Hi, folks!
It’s 52 and intermittently sunny. Patches of blue sky do exist. Supposedly this is going to last all day. That would be nice. We have a few outdoor chores to whomp through.
That reminds me of a story from when my kids were little. We were living in Portland at the time and it was a particularly cloudy winter. Finally in April the rains started to slow down and late in the month as we were heading somewhere, Alaric, who was about 5, looked up and with great astonishment said, “Mama? What’s the funny blue cloud?”
Yesterday, I got up a little late, but not as late as I’ve done the last couple of weekends. I got the newsletter out and by then Tempus we up and making breakfast. He did hard-boiled eggs and bacon along with hot cereal. That was really good. After that he set up a bread dough and then headed out to do the driving for that elderly friend.
I started setting up newsletters, but then the timer went off and I got the breads going. I’m making ham and cheese mini-loaves for lunches. I’m hoping to do a pea soup this week, but Tempus didn’t get a chance to clean the crock-pot, so that had to wait a bit. I had the other soup to work on, though. It was good and cold, so I de-greased it and put the solids into some gladware boxes after the breads were rising.
…and then I got tangled up in a project, again. I thought of something with one of the older embroidery kits, tracked it down and then re-formatted it and then redrew it and then… <sigh> By the time I was done, Tempus was home and we had supper and went to bed.
Of course, that was so early that I woke around midnight and worked on newsletter stuff some more. …and then got distracted finding some recipes!
…and of course, I didn’t get to the shop to work on my sewing. That’s going to have to be today.
Tempus also has the weekend’s chores to all do today, as well as some shopping. Well, we’ll see how much gets done….
We have a number of flat ornaments made from fabric cutouts. They were really well as gift decorations or tree ornaments. This is another of the very lightweight ones that we carry.
Today’s plant is Wild ginger, Asarum caudatum – This is a different plant from the one usually used in magick, but has only slightly different properties. This is related to black pepper, kava and birthwort. – Masculine, Mars, Fire – This is used for “heating up” spells. While standard ginger is used in money, love, success and power spells, Wild Ginger is mostly used to add power, rather than on its own. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asarum_caudatum
Lamentations of Isis, ancient Egypt(Nov 13 – 14) –Today: ‘Dismemberment of Osiris’. Isis and Osiris are archetypes bearing a similarity to other divine dualities such as Ishtar and Tammuz ( Damuzi), Venus and Adonis, Mary and Jesus Christ. The tears of Isis, as she lamented Osiris, were said to cause the periodic rising of the Nile; June 18 is another such event, The Egyptian story is believed to have influenced Christianity. See also the Festival of Isia, October 28. Related bits here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djed and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nephthys
The shop is closed on Tuesday/Wednesday! Winter hours are 11am-5pm Thursday through Monday. Need something off hours? Give us a call at 541-563-7154 or Facebook or email at ancientlight@peak.org If we’re supposed to be closed, but it looks like we’re there, try the door. If it’s open, the shop’s open! In case of bad weather, check here at the blog for updates, on our Facebook as Ancient Light or call the shop.
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Today’s Astro & Calendar
The Moon is Waxing Gibbous. Waxing Moon Magick – The waxing moon is for constructive magick, such as love, wealth, success, courage, friendship, luck or healthy, protection, divination. Any working that needs extra power, such as help finding a new job or healings for serious conditions, can be done now. Also, love, knowledge, legal undertakings, money and dreams. Phase ends at the Tide Change to Full on 11/16 at 7:16am. Waxing Gibbous Moon – From seven to fourteen days after the new moon. For spells that need concentrated work over a ¼ moon cycle this is the best time for constructive workings. Aim to do the last working on the day of the Full moon, before the turn. Keywords for the Gibbous phase are: analyze, prepare, trust. It is the time in a cycle to process the results of the actions taken during the First Quarter. During this phase you are gathering information. Give up making judgments; it will only lead to worry. Your knowledge is incomplete. Laugh. Analyze and filter. LOOK WITHIN. God/dess aspect: Maiden/Youth, but in the uncommitted phase, the Warriors Associated God/desses: Dion, Dionysius, Venus, Thor. Phase ends on 11/15 at 10:16pm.
Comet ISON is upstaged! Fourcomets are currently on display for binoculars or small telescopes in the east before the beginning of dawn(for Northern Hemisphere observers http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/javascript/3305541.html ). One is Comet ISON, http://www.skyandtelescope.com/community/skyblog/observingblog/Comet-ISON-Updates-193909261.html still underperforming at only about 8th magnitude. It starts this week about midway between Mars and Spica and speeds toward Spica daily, to pass it on November 17th and 18th.
But ISON is being outdone! Comet 2013 R1 (Lovejoy) “is a humdinger — almost as bright now as Comet ISON was forecast to be,” writesS&T‘s Tony Flanders. “And it’s very high in the sky… big, bright, and beautiful in 10×30 binoculars.”
The other two comets, Encke and C/2012 X1 (LINEAR), are fainter. See Tony’s article The Other Great Morning Comet, http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/highlights/The-Other-Great-Morning-Comet-231157211.html with finder charts for Lovejoy and ISON. Further details and charts for all four are atcomets.skyhound.com. http://comets.skyhound.com/
And don’t delay. Encke is getting very low, and moonlight returns to the just-before-dawn sky after about November 15th.
Go out very early this morning or Thursday morning to try for the four pre-dawn comets while the sky is still moonless. Print out your charts and get everything prepared the evening before.
As dawn begins to brighten and you’re packing up to go back in, don’t miss Mercury rising low in the east-southeast. Mercury, brightening each day, is entering its best dawn showing of 2013.
Jupiter (magnitude –2.4, in Gemini) rises in the east-northeast around 9 p.m. with Pollux and Castor to its left. It blazes highest in the south well before dawn. In a telescope Jupiter has grown to 42 arcseconds wide as it heads toward its January 5th opposition.
Goddess Month of Cailleach/Samhain runs from 10/31 – 11/27
Celtic Tree month of Ngetal/Reed Oct 28 – Nov 24
Runic half month of Naudhiz/ Nyd /Nauthiz – November 13- 27 – Time to prepare for winter.
Sun in Scorpio
Moon in Aries
Neptune Direct at 10:42am
Jupiter, Uranus and Chiron Retrograde
Color: Yellow
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©2013 M. Bartlett, Some parts separately copyright
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Ngetal Reed Oct 28 – Nov 24 – nGéadal – (NYEH-dl), reed – The term “reed” is used with great imprecision in North America, but it is clear that the reed of the ogham is the common reed (Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. ex Steudel). This is a giant grass, with stems as high as 4 m (13 feet). It grows in marshy areas, where it often forms dense stands. Like most other grasses, the vertical stems live only a single year, dying in the autumn and being replaced with new green shoots in the spring. The dead stems rattle and whisper in late autumn winds. Common reed has spread as a weed throughout the world; in North America it is widespread in cooler climates. Common reed is in the Grass family (Poaceae, or Gramineae).
“The Reed Month, is said by some to be most favorable for communication with ancestral spirits and the strengthening of all family ties, with magickal associations with fertility, love, protection, and family concerns. ‘Thin and slender is the Reed. He stands in clumps at the edge of the river and between his feet hides the swift pike awaiting an unsuspecting minnow to come his way. In his thinness the reed resembles arrows that fly, silver-tipped, up into the unknown air to land at the very source that one had searched for all these years. Firing arrows off into the unknown is an expression of the desire to search out basic truths. If you loose off without direction, the place of landing will be random. If the firing off is carried out with the correct conviction, determination and sense of purpose, then the act becomes secondary to the event that comes both before and after the moment.’” Source: Earth, Moon and Sky
Ngetal – Reed Ogam letter correspondences
Month: October
Color: Grass Green
Class: Shrub
Letter: NG
Meaning: Upsets or surprises
to study this month Mor – the Sea Ogam letter correspondences
Month: None
Color: Blue-green
Class: none
Letter: AE, X, XI, M
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Tides for Alsea Bay
Day High Tide Height Sunrise Moon Time % Moon
~ /Low Time Feet Sunset Visible
W 13 Low 2:35 AM 1.5 7:10 AM Set 3:01 AM 77
~ 13 High 8:57 AM 8.1 4:51 PM Rise 2:49 PM
~ 13 Low 3:40 PM 0.8
~ 13 High 9:41 PM 6.5
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Affirmation/Thought for the Day – I am grateful for the small things in my life!
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Journal Prompt – What is? – What was/is something that your father considered/considers very important?
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Quotes
~ We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us. – Joseph Campbell
~ The only way to deal with an unfree world is to make yourself so absolutely free that your very existance is an act of rebellion. – Albert Camus
~ The way to love anything is to realize that it might be lost. – G. K. Chesterton
~ Everything you buy, think, say and do is a statement of what you believe you are worth. – Alan Cohen
INTO ANOTHER TIME
A pin or breath could perhaps slip between
this world and the alteration of the next,
not a doorway but two worlds of being;
Closeknit, only a slight hesitation between…
Will you walk or slip into another place or time,
Like two screens from a drive-in theatre,
Slanting as you drive by them but large;
Not knowing if it’s a world like yours or mine?
They are back-to-back together closely
Not screens now, but becoming other worlds.
Will they be like this world, or mostly
Like a Celtic Overworld or Summerland?
Like the Greek Elysian Fields, or even
Like Hades or Hecate’s Dark Underworld,
Fording the River Styx to reach them,
Pressing a coin in Charon’s hand.
Or will they be just like our world, with only
small differences that would surprise;
Would you see a face like your face
Or your love or parents in another guise?
Would this be death, or yet another dream;
Of what could be, would be, or will be, yet?
I hope you will be there, waiting for me;
I’ll not chance it, otherwise! – © Copyright 11/5/05, Beth Johnson (Mystic Amazon)
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Magick – Thanksgiving Recipes
Time For Savory Pies — Irish Style
http://countrylife.lehmans.com/2011/12/19/time-for-savory-pies-irish-style/
Posted December 19th, 2011 by BeeSmith
Winter cooking lends itself to more roast meat, hearty stews and casseroles. Between Thanksgiving and the Christmas holidays we all tend to do more entertaining, too. This also creates leftovers and the need to ring the changes.
One part of British/Irish cookery that I have added to my standard winter repertoire is the savory pie. There is only a ‘lid’ to the pie, a topper that adds those carbohydrates that we crave during the cold months. Insulation for the digestion.
Suet pastry has pretty much gone out of vogue in British cookery over the past three decades. But shortcrust and puff pastry are found in every freezer cabinet. However, you pay a premium for shop bought. But if you are, like me, not a very gifted pastry chef, there are alternatives.
Enter the scone (similar to our biscuits) topping as well as the mashed potato topping that famously cloaks Shepherd’s Pie.
But first, the savory bit! You can make pies in deep dishes or casserole pots or even in large rectangular pans if you have a crowd to fill up.
Leftover cooked meat makes a good base for the pie, with an addition of cooked vegetables like peas with bite size potatoes and carrots.
Or, team tiny broccoli florets with mushrooms. Have some zucchini in your freezer? You could make a lovely tomato sauce base with zucchini, onion, garlic and celery.
Or you can really go to town with the winter root vegetables – celeriac, rutabaga (good with bacon or ham), white turnip, parsnip and carrot. You can add some curly kale for a bit of greenery.
Basically, look in your larder and see what’s there. As long as the vegetables are cut into dainty mouthfuls you really cannot go wrong.
For the sauce I play it by ear. I start with some butter in a skillet. I saute some onion and garlic. Then I put in the meat (or quorn, which is the vegetarian meat substitute of choice in our household). I’ll have cooked the peas and carrots in a small amount of water, and I add the lot to the pan. Then I get out the cornstarch and add two to three teaspoons to a few tablespoons of water. I stir vigorously and check that the sauce is the thickness I like. Too soupy? Another teaspoon of cornstarch dissolved in the tablespoon of water.
The the savory part of pie goes into whatever dish I’m using. All it needs now is the topping.
Mashed potato is the classic topping for Shepherd’s Pie – the much-loved minced lamb (or beef) combination with carrots and peas in a gravy.
The vegetarian version, sometimes called Shepherdess Pie (made with soya or quorn or even lentils as a substitute for the meat) will be topped with mashed potato with grated cheese to finish. That’s so you get the combination of dairy/pulse/bean for complimentary protein that vegetarians need.
And if you want pastry but your own homemade versions turn out a bit tough and disappointing? Ah, then the scone topping comes into play.
Scone Topping – enough for a Rectangular Dish
500g/1 lb self-rising flour
1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper or cayenne pepper
2 TBSP dried mixed herbs
100g/4 oz butter or margarine
Optional: 175 g/6 oz grated sharp cheese – good for vegetarian savory pie toppings
Approx. 1 1/2 cups buttermilk or 1 1/2 cups milk soured with 1/2 tsp lemon juice
Sieve the dry ingredients together. Rub in the butter and add the cheese if you are using it. Make a well and pour in half the buttermilk. Stir. Add the rest of the milk to make a dry, firm, very definitely not sticky dough. Roll it out on a floured surface to the shape of your pie dish, about 1/2 inch thick. Place on top of your meat/vegetable mixture.
You should have your oven fired up to 220 C degrees/425F/Gas Mark 7. Pop the pie in. It should be ready in about fifteen minutes.
Have a knife and spoon ready to serve. Cut out some topping to make sure that everyone gets their fair share!
White Spiced Coffee From Country Living
Total Time: 40 min Ingredients
* 3 cup(s) whole milk
* 1 cup(s) whole organic coffee beans, lightly cracked
* 1 1/2 stick(s) (3 inches long) cinnamon sticks
* 4 whole(s) green cardamom pods
* 1/4 cup(s) honey
* 2 tablespoon(s) dark rum, such as Mount Gay, optional
Directions
Place the milk and crushed coffee beans in a saucepan.
Heat the mixture to a simmer over medium-high heat, about 7 minutes.
Immediately remove from the heat and let the beans steep in the milk for 15 minutes.
Strain the coffee mixture and transfer to the jar of a blender.
Discard the crushed coffee beans.
Add the cinnamon sticks, cardamom, and honey to the steeped milk and blend on high speed until the spices are coarsely ground, about 30 seconds.
Strain the liquid back into the saucepan and discard the ground spices.
Rewarm the spiced coffee over medium-high heat until the liquid is hot and steaming.
Add rum, if desired.
Pour into warmed coffee mugs, and serve hot.
Tips & Techniques *Timesaver:* Use a heavy-bottomed skillet to crack coffee beans and spices. Place in a sealable plastic bag before crushing.
Nutritional Information (per serving) Calories *404* Total Fat 22.7g Saturated Fat — Cholesterol 79mg Sodium 116mg Total Carbohydrate 43.5g Dietary Fiber 0.5g Sugars — Protein 9.5g Calcium
From Perked-Up Recipes July 2, 2010 Perked-Up Recipes Coffee is a perfect ingredient for jazzed-up drinks, delicious rubs, and rich, heavenly desserts © 2010 Hearst Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved © 2010 Microsoft Microsoft
Smoky Salty Caramel Corn Recipe from Coastal Living
Photo: Jennifer Davick; Styling: Linda Hirst
You’ll plan a movie night with friends and family just to have an excuse to make an extra large batch of this sweet-meets-salty popcorn treat. Serve in a festive bucket for maximum cuteness.
Yield: Makes 14 cups
Recipe Time
Cook Time: 25 Minutes
Prep Time: 6 Minutes
Bake: 45 Minutes
Ingredients
1/2 cup popcorn kernels, freshly popped
1 (6-ounce) can whole smoked almonds
1 cup butter
1/2 cup light corn syrup
2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Preparation
1. Line 1 large, rimmed baking sheet with nonstick aluminum foil or parchment paper; set aside. Combine popcorn and almonds in a very large bowl; set aside.
2. Combine butter, corn syrup, and brown sugar in a large (3-quart), heavy pan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring often, until butter melts and sugar dissolves. Increase heat to medium, and bring to a boil. Cook, without stirring, until mixture reaches 254° (very hard ball) on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat.
3. Stir in salt, baking soda, and vanilla extract. (Mixture will bubble.) Quickly pour mixture over popcorn and nuts; toss gently to coat. Transfer popcorn mixture to prepared baking sheet.
4. Bake at 250° for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from oven; cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
Julia Dowling Rutland, Coastal Living
OCTOBER 2012
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