Incense of the Day
Category: Articles
Gemstone of the Day for February 16th is Rosasite
Gemstone of the Day
Rosasite
(Blue green, Light blue, Sky blue)
Rosasite is named after its discovery locality, the Rosas Mine, Sulcis, Sardinia, Italy. It was discovered in 1908 CE.
Hardness: 4 1/2
Specific Gravity:
Chemistry: (Cu,Zn)2(CO3)(OH)2
Class: Carbonates
Crystallography: Monoclinic
Cleavage: Good in two directions at right angles.
Fracture: Splintery – Thin
Streak: Light blue
Luster: Vitreous, Silky
Healing: Rosasite is used to treat disorders of the internal organs. It is used to heal measles and chicken pox and to regenerate tissue lost to a internal rupture.
Magical Workings: Rosasite is an excellent stone to use for meditation and to attain a state of calmness in one’s life. Rosasite is associated with the astrological sign of Virgo and it vibrates to the number 7.
Chakra Applications: Use in association with the Throat and Third Eye chakras.
Foot Notes: Rosasite forms in the oxidation zones of zinc-copper deposits. Minerals associated with Rosasite include limonite, smithsonite, hemimorphite, malachite, aurichalcite and calcite.
Author
Crick
Website: The Whispering Woods
Herb of the Day for February 16th is Gotu Kola
Herb of the Day
Gotu Kola
(Centella asiatica)
Medicinal Uses:Gotu kola has been important in the medicinal systems of central Asia for centuries.
It was purported in Sri Lanka to prolong life, as the leaves are commonly eaten by elephants. Numerous skin diseases, ranging from poorly healing wounds to leprosy, have been treated with gotu kola.
Gotu Kola is and excellent mental stimulant. It is often used after mental breakdowns, and used regularly, can prevent nervous breakdown, as it is a brain cell stimulant. It relieves mental fatigue and senility, and aids the body in defending itself against toxins.
Gotu kola also has a historical reputation for boosting mental activity and for helping a variety of illnesses, such as high blood pressure, rheumatism, fever, and nervous disorders. Some of its common applications in Ayurvedic medicine include heart disease, water retention, hoarseness, bronchitis, and coughs in children, and as a poultice for many skin conditions. It reduces scarring when applied during inflammatory period of the wound. It was found effective when applied on patients with third degree burns, when the treatment commenced immediately after the accident. Daily local application to the affected area, along with intramuscular injections, limited the shrinking of the skin as it healed. It prevented infection and inhibited scar formation.
Magickal uses: Gotu Kola is used in meditation incenses.
Properties: The primary active constituent is triterpenoid compounds. Saponins (also called triterpenoids) known as asiaticoside, madecassoside, and madasiatic acid are the primary active constituents. These saponins beneficially affect collagen (the material that makes up connective tissue), for example, inhibiting its production in hyperactive scar tissue. Also contains a green, strongly volatile oil composed of an unidentified terpene acetate, camphor, cineole, and other essential oils. Cintella oil also contains glycerides of fatty acids, various plant sterols such as campesterol, stigmasterol, and sitosterol, and various polyacetylene compounds.
Growth: Gotu Kola is a slender, creeping, ground hugging plant that grows in a widespread distribution in swampy areas of India, Sri Lanka, Magagascar, South Africa and Eastern Europe. In shallow water, the plant puts forth floating roots and the leaves rest on top of the water. In dry locations, it puts out numerous small roots and the leaves are small and thin. Typically, the constantly growing roots gives rise to reddish stolons. The leaves can reach a width of 1 inch and a length of 6 inches. Usually 3 to 6 red flowers arise in a sessile manner or on very short pedicels in auxiliary umbels. The fruit, formed throughout the growing season, is approximately 2 inches long with 7 to 9 ribs and a curved, strongly thickened pericarp.
Author
Crick
Website: The Whispering Woods
Deity of the Day for February 16 is Maia, Greek Goddess of Spring
Deity of the Day
Maia
Goddess of Spring represented the forces of growth and the return of the warm rays of the sun
Maia in ancient Greek religion, is one of the Pleiades and the mother of Hermes.
Maia is the daughter of Atlas and Pleione the Oceanid, and is the eldest of the seven Pleiades. They were born on Mount Cyllene in Arcadia, and are sometimes called mountain nymphs, oreads; Simonides of Ceos sang of “mountain Maia” (Maiados oureias) “of the lovely black eyes.” Because they were daughters of Atlas, they were also called the Atlantides.
Mother of Hermes
According to the Homeric Hymn to Hermes, Zeus in the dead of night secretly begot Hermes upon Maia, who avoided the company of the gods, in a cave of Cyllene. After giving birth to the baby, Maia wrapped him in blankets and went to sleep. The rapidly maturing infant Hermes crawled away to Thessaly, where by night-fall of his first day he stole some of his half-brother Apollo’s cattle and invented the lyre from a tortoise shell. Maia refused to believe Apollo when he claimed Hermes was the thief and Zeus then sided with Apollo. Finally, Apollo exchanged the cattle for the lyre, which became one of his identifying attributes.
As nurturer
Maia also raised the infant Arcas, the child of Callisto with Zeus. Wronged by the love affair, Zeus’ wife Hera in a jealous rage had transformed Callisto into a bear. Arcas is the eponym of Arcadia, where Maia was born. The story of Callisto and Arcas, like that of the Pleiades, is an aition for a stellar formation, the constellations Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, the Great and Little Bear.
Her name is related to μαῖα (maia), an honorific term for older women related to μήτηρ (mētēr) ‘mother’. Maia also means “midwife” in Greek.
Roman Maia
In ancient Roman religion and myth, Maia embodied the concept of growth,[11] as her name was thought to be related to the comparative adjective maius, maior, “larger, greater.” Originally, she may have been a homonym independent of the Greek Maia, whose myths she absorbed through the Hellenization of Latin literature and culture.
In an archaic Roman prayer, Maia appears as an attribute of Vulcan, in an invocational list of male deities paired with female abstractions representing some aspect of their functionality. She was explicitly identified with Earth (Terra, the Roman counterpart of Gaia) and the Good Goddess (Bona Dea) in at least one tradition. Her identity became theologically intertwined also with the goddesses Fauna, Magna Mater (“Great Goddess”, referring to the Roman form of Cybele but also a cult title for Maia), Ops, Juno, and Carna, as discussed at some length by the late antiquarian writer Macrobius. This treatment was probably influenced by the 1st-century BC scholar Varro, who tended to resolve a great number of goddesses into one original “Terra.” The association with Juno, whose Etruscan counterpart was Uni, is suggested again by the inscription Uni Mae on the Piacenza Liver.
The month of May (Latin Maius) was supposedly named for Maia, though ancient etymologists also connected it to the maiores, “ancestors,” again from the adjective maius, maior, meaning those who are “greater” in terms of generational precedence. On the first day of May, the Lares Praestites were honored as protectors of the city, and the flamen of Vulcan sacrificed a pregnant sow to Maia, a customary offering to an earth goddess that reiterates the link between Vulcan and Maia in the archaic prayer formula. In Roman myth, Mercury (Hermes), the son of Maia, was the father of the twin Lares, a genealogy that sheds light on the collocation of ceremonies on the May Kalends. On May 15, the Ides, Mercury was honored as a patron of merchants and increaser of profit (through an etymological connection with merx, merces, “goods, merchandise”), another possible connection with Maia his mother as a goddess who promoted growth.
Source:
Wikipedia
A Little Thought from Me to You….
A Little Humor for Your Day – 20 Ways To Not Get Invited Back Into A Coven!
20 Ways To Not Get Invited Back Into A Coven!
1. Take the ritual sword from the altar and make sounds like Darth Vader…”Luke, I am your father!”…and start making light saber noises.
2. Start skat-singing when chanting.
3. Take the ritual athame from the altar and start cleaning your nails with it.
4. When taking a sip of the ritual wine, act like a wine snob and comment on it.
5. When doing the spiral dance, make a conga line.
6. Call down the Goddess with “Get your ass down here, Big Momma!”.
7. Call down the God with “Our Father, who art in Heaven…”
8. When chanting the names of the Goddess, randomly include Pokemon names.
9. When being smudged, complain about second-hand smoke.
10. In a drumming circle, laugh insanely and start drumming the beat to “Wipe Out”.
11. When in a skyclad circle, randomly point and laugh.
12. When the ritual wine goblet is passed to you, chug it and ask for more.
13. Invoke Satan.
14. Take out a bible and start evangelizing.
15. Light up a cigar.
16. Bring a cute furry creature and offer it as a blood sacrifice.
17. Talk a lot about casting spells for revenge against people who have offended you.
18. At a handfasting say “Thank God! Maybe now i’ll get some grandchildren!”
19. When in circle, answer your cell phone.
20. Respond to “So Mote it Be!” with “Amen!”
Astronomy Picture of the Day – Star Forming Region S106
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
2016 February 16
Star Forming Region S106
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble Legacy Archive; Processed & Copyright: Brandon Pimenta
Explanation: Massive star IRS 4 is beginning to spread its wings. Born only about 100,000 years ago, material streaming out from this newborn star has formed the nebula dubbed Sharpless 2-106 Nebula (S106), featured here. A large disk ofdust and gas orbiting Infrared Source 4 (IRS 4), visible in brown near the image center, gives the nebula an hourglass or butterfly shape. S106 gas near IRS 4 acts as an emission nebula as it emits light after being ionized, while dust far from IRS 4 reflects light from the central star and so acts as a reflection nebula. Detailed inspection of a recent infrared image of S106 reveal hundreds of low-mass brown dwarf stars lurking in the nebula’s gas. S106 spans about 2 light-years and lies about 2000 light-years away toward the constellation of the Swan (Cygnus).
Your Daily Planet Tracker: Mercury in Aquarius, Now to Mar 5, 2016
PLANET TRACKER
Mercury in Aquarius
Now to Mar 5, 2016
Mercury, the planet of the intellect, is very smart in inventive Aquarius. Fresh perspectives emerge from an awareness of synthesis — how the pieces fit together. Conceptual structures grow like crystals as the mind reaches out in new directions.
Aquarius, deceptively named the “Water Bearer,” is actually an air sign. Air signs, the others are Gemini and Libra, have the gift of detachment and the grace of objectivity.
As a fixed sign, Aquarius is interested in values — in this case mental ones. The mind is strong and able to mix and match increasingly different ideas into a cohesive whole. The challenge, however, is that such complex notions are not necessarily easy to communicate. Mercury, the communications planet, generally prefers simplicity, which may be harder to come by for now.
In principle, Aquarius is open-minded. However, fixed signs are strong-willed by nature. This can lead to some conversational difficulties during this period. Tolerance for opposing points of view is vital if real dialogue is to take place. A bright person will appreciate that there is always more than one way to view a situation.
Yet, the intellectual nature of Mercury in Aquarius can overpower emotions and rationalize them away. Aquarian detachment brings objectivity, which helps us see, but often makes it more difficult to feel.
Those born with Mercury in Aquarius include the athletically gifted Michael Jordan, Julius Erving, John McEnroe and Wayne Gretsky. Comic genius is found here in the works of Jim Carrey, John Belushi, Billy Crystal, Andy Kaufman, Chris Farley, Jackie Gleason and Bill Maher. Actors with Mercury in Aquarius include Drew Barrymore, Matt Dillon, Geena Davis, Cybill Shepherd, Jennifer Aniston and Christian Bale.
High-tech Mercury in Aquarius appears in the birth charts of astronauts Buzz Aldrin, Deke Slayton and Frank Borman. Musicians Garth Brooks, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Lou Reed, Karen Carpenter, Bob Marley, Neil Diamond, Artur Rubenstein, George Harrison, Jascha Heifetz, Graham Nash, Janis Joplin, Carole King and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart reflect the brilliance of this combination.
Writers Anais Nin, Norman Mailer, Clare Boothe Luce, Jack London, Jean Auel, Gertrude Stein and Jules Verne were born with Mercury in Aquarius. Reform-minded politicians Adlai Stevenson and Thomas Paine, as well as disparate geniuses Benjamin Franklin, Luther Burbank, Bobby Fischer, Barbara Jordan, Michelangelo, Oprah Winfrey and Stanley Owsley are all members of this super-intelligent group.
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The Wisdom of Buddha
The Wisdom of Buddha
To enjoy good health, to bring true happiness to one’s family, to bring peace to all, one must first discipline and control one’s own mind. If a man can control his mind he can find the way to Enlightenment, and all wisdom and virtue will naturally come to him.
Crack the Cookie
Your Daily Influences for February 16
Your Daily Influences
February 16, 2016
Ten of Cups Reversed
Betrayal and failure. The loss of friendship and love.
Othala
Othala represents a solid, immovable home, prosperity and safety. Good fortune based on your heritage and character is yours to enjoy.
Solomons Seal
This aspect needs to be lightened up a bit, things are getting to serious. Some humor or even a bit of flirting could lighten the tone greatly.
Your Daily Influences represent events and challenges the current day will present for you. They may represent opportunities you should be ready to seize. Or they may forewarn you of problems you may be able to avoid or lessen. Generally it is best to use them as tips to help you manage your day and nothing more.
Your Three Dragon Reading for Tuesday, February 16th
The Three Dragons Reading
In Chinese Culture the Dragon is generally considered a sign of great luck and power. However the Red, Green and White Dragons in Mahjong represent three distinct influences that can affect your life. The Dragon Reading creates a relationship between sets of tiles to each Dragon to explore how the Three Dragons will influence you now and in the near future.
The Red Dragon represents success, achievement and fulfillment. The three tiles under the Red Dragon tile will influence the power your Red Dragon currently has in your life.
Plum Blossom
Symbol: Innocence
The Plum tile reflects renewal and viewing your world with fresh viewpoints. It is an inherently “happy” tile. The Plum tile also suggests inexperience—a trait you must not allow to make you an easy target.
Circles 5
Symbol: Dragon
The Dragon tile indicates good luck and large fortunes. Effort is not a prerequisite for the gain suggested by the Dragon tile. You cannot work towards acquiring the Dragon’s gifts. They will come when they come, and will most likely be a surprise.
Orchid
Symbol: Refinement
The Orchid tile suggests there may be rare and refined experiences coming into your life. Enjoy them!
Your Daily MahJong Tile for February 16 is Bamboo 3, Symbol: Toad
Your Daily Tile
February 16, 2016
Bamboo 3
Symbol: Toad
The Toad tile indicates some troubling moments along your life’s path, but these aches will heal. It also suggests your ambition may be greater than your reach.
Your Animal Spirit for February 16th is The Ant
Your Animal Spirit for Today
Ant
Ant is dutiful, patient, industrious and focused. If you ever put an obstacle in the middle of an ant trail, you’ll notice that ant will go over it, around it, or even under it—but ant will NOT let the obstacle drive him backwards. Above all, ant is a team player, and knows that if each member of the team does his assigned task, the team will succeed. Do you have goals that are best met by team effort? If so, get the other players off the bench and let them into your game.
Your Ancient Symbol Card for Feb. 16th is The Hand
Your Ancient Symbol Card for Today
The Hand
Although the exact meaning may vary, The Hand is a symbol of some form of personal power in many cultures and religions. The presence of The Hand is an indication that your personal powers are at or near their zenith. The Hand suggest a time when you should leave your mark on the world.
Your Daily Witches Rune for February 16th is The Harvest
Today’s Witches Rune
February 16, 2016
The Harvest
Meaning: This is a very positive rune, related to abundance, rewards, growth and benefits. But it’s important to not mistake this rune for mere luck… while luck may help, the Harvest rune is usually related to the blessings that you have brought to yourself and to others, through your actions and investments.
“Reaping what you sow” is the message of the Harvest rune, but with a positive connotation. All that you worked and fought so hard to get will finally come to you, and you’ll be able to enjoy a time of tranquility, optimism and expansion. As the obstacles that were (or still are) in the way become smaller, you have a solid ground to reach out for your dreams.
Thus, the Harvest rune is a positive sign, telling you that you are in right path. However, it’s important to know that this symbol is always attached to personal responsibility… it’s what you do with your tools (whether they be mental, emotional or physical) that determines what you’ll get back in the end. Use them wisely, and luck will serve you well.
On a more negative side, this rune can make one sleep on their laurels and cling to past victories. One can become too reliant on “what works” and refuse to try new things (specially if the Crossroads rune is near). The Harvest runes should inspire you to take some risks and keep evolving, and not to crystalize yourself in one position because it proved to be successful.
In relationship readings, this symbol is connected to more practical aspects than emotional ones. Usually it represents couples who grow together, financially, socially and/or professionally. Security becomes an important factor when the Harvest appears. It represents the moment in which the couple begins to build their nest together, and think about starting a family. This rune tends to be very positive for all relationships, but doesn’t always inspire much passion.
Your Crowley Thoth Tarot Card for February 16th is The Star
Your Crowley Thoth Tarot Card for Today
The Star
The Star represents a strong connection to the Cosmos, an open gateway to understanding “the big picture.” It is an optimistic card that promises peace, harmony, and hope realized. For the full power of the forces behind The Star to be realized one must have faith and accept that in cosmic terms all things balance out; that disturbances are sometimes necessary to ensure overall harmony. The reward for such faith is vision on a Cosmic scale, and sense of well-being that may well radiate to those around you through your warm, untroubled heart.
Your Daily Rune for February 16th is Ansuz
Your Rune for Today
Ansuz
Alternative Names
Anglo-Freisian/Germanic: Ansuz
Norse (Viking): Ass
Old English: Os
Other names/spellings: Aesir, Ansur, Ansus, As, Aza, Easc, Oss
Pronunciation: Awn – sooze
English Lettere Equivalent
A as in hat. Long A as in harm, lawn.
Translation
A god. Odin, (in reverse Loki – messenger of the gods and a trickster)
Meaning
Knowledge. Wisdom. Communication. The mouth. A message.
Characteristics
Ansuz is primarily Odin’s rune and represents communication, creativity, controlled and divine power. Spiritually, it is the rune of prophecy and revelation. It also encompasses the ideas of wisdom, knowledge, reason, and therefore of instruction and good advice. It might also refer to a test, examination, or perhaps an interview. It can mean a letter, book, paper, message or other information. Because Loki was a renowned trickster, Ansuz reversed may also portend a surprise, trick or subterfuge.
Personal Interpretation
The answers to questions are available but not yet recognized. Look for signs and confirmations which are all around. Everything has significance and appreciation of this will lead to understanding. Ensure you don’t ignore the message because you don’t like the content. All experience is a lesson that teaches by acknowledging the truth knowledge and wisdom will increase.
Reverse
Take care not to misinterpret information. Something you read is more important than it appears. Beware pranks.
Converse
Failed communication. Lack of clarity or awareness. Hidden messages. Secrets. Information disguised. What appears to be a trick is genuine.
Runic Number:4
Color: Dark Blue
Element: Air
Polarity: Male
Associated gods: Odin, Loki, Eostre
Astrological Correspondence: Venus
Source:
Your Daily I Ching Hexagram for February 16th is 24: Returning
Today’s I Ching Hexagram
24: Returning
___________________________
February 16, 2016
Summary:
Set backs will pass quickly. Good fortune will be yours.
Line One of Your Hexagram is a 9:
Do not dwell on failures. Correct your mistakes and move forward with authority.
Line Two of Your Hexagram is a 6:
Take a break. Relax. Try and forgive and forget past offenses.
Line Three of Your Hexagram is a 6:
Do not allow false starts to dishearten you. Stay the course and you will succeed.
Line Four of Your Hexagram is a 6:
Remain resolute. Do not follow those who have made bad choices.
Line Five of Your Hexagram is a 6:
Admit to your mistakes and correct them.
Line Six of Your Hexagram is a 6:
Look for a mistake in your planning which may harm you.
Your Personal Tarot Power Cards for the Week of February 15th
Your Personal Tarot Power Cards
This reading represents strengths & weakness you were born with.
The Hermit
The Hermit denotes a need to have some space between you and everyday hustle and bustle of our busy world. The Hermit needs to retreat. Indeed, happiness for The Hermit requires seclusion, freedom from material wants, and time for intense introspection. The answers The Hermit needs cannot be found in our physical world. The truths he seeks are internal, spiritual, and the distraction of a well developed social life can only impede his quest for his personal truths. Still, although not anything remotely resembling extroversion, The Hermit does sometimes need to share time with others; so he can learn or teach, guide and be guided. The Hermit’s time spent amongst people depletes his energy quickly. To avoid an overload he has to retreat from social settings quickly.
When The High Priestess is among your personal cards, the influence of The Hermit may be increased. Having The World or The Lovers in your personal cards may diminish the influence of The Hermit.
The High Priestess
Completely feminine and the counterpart to The Magician, the High Priestess is the Gatekeeper of the subconscious, the unknown. She travels in worlds which most of us only glimpse in our dreams. Her realm is that of unseen truths, untapped potentials, and hidden dangers. The Calling of The High Priestess is to go beyond the obvious and visible to tap those powers which are veiled from normal vision. While she is passive by nature, she has the power to uncover unknown potential and is very aware of the infinite potential all humans harbor within them. She is also very patient. She can wait for events to blossom in their own time.
When The Hermit or Hanged Man are among your personal cards, the influence of The High Priestess may be increased. Having the Magus in your personal cards may diminish the influence of The High Priestess.
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