The Witches Almanac for Wednesday, March 16th

Wednesday (Mercury): The conscious mind, study, travel, divination, and wisdom.

St. Urho’s Day (Finnish)

Waxing Moon
The Waxing Moon (from the New Moon to the Full) is the ideal time for magic to draw things toward you.

Moon phase: Second Quarter

Moon Sign: Cancer
Cancer: Stimulates emotional rapport between people. Pinpoints need, supports growth and nurturance. Tends to domestic concerns.

Incense: Lavender

Color: White

Wednesday – Magickal Days of the Week

Wednesday is named for Woden himself, although the Romans called it dies Mercurii.This is a day associated with the color purple, the planet Mercury, and the metal quicksilver – which is also called mercury. See a pattern here?

When it comes to deities… yes, Mercury! However, there are a few other gods associated with Wednesday, including Odin and Hermes, Athena, and Lugh. Gemstones like adventurine and agate come in handy as well, as do plants such as aspen trees, lilies, lavender and even ferns.

Business and job-related issues, communication, loss and debt, traveling, and journeys are all tied in to Wednesday. This is a good day to do a working to open up lines of communication – especially if your own actions are preventing you from being an effective speaker or listener. Go someplace new or return to an old favorite stomping ground, step up your game, and settle up your accounts

Source

Patti Wigington, Paganism/Wicca Expert
Article published on & owned by About.com

 

Wednesday Witchery

Be bold and daring today! Expand your knowledge of the Craft by working with the planetary energies of Mercury on this multifaceted day of the week. Consider the Greco-Roman gods Mercury and Hermes and all of the many lessons they have for you. Embrace change and movement, and work on your communication techniques. Conjure up a little good luck for yourself with that Mercury dime spell. Call on Athena to inspire you to try magickal arts and crafts and to be more creative in your own spellwork and witchery.

Meditate on Odin and see what you can discover about him. I wonder what sort of fabulous and fascinating magickal wisdom you will uncover? Odin is a shaman, after all; he may appear in many guises and faces. I guarantee that he will make you laugh at yourself before he is through with you, but you will learn. It’s up to you what you do with that knowledge. Will you let it shapeshift into wisdom?

Wednesday is the wild and wily day of the week, so try to go with the flow; don’t fight the quirky energies of the day. Most importantly, follow your heart, and always keep a good sense of humor, because of Wednesdays you will really need it.
 

Source

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

Wednesday

 

Ruler: Wodin, Mercury

Colors: Orange, light blue, and gray

Power Hours: Sunrise and the 8th, 16th, and 24th hours following

Keywords: Success, creativity, communication

The word Wednesday is reminiscent of the Norse wind god Wodin, which is referenced in the popular rhyme verse “Wednesday’s child is full of woe.” This does not mean that those born on this day are full of sorrow or trouble. To be full of Woden (Wodin) means to be full of wind, to be spirited. Woden was such a powerful pagan god that the German church fathers changed the name of his day to Mittwoch, meaning midweek, in an attempt to exorcise his influence.

In the Spanish word for Wednesday, miercoles, we clearly see its connection to Mercury. Under the guidance of Mercury; Wednesday is a day of swift activity, communication, correspondence, and phone calls. This is a good day for journalists, writers, poets, bargaining, hiring employees, and visiting friends.

On Wednesdays, the hour of sunrise and every eight hours after that are also ruled by Mercury, making these times of the day doubly blessed. These are the strongest four hours for ritual work. Check your local newspaper, astrological calendar, or almanac to determine when sunrise occurs.

 

Source

Gypsy Magic

Wednesday’s Conjuring

Wednesday – is associated with Mercury

Candle colors – Purple

Magickal Conjuring for the Day: Mastery, Domination Work, Wisdom, Healing, Dealing with Legal problems.

—Starr Casas, Old Style Conjure Wisdoms, Workings and Remedies

Solar & Lunar Data for Wednesday, March 16th

Solar
Sun Direction: ↑ 110.56° ESE
Sun Altitude: 22.81°
Sun Distance: 92.484 million mi
Next Equinox: Mar 19, 2016 11:30 PM (Vernal)
Sunrise Today: 7:03 AM↑ 91° East
Sunset Today: 7:03 PM↑ 269° West
Length of Day: 11 hours, 59 minutes

 

Lunar
Moon Direction: ↑ 22.09° NNE
Moon Altitude: -32.55°
Moon Distance: 237611 mi
Next Full Moon: Mar 23, 20167:00 AM
Next New Moon: Apr 7, 20166:23 AM
Next Moonrise: Today12:59 PM
Current Moon Phase: Waxing Gibbous
Illumination: 59.6%

 

Source

timeanddate

 

I hope everyone is having a very beautiful and blessed Wednesday. I didn’t stop our daily postings to discuss the weather or the day with you. Instead, I stopped the postings to clear up a question that was asked in the back. Perhaps some of you are wondering the same thing, so I decided to address this topic. The topic, “why don’t you cast a money spell if you need money?” Simple, very, very, simple! I am a witch who is a Celtic Practitioner that practices the Ways of Old. In my belief, it states a witch shall never cast a spell for personal gain. I swore an oath to that fact. My beliefs are very sacred to me and I will never break them. I would imagine the Elder Witches amongst us can understand why I hold my beliefs in such high regard. The oaths I took I have always honored and I will not change. My honor, my oath and my beliefs are very personal, I will not apologize for my beliefs. Instead I will hold these beliefs and principles for as long as I live.

Lady Of The Abyss

March 15th – Beware the Ides of March!

In ancient Rome, the calendar year began on March 15. The 15th of each of month was known as the ides, from a Latin word that indicates division of a month. During the classical period, the month began on the night of the full moon, which was usually on the 13th or 15th of each month, depending on the season.

At any rate, back in 44 b.c., the legendary emperor Julius Caesar summoned members of the Senate to meet in the Theatre of Pompey on March 15. Previously, a soothsayer had warned Caesar to “beware the ides of March,” but since not much had happened that day, Caesar felt confident attending a Senate session. After all, the men of the Senate were loyal to him, so how much harm could he possibly come to?

Unfortunately, Caesar had enemies within his own Senate, and upon his arrival, several members of a group known as the Liberatores fell upon him and stabbed him to death. Some notable names were in the group, particularly Gaius Cassius Longinus and Marcus Junius Brutus, the son of Caesar’s lover.
They claimed that their actions were not treasonous, but in fact tyrannicide.

In 1599, when Shakespeare wrote his famous play, he made sure to include the seer’s cautionary line about being wary on the date, and thus the term “beware the ides of March” has come to bring about a sense of impending doom. He also attributed an equally famous line to the dying emperor, “Et tu, Brute? Then fall, Caesar.”

Falling just a week or so before the Ostara holiday, some members of Religio Romana celebrate an ides ritual each month, because the ides are sacred to the god Jupiter. The season dictated how Jupiter was honored – for instance, on the ides of September, there was a big public feast celebrating the grape harvest. Ides celebrations throughout the year often involved the sacrifice of a sheep in Jupiter’s name, although at some point that sheep may have been replaced by fish.

Interestingly, long before Caesar came along, the celebration of the ides of March was shared by Jupiter with a now-obscure Roman deity called Anna Perenna; she was most likely one of the Etruscan deities absorbed into Roman mythology and custom. If you took Latin in high school, you’ll recognize that her name references the perpetually turning year. Each March, on the ides, public and private sacrifices were made in her honor, to ensure a smooth transition into the new year, and to bless them over the coming months.

So – other than dead emperors, should you beware the ides of March? Is there some sort of magical significance to the date? Not at all – until Caesar’s assassination, it was just another day on the calendar.
 

Source

Patti Wigington, Paganism/Wicca Expert
Article published on & owned by About.com

March 15

Buzzard Day

The buzzards (turkey vultures) of Hinckley, Ohio, return like clockwork on this day each year. Their uncanny return to Hinckley Ridge on March 15 has been the subject of folk legends dating back nearly 150 years. It seems that no one paid them much attention until a reporter, in 1957, from the Cleveland Press took an interest. When his article about the buzzards appeared in the paper along with the prediction that they would return on exactly March 15, interest in the birds mounted. By the time March 15 arrived in Hinckley, so did the buzzards-right on time. The news traveled fast, bringing media from Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Indiana. The small township of Hinckley was unprepared for the more than 9,000 bird watchers that ultimately descended upon them. From that day on, the town dedicated March 15 to the Buzzards of Hinckley. The town council immediately made plans to deal with the throngs of people that would return every year along with the buzzards. In time, the fame of the Hinckley buzzards spread. Today, their legendary return rivals stories of the “Swallows of Capistrano.”

An old manuscript account by William Cogswell, one of the first white men to set foot in the county in 1810, made several references to “vultures of the air” at the gallows of the Big Bend in the Rocky River, where an Indian squaw had been hung for Witchcraft. Then again in December of 1818, there is reference to the “Great Hinckley Varmint Hunt.” More than 475 men lined up along Hinckley’s 25-square-mile perimeter and began moving inward to rid the area of predatory animals killing livestock. It is believed that the tons of butchered refuse attracted the vultures. No one really knows for sure what the enticement is, but every year on March 15 the buzzards of Hinckley return.