Category: Articles

Wednesday

 

Egyptian MagicWednesday

 

Wednesday: Is associated with Mercury and the colors of Purple, Magenta and Silver

 

Wednesday is the best time to deal with such matters as: Accounting, Advertising, Astrology, Clerks, Communication, Computers, Correspondence, Critics, Editing, Editors, Education, Healing, Hiring Employees, Intelligence, Journalists, Kin, Learning Languages, Legal Appointments, Memory, Merchants, Messages, Music, Neighbors, Phone Calls, Placing Ads, Siblings, Signing Contracts, Students, Visiting Friends, Visual Arts, Wisdom, and Writing

 

Source

Practical Magick for the Penny Pinching Witch
Carol Moyer

 

The Sky This Week for May 3 to May 7

DHG-Egyptian Fantasy

The Sky This Week for May 3 to May 7

The Summer Triangle, Jupiter at opposition, and other beautiful things to look for in the sky this week.
By Richard Talcott

Wednesday, May 3

The Big Dipper’s familiar shape lies nearly overhead on May evenings. The spring sky’s finest binocular double star marks the bend in the Dipper’s handle. Mizar shines at 2nd magnitude, some six times brighter than its 4th-magnitude companion, Alcor. Even though these two are not physically related, they make a fine sight through binoculars. (People with good eyesight often can split the pair without optical aid.) A small telescope reveals Mizar itself as double — and these components do orbit each other.

Thursday, May 4

For those who like to observe during the quiet predawn hours, Saturn offers a visual treat this week. The ringed planet rises shortly before midnight local daylight time and climbs some 30° high in the south by the time morning twilight begins. It shines at magnitude 0.2 against the backdrop of northwestern Sagittarius. Take a look at Saturn through binoculars and you’ll also see the open star clusters M21 and M23 as well as the spectacular Lagoon (M8) and Trifid (M20) nebulae about 4° to the east. When viewed through a telescope, the planet shows an 18″-diameter disk surrounded by a stunning ring system that spans 41″ and tilts 26° to our line of sight.

Friday, May 5

Although the calendar says May, the sky’s Summer Triangle returns to prominence this month. The asterism’s three bright stars — Vega in Lyra, Deneb in Cygnus, and Altair in Aquila — all clear the horizon by midnight local daylight time. An hour later, they rule the eastern sky. Vega shines brightest and appears at the apex of the triangular asterism. Look for Deneb to Vega’s lower left and Altair to the lower right of the other two. The Summer Triangle will grace the Northern Hemisphere’s evening sky from now through the end of the year.

Saturday, May 6

The Eta Aquariid meteor shower reaches its peak before dawn. Although this is typically one of the year’s most prolific showers, a waxing gibbous Moon interferes with the 2017 show. The Moon sets around 4 a.m. local daylight time, just before morning twilight starts to paint the sky. For the best views, head outside an hour or two before then and find a spot where trees or buildings block the Moon’s glow low in the west. Eta Aquariid meteors derive from bits of debris ejected by Comet 1P/Halley during its many trips around the Sun. When Earth crosses this debris stream, our planet’s atmosphere incinerates the tiny dust particles and we see the streaks of light called meteors, or “shooting stars.”

Sunday, May 7

Although Jupiter reached opposition and peak visibility exactly one month ago, it remains a stunning sight nearly all night. It appears about 40° above the southeastern horizon an hour after sunset and climbs highest in the south around 11 p.m. local daylight time. As a bonus this evening, a waxing gibbous Moon appears just a few degrees away. The pair lies among the background stars of Leo, though only 1st-magnitude Spica some 10° below appears conspicuous thanks to the bright Moon nearby. When viewed through a telescope, Jupiter’s disk spans 43″ and shows a wealth of detail in its atmosphere.

Mars passes 6° due north (to the upper right) of Aldebaran today. Use binoculars to pick them out of the evening twilight. Although Aldebaran shines a half-magnitude

 

 

Source

The Astromony Magazine

Your Sun & Moon Data for Wednesday, May 3rd

egyptian beauty

Your Sun & Moon Data for Wednesday, May 3rd

The Sun
Sun Directioon: ↑ 78.67° ENE
Sun Altitude: 11.43°
Sun Distance: 93.714 million mi
Next Solstice: Jun 20, 2017 11:24 pm (Summer)
Sunrise Today: 5:57 am↑ 69° East
Sunset Today: 7:45 pm↑ 291° Northwest
Length of Daylight: 13 hours, 48 minutes

 

The Moon
Moon Direction: ↑ 352.62° N
Moon Altitude: -38.98°
Moon Distance: 236180 mi
Next Full Moon: May 10, 20174:42 pm
Next New Moon: May 25, 20172:44 pm
Next Moonrise: Today12:59 pm
Current Moon: Waxing crescent
Illumination: 65.5%

 

Source

timeanddate.com

 

From All of Us To All of You, A Very Beautiful & Blessed Wednesday!

Egyptian GoddessI am the Creator that Dreams

 

I am the Creator that dreams
I am the Creation
I am the atom, the molecule and the space in between
I am the trees and the forest, the wind and the air
The stars and the twinkle
I dance the cosmic dance , I am the dance
I am you and you are me
There is no separation only oneness
I am thought I am matter
I am love and I am joy
I am sadness and sorrow
I am he and I am she, and I am it
I am the flower and the stone
I am the heartbeat and the rain
The sorrow and the pain
The moon and the stars
I am all and all is me
Life is my thought and my dream
I am all there is and all there is, is me
I am now and becoming
Forever unfolding in the mist of time.
I dream and so it is
You are child of light, I am the Flame of Life
No separation exists, only union
The child lives within the flame
Feel my presence, feel my magic
All is magic, all is life, my beloved flower
Allow the joy and love to flow through you
And out there.
As you touch the word know that it is my hand and my voice
As the world touches you, know that it is I
Feel the exchange folding back into itself
As I touch your mind know that you are transformed
Never to be the same again
Transformed from darkness to light
From sleeping to wakefulness,
And so the world awakes, one cell at a time
One cell in happy awareness of union with the divine
Your time has come daughter of Light arise in your wakefulness and help to create paradise, in love and joy
Be a conscious participant Live in the now.
Not tomorrow or yesterday but in the only time that is real, eternity.

by Mystery School Initiate, Ember Flower
Published on Celtic Prayer Book

Your Daily Horoscopes for Today, Tomorrow and If You Were Born Today

“The new earth quickens as you rise.
The May Queen is waiting.
Feel the pulsing ground call you to journey,
To know the depths of your desire.
The May Queen is waiting.
Moving through the night, the bright moon’s flight.
In green and silver on the plain.
She waits for you to return again.
Do not keep Her waiting.
Her temper stings if you refuse to taste Her honey.
Surrender as enchantment brings
The first light of dawning.
Move with Her in sacred dance, through fear to feeling.
Bringing ecstasy to those who dare.
Living earth is breathing.
Loving through the night in the bright moonlight,
As seedlings open with the rain.
She’ll long for you to return again.
Do not keep Her waiting.”

–  Ruth Barren, The May Queen is Waiting

 

This episode includes

Your Daily Horoscopes for May 1

Get a Jump on Tomorrow, Your Horoscopes for May 2nd

If You were born today…

THE WOTC PODCAST

As We Continue to Celebrate Beltane, We Have Your Monthly Horoscopes for May

The Beltane Festival

 

Beltane or Beltane is the Gaelic name for the festival that begins on April the 30th or Beltane’s eve and continues on 1st May and is a celebration of purification and fertility. The name originates from the Celtic god, Bel – the ‘bright one’, and the Gaelic word ‘teine’ meaning fire, giving the name ‘bealttainn’, meaning ‘bright fire’. Marking the beginning of the Summer season with the lighting of two great bon-fires on Beltane’s eve signifies a time of purification and transition, these fires may be made of the nine sacred woods, Alder, Ash, Birch, Hawthorn, Hazel, Holly, Oak, Rowan and Willow.

 

Heralding in the season in the hope of a good harvest later in the year, Beltane festivals were accompanied with ritual acts to protect the people from any harm by Otherworldly spirits.

 

Significantly, as the Goddess (Brigid) moves through her various phases, Beltane sees the womanly aspect of the Summer Goddess banish the Old Crone aspect of the Winter Goddess in readiness for the maternal time and the fruits of nature to follow.

 

As this is one of the magic turning points of the Sacred Seasons, the veil between worlds is thought to be especially thin, and as a result many of the Fairy Host, the Sidhe and the Tuatha De Danann may be seen crossing between the worlds.

Particularly, the Faery Queen is thought to travel about on this night and if you gaze too long on her enchanted beauty she may whisk you away to live in her Other realms outside of time for an eternity.

The Faery Queen also represents the May Queen, although in practice the honor is usually carried out by young women who are soon to be married.

For the May Day is the great day,
Sung along the old straight track.
And those who ancient lines did ley
Will heed this song that calls them back.

co Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull.

 

The May Queen at Beltane

along with her May King, mythically a Jack in The Green, the Green Man or Horned God, is to take part in the Great Rite and so Open the way for the Summer. This is the Sacred Marriage of the God and Goddess, often reenacted by a symbolic union during which the Athame (magical knife symbolizing male energy) is placed by the King of May into the Chalice (Sacred Cup symbolizing female energy) held by the Queen of the May.

Following this union which serves to Open the way to the Summer Lands, festivities ensue, particularly that of dancing around the May Pole. The May Pole itself is a symbol of the union of the God and the Goddess, as the red ribbons represent the fertility of the Goddess, the white represent the fertility of the God. Men begin the weaving by dancing under the upheld ribbon of the first women facing them, accompanied by music, drums beating or chanting. The dancers move forward, stepping alternately over and under each person who’s dancing toward them. The dance continues until the Maypole is completely wrapped, then the ribbons are tied off and the wreath from the top is tossed to the earth to bring its gathered power into the ground.

 

Whilst such public festivals are not as widespread as they once were, famously at Padstow in Cornwall there still is held an annual ‘Obby-Oss’ day, which is believed to be one of the oldest survivng fertility rites in the United Kingdom.

Beltane Lore

During Medieval times, a man might also propose marriage by leaving a hawthorn branch at the door of his beloved on the first day of May. If the branch was allowed to remain at her door, it was a signal that the proposal was accepted. If it was replaced with a cauliflower, the proposal was turned down.

 

The Celtic Moon month of Hawthorn is the time for lovers to attend to matters of the heart, as the Celtic fire festival of Beltane heralds the start of summer.

Crosses of birch and rowan twigs were hung over doors on the May morning as a blessing and protection, and left until next May day.
The dew on the May day morning is believed to have a magical potency – wash your face and body in it and you will remain fair all year.

 

Going ‘A-Maying’ meant staying out all night to gather flowering hawthorn, watching the sunrise and making love in the woods, also known as a ‘greenwood marriage’

Oh, do not tell the Priest our plight,
Or he would call it a sin;
But we have been out in the woods all night,
A-conjuring Summer in!

 

~ Blessed Beltane to You ~

 

—–The Dance of Life

 

This Episode Includes

Your Cosmic Weather for the Week

Your Monthly Horoscopes for May

and much more to come….

 

THE WOTC PODCAST

Good Morning Brothers & Sisters On This Most Beautiful & Glorious Beltane Morn’!

Shout It To The Highest Rooftops, It’s Beltane, At Last! Oh, what a glorious day to be alive and what a glorious season the Goddess has blessed us with. Can’t you feel the energy of the Earth reemerging, the flowers blooming, the grass growing, the miracle of rebirth and fertility is all around us. Blessed Be!

 

The Beltane Blessing

Bless, O threefold true and bountiful,
Myself, my spouse, my children.
Bless everything within my dwelling and in my possession,
Bless the kine and crops, the flocks and corn,
From Samhain Eve to Beltane Eve,
With goodly progress and gentle blessing,
From sea to sea, and every river mouth,
From wave to wave, and base of waterfall.

Be the Maiden, Mother, and Crone,
Taking possession of all to me belonging.
Be the Horned God, the Wild Spirit of the Forest,
Protecting me in truth and honor.
Satisfy my soul and shield my loved ones,
Blessing every thing and every one,
All my land and my surroundings.
Great gods who create and bring life to all,
I ask for your blessings on this day of fire.

—Patti Wigington
Published on ThoughtCo

 

Celebrating May Day

The Fires of Tara

Beltane kicks off the merry month of May, and has a long history. This fire festival is celebrated on May 1 with bonfires, Maypoles, dancing, and lots of good old fashioned sexual energy. The Celts honored the fertility of the gods with gifts and offerings, sometimes including animal or human sacrifice. Cattle were driven through the smoke of the balefires, and blessed with health and fertility for the coming year…..Listen to more

 

Also included in this broadcast

Your Astronomy for May 1st

In Your Sky Tonight

The Witches Current Moon Phase

Moon in Cancer

Weekly Astrology: May 1-7, 2017

Up Next Your Horoscopes….

THE WOTC PODCAST

Beltane Lore

Beltane

Beltane Lore

Weaving and plaiting are traditional arts at this time of year, for the joining together of two substances to form a third is in the spirit of Beltane.
Foods traditionally come from the dairy, and dishes such as marigold custard and vamilla ice cream are fine. Oatmeal cakes are also appropriate.

 

Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner
Scott Cunningham

 

 

Beltane Lore

Beltaine (May 1) – Also called May Day, Beltaine merges both Gaelic and Germanic traditions and marks the high point of fertility in the natural cycle. This is a day of love, and has historically been a time for the arrangement of engagements and marriages.

 

Wicca. The Practitioner’s Introductory Guide: Symbols, herbs, history, spells, shops, supplies, clothing, courses, altar, ritual, and much more all covered!
Riley Star

 

 

Beltane Lore

 

May 1 was celebrated as Beltane in earlier times and still is today by Pagans and Witches. It is gased in part on the old Roman festival of Floralia, dedicated to Flora, Goddess of Flowers. Many more know it as May Day. A wealth of customs and rites has survived from early times.

 
May Day was also the date the Romans honored the Lares, or household and family guardians. Wreaths were hung before their altars, incense burned and the family attuned to its spiritual essence.

 
Lilacs and hawthorn are traditionally brought into the home on May Day, which is unusual because both plants are generally viewed as ill-luck bringers in the house. On this day, though, the spell is broken.

 
The flowers of May-bluebells, yellow cowslips, daisies, roses, marigolds, primroses and hundreds of others are still brought inside to release their powers and connect the home with the living world outdoors.

 
To guard your home against the intense magical powers at work on Beltane, mark a cross in the hearth ashes with a hazel twig, or carry elder twigs three times around the house, then hang them up inside or place outside over the door.

 
At dawn on May Day, go to a garden or out in the woods and gather dew from plants, flowers and grass. Bathe your face in this dew, and it will highlight your beauty.

 
It is considered unfortunate to give away fire or salt on May Day, since these were at one time the two most sacred substances. Thus, give them away on May Day, and you give your luck away.

 
Beltane marks the beginning of summer, when all nature reaches a crescendo of power and energy. The day and night were thought to be dangerous for the unprepared pared because of these excessive vibrations. Due to this phenomenon, it was deemed a good practice to sleep at home this night.

 
The Magical Household: Spells & Rituals for the Home
Scott Cunningham; David Harrington.

 

 

Celebrate Beltane Lore

Arise at dawn and wash in the morning dew: the woman who washes her face in it will be beautiful; the man who washes his hands will be skilled with knots and nets.

 
If you live near water, make a garland or posy of spring flowers and cast it into stream, lake or river to bless the water spirits.

 
Prepare a May basket by filling it with flowers and goodwill, then give it to one in need of caring, such as a shut-in or elderly friend.

 
Beltane is one of the three “spirit-nights” of the year when the faeries can be seen. At dusk, twist a rowan sprig into a ring and look through it, and you may see them.

 
Make a wish as you jump a bonfire or candle flame for good luck—but make sure you tie up long skirts first!

 
Celebrants sometimes jump over broomsticks, especially at Handfastings which are very common during this season, or dance around May Poles, as both of these are symbols of fertility.

 

Traditional activities include blowing horns, and gathering flowers. Solitary Practitioners might consider the weaving together of ribbons as an alternative to creating and dancing around the May Pole.

 

 

Many like to celebrate Beltaine by decorating their homes and themselves with fresh flower garlands, or by stringing up greenery around their homes and places of work.

 

 

Sending flowers to loved ones, planting new gardens, cleaning out the cupboards and general spring cleaning are all traditional Beltaine gestures.

 

 

Plaiting and weaving straw, creating things with wicker, making baskets and fabrics are traditional arts for this turn in the Wheel of the Year.

Making a Wish Box Charm

Beltane spring full moon night

Making a Wish Box Charm

 

Beltane is a good time for bringing hopes, dreams and aspirations to life, and here is a truly beautiful charm to help you bring these into manifestation.

 

You will need:

 

A small shallow cardboard box. Shoe boxes are good.
Rose petals
Sunflower seeds and/or poppy seeds
Paper
A piece of willow bark or piece of willow, an acorn or oak leaf
Something that represents your wish (see below)

 
Take a piece of paper and write your wish on it while visualizing your wish coming to life and growing. You can do this alone, with friends, or as a family. If you want to, decorate the lid of the box, with a triple moon, pentacle, heart, or any symbol of your choice. Poke a few holes in the lid – this will help your wish/plants, to grow. Take your box and sprinkle some earth into it. Put in your paper wishes, wish symbol (see below), and seeds/bark/acorn. Cover with another layer of earth. Mix the rose petals with the seeds and scatter them on top. Cover with a final layer of earth and place the lid on top, leaving enough of the rose petal/seed mixture to scatter on top of the box when you are planting it.

 

Planting Your Wish Box

The best time for planting your Wish Box is just after a fresh cleansing rainfall as this gives you a bright new start, but if the season is dry just give the earth a good watering the night before. Dig a hole two inches deeper than your wish box and lower it into the earth carefully while concentrating on your chosen wish, visualizing it coming to fruition. Imagine your wish growing with the flowers reaching skyward. As you cover the box with earth say:

 

“Dream that lies within the earth awaken now. Hope that sleeps awaken now. The stars await as so do I. Grow true, grow strong, toward the sky.”

 

If you don’t have a garden you can make a mini wish pot that can live on a window ledge and it works just as well. Just replace the box with a terracotta pot – one wish and one symbol per pot following exactly the same instructions as above. Remember that wishes are only to be used for positive motives.

 

Suggested Symbols For Your Wish Box:

 

Love & Marriage – gingerbread
New Job – copper coin
Abundance – silver coin
Difficult Task – glove
Hearth & Home – thimble
Seeking the Truth – sprig of rosemary
Health, Healing, Renewed Strength – blue & green ribbon entwined
Happiness, Good Luck – cinnamon stick
Seeking Knowledge – apple
To Find A Lost Item – feather
Protection – key (an old iron key is best if you have one)

 

 

Charm donated by our Counter Enchantress from her own family traditions

Egg Charm For Beltane.

greenmanEgg Charm For Beltane.

 

Think carefully what you wish for! The general rule of thumb is a brown egg for wishes involving animals and white for wishes involving people and plants, for example healing a sick animal, person or plant. Eggs with white shells are difficult to come by now as chickens are generally given feed which produces the desired brown shell, but in recent years some of the supermarkets are making white eggs available at this time of year so they are worth looking out for.

 

1. Blow the egg. Using a fat needle, pierce a hole in both ends of the egg, making one hole larger than the other. Using the needle pierce the egg yolk gently and swirl it around to break up the yolk. Place a small drinking straw in one end and gently blow through the other hole to help gravity do its work.

 

2. Paint Your Egg Talisman. When your egg has thoroughly dried out place it on top of a little mound of blue tack to hold it in place and you are ready to go! Choose a symbol to represent your wish – a heart for love, coin for prosperity, a candle for wisdom, whatever is meaningful for you. Or you can paint the whole egg in a corresponding colour – red for love, green for prosperity, purple for wisdom and so on. Another way to do it is to stick rose petals on for love, or feathers for fertility – again it is what is meaningful to you that is important.

 

3. When it is ready find a suitable place for it and prepare for it for hanging by threading a thin thread (embroidery thread, thin wool) through the two holes and secure it with a large knot, a bead, or even a matchstick at the bottom to hold it steady.

 

4. Clear your mind and focus on your desire for abundance/fruitfulness and its place in your life:

 

‘Little charm made of shell as I hang you here may all be well. May all things grow. May all things flow. Blessings for the turning of the Wheel.”

 

 

Use these words or any others that you are comfortable with – remember this is all about your intention.

 

 
Egg charm donated by our Counter Enchantress from her own family traditions.

 

The Fae at Beltane

greenman

The Fae at Beltane

 

For many Pagans, Beltane is traditionally a time when the veil between our world and that of the Fae is thin. In most European folktales, the Fae kept to themselves unless they wanted something from their human neighbors. It wasn’t uncommon for a tale to relate the story of a human being who got too daring with the Fae — and ultimately paid their price for his or her curiosity! In many stories, there are different types of faeries.

 

This seems to have been mostly a class distinction, as most faerie stories divide them into peasants and aristocracy.

 
Early Myths and Legends

In Ireland, one of the early races of conquerors was known as the Tuatha de Danaan, and they were considered mighty and powerful. It was believed that once the next wave of invaders arrived, the Tuatha went underground. In hiding from the Milesians, the Tuatha evolved into Ireland’s faerie race. Typically, in Celtic legend and lore, the Fae are associated with magical underground caverns and springs — it was believed that a traveler who went too far into one of these places would find himself in the Faerie realm.

 

Another way to access the world of the Fae was to find a secret entrance. These were typically guarded, but every once in a while an enterprising adventurer would find his way in. Often, he found upon leaving that more time had passed than he expected.

 

In several tales, mortals who spend a day in the fairy realm find that seven years have passed in their own world.

 

Mischievous Faeries

In parts of England and Britain, it was believed that if a baby was ill, chances were good that it was not a human infant at all, but a changeling left by the Fae. If left exposed on a hillside, the Fae could come reclaim it.

 

William Butler Yeats relates a Welsh version of this story in his tale The Stolen Child. Parents of a new baby could keep their child safe from abduction by the Fae by using one of several simple charms: a wreath of oak and ivy kept faeries out of the house, as did iron or salt placed across the door step. Also, the father’s shirt draped over the cradle keeps the Fae from stealing a child.

 

In some stories, examples are given of how one can see a faerie. It is believed that a wash of marigold water rubbed around the eyes can give mortals the ability to spot the Fae. It is also believed that if you sit under a full moon in a grove that has trees of Ash, Oak and Thorn, the Fae will appear.
Are the Fae Just a Fairy Tale?

 

There are a few books that cite early cave paintings and even Etruscan carvings as evidence that people have believed in the Fae for thousands of years. However, faeries as we know them today didn’t really appear in literature until about the late 1300s. In the Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer relates that people used to believe in faeries a long time ago, but don’t by the time the Wife of Bath tells her tale. Interestingly, Chaucer and many of his peers discuss this phenomena, but there is no clear evidence that describes faeries in any writings prior to this time.

 

It appears instead that earlier cultures had encounters with a variety of spiritual beings, who fit into what 14th century writers considered the archetype of the Fae.

 

So, do the Fae really exist? It’s hard to tell, and it’s an issue that comes up for frequent and enthusiastic debate at any Pagan gathering. Regardless, if you believe in faeries, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. Leave them a few offerings in your garden as part of your Beltane celebration — and maybe they’ll leave you something in return!

 
by Patti Wigington
Published on ThoughtCo