between your hands. Once the rocks feels warm from the heat of your hands, place it beside the candle. Then light the andle. Close your eyes and prayer to The Powers That Be, for a safe trip. Now open your eyes and hold the rock over the flame and wave it back and forth, careful not to burn your hands. Once you feel like you have infused the energy from the candle into the rock, set the rock aside and blow out the candle. After the rock cools off, place it in your pocket, to ensure a safe journey.

–A Witch’s Week of Spells and Activities
Helga C. Loueen

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Winter Magick

Winter can be a time when aligning oneself with the forces of Nature can seem difficult. The cold and snow can keep everyone locked indoors, and all time spent outside must be limited for one’s own safety. But Winter is a time just as applicable to magick as any other season. And though all plant life has diminished and many animals have hidden themselves away, slumbering till Spring, there is still much at hand that the Witch can use.
Winter is a time of pause, reflection and self analysis. It is one of the times when the Crone turns to face us, reminding us just how mortal we truly are. Stand outside, let the wind tear at your clothes and hair, the cold bite at your skin, penetrating to the bone. Listen to the susurrus of the snow blowing across the ice, just as softly Her words can be heard: “all things must pass.” For these reasons, Winter is a perfect time for purificatory and cleansing magick. And these are ends to which the snow, ice, and cold of Winter are perfectly suited.

Snow is simple to work with magickally and it’s rather versatile. It can be used to “wash” items in to cleanse them. Altar clothes, ritual tools, crystals, and candles can all be “washed” in the snow. Just hold the item in your left hand, with your right take a handful of snow and rub it all over the items. Cleansing with snow is like cleansing with a million very small clear Quartz crystals, and that is the affect it has, as well. It leaves the items feeling freshly cleansed, but energized at the same time. Items like tools and crystals can also just be left outside overnight, buried in a snow bank, to be cleansed by the snow.

Snow can also be used in the creation of a “snowbane” for banishing magick. Outside, form some snow into an image of what it is you will to be rid of. As you form the snowbane, fill it with all the energy and power that thing, person, bad habit, or whatever, has over you. Take your snowbane indoors now. Ideally, place it in a cauldron, but a large cooking or mixing bowl will do perfectly. As the snowbane melts, so, too, the power of what it represents has over you fades.

Snow and ice can also be used to intensify energy within your Circle, just be sure to do your ritual at a time when the winds are calm as Winter winds are prone to dissipation. To this end, the snow can be mounded up to designate the Circle boundaries and piled up a la snowman style for an altar and for smaller altars at the Quarters, as well. If you are particularly ambition and like to play in the snow, you could construct a small outdoor temple outdoors, entirely out of snow, much like an igloo. It need only be big enough for you to sit comfortably in and you could create a snow-sculpture inside to represent your patron Deity.

Another simple means to harness the power of Winter is to work your spells and rituals in silence, as silence is one of the virtues of the North and, thus, of Winter. Gestures alone are quite powerful and evocative, but, as Winter is a time of introversion, visualization alone can be quite appropriate.

These are just a few examples of ways to tap into the power of Winter and keep oneself aligned with the changing of the seasons. Magick is flexible and permeates life, experiment and see what other ways you can up with.

–-Lady Althaea

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Spirit Message of the Moment – Ideas To Celebrate Yule 2018

CELEBRATING THE PAGAN SABBAT: YULE

In many Pagan and Wiccan celebrations, often the cornerstone of a successful Sabbat is the food. Yule is a time of rich, delicious cooking for many of us, so start planning your menu ahead of time. Open up your hearth and home for your guests, and once you’re seated at your meal, take a moment to be thankful for all the bounty and blessings you have before you this Yule season!

Food Blessings, Pagan and Wiccan Style
Many religions celebrate the consumption of food with some sort of prayer of thanksgiving. Many Pagans and Wiccans believe that not only should we thank the gods for our food, but also the earth and the food itself. After all, if you’re eating plants or meat, something had to die so that you could have a meal. It seems rude not to thank your food for its sacrifice. Any of the following may be said over a meal, a Cakes and Ale ceremony, or any other event where food is served. Feel free to include the names of the deities of your tradition, of you prefer.

• This Simple Meal Blessing offers thanks to the God and Goddess for a meal.

• A Prayer to the Earth shows gratitude for the planet’s bounty.

• If you’re eating a meal that once walked around, offer a prayer Celebrating Meat.

• Invite the Gods to dine with you.

• Make an Offering of a bit of your food.

Basic Wassail Recipe
Wassail was originally a word that meant to greet or salute someone — groups would go out Wassailing on cold evenings, and when they approached a door would be offered a mug of warm cider or ale. Over the years, the tradition evolved to include mixing eggs with alcohol and asperging the crops to ensure fertility. While this recipe doesn’t include eggs, it sure is good, and it makes your house smell beautiful for Yule!

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 3 hours
Total Time: 3 hours, 15 minutes

Ingredients:
• 1 Gallon apple cider
• 2 C. cranberry juice
• 1/2 C honey
• 1/2 C sugar
• 2 oranges
• Whole cloves
• 1 apple, peeled and diced
• Allspice
• Ginger
• Nutmeg
• 3 cinnamon sticks (or 3 Tbs. ground cinnamon)
• 1/2 C – 1 C brandy (optional)

Preparation: Set your crockpot to its lower setting, and pour apple cider, cranberry juice, honey and sugar in, mixing carefully. As it heats up, stir so that the honey and sugar dissolve. Stud the oranges with the cloves, and place in the pot (they’ll float). Add the diced apple. Add allspice, ginger and nutmeg to taste — usually a couple of tablespoons of each is plenty. Finally, snap the cinnamon sticks in half and add those as well.

Cover your pot and allow to simmer 2 – 4 hours on low heat. About half an hour prior to serving, add the brandy if you choose to use it. Buttered RumButtered rum was a popular recipe in colonial America, and it’s easy to see why — it’s GOOD. You can brew this up in your crockpot, ladle out a nice big mug and sit by the fire on a chilly winter evening. It’s the perfect warm drink for Yule. If you leave out the rum, your kids can enjoy it too (here’s a tip — when your little one wants to have a Harry Potter party, make a rum-free pot of this recipe and call it butter beer).

Ingredients:
• 2 Quarts apple juice
• 2 C firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 stick butter (use the real stuff, not margarine)
• 3 Tbs. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. ground cloves
• 1 tsp. nutmeg
• 2 C. your favorite rum
• Refrigerated whipped dessert topping
• Cinnamon sticks and nutmeg for garnish

Preparation: Warm up the apple juice and brown sugar in a pot. Add the butter (dice up the stick before you put it in there, so it’ll melt faster). Stir until the butter is melted. Add the spices and the rum. Cover the pot, and allow to simmer on low for 2 – 4 hours. Ladle into mugs for serving. Top each with a dollop of whipped topping and a cinnamon stick. Sprinkle with a dash of nutmeg.

Sunshine Skillet
When the sun comes up on Yule morning, there’s nothing quite like it. If your family celebrates with a solar ritual, after you’re done, head to the kitchen for a big breakfast. This sunny skillet dish is full of good stuff — if you’re vegetarian, simply substitute something else for the sausage, or leave the meat out altogether. This is fabulous with some nice warm biscuits and gravy.

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:
• 2 Tbs. butter (use the good stuff, not margarine)
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1/2 C shiitake mushrooms, chopped
• 2 C southern-style hashbrown potatoes, thawed
• 6 eggs, beaten
• 2 C sausage, browned
• 2 C cheddar cheese, grated
• Fresh rosemary and sage
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 C Asiago cheese, grated
• 1 green onion, chopped
• 1 small tomato, diced

Preparation: Preheat your oven to 350. Heat the butter in a large nonstick skillet on medium heat. Add the mushrooms and onions, sautéing until they are opaque. Add potatoes, and cook until browned, stirring occasionally. In a buttered or greased casserole dish, spread the potato mixture around to evenly cover the bottom. Mix the eggs, sausage, cheese, herbs, salt and pepper together in a small bowl, and then pour over potatoes. Bake in the oven at 350 for about 30 minutes. About ten minutes into the bake time, sprinkle the Asaigo cheese on top. Remove from oven and allow to cool for ten minutes before serving. To serve, dish onto plates and garnish with tomatoes and onions.

All Above Excerpts authored by Patti Wigington, ThoughtCo
Published on Spiritblogger’s Blog

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MAGIC IN THE HOME

Without hearts, there is no home. —LORD BYRON

Hovel, hotel, or houseboat—your home should be your castle. If it’s not, a little magic fairy dusting is in order. Of all the places where the Goddess can manifest herself, your home is one where she can really shine without the aid of furniture polish. Every part of your living space has magical potential. What about your living room, you ask? Use the TV screen as a crystal ball (but turn it off first)! And the rugs—metaphysically sweep problems under them!

One of the favorite magical jokes in my home is about the hot tub. When people come over and meet Trish the witch for the first time, we often open the tub by way of hospitality. A little later, when everyone’s relaxed, I come out with a handful of mixed vegetables, a wooden spoon, and a sneaky grin! Gives a whole new meaning to “bubble, bubble,” eh? The point is that the hot tub could be my cauldron if I wanted it to be, just as many things around your home can take on the Goddess’s glimmer if you will allow them to.

–Goddess in My Pocket: Simple Spells, Charms, Potions, and Chants to Get You Everything You Want
Patricia Telesco

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Witchy Tip for Thursday, December 6th

Yule is also a time to share our wealth and happiness with those around us. Gift-giving to family, friends and circle-mates is a wonderful gesture, not only of our own path but others as well. Symbolically, we’re sharing the bounty of a harvest, though in times past it was elements of the harvest that were shared out among those closest to the giver. The gift was often something one couldn’t provide oneself, and in return a gift was given to someone else, something they didn’t have.

–Yule (Creating New Pagan Family Tradition)

Jodi Lee

Daily Cosmic Calendar for December 6th

Deal with the dark-of-the-moon unsettled monthly vibes as best as possible. This challenging situation lasts until the moment the new moon at 16 degrees of Sagittarius occurs at 11:22pm. In the meantime, the universe is handing you a couple of golden opportunities as the moon in Sagittarius makes its monthly conjunction with optimism-boosting King of the Gods Jupiter (6:32am) while Mercury makes its station to turn direct at 28 degrees of Scorpio (1:25pm). Zero in on the following important themes associated with Mercury – communications, learning and primary education, words and language, transportation and travel plans, business and trade, messages and paperwork, health and medical concerns, the five senses, air and breathing, wind and temperature changes. Since Mercury, like every celestial body, has a shadow side, don’t let down your guard concerning signings and agreements as Mercury is fundamentally motionless all of today and can influence earth dwellers positively or negatively. (Mercury will remain in forward motion until March 5, 2019 when it will begin a new retrograde cycle at 30 degrees of Pisces.) Before the new moon happens, two additional sky anomalies test your patience as the moon squares Mars (8:12pm) and Neptune (8:43pm). After the new moon enters the history books, keep striving for serenity since several planetary shake-ups make their appearance in the heavens on Friday.

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

Astrology.com

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ARE YOU SECRETLY AN ALIEN? IF YOU WERE BORN AFTER 1978, YOU MIGHT BE!

ASTROLOGY.COM

How would you describe yourself? A millennial? Super-creative, highly intuitive, instinctually rebellious, and… existentially lonely? If you answered “yes” to these questions, you might be an Indigo Child.

In her book “Welcome Home, Wanderer: A Guide for Indigo Children,” author Sophia Gubb asks, “Have you felt different all your life? Do you feel that you have an important purpose, even when you don’t know what it is?… Are you, in other words, an alien with a mission?”

by Anna Ortiz

WHAT IS AN INDIGO CHILD?

“Indigo Children” was a term coined in the 1970’s by Nancy Ann Tappe, an author and synesthete who developed the idea of a “life color” – a single color that remains in your aura from birth to death. She began seeing a rare aural shade of a deep purplish-blue appearing in a unique set of people starting in the ‘60s and early ‘70s – before noticing a prominent spike in its occurrence in the ensuing decades.

Since Tappe named the phenomenon, numerous works have been written about the Indigo children, who are generally characterized as people who were born in or after 1978 that have the telltale indigo aura. There are many specific characteristics attributed to this burgeoning group of individuals, including the belief that they are a spiritually evolved generation whose purpose is to enlighten society and steer humanity to a better path.

Some even believe that Indigo children are alien hybrids or, at the very least, have a special celestial connection to extraterrestrials. Craig Lang, a Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) field investigator, proposes that otherworldly visitors could be genetically integrating these characteristics into the human populace in order to introduce a population of “awakened” individuals. In her book “Children of the Stars: Advice for Star Children and Parents,” author Nikki Pattillo theorizes that Indigos are spiritual incarnations of extraterrestrials in human bodies, rather than genetic science experiments.

Either way, there’s no doubting that countless young outsiders have found their place among the Indigo tribe.

LIFE AS AN INDIGO CHILD

There was one widely shared sentiment among the Indigos we interviewed: Growing up, they felt like outsiders. Most Indigos we spoke to admitted to experiencing alienation or a feeling of generally being misunderstood. In fact, Indigos are often diagnosed with conditions such as ADD, ADHD, autism, anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder.

Terek Schofield, of Petawawa, Ontario has struggled with severe ADHD all his life. When he recently stumbled upon articles about Indigo children, “the scary accuracy of every single trait pretty much made me a believer.”

Learning of this phenomenon has made the 32-year-old feel less alone. “I have a community, or rather a family,” he explains. “And when you’ve felt a strange outsider your whole life, it’s comforting.”

That sentiment has been echoed by many others across the globe. Simply feeling a part of a like-minded community, even if it’s just a Facebook group or online forum, has helped to cope with the challenges they face as an Indigo. Aurexia Rivers, a 33-year-old from South Africa, identifies as an Indigo and says that learning about the community has helped her make sense of her own life. “Learning about Indigo Children has helped me to understand myself better,” she says. ”I’m not just a freak.”

In addition to ADHD and other diagnoses, Indigos are also often highly attuned to things that others cannot see. “Ever since I was a little girl, I have been able to see entities that ‘normal folk’ do not see,” explains Isabelle Alba, a 35-year-old from Stockholm, Sweden. “Both good and bad entities. It was and still is a very scary experience.”

On the other hand, the sensitivity can bring about a feeling of connectivity. For instance, Marie Velan spent her childhood talking to the wildlife around her home in Seattle. The 31-year-old would hold conversations with birds in her treehouse and could sense when a stray cat was going to have kittens before it was visibly apparent.

If any of these stories feel familiar to you, you might be an Indigo as well.

7 SIGNS OF BEING AN INDIGO CHILD

You don’t follow the rules. Indigo children are not the personality type to accept rules and authority at face value. Instead, they choose to be led by their internal values and their innate sense of integrity above all else. This means growing up at odds with authoritarian figures like parents and teachers. As a result, adult Indigos tend to clash with authority throughout their lives because of their strong sense of right and wrong and they’re not afraid to make their opinions known.

You are an empath. Indigos pick up on a lot from the people and the atmosphere around them and have an uncanny ability to tap into other people’s emotions. When Indigos are unaware of this trait, it can lead to depression and a sense of feeling overwhelmed.

You have psychic abilities. Often, Indigos have an innate connection to the spirit world, which can include seeing or feeling ghosts. They have a sixth sense in tuning into other’s motives, feelings, characteristics and underlying issues, and they often already know the outcome of a situation before it comes to fruition. It’s hard to pull the veil over an Indigo’s eyes since their perception is so fine-tuned.

You often feel lonely. Even though much of the time Indigos are well-liked and even admired for their altruistic character, feeling disconnected with those around them is still a lifetime battle. Because they have always lived with a feeling of isolation and alienation beginning in their earliest years, Indigos typically have trouble falling into step with the rest of society. This makes for a challenging adolescence, in which depression and anxiety can develop early on. Questions like, “What’s wrong with me?” and statements like, “Everything is wrong,” tend to be repetitive throughout an Indigo’s lifetime.

You’re super-creative. Indigos think outside of the box and gravitate towards the world of fantasy, and often find artistic ways to express themselves such as through music, writing, and the arts.

You’re hypersensitive. Indigos, especially if they are younger, are filled with a whirlwind of emotions, which amplifies their reactions to situations and people. They are the first to get their heart-strings tugged by a moving scene in a movie and react strongly when reading the news of a person or animal who was harmed. They also have many physical sensitivities, such as allergies to foods and chemicals. In addition, Indigos can have a heightened reaction to stimulus, especially in chaotic or overbearing atmospheres.

You want to make the world a better place. Indigos are born with a desire to find their destiny, which often ties in with humanitarian-based efforts. Part of their driving force is the persistent feeling that they are here for a reason, combined with intense empathy for not only other people but also animals and the environment. They don’t believe in living for material gain and comfort, but rather use their time on Earth to enact solutions to humanity’s’ many quandaries.

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Your Daily Love Horoscopes for Thursday, Dec. 6 & Dec. 7

Pisces Daily Love Horoscope

Thursday 6th of December 2018

Be prepared to dig deep into your passionate well of compassion and kindness to find pearls of wisdom and romantic revelations. Your heart’s needs might be altering or evolving, but this can lead the way to new desires that you’ll be keen to explore passionately! Just remember to introduce any changes gradually. If a loved one or potential partner needs time to catch up with you, passion-wise, then slow things down briefly!

Pisces tomorrow love horoscope:

Friday 7th of December 2018

A loved one or someone close might not be getting the memo or taking your hint in some way. This could cause you to wonder what else you should do to make yourself clear. Your best bet at this time involves refraining from pushing for anything new to be tried or explored and choose instead to see what healing or small improvements a bit of time can bring. You and someone close could still be reeling from a tense or unpleasant development. Be there for each other.

Capricorn Daily Love Horoscope

Thursday 6th of December 2018

There could be strong similarities between your current romantic circumstances and those from your distant past. You’re probably quite happy to boost your effort levels with one special connection because you know the rewards will come and are right to embrace it with a positive spirit. With plenty of gratitude and compassion, one connection can only go from strength to strength.

Capricorn tomorrow love horoscope:

Friday 7th of December 2018

You might feel you couldn’t be more consistent or straightforward with how you’re projecting or conveying yourself to someone close, but they could draw your attention to mixed or confusing signals you’re sending. To be fair, your moods and attention levels could fluctuate at this time, and you might not feel it’s necessary to keep a loved one in the loop every minute of the day about what you think, feel or are doing. If you’re told you’re a bit erratic, then don’t take it to heart.

Sagittarius Daily Love Horoscope

Thursday 6th of December 2018

A wave of reassurance permeating your emotional world or one special connection could help you to feel confident that you’re on the best path possible to realize a romantic dream now. Obligations might demand attention in other areas and make finding enough time for romance to be tricky. Stop seeing romance as a luxury that you can afford only when the time is right to do so. If it demands attention like anything else, then don’t put it further down your priority list!

Sagittarius tomorrow love horoscope:

Friday 7th of December 2018

Feeling a noticeable sense of ease and comfort in your emotional world or within a love relationship can help bring your focus back to enhancing and strengthening a special bond instead of keeping on top of any tension or uncertainty. If you’re attached, then others could see you and someone close as an inseparable team, so be willing to seize social opportunities coming your way together.

Scorpio Daily Love Horoscope

Thursday 6th of December 2018

It’s not easy to simplify your love life, but if you can explore options to do so, then you’ll do yourself a great service now. Setting aside ‘you time’ to ponder affairs of the heart is important, especially if you’re suppressing thoughts or emotions to keep things peaceful and harmonious. Fortunately, your passionate purpose is probably clearer to you now than it has been in some time. You’ve coped with amazing challenges recently. Now, it’s time to take stock of where you stand currently and if your current emotional position matches your expectations.

Scorpio tomorrow love horoscope:

Friday 7th of December 2018

Your ability to apply your innate intuition is legendary, and you can connect with those you’re closest to or anticipate their thoughts or actions with remarkable ease now. Try to apply your intuitive talents to sweeten someone’s world. You could offer a solution to a loved one’s problem or dilemma by putting yourself in their shoes briefly and seeing what they see or feel what they feel. You could also be surprised at what you discover by doing so, too.

Libra Daily Love Horoscope

Thursday 6th of December 2018

If you believe an imbalance exists in a current love relationship, then restoring harmony relies on you having an authentic heart-to-heart conversation about it. What you perceived to be balanced might differ from what a partner believes to be fair, so a meeting of minds and hearts needs to happen pronto. It’s by nipping tiny issues in the bud before they grow in strength and size that you can keep moving one special connection in a positive direction.

Libra tomorrow love horoscope:

Friday 7th of December 2018

There appears to be plenty of comradery and cooperation on offer to you and teaming up with a loved one or potential partner could provide a perfect chance for a bond to strengthen or deepen. You and a special person will enjoy being part of a collaborative effort or feeling as if you have important roles to play and contributions to make. It might not be only your lives than the two of you can make a significant difference to.

Virgo Daily Love Horoscope

Thursday 6th of December 2018

You might be unaware of the stable influence you are to one special connection. Even with a lengthy To Do List in other areas of your world, you still manage to tend to essential matters of the heart. A new chapter is beginning, and the boost to your personal power fills you with the confidence you need to keep everything balanced and copacetic. It’s by harnessing and focusing your power constructively that will ensure romance gets a lot hotter!

Virgo tomorrow love horoscope:

Friday 7th of December 2018

What might seem a straightforward, humdrum way of doing something to you could make you very appealing in a certain person’s eyes. The way you make something appear easy or your knowledge of a particular topic could bring you closer. Although they might be genuinely keen for you to share your knowledge or expertise, it’s probably you they’re more interested in. A meeting of hearts starts with a meeting of minds.

Leo Daily Love Horoscope

Thursday 6th of December 2018

Being able to rise above a love life snafu helps you to connect with a love interest in a meaningful way. You can see the lesson that’s waiting to be learned in a current love life situation, even if it means adopting a new attitude or approach to an old love life matter you believed was resolved and put behind you. As you evolve, so too does the object of your affections. Together, you’ll feel confident about supporting each other in ways you could both use some support now.

Leo tomorrow love horoscope:

Friday 7th of December 2018

Come on, Leo! Do you know of anyone able to bring more imagination and creativity to their love life than you? This is a time to connect with your deeply romantic side. A loved one or potential partner could be surprised at and delighted by your ability to express romantic ideas, thoughts or plans in ways that truly touch their heart. It’s the way you make someone close smile or, better still, laugh by applying your unique brand of imagination that can make you appear even sexier in their eyes.

Cancer Daily Love Horoscope

Thursday 6th of December 2018

Tending to a loved one’s needs requires you to focus on your needs first. It’s that simple. You can broaden personal horizons and simplify your love life by being guided by your heart regarding what you should do next. Make this passionate process easier by being honest with yourself and making someone close clear about what you need and why you need it. Offering total authenticity means you will never have to settle for second best.

Cancer tomorrow love horoscope:

Friday 7th of December 2018

You want to remove tediousness from your emotional world, and the cosmos appears to have listened. One unexpected development or surprise activity pushes you to embrace the thrill of spontaneity. If you’re attached, then a loved one could reveal a plan made in secret that could thrill you. If you’re single, then an out of the blue message from a certain person could give you plenty to consider.

Gemini Daily Love Horoscope

Thursday 6th of December 2018

A lover can be your biggest ally today. Remaining on the sidelines of all the action may seem prudent to you, but you’re missing out on what could be a real romantic adventure. Summon that sexy spirit of yours and make a bold move. Something as simple as sharing a personal goal or fun fantasy can create warm fuzzy feelings between you and the one you love.

Gemini tomorrow love horoscope:

Friday 7th of December 2018

There’s likely much going on in the background of your emotional world or a love partnership. What gets agreed between you and someone close could take longer than you anticipated to come to fruition so don’t get antsy if progress feels slow. However, the need to take something slowly helps to create a new level of level of trust. If you’ve wanted to reveal thoughts, feelings or plans in new or more exciting ways, then you could have your chance to do so.

Taurus Daily Love Horoscope

Thursday 6th of December 2018

You don’t need an excuse to ignore any love life issues or tension waiting to arise in your emotional world. This could be a time when you want to ponder affairs of the heart because once you’ve recharged your physical and emotional batteries, you’ll feel more confident about dealing with whatever you’re ignoring now.

Taurus tomorrow love horoscope:

Friday 7th of December 2018

You could be busy making plans in every area of your world or have your eye fixed on what you want to make happen career-wise. However, don’t let your emotional world or love life suffer from lack of attention. You don’t have to create a lengthy and ambitious list of things to throw similar energy into, love-wise. Slow but heartfelt changes in your romantic world could transform it. You might need to adjust your priorities accordingly.

Aries Daily Love Horoscope

Thursday 6th of December 2018

You could feel very much ‘in the zone’ when it comes to love affairs of the heart, and the first clue about how comfortable you feel could surround the ease in which your words flow. Your heart is full of gratitude and compassion, but it’s important you don’t push too hard to be understood. Feeling more relaxed toward affairs of the heart allows some luck to permeate your emotional world. Don’t rule out what a bit of that can bring you now.

Aries tomorrow love horoscope:

Friday 7th of December 2018

Romantic energy could intensify, and you might be unsure how to handle or focus this delightful bodily buzz! Therefore, you might need to dial back your signature impulsiveness otherwise your fervent passion could be more than one person could handle. You’re not obliged to bottle anything up, just release what you feel slowly and measuredly. Making a concerted effort not to rush something between you and one special person can build anticipation wonderfully.

Aquarius Daily Love Horoscope

Thursday 6th of December 2018

The surge of confidence you’re blessed with in your romantic world has the power to move mountains. Nothing will stop you from furthering your personal, passionate transformation, and it’s important you trust your vision of the future. If you truly want to improve current love circumstances, then open your heart to the powerful changes underway right now. They’re waiting for some guidance and steering from you.

Aquarius tomorrow love horoscope:

Friday 7th of December 2018

Whether or not you and someone close have given each other the ‘silent treatment’ recently, tension could be easing, and lines of communication could be improving. This can be helpful with getting plans underway that have been delayed due to uncertainty – or lethargy. Finding new places to explore can strengthen a bond, and the more unfamiliar, the better

–Horoscopes-Love.eu

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The Daily Horoscopes for Thursday, December 6

Claire Petulengro, Astrologer

From The Astrology Room

ARIES (March 21st-April 20th)
Words are seeds for you this week, so scatter them with care and they will grow and flourish beyond your wildest expectations. Someone you thought you wanted back in your life, you now realise you do not. Ring now to hear why these feelings are spot on.

TAURUS (April 21st-May 21st)
Don’t waste time on those who don’t give, but only take from your life. To do so can only lead to that same frustrated feeling you could not get rid of last month. Show you can grow and be the bigger person. Ring now so I can empower you.

GEMINI (May 22nd-June 21st)
You may not realise it, but 2018 has been a year of real life lessons for you and not all of them were pain free, were they Gemini? Many of your sign are having trouble sleeping lately, but making much needed phone calls can put your life back in order. Ring me. Let’s get you living life again.

CANCER (June 22nd-July 23rd)
Try not to take sides in any arguments today as nothing is what it at first seems. In fact, many of the signs really are talking for the sake of it lately. Your element of water brings out your need to confess, but stick to your own secrets, not those of others. Ring now for guidelines.

LEO (July 24th-August 23rd)
You will always find a way out of a problem. You’re a Leo! Don’t be afraid to take the lead, it’s what you were born for. Knowing who you can trust has not been easy, but today is set to give you all of the evidence you need. Ring now for a message from Uranus.

VIRGO (August 24th-September 23rd)
I can see that there have not been enough hours in the day for you recently and that you have felt as if others have been using you. That all changes once you learn to say no to the things you don’t want. Ring now so I can help you to find your voice again.

LIBRA (September 24th-October 23rd)
You would be wise on this day to believe nothing of what you hear and only half of what you see. Facts will come to light as this month unfolds which will make you feel foolish for acting so quickly on what could just be rumours. Ring now to stay on top.

SCORPIO (October 24th-November 22nd)
Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced. Once you accept this fact, then you will slowly but surely start to let down some of those defences. Negotiations in work can go in your favour at this time. Ring now for a game plan.

SAGITTARIUS (November 23rd-December 21st)
You should have learnt by now that you are a sign with an addictive nature. What you have yet to realise though, is that you can have good addictions as well as negative ones. Try to put all of your time and energy into making the change which is long overdue. Ring now for help.

CAPRICORN (December 22nd-January 20th)
Can you feel the excitement which is running through your veins? If you can’t, then you will be able to within the next fortnight my friend. Your life is about to get brighter and bolder than ever before. Fasten your seatbelt Capricorn. You’re in for quite a ride! Ring now for details.

AQUARIUS (January 21st-February 19th)
There is a no nonsense attitude to your chart today where you will not be suffering fools gladly. Thanks to the magic of Saturn, you’ll be able to see through lies easily. This could shed some light on what was really meant by a recent offer. Ring me to build more on this.

PISCES (February 20th-March 20th)
Be happy for this very dramatic moment you have found yourself in recently Pisces. It is, after all, your life! You have spent far too much time listening to and taking advice from those whose lives you would not wish for your own anyway! Ring now to improve your confidence.

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Get A Jump on Tomorrow….

Your Daily Horoscopes for Friday, December 7

Claire Petulengro, Astrologer

From The Astrology Room

ARIES (March 21st-April 20th)
Friends turn into lovers for many of your sign and you start to see what you have to do in order to live the life you desire. For some of you, this will mean parting ways with those who do not treat you well. About time is all I say. Ring now for total honesty.

TAURUS (April 21st-May 21st)
Don’t play games in love this weekend or you will get your fingers burnt. It would be far better for you to give your close ones the cold hard facts. Making time however for those who are older than you is critical. Ring now to hear how money can be made from second attempts.

GEMINI (May 22nd-June 21st)
Stay present and celebrate what is rather than what may be in time to come. Your dual nature often sees you putting your time and energy where it is least needed. Pisces link to a new path in your career which can bring happiness. Ring now for the full story.

CANCER (June 22nd-July 23rd)
Try not to speak for the sake of it or you could end up getting yourself into a lot of hot water. Instead, try only to answer the questions which are being asked of you. Knowing who your heart really lies with is your major battle. Ring now to make sense of mixed messages.

LEO (July 24th-August 23rd)
Never let the future worry you. You will meet your destiny as the same person you are now, which means if you speak from the heart your answers will be the right ones. Ring now to hear how pregnancies and births are all around you this month and next.

VIRGO (August 24th-September 23rd)
The written word is more important than you could possibly imagine. Don’t let what others try to tempt you into take centre stage. If you do, then you will be kicking yourself for a long time to come. Ring now to hear which sign is your Achilles’ heel.

LIBRA (September 24th-October 23rd)
The past is on your mind more than usual and you may even find yourself tempted to call up those who you miss. Just try to remember why it is that you moved on from them Libra. It’s the key to you feeling in control of your destiny. Ring now so I can help you.

SCORPIO (October 24th-November 22nd)
Trust is a major issue for you at this time, but what you need to ask yourself is if you are mistrusting someone for what another did to you, or if you truly feel you are having the wool pulled over your eyes. Ring now to excel where you have previously failed.

SAGITTARIUS (November 23rd-December 21st)
Fear of the same thing going wrong for a second time is a very real fear for you, isn’t it Sagittarius? However, deep down inside you and I both know that your current situation is nothing like an old one. Ring now to work on following through with what your heart is telling you.

CAPRICORN (December 22nd-January 20th)
There are an array of new talents which are going to be touching your heart and soul this month. The first step to you getting back onto a path which is right for you requires you to admit what and who you really want. Phone now to hear why gambles in love are worth taking.

AQUARIUS (January 21st-February 19th)
Your element of air could see you telling others’ secrets which they would rather have kept under wraps. Make sure you express your intentions before you carry them out or you could end up ruining a relationship which has only just got back on track. Ring now for clarity.

PISCES (February 20th-March 20th)
Look back for a moment Pisces and you will see that you have already survived every bad thing that came your way. All you can remember is the pain, but that has passed and will not return. Take a deep breath and jump. Ring now to hear what amazing times await you.

For Claire’s in-depth horoscope for this week, call 0905 072 0237
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Your Daily Tarot Card for December 7th is Temperance

Temperance

Keywords: providing aid, healing, concentration, moderation!

Astrological Correspondence: Sagittarius

The angel between heaven and earth blending different elements into a harmonious substance represents a bridge between polarities, like heaven and earth, masculine and feminine, beginning and end. The combining of varied substances serves as imagery for the merging of diverse forces to create a new whole for cooperation, coordination, a harmonious balance, looking for a middle ground, achieving healing, and recovery. Temperance signifies that moderation is necessary to regulate passions and maintain harmony in relationships, and to build tolerance and cooperation in groups. In a negative situation, Temperance characteristics are indecision, inconstancy, excess, obsession, and lack of control.

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Your Daily Love Tarot Card for December 6th is The Magician

The Magician

Have you fallen under a spell today and do not want to let go of the fantasy? Do you think you found the ideal? Could you be ignoring what you feel might destroy the ideal? Think twice. Put the brakes on and contemplate as you work to see things in perspective. If in a relationship, criticism might be a turn on for someone, but does it work for you?

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Your Daily Tarot Power Card for December 6th is The Magician

The Magician

You’re in the zone! During this time, your silver tongue seems to be able to do no wrong. So, seal the deal, whether that means signing a contract, purchasing a house, or reaching out to your crush to propose a date! This adventure can only be started if you are the one to initiate by starting the conversation, so don’t wait around for somebody else to be the one to get the ball rolling. Take charge of your own destiny!

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Your Daily Rune for August 31 is Elhaz

Elhaz

Also known as: Algiz, Eoih, Elgr

Pronunciation: el-hahz

Letter sound: Z

Translation: protection, elk, sedge plant

Keywords: protection, defense, opportunity

Primary Themes Elhaz is the rune of defense and protection. Its shape is said to represent both the elk, with its imposing antlers, and the sedge plant, whose sharp leaves act as natural protection from would-be predators. Both images illustrate the power represented by this rune— a built-in protective force that discourages negative influences from affecting your personal experience.

Drawing Elhaz indicates that you are safe from danger and that there is no need to fear. However, don’t take the protective energy for granted by being reckless with your actions, as this rune does not mean that there is no danger present whatsoever. It simply means that as long as you remain alert and clear-minded and in touch with your intuition, you are headed for a positive outcome. Elhaz has also been interpreted as a symbol of reaching up to connect with the divine for support. By listening to your higher guidance, you will know which moves to make to stay out of harm’s way.

Magical Uses: Protection from negative energy and people, protection of property, strengthen friendships, astral communication

–Runes for Beginners: A Guide to Reading Runes in Divination, Rune Magic, and the Meaning of the Elder Futhark Runes

Lisa Chamberlain

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Your Daily Witches Rune for December 6 is The Blank Rune

The Blank Rune

Meaning: This is a rune of difficulty and negative influences will rule your life for a time, but as all difficulties are a learning experience it will lead to improved personal perspective and progress on your life’s path. Always consult the surrounding runes with this stone. If it lies with a positive stone, it indicates that the pain of this experience will lead to a beneficial change in circumstances.

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Your Daily Ogham Reading for December 6 is Straif-Blackthorn

Straif-Blackthorn

This thorny tree is known for it’s negative uses over the years. It has been used for cattle proofing with its thorns, the berries have been turned into alcohol, and the thorns were once dipped in poison as a weapon. Drawing this letter brings forth ideas of pain, negativity, pessimism, and potential conflict. If Straif comes up in your reading it is very wise to pay attention to any warnings.

Fortune – This Ogham can denote very bad signs ahead. Pay very close attention to matters in life that way you can avoid the warning that you were given.

Your Animal Spirit Guide for December 6 is The Robin

When the Robin enters your life you can expect a brighter future is on its way.

Characteristics of the Robin

New Growth
Cleansing
Communication
Harmony
Hope
New Beginning
Bright Future

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Your Daily Karmic Number for December 6 is 11

Have you noticed how beautiful autumn leaves are when they move through the air or across the ground when the wind moves them? It’s like a dance with Mother Nature. It’s magical. That’s not your life right now, under number 11. You have been blowing around like debris being swept down a sidewalk by a leaf blower. You are ungrounded and easily influenced by outside forces. You have too many people giving you advice that has nothing to do with your life. Tell them to stop sharing then focus on your breath for five minutes. You will gain clarity this way. You’ll soon become more like a leaf, floating through the air.

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Crack the Cookie

Quarreling is the weapon of the weak

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Wisdom of the Buddha

To live a pure unselfish life, one must count nothing as one’s own in the midst of abundance

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Your Daily Planet Tracker for Dec. 6: Moon in Sagittarius

Optimistic, Philosophical, Adventurous

December 5 – December 8, 2018

Before we jump straight into the Moon in Sagittarius, let’s first learn about the Moon itself. In Astrology, the Moon is considered a planet. It moves so quickly through the sky that it actually passes through each of the zodiac signs every month! While most people are familiar with their Sun sign, many people are unaware of what their Moon sign is. Why is knowing this aspect of this so important? The Moon is our astrological home, and it relates to our moods and our gut feelings.

When the Moon is in Sagittarius

No matter what your Moon sign is, we are all honorary Sagittarians when the Moon moves through that sign. The energy of Sagittarius is very expansive, free, and visionary. If you’re normally very pragmatic or cynical, you might find that you’re a little more optimistic than usual. Your mind will start considering all the possibilities of a situation rather than just focusing on the potential roadblocks. Your thoughts could end up in uncharted territory!

A Sagittarius Moon will renew your sense of adventure, and you could have the desire to pick something (no matter how big or small) and just go for it. Sagittarius loves the idea of traveling and expanding their horizon. This can be something physical like traveling to a faraway place, or taking their mind on a trip with an education pursuit. Don’t be surprised if you have the urge to register for that class you’ve been thinking about taking, or if you decide to book a last-minute vacation during this transit.

New Moon in Sagittarius

New Moons are a time of new beginnings and new emotional cycles. The Sagittarius New Moon asks us to plant the seeds of optimism. This is when we allow ourselves to leave the painful parts of our pasts behind so we can visualize a bigger and brighter future. This idealistic outlook doesn’t match the realities of everyone’s life. Many people are suffering in economic, emotional, physical, and spiritual ways. It’s not difficult to find areas of frustration and fear inside us and in the environment around us. The Sagittarius New Moon offers you hope, and all the wonderful things that hope brings. Instead of seeing a situation as it is, you will be able to imagine what your situation could be.

Full Moon in Sagittarius

Unlike the New Moon, which is about starting something new, the Full Moon is about reflecting on what we planted six months ago, and how it’s coming to fruition. It urges us to consider what’s next. This is an interesting time because the Moon in far-seeing Sagittarius opposes the Sun in nearsighted Gemini. Gemini is concerned with things that are nearby while Sagittarius wants us to contemplate what’s on the distant horizon. We might be overwhelmed with ideas and information, but the Sagittarius Full Moon helps us focus our attention on long-term goals and higher principles rather than getting lost in a flood of small details.

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A Little Humor for Your Day

The Ten Catmmandments

I am the Lord of thy House.
Thou shalt have no other pets before Me.
Thou shalt never ignore Me.
I shall ignore thee when I feel like it.
Thou shalt be grateful that I even give thee the time of day.
Remember My food dish and keep it full.
Thou shalt spend most of thy money on toys and gifts for Me.
Thou shalt always have thy lap ready for Me to curl up in.
Thou shalt shower Me with love and attention upon demand.
Above all, thou shalt do anything and everything it takes to keep Me happy.

–Turok’s Cabana

“Walk barefoot, listen to the wind, drink in the moon…. BE MAGICK”

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Yuletide Wishes

May The Goddess Bless You & Yours On This Wintry Thursday Morn’!

TCG - Winter Wonderland - Pro Challenge

God Rest Ye Merry, Paganfolk

God rest ye merry, paganfolk,
Let nothing you dismay.
Remember that the Sun returns
Upon this Solstice day.
The growing dark is ending now
And Spring is on its way.
Oh, tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy!
Oh, tidings of comfort and joy.

The Goddess rest ye merry, too,
And keep you safe from harm.
Remember that we live within
The circle of Her arms,
And may Her love give years to come
A very special charm.
Oh, tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy!
Oh, tidings of comfort and joy!

–Author Unknown
Published on Pagan Library

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