Hi, folks!
The shop opens at 1pm. Winter hours are 1-6pm Thurs.-Mon. Featured photo by Ken Gagne.
[posting at 6pm] Rain gauge. – 0.4in. Mostly cloudy and 46F, wind at 0-9mph and gusting, AQI 11/36/53, UV1. Chance of rain 51% today and 54% tonight. 5 firespots.
Forecast – Ok, here come the cold nights. After today’s showers, it’s going to be dry for several days in a row and lows well below 40. It’s only going to get to a *high* of 40 on Sunday! We’ll be going back to 50/40’s and wet after Wednesday.
Today(45°/30°F) Showers, 0.12 in.
Tomorrow(40°/26°F) Sunny, 0 in.
Mon(44°/31°F) Sunny, 0 in.
Tue(45°/35°F) Cloudy, 0 in.
Wed(50°/38°F) Mostly Cloudy, 0 in.
Thu(51°/42°F) PM Showers, 0.18 in.
Fri(49°/41°F) Rain, 0.23 in.
Sat(52°/42°F) Showers, 0.19 in.
Sun(49°/42°F) Rain, 0.64 in.
Thursday evening we got home around 7pm and I went straight to bed and didn’t wake until past two. I got up and made a chicken salad with canned chicken, the rest of the marinated artichoke hearts, some onion, mayo, garlic powder and a little wasabi. I had some on the last hamburger bun, but it should be better when it’s had some time to blend a little. I slept plenty overnight, but I’m still groggy this morning. Maybe when I’ve had a 2nd cup of coffee? …yeah, that did it. 🙂
I started in on newspaper frames and filled in a couple of the files (astro and tides, mostly). Tempus had made us coffee and cheese toast and once he had eaten went to the pharmacy, bank and PO. That’s a short time to write, but it took up 3 hours. …and now another doctor visit….next Tuesday. Ugh. I know it’s better now than in the summer, but…. …and Tempus has to get a couple of appointments scheduled.
Right now I’m printing off some headers for the herbs that I’m bagging at home. I need to find my “printer basket” that I use when doing this. The printouts fit exactly and I can add a layer of bagged things between each and keep track that way.
Today is just a regular day at the shop. More books to check in, more plants to tend, more writing…. Normal!

Waves crashing into Tillamook Rock Lighthouse on the Oregon Coast – by Jim Scott (This is the lighthouse that needed a major repair after the ocean picked up a 2-ton rock and dropped it through that tower that you see on top, taking out the light’s Fresnel lens and mangling the stairway and tower underpinnings.)
Lupines are represented on the coast by the Large-Leaved Lupine, Lupinus polyphyllus, (which is often the common garden variety and all over out here) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lupinus_polyphyllus and Kincaid’s Lupine, Lupinus sulphureus subsp. Kincaidii (which used to be called Oregon Lupine). The latter is threatened as they’re disappearing and are needed for an also disappearing butterfly. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lupinus_sulphureus We also get the yellow varieties of this one on the coast. More on the main lupin species here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lupin These are tall showy flower spikes with a distinctive leaf pattern that bloom all summer into the fall. Some varieties of lupins (the “sweet lupins”) are eaten, but many require soaking in salt water for long periods of time to get the alkaloids out that could be poisonous. These were eaten by the indigenes, but no one has said how they were prepared. There’s a little here about the beans, which are being used as a vegan food, but have a high potential for allergic effects. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lupin_bean –Masculine, Fire, Moon – As far as magick goes, it’s not listed very many places, but its old name is “Blood from a head”. The word “lupine” derives from the word for wolf, as well. They are useful in magicks for any canine. In fact, I always include them in amulets for dogs or wolves. They can also be used to help with spirit communication with the canine/lupine totems. They have also been used in curse magicks for getting rid of things like cancers, or resistant viruses and bacteria or even for brain tumors.
The Festival of the Lênaia to Dionysus was held in ancient Greece beginning on approximately this date. The Lênaia, which was held at the coldest time of year, was for Dionysus Lênaios, celebrating his birth from Zeus’s thigh and his emergence from the Underworld. It was a festival with a dramatic competition but one of the lesser festivals of Athens and Ionia in ancient Greece. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenaia (picture is the present-day remains of the Theatre of Dionysus Eleuthereus, Athens)
Winter hours are 1-6pm Thurs.-Mon., although we’re often here later. Need something off hours? Give us a call at 541-563-7154 or Facebook message or email at anjasnihova@yahoo.com 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.
Love & Light,
Anja
Today’s Astro and other things
Waxing Moon Magick – The waxing moon is for constructive magick, such as love, wealth, success, courage, friendship, luck or health, 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 on 2/5 at 10:29am. 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 1/28 at 7:19am. 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 2/3 at 10:29pm.

Images of our lone natural satellite never fail to amaze either amateur astronomers or the general public. The large, dark, lava-filled maria contrast with the brighter highland regions, and everywhere it seems craters lie atop craters. – Philippe Moussette
First-quarter Moon (exactly so at 10:19 a.m. EST). The Moon is partway between Mars to its left and Jupiter farther to its lower right. During twilight, Venus and dim Saturn complete the lineup low in the west-southwest. A line from the Moon through Jupiter points to them — because the Moon and planets all lie nearly on the great circle of the ecliptic. Uranus and Neptune are also part of this evening lineup, though out of naked-eye sight.
Just over 12 hours later, at 11 P.M. EST, the Moon passes 0.9° north of Uranus. The pair are in Aries the Ram, which lies in the southwest after dark. This constellation doesn’t have many bright stars: Hamal (magnitude 2) and Sheratan (magnitude 2.6) are the most notable. The Moon sits about 11.5° southeast of these stars, and Luna is now nearly 2° due west of distant Uranus. The planet sits inside a triangle of three of the Ram’s fainter (5th to 6th magnitude) stars: Sigma (σ), Omicron, and Pi (π) Arietis. The half-lit Moon sits just outside the perimeter of this triangle. You’ll need binoculars or a telescope to view Uranus, which glows softly at magnitude 5.8. It will appear as a dim, “flat”-looking star, whose edges might appear sharply defined, rather than the formless pinprick of light shown off by stars. Uranus’ disk is just 4″ across, thanks to the planet’s distance from Earth: some 19.54 astronomical units (AU; where 1 AU is the average Earth-Sun distance), or 1.8 billion miles (2.9 billion kilometers).
Cetus the Whale stands above the southwestern horizon these winter nights. This large constellation — the fourth largest of all 88 — covers some 1,231 square degrees and contains several well-known stars. One such star is Mira, also cataloged as Omicron (ο) Ceti. An aging variable star, Mira changes in brightness between roughly 3rd and 10th magnitude over the course of just under a year (330 days). So, sometimes it is readily visible to the naked eye, taking its proper place in the center of the constellation, and sometimes it appears to have vanished! In fact, Mira’s last peak, when it was brightest, was July last year, and its next is June of this year. So, if you look for it with the naked eye tonight, you won’t see it — it’s simply too faint. But, of course, you can pick it up with binoculars or a telescope, some 12.7° southwest of our next stop: magnitude 2.5 Menkar, Cetus’ alpha star. Menkar marks the Whale’s head. This star is slightly younger than Mira but is now reaching the later stages of its life, no longer burning hydrogen into helium in its core. Astronomers believe that Menkar, too, will become a variable like Mira, before ultimately ending its life as a white dwarf. On the other side of the constellation to the southwest, marking the tail of Cetus is Deneb Kaitos (Beta [β] Ceti), also called Diphda. At magnitude 2, it is brighter than Menkar, despite its Greek-letter “rank” of second. This star is relatively close to Earth, just 96 light-years distant, compared with Menkar’s 220. Diphda gives off copious amounts of X-rays and appears to be fusing its helium into carbon as it, too, approaches the later stages of its life.
Neptune, magnitude 7.9 at the Aquarius-Pisces border, is getting ever lower about 11° to the lower right of Jupiter. Try for it immediately after dark, using the Neptune finder charts in last September’s Sky & Telescope, page 49.
Runic half-month of Perdhro/ Peorth, 1/12-1/27. – Feast of Brewing, Druidic, Source: The Phoenix and Arabeth 1992 Calendar. Runic half-month of Elhaz/Algiz, from 1/28-2/11. This half month: optimistic power, protection and sanctuary.
Goddess Month of Bridhe, runs from 1/23 – 2/19
Celtic Tree Month of Luis/Rowan, Jan 21-Feb 17
Color – Black
Planting 1/28&9
©2022 M. Bartlett, Some parts separately copyright
Celtic Tree Month of Luis/Rowan, Jan 21-Feb 17, Luis (LWEESH)/rowan – The rowan, or mountain ash (Sorbus aucuparia L.) is related to servceberries. The red berries were historically used to lure birds into traps, and the specific epithet aucuparia comes from words meaning “to catch a bird”. Birds are also responsible for dispersing the seeds. Rowans thrive in poor soils and colonize disturbed areas. In some parts of Europe they are most common around ancient settlements, either because of their weedy nature or because they were planted. Rowans flower in May. They grow to 15 m (50 feet) and are members of the Rose family (Rosaceae). They are cultivated in North America, especially in the northeast.
Luis – Rowan Ogam letter correspondences
Month: December
Color: Grey and Red
Class: Peasant
Letter: L
Meaning: Controlling your life; Protection against control by others.
Quert – Apple Ogam letter correspondences to study this month
Month: None
Color: Green
Class: Shrub
Letter: Q
Meaning: A choice must be made
******
Day High Tide Height Sunrise Moon Time % Moon
~ /Low Time Feet Sunset Visible
Sa 28 High 5:25 AM 8.1 7:39 AM Set 12:49 AM 40
~ 28 Low 12:19 PM 1.4 5:20 PM Rise 11:17 AM
~ 28 High 6:14 PM 5.6
~ 28 Low 11:43 PM 2.7
******
Affirmation/Thought for the Day – Everybody gets at least one chance to do something great.
******
Journal Prompt – What is? – What is an exciting or crazy trip you have taken?
******
Quotes
~ A guest sees more in an hour than the host in a year. – unknown
~ If there was anything, anything more at all, after this crazy mix-up we call living, I could feel that there might be some point to the whole frantic business, even if I did not know and could not know the full answer while I was alive. And suppose there was not? Suppose that when a man’s body disintegrates, he himself disappears absolutely. I’m bound to say I find it a probable hypothesis. Well- It wouldn’t be cheerful knowledge, but it would be better than not knowing. You could plan your life rationally, at least. A man might even be able to get a certain amount of satisfaction in planning things better for the future, after he’s gone. A vicarious pleasure in the anticipation.” – Chapter 10, “-the only game in town”, p. 105 Robert Heinlein
~ You have got to be joking. Whether the Treasurer wished to go there or not, I would forbid him going to the Senate to account to this unrepresentative swill over there. – Paul Keating, refusing to allow Treasurer John Dawkins to appear before a Senate inquiry, November 4, 1992
~ The Warrior has to be ready to seize the opportunities that come and to follow the path down which intuition leads her. – Kerr Cuhulain
Throughout the afternoon I watched them there,
Snow-fairies falling, falling from the sky,
Whirling fantastic in the misty air,
Contending fierce for space supremacy. – Claude McKay (1889–1948)
******
Imbolc Magick – Recipes – Scones – If you’re short on time, visit a local restaurant supply for plain scone mixes and then add your extras. You may have to do some figuring to cut down the batch size, but this is pretty cost-effective.
Cardamon and Pine Nut Scones – From: c508723@umcvmb.missouri.edu (Deva)
- 1 1/2 c flour
- 1/2 c oat flour
- 1/2 c sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp (to taste) ground cardamom
- 1/4 c pine nuts, ground
- 4 tbs butter
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1/2 c cream (as needed)
- Place the dry ingredients in a bowl and stir to mix.
- Add the pine nuts and the butter and cut into the flour mixture.
- Stir in the eggs and add just enough cream to make a stiff dough.
- Put the dough on a floured board and pat it out into a circle about 1/4-1/2 inch thick.
- Cut into wedges and place wedges on a cookie sheet at least one inch apart.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or till nicely browned.
- Sprinkle with additional cardamom and serve with plum jam.
Note: You may increase the amount of cardamom or substitute coriander for a stronger flavor. You can also leave out the pine nuts and add a small amount of additional butter.
Cape Cod Cranberry Scones – From: ak399@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Carole A. Resnick) – Source: Cleveland Plain Dealer, 11/07/91
Ingredients:
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 cup butter or margarine
- 1 cup cranberries, coarsely chopped
- 2 tsp grated orange peel
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup buttermilk or sour milk
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400F. In mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder and baking soda; cut in butter with pastry blended or two knives. Stir in cranberries, orange peel and sugar; stir in buttermilk just until ingredients are moistened. Working on floured surface, shape dough into two 8-inch circles, 1/2-inch thick. Cut each circle into eight wedges and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until lightly browned.
Herb Scones – from Kate’s (Vegan) Cookery Site
This is one I made up, based on a standard scone recipe. The nutritional yeast helps to make them cheesy-tasting without adding fat, and the combination of herbs is nicely-balanced to add a good, savoury flavour without being too dominating. Finely-chopped spring onion (green onion) might be a good addition to these, but I haven’t tested that yet; it might be good with the nutritional yeast doubled to make the scones even cheesier. I use my own celery salt in these – grind together equal volumes of celery seed and table salt. These are good hot with soya margarine, or cold with soup or stew. Eat them soon after they come out of the oven, or freeze them, as they go stale fast.
Makes 8
- 250g (9oz) self-raising flour
- 2 tsp dried chives
- 1/2 tsp dried dill
- 1/4 tsp dried thyme
- 6 Tbsp (3/8 cup) nutritional yeast flakes
- a pinch of celery salt (or ordinary salt)
- 40g (1 1/2 oz) soya margarine
- about 125ml (4 1/2 fl oz) soya milk
1. Sift the flour into a bowl (this incorporates air). Add the herbs, salt and nutritional yeast, and mix well. Add the margarine in small blobs and mix again.
2. Rubbing-in: pick up the flour-coated blobs of margarine in your fingertips, hold your hands above the bowl, and rub the margarine into the flour with your fingertips, dropping the results into the bowl as you do so. Keep doing this until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs.
3. Add most of the milk and mix, first with a wooden spoon and then your hands. Add more milk if needed to form a soft non-sticky dough (be careful as it’s a lot easier to add more milk than take some away…). Don’t handle the dough too roughly, but don’t be scared of it, either.
4. Roll out the dough to about 2cm (3/4 inch) thick. Either cut into circles with a cutter, reroll the scraps and repeat, or slice into square or triangles. Either way, place on a baking try and cook in a pre-heated oven at Gas 8 (230C, 450F) for about 10 minutes until risen and golden.
******
Brendan had spent a week visiting his family in Kentucky. His sister-in-law and seven-year-old nephew went with him when he returned to the airport. After verifying his seat number with the counter attendant, Brendan walked back to his relatives and stated that he’d have to wait an additional three hours in the airport.
“How come?,” his nephew asked.
“My plane has been grounded,” Brendan explained.
“Grounded?” the little boy said. “I didn’t know planes had parents.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.