June 23 and 24

St. John’s Eve and St. John’s Day

The feast of St. John the Baptist is unusual because it celebrates his death rather than his birth. St. John has been called the saint of the Summer Solstice, in that his feast has long been associated with that of Midsummer. The superstitious still believe St. John’s Eve to be one of the most uncanny and dangerous nights of the year, when all manner of fairies, ghosts, and evil spirits are aboard.

 

St. John’s Day has long been considered the best time to discover one’s true love. Generally, the magickal practices that take place on this day are in the form of divination. For example, if you pare an apple round and round without a break in the peeling and then throw the peel over your left shoulder, it will form the initial of your future husband or wife. Place a glass of water directly under the sun’s rays, and leave it for one hour. During this time you must sit silently next to the glass. When the time is up, add the white of an egg to the water in the glass. It will spell out the name or occupation of the spouse-to-be.

The Witches Correspondences for Thursday, June 23

 

Thursday (Thor’s day)

Planet: Jupiter

Colors: Purple, Deep Blue

Crystals: Amethyst, Lepidolite, Sugilite, Tin

Aroma: Melissa, Clove, Oakmoss, Jupiter Oil, Cinnamon, Musk, Nutmeg, and Sage

Herb: Cinquefoil

Ruled by the planet Jupiter and dedicated to Thor, god of thunder and agricultural work. His parallels in various European Traditions include Zeus, Taranis, Perun, and Perkunas.

Magical aspects: controlled optimism, energetic growth, physical well-being, material success, expansion, money/wealth, prosperity, leadership, and generosity.

Thursday is the day of Jupiter, the largest of the planets and said to be the most powerful.

Spellcasters would be wise to use this day for attempting wealth, success and prosperity spells.

Thursday is also associated (in Greek mythology) to Thor – Thor’s day – and some even say that Jupiter and Thor are one in the same. Both are strong and powerful, yet wise and just. Try a small prayer to Jupiter before commencing any ritual on Thursday as a sign of respect.

This is the proper day of the week to perform spells and rituals involving luck, happiness, health, legal matters, male fertility, treasure, wealth, honour, riches, clothing, money, desires, business, group pursuits, joy, laughter, and expansion

The Witches Almanac for Thursday, June 23

Thursday (Jupiter): Expansion, money, prosperity, and generosity.

St. John’s Eve

Waning Moon
The Waning Moon (from the Full Moon to the New) is a time for study, meditation, and little magical work (except magic designed to banish harmful energies).

Moon Phase: Third Quarter

Moon Sign: Aquarius
Aquarius: Rebellious energy. Time to break habits and make abrupt changes. Personal freedom and individuality is the focus.

Incense: Jasmine

Color: Turquoise

Pagan Calendar for Thursday, June 23rd

Thursday is the fifth day of the week in the Judeo-Christian calendar, falling between Wednesday and Friday. In countries that adopt the Sunday-first convention, it is considered the fifth day of the week. However, in ISO 8601 it is the fourth day of the week. In Slavic languages and in Chinese, this day’s name is “fourth” (Polish czwartek, Russian четверг, pronounced CHET-vierg). Portuguese, too, uses a number for this day: quinta-feira, “fifth day”, (see Days of the week for more on the different conventions).

The contemporary name comes from the Old English Þunresdæg (with loss of -n-, first in northern dialects, from influence of Old Norse Þorsdagr), meaning “Day of Thunor”, this being a rough Germanic equivalent to the Latin Iovis Dies, “Jupiter’s Day”. Most Germanic and Romance-speaking countries use their languages’ equivalents: German Donnerstag, torsdag in Scandinavia, Italian giovedì, Spanish jueves, French jeudi, Catalan dijous, and Romanian joi. The Hindi word for Thursday is Guruvar, with Guru being the Sanskrit name for the planet Jupiter.

In Thailand, the color associated with Thursday is orange, see Thai solar calendar.

Thursday in religion
In the Hindu religion, Thursday is Guruvaar, from Guru, the Sanskrit name for Jupiter, the largest of planets. Guruvaar fasting is very common in the various parts of north India.

Quakers traditionally refer to Thursday as “Fifth Day” eschewing the pagan origin of the name “Thursday”. The name of the day is also called by words meaning “fifth day” in Icelandic, Modern Greek, Portuguese, and modern Semitic languages.

In the Christian tradition, Maundy Thursday is the Thursday before Easter — the day on which the Last Supper occurred. Ascension Thursday is the day 40 days after Easter, when Christ ascended into Heaven.
In the United States, Thanksgiving Day is an annual festival celebrated on a Thursday in November, currently the fourth Thursday.

A religion (which is a joke version of omphalism) known as Last Thursdayism teaches that the world was created last Thursday, but with the appearance of age: people’s memories, history books, fossils, light already on the way from distant stars, and so forth.

Thursday in the United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, all general elections since 1935 have been held on a Thursday, and this has become a tradition, although not a requirement of the law — which only states that an election may be held on any day “except Saturdays, Sundays, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, bank holidays in any part of the United Kingdom and any day appointed for public thanksgiving and mourning”. An explanation sometimes given for the choice of Thursday as polling day is that it was, in most towns, the traditional market day, although it has also been observed that the choice has practical advantages — with the outcome of the election being known by Friday, the new or continuing administration then has the weekend to organize itself in preparation for the “government shop opening for business” on Monday, the first day of the new week following the election.

Additionally, local elections are usually held on the first Thursday in May.

The Thursday before Easter is also known as Maundy Thursday or Sheer Thursday in the United Kingdom, traditionally a day of cleaning and giving out Maundy money.
In Latin the Genitive or possessive case of Jupiter was Jovis and as such in most Romance languages with the exception of Portuguese it became the word for Thursday: Latin Jovis Dies, Spanish Jueves, Italian Giovedi, and Rumanian Jiuvidi.

Astrological and Astronomical sign
The astrological and astronomical sign of the planet Jupiter (Jupiter) represents Thursday with similar names in Latin-derived languages, such as the French Jeudi. In English, this became “Thor’s Day,” since the Roman god Jupiter was identified with Thor in northern Europe.

In The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, the character Arthur Dent says “This must be Thursday. I could never get the hang of Thursdays”. A few minutes later the planet Earth is destroyed. Thor, for whom the day was named, also appears later in the Hitchhiker’s series and in other Adams books. Appropriately, in The Long Dark Tea-time of the Soul, one of the characters says to Thor: “I’m not used to spending the evening with someone who’s got a whole day named after them”.
 

Source

Pagan Calendar

 

Goddesses Associated With Thursday, The Day of Thor

Juno, Hera, Kwan Yin, Mary, Cybele, Tara, Mawu, Mbaba Mwana Waresa, Ishtar

 

Source

The Goddess Book of Days
Diane Stein

The Goddess Book of Days for Thursday, June 23rd

The midsummer fires in Europe, in Ireland midsummer, dedicated to the faery Goddess Aine (Ana, Anu, Danu, Don, An, Agnes, Yngona, Vesta). Celtic day of Cuchulaine, the Green Man (Adonis, Attis, Tammuz, Damuzi, Pan, Heme, Cernunnos, Apollo, Legba, Elegua, Osiris, Damballah, Ra, Lugh, Quetzalcoatl, and Mithra).

 

The Goddess Book of Days
Diane Stein

The Pagan Book of Days for Thursday, June 23rd

St. John’s Eve

St. John’s Eve was a traditional time of meditation, awaiting the northernmost sunrise.

Source

The Pagan Book of Days
Nigel Pennick

Thursday, June 23rd

 

Thursday is the day of the planet Jupiter, dedicated to Thunor(Thor), God of thunder and agricultural work. His parallels in various European traditions are Zeus, Taranis, Perun, Perkunas and St. Olaf. The faith of the Northern Tradition holds Thursday sacred, just as Islam reveres Friday, Judaism the Sabbath(calculated from sunset on Friday to sunset on Saturday), and Christianity, Sunday. This is why almost all adages about Thursday are positve, such as “Thursday’s child has far to go,” “Sneeze on Thursday, something better,” or “Cut nails on Thursday for wealth.” Thursday rules controlled optimism, energetic growth, physical well-being and material success.

Deity: Thor

Zodiac Sign: Capricorn/Pisces/Sagittarius

Planet: Mercury

Tree: Oak

Herb: Henbane

Stone: Turquoise/Bloodstone/Topaz

Animal: Fish/Goat/Aurochs

Element: Fire

Color: Brown/White/Orange

Number: 3

Rune: Thorn

Celtic Tree Month of Duir(Oak) – June 10 – July 7. Oak month is a time for protection and strength, fertility, money and success, and good fortune.

Runic Half-Month of Dag(day) – June 14 – June 28

Goddess of the Month of Rosea – June 13 – July 10

Source

The Pagan Book of Days
Nigel Pennick

Thursday’s Conjuring

 

Thursday – is associated with Jupiter

Candle colors – Green, Purple, Orange, or Blue

Conjure for: Business, Gambling, Power, Material Wealth, Luck, Road Opening

 

— Old Style Conjure Wisdoms, Workings and Remedies, Starr Casas

Sky This Week for June 23 to June 26, 2016

This week, it’s all about Saturn … but if you look close, you might spy an asteroid.

Thursday, June 23

• Mars remains near its peak all this week. The Red Planet reached opposition and best visibility a month ago but, like Saturn, has not declined much. Mars appears almost due south and at its highest as twilight fades to darkness. The world shines at magnitude –1.5 against the much fainter background stars of Libra. When viewed through a telescope, Mars’ orange-red disk spans 17″. Look for subtle dark markings along with a whitish north polar cap.

Friday, June 24

• Brilliant Jupiter appears high in the west as darkness falls and remains on display until midnight local daylight time. The giant planet shines at magnitude –1.9 against the backdrop of southern Leo the Lion. Jupiter appears equally dazzling through a telescope, which reveals a wealth of atmospheric features on a disk that spans 35″.

Saturday, June 25

• Look high in the northwest after darkness falls this month, and you’ll be greeted by the familiar sight of the Big Dipper. The Dipper is the most conspicuous asterism — a recognizable pattern of stars that doesn’t form a complete constellation shape — in the entire sky. It forms the body and tail of Ursa Major the Great Bear. Use the Pointers, the two stars at the end of the Dipper’s bowl, to find Polaris, which lies due north for everyone north of the equator. Polaris marks the end of the Little Dipper’s handle. On June evenings, the relatively faint stars of this dipper arc directly above Polaris.

Sunday, June 26

• If ever there was a good time to track down Pluto, this is the night. The distant world passes just 2.7′ due south of the 3rd-magnitude star Pi (p) Sagittarii in northeastern Sagittarius, making the task of finding the dwarf planet much easier than usual. Pluto glows dimly at magnitude 14.1, however, so you’ll need an 8-inch or larger telescope to spot it visually.
 

Source

Astronomy Magazine

Your Daily Sun & Moon Data for Thursday, June 23rd

The Sun
Sun Direction: ↑ 109.84° ESE
Sun Altitude: 61.14°
Sun Distance: 94.481 million mi
Next Equinox: Sep 22, 2016 9:21 AM (Autumnal)
Sunrise Today: 5:35 AM↑ 59° Northeast
Sunset Today: 8:18 PM↑ 301° Northwest
Length of Daylight: 14 hours, 42 minutes

 

The Moon
Moon Direction: ↑ 270.46° W
Moon Altitude: -26.43°
Moon Distance: 238659 mi
Next New Moon: Jul 4, 20166:00 AM
Next Full Moon: Jul 19, 20165:56 PM
Next Moonrise: Today10:42 PM
Current Moon Phase: Waning Gibbous
Illumination: 89.3%

 

Source

timeanddate.com

We ask that you please have patience with us this morning. Our power has been out and has just came back on. It seems our power grid has rolling brown outs regularly during the hot summer months. This has put us behind but we are working feverishly to get our act together and get a moving.

 

Just a few more minutes and we will be ready to go. Again, I apologize but this was something we had no control over.

Love ya,

Lady A

Cats! – The Real Show

“Cats!” is the longest-running show on Broadway to date. The show romanticizes and shrouds in mystery the lives and habits of America’s most popular pet. Yet, even with the lively dancing and popular songs, “Cats!” doesn’t seem to capture the true-to-life behavior of our feline companions.

Below is a list of what “Cats!” would have to do more accurately to portray the true essence of cats.

• Audience members would enter the auditorium only to find their seats had been clawed and covered with fur.
• The antagonist in the show would be a giant vacuum cleaner.
• Sometimes the cast would perform, but sometimes not — depending on their mood.
• Performers would leap off the stage and run up the aisles at the recorded sound of a can opener in the lobby.
• When certain audience members opened their playbills, a cast member would attempt to lie down on it.
• In the middle of a performance various cast members would curl up and go to sleep, even in the middle of a song.
• For no apparent reason, cast members would randomly run to the lobby, and then back to the stage at top speed. They would then continue as if nothing had happened.
• A special audience member would find a headless bird in his/her seat after the intermission.
• Snack bar employees would constantly be reprimanding cast members for walking on the counter.
• Open the stall door and guess who is drinking from the toilet.
• Part of the performance would include the cast climbing and shredding the theater curtains.
• The stage would be stained from someone coughing up a hairball.
• Performers would find sand in the lobby ashtrays and — well, we don’t have to draw a picture here, do we?
• The show would need to be stopped several times to allow cast members to “bathe” themselves.
• Most of the final act would consist of the cast just staring at the audience.
• The big finale would feature a giant ball of yarn, feathers on a pole, and stray strands of dental floss.
• Theater patrons waiting outside the stage door after performances would get their legs rubbed, if they were lucky.
• Cast members would never cash their paychecks, just play with them.

 

For more great Pagan humor, visit Turok’s Cabana!

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 22

Cirrus over Paris
Image Credit & Copyright: Bertrand KulikExplanation: What’s that over Paris? Cirrus. Typically, cirrus clouds appear white or gray when reflecting sunlight, can appear dark at sunset (or sunrise) against a better lit sky. Cirrus are among the highest types of clouds and are usually thin enough to see stars through. Cirrus clouds may form from moisture released above storm clouds and so may herald the arrival of a significant change in weather. Conversely, cirrus clouds have also been seen on Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Titan,Uranus, and Neptune. The featured image was taken two days ago from a window in District 15, Paris, France, Earth. The brightly lit object on the lower right is, of course, the Eiffel Tower.

After sunup, look for the daytime moon

Beginning around now – around the morning of June 23, 2016 – watch for the daytime moon. No matter where you are on Earth, look generally westward after sunrise in the next few mornings to see the moon in a clear blue daytime sky.

Why can you see the moon in the daytime now? The full moon took place on June 20. That means the moon is now in a waning gibbous phase, rising after nightfall and setting in a westward direction after sunrise. This upcoming week, you can see the daytime moon in the morning sky. If you look for the moon at the same time every morning, you’ll see the moon climbing higher and higher up into the sky each day all week long.

By June 27, the moon will be at the last quarter phase – rising around midnight and southward around dawn. By August 2, the moon will be new – located on a line with the Earth and sun – crossing the sky with the sun and so not visible in our sky.

People love to see the daytime moon. They wonder about it, and ask about it. Once, a reader in Kansas City wrote in with the name “children’s moon” to describe a moon visible during the day. She said this name stemmed from the idea that children can’t stay up at night late enough to see the moon when it appears only in darkness

That story prompted another reader to send in an alternate version for the origin of the name children’s moon. She wrote:

I heard a daytime moon was called a ‘children’s moon’ because their eyes were sharp enough to pick it out, where the old folks, with fading vision, could not tell it from the clouds.

Can you see the daytime moon in the next few mornings?

Bottom line: In the days after every full moon, the moon appears in the west after sunrise, in a blue sky. Watch for it.

 

Author