(NE – Infancy) Everything is brand new and there is a blur between the self and
others. There is also a sense of trust that we will be cared for. We are still
deeply connected to our parents.
(EAST – Childhood) We become more independent from our families. Friends are of
great importance and we find a great many things we are interested in learning
and doing.
(SE – Adolescence) We begin to be more independent from our families. Friends
become very important. We struggle with the uncertainties of who we are and what
we look like to others.
(SOUTH – Young Adult) We finish our formal education and begin to settle into
jobs and perhaps marriage and a family. It is a buy time of caretaking,
establishing careers and community involvement.
(SW – Middle Adulthood) We begin to take a look at our life and at how we can
bring to balance. There is often a shift of focus, perhaps from job to family or
form volunteer organizations to personal interests.
(WEST – Middle Age) This is often a time when we discover that there are things
we are clinging to and need to release before we can move on; perhaps it is a
relationship, a job, a house or a grudge.
(NW – Senior) Children are grown and retirement nears or begins. We find we take
more quiet contemplative time for ourselves. We see things more in perspective
and appreciate things we were too busy to notice before.
(NORTH – Elder) We are grateful for what we have and what we have had in our
lives. We are more accepting of things and are able to guide others without
expectations of how they might use that guidance.
It is important to be aware that we reach these stages at different ages. Some
folks reach the South quite young with an early marriage and family. This may
force them into the care taking of the South before they have had the time to
really process the Southwest. Others take many years to sort out who they are in
the Southwest before they take their place in the South.
*Information taken from the old WOTC.
Author currently unknown to me*
NE – It is the time of the Spring Equinox. Day and night are of equal length.
Our energy begins to build as we begin to come out of the contemplative time of
winter.
EAST – As spring swings into full bloom you feel full of energy and promise. It
is easy to create wonderful plans for the future at this time of year.
SE – It is the time of the Summer Solstice. The days are long and nights are
short. We enjoy the outdoors feeling alive, active and whole. Nature blesses us
with her radiance.
SOUTH – In mid summer we are more active because of the wonderful outdoor
activities available to us. Our gardens are bursting with the earth’s bounty.
SW – It is the time of the Autumn Equinox. Night and day are of equal length
creating a balance point between our active life of summer and our quieter more
inward time of winter.
WEST – As days get shorter and nights longer, we begin to retreat more into the
darkness for introspection. We think about what is and is not working in our
lives.
NW – The Winter Solstice comes. Nights are very long and we find ourselves to be
more receptive to dreams and intuition. We spend more time indoors, our winter
cave of the dreamtime.
NORTH – We find that we sleep longer at night. The quiet evenings offer rest as
well. We may even feel a bit depressed, our body’s way of telling us to take
inward time for ourselves.
*Information taken from the old WOTC.Author currently unknown to me*
The moons energies affect us on a more emotional level that is hidden to us
unless we carefully pay attention.
The first sliver of the waxing crescent moon represents the Northeast. She is
the newborn moon and reflects all possibilities. That first sight of the new
moon brings a sense of hope for the future.
As the moon moves toward the waxing first quarter, inspiration of the East comes
easily. This comes more often in the form of intuitions or dreams.
When waxing gibbous moon beings to assert herself in the sky, we are in the
Southeast. We may begin to become more aware of how we are feeling. We must be
careful to avoid confusing our feelings with who we are.
The full moon represents the South in all its power and full emotion. We tend to
feel wakeful and full of energy. We can use this energy to get out and enjoy
friends and activities.
As the moon moves into her waning gibbous phase in the Southwest, we calm a
little from the high energy of the full moon. Our emotions may begin to come to
balance as we see what we can create and accept what cannot be.
The waning last quarter moon of the West can at times be jarring. The moon seems
to be deserting us as she becomes smaller and smaller in the sky. Often emotions
must be released in order to be able to move on.
Gradually the waning crescent of the Northwest becomes smaller and smaller. We
are able to let go a little easier and are in a highly intuitive, receptive
state. Deep understandings may come to us at this time.
At last we cannot see the moon at all. We are in the dark of the moon, the
North. This is a deeply inner time that restores us in readiness for the first
glimmering of the visible new moon as we continue around and around.
*Information taken from the old WOTC.Author is currently unknown to me*
This term does not mean that the moon is invalid and everyone knows it but you. Void of Course refers to the time the moon spends between astrological signs. The term “void” refers to empty, and “course” refers to the path the moon travels. Technically, when the moon is void of course it means it has left the last aspect of one sign, and has not yet achieved the first aspect of the next sign. When you’re attempting to use lunar energy and the moon is between signs in this way, clearly defined lunar energy isn’t accessible.
Think of it as someone going through a tunnel when you’re trying to talk to them on a cell phone: their signal cuts out and you can’t communicate until they’re back on the open road again. It’s the same with the moon
A void can be anywhere between a few minutes to nearly two-day long. The best thing to do is check an astrological calendar for lunar positions. A regular wall calendar or agenda usually tells you the moon phase, but nothing more. Pick up a copy of the Farmer’s Almanac and you’ll be able to plot out spells.
Can you perform a spell when the moon is void of course? Of course you can. You’d be better to draw on something other than lunar energy to power it, because otherwise your efforts are likely to fizzle.
You average wall calendar divides the moon’s cycle into four equal phases called the first quarter, second quarter, third quarter, and fourth quarter. It would be remarkably nifty if these four quarters matched the waxing full-waning-dark classification that the layperson observes by looking up into the night sky, but it isn’t so. The four quarters are each seven days long and as you probably know by observation, the full moon doesn’t last a week-long, nor does the dark moon.
The first quarter begins with the dark moon. The sun, moon, and the earth are all lined up during the beginning of the lunar cycle. This is a terrific time to launch new projects or undertakings, because the sun’s energy is traveling along the same energy paths as the moon’s energy, giving you a two-for-one zip to your magick. The moon rises in the early morning and sets around sunset, rising and setting a bit later each day. This is why you don’t see the moon for about three days; it’s keeping the same hours and position that the sun is keeping. When the moon reaches a point where it’s setting slightly later than the sun, it can be seen as a luminous slim crescent hanging low in the western sky for a few minutes after the sun goes down. The first quarter is a good time to work on issues involving children, animals, plants and motivation.
The second quarter begins halfway between the dark moon and the full moon. The moon is seen as a half circle, which rise around mid-day and sets around twelve at night. The second quarter is excellent for expansion, patience, peace, family and harmony.
The third quarter begins with the full moon, rising at sunset and setting at dawn, The full moon is ideal for powering those ventures you started at the dark moon and for almost everything knowledge, love, money, protection, dreams and psychic powers. Two days after a full moon is when the moon appears to begin waning. This begins a time of decrease; where you can prune away old and outgrown thoughts and habits and discard what is no longer benefiting you. Use this energy for health and healing (as in banishing illness), protection, difficult decision and easing stress.
The fourth quarter begins halfway between the full moon and the dark moon. The moon rises just after midnight and sets around noon. This energy is good for justice, endings, separation, and limiting action or expansion.
These quarters aren’t absolute, of course; the moon moves through them all sequentially, occupying a lightly different position each day.
Focals are used for amplifying, focusing and concentrating magickal energy. They should blend with the potion you are making or spell you are casting. You can use many focal blended together. You will find that focals like food, music, scented oils, candles, incense and decoration, all add more power to your magick. The following is a list of focals used in magick.
Visual Focals—-Sight. Things you look at. Examples include: photographs, symbols, drawings, paintings, statues, flowers.
In the Norse tradition, Yggdrassil, the world tree, supported the nine realms of existence. At the top was Asgard, the home of the Aesir, the principle deities, led by Odin and his consort Frigg. This level also contained Vanaheim, the kingdom of the wind, fertility and sea Gods, with whom the Aesir fashioned an uneasy peace, and Alfheim, home of the light elves. On the middle level was Midgard, the land of the humans. They shared this level with Jotunheim, the land of the frost giants and Nidavellir, the realmo of the dwarves, who guarded their treasure and made artefacts for the deities. The lowest realm was divided between Niflheim and Hel, realms of the dead and Svartalafheim, home of the dark elves.
In Eastern Europe as well as in Asia the mythological world tree was considered the axis of the world with the pole star at the top. Shamans, the magickal priests or healers of indigenous peoples worldwide, climb this tree in a trance to reach other realms. Look up through the branches of a very tall tree on a starry night and you will see how this belief came into being.
The tree appears in numerous creation myths. In one Maori legend, the tree was the first thing to appear at creation and on it grew countless buds that contained all created life. A number of Native North American creation myths tell how the first humans climbed pine or fir trees from the underworld and broke through on to the Earth. In Viking myth the first man was fashioned by Odin and his brothers from an ash (Aesc) and the first woman from an elm tree (Embla). The gods found the trees while walking on the seashore.
Sacred and magickal trees are found in the religious and mythology of almost every culture. Trees form the link between earth and sky, because they have their roots in soil and their branches in the air and were originally regarded as a creative form of the Earth Mother.
In early forms of religion, people believed that trees were themselves deities, a belief that gradually gave way to the idea that the spirits of deities or nature essences lived within the tree. In Japan, temples have been built around sacred trees for more than two thousand years. Here it is believed that mononoke, the magickal life force, is concentrated in trees and rocks. The Japanese Cryptomeria and the evergreen sakaki trees are especially rich in this force and are often used for building sacred shrines. The tree itself is incorporated into the central pillar so the indwelling power of the nature deity night bless the site.
In parts of Sweden until quite recently, a guardian tree, often elm, ash or lime, was planted close to farms or small settlements and it was forbidden to tak even a leaf from this tree. Pregnant women used to embrace the tree to ensure an easy delivery.
Trees have also been associated from Africa to Eastern Europe with the spirits of fertility, who regulated rain, sunshine and good harvests. In Germany and France, in some agricultural areas, a large leafy branch or even a whole tree, decorated with corn ears or the last corn sheaf, adorns the last wagon of the harvest. It was traditionally set on the roof of the farmhouse or barn for a year to ensure future good harvest.
In India, sacred trees are still visited in order to ask for blessings, especially for fertility, from the indwelling spirit or deity; food and flowers are left at the tree shrine and offering ribbons are tied to the tree.
The Celtic Druids worshipped not in temples, but in groves of trees. These natural sites may have predated the Celts by thousands of years; and still in Wales, Brittany and Cornwall the trees are hung with ribbons, trinkets and petitions for healing and blessings.
The Moon exudes a cool, feminine, silvery-feeling energy that rules the life-giving waters of our planet–the rains, tides and dew–as well as those in the physical body, such as menstrual cycles and other bodily finds. She also rules all emotional responses. Raw, properly focused emotion energizes magick. For this reason, many practitioners work in conjunction with a phase of the Moon’s cycle that is in harmony with their magickal intent.
The tides are another power source if you are anywhere near the sea, an estuary or a tidal river. The incoming tide or flow will attract and bring fulfilment of wishes or dreams: the ebb tide will take away negativity and also protect those who travel, especially those who work at sea. The slack tide between flow and ebb, which can last for up to an hour is excellent for building up power before the surge and moment of release at tide turn.
As the alter ego of the moon, the sun offers a significant source of energy for natural magick and solar energies often offers power for more instant magickal results.
Dawn is best for new opportunities, beginnings and people entering your life; noon for a burst of instant power, energy, success and prosperity. Dusk is for reconciliation or letting go. Midnight assists healing magick, psychic protection and in accepting what cannot be changes.
You can combine lunar and solar energies for a quick solar fix and the slower continuous lunar consolidation of the initial solar results in you life. Moon spells on the day of the full moon will get things off the starting block and keep up the impetus through the month. Often the moon and sun are in the sky at the same time (check your moon dairy or weather section of the newspaper or just look) and combine the energies accordingly.
Moon time is the oldest measurement of time used by humans and it accords with our natural rhythms in the lives of men as well as women. In magick we primarily look to the moon for timings.
The waxing or increasing moon from the crescent to the night before the full moon is potent for all forms of attracting magick, for the gradual increase of money, love, happiness or health and for fertility spells. These powers will grow daily as the physical moon size increases, to reach their height on the full moon.
The full moon represents a surge of power that can be plugged into for fertility, the consummation of love or commitment, a major money gain or for launching a creative venture. Also because the full moon is unstable, this day and night is good for initiating change.
The waning moon helps us to let go of what we no longer need or wish for in our lives and can banish pain, sorrow or a destructive influence: a perfect phase for starting diet spells. As the moon decreases in size so the pull that holds negative people or factors in your life likewise weakens.
If a need is urgent then you can work at any time and picture the full moon or rising dawn whose energies you need, even at a different time of the month or at darkest midnight.
Sometimes the nature of the ritual will dictate the timing. For example, a new beginning spell can be launched on any new date: the first day of the month, the first day of the year, any Sunday, the first day of the week, the first hour after dawn or at the crescent moon when it first appears in the sky. Best of all in the first hour after dawn on a Sunday, which is ruled by the Sun, and so offers a double dose of power for that new beginning.
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