21st/22nd May 2016: Full Moon in Sagittarius

a message from Sarah Varcas

To view more of Sarah’s insight, please visit her website, Astro-Awakenings

Lilith & Luna

The Moon is full in the 2^nd degree of Sagittarius at 9:16 p.m. UT on 21^st May. Occurring less than 24 hours prior to the end of Mercury retrograde, this Moon signals a shift of perspective. Events of the past three weeks begin to reveal a deeper significance now and through the coming month. What may at first have seemed an unlikely possibility becomes all the more real as time passes and events unfold. Plans thrown off course due to unforeseen circumstances reveal the potential of their new configuration. What we thought we ‘knew better’ about affirms we knew very little and there was a whole heap of possibility previously overlooked.

This is a positive Moon with an uplifting tone and encouraging demeanour. That said, she poses a challenge too, our response to which will colour the weeks to come. Conjunct retrograde Mars she calls forth courage and appeals especially to those who identify as spiritual warriors, seeing through the seductions of an unconscious world, whilst living in that world full-blooded and passionate: engaged, enlivened and entranced by its paradoxical beauty. There exists an innocence about this Moon, even as she radiates timeless wisdom passed down through ages. Burning away the jaded half-truths of dogma and obedience to belief and form, she illuminates the vitality at the heart of a soul on fire for truth, god/dess, the divine – ready and willing to know the sacred inside out, back to front and more intimately than we know our very selves.

Currently in Scorpio, Black Moon Lilith also speaks, reminding us that without the darkness of inky skies we could never appreciate a magnificent moon. We cannot have light without darkness. To deny the shadows renders life uni-dimensional, robbed of its guts and gumption. Those feelings we judge as wrong or negative, the ones we’re told aren’t spiritual or ‘of the light’, they are part of us too, an expression of our wild nature which rages against obstacles, suffers when suppressed and challenges the narrative that nice is more important than true.

Lilith embraces everything and everyone, resplendent in her power and alive in her fullness. She stands beside every person torn apart by grief, ground down by depression, fractured by rage or broken by guilt. She looks into our eyes and sees our soul aflame with both divine love and sacred wrath, united in one ecstatic expression of Life. Combined with the buoyancy of this Moon she reminds us we can be all of these things when anchored soul-deep whilst reaching for the stars: the peaceful eye amidst the storm of humanity in which we live out our days.

In one month’s time we have a Blue Moon in Sagittarius, the foundations of which we encounter today. We can call upon Lilith to strengthen our spirit and sharpen our resolve to embrace all that arises between now and then. This energised and encouraging Moon enlivens our hearts, imbuing a sense of adventure where once was reluctance or fear. She reminds us the most effective response to life is born of an open mind and heart, not one resistant to the very conditions it struggles to confront. Every situation contains its opposite, each problem its solution, all shadows are defined by light. Once we know intimately the relationship between polarities within and without we can rest in the middle, assess with clarity and act with clear intention for the greatest and most courageous good.

Calendar of the Moon

Hawthorn Tree Month

Color: Purple
Element: Air
Altar: Upon a cloth of purple place a vase of the budded hawthorn twigs, a knife, incense of gardenia and marjoram, and a figure of the Goddess.
Offerings: Contemplate something that is both beautiful and painful.
Daily Meal: Serve fruit juice with the food.

Huath Invocation
Call: Now is the time of the flower’s blossoming.
Response: Now is the time when the hand reaches forth to pluck.
Call: Now is the time when we struggle with our instincts…
Response: To take beauty for ourselves, or to leave it in its place.
Call: Now is the time when we must remember that all plants are not ours.
Response: We did not plant the forest, and it does not belong to us.
Call: We were not the first beings on this earth.
Response: We have come young and late, and the trees look down upon us.
Call: They groan from the centuries of our meddling.
Response: They grow thorns to protect themselves.
Call: Now is the time when the hawthorn goddess steps forward.
Response: Now is the time when the heartless lady lifts her hand.
Call: Now is the time of great beauty in the world.
Response: Now is the time when Nature protects her beauty.
Call: The hawthorn goddess stabs us to the heart with beauty.
Response: She reminds us of our place in the world.
Call: She reminds us that we do not own this green planet.
Response: She reminds us that our grasping fingers can still bleed.
Call: She makes the hedges that our animals cannot cross.
Response: She sets the boundaries that no man may cross.
Call: She makes our hearts beat faster or slower.
Response: Her berries are sweet, but she protects them.
Call: We must respect her as we respect the Earth….
Response: The Green Man falls before her, heedless and headless.
Call: She is the blade of all trees, and we shed our blood for her.
Response: She is the teeth of Nature, and we give way before her might.

Chant:
Cauldron of Changes
Blossom of Bone
Arc of Eternity
Hole in the Stone
[Pagan Book of Hours]

Calendar of the Sun

Feralia: Day of Purification

Color: White
Element: Air
Altar: On a white cloth put a lit candle, incense, a cup of water, and a bowl of salt.
Offering: Although this day is not a day of total silence, it is a solemn day and talking should be done only when necessary and in quiet tones. Bodies should be thoroughly cleaned during the bathing hour, and then the altar area should be cleaned and purified with all four elements. Each person, upon entering the altar space at the beginning of Sponde should remove their clothing and be naked, and each body should be purified with the four elements and marked with water and salt, at which point they may enrobe again. Chores of the day should concentrate on cleaning and repair.
Daily Meal: Vegan and extremely simple and plain.

Feralia Invocation

Breathe the air into your body
And breathe out again,
And as you breathe out,
Let all grime and corruption
Depart on that breath
(All breathe together for twelve breaths.)
Feel the blood coursing through your body
And imagine it clean
Of anything but what should be there.
Feel the energy coursing through your body
And wash it clean
Of anything that does not belong.
Feel the Earth beneath you,
Remember that She can absorb all
Remember that all rot is her provenance
Draw her energy up into you
And give it back again.

(After this grounding, all breathe together again in a yogic breathing pattern for the next half an hour, after which all will go with water and salt and incense and fire to all rooms in the house and cleanse them. Great care should be taken for the rest of the day not to disturb the energy of the freshly cleaned house.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Day 11

To ensure a day full of happy. Sadness be GONE!

All smiles, no sorrow
Troubles not to borrow.
Feeling happy, never sad
Misery ceased, all pain is released

Source

Daily Incantations & Enchantments A Spell A Day for 30 Days
Garden Summerland

May 22

Ragnar Lodbrok

Remembered on this day, Ragnar Lodbrok was a leader of the Vikings who was captured by the Christian Northumbrians, tortured, and thrown into a pit of poisonous snakes. It was Ragnar’s death song, of his faith in the afterlife, that inspired a bard present at the execution to convey his message to others. ers. Passed from generation to generation, the song provides reassurance and hope for what lies in the great beyond:
 

The Disir call me back home, those whom Odin
has sent for me from the Hall of the Lord of Hosts.
Gladly will I sup ale in the high seat with the Gods.
The days of my life are finished. I laugh as I die!

Home & Hearth Magick for Sunday, May 22

On Sunday, work for success, healing and blessings.

Planetary Influence: The Sun

Household Symbols: A rooster, a sun, gold jewelry

Colors: Yellow and gold

Kitchen Spices: Cinnamon and orange peels

Source:

Cottage Witchery
Natural Magick for Hearth and Home
Author: Ellen Dugan

HEALING CORRESPONDENCES

Elements: all

Planets: sun, moon, earth

Best times: Sunday or Monday

Moon waxing to full – for increased health

Moon waning to dark – for banishing and driving away disease

Colors: blue, green, gold and orange

Numbers: 1, 3, 7, 9

Incense: bay, cinnamon, eucalyptus, frankincense, sandalwood

Plants : all healing herbs

Gods and Goddesses: Artemis, Hebe, Hygeia, moon and earth Goddesses, Asclepius, Apollo

Daily Magickal Applications for Sunday, May 22

The Latin term for Sunday, our first day of the week, is Dies Solis (“sun’s day”). In ancient Greek, it was called Hemera Heliou. In the Old English language, it was known as Sunnandaeg; in Middle English, Sonenday. All of these titles mean the same thing: the day of the sun.

What do you think of when you feel the sun shine down on you? What sorts of enchantments and energies do you think would be complementary to a day named after our closest star? Sunday brings those bright solar energies into your life and has the magickal correspondences of success, promotion, leadership, pride, light, generosity, warmth, fitness, and personal growth. Astrologically, the sun symbolizes the conscious self and rules the zodiac sign of Leo.

The charms and spells that would complement this magickal day of the sun are ones for personal achievements of any kind-such as if you are seeking fame and wealth, working for that much-deserved promotion at work, or being acknowledged for a job well done. Health issues, increasing personal power, or simply sticking to your diet and being proud of what you have accomplished all fall under the sun’s golden influence

Source

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

Sunday Is Ruled By The Sun

Sunday corresponds to the sun, our closest star. This day is full of wonder and all sorts of magical potential for success, wealth, and fame. Sundays are for personal achievements of any kind such as working towards a promotion at your job, seeking fame and wealth, or being acknowledged for a job well done. All of these goals fall under the golden influence of the sun. Some suggestions for Sunday enchantments would include:

Sitting outside at sunrise and calling on the goddess Brigid for illumination and inspiration

Wearing gold jewelry or clothing that is gold or sunshine yellow to pull some color magic into your life

Arranging a few sunflowers in a vase and empowering these “flowers of the sun” for fame and ambition

Gathering up the common marigold flower and scattering it’s petals about to encourage prosperity

Baking up a batch of cinnamon rolls for the family and enchanting them for health and success

Snacking on a solar fruit, the orange, and enjoying the magical boost it brings to your life

The Witches Correspondences for Sunday, May 22nd

The Sun, The day of the Sun God… Helios, Apollo, Ogmios, Mithras. In some traditions, the sun is seen as feminine, personified as Phoebe (East Anglia), and Saule (eastern Europe). The Sun rules the conscious element of the human mind, the ego, the “real” self.” Sunday is the day on which this power is most effective

Element : Fire

Planet : Sun

Zodiac Sign : Leo

Angel : Michael

Metal : Gold

Incense/Perfumes : Musk, Lemon, Frankincense, Orange Blossom, Citrus

Oil : Cedar, Frankincense, Neroli, Rosemary

Color : Orange, Gold, Yellow

Stones : Amber, Carnelian, Tiger’s Eye, Ruby

Plants/Herbs : Beech, Buttercup, Cedar, Cinnamon, Clove, Frankincense, Heliotrope, Juniper, Marigold, Mistletoe, Oak, Orange, Rosemary, Sunflower

Magick to work: health, confidence, creativity protection, spirituality, strength, physical strength, obtaining goals, promotions, illumination, friendship, leadership, power, life energy, favor, and initiating any magickal activity

The Witches Almanac for Sunday, May 22nd

Sunday (Sun): Healing, spirituality, success, strength, and protection.

Heroes’ Day (Sri Lankan)

Waning Moon
The Waning Moon (from the Full Moon to the New) is a time for study, meditation, and little magical work (except magic designed to banish harmful energies).

Moon Phase: Third Quarter

Moon Sign: Sagittarius
Sagittarius: Encourages flights of imagination and confidence. This is an adventurous, philosophical, and athletic Moon sign. Favors expansion and growth.

Incense: Juniper

Color: Gold

Sunday’s Witchery

Those ambitious, successful spells and charms will be heightened by working on the day of the week that has the planetary influence of the sun. So light those sunny candles, wear some luminous colors, and break out the gold jewelry! Bake up some cinnamon rolls or low-fat cinnamon muffins for an enchanting family breakfast. Take an orange with you to eat at lunch today. Try using a little magickal aromatherapy and burn some cinnamon-scented incense to encourage success and wealth today. Make the talisman to keep your solar magick with you. Sprinkle some dried marigold petals around your house-or across the threshold-to pull triumph and protection toward you and your family.

Get outside and tip up your face to the sun. Take a walk outside, and soak up some sunshine! Acknowledge the power of Sunna or Helios as they blaze across the sky and bring courage and motivation into your life. Sit outside at sunrise on a Sunday morning and bask in its warm, rosy-golden glow Acknowledge Brigid as the inner, creative spark of imagination and inspiration. She can help these gifts burn brightly within your own soul. Use your imagination and create your own brand of witchery and magick. Here comes the sun, and it’s your turn to shine!
 

Source

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

Sunday

Ruler: Sun

Colors: Gold or yellow

Power Hours: Sunrise and sunset.

Key Words: Love, happiness, health, wealth

It is easy to spot the ruler of this day by its name. Sunday is the day of the sun. Community work, volunteer services, exercise, outdoor sports, buying, selling, speculating, meeting people, anything involving groups, running fairs and raffles, growing crops and taking care of all health matters fall under the influence of the Sun. With all this activity and the brightness of the sun, it’s easy to see why the child that is born on the Sabbath day is bonny and blithe, and good and gay.

Michael is the primary angel of Sunday but each hour of this day also has it’s secondary angel. These angels are Michael (first hour), Anael (second hour), Raphael (third hour), Gabril (fourth hour), Cassiel (fifth hour), Sachiel (sixth hour), Samael (seventh hour), Michael (eighth hour), Anael (ninth hour), Raphael (tenth hour), Gabriel (eleventh hour), and Cassiel twelfth hour). Notice some of the angels do double duty this day.

On Sundays, (unless you are invoking a specific angelic energy) the hour of sunrise will be the most powerful time to work, especially if you want to infuse energy into your work. Sunset is the second best time and is favored when you need to calm down a situation. Check the local newspaper, astrological calendar, or almanac to determine your local sunrise.

Source

Gypsy Magic

Spellcrafting for Sunday

 Health
 Abundance
 Leadership
 Strength
 Ambition
 Individuality
 Authority
 Hope
 Joy
 Happiness
 Creativity

Source

A Spell Crafter’s Compendium
Terri Paajanen

The Pagan Book of Days for Sunday, May 22

Ragnar Lodbrok

Ragnar Lodbrok was a Viking leader captured by the Northumbrians, then tortured and killed by being thrown into a pit full of venomous snakes. His death song expresses this unwavering faith in the afterlife:

“The Disir call me back home,
those whom Odin has sent for me
from the halls of the lord of hosts.
Gladly will I sup ale in the high seat
with the gods.
The days of my life are finished.
I laugh as I die!”

In East Anglia this day is also the last for picking dandelions for wine making.

Source

The Pagan Book of Days
Nigel Pennick

Sunday, May 22

Traditionally, Sunday is the first day of the week. It is also known as the Lord’s Day from it original association with the Lord, that is, the Sun God, personified as Helios, Apollo, Ogmios, Mithras, and St. Eliaa. But in the Northern Tradition, the sun is seen as feminine, personified as the goddess known as Phoebe in East Anglia and Saule in eastern Europe. The sun rules the conscious elment of the human being, the ego, the real self, and Sunday is the day on which this conscious power is at its most effective.

Deity: Sol

Zodiac Sign: Leo

Planet: Sun

Tree: Birch

Herb: Snakeroot

Stone: Ruby

Animal: Lion

Element: Fire

Color: Gold

Rune: Sigel

Celtic Tree Month of Hauth (Hawthorn) – May 13 – June 9. Hawthorn month is a time of fertility, masculine energy, and fire. Also associated with the realm of Faerie.

Runic Half-Month of Ing (expansive, energy) – May 14 -28

Goddess of the Month of Hera – May 16 – June 12. Hera is associated with motherhood, marriage, the household, infidelities, beauty, luxury

 
Source

The Pagan Book of Days
Nigel Pennick

Watch Mars in Opposition LIVE With Slooh Observatory

You can follow along with the action here.
By John Wenz

Sunday night, Mars will make its closest approach to Earth, known as opposition. Slooh Observatory will be livecasting the event, which you can see in the below media player.

Opposition occurs when a planet anterior to Earth sits directly “behind” it, as if in a straight line going from the center of the sun through the Earth to the planet. In this way, it’s said to be directly opposite the sun in the sky, hence the name. An opposition event occurs every 26 months. At this opposition, Mars will be 0.51 AU from Earth, or 47,416,757 miles.

The next “perihelic opposition” is not set to take place until the next opposition in 2018, when Mars will be just 0.39 AU or 35,880,942 miles from Earth. That places it as close to Earth as it will get until 2035. The most distant opposition in recent years took place in 1995, when Mars was 0.68 AU from earth, or 62,809,309 miles. For a little bit more about oppositions past and present, check out this piece by our own Michael Bakich.

Slooh’s coverage begins at 8 p.m. ET on Sunday night, after the sun goes down. Given its close approach, it will appear very bright in the sky, the second brightest object next to Jupiter (third if the moon is up.) To learn a little bit more about how to observe it, check out Michael’s helpful tutorial.

Link to media player:

http://www.astronomy.com/news/2016/05/watch-mars-in-opposition-live-with-slooh-observatory

Source

Astronomy Magazine

The Sky This Week: May 22 – May 29

Sunday, May 22

• Mars lies opposite the Sun in our sky today as it reaches peak visibility for 2016. The Red Planet appears low in the southeast as darkness falls and grows more prominent as the evening wears on and it climbs higher. By 1 a.m. local daylight time, it stands one-third of the way to the zenith in the southern sky against the backdrop of stars in northern Scorpius. The world shines at magnitude –2.1, brighter than it has been since 2005. When viewed through a telescope, the planet’s ocher-colored disk spans 18.4″ and shows subtle dark markings along with a whitish north polar cap. The Red Planet actually will come closest to Earth eight days from now, when its disk will swell to 18.6″ across.

• The Moon’s eastward motion relative to the background stars carries it 3° north of Saturn in this evening’s sky.

Monday, May 23

• Neptune rises before 3 a.m. local daylight time this week and appears low in the southeast before dawn. The distant world glows at magnitude 7.9, so you’ll need binoculars or a telescope to spot it. Fortunately, it lies near a brighter star that will help guide you. Look for the planet 0.5° south-southeast of 4th-magnitude Lambda (l) Aquarii. You can confirm a sighting of Neptune through a telescope, which reveals the planet’s 2.3″-diameter disk and blue-gray color.

Tuesday, May 24

• Look high in the northwest after darkness falls this week and you’ll be greeted by the familiar sight of the Big Dipper. The Dipper is the sky’s most conspicuous asterism — a recognizable pattern of stars that doesn’t form a complete constellation shape. It forms the body and tail of Ursa Major the Great Bear. Use the Pointers, the two stars at the end of the Dipper’s bowl, to find Polaris, which lies due north for everyone north of the equator. Polaris marks the end of the Little Dipper’s handle. On evenings in late May, the relatively faint stars of this dipper arc almost directly above Polaris.

Wednesday, May 25

• Brilliant Jupiter appears high in the southwest as darkness falls and remains on display past 2 a.m. local daylight time. The giant planet shines at magnitude –2.1 — tying Mars as the brightest point of light in the night sky — against the backdrop of southern Leo the Lion. Jupiter appears equally dazzling through a telescope, which reveals a wealth of atmospheric detail on a disk that spans 38″. Notice in particular the two parallel dark belts that straddle a bright zone coinciding with the planet’s equator.

Thursday, May 26

• One of the spring sky’s finest deep-sky objects, the Beehive star cluster (M44) in the constellation Cancer the Crab, lies about one-third of the way from the western horizon to the zenith after darkness falls. With naked eyes under a dark sky, you should be able to spot this star group as a faint and fuzzy cloud. But the Beehive explodes into dozens of stars through binoculars or a small telescope at low power.

Friday, May 27

• Although Saturn will reach opposition and peak visibility one week from today, observers will be hard-pressed to see it as inferior this week. The ringed planet rises before 9 p.m. local daylight time and appears highest in the south around 1:30 a.m. Saturn shines at magnitude 0.0 and stands out against the relatively dim background stars of southern Ophiuchus. If you target the beautiful world through a telescope, you’ll see its 18″-diameter disk surrounded by a ring system that spans 42″ and tilts 26° to our line of sight.

Saturday, May 28

• Mars’ westward motion relative to the background stars carries it from Scorpius into Libra today. But for a quick change of pace, grab your binoculars tonight and target Zubenelgenubi (Alpha [a] Librae), the modestly bright star on the constellation’s opposite side. With even the slightest optical aid, Zubenelgenubi resolves into two stars. Nearly 4′ separate the 3rd-magnitude primary from the 5th-magnitude secondary.

See “10 tempting spring binocular targets” in the May issue of Astronomy for other treats visible through binoculars.

Sunday, May 29

• Last Quarter Moon arrives at 8:12 a.m. EDT. It rises around 1:30 a.m. local daylight time and climbs higher in the southeast as dawn approaches. During this period, our half-lit satellite lies near the center of Aquarius the Water-bearer.

Source

Astronomy Magazine