MAGICKAL 🍂SAMHAIN

By: Forest🐾Devi✨ (Novice in the Heart’s Spirit Coven)


Voices from the spirit world whisper in the wind.

Tonight two worlds come ever closer the curtain waivers thin.

Hear the crackle of the flames burning in the hearth, while loved ones in the Summerlands 

Return to walk the earth.

We welcome in the new year, a time to shed our skin.

With gratitude for lessons learned the future ushers in.

As entities from other worlds come feast with us again.

All commenced in celebration of MAGICKAL Samhain

October 31 Daily Correspondence Digest for the Southern Hemisphere’s Moon Phase and Planetary Positions

You can use this link to go forward or backward in time for Moon phase information. If you are curious you can even find out what phase the Moon was in when you or anyone else, you know was on the date the person was born.

From Moongiant.com

The Moon’s current phase for today and tonight is a Waning Crescent phase. In this phase the Moon’s illumination is growing smaller each day until the New Moon. During this part of the Moon cycle, the Moon is getting closer to the Sun as viewed from Earth and the night side of the Moon is facing the Earth with only a small edge of the Moon being illuminated. This phase is best viewed an hour or 2 before the sunrise and can be quite beautiful if you’re willing to get up early. It can also be a great time to see the features of the Moon’s surface. Along the edge where the illuminated portion meets the dark side, the craters and mountains cast long shadows making them easier to observe with a telescope or binoculars.

Visit the October 2021 Moon Phases Calendar to see all the daily moon phase for this month.

Today’s Waning Crescent Phase

The Waning Crescent on October 31 has an illumination of 24%. This is the percentage of the Moon illuminated by the Sun. The illumination is constantly changing and can vary up to 10% a day. On October 31 the Moon is 24.73 days old. This refers to how many days it has been since the last New Moon. It takes 29.53 days for the Moon to orbit the Earth and go through the lunar cycle of all 8 Moon phases.

The 8 Lunar Phases

There are 8 lunar phases the Moon goes through in its 29.53 days lunar cycle. The 4 major Moon phases are Full Moon, New Moon, First Quarter and Last Quarter. Between these major phases, there are 4 minor ones: the Waxing Crescent, Waxing Gibbous, Waning Gibbous and Waning Crescent. For more info on the Moon Cycle and on each phase check out Wikipedia Lunar Phase page.

Phase Details

Phase: Waning Crescent
Illumination: 24%
Moon Age: 24.73 days
Moon Angle: 0.52
Moon Distance: 383,592.20 km
Sun Angle: 0.54
Sun Distance: 148,480,047.96 km

Useful Moon Resources

If you need to calculate the planetary positions for a specific use and time, click on this link

Currentplanetarypositions.com

To figure out GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) to your local time use this link

For Your Local Time and Date

Southeastern Hemisphere

The time for the Custom Planetary Positions is from the local time in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia 

31 October 2021
06:00 am GMT 5:00 PM AEDT
Zodiac: Tropical (Standard Western)

Sun:08 Scorpio 02
Moon:06 Virgo 31
Mercury:21 Libra 18
Venus:24 Sagittarius 57
Mars:00 Scorpio 26
Jupiter:22 Aquarius 37
Saturn:07 Aquarius 13
Uranus:12 Taurus 59 Rx
Neptune:20 Pisces 40 Rx
Pluto:24 Capricorn 28

True Lunar Node:01 Gemini 57 Rx

Mean Lunar Node:02 Gemini 48 Rx
Lilith (Black Moon):11 Gemini 37
Chiron:09 Aries 28 Rx
Ceres:10 Gemini 32 Rx
Pallas:09 Pisces 16 Rx
Juno:25 Sagittarius 10
Vesta:21 Scorpio 14
Eris:24 Aries 06 Rx

Fire:4
Earth:3
Air:7
Water:5
Cardinal:4
Fixed:6
Mutable:9

Southwestern Hemisphere

The time for the Custom Planetary Positions is from the local time in Sao Paulo, Brazil, South America

31 October 2021
08:00 pm GMT 5:00 PM BRT
Zodiac: Tropical (Standard Western)

Sun:08 Scorpio 37
Moon:14 Virgo 21
Mercury:22 Libra 09
Venus:25 Sagittarius 32
Mars:00 Scorpio 50
Jupiter:22 Aquarius 38
Saturn:07 Aquarius 14
Uranus:12 Taurus 57 Rx
Neptune:20 Pisces 40 Rx
Pluto:24 Capricorn 28
True Lunar Node:01 Gemini 55 Rx
Mean Lunar Node:02 Gemini 46 Rx
Lilith (Black Moon):11 Gemini 41
Chiron:09 Aries 27 Rx
Ceres:10 Gemini 27 Rx
Pallas:09 Pisces 14 Rx
Juno:25 Sagittarius 21
Vesta:21 Scorpio 32
Eris:24 Aries 05 Rx
Fire:4
Earth:3
Air:7
Water:5
Cardinal:4
Fixed:6
Mutable:9

Sweet Beltane

Image result for beltane southern hemisphere
By Fawn Devi
Swirling around the maypole
Dancing to the drums
Celebrating sweet Beltane
Summer has begun
Mother earth breathes New life
Under the sun aglow
The marriage of the earth and sky
Fertility bestowed
Swirling around the maypole
Flowers in our hair
It’s the Goddess and the green man
& they’re blessed love affair
See the source image

Tales from the Unwavering Witchlett – Part 1

This will be an on going series of a true life story being written a novice in Witches of The Craft School of Witchcraft. Despite her Multiple Sclerosis getting very bad at times she has persevered not only in her studies but by startting to tell her story of her time as a Novice to share with all of you. Fawn health is very bad right now she can use healing energy, and/or candles being lit for her health improve, and/or just you thinking of her being up and around and feeling better.

Now without further ado here in Fawn’s own words, with no editing done by me, is her first part of her on going story:

 

By : Forrest Devi ✨

Merry meet kindred souls, and welcome! If you have tripped across this blog , know that it is not by chance. I believe and innately know nothing happens by chance. Everything has a divine purpose . There are no coincidences in life, only synchronicity‘s guiding us down our path. Here on this blog I will share my story! With it, I hope to inspire your mind, warm your hesrt, and enlighten your spirit.

First let me introduce myself, I am Forest Devi. As long as I can remember i have been drawn out into the woods almost as if enchanted by. I have spent my life rescuing & sometimes raising different orphaned woodland creatures. And I have always had a great fondness for all things furry! Nature is my church where I’ve always found serenity. It has taking me many years and peeling back many layers to discover who I really am.

Which brings us to today, here on Witches of the Craft. It was several years ago and I somehow tripped across WOTC . Intrigued, I signed up to receive their daily posts . Following Lady Abyss who was very passionate about witches of the craft . It wasn’t until after she passed, & Lady Beltane took over that I developed the courage to study here as a novice . This clearly was my path!  Now I am currently knee-deep into my novice course on witchcraft. I feel blessed to be studying under Lady Beltane, whom I hold in very high regard. And filled with gratitude to be handed down her knowledge & tricks of the trade! She’s been by my side every step of the way. And thank goodness! Because If it wasn’t for that WHO would fix my magickal mishaps? let’s face it… The “Oops now what?”😳 is going to happen

Yes! I am still a work in progress. Not only as a witchlett, but also on healing my body! I have multiple sclerosis and that’s what brought me here! It was definitely a catalyst for my awakening . Six years ago my doctor told me bluntly, “you will eventually be bedridden and die from this.” At that point I decided to heal myself. There was no other option …and I wasn’t READY to lay down and die. And so began my spiritual quest! THATS when the magick started to really take place!

So join me , sisters and brothers as I perform what doctors say is the Impossible & reclaim vibrant health! While behind the scenes studying here as a novice on WOTC! I know NOTHING is impossible , the word itself says I’m possible! Plus I have a few tricks up my sleeve.

Moral to the story here never give up! So buckle up, & fly with me!
It’s gonna be a bumpy ride… but the destination is WELL WORTH iT! We will talk soon my lovelies.
Blessed be ,
Forest Devi🐈‍⬛✨

Calling Your Ancestors

I am blessed to work with to Archangel Suriel (a.k.a. Sariel), who helps people and other
living things that are stuck on this plain, for whatever reason, to accept their death and get
ready to cross to the Spirit Plane. I also work with Archangel Zlar, who crosses the Spirits from this plain to the
next The Spirit Plain is known by the name The Summerlands to many Witches and Wiccans.

In simpler terms, I am a medium an ability I was honored enough to be born with.I have to keep permanent protection shields up all the time so I can eat, sleep and live life without constantly hearing the voices of Spirits wanting to pass a message on to someone. While I am very grateful for the honor of the Archangels using me for this task; if I leave myself open all the time it can become unbearable to live with.

Many people are born with or are given this “gift” but do not know they have it or choose to ignore it. If someone ignores it just like any other talent not used it will wither and become dormant. If you may think you have this gift it can come to you in many ways. Some of which are: hearing voices, seeing someone/something out of the corner of your eye and when you turn your head no one is there, having consistent dreams of people who have crossed over (died) are the most common signs of this ability. One thing to always remember is if you have this ability that it is the Archangels mentioned above using you to help with their work and it is an honor to have this gift and yes, it can feel like a curse at times also..

This is spell can be used anytime you would like an Ancestor to visit or just on Samhain. I have written it two
different ways, one to invite them anytime you would like them near, and the other for on
Samhain (Pronounced Sow-en. Falls on October 31st when the veil between ours and the
Spirit plain is at its thinnest.).

Many covens set aside a portion of time during their Samhain celebration for members to call their ancestors into the circle to feast and celebrate with them. How this part of the Samhain celebration and ritual is done varies from coven to coven based on how the leader chooses to do it.

I found that I preferred even when I was with a coven that I liked talking and visiting with my ancestors alone. No special reason just personal preference.

What you need:

1 Birthday or short Candle for each Ancestor

A container with sand in it (I use an old metal pie plate)

Hot pad (to set container on to protect surface of what you set pie plate on)

Spell for any time use:

I invite _____ (fill in name of person you wish to contact) to come visit when I light this
candle one.

To visit and return to whence you came when your candle is done.

So mote it be.

Spell for Samhain:

I invite the Spirits I call upon to come to me one by one. (Light 1 candle each time you say
a name and place it in the sand)

Visit and return from whence you came when your candle is done.

So mote it be

After doing the spell spend some time just sitting quietly and thinking of the people you have summoned. They may just want to spend some time with you also and/or have a message for you or someone in your life. Ancestors are not just blood relatives that have crossed over they include anyone in your life that has had some type of impact on it. One of my favorite people to spend time with is an oil painting teacher I had when I was twelve years old. She was a very patient and sweet woman who help me through painting deal with my father’s crossing.

Copyright 2013 Lady Beltane

Sinister Solar System From NASA

Introduction

Our universe is full of mysterious sights, and spine-tingling sounds. Take a journey to the most frightful corners of the cosmos.

Click here for More interesting and fun information about our “Sinister Solar System”

October 30 Today In History

Important Events

1340 Battle of Rio Salado (or Tarifa): King Afonso IV of Portugal and King Alfonso XI of Castile defeat Sultan Abu al-Hasan ‘Ali of Morocco and Yusuf I of Granada, last Marīnids invasion of Iberian Peninsula

1899 Battle of Ladysmith, Natal: Boers defeat the British, leading to the Siege of Ladysmith

1905 “October Manifesto” Russian Tsar Nicholas II grants civil liberties and accepts the first Duma (Parliament)

1917 British government gives final approval to Balfour Declaration

1973 The Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey is completed, connecting the continents of Europe and Asia over the Bosporus for the first time

Today’s Historical Events

Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV

Today’s Events in Music History

Today’s Historical Events in Sports

 

October 30 Astronomy Picture of the Day

A Rorschach Aurora

Image Credit & Copyright: Göran Strand

Explanation: If you see this as a monster’s face, don’t panic. It’s only pareidolia, often experienced as the tendency to see faces in patterns of light and shadow. In fact, the startling visual scene is actually a 180 degree panorama of Northern Lights, digitally mirrored like inkblots on a folded piece of paper. Frames used to construct it were captured on a September night from the middle of a waterfall-crossing suspension bridge in Jamtland, Sweden. With geomagnetic storms triggered by recent solar activity, auroral displays could be very active at planet Earth’s high latitudes in the coming days. But if you see a monster’s face in your own neighborhood tomorrow night, it might just be Halloween.

October 30 Daily Correspondence Digest for the Northern Hemisphere’s Moon Phase and Planetary Positions

 

You can use this link to go forward or backward in time for Moon phase information. If you are curious you can even find out what phase the Moon was in when you or anyone else, you know was on the date the person was born.

From Moongiant.com

The Moon’s current phase for today and tonight is a Waning Crescent phase. In this phase the Moon’s illumination is growing smaller each day until the New Moon. During this part of the Moon cycle, the Moon is getting closer to the Sun as viewed from Earth and the night side of the Moon is facing the Earth with only a small edge of the Moon being illuminated. This phase is best viewed an hour or 2 before the sunrise and can be quite beautiful if you’re willing to get up early. It can also be a great time to see the features of the Moon’s surface. Along the edge where the illuminated portion meets the dark side, the craters and mountains cast long shadows making them easier to observe with a telescope or binoculars.

Visit the October 2021 Moon Phases Calendar to see all the daily moon phase for this month.

Today’s Waning Crescent Phase

The Waning Crescent on October 30 has an illumination of 33%. This is the percentage of the Moon illuminated by the Sun. The illumination is constantly changing and can vary up to 10% a day. On October 30 the Moon is 23.74 days old. This refers to how many days it has been since the last New Moon. It takes 29.53 days for the Moon to orbit the Earth and go through the lunar cycle of all 8 Moon phases.

The 8 Lunar Phases

There are 8 lunar phases the Moon goes through in its 29.53 days lunar cycle. The 4 major Moon phases are Full Moon, New Moon, First Quarter and Last Quarter. Between these major phases, there are 4 minor ones: the Waxing Crescent, Waxing Gibbous, Waning Gibbous and Waning Crescent. For more info on the Moon Cycle and on each phase check out Wikipedia Lunar Phase page.

Phase Details

Phase: Waning Crescent
Illumination: 33%
Moon Age: 23.74 days
Moon Angle: 0.51
Moon Distance: 388,477.06 km
Sun Angle: 0.54
Sun Distance: 148,518,980.78 km

Useful Moon Resources

If you need to calculate the planetary positions for a specific use and time, click on this link

Currentplanetarypositions.com

To figure out GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) to your local time use this link

For Your Local Time and Date

Northeastern Hemisphere

The time for the Custom Planetary Positions is from the local time in Frankfurt, Germany, Europe

30 October 2021
03:00 pm GMT 5:00 PM CET
Zodiac: Tropical (Standard Western)

Sun:07 Scorpio 24
Moon:28 Leo 17
Mercury:20 Libra 24
Venus:24 Sagittarius 20
Mars:00 Scorpio 01
Jupiter:22 Aquarius 35
Saturn:07 Aquarius 12
Uranus:13 Taurus 00 Rx
Neptune:20 Pisces 41 Rx
Pluto:24 Capricorn 27
True Lunar Node:01 Gemini 59 Rx
Mean Lunar Node:02 Gemini 50 Rx
Lilith (Black Moon):11 Gemini 33
Chiron:09 Aries 30 Rx
Ceres:10 Gemini 38 Rx
Pallas:09 Pisces 18 Rx
Juno:24 Sagittarius 58
Vesta:20 Scorpio 54
Eris:24 Aries 06 Rx

Fire:5
Earth:2
Air:7
Water:5
Cardinal:4
Fixed:7
Mutable:8

Northwestern Hemisphere

The time for the Custom Planetary Positions is from the local time in Denver, Colorado, USA

October 30, 2021
11:00 pm GMT 5:00 PM MT
Zodiac: Tropical (Standard Western)

Sun:07 Scorpio 44
Moon:02 Virgo 39
Mercury:20 Libra 53
Venus:24 Sagittarius 40
Mars:00 Scorpio 15
Jupiter:22 Aquarius 36
Saturn:07 Aquarius 13
Uranus:13 Taurus 00 Rx
Neptune:20 Pisces 41 Rx
Pluto:24 Capricorn 28

True Lunar Node:01 Gemini 58 Rx

Mean Lunar Node:02 Gemini 49 Rx
Lilith (Black Moon):11 Gemini 35

Chiron:09 Aries 29 Rx

Ceres:10 Gemini 35 Rx
Pallas:09 Pisces 17 Rx
Juno:25 Sagittarius 05
Vesta:21 Scorpio 04
Eris:24 Aries 06 Rx

Fire:4
Earth:3
Air:7
Water:5
Cardinal:4
Fixed:6
Mutable:9

Thoth Tarot Introduction And Spread – Crowley Tarot

From Tarotx.net: Click here or on hyperlinks for more information about the Thoth Tarot – Crowley Tarot

I. Overview of Thoth Tarot Deck

Thoth Tarot deck is one of the most famous Tarot decks in the world, which painted by artist Frieda Harris under the guidance of the legendary researcher who is a member of the Golden Dawn, Aleister Crowley. This deck is influenced by the Book of Thoth and Judaism. Although still being one of the classic decks, it contains the Kabbalah mystical symbol systems and astrology from the Book of Thoth, which requires users to do a lot of research to understand the hidden meaning in each card and have a certain knowledge base to capture the deck in the best way.

Thoth Tarot deck is accompanied by a guide book to help users are equipped with knowledge of reading cards and the connection between image system of cards and many fields such as astrology, arts, music, myths, Tree of Life, Runes, elements, and other prototypes.

The Thoth Tarot is considered one of the classic decks but it requires a lot of knowledge to be able to be contemplated. However, this is a controversial tarot deck, …

October 29 On This Date in History

Today’s Historical Events

539 BC King Cyrus “the Great” of Persia marches into Babylon, freeing Jewish captives and allowing them to return home

1268 Conradin, the last legitimate male heir of the German Hohenstaufen dynasty of Kings and Holy Roman Emperors, is executed with Frederick I, Margrave of Baden by Charles I of Sicily

1268 Conradin, the last legitimate male heir of the German Hohenstaufen dynasty of Kings and Holy Roman Emperors, is executed with Frederick I, Margrave of Baden by Charles I of Sicily

1390 First trial for witchcraft in Paris

1467 Battle of Brusthem: Charles the Bold defeats Liege

1508 Gelderse troops occupies Kuinre

1552 Tsar Ivan IV escapes back to Moscow after battle

1591 Giovanni A Facchinetti elected as Pope Innocentius IX

1618 English adventurer, writer and courtier Walter Raleigh is beheaded for allegedly conspiring against King James I of England

1665 Battle of Mbwila [Ambuila]: Portuguese defeat forces of the Kingdom of Kongo and decapitate King Antonio I of Kongo / Nvita a Nkanga

1675 Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz makes the first use of the long s, ∫, for integral, helping discover integral and differential calculus

1682 William Penn lands at what is now Chester, Pennsylvania

1709 England & Netherlands sign anti-French “Barrieretraktaat”

1727 Severe earthquake in New England

1792 Mount Hood (Oregon) is named after the British naval officer Alexander Arthur Hood by Lt. William E. Broughton who spotted the mountain near the mouth of the Willamette River.

1794 French troops occupy Venlo (modern south east Netherlands)

1811 1st Ohio River steamboat leaves Pittsburgh for New Orleans

1814 “Demologos”, 1st steam-powered warship, is launched in New York for the US Navy

1833 1st US college fraternity to have a fraternity house founded

1859 Spain declares war on Morocco

1863 International Committee of Red Cross forms as result Geneva held conference (Nobel 1917, 1944, 1963)

1864 Greek parliament accepts new Constitution

1867 Mail packets “Rhone” & “Wye” capsize off St Thomas, Virgin Islands

1872 J. S. Risdon of Genoa, Illinois, patents the metal windmill

1881 Judge (U.S. magazine) first published

1888 Lord Salisbury grants Cecil Rhodes charter for British South Africa Company

1929 “Black Tuesday” Wall Street Stock Market crashes triggering the “Great Depression”

2015 China announces the end of their one-child policy after 35 years

Today’s Events in Film & Television History

1956 NBC anchors Chet Huntley and David Brinkley first team up in “The Huntley–Brinkley Report”

1970 WYEA (now WLTZ) TV channel 38 in Columbus, GA (NBC) 1st broadcast

1998 ATSC HDTV broadcasting in the United States is inaugurated with the launch of STS-95 space shuttle mission.

2008 “Quantum of Solace” 22nd James Bond film starring Daniel Craig and Olga Kurylenko, premieres in London

2020 Three people stabbed to death in church in Nice, France, in an terrorist attack, after similar attack and President Macron’s defense of right to publish cartoons of Prophet Muhammad

 

Today’s Events in Music History

1787 Opera “Don Giovanni”, music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte premieres at the National Theater of Bohemia in Prague

1923 Gibbs, Grey and Wood’s revue “Runnin’ Wild” (introducing “The Charleston”) opens on Broadway, New York City

1924 Musical revue “Dixie to Broadway” opens at Broadhurst Theater

1936 Cole Porters musical “Red Hot And Blue”, starring Ethel Merman, Jimmy Durante, and Bob Hope, opens at the Alvin Theatre, NYC; runs for 183 performances

1941 Cole Porter‘s musical “Let’s Face It” opens at the Imperial Theatre, NYC; runs 547 performances

1963 “Meet the Beatles” booklet is published

1967 Galt MacDermot, Gerome Ragni and James Rado’s musical “Hair” premieres in NYC

1977 John Kander and Fred Ebb’s musical “The Act”, starring Liza Minnelli, opens at Majestic Theater, NYC; runs for 233 performances and wins a Tony Award

1982 Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson release single “The Girl is Mine”; peaks at # 2 in US, and #8

1994 Pink Floyd finishes their final concert tour at Earls Court in London

1995 “Fool Moon” opens at Ambassador Theater NYC

Today’s Events in Sports History

1889 “World Championship” Baseball Series, Polo Grounds, NYC: defending champion NY Giants (NL) beat Brooklyn Bridegrooms (AA), 3-2 in Game 9 to claim series, 6-3

1910 Hamilton running back / kicker Ben Simpson lands CFL record 11 singles in Tigers 14-7 win over Montreal at Montreal AAA Grounds

1920 Ed Barrow appointed GM of NY Yankees

1931 Lefty Grove, A’s pitcher who won 31 games, is named the AL’s MVP

1939 NHL Babe Seibert Memorial Game: All-Stars beat Montreal 5-3

1942 Branch Rickey named president and General Manager of Brooklyn Dodgers

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.

2021 October 29

Haunting the Cepheus Flare

Image Credit & Copyright: Leo Shatz

Explanation: Spooky shapes seem to haunt this dusty expanse, drifting through the night in the royal constellation Cepheus. Of course, the shapes are cosmic dust clouds visible in dimly reflected starlight. Far from your own neighborhood, they lurk above the plane of the Milky Way at the edge of the Cepheus Flare molecular cloud complex some 1,200 light-years away. Over 2 light-years across and brighter than most of the other ghostly apparitions, vdB 141 or Sh2-136 is also known as the Ghost Nebula, seen at the right of the starry field of view. Inside the nebula are the telltale signs of dense cores collapsing in the early stages of star formation. With the eerie hue of dust reflecting bluish light from hot young stars of NGC 7023, the Iris Nebula stands out against the dark just left of center. In the broad telescopic frame, these fertile interstellar dust fields stretch almost seven full moons across the sky.

October 29 Daily Correspondence Digest for the Northern Hemisphere’s Moon Phase and Planetary Positions

You can use this link to go forward or backward in time for Moon phase information. If you are curious you can even find out what phase the Moon was in when you or anyone else, you know was on the date the person was born.

From Moongiant.com

The Moon’s current phase for today and tonight is a Waning Crescent phase. In this phase the Moon’s illumination is growing smaller each day until the New Moon. During this part of the Moon cycle, the Moon is getting closer to the Sun as viewed from Earth and the night side of the Moon is facing the Earth with only a small edge of the Moon being illuminated. This phase is best viewed an hour or 2 before the sunrise and can be quite beautiful if you’re willing to get up early. It can also be a great time to see the features of the Moon’s surface. Along the edge where the illuminated portion meets the dark side, the craters and mountains cast long shadows making them easier to observe with a telescope or binoculars.

Visit the October 2021 Moon Phases Calendar to see all the daily moon phase for this month.

Today’s Waning Crescent Phase

The Waning Crescent on October 29 has an illumination of 43%. This is the percentage of the Moon illuminated by the Sun. The illumination is constantly changing and can vary up to 10% a day. On October 29 the Moon is 22.78 days old. This refers to how many days it has been since the last New Moon. It takes 29.53 days for the Moon to orbit the Earth and go through the lunar cycle of all 8 Moon phases.

The 8 Lunar Phases

There are 8 lunar phases the Moon goes through in its 29.53 days lunar cycle. The 4 major Moon phases are Full Moon, New Moon, First Quarter and Last Quarter. Between these major phases, there are 4 minor ones: the Waxing Crescent, Waxing Gibbous, Waning Gibbous and Waning Crescent. For more info on the Moon Cycle and on each phase check out Wikipedia Lunar Phase page.

Phase Details

Phase: Waning Crescent
Illumination: 43%
Moon Age: 22.78 days
Moon Angle: 0.51
Moon Distance: 393,075.58 km
Sun Angle: 0.54
Sun Distance: 148,558,227.43 km

Useful Moon Resources

If you need to calculate the planetary positions for a specific use and time, click on this link

Currentplanetarypositions.com

To figure out GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) to your local time use this link

For Your Local Time and Date

Northeastern Hemisphere

The time for the Custom Planetary Positions is from the local time in Frankfurt, Germany, Europe

29 October 2021
03:00 pm GMT 5:00 PM CET
Zodiac: Tropical (Standard Western)

Sun:06 Scorpio 24
Moon:15 Leo 28
Mercury:19 Libra 01
Venus:23 Sagittarius 20
Mars:29 Libra 21
Jupiter:22 Aquarius 33
Saturn:07 Aquarius 10
Uranus:13 Taurus 03 Rx
Neptune:20 Pisces 42 Rx
Pluto:24 Capricorn 27
True Lunar Node:02 Gemini 00 Rx
Mean Lunar Node:02 Gemini 53 Rx
Lilith (Black Moon):11 Gemini 26
Chiron:09 Aries 32 Rx
Ceres:10 Gemini 46 Rx
Pallas:09 Pisces 21 Rx
Juno:24 Sagittarius 39
Vesta:20 Scorpio 22
Eris:24 Aries 07 Rx
Fire:5
Earth:2
Air:8
Water:4
Cardinal:5
Fixed:6
Mutable:8

Northwestern Hemisphere

The time for the Custom Planetary Positions is from the local time in Denver, Colorado, USA

October 29, 2021
11:00 pm GMT 5:00 PM MT
Zodiac: Tropical (Standard Western)

Sun:06 Scorpio 44
Moon:19 Leo 42
Mercury:19 Libra 28
Venus:23 Sagittarius 40
Mars:29 Libra 34
Jupiter:22 Aquarius 34
Saturn:07 Aquarius 11
Uranus:13 Taurus 02 Rx
Neptune:20 Pisces 42 Rx
Pluto:24 Capricorn 27
True Lunar Node:02 Gemini 00 Rx
Mean Lunar Node:02 Gemini 52 Rx
Lilith (Black Moon):11 Gemini 28
Chiron:09 Aries 31 Rx
Ceres:10 Gemini 43 Rx
Pallas:09 Pisces 20 Rx
Juno:24 Sagittarius 46
Vesta:20 Scorpio 32
Eris:24 Aries 07 Rx
Fire:5
Earth:2
Air:8
Water:4
Cardinal:5
Fixed:6
Mutable:8

A Bewitching History: Why Witches Ride Broomsticks

From LiveScience.com

By Megan Gannon 

Among the throngs of this year’s trick-or-treaters, hundreds of Americans will be dressed as Miley Cyrus or a minion from “Despicable Me,” but more will go with a fail-safe getup. “Witch” once again reigns as the No. 1 costume for adults, according to the National Retail Federation’s 2013 Halloween survey.

Many of the pointy-hatted sorcerers who roam the streets this Oct. 31 will be carrying broomsticks or besoms. But few likely know the murky tale of how witches came to be associated with those familiar household objects.

The story — full of sex, drugs and Christian inquisitors — starts with poisonous plants like black henbane (Hyoscyamus niger), sometimes called stinking nightshade.

Flying ointments

Ingesting henbane, which is rich in powerful alkaloids, can cause hallucinations (if it doesn’t kill you first). According to legend, witches used herbs with psychoactive properties like henbane in their potions, or “flying ointments.” Some historical accounts suggest witches applied these ointments to their nether regions. And what better applicator than a wooden staff?

Lady Alice Kyteler, Ireland’s earliest known accused witch, was condemned to death for using sorcery to kill her husband in 1324. (Kyteler escaped, and her maid was burned at the stake in her stead.)

The English historian Raphael Holinshed later recounted the case and described some of the supposedly damning evidence authorities found against Kyteler:…

A Version of the History of Beltane

History of Beltane from beltanefire.com.au

The Beltane fire festival welcomes the abundance of the fertile earth and is celebrated with bonfires, Maypoles, burning of the Wickerman, dancing, and a feast, with its roots in European traditions, Beltane is observed by many of today’s Pagans and others as a time for performing rituals

The Celts divided the year into two main seasons. Winter, the beginning of the year fell on November 1 (Irish: Samain) and midyear and summer on May 1 (Irish: Beltaine), opposite for us here in the Southern Hemisphere.

These two junctures were thought to be critical periods when the bonds between the human and supernatural worlds were temporarily erased; on May Eve (southern hemisphere)…

History Cooperative – Countryside Festivals

Click here to read more about Countryside Festivals

As the Romans saw many natural thigns such as trees, rocks and other matters as possible hosts to spirits or bearers of some other religious significance, then the countryside bustled with spiritual hints by gods, ghosts and spirits. There was also not a thing which wasn’t somehow guarded by a deity.

Read More: Roman gods

There was gods who watched over fields, groves, orchards, vineyards, springs, woods and any other matter. Jupiter for example watched over oak trees which were sacred to him. As country life was inevitably connected to agriculture, which was at the whim of nature, religious life in the country therefore consisted primarily of appeasing he many gods around one, ensuring that they would guard the harvest and be merciful.

As the ancient calendar, before later changes by the Romans, began on waht is now 15 March, the first traditional festival of the country calendar was the liberalia on 17 March. It was held to honour Liber, the god of fertile crops and vineyards. (The liberalia was also the traditional date when a boy could become a man by being given his toga virilis.)

On 15 April came the fordicia in honour of the earth goddess Tellus. For this pregnant cows were slaughtered in sacrifice and in Rome animal fetuses were burnt on altars. The parilia festival which took place the week after the fordicia, saw sheep being herded and forced to jump across burning bales of straw, in order to be purified.

Another festival was that celebrating the goddess Ceres which took place on 19 April. Ceres was especially connected with agriculture, the harvest and, especially, grain. So her festival was no doubt of significance to farmers. There would be a ritual march around the boundaries of the land, the so called lustration, to purify it and to honour the goddess. In the earlier times of Rome the festival of Ceres would see faxes let loose with torches tied to their tails where later the grand arena of the Circus Maximus would stand.

After the festival of Ceres followed the vinalia rustica which was a wine feast to celebrate…

October 28 Today In History

Today’s Historical Events

1492 Christopher Columbus sights Cuba and claims it for Spain under the name “Juana”

1538 The first university in the New World, the Universidad Santo Tomás de Aquino, is established on Hispaniola

1746 Peruvian cities of Lima and Callao demolished by earthquake, 18,000 die

1904 St Louis police try a new investigation method – fingerprints

1919 Volstead Act passed by US Congress, establishing prohibition, despite President Woodrow Wilson‘s veto

1924 Miner M.de Bruin discovers the infant fossil skull, “Taung child” in a lime quarry in Taung, South Africa. Paleoanthropologist Raymond Dart identifies the fossil as a new hominin species, Australopithecus africanus.

Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV

1921 Amsterdam’s Tuschinski movie theater opens

Today’s Historical Events in Music

1828 Clara Wieck, age 9, makes her piano concert debut at the Gewandhaus concert hall in Clara Leipzig, Germany

Today’s Historical Events in Sports

1890 “World Championship” Baseball Series, Washington Park, NY: Louisville Colonels beat Brooklyn Bridegrooms, 6-2 in Game 7 to tie series 3-3-1; deciding game never played

1900 II Summer (Modern) Olympic Games, Paris, France: competition ends after 5 months; no opening or closing ceremonies conducted

1924 White Sox beat NY Giants 8-4 in Dublin, less than 20 fans attend

1934 Brooklyn Dodgers and Pittsburgh Pirates play first of only 4 penalty free games in NFL history; Dodgers wins 21-3 at Ebbets Field, Brooklyn

1951 Juan Manuel Fangio of Argentina wins Formula 1 World Drivers Championship by taking out the Spanish Grand Prix at Pedralbes in an Alpha Romeo; wins by 6 points from Alberto Ascari of Italy

1953 Red Barber, resigns as Dodger sportscaster to join Yankees

1954 Major league owners vote down sale of A’s to a Philadelphia syndicate

1959 American Football League awards Buffalo Bills franchise to Ralph C Wilson

1961 Ground broken for Municipal (Shea) Stadium for NY Mets

1962 Jo Weatherly in a Pontiac finishes 2nd to Rex White in season-ending Dixie 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway to clinch his 1st of 2 consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Championships

1962 NY Giant Y. A. Tittle passes for 7 touchdowns vs Wash Redskins (49-34)

1970 NBA Cleveland Cavaliers 1st home game, lose to San Diego 110-99

1973 Elmore Smith of Lakers blocks 17 shots in a game (NBA record)

1974 1st time 2 Islanders hat trick in same game-MacMillian & Westfall

1975 Calvin Murphy (Houston) begins NBA free throw streak of 58 games

October 28 Daily Correspondence Digest for the Northern Hemisphere Moon Phase and Planetary Positions

You can use this link to go forward or backward in time for Moon phase information. If you are curious you can even find out what phase the Moon was in when you or anyone else, you know was on the date the person was born. 

From Moongiant.com 

The Moon’s current phase for today and tonight is a Third Quarter phase. Sometimes called a Last Quarter Moon, this phase occurs roughly 3 weeks after the New Moon when the Moon is three quarter of the way through it’s orbit around the earth. If you live in the northern hemisphere the Moons left side will be illuminated and the right side will be dark. For those of you in the southern hemisphere it will be the opposite with the right side illuminated. On the day of the Third Quarter phase the Moon will rise around midnight on the eastern horizon and set in the west around noon the next day. In the days following the Third Quarter Phase the Moon’s illumination will decrees each day until the New Moon.

Visit the October 2021 Moon Phases Calendar to see all the daily moon phase for this month.

Today’s Last Quarter Phase

The Last Quarter on October 28 has an illumination of 53%. This is the percentage of the Moon illuminated by the Sun. The illumination is constantly changing and can vary up to 10% a day. On October 28 the Moon is 21.85 days old. This refers to how many days it has been since the last New Moon. It takes 29.53 days for the Moon to orbit the Earth and go through the lunar cycle of all 8 Moon phases.

The 8 Lunar Phases

There are 8 lunar phases the Moon goes through in its 29.53 days lunar cycle. The 4 major Moon phases are Full Moon, New Moon, First Quarter and Last Quarter. Between these major phases, there are 4 minor ones: the Waxing Crescent, Waxing Gibbous, Waning Gibbous and Waning Crescent. For more info on the Moon Cycle and on each phase check out Wikipedia Lunar Phase page.

Phase Details

Phase: Last Quarter
Illumination: 53%
Moon Age: 21.85 days
Moon Angle: 0.50
Moon Distance: 397,159.80 km
Sun Angle: 0.54
Sun Distance: 148,597,775.81 km

Useful Moon Resources

Some Thoughts About Celebrating Samhain

Samhain is a day of reflection of the past year while celebrating the new. It is a day that whatever has not been harvested from gardens, fields, bushes, and trees get left for the wildlife and Fea Folk. It is also a day to communicate with those who have crossed the veil into the Summerlands. Many pagans and witches say it is the day and/or night to honor only those that have crossed in the last year but I do not go along with this way of thinking. While those who have passed since November 1, 2020 up to today do need more comforting and remembering them then those that have crossed over in other years past. The farther back in time you go to those who have crossed before the last year the more chance there is that they will be forgotten totally.

Hypothetically, if crossed the veil say 30 years ago or longer and each generation after you talk about you less and less as each year passes soon you will be forgotten completely. That one reason I have my Book of Shadows and Family Grimoire as one book that I hope keeps growing after I am gone. I have also placed pictures of ancestors at different ages as well as pictures of myself alone and with family members both ancestors and descents. In the section for ancestors I have included a picture of their headstone and where it can be found if I know.

So this Samhain when you are setting the extra place at the table, lighting a candle for each ancestors name, or however you choose to honor your ancestors (remember an ancestor does not have to be blood related they can be anyone in your life that help to mold you into the person you are today.) Set one more place, light one more candle, or whatever your tradition to remember your ancestors is for those who names have been forgotten since the first Homosapien of any branch of the human gene pool lived.

I implore you all to remember that we all can trace our lineage back to this mish mash of a gene pool and that the energy that runs through us connects us to every other living things and not just on Mother Earth. So the next time you have a negative thought about someone for any reason at all remember you are also having that negative thought about yourself.

I picked this song to be included in this post because for me it helps me to remember those, female or male or other, who otherwise might be forgotten

Grandmother

I wish all my family, which means everyone reading this post and by blood, a happy and blessed Samhain.

 

Lady Beltane 2018

Reed Moon: Celtic Tree Calendar

To read more about the Celtic Reed Month by Sarah Wayt

The celebration of Samhain, now known as Halloween, occurs during the Reed Moon. To the Celts this month hailed the end of the year, a time to cull the livestock and to connect with ancestors. All around the world festivals that honour the dead are celebrated. During the Reed Moon, light a candle for loved ones who have died and you may receive a message from the spirit world.

Releasing old energy

The Reed Moon is a good time to use divination to gain insights into the year that has passed. Perform energy work that will release old energy, burn symbols of illness on your bonfire on November the 5th during your Guy Fawkes celebrations. Remember the Celtic year does not begin until the Winter Solstice so use this interval to dream, not to make plans for the future.

The haunting sound of reed

In the past, the reed was used to make swift-flying arrow shafts that slew both enemies and game. In this way the plant was linked to the season of death and sacrifice, in which trees shed their leaves and the energy of nature became more introspective. Many early musical instruments also used the reed to create a haunting sound that has been connected to rites for the dead and the summoning of spirits.

Wind instruments

Modern day wind instruments have developed the same principle used by original reed instruments. Whereby a current of air is vibrated to produce a melodic sound.

Other traditional uses for reed include thatching. Rooftops were thatched with reeds, and as the Celts withdrew into their homes for the winter they honoured the plant that gave them shelter, making the reed a symbol of royalty and protection.

Reed Moon energy…