Tag: Folklore

SUPERSTITIONS

A WORD ABOUT SUPERSTITIONS

I guess most of us are just a tad superstitious, at least to the point where we
don’t take unnecessary chances. You know, better safe than sorry.
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There are certain superstitions that I go along with, but breaking a mirror
brings seven years bad luck ain’t one of ’em. Heck, I know a man who broke one
and he didn’t have seven years bad luck at all. He was run over by a train and
killed the day after he broke it.

Here is a list of southern superstitions I’ve heard all my life. I’m sure you
will remember a number of them:

– If you sweep dirt out of the house on Friday, the house will burn down.

– Wash your hair in the first rain in May, and it will grow faster.

– Cross your eyes and jump over a ditch at midnight, and your eyes will stay
crossed forever.

– See a cardinal, make a wish, and pinch someone to make it come true.

– Make a wish on a redbird before it flies, and your wish will come true.

– Sleep with a mirror under your pillow, and you will see your future husband.

– When a man’s second toe is longer than his big toe, he will be henpecked.

– If a bride goes to the altar with some salt in her pocket, she will always be
happy.

– When fish jump above the water, look for rain.

– Run into a cobweb, and you’ll get a letter.

– If your palm itches, you are going to get some money.

– If your nose itches, it means you are going to have company.

– Carry in your pocket a button you’ve found, and it will bring you good luck.
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– Walking on the other side of a post from a friend will bring on a quarrel,
unless you say “bread and butter.”

– Snakes will not come around a place where gourds are growing.

– It will bring much bad luck if you sleep on new, unwashed sheets.

– To become beautiful, get behind a door and eat a chicken foot.

– A woman who drops her apron will lose a friend.

– If your left foot itches, you will walk where you’re not welcome.

– Look under a bed, and you’ll never marry.

– It’s bad luck to lean a broom against a bed.

– If someone sweeps under your feet, you’ll never marry.

– If your initials spell a word, you will become rich.

– If your shoestring becomes untied, someone is talking about you.

– Shaking hands over a fence will bring bad luck.

– Those whose teeth grow wide apart will be travelers.

– Always step into a courtroom on your right foot when you have business there.

– A woman with short fingers makes a good manager.

– If you sneeze before breakfast, you’ll see your sweetheart before Saturday
night.

– If you can see the sunshine through a man’s ears, he’s a rascal and can’t be
trusted.

– Whistle in bed and you’ll cry before the next night.

– You can be sure of rough weather if the grape or pecan crop is heavy.

– It’s bad luck to climb over anybody in bed.

– It causes bad luck if you bring an old broom into a new house.

– It’s bad luck to take up ashes from the fireplace during the Christmas season.

– If a fly flies around your face continually, a stranger hopes to meet you.

– Cut your fingernails before breakfast on Monday morning, and you’ll get a
present before the week is over.

– Forget to wash a skillet and you can expect a guest for the next meal.

– When hornets nests are low, it will be a cold winter.

– The first thunder of spring wakes up the snakes and tells you that winter is
gone.

– It’s good luck for a butterfly to light on your shoulder.

– A wish made in a bed that’s never been slept in will come true.

– You can utter any untruth your heart desires as long as your fingers are
crossed.

Your Charm For August 15th is the Book of Charms

 

 Your Charm For August 15th

Today’s Meaning:  

A would be intruder into your private affairs will be averted by steps you take to protect this aspect. The book of charms indicates you should take extra steps to protect information and beware of anyone asking for personal data.

General Description:

The Batak, or Bark Book of Charms, is a magical ritual implicitly believed in by the natives of Sumatra. It is consulted as a reliable guide and counsellor in their private and important affairs. In the East Indian Archipelago superstition talismans, and amulets, play a most important part in the lives of the natives. Sickness is attributed to the patient being possessed of an evil spirit, and their witch doctors profess to expel the intruder by the means of charms. Often the names of the sufferes are changed in order to deceive the evil spirits.

Inviting Magickal Fey Into Your Garden

Inviting Magickal Fey Into Your Garden

by Jimbo

Fairies, Gnomes, Nymphs, Sprites… Creatures of the Earth,  Air, Fire and Water… those who live in the veil between this plane and the  next… mischievous, lucky, magickal, beautiful and grotesque, large and  small… All fey friends welcome! Welcome! We invite you to inspire us! We invite  you to invigorate us! Infuse us with mirth and laughter! Excite us with  your magick and mischief — in a good way. Come! Play with us! We welcome you.

Many a tale has been spun throughout the ages involving  some sort of mysterious creature. Fairy Tales, Fables, Folk Tales — often  with a trickster, prankster, or magical creature that grants wishes!

I believe that these creatures exist all around us — often unseen  in the nooks and crannies of our lives. Where many often banish the fey, I  invite them into my rituals — to aid me in my magick.

What do the fey represent?

Every person has their own relationship with the archetypes  represented by different fey creatures. I like to think of the fey as a  “personification of nature”.

The apple tree in the back yard has a true personality — it’s an  old, chatty wise woman, with her sweet apples and knobby branches. She  is great for climbing, and if you sit in a particular spot, she tells you  stories about the orchard that used to live there, and all sorts of things that  have happened. She loves to cradle you as she sings you the song of the  sunset, and whispers as the breeze flows through her leaves. She is a tree  nymph _ and she is wonderful. Also in the yard are lots of little fey — a  family of gnomes under the shed, and a whole clan of fairies in the back  fence overgrown with prickly blackberries. (They like to steal a tool or two  and bury them somewhere in the lawn)

You, too, can bring the fun and  frolic of the fey alive in your personal space as well. You can create a  special garden or shrine devoted to the fey.

Be creative! There are so many ways to invite these wonderful  creatures into your life! From simply hanging a sparkly wind chime outside,  to placing a sweet cookie on a pretty plate on your altar, gestures to  the fey really make a difference.

Here are some ideas on how to create a garden for your yard or  a smaller one for indoors. But this is by no means a limit to the different  ways you can connect with that special inspiration we can only attribute to  our beloved fey friends.

Indoors

Bring some of that ethereal inspirational spirit into your apartment  with an indoor fey shrine.

Start with a miniature arboretum. It can be planted in any size or  shape of container — many of which are available at home and garden stores.

Fill the planter with soil and plant herbs, moss and even  mushrooms. Smaller leaved herbs work well, like thyme and oregano. If well  clipped, rosemary and dill are great too. Think about the type of fey that may  live with you in your space, and allow them to inspire the selection of plants.  Add some rocks, crystals, and a pretty ceramic bowl to use as a reflecting pool.

You can also create a hidden garden in a large houseplant you  already have. Beneath the broad leaves of a Peace Lilly or the branches of a  Fichus tree, arrange some small sparkly stones, and tie some colorful  ribbon to the stalks. With two different colors of fish-tank pebbles, create a  pattern on the soil.

The fey (and cats) that live in your house will enjoy discovering  these elusive hideaways!

Outdoors

Outdoors, the possibilities are endless. Use rocks or bricks to  build some sort of altar to the fey. Landscape a small area of your yard  with pebbles, crystals and a variety of plants. Transplant that  bothersome moss in your lawn to your fey garden — it will really grow! In the  spring, plant Lobelia, Forget-me-nots, Baby’s Breath, and even Cosmos. I enjoy  planting purple flowers in the spring that  bloom all summer. In the winter there are all sorts of perennials that can  be planted: herbs, grasses, ferns and succulents are good ideas.

Using found materials that are attractive to the fey is a good  approach, especially in residential areas. Tiles, which can often be obtained  inexpensively, are a nice touch to a garden. You can also place special crystals  here and there. I like to work small, and create little wee places for my  fey friends to play.

If you see mushrooms in your yard, dig up a small patch around  them, and transplant to your garden. They will spore there and more will  grow next season.

You can add a fairy mound — a small hill covered in moss, with a  small door (from a doll house, or hand crafted) on the side. A variation is  a small round mirror or reflecting pool on the top.

Even branches tied together with an old window, arranged rocks, a  shiny pinwheel, and ribbon streaming from the fixture is sure to keep the fey  as well as your human guests enchanted.

There are so many little things to do in the mundane world that  attract the fey. Perhaps the best idea of all is to allow these magickal creatures  to speak to you in meditation — they will let you know what they want  (believe me!).

Good Blessed Thursday Morning, My Dearest Friends & Family!

This was simply too cute to pass up, also so true. You find a true friend hang on to them and never let go. They are a precious gift from the Goddess!

Down to business, lol! Me, business, PLEASE! I thought today we would put up the magickal correspondences for the gems associated with Yule. Some of the gems are familiar, I believe there might be one or two odd ones that we probably don’t use very often. Also I have the Yule Daily Devotional Course, which I signed up for you. Guess What? Today will be the current issue! In addition to all the, I tracked down the story of The Snow Maiden. It is a Russian tale which is not that well known in the States. The version I found doesn’t tell the story totally. It gives you a glimpse into the tale. The Snow Maiden is a tale we would associate with Frosty the Snowman. I have been trying to track down winter folklore and tales from across the world. I love to hear and learn things from other countries. Heck, I have been trying to get the Australians in the Southern Hemisphere site to teach me to speak Australian. Would you believe I have not had one offer yet. I am wondering if they think it is to hard for me to learn, hmm!

Sorry I got totally side tracked. I am through rambling now. I am off to work. I hope you enjoy today’s edition.

Have a very Blessed & Happy Thursday,

Luv & Hugs,

Lady A

 

More Friends Corner Comments

Healing Charms

HEALING CHARMS

Here are two charms to help heal someone who is ill.  
It works really well for fevers that cannot be broken 
as well as the common flu.  Write the following on 
a piece of white paper and sew it on linen or muslin, 
then hang it around the patient's neck to be worn 
until the illness has abated.

ABRACADABRA
ABRACADABR
ABRACADAB
ABRACADA
ABRACAD
ABRACA
ABRAC
ABRA
ABR
AB
A

You may also use the alternative:

ABAXACATABAX
ABAXACATABAX
ABAXACATABA
ABAXACATAB
ABAXACATA
ABAXACAT
ABAXACA
ABAXAC
ABAXA
ABAX
ABA
AB
A

Living The Life Of The Witch – Do You Have What It Takes?

Do You Have What It Takes?

 

Curses are not for the namby-pamby. Nor are they for fluffy bunnies or for those who insist that even the worst of horrors happen for a reason. They are for gutsy folks with the courage to do something about their situations when all other possibilities have been exhausted.

But just the same, curses aren’t to be taken lightly or flung about without due cause and serious thought. They’re not your normal type of magick and certainly not anything that should be performed as readily as a protection spell or a money spell.  In fact, there’s good reason that they’re usually at the top of the magickal practitioner’s ten-foot-pole list. And contrary to popular belief, taking responsibility for your actions is the least of your worries.

To start with, cursing someone takes an inordinate amount of energy. Your energy. Energy that you’ve stored for other things, like the simple business of everyday living. And cursing someone effectively is going to wipe out all your reserves. But even if that weren’t the case, it’s important to remember that you’re going to be transferring that energy to the person on the other end of your magick. So there’s a good chance that you’re inadvertently going to pick up some of that person’s energy along the way too. Do you really want that nasty stuff on you? Probably not.

Another thing is that the only substance that will fuel a curse properly is anger. Trying to fuel it with love or adding a “for the good of all concerned” codicil simply isn’t going to cut it. In order to even get the spell off the ground, you’re going to have to be so mad that you can’t see straight. So mad that even strangling the person in question with your bare hands wouldn’t be enough to suit you. Yes, you’re going to have to absolutely, uncontrollably, beyond the shadow of a doubt, livid pissed—more infuriated and enraged than you’ve ever been in your entire life and are ever likely to be again. And you need to know whether you’ve got what it take to work yourself up into that sort of irrepressible hissy fit.. What’s more, though, do you even want to?

Further, you’re also going to have to believe that you are unquestionably correct in the need to curse someone. Rationalization to suit your own purposes isn’t going to get it. You have to be right. You have to be sure. There isn’t any room for error or an after-the-fact “Oops…I was mistaken” when it comes to curses. The effects can be finite. What’s more, you can’t even begin to second guess yourself. Do you have that sort of resolve?

If none of this bothers you, and you’re absolutely certain of your position, then a curse is probably the way to go. And if not? Well, it’s best left alone.

Excerpt from:

“A Hex Upon Thee”
Utterly Wicked
Curses, Hexes or Other Unsavory Notions
By Dorothy Morrison

Today’s Charm for September 2 is The Amulet Box

Your Charm for September 2

Today’s Meaning:     

There are papers in your near future. This aspect is affect by legal papers of some kind–a contract, a deed or a license of some kind. These papers will bring improvement to your life.

General Description:  

The people of Tibet are most superstitious. It is the custom for almost everyone to wear charms. The Amulet-box illustrated contains small inscribed scrolls covered with magical characters. These magical formulae are written and blessed by their Lamas. The scrolls are believed to be all powerful spells for appeasing evil spirits, keeping the wearers from all physical harm, safeguarding them from every kind of danger, and protecting them from the blighting effects of the evil eye. Many of these charm boxes are of gold elaborately chased, and encrusted with turquoise.

Lighten Up – I Want To Be 6 Again…..

I Want To Be 6 Again…..

To Whom It May Concern:

I hereby officially tender my resignation as an adult. I have decided I would like to accept the responsibilities of a 6 year old again. I want to go to McDonald’s and think that it’s a four star restaurant. I want to sail sticks across a fresh mud puddle and make ripples with rocks. I want to think M&Ms are better than money, because you can eat them. I want to play kickball during recess and paint with watercolors in art. I want to lie under a big Oak tree and run a lemonade stand with my friends on a hot summers’ day.

I want to return to a time when life was simple. When all you knew were colors, addition tables and simple nursery rhymes, but that didn’t bother you, because you didn’t know what you didn’t know and you didn’t care. When all you knew was to be happy because you didn’t know all the things that should make you worried and upset.

I want to think that the world is in my youth… I matured and I learned too much. I learned of nuclear weapons, war, prejudice, starvation and abused children. I learned of lies, unhappy marriages, suffering, illness, pain and death I learned of a world where men left their families to go and fight for our country, and returned only to end up living on the streets…begging for their next meal. I learned of a world where children knew how to kill … and did!!

What happened to the time when we thought that everyone would live forever, because we didn’t grasp the concept of death, when we thought the worst thing in the world was if someone took the jump rope from you or picked you last for kickball?

I want to be oblivious to the complexity of life and be overly excited by little things once again. I want to return to the days when reading was fun and music was clean. When television was used to report the news or for family entertainment and not to promote sex, violence and deceit. I remember being naive and thinking that everyone was happy because I was. I would walk on the beach and only think of the sand between my toes and the prettiest seashell I could find. I would spend my afternoons climbing trees and riding my bike. I didn’t worry about time, bills or where I was going to find the money to fix my car. I used to wonder what I was going to do or be when I grew up, not worry about what I’ll do i this doesn’t work out. I want to live simple again I don’t want my day to consist of computer crashes, mountains of paperwork, depressing news, how to survive more days in the month than there is money in the bank, doctor bills, gossip, illness and loss of loved ones. I want to believe in the power of smiles, hugs, a kind word, truth, justice, peace, dreams, the imagination, mankind and making angels in the snow.

I want to be 6 again.

Author Unknown

Blue Moon

Blue Moon

Your geographic location can make a difference to your experience of a Blue Moon. Depending on your longitude you may go through a date change prior to other locations which means the full moon is at the first of your new month and falls at the end of the preceding month somewhere else. The “blue” one is always the 2nd full moon in the same month. The regular full moons of each month all have their own individual names as follows: Moon after Yule, Wolf Moon, Lenten Moon, Egg Moon, Milk Moon, Flower Moon, Hay Moon, Grain Moon, Fruit Moon, Harvest Moon, Hunters’ Moon and Moon Before Yule.

Historically the Blue Moon was considered unlucky and a real nuisance when it occurred at various times of the year and upset scheduling of church festivals. In love songs the Blue Moon is often a symbol of sadness and loneliness.

The first appearance in print of this expression goes back to the time of Shakespeare, when some folks felt that sometimes the moon visually appeared blue in the sky. Although the expression dates all that way back, it has only recently come to mean the second Full Moon in one month. Blue Moon seems to be a truly modern piece of folklore, old folklore it is not, but real folklore it is.

Your Deck of Ancient Symbols Card for Aug. 16: The Unicorn

Your Deck of Ancient Symbols Card for Today

The Unicorn

The Unicorn indicates uniqueness and reminds us of the ability for magic we possess. Although gentle, the unicorn nonetheless is able to defend itself, not only through horn-to-horn face-off but also through swift flight or even by disappearing into a mystical mist. The unicorn also represents purity, strength, and for a mentor or a nurturing family member. When the Unicorn appears, extraordinary events are possible in the near future.

As a daily card The Unicorn indicates a short period in which amazing happenings are possible. The Unicorn also suggests that it is crucial to maintain a high ethical standard during this span, and to remember kindness begets kindness.

July 16 – Daily Feast

July 16 – Daily Feast

If time were a dollar – how careful we would be with how we spent it. We wouldn’t spend it on worry, for we know fretting is not profitable. Anything limited makes us conscious of what we do with it, whether it is time or money or the people in our lives. How we value what we have decides what we keep. The Cherokee doesn’t want many things, but they know the wise are, I yv da, careful or mindful of what is important. Such caution teaches us to think before we talk, to slow our pace and find peace of mind. It eventually gives us more resources, and more time to enjoy them.

~ If we could have spared more, we would have given more…. ~

CANASSATEGO

‘A Cherokee Feast of Days’, by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

Ah, Heck Yeah, It’s Friday, Friday, Friday! TGIF!

Days Of The Week Comments

The following is taken from an article on Beliefnet.com, “13 Ways To Improve Your Luck.” This one struck me in particular because most of these superstitions or “ways to change your luck,” comes from our Religion. This is the last article of 13, you are to do this when all else fails. Take a look!

And When All Else Fails…

Get yourself a good luck charm; I highly recommend authentic four-leaf clover. Or… Step in a shadow! Or… Place sugar in your  cup before the teabag. And last, but finally not least, for those of you who are  willing to take risks and go out on a limb, wear your clothing inside-out. All  these superstitions are guaranteed to improve your luck – as well as receive  attention and some stares from onlookers, for sure!

Makes you wonder, how our Religion can be “so wrong,” since everyone and their brother has stolen from it since the beginning of time. Hmm….

Magickal Graphics

The Threefold Law in Folktales

Author: Nukiuk

Three is a magickal number. It is the number of forms of the Goddess – Maiden, Mother, and Crone. Likewise, it is the form of the God as Father, Sage, and Son. It symbolises the Druidic elements of Land, Sea, and Sky. It is the number of times you chant a charm, the number of times you walk around a circle… and it is the basis for the three-fold law.

We all know the Wiccan Rede, or some variation of it. My favorite version is one I read long ago, although I cannot remember the author who so cleverly put it into rhyme:

“Three times three, what you put forth comes back to thee.”

Simply put, the threefold law speaks of karma. The energy you put out is the energy you get back, three times over. It is the basis for yet another popular Pagan tenet: “An ye harm none, do they will.” Putting forward negative energy will bring you nothing but negativity in return.

Old folktales are full of this concept, although they may never state it directly. Whether the tale is from Western or Eastern Europe, whether it is written about magical creatures or just about lucky noblemen, the importance of both karma and the number three are readily apparent. In most fairy tales, people get what they deserve for their efforts. My favorite example of this is from The Girl in the Well. In this story, a girl drops her spindle down a well. Her stepmother forbids her to return home without the spindle, so the girl dives into the well.

At the bottom of the well, the girl finds an alternate world. There she meets three groups of people, who each ask her a favor: a group of shepherds who need help cleaning their sheep, a group of cattle herders who need a similar favor, and a rich couple who ask her to work for them for one year. She aids each group, and is rewarded.

When she returns home, her stepmother grows jealous and sends her own daughter into the well. However, the stepdaughter refuses to aid the shepherd and the cattle herders and when she gets to the elderly couple, she is so lazy that after three days they send her home. She bears no rewards, but arrives home covered in bugs and filth. The moral of this story is obvious: put forth good effort, and you will be rewarded; act lazy and mean, and you will be punished. The energy you put out is what you get back.

In this tale, the number three is easily visible. The girl meets three groups of people seeking her aid, and is rewarded when she passes their tests. The stepsister fails all three – in fact, she is sent back home after three days.

Another tale, The Three Feathers tells us of three princes who are in dispute over who should rule the kingdom. His siblings consider the youngest brother a simpleton. The king decides that he shall give them a quest to determine who shall inherit; he sends them out to see who can bring him the most beautiful rug in the land. To settle any dispute, he throws three feathers into the wind, so that each brother can follow one in the direction it went.

One of the feathers goes straight up and down again, so the simpleton remains behind while his two brothers set off, one to the east and one to the west. However, he happens to notice a trap door beneath his feather, and follows it to find a court of toads. He asks the queen of these toads for the finest carpet she has, and it is delivered. Meanwhile, his brothers figure that he won’t be able to find a rug from anywhere, so they decide not to waste their money and each bring back a handkerchief.

When they return, the king declares the simpleton to be the inheritor. The brothers protest, and manage to talk the king into two more challenges – for a beautiful ring, and for a beautiful woman. The feathers do the same thing, and both times the youngest brother wins the challenge in the same manner, and so is crowned king, with his beautiful bride (who was once a young toad maiden) . The two elder brothers put forth no effort in their quests, and thus received nothing. Meanwhile, the supposed “simpleton”, instead of trying to outwit his father, simply does as he is told, and through this wins the crown. This tale has three brothers, sent to find objects three times, who are guided by three feathers. Once again, the number three shapes the way the story turns out.

Finally, the third example of this is in a strange little story call The Three Spinners. A girl refuses to spin flax, so her mother beats her. The queen is passing by and hears the girl’s cries. When she comes into the hut to investigate, the mother is so embarrassed by her daughter’s lack of spinning ability that she instead brags and claims the inverse – that she is beating the girl because she will not stop spinning, even though there woman can afford no more flax. The queen is impressed by this lie, and has the daughter brought to her castle to spin. She says if the girl can spin three roomfuls of flax, she will be able to marry the prince.

Of course, the girl cannot spin. So she cries for three days. After this period, three old women appear who offer to spin the flax for her, if only they can attend the wedding and be treated as the girl’s aunts. They each have a different deformity: a large, flat foot. a massive hanging lip, and an oversized thumb.

The girl agrees, and the rooms of flax are spun quickly. When the wedding comes around, the prince asks the old women how they got their deformities; they respond that they are through treading the pedal, licking the thread, and pinning it down with their thumb, respectively. The prince is alarmed and says that his beautiful bride shall never be allowed to spin again. And so the girl gets everything she wanted from life. The girl in this tale is by no means a paragon of goodness; she is rather lazy and disobedient. However, she made a promise to the three old women, kept it, and was rewarded almost three times as much as was worth such a favor.

This story has three women – specifically crones, the third incarnation of the Goddess. There are three rooms of flax to be spun, and the girl cries for three days. Three three’s – a powerful number, which potentially aided the magic that helped her out of her predicament.

The rule of three is written in many old fairy tales, if you just know where to look. In these stories, the rewards for basic kindnesses are often overdone; but then again, energy does tend to return threefold as much. These three stories are but a small example of the multitude of such tales that fill the body of European folklore. All throughout these tales, the number three is woven into stories of karma that have been told for generations.

Water Witch Lore – Merfolk

Water Witch Lore – Merfolk

Whole books have been written about mermaids and mermen. The mermaids are the female version of this race of water beings. They are said to be exceptionally beautiful and have the upper body of a human woman and the lower body of a large fish. Scottish folklore states that human legs are just beneath the fish scales.

Merfolk are usually spotted by fisherman, most often while the merfolk are sunning themselves on rocks. They are said to have enchanting singing voices and have been credited with leading many sailors to their deaths. They are also said to be portents of particularly violent storms.

As members of the fairy realm, merfolk are thought to be soulless. It is a common belief that they can gain a soul by marrying a human and remaining on dry land. Moreover, it is also commonly accepted that to gain a mermaid wife, a human must steal her comb, cap, or mirror and then hide it. If the mermaid cannot find et, she will remain on land. Eventually, she will be overcome with homesickness and slip quietly back into the water.

Merman, in stark contrast to the beautiful females of the species, are said to be ugly. They have green hair, large mouths, snub noses, and green teeth. They reportedly give off a “wild” vibration. They are said to be adversarial and cause storms or large waves unless offerings are made to them. Frequently, the ship’s captain would tend to this by placing any dead bodies with the offerings and then tossing them overboard.

One well-documented merfolk encounter took place in Denmark, in the year 1723. It seems that a royal commission had become so plagued with merfolk tales that they set out to disprove their existence. Along the way, they themselves encountered a merman. He was said to have risen from the water and stared at them. After a few minutes of this, they were so disturbed that they turned the ship around. Once they did, the merman growled at them and dove back into the water.

There are hundreds of accounts from people claiming to have seen a mermaid. Even Christopher Columbus claimed to have encountered mermaids in his voyage to the West Indies.

Some tales of merfolk-type creatures are quite ancient. The Babylonian God Oannes, who was human from the waist up and a fish from the waist down, was popular around the year 300 BC. Oannes was credited with imparting knowledge and culture to humans. Other deities of the merfolk type were worshipped in India, Greece, and Rome.

In Ancient China, around 3322 BC, the deities of Fuxi and his wife, Nu Gua, were thought of as the founders of Chinese civilization, after the great flood. Half-human, half-fish, they created the system of the I Ching.

Inviting Magickal Fey Into Your Garden

Inviting Magickal Fey Into Your Garden

by Jimbo

 

Fairies, Gnomes, Nymphs, Sprites… Creatures of the Earth, Air, Fire and Water… those who live in the veil between this plane and the next… mischievous, lucky, magickal, beautiful and grotesque, large and small… All fey friends welcome! Welcome! We invite you to inspire us! We invite you to invigorate us! Infuse us with mirth and laughter! Excite us with your magick and mischief – in a good way. Come! Play with us! We welcome you.

Many a tale has been spun throughout the ages involving some sort of mysterious creature. Fairy Tales, Fables, Folk Tales – often with a trickster, prankster, or magical creature that grants wishes!

I believe that these creatures exist all around us – often unseen in the nooks and crannies of our lives. Where many often banish the fey, I invite them into my rituals – to aid me in my magick.

What do the fey represent?

Every person has their own relationship with the archetypes represented by different fey creatures. I like to think of the fey as a “personification of nature”.

The apple tree in the back yard has a true personality – it’s an old, chatty wise woman, with her sweet apples and knobby branches. She is great for climbing, and if you sit in a particular spot, she tells you stories about the orchard that used to live there, and all sorts of things that have happened. She loves to cradle you as she sings you the song of the sunset, and whispers as the breeze flows through her leaves. She is a tree nymph _ and she is wonderful. Also in the yard are lots of little fey – a family of gnomes under the shed, and a whole clan of fairies in the back fence overgrown with prickly blackberries. (They like to steal a tool or two and bury them somewhere in the lawn)

You, too, can bring the fun and frolic of the fey alive in your personal space as well. You can create a special garden or shrine devoted to the fey.

Be creative! There are so many ways to invite these wonderful creatures into your life! From simply hanging a sparkly wind chime outside, to placing a sweet cookie on a pretty plate on your altar, gestures to the fey really make a difference.

Here are some ideas on how to create a garden for your yard or a smaller one for indoors. But this is by no means a limit to the different ways you can connect with that special inspiration we can only attribute to our beloved fey friends.

Indoors

Bring some of that ethereal inspirational spirit into your apartment with an indoor fey shrine.

Start with a miniature arboretum. It can be planted in any size or shape of container – many of which are available at home and garden stores.

Fill the planter with soil and plant herbs, moss and even mushrooms. Smaller leaved herbs work well, like thyme and oregano. If well clipped, rosemary and dill are great too. Think about the type of fey that may live with you in your space, and allow them to inspire the selection of plants. Add some rocks, crystals, and a pretty ceramic bowl to use as a reflecting pool.

You can also create a hidden garden in a large houseplant you already have. Beneath the broad leaves of a Peace Lilly or the branches of a Fichus tree, arrange some small sparkly stones, and tie some colorful ribbon to the stalks. With two different colors of fish-tank pebbles, create a pattern on the soil.

The fey (and cats) that live in your house will enjoy discovering these elusive hideaways!

Outdoors

Outdoors, the possibilities are endless. Use rocks or bricks to build some sort of altar to the fey. Landscape a small area of your yard with pebbles, crystals and a variety of plants. Transplant that bothersome moss in your lawn to your fey garden – it will really grow! In the spring, plant Lobelia, Forget-me-nots, Baby’s Breath, and even Cosmos. I enjoy planting purple flowers in the spring that bloom all summer. In the winter there are all sorts of perennials that can be planted: herbs, grasses, ferns and succulents are good ideas.

Using found materials that are attractive to the fey is a good approach, especially in residential areas. Tiles, which can often be obtained inexpensively, are a nice touch to a garden. You can also place special crystals here and there. I like to work small, and create little wee places for my fey friends to play.

If you see mushrooms in your yard, dig up a small patch around them, and transplant to your garden. They will spore there and more will grow next season.

You can add a fairy mound – a small hill covered in moss, with a small door (from a doll house, or hand crafted) on the side. A variation is a small round mirror or reflecting pool on the top.

Even branches tied together with an old window, arranged rocks, a shiny pinwheel, and ribbon streaming from the fixture is sure to keep the fey as well as your human guests enchanted.

There are so many little things to do in the mundane world that attract the fey. Perhaps the best idea of all is to allow these magickal creatures to speak to you in meditation – they will let you know what they want (believe me!).

Why Friday the 13th Is Unlucky

Why Friday the 13th Is Unlucky

Paraskevidekatriaphobia: Friday the 13th Origins, History, and Folklore

By David Emery, About.com Guide

I HAVE before me the abstract of a 1993 study published in the British Medical Journal provocatively titled “Is Friday the 13th Bad for Your Health?”

With the aim of mapping “the relation between health, behaviour, and superstition surrounding Friday 13th in the United Kingdom,” its authors compared the ratio of traffic volume to the number of automobile accidents on two different days, Friday the 6th and Friday the 13th, over a period of years.

Incredibly, they found that in the region sampled, while consistently fewer people chose to drive their cars on Friday the 13th, the number of hospital admissions due to vehicular accidents was significantly higher than on “normal” Fridays. Their conclusion:

“Friday 13th is unlucky for some. The risk of hospital admission as a result of a transport accident may be increased by as much as 52 percent. Staying at home is recommended.”

Paraskevidekatriaphobics — people afflicted with a morbid, irrational fear of Friday the 13th — will be pricking up their ears about now, buoyed by seeming evidence that the source of their unholy terror might not be so irrational after all. It’s unwise to take solace in a single scientific study, however, especially one so peculiar. I suspect these statistics have more to teach us about human psychology than the ill-fatedness of any particular date on the calendar.

Friday the 13th, ‘the most widespread superstition’

The sixth day of the week and the number 13 both have foreboding reputations said to date from ancient times. It seems their inevitable conjunction from one to three times a year (there will be three such occurrences in 2012, exactly 13 weeks apart) portends more misfortune than some credulous minds can bear. According to some sources it’s the most widespread superstition in the United States today. Some people refuse to go to work on Friday the 13th; some won’t eat in restaurants; many wouldn’t think of setting a wedding on the date.

How many Americans at the beginning of the 21st century suffer from this condition? According to Dr. Donald Dossey, a psychotherapist specializing in the treatment of phobias (and coiner of the term paraskevidekatriaphobia, also spelled paraskavedekatriaphobia), the figure may be as high as 21 million. If he’s right, no fewer than eight percent of Americans remain in the grips of a very old superstition.

Exactly how old is difficult to say, because determining the origins of superstitions is an inexact science, at best. In fact, it’s mostly guesswork.

What are Dragons?

What are Dragons?

 

 

Many cultures around the entire world have stories of dragons in one shape or another. Some are depicted as huge wingless serpents, other more like the traditional picture we of the Western world have of dragons: heavy bodied with wings. Dragons are shown with four legs, two legs, or no legs at all. Some dragons were said to have arrowhead-pointed tails, while others have spiked knob on the end of the tail. Some have twisted horns, others long antennae rather like those of moths. But the dragon, in whatever form, is there in thousands of folk stories, regardless of the description attached to it. Humankind has a subconscious knowledge of the dragon and its powers that even the assumed thin veneer of so-called civilizations cannot remove.

I discovered dragons and their potential powers years ago as a child. Being open-minded and noncritical, as most children are, I enjoyed the company of dragons, faeries, elves, and similar beings on a daily basis. My activity, however, was deeply frowned upon as “imagination.” I soon learned to keep quiet about my special ability in order to stay out of trouble with adults. Soon I began ignoring these others beings because I was afraid of making a slip and talking about them. Ridicule and punishment were severe when this happened; the subconscious negative programming had begun. When I finally rebelled against family control, I found the inner door not only shut, but locked. It took years of conscious retraining and experience before I could again understand how to call upon these beings, especially dragons, and use their magickal powers.

Negative programming has created havoc and unhappiness in a great many lives. This type of programming is inflicted upon others because of fear and a desire to control. The perpetrator forgets, or does not care, that they are dealing with an individual who has the right to her/his special abilities, dreams and goals in life. This happens not only to children, but to anyone who is less than sure of themselves, dependents upon someone else, or unable for whatever reason to leave the situation and people who are causing them great mental and emotional pain. If these beleaguered souls could make contact with their own special dragons, they could build the inner power to either remove themselves from the problem or at least refuse to accept the guilt, fear and control being placed upon them.

But what are dragons? Are the real or imaginary? In the Western world, our word dragon comes from the Greek drakon and the Latin draco. Drakon comes from a verb meaning to see, to look at, or possibly to flash. Certainly in most legends dragons spend their time watching, whether it be treasure, territory, or the supposedly captive maidens. The word “dragon” is used in many different fields, as diverse as astrology, astronomy, alchemy, magick, heraldry, psychology and the study of dreams. From the time that humans began to record things, dragons have been mentioned.

“Dancing with Dragons”

D. J. Conway

What are Dragons?

What are Dragons? 

Many cultures around the entire world have stories of dragons in one shape or another. Some are depicted as huge wingless serpents, other more like the traditional picture we of the Western world have of dragons: heavy bodied with wings. Dragons are shown with four legs, two legs, or no legs at all. Some dragons were said to have arrowhead-pointed tails, while others have spiked knob on the end of the tail. Some have twisted horns, others long antennae rather like those of moths. But the dragon, in whatever form, is there in thousands of folk stories, regardless of the description attached to it. Humankind has a subconscious knowledge of the dragon and its powers that even the assumed thin veneer of so-called civilizations cannot remove.

I discovered dragons and their potential powers years ago as a child. Being open-minded and noncritical, as most children are, I enjoyed the company of dragons, faeries, elves, and similar beings on a daily basis. My activity, however, was deeply frowned upon as “imagination.” I soon learned to keep quiet about my special ability in order to stay out of trouble with adults. Soon I began ignoring these others beings because I was afraid of making a slip and talking about them. Ridicule and punishment were severe when this happened; the subconscious negative programming had begun. When I finally rebelled against family control, I found the inner door not only shut, but locked. It took years of conscious retraining and experience before I could again understand how to call upon these beings, especially dragons, and use their magickal powers.

Negative programming has created havoc and unhappiness in a great many lives. This type of programming is inflicted upon others because of fear and a desire to control. The perpetrator forgets, or does not care, that they are dealing with an individual who has the right to her/his special abilities, dreams and goals in life. This happens not only to children, but to anyone who is less than sure of themselves, dependents upon someone else, or unable for whatever reason to leave the situation and people who are causing them great mental and emotional pain. If these beleaguered souls could make contact with their own special dragons, they could build the inner power to either remove themselves from the problem or at least refuse to accept the guilt, fear and control being placed upon them.

But what are dragons? Are the real or imaginary? In the Western world, our word dragon comes from the Greek drakon and the Latin draco. Drakon comes from a verb meaning to see, to look at, or possibly to flash. Certainly in most legends dragons spend their time watching, whether it be treasure, territory, or the supposedly captive maidens. The word “dragon” is used in many different fields, as diverse as astrology, astronomy, alchemy, magick, heraldry, psychology and the study of dreams. From the time that humans began to record things, dragons have been mentioned.

“Dancing with Dragons”

D. J. Conway

Your Charm for April 9th

 

Your Charm for Today
<!–   Interpretation Basics–>
 
 

The Cross
 
Today’s Meaning:
This is probably the most popular of charms. You will be protected in this aspect. No one will be able to harm you or your state of being.General Description:
The Cross has always been a favourite device. It was used by the sun-worhippers as a symbol of the sun, and their warriors carried the Cross upon their shields. In olden days kings and nobles, when they could not write, used the sign of the Cross. That sign was used in breaking spells and for protection from evil spirits. In the East the Cross hbas been used as a talisman from time immemortal. The Eastern Cross as illustrated was worn as a charm against stickness, accidents and witchcraft, also to attract good fortune. Sentences from the Koran were often inscribed upon the small pendents to make the chamr still more potent.