Tag: Wine tasting descriptors

Calendar of the Sun for March 22nd

 

 

Calendar of the Sun
22 Hrethemonath

Quinquatria Day IV
Ostara

Colors: Pale blue, yellow, spring green
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon a cloth of Ostara colors, place a rainstick, a bowl of eggs, a great bowl of water filled with stones, a yellow candle, incense of violets, and a fan made in the shape of a bird’s wing. Add also flats of earth and a bowl of seeds. Set up a vase of branches cut from a tree and allowed to sprout green in warm water. Hang hollowed eggs marked with appropriate symbols from the tree. Some should be half golden and half black.
Offerings: Plant something. Introduce the joy of planting and working with gardens to the underprivileged.
Daily Meal: Eggs. Poultry. Rabbit.

Ritual Note: Like all the eight high holidays, this day should ideally be spent not enclosed and isolated, but in common with the larger pagan community. This can be done a number of ways, including spending the day elsewhere, at the Brigid’s Day ritual of another group or tradition, or by inviting in those pagans who would otherwise not be able to attend a ritual. Either way, the eight holidays should be a time of remembering the place of the house in the greater community. If the choice is made to go elsewhere, then no liturgy is needed for the day. If the choice is made to bring the greater community into the lesser one, the following ritual can be used:

(First four who have been chosen to do the work of the ritual cast circle with fan, candle, rainstick, and green branch.)

East:
O Mercury, rider of the wind,
Lithe of body and supple of tongue,
Blow a breath of freedom
Into our weary minds!
Spirits of the Air,
Caress us clean!

South:
O Bast, cat dancer in the fire,
Curious one with the flashing eyes,
Quick to pounce and quick to laugh,
Renew us with your fire!
Spirits of the Flame,
Awaken us!

West:
O Lorelei of the Sea
Mermaid singing with your siren song
Send us playful salt spray
And the rain of your laughter!
Spirits of the West,
Wash away the winter sorrows!

North:
Kore, earth Maiden,
Springtime’s goddess,
Returning yet again
From darkness into light,
May green arise in your footsteps
And flowers blossom from your touch!
Spirits of the North,
Welcome to Spring!

Ostara Invocation (Call And Response):

Call: Hail the coming of Spring!
Response: Hail the day of the eastern wind!
C: Tonight Day is equal to Night.
R: Today Night is equal to Day.
C: Today all things are in balance.
R: Balanced on the blade of a knife!
C: Balanced on the blade of Thought.
R: Balanced on the blade of Wind.
C: As the winds rise in the east,
R: As the sun rises in the east,
C: As dawn gives new beginnings,
R: At the dawning of the year,
C: We lift our arms to the eastern sky,
R: We lift our spirits to the coming of Spring,
C: And may the rain wash us clean!
R: May all things be cleansed!
C: May all things begin anew!
R: May we rise in hope and be transformed!
C: May we rise like the grass springing forth from the soil!
R: May we unfurl like every new leaf!
C: Arise, and sing for joy!

Ostara Chant

Bass descant:

Breath warms thee
Hands prepare thee
Hope sows thee
Sun awaken thee

May the seeds we plant spring forth and grow
May we reap our dreams from what we sow,
And our transformation has begun,
We are rising upwards toward the sun
We are rising upwards toward the sun
We are rising upwards toward the sun
We are rising upwards toward the sun
We are rising upwards toward the sun.

Soprano melody:

(We will) Break the surface of the Earth,
Like the Mother’s flesh gives maiden’s birth,
Like the heaving mountains rise and fall,
Like the buried hope within us all,
Like the greening tendril skyward springs,
Like the birds return on joyous wings,
Like our every breath of eastern wind,
We will see the dawning year begin,
And the seed of sorrow planted deep
Shall awaken from its bitter sleep,
And our transformation has begun,
We are rising upwards toward the sun….

Breath warms thee
Hands prepare thee
Hope sows thee
Sun awaken thee

All together:

We are rising upwards toward the sun
We are rising upwards toward the sun
Alive
Alive
Alive…..

 

Pagan Book of Hours

How To Hold an Ostara Ritual for Solitaries

How To Hold an Ostara Ritual for Solitaries

By Patti Wigington, About.com Guide

Ostara is a time of balance. It is a time of equal parts light and dark. At Mabon, we have this same balance, but the light is leaving us. Today, six months later, it is returning. Spring has arrived, and with it comes hope and warmth. Deep within the cold earth, seeds are beginning to sprout. In the damp fields, the livestock are preparing to give birth. In the forest, under a canopy of newly sprouted leaves, the animals of the wild ready their dens for the arrival of their young. Spring is here.

Difficulty: Average
Time Required: Varied

Here’s How:

  1. For this ritual, you’ll want to decorate your altar with symbols of the season. Think about all the colors you see in nature at this time of year — bright daffodils, crocuses, plump tulips, green shoots — and incorporate them into your altar. This is also a time of fertility in the natural world — the egg is the perfect representation of this aspect of the season. Symbols of young animals such as lambs, chicks, and calves are also great altar adornments for Ostara.

  2. In addition, you’ll need the following:

    • Three candles — one yellow, one green, and one purple
    • A bowl of milk
    • A small bowl of honey or sugar

    Perform this ritual outside if at all possible, in the early morning as the sun rises. It’s spring, so it may be a bit chilly, but it’s a good time to reconnect with the earth. If your tradition normally requires you to cast a circle, do so now.

  3. Begin by taking a moment to focus on the air around you. Inhale deeply, and see if you can smell the change in the seasons. Depending on where you live, the air may have an earthy aroma, or a rainy one, or even smell like green grass. Sense the shift in energy as the Wheel of the Year has turned. Light the green candle, to symbolize the blossoming earth. As you light it, say:

    The Wheel of the Year turns once more,
    and the vernal equinox arrives.
    Light and dark are equal,
    and the soil begins to change.
    The earth awakes from its slumber,
    and new life springs forth once more.

  4. Next, light the yellow candle, representing the sun. As you do so, say:

    The sun draws ever closer to us,
    greeting the earth with its welcoming rays.
    Light and dark are equal,
    and the sky fills with light and warmth.
    The sun warms the land beneath our feet,
    and gives life to all in its path.

  5. Finally, light the purple candle. This one represents the Divine in our lives — whether you call it a god or a goddess, whether you identify it by name or simply as a universal life force, this is the candle which stands for all the things we do not know, all those things we cannot understand, but that are the sacred in our daily lives. As you light this candle, focus on the Divine around and within you. Say:

  6. Spring has come! For this, we are thankful!
    The Divine is present all around,
    in the cool fall of a rain storm,
    in the tiny buds of a flower,
    in the down of a newborn chick,
    in the fertile fields waiting to be planted,
    in the sky above us,
    and in the earth below us.
    We thank the universe* for all it has to offer us,
    and are so blessed to be alive on this day.
    Welcome, life! Welcome, light! Welcome, spring!

     

  7. Take a moment and meditate on the three flames before you and what they symbolize. Consider your own place within these three things — the earth, the sun, and the Divine. How do you fit into the grand scheme of things? How do you find balance between light and dark in your own life?

    Finally, blend the milk and honey together, mixing gently. Pour it onto the ground around your altar space as an offering to the earth**. As you do, you may wish to say something like:

    I make this offering to the earth,
    As thanks for the many blessings I have received,
    And those I shall some day receive.

  8. Once you have made your offering, stand for a minute facing your altar. Feel the cool earth beneath your feet, and the sun on your face. Take in every sensation of this moment, and know that you are in a perfect place of balance between light and dark, winter and summer, warmth and cold — a time of polarity and harmony.

    When you are ready, end the ritual.

Tips:

  1. * Instead of “the Universe”, feel free to insert the name of your patron deity or the gods of your tradition here.
  2. ** If you’re doing this rite indoors, take your bowl of milk and honey and pour it in your garden, or around your yard.

What You Need

  • Three candles – yellow, green and purple
  • A bowl of milk
  • A small bowl of honey or sugar
  • Seasonal decorations for your altar

Calendar of the Sun for Monday, March 19th

Calendar of the Sun
19 Hrethemonath

Quinquatria Day I: Racing Day

Colors: Red and blue
Element: Fire
Altar: Upon cloth of red (for Ares) and blue (for Athena), place a sword, a spear, a shield, a length of hand-woven cloth, red and blue candles, a book and a pen, and two chalices, one filled with spiced wine or beer, and one with carbonated seltzer water.
Offerings: Engage in a struggle of some kind. To honor Ares, make it physical; to honor Athena, make it mental. The morning exercise hour should begin with running or fast walking, as this was traditionally Racing Day.
Daily Meal: Light, nutritious, high-protein, as for an athlete.

Quinquatria Invocation I

We pray now to Ares,
Bright warrior who has no fear,
Hot of head and heart, you run
The extra mile with your passion,
You are the one who will never give up.
And we pray to Athena,
Armored one, keen of vision,
Cool of head and heart, you always keep
Yourself a ways apart from the crowd,
Yet from there you can see further
Than we can at our close distance.
We ask for your blessings, warriors hot and cold,
Tactician and strategist, one who sees the way
To the goal, and one who has the courage to reach it,
For both are of equal value in this our struggle
To keep from being beaten down
By the many enemies that spring from
Our hearts and minds and lives.
Bless us, fearless ones,
And lead us down the straight path
To glory, to accomplishment, to the goal.

(Each comes forth and takes one of the weapons, and salutes the altar twice, calling out “Hail Athena!” and “Hail Ares!” The seltzer is poured out as a libation to Athena, and the spiced drink is poured out for Ares. In the workday to come, everyone should take on some physical task that strains them to their limit, and tests that limit, or if they are disabled, some organizational task requiring uncharacteristically complex strategizing.)

Pagan Book of Hours

Empowering Your Magick Potion

Empowering Your Magick Potion

 

 

To empower or enchant magic potions, focus your mind on your magical goal and on the specific effect you expect the potion to have. Use your intention plus the natural energy of the ingredients to cook the magical energy into them. Your focused energy is imparted into the ingredients through your willful intent, your touch and the heat of your hands.

Use the three basic steps of magic—-intention couple with expectation, desire and merging—-to empower the potion. When you mix the ingredients, mix them with the intention and expectation of imparting your magical goal into them.

You can also use the power of touch to enchant potion ingredients. First, wash your hands well, dry them, and then rub the palms of your hands briskly together to charge them with energy. Immediately place your hands on the ingredients for a few moments , imagining that you are transferring the energy in your hands into the potion ingredients, very much like you would bless food. Then whenever possible, use the fingers of your power hand to mix the ingredients. Your power hand is your right hand if you are right-handed, your left if you are left-handed. If you are ambidextrous, your power hand is the one you eat with. If you are using a wooden spoon or blender to mix the ingredients, visualize or sense the energy from your hands moving into the spoon or blender, and then moving into the potion mixture. If you need to, just pretend doing this at first until you get the hang of it.

When you mix and charge the potion ingredients, either with your fingers, a wooden spoon, or in a blender, send your energy into the mixture. The stronger your desire for your goal, the stronger the energy you impart into the potion. At first it may seem odd to actually be sending power or energy into the ingredients, but with a little practice, empowering and energetically charging potions becomes a natural skill that is easy and fun. You will also begin to understand how powerful transferring energy from your hands to another object or from your mind to a specific goal, can really be. More specifically, how this energy can be applied toward attaining your magical goals.

The key to empowering potions, as in all magical work, is to stay focused on your magical goal for the entire time it takes to make and use the potion. For example, if you are adding the ingredients of vanilla or honey to a love potion, concentrate on each ingredient , bringing sweet and delicious love into your life. See, touch, taste, hear, and smell the love coming into your life. Imagine the potion being particularly effective. See and sense it as already having the proper effect. Do this by moving your awareness into the near future and imagining the successful effect of the potion. In your awareness feel the great joy and happiness of having the potion work, of attaining your magical goal. See and sense your magical success. Bath in the flow of energy that surrounds it.

Then move your awareness back to the present, and impart that image and joy full energy, that great feeling, into the potion ingredients. You can do this by imagining a bright white light coming from your hands and moving into the ingredients or you can see and sense a laser beam of light coming from your third eye (on your forehead between your eyebrows) and igniting the ingredient with its powerful radiance. You can also use deep breathing to empower potions by sensing yourself breathing bright energy into the ingredients.

After you have placed the potion in its container, you can empower it even more by saying something like:

Magick powers, that be

Please bless this potion

On Earth ,Sky and Sea

Charge it with Divine power

So Mote It Be.

Your Daily Horoscopes for Friday, March 16th

We are masters of organization today, which can increase productivity. Ironically, being so preoccupied with having everything in order can impede our progress. The methodical Capricorn Moon reminds us to tighten up all systems, yet something unexpected might upset our plans and add chaos to the day. If our schedules are disrupted, we should take it as a sign that we are being too rigid and need to loosen control before continuing with our work.

 

Aries Horoscope
Aries Horoscope (Mar 21 – Apr 19)

You might feel as if you’re being attacked today by someone who is simply trying to improve your efficiency. But don’t be too quick to compromise yourself by changing your behavior to accommodate others. There’s no need to pretend that you’re willing to modify your approach just to avoid a confrontation. Fortunately, if you’re honest about your motives right from the beginning, you will be less likely to provoke any trouble.

Taurus Horoscope
Taurus Horoscope (Apr 20 – May 20)

Although problems may arise at work today, they will probably be minor ones. Still, you don’t need to feed them with your insecurities. Instead, use the down-to-earth Capricorn Moon to plant your best ideas, allowing them to slowly take root for future growth. You might think that you have to disclose all your ideas now, but this assumption can get you into trouble. Patience is one of your innate virtues, so slow down and let everything develop naturally.

Gemini Horoscope
Gemini Horoscope (May 21 – Jun 20)

You are usually at your best when your world is buzzing with lots of mental stimulation. However, you can get so excited today that you say something that’s best kept to yourself. You intuitively recognize that plans may change several times before the day is done. Practicing meditation or breathing techniques can help settle your busy mind.

Cancer Horoscope
Cancer Horoscope (June 21 – Jul 22)

Someone may come to you with a sensible idea today, but it doesn’t fit into your tight schedule. Analyzing all the facts might not help you decide what to do. You could listen to other people’s stories yet still resist helping them out. Or you could just jump in, even if it means putting your own issues on the back burner. Go for the assist; it won’t be as time consuming as you think and the intangible rewards make it worthwhile.

Leo Horoscope
Leo Horoscope (Jul 23 – Aug 22)

If you come up with a good idea today, you will have to make the effort to see it through. That might seem fair, but why is it that if someone else suggests a plan now, you are still the one who has more work to do? Unfortunately, changing these inequitable dynamics appears to be beyond your reach. Although you want more control of your own life, it’s better to do what’s expected of you now. You’ll have a chance to put things back in balance soon enough.

Virgo Horoscope
Virgo Horoscope (Aug 23 – Sep 22)

You may be thankful today because your common sense is keeping you in line. Although one part of you is bored with the regular routine, you might not be ready to break free just yet. Even if you’re raring to go, others are counting on your stability, so bolting isn’t necessarily a wise move. Hold on to your horses; waiting for the right time to initiate action is always a smart idea.

Libra Horoscope
Libra Horoscope (Sep 23 – Oct 22)

It may be difficult to understand how your own fears influence your judgments and push you toward one decision or another. Just remember that your integrity is ultimately more important than what others think of you. Don’t get distracted by the intellectual noise. Enjoy the quiet while you can find it; your thoughts speed up tomorrow, making it harder to reclaim the peace of knowing what’s true.

Scorpio Horoscope
Scorpio Horoscope (Oct 23 – Nov 21)

You have set your heart on a bigger prize today, an emotional treasure that’s buried deep beneath the surface. A minor irritation at work can provoke you to withdraw and escape into your imagination, but turning inward now stirs old fears that only get in the way of progress. Unquestionably, it’s smarter to deal directly with an annoyance before it turns into something bigger that becomes unmanageable.

Sagittarius Horoscope
Sagittarius Horoscope (Nov 22 – Dec 21)

Make the most of your authority today by sharing your experiences instead of just bossing someone around. You have recently returned to Earth from a journey to the outer limits of possibilities. Thankfully, you can finally hear the voice of common sense, even though it has taken away your wings. Keep both feet on the ground until you see tangible results from your heartfelt efforts.

Capricorn Horoscope
Capricorn Horoscope (Dec 22 – Jan 19)

Although you may think that time has run out, the game isn’t over. Don’t trust your senses now, for a trick of light can warp your perceptions to match your desires. There is more going on than meets the eye as the Moon in your sign reminds you that simple logic can’t always override an intense feeling. Denial is not a viable strategy, so keep an open mind until your head and your heart are in agreement.

Aquarius Horoscope
Aquarius Horoscope (Jan 20 – Feb 18)

You might not want others to see how serious you are today because you think their assumptions will paint you into a corner. You’re afraid of being stuck in a role you don’t want to play. It’s important to keep your options open as mischievous Mercury backs into your key planet Uranus over the next couple of days, throwing a few unexpected curve balls and playing tricks on your mind. Don’t be overly concerned by what anyone else thinks; you don’t need to conform to their expectations.

Pisces Horoscope
Pisces Horoscope (Feb 19 – Mar 20)

You may be the conscientious person who holds everyone’s interests together today, even if you sacrifice your own point of view in the process. The responsible Capricorn Moon’s visit to your 11th House of Teamwork enables you to keep your preferences to yourself in the name of community spirit. Just remember that your feelings are important, too, even if they are temporarily subsumed by the needs of the larger group.

A Romp Through the Palette of Life

A Romp Through the Palette of Life

by Freya Ray

Personally, I love color. I’m not an especially visual person, and yet I am vibrantly aware of the magical properties of color every day. Since theory fails to fascinate me, and inspiration to play around with the possibilities of this luscious world always fascinates me, let’s have a romp through the rainbow, shall we? Here are some bright ideas for expanding the palette of your life, for fun and profit, color by color. And it’s my romp, so we’re not doing equal time — some colors are more fun than others.

Luscious, Bloody, Sexy Red

Red. The root chakra. The primal invitation to life. The blood of birth and death, the red clay of the mother between our toes, that haze that comes over your vision before you do something really really stupid, fire, rage, passion, life. Red is a color that knows it’s alive, that feels the heartbeat of its own jugular, that wants and demands more. More what? More of everything, most especially more life. Red does not ask why it’s here or if these pants make its butt look big. Red is too busy sinking its teeth deep, growling and getting lost in the sensations of the juice running down its throat. By all means, if your life has gotten a bit academic or routine lately, invoke red.

Wear lipstick of that shade fondly called “Fuck-Me Red.” Paint your nails to match, especially your toenails. Dye your hair.

Char a big slab of steak, leaving the center bloody. Cut it into strips, pile them in a bowl with the blood released by your knife, and eat it with your fingers. Drain the bowl, knowing in your mind you’re drinking the blood of the beast as you do it. No, tempeh cannot be substituted. Have dark chocolate for dessert.

Paint your body with tribal designs of your own delirious inspiration. Use red finger paint, or lipstick, or menstrual blood, or catsup. Dance naked, covered in slashes and spirals, to the beat of a drum.

In feng shui, red is the color of the “fame” corner. Red always screams “pay attention to me!” Wear the color and act as though you deserve to be noticed. Call attention to yourself in outrageous ways. Laugh loudly and refuse to be cowed.

Feel your heartbeat. Feel the blood pulsing just below the surface of your flesh, and know you are beast. Know you are life. Know you are passion, awaiting expression. Know your blood, your heartbeat, is the blood and heartbeat of all your ancestors, all the ancestors, all the peoples and creatures of this planet. Know that the pulsation of all life is one, in you.

Juicy, Tasty Orange

The belly chakra. Relationships, sexuality. It’s a great color, I’m sure, but it makes me look like I have hepatitis, so I have a slightly estranged relationship with orange. Nevertheless, I can make a couple recommendations.

Bake cookies with cinnamon in them. Add saffron to your rice. Make juice from fresh oranges — it takes what, five minutes, and what a difference! Better yet, let someone you love wake up to fresh-squeezed juice and your silent smile.

Meditate on a candle flame, letting the shifting play of tones awaken your memories of warmth, family or sexuality. Let the connection of the belly and the flame lead you back through the past, before this life, to the beds of all your wonderful lovers. Let the memories of loving bliss wash over you in waves of time and space. Light all those candles scattered about and make love to someone in a glow of shifting orange reflections.

Want what you can’t have, and then answer the question, “If I could have it, or the feelings that I believe it would evoke, how would I get it?”

Let lust — primal, unreasoning attraction — lead you to a new friend. Let yourself acknowledge the little belly flutters of lust you feel sometimes, in unguarded moments, for a dear friend. Know that all of life is about connection, and that lust and love are allies.

Yellow, the Sun of Shining Self

The light of all life. The shining disk of the solar plexus, the home of the will, of personal power. The gold glitter of success. Yellow evokes happiness, confidence and power.

Get some sun. I know it’s early spring in Seattle, but on those days when Father Sun emerges, go worship him properly. Get out your shades and tip your face up to the sky. Paint your entire body with gold glitter and go dancing. Have a power dinner: warm melty brie and crusty bread, crab legs and dripping yellow butter, champagne…

Meditate on your solar plexus chakra, seeing a shining sun at home there, and feeling the strength of your will, your ability to create the world of your choosing.

Abundant, Grass-Stained Green

The color of money. The wonderful power of our nation’s choice of paper currency. This color is also associated with healing and the heart chakra, but, truth be told, I think first of big wads of cash and second of doing summersaults down an immense hill.

Play with money. Do some fun work with your abundance issues: take $200 out of the bank in one-dollar bills. Scatter them all over your bedroom. Clear wads of them out of your bed so you can sleep at night. Find them everywhere. When they gather in the corners, pick them up in handfuls and toss them into the air. Money is energy crystallized. A truly magical photosynthesis, as the energy of work is stored in flat paper. Nothing more than love in material form.

Engage with life in a basic form — the creatures that photosynthesize so that the rest of us can live. Buy some houseplants, or more of them, and make a luscious jungle inside your home. Plant a garden in a couple of months. Grow wheatgrass and feed it to your cat. Notice the moss in the sidewalk. Find trees and hug them already!

Have a healing circle with some like-minded friends. Allow the healing color of green to travel where it is needed. Meditate on ideas of love and connection, your relationship with all life. Be in love, without concern for a suitable object. “I’m in love” is a sentence without referent, and a beautiful place to be.

I Ain’t Got No Chakra But Boy Do I Rock Pink!

Blushes. Where would we be without pink for blushes? Challenge yourself: find the compliment outrageously true enough to get every one of your associates to blush.

In feng shui as in Valentine’s Day, red, pink and white are the colors of love. Live it up! Decorate the back right corner of your home as a love altar with candles, ribbons, pictures of Hindu goddesses, massage oils, photos of your true love — whatever evokes the concept of loving connection for you.

Pink is your friend. Pink has never had a self-important moment in its entire career as a color on this planet. It is impossible to stand on your dignity or take yourself too seriously when wearing pink. This is good!

Calm, Cool Blue

Blue is a money color in feng shui. Adding an aquarium to your home or business is said to bring prosperity. Create an abundance altar in the back left corner of your home, including the colors of red, blue, and purple, along with candles, plants, lights, stones and pictures that evoke abundance for you.

Meditating on the color will put one in touch with calming influences and the state of mind where creativity can be expressed.

Water — deep, flowing blue water — is one of the most profound healers on the planet. Soak in it, bubble in it, stand under a moving stream of it and ask water to take away that which no longer serves you. Offer yourself naked to the ocean. I guarantee a rebirth as you emerge.

There are some very groovy blue stones, including sodalite and lapis lazuli.

Royalty Loves Purple

If red says, “Notice me,” purple says, “Respect me.” Perhaps even, “Obey me.” Purple is a power color, and wearing it is guaranteed to help you feel on top of your game.

Violet light is a strong tool for cleansing in visualization. Amethyst is known as the “sobriety stone” and has a remarkable ability to puncture denial.

Violet is the color of the third eye, of psychic awareness. Put some lavender oil in the bath, light a bunch of purple candles and see where your insight takes you. See that violet flame between your eyes, and let the images of your deeper mind flow into your awareness.

Basic Black

Black has been the color of choice for clergy in many traditions. It gives the sense that the person wearing it has access to mystical information, mysterious secrets. I could tell you more, but as my own wardrobe is mostly composed of black clothing, I’m going to leave this color as an exercise for the reader.

Champagne

I’m mentioning this vital color for two reasons. One: I look like crap in white and so ivory, champagne, whatever, is my best option for trying to look innocent. Not like anyone buys it anyway. Two: it’s the color of vanilla-scented candles, which are on the short list of reasons why this is a cool planet to live on. Put a vanilla bean in your sugar bowl.

Oh, and girls! Buy some pearls. Your grandmother knew about pearls, even if many of us have forgotten, and have caught the delusion that somehow diamonds are more important. It’s crap. Diamonds are the junkyard of stones, collecting every stray bit of energy that comes through their life and they can’t be cleared. But pearls, well, get enough strands of them so that you can feel their weight (cheapest method: gem show, buy a hank, string them yourself). Drape them on yourself, and you will know you are woman. Guys, by all means do this when you’re wanting to access your feminine side. But beware, they will bring up fonts of estrogen you didn’t know you had!

White

They say white contains all the colors together. Visualizing white light is a tree-hugging crystal freak cliché, but you know, it works. For healing, protection, and clarity, see that clear, bright, almost bluish light of a halogen bulb or clear sunlight on a brilliant day.

It’s also a reflection of the truth that all of life is a hologram, every part contains the whole, every individual is connected to all of the cosmos. The Akashic records are always available, and in every moment it is possible for you to know everything you need to. Practice believing that there is no separation. Even if you only pull it off for a moment. We are all one, the light of each soul shines brightly if we only choose to see.

Bathe yourself in moonlight. Put a jug of water outside at the full moon, and drink the essence of lunar wisdom. Know that everything happens in its own rhythm and in its own time. Know that the only guarantee is that all life is learning love, and that we will all find that loving union in time.

White is your canvas. Draw on it what you will, and harm none.

Clear Quartz Crystal Balls for Gazing

Clear Quartz Crystal Balls for Gazing

There is something very mysterious about a quartz crystal ball. They have an odd way of pulling your attention towards them. The crystal balls we have for sale are handcrafted from crushed quartz that is reformed and cut into a ball shape. The clear quartz crystal is then polished into a virtually flawless sphere. These clear crystal balls are not leaded crystal or glass. Many psychics and fortune tellers will buy crystal balls that are clear over natural quartz crystal balls as the inclusions of natural crystal can be a distraction and are extremely expensive.

Our quartz crystal balls include a rosewood stand, a silk storage box. We offer several sizes of crystal ball to fit any budget and books on crystal ball gazing to get you started.

 

How to use a crystal ball

  • crystal ball gazing, divination, fortunetelling or gazing for spiritual information
  • predicting the future
  • use a quartz crystal ball for energy healing
  • feng shui crystal ball to move stagnant energy or to bring positive chi energy to a room
  • in ritual to draw energy and for protection
  • beautiful conversation piece
  • buy crystal ball as a great gift idea

How to read a crystal ball

Before you can read a crystal ball, you should program it and do a dedication. You need to program your crystal ball or it becomes a useless dust collector. Through meditation, you set up the guidelines for communication between yourself and the ball. Quartz crystal is a very powerful crystal that is capable of being programmed, storing information, bridging the gap between spiritual dimensions and this material world. Quartz crystal is a powerful healer and can also be used in uncovering health issues.

Once you have programmed your crystal ball and have become familiar with it, you are ready to being crystal ball gazing.

Preparing for crystal ball gazing

  1. Place crystal ball on a table in a quiet room that will enable you to comfortably gaze upon it while seated.
  2. You should place a dark cloth over the table to cut down on reflections on the crystal ball.
  3. Lighting will be an issue you need to work out for yourself. Some like it totally dark. Others like crystal ball gazing by candlelight. Dimmed lights tend to open psychic channels… especially when darkness falls and the lives around you begins to settle in for the night. A dimmer switch is extremely useful in the room that you choose for gazing.
  4. Try to set the ball up so that it has as little reflections on it as possible.
  5. Many folks find that candlelight behind the ball is beneficial to crystal ball gazing.
  6. I recommend a tape recorder so you can tape your impressions as they may come quickly or be forgotten.
  7. I also recommend keeping a journal of your crystal ball gazing sessions. What doesn’t make sense now, may unfold later and you don’t want to overlook a good prediction!

Crystal ball gazing

This advice comes from Ted Andrews’ book ” Crystal Balls & Crystal Bowls “. I highly recommend Ted’s book for anyone who wants to learn how to use a crystal ball. What I have written below is a condensed and edited version. The book teaches you everything you need to know on how to use your crystal ball from programming, preparing to gazing and cleansing. I don’t endorse many books. This one gets 4 thumbs up.

  1. Sit comfortably in front of your crystal ball.
  2. Some folks may wish to begin with a prayer of protection and guidance.
  3. Remove the black cloth covering the crystal ball.
  4. Turn on your tape recorder.
  5. Take a few moments to breath deeply and relax.
  6. Pick up the crystal ball in your hands and gently caress it with your hands. If you are reading for someone, allow them to do the same so the ball can pick up their energy. Then take it back. You will be cleansing it afterwards so don’t worry about them filling the crystal with negativity.
  7. As you caress the crystal ball, envision it coming to life. Imagine that you have just turned it’s power on and have created a connection between your energy and that of the crystal ball.
  8. Do this for several minutes and return it to it’s stand.
  9. Find a place on the ball that attracts you and focus upon it. Look into the spot and yet beyond it.
  10. Envision that place as a doorway through which you can observe past, present and future events.
  11. Don’t stare at the crystal ball… just gently gaze as you would while star or cloud gazing.
  12. Just relax and keep your mind open. If it wanders, that’s ok. Follow it and see where it goes. If you are getting way off track, move beyond that thought and relax again.
  13. As you gain experience in crystal ball gazing, you can ask for guidance on specific questions or issues.
  14. In the beginning, keep you gazing sessions to 5 to 10 minutes long so as not to wear yourself out. You will get used to it with practice and be able to work for longer periods.
  15. While crystal ball gazing, pay close attention to your other senses. Gazing is not just done with the eyes. The quartz crystal ball is a bridge between the material and spiritual worlds. Your whole body is able to give you information. You may feel hot or cold. You may feel odd sensations that messages from spirit. You may smell aromas that may be pleasant like flowers or unpleasant like smoke (I had a spirit who identified himself through the aroma of smoke because he died in a fire). A pipe smoker might comes through as his favorite tobacco. A lady might come through as her favorite perfume. Pay attention! These weird experiences are full of information if you are open to it.
  16. Speak aloud any impression you get no matter how strange. It might not make sense now but as things continue, it may become clear. This also lets spirit know they are getting through to you.
  17. As you gaze into the crystal ball, you may see mist or clouds. Look at them to see if they resemble anything (like cloud gazing). Now mentally try to part the clouds. If you can’t, don’t worry. It gets easier with practice.
  18. Often colors will accompany the clouds. I offer a book by Ted Andrews called “How to See and Read the Aura” which covers the meanings of the colors.
  19. Pay close attention to everything you think or feel. It is all important.
  20. Your session is nearing the end when the crystal ball begins to mist again.
  21. When you are ready to close your gazing session, gently caress the crystal to remove the messages that have come through.
  22. It’s always a good idea to close with a prayer or some words of thanks to those kindly spirits who assisted.
  23. Cleanse your crystal ball with soapy water to remove the fingerprints. Take great care because crystal balls are quite heavy and may slip from your hands from the soapy water.
  24. You can take the cleansing a step further and cleanse it on a spirit level by smudging with sage or incense.
  25. Wrap it in a black cloth and put it away. I recommend a storage box for your crystal ball.

Even though I have given enough information to get you started with crystal ball scrying, please consider Ted Andrews’ book Crystal Balls & Crystal Bowls. My overview doesn’t come close to the information you will get with his book.

Caution! NEVER leave your crystal ball where sunlight will hit it. A crystal ball acts like a magnifying glass and can cause a fire. I had one set out in my store where only a little of the setting sun hit it. When I went to sell it, the box had burn holes in it. My son (who was grounded and forced to come to the store as punishment *lol*) used a crystal ball to light incense. If you want to display a crystal ball, keep it in a dark corner (this is good feng shui). Otherwise, keep it under wraps.

How Do You Order Up Your Pagan Group?

How Do You Order Up Your Pagan Group?

Author: Greenbridge (Ellen Bergstrom)

Would you call it bold and spicy? Or is it more like creamy and smooth? My guess is that it is more like the former, bold and spicy…and perhaps even outrageous, loud, and obnoxious, angry, or even destructive. Hopefully it has not gotten to the physically violent level as yet, but hey, give it time.

Am I being a bit sarcastic here? Well, yes, but there is a lot of accuracy in what I say. Pagans are often obnoxious, loud, angry, and even attacking each other. What’s wrong with that you say? Don’t like the “fluffy bunny” approach? Well okay then, you violent ones, why don’t you all stick together. Perhaps you will all destroy each other eventually or else mellow out to realize you really don’t want your children, your grandchildren, and continuing generations to be as mean and nasty a bunch that you were.

Perhaps as you reach your elder years, become sick and frail and unable to care for yourselves that you’ll really begin to appreciate those “fluffy bunnies” that signed up to care for people like you. Perhaps so but if you get a caretaker like you, a mean one, what will they do to frail ole you when no one is watching. Perhaps it will only be then. Or maybe not even then. Maybe you will say you are tough enough to put up with the abuse, abuse that you yourself have given to others during your life of eating fluffy bunnies for snacks and fun. You may have to only realize it on your deathbed when you finally figure it out. Perhaps you would have lived longer, or perhaps even recovered from this elder illness you had but alas none of the fluffy bunnies survived to care for you.

Well now. Obviously I am not the obnoxious mean type of pagan I talk about (but I used to be, I’m in recovery I guess you would say.) Or you may think I am what you may consider to be a fluffy bunny or at least advocating that kind of thing. Think again. Actually, the term “fluffy bunny” was invented by those who are perhaps arrogant and self-involved to the extent that they wish not to consider the needs of others except when they are being patronizing. Patronizing is a lot like the “trickle down” stuff. Give a few crumbs to the peasants to keep them quiet and get credit for being generous.

The real fluffy bunnies are infants and small children who are being raised in love and kindness. They are still naive, of course, they are children, and are filled with love and hope. They want to spend their days discovering new things and having lots of fun. They think kindly of others and want to help those in need and it comes from their hearts. Few of us adults have been able to retain that kind of spirit. Too many of us have become tainted, rebellious, and skeptical. Or perhaps we were spoiled rotten and never learned to think of others except for “our own.” Others of us harbor hate in our hearts and will destroy others when given the chance.

Some of the greatest people among us are those who have been deprived of the necessary love and kindness that all children should have received yet discover that the hateful way they were treated is not the life they chose. These people have learned that love and kindness is strength not a weakness. They realize the worldview is upside down. Strength means kindness not meanness. They have learned that being kind to others often will bring that back to them. In fact they have learned that true respect of others is only respect for the self. They discovered what is perhaps one of the greatest secrets of all: that we are all connected. And since we are all connected, hurting others is like one hand trying to harm the other. In short we all hurt.

I have a theory why so many Pagans are so mean to others and even to other Pagans. I think it is because so many of us have been forced to follow old fundamentalist ideas like those of the Fundamentalist Protestant and the Catholic Church. We learned that to be considered “good” we follow what we are taught to do but not necessarily what the others do who taught us. We learned that life is mean, tough and competitive as we grew up with it. We learned to rebel against these awful ideas as young people since we have a brain. But then instead of joyfully entering Paganism, some of us bring that anger and hate right to the place we thought would be the best for us. Think of it. Bringing your hatefully past to a place you think will bring you to some kind of happiness in life.

Some of us never learned how to love and kind to others. Some of us never learned what joy that kindness brings into your life. Instead we were taught that it was a sign of weakness. We learned we had to fight and compete. Or perhaps we were so spoiled and rotten we never learned to even consider the needs of others.

Perhaps we learned we had to talk loud and take over the discussion, not allowing others to talk. Perhaps even we were taught to belittle others who have ideas different from ours. Perhaps even we were taught physical destruction against the property of others or even violence such as hitting, etc. Those who continue to be nasty perhaps have never learned the skills of kindness or the understanding of the strength it takes to be kind. These are just simple social skills that anyone can do to show respect for another human being. The strength comes in when they are practiced.

Turning the channel now.

Aaaahhhhh. Now I enter thoughts of love, kindness and peace. As I do so, I leave behind the abusive parents I had, the mean teachers, the hypocrites from the church I grew up in, the bully kids at school, the bullies at work. And those bullies at the last Pagan gathering I went to. I relax by myself and with others who are like me interested in having a loving and peaceful world. I know that is the only way I can fully develop all my talents and abilities and create the life I want.

There are many of us Pagans, those of us that want love and peace. We are not “fluffy bunnies.” Many of us are still full of piss and vinegar…spicy as all get out! We are very strong women and men who despite all the meanness and destruction in the world around us are strong enough to be kind to others. We care lovingly for those who need our help. And we care lovingly for our loved ones and for ourselves. We have known how easy it is to be mean and nasty to others…we did it ourselves. After all, that is how we were brought up too! But we realized it was the cowardly way out. We decided we did not want to be cowards.

We found out that after all it is the harder life to have in the long run though it “seems” to be easier. We discovered that it just seemed easier because it was something we were accustomed to doing and thus it was an automatic response. Being kind… that was hard because we never did it before. But when we started doing it, it turned out to be a happier life after all. We found out that it is a far easier, better, and more enjoyable life to simply be kind to others. We found that we could be kind to everyone, not just “our own.” When will you find that out, now, or will you wait till the moments before your death.

Oh and about that “bold and spicy” as opposed to “smooth and creamy”, I’ve decided that I don’t have to chose either one. I can have one of them today and perhaps the other tomorrow. I can have them both! I also discovered that I could add and subtract from things, juggle them around and make them the way I like. I choose to add kindness to the “bold and spicy” label but I delete out the mean part. Think I’ll create just that. Care to join me? Why not have it all together? What would you create? Let me know? I promise, I’ll be kind.

Today’s Affirmation, Thought & Meditation for March 6th

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Today’s Affirmation for March 6th

Like an ocean wave, my emotions come and go, but the depth of my being remains unchanging eternal.

 

Today’s Thought for March 6th

Moods pass through us like clouds across the sky. Allow them to pass, knowing that clear azure blue is the true colour of the spirit. All moods are transient, whether stormy and racing, heavy, dull and slow-moving; or a wispy veil that hides the sun.

 

Today’s Meditation for March 6th

Sense Your Body

Lie on your back with your arms by your sides, eyes closed. Focusing on your toes, tense your muscles for three seconds and then release. Begin to shift your awareness up your body, repeating this action with the main muscle groups of the legs, arms, abdomen, chest shoulders, neck and head. Now expand your awareness so that your attention encompasses the sensations of your whole body. Enjoy the sense of being fully present in and at one with your body.