Tag: Earth

Working by the Moon

Working by the Moon

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 increase 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 an can banish pain, sorrow or a destructive influence, a perfect phase of starting diet spells. As the moon decreases in size so the pull that holds negative people or factors in your life likewise weakens.

On Becoming a Crone

On Becoming a Crone

Author:   Belladonna SilverRayne   

Why is it so hard to admit we’re growing older? Why do we fight it tooth and nail? Society and the media as a whole, wants to show aging as something to be fought against, to be put off as long as possible. Why? Look at any sit-com, news broadcast, music video…. it’s all about being young and “beautiful”. Youth is made out to be the epitome of what we all want to be. Who wants to get old, right? Wrong!

I will be 45 on my next birthday. A fact that, when said out loud at first, made me mentally cringe. “Me? 45?? That means only 5 more years till I’m 50!!” After I said it aloud several times, and really thought about it, I could say it with confidence. Yes. Me. 45 going onto 50.

And I love it! I am moving into the Crone stage of my life, and enjoying every minute of it!

I loved the Maiden stage, when I was young, supple, carefree, and self-indulgent. Who among us didn’t? Life seemed so simple, so easy to handle. And it was. My biggest worry was what outfit I’d wear out to the club to dance and make merry with friends.

I sowed my oats, looked out for number one (me, of course) and just basically did my own thing. I moved at the speed of light, never really stopping to appreciate the things around me, never really taking anything in. Just “doing”. As I got a little older, I met the person that would become my husband and the father of my kids and we began our life together.

And I grew.

Then came Mother-hood. My body showed great evidence of the birthing of my children, as did my energy levels, emotional (in) stability, and newfound patience. I now had three other human beings, put on this Earth by me, all looking TO me to provide, nourish, teach, and love. Wow! As they grew, learned, made mistakes, and matured, I did as well. I managed to learn along the way to slow down a bit, to really notice things as they happened around me. I watched and listened a little more carefully now. I loved every moment, good and not so good, watching these amazing people who were once actual, living parts of my own body, turn into individuals, all truly unique within themselves, seeing them overcome hurdle after hurdle. Such a reward in life I will never receive again. Or will I?

I divorced my husband, and watched my kids growing older, going out on their own, and beginning their lives as young adults.

And I grew.

When I first began my Pagan path, I was still in what is considered the Mother stage, my kids were still relatively young and “needed” me in a mommy way. I was still very fertile, and the idea of having another baby sometime was not out of the question. Time passed and that idea faded, along with my monthly menses. (Can’t say I miss them much!)

It took me quite awhile to realize that I was no longer in that stage once the Croning period began. I wanted to fight it, to deny it, all for vain reasons, I’m sorry to say. I wanted to cling to that youth, or at least the image of it. Or so I thought. Now, after having met, gotten to know, and come to love, many admirable women, all in the Crone cycle of life, I am fully aware that I too am at that stage. And come to find out, it’s not so bad after all!

As I move into my Croning time, I don’t look at it as an ending, but a beginning, very akin to giving birth (only this time, I don’t think I’ll need all the medications!) . I will be giving birth to my Self. I can allow my Self to now grow, learn, and experience life, as I once allowed my children to do these things.

I am eager to gain more wisdom as time goes by, as the Great Wheel turns, and as season drifts into season.

I am learning to cherish the lines on my face, as each one stands for some lesson learned, some path walked down, perhaps a hardship suffered and come through stronger because of it.

I have begun to admire my stretch marks as battle scars, won not on the field of some war, but fighting to bring life into this world, one wonderful child at a time.

I now embrace the fullness of my softened body, knowing that even though it may not bring life into this world any longer, or be as taut and supple as it was two decades ago, it can still allow for pleasures, for physical support, and for living life in a healthy, Goddess-filled way!

I am now allowing my mature mind to expand and create in ways that it could not in the past.

I enjoy the younger ones coming to me, asking for my opinion, needing a particular sort of comfort that only someone my age can offer.

I am now ready to walk towards the end of my path in this particular life, knowing that even though it comes towards me quicker than ever, there is still much to gather, much to pass on, but still much MORE to learn and take in.

In Pagan societies (as well as many others) Elders are looked to for advice, comfort, wisdom, and as examples. Who better to follow than a grand Crone or Sage, not past their prime, but fully embracing it, fully aware of themselves as human beings? I so hope to be such an example, to my children, my Pagan brothers and sisters, and non-Pagan friends, alike. I want to show what it is to age gracefully, to accept that life is a never-ending cycle of birth, growth, death, and re-birth, in so many ways. I want everyone to see that while youth has it’s merits and perks, so does growing older and wiser.

Whatever stage of life you may be in as a woman. Maiden, Mother, or Crone, realize the absolute beauty of the moment, embrace it for all it is worth, and live each cycle to the fullest. Know that you have earned all that you are made up of, inside and out. And fear not, for Crone is not the end of the line, it is the goal we, as women, all strive to attain.

Autumn: The Croning Time

Autumn: The Croning Time

Author:   Lady Abigail   

Spirited away, my energy gently glides above the treetops like a down feather blown within the circling wind. Below, I see the quilted workings of Mother Earth in the patches of green grass, freshly plowed ground and fields of grain ready now for the harvest. The air is sweet and cool as it moves round my body and delights me like loving whispers of voices unknown. Faeries dance on wing; their joyous laughter calling my spirit ever on. Reaching down, I try to grasp a bright purple leaf from atop the sugar maple. As my energy moves within the magickal moment, I feel the sun warming me as it moves through the essences of my being, giving glimmers of what possibilities lie just beyond. . .

And then, in a sound, a spark of light, the cracking of a twig, I find myself laying atop the freshly cut hay ready for baling. Yet looking down I find within my hand the big and beautiful purple leaf from the top of the old sugar maple. Did I pick it up in my dreams or from under the tree? In my heart I shall always believe it came within that veil of magick just between dreams and what others call reality.

I always looked forward to sharing my adventures with my Great Grandmother. She, in her wisdom, would listen to each of my quests with attentive wonder and delight. It didn’t matter if they were ones of my chasing a frog down the creek bank for a few short and muddy hours, or those that carried me above the tree tops and into the veils of magick and possibility. She was there for me, smiling and teaching; teaching me many lessons I still remember even today.

Now that Autumn is here and Samhain is quickly approaching, I cannot help but remember the magick I felt and still feel today in this time of changing. The energy seems to rise within my spirit, as it sparks and dances across the essence of my soul. It touches me in memories and stories shared as my Great Grandmother would teach the old ways and the understanding of the Seasons of Life. In this, I again feel I can soar above the treetops in the arms of Autumn.

Fall is more than a season or that time of transition from summer to winter. Fall is what my Great Grandmother called the “Croning Time;” that time where the giving of life moves to the teaching of life within wisdom, no longer giving birth to new life, but nurturing all that is life and all that life brings.

Autumn is the “Spirit Goddess of the Changing.” She is guardian of the Croning Time.” Autumn in Her feminine form, is welcoming us unto Her as She, in wisdom, changes to the Crone. Autumn is a Grandmother Goddess and a keeper of the Cauldron of Life. She is wise with great knowledge and the understanding, which has grown within and of her experiences. Proud and strong, She dresses in the glorious colors of all that She is and shall be again.

As the Great Crone, Autumn, welcomes us with understanding of our own personal changes within the seasons that are life. She teaches us that Fall, as the Croning Time, is a time of celebration and joy. As we celebrate the seasons and ourselves, we find the wisdom within to see the beauty held in all the colors that make life the magick that it truly is.

Today in the eternal goal of everlasting youth, we find disgrace in and hide the changes of our personal seasons of life. Wrinkles are no longer seen as the lines of knowledge and understanding from the roads in life we have traveled and conquered. Now they are marks of shame for what nature brings us. We fight and pull and dug until sometimes, we cannot even recognize the reflection looking back at us in the mirror.

Graying hair is no longer a crown of wisdom, but a symbol of old age to be hidden. Age is no longer held as a destination of honor but is approached with the fear that we will be cast away, unimportant and forgotten. For our society finds it easer to lock away the wisdom of the aged behind closed doors than to seek the secrets held within. Perhaps age causes us dread because it uncovers within what our emotions fear. For when we are faced with those aged by life it reminds us each of the approach of inevitable death. Death no longer being a new beginning but the end of what was.

Autumn, as the Great Crone reminds us, that time life and death are but a thought, a moment flashing past eternity. Not to be feared but each to be relished and enjoyed. For as with the seasons, each holds it on gifts. Spring, Her excitement of the possibilities of the magick life holds anew. Summer, Her knowledge growing as She gives birth to new beginnings and eternal hope. Autumn, in Her wisdom and beauty reminds us of all that we have and all we have to give. Winter, wraps us in Her soft blanket of white that we might rest within the arms of Mother Earth to be reborn again in Spring. For this time shall come again as time circles forward in the Great Wheel of Life.

For thousands of years, women of wisdom and age were honored, valued and revered as the Elder Women. Autumn, as the Spirit Goddess of the Changing, is also the guardian of the Croning Time. Dressed in Her radiant colors, She reminds us of the respect held by those who are entering The Croning Time. Autumn allows us to reclaim our identity and status of the ancients, as Crones and Elders. We are coming of age, accessing our wisdom and acting upon it. Croning is the process of becoming active wise women.

Croning can begin at any age and is particularly relevant for women 45 and older. Yet, even men can become Crones within their on understandings of this passage. Personal experiences of aging provide the understanding of your path within this Time of Changing. It is up to us to decide how the circumstances of life transform us and move us forward.

We can no more hold back time and aging than we can stop the Great Wheel as it moves forward in its seasons. Perhaps the reason we all find such a joyous renewal in the energy of fall is the power that Autumn gives us over the fear of change, in both life and death. Change should not be feared but celebrated, for life has given us another year of wonder, magick and beauty.

My Great Grandmother opened my eyes to the magick of the seasons. She walked with me as I found the Goddess all around me, dressed in Her bright and fiery colors of reds, oranges, purples, and gold’s. When I became tired, she encouraged me to walk forward on the hillsides and watch the morning rise as the glistening dew gave a kaleidoscope of color on the leaves. When I became weak, she would carry me until I could once more hear the sweet mystical voice flowing in the breeze that would renew my spirit.

Autumn is the Croning Time, a time of magick, a time for renewal of spirit. As you experience the mysterious energy of this mystical season, allow the child within you to replenish your soul . . . and again look to the treetops in their beauty and touch the veils beyond.

Now I am the Crone, proud to teach those within my life in honor to my Great Grandmother. Let the magick of the Season truly touch your spirit as you walk forward in the colors of life.

By; Lady Abigail
High Priestess Ravensgrove Coven
Greenfield, IN area
Copyright © 01102009

Transitions …my journey from Spring into Autumn

Transitions  …my journey from Spring into Autumn

A child of the Moon is born, to two loving parents. She grows, nurtured by the strength of their love; safe, snug, secure and happy. All is well with her world. She is the Maiden; unfolding, blossoming, learning, yearning, hungry for knowledge. Seeking, wondering, always questioning. Entranced by the esoteric, the mysterious, the doctrines shunned by her parents, beliefs derided or feared, the source of future contention and turmoil. Something beckons… She sees in her world many things, many people. Her grandparents, loving and wise, teach her more of their ways than they realise; their love of the Earth, to plant, to harvest, to give back again, to keep the cycle turning, to see the beauty of the sunrise and sunset. Their own quiet, unspoken spirituality, always hidden, kept very private. She sees her father, the strong, quiet, scientific atheist, and her mother, the emotional, spiritual believer in God. Differences aside, their love is strong. Still, something beckons… As she grows, thoughts and ideas form. She quietly ponders, wonders, in her solitude. Why is she so different? She does not fit into the world of her parents, her brother, or peers. She feels somehow distant, alienated, alone. Her mother, newly Croned, has found new faith in Jehovah; passionately, fervently fresh and fanatical, dangerous, derisive, divisive. The Maiden wants no part of it. The Crone burns the Maiden’s secret treasures out of fear for her daughter’s soul. No respect, trust destroyed, childhood ended. Yet still, something beckons… The Maiden is now a Mother, scarred by the past, but matured, complacent. Her parents still together, father in quiet resignation with the wife, and the life he now knows. Their love is still strong. The new Mother still seeking, yearning, learning, hungry for knowledge, finds solace in crystals and herbal lore while teaching her children love, respect and tolerance. A new freedom of expression is slowly emerging; a desire to heal the heart, the people and the Earth, to plant, to harvest, to give back again, to keep the cycle turning. And still, something beckons… Cronehood fast approaches and still the Mother seeks; forever learning, hungry for knowledge of that which beckons. Fears of history repeating itself as she realises her goal. Has she become like her own mother, or has she learned? She treads softly, quietly, makes no waves, only ripples under the Moonlight. She has learned to stay silent, to hide what she now sees. It is not yet time to reveal new insights. Fear of rejection, ridicule haunts her dreams. Slowly confidence builds, to tell her atheist husband gently, softly, carefully reassuring. This is not a repeat of history but a lesson learned from it. Their love is strong. Cronehood, a heartbeat away, Her time; not of endings but of new beginnings. A time to blossom in the Sunlight with insight of that which beckons; the Goddess, to complement the God, the seen and unseen, dualities in  balance. Yet she has the wisdom to stay silent in the Moonlight as needed. The realisation that what is, always has been. To see the many different paths as aspects of the One, There is no one true path, but many. A time of forgiveness, understanding and tolerance, and to nurture those qualities within herself and others. This is her time, to share with her husband and children the wisdom of the Goddess; the Maiden, Mother and Crone. Their love is strong. Jenny Taylor (Jenwytch) I wrote this poem a while back, about my life and my journey into Witchcraft and Paganism which coincided with the beginnings of my transition from Mother to Crone …a similar age to when my own mother turned to a different spiritual path.  ;-) ~ Jenny

The Witches Almanac for Monday, September 3rd

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The Witches Almanac for Monday, September 3rd

Monday (Moon): Peace, sleep, healing, compassion, friends, psychic awareness, purification and fertility

Founder’s Day (San Marino)

Waning Moon

The Waning Moon is a time for study, meditation, and little magickal work (except magick designed to banish harmful energies).

Moon Phase: Fourth Quarter

Moon Sign: Leo

Leo: Draws emphasis to the self, central ideas, or institutions, away from connections with others and other emotional needs. People tend to be melodramatic.

Moon enter Virgo 6:43 am

Virgo: Favors accomplishment of details and commands from higher up. Focuses on health, hygiene, and daily schedules.

Incense: Hyssop

Color: Topaz

Good Tuesday Morning! May The Goddess' Love Shine Down On All!

Mystic Goddess who  the night

Lend your wisdom to my sight

Fiery God who lights the days

Guide me in your ancient ways

　

Earth and water, Fire and air

Come and lend your powers here

As we gather the circle ’round

Guard us on this holy ground

　

Salt and censor, scourge and knife

Aid us in our magic rite

Stay with us when we must part

Keep the Craft ‘live in our hearts

So Mote It Be

The Witches Almanac for Monday, September 2

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The Witches Almanac for Monday, September 2

Monday (Moon): Peace, sleep, healing, compassion, friends, psychic awareness, purification, and fertility.

 

Labor Day

 

Waning Moon

The Waning Moon is a time for study, meditation, and little magickal work (except magick designed to banish harmful energies).

Moon Phase: Fourth Quarter

Moon Sign: Leo

Leo: Draws emphasis to the self, central ideas, or institutions, away from connections with others and other emotional needs. People tend to be melodramatic.

Incense: Rosemary

Color: Silver

Wishing You & Yours A Very Happy & Relaxing Labor Day!

HAPPY LABOR DAY, WOTC!

For all those working Witches, Wiccans & any other Traditions that may be joining us today. This Is Your Day!

You get up every morning. Go to work and work your rump off. Come home eat supper, take a bath and go to bed. You occasionally stop to think no one appreciates you. Boy, are you wrong! The States have put a day aside to acknowledge you and the hard work you do every day. You know why?

Because You Make this Country Great! You are our Backbone! We appreciate everything you do and we want to take this day to acknowledge you. And to say “Thank You!”

Today's Herb for September 1 is Wormwood

Today’s Herb for September 1

Wormwood

Wormwood can be burnt to summon the spirits of the dead. The balsam is used in black magickal workings for wrath and revenge. Wormwood also induces strong dreams. It is poisonous and should only be ingested in very small amounts. Placing Wormwood in the path of a hated one will cause them bad luck. Wormwood should be infused with the earth element when the planet Saturn should be strongly placed and waxing. The Moon should be waning.

Today's Moon Phase for Sept. 1 is Waning Crescent

Crescent Moon

(waning /13% illumination)

This is a time to rest, reevaluate and reflect, pulling back into yourself to reconnect with inner sources of strength. Now is not a time to initiate anything new. It’s a phase suited to spending time with friends and getting in touch with the “big picture.” A window of opportunity exists for seeing your life objectively and becoming aware of what is important to you. At this point, what are your dreams and aspirations? What larger goals can you aspire to that will bring vitality and excitement into your life? This is a time for resting and gaining inner strength to prepare for a new cycle.

Current Moon Phase for August 31 – Last Quarter

Last Quarter Moon

(waning/30% illumination)

The time of reaping is at hand. There is a feeling of completion infused into the atmosphere during the Last Quarter Moon. The opportunity opens to recognize how far you’ve come in various parts of your life. This is not a good time for new beginnings, but rather a reflective period suited to evaluating how you have been using your time and what has been accomplished. Issues of authority may arise. This Moon phase supports taking responsibility for actively tying up the loose ends of projects that are already underway.

Let's Talk Witch – Heaven and Earth

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Let’s Talk Witch – Heaven and Earth

Christianity has its heaven. Buddhism has nirvana. Where do witches go when they die? Many of them believe that their souls go to Summerland, a resting place before reincarnation into new bodies, in an ongoing cycle of birth, life, death, and rebirth.

Generally speaking, witches and Wiccans accept the idea of reincarnation, a belief that has also existed in numerous cultures and faiths for a very long time. Some African tribes claim the soul goes into the belly of the earth to await rebirth. In China, the spirits of the dead are said to wait in the underworld (which is not hell, but simply a place for spirits). Hindus believe that the spirit, freed from the physical body, waits to be reborn from the stars.

If your soul previously inhabited other bodies, why can’t you remember your previous lives? It seems that between death and rebirth memories of past lives are veiled, perhaps to prevent confusion or to enable you to enter into a new lifetime with a fresh perspective. Many people say their memories of previous existences have reawakened in dreams, during meditation, through hypnosis or regression therapy, or as a result of some type of traumatic experience.

Perhaps you’ve had a déjà vu experience or encountered someone you felt you’d known forever, even though you’d just met. Those common occurrences are often explained as evidence of reincarnation. Indeed, a great deal of research has been conducted over the years that support the idea. Regardless of whether you recall your past lives, the events of previous incarnations shape your present existence.

And what about animals? Do they come back? Can humans be reborn as animals? No one knows for certain. If you ask some pet owners, they’ll tell you animals display uncanny psychic abilities and seem to have a soul or spirit. Witches often have exceptionally strong ties with animal companions whom they call “familiars.” Although Hindus believe humans can reincarnate as other species, witches generally accept that human souls come back to earth in human bodies.

 

The Everything Wicca and Witchcraft Book (Everything®)
Author: Skye Alexander

The Witches Almanac for Saturday, August 31st

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The Witches Almanac for Saturday, August 31st

Saturday (Saturn):  Longevity, exorcism, endings, home and houses.

Unto These Hills Pageant (Cherokee)

 

Waning Moon

The Waning Moon is a time for study, meditation and little magickal work (except magic designed to banish harmful energies).

Moon Phase:  Fourth Quarter

Moon Sign: Cancer

Cancer: Stimulates emotional rapport between people. Pinpoints need, supports growth and nurturance. Tends to domestic concerns.

Incense:  Patchouli

Color: Blue

Daily Cosmic Calendar for August 30th

The last two days of August 2013 are much more favorable than the first two days of this month. Gone are the tense sky patterns that potentially wreaked havoc around the world and in humanity as July morphed into August. Instead, once the Moon leaves void status in Gemini by entering its natural abode of Cancer (4:34AM), there is a renewal of focus on home and family concerns. Plus, a Grand Triangle in water signs is present since the Moon trines Neptune in Pisces (12:24PM) as well as Saturn in Scorpio (6:54PM). This can bring the odd couple of materialistic-logical-pragmatic Saturn and religious-spiritual-idealistic Neptune to the bargaining table — allowing you to create a delicate rainbow bridge between whatever represents Earth and Heaven to you personally.  It doesn’t hurt at all that Vesta makes an inspirational, 72-degree link to Saturn (3:26AM) while Mercury forges a supportive, 60-degree connection with Jupiter (8:11PM). The Vesta-Saturn and Mercury-Jupiter favorable sky patterns can help you gradually increase the value of your assets and investments through enhanced intellectual and intuitive ways of thinking.  If you want to be more active in a physical manner today, there is the joy of cooking, baking, gardening, and traveling down memory lane by investigating your ancestral tree. (Note to readers: All times are calculated for Pacific Daylight Time. Be sure to adjust all times according to your own local time so the alignments noted above will be exact for your location.)

Calendar of the Moon for August 30th

Calendar of the Moon

Dark Moon Night

Color: Black
Element: Air
Altar: Upon a black cloth set a single black candle, incense, an iron sickle laid to mimic the direction of the waning moon, a cup of water, a lock of silver hair, and a white bone.
Offerings: Bones. Stones. Menstrual blood. Give something up.
Daily Meal: Soup of some sort, cooked in a cauldron, eaten in silence.

Dark Moon Invocation

At this time, in the dark of the moon,
When the Silver Lady ages
To an old woman in the dark,
Haunting crossroads, working magic,
Stirring her cauldron
Of poison that heals,
Grandmother Moon of sorcery
And wisdom, who sees all
And reveals little to our searching eyes.
Moon of Death, Moon of mystery,
Moon of silence who hides her face,
Let us learn silence from your averted gaze
Let us learn patience from your aging face
Let us feel for the dark places within us
And find our way down your path in the darkness
Which is utter and complete
But not impenetrable.
As darkness wraps us,
So silence heals us.
As darkness finds us,
So silence guides us.
As darkness speaks,
So silence falls.

(The candle is blown out, and all leave in silence. From the beginning of this rite at Hesperis until the dawn, silence will rule in the house. Talking must be done only in whispers, and between no more than two people, and only for that which is necessary. Long meditation is encouraged, and all work must be done quietly if possible. The evening meal should be eaten by candlelight, and only candles may light the house, except for the sake of certain important work.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Current Moon Phase for Aug. 30th – Last Quarter

Last Quarter Moon

(waning/36% illumination)

The time of reaping is at hand. There is a feeling of completion infused into the atmosphere during the Last Quarter Moon. The opportunity opens to recognize how far you’ve come in various parts of your life. This is not a good time for new beginnings, but rather a reflective period suited to evaluating how you have been using your time and what has been accomplished. Issues of authority may arise. This Moon phase supports taking responsibility for actively tying up the loose ends of projects that are already underway.

Current Moon Phase for Aug. 28th is Last Quarter Moon

Last Quarter Moon

(waning/76% illumination)

The time of reaping is at hand. There is a feeling of completion infused into the atmosphere during the Last Quarter Moon. The opportunity opens to recognize how far you’ve come in various parts of your life. This is not a good time for new beginnings, but rather a reflective period suited to evaluating how you have been using your time and what has been accomplished. Issues of authority may arise. This Moon phase supports taking responsibility for actively tying up the loose ends of projects that are already underway.

Moon in Gemini (Aug 27, 2013 to Aug 30, 2013)

Moon in Gemini

Aug 27, 2013 to Aug 30, 2013

Feeling restless? The Moon says, “You’re a butterfly. A kite on a windy day. Soar, spin, let your thoughts roam. Start a couple new books. Visit friends. Enjoy the incredible lightness of being.” And just try to stop yourself from gossiping! That’s Hermes at work, the god behind this Gemini Moon: stirring up curiosity and light-hearted tricks, delighting in stories and finding the world of people endlessly fascinating. Hermes is the messenger, if you ask a question, be alert for the answer. Listen, and it will come. Given Gemini’s caprice, don’t be surprised if the weather suddenly shifts. Take advantage of the mutable atmosphere. Change your mind about something. See several sides of an issue you’ve been stuck on. If your shoulders are tense, consider dropping a few responsibilities. Then make a peace offering to your lungs and jittery nerves. Take slow, deep breaths while falling asleep. Imagine bad habits falling away.

Calendar of the Moon for August 28th

Calendar of the Moon

Coll Invocation

Colors: Blue and Brown
Element: Water and Earth
Altar: Upon cloth of blue place a goblet of spring water, the figure of a leaping salmon, and three blue candles; next to them on cloth of brown place a musical instrument, a pen, and fresh flowers.
Offerings: Poetry, songs, art, writing.
Daily Meal: Either fish (for the Salmon), poultry (for the Duck) or salads.

Coll Invocation:

Call: Hail the month of the Hazel Tree!
Response: Hail the month of the nuts that nourish us.
Call: First tree of the harvest, you give forth wisdom.
Response: Last tree of the summer, you chant our memories.
Call: The fading warmth follows you,
Response: And we feast on the fruits of your knowledge.
Call: This is the month of words and song.
Response: This is the month of the search for the mysteries.
Call: This is the month of the sacred pool,
Response: Wherein swims the Salmon of Knowledge.
Call: We fish for the gleams of divine light on the surface,
Response: We dive for the truths that lie deep in the Well.
Call: Our intuition is the hazel-twig held before us.
Response: We shall search out the underground streams.
Call: We shall find the hidden treasures.
Response: We shall spread them forth in words of power.
Call: We shall bring them forth with our hands in works of art,
Response: We shall gift the Gods and the people with our songs.
Call: Our voices will find their way across the land.
Response: Hear us, O Gods, as we sing your praises!
Call: This is the month of the bard’s silver tongue,
Response: This is the month of the golden door of autumn.
Call: As the Hazel Tree stands with words of peace,
Response: So shall we stand between the warring parties.
Call: So shall our Rule spread Justice and Peace,
Response: So shall our words spread beauty and harmony.

(As this is the month of the Bard, one or more shall stand forth and sing before the others, or read what words they would, to bring gladness and knowledge to the hearts of those who listen.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Current Moon Phase for Aug. 28th – Last Quarter

Last Quarter Moon

(waning/48% illumination)

The time of reaping is at hand. There is a feeling of completion infused into the atmosphere during the Last Quarter Moon. The opportunity opens to recognize how far you’ve come in various parts of your life. This is not a good time for new beginnings, but rather a reflective period suited to evaluating how you have been using your time and what has been accomplished. Issues of authority may arise. This Moon phase supports taking responsibility for actively tying up the loose ends of projects that are already underway.