Tag: Ancient Egypt

Your Charm for November 13th is The Ankh

 Your Charm for the Day

The Ankh

Today’s Meaning:  

You may need help from a higher law to balance this aspect. This law could be a supervisor, a mediator or even a judgment through a legal venue.

General Description:    

Throughout Egyptian civilization, which lasted some 6,000 years, charms and talismans played a conspicuous part, both in their religious and civil life. The Ankh, the symbol of life one of Egypt’s most popular and ancient amulets, was supposed to bestow upon the wearer, intelligence, power, and abundance. It was formed by the hieroglyphic RU, O, set on a cross, the loop RU representing a fish’s mouth (supposed to give birth to water), and in this form represents the key of the Nile which inundates the country fertilizing the land and bringing prosperity. Most of the Egyptian gods are shown holding an Ankh, and their kings always carried on at their coronations.

Today’s Charm for October 28th is The Menat

Today’s Charm for October 28th

The Menat

Today’s Meaning:

A few prayers to your deity of choice would serve you well when dealing with this aspect. Your questions or requests stand a better chance of being answered in the next few days if you do so.

General Description:

This elaborately ornamental charm, worn by Egyptian women, was supposed to bestow upon them all the blessings of their powerful Hathor, goddess of the sunrise, whose worship was universal in Egypt. Health, strength, happiness – all these were the gifts of this their goddess of love. She was regarded as a loving, protecting mother, both of the living and of the dead; was the deity who filled both heaven and earth with her beneficence, and the dispenser of all the blessings of life.

Calendar of the Sun for October 25th

Calendar of the Sun

25 Winterfyllith

Selket’s Day

Colors: Bronze and Black
Element: Air
Altar: Upon cloth of black place a bronze figurine of a scorpion, and four black candles.
Offerings: Help someone who is a troublemaker.
Daily Meal: Lentils, flatbread, millet, pomegranates.

Invocation to Selket

Lady of the Scorpion’s Whip,
Implacable one, hardest of the Four Deaths,
Sun of the unforgiving desert at high noon,
You blast down upon all wrongdoing
And show those wrongs in their true light.
Lady of the Poison Tail,
You are entrusted with those souls
Who have not done what they should do,
Who have spurned the path they were meant to walk,
Who have struggled and lashed out,
Who have caused hurt and pain to others.
Your firm hand takes them in, guides them
To see what they have done through eyes
Unclouded by their own pain,
And leads them to a place of understanding
And perhaps repentance. And yet,
There is something of this is all of us,
Some part of each that needs your guiding hand
Lest we think ourselves too perfect
And become uncompassionate in our pride.
Lady of the Scorpion’s Whip,
Sting us to the heart, and show us
That poison still within us,
That we may better learn to ride its strike,
That we may better learn to heal its wounds.

(Each comes forward, one at a time, and touches the tail of the Scorpion, which should be sharp. Each tells Selket, aloud or silently, where the poison is in them which makes them hurt others, and asks for her help in controlling it.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Your Charm for Wednesday, October 23 is The Heart

Your Charm for Today

Today’s Meaning:    

A course of events that cannot be altered has been set in motion within this aspect. Accept whatever happens in the near future and do not waste your time fretting about it–you can do nothing.

General Description:  

This was a favorite charm in Egypt, worn in order to frustrate magicians, sorcerers and evil wishers from bewitching the wearer and stealing the soul from the heart; for it was the general belief that if the soul left the heart, the body would soon fade away and perish. The ancient Egyptians also believed that, after death, the heart was taken, in the underworld, and weighed against the symbols of the law; if found perfect, it was restored to the body, which at once came to life again and enjoyed everlasting felicity

Your Ancient Symbol Card for October 23 is The Green Man

Your Ancient Symbol Card for Today

The Green Man

Where the Green Man appears the mystery and untamed energy of nature abounds. The Green Man indicates the presence of choices and powers that have not been muted by civilization. The Green Man represents the antithesis of technology and industrialization. He offers primal energies veiled in mystery and derived from the spirit of nature in its purest form.

As a daily card, The Green Man indicates you are in a place where you will be well served by exploring your place in the natural world. At the moment the wisdom that will serve you best cannot be found in books or on talk shows or extracted from today’s headlines. What’s called for is an affirmation of your place in the natural world.

Your Charm for October 11 is The Menat

Your Charm for Today

The Menat

Today’s Meaning:       

A few prayers to your deity of choice would serve you well when dealing with this aspect. Your questions or requests stand a better chance of being answered in the next few days if you do so.

General Description:

This elaborately ornamental charm, worn by Egyptian women, was supposed to bestow upon them all the blessings of their powerful Hathor, goddess of the sunrise, whose worship was universal in Egypt. Health, strength, happiness – all these were the gifts of this their goddess of love. She was regarded as a loving, protecting mother, both of the living and of the dead; was the deity who filled both heaven and earth with her beneficence, and the dispenser of all the blessings of life.

Your Ancient Symbol Card for Oct. 9th is Simplicity

Your Ancient Symbol Card for Today

Simplicity

A much revered swami said “Simplicity is the nature of great souls.” There is a natural sense of art and genius in Simplicity. Keeping things simple produces solutions that are not only efficient but work well and are easy to maintain and build upon. Whether it takes a physical form or is an idea simple constructs please our aesthetic self. Simplicity is soothing, because you don’t have to fight your way through layers of complexity to see and understand the end result.

As a daily card, Simplicity indicates a time when you will do well by looking for simple solutions, and avoiding that which cannot be easily understood or implemented. In short, if a plan can’t get you form point A to point B without any side trips, then it is the wrong plan. Look for answers that you see immediately, that sets the proverbial light of in your head and makes you exclaim Eureka!

Your Charm for October 8th is The Scarab

Your Charm for Today

The Scarab

Today’s Meaning:

The Scarab is a symbol of creation. Someone close to you will soon announce the conception of new life, life that will positively affect you within this aspect.

General Description:    

Scarabs are engraved stones representing the Scarab beetle (Scarabaeus sacer), which rolls each of its eggs in a ball of mud and may be seen on sandy slopes in the hot sunshine of Egypt; rounding the pellet by pushing it backwards uphill with its hind legs, and allowing it to roll down again. The ancient Egyptian compared this living germ to the sun, which brings matter into life, and the Scarab became the symbol of creation, and sacred to their Sun-god, Khepera. It was their custom as far back as 4,600 years B.C. to bury these engraved Scarabs with their dead, and frequently one was placed in the heart itself. It was an emblem of re-creation, and symbolized this evolution of the soul through eternity.

Your Ancient Symbols Card for October 2nd is Strength

Your Ancient Symbols Card for Today

Strength

Strength denotes an inner power, mastery of will, development of inner might, and the ability to lead effectively. Through mastering one’s emotions and learning from both success and failure the person Strength represents has reached a place where they are influential without applying physical force, able to weather the roughest of storms, and not likely to abandon the less fortunate. Strength also denotes a large capacity for forgiveness and compassion. Strength is not as much about winning as it is about overcoming hardship, and using well crafted persuasion to ease others to your side.

As a daily card, Strength indicates a period in which your psychological powers are extremely strong. Your mental endurance may well astound even you at this time. Possibly it is time for you to stand up and take command of any loosely run situations in your life. If you take the lead others will follow.

Good Glorious Monday Morning, dear family & friends!

 

Facts You Might Not Know About This Monday, January 7th

January 7 : The Day of Unusual Interests Ancient Egyptian : dedicated to the ‘Goddess Sekhmet’, ‘guardian of the dead’, one of the ‘Seven Kine Deities’.

‘St. Distaff’s Day’ : rurally and traditionally known as a day dedicating to spinning wool after the holiday in England.

Celtic feast day of ‘Brannoc’ : Believed to be from Brittany, and according to legend came to Cornwall across the seas in a stone coffin (or a ship laden with such ballast). Alleged to have seen a vision, of white piglets feeding on a white sow, which later led him to work to build a church (where he is also believed to be buried) at Braunton, Devon, England.

 

References:

Mystical World Wide Web

More Monday Comments

The Properties of Gold

Alchemy Comments
The Magickal Properties of Gold

 

Gold is said to purify and energize the physical body, improves circulation, and strengthens the nervous system. It can balance and develop the heart chakra, along with the hemispheres of brain. It can also act as an aid to tissue regeneration, attract positive energy into aura, amplify thought forms, and aids personal illumination.

~Magickal Graphics~

Calendar of the Sun for October 28th

Calendar of the Sun

28 Winterfyllith

Day I of the Mysteries of Isis and Osiris

Colors: Green and black
Elements: Earth and Air
Altar: Upon cloth of green and black set a figure of Isis, a figure of Osiris, a box carved like a sarcophagus, and two large ivory candles.
Offerings: Undertake a long-term difficult project.
Daily Meal: Beer. Barley. Figs. Dates. Nuts. Flatbread.

Osiris Invocation

Hail O Osiris
Wake O Osiris
Arise O Osiris
Thy Mother Nuit gives thee birth
The great company of gods would converse with thee
Take thy seat, Osiris,
For none shall offend thee,
Thine enemies are beneath thee,
All honor is given
To Osiris, Lord of the Dead.
For Osiris, the eldest son of Nut,
Was feasting at his table
When forth came Set, his Adversary
With a coffin inlaid much with gold and gems,
Saying that whosoever the coffin fit,
Might have it for his own.
Osiris lay down in the coffin,
Only to find that it had been made for his measure,
And that Set’s henchmen had been laying in wait
To spring the lid closed,
Nail down the box,
And cast it into the Nile.
So it was done, and it floated into the great Sea,
Where it was borne up by the waves
To the foot of a tamarisk tree
Which enclosed it in a cradle of bark.
And there lay Osiris,
Great King of the Gods of Egypt,
Locked in stillness and one with the trees.
Weep for him, Lord of the Earth!
(All weep and wail, the lights are cast out, and the wailing continues as all exit.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Your Charm for August 28 is The Tet

Your Charm for Today

Today’s Meaning:   

This aspect is influenced by someone who finds you irresistible, yet they will say nothing of it.

General Description:

The Tet, or Tat, amulet was most popular with the ancient Egyptians, among whom the power of charms was believed to be irresistible. They were worn to protect the human body, living and dead alike from evil influences, and from attacks of invisible and visible enemies. The Setting up of the Tet (the reconstruction of the body of Osiris the god of vegetation and everlasting life) was a religious ceremony, celebrated annually at Abydos, in Upper Egypt, and in the Delta at Bus iris. Worn as a talisman for protection from evil also for strength and stability.

Your Charm for August 21 is The Heart

Your Charm For Tuesday, August 21

Today’s Meaning:   

A course of events that cannot be altered has been set in motion within this aspect. Accept whatever happens in the near future and do not waste your time fretting about it–you can do nothing.

General Description:  

This was a favorite charm in Egypt, worn in order to frustrate magicians, sorcerers and evil wishers from bewitching the wearer and stealing the soul from the heart; for it was the general belief that if the soul left the heart, the body would soon fade away and perish. The ancient Egyptians also believed that, after death, the heart was taken, in the underworld, and weighed against the symbols of the law; if found perfect, it was restored to the body, which at once came to life again and enjoyed everlasting felicity

Water

Water

 

Direction: west

Time: dusk

Season: autumn

Colours: blue, from dark, inky or grey blue to brilliant Mediterranean turquoise;  silver

Qualities: intuition, empathy, sympathy, healing powers, inner harmony, peacemaking, unconscious  wisdom, divinatory powers especially connected with water scrying, ability to merge and interconnect with nature, the cycles of the seasons and life  cycle.

Rules over: love, relationships, friendships, dreams, the cycle of birth, death and rebirth,  purification rites, alternative healing, using the powers of nature, especially crystals and sacred water, all water and sea magick, moon magick, travel by  sea.     Animals: albatross, dolphin, frog, heron, seagull, seal, shark, toad, whale, all fish, especially salmon, fish of the summer on the native North American  Medicine Wheel and of wisdom in the Celtic tradition.

Archangel: Gabriel, archangel of the moon, who represents the fruits of the harvest, the rewards of  our successes and the need to let go of our failures and regrets.

Gabriel protects fish stocks, those who travel across water and against inclement weather. He  cleanses polluted seas, lakes and rivers.

Visualize him in robes of silver and midnight blue with stars interwoven on the crescent moon in his  halo.

Crystals: aquamarine, blue and pink chalcedony calcite, coral, fluorite, jade, moonstone, ocean or  orbicular jasper, opal, pearl, tourmaline

Elemental creatures: naiads

Goddesses: all moon and water deities

Coventina, indigenous British water goddess of sacred springs; also revered at sacred wells in Spain  and Gaul.

Ganga, the Hindu healing water goddess who is manifest as the sacred river Ganges and was daughter  of the Himalayas

Heket or Heqet, the frog-headed Ancient Egyptian goddess who breathed life into the clay figures  that her husband Knum the potter god made; a goddess of fertility and creativity.

Mama Cocha or Mother Sea, the Peruvian whale goddess.

Ran, the Norse sea goddess who loves gold more than anything else; a goddess of  protection.

Sedna the ancient sea mother of the Inuit people who releases the seals and shoals of fish for  hunting.

Stella Maria, patroness of sailors, fishermen and travelers by sea, once identified with Isis and  now associated with the Virgin Mary who is depicted in this role with a crown of stars.

Gods: Hapy or Hapi, the god of the Nile flood, who wears flowing papyrus and lotus flowers on his  head, carrying a loaded offering dish with wine, food and lotus blossoms, as a symbol of his fecundity.

Mannanan or Manannan macLir, Lord of the Otherworld Isles of the Blest which include the Isle of Man  and Arran; he casts magical mists around them to keep away danger.

Poseidon, Greek god of the sea, who carried a trident, became Neptune in the Roman tradition and was  said to have drowned Atlantis (or some blame Zeus) because of the corruption of this Golden Race.

Tlaloc, the Aztec god of rain, whose eyes and nose were formed of intertwined serpents and who was  entreated in annual ceremonies to bring rain to fertile the crops.

Herbs and incenses: apple blossom, apricot, Balm of Gilead, camellia, catnip, coconut, coltsfoot,  cowslip, cyclamen, eucalyptus, feverfew, hyacinth, iris, jasmine, lemon, lemon balm, lilac, lily, lotus, lucky hand, myrrh, orchid, passionflower, peach,  sandalwood (sometimes under air), strawberry, sweet pea, tansy, thyme, valerian, vanilla, violet, yarrow.

Places: flooded land, flood plains, fountains, lakes, marshland, the ocean, ponds, pools, rainy day,  rivers, sacred wells and streams, water features.

Sacred substance: water

Zodiacal signs: Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces

Fire

Fire

 

Direction: South

Time: Noon

Season: Summer

Colours: Red, orange, gold

Qualities: Fertility in all aspects of life, creativity, light-bringing power, passion, joy,  initiating, transformation, courage, mysticism, clairvoyance, prophecy.

Rule over: Ambition, achievement, illumination, inspiration, all creative and artistic ventures,  poetry, art, sculpture, writing, music, dance, religion and spirituality, psychic powers especially higher ones such as channeling, innovation, sexuality. It  is also potent for destruction of what is now no longer needed, for binding and banishing ritual and so for protection.

Animals: Dragonfly, firefly, fox, lion, lizrd, stag, tiger

Archangel: Michael, archangel of the sun and light and the warrior angel. Michael is the angel of  power and of illumination and brings in the summer season and fertility, growth and energy into our lives and to the land, to animals and the crops. He is  also potent, for reviving barren land despoiled by industrialization and for cleansing air pollution.

Visualize him resplendent in scarlet and gold with a huge sword, golden scales in his other hand and  often a dragon crushed beneath his feet.

Crystals: Amber bloodstone, bojo stones, carnelian, garnet, hematite, iron pyrites, lava, mookaite,  obsidian, red jasper, ruby sunstone, topaz.

Elemental creatures: Salamanders

Goddesses: Amaterasu Omigami, the Japanese sun goddess whose name means ‘great August spirit  shining in heaven’

Brighid, the Celtic triple goddess of fire and of the hearth, patroness of healers, poets and  smiths

Gabija, the Lithuanian goddess of the hearth fire, who was honored by throwing salt on the fire each  evening after the main meal

Pele, goddess of volcanoes, fire and magic, who is still revered in Hawaii by those who claim  descent from her and who still set up altars near lava streams.

Saule, Baltic queen of the heavens and earth, dressed and crowned with gold who drove her golden  chariot across the skies and danced with her daughter the planets on the festival of St. Lucia, the light maiden, just before the midwinter  solstice

Sekhmet, the Ancient Egyptian lion-headed solar goddess of fire and healing who is the patroness of  modern businesswomen

Vesta, the Roman goddess of sacred fire whose Virgins tended the sacred fire in  Rome

Gods: Agni, the Hindu god of fire, who is said to be manifest as the vital spark in mankind, birds,  animals, plants and life itself

Apollo, the Graeco-Roman sun god, who was twin brother of Artemis, the moon goddess, and was patron  of the arts, especially music, beauty and harmony.

Helios of the Greeks, known to the Romans as Sol, who was regarded as the sun himself. He ascended  the heavens in a chariot drawn by winged snow-white horses to give light, and in the evening descended into the ocean

Lugh (Llew in Wales) the ancient Irish god of light and the cycle of the year, born at the midwinter  solstice, made king at the summer solstice and willingly sacrificed at Lughnassadh at the beginning of August in order to maintain the fertility of the land  and ensure the success of the harvest.

Ra or Re, the Ancient Egyptian sun god who sailed the sun boat across the heavens during the  day

Herbs and incenses: Allspice, angelica, basil, bay, cactus, carnation, cedar wood, chamomile,  chrysanthemum, cinnamon, cloves, copal, dragon’s blood, frankincense, galangal. Garlic, juniper, lime marigold, nutmeg, olive, orange, pennyroyal,  rosemary, snapdragon, sunflower, tangerine, thistle holy, thistle milk, witch hazel

Place: Bonfires, all conflagrations, deserts, hearths, hilltop beacons, lightning, sacred festival  fires, solar eclipses, thunder, volcanoes, at the height of noon or a blazing sunrise or sunset, plains shimmering in the heart, any sunny place, sandy  shores on hot days, hear banks of yellow or golden flowers.

Sacred substances: Candle

Zodiacal signs: Aries, Leo, Sagittarius

Air

Air

Direction: East

Time: Dawn

Season: Spring

Colours: Yellow, grey

Qualities: Logic, clear focus, an enquiring and analytical mind, the ability to communicate clearly,  concentrations, versatility, adaptability, quest for truth, commercial and technological acumen, healing powers through channeling higher  energies

Rules over: New beginnings, change, health and conventional healing, teaching, travel, house or  career moves, knowledge, examinations, the media, science, ideas, ideals and money-spinning

Animals: All bird of prey (especially the eagle and hawk), butterfly, moth, white  dove

Archangel: Raphael, the healer archangel and traveler’s guide. He is the angel who offers  healing to the planet and to humankind and all creatures on the face of the earth, in the skies and waters, especially effective against technological and  chemical pollution and the adverse effects of modern living. He is depicted with a pilgrim’s stick, a wallet and a fish.

Visualize him in the colours of early morning sunlight, with a beautiful green healing ray emanating  from his halo.

Crystals: Amethyst, citrine, clear crystal quartz, diamond, lapis lazuli, sapphire, sodalite,  sugilite, turquoise

Elemental creatures: Sylphs

Goddesses: All Moon and Sky deities (Moon Goddesses also rule water)

Arianrhod, the Welsh goddess of the full moon, time and destiny, who turns the wheel of the  stars.

Diana, Goddess of the Witches, the moon and huntress goddess of the Ancient Greeks and Romans. Her  daughter Aradia came to earth to teach her mother’s wisdom (Aradia arguably is an earth, air, fire and water goddess)

Myestse, the Russian mother maiden who was the consort of Dazhbog the sun god and became mother of  the stars

Nut, the Ancient Egyptian sky goddess whose body arches over the earth, covered in stars and into  whose womb Ra the sun god enters to be reborn each night

Pavati (or Parvati), wife of Shiva, the father god in Hinduism, the beautiful young goddess of the  mountains, who is the catalyst and power source without which Shiva would be impotent

Gods: Hermes, the winged Ancient Greek Messenger and healer god who, like Mercury, his Roman  counterpart, is also god of medicine, money lenders and thieves

Horus, the Ancient Egyptian sky good, represented as a falcon or a falcon-headed man. His eyes were  the sun and moon and his wings could extend across the entire heavens.

Jupiter, the supreme Roman sky god whose Greek counterpart was Zeus, who cast thunderbolts upon the  unrighteous

Myesyats, the Slavic moon god, who represented the three states of the life cycle as a youthful, a  mature and then an old man

Odin, the Norse god (the Anglo Saxon Woden), as all-father, god of inspiration, wisdom and poetry as  well as war

Herbs and incenses: Acacia, agrimony, almond, anise, benzoic, bergmot, borage, caraway, clover,  dill, elecampane, eyebright, fennel, fenugreek, lavender, lemongrass, lemon verbena, lily of the valley, linden, marjoram, meadowsweet, mulberry, Nag Champa,  palm, papyrus flower, peppermint, sage, star anise

Places: Balconies, cliffs, hills, mountain tops, open plains, planes (looking out of the window at  banks of cloud), pyramids, roof gardens, the sky, steeples and spires of churches and cathedrals, tall buildings, towers, open windows, anywhere by moon or  starlight

Sacred substance: Incense

Zodiacal signs: Aquarius, Gemini, Libra

Earth

Earth

Direction: North

Time: Midnight

Season: Winter

Colours: Green,  brown

Qualities: Stability, common sense, practical abilities, caretaking of the earth,  protectiveness, upholding of tradition, love of beauty, patience, perseverance, generosity, acceptance of others, nurturance.

Rules over: Abundance and prosperity, fertility (also fire for fertility), finance, law and  order, institutions, authority, motherhood, the physical body, food home and family, animals, the land, agriculture, horticulture,  environmentalism.

Animals: Badger, bear, bee, bull  serpent, snake, spider.

Archangel: Uriel, the archangel of  transformation whose name means fire of god, the archangel who brought alchemy to humankind.

Uriel brings warmth to the winter season and to cold or unhappy periods in our life. He melts the  snows with his flaming sword or torch. Ecologically he works at conserving resources, protecting rainforests, wildlife habitats and endangered  species.

Visualize him in rich burnished gold and ruby red with the brightest flame-like halo and fiery  sword, like a bonfire blazing in the darkness.

Crystals: Amazonite, aventurine,  banded brown agates, emerald, fossils, jet malachite, moss agate, petrified wood, rose quartz, tree agate, all yellow brown and mottled jaspers like  Dalmatian jasper, rutilated quartz, smoky quartz, tiger’s eye and all stones with holes in the center.

Elemental creatures:  Gnomes

Goddesses: Cerridwen, the Celtic Great  mother, keeper of the cauldron of inspiration and rebirth.

Gaia, the Ancient Greek earth mother, whose name has been given in modern times to the  earth.

Hecate, wise crone goddess of the Ancient Greek tradition who also rules magic, good fortune and the  Waning Moon.

Isis Unveiled, from the Ancient Egyptian tradition, as mother of nature and protectress of  all.

Mati Syra-Zemlya, of Moist mother earth, the Slavic goddess, who spins the web of life and  death.

Nerthus, the Ancient Viking earth mother, associated with fertility of crops of her successor,  Frigg, wife of Odin and patroness of women and childbirth.

The Virgin Mary.

Gods: Cernunnos, Horned god of the  Celts, who is also called Herne from the Anglo Saxon.

Grey or Ingvi, Viking and Anglo Saxon names for the god associated with the fertility of the  earth.

Geb, the Ancient Egyptian earth god andd consort of Nut the sky goddess, associated with the sacred  goose who laid the egg from which the world emerged.

The Green Man, the ageless god of vegetation, still recalled in May-time  celebrations.

Osiris, son of Geb and consort of Isis, who after his murder by his brother became the embodiment of  the annual growth of the corn, watered by the tears of Isis at the Nile flood.

Herbs and incenses: Bistort, cypress,  fern, geranium, heather, hibiscus, honesty, honeysuckle, knotweed, magnolia, mugwort, oak, moss, oats, oleander, patchouli, primrose, sagebrush, sorrel  (wood), sweet grass, tulip, vervain, vetivert

Places: Caves, the crypts of churches  and cathedrals, forests, gardens, grass, groves, homes, ley or psychic power lines in the earth, megaliths, ploughed fields, rocky places, snow- or  ice-covered lands and glaciers, sand stone circles, temples.

Sacred substances: Salt (also soil and clay)

Zodiacal signs: Taurus, Virgo,  Capricorn

Lampadomancy

Lampadomancy

Lampadomancy, also called Lychnomancy, it is form of divination using a single oil lamp or a torch flame. As with Lychnoscopy, the diviner reads presages from the movements of the flame.

An alternate method is also practiced, consisting of of reading the spots of carbon deposited on paper sheets held over the flame.

On yet another method, the diviner uses the lamp as a means of “attracting spirits to the flames”, in the hope of consulting them regarding future events. In this method, usually a specially designed lamp is employed, on the belief that grotesque forms will attract the spirits.

Lampadomancy was a popular method of divination in ancient Egypt, where diviners would perform it at midday in a darkened room illuminated by a single lamp filled with oasis oil.

The history of oil scrying can be traced back to ancient Babylonian times. Some of their magic books have survived down through the centuries with details of the methods they used.

From the Babylonians oil scrying found its way to the Egyptians and Hebrews. The most detailed examples of oil scrying are written in the Greek Magical Papyri written in Egypt between 200 B.C. and A.D. 500.

One of their techniques was called the “Princess of the Thumb” wherein a scryer annointed the forehead and thumbnail of a subject. The shiny nail acted as a magic mirror in which the scryer saw images, thought of as spirits on the other side linked to the person.

With the “Princess of the Hand” technique, oil was mixed with black soot to make a black paste that was then smeared upon the hand. The scryer then used the hand as a mirror in an attempt to scry future events.

A third type of oil scrying was called the “Princess of the Cup”. Sesame seed oil was used to coat the inside of a cup that was rested on its side. The cup was used as a concave ‘magic mirror’ to capture and magnify the light of a candle that was fixed on its inner rim.

Sometimes oil and water mix. In oil scrying we find:

  • To call upon the services of the heavenly Gods mix oil with rain water
  • To invoke terrestrial Gods use sea water
  • To invoke Osiris use river water
  • To call upon the souls of the dead use spring water

Goddess For Today: Maat

Goddess For Today: Maat

Themes: Freedom; New Beginnings; Justice; Morality; Organization; Promises; Universal Law

Symbols: Ostrich Feather (or any feather)

About Maat: In Egypt, Maat is the ultimate representation of fairness, justice, and truth. As the spirit of orderliness and legislation, she assists us by overseeing any legal matters, hearings, promises, and oaths to ensure harmony and honesty. In some Egyptian stories, a person’s soul was weighed against Maat’s feather to gain entrance to paradise.

To Do Today:

On June 19 in 1865, the slaves in Texas were finally told about the Emancipation Proclamation signed three years previously. While freedom was slow in coming, it finally arrived, likely in part thanks to Maat’s encouragement.

For all of Maat’s spells it’s best to have a feather to use as a component and focal point. Change the color of your feather to suit the goal. Pick blue for true seeing (or to encourage honesty with yourself), white for pure promises, black and white for legal equity, and pale yellow to inspire a new beginning filled with Maat’s keen insight. Bless the feather, using the following incantation (fill in the blank with your goal), then release it to the wind so the magic begins to move!

Maat, on this feather light,

bring to me renewed insight.

To my life _____ impart;

make a home within my heart.

By Patricia Telesco – From “365 Goddess” and GrannyMoon’sMorningFeast