Day: February 26, 2019

A Little Humor for Your Day – Signs That You Drink Too Much Coffee

Signs That You Drink Too Much Coffee

  • You answer the door before people knock.
  • Juan Valdez named his donkey after you.
  • You ski uphill.
  • You grind your coffee beans in your mouth.
  • You haven’t blinked since the last lunar eclipse.
  • You lick your coffeepot clean.
  • You’re the employee of the month at the local coffeehouse and you don’t even work there.
  • Your eyes stay open when you sneeze.
  • You chew on other people’s fingernails.
  • Your T-shirt says, “Decaffeinated coffee is the devil’s blend.”
  • You can type sixty words per minute… with your feet.
  • You can jump-start your car without cables.
  • No-Doze is a downer.
  • You don’t need a hammer to pound nails.
  • Your only source of nutrition comes from “Sweet & Low.”
  • You don’t sweat, you percolate.
  • You buy half-and-half by the barrel.
  • You’ve worn out the handle on your favorite mug.
  • You go to AA meetings just for the free coffee.
  • You walk twenty miles on your treadmill before you realize it’s not plugged in.
  • You forget to unwrap candy bars before eating them.
  • Charles Manson thinks you need to calm down.
  • You’ve built a miniature city out of little plastic stirrers.
  • People get dizzy just watching you.
  • You’ve worn the finish off your coffee table.
  • The Taster’s Choice couple wants to adopt you.
  • Starbucks owns the mortgage on your house.
  • Your taste buds are so numb you could drink your lava lamp.
  • Instant coffee takes too long.
  • When someone says “How are you?”, you say, “Good to the last drop.”
  • You want to be cremated just so you can spend the rest of eternity in a coffee can.
  • Your birthday is a national holiday in Brazil.
  • You’re offended when people use the word “brew” to mean beer.
  • You have a picture of your coffee mug on your coffee mug.
  • You can thread a sewing machine, while it’s running.
  • You can outlast the Energizer bunny.
  • You short out motion detectors.
  • You don’t even wait for the water to boil anymore.
  • Your nervous twitch registers on the Richter scale.
  • You think being called a “drip” is a compliment.
  • You don’t tan, you roast.
  • You can’t even remember your second cup.
  • You help your dog chase its tail.

 

–Turok’s Cabana

Astronomy Picture of the Day – Dragon Aurora over Iceland 

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

February 26, 2019

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Dragon Aurora over Iceland 
Image Credit & Copyright: Jingyi Zhang & Wang Zheng

Explanation: Have you ever seen a dragon in the sky? Although real flying dragons don’t exist, a huge dragon-shaped aurora developed in the sky over Iceland earlier this month. The aurora was caused by a hole in the Sun’s corona that expelled charged particles into a solar wind that followed a changing interplanetary magnetic field to Earth’s magnetosphere. As some of those particles then struck Earth’s atmosphere, they excited atoms which subsequently emitted light: aurora. This iconic display was so enthralling that the photographer’s mother ran out to see it and was captured in the foreground. No sunspots have appeared on the Sun so far in February, making the multiple days of picturesque auroral activity this month somewhat surprising.

Spectacular moon, 3 planets, before dawn

Spectacular moon, 3 planets, before dawn

By 

Are you a morning person? If so, and you’re blessed with clear skies, the next several mornings are for you. Just look east, the direction of sunrise. You’ll find the moon sliding by three bright morning planets.

On the morning of February 27, 2019, the waning crescent moon closely couples up with the brilliant planet Jupiter as viewed from North America. Elsewhere around the world, the moon is not as close. From the world’s Eastern Hemisphere – Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia and New Zealand – the moon shines to the west of Jupiter on February 27. For all of us, Jupiter and our companion moon will appear very bright and close enough to make waking up early more than worthwhile.

 

The lighted side of a waning crescent moon points east, the direction of sunrise. The planets Saturn and Venus lie to the east of Jupiter, so the lit face of the moon will point toward the other two planets on the morning of February 27. Notice that the planets and moon make a line on our sky’s dome. This line shows you the whereabouts of the ecliptic, or Earth-sun plane. Since the other planets in our solar system – and the moon – all orbit more or less in this same plane, we always see them strung across our sky in this graceful line.

Each morning – in the hour before sunrise – you’ll see the moon farther east relative to this lineup of planets. Watch for the moon to pass Saturn and then Venus, as it makes its way toward the sunrise.

From various parts of Earth, the planets and moon will appear oriented differently in your sky. No matter where you live, though, fainter Saturn will lie between much-brighter Venus and Jupiter. Saturn, by the way, shines as brilliantly as a 1st-magnitude star. Jupiter outshines Saturn by about 11 times. And Venus outshines Jupiter by nearly eight times!

All are bright. If your sky is clear, you’ll be able to see all three planets with the greatest of ease.

After the moon drops out of the morning sky in early March, you can continue to find Saturn in between Venus and Jupiter for several months to come. Day by day, however, Jupiter and Saturn will drift farther west of Venus (opposite the sunrise direction) in the morning sky.

By the way, when we see the moon as a thin crescent in our sky, someone on the moon would see Earth as almost totally full. The sunlight reflected from the nearly full Earth onto the dark side of the moon is called earthshine. Look for its ghostly luminescence on the nighttime side of the moon in the mornings ahead.

Bottom line: A beautiful scene awaits you in the early morning sky. It’s a golden opportunity to see the moon sweep past 3 glorious planets: Jupiter, Saturn and Venus.

BRUCE MCCLURE

Bruce McClure has served as lead writer for EarthSky’s popular Tonight pages since 2004. He’s a sundial aficionado, whose love for the heavens has taken him to Lake Titicaca in Bolivia and sailing in the North Atlantic, where he earned his celestial navigation certificate through the School of Ocean Sailing and Navigation. He also writes and hosts public astronomy programs and planetarium programs in and around his home in upstate New York.

 

–EarthSky

The Daily Witches Rune for February 26 is The Rings

Daily Witches Rune

February 26, 2019

The Rings

Keywords: Love, relationships.

Meanings: The Rings is the rune of love and when it is the leading stone, it is a positive answer to your question. It is very much a rune of relationship and can indicate engagement, marriage or a new/renewed relationship. It can also indicate the need for a fresh approach to an existing relationship.

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The Daily Rune for February 26 is Laguz

Your Daily Rune for Tuesday, February 26

 

Laguz

“Log-uhz” – Literally: “Water” or Ocean – Esoteric: Unconscious, Collective Memory

Rune of the unconscious context of becoming or the evolutionary process. Rune of Life’s longing for itself.

Psi: emotion, psychic powers, unconscious mental processes, love, dreaming

Energy: life energy, ocean spirit, origins of life, collective unconscious, the astral plane, love as unity, evolution

Mundane: water, imagination, occultism, dreams

Divinations: Life, passing a test, sea of vitality and of the unconscious growth, memory, dreams; or fear, circular motion, avoidance, withering, depression, manipulations, emotional blackmail, lack of moral fiber, fantasy, poison, toxicity

Governs:

Transpersonal powers
Mastery of emotion in order to shape wyrd
Guidance through difficult initiatory tests, ie. initiation into life
Increase in vitality and life force
Communication between your conscious mind to another’s unconscious mind
Development of ‘second sight’ or prophetic wisdom
All powers of dreaming (lucid dreams, astral projection)

 

 

Uses for Tarot Cards

Uses for Tarot Cards

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What can you use tarot cards other than readings and telling fortunes? Lots of things as it happens. The cards are much more versatile than you might think. We’re going to explore a range of uses for tarot cards, including creative and spiritual development.

First of why are we able to make tarot do so much? The answer is simple: tarot reflects the whole of human life, from birth to death, from good to bad, from satisfying and fulfilling to challenging and traumatic, from the trials of everyday life to divine spiritual lessons. There’s nothing you can think of that you couldn’t connect to a tarot card or combination of cards. It’s the original game of life.

The cards themselves are just that—cards. There’s nothing intrinsically special about them. However, the images they carry are conduits to our subconscious. Those images, and the symbolism within, connect memories, impressions, mysteries, psychic awareness and intuition.

Tarot for Creativity

Whenever you are in need of inspiration, whether it is creating art, music, writing or anything else that requires free-flowing ideas, turn to your cards. Ask some questions to get the creative juices flowing. You can be as specific as you like by asking about your current project or you can ask tarot to point you in a new direction. Pick a random card or two, or flick through the deck until an image leaps out at you.  Here are some examples:

  • What do I want to create?
  • What’s the next plot point in this story?
  • What is this character thinking?
  • What does the figure in this card say about art?
  • Is there an aspect of my creativity I am neglecting?
  • Is there anything I should do to develop my creativity?
    What practical step can I take to kick-start new ideas?
  • How do I connect with this work emotionally?
  • What if I were to create my own version of this card?
  • How would this card express itself in music?
  • And so on… think about your creative crossroads and make up your own pertinent questions.

Shuffle and turn cards as you wish. Don’t worry about traditional meanings. Pay attention to the figures in the illustrations. How do they look? What are they doing? What could they be saying to you? Look at the colors, numbers and any details that catch your eye. Write down any ideas that come to mind. Try doing some free-writing (writing without thinking about the actual process of writing—let it flow) using the card as a prompt. Let the words come out and see where it takes you.

Using Tarot to Manifest Your Desires

My favorite way to use tarot to manifest things I want and events I’d like to happen is a tarot vision board. You can do this by simply choosing a few cards to represent your wish. Focus on them, perhaps light a candle or meditate on them. It’s a good idea to place a small crystal on each and leave them where you can see them.

If you wish to make it more complex, then get an actual board or large piece of card. Find and cut out magazine images, words, and/or do your own drawings. Make the board as beautiful and inspirational as you can. Leave some gaps. Choose some appropriate cards and place them in the spaces you left. You’ll have to keep this vision board flat, unless you photocopy the cards and stick the copies to the board.

This technique worked really well when my partner and I were looking for a new house 17 years ago. We got everything I put on the board. And we’re still here.

Self-understanding with Tarot

Understanding where you are in your life path, your emotions and actions, is tarot’s forte. You can approach this as a normal reading, like this:

Shuffle your deck and lay out five cards in a row:

  • What are my hidden motivations? Don’t flinch. Be prepared for anything and have the courage to explore what the card has to say to you.
  • What are my best qualities? Take all the positive aspects of the card and make a list. See how they apply to you.
  • How am I deceiving myself? If the card doesn’t give you a clear answer, use it as a focus for meditation. Put the card to one side and, when you have time, do a meditation to see what is revealed.
  • What life lesson is facing me? This may involve an in-depth exploration of the card. Research it and find out all you can.
  • Guidance for moving forward: what do I need to accept, or what actions should I be taking?

Spiritual Development

Tarot is perfect for learning and understanding those tricky life lessons that are thrown at us. Those challenges, however they manifest, are all opportunities to assimilate a spiritual lesson. Whether it be falling out with a friend or having a fight with your partner. Select cards that best represent the situation and explore their messages, from where you are right now, to where this might take you. Try to look for the positives and ways to bring courage and forgiveness to the situation. Then draw a single random card for onward guidance.

Developing Intuition

A fun way of developing your intuition is to draw random cards for any situations: real, fiction, drama, TV news, celeb gossip, etc. Then, putting aside what you know about the card intellectually, make up a completely new interpretation for the situation you’re reading about. Then see how it develops and unfolds to see if you were right. Start with single cards then work up to short spreads, maximum of five cards.

Meditation

Tarot is renowned for being a helper in meditation:

  • Choose a card or pull one at random.
  • Sit still. Bring yourself to a state of relaxation using whatever technique works best for you. I find imagining myself slowly descending down levels of color helps. I visualize traveling down a moving staircase, going through the colors of the rainbow in this order: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and finally at the lowest level, violet. Allow the colors to glow and envelop you in their energy.
  • Walk through a doorway and along a beautiful path. Enjoy the physical sensations of smell, touch, sight as you walk. Eventually you come to a clearing where you meet your tarot card. This might display as a huge card, or the figure/s in the card.
  • Ask the card/figure to give you the best advice it possibly can in this moment. Listen to the answer. Ask any other questions that occur to you. After a little while, you’ll feel that you are being pulled back to full consciousness. Gently allow the vision to fade. When you are ready, write down what you can remember.

Working with the Elements

Tarot is the best tool for gaining an understanding of the spiritual elements of Fire, Water, Air and Earth. Examining how the suits progress; advancing or decaying with the increase in the energy of their elements is fundamental to a good grasp of tarot, and of life. Practice associating real life events to a tarot card, whether Major or Minor. This is fun thing to do, and pretty soon, you will have an ‘inner deck’ firmly ensconced in your mind.

Don’t let your deck sit on a shelf, give it some work to do. See if you can discover other uses for tarot cards.

–LUNARCAFE.com

Your Influences for the Weekend of February 26

Your Influences for the Weekend of February 26

 

Element Influence

Earth Reversed

Earth reversed denotes a lack of positive connection with the life spirit–a lost soul. If you are not careful you may miss much of what life has to offer you
 

 

 

 

 

 

Astrological Influence

Pisces Reversed

Pisces reversed signifies a lack of positive thinking and creativity at this time

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Element Influence

Earth Reversed

Earth reversed denotes a lack of positive connection with the life spirit–a lost soul. If you are not careful you may miss much of what life has to offer you

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your Egyptian Love Tarot Card for February 26

Your Egyptian Love Tarot Card for Today

The Hanged Man

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Hanged Man card can sometimes make you feel like you are at the mercy of outside forces. If you feel like a victim in regard to love and romance in your life right now, be assured that these feelings won’t last forever. In the short-term, meditation, prayer, and spending time in reflection will help you move through this period more gracefully and in a more open frame of mind.

Your Daily Egyptian Tarot Card for February 26

Your Daily Egyptian Tarot Card for Today

The Star

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Star has risen above the masses and shines down upon you from above. It is what you dream on and whisper your hopes to. This is why the Star card can denote success coming to as an artist, because the artist in you is what can make your dreams come true. When your dreams come true, you immediately forget most of the pain you have suffered getting here. The Star card says keep on dreaming, because dreams really do come true.