Day: April 17, 2024

Spell For Thursday – Memory Spell

(YOU CAN COPY AND PASTE ANY SPELLS POSTED TO A DOCUMENT TO PRINT AND/OR SAVE ON YOUR COMPUTER)

Study Shows How Smudging Sage Does a Lot More Than “Clear Evil Spirits”

The ritualistic use of plant smoke stretches back to the prehistorical era and is still used, the world over, as a way of ‘cleansing’ the spirit. Now, modern scientific research reveals that the practice may actually have health-benefiting implications by purifying the air of harmful bacteria. 
 

The burning of herbs and plant resins for medicinal and spiritual purposes – so-called ‘smudging’ – is an ancient practice among indigenous people around the world; one increasingly adopted by Westerners. Smudging is a technology believed to unlock the ‘spirits’ of various plant allies to restore balance and ease to the individual or group.  Some liken it to taking a ‘spiritual shower,’ enabling you to wash away emotional and spiritual negativity that accumulates in your body and the spaces you live.

That said, skeptics believe attributing health benefits to the burning of sage and incense reflects ‘magical thinking.’ The practice has even been accused of being a New Age form of cultural imperialism where ‘plastic’ or ‘white’ shamans mimic and co-opt the traditions of indigenous people their predecessors essentially conquered.

 Given the polarized view on this increasingly common practice, as well as the well-known role that the burning of incense plays in even Western religious traditions, such as Catholicism, we decided to explore t to see what we could find.

What studies revealed about “smudging”

First, we uncovered a 2006 review published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology titled “Medicinal Smoke” that looked at single and multi-ingredient herbal and non-herbal remedies administered as smoke from 50 countries across 5 continents. The researchers found, with surprising overlap worldwide, medicinal smoke is mostly used to address the following specific organ systems: Click here to read the rest of this article

Spell for Wednesday – “Naked in Your Sight” c. 2016

Simple Spells: “Naked in Your Sight”

If you want to do some “naked” magick but are too uncomfortable to stand around in your living room in your altogether, try doing this simple spell while in the bath or shower) where, presumably, you’ll be naked anyway):

Close your eyes and visualize your naked body in a waterfall or pond. See the water as the physical manifestation of the energy of the universe, and take in as much of that energy as you can hold. Then say, “As I was born, I am at this hour, fill my body with your power.”

Source

Everyday Witch A to Z
Deborah Blake

April 17 and 18, 2024 Current Moon Phase for the Northern and Southern Hemispheres

You can use this link to go forward or backward in time for Moon phase information. If you are curious, you can even find out what phase the Moon was in when you or anyone else was born.

The 8 Lunar Phases

There are 8 lunar phases the Moon goes through in its 29.53 days lunar cycle. The 4 major Moon phases are Full Moon, New Moon, First Quarter and Last Quarter. Between these major phases, there are 4 minor ones: the Waxing Crescent, Waxing Gibbous, Waning Gibbous and Waning Crescent. For more info on the Moon Cycle and on each phase check out Wikipedia Lunar Phase page.

Useful Moon Resources

Check the weather before a night of Moon gazing at weather.com

For a list of all the current meteor showers visit American Meteor Society

Source: MoonGiant.com

Northern Hemisphere

April 17, 2024

The Moon’s current phase for today and tonight is a Waxing Gibbous phase. Visible through most of the night sky setting a few hours before sunrise. This phase is when the moon is more than 50% illuminated but not yet a Full Moon. The phase lasts about 7 days with the moon becoming more illuminated each day until the Full Moon. This September Full Moon will be the forth and final supermoon of 2023.

During a Waxing Gibbous the moon rises in the east in mid-afternoon and is high in the eastern sky at sunset. The word Gibbous first appeared in the 14th century and has its roots in the Latin word “gibbosus” meaning humpbacked.

Visit the April 2024 Moon Phases Calendar to see all the daily moon phase for this month.

Today’s Waxing Gibbous Phase

The Waxing Gibbous on April 17 has an illumination of 66%. This is the percentage of the Moon illuminated by the Sun. The illumination is constantly changing and can vary up to 10% a day. On April 17 the Moon is 8.93 days old. This refers to how many days it has been since the last New Moon. It takes 29.53 days for the Moon to orbit the Earth and go through the lunar cycle of all 8 Moon phases.

Phase Details

Phase: Waxing Gibbous
Illumination: 66%
Moon Age: 8.93 days
Moon Angle: 0.50
Moon Distance: 401,338.70 km
Sun Angle: 0.53
Sun Distance: 150,222,403.74 km

Southern Hemisphere

18 April 2024

The Moon’s current phase for today and tonight is a Waxing Gibbous phase. Visible through most of the night sky setting a few hours before sunrise. This phase is when the moon is more than 50% illuminated but not yet a Full Moon. The phase lasts about 7 days with the moon becoming more illuminated each day until the Full Moon. This September Full Moon will be the forth and final supermoon of 2023.

During a Waxing Gibbous the moon rises in the east in mid-afternoon and is high in the eastern sky at sunset. The word Gibbous first appeared in the 14th century and has its roots in the Latin word “gibbosus” meaning humpbacked.

Visit the April 2024 Moon Phases Calendar to see all the daily moon phase for this month.

Waxing Gibbous Phase

The Waxing Gibbous on April 18 has an illumination of 75%. This is the percentage of the Moon illuminated by the Sun. The illumination is constantly changing and can vary up to 10% a day. On April 18 the Moon is 9.82 days old. This refers to how many days it has been since the last New Moon. It takes 29.53 days for the Moon to orbit the Earth and go through the lunar cycle of all 8 Moon phases.

Phase Details

Phase: Waxing Gibbous
Illumination: 75%
Moon Age: 9.82 days
Moon Angle: 0.49
Moon Distance: 403,662.00 km
Sun Angle: 0.53
Sun Distance: 150,263,795.17 km

A Thought for Today

Merry meet dear Sisters, Brothers, and Honored Guests, welcome to WOTC!

If you want to see some information on any tradition of witchcraft, please put it in the comment section. I will try to find some information to post about it.

May your and your family’s lives be filled with all things positive!

Blessed be!

Merry part until we merry meet again!