“Smoke hangs like haze over harvested fields
The gold of stubble, the brown of turned earth
And you walk under the red light of fall
The scent of fallen apples, the dust of threshed grain
The sharp, gentle chill of fall.
Here as we move into the shadows of autumn
The night that brings the morning of spring
Come to us, Lord of Harvest
Teach us to be thankful for the gifts you bring us
The bounty of your sacrifice
The warmth and the light of friends gathered around the bounty of the earth.
Dionysus, Osiris, Cernunnos, Dumuzi, Frey,
Lord of the grain,
Welcome!”
– Autumn Equinox Celebration
“The symbolism of this Sabbat is that of The Third (and final) Harvest, it marks the end of Summer, the beginning of Winter. It is a time marked by death when the Dead are honored – a time to celebrate and “study” the Dark Mysteries. “Samhain” means “End of Summer”. Its historical origin is The Feast of the Dead in Celtic lands. It is believed that on this night, the veil Between the Worlds is at its thinnest point, making this an excellent time to communicate with the Other Side. Symbols for representing this Sabbat may include Jack-O-Lanterns, Balefires, Masks, The Besom (Magickal Broom), The Cauldron, and the Waning Moon. Altar decorations might include small jack-o-lanterns, foods from the harvest, and photographs of your loved ones who have departed from this world. Appropriate Deities for Samhain include all Crone Goddesses, and the Dying God or the “Dead” God. Samhain Goddesses include Hecate, Hel, Inanna, Macha, Mari, Psyche, Ishtar, Lilith, The Morrigu/Morrigan, Rhiannon, and Cerridwen. Key actions to keep in mind during this time in the Wheel of the Year include return, change, reflection, endings and beginnings, and honoring the Dead. Other meanings behind this Sabbat celebration include the Wisdom of the Crone, the Death of the God, and the Celebration of Reincarnation.”
– Samhain Lore
Your Daily Sun & Moon Data for Tuesday, October 31, Samhain
The Sun
Sun Direction: ↑ 127.37° SE
Sun Altitude: 20.20°
Sun Distance: 92.272 million mi
Next Solstice: Dec 21, 2017 10:27 am (Winter)
Sunrise Today: 7:17 am↑ 107° East
Sunset Today: 5:57 pm↑ 252° West
Length of Daylight: 10 hours, 39 minutes
The Moon
Moon Direction: ↑ 350.09° N
Moon Altitude: -58.98°
Moon Distance: 237140 mi
Next Full Moon: Nov 4, 201712:22 am
Next New Moon: Nov 18, 20175:42 am
Next Moonrise: Today4:12 pm
Moon Illumination: 83.8%
CurrentMoon Phase: Waxing Gibbous
The Lunar Calendar
Moon Phase Tonight: Waxing Gibbous
Full Moon: Nov 4, 2017 at 12:22 am
(Next Phase)
First Quarter: Oct 27, 2017 at 5:22 pm
(Previous Phase)
Source
Your Astrology for Tuesday, October 31st
The Moon is in Pisces.
The Moon is void from 5:07 PM forward (until tomorrow at 2:42 AM).
The Moon is waxing and in its First Quarter phase until 3:16 PM, after which the Moon is in its Waxing Gibbous phase.
The First Quarter Moon occurred on the 27th, and a Full Moon will occur in the sign of Taurus on November 4th.
Moon in Pisces
The Moon is traveling through Pisces today. You may feel disconnected. Serve others. Listen to music. Paint a picture. Daydream.
We are not inclined to want to face reality while the Moon is in dreamy, impressionable Pisces. It can be a wistful, sensitive, intuitive, and compassionate time. We are especially imaginative, and our intuition reigns under this influence. Boundaries and walls come down, as Pisces energy merges and blends. It’s a time when details are overlooked and feelings defy description.
The Moon in Pisces generally favors the following activities: Imaginative undertakings, mystical or spiritual pursuits, inner development, music and drama, going on a retreat, activities involving water.
Daily Overview of Astronomy for Tuesday, October 31
The Moon spends another full day in Pisces, and its trine to Mercury facilitates conversations about feelings or things we typically find difficult to express. However, we can be in an unusually serious or defensive frame of mind in the hours surrounding the Moon’s square to Saturn late afternoon and early evening (EDT). We might experience feelings of being blocked with Saturn, the great teacher, reminding us to slow down, ultimately for our own good. Responsibilities or worries can weigh heavily on our minds, especially with the Sun and Saturn approaching a semi-square, exact tomorrow.
As Venus and Vesta move to an alignment in the sign of Libra, we might take pleasure in our commitment to or involvement in our relationships. We’re more willing than usual to make sacrifices if we feel they’ll help us improve our relationships or finances.
A void of course Moon occurs from 5:08 PM EDT, with the Moon’s last aspect before changing signs (a square to Saturn), until the Moon enters Aries tomorrow, Wednesday, November 1st, at 2:43 AM EDT.
The Sky This Week for October 31 to November 5
The last of the Orionids and several bright planets will appear in the sky this week.
By Richard Talcott
Tuesday, October 31
Although the Orionid meteor shower peaked 10 days ago, the shower remains active until November 7. And with the Moon setting around 3 a.m. local daylight time (some three hours before twilight begins), observers can expect to see a few “shooting stars” in the predawn sky. To differentiate an Orionid from a sporadic, remember that a shower meteor will appear to radiate from the northern part of the constellation Orion the Hunter.
Wednesday, November 1
Venus rises around 6 a.m. local daylight time and dominates the morning sky from then until close to sunrise. Gleaming at magnitude –3.9, no other point of light comes close to matching this planet’s brilliance. As a bonus today, Venus passes 4° due north of Virgo’s brightest star, 1st-magnitude Spica. The planet shines 100 times brighter than the star.
Thursday, November 2
Uranus reached opposition and peak visibility two weeks ago, and it remains a tempting target all this week. The outer planet appears in the southeastern sky during midevening and climbs highest in the south around midnight local daylight time. The magnitude 5.7 world lies in southeastern Pisces, 2.3° west of magnitude 4.3 Omicron (ο) Piscium, the brightest star in this part of Pisces. Although Uranus shines brightly enough to glimpse with the naked eye under a dark sky, use binoculars to locate it initially. A telescope reveals the planet’s blue-green disk, which spans 3.7″.
Friday, November 3
Full Moon officially arrives at 1:23 a.m. EDT tomorrow morning (10:23 p.m. PDT this evening). You can find it rising in the east around sunset and peaking in the south just before 1 a.m. local daylight time. It dips low in the west by the time morning twilight starts to paint the sky. The Moon lies on the border between the constellations Pisces and Cetus.
Saturday, November 4
Saturn remains a tempting target in this week’s early evening sky. The ringed planet stands 15° above the southwestern horizon an hour after sunset and remains 10° high at twilight’s close. Shining at magnitude 0.5, it appears four times brighter than any of the background stars in its host constellation, Ophiuchus the Serpent-bearer. Of course, the best views of Saturn come through a telescope, which reveals a 15″-diameter globe surrounded by a spectacular ring system that spans 35″ and tilts 27° to our line of sight.
Sunday, November 5
For those areas of the United States and Canada that observe daylight saving time, set your clocks back one hour this morning. The official switch occurs at 2 a.m. local daylight time, which becomes 1 a.m. local standard time. The switch means sunrise and sunset both arrive an hour earlier today than they did yesterday. So, at least by clock time, the latest sunrise of the year occurred yesterday morning.
Observers in eastern and central North America are in for a surprise shortly after the Moon rises. Although the waning gibbous Moon lies among the background stars of Taurus the Bull, that constellation’s brightest star will be absent because Luna is blocking 1st-magnitude Aldebaran from view. Observers should target the Moon’s dark limb through their telescopes and try to view the star when it suddenly reappears.
The Moon reaches perigee, the closest point in its orbit around Earth, at 7:10 p.m. EST. It then lies 224,587 miles (361,438 kilometers) away from us.
Source
Your Cosmic Weather Report for Tuesday, October 31st
Jane Lyle, Astrologer
The Astrology Room
Tuesday, 31st October:
Our Halloween astrology brings some intense, watery – and therefore profoundly emotional – energies.
The Sun in mysterious, psychic Scorpio is joined by Mercury and Jupiter in Scorpio, with the Moon travelling through mystical, intuitive Pisces until tomorrow morning.
Boundaries are shifting and melting like candle wax now, and in the weeks ahead. And that, of course, includes the boundaries between the realms of the living and the dead, the everyday world and the supernatural……Happy Halloween!
The Witches Current Moon Phase for October 31st, Samhain
Waxing Gibbous
Illumination: 83%
The 11 days young Moon is in ♓ Pisces.
The Moon today is in a Waxing Gibbous phase. This phase is when the moon is more than 50% illuminated but not yet a Full Moon. The phase lasts round 7 days with the moon becoming more illuminated each day until the Full Moon. During a Waxing Gibbous the moon will rise in the east in mid-afternoon and will be high in the eastern sky at sunset. The moon is then visible though most of the night sky setting a few hour before sunrise. The word Gibbous first appeared in the 14th century and has it’s roots in the Latin word “gibbosus” meaning humpbacked.
Phase Details for – Tuesday, October 31, 2017
Phase: Waxing Gibbous
Illumination: 83%
Moon Age: 10.77 days
Moon Angle: 0.52
Moon Distance: 386,320.44 km
Sun Angle: 0.54
Sun Distance: 148,481,257.80 km
Source
“The Celts honored the opposing balance of intertwining forces of existence: darkness and light, night and day, cold and heat, death and life. The Celtic year was divided into two seasons: the light and the dark, celebrating the light at Beltane on May 1st and the dark at Samhain on November 1st. Therefore, the Feast of Samhain marks one of the two great doorways of the Celtic year. Some believe that Samhain was the more important festival, since it marked the beginning of a new dark-light cycle. The Celts observed time as proceeding from darkness to light because they understood that in dark silence comes whisperings of new beginnings, the stirring of the seed below the ground. Therefore, the Celtic year began with the season of An Geamhradh, the dark Celtic winter, and ended with Am Foghar, the Celtic harvest. The Celtic day began at dusk, the beginning of the dark and cold night, and ended the following dusk, the end of a day of light and warmth. Since dusk is the beginning of the Celtic day, Samhain begins at dusk on October 31. Samhain marks the beginning of An Geamhradh as well as the New Year. Whereas Beltane was welcomed in the summer light with joyous celebrations at dawn, the most magically potent time of Samhain was at night. Oidhche Shamhna, the Eve of Samhain, was the most important part of the celebration. Villagers gathered the best of the autumn harvest and slaughtered cattle for the feast. The focus of each village’s festivities was a great bonfire. Villagers cast the bones of the slaughtered cattle upon the flames. (Our word bonfire comes from these “bone fires.”) Personal prayers in the form of objects symbolizing the wishes of supplicants or ailments to be healed were cast into the fire. Many sacrifices and gifts were offered up in thanksgiving for the harvest. With the great bonfire roaring, the villagers extinguished all other fires. Each family then solemnly lit their hearth from the one great common flame, bonding all families of the village together. As they received the flame that marked this time of beginnings, people surely felt a sense of the kindling of new dreams, projects and hopes for the year to come.”
– Feast of Samhain
The Queen of Wands Reversed
Cancer
Air
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