Home Remedies That Really Work

1. If you are choking on an ice cube, don’t panic! Simply pour a cup of boiling water down your throat and presto! The blockage will be almost instantly removed.
2. Clumsy? Avoid cutting yourself while slicing vegetables by getting someone else to hold them while you chop away.
3. Avoid arguments about lifting or lowering the toilet seat by simply using the sink.
4. For high blood pressure sufferers: Just cut yourself and bleed for a few minutes, thus reducing the pressure in your veins.
5. A mouse trap, placed on top of your alarm clock, will prevent you from rolling over and going back to sleep after you hit the snooze button.
6. If you have a bad cough, take a large dose of laxatives, and then you will be afraid to cough.
7. Have a bad toothache? Smash your thumb with a hammer and you will forget about the toothache.
8. You only need two tools: WD-40 and Duct Tape. If it doesn’t move and should, use the WD-40. If it shouldn’t move and does, use the duct tape.

Note: When applying these home remedies, remember to be really nice to your family and friends. You never know when you might need them to empty your bedpan.

For more great Pagan humor, visit Turok’s Cabana

Who Will Be Your Guiding Goddess For The Rest of 2016?

• By: Cait Johnson

The many faces of the Divine Feminine have inspired and heartened people for millennia. Now, as we head half way through the year, it can helpful to know which goddess will be your guide for the rest of 2016. Is it Kali, she who destroys in order to create? Or Artemis the fiercely independent huntress? There are many goddesses to guide you, but one will be just right for the life-phase you are in.

This quick quiz will show you which goddess is by your side for the rest of the year, urging and encouraging you to be the person you are meant to be. Take the quiz here:

Which of the following is TRUE for you?

1. This year, what I long for MOST is freedom.

2. This year, what I long for MOST is a fresh start.

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 June 24

Sagittarius Sunflowers
Image Credit & Copyright: Andrew Campbell

Explanation: These three bright nebulae are often featured in telescopic tours of the constellation Sagittarius and the crowded starfields of the central Milky Way. In fact, 18th century cosmic tourist Charles Messier cataloged two of them; M8, the large nebula left of center, and colorful M20 near the bottom of the frame The third, NGC 6559, is right of M8, separated from the larger nebula by dark dust lanes. All three are stellar nurseries about five thousand light-years or so distant. The expansive M8, over a hundred light-years across, is also known as the Lagoon Nebula. M20’s popular moniker is the Trifid. In the composite image, narrowband data records ionized hydrogen, oxygen, and sulfur atoms radiating at visible wavelengths. The mapping of colors and range of brightness used to compose this cosmic still life were inspired by Van Gogh’s famous Sunflowers. Just right of the Trifid one of Messier’s open star clusters, M21, is also included on the telescopic canvas.

Latest dusk for northerly latitudes

Tonight – June 24, 2016 – if you’re located around 40^o north latitude, it’s your latest evening twilight for the year. The longest evening twilights always happen around the summer solstice. Although the Northern Hemisphere’s summer solstice, and longest day, happened a few days ago, on June 20, the latest twilight at 40^o north latitude always occurs several days afterwards, on or near June 24.

The parallel 40^o north passes through the cities of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Columbus, Ohio; it sweeps through the northern suburbs of Indianapolis, Indiana and Denver, Colorado.

Want to know for your latitude? Click here and check the “astronomical twilight” box.

The year’s latest sunsets don’t come exactly on the solstice either. For 40^o north latitude, the latest sunset happens about a week after the summer solstice, on or near June 27.

Let us introduce you to the three different kinds of twilight:

Civil twilight starts at sundown and ends when the sun is 6^o below the horizon.

Nautical twilight occurs when the sun is 6^o to 12^o below the horizon.

Astronomical twilight happens when the sun is 12^o to 18^o below the horizon.

It’s the land of the midnight twilight from 50^o north latitude to the Arctic Circle (66.5^o north latitude).

It’s the land of the midnight sun from the Arctic Circle to the North Pole (90^o north latitude).

At the temperate zones and the tropics, the longest period of twilight after sunset or before sunrise happens around the summer solstice, and the shortest period around the equinoxes. At 40^o latitude, astronomical twilight ends about 2 hours after sunset on the summer solstice; and on the equinoxes, astronomical twilight ends about one and one-half hours after sunset. Believe it or not, the duration of astronomical twilight reaches a secondary peak around the winter solstice, lasting about one and two-thirds hours after the sun goes down at 40^o latitude.

Bottom line: Although the latest sunset won’t happen at 40^o north latitude for another few days, the latest twilight happens on June 24.

Author

BRUCE MCCLURE
Bruce McClure has served as lead writer for EarthSky’s popular Tonight pages since 2004. He’s a sundial aficionado, whose love for the heavens has taken him to Lake Titicaca in Bolivia and sailing in the North Atlantic, where he earned his celestial navigation certificate through the School of Ocean Sailing and Navigation. He also writes and hosts public astronomy programs and planetarium programs in and around his home in upstate New York.

Article published on EarthSky

The Wisdom of Buddha

I never see what has been done; I only see what remains to be done.

Your Daily Influences for the Upcoming Weekend

Nine of Pentacles
Material wealth enjoyed alone. Knowledge of the workings of those things in your best interest. Love of home and garden.

Elhaz
Watch for hidden traps. Look for holes in your defenses and fill them.

The Greek Vowels
This aspect will be influenced by a sudden strong stroke of ill fate. This mis- fortune will be unpredictable and will last only a short time, but will bring with it poor health, unhappiness and a bout of failure.

Your Charm for Today

Today’s Meaning:
The frog represents good health, physically and emotionally. This aspect shall remain in a good light as long as you maintain good health.

General Description:
This is an old Roman Amulet but the charm dates from prehistoric times. The Frog was the emblem of Hegt, the Egyptian goddess of abundance fruitfulness, fertility and plenty. From Egypt these myths spread and similar goddesses were worshiped under different names — Ishtar in Assyria, Belit in Babylonia, Al-ilat in Arabia, Aphrodite in Greece, Venus in Rome. The Frog, cut in amber, is a popular talisman. In Italy Greece and Turkey, it is still worn to bring good health, prosperity, and abundance of all the good things of this earth.

Your Three Dragon Reading for the Upcoming Weekend

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 White Dragon is indeed a wily fellow. His domain is the great unknown, and the tile set under him suggests an area or areas that could affect your life in unexpected ways.

West Wind
Symbol: Metal
The West Wind tile represents an obstacle that must be faced before you can make progress towards your goals. This obstacle may be anything from a person to needing to find work.

Fall
Symbol: The Farmer
The Farmer represents rewards gained through hard work and faith in oneself. He harvests riches from the planting and nurturing of his crops.

Bamboo 2
Symbol: Duck
The Duck tile symbolizes a long lasting relationship with the strength to overcome all obstacles. It suggests fidelity and trustworthiness as well. Regardless of the type of partnership in question, the 2 Bamboo tile indicates a strong, healthy relationship.

Your Ancient Symbol Card for Today

Balance

Balance denotes the benefits of keeping the use of your energies justifiably proportioned between your pursuits. The symbol Yin and Yang is used to represent the balance. Yin and Yang is possibly the most elegant and sometimes elusive definition of Balance there is. While Balance is rarely if ever perfect, being far out of Balance means that while one part of you may be thriving tremendously, another part of your life may be wilting.

Your Ogham Stave Reading for Today

Luis

Luis corresponds to the letter L in the alphabet, and is associated with the Rowan tree. This symbol represents insight, protection and blessings.

The Rowan tree has often been associated with protection against enchantment and magic. Rowan sticks were often used to carve protective charms on, and hung over a door to prevent evil spirits from entering. The berries, when split in half, reveal a small pentagram inside.

The Rowan indicates protection as well as knowledge – insight about what is taking place in your surroundings.

Luis Correspondences

Mundane Aspects: Keep your awareness high, and go with your intuition when it comes to the people and events in your life. Trust your judgment, and don’t allow yourself to be lulled into a false sense of security.

Magical Aspects: Keep yourself true to your spirituality, staying grounded even in times of doubt. This will help protect you from that which might bring you emotional, physical or spiritual harm.

Reference

Today’s Witches Rune

Woman

Meaning: The first meaning of this rune is quite obvious: it represents women. Any woman that is important in the question, whether you know her or not, will be represented by this rune. Mother, sister, aunt, grandma, a female boss, friend, lover or even enemy… all can be symbolized by the appearance of this rune.

In a more general sense, this rune is related to traditional female abilities and characteristics, such as giving birth, nurturing, comforting and healing. When this rune appears, you can count on the sympathy of others towards you or your situation. In its most negative aspects, the Woman rune can show over-protectiveness, a patronizing attitude or co-dependency. It often strives to maintain the status quo, refusing to change even if the situation is bad.

The Woman rune is connected to nurturing – nurturing a relationship, a person or a project. Like the Moon rune, it can be related to finding a safe place to rest and heal, but while the Moon implies a solitary retreat, the Woman often shows that you need to go back to the people you trust, the people you feel safe with.

Healing is another strong aspect of this symbol, as well as teaching. You can be both the patient/student or the healer/teacher when this rune appears. This rune is also connected to creativity, but in a way that is different from the Romance rune. While the latter is about the conception of a project – the initial stages of creation – the Woman is about the birth of this project. When your creation is brought out into the world, fully manifested.

In relationship readings, this rune isn’t bad, but rather weak. While it can indicate subtle ties between people, these are usually so, so subtle that the partners can easily drift away from each other. It can show that one of the partners sees the other as someone who needs to be protected and healed, rather than an equal. Usually, the romance is a bit stagnated when this rune appears, or very close to becoming a friendship.

Source:

Your Spiritual Journey Australia