Calendar of the Sun
22 Hrethemonath

Quinquatria Day IV
Ostara

Colors: Pale blue, yellow, spring green
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon a cloth of Ostara colors, place a rainstick, a bowl of eggs, a great bowl of water filled with stones, a yellow candle, incense of violets, and a fan made in the shape of a bird’s wing. Add also flats of earth and a bowl of seeds. Set up a vase of branches cut from a tree and allowed to sprout green in warm water. Hang hollowed eggs marked with appropriate symbols from the tree. Some should be half golden and half black.
Offerings: Plant something. Introduce the joy of planting and working with gardens to the underprivileged.
Daily Meal: Eggs. Poultry. Rabbit.

Ritual Note: Like all the eight high holidays, this day should ideally be spent not enclosed and isolated, but in common with the larger pagan community. This can be done a number of ways, including spending the day elsewhere, at the Brigid’s Day ritual of another group or tradition, or by inviting in those pagans who would otherwise not be able to attend a ritual. Either way, the eight holidays should be a time of remembering the place of the house in the greater community. If the choice is made to go elsewhere, then no liturgy is needed for the day. If the choice is made to bring the greater community into the lesser one, the following ritual can be used:

(First four who have been chosen to do the work of the ritual cast circle with fan, candle, rainstick, and green branch.)

East:
O Mercury, rider of the wind,
Lithe of body and supple of tongue,
Blow a breath of freedom
Into our weary minds!
Spirits of the Air,
Caress us clean!

South:
O Bast, cat dancer in the fire,
Curious one with the flashing eyes,
Quick to pounce and quick to laugh,
Renew us with your fire!
Spirits of the Flame,
Awaken us!

West:
O Lorelei of the Sea
Mermaid singing with your siren song
Send us playful salt spray
And the rain of your laughter!
Spirits of the West,
Wash away the winter sorrows!

North:
Kore, earth Maiden,
Springtime’s goddess,
Returning yet again
From darkness into light,
May green arise in your footsteps
And flowers blossom from your touch!
Spirits of the North,
Welcome to Spring!

Ostara Invocation (Call And Response):

Call: Hail the coming of Spring!
Response: Hail the day of the eastern wind!
C: Tonight Day is equal to Night.
R: Today Night is equal to Day.
C: Today all things are in balance.
R: Balanced on the blade of a knife!
C: Balanced on the blade of Thought.
R: Balanced on the blade of Wind.
C: As the winds rise in the east,
R: As the sun rises in the east,
C: As dawn gives new beginnings,
R: At the dawning of the year,
C: We lift our arms to the eastern sky,
R: We lift our spirits to the coming of Spring,
C: And may the rain wash us clean!
R: May all things be cleansed!
C: May all things begin anew!
R: May we rise in hope and be transformed!
C: May we rise like the grass springing forth from the soil!
R: May we unfurl like every new leaf!
C: Arise, and sing for joy!

Ostara Chant

Bass descant:

Breath warms thee
Hands prepare thee
Hope sows thee
Sun awaken thee

May the seeds we plant spring forth and grow
May we reap our dreams from what we sow,
And our transformation has begun,
We are rising upwards toward the sun
We are rising upwards toward the sun
We are rising upwards toward the sun
We are rising upwards toward the sun
We are rising upwards toward the sun.

Soprano melody:

(We will) Break the surface of the Earth,
Like the Mother’s flesh gives maiden’s birth,
Like the heaving mountains rise and fall,
Like the buried hope within us all,
Like the greening tendril skyward springs,
Like the birds return on joyous wings,
Like our every breath of eastern wind,
We will see the dawning year begin,
And the seed of sorrow planted deep
Shall awaken from its bitter sleep,
And our transformation has begun,
We are rising upwards toward the sun….

Breath warms thee
Hands prepare thee
Hope sows thee
Sun awaken thee

All together:

We are rising upwards toward the sun
We are rising upwards toward the sun
Alive
Alive
Alive…..

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Magickal Applications for Wednesday

To the Romans, this day was called Dies Mercurii, or “Mercury’s day” Mercury was a popular character in the Roman pantheon. A messenger of the gods, he presided over commerce, trade, and anything that required skill or dexterity. The Celts also worshiped Mercury and eventually equated him with the Norse god Odin (some spelling variations on this name include Wotan, Wodin, and Wodan). In Norse mythologies, Odin, like Mercury, is associated with poetry and music. Interestingly enough, both Odin and Mercury were regarded as psychopomps, or the leaders of souls, in their individual mythologies.

Odin, one of the main gods in Norse mythology, was constantly seeking wisdom. He traveled the world in disguise as a one-eyed man with a long gray beard, wearing an old, beat-up hat and carrying a staff or a spear (which brings to my mind images of Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings). In the Old English language, this day of Mercury evolved into Wodnes daeg, “Woden’s day,” or Wednesday.

Wednesday carries all of the planetary and magickal energies and associations of the witty and nimble god Mercury himself. Some of these mercurial traits included good communication skills, cleverness, intelligence, creativity, business sense, writing, artistic talent, trickiness, and thievery. And don’t forget all of those wise and enigmatic qualities associated with the Norse god Odin/Wodin, not to mention the goddess Athena’s contributions of music, the arts, handmade crafts, and writing. Wednesdays afford excellent opportunities for seeking wisdom, changing your circumstances, and improving your skills, be they in trade and commerce, music and art, or in communication and writing.

Source

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

WEDNESDAY CORRESPONDENCES

Mercury/Neptune/Air/North/West/Southwest/Female/Male/Gemini/Virgo

Magickal Intentions: Communication, Divination, Writing, Knowledge, Business Transactions, Debt, Fear, Loss, Travel, Money Matters

Color: black, light blue, brown, gray, green, magenta, orange, peach, purple, red, silver, turquoise, violet, white, yellow; orange is the primary color

Number: 3, 5

Metal: mercury

Charm: distaff, rod, runes, staff, iridescent garments

Stone: moss agate, amethyst, bloodstone, emerald, hematite, lapis lazuli, lodestone, pearl, ruby, sapphire, sodalite, all blue stones

Animal: bear, dog, fox, magpie, swan, weasel

Plant: almond, bayberry, chamomile, cherry, cinnamon, cinquefoil, clove, coltsfoot, ginger, hazel, hazelnut, jasmine, lavender, millet, oak, peppermint, periwinkle, rosemary, sage, St. John’s wort, sweet pea, tamarind, lemon verbena, violet

Incense: cassia, cedar, cinnamon, clove, frankincense, jasmine, lavender, mastic, mint, rosemary, sage, sandalwood, storax, dried and powdered citrus peel, and all incense made from aromatic bark, wood, and seeds

Goddess: Carmenta, Hecate (Queen of Crossroads), Hel, Ishtar, Ma’at, the Morrigan, Nike

God: Anubis, Bragi, Elath-Iahu. Enki, Garuda, Hermes, Maximon (Black Magician), Mercury, Nebo (Wise God of Wednesday), Odin, Shango, Ullr, Vishnu, Wayland, Woden

Evocation: Agrat Bat Mahalat, Michael, Miel, Raphael, Seraphiel, Tiriel

Source

Moonlight Musings

The Aspects of the Moon in Aquarius

Each sign has strengths and weaknesses that the individual should be aware of and learn to find a balance between. Too much of a positive trait can be as detrimental to the individual as a negative trait. Establishing a balance between the traits helps to build healthy emotional foundations for a positive life and stable relationships.

The Positive Traits:

Trend-setter
Charismatic
Humantarian
Inspirational
Exciting

The Negative Traits:

Radicalism
Extremism
Detached feelings
Impatient
Wanton

The Witches Almanac for Wednesday, March 22nd

World Water Day

Waning Moon

Moon phase: Fourth Quarter

Moon Sign: Capricorn

Moon enters Aquarius 10: 28 pm

Incense: Lilac

Color: Topaz

The Witches Guide to Wednesdays

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 Magickal Day of Wednesday

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.

Author

Patti Wigington, Paganism/Wicca Expert
Article originally published on About.com

On Wednesday, March 22, We Celebrate….

Vernal Equinox (Various Locations)
Butterfly Maiden

Themes: Rebirth; beauty; fertility; balance; freedom; nature

Symbols: Butterflies; seedlings; rainwater; Spring flowers

About Butterfly Maiden: In Hopi tradition, the Butterfly Maiden is a kachina (spirit) who rules the springtime and the earth’s fertility. Butterfly Maiden flutters in our life today to reconnect us with nature and to help us rediscover that graceful butterly within each of us–the one that effortlessly rises above problems, making the world its flower.

To Do Today: In magical traditions, the equinox celebrates the sun’s journey back to predominance in the sky and the return of fertility to the earth. It is a joyous fire festival when the elements are in balance, giving us the opportunity to likewise balance our lives. If anything has held you back from real spiritual growth, now is the time to banish it and move on. Visualize yourself as the caterpillar who become a butterfly, then let the Butterfly Maiden give you wings with which to overcome anything!

365 Goddess: A Daily Guide To the Magic and Inspiration of the goddess
Patricia Telesco

Today is Wednesday, March 22nd

Wednesday is the day of the Teutonic deity known as Wodin or Odin, an aspect of the Allfather, god of knowledge, wisdom, enlightenment and combat, the parallel of Hermes, the planet Mercury.

Deity: Woden

Zodiac Sign: Gemini & Virgo

Planet: Mercury

Tree: Ash

Herb: Cinquefoil

Stone: Emerald & Sardonyx

Animal: Raven & Cat

Element: Air

Color: Red & Blue

Number: 6

Rune: Odal(O)

 
Celtic Tree Month of Fearn (Alder) (March 18 – April 14)

The Runic Half Month of Beorc (March 14 – March 29)

Goddess of the Month of Columbina(March 20 – April 17)

Source

The Pagan Book of Days
Nigel Pennick

Celestial Happenings for Wednesday, March 22

The Moon is in Capricorn until 10:28 PM, after which the Moon is in Aquarius.
The Moon is void from 9:19 AM to 10:28 PM.
The Moon is waning and in its Last Quarter phase.
The Last Quarter Moon occurred on the 20th, and the New Moon will occur on March 27th.
Venus is retrograde (Venus is retrograde from March 4-April 15).

In the night sky:
Winter Circle
Spring has already sprung, but a great pattern of stars named for winter still dominates the western evening sky. The Winter Circle includes some of the most prominent stars of all, including Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky.

Your Daily Sun & Moon Data for Wednesday, March 22nd

The Sun
Sun Direction: ↑ 122.64° ESE
Sun Altitude: 36.70°
Sun Distance: 92.637 million mi
Next Solstice: Jun 20, 2017 11:24 pm (Summer)
Sunrise Today: 6:54 am↑ 88° East
Sunset Today: 7:08 pm↑ 272° West
Length of Daylight: 12 hours, 13 minutes

The Moon
Moon Direction: ↑ 207.09° SSW
Moon Altitude: 29.48°
Moon Distance: 245573 mi
Next New Moon: Mar 27, 20179:57 pm
Next Full Moon: Apr 11, 20171:08 am
Next Moonset: Today1:45 pm
Current Moon Phase: Waning Crescent
Illumination: 31.4%

Source

timeeanddate.com

Spring’s Glorious Awakening

Alas, Brigid has awakened Ostara, Spring’s Maiden Goddess

Finally Gaia has lifted her white blanket of
beauty that has been covering the earth
during Winter’s long night with her
dark cold and has finally delivered us into
the light of Spring’s first glorious morning

Spring’s first glorious morning
that is the start of this season’s begin

For we have witnessed many dark moons that have past
since this first Vernal lunar night of Spring’s
dawning sight

For on the first vernal morning of this season she is
putting joy’s warmth back into our wintry cold
hearts and happiness’ heat back into our winter
chilled spirits

For this first vernal morning fully awakens our bodies
to her Spring sensations

Her Spring sensations that today we will all fully revel
in as she livens us up with her wondrous seasonal
gifts of her life’s warmth and love’s growth

Her love’s growth that calls us one and all
to rise to hear her vernal call

To rise to hear her voice that’s filled so sweetly
with Spring’s first greet

Spring’s first greet that will pull us fully from
our soul’s cave that have been in her Winter’s
womb for months and are now ready to be rebirthed
back out onto Spring’s eternal bed of vernal’s
fertile love warmth

For Winter’s darkness is at last behind us
and Spring’s lightness is finally upon us
Upon us with today’s glorious awakening of Spring

Spring’s glorious awakening

So awake that everywhere we look

All is coming alive

SO ALIVE

So alive with her fertile
with her green
with her color
with her love

So alive with her fertile green color love

Her green color of lush green grass beneath our feet

Where, when we look carefully, we will see her new
spurts of green that have burst thru Gaia’s
many layers

Her grass that has become full again for us to
roll around on

Full again to hold us in a glorious green embrace

Full again, so that when we lay on her, we will feel
safe in her green embryonic womb of pure simple love

Her green womb of pure simple love that the flowers
stand upon

The flowers that are gifts from Flora, Gaia’s guardian
of these most beautiful vernal offerings that She
most generously shares with us

Oh my…

Look, her crocuses have already crept out to tell us that
Spring is about to become

Listen, they are speaking to us in nature’s silent whispers
that greet us on this first day of Spring

Wait, soon there will be flowers aplenty blowing to and fro
in Spring’s cool warm breezes

Soon there will be many more magnificent flowers
that will bloom out

That will bloom out to…
kiss our souls with their lingering lips
whisper sweet aphrodisiacal nothings into our ears
fill our souls with nature’s kisses of soft color bliss

Such as the daffodils that are blooming out to greet us
this day with their touches of yellow
and…

The magnolia buds that are opening with the help
of the sun’s warm affection that will soon
wholly greet us with the beauty of their full
smiling faces

Oh Flora, when Your flowers bloom out so, they make our
hearts sing with joy, our spirits soar with happiness
and imbue our minds with color aliveness

Color aliveness that springs up from her fresh mud

Her fresh mud that connects us back to Mother Earth,
deep into the center of her hearth

Her hearth where we can feel our souls being rooted back
into her warmth

Her warmth that will thaw out our soul’s icy layers of
illusion that have been built up by by Winter’s
freezing cold

Icy layers of cold’s illusion that will melt one by one
and return our minds back to the openness of the first
Spring that had sprung when time begun

The first Spring breezes that cause our soul
to stir within…

Her warm breezes that blow so refreshingly thru us
in our mid-morning walk

Her soft breezes that cool our warm minds

Her cool breezes that blow gently at night
and awaken our skin with delight

Her cool soft warm breezes that we become afloat in
as we glide thru their celestial sensations with
ethereal elation

Her cool breezes that waft thru the between of
her tree’s green branches

Where the little birds set out on the edges of to
chirp vernal hymns of joy that fill this season
so beautifully

Where the little birds sing for the coming of Spring’s
new dawn

The coming of Spring’s new dawn that awakens us to her
season’s begin with a sea of melodic songs sung by
the birds of thee

While up above the singing birds of thee

The sun embraces us with loving arms

Embraces us inside with Spring’s feeling of
lightness that is deep within us

But alas, we must remember that even in this season,
the sun will disappear for bits at a time to give
way to vernal showers that bring to us divine
Spring flowers

So habibi, please try to shine down on us with your
warm face to brighten us up on most of Spring’s days

As our souls do shrink when you hide away from us even for
a day, for even a day without you seems like an eternity

An eternity where, oh sun, we begin to think that you hide
behind Spring’s curtain of clouds so as to build up in
us the feeling of anticipation and true appreciation
for the gift of warmth that you bestow upon us

Then finally when your last evening sky dawns over us that
is imbued with the hue of your colors horizon of an
unusual shade of almost midnight blue

We will thank you for infusing us with Spring’s
energy of new

That is felt with our hearts that are true

Hearts that are true on the last night
of Spring for you

—–Savannah Skye, Author
Originally published on Pagan Library

In the Craft, there are many forms of divination. You have Palm Reading, Tarot Card Readings, Rune Readings, Scrying and the list goes on and on. Since our Elemental Witch Series will be concluding today, we decided to delve right into divination. The first form of divination is Tea Leaf Reading, yes, you heard right, Tea Leaf Divination. Did you know after you get through drinking that tasty cup of tea that those little leaves at the bottom could hold a very special meaning for you? They can answer looming questions and predict your future? Imagine all of that for just the cost of a cup of tea, how could you go wrong?

In this episode:

History of Tea Leaf Reading

Brewing the Perfect Cup

Symbolism of those little leaves left in the bottom of your cup.

Enjoy!

THE WOTC PODCAST

Spell of the Day for Tuesday, March 21

An Ink Wash Spell

The main purpose of this spell is to cancel out harm caused by another individual. The spell is to be casted by the person who was the original victim of the spellcasted.

Items you will need:

One black candle 6 to 8 inches long

Matches

One bottle of purple water based ink

One fountain pen

One sheet of office paper

One bowl of water

One small glass tumbler

The only chant that is in this spell is as follows:

“All that is valuable, I keep

All that is harmful, I discard.”

Enjoy!

THE WOTC PODCAST

Welcome to a special edition of Tuesday’s Divination. As you know, we normally do not put out a Divination podcast during the weekdays but unfortunately instead of computer problems, we had people problems today. No one could get their act together. So Lady A bravely took the mic and went to the air. We offer to you our usual divination, runes, tarot, horoscope and much, much more. Lady A has some very interesting tidbits she adds to the mix and what we thought was going to be a horrible day turns into a very beautiful one. We hope you enjoy today’s edition along with Lady A tales and hints.

The WOTC Podcast