Waxing Gibbous
Illumination: 91%

Tomorrow the Moon will be 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 its roots in the Latin word “gibbosus” meaning humpbacked.

PHASE DETAILS FOR – TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2018

Calendar of the Moon

Reed Month

Color: Blue-green
Element: Water
Altar: Upon cloth of blue-green place a vase of reeds, a single blue-green candle, a great bowl of water floating with wetlands plant leaves, and a knife.
Offering: Recycle something useless into something useful.
Daily Meal: Vegetarian soup and sandwiches. Only water or herbal tea to drink.

Ngetal Invocation

Call: Now is the time of the bleak cold.
Response: Now the reeds whisper in the swamp.
Call: Now is the time when we see the growing dark.
Response: Now is the time when we begin to shiver.
Call: Now is the time of bare trees.
Response: Now is the time of rain and wind.
Call: Now the rain fills the wetlands to overflowing.
Response: Now the swamp overflows into our lives.
Call: We feel our feet dragged down into the cold waters.
Response: Yet the wetland is the source of greatest life!
Call: We feel ourselves pulled into the unfamiliar.
Response: Unfamiliar to us, but no less of value.
Call: The damp cold begins to reach our bones.
Response: We must welcome its touch.
Call: We must keep it far away with fire’s warmth!
Response: We must welcome its touch.
Call: Why should we not ban it from our lives?
Response: For this, too, is a Mystery of water.
Call: Not the deep mystery of the Ocean…
Response: Not the running flow of the river…
Call: Not the crystal of snow and ice…
Response: But the secrets of the still waters.
Call: From the still waters springs the greatest number of lives!
Response: And it is this that we must honor.
Call: Welcome into ourselves the song of the whispering reeds!
Response: Welcome into ourselves the oncoming winter.

Chant: Cold as stone
Marshes heart
We will own
What is apart

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Calendar of the Sun

Carista – Day of Peace in the Family

Color: Lavender
Element: Water
Altar: Upon a lavender cloth set a tray of cakes shaped like clasping hands, and many cups full of hot tea.
Offerings: Promise to attempt to be more considerate of those you live with.
Daily Meal: Any food, but it must be served from one great plate for every table, and it should not be in separate portions.

Carista Invocation

May there be Peace in this house.
(Response: “May there be peace in this house!”)
Peace can be a hard mistress.
The daily round of the ordinary,
The simple turn of day and night and day
The presence of the same souls
Can come to be like a shadow on the sun,
And yet Peace still demands
That we find a way to move past
That ordinariness
And all the thousand thorns and briars
And bring Peace into the house.
(Response: “May there be peace in this house!”)
Take the hand of your sister, your brother,
The one who shares your roof, your table,
The ground you walk on,
Whose feet know the boards as well as your own,
And swear to find a way
To bring peace into the space between you.
(Response: “May there be peace in this house!”)

Chant: 
My brother, my heart, my sister, my soul;
My family, my life, come in from the cold;
My sister, my heart, my brother, my soul;
My family, my life, that makes this life whole.

(Instead of a ritual, this period of time should be used to mediate and address problems between members of the community, with emphasis on peacemaking and compromise and useful solutions. At the end of the meeting, all share cakes and tea.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Good morning, my sweets! How is everyone doing today? I hope great. Getting ready to travel? Having family over? Stressing out about cooking Thanksgiving Dinner? Well, I actually hate to cook. I don’t know if anyone else is like that but….I run across something this morning I would like to share with you(just in case you are like me, lol!). It is a simple meditation that hopefully make your cooking experience a little bit more pleasant. Keyword, “hopefully.”

Rather than viewing cooking as a chore, treat it as an opportunity to practice the meditative technique of mindfulness, or full alertness to the present moment. You will find that it makes cooking more enjoyable and enriching. As you prepare and cook the food, feast your senses on the hues, shapes, textures and smells of the ingredients–for example, the rich golden sheen of the turkey, the honeyed perfume of a pumpkin. Perform each action with deliberation and care as though partaking in a ritual act. Before serving the meal, give thanks for the food and the presence of the guests with who you will share it.

If that don’t work, do like I do. Wipe the sweat from your brow. Throw the food on the table and tell them how you slaved over a hot stove all day and all night. So you better eat up or else I am going to beat you with a drumstick, lol! Just kidding, I wouldn’t beat anyone with a drumstick or would I?

Now let’s get to work.

Love ya,

Lady A

*An afterthought* When you are preparing that turkey, stop for a moment and thank the turkey and honor its spirit. You can say it silently and it doesn’t have to be any elaborate, just a simple thank you will do. In my case, I always apologize to the turkey. I know it sounds crazy but I do. I apologize for the turkey having to be killed so we can eat. I honor the turkey’s spirit by saying a little prayer to the Gods to thank them for providing us with the turkey that we have to eat. I also ask them to bless the turkey’s spirit. After that is said I light a small sweet smelling candle in honor of the turkey and the feast to come. With the blessing said, the spirit of the turkey honored and the sweet smelling candle burning, you will forget you hate cooking and all the work you have put into preparing the Thanksgiving feast. Give it a try and see what a difference it makes this year. Put a little Celtic flare in your Thanksgiving this year!

By Tarot.com Staff

Uranus, Astrology, Aries

When revolutionary Uranus enters the first sign of the zodiac, Aries, it’s a major signal for collective change. This shocking planet tends to shake the world with surprising events and individual breakthroughs. Uranus’s time in Aries helps us step into a new era of human history in which problems and solutions can break out with equal rapidity and in equally unexpected ways.

Aries is the sign of the individual and independent Uranus’ sojourn in this sign marks the next major changes in personal identity. We not only get to wake up and remember who we think we are, we’ll have the guts to live our lives more authentically then we ever imagined.

When Uranus is in Aries

Radical ideas about our future on this planet could emerge during Uranus in Aries, causing us to break away from the old models of biological evolution and religious explanations for our origins. This is a period when humanity could reinvent itself with major revisions in our understanding of the self and our relationships to one another. A brave new world could rise from the sea of the collective unconscious to awaken the next stage of human development.

During Uranus’ time in Aries, the field of psychology could make sudden leaps with the reintroduction of psychedelic therapies, while rapid advances in brain research may redefine the very notion of self. The relationship between humans and technology could also grow closer, continuing to blur the lines between these two areas. This transit could also stimulate nervous systems and simultaneously awakens a newfound sense of genius that initiates millions of brilliant ideas.

When Uranus tours Aries, we’ll all receive a cosmic jolt back to ourselves. We might have lost our true identities somewhere along the way or, for whatever reason, decided to shove it in a corner. Uranus in Aries will change that, encouraging us to make a radical change with the self and embrace whatever it is about our energy that reflects an independent spirit and higher mind (Uranus rules the higher mind).

However, this desire for personal revolution could make things dicey during Uranus’ transit through Aries. We may have little tolerance for anyone who threatens to step on the toes of our identities. We may feel impatient or even angry at the slightest indication of someone or something impeding our ability to express our pioneering spirit. We should embrace this opportunity to live more authentically, while also staying mindful of our tendency towards selfishness.

Uranus Retrograde in Aries

Uranus Retrograde is about getting real, facing our fears, and getting rid of whatever it is that no longer works for us in an effort to become who we want (or who we were meant) to be. Uranus Retrograde in Aries is like being given a cosmic nudge to do our own thing and express our individuality. If we’ve been feeling restricted in a certain area of our lives, this retrograde period will fuel our desire to rebel.

During Uranus Retrograde in Aries, we may each ask ourselves: Is my relationship holding me back? Is my current job preventing me from the kind of success I really want? Have others’ opinions stopped me from moving forward with an aspiration? Uranus Retrograde in Aries will shake things up, encouraging us to make changes in any areas of our lives that aren’t personally fulfilling.

If you were born with Uranus in Aries

You are a true trailblazer! Uranus is the sign of revolutionary vision, and Aries is the natural born leader of the zodiac. So when this planet and sign sync up in your birth chart, it gives you the ability to boldly go where nobody has dared go before. You’re the kind of person who readily embraces new concepts and situations.

With Aries’ strong desire to push forward and Uranus being the planet of radical change and technology, you could be someone who has helped pioneer breakthroughs in computing, medical science, aerospace technology, and other similar advancements. Suffice it to say, you could be someone who helps sparks a technological renaissance!

The downside to this love of moving in new directions is that you could love it a little too much. Impulsiveness is your Achille’s heel, causing you to move forward with something before determining if it’s a good idea. Just remember to look before you leap, so you can avoid potential headaches and consequences down the road.

Tarot.com is Part of the Daily Insight Group ©2018

All that we are is the result of what we have thought. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him.

Query: How will our Thanksgiving be?

Like I am going to remember to ask tomorrow, HA!

Your Weekly Ogham Reading for the Week of November 19th

Duir-Oak

The name of the oak tree was part of the early Celtic word for Druid. Oak trees have always had a greater tendency to be struck by lightning, thus they have always had a more sacred standing among many cultures. It is a tree of great strength, durable hardwood, and its roots grow as deep as the branches grow high. To the Druids it was the King of The Woods. Thus these features of the letter Duir allow us to focus this reading on strength, resilience, power, and nobility. Like the mighty oak tree you will prevail.

Fortune – This Ogham denotes new paths, new doorways, and success once you decide to follow these new ideas!

Muin-Vine

The spiraling vine is a symbol of connectivity. Over time the vine grows around everything, through the physical and spiritual, and through the conscious and subconscious. However it takes time and patience for the vine to slowly connect everything. When we draw this letter we think of unity, being one with our surroundings, and connecting to all living things. This can especially have a special meaning in our modern world of online connections. The world slowly resembles one giant vine!

Fortune – This Ogham is telling you to take a strong look at your personal connections in life. Friends, lovers, and coworkers will have an important say in your matter!

Ngetal-Broom

Brooms tolerate poor soil and growing conditions, they are known for wasteland reclamation, a way of cleaning up hazardous sites. It is no surprise that this plant is also where the term broom arose as a cleaning tool. Over the centuries the Ngetal, or broom, as been associated with healing, cleaning, and restoring what once was. Drawing this letter shows some aspect in life has been cleaned and healed or is in great need of it.

Fortune – It is time to cleanup in life! This Ogham is a sign that you need to find the mess that has been made in your life or someone close to you and sweep it up!