Calendar of the Sun for Jan. 24th

Calendar of the Sun
24 Wolfmonath

Paganalia: Celebration of the Country Farmer

Color: Green
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon a cloth of green set agricultural tools, and perhaps a small model farm of paper.
Offering: Give aid to a farmer.
Daily Meal: Food from a small local organic farm.

Paganalia Invocation to Gaea

The mother of us all,
The oldest of all,
Hard, splendid as rock
Whatever there is that is of the land
It is she who nourishes it
It is the Earth that I sing.
(All cry out: “Hail Gaea, Mother beneath our feet!”)
Hear now the words of Gaea:
Without me
No seed grows
No milk flows
No honey in the hive
Without my touch
No sweet exchange of breath between plant and animal
No safe nest from which to try your fledgling span
No one to miss you when you go
Without the part of you that is me
No working the earth
No food in the belly
No caring hand to help another.
(All cry out: “Hail Gaea, Mother who gives us all!”)
Remember that those who work the earth
With their own hands are closest to me.
Lie upon me when the spring comes
And give thanks that you were born here.
(All cry out: “Hail Gaea, we give thanks to you!”)

Chant:
Mother I feel you under my feet
Mother I hear your heartbeat

Spell Of The Day – Better Homelife Spell

Spell Of The Day – Better Homelife Spell

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The home is the place where we relax, recharge, and nourish our health so we can do good work in the outside world. Often it is also where we find important relationships with our friends and family. When our home life is not going well, it is hard to stay grounded and it is harder to feel good in our hearts. During a Cancer Full Moon, we can create a better home environment through magical workings. For this spell, you will need to enlist all of your housemates to make a meal together. Gather a small amount of lemon balm and dill (both Cancer herbs), and a couple of blue candles to put on your dinner table. When cooking the meal, add the spices to the pot and say these words while stirring them in:

I add these spices to the meal,
Let our home mend and heal.
Bring us love and bring us peace,
May our hearts be at ease.

 

Now sit down for a meal with your housemates, and light your blue candles to symbolize the watery Cancer Moon. Reconnecting over a good meal helps develop a good atmosphere at home.

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By: Jonathan Keyes

 

Doing the Best We Can

Doing the Best We Can
by Fran Hafey/Mysti
 
In a conversation the other day, I could hear bitterness and sadness
in the voice I was listening to.
 
Then I heard myself say very calmly “We all did the best we could at that time,”
and with that proceeded to share about my own experience.
 
When we remember the past, we have choices. We can hang on to those bitter memories
or we can let them go. It’s alright to remember and share them, even more than once.
It’s what we then choose to do with them that is important.
 
When I was about my oldest daughters age, she is almost 25, I lost all my childhood memories.
I only remembered the fear, the darkness, the pain, hurt and who had inflicted this on me.
It took me many years to let it all go.
 
Once I worked through it… I started receiving my memories back. Sometimes in dreams,
and sometimes I would just be doing something and a memory would pop in my mind.
I would share them with my family at times and I was so happy, that now,
I could remember what a great childhood I had.
 
I cried sometimes, when I remembered things. I let my emotions flow and released them.
I laughed, cried and shared.
 
I realized a wonderful thing. That the people in my life, in my past,
did the best they could with what they had. So profound and so true.
 
I have forgiven and I have put away things I no longer need. I remember the love
and the good times as well as the bad. They all made me who I am today.
I would not change a thing.
 
Now, I help others do the same.
 
I help them find those blocks and what is in the way of remembering the good
or the indifferent. I help them learn to let it go and grow from it.
 
Not everyone had a great childhood. Even the ones that tell you they had a lousy one
usually can find some good, when they look hard enough.
Helping our inner child remember and laugh again,
is worth more than gold. Much more.
 
I hope that you,… no I believe that you can find some of the good in your past
and remember that we all did the best we could
then, with what we had
and just look at what we can do
with what we have…now.
 
Sent with love and light,
Mystiblu~
 
About the Author: Fran Hafey (Mysti) is a Reiki II Practioner, Writer, and Spiritual Counselor.
She provides guidance and inspiration via her Website, groups, ezine’s and newsletter on the World Wide Web.
To read more of her articles visit the Author’s Website: http://Mystickblue.com

New Moon Report for Jan. 23 – Mars Retrograde

New Moon Report for Monday, January 23

By Jeff Jawer

 

Mars Retrograde

Monday, January 23

Aggressive Mars, already restrained by its presence in refined Virgo, goes into hibernation during this retrograde period that ends on April 13. Yet tying up loose ends, perfecting skills and streamlining systems are constructive ways to use this transit. Re-establishing healthier routines of diet and exercise makes this an excellent time to get in shape. Delays and complications in completing projects can produce irritation and increase criticism, yet focusing on one task at a time enhances efficiency.

Cosmic Calendar for Monday, Jan. 23

With last night’s New Moon in Aquarius in your hip pocket, it may seem as if it is clear sailing ahead – as each solar-lunar union offers a forward push for the next 29+ days. However, even though Mercury and Mars form a flowing trine of 120-degrees in earth signs this morning (3:17AM PST) – potentially bolstering communications and construction projects across the board – everyone is about to deal with a possibly volatile Mars station at 24 degrees of Virgo (4:55PM PST) where the red planet shifts from direct to reverse until April 13. While our very accurate, scientifically-calculated ephemerides give us the exact timing of the Mars shift, this entire day (not to mention the last few days and the next 48+ hours ahead) is under the aegis of the red planet gone wild. Stations or the apparent stopping points of celestial bodies are tremendously significant because the planetary archetypes are then thrust upon us – often in an unrelenting manner. Thus, Mars motionless equates with a vast increase in themes such as courage, leadership, passion, sensuality, desire, athletic prowess, independence, but also selfishness, egocentricity, rash acts, immature and adolescent attitudes, as well as violence, anger, aggression and volatility. Accidents, fevers, burns and inflammations are much more common when Mars is singled out via the cosmic players who throw their weight around in our solar system. Do all in your power to steer clear of temperamental individuals, avoid dealing with legal matters and signings, and remember to drive defensively. The good news about Mars retrograde is that you can review and re-evaluate many of your behavior patterns – on the personality level – over the next 80 days.

Lunar Lore for Jan. 23rd

Moon & Witch Comments & Graphics 

Plant when the moon is in Taurus or Aquarius
during light of moon.
– “Old Farmer’s Almanac,” circa 1745
Selene or Luna: the moon personified, properly the full moon,
who loved the sleeping Endymion.
Endymion: moonlight on a bank, field, or garden.
Phoebe: the moon as the sister of the sun.
– Brewer, “Dictionary of Phrase & Fable”.
But sun and moon, those watchmen of the world,
With their own lanterns traversing around
The mighty, the revolving vault, have taught
Unto mankind that seasons of the years
Return again.
– Lucretius, De rerum natura (On the Nature of Things)

  
~Magickal Graphics~

Calendar of the Moon for Jan. 23rd

Calendar of the Moon
23 Luis/Gamelion

Day of Boannan

Color: White
Element: Water
Altar: On a white cloth set a blue bowl filled with water and small polished stones.
Offerings: Small paper boats set afloat on a river.
Daily Meal: River fish.

Invocation to Boannan

Lady of the River
Wash us clean in your rippling waves.
Lady of the Onward Flow
Carry us into our future
And safely home to our lives.
Lady of the Fishes
Nourish and provide for us.
Lady who lay with the Oak Tree
And bore him the newborn Sun,
River mother, mountain mother,
Lady of clear springs and cold water
Wherein lies sacred talking fishes,
Lady whose cool hands stroke us
And whose blood flows cold
Out to the unforgiving sea,
With each sip of water we take
We will remember your name.

Chant:
River go on, river go on forever
River run through my heart

(Let one who has been chosen to do the work of the ritual bring the bowl of water to each person in turn, and let them drink from it, and then pour the rest out as a libation to Boannan.)

Calendar of the Sun for Jan. 23rd

Calendar of the Sun

Bruma

Colors: White and brown
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon a bare table lay a large pot shaped like a human figure, reclining, filled with earth. All should enter bearing two white cloths, one on each arm.
Offerings: Silence and meditation.
Daily Meal: Vegetarian

Bruma Invocation

Earth, you lie sleeping in silence,
And we can do nothing but wait.
We have breathed upon your first seeds,
We have sung your first green shoots
Up from the bare brown soil,
We have watered you with tears and sweat
And fed you with the remains of our meals,
We have cut down your bounty and saved it,
Yet this is not the time for seeds, or green,
But simply the long cold wait in the dark
Until the light waxes and the time comes again.
You are silent, and will not speak to us,
No matter how we cry out.
You are dormant, and will not sing to us,
No matter how we raise our voices,
For all things come in their own time,
And this is not the time for movement.
So we will sit with you, Earth,
We will watch over you as you sleep
And take part in your dreams
In silence, and wait for your awakening.

Chant:
Earth dreaming
Silent seeming
Winter’s vigil
We will wait for you.

(After the chant has been sung five times, all come forth to the altar. Each lays one white cloth gently over the pot, saying, “Blessed be the Earth in the time of winter.” Then each sits on the floor and places the other white cloth over their heads, and meditates on all that is sleeping and cannot be awoken. Silence in the House until Akte.)

Happy Chinese New Year, dear friends! It’s The Year of the Water Dragon!

Wiccan Images, Pictures, Comments
Good morning, dearies! Happy Chinese New Year to All! I tried to find a graphic that fit the occasion, but……there was none to be found. I hope everyone is having a fantastic Monday.  I am feeling pretty good. The Sun is shining in all of its majestic glory. I think everyone feels better when the Sun shines. We had some bad storms come through here last night. I think I was up half the night holding my pup and wildcat (Razzy). Razzy hasn’t experienced a thunderstorm and high winds before. It was something else trying to keep her calm during the storm. But I finally managed it this morning around 4:00. I think she was too tired to care anymore. Of course, I was propped up against a file cabinet going, “cat are you ever going to sleep, Good Grief!” All I know is I woke up still propped up on the cabinet and she was asleep beside me. Considering all that I feel pretty good. I haven’t asked Razzy yet how she feels, lol!

You have a fantastic Monday and Happy Year of the Water Dragon!

 

Today’s Affirmation for Jan. 23rd

“I have a wealth of knowledge and talents. Each day I spend some time in quiet contemplation to allow these riches to emerge.”

 

Today’s Thought for Jan. 23rd

Your Special Gifts

We all have gifts that we may not fully appreciate – unique talents that enrich our esperiences and help us to face the challenges in our lives. Spend time reflecting on them. What personal qualities and creative talents do you have? Perhaps you are empathetic, funny or eloquent, a talented singer or a beautiful dancer. Acknowledge and cherish these unique gifts. Recognize them as blessings bequeathed to you for the benefit and enjoyment of yourself and others.

 

Correspondences for Monday, Jan. 23rd

Magickal Intentions: Psychic Sensitivity, Women’s Mysteries, Tides, Waters, Emotional Issues, Agriculture, Animals, Female Fertility, Messages, Theft, Reconcilliations, Voyages, Dreams and Merchandise
Incense: African Violet, Honeysuckle, Myrtle, Willow, Wormwood
Planet: Moon
Sign: Cancer
Angel: Gabriel
Colors: Silver, White and Gray
Herbs/Plants: Night Flowers, Willow Root, Orris Root, Birch, Motherwort, Vervain, White Rose and White Iris
Stones: Carnelian, Moonstone, Aquamarine, Pearl, Clear Quartz, Flourite, Geodes
Oil: (Moon) Jasmine, Lemon, Sandalwood
Monday belongs to the Moon. Monday’s energy best aligns itself with efforts that deal with women, home and hearth, the family, the garden, travel, and medicine. It also boosts rituals involving psychic development and prophetic dreaming.

 

Spellcrafting for Monday, Jan. 23rd

SPELL TO INCREASE HEALTH AND VITALITY

You will need: quartz crystal
If you have a piece of quartz, first wash it in warm soapy water and rinse it with running water.
Then hold the crystal in both hands. Close your eyes and imagine being bathed in white light.
Visualize the area of your illness and point the crystal to that site. Imagine a stream
of light flowing from the crystal and bathing the area in its pure rays.
Place your crystal under your pillow while you sleep.

Great Lady Brid, Goddess of Eire

Great Lady Brid, Goddess of Eire

by Darrion

Goddess of smith-craft, gift us with the joyful sound of the hammer and anvil as the craftsman hammers on the metal heated in the forge of Your hearth and heart, warm us in this cold and dark time period with Your love and creative spirit.

Goddess of healing, gift us with Your gentleness, wisdom and love for all who seek Your healing energy, allow us to tap that well of intuition, spirit and knowledge; as we open our hearts to assist others on their healing journeys, guide our hands and hearts.

Goddess of poetry, gift us with Your lightheartedness and playful spirit, grant us with that creative spark, open our vision so we may be aware of and use this energy to tap the wealth of our inner awareness, and allow me the strength to step aside and allow You
to guide my pen.

Goddess of fertility, gift us with the strength of the union of Goddess and God, take the firmness of the God and bury it deeply in the mound of the hill of Tara, fertilizing the earth and preparing her for the planting season to come.

Goddess of inner vision, prophecy and divination, gift us with that inner gaze and awareness, so that we may devote ourselves to unending service in joy and love to serve the Great Mother,
clan and tribe.

Calendar of the Moon for Jan. 22

Calendar of the Moon
Beth/Poseideion II

Birch Tree Moon

Color: White
Element: Air
Altar: Upon cloth of white set the budded birch branches, a single white candle, the rune Berkana carved onto a piece of birch wood, and a bowl of clear water.
Offerings: White cakes with the Berkana rune carved upon them.
Daily Meal: Vegetarian with dairy and eggs.

Beth Invocation

Call: Now is the beginning of the year.
Response: Now is the time of stillness and cold.
Call: Now all is still and waiting upon the earth.
Response: Now the earth sleeps beneath her many blankets.
Call: Now is the time of patience.
Response: Now is the time of our longest wait.
Call: We are at peace with the Earth and with each other.
Response: We are at peace with the Earth and ready to begin.
Call: This is the month of indrawn breath.
Response: This is the time of all beginnings.
Call: May the year grow strong before us!
Response: May we grow strong before the year!
Call: For as the birch tree steps forth into the burned fields,
Response: So do we step forth into the aftermath of our own burning.
Call: For as the soft branches of the birch beat away the old year,
Response: So do we lower our heads for the strokes of the future.
Call: For as the pheasant hunts the snow for food,
Response: So do we seek through the ruins of the past.
Call: For as Frigga spins the clouds into thread,
Response: So do we circle like the spinning whorl,
Call: So do we take up the fiber of what has been,
Response: So do we bring forth the new year from our very hands.
Call: From our open hands,
Response: From our open hearts,
Call: From our open bodies,
Response: From our open souls.

Chant: Silver tree, in your branches
White of snow, stars are dancing
Tree of clouds, like thread of silver
Time runs through our hands.

Calendar of the Sun for Jan. 22

Calendar of the Sun
22 Wolfmonath

Day of the Water Bearer – Beginning of Aquarius

Colors: Purple and electric blue
Element: Air
Altar: Set with cloth of purple and electric blue, with a tall glass vase holding carbonated water, or plain water with dry ice in it, a feather from a large bird, incense, and a Uranus symbol.
Offerings: A joke that no one has heard yet. Do something differently, or in a new way.
Daily Meal: Waterfowl such as duck or goose. Or try an entirely new and preferably foreign sort of cooking or diet for the day.

Invocation to Aquarius

Bearer of the heavenly waters
Of knowledge and inspiration,
The ebb and flow of the Apsu,
Dipped from the Milky Way,
Neither man nor woman,
Looking ahead in time,
Whose gift is Newness,
Bless us with the ability
To be ready for the future
And all it may bring,
And welcome rather than fear changes.
By the power of all inspiration,
You challenge us
To be open to new things,
And never to give in to stagnation.
May we all go forth in wonder.

Chant:
Wearing my long wing feathers as I fly
Wearing my long wing feathers as I fly
I circle around
I circle around
The boundaries of the Earth.

(Let all present hold hands and dance a simple circle dance while chanting, hands raised high between them. One who is chosen to do the work of the ritual should stand with a great fan, and fan air at the dancers as they pass, like a great wind.)

New Moon Report for Jan. 22 – New Moon in Aquarius

New Moon Report for January 22

by Jeff Jawer

New Moon in Aquarius

Sunday, January 22, 11:39 pm PST, Monday, January 23, 2:39 am EST

The New Moon in brainy Aquarius opens minds to fresh ways of seeing and enlightens us with brilliant ideas. Broadening visions of the future can reveal unexpected professional opportunities and help establish strategies for meeting long-term goals. Enthusiasm may rise and fall with skeptical Saturn and optimistic Jupiter’s 90-degree squares to this lunation. A supportive sextile from innovative Uranus in Aries, though, reveals alternative ways to express ourselves and contribute to the well-being of the community.

The Aquarius New Moon is like entering a laboratory where objective thinking permits us to observe life without prejudice or prejudgment. Learning comes with sudden flashes of insight that arise from being in unfamiliar positions. Stepping outside our comfort zones feels alienating, yet exploring alternatives permits new vistas of awareness to open.

Cosmic Calendar for January 22

If you were able to move through yesterday’s celestial labyrinth without too much trouble, give yourself a pat on the back. You still have to deal with the galloping intensity of the dark-of-the-moon vibrations – when the lunar orb is nearing its monthly rendezvous with the Sun, but which is pushed back in time to 11:40PM PST tonight with the New Moon energizing 3 degrees of Aquarius. The 23+ hours before this moment sees an increasing wave that suggests the need to close down old business and projects on a high note. However, this implies that it is extra hard to utilize this morning’s Moon-Mercury union in Capricorn (4:03AM PST) in a forward-moving, assertive manner. Instead, you can sharpen some of your communication and literary skills. This is amplified several hours later when Venus forms a parallel with Saturn (1:21PM PST). This Venus-Saturn contact also gives you a partial boost with business, artistic and professional matters. Make note of the short void lunar cycle that starts at 5:39PM PST and ends at 6:54PM PST when the Moon enters service-oriented Aquarius. As mentioned earlier in this calendar entry, the moment of the New Moon – 11:40PM PST – is the key time when the dark-of-the-moon vibes dissolve and the universe recharges your electro-magnetic batteries, urging you to join others in group, team and community activities that have a ring of goodwill surrounding them.

Cosmic Calendar for Jan. 21st

turday, January 21, 2012

 

Are worries and nervous tension giving you a psychic headache that won’t seem to dissipate? You may be tuning into Monday’s upcoming Mars turnaround – where the red planet shifts from moving forward in Virgo to doing backflips for approximately 80 days. Helping you cope with the increasing martial energy-field are a Moon-Venus supportive, 60-degree tie (6:01AM PST) and a similar hook-up between the Sun and Uranus (5:22PM PST). However, these two favorable sky patterns are separated by nearly half the day and they may not be able to neutralize discordant vibes coming from the monthly Moon-Pluto union in Capricorn (4:33AM PST), Pallas making an abrasive, 45-degree tie to Pluto (7:32PM PST), an off-kilter, 150-degree link from Mars to Pallas (8:29PM PST), the Moon parallel to Pluto (10:04PM PST) and a feisty, unsettling Sun-Jupiter square from Aquarius to Taurus (10:36PM PST). The cosmos is clearly ruffling many of its feathers, and the shadowy, dark-of-the-moon monthly cycle is also gaining power as the next New Moon happens late tomorrow night. Do your best to make some breakthroughs in higher consciousness and tap into Uranian-endowed flashes of genius along the way. The Moon in Capricorn continues to stimulate your overall urge to reach loftier career milestones.

Calendar of the Moon for Jan. 21st

Calendar of the Moon
21 Beth/Poseideion

Day of the Leprous White Lady

Color: White
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon a white cloth lay a skull, three white candles, a pair of white gloves. and a bowl of milk laced with clear liquor.
Offerings: Tend one who is ill.
Daily Meal: Dairy-based.

Invocation to the Leprous White Lady

(To be spoken Call And Response. The Call is spoken and the Response is whispered.)
White as the skin of a pale corpse,
White as the snow that freezes the world,
White as the owl that swoops down on its prey,
White as the maggot devouring dead flesh,
White as the belly of the worm,
White as the frosted eyes of the blind man,
White as the teeth of the predator,
White as the hame of the forgotten ghost,
White as the hair of the sacred hag,
White as the scent of soured milk,
White as the bones scattered on the earth,
White as the ashes scattered in the wind,
White as the moon that brings madness to the brain,
You walk across the twisted land
And bring illness to all that cross your path.
We accept, White Lady, that this is part of life;
That each devouring dragon in the blood
Is as dear to you are any of us.
You are the one who keeps our numbers
From carelessly overrunning the Earth.
You are cruel, yet we honor your necessity,
And ask only that you pass us by for yet one more year.
Turn your face from us, White Lady,
And do not come to our beds
Until you come partnered with a swifter death.
White as the bones scattered on the earth,
White as the ashes scattered in the wind,
White as the Leprous White Lady who walks alone.

(All blow out the candles and leave in silence.)

Lunar Almanac for Saturday, January 21

Days Of The Week Comments
Lunabar Moon Almanack for Saturday, January 21, 2012

Waning, Balsamic Moon Age: 27 ¼ days.

Ascending Node is at 11° Sagittarius.

Moon in 3rd degree of the Sign Capricorn, the Goat;

also in 7th deg. of the Constellation Sagittarius, the Archer.

Moonrise: 5:45 morn. Midheaven: 10:47 morn. Moonset: 3:54 eve.

  
Magickal Graphics

Spell Of The Day – Reviving Bath Spell

Spell Of The Day – Reviving Bath Spell
by Anna Franklin
When you are mentally and physically drained from a long day of stress and toil, take a muslin bag and add the following:

 

1 palmful of rosemary leaves
1 palmful of mint leaves
1 palmful of linden leaves
1 palmful of orange peel

 

Tie the top of the bag, and drop it in a warm bath. Light three orange candles in the bathroom, then relax in the bath for twenty minutes to allow the herbs to work their intrinsic magic.