Tag: Hong Kong

Candle Dressing Oil

 Dressing Oil

Based on an oil recipe handed down to me for dressing candles before ritual

What you need:

2 dram (10mL) clean amber or cobalt vial sweet almond oil (has vitamin E
for preservation)
6 drops sandalwood mysore e.o.
3 drops myrrh e.o.
3 drops frankincense e.o.

Add the essential oils to the bottle and swirl them gently in order to get them
blended. Add any crystals (make sure they are clean too) and then add your base
oil to top the bottle off. I don’t use crystals in all my blends but some people
add crystals to their magical blends to keep them charged with a specific
intention. Make sure to keep the oils stored away from light and write on a
sticker or piece of paper to be taped on the name of the blend, time, date, moon
phase, planetary hour and any other info you wish so that you know what you made and when for use later. As well, be careful as these blends will eventually go off so use your sniffer and be aware of what the blend should smell like. Once
it seems off, you can discard it, clean the bottle and start a fresh! Make sure
it is completely clean and if it cannot be completely cleaned, discard and use a
fresh one.
Remember – essential oils can cause reactions and oils like citrus can cause
photosensitivity so please – be careful ~ Herbs can be dangerous.

Essential oils are volatile so bottles left with tops off will soon lose their
potency. Ensure that oils don’t get too hot and, in the case of oils like
citrus-based oils, not too cold. To test your essential oils to see if they are
pure, put a drop or two on blotter paper. Genuine essential oils will evaporate
completely.

Contributed by Red Wolf

Enhanced by Zemanta

Daily Feng Shui News for Oct. 21st – ‘Information Overload Day’

Coming right after yesterday’s ‘Information Overload Day’ is another day that suspects that you have your head in the clouds. It’s ‘National Clean Your Virtual Desktop Day’ and I’m sensing a clutter theme — in this case, tech clutter like unreturned emails and voice messages, undeleted texts and old bookmarks. All this clutter can have the same negative effect as physical clutter. Take some time today to clean up your virtual mess and you’ll feel much more confident and clear.

By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com

Why Does The Chinese New Year Date Change Every Year?

Chinese New Year

By , About.com Guide

If you live in an area that has a Chinatown, chances are that at some point you’ve watched the Chinese New Year celebrations. However, Chinese New Year (also called the Spring Festival) doesn’t begin and end on a single weekend. Instead, the Spring Festival lasts a full fifteen days, with preparations beginning before the old year has come to a close. By the time the New Year arrives, families have already spent several days preparing for the big event; cleaning the house, buying gifts, and cooking festive foods.

People often wonder why the date for Chinese New Year changes each year. The Chinese calendar  is a combination solar/lunar calendar, based on a number of rather complex astronomical calculations, including the longitude of the sun. Chinese New Year falls on the second new moon after the winter solstice (all months begin with a new moon). In 2013, Chinese New Year Day falls on February 10th.

How did Chinese New Year come to be celebrated? According to an ancient legend, people were once tormented by a beast called a Nian – a ferocious creature with an extremely large mouth, capable of swallowing several people in a single bite. Relief from the Nian came only when an old man tricked the beast into disappearing. In reality, New Years festivities probably evolved from a desire to celebrate the end of winter and the fertility and rebirth that come with the spring, much like the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia. Today, New Years is about family reunions and wishing everyone good fortune in the coming year.

The Spring Festival is China’s major traditional holiday, and is also celebrated in other parts of Southeast Asia, including Vietnam (where New Year’s Day is called “Tet”), Malaysia, Taiwan, and of course, Hong Kong. However, in my research I couldn’t find any mention of Chinese New Year’s celebrations in Japan. Lisa Heupel, an expert on Japanese Culture, came up with a possible reason – apparently the Japanese followed the lunar calendar until the middle of the nineteenth century. However, after the Meiji Restoration in 1868, they adopted the Gregorian calendar. Since that time New Years is celebrated on January 1st. While there are other popular festivals celebrating the arrival of spring, such as Hanami or the cherry blossom viewing festival, for the most part Chinese New Year goes unnoticed in Japan, except for a few small celebrations by the Chinese who live there.

Your Daily Feng Shui Tip for June 27

Whether or not today is your birthday, I’m acting as if it is and celebrating you! So here’s a gift that keeps on giving with all my good wishes and love! Buy five helium-filled balloons, one of each of the following colors: red, yellow, white, pink and purple — never use blue, green or black balloons! Tie a tail on each balloon with nine or eighteen inches of red ribbon, string or thread. Use a new black felt-tip marker to write on each balloon one treasured wish that completely describes your heart’s desires. You can have five different wishes or write the same wish on all five balloons. Then take the balloons to an open space and release the ‘wish’ balloons one at a time. Visualize them turning into small golden orbs that are heading into the mouth and belly of the Sky Dragon. In gratitude for filling his tummy, he will then make your wishes come true sometime within the next year. Blow up your birthday and make a wish! This time you can count on it coming true!

By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com