Month: March 2019
The Old Farmer’s Almanac for Mar. 28:
FLOWERS YOU CAN EAT
But did you know that the flowers of hundreds of common wild and cultivated plants are edible? Yes, there are many flowers that you can eat!
For centuries, humans have foraged or cultivated flowers and flower buds for food, drink, and medicine. Think broccoli, cauliflower, and artichoke, stuffed or stir-fried squash blossoms dill-flower spiked pickles, chamomile and jasmine tea.
But did you know that the flowers of hundreds of common wild and cultivated plants are edible? Dressing up your soups, salads, drinks, and desserts with buds and flowers will add color, diversity, and new flavor to your meals. Adventurous folks might also want to explore some of the traditional medicinal uses of common flowers.
When preparing most flowers (exceptions: squash, violets, and nasturtiums) for food or beverage, use only the petals for best flavor. Remove the sepals, as well as the pistils and stamens.
FAVORITE EDIBLE FLOWERS
- Nasturtium sits at the top of my list. It’s easy to grow from seed, indoors or out, and every above-ground part is edible. Its buds and delicate, voluptuous blossoms spice up a bland salad or cooked vegetable platter. Nasturtium leaves and flowers are rich in antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compounds, and have a long history of medicinal use in indigenous cultures for urinary-tract, cardiovascular, and respiratory disorders. Extracts of this cabbage-family relative are currently under investigation as possible treatments for many diseases, including antibiotic-resistant infections.
- Daylily Harvested fresh, the plump buds and meaty flowers of this common garden plant are delicious sauteed in a little oil or butter, then seasoned with salt and pepper. Some people stuff the just-opened blossom with a favorite stuffing mix, then saute the stuffed flowers in a little oil or poach them in broth. Use only freshly harvested buds/flowers.
- Violets I’ve already written about my love of the irrepressible wild violets that pop up all over my lawns and gardens. Give it a read, and tend your lawn violets with care!
- Roses The darker-colored, more aromatic the variety the more flavor it will have. Strew rose petals across a fresh salad, brew them into tea, or use the entire blossoms to decorate a cake.
- Sunflowers Carefully separate the petals and sprinkle them into salads. For a real treat, harvest the unopened buds, remove the sepals, and steam the buds until tender. Meaty and filling, they taste like artichoke. Mmm!
- Chamomile Dried or fresh, chamomile tea is renowned as a safe and gentle calming and sleep-promoting agent. It’s readily available in stores (buy flowers in bulk), and easy to grow in the home garden.
- Calendula A lovely and easy-to-grow annual flower, calendula petals will add color and spice to just about any cooked or fresh dish. Carefully remove the petals and toss them into salad, stir-fries, or your favorite rice dishes.
Calendula flowers are renowned for skin care and healing. You’ll find calendula listed as an ingredient in many high-end skincare products and healing creams.
Here’s a nice recipe for homemade calendula oil or cream: Pull the petals from enough dried or fresh calendula blossoms to give you a cup. Add petals to a cup of olive oil in a large glass jar with a lid; seal and leave in a sunny window or outside for a week or two. After straining out the petals, you can use the oil as is, or heat it in a double boiler with ¼ cup of melted beeswax to make a spreadable cream.
Some caveats
- Never eat a flower you can’t identify with absolute certainty and know to be safe.
- Don’t eat commercially grown flowers or flowers that came from a florist; they could have been sprayed.
- Don’t forage wild flowers on treated lawns or along well-traveled roadways (possibility of chemical contamination).
- Introduce a new edible flower or floral tea slowly and gradually, especially if you have a serious ragweed or other pollen allergy. On your first try, take a few deep sniffs, then only a bite or two.
- Because flowers may contain powerful phytocompounds (which confer their healing virtues, as well as their flavors and colors), check with your healthcare professional before eating edible flowers if you’re pregnant or taking prescription drugs.
ABOUT THIS BLOG
“Living Naturally” is all about living a naturally healthy lifestyle. Margaret Boyles covers health tips, ways to avoid illness, natural remedies, food that’s good for body and soul, recipes for homemade beauty products, ideas to make your home a healthy and safe haven, and the latest news on health. Our goal is also to encourage self-sufficiency, whether it’s relearning some age-old skills or getting informed on modern improvements that help us live better, healthier lives.
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The Old Farmer’s Almanac for Mar. 28th: MAKING AN HERBAL SALVE
MAKING AN HERBAL SALVE
Herbal salves (a term often used interchangeably with ointments, creams, balms, and unguents; I’ve never found definitions that differentiate them clearly) have come down through the ages as the premier household first-aid for scrapes, burns, wounds, itches, stings, bruises, diaper rashes, and more.
Often expensive to buy, they’re relatively cheap and easy to make.
Early to midsummer is a great time of year to try your hand at it. Many healing herbs are in full leaf and have just begun to flower, concentrating their active healing constituents in their aboveground parts. (Fall is a good time to make root-based salves.)
I like to start with an herb-infused oil, which involves slightly wilting, then chopping and bruising the leaves or flowers I’ve collected, packing them loosely into a clean glass jar, and covering them with oil. I cover the top of the jar with a piece of cheesecloth or a coffee filter secured with a rubber band. This lets moisture that would otherwise spoil the salve escape from the jar.
Then I just leave the jar in a sunny windowsill for two or three weeks, shaking or stirring the infusion whenever I think of it, usually once or twice a day. I use a long wooden spoon for stirring.
When the herbs have infused long enough, I strain the plant material out with a cheesecloth, catching the oil in a glass pitcher, twisting the end of the cloth to squeeze as much oil as possible from the leafy material.
The final step: melting pure beeswax (use a double boiler on the stove or a pyrex cup within a glass bowl in the microwave), and adding it to the infused oil in a ratio of about five parts oil to one part melted wax. Stir with a wooden spoon and store in a sterilized glass or metal container.
It’s easy to adjust the consistency of a salve by adding a bit more oil to make it more spreadable or a bit more beeswax to thicken or harden it. Homemade salves without any preservative agents will last about six to eight months at room temperature out of direct heat and sunlight. Refrigerated, they’ll keep for a year or more.
Today I’m making a general-purpose household salve of comfrey and plantain leaves–the comfrey has just begun to flower at the edge of my vegetable garden, and the plantain grows abundantly in the lawn. I added the chopped leaves to a combination of grapeseed and coconut oiI, though I could have used olive, sunflower, sesame, or one of the exotic (and expensive) nut oils. Our ancestors didn’t have access to pressed oils; they made their healing ointments from bear grease, lard, and other animal fats, which reportedly have healing powers of their own.
I also could have used burdock, lemon balm, yarrow, self-heal, or one of dozens of wild and cultivated plants that flourish around here. Later in the season, I plan on making flower salves from mullein, calendula, and St. John’s wort. It’s fun to experiment and learn about the herbs and their uses as you go.
Although herbalists no longer recommend comfrey for internal consumption, it enjoys wide renown as a wound healer (in fact, it helps new skin form so fast, herbalists don’t recommend using it for deep wounds that require slow healing). Plantain enjoys equal renown as an anti-itch, anti-inflammatory herb.
My comfrey-plantain salve is versatile. I’ll use it on itches and stings, chapped hands and lips, cracked heels, ragged cuticles, nicks, cuts, and scrapes. It also works wonders on diaper and heat rash.
One caution: Clean and disinfect a fresh wound, then wait for it to stop bleeding before applying any salve. You don’t want to seal in an infectious agent.
ABOUT THIS BLOG
“Living Naturally” is all about living a naturally healthy lifestyle. Margaret Boyles covers health tips, ways to avoid illness, natural remedies, food that’s good for body and soul, recipes for homemade beauty products, ideas to make your home a healthy and safe haven, and the latest news on health. Our goal is also to encourage self-sufficiency, whether it’s relearning some age-old skills or getting informed on modern improvements that help us live better, healthier lives.
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The Old Farmer’s Almanac for Mar. 28: HOW TO MAKE AN HERBAL TINCTURE
HOW TO MAKE AN HERBAL TINCTURE
HOW TO MAKE AN HERBAL TINCTURE
Herbal tinctures are age-old remedies that can help soothe and heal whatever might ail you. Here’s how to make herbal tinctures using plants from your garden.
WHAT IS AN HERBAL TINCTURE?
Last week I came across some Internet sites about herb-based first-aid kits. In addition to standard items such as scissors, bandages, and sterile gauze pads, most sites recommended packaged dried herbs for tea, a collection of essential oils, herbal creams and salves and a few alcohol tinctures.
Serendipitously, although I’m a teetotaler, I was heading for town that day to buy a bottle of vodka to make a few tinctures to supplement my own first-aid supplies. Herbal tinctures are really easy to make.
A traditional herbal tincture is made by steeping herbs in high-proof ethyl alcohol (sometimes vinegar) to extract and concentrate their medicinal constituents—molecules that plants have manufactured for self-protection and that we humans expropriate for our own medicinal use.
Ethyl alcohol tinctures are generally intended for internal use. Herbs tinctured in rubbing alcohol (isopropyl), witch hazel, or oil are called liniments, and are intended for external use only.
Although you can tincture leaves or needles, flowers, roots, and barks, either fresh or dried, I make mine mostly from fresh leaves harvested from my gardens, lawns and nearby wild places. Today, I’m gathering burdock leaves and flowers, the plantain running amok on the lawn, and the lemon balm beckoning from the herb garden.
THE ADVANTAGE OF TINCTURES
Depending on the condition being treated (or prevented), medicinal herbs can be brewed into teas or simmered into decoctions, mashed into poultices and salves, smoked (so their medicinal constituents enter the body through the lungs), or extracted into tinctures. Tinctures are generally taken internally a few drops at a time, several times a day, often in tea or juice. Some tinctures work well applied directly to wounds or skin infections.
Tinctures offer several advantages over other herbal formulations:
- Alcohol generally extracts and concentrates more of the valuable medicinal compounds than water extracts (e.g., teas, infusions, tisanes).
- In such concentrated form, tinctures are fast-acting.
- Alcohol tinctures made with at least 80-proof ethanol don’t spoil, and they maintain their potency for a long time if properly stored. (Tinctures made with wine or vinegar won’t extract as many active phytocompounds, and they won’t last as long, although they can be enjoyed in salad dressings and marinades.)
- Tinctures are portable and easy to tuck into a purse or traveling bag.
BEFORE YOU START
- You’ll need to learn something, preferably a lot, about how, why, when, to use a particular plant tincture, and in what dose. Read books and articles, attend workshops, consult with local herbalists.
- You need to be 100 percent certain you’ve properly identified the plant you plan to use. Do invest in some wild-plant field guides or join one of the local wild-plant identification workshops offered in your area.
- Tincture only those plants you know haven’t been treated with pesticides.
- Don’t use plants collected around the edges of commercially farmed fields or close to roadsides.
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
- The plant parts you plan to tincture. To avoid diluting the alcohol with water, don’t wash them. (Roots are the exception; you may need to rinse or even scrub them lightly before chopping.) If the plant parts are already wet, lay them out and blot gently with a clean towel to dry them off. Discard any diseased or damaged material.
- A bottle of 80-proof (or higher) ethyl alcohol. Many herbalists prefer vodka, because it’s relatively colorless, tasteless and odorless.
- A glass jar with a tight lid. You don’t need large bottles for making an alcohol tincture; a tincture is a potent plant medicine administered only a few drops at a time. Start with small containers such as pint canning jars or empty peanut-butter or jam jars.
- Some small, dark bottles for storing the decanted tincture(s). Storing them in the dark helps protect their potency.
HOW TO MAKE AN HERBAL TINCTURE
Chop large leaves, flowers, or roots; leave delicate leaves and flowers whole. Then fill the glass jar loosely with the plant material, and add enough alcohol to cover the plant materials. Seal the jar tightly.
Label and date the jar. Include the plant parts tinctured and the type of alcohol used. Set the jar in a cool, dark place for a month or longer, shaking or stirring occasionally and adding more alcohol if needed to keep the plant materials covered.
Strain the tincture over a clean cheesecloth into a glass or ceramic container twisting the cloth to remove as much of the tincture as possible. Funnel the tincture into dark glass bottles and cap (or cork) tightly. Label and date each tincture and store in a cool, dark place.
You can increase the concentration of a tincture by straining out the original plant materials and adding fresh material.
CAVEATS
Like any healing agent, herbal remedies in any form can pack a lot of power, which includes adverse reactions. Learn as much as possible about the herb you’re using before you try it. Your homemade tinctures don’t offer a standard “dose.” Begin with a new tincture by trying a few drops in warm water or tea, and work up slowly until you experience the desired results.
If you’re pregnant, nursing, taking prescription medicine, or suffering from a chronic illness, don’t start on an herbal remedy without consulting a health professional. Always include your use of herbs in the information you provide to your medical and dental professionals.
ABOUT THIS BLOG
“Living Naturally” is all about living a naturally healthy lifestyle. Margaret Boyles covers health tips, ways to avoid illness, natural remedies, food that’s good for body and soul, recipes for homemade beauty products, ideas to make your home a healthy and safe haven, and the latest news on health. Our goal is also to encourage self-sufficiency, whether it’s relearning some age-old skills or getting informed on modern improvements that help us live better, healthier lives.
Source:
The Old Farmer’s Almanac
Your Ogham Reading for for Mar. 28 is Coll-Hazel
Your Ogham Reading for for Mar. 28
Coll-Hazel
The Celts believed that hazelnuts gave inspiration and wisdom, even in many other cultures the hazel tree and it’s branches and nuts are used for protection. In Celtic mythology one of the greatest leaders named Fionn Mac Cumhail magically gained wisdom after eating salmon that sustained themselves upon hazelnuts. The ogham letter coll denotes wisdom, divination, and inspiration. Drawing this letter will give you a deeper look into you questions and concerns.
Fortune – Look inward to your own wisdom to gain the answer you seek. Be creative, be perceptive, this Ogham shows you already have the answer!
Your Daily Witches Rune for March 28th is The Moon
Your Daily Witches Rune
The Moon
Keywords: Change.
Meanings: The “x” marks represent the four main phases of the moon and so you can expect changes to happen within the next 28 days. This is a particularly feminine stone and often appears in response to questions about women’s issues. The Moon rune is a messenger. It is telling you to be aware that major changes are coming to your life. Consult the runes closest to it to determine whether those changes are negative or positive.
Your Daily Rune for March 23 is Gebo
Gebo
“For every gift a curse.”
Gebo – “Gay-boo” – Literally: “Gift” – Esoteric: Fair Exchange, Sacrifice, Sacred Marriage
Key Concepts: gifts, giving, taking, trade, sacrifice, process of exchange, balance, compensation, equilibrium, law of reciprocation, altruism, the gravity of equals and opposites, generosity, hospitality, honor
Psi: gratitude, forgiveness, appreciation
Energy: Exchanged powers, sacrifice, dissolution of barriers through gifting
Divinations: Generosity, gift, magical exchange, honor, sacrifice, divine vision; or influence buying, greed, loneliness, dependence, over-sacrifice, unbalanced behavior, dishonesty
Mundane: material gifts, thankfulness, trade
Governs:
Sex magic
Mystical union and ‘Sacred Marriage’ between partners
Understanding of the true meaning of gifting and binding
Giving of oneself from within
Harmony between brothers and sisters and lovers
Favours, contracts, obligations, debt and oath-taking
Your Daily Past Lives Tarot Card for March 28th is The Chariot
Past Lives Tarot Card for Today
Your Daily Tarot Power Card for March 28th is The Judgment
Your Daily Tarot Power Card
Your Daily Tarot Love Card for March 28 is The Sun
Daily Love Tarot
The Sun
Has someone promised too much and delivered little lately? If so, that someone lacks integrity. Promises that aren’t kept erode trust and trust is critical. You can’t ignore the fact that their actions do not match their words. The first caveat is to avoid being seduced by what someone is saying as they talk their way into your emotions. The second, and the advice now, is to step back and analyze the situation.
Your Daily Tarot Card for Thursday, March 28th is The Pope
Your Tarot Card of the Day
The Pope
Keywords: teaching, school, blessing, ritual, marriage, acting!
Astrological Correspondence: Taurus
As a priest, the Pope, or Hierophant, represents traditional values and moral development. He is the wise teacher or counselor guiding groups or collectives on their path in search for spiritual truth or meaning. Depicted as a religious figure in ceremonial vestments he interprets secret mysteries, divine law, and theological doctrine. Although this card implies that he is linked to the church, the Pope signifies not only organized religion but also focus on groups in general, such as schools, teams, companies – any group with fixed roles and assigned responsibilities. The Pope is a symbol for rules, procedures, structure, and ritual, creating harmony within groups and staying their course so they can find identity and progress as a whole. The negative imagery symbolizes dogmatism and inflexibility, extreme conformity, or conventionalism.
Get A Jump On Tomorrow, Your Daily Horoscopes for Friday, March 29th
Get A Jump On Tomorrow….
Your Daily Horoscopes for Friday, March 29th
Moon Alert
Avoid shopping and big decisions from 7:30 PM to 10 PM EDT today (4:30 PM to 7 PM PDT). After that, the Moon moves from Capricorn into Aquarius.
Aries (March 21-April 19)
This is a strong energetic day! Bosses, parents and people in authority (including the police) will notice you more than usual. In fact, personal details about your private life might be public. Keep this in mind because you might want to tone it down a bit?
Taurus (April 20-May 20)
This is a strong day for you because the Moon is in your fellow Earth sign, dancing with Mars in your own sign. This energizes you and makes you want to improve your home scene. It also makes you want to travel and dream about a second home somewhere. Maybe?
Gemini (May 21-June 20)
This is a good day to deal with taxes, debt, insurance issues, wills and inheritances because you’re focused and mentally alert. Do be aware of the restrictions of the Moon Alert above regarding important decisions and signing papers.
Cancer (June 21-July 22)
For most of this day, the Moon is opposite your sign drawing your focus to close friends and partners, and encouraging you to be concerned for their welfare. They will be flattered by your interest, because you look fabulous in everyone’s eyes!
Leo (July 23-Aug. 22)
It’s a productive day at work. Roll up your sleeves and get busy. Not only will you have the energy to work on your own projects, you will feel concern for a coworker and want to help them, too. Great! What goes around, comes around.
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)
It’s Friday and you want to play! Because you’re in the mood to socialize, you will invite others to play with you as well. Flirtations will be exciting because you are ready to put your cards on the table. (Be still my beating heart.)
Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)
You’re willing to put out energy today to make your home look better. You might rearrange furniture because you have lots of energy. You might also shop for your home. If so, be aware of the restrictions of the Moon Alert (see above).
Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)
This is a strong day for those of you in sales, marketing, teaching, acting, writing or editing because you are mentally alert, focused and eager to communicate with others. In fact, you want to enlighten someone about something. Yada, yada, yada.
Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)
You have money on your mind today. Some of you have been shopping for beautiful things for your home or family. You might be interested in vacations and entertaining getaways, which cost money. If spending money, check the restrictions of the Moon Alert above.
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)
This is the second day with the Moon in your sign. The next time this happens will be April 23, 24 and 25. These are strong days for you because things will tend to go your way. Your luck is always a bit better when the Moon is in your sign.
Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)
It’s Friday but you feel like hiding. You’re not being antisocial, you just want to be more low key and relax somewhere where you can watch the world go by and not be involved. You need time off for good behaviour.
Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20)
A friendship, perhaps with a female, is important you today. This is why you will go out of your way to engage with this person or perhaps help them in some way. You might also share your hopes and dreams for the future with them to see what they think.
If Your Birthday Is Today
Actor Brendan Gleeson (1955) shares your birthday today. Home and family are a priority for you. People love you because of your caring personality. This year is your year of harvest. All kinds of major achievements will come to fruition now as you reap the benefits of the last decade. Expect to enjoy power and leadership in all your relationships. You deserve this time of success. Make the most of it!
Born on March 28, Happy Birthday Aries!
Happy Birthday Aries!
IF YOUR BIRTHDAY IS ON March 28, you are likely to do the unexpected. While you may be impulsive, you are still a thoughtful, cheerful and an idealistic Arian. Those born on this day are very open and honest individuals.
Arians, you can live in a dream world sometimes. Moreover, you can be confrontational to a point. You know your limits. You know how to get your point across so there is only a small degree of drama.
The March 28 birthday horoscope predicts that you are a spiritual Arian. You are constantly trying to improve your life. In order to be morally successful, Aries believe that there is a basic guide that we all must live. With this way of thinking and doing, you inspire others to reinvest their lives as well.
As your birthday astrology analysis shows you are intuitive and more than likely you know what your loved ones need or want before they do. This, in addition to your obsessive behavior, can be view as controlling.
It is only because you want what is best for your family but put a cap on how much you contribute to the situations of others and respect others people’s privacy.
A situation that can be full of twists and turns and can cause conflict is the 28th March birthday personality trait of being obsessive. This feeling does not exclude friendships. You can be territorial where your friends are concerned as well as your lover, Aries.
It is a good thing that this green monster does not appear frequently. Your friends know however, this is sure sign that you need to get some rest or that there is something else bothering you.
In love, your birthday predictions forecast that Arians can be highly sexual and expect their partners to reciprocate. When you are well into your relationship, you are likely to show more compassion to your mate.
You who are born on this day need continuous foreplay during sexual intercourse to avoid complacency. As long as you are stimulated, you remain loyal. Aries, you are known to put little notes as a reminder of your interest or love. You also like to receive gifts and naughty messages.
As was said earlier, the March 28 birthday meaning implies that you can be impulsive or unpredictable. You have a tendency to hop from one job to the next.
Aries zodiac sign adopts the attitude that once the fun is over, it is time to move on to something new and challenging. Even with moments of unemployment, you seem to manage your finances well. Money seems to drop in your lap sometimes.
If today 28 March is your birthday, you are always working for one cause or another. Your charm opens doors that usually are not open. Aries individuals are good raising money for charities and are always happy to get involved.
Maybe a career in social reform or welfare is the job for you. You are not likely to get bored with the many avenues of humanitarians.
Arians with zodiac birthday on 28th March, are typically healthy people with the exception of little anxiety issues. Personal problems can keep you up late at night confirming your moodiness the next day. Did you know that it could also cause your skin to do funny things?
It is true. Try drinking lots of water to combat issues with your skin, however. Techniques for anxiety include relaxation sounds or an actual trip down to the beach. Nature sounds are sure to put you at ease so you can sleep.
The nickname for a 28 March birthday should be Sunshine because you bring it to so many people when you are not in their business. Sometimes those born on March 28 can be controlling and obsessive with friends and family.
With your skills, you will be successful in a career that is multifaceted, as you get bored easily. Aries, you are in good health but could benefit from short get-a-ways. Go have some fun, Aries… you deserve it.
Famous People And Celebrities Born On March 28
Nick Frost, Lady Gaga, Kate Gosselin, Ken Howard, Shakib Khan, Reba McEntire, Julia Stiles, Lacey Turner, Jimmy Wong
This Day That Year – March 28 In History
1796 – First African church (Bethel African Methodist Church) in US opens in Philadelphia
1866 – Emergency services vehicles (ambulance) are in operation
1922 – Microfilm machine introduced
1939 – Madrid falls to Francisco Franco ending Spanish Civil War
March 28 Mesha Rashi (Vedic Moon Sign)
March 28 Chinese Zodiac DRAGON
March 28 Birthday Planet
Your ruling planet is Mars that stands for raw energy, courage and assertiveness.
March 28 Birthday Symbols
The Ram Is The Symbol For The Aries Zodiac Sign
March 28 Birthday Tarot Card
Your Birth Day Tarot Card is The Magician. This card symbolizes your need to take control of your life, growth, and prosperity. The Minor Arcana cards are Two of Wands and Queen of Wands
March 28 Birthday Compatibility
You are most compatible with people born under Zodiac Sign Sagittarius: This will be an exciting and adventurous match.
You are not compatible with people born under Zodiac Sign Pisces: This relationship will be confusing and dreamy with no steam.
March 28 Lucky Numbers
Number 1 – This number stands for independence, ambition, talent and powerful personality.
Number 4 – This number symbolizes orderliness, honesty, trustworthiness and methodical nature.
Lucky Colors For March 28 Birthday
Red: This is an aggressive color that promotes initiatives, partnerships and a will to forge ahead.
Gold: This color signifies balance, growth, rebirth, and balance.
Lucky Days For March 28 Birthday
Tuesday – This day is ruled by Saturn and symbolizes completion of projects after delays.
Sunday – This day ruled by the Sun signifies exuberance, strength, energy, and vitality.
March 28 Birthstone Diamond
Diamond is a healing gemstone that improves your energy, makes your fearless and maintain better relationships.
Ideal Zodiac Birthday Gifts For People Born On The 28th Of March:
A barbeque grill for the Aries man and a coffee maker machine for the Aquarian woman.
Your Daily Horoscopes for Thursday March 28
Moon Alert
We have the “all clear” today to shop and do business. The Moon is in Capricorn.
Aries (March 21-April 19)
Today you are concerned about your professional and business life. For some reason, personal details about your private life might be on public display. (Whaat?) You might want to help someone today and thereby, personalize a professional relationship.
Taurus (April 20-May 20)
Today you feel a strong urge to get away from your daily routine and go off somewhere to do something different. Ideally of course, you will get to the airport and jet away! If you can’t escape on a physical journey, you will enjoy study or mental journeys that allow you to learn something new.
Gemini (May 21-June 20)
Your emotional experiences will be more intense today. You might also attract someone who is pretty intense to you. (“Hi Darth.”) You might feel possessive about property or something that you own or even something someone else owns? “My precious!”
Cancer (June 21-July 22)
Today you will focus on personal relationships because the Moon is opposite your sign. Loved ones and partners will be more important to you than usual. However, conflicts will also be more emotional! Guard against reacting to others with a knee-jerk response. Think before you speak or do something.
Leo (July 23-Aug. 22)
Today you will likely have to put the welfare of someone else before your own, perhaps briefly or perhaps for the whole day. You’re not playing the martyr card – it’s just what’s happening. It can be gratifying helping others – and hopefully, it is.
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)
Today you’re wearing your feelings on your sleeve. You need to be who you are and you want to express what you really feel when dealing with others. This is also a strong, romantic day for you. However, you might feel possessive about a loved one. Grab a chance to party!
Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)
Today you might want to cocoon at home and enjoy your own privacy. You need a chance to catch your breath, and put your feet up and relax, especially among familiar surroundings. Why not regroup and replenish yourself before the weekend? Good idea.
Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)
Conversations with others will be important to you today. You want to get down to the nitty-gritty of things and talk about the truth of something. You don’t want to skate over something important and pretend you don’t see the elephant in the room. (“Dumbo? Is that you?”)
Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)
You might be surprised at how strongly you identify with something that you own today, which is why you feel attached to your possessions. You might also have to defend yourself about something that you own or perhaps something that you want to buy? Don’t feel cornered.
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)
Today the Moon is in your sign, which makes you a bit more emotional about everything. However, it does increase your good luck! (In a little way.) You can test this out. Ask the universe for a favour to see what happens. The Moon will be in your sign today and tomorrow.
Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)
Today you are tempted to withdraw from the busyness of everything around you because you feel private and a need to be by yourself. You’re not being antisocial; you just don’t feel much like schmoozing with others. Some of you will want to explore mystical or spiritual ideas.
Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20)
Friendships will be important you today. This is why you feel protective and supportive to a friend more than usual. Of course, you want some attention from them in return. In fact, you’ll be jealous if they pay attention to someone else.
If Your Birthday Is Today
Singer- actress Lady Gaga (1986) shares your birthday today. You are a born leader. You are creative, organized and resourceful. What you learn this year will be crucial for your progress and success next year. Therefore, focus on teaching and learning. This is an excellent year to explore meditation, yoga or any discipline that will help you to get a better understanding of who you are.
Love Secrets Hidden in the Elements of the Moon
Love Secrets Hidden in the Elements of the Moon
Striving to understand yours lover’s deepest and most secret romantic desires? Look to the element of their moon sign. The zodiac moon sign is reflective of an individual’s deepest and most personal wishes and love secrets. Knowing if it falls under fire, water, air, or earth can give you great insight in understanding what they want most out of romance and love. The nature of the moon can be mysterious and delves beyond consciousness. Therefore at times these longings are unconscious and your lover might not even be fully aware of them. Fulfilling your partner’s deepest desires hidden from the world or even themselves will create a romance beyond fantasy. Below are some hints in figuring out what your lover really wants in their love life.
Fire Moon Sign (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius)
The individual with a fire moon sign desires passion. They want spontaneity and surprise in their romance. Even if this individual only has fire in their moon sign, there’s a streak of wildness in how they want to be loved. Fire moon signs don’t mind risk; in fact they revel in it. They don’t, however, enjoy oversensitivity or negativity.
Water Moon Sign (Scorpio, Cancer, Pisces)
This is an individual whose heart withholds hidden depths plunging deeper than the other elements. They long for such depths in their romance. An intuitive connection is key in reaching their seemingly bottomless core. Water moon signs want to be emotionally and psychically understood. These signs do need sensitivity and moments of extra loving support.
Air Moon Sign (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius)
The way to their heart is through their head. Air moon signs desire intelligence in their partners. While every healthy relationship needs good communication, Air moon signs are especially verbally and physical expressive. They want to be cognitively understood and they want freedom to do new things. They don’t want to be caught in the same kind of routine over and over again.
Earth Moon Sign (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn)
These individuals crave for stability and routine in their romances. Earth moon signs want ritual and plans within their romance to provide a sense of comfort. The way they see it, the less risk involved the better. Even if their sun sign falls outside of earth or even falls on a fire sign, these folks do want a sense of security in the relationship. They want to be respected as they are and they don’t want someone who tries to throw them off their own path or out of their comfort zone.
Your Daily Love Horoscopes for Thursday, Mar. 28 – Mar. 29
Pisces Daily Love Horoscope
Thursday 28th of March 2019
A certain romantic or relationship comfort zone might be one you’re not keen to remove yourself from, but it may take a loved one or potential partner to help you to do so. However, it’s important to trust that comfort on a new level awaits you. All you need to do is be a little bit more imaginative and experimental. For you, that’s hardly a tall order, especially in the name of love!
Pisces tomorrow love horoscope:
Friday 29th of March 2019
There are plenty of clues on offer about where your love life is heading and with whom, if you’re able to keep your intuition on alert to spot them. This is a time to absorb new information coming your way that can help you to strengthen one special connection. You might not know exactly where you’re heading and unfamiliar romantic or relationship territory may feel daunting briefly. However, this is a challenge that’s well worth rising to!
Capricorn Daily Love Horoscope
Thursday 28th of March 2019
Perhaps developments in other areas of your world help you to let go of the past, and the same rule applies to your emotional world, too. It’s the fact that you’re embracing change elsewhere that makes you’re more receptive to introducing change to your current love life circumstances. It could also be a time when you consider the implications of taking one special connection to a deeper level.
Capricorn tomorrow love horoscope:
Friday 29th of March 2019
You could surprise yourself as well as the object of your affections by wanting to turn an aspect of your love life upside down to try something new. Even if you’ve become accustomed to a certain routine in a love relationship, you could be keen to introduce a change now or shortly. If there is a certain fantasy that you yearn to take even a small step toward achieving, then you might be bold enough to do so now or shortly.
Sagittarius Daily Love Horoscope
Thursday 28th of March 2019
Whatever feels rollercoaster-like in your emotional world or one special connection is likely to be something that you can maintain control of effortlessly. You’re innate optimism is your ticket to encouraging a wave of romance to permeate your world – and you’re not about to let anything prevent that from happening! Keeping things lighthearted and underpinning your words and actions with love and kindness makes what might normally feel unmanageable, manageable!
Sagittarius tomorrow love horoscope:
Friday 29th of March 2019
It might seem that your efforts are directed everywhere except toward your needs or what makes you to feel more fulfilled. Taking time to yourself to work out any ripples or kinks in your emotional world could prove to be beneficial. Removing yourself from any pressure helps you to assess what you need to do to take care of you for a change. That’s not selfish if it means you’ll emerge feeling recuperated and rejuvenated.
Scorpio Daily Love Horoscope
Thursday 28th of March 2019
You’re able to trust your intuition if it tells you that a seemingly problematic romantic or relationship issue is a mere storm in a teacup. Your sharp intuition will always urge you to do the right thing if you trust it even if what you believe to be right goes against the grain of what a loved one believes to be right. Whatever tension exists or is showing signs of manifesting, it’s nothing that widening the lines of communication between you and someone special won’t resolve now.
Scorpio tomorrow love horoscope:
Friday 29th of March 2019
You might be able to sense what’s working well within your love life or one special connection and, naturally, the last thing you want to do is try and fix something that isn’t broken. However, you may need to be prepared to shift energy toward your longer term romantic or relationship goals. Rather than resent the way you’re pushed to take action, consider it to be action you might not have taken otherwise.
Libra Daily Love Horoscope
Thursday 28th of March 2019
You could be in no doubt that you succeeded in making a point to a loved one or a potential partner that plays a big part in finally bringing an end to an argument or debate. However whatever the issue is, an understanding exists that you’re right and therefore it’s time to move on from it. It might have taken time to reach this point but you’ve done so gracefully and kindly. That’s what really matters.
Libra tomorrow love horoscope:
Friday 29th of March 2019
This could be a time when you assess what you do habitually in the name of love, and if you have any habits connected with your love life past, and this might be a time you decide to release a few of them. You’re urged to reinvent matters of the heart now, even if it means creating a bit of chaos around people or shaking up a love life situation.
Virgo Daily Love Horoscope
Thursday 28th of March 2019
You could experience a love life epiphany as certain questions or concerns that have bothered you recently seem to become easily solvable. However one or two of your ideas could be a bit far-fetched and if you’re attached, then you might need to have a necessary conversation with a loved one to discuss the way forward. Fortunately, you have your eye squarely on the future and are aware that there’s no point looking backward, because that’s not where you’re heading.
Virgo tomorrow love horoscope:
Friday 29th of March 2019
An idea or vision that instills a sense of passion within you could be something you’re keen to involve a love interest with. You may see a way to work as a team to pursue an idea, especially if there is a charitable angle or you share an idea to make the world a better place in some way. Getting a loved one on board will rely on you conveying a vibe of authentic enthusiasm. A deeper spirit of collaboration is waiting to be embraced!
Leo Daily Love Horoscope
Thursday 28th of March 2019
The fact that you’re full of positivity and passion could be obvious to anybody who looks at you. Whether you’re single or attached, is these qualities that will bring you closer to someone you yearn to be closer to. Spending quality time with someone who helps to boost your sunny, light-hearted mood could make any get together even more memorable and thrilling – and you appear extra alluring!
Leo tomorrow love horoscope:
Friday 29th of March 2019
Your generous side could kick in and take over; especially if you feel grand or extravagant gestures are needed to win somebody’s heart or affections. By all means, focus on aspirations that instill a sense of passion within you. But if you need to tighten the purse strings until such a time that you can pursue a passionate plan with a guilt free conscience, then that might need to be a priority for the time being.
Cancer Daily Love Horoscope
Thursday 28th of March 2019
As much as you might feel optimistic or content with your current love life circumstances, you might also feel that something about affairs of the heart at this time just doesn’t sit right with you or holds you back in some way. You might wonder if you’re more ambitious than a loved one or are focused more on the future than they are. If you need time to step away and take stock of your current circumstances, this could be a good time to do so.
Cancer tomorrow love horoscope:
Friday 29th of March 2019
Balancing your work life and love life could be tricky at this time, especially if you’re aware of new levels of professional responsibilities piling up. It may also be a loved one or potential partner who is giving more focus to professional pursuits. You might not have the abundance of energy you wish you had, but it’s important to not allow affairs of the heart to become something you focus on only when you get a chance. There’s too much passionate potential unfolding to allow that to happen!
Gemini Daily Love Horoscope
Thursday 28th of March 2019
You have a chance to rise above a pointless or meaningless argument or debate with a loved one now, so don’t get drawn into a silly discussion. You’re probably armed with more facts than a loved one is at this time anyway, but that’s not something you need to flout. Their inclination to pick a fight could stem more from them feeling insecure themselves, and that’s what should be your focus. Try to get to the bottom of what’s causing them to be so confrontational or defensive.
Gemini tomorrow love horoscope:
Friday 29th of March 2019
Whether you’re single or attached, curiosity fuels your passionate potential at this time. You could be inclined to look more closely at romantic or relationship possibilities that you felt were too fanciful or beyond your ability to achieve in the past. Your love life offers a challenge in some way, but rising to this boldly and being guided by your curious nature can bring heartwarming romantic or relationship progress.
Taurus Daily Love Horoscope
Thursday 28th of March 2019
Breaking the bank or maxing out a credit card is unnecessary to win somebody’s heart at any time, but especially now. Forming or strengthening a love connection requires you to do nothing more than offer deep, heartfelt affection. As is often the way, spending money offer is only quick relief, and The Beatles were right when they said money can’t buy love!
Taurus tomorrow love horoscope:
Friday 29th of March 2019
Uranus’s influence could create unusual energy and draw you toward people you might not normally be attracted to. Love and intimacy could soon take on a new and unconventional feel. Whether single or attached, it’s important to trust your inquisitive energy to explore options that you were quick to dismiss previously. Whatever’s unfolding now could have a weird or wacky feel to it, but that doesn’t mean it lacks serious, passionate potential.
Aries Daily Love Horoscope
Thursday 28th of March 2019
Bringing more comfort into your emotional world or a special connection could require you to make yourself a little bit uncomfortable briefly. This could also encourage you to assess whether you’re making romantic or relationship decisions based on what your heart needs rather than pleasing somebody else. When it comes to affairs of the heart, treating you needs as a priority is essential now.
Aries tomorrow love horoscope:
Friday 29th of March 2019
Once again, your love life or one special connection could pose more questions for you to consider than answers. However, focus on what is tantalizingly mysterious and be willing to look beyond what’s obvious. Above all, trust what you feel instead of what your head is trying to make sense of. This could be a time when you release outdated beliefs or philosophies related to affairs of the heart and this will be essential to embracing a new paradigm of passion in your world.
Aquarius Daily Love Horoscope
Thursday 28th of March 2019
Sexy wanderlust could encourage you to connect with your sense of adventure and succumb to an urge to explore. Whether this involves a physical or mental journey with someone special, it could certainly ignite passion within you. There’s bound to be something tantalizing about heading into unknown romantic relationship territory, and knowing that you have someone special accompanying you on your passionate journey makes it even more special.
Aquarius tomorrow love horoscope:
Friday 29th of March 2019
Whether or not you can sense change permeating your emotional world, a new wave of powerful energy emerging is worth embracing. This can help to highlight where your passionate focus needs to be and you can be guided by the sexy potential that you see or sense is unfolding in your love life now. Affairs of the heart are about to experience a renewed sense of purpose. Seize this chance and proceed confidently!
WHO MOVED MY STARS? A TALE OF THREE ZODIACS
WHO MOVED MY STARS? A TALE OF THREE ZODIACS
Let’s say as far back as you can remember, you’ve believed that you’re a particular sun sign, like Gemini. But one day, while scrolling through your feed, you read that NASA has declared that you might just be a different sign. There’s a “new” sign called Ophiuchus, and the timetable for all the signs has been thrown off. Just as you’re processing this shift, you come across another update from an astrologer who uses a sidereal zodiac. She says you’re a Taurus. Now you’re confused and ready to declare astrology dead to you.
But that’s because you may not know there are three zodiacs.
Yes, three! Constellation, tropical, and sidereal.
The constellation zodiac is based solely on the stars (and not entirely relevant or functional, as you’ll soon see). The sidereal zodiac is mainly used in India and East Asia, though there have been a growing number of Western users throughout the last century. The tropical zodiac is the dominant zodiac used around the Western world. The main discussion between the tropical and sidereal zodiacs centers on which one is closer to the true intention of ancient astrologers.
Or which sign are you, really?
THE CONSTELLATION ZODIAC
As you probably know, there are constellations in the sky that have names similar to those of the zodiac signs. These original constellations, like Gemini, Capricornus, Scorpius, and Cancer, are bands of stars, at various widths, that cluster along the sun’s imaginary path around the Earth—a path known as the ecliptic. The sun takes longer than 30 days to travel through the constellation of Virgo—the largest constellation of the zodiac—but only a few weeks to pass through the smallest constellation, Capricornus. This is the unbalanced nature of constellation astrology.
So, thousands of years ago, astrologers elected to divide the sun’s motion into 30-degree segments that parallel closely to the constellation zodiac. As such, the sun would stay in each sign for roughly a month in a 360-degree tour through 12 signs, rather than the actual constellations. Perhaps the sun would tarry a day or so longer in one sign or another, but no sign had to worry about stealing shine for several weeks longer than others.
THE TROPICAL ZODIAC
At the development of the zodiac, roughly between 2000 B.C. to 200 A.D, there wasn’t much of a difference between the sun’s position in either the tropical or sidereal zodiacs. But, over time, sky watchers in India and Greece each became aware that the position of the sun and other planets drifted away from key star positions. In Greece, this discrepancy was noted by astronomer-mathematician Hipparchus, and came to be known as the precession of the equinoxes. This meant that the spring equinox, for example, went back into a zodiac sign by one degree every 72 years. Ptolemy and other astrologers in the second century didn’t like this concept and opted to create a fixed point so that the zodiac could remain static.
What resulted were the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, located, respectively, about 23 degrees north and south of the equator. These points measure the four turning points of the sun’s movement: at the equatorial points for spring and fall, at the Tropic of Cancer for summer, and Tropic of Capricorn for winter. With this shift, the zodiac became more calendrical than bound to any particular stars or constellations.
THE SIDEREAL ZODIAC
The starting point for the sidereal zodiac isn’t directly related to the sun’s motion at the equinoxes and tropics—instead, it’s a specific star. Most siderealists use the fixed star Spica, located near the final edges of the Virgo constellation. From there, the basic framework of the 30 degrees of all zodiac signs are assigned.
To account for the precession of the equinoxes—based on the geocentric, tropical position of a star—siderealists establish different corrections, or ayaynamshas, to account for the slow drift backward through the zodiac. At this point, there’s a near 24-degree difference between the tropical and sidereal zodiacs. So, if you were born on the first day of Spring—0 degrees Aries for Tropical zodiac users—the sun would be at nearly 6 degrees of sidereal Pisces instead. This usually accounts for the discrepancy between the two zodiacs.
SO, WHO IS RIGHT?
It depends on who you ask, and how you understand both zodiacs.
The meanings for the signs, houses, and planets are different in tropical and sidereal astrology. An Aries, for example, might not embody the same characteristics in both zodiacs. Likewise, at least in India, sidereal astrology has a greater emphasis on the moon’s signs—utilizing 27 lunar zodiac signs called Nakshatras—than on the sun’s travels through 12 signs. In fact, Vedic astrologer Vic DiCara believes that the Nakshatra Lunar Zodiac could function as a point of agreement between the sidereal and tropical zodiacs. DiCara, unlike many of his Vedic colleagues who use the sidereal zodiac exclusively, believes that Indian scriptures say that Vedic/Indian astrologers should work with the tropical zodiac signs.
“The system that I work with—and dream of for others—sees the sidereal and tropical working side by side,” DiCara says. “Every classical definition of the zodiac talks about it being pinned to four famous points.” (Those four points being the four directions of the two equinoxes and two solstices, balanced between the tropics and the equator.) “Every animal bases its behavior on how the sun moves around the Earth. Everyone’s cued into its timeclock,” DiCara argues.
Conversely, Western sidereal astrologer Dayna Lynn Nuckolls thinks we’re too cued into the sun.
“There is a parallel thread, not necessarily correlation or causation, between the standardization of the tropical zodiac, the emergence of the sun as the most important planet in the chart, patriarchy, and Western individualism,” Nuckolls says. “Sidereal zodiac says that the relationship between the sun and the Earth is not the most important thing, instead contextualizing that relationship against the backdrop of something else.”
Yet, regardless, how and who moves your stars, you can move with them. Decide which zodiac speaks to you—whether you hitch yourself to our solar system’s sun or Spica. Just don’t listen when you hear your chart has changed. And while NASA has its share of space-centric expertise, if you have a question about astrology, the best person to ask is likely an astrologer.
Source
Calendar of the Moon for Thursday, March 28th
Calendar of the Moon
4 Fearn/Elaphebolion
Alder Tree Month
Color: Crimson
Element: Fire
Altar: Upon cloth of crimson set a flaming brazier filled with charcoal and incense.
Offerings: Purification. Write what has been dragging your down, and place it in the fire.
Daily Meal: Hot, nourishing food.
Fearn Invocation
Call: Now is the time of the warming of Earth.
Response: Now is the time of the Sun’s first warmth.
Call: Now is the time when the waters of Spring are banished.
Response: Now is the time when fire dries the flood.
Call: Now is the time when the heat rises within us.
Response: Now is the time when our tears are dried.
Call: Now is the time when our inner floods give way.
Response: Now is the time when our inner fields are greening.
Call: Like the birds who build their nests in the Spring….
Response: Like the creatures of the woods who brave the open fields…
Call: As they brave the world….
Response: So we now brave the world.
Call: As they seek sustenance of the body….
Response: So we seek sustenance of the soul.
Call: As they are driven forth by need and the cycle of life…..
Response: So we are driven forth by need and the cycle of life.
Call: No house can contain our souls….
Response: As no house contains the foundation on which it is built.
Call: We will be the piles that lift the house from the water….
Response: And we will lift our spirits from the winter’s flood.
Call: We will be the island in the river….
Response: The islands where the future is told…
Call: And we will see that future running like the current….
Response: Knowing not where it will lead….
Call: Save by the grace of the gods.
Response: Save by the grace of the Gods.
Chant:
We gather at the river
We bring fire to the water
Our fire burns within us
The river parts before us
Calendar of the Sun for Thursday, March 28
Calendar of the Sun
Aequinoctium Vernum
Colors: Yellow and light green
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon cloth of yellow and light green set a pitcher of rainwater, small dishes of seeds (as many as there are people), a vase of budding branches, and a single green candle.
Offerings: Seeds to be planted in the garden.
Daily Meal: Vegetarian
Aequinoctium Vernum Invocation
Earth, you begin your awakening
To the touch of the life-giving Sun
Whose rays stroke you like a lover.
Earth, your joy in awakening
Springs forth first golden
And then the green of life.
We awaken to your new life
And your new season,
And you help us to believe
That no matter how long the winter,
Spring will always come again.
We stand in the time of the year’s morning
And, like all living things,
We reach upwards for the sky.
Chant:
We open Earth and
Earth receives you
She gives you life and
We believe in you
(Each takes a pot of seeds and goes to the garden, and hoes or otherwise prepares a space for planting, and then plants their seeds, chanting while doing so. The pitcher of rainwater is carried out and ritually poured onto the seeds.)
Your Daily Cosmic Calendar for Thursday, March 28
COSMIC CALENDAR
Before the celebrations begin for Mercury making its station at 17 degrees Pisces (7:00 a.m.) and shifting from retrograde to direct motion, start thinking clearly as Mercury forms an inspirational, 72-degree link to Mars (2:18 a.m.) while making a testy, 45-degree tie to sometimes destabilizing Uranus (4:40 a.m.).
Zero in on the following key archetypes associated with the Messenger of the Gods—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 July 7 when it will begin a new retrograde cycle at 5 degrees of Leo.)
Even though Mercury is no longer in reverse, it is not exactly racing forward at top speed and won’t start gaining any real daily momentum until the beginning of April. Therefore, being careful is essential and this is validated as Venus makes a tense contra-parallel with Uranus (8:44 a.m.), while the moon joins Saturn in Capricorn for their monthly conjunction (10:01 p.m.). Be the tortoise instead of the hare to avoid various kinds of burnout.
[Note to readers: All times are calculated for Pacific Daylight Time. Be sure to adjust all times according to your own local time so the alignments noted above will be exact for your location.]
Copyright 2018 Mark Lerner & Great Bear Enterprises, Ltd.
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