Ancient Light's Daily Stuff

Daily Stuff 6-1-20 World No Tobacco Day

Posted on June 1, 2020 by Anja Snihova'

Hi, folks!

Featured photo by Ken Gagne. The shop is open limited hours for the moment 1-5pm, Thursday through Monday.

The sunshine was amazing yesterday and ought to be really nice today! We did have a few people come in rather pink… It’s clear and still and chilly. 42F, wind is calm, AQI36, UV7. 10 chance of rain today and tonight. There’s a huge swirl over the Aleutians that’s dragging the rain away from us at the moment. It’s supposed to be cool and dry and gradually clouding up as the week goes on. That changes Friday night and we go into another round of rain and showers.

Yesterday I hadn’t slept well, so when I got up and tried to get going for the day I was miserable. I finally got some coffee and food and it’s amazing the difference that made. I kept working, got my classes done and then we got to the shop and opened at 1pm.

I did a bunch of photography and then developed the pictures. Tempus was doing one task after another. I had a class at 2pm. No one was showing up for Virtual Project Day so I just went on and did what I needed to.

We had several people through, shopping. Very late in the afternoon I was fading, so Tempus sent me to take a nap. When I got up, I started some carrots cooking for a supper dish and then did two classes, one on hemming stitches and the then another on Event Stewarding. Tempus got us some rice to put with the chicken and we had that with the carrots for supper.

We closed up. I got a nap, then I convinced Tempus to go to bed. He took off 1:30-ish for the paper route. I’ve been up since then, watched one of my geology classes, wrote a bit, cussed at the computer a lot and now I’m getting this done.

Today we’ll be open by 1. I think Tempus has errands to run today. I have some writing to do and some photography and then I need to get some sewing time in.

A Ken Gagne pictures of a gold finch on 5/23/15. His comment was “Ouch!”

Today is World No Tobacco Day, a day of abstinence from the products, intended to showcase the negatives of tobacco use. Ashtrays are often cleaned and filled with fresh flowers. In my case, although there usually aren’t any ashtrays around me, I add flowers to those that I see in honor of my beloved grandfather, who died of lung cancer from a pack-a-day habit. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_No_Tobacco_Day

Today’s Plant is Yarrow, Achillea millefolium. This plant is often called woundwort or nosebleed because of its clotting properties and is used for fevers and infections because it has salicylates (aspirin) in it. The young leaves can be eaten and it becomes and aid to vision-work. It’s easy to grow and makes a great companion plant. We have mostly the pacifica and californica varieties out here. – Feminine, Venus, Water. Exorcism – Wear to protect – hold in hand to stop fear – hang over bed for lasting love – carry for love and bring friends and contact with relatives. Flower – Feminine, Venus, Water – flowers made into tea for psychic power, or Exorcism, protection. Can be added to handfasting magicks. More info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yarrow

The shop is closed for the duration, but hoping to open on 5/28. Need something? Give us a call at 541-563-7154 or Facebook or email at ancientlight@peak.org We should be able to accommodate requests and even allow a little shopping, one person at a time.

Love & Light,
Anja

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Today’s Astro & Calendar

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 on 6/5 at 12:12pm. 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 at the Full on 6/4 at 12:12am.

Finding Pluto – In the early morning on June 1, Pluto passes near a 9th-magnitude field star. Bright Jupiter is less than 2° away. – Alison Klesman (via TheSkyX)

Tiny Pluto glows at magnitude 14.7 — a challenge for telescopic observers under less-than-ideal conditions, but within easy reach of imaging equipment. This morning, you can find it just 4′ due south of a magnitude 9 field star, HIP 97251.
Jupiter, blazing at magnitude –2.6, is just over 1° to the pair’s northeast. Although a bright gibbous Moon is also up, it’s relatively far away. Still, if you have trouble finding the dwarf planet, don’t worry — there will be plenty of chances on darker nights later this month.
After dark, 1st-magnitude Spica hangs below the waxing gibbous Moon in the south.
Venus is basically out of sight, closing in on the Sun. They reach conjunction at 18h UT June 3rd, when Venus will pass less than one solar radius from the Sun’s northern limb.

Old Farmer’s Almanac May Sky Map – https://www.almanac.com/night-sky-map-may-asterisms
Goddess Month of Hera runs from 5/16 – 6/12
Celtic Tree Month of Huath, Hawthorn, May 13 – Jun 9
Runic Half-month of Othala/ Odal/Odel 5/29-6/13- The rune Odel signifies ancestral property, the homestead, and all those things that are “one’s own”…

Sun in Gemini
Moon in Libra
Venus(6/25), Jupiter (9/12), Saturn(9/29), Pluto(10/4) Retrograde
Color: Lavendar

©2020 M. Bartlett, Some parts separately copyright

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Celtic Tree Month of Huath/Hawthorn, May 13 – Jun 9 – I am fair among flowers – Color: Purple – Class: Peasant – Letter: H – Meaning: Being held back for a period of time – Hawthorn – Like willows, hawthorns have many species in Europe, and they are not always easy to tell apart. All are thorny shrubs in the Rose family (Rosaceae), and most have whitish or pinkish flowers. The common hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna Jacq.) and midland hawthorn (Crataegus laevigata (Poiret) DC.) are both widespread. They are common in abandoned fields and along the edges of forests. Both are cultivated in North America, as are several native and Asiatic hawthorns. Curtis Clark

Huathe – Hawthorne Ogam letter correspondences
Month: April
Color: Purple
Class: Peasant
Letter: H
Meaning: Being held back for a period of time

to study this month – Ur – Heather and Mistletoe Ogam letter correspondences
Month: None
Color: Purple
Class: Heather is Peasant; Mistletoe is Chieftain
Letter: U
Meaning: Healing and development on the spiritual level.

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Tides for Alsea Bay
*

Day        High      Tide Height   Sunrise    Moon Time      % Moon
~ /Low      Time    Feet Sunset Visible
M    1      Low   3:40 AM     1.2   5:34 AM     Set 3:25 AM      68
~ 1     High   9:25 AM     5.8   8:54 PM    Rise 4:05 PM
~ 1      Low   3:29 PM     0.9
~ 1     High   9:55 PM     7.8

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Affirmation/Thought for the Day – We are all seekers here, following some distant star. Eventually we will come to recognize that this star resides in our very core.

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Journal Prompt – Auto-Biographical narrative – Tell about living or visiting a farm or ranch.

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Quotes

~ Remorse is impotence; it will sin again. Only repentance is strong; it can end everything. – Henry Miller
People say conversation is a lost art; how often I have wished it were. – Edward R. Murrow
Do not rejoice over what has not yet happened. — Egyptian Proverb
~ Don’t look for speed in a cheap horse: be content if it neighs. – Hausa Proverb

It is the month of June,
The month of leaves and roses,
When pleasant sights salute the eyes,
And pleasant scents the noses. – N.P. Willis (1807–67)

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Litha Magick – Lore – Midsummer Traditions

deborah <isis_snow_tiger@yahoo.com> wrote:

To: Hearth_Witch@yahoogroups.com
From: “deborah” <isis_snow_tiger@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 06 Jun 2006 16:47:09 -0000
Subject: [Hearth_Witch] Midsummer Traditions

Midsummer has always been a time for celebration and dancing. Traditionally, there were bonfires to celebrate the Sun. The bonfires were believed to have the power to burn away all negativity and evil. People jumped the flames, much as they had at Beltane, making wishes. It was believed that the summer grains would grow only as high as they were able to jump. The Celts built their bonfires near holy wells or on a border or boundary of some sort because they considered borders to be magickal entrances to the Underworld. In some places, people light fires on midsummer eve. They stay up until midnight to welcome in midsummer day, and, when the fires die down, men run or jump through the embers to bring good luck.

Ancient Pagans had a custom for Midsummer which consisted of wrapping straw around the wheel of a cart, lighting it on fire, and then rolling it down a tall hill. These flaming wheels were called “Catherine Wheels” and they emulated the action of the sun, which would begin waning after Midsummer day. If the fire went out before the wheel got to the bottom of the hill, it indicated a good harvest.

Since Midsummer is both a time of protection and of divination, in ancient times, the rootstock of a male fern plant was trimmed into the likeness of a hand and smoked in the Midsummer fires. These ‘Hands of Glory’ were hung in houses for protection. It was said that if the hands glowed with a blue flame, they were revealing hidden treasure in the earth.

There is still a famous summer solstice celebration at Stonehenge, the ancient stone circle on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire. On the night before midsummer, a group of white-robed Druids gather at Stonehenge to watch the sun rising. As it comes up, the sun rises exactly over the Heel Stone, one of the stones that lies outside the main circle at Stonehenge.

Many midsummer celebrations were moved to the feast of St John the Baptist (24th June). But since Midsummer was a time of magic and wonder-working, evil spirits were said to appear, and people gathered herbs and flowers to protect themselves. One of the most powerful was the plant known as ‘chase-devil’, which we now call St John’s Wort. People used it in potions, and wove the flowers into garlands to decorate their houses or protect their farm animals. They believed that the herb could shield them from the power of evil spirits and could help them foretell the future. ~author unknown

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Silliness – Real Funny News Headlines

– Panda Mating Fails; Veterinarian Takes Over
– Soviet Virgin Lands Short of Goal Again
– British Left Waffles on Falkland islands
– Lung Cancer in Women Mushrooms
– Eye Drops off Shelf
– Teacher Strikes Idle Kids
– Reagan Wins on Budget, But More Lies Ahead
– Is There a Ring of Debris Around Uranus?

Posted in Daily Stuff, Newsletter, Pagan, Wiccan | Tagged Achillea millefolium, Affirmation, Astrology, Astronomy, Celtic Tree Month, Goddess Month, Journal Prompt, Litha, Litha lore, Magick, Midsummer, Moon, moon phase, nosebleed, Oregon Coast, Pagan, Real Funny News Headlines, Runic Half Month, Silliness, Solstice, Summer Solstice., Tides, Today’s Feast, Today’s Plant, Weather, Wicca, World No Tobacco Day, woundwort, yarrow

Daily Stuff 5-31-20 International Children’s Day

Posted on May 31, 2020 by Anja Snihova'

Hi, folks!

Featured photo by OCD Photography. The shop is open with limited hours for now. 1-5pm Thursday through Monday. We do have social distancing stuff in place. Please read the signs! House Capuchin’s Project Day today (virtual realm)

Tempus saw one of last night’s flashes of lightning, but he was mostly north of the whole thing until he got home. The rain and thunder were impressive during the day. I haven’t looked at the rain gauge, yet, but I dumped it night before last, so it ought to be a good record. The pavement is still damp and glisteny, but not wet. 50F, wind at 0-3mph and gusting, AQI35, UV8. 10% chance of rain today and tonight. We ought to have several dry days in a row, now. Be careful of sunburns! That’s likely to change Friday evening and then stay wet for a bit after. The big map has some swirls out at sea, one that’s close enough to pull some rain in on us next weekend, but otherwise nothing much.

Yesterday I was up at 10 and working at the shop within 15 minutes. I got the launch coverage up and running so I could listen and then started watering plants. The launch lost sound at about 11:45. No clue why. I pulled up the NASA site instead of the SpaceX, but that wasn’t as good. They got sound back, but were running 1 1/2 minutes behind the NASA feed. <sigh> That’s almost comforting. 🙂

So Tempus got our bakery box and we had scones with our coffee. I finished up an interesting class on Byzantine sorcery. We did get ourselves finally open 1:30-ish. Had customers. They browsed for a long while, and then it was quiet until the end of the day.

The rose in the sign planter is blooming! It was too dark to get pix today, but I went out and harvested some bits and pieces. I have bean seeds to put in, too. Tempus got them for me. Too wet… and I was pretty busy still working on stock.

In the evening I made some more of the chicken stuff and watched one of my geology classes on Ghost Volcanoes. Tempus and I split the “brown-butter financier” for dessert. That’s really bizarre name. After that I settled down to embroidery and reading and *finally* finished the cuff and collarband set. Photos today and I’ll drop at least one in the newsletter.

Today we’ll be open by 1pm, probably before that. It depends a little when Tempus gets in from papers. He’s still working on the Sanity Saver area, but most of the stuff is picked up and signage in place. I do have to clean up the area where I want to park the masks.

Heceta Head Light from 5/26/18 by OCD Photography. Used with permission.

Today is International Children’s Day. It’s not much celebrated in the US, but is intended to call attention to the abuse and exploitation of children around the world, whether as child soldiers, child workers or children living in the street or with the aftereffects of displacement by war. Our children are our future, not a commodity! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children%27s_Day

Today’s Plant is the Early Blue Violet, Viola adunca. – Violet leaves contain more vitamin A than spinach, and a half-cup of leaves has more vitamin C than four oranges, but rhizomes, fruits and seeds are poisonous. Other common names include the hooked-spur violet, Cascade violet, sand violet and the western dog violet. Found on Wiki here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viola_adunca or here: http://blogs.evergreen.edu/sustainableprisons/blog/2012/01/12/spp-plant-profile-early-blue-violet-viola-adunca/ Feminine, Venus, Water – Protects against malevolent spirits, brings changes in luck & fortune, wear to help with headaches, dizziness and to bring calm and sleep, wear in a green sachet to heal wounds.

The shop is open with limited hours for now. 1-5pm Thursday through Monday. Need something? Give us a call at 541-563-7154 or Facebook or email at ancientlight@peak.org We should be able to accommodate requests. We do have social distancing stuff in place. Please read the signs!

Love & Light,
Anja

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Today’s Astro & Calendar

The Moon is waxing gibbous and high after dusk, one of the Moon’s most popular phases and convenient places for backyard telescopic observers.
And when you’re done with the Moon, notice the brightest little naked-eye star a couple finger-widths from it. That’s 3rd-magnitude Gamma Virginis, or Porrima. (For North Americans it’s roughly 3° to the Moon’s left or lower left.) High power should resolve it into a rather close, equal-brightness binary pair, separation 3.0 arcseconds this year, aligned almost exactly north-south. Porrima’s stars are both spectral type F0 V, somewhat larger and hotter than the Sun, and revolve around each other every 169 years in a highly elliptical orbit. They’re 38 light-years away.
Neptune and Mars share the early-morning sky, making the former easier to find. Two hours before sunrise, they’re nearly 20° above the east-southeastern horizon. Mars is easy to spot at magnitude 0, about 2° below (southeast) of magnitude 3.7 Lambda (λ) Aquarii. Neptune is 8.6° east of Mars and only 3° east of magnitude 4 Phi (φ) Aquarii. Binoculars or a small scope will show the ice giant shining at magnitude 7.9, with a disk just 2″ across.
Mercury is having a nice apparition in evening twilight. Look for it in the west-northwest as twilight deepens. However, Mercury is fading: from magnitude 0.0 on May 30th to +0.7 on June 6th, a loss of half its light. A telescope will show why. Mercury is rapidly waning in phase, from half-lit to a crescent this week, showing us less and less of its sunlit side. This fact may not be entirely obvious in your scope – first because Mercury is a mere 7 arcseconds in diameter, and second, the atmospheric seeing is always poor at the low altitude where Mercury hangs in twilight. Get your telescope on it as early as you can. If you keep examining it, tweaking the focus and hoping for moments of better seeing, you’ll eventually see quite a bit more than you did at first. As is true throughout visual astronomy.

Old Farmer’s Almanac May Sky Map – https://www.almanac.com/night-sky-map-may-asterisms
Goddess Month of Hera runs from 5/16 – 6/12
Celtic Tree Month of Huath, Hawthorn, May 13 – Jun 9
Runic Half-month of Othala/ Odal/Odel 5/29-6/13- The rune Odel signifies ancestral property, the homestead, and all those things that are “one’s own”…

Sun in Gemini
Moon in Virgo enters Libra at 7:38am
Venus(6/25), Jupiter (9/12), Saturn(9/29), Pluto(10/4) Retrograde
Color: Orange

©2020 M. Bartlett, Some parts separately copyright

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Huathe – Hawthorne Ogam letter correspondences
Month: April
Color: Purple
Class: Peasant
Letter: H
Meaning: Being held back for a period of time

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Tides for Alsea Bay
*

Day        High      Tide Height   Sunrise    Moon Time      % Moon
~ /Low      Time    Feet Sunset Visible
Su 31      Low   2:33 AM     2.1   5:35 AM     Set 2:59 AM      57
~ 31     High   8:06 AM     5.8   8:53 PM    Rise 2:49 PM
~ 31      Low   2:32 PM     0.5
~ 31     High   9:09 PM     7.3

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Affirmation/Thought for the Day – Make this a joyful day!

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Journal Prompt – Friends – How do you think instant riches would affect your friendships and familial relationships?

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Quotes

~   I owe a lot to my parents, especially my mother and father. – Greg Norman
~   Remember, there are two benefits of failure: First, if you do fail, you learn what doesn’t work; and second, the failure gives you an opportunity to try a new approach. – Roger Von Oech, Creativity expert
~   We must fill our lives with meaning, meaning is not automatically given to life. It is hard work to fill one’s life with meaning. – Chaim Potok
~   Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain – and most do. – Dale Carnegie (1888-1955)

The glittering leaves of the rhododendrons
Balance and vibrate in the cool air;
While in the sky above them
White clouds chase each other. – John Gould Fletcher (1886–1950)

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Litha Magick – Recipes

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Silliness – Silly Q&A – Question: What did one wall say to the other wall? Answer: Meet me at the corner

Posted in Daily Stuff, Newsletter, Pagan, Wiccan | Tagged Affirmation, Astrology, Astronomy, Celtic Tree Month, Early Blue Violet, Goddess Month, International Children’s Day, Journal Prompt, Litha, Magick, Midsummer, Moon, moon phase, Oregon Coast, Pagan, Runic Half Month, Silliness, Silly Q&A, Solstice, Summer Solstice., The glittering leaves of the rhododendrons, Tides, Today’s Feast, Today’s Plant, Viola adunca, Weather, Wicca

Daily Stuff 5-30-20 Frigg’s day

Posted on May 30, 2020 by Anja Snihova'

Hi, folks!

Featured photo by . The shop is closed for the duration, hoping to open on 5/28.

It’s supposedly raining, but the pavement here is dry. There was apparently a bang and a flash of lightning upriver a few minutes ago, but all I heard was a grumble. 53F, wind at 1-4mph and gusting, AQI39, UV6. 100% chance of rain today and 70% tonight. Today is supposed to be the wet day. They’re talking about 1/2 an inch. After today though, it’s supposed to be dry until next Saturday.

Yesterday I got up at the right time to open, but we weren’t ready…. and Tempus was really tired. I finally crawled back into the nap bed after I had done as much as I could. When I woke back up, Tempus had made coffee. I was still really, really tired. Dunno why. The push to try to get open. It was almost 7 before we had made any progress at the shop at all. …later before we ate supper. I made breadcrumbs of some rolls that had gotten too scorched to eat the outside of, and set them going in the dehydrator, rather than take a chance of mold with the weather turning a bit wet again.

After that I was making signs and trying to get things shifted…. Yeah, obviously we didn’t open yesterday. Tempus is really tired and 1/2 my problem is I’m waiting for him to move things before I can do the next step. I finally got the signs made, and about 1/2 of them up. The rest are waiting for things to move… <sigh> I did get the breadcrumbs out of the dehydrator and crunched up before it got very late.

Tempus was mostly working in the sanity savers section of the shop. There’s a chunk of things that need to get moved still, but the sorting is mostly done from the look of it. I got a nap, then did embroidery and read for the rest of the evening. He headed out around 2. I watched one of my geology lectures and then got to work on this.

Today, well, I hope we’ll get open. That’s the idea, anyway. Watch for the flags and the sign by the door to be on. “Open”. We’re still going to be working on things…. and please read the signs.

…and we’ll be watching the SpaceX launch which is just after noon, our time. I’ve already got the link up and playing with the countdown!

Photo by Ken Gagne from 5/23/17 of Heceta Head.

Today’s feast is Frigg’s day, according to Nigel Pennick. Frigg is a goddess associated with married women. She was called up by women to assist in giving birth to children. She is also wise enough to sit in Odin’s (her husband’s) seat to keep an eye on the world. Orion’s Belt was called Frigg’s distaff by the Norse. The picture is of her spinning clouds! There’s an article with a lot of the stories here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frigg and another with a lot of the similarities between Frigg and Freya here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frigg_and_Freyja_origin_hypothesis

Today’s plant is Foxglove, Digitalis purpurea. It is naturalized in the PNW, being native to Europe, not the Americas. Digitalis was one of the first heart medications and was extracted from the plant and then synthesized. The plant is poisonous, not just because of this (too much causes irregular heartbeat), but some other chemicals. Also known as Lady’s Glove, Witches’ Gloves, Fairy Fingers, or Dead Men’s Bells. – Feminine, Venus, Water – A Druid sacred herb associated with the “little people”. Lust, protection, decision, grow in a garden for protection of house and yard, reveals insincerity. Flower meaning – a wish, “I am not ambitious for myself but for you”.

Love & Light,
Anja

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Today’s Astro & Calendar

Vega

Arcturus

Bright Capella is still up in the northwest in twilight, as shown above, but it sets in the northwest fairly soon after dark (depending on your latitude). That leaves <<< Vega and Arcturus >>>> as the brightest two stars in the evening sky. Both are magnitude 0. Vega shines in the east-northeast. Arcturus is very high toward the south. A third of the way from Arcturus to Vega, look for semicircular Corona Borealis, the Northern Crown, with 2nd-magnitude Alphecca as its one moderately bright star. Two thirds of the way from Arcturus to Vega is the dim Keystone of Hercules, now lying roughly level. Use binoculars or a telescope to examine the Keystone’s top edge. A third of the way from the edge’s left end to the right is 6th-magnitude M13, one of Hercules’s two great globular star clusters. In binoculars it’s a tiny glowing cotton ball. A 4- or 6-inch scope begins to resolve some of its speckliness. Located 22,000 light-years away far above the plane of the Milky Way, M13 consists of several hundred thousand stars in a swarm about 140 light-years wide.

upiter’s Great Red Spot was on the planet’s central meridian (System II longitude 331°) when Christopher Go took this image on May 5th in near-perfect seeing. South is up. “There are exceptional details resolved inside the GRS.” he writes. “Aside from the dark core, note the bright white streak. The North Equatorial Belt is very chaotic. Two [tiny white upwelling-cloud] outbreaks can be seen in the NEB.”

Jupiter makes for an excellent early-morning target, rising about midnight and hiking higher in the sky with each passing hour. With a scope, the gas giant shows off breathtaking detail — and, if you glance at it around 3 A.M. EDT, two moons. Ganymede and Callisto lie to the planet’s southwest and northeast, respectively. Come back an hour later, and a third moon has appeared: Io now sits northeast of the planet, having popped out from behind Jupiter at 3:37 A.M. EDT. Wait just a few minutes more, and at 4:11 A.M. EDT Europa appears from behind the planet, slightly south of Io. Both moons quickly move away in the brightening twilight.
Neptune (magnitude 7.9, in Aquarius) is fairly low in the east-southeast before dawn begins.

Old Farmer’s Almanac May Sky Map – https://www.almanac.com/night-sky-map-may-asterisms
Goddess Month of Hera runs from 5/16 – 6/12
Celtic Tree Month of Huath, Hawthorn, May 13 – Jun 9
Runic Half-month of Othala/ Odal/Odel 5/29-6/13- The rune Odel signifies ancestral property, the homestead, and all those things that are “one’s own”…

Sun in Gemini
Moon in Virgo
Venus(6/25), Jupiter (9/12), Saturn(9/29), Pluto(10/4) Retrograde
Color: Black

©2020 M. Bartlett, Some parts separately copyright

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Huathe – Hawthorne Ogam letter correspondences
Month: April
Color: Purple
Class: Peasant
Letter: H
Meaning: Being held back for a period of time

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Tides for Alsea Bay
*

Day        High      Tide Height   Sunrise    Moon Time      % Moon
~ /Low      Time    Feet Sunset Visible
Sa 30      Low   1:17 AM     2.8   5:36 AM     Set 2:31 AM      45
~ 30     High   6:43 AM     6.1   8:53 PM    Rise 1:34 PM
~ 30      Low   1:34 PM     0.1    30     High   8:21 PM     6.8

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Affirmation/Thought for the Day – Spend each day, thinking of someone to thank.

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Journal Prompt – What is your ? – What is your earliest memory of your father? Recall it with as much detail as possible.

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Quotes

~   The right to be heard does not automatically include the right to be taken seriously. – Hubert Humphrey
~   A bird in the hand was better than two in the bush. – Laxdaela Saga, c.24
~   Beggars always want to be choosers. – Örvar Odd’s Saga, c.24
~   The only things that will never happen are the things that we have dared not to dream. – SanDanYi

A swarm in May is worth a load of hay;
a swarm in June is worth a silver spoon;
but a swarm in July is not worth a fly. – Beekeepers’ saying, mid-17th century

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Litha Magick – Crafts

Laminated Window Hangings for Litha

you will need:
– lined paper
– laminating paper
– crayons
– Litha cookie cutters(the big ones)
– scissors & a single hole punch
– a pencil
what to do:

Lightly trace the shapes of suns, wedding cake or other Litha figures with your pencil.
Cut out those shapes with scissors.
Colour in the shapes with your crayons lightly.
Laminate the shapes with laminate paper, and cut off the excess edges, leave about 3mm extra laminate paper.
Punch a hole through the top of the shape and hang it up in your window.

Pagan parenting: midsummer crafts and activities for children – Looking for some great Midsummer crafts and activities for your kids this solstice? Liven up Litha with some of these ideas. [Also great for the Younger Self]

COLLECT HERBS – Herbs collected at dawn on Midsummer have long been thought to be especially charged with magic. Get up early and collect some from your garden to be dried and used throughout the year. If you don’t have an herb garden, try going to a natural area. Take along a book that identifies wild herbs, and choose some to bring home and dry. Make sure that you can identify those that you choose to ensure you are not taking home poisonous plants, and never, ever ingest herbs you collect from the wild.

WASH IN DEW – While you are up early, collect some dew of the grass or tree leaves and wash your face with it. Dew collected on the morning of Midsummer is also highly charged with powerful nature magic. Whoever washes with it is blessed by the Goddess.

PLAY GAMES – Summer Solstice was a prime time for merry making and frolicking, since it fell between the two hardest work seasons– planting and harvesting. People loved to play games during this joyous time of year when the sun was at its peak and the land was warm and ripening. Incorporate some of that fun into your holiday celebration– cut loose and play games. Have a water balloon fight, toss a frisbee, or run relay races.

HAVE A BARBECUE – Midsummer is a fire festival. The Sun Lord is at his height of power and glory. Cooking outdoors on an open fire is a great way to celebrate the season. Allow children to roast hot dogs or marsh mallows (with a long stick and adult supervision) on the flame of life as it crackles and burns.

MAKE A BURNING MAN – One long-surviving Pagan tradition is that of making a burning man, which represents the Sun Lord, in all of His flaming splendor, at the point of the year in which He begins His decline. Giant burning men have been erected at large festivals and burned on enormous bonfires, however a small version that can be placed on the barbecue or in the fire pit will suffice for your needs.

Gather sticks and twigs and make a small human figure by tying them together with twine. At sunset, have an adult put the burning man on his “pyre” and watch it go up in flames. Know that as he turns to ash, so does the year begin to wane.

MAKE A SUNDIAL – What better craft for the longest day of the year than to create your own sundial? If you have land upon which you can make a permanent sundial on the ground, gather some stones or shells, and a large stick. It should be a place that is in an open area that gets full sunlight all day. Plant the stick half-way into the ground, in the center of where your sundial will be. Pack the soil around it well. Then, from dawn till dusk, every hour on the hour, place a stone at the spot where the protruding top of the stick points. As the seasons change, you will note the differences of where the shadows fall, allowing children to witness the changes in the sun’s journey through the year.

If you don’t have any land, you can still make a portable sundial. Get a round wood plaque from a craft store (the type used for making clocks works well). Let the children paint and decorate it if they wish. On Midsummer, put it in a place where it will get full sun all day. Drill a hole in the center (most clock face wood plaques will already have one) and put a stick firmly into it. Use glue around it to ensure its sturdiness. Then, glue a small stone or rock– every hour on the hour– exactly where the stick’s shadow points. You can store your sundial indoors, and bring it out whenever you please.

FEED THE FAIRIES – As depicted in Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” the shortest night of the year has always been known as a night when the veil between our world and the world of the fairies is thin. Fairies are at their most active on the night of Litha. Children may wish to gather together a plate of sweet treats and ripe fruits and leave it out for them. Befriending the fairies on the solstice is a smart move, lest they may use their mischievous magic to trick you!

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Silliness – Interesting Mask

Posted in Daily Stuff, Newsletter, Pagan, Wiccan | Tagged Affirmation, Astrology, Astronomy, Celtic Tree Month, digitalis purpurea, foxglove, Frigg's Day, Goddess Month, Interesting Mask, Journal Prompt, Litha, Magick, Midsummer, Moon, moon phase, Oregon Coast, Pagan, Runic Half Month, Silliness, Solstice, Summer Solstice., Tides, Today’s Feast, Today’s Plant, Weather, Wicca

Daily Stuff 5-29-20 Ambarvalia

Posted on May 29, 2020 by Anja Snihova'

Hi, folks!

Featured photo by Ken Gagne. Last Minus Tide of the cycle at 12:35 PM of -0.2 feet. The shop is closed for the duration, hoping to open later today.

It’s partly cloudy and the pollen count is down to moderate. It ought to be a little cooler today with the cloud cover. There’s the remnant of a storm, south and out to see that’s headed our way. 56F, wind at 3-6mph and gusting, AQI, UV5. 10% chance of rain today and 20% tonight. Saturday’s rain amounts have dropped to about 2/3 of an inch, but it still looks like a good chance. The rest of the forecast looks dry until the end of next week.

Yesterday I got the chicken dish mostly finished before I went to bed. The chicken was cooked in the sauce and the parsley pulped and rice flour added. I just need to cook the sauce and warm the stuff before we eat it.

I’m all antsy about wanting to open, but we just aren’t ready, drattit. When Tempus got up, we opened up the shop doors and got started. We’re still trying to find a way to get the signage taken care of without blocking the door. Fixing displays… printing signs…. getting stock set out. How’d that thing of tools end up there? ….alll day…

Isabeau and Coleman stopped by for a visit….at a distance… all of us in masks, but it was good to see their faces….well… behind the masks, anyway!

We had the green chicken for supper tonight. I did mine a little differently, cooking the chicken in sugar/wine/almond milk and the sauce with just the parsley and rice flour… I had to cheat, or the hubs wouldn’t have eaten it. I added some salt to “draw” the water out of the parsley and then added a bit of garlic powder, at which point he was willing to try it… and ate his whole serving. …and I like garnishing dishes and the nasturtiums are blooming…. 🙂 The chicken was yummy and I may do it this way again, just by itself. The parsley sauce was *very* green until the add of the garlic and then it sortof…smoothed out. It was a good contrast and a good combination, even if it wasn’t exactly the recipe as stated. I have a batch of the cooking sauce for the chicken in the fridge and I may do some more in a day or two.

Tempus took off around 8pm, since it’s the bulk route night. I decided to stay at the shop and keep working, so I got a nap, first, then set up my to-do list, and started in. I talked to Tempus for a bit, not long after midnight, after he was done with the bulk route.

Today we’re still at it, trying to get ready to open. We might be able to open by around 1 or 2pm today. You’re welcome to stop by even if the flags aren’t out or the sign still says closed. We’re asking people to stay masked and observe social distancing. Zen hugs are always appreciated.

http://www.reshareworthy.com/white-ravens/ Photographer Uncovers The White Ravens Of Legend In West Coast Forest

A Ken Gagne of the lovely weather on 5/27/15

Today’s Plant is Cascade penstemon, or coast penstemon, Penstemon serrulatus. A member of the plantain family, this was used by the 1^st nations peoples as a medicinal remedy for toothache. It’s common name, “Beardtongue” is because the flower appears to be sticking out it’s hairy tongue! It has a lovely flower, and is a semi-deciduous shrub, which usually is very short, unlike many shrubs. The tender shoots that the flowers grow on often get frost-nipped so only survive for a year or so, with the rest of the plant surviving below the level of surrounding plants, acting as a perennial ground-cover. – Feminine, Venus, Earth – Use for headaches, particularly headaches coming from tooth pain or infection by binding the herb with red wool and/or putting it into a red cloth pouch and bind to the head, or even put into your pillowcase at bedtime. You can put a leaf in your shoes to help with the effects of standing on them too long. Roots protect from snakebite and a bunch of the flowers will chase negativity away, particularly that coming from outside. Iow, it won’t do much for a bad mood…. More on Penstemon here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penstemon

Today’s feast is the Ambarvalia. Here’s what Wikipedia says, “Ambarvalia was a Roman agricultural fertility rite held at the end of May in honor of Ceres. At these festivals they sacrificed a bull, a sow, and a sheep, which, before the sacrifice, were led in procession thrice around the fields; whence the feast is supposed to have taken its name, ambio, I go round, and arvum, field. This sacrifice was called a suovetaurilia in Latin. These feasts were of two kinds, public and private. The private were solemnized by the masters of families, accompanied by their children and servants, in the villages and farms out of Rome. The public were celebrated in the boundaries of the city, and in which twelve fratres arvales walked at the head of a procession of the citizens, who had lands and vineyards at Rome. During the procession, prayers would be made to the goddess. The ambervale carmen was a prayer preferred on this occasion. The name “Ambarvalia” appears to be predominantly an urban designation. Roman farmers’ almanacs (menologia rustica) describe this only as segetes lustrantur (“crops are purified”). Scaliger, in his notes on Festus, maintains the ambarvalia to be the same as amburbium. Numerous other communities of the Italian peninsula enacted similar rites with different names.”

Love & Light,
Anja

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Today’s Astro & Calendar

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 on 6/5 at 12:12pm. Waxing Crescent phase – Keywords for the Crescent phase are: expansion, growth, struggle, opportunity. It is the time in a cycle that you gather the wisdom learned in the new phase and communicate your intention to move forward. Light a candle. Write or read an affirmation. LISTEN & ABSORB. Commit to your goal. God/dess aspect: Maiden/Youth, energy and enthusiasm – Associated God/dess: Artemis & Apollo, Mayet/Djehuti, Freya/Frey. Phase ends at the Quarter on 5/29 at 8:30pm. 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 at the Full on 6/4 at 12:12am.

Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, sits roughly 1′ due north of the ringed planet this morning. At magnitude 8.6, the moon should be the second-brightest object in your field of view (after the planet itself). Saturn’s more distant, two-faced moon, Iapetus, is on its way toward its greatest western elongation on the 31st. Along the way, it’s growing steadily brighter, and should now be shining at nearly magnitude 10.5 almost 9′ directly west of the planet. Hyperion sits roughly one-third of the way between Saturn and Iapetus, but may be invisible at magnitude 14.
First-quarter Moon, exact at 8:30 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time. As the stars come out the Moon is high in the southwest, below the belly of Leo’s stick-figure lion pattern. The Moon forms a nearly equilateral triangle with Leo’s Regulus to its lower right and Gamma Leonis (Algieba), slightly fainter, more directly to the Moon’s right, depending on your location. The triangle is just about perfectly equilateral, 8° on a side, at the time of late twilight for the East Coast of North America.
Uranus is hidden in the glow of dawn.

Old Farmer’s Almanac May Sky Map – https://www.almanac.com/night-sky-map-may-asterisms
Goddess Month of Hera runs from 5/16 – 6/12
Celtic Tree Month of Huath, Hawthorn, May 13 – Jun 9
Runic Half-month of Othala/ Odal/Odel 5/29-6/13- The rune Odel signifies ancestral property, the homestead, and all those things that are “one’s own”…

Sun in Gemini
Moon in Leo enters Virgo at 4:40am.
Waxing Quarter at 8:30pm
Venus(6/25), Jupiter (9/12), Saturn(9/29), Pluto(10/4) Retrograde
Color: Purple

©2020 M. Bartlett, Some parts separately copyright

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Huathe – Hawthorne Ogam letter correspondences
Month: April
Color: Purple
Class: Peasant
Letter: H
Meaning: Being held back for a period of time

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Tides for Alsea Bay
*

Day        High      Tide Height   Sunrise    Moon Time      % Moon
~ /Low      Time    Feet Sunset Visible
F   29     High   5:26 AM     6.5   5:36 AM     Set 2:01 AM      35
~ 29      Low 12:35 PM    -0.2   8:52 PM    Rise 12:20 PM
~ 29     High   7:30 PM     6.4

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Affirmation/Thought for the Day – Enthusiasm breeds enthusiasm. Act it and you’ll get it.

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Journal Prompt – What do you think? – A man by the name of George Santayana once said, “A child educated only at school is an uneducated child.” What do you think he meant?

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Quotes

~   I remember when I was in college, people told me I couldn’t play in the NBA. There’s always somebody saying you can’t do it, and those people have to be ignored. – Bill Cartwright
~   Art is always the replacement of indifference with attention. – Guy Davenport
~   No one can persuade another to change. Each of us guards a gate of change that can only be opened from the inside. We cannot open the gate of another, either by argument or by emotional appeal.” If you decide to open your “gate of change” to really understand and live the principles embodied in the Seven Habits, your growth will be evolutionary, but the net effect will be revolutionary. – Marilyn Ferguson, quoted in Overview of the Seven Habits
~   As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world but in being able to remake ourselves. – Mahatma Gandhi

When elm leaves are as big as a shilling,
Plant kidney beans, if to plant ’em you’re willing;
When elm leaves are as big as a penny,
You must plant kidney beans, if you mean to have any. – Old planting rhyme

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Litha Magick – Midsummer Symbolism

deborah <isis_snow_tiger@yahoo.com> wrote:

To: Hearth_Witch@yahoogroups.com
From: “deborah” <isis_snow_tiger@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 06 Jun 2006 16:49:28 -0000
Subject: [Hearth_Witch] Midsummer Symbolism

Symbolism – Nurturing and love are key actions related to Midsummer. If you haven’t yet done so, Litha is a good time to perform your Self-Dedication Ceremony… or – if you have been practicing Wicca for a while – you may choose to perform a simple Re-dedication/Affirmation as a part of your Sabbat celebration. The powers of nature are at their highest point. Great time for herb gathering. Longest day of the year, marks the time when days begin to get shorter again.

Symbols – fire to celebrate the power of the sun, sun wheels, god eyes, mother goddess, ripening fruits, sun dials, feathers, and swords/blades.
Deities – Father Gods and Mother Goddesses, Pregnant Goddesses and Sun Deities. Particular emphasis might be placed on the Goddesses Aphrodite, Astarte, Freya, Hathor, Ishtar, Venus and other Goddesses who preside over love, passion and beauty. Other Litha deities include Athena, Artemis, Dana, Kali, Isis, Juno, Apollo, Dagda, Gwydion, Helios, Llew, Oak/Holly King, Lugh, Ra, Sol, Zeus, Prometheus, Ares, and Thor.
Magick – Healings, growth spells, empowerment spells, and love magick are all incredibly potent at this time
Tools – drums, rattles, bonfire, mirrors for reflecting the sun or bonfire, Earth circles of stone energy
Colors – white, red, maize yellow or golden yellow, green, blue and tan.
Stones – all green gemstones, especially emerald and jade. Other appropriate gemstones are tiger’s eye, lapis lazuli, ruby, and diamonds.
Animals – include robins, wrens, all Summer birds, horses and cattle. Mythical creatures include satyrs, faeries, firebirds, dragons, thunderbirds and manticores.
Herbs – chamomile, cinquefoil, elder, fennel, hemp, larkspur, lavender, male fern, mugwort, pine, roses, Saint John’s wort, honesty, wild thyme, wisteria, oak, mistletoe, frankincense, lemon, sandalwood, heliotrope, copal, saffron, galangal, laurel ylang-ylang, and verbena. Traditionally, herbs gathered on this day are extremely powerful.
Incense – a combination of any of the following or simply one of them by itself… frankincense, myrrh, sandalwood, lemon, pine, jasmine, rose, lotus, or wisteria.
Foods – for Litha include fresh vegetables of all kinds and fresh fruits such as lemons and oranges, pumpernickel bread as well as Summer squash and any yellow or orange colored foods. Flaming foods are also appropriate, barbecued anything, (barbecues represent the bonfires….) but especially chicken or pork. Midsummer is also the time for making mead, since honey is now plentiful. Traditional drinks are ale, mead, sweet wines, fresh fruit juice of any kind and herb teas.
Element: fire

~author unknown

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Silliness – To Help You Smile – Giraffes can grow up to 14 feet, however most just have 4.

Posted in Daily Stuff, Newsletter, Pagan, Wiccan | Tagged Affirmation, Ambarvalia, Astrology, Astronomy, Beardtongue, Cascade penstemon, Celtic Tree Month, Goddess Month, Journal Prompt, Litha, Magick, Midsummer, Midsummer symbolism, Moon, moon phase, or coast penstemon, Oregon Coast, Pagan, Penstemon serrulatus, Runic Half Month, Silliness, Solstice, Summer Solstice., Tides, To Help You Smile, Today’s Feast, Today’s Plant, Weather, When elm leaves are as big as a shilling, Wicca

Daily Stuff 5-28-20 Battle of the Eclipse

Posted on May 28, 2020 by Anja Snihova'

Hi, folks!

Featured photo by Pattie Huggins Deitrick. Minus Tide at 11:39 AM of-0.6 feet. The shop is closed for the duration, hoping to open on 5/29 or 30. No, we’re still not ready.

Abstract Clear night sky

It’s clear at the moment, but we’re supposed to pick up some clouds as the day goes on and it should be a bit cooler. 50F, wind at 1mph and gusting, AQI39, UV6. 10% chance of rain today and 20% tonight. We’re still looking at rain on Saturday and they’ve upped the amount from 3/4 of an inch to 1 1/4! After that ought to be dry again until Friday.

Yesterday started with a disappointment. The Space-X launch scrubbed at t-17:00. 😦 I had awakened Tempus because he wanted to see it. He was making coffee when I groaned. Today was to be the first manned flight to the ISS. The weather just wouldn’t cooperate. Well, Saturday….

Sash called and we talked for awhile and then his phone service started acting up. I watered plants and then Tempus handed me a really nice sandwich after he got back from the Post Office. I opened a bunch of packages that had come in.

Then the Tiara Fairy struck. I opened one box to find a blue and silver tiara that’s just my style. It was a gift from Arlys, one of my very best friends. I look really silly. 🙂 She also sent some felt for a project in another package. One of the others was the replacement of the bottles that had come, smashed, last week. Another was an amazing striker for fire-starting, hand-made by a friend in Adiantum, who also sent an “Othel” for protecting the shop. The striker is being combined with a piece of flint, among other things, with the hedeby bag that I keep talking about for a gift exchange. …and Tempus found the fabric for the bag! So, a little more sewing and sanding and I can send that out.

Tempus and I spent the afternoon working pretty hard, but we’re not ready to re-open. I think I’m going to be able to set up displays tomorrow, but we haven’t gotten the back walkway sorted out and there’s still some stuff in the sanity-saver area that has to be put away. Oh, well. We’re going to try again for Friday, but I dunno that we’ll manage it. We’ll see. What I’d love to know is how 3 months of cleaning have left this much of a mess!

In the evening I was sufficiently worn out that I got a nap, then read and embroidered while Tempus did some paperwork. I eventually got to work on the green chicken that I’ve been talking about, once I got some oomph back. It’s one of those dishes that you make ahead, then heat and assemble, so that will be tonight’s dinner. He took off around 1:30 to do papers.

So today is trying to finish up getting open for business.

From 5/25/19 This little fella appears to be enjoying the weather! photo by Pattie Huggins Deitrick Used with permission

Today’s plant is Nasturtium, Tropaeolum majus, (not watercress, which is true nasturtium). It’s certainly not native to the PNW, but grows well here. I love the brilliant oranges and yellows of the flowers. They’re yummy, too, with a slightly peppery taste, both leaf and flower and the seeds serve as a substitute for capers in pickles. The flowers stand for Victory in Battle; Patriotism and Affectation and are little used in magicks other than as symbols and foods for Ostara and Beltane celebrations because of their association with the Sun. They also can be used as a symbol for sacrifice to the larger good of soldiers, firemen and police, but are usually only seen at funerals in this context.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropaeolum_majus

Today is the date in 585 BC on which the Greek philosopher and scientist Thales predicted a solar eclipse would occur. This is one of the cardinal dates from which other dates can be calculated since eclipses can be calculated pretty exactly. The Battle of the Eclipse was fought on this date. It is called that because it ended abruptly as the eclipse was considered to be a sign from the gods, and therefore recorded. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Halys_(585_BC)

The shop is closed for the duration, but hoping to open on 5/29 or 30. Need something? Give us a call at 541-563-7154 or Facebook or email at ancientlight@peak.org We should be able to accommodate requests and even allow a little shopping, one person at a time.

Love & Light,
Anja

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Today’s Astro & Calendar

Wave goodbye to Venus, just five days from its solar conjunction. But in less than a month it’ll be jumping up in the eastern dawn.

The Moon shines under the Sickle of Leo after dark. The Sickle runs from Regulus, its handle-end left of the Moon, to its dimmer hook at the Moon’s upper right (for North America). Nearby is Leo’s bright heart, Regulus, a magnitude 1.4 star whose name means “little king” in Latin. One of the brightest stars in the sky, Regulus is located almost exactly on the ecliptic, the plane of our solar system on which all the major planets orbit. If you draw a line between the Moon and Regulus, then follow it 24.5° to the east, you’ll reach magnitude 2.1 Denebola, often drawn as the tip of the lion’s tail. Located a mere 36 light-years away, this blue-white star is more than 1.5 times as wide as the Sun and emits nearly 14 times as much light. It is also surrounded by a complex disk of cool dust, which emits light at longer, infrared wavelengths; this is the same dust from which planets are born, although there are no planets yet confirmed around this star.
Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn (magnitudes, +0.1, – 2.5, and +0.4, respectively) shine in the southeast to south before and during early dawn. Jupiter, the brightest, is on the right. Saturn glows pale yellow 4° to Jupiter’s left. They both rise now around midnight daylight-saving time, depending on your location. They straddle the border of Sagittarius and Capricornus. Mars, in dim Aquarius, is far (35° to 40°) to the left of Saturn as dawn begins. It has been slowly brightening and enlarging. In a telescope Mars is now 9 arcseconds wide: a little gibbous disk. Mars is on its way to an excellent opposition in early October, when it will reach an apparent diameter of 22.6 arcseconds.

Old Farmer’s Almanac May Sky Map – https://www.almanac.com/night-sky-map-may-asterisms
Goddess Month of Hera runs from 5/16 – 6/12
Celtic Tree Month of Huath, Hawthorn, May 13 – Jun 9
Runic half-month of Inguz/Ing, 5/14-5/28 – Male consort of Nerthus, the Earth Mother, Ing is god of the hearth. This time of year expresses potential for abundant growth. Nigel Pennick, The Pagan Book of Days, Destiny Books, Rochester, Vermont, USA, 1992, p. 70. Runic Half-month of Othala/ Odal/Odel 5/29-6/13- The rune Odel signifies ancestral property, the homestead, and all those things that are “one’s own”…

Sun in Gemini
Moon in Leo
Venus(6/25), Jupiter (9/12), Saturn(9/29), Pluto(10/4) Retrograde
Color: White

©2020 M. Bartlett, Some parts separately copyright

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Huathe – Hawthorne Ogam letter correspondences
Month: April
Color: Purple
Class: Peasant
Letter: H
Meaning: Being held back for a period of time

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Tides for Alsea Bay
*

Day        High      Tide Height   Sunrise    Moon Time      % Moon
~ /Low      Time    Feet Sunset Visible
Th 28     High   4:21 AM     6.9   5:37 AM     Set 1:26 AM      25
~ 28      Low 11:39 AM    -0.6   8:51 PM    Rise 11:07 AM
~ 28     High   6:35 PM     6.1
~ 28      Low 11:59 PM     3.2

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Affirmation/Thought for the Day – Serenity Prayer – God, grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the Courage to change the things I can, and the Wisdom to know the difference.

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Journal Prompt – Describe – Describe the most ludicrous outfit you can think of.

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Quotes

~   Life is always walking up to us and saying, ‘Come on in, the living’s fine,’ and what do we do? Back off and take its picture. – Russell Baker
~   People don’t notice whether it’s winter or summer when they’re happy. – Anton Chekhov
~   No one can give you better advice than yourself. – Cicero
~   To get something done, a committee should consist of no more than 3 people, 2 of whom are absent. – Robert Copeland

Would that thou could’st last for aye,
Merry, ever-merry May!
Made of sun-gleams, shade and showers,
Bursting buds, and breathing flowers. – –William D. Gallagher (1808–94)

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Litha Magick – Recipes

Strawberry rhubarb punch – From Llewellyn’s Witches’ Datebook 2006

Rhubarb – enough to make 3 cups chopped
3 cups water
6 oz can frozen lemonade
2 cans water
3/4 cup sugar
quart of lemon/lime soda
Garnish – strawberries and lemon verbena

Method

Chop rhubarb
Simmer rhubarb in water until tender
Add a lemonade, water and sugar.
Strain and chill.
Just before serving, add soda.
Garnish with strawberries and lemon verbena.

Note – Goes well with Solstice cookies

Soft Mead – http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Parthenon/7039/AshlinCB.html

1 quart water, preferably spring water
1 cup honey
1 sliced lemon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
pinch salt
juice of 1/2 lemon

Boil together all ingredients in a non-metallic pot.
While boiling, scrape off the rising “scum” with a wooden spoon.
When no more rises add the salt & lemon juice.
Strain and cool.
Drink in place of alcoholic mead or wine during the Simple Feast.

Ginger Snap Mead – author unknown
Ingredients
18 lbs light clover honey
1 cup lemon juice
zest of 2 lemons
2 gallons water

4 oz fresh ginger slices (each about the size of a quarter)
2 packets of sherry yeast

Bring ginger, juice and zest and 2 gallons water to a full boil.
Turn off the heat and pour into a fermenter (7-10 gallon carboy).
Add honey and stir well, then add cold water to 5 gallons.
Add rehydrated yeast when temperature is 70º – 80º.
Allow to remain in primary fermenter for 2-3 MONTHS before transferring liquids only to a secondary fermenter. (rack)
After 3-4 months in the secondary fermenter it will be time to bottle.

Note – It is best after it has been in the bottle for a few months. The longer the better.

Brightest Blessings )O( Aradian

deborah <isis_snow_tiger@yahoo.com> wrote:

To: Hearth_Witch@yahoogroups.com
From: “deborah” <isis_snow_tiger@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 06 Jun 2006 17:18:30 -0000
Subject: [Hearth_Witch] Ginger Snap Mead

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Silliness – It’s a Girl

Stationed in Okinawa, Japan, my son and his wife were expecting their first baby. I was elated when he called me at work with the news of my grandchild’s birth. I took down all the statistics and turned to relate it all to my co-workers.
“I’m a grandmother!” I declared. “It’s a baby girl, and she weighs five pounds.”
“When was she born?” someone asked.
Recalling the date my son told me, I stopped, looked at the calendar, and said in amazement, “Tomorrow!”

Posted in Daily Stuff, Newsletter, Pagan, Wiccan | Tagged Affirmation, Astrology, Astronomy, Battle of the Eclipse, Celtic Tree Month, Goddess Month, It's a Girl, Journal Prompt, Litha, Litha recipes, Magick, Midsummer, Moon, moon phase, nasturtium, Oregon Coast, Pagan, Runic Half Month, Silliness, Solstice, Summer Solstice., Tides, Today’s Feast, Today’s Plant, Tropaeolum majus, Weather, Wicca, Would that thou could'st last for aye

Daily Stuff 5-27-20 Bede

Posted on May 27, 2020 by Anja Snihova'

Hi, folks!

Featured photo by Kytka Hilmar-Jezek. Minus Tide at 10:48 AM of -0.8 feet. The shop is closed for the duration, hoping to open on 5/28.

It’s partly cloudy, now, but “today will be a good day to fry!” Look at the UV! The grass pollen is up, too. 50F, wind at 0-1mph, AQI38, UV8. 10% chance of rain today and tonight. Saturday is looking more and more like rain, but just Saturday. Everything else is dry except for possibly late next week. There are a couple of big swirls out in the ocean, one pushing toward us, the other the remnants of the systems that dumped so much rain in the orient last week.

Yesterday after Tempus got back I could not get back to sleep for some reason. I got up and worked on newsletter frames until I started to fade again, so I watched another one of the geology lectures and then crawled back into bed.

We got up, 2-ish, got the shop open and started in getting things ready. <keeping fingers crossed> I got 6 of the Pirate’s Treasure Buckets done, waiting on sand for the others. A bunch of earrings went up and I sorted out pieces for more of the tarot earrings. Tempus got the rolling table re-painted and several of the larger pieces moved, but that was all he had time for, before heading out to do the bulk route. I’m hoping he managed shopping during the evening, but I don’t know for certain. …

I did some writing, some embroidery, some reading, and got the finally dehydrated watermelon put in jars. Then more embroidery, more reading, talking to the kids online and finally more writing. …

I talked to Tempus for a bit after he got the bulk route done, and the shopping. He managed it all and was eating his sandwich before taking a nap.

Today is a big push to get things up and running. I also have to water plants and make that green chicken. I hope we’ll manage to open on Thursday, but it not, we should be able to on Friday. We mostly have to finish up sorting out the displays at this point, and there are a few things yet to move.

…and added pix to Sioned’s 2nd year album. https://wp.me/P2xgQ8-9A9

Tulips in Prague – 5/11/19 Kytka Hilmar-Jezek Used with permission

Today’s Plant is Miner’s Lettuce, Claytonia perfoliata (aka winter purslane, or Indian lettuce). It’s a plant native to our area, growing and blooming in our soggy spring and drying out and dying back in the summer. I’ve seen in re-bloom in the fall. It’s a leaf vegetable that can be eaten raw or cooked like spinach. It’s really choice in salads and very high in vitamin C. It got the name because the Gold Rush miners ate it to prevent scurvy, since they really weren’t eating right. Like any lettuce or most of the salad greens it’s Feminine and Water, but as any high Vitamin C food, its planet correspondence is the Sun. – Sprinkling it inside the home brings happiness, so it’s good in floor washes or new home blessings. Carry it with you for luck and to protect from violence. Put it into sleep pillows or add to a dream catcher to keep away nightmares. I’ve actually slipped it between the mattress and sheets for this purpose. More here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miner%27s_lettuce More on the genus here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claytonia

Today is the anniversary of the death of the Venerable Bede in 735. He was an English monk at the monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth and its companion monastery, Saint Paul’s, in modern Jarrow, Northeast England, both of which were located in the Kingdom of Northumbria. He is well known as an author and scholar, and his most famous work, Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (The Ecclesiastical History of the English People) gained him the title “The Father of English History”. He actually had access to a lot of documents that have long since disappeared as well as quite a number of classical sources. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bede and here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historia_ecclesiastica_gentis_Anglorum

Love & Light,
Anja

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Today’s Astro & Calendar

The Milky Way and Summer Triangle – The summer Milky Way hangs above Lake Alqueva, part of a dark-sky reserve in Portugal. The brightest star of the Summer Triangle, Vega in Lyra, lies near the top left of the image. Deneb in Cygnus appears to its lower left and Altair in Aquila resides to their lower right. – Miguel Claro

With summer just three weeks away (astronomically speaking), the last star of the Summer Triangle rises above the eastern horizon at the end of twilight. That’s Altair, the Triangle’s lower right corner. Its highest and brightest corner is Vega. The third is Deneb, sparkling less far to Vega’s lower left.

Although Juno was one of the first four asteroids discovered, it ranks 10th in size. (These are the sizes the first four would be if they were perfectly spherical.)

Asteroid 3 Juno is stationary at 10 A.M. EDT. After today, Juno will halt its northwestern motion and make a tight turn, heading back to the southeast relative to the background stars. Currently in the constellation Virgo, you can find Juno about 6° northwest of Auva (Delta [δ] Virginis). Juno is currently magnitude 10.7, so you’ll need large binoculars or a small scope to seek it out. Tonight, it’s just 1° northwest of the galaxy NGC 4580, a dim spiral you’ll likely need a 10-inch scope (or larger) to glimpse. Juno is about 145 miles (234 km) in diameter. It contains roughly 1 percent of the total mass in the asteroid belt — but is only about 3 percent the total mass of Ceres, the largest body in the main belt.
Venus is dropping fast! It shines brightly in the west-northwest in twilight, falling farther away from fainter Mercury each evening as it heads toward its June 3rd conjunction with the Sun. You’ll probably lose it by week’s end. In addition, Venus fades from magnitude –4.3 to –3.8 this week as we see less and less of its dayside. Get your telescope on Venus as early as you can pick it up, perhaps even before sunset. It’s a big, thin, brilliant crescent: enlarging from 54 to 57 arcseconds in diameter this week, while slimming from a 5% sunlit fingernail-trimming of a crescent to a hairline 1%!

Old Farmer’s Almanac May Sky Map – https://www.almanac.com/night-sky-map-may-asterisms
Goddess Month of Hera runs from 5/16 – 6/12
Celtic Tree Month of Huath, Hawthorn, May 13 – Jun 9
Runic half-month of Inguz/Ing, 5/14-5/28 – Male consort of Nerthus, the Earth Mother, Ing is god of the hearth. This time of year expresses potential for abundant growth. Nigel Pennick, The Pagan Book of Days, Destiny Books, Rochester, Vermont, USA, 1992, p. 70. Runic Half-month of Othala/ Odal/Odel 5/29-6/13- The rune Odel signifies ancestral property, the homestead, and all those things that are “one’s own”…

Sun in Gemini
Moon in Leo
Venus(6/25), Jupiter (9/12), Saturn(9/29), Pluto(10/4) Retrograde
Color: Brown

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Huathe – Hawthorne Ogam letter correspondences
Month: April
Color: Purple
Class: Peasant
Letter: H
Meaning: Being held back for a period of time

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Tides for Alsea Bay
*

Day        High      Tide Height   Sunrise    Moon Time      % Moon
~ /Low      Time    Feet Sunset Visible
W   27     High   3:29 AM     7.3   5:37 AM     Set 12:45 AM      16
~ 27      Low 10:48 AM    -0.8   8:50 PM    Rise 9:57 AM
~ 27     High   5:41 PM     6.0
~ 27      Low 10:49 PM     3.3

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Affirmation/Thought for the Day – Creator, you are mastery, help me to see mastery in a way that I can understand.

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Journal Prompt – Friends – What do you think your friends say to each other when you’re not around?

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Quotes

~   The tragedy of life doesn’t lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach. – Benjamin E. Mayes
~   Live life out loud and with a purpose. ~ Dan McGovern
~   Give me a man who says this one thing I do, and not these fifty things I dabble in. – Dwight L. Moody
~   A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it. –

Among the changing months, May stands confest
The sweetest, and in fairest colours dressed!
Soft as the breeze that fans the smiling field;
Sweet as the breath that opening roses yield. – James Thomson (1700–25)

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Litha Magick – Goddess and Spells

Hotogov Mailgan – 6/22 Today’s Goddess: White Nights (Russia)
Themes: Sky; Tradition; Arts Symbol: Pale Light

About Hotogov Mailgan: In Siberia, Hotogov Mailgan illuminates the night sky with her heavenly sparkle. She is the Queen of the Sky, a creative force for personal empowerment, and the manifester of the life energies in and around us.

To Do Today: Between June 21 and June 29 the skies in Russia always appear light gray at night because of the northern location. The effect throughout St. Petersburg is very magical, casting unique shadows on the lavender, pink, and yellow pastel-colored buildings. To celebrate this beauty, the citizens enjoy traditional Russian ballets, theatrical performances, and music. So, get out the theme music from Dr. Zhivago, rent a ballet featuring Barishnikov, or cook yourself up some Russian dumplings (varnekey) and invite this goddess to join you.

If you perform any magic today, try putting up some pastel-colored curtains around the space to filter the outside light so it suits Hotogove Mailgan. Or darken the room and use glow-in-the-dark stars to mark the magical circle so you’re literally surrounded by her power.

Try taking a bubble bath and dotting the surface of the water with glitter to look like Hotogov Mailgan’s night sky. Then sit, relax, and meditate, absorbing the hopeful, dreamy energy that her stars inspire in people everywhere. )0( By Patricia Telesco~ From “365 Goddess” and GrannyMoon’s Morning Feast

A Sweet Woodruff Spell for Prosperity – Pagan Studies:

At dusk in my woodland garden, sweet woodruff sends out its fresh haylike scent, and its white flowers glow in the June twilight. In June, sweet woodruff reaches the height of its magical power, and is valuable in attracting prosperity. The prosperity spell which follows should be concluded next month, beneath July’s Blessing Moon. On a June evening, just before nightfall, gather some woodruff flowers, leaves, and stems. Cut them all, and put them in a darkened room to dry on a hook or beam. When July’s Moon is at its height, and the woodruff has dried, bury it with a dollar and a copper coin. Now, with what you’ve sown your wealth will increase. By: James Kambos )0( GrannyMoon’s Coventry of Healing Arts and Pagan Studies

Antheia – Arretophoria (Greece) Today’s Goddess:
Themes: Promises; Friendship; Trust; Honor; Community; Love; Relationships
Symbols: Gold-colored Items; Honey; Myrrh

About Antheia: Since 800 B.C.E. Antheia has been known as the Greek Goddess of marriage, companionship, and good council. These attributes manifested themselves in a triple Goddess figure who flowered, sought a mate, and reached perfection. Today we ask her to bless our rites by flowering within our souls so we too can obtain spiritual perfection.

To Do Today: In ancient Greece this festival of trust and friendship was held sometime between June and July. Each year, two maidens were given a special honey-laden diet and clothed in golden robes to take on a special trust. They delivered a package untouched to a secret place in a local temple, then spent the year in community service, never peeking inside the box. This sounds like a fun activity for couples or friends. Each person picks out a trust gift for the other and gives it to them to put in a special place, leaving it untouched for a year. The entire time the gift remains there unopened, Antheia will energize it and bless the people in that relationship, so don’t get tempted to peek. Believe me when I say it’s worth the wait. At the end of the year, don something gold, burn myrrh to create a sacred space in which Antheia dwells, and open the gifts, explaining the significance of the items. I guarantee it’s a present you’ll never forget. – )0( By Patricia Telesco~ >From “365 Goddess” and GrannyMoon’s Morning Feast

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Silliness – Silly Q&A – Q. Why did the jalapeño put on a tiny jacket? A. It was a little chili.

Posted in Daily Stuff, Newsletter, Pagan, Wiccan | Tagged Affirmation, Among the changing months, Astrology, Astronomy, Bede, Celtic Tree Month, Claytonia perfoliata, Goddess Month, Indian lettuce, Journal Prompt, Litha, Litha Goddess and Spells, Magick, Midsummer, Miner's Lettuce, Moon, moon phase, Oregon Coast, Pagan, Runic Half Month, Silliness, Silly Q&A, Solstice, Summer Solstice., Tides, Today’s Feast, Today’s Plant, Weather, Wicca, winter purslane

Daily Stuff 5-26-20 Fortinalia

Posted on May 26, 2020 by Anja Snihova'

Hi, folks!

Featured photo by Irene Photography. Minus Tide at 10:01 AM of -1.0 feet. The shop is closed for the duration, hoping to open on 5/28.

Fog. It’s not thick here, but the temp is high enough to cause the air near colder water to fog. The bridge is obscured. 54F, wind near calm, AQI34, UV7. 10% chance of rain today and tonight. Today it ought to just be mostly cloudy, like the rest of the days through Friday. Saturday is the big chance of rain, but there are several likely showery days past that.

A Ken Gagne pictures of a gold finch on 5/23/15. His comment was “Ouch!”

Yesterday started kinda funky. I was going hot and cold and felt vaguely sickish. No clue what was doing that, but coffee and oatmeal settled it… then I was just hot. 🙂 Amor called and we talked for quite awhile. We got off in a hurry because I had a class at 4, which turned out to be 7:30, so I got the House Capuchin report out. Amor and I chatted on Facebook for a bit, too.

Around suppertime I got some food going and worked on grinding onion peels for dye. I think in another couple of months we’ll have enough to try some of that. Arthur called after we had eaten. He was doing a lamb roast and wanted a consult on spices. He tried to get Sioned to say hi to me, but what I got was a pterodactyl screech. 🙂 That was really cute!

I went to go to the 7:30 class and discovered that it had been at 4:30…. I got back to some writing at that point. …then got a nap, then embroidered a little. I found a couple of recorded classes later in the evening.

I had been checking on the watermelon off and on all day. At midnight it still wasn’t quite dry!

I watched a couple of videos on Pacific Northwest Geology. I think I’m going to dive into this whole series of lectures. It’s fairly new. Super volcanoes in the PNW? I didn’t know there were any, but Smith Rock is part of one! Wow…. explains some of the features that you see out in eastern Oregon. Tempus took off in the middle of that, around 1:30, which might get him home around 6. That would be nice.

I have some classes today. At some point the watermelon is going to be done and I’ll bottle it. (Dehydrated is safer in glass!) Tempus and I were still discussing me doing the bulk route with him and then coming home with our shopping. We’ll see. I do have a cook’s chat at 8:30 that I don’t want to miss. That’s going to feature the Vert de Sire. which is apparently a green chicken dish. I gotta do that one. Sounds too weird not to. 🙂 …and the challenge in my Czech cooking group this week is fruit soups. I’ve got cherries, so that’s going to be lunch. 🙂

Sunrise over Tatras, Slovakia, 5/5/19, – Irene Photography, Tatra Spis Pinneny. Those mountains look almost too familiar. Used with permission.

Today’s feast is the Fortinalia, or sacred well day. It was celebrated in ancient Rome on October 13 and pagans today keep the feast in May as a thank you to the wells that give us clean water and to the wells of inspiration that we dip from to create our magick. Usually flowers and ribbons are brought to the wells. I’ve done clean-ups around artesian springs on this day, too, and the pipe that has awesome spring water out rt. 34, usually has a bouquet and a dozen ribbons every year! More info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fontinalia

Today’s plant is the Pacific Blackberry, Rubus ursinus. There are several species of blackberries that grow in the PNW, the nasty invasive one being the Himalayan blackberry, Rubus armeniacus. Ursinus (from the Latin for “bear”) also has narrower leaves and reddish canes. It is the ancestor of Marionberries, Boysenberries & parent of Loganberries, too. Feminine, Venus, Water, Brigit, Healing, Money, Protection – Carry leaves for money, use blackberry leaves in spring water as healing for burns, in incense for Lughnasadh. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_blackberry

Love & Light,
Anja

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Today’s Astro & Calendar

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 on 6/5 at 12:12pm. Diana’s Bow – On the 3^rd day after the new moon you can (weather permitting) see the tiny crescent in the sky, the New Moon holding the Old Moon in her arms. Begin on your goals for the next month. A good time for job interviews or starting a project. Take a concrete step! God/dess aspect: Daughter/Son/Innocence – Associated God/dess: Vesta, Horus. Phase ends on 5/26 at 10:39pm. Waxing Crescent phase – Keywords for the Crescent phase are: expansion, growth, struggle, opportunity. It is the time in a cycle that you gather the wisdom learned in the new phase and communicate your intention to move forward. Light a candle. Write or read an affirmation. LISTEN & ABSORB. Commit to your goal. God/dess aspect: Maiden/Youth, energy and enthusiasm – Associated God/dess: Artemis & Apollo, Mayet/Djehuti, Freya/Frey. Phase ends at the Quarter on 5/29 at 8:30pm.

Catch Comet SWAN – Comet SWAN (C/2020 F8) glows at an easily reachable magnitude 6, although for Northern Hemisphere observers, it’s low to the horizon by two hours after sunset on May 26. – Alison Klesman (via TheSkyX)

Comet SWAN (C/2020 F8) reaches perihelion today, rounding the Sun at a distance of 37 million miles (59.5 million kilometers) from our star. Glowing around magnitude 6, the comet is an excellent binocular or small scope target in Perseus. But Northern Hemisphere observers beware: It’s already low on the northwestern horizon an hour after sunset, roughly 10° high and sinking. The comet is less than 5° above the horizon two hours after sunset, but with good seeing and a clear view all the way to the horizon, you’re likely to spot it a little over 8° due west of Capella.

M71 (NGC 6618) Swan Nebula or Omega Nebula

Even as Comet SWAN sets, a different swan is rising: M17 (NGC 6618), also known as the Swan Nebula or the Omega Nebula in Sagittarius. Rising around 10 P.M. local time and gaining altitude with each passing hour, the Swan Nebula can be seen with binoculars or even a small scope. The star-forming region’s name comes from its resemblance to a swan gliding across a lake; can you spot the bird’s arching neck and long, feathery body?
Now the waxing crescent Moon poses in a roughly horizontal line with Pollux and Castor, which shine to its right.
Have you ever seen Alpha Centauri? At declination –61° it’s permanently out of sight if you’re north of latitude 29° N. (Waldport is just south of 45 degrees north) But if you’re at the latitude of San Antonio, Orlando, or points south, Alpha Cen skims just above your true southern horizon for a little while late these evenings. When does this happen? Just about when Alpha Librae, the lower-right of Libra’s two brightest stars, is due south over your landscape. At that time, drop your gaze down from there.
Neptune (magnitude 7.9, in Aquarius) is fairly low in the east-southeast before dawn begins.

astro

Old Farmer’s Almanac May Sky Map – https://www.almanac.com/night-sky-map-may-asterisms
Goddess Month of Hera runs from 5/16 – 6/12
Celtic Tree Month of Huath, Hawthorn, May 13 – Jun 9
Runic half-month of Inguz/Ing, 5/14-5/28 – Male consort of Nerthus, the Earth Mother, Ing is god of the hearth. This time of year expresses potential for abundant growth. Nigel Pennick, The Pagan Book of Days, Destiny Books, Rochester, Vermont, USA, 1992, p. 70. Runic Half-month of Othala/ Odal/Odel 5/29-6/13- The rune Odel signifies ancestral property, the homestead, and all those things that are “one’s own”…

Sun in Gemini
Moon in Cancer enters Leo at 11:33pm.
Venus(6/25), Jupiter (9/12), Saturn(9/29), Pluto(10/4) Retrograde

Color: Scarlet

Planting 5/25-6

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Huathe – Hawthorne Ogam letter correspondences
Month: April
Color: Purple
Class: Peasant
Letter: H
Meaning: Being held back for a period of time

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Tides for Alsea Bay
*

Day        High      Tide Height   Sunrise    Moon Time      % Moon
~ /Low      Time    Feet Sunset Visible
Tu 26     High   2:45 AM     7.6   5:38 AM    Rise 8:53 AM      9
~ 26      Low 10:01 AM    -1.0   8:49 PM
~ 26     High   4:49 PM     6.0
~ 26      Low   9:51 PM     3.3

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Affirmation/Thought for the Day – I give thanks for the abundance and prosperity in my life.

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Journal Prompt – What is? – What is a long term goal and how can you achieve it?

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Quotes

~   In helping others, we shall help ourselves, for whatever good we give out completes the circle and comes back to us. – Flora Edwards
~   Habit is either the best of servants or the worst of masters. – Nathaniel Emmons
~   Everyday in every way I create my own reality. So what is that I choose to create today? – Gabriella Goddard
Any supervisor worth his salt would rather deal with people who attempt too much than with those who try too little. – Lee Iacocca

May changes moods just like a baby:
Someone should have named it “Maybe.”

–The Old Farmer’s Almanac, 1996

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Litha Magick – Crafts

Dream Pillows

In German and Nordic traditions believed the power of the sun on Midsummer made it easy for humans to access the unseen worlds. Many divinations and vision quests were practiced on this night. To this day prophetic dreams play a large role in Scandinavian lore. The Danes used to place St. John’s Wort under their pillows to induce prophetic dreaming, while the Celts and the English used Mugwort, which is just as potent, but without the toxic qualities of St. John’s Wort. If you wish to practice dream magick on Midsummer night you may want to make a dream pillow to help enhance your dreams.

You will need:

Small square of blue or purple fabric (preferably cotton), 4×8 inches. Make sure you leave room around the edges for a seam.
Matching thread
Needle
Herb you wish to use (mugwort, lemongrass, or lavender are good herbs for dream magick)

Directions

Take the piece of cloth and fold it over so that it makes a square. Sew up all sides EXCEPT ONE, leave one side open so you can stuff your pillow. Turn the pillow inside out, stuff it with your chosen herbs, and sew up the final side. Make sure you are visualizing your goal as you do this, as is plays a large role in the dream magick. When you are finished making the pillow take it to bed with you and place it under your pillowcase, making sure its fragrance will reach you. Before going to sleep, visualize what you wish to dream. You may wish to add a chant too this, to help lull you into sleep. Have a notebook and pen ready to jot down any impressions or dreams you have upon waking. Do this even before you stretch, dreams have a tendency to fade quickly from memory.

http://www.wyldwytch.com/weavings/candb/06_05litha/index.htm

Dream Pillow – (For Litha) http://members.aol.com/ivycleartoes/pillow.html

Materials:

§ Material for your pillow
§ Stuffing for your pillow
§ Needle and thread
§ Lavender and sage

Directions:

Hand-sew a dream-pillow. First cut an expanse of cloth large enough to make your pillow and fold it in half so the INSIDE is OUTSIDE, then sew up the edges except for a hole just large enough to push the stuffing in. Turn your pillow right-side-out and stuff it. Then create a small sachet (of the same material if you like), like a small pillow of the same except you don’t have to worry about turning it inside out. Stuff the sachet with lavender and sage, or make one sachet for lavender and one for sage. Then slip the herbs into the pillow. Sew up the final hole. Incidentally, it is best to pick material that is blue or has a water image on it, to represent the wise water element, or a black or black-patterned material, to indicate connection with the Dark Crone Goddess, whose speciality is divination.

Ritual use: You can actually sew this pillow in the circle, or make it mostly out of the circle and ceremoniously add the herbs while in circle. It is to be blessed with the appropriate tools and dedicated to the water element, and possibly anointed with water or divination-oriented oils. It can then be used to sleep on at night to encourage prophetic dreams. It also functions as a nice Midsummer gift to a handfasting couple or just for any gift.

Solstice Dream Pillows
Materials needed: 1-4 oz (30-120 gms) each of the following five herbs:

dried chamomile,
mugwort,
catnip,
hops,
lavender,
whole oranges & lemons,
cinnamon sticks,
allspice berries, (optional)
myrrh or frankincense resin lumps.
Scraps of lightweight cloth (4-7 inches/100-175 mm, two for each bag)
optional bits of ribbon, embroidery floss, scraps of lace or a few small beads.

For those who are sitting up all night on the Solstice, this is a special dream pillow you can make for prophetic dreams when you go to sleep the next night or throughout the year.

Take the first five dried herbs and mix them in whatever proportions you desire/have on hand. More Mugwort will lead some folks to more psychic dreaming, more hops will lead to a sounder sleep for some others, more catnip may encourage feline pillow sharing.

As the night passes, eat the oranges, and use the lemons (minus their peels) in teas/punches/hot drinks. As you use them try to remove the peels in large chunks or in easy to work with sections. Using a spoon, carefully scrape out as much of the white inner rind as you can without damaging the zesty outer peel. Scatter the remaining outer peels on a cookie sheet and dry them on low heat in the oven (200F or less). Watch them to make sure they are drying but not scorching. Remove them from the oven, and let them cool.

If you have a fire or incense burner, burn some of the incense resins, saving most to use in the pillows.

Crumble the dried peels up into smaller bits, break up the cinnamon sticks up into smaller pieces, and add the spices, resins and peels to the herb mixture. Mix well. Gather up the scraps of material, and sew up small bags: 3-6 inches/75-150mm should be fine. Leave one side open: small openings will make it more difficult to fill the bags later. If you want to use the ribbons and floss to embroider protective or other magical symbols or representative designs, it will be easier to do before you stitch the sides together. Work on this to keep you awake, thinking of the season and what it means to you as you do it. If these are intended as gifts, think kindly and lovingly of the folks you will be giving these to.

Fill each of the bags with the herb/spice mixture, but not so full that it is hard: people will want to smell them, but they need to be soft enough to sleep on. Fold the last side inward, and stitch closed. If you want, a small loop of ribbon may be added at this point at the top.

After the sun rises, and you have finished your celebrations, set these aside, and finish them when you have/make time during the day if they aren’t done. When you go to bed, slip one or more of these into you pillow case, and inhale deeply as you relax before sleeping. Watch for special dreams as you sleep.

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Silliness -Recipes for Disaster

Posted in Daily Stuff, Newsletter, Pagan, Wiccan | Tagged Affirmation, Astrology, Astronomy, Celtic Tree Month, Fortinalia, Goddess Month, Himalayan blackberry, Journal Prompt, Litha, Magick, May changes moods, Midsummer, Moon, moon phase, Oregon Coast, Pacific Blackberry, Pagan, Recipes for Disaster, Rubus armeniacus, Rubus ursinus, Runic Half Month, Silliness, Solstice, Summer Solstice., Tides, Today’s Feast, Today’s Plant, Weather, Wicca

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