Mars
Mars represents those qualities we commonly associate with the male/yang persona. Mars traits include raw energy, ambition, aggression, confidence, passion, and a sense of adventure. The occurrence of Mars denotes the dominating presence or need of the qualities listed above. Martian influence may have a negative impact unless it is balanced with an influence that can blunt the brashness and impulsiveness of Mars.
Today’s Meaning:
You will find you have within you the ability to resolve all conflicts and disagreements with regard to this aspect. You will find an eloquence you did not realize before.
General Description:
The staff of Mercury was given to him by Apollo in exchange for the lyre. The rod was endowed with the remarkable power of deciding all quarrels and bestowing wonderful eloquence upon its possessor. Mercury proved this when he saw two serpents fighting. Placing the rod between them and using his eloquence he reconciled the serpents, who then embraced each other, and becoming attached to the rod formed the caduceus. The pine cone is credited with health giving power, and the wings symbolize speed and the flight of thoughts between friends. This ancient talisman was supposed to be a charm for prosperity, rendering its possessor healthy, wealthy and wise.
St. Vincent, deacon and first Spanish martyr, was widely venerated during the Middle Ages. This day has long served to watch the weather and the legs, which are ruled by Aquarius.
Remember on St. Vincent’s day,
If that the Sun his beams display.
For ‘tis a token, bright and clear,
Of prosperous weather all the year.
In ancient Greece this day was dedicated to Apollo, the Sun God of light, poetry, and oracles. It was believed that if one carried his emblem good luck, light and truth would follow. Hesperides wrote “To Apollo: A Short Hymne” (1648) to honor Apollo on this day:
Thou mighty Lord, and master of the lyre,
Unshorn Apollo, come and re-inspire,
My fingers so, the Lyrick-strings to move
That I may play, and sing a Hymne of Love.
An Invitation to Comfort
Creating a Happy, Serene, and Healthy Home
Include all 5 senses while making a home, doing so provides safe haven for your evolving body and soul.
Your home is your oasis. Through your efforts, your house or apartment can become both a private sanctuary and a welcoming, serene, and healthy place to live in and visit. An organized and comfortable home can have a calming effect on you, your family, and guests, as well as be your personal escape from the rest of the world. Creating this nurturing space isn’t difficult. Even a household that includes young children or multiple animals can be a serene and peaceful place. In just a few minutes, you can make a number of changes that can turn your home into a safe and comfortable haven that you can be proud to share with your loved ones and friends.
One way to fill your house or apartment with calming energy is to imbue it with a peaceful ambiance that nurtures all five senses. Soft lighting and soothing colors like blue, purple, and green can make a space feel warm and inviting, while pleasant and calming aromas such as lavender and vanilla can positively affect moods. Peaceful sounds, such as running water in a fountain or gentle chimes can uplift and clear the space, while clearing clutter and making the most of open space can ease internal turmoil and dispel negative feelings. The physical objects in your home as well as your home itself can retain the energy of previous owners and the object’s creator. You can give your household’s energy a lift by visualizing white light surrounding our home, symbolically sweeping out residual energy, or smudging your home with cleansing sage.
The changes you make to your home can be as unique as you are and may involve utilization of space, lighting, new furniture, decorating, feng shui, or ritual. But what you do is not as important as being clear in your intention to set up your household as a soothing and refreshing place to be. Make your home a place of comfort, and you will feel nurtured and cared for whenever you are there.
Today is called ‘Family Day — A Day to Eat Dinner With Your Kids.’ Even if your kids have flown the coop, you can still cosmically connect with them. Simply play some music in the ‘Children’ area of your living space (center or middle of the right-hand wall). Or you can ring a bell to activate the energies of this space as well. If you like, you can light a white candle in honor of the kids too. Activating the energies of this area will trigger timely blessings to be sent their way, whether you’re breaking bread with them tonight or not.
By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.comDaily
An Invitation to Comfort
Creating a Serene Home
Include all 5 senses while making a home, doing so provides safe haven for your evolving body and soul.
Your home is your oasis. Through your efforts, your house or apartment can become both a private sanctuary and a welcoming, serene, and healthy place to live in and visit. An organized and comfortable home can have a calming effect on you, your family, and guests, as well as be your personal escape from the rest of the world. Creating this nurturing space isn’t difficult. Even a household that includes young children or multiple animals can be a serene and peaceful place. In just a few minutes, you can make a number of changes that can turn your home into a safe and comfortable haven that you can be proud to share with your loved ones and friends.
One way to fill your house or apartment with calming energy is to imbue it with a peaceful ambiance that nurtures all five senses. Soft lighting and soothing colors like blue, purple, and green can make a space feel warm and inviting, while pleasant and calming aromas such as lavender and vanilla can positively affect moods. Peaceful sounds, such as running water in a fountain or gentle chimes can uplift and clear the space, while clearing clutter and making the most of open space can ease internal turmoil and dispel negative feelings. The physical objects in your home as well as your home itself can retain the energy of previous owners or creators. You can give your household’s energy a lift by visualizing white light surrounding our home, symbolically sweeping out residual energy, or smudging your home with cleansing sage.
The changes you make to your home can be as unique as you are and may involve utilization of space, lighting, new furniture, decorating, feng shui, or ritual. But what you do is not as important as being clear in your intention to set up your household as a soothing and refreshing place to be. Make your home a place of comfort, and you will feel nurtured and cared for whenever you are there.
Today is ‘Chaos Never Dies’ day and I say death to that sort of sentiment! Chaos does die, especially when you help to euthanize it, and here’s how to do that. First, clean your house. This seems so simple but it’s so incredibly effective. Add some green and healthy plants to your indoor living space. Peace lily absorbs excess ammonia, acetone and formaldehyde from the environment, and bamboo and other healthy plants give out oxygen and healing. Of course, de-clutter your space once you’ve cleaned it. Clearing the clutter is the fastest and most effective way of ridding your life of chaos. It will also free up space in your mind for positive insights, ideas and inspiration. Let in more natural light and hang round and faceted crystals in the windows. Lastly, fill your living space with smoke and sound (incense and music) to cleanse any invisible energies that could contribute to disarray in your life. Chaos never dies? I wouldn’t be so sure about that.
By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com
Using crystals for protective work is very similar to sympathetic magick. It works best as a technique for permanently protecting a space and for restoring balance to energies where there has been a disturbance.
The best crystals to use are unpolished, plain white quartz. You will need four crystals, one for each point of the compass. They should be cleaned first. You can do this by leaving them out in the Sun on a windowsill for a few days, putting them in a glass and leaving them in running water for ten minutes or by smudging.
When you have your cleansed crystals, you need to charge them up to be protective. Find a safe space to sit down where you won’t be disturbed. You might like to use some of the other techniques to ensure the space is clear—the aura exercise works particularly well in this case. Or you could charge your crystals away from the area you want to protect.
When you are settled and relaxed, hold the crystals cupped in your hands. As you breathe in, imagine you are breathing in golden energy. This energy, once you’ve breathed it in, flows out down your arms and into your hands. Here it surrounds the crystals in golden light. While you’re visualizing this, imagine feelings of safety and security. It’s important to keep your thoughts positive—focus on cleanliness and purity, not on the negativity that you want to keep out. After a couple of minutes, very gently lay the crystals aside, let your breathing return to normal, and repeat the aura exercise. Have something to eat and drink, and keep the crystals in a bag made of natural material until you need to use them.
When in use, they should be hidden, either just underground, under a lifted carpet, or behind a cupboard, as near the four cardinal compass points around the edge of the area as you can. As with all protections, work in a clockwise direction with knowledge and intent of what you are doing.
Reference:
Excerpt from:
Protection While Working Magick – Crystals By Graham Miller Llewellyn’s 2012 Witches Almanac for Everyday Living
Preparing Your Space
Before you begin any ritual or ceremony, you should Clear and Cleanse the area where the work is to be done. This is especially true when you’re first consecrating your sacred space. You should re-cleanse this area each time you begin a ritual or use of this space, but these later efforts will all be affected by how you first set the intent and use of energy in this space for the first time.
Selecting A Space
Designate an area in your home or outside where your sacred space will be. This should be a place that is undisturbed by other members of your household. If you don’t have the space in your home to designate a room as your spiritual area, then set aside a corner or portion of a room. You can use curtains, an attractive room divider or just a special arrangement of furniture.
If you decide to create a space outside, the same considerations apply. You want this area to be undisturbed by other people. A place where your ritual objects will be safe if you leave them outside.
Setting Up Your Space
Before any spiritual event can occur, you should create or designate a place that can act as your “Sacred Space”. Your personal area where only spiritual work and interaction will be conducted. Once you have designated an area, inside or outside, you will need to cleanse the area, energize it and create a “gateway” for spiritual communication and work.
Decorating Your Space
Decorations add to the “essence” of your spiritual space, but they also server as symbolic reminders and tools for your work. If you have a close affinity to the energy of a particular animal, then add a statue or picture of that animal in your area. If you have a particular connection to a pentacle or medicine wheel, then give that object a prominent location in your space.
Some people like to set all natural materials in their space. A solid wood table and chair(s) with natural fiber coverings and so on. These additional practical items are entirely up to you. But if you feel that natural objects help you connect with the natural forces around you, then add these specific items to your space.
Some things you may want to consider putting in your space are:
Table and at least 1 chair.
A small table for a permanent altar.
Candles of varying color.
Crystals and stones for future rituals.
Incense for cleansing and clearing.
Don’t forget the matches.
Any other Magikal Tools you may wish to use.
* 8/7: Gaia Consciousness Day–Day to meditate on Mother Earth as a living planet. [Anniversary of the first photograph of Earth from Space taken on 8/7/1959.] [For views of Earth from space, see the NSSDC Photo Gallery; Solar Views website.]
She lived her dreams of becoming one of the first female explorers in space. The energies of this day honor Dr. Sally Ride, mission specialist aboard the second flight of the Space Shuttle Challenger. On ‘Sally Ride Day’ we celebrate the fact that Sally rode off into the sunset and the sunrise on June 18, 1983. In fact, Ride’s breaking of the proverbial glass ceiling has given millions of inventive women inspiration and motivation. But Sally had a lot of help along the way towards achieving her goals. If you have a dream and are looking to enlist the assistance of beneficial people, then place an empty glass or crystal bowl in the Helpful People area of your main floor. This effort symbolizes your receptivity to any sort of helpful connections while also promising to bring invisible assistance from the cosmos. It’s even better if you can identify the people who can help make your dreams come true. Put their business cards or their names written on a piece of paper (one separate piece for each benefactor) inside the empty bowl and watch how the universe manifests a meeting. Just be sure to clean out the bowl and the names periodically so that new and better connections can help you to soar to new heights! And by shining a bright light on this same area you can hasten all efforts at taking off! Now you’re ready for one sweet ride of your own!
By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com
On Feb. 12, 1984, astronaut Bruce McCandless, ventured further away from the confines and safety of his ship than any previous astronaut had ever been. This space first was made possible by a nitrogen jet propelled backpack, previously known at NASA as the Manned Manuevering Unit or MMU.
After a series of test maneuvers inside and above Challenger’s payload bay, McCandless went “free-flying” to a distance of 320 feet away from the Orbiter. This stunning orbital panorama view shows McCandless out there amongst the black and blue of Earth and space.
Image Credit: NASA
Space Clearing: A Fresh Look at a Classic Tradition
Author: Tess Whitehurst
Clearing physical clutter out of your space is like taking a wrecking ball to everything in your life that isn’t working, and to any obstacles that may have been holding you back from living your greatness and manifesting your dreams. Space clearing, on the other hand, could be compared to airing out a stuffy room, steam cleaning a carpet, or tuning a piano. It removes lingering negative and/or stuck energy from your space while lifting and fine-tuning vibrations in order to summon positive energies and conditions into your life.
For most of the time that humans have been alive on this planet, we’ve lived outdoors, or in temporary or natural shelters. Nowadays, our indoor areas are raised above the earth, which naturally absorbs negativity; from water, which washes away negativity; from a free flow of air, which blows negativity away; and from full sunlight, which purifies and disinfects negativity. Negativity accrues not only from our negative thoughts, words, and feelings, but also from the stagnation that’s a natural byproduct of modern indoor spaces. This is why all spaces can benefit from regular space clearings.
To keep your vibes clean and clear, to feel happy and harmonious in your home, and to feel completely safe and protected, I suggest doing this simple visualization every day:
Sit with your spine straight, take some deep breaths, and relax. Call upon Divine White Light to powerfully enter your home as a huge vacuum tube of white light. See it moving around the entire interior of your home, simultaneously burning and suctioning away all dark, heavy, stagnant, or negative energy. See it penetrating all the darkest corners rapidly and effectively.
Once this feels complete, ask the Light to fill your home completely. See it extend outside, under, and above your home so that your home is completely encompassed in and surrounded by a huge sphere of Divine White Light. Ask the light to raise the vibrations of every item and area in your home to a very high and clear degree.
After that, ask for a circle of angels to surround your home, preserving this sphere of light and directing the positive energies of love, serenity, and happiness inward. Then, ask for another circle of angels to surround the first circle of angels, and ask them to face outward, directing all negative energy outward and keeping you and the other inhabitants totally safe and protected. Thank the Light and the angels, and open your eyes.
(Please note: instead of just calling on the White Light, you can call on a divine being such as The Goddess, Merlin, or Archangel Michael to cleanse and encompass your space with the White Light if you prefer.)
For us magical folk, space clearing is important because we have to create the space for magic and miracles to occur in our lives. Before we go around doing money spells and such, we must make sure we have a clean, clear, magical space to do it in. We have to release the energies and conditions we don’t want in order to make the space for the energies and conditions we do want. Not to mention, clearing clutter and space clearing alone, when done with intention, can often be the most powerful magical acts we could possibly perform when it comes to creating joyful and harmonious conditions in all areas of our lives.
And, one of the cool things about starting a regular space clearing practice is that it’s a very effective way to begin to exercise and strengthen your psychic and intuitive abilities. Most people, whether they think they’re psychic or not, can pick up on “vibes.”
You know, we say things like, “the place had really good vibes, ” or “I got a weird vibe from him, ” etc. Space clearing is a way of clearing out bad vibes and creating good ones, so when we notice this happening, we’re actually using our sixth sense: and every time we use it, it gets stronger.
While the visualization above is great to do every day as a maintenance measure, it’s also good to do the methods I’m about to describe on a regular basis to really keep the energy healthy and vibrant in your home. You might do one or several of them every couple weeks or so, as you see fit. They can be done alone for a quick clearing, or in combination with each other.
I’ll begin by discussing each one individually, and then give you some ideas for how to put a few of them together if you want to do a more thorough clearing.
Please note: cover food and beverages before you begin to clear so that the negativity does not enter them. (Water and salt are particularly absorbent.) Remember to do so for pet food as well.
Oh! And make sure to drink water before and after.
Clapping
Clapping is a quick and easy way to break up and dissipate stuck or stagnant energy with sound. Simply move around the perimeter of each room and area in the space, clapping loudly. Pay special attention to corners, areas behind doors, or anywhere else where you might imagine that energy would stagnate. (Think of energy as flowing like a brook or a stream though the space. Areas where energy might get stuck would be the areas that would accumulate leaves or trash on the surface of the stream. Areas that are usually dark are also spots with slow-moving or stagnant energy.)
If you clap a few times in an especially stagnant area, you can usually hear the claps getting clearer as the energy dissipates.
White Sage
Burning white sage powerfully removes negativity and lifts vibrations to a very high and clear level. To do this in your space, open the windows and light a bundle of dried white sage so that it’s burning like incense.
As you do this, say, “Spirit of Air, I call on you.” Move around the perimeter of each room/area, letting the smoke move around the space. (Carry a dish under the bundle to catch ash and embers.)
When you’re finished with the room, move the smoke around your personal energy field to cleanse away any negativity that you might have absorbed. Then, thank the Spirit of Air and extinguish the bundle by sealing it in a jar.
Fire
Have you ever felt a bad vibe in a room with an actual wood fire burning in it? Probably not. This is because fire powerfully burns away negativity like old, dead wood. If you don’t have a fireplace in every room (which I don’t assume you do) , you can place a large red candle on a plate (ideally soy or vegetable wax) , and surround it with a ring of sea salt.
Place the candle near the center of the room or area and light it as you say, “Spirit of Fire, I call on you.” Close your eyes and visualize the fire from the candle filling the room, burning away all negativity. When the visualization feels complete, carry the plate with the salt and lit candle to the next room or area and repeat.
When you’re finished, extinguish the flames as you say something like, “Fire, you were a great help to me, and I thank you.”
Sea Saltwater
Salt water powerfully neutralizes negativity. Fill a clear glass with spring or well water and dissolve one teaspoon of sea salt in it. Hold the water in both hands and visualize very bright white light coming down from above, entering the crown of your head, moving down to your heart, out your hands, and into the water.
Visualize the ocean as you say, “Spirit of Water, I call on you.” Pour the water into a mister (it’s okay if it doesn’t all fit) . Now, move around the perimeter of each room or area, spraying the mist lightly throughout. If you like, you might imagine a powerful ocean wave moving through your house as you do this.
When you’re finished, pour the remaining water down the drain and say something like, “Spirit of Water, you were a great help to me, and I thank you.”
Table Salt
A dish of non-iodized table salt, placed in a central location in a room, is a great negativity absorber. To cleanse your entire home with salt, get a dish for each room and area and fill each with a substantial (yet not necessarily large) amount of salt.
As you pour the salt, say, “Spirit of Earth, I call on you.” Then place one in each room or area. Each time you place a dish, hold your hands over it and empower it with the intention to draw all negativity from even the farthest corners of the room. Leave the dishes for 12-24 hours.
Then, thank the Spirit of Earth, flush the salt down the toilet, and wash the dishes thoroughly.
Quick Clearings
It’s good to perform some sort of clearing at least once a week or so, and any of the above methods can be done independently or paired up for a quick and informal clearing. But to perform my favorite quick-yet-effective space clearing, just clap and then burn sage. You might want to finish with a quick prayer or visualization to empower the space with harmonious energy: just ask for or envision all the conditions and feelings you’d like to experience in the space.
Thorough Ritual Clearing
Once a year or so, and during special circumstances like when your home changes residents or you move into a new space, it’s good (and fun!) to do a thorough ritual clearing. This is a great one.
Begin by creating an altar in a central or otherwise convenient location. This can be on a table, desktop, or countertop, or, if you already have an altar, you can use that area if you like. On the altar, place a mister of sea salt (created as above) , a dish for each room and/or area, non-iodized table salt, a plate or large candle holder with a large red candle on it, and a bundle of dried white sage. Also place an incense holder on the altar, and any kind of incense that you like.
Now, sit or stand in front of the altar and take some deep breaths, relaxing every muscle in your body. Feel the weight of your body on the earth and focus on this until you feel really grounded and solid. Close your eyes, hold your hands in prayer pose, and say a prayer.
Acknowledge/summon any helpers or deities you’d like, or just pray in order to clearly state your intentions to yourself and the Universe. Pray from your heart, and state in simple and clear terms what you’re about to do. You might say something like:
“I now ask for the help of my guides and angels as I perform this space clearing. It’s my intention to clear all negativity from this space in order to experience sparkling vibrations and harmonious conditions, and to create the space for happiness, joy, love, abundance, success, and all the desires of my heart to flourish. Because I have asked for divine assistance in this endeavor, I know that I am perfectly receiving it now, and for this I give thanks.”
Light the candle and the incense to signify that the ritual has begun. Begin to clear the energy by clapping loudly in each room and area as described above.
Now, light the bundle of sage so that it’s smoking like incense. Face east and say, “Spirit of Air, I call on you!” Now, cleanse with the sage as described above.
As you do so, continually chant, “With the help of the power of Air, I cleanse this house.” Extinguish the sage, or if it’s only smoking a little, you can let it continue to burn as long as it’s in a jar or somewhere safe.
Next, light the candle and surround it with a circle of salt. Hold the lit candle and plate in your hands, face South, and say, “Spirit of Fire, I call on you!”
Cleanse with the candle as described above, and as you do so, chant, “With the help of the power of Fire, I cleanse this house.” When you’re finished, place the still-lit candle back on the altar.
Pick up the saltwater mister. Hold it in both hands as you face west, and say, “Spirit of Water, I call on you!” Mist each area as described above while chanting, “With the help of the power of Water, I cleanse this house.” Set the mister back on the altar.
Put some of the table salt in each dish as described above. Hold one dish in your hands, face north, and say, “Spirit of Earth, I call on you!” Place a dish of salt in each room and area while chanting, “With the help of the power of Earth, I cleanse this house.” Return to the altar.
Put your hands in prayer pose and empower the space with your intentions by chanting aloud all the conditions you’d like to experience. You might say: “Love, Harmony, Success, Abundance, Peace.” As you vocalize each word, envision the energy of the word resonating throughout the house, shifting the molecules to match its vibration.
When this feels complete, face north. Say, “Spirit of Earth, you were here, and I thank you!” Face west and say, “Spirit of Water, you were here, and I thank you!” Face south and say, “Spirit of Fire: you were here, and I thank you!”
Face east and say, “Spirit of Air: you were here, and I thank you!” Now thank any of the forms/facets of the Divine that you summoned during the opening prayer. Then, say “Thank you, thank you, thank you. Blessed be. And so it is.” Extinguish the candle and incense to symbolize that the ritual is complete.
Now, I am really serious about this: immediately after the ritual is complete, you must lie flat on your back on the ground. (If you have a private yard area where you can lay outside on the grass, this would be best, but if not, the floor to your house or apartment will work just fine.) This is because space clearing rituals raise and shift energy in such a major way that you have to get your equilibrium back ASAP. Even if you think you feel fine, please do this. It’s important for re-establishing rhythm and coordination in your mind, body, emotions, and immune system.
Once you’re lying on your back, envision/feel/imagine your personal energy field. It will naturally have a lot of excess energy in it. Imagine also that you’re lying on the earth, and allow the excess energy to grow heavy and fall downward where it’s absorbed by the earth like rain (even if you’re not on the ground floor, this will still work) . Your personal energy field will remain, just the excess will move downward into the ground.
Once this feels complete, get up and eat something nourishing and substantial like some sort of grain or a root vegetable. This will help to integrate you and restore your balance and connection to the physical plane.
Footnotes:
Kingston, Karen. Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui (Broadway 1999) .
Kingston, Karen. Creating Sacred Space with Feng Shui (Broadway 1997) .
Lin, Denise. Sacred Space (Ballantine Books, 1996) .
Discover the cosmos!Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
2011 October 24
HH-222: The Waterfall Nebula
Image Credit: Z. Levay (STScI/AURA/NASA), T.A. Rector (U. Alaska Anchorage) & H. Schweiker (NOAO/AURA/NSF), KPNO, NOAO
Explanation: What created the Waterfall Nebula? No one knows. The structure seen in the region of NGC 1999 in the Great Orion Molecular Cloud complex is one of the more mysterious structures yet found on the sky. Designated HH-222, the elongated gaseous stream stretches about ten light years and emits an unusual array of colors. One hypothesis is that the gas filament results from the wind from a young star impacting a nearby molecular cloud. That would not explain, however, why the Waterfall and fainter streams all appear to converge on a bright but unusual non thermal radio source located toward the upper left of the curving structure. Another hypothesis is that the unusual radio source originates from a binary system containing a hot white dwarf, neutron star, or black hole, and that the Waterfall is just a jet from this energetic system. Such systems, though, are typically strong X-rays emitters, and no X-rays have been detected. For now, this case remains unsolved. Perhaps well-chosen future observations and clever deductive reasoning will unlock the true origin of this enigmatic wisp in the future.
Witches Of The Craft® 
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