Ancient Light's Daily Stuff

Daily Stuff 10-13-19 Lux Mundi

Posted on October 13, 2019 by Anja Snihova'

Hi, folks!

Second day of OCPPG! Featured photo by Ken Gagne.

Right now it’s quite overcast, and everything is wet, but it’s getting brighter and drying up. Looks like partly cloudy today. 58F, wind at 0mph, AQI44, UV3. Wow…. the coming rain just looks to be more and more…. Heavy from Tuesday through Thursday, almost 100% chance, and then about 50% out to the end of the 10-day forecast….

Yesterday I had to fight Facebook to get the pointers for the newsletter posted, and that was after arguing with the printer. I ended up really annoyed! …and then had less than 1/2 an hour to get myself together.

…and we started the opening ritual a little late, but it was short and then we chatted for a bit until it was classtime. The printer worked beautifully on the class handouts. I was very happy.

Simpling went *really* well, I think, and I was happy with the Initiation class. I had 3 students, which was the same for both of my classes, although Tempus had only two since one went home with a headache at lunchtime.

The soup turned out really well as did the hot cider, although I put too much ginger in again. A couple of people went home to get supper, the rest of us got stuff from the China Restaurant. Pilgrim stopped by for a bit, to say hi. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen him.

It started to rain at some point around then. Good thing we decided not to go with a beach ritual! We had our quiet Full Moon ritual, and then everyone went home, since it had already been a long day. Tempus and I closed up and crashed.

Today we’re up early for a Sunday. We’re planning to open the shop at 10, so that classes can start at 11.

Today is Stonehenge at 11am.
Magickal Embroidery at 2pm.
The closing ritual will begin around 4pm, later if embroiderers want to keep going for a few.
…and then clean-up.

Photo from 10/9/16 by Ken Gagne of the Yachats River, taken looking up the valley.

Today’s plant is Candy Flower, Claytonia siberica, also called Siberian Spring Beauty, Siberian Miner’s Lettuce or Pink Purslane is a flowering plant in the family Montiaceae, native to Siberia and western North America. A synonym is Montia sibirica. The plant was introduced into the United Kingdom by the 18th century where it has become very widespread. It is similar to Miner’s Lettuce in properties, but not as edible. – Feminine, Moon, Water, – 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. This one is also a spirit-lifter.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claytonia_sibirica

Lux Mundi festival, ancient Rome – Lux Mundi literally means ‘the Light of the World’. This is also another name for France’s Liberty, whose day this also is. Liberty’s torch shines hope in the world. Her statue graces New York City’s harbour, her full name being Liberty Enlightening the World.
In Roman mythology, Liberty is Libertas, the goddess of freedom. Originally a deity of personal freedom, she evolved to become the goddess of the commonwealth. Her temples were found on the Aventine Hill and the Forum. She was depicted on many Roman coins as a female figure wearing a pileus (a felt cap, worn by slaves when they were set free), a wreath of laurels and a spear … from Pip Wilson’s Almanac.
In recent times the title of Lux Mundi has been taken on by Christians to mean Jesus rather than enlightenment, so many online references reflect this. More here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statue_of_Liberty http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libertas

The shop opens at 11am. Fall hours are 11am-6pm Thursday through Monday. Need something off hours? Give us a call at 541-563-7154 or Facebook or email at ancientlight@peak.org If we’re supposed to be closed, but it looks like we’re there, try the door. If it’s open, the shop’s open! In case of bad weather, check here at the blog for updates, on our Facebook as Ancient Light, or call the shop.

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 10/13 at 2:08pm. Full Moon – The day of, the day before, and day after the true Full Moon. “And better it be when the moon is full!”! Prime time for rituals for prophecy, for spells to come to fruition, infusing health and wholeness, etc. A good time for invoking deity. FRUITION Manifesting goals, nurturing, passion, healing, strength, power. Workings on this day are for protection, divination. “extra power”, job hunting, healing serious conditions Also, love, knowledge, legal undertakings, money and dreams. God/dess Aspect: Mother/Abundance/Kingship – – Associated God/desses: Danu, Cerridwen, Gaia, Aphrodite, Isis, Jupiter, Amon-Ra. Phase ends on 10/15 at 2:08am. Waning Moon Magick – From the Full Moon to the New is a time for study, meditation, and magic designed to banish harmful energies and habits, for ridding oneself of addictions, illness or negativity. Remember: what goes up must come down. Phase ends at the Tide Change on 10/27 at 8:39pm.

Full Moon over Tatras by TATRY SPIŠ PIENINY

Full Moon officially arrives at 5:08 p.m. EDT, but it will look completely illuminated all night. You can find it rising in the east shortly after sunset and peaking in the south around 1 a.m. local daylight time. It dips low in the west by the time morning twilight starts to paint the sky. The Moon lies in southeastern Pisces near that constellation’s border with Cetus. October’s Full Moon also goes by the name “Hunter’s Moon.” In early autumn, the Full Moon rises about half an hour later each night compared with a normal lag close to 50 minutes. The added early evening illumination supposedly helps hunters track down their prey.
Cygnus the Swan flies nearly straight overhead these evenings. Its brightest stars form the big Northern Cross, usually visible even through bright moonlight. When you face southwest and crane your head up, the cross appears to stand upright. It’s about two fists at arm’s length tall, with Deneb as its top. Or to put it another way, the Swan is diving straight down. Lower right of it, when you’re facing southwest, shines bright Vega. Farther lower left is Altair.
Saturn (magnitude +0.5, in Sagittarius) is the steady yellow “star” in the south-southwest during and after dusk. It’s 25° upper left of Jupiter. Below Saturn is the handle of the Sagittarius Teapot. Barely above it is the dimmer, smaller bowl of the Sagittarius Teaspoon. Binoculars help through the moonlight!

Old Farmer’s Almanac Sky map for October – https://www.almanac.com/content/sky-map-october-2019
Goddess Month of Hathor runs from 10/3 – 10/30
Celtic Tree Month of Gort/Ivy Sep 30 – Oct 27
Runic half-month of Wunjo/Wyn – October 13-28 – Wyn represents joy, the rune being the shape of a weather vane. The month represents the creation of harmony within the given conditions of the present.

Sun in Libra
Full Moon at 2:08pm
Moon in Aries
Neptune (11/27), Chiron (12/12), Vesta (12/29), Uranus (1/10/20) Retrograde
Color: Yellow

©2019 M. Bartlett, Some parts separately copyright

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Celtic Tree Month of Gort / Ivy Sep 30 – Oct 27 – Gort – (GORT), ivy – Ivy (Hedera helix L.) is also a vine, growing to 30 m (100 feet) long in beech woods and around human habitations, where it is widely planted as a ground cover. Ivy produces greenish flowers before Samhain on short, vertical shrubby branches. The leaves of these flowering branches lack the characteristic lobes of the leaves of the rest of the plant. Like holly, ivy is evergreen, its dark green leaves striking in the bare forests of midwinter. Ivy is widely cultivated in North America. It is a member of the Ginseng family (Araliaceae).

Gort – Ivy Ogam letter correspondences
Month: September
Color: Sky Blue
Class: Chieftain
Letter: G
Meaning: Take time to soul search or you will make a wrong decision.

to study this month Uilleand – Honeysuckle Ogam letter correspondences
Month: None
Color: Yellow-white
Class: Peasant
Letter: P, PE, UI
Meaning: Proceed with caution.

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Tides for Alsea Bay

*
Day        High      Tide Height   Sunrise    Moon Time      % Moon
~ /Low      Time    Feet Sunset Visible
Su 13     High 12:48 AM     7.0   7:29 AM     Set 7:05 AM      98
~ 13      Low   6:57 AM     1.2   6:36 PM    Rise 7:02 PM
~ 13     High   1:01 PM     7.6
~ 13      Low   7:25 PM     0.6

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Affirmation/Thought for the Day – Being both soft and strong is a combination very few have mastered.

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Journal Prompt – What is? – What is something you liked about your childhood?

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Quotes

~   I feel that the greatest reward for doing is the opportunity to do more. – Jonas Salk (1914-1995) US microbiologist
~   No person was ever wise by chance. – Seneca
~   If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. Don’t complain. – Maya Angelou
~   I hate small towns because once you’ve seen the cannon in the park there’s nothing else to do. – Lenny Bruce (1925-1966) US comic

On All Saints’ Day blustering is the weather.
Very unlike the beginning of the past fair season:
Besides God there is none who knows the future. – From The Heroic Elegies of Llywarch Hên (6th-Century Welsh), translated by Dr W Owen Pughe, 1792 (William Hone, The Every-Day Book, or a Guide to the Year, William Tegg and Co., London, 1878, 711 – 712; 1825-26 edition online)

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Magick – Lore – The myth of Samhain: “Celtic god of the dead” – http://www.religioustolerance.org/hallo_sa.htm

Overview:

Identifying Samhain as a Celtic Death God is one of the most tenacious errors associated with Halloween.

Almost all stories about the origin of Halloween correctly state that Halloween had its origins among the ancient Celts and is based on their “Feast of Samhain.” However, a writer in the 18th century incorrectly stated that Samhain was named after the famous Celtic “God of the Dead.” Many religious conservatives who are opposed to Halloween, Druidism, and/or Wicca picked up this belief without checking its accuracy, and accepted it as valid.

No such God ever existed. By the late 1990’s many secular sources such as newspapers and television programs had picked up the error and propagated it widely. It is now a nearly universal belief, particularly among conservative Protestants.

Modern-day Samhain is the day when many Wiccans believe that their God dies, later to be reborn. [Wicca is a Neo-pagan, Earth-centered religion.] Thus, Samhain is not a God of death; it is actually began as a yearly observance of the death of a God.

Was/is Samhain a Celtic God?

The answer is a definite yes and no:

YES. He did exist. Many Neopagan and secular sources are probably wrong. As As Isaac Bonewits writes: “Major dictionaries of Celtic Languages don’t mention any ‘Samhain’ deity…” ₈However, there is some evidence that there really was an obscure, little known character named Samain or Sawan who played the role of a very minor hero in Celtic mythology. His main claim to fame was that Balor of the Evil Eye stole his magical cow. His existence is little known, even among Celtic historians. He was a hero, not a god. It is likely that he was named after the end of summer celebration rather than vice-versa.

NO. Many conservative Christian and secular sources are definitely wrong; there is/was no Celtic God of the Dead. The Great God Samhain appears to have been invented in the 18th century, as a God of the Dead before the ancient Celtic people and their religion were studied by historians and archaeologists.

McBain’s Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language says that ‘samhuinn’ (the Scots Gaelic spelling) means ‘summer’s end’…” The Celts observed only two seasons of the year: summer and winter. So, Samhain was celebrated at one of the transitions between these seasons.

Samhain is pronounced “sah-van” or “sow-in” (where “ow” rhymes with “cow”). Samhain is Irish Gaelic for the month of November. Samhuin is Scottish Gaelic for All Hallows, NOV-1.

A language expert has commented that the “mh” in Samhain and Samhuin “would originally have been pronounced like an “m” made without quite closing your mouth.” At the present time, the original pronunciation is still heard. Some tighten it to a “v” sound (typical in the south) or loosen it to a “w” sound (typical in the west and, especially, the north). In “Samhain” the “w” pronunciation would be most common.” ₂₀

There are many sources supporting the conclusion that Samhain refers to the festival, not a God of the Dead. They come from Celtic, Druidic, Irish, and Wiccan individuals and groups:

Wiccan web site “Brightest Blessings” mentions:

“Samhain (October 31), most often recognized as our New Year, is also called Ancestor Night. It represented the final harvest, when the crops were safely stored for the coming Winter. As the veil between the worlds of life and death is thin on this night, we take this time to remember our beloved dead.”

W.J, Bethancourt III has an online essay which traces the God Samhain myth back to the year 1770 when Col. Charles Vallency wrote a 6 volume set of books which attempted to prove that the Irish people once came from Armenia. Samhain as a god was later picked up in a 1827 book by Godfrey Higgins. ₉ That book attempted to prove that the Druids originally came from India. The error might have originated in confusion over the name of Samana, an ancient Vedic/Hindu deity. Bethancourt comments:

“With modern research, archaeology and the study of the Indo-European migrations, these conclusions can be seen as the complete errors they were…”

Later, he writes: “ ‘Samhain’ is the name of the holiday. There is no evidence of any god or demon named ‘Samhain,’ ‘Samain,’ ‘Sam Hane,’ or however you want to vary the spelling.”

Rowan Moonstone, a Wiccan, comments:

“I’ve spent several years trying to trace the “Great God Samhain” and I have YET to find seminal sources for the same. The first reference seems to be from Col. Vallency in the 1700s and then Lady Wilde in her book ‘Mystic Charms and Superstitions’ advances the ‘Samhain, lord of the dead’ theory. Vallency, of course was before the work done on Celtic religion in either literature or archaeology.” ₁₂

The Irish English Dictionary, published by the Irish Texts Society, defines Samhain as follows:

“Samhain, All Hallowtide, the feast of the dead in Pagan and Christian times, signalizing the close of harvest and the initiation of the winter season, lasting till May, during which troops (esp. the Fiann) were quartered.” ₁₃

The Scottish Gaelis Dictionary similarly defines Samhain as:

“Hallowtide. The Feast of All Soula. Sam + Fuin = end of summer.” ₁₄

J.C. Cooper, author of The Dictionary of Festivals identifies Samhain as:

“Samhain or Samhuinn: (Celtic). 31 October, Eve of 1 November, was the beginning of the Celtic year, the beginning of the season of cold, dearth and darkness.” ₁₉

Wiccans have attempted to reconstruct the ancient Celtic religion. They include this festival as one of their 8 Sabbats (seasonal days of celebration). They do not acknowledge the existence of a God of the Dead named Samhain or a similar deity by any other name. Modern-day Druids and other Neopagans also celebrate Samhain as a special day.

Meaning of Samhain according to most conservative Christians:

The belief that Samhain is a Celtic God of the Dead is near universal among conservative Christian ministries, authors and web sites. They rarely cite references. This is unfortunate, because it would greatly simplify the job of tracing the myth of Samhain as a God back to its origin:

In 1989, Johanna Michaelsen wrote a book opposing the New Age, Humanism and Wicca. It is titled “Your Child and the Occult” ₄She writes:

“The Feast of Samhain was a fearsome night, a dreaded night, a night in which great bonfires were lit to Samana the Lord of Death, the dark Aryan god who was known as the Grim Reaper, the leader of the ancestral Ghosts.”

The Watchman Fellowship Inc is a conservative Christian counter-cult group which attempts to raise public concern over religious groups whose theological teachings deviate from orthodox Christianity. Lately, they have also been expressing concern about the dangers of inter-religious dialog. They seem to imply that belief in Baal, a Middle Eastern deity, made it all the way into Celtic lands. They assert:

“It [Halloween] was at this time of the year that Baal, the Celtic god of Spring and Summer, ended his reign. It was also when the Lord of the Dead, Samhain, began his reign.”

David Berkowitz, the Son of Sam serial killer, converted to conservative Christianity after his trial and incarceration. He has claimed that he was simply a lookout for an evil Satanic cult who actually performed the murders. He further states that “Sam” in “Son of Sam” comes from the name of the Celtic God of the Dead, Samhain, which he pronounced “Sam-hane.” His story is suspect because:

He mispronounced Samhain.
Samhain is not a Celtic God.
Samhain is not a Satanic deity either.
The police investigators are convinced that he was a lone killer, not a member of a group.

David Porter, author of “Hallowe’en: Treat or Trick?,” comments:

“The Celtic New Year festival was known as the celebration of Samhain, the Lord of the Dead.”

The “Exposing Satanism” website states:

“Halloween, All saints day, All hallows eve or All souls day is [sic] a festival. It was held to honor the Samhain the so called “lord of death”. It was a Druidical belief that on the eve of this festival Samhain, lord of death, called together the wicked spirits that within the past 12 months had been condemned to inhabit the bodies of animals.” ₂₁

John Ankerbert & John Weldon have written a series of pamphlets that are among the best works by conservative Christian authors for the general public. They make extensive use of footnotes and exhibit careful research of their topic. ₁₇ Apparently they were faced with a conflict with respect to Samhain – whether:

to follow the findings of historians and archaeologists, and admit that Samhain is simply the name of the festival, or

to support previous Christian authors and refer to Samhain as the Druidic God of the Dead even though there is no archaeological evidence to support that conclusion.

They compromised by stating:

“…400 names of Celtic gods are known…’Samhain’ as the specific name of the Lord of Death is uncertain, but it is possible that the Lord of Death was the chief druidic deity. We’ll follow the lead of several other authors and call him Samhain.”

This is a strange comment, because they must have been aware that there is no mention in the historical record of a major Celtic God called Samhain. Thus is it most improbable that Samhain would be the chief Druidic deity, and have gone so long undetected.

On the other hand there are conservative Christians who follow the lead of archaeological and religious research. Richard Bucher from a Massachusetts congregation of the Lutheran church – Missouri Synod writes: ₁₆

“Nothing in the extant literature or in the archaeological finds supports the notion that there ever existed a god of the dead known as Samam (sometimes spelled, ‘Samhain,’ pronounced ‘sow -en’), though hundreds of gods’ names are known. Rather, Saman or Samhain is the name of the festival itself. It means “summer’s end” and merely referred to the end of one year and the beginning of the new.

This misinformation is caused by numerous conservative Protestant writers copying material from other conservative Protestant writers, without first checking its validity.

Meaning of Samhain according to secular sources:

Most newspapers and other secular sources appear to be following conservative Christian thought, rather than academic research. Two examples are:

Lee Carr wrote the text for a web site “Halloweenies…For kids not meanies.” ₅ She writes:

“Druids would feast and build huge bonfires to celebrate the Sun God, and thank him for the food that the land produced. The next day, November 1st, was the Celtic New Year, and it was believed that on this day the souls of all dead people would gather together. Therefore, on Halloween, the Celts would also honor the God of the Dead, Samhain.”

Scottish Radiance writes about Samhain: ₇

“The Celtics believed, that during the winter, the sun god was taken prisoner by Samhain, the Lord of the Dead and Prince of Darkness…On the eve before their new year (October 31), it was believed that Samhain called together all the dead people.”

Gods named Sam…:

There appear to be many, mostly male, deities which had names starting with “Sam.” None were Celtic. However, the similarity in their names to Samhain might have contributed to the confusion:

Samael was a name in Hebrew for an accuser and a member of God’s inner council in charge of dirty deeds
Samana, “the leveler” is the name of an Aryan God of Death (a.k.a. Yama, Sradhadeva, Antaka, or Kritanta) according to the ancient Veda scriptures of Hinduism.
Samas was the Sun God of the northern Semites
Sams was the Sun Goddess of southern Semites
Shamash was the Sun God and God of righteousness, law and divination of the Assyrians and Babylonians

Another Celtic “God”: Muck Olla

“Muck Olla” surfaces in some conservative Christian sources as an alleged “early Druid [sic] deity.” ₁₀ Another web site refers to Muck Olla as a Celtic sun god. ₁₅ Muck (if we can be so familiar as to refer to a God by his first name) is in reality a type of mythical boogie-man from Yorkshire in England. His name is grounded in old folk stories; he never existed as a Druidic God.

References:

The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.

Broceliande, “Wheel of the Year,” at: http://www.triplemoon.com/
“Brightest Blessings,” at: http://www.no-exit-studios.demon.co.uk/
http://nashville.citysearch.com/E/F/NASTN/0000/16/11/
Johanna Michaelsen, “Your Child and the Occult: Like Lambs to the Slaughter,” Harvest House, Eugene OR, (1989), Page 185.
Lee Carr, “Halloweenies…For kids not meanies,” at: http://nashville.citysearch.com/
J. & S. Farrar, “Eight Sabbats for Witches,” Phoenix Publishing, Custer, WA (1981), Page 121
Scottish Radiance, “The Story of Halloween,” at: http://www.scottishradiance.com/
Isaac Bonowits, “The Real Origins of Halloween 3.9.7” at: http://www.neopagan.net/
W.J. Bethancourt III, “Halloween, Myths, Monsters and Devils,” at: http://www.illusions.com/ A superb site.
Mrs. Gloria Phillips, “Halloween: What It Is From A Christian Perspective,” at: http://www.webzonecom.com/
The Watchman Fellowship at: http://www.watchman.org/
Rowan Moonstone, “The Origins of Halloween” at: http://www.geocities.com/
Patrick Dineen, “An Irish English Dictionary” (Dublin, 1927), Page 937 Quoted in ₁₂
Malcolm MacLennan, “A Pronouncing and Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language” (Aberdeen, 1979), Page 279. Quoted in ₁₂
David L. Brown, “The Dark Side of Halloween“, LOGOS Communication Consortium, at: http://www.execpc.com/
Richard Bucher, “Can Christians Celebrate Halloween” at: http://www.ultranet.com/
J. Ankerberg & J. Weldon, “The Facts on Halloween: What Christians Need to Know,” Harvest House, Eugene OR (1996), Page 6.
David Porter, “Hallowe’en: Treat or Trick?,” Monarch, Tunbridge Wells, UK (1993), Page 24.
J.C. Cooper, “The Dictionary of Festivals,” (1995), Thorsons, London, UK, Page 189-190.
Personal E-mail, 2006-FEB-23.
“Halloween,” Exposing Satanism, at: http://www.exposingsatanism.org/

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Silliness – The Big Business Way

The American businessman was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them. The Mexican replied only a little while.
The American then asked why didn’t he stay out longer and catch more fish? The Mexican said he had enough to support his family’s immediate needs. The American then asked, but what do you do with the rest of your time?
The Mexican fisherman said, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos, I have a full and busy life, senor.”
The American scoffed, “I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds buy a bigger boat with the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually NYC where you will run your expanding enterprise.”
The Mexican fisherman asked, “But senor, how long will this all take?”
To which the American replied, “15-20 years.”
But what then, senor?
The American laughed and said that’s the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions.
Millions, senor? Then what?
The American said, “Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos.”

Posted in Daily Stuff, Newsletter, Pagan, Wiccan | Tagged Affirmation, Astrology, Astronomy, Candy Flower, Celtic Tree Month, Claytonia siberica, Goddess Month, Journal Prompt, Lux Mundi, Magick, Montia sibirica, Moon Moon phase, On All Saints' Day blustering is the weather, Oregon Coast, Pagan, Pink Purslane, Runic Half Month, Samhain, Siberian Miner's Lettuce, Siberian Spring Beauty, Silliness, The Big Business Way, Tides, Today’s Feast, Today’s Plant, Weather, Wicca

Daily Stuff 10-12-19 Shoe-banging

Posted on October 12, 2019 by Anja Snihova'

Hi, folks!

Pan-Pagan starts today! Featured photo by Ken Gagne.

The computer is saying, “partly cloudy” but I don’t see any blue up there in the sky. Just a slight chance of rain this evening. 52F, wind at 2mph and gusting to 10 or more on the beaches and headlands. AQI49, UV3. That chance of rain on Tuesday has gone up to 90% and it’s looking like 3/4 of an inch or more! …the chance and the amounts tail off over into next week but it’s still at 40% chance on the next Sunday.

Yesterday was a put-your-head-down-and-slog kind of day. I was tired. Tempus was more so. He went out mid-afternoon to run the Newport errands and we got busy. I had about a dozen people through the door, some of whom were really shopping. We had a few in before he left, too.

In between customers I finished up the dock seeds and got them bagged. As soon as the printer is hooked up I have a *lot* of headers to do! We also got the 2×4 bags so I can do up the sandalwood. I’ve started bagging it, but I think I’m going to tuck it away and go on with it after the weekend.

Once Tempus was back we both got something to eat and I chased him in back to nap. He didn’t even have enough energy left to sit…. After awhile, neither did I, so I followed. We woke back up late in the evening and got more done. We never did actually quit for the night. At 7am I was working on the newly installed printer that wouldn’t cooperate…. and finally did an hour later!

Today is OCPPG!

The opening ritual is at 10am.
Simpling and Herbwifery at 11.
Science and Magic at 2pm/
What is Initiation? at 4pm.
We’re planning a Full Moon ritual at 7pm.
Midnight Questions follows that.

Quite a full day!

Little Miss Wigeon came to see us for a couple days! Isn’t she pretty? Eckman Lake is full of American Wigeons this week. (jo) (Photo from 10/10/19 by Don and Jo Leach) Used with permission

Today is the anniversary of Nikita Khrushchev’s notorious “shoe-banging”. He got mad at someone (a Philippine diplomat?), yanked off his shoe, brandished it at the man and walloped the table in anger, possibly getting even madder because his pounding stopped his watch! More information on the incident here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoe-banging_incident and on Kruschev here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kruschev

Today’s Plant is Lovage, levisticum officinale. It seems to have originated somewhere near the eastern Mediterranean and has been cultivated for a long while, being a very useful plant. It has a strong, long-lasting scent, that reminds a person of celery and parsley, but with the volume turned up. I harvested some one afternoon around 4pm and at nearly 9am the next morning, having washed my hands several times, I could still detect it! It’s great in salads, but chop it small and mix with other greens or it overpowers! Both leaf and seed are great in soups, especially seafood chowders and the roots can be eaten as a vegetable. I’ve drunk lovage cordial, which is tasty. It has a high flavonoid content, as well. Medicinally, a strong leaf tea, iced, is a good antiseptic, especially for extensive scrapes, where it takes down the sting and swelling very quickly and can be splashed on as often as needed. It can be used for mild cases of water retention, as well, and even with high blood pressure. – Masculine, Sun, Fire – This herb is often used in love magicks, but works best as a self-confidence enhancer. Take a bath with a sachet of the leaves, or make a strong tea that you toss into the bathwater before going out to meet new people or to start a new job. It also helps to squeeze a small sachet of the leaves if you’re having trouble concentrating on a task. Wiki has more:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovage

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 10/13 at 2:08pm. 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 10/12 at 2:08am. Full Moon – The day of, the day before, and day after the true Full Moon. “And better it be when the moon is full!”! Prime time for rituals for prophecy, for spells to come to fruition, infusing health and wholeness, etc. A good time for invoking deity. FRUITION Manifesting goals, nurturing, passion, healing, strength, power. Workings on this day are for protection, divination. “extra power”, job hunting, healing serious conditions Also, love, knowledge, legal undertakings, money and dreams. God/dess Aspect: Mother/Abundance/Kingship – – Associated God/desses: Danu, Cerridwen, Gaia, Aphrodite, Isis, Jupiter, Amon-Ra. Phase ends on 10/15 at 2:08am.

Soon after dark, you’ll find zero-magnitude Arcturus >>> low in the west-northwest at the same height as zero-magnitude <<< Capella in the northeast. When this happens, turn to the south-southeast, and there will be 1st-magnitude ^^^ Fomalhaut ^^^ at the same height — if you’re at latitude 43° north. Seen from south of that latitude Fomalhaut will appear higher; from north of there it will be lower.
And whatever your latitude, in the southwest at that time you’ll find bright Jupiter about as high as Fomalhaut. Jupiter continues to dominate the early evening sky from its perch in southern Ophiuchus the Serpent-bearer. The giant planet shines at magnitude –2.0 and stands some 15° above the southwestern horizon as twilight fades to darkness. When viewed through a telescope, Jupiter shows a 35″-diameter disk with striking details in its dynamic atmosphere. You also should see four bright points of light arrayed around the planet: the Galilean moons Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.

Ignore the moon in this pic

Look above the nearly-full Moon this evening for the Great Square of Pegasus through the moonlight. It’s balancing on one corner, and your fist at arm’s length fits inside it. For your location, when it is exactly balanced? That is, when is the Square’s top corner exactly above its bottom corner? This will probably by sometime soon after the end of twilight, depending on your latitude. Try lining up the stars with the vertical edge of a building as a measuring tool.

Orion above Yunnan Observatory – The photographer caught the arc of the winter Milky Way above the building that houses the 2.4-meter telescope of Yunnan Astronomical Observatory. The distinctive shape of the constellation Orion the Hunter appears directly above the dome. – Jeff Dai

The night sky’s most conspicuous harbinger of winter now rises in the east around midnight local daylight time. The constellation Orion the Hunter appears on its side as it rises, with ruddy Betelgeuse to the left of the three-star belt and blue-white Rigel to the belt’s right. As Orion climbs higher before dawn, the figure rotates so that Betelgeuse lies at the upper left and Rigel at the lower right of the constellation pattern.
Jupiter (magnitude –2.0, in the feet of Ophiuchus) is the white dot low in the southwest as twilight fades. Can you still spot Antares, one sixteenth as bright at magnitude +1.0, 10° to Jupiter’s lower right?

Old Farmer’s Almanac Sky map for October – https://www.almanac.com/content/sky-map-october-2019
Goddess Month of Hathor runs from 10/3 – 10/30
Celtic Tree Month of Gort/Ivy Sep 30 – Oct 27
Runic half-month of Gebo/ Gyfu – Sept 28-Oct 12 – Gyfu represents the unity that a gift brings between the donor & recipient. It is a time of unification, both between members of society and between the human and divine.Nigel Pennick, The Pagan Book of Days, Destiny Books, Rochester, Vermont, USA, 1992, p. 102 Runic half-month of Wunjo/Wyn – October 13-28 – Wyn represents joy, the rune being the shape of a weather vane. The month represents the creation of harmony within the given conditions of the present.

Sun in Libra
Moon in Aries
Neptune (11/27), Chiron (12/12), Vesta (12/29), Uranus (1/10/20) Retrograde
Color: Purple

©2019 M. Bartlett, Some parts separately copyright

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Gort – Ivy Ogam letter correspondences
Month: September
Color: Sky Blue
Class: Chieftain
Letter: G
Meaning: Take time to soul search or you will make a wrong decision.

to study this month Uilleand – Honeysuckle Ogam letter correspondences
Month: None
Color: Yellow-white
Class: Peasant
Letter: P, PE, UI
Meaning: Proceed with caution.

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Tides for Alsea Bay

*
Day        High      Tide Height   Sunrise    Moon Time      % Moon
~ /Low      Time    Feet Sunset Visible
Sa 12     High 12:09 AM     7.0   7:28 AM     Set 6:04 AM      96
~ 12      Low   6:26 AM     0.9   6:38 PM    Rise 6:40 PM
~ 12     High 12:34 PM     7.4
~ 12      Low   6:51 PM     1.0

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Affirmation/Thought for the Day – Dear Creator, allow me to see freedom in a way that I can understand.

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Journal Prompt – What? – What is something that makes you melancholy?

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Quotes

~   If you can spend a perfectly useless afternoon in a perfectly useless manner, you have learned how to live. – Lin Yutang (1895-1976) Chinese writer
~   Many were increasingly of the opinion that they’d all made a big mistake in coming down from the trees in the first place. And some said that even the trees had been a bad move, and that no one should ever have left the oceans. – Douglas Adams in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
~   I ain’t got no quarrel with the Vietcong. – Muhammad Ali, American boxer and conscientious objector, born Cassius Clay on January 17, 1942
~   When you follow your bliss, doors will open where you would not have thought there would be doors. – Joseph Campbell

The splendor falls on castle walls
And snowy summits old in story:
The long light shakes across the lakes,
And the wild cataract leaps in glory.
Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying,
Blow, bugle; answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying.

O hark, O hear! how thin and clear,
And thinner, clearer, farther going!
O sweet and far from cliff and scar
The horns of Elfland faintly blowing!
Blow, let us hear the purple glens replying:
Blow, bugle; answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying.

O love, they die in yon rich sky,
They faint on hill or field or river:
Our echoes roll from soul to soul,
And grow for ever and for ever.
Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying,
And answer, echoes, answer, dying, dying, dying. – Alfred Tennyson, British poet laureate, died on October 5, 1892; from ‘The Princess’, Chapter III

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Magick – Recipes

Curried Pumpkin Stew – Contributed by White WinterWolf – not sure where the “curried” comes in?

Ingredients

1 quart (liter) chicken stock
2 cans pumpkin
1 pint (1/2 liter) whipping cream
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Bring chicken stock to a boil
Reduce to a simmer.
Add pumpkin. Stir well.
Add whipping cream and sugar.
Bring to a good simmer.
Add spices, serve hot!

Enjoy!

Maso s brambory (recipe ©M. Bartlett 2009) (also called Brambory a klobasa)

Ethnic – Czech
Holiday – Samhain or Imbolc
Main Dish – Potato & meat
Serves 8 (or so)

Babicka loved this dish. She often made dishes out of season that she explained by when they were usually served, rejoicing in the easy availability of “things I have a taste for!” This is a “meat harvest (option 2)” or “end of winter” (option 1) dish.

8 large potatoes (don’t try to shortcut with potato flakes, bleah!)
Water
1 pound of “made” sausage (opt 1) or 1 lb. of hamburger or 1 lb. of stew beef or meat scraps (opt. 2)
1/2 cup butter (Not Margarine!!!!!!)
1/2 cup cream
1 very large onion or two medium (I prefer red for the contrast)
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon caraway seed
Butter dish with butter & Saltshaker for serving
Chopping Knife & board, large boiling pot, fry pan & spatula, colander, potato masher & bowl, stirring spoon, large casserole or crock pot (optional)

Peel and hack potatoes for boiling
Put the potatoes in the boiling pot with enough water to cover.
Cook on medium heat until soft.
Finely chop onion while they are boiling.
Slice sausage or mince meat if necessary.
Cook meat in fry pan and drain. Set aside.
At this point wait until the potatoes are cooked, then drain the potatoes through the colander.
Mash the potatoes in the bowl.
Put butter in the bottom of the boiling pot and swirl to coat as it melts.
Add the mashed potatoes and the rest of the ingredients to the pot.
Cook over low heat while blending them together.
Turn the heat to medium and keep stirring occasionally until the mixture is warm enough to eat. OR coat casserole or crockpot with reserved grease and add potato mixture. Turn crockpot to medium and heat at least 1 hour, or put casserole in over @ 350 for 1 hour.
Serve with butter & salt on the side.

Note 1 – I actually remember this dish being served during butchering time. When I was very young and the “uncles” were in their 40’s and 50’s, my family would butcher a beef and several hogs in the late fall. Most of the scraps went into “chop meat” (we call it hamburger, but they did it with chopping knives, not a grinder), that was cooked immediately and frozen, or became sausage or went into dishes that were served during the 3 days of work. Freezers were very new, then, and my up-to-date (and proud of it!) aunts each had a large chest-style freezer to pack the winter’s meat into.

Note 2 – In late winter potatoes dug the previous fall begin to sprout or rot. Frozen meats are also reaching the end of their shelf life without an electric freezer. This dish and the various winter stews are the last remnants of a time before electric appliances made it possible to keep foods much longer and they had to be cooked before we lost them and went hungry.

From THE FESTAL BOARD Samhain edition by Rain Redknife NOTE: Real Pagans don’t steal. I worked hard to become a good cook, and so did the folks credited above. If you share these recipes elsewhere, pretty please care enough to leave the source tags on them!

Avesha’s Belt-Bustin’ Shepherd’s Pie (can be made ahead)

[Ed.-This recipe makes a pie that will serve 6. If group size is unknown, don’t hesitate to make two or three of ’em; leftovers will freeze.]

Two 12-oz. packages veggie “ground beef” crumbles
1 med. red onion, thinly sliced
Salt and pepper to taste
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1 can creamed corn
1 cup frozen peas
1 1/2 pounds potatoes, peeled and cut up
1 tsp. marjoram
1/2 tsp. thyme
2 Tbsp. chopped chives
1 Tbsp. minced garlic, or to taste
1/2 cup butter (or vegan margarine)
1 Tbsp. olive oil (optional–see below)
Paprika (optional)

Method

Preheat oven to 350^F.
Boil potatoes in enough salted water to cover.
Meanwhile, saute onion in a large skillet with 1 Tbsp. butter or olive oil until translucent.
Add “beef” and herbs, and cook till heated through.
Salt and pepper to taste and remove from heat.
Transfer mixture to a non-greased baking dish, a deep 10″ casserole or a 9″x13″ pan; if this is a non-metal dish, the pie can be nuked quickly between ritual and dinner.
Spread each type of corn in a layer over the “beef”. Do the same with peas and set aside.
Pour off water from potatoes. Add garlic, chives, remaining butter, salt & pepper and mash to your favorite consistency. Spread the mashed potatoes over pie and sprinkle with paprika.
Place on a foil-lined cookie sheet (pie will bubble over.) Bake for 30-45 minutes, or until potatoes are golden and the juices from the “beef” and veggies are bubbling around the edges.
Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes and serve or refrigerate. Reheats fine, and can be frozen. Serves 6.

Source: adapted by Rain from a recipe by Avesha on www.vegweb.com <http://www.vegweb.com/>

Holiday – Samhain
Main Dish – Meat/Starch/Veg
8-12 servings

This recipe developed from the need to feed the kids before then went Trick-or-Treating and stuffed themselves on candy. A full kid *might* eat just as much candy, but usually they’re more moderate. I wanted something seasonal, that was filling, had the necessary nutrients and didn’t take tending while costumes and makeup were being argued over. Believe me, with 6 kids those costumes took a lot of time! I would start this just after feeding the toddlers lunch and getting them down for naps.

Ingredients

1 medium to large pumpkin 10”-12” diameter (don’t overdo it!!!!!!!!)
2 recipe Stovetop Stuffing Mix (varies by size of pumpkin!!!!!)
3 cups Water (check box)
1 stick Butter (check box)
1 small onion (or a generous shake of dried onion flakes)
1 bunch green onions
2 Large boneless, skinless chicken breast, cooked
½ bunch of celery
1 small can sliced olives
2 cans sliced water chestnuts
1 small can sliced mushrooms (don’t use fresh unless you’re sure people love them)
1 cup sunflower seeds or crushed hazelnuts (opt.)

Method

Cut top from pumpkin at an angle so that it won’t fall in even when cooked.
Scoop out “guts” and seeds and discard (or save seeds for toasting.)
In a large microwavable pot or bowl put water and butter. Add spice mix from stuffing (if not included with the crumbs).
Chop onions, chicken and celery and add to mixture.
Zap in nuker for 5 minutes. Stir.
Add mushrooms, water chestnuts, olives and stir.
Keep zapping, for two minutes at a time, stirring between, until nearly boiling.
Add seeds or nuts. Stir. Add breadcrumbs from stuffing mix. Stir well and fluff with a fork.
Pile stuffing mix into the center of the pumpkin, pushing down and into the corners.
Put the “lid” back on.
Wrap the pumpkin in foil and set on a baking tray large enough to catch any dripping.
Cover and bake at 350 for about two hours. Pumpkin is done when the sides push inward with finger pressure. It gets pretty soft.
Serve hot. Will “stand” if properly wrapped (I use a blanket!!!) for up to 3 hours and still be hot. Store leftovers, covered in fridge. Can be reheated in the microwave by servings.

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Silliness – Quick Quotes

“I called a company and asked to speak to Bob. The person who answered said, Bob’s on vacation. Would you like to hold?”

Posted in Daily Stuff, Pagan, Wiccan | Tagged Affirmation, Astrology, Astronomy, Celtic Tree Month, Goddess Month, Journal Prompt, levisticum officinale, Lovage, Magick, Moon Moon phase, Oregon Coast, Pagan, Quick Quotes, Runic Half Month, Samhain, Samhain Recipes, shoe banging, Silliness, The splendor falls on castle walls, Tides, Today’s Feast, Today’s Plant, Weather, Wicca

Daily Stuff 10-11-19 General Pulaski Memorial Day

Posted on October 11, 2019 by Anja Snihova'

Hi, folks!

Featured photo by Ken Gagne. Pan-Pagan tomorrow! Schedule and more info here: https://ancientlightshop.wordpress.com/ocppg/ocppg-2019/

Sunny! 74F, wind at 3mph and gusting, AQI40, UV3. The chance of rain for tomrrow evening has dropped to 20%. Maybe we should have planned a beach ritual after all? …well, if it stays clear, like last night… oh, the Moon! … we can just pick up and head that way. Tuesday evening the chance is up to 85%, though, and there’s a whole series of showery days coming at the point.

Yesterday I felt like I got up way too early. It’s the back and forth from the paper nights that does it. I got the newsletter out and then did a bunch of computer paperwork, yawning. Why, when I’m already sleepy, does coffee make me sleepier? My grandfolks always had a cup of coffee before bed….maybe I ought to try that… 🙂

Tempus finally chased me in back for a nap while he worked up front. When I woke I had lunch and I felt an awful lot better. I got the newsletters finished being set up for the weekend…well, except for the astro bits that come in on Friday… After that I went back to my class handouts.

I took the occasional break to finish some write-ups of things like the Country Bumpkin Halloween Pumpkin project that’s going into one of the newsletters next week. Tempus was running back and forth and in and out of the door. He did promise me that the workroom was going to be usable as a classroom. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

By the time it was getting dark, my tukas hurt from sitting and my eyes were going buggy from staring at the computer screen. I was able to help some in back, mostly putting smaller stuff away and we got the table shifted so that we can seat people behind the table again, and also reach the library books.

Tempus headed out around 8:30 and I took a nap and got back to work on handouts. By 10:30 Tempus was already starting the bulk drops. I took another break and made up some pickles and got a snack, then put things away and started putting away more of the things that Tempus didn’t know what to do with.

I got picked up just past 3 and dropped back off at 4. The Moon was amazing last night. It was incredibly clear, but not nearly as cold as Tuesday night. Only 49 instead of 39…. We gasped a couple of times, when we could see the Moon over the ocean. She was beautiful, looking like a sagged cheese wheel in the deep blue velvet sky, but when we could see Her light on the ocean, well, that was a treat! The wind was picking up as we were finishing the Bayview drops.

He got finished at well before 5:30 and he fell into bed. He’s got to go into Newport with some errands, too.

Today we have a lot to get done. My handouts are done but for a few bits and to get them printed….but to print them I need the printer set up…. There’s stuff left on the table and I need to clean up my sewing projects up front. I’m planning to start a lentil soup during the day so anyone who comes in tonight won’t have to go buy something, and it ought to be fine in the crockpot until Saturday lunch. Tempus still has a stack of boxes to deal with in the workroom, but we’re getting there and it’ll be good enough to go on with by evening.

…and I’ve been reading a thread on Waldport Community… a Pacific sun fish, a mola mola, got washed up onto a local beach, a bunch of people tried to help, folks actually drove there just to do so, and he finally got hauled out to deep enough water to swim away. We live in a good…and small… community. Enough people care that there were over 100 comments, counting subs and replies….

This is a Ken Gagne photo. When you see the tripod, right of the top center of the pic, the message for the upcoming stormy days is obvious! The guy survived the experience, but many don’t. Don’t go after the fantastic shot and lose your life! Or at best, equipment! …and that shadow in the foam just left of center is the guy whose equipment got ruined. He almost qualified for a Darwin…

General Pulaski Memorial Day, USA – Held annually in honour of General Kazimierz Pułaski (Casimir Pulaski; ‘the father of American cavalry’), a Polish hero of the American Revolution and to honour the heritage of Polish Americans. Pulaski Highway in Baltimore is a major thoroughfare in honor of some cavalry maneuvers during the Revolution. More on this page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Pulaski_Memorial_Day and on Pulaski’s life here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazimierz_Pu%C5%82aski

Today’s Plant is farewell-to-spring. Clarkia amoena (godetia; syn.Godetia amoena) is a flowering plant native to western North America, found in coastal hills and mountains from British Columbia south to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is an annual plant growing to 1 m tall, with slender, linear leaves 2–7 cm long and 2–6 mm

broad. The flowers are pink to pale purple, with four broad petals 1.5–6 cm long. The fruit is a dry capsule, which splits open when mature to release the numerous seeds. –Masculine, Mercury, Fire – Two very specific magicks for this plant…. Use it in coming-of-age rituals (such as luck on a driver’s test, or graduation or in firstblood/firstseed rituals, and also for fertility/prosperity (the seed capsule)

Love & Light,
Anja

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Today’s Astro & Calendar

Draco, Ursa Minor

Look to the right of Vega by 14° (nearly a fist and a half at arm’s length) for Eltanin, the nose of Draco the Dragon. The rest of Draco’s fainter, lozenge-shaped head is a little farther behind. Draco is always eyeing Vega. The main stars of Vega’s own constellation Lyra, faint by comparison, now extend to Vega’s left (by 7°).

An Orionid meteor can be seen streaking through the sky in this image captured in 2007. – Brocken Inaglory/Wikimedia Commons

Although the Orionid meteor shower won’t peak for another two weeks (the morning of the 22nd), you should see a few “shooting stars” associated with it before dawn these next few days. The Moon-free observing conditions in the morning sky now offer better viewing prospects than the waning Moon will at the shower’s peak. These meteors appear to radiate from the northern part of the constellation Orion the Hunter.

Moon Apogee/Perigee – * For a good explanation of what this is – https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/moon/lunar-perigee-apogee.html

The Moon reaches apogee, the farthest point in its orbit around Earth, at 2:29 p.m. EDT. It then lies 252,214 miles (405,899 kilometers) from Earth’s center.
Neptune (magnitude 7.8, in Aquarius) is in the southeast after dark and highest in the south by 10 or 11. See Bob King’s story on observing Neptune and our finder charts for Uranus and Neptune.

Old Farmer’s Almanac Sky map for October – https://www.almanac.com/content/sky-map-october-2019
Goddess Month of Hathor runs from 10/3 – 10/30
Celtic Tree Month of Gort/Ivy Sep 30 – Oct 27
Runic half-month of Gebo/ Gyfu – Sept 28-Oct 12 – Gyfu represents the unity that a gift brings between the donor & recipient. It is a time of unification, both between members of society and between the human and divine.Nigel Pennick, The Pagan Book of Days, Destiny Books, Rochester, Vermont, USA, 1992, p. 102 Runic half-month of Wunjo/Wyn – October 13-28 – Wyn represents joy, the rune being the shape of a weather vane. The month represents the creation of harmony within the given conditions of the present.

Sun in Libra
Moon in Pisces enters Aries at 9:46pm.
Neptune (11/27), Chiron (12/12), Vesta (12/29), Uranus (1/10/20) Retrograde
Color: Purple

Planting 10/10-11

©2019 M. Bartlett, Some parts separately copyright

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Gort – Ivy Ogam letter correspondences
Month: September
Color: Sky Blue
Class: Chieftain
Letter: G
Meaning: Take time to soul search or you will make a wrong decision.

to study this month Uilleand – Honeysuckle Ogam letter correspondences
Month: None
Color: Yellow-white
Class: Peasant
Letter: P, PE, UI
Meaning: Proceed with caution.

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Tides for Alsea Bay

*
Day        High      Tide Height   Sunrise    Moon Time      % Moon
~ /Low      Time    Feet Sunset Visible
F   11      Low   5:53 AM     0.8   7:26 AM     Set 5:04 AM      91
~ 11     High 12:07 PM     7.1   6:39 PM    Rise 6:18 PM
~ 11      Low   6:17 PM     1.4

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Affirmation/Thought for the Day – Make Friends with Freedom

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Journal Prompt – What is? – What is one of your most personal hopes and dreams?

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Quotes

~   I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear. – Martin Luther King, Jr.
~   Welcome difficulties and obstacles as valuable steps in the ladder to success. – Brian Tracy
~   I have discovered that we may be in some degree whatever character we choose. Besides, practice forms a man to anything. – James Boswell (1740-1795) Scottish biographer
~   Goals help you channel your energy into action. – Les Brown

On All Saints’ Day ’tis hard and dry,
Doubly black is the crow, quick is the arrow from the bow,
For the stumbling of the old, the looks of the young wear a smile. – From The Heroic Elegies of Llywarch Hên (6th-Century Welsh), translated by Dr W Owen Pughe, 1792 (William Hone, The Every-Day Book, or a Guide to the Year, William Tegg and Co., London, 1878, 711 – 712; 1825-26 edition online)

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Magick – Studies

Honoring the Dead

From the dawn of your birth
To the sunset of your death
I honor you.

From the missions you completed
To your duties left undone
I honor you.

From the seasons of your being
Through the cycle of your life
I honor you.

From your time beyond the veil
Lie your entrance back again
May the angels support you
May my healing love reach you
From this moment until the end of time
So Mote It Be. – Silver RavenWolf – Pagan

Samhain Night of the Dead

‘I am the God who in the dead of the year, in the dark of life, at the end me-
black-crowded-darkness-forming the

Silent clamour of the returning hoard filling the night but no space,
and we, hosts in our turn greet in love the Mighty Dead.
All is life, on the Feast of the Dead – on Samhain.
The sword, flashing candle-glow, salutes The Guardians,

forms the Circle, builds again the Castle.
Bridges down, we wait, welcoming, expectant,
feeling again the surge as they return.
Now with us again – The Clan.
Life force quickens, on the Feast of the Dead – on Samhain.

Now fill the cup to drink in honour of our kin. Ours by choice and right. To talk gravely, laugh merrily as kinsmen will in kinship.

Drink, with them, the ancient festival.
Out of time, is the time of the Dead – is Samhain.
Brought on no chill wind, this merry crew,
the dead and the Lord of the Dead.

Their rich warmth reaches the soul of us encumbered in
light we warm our cold clay at the fire of your caring.

Tonight is the promise renewed, and our spirits drink the
Life force with our beloved dead.
In the hour of the dead – on the Eve of Samhain.

******

Silliness – Godzilla the Harpist

Posted in Daily Stuff, Newsletter, Pagan, Wiccan | Tagged Affirmation, Astrology, Astronomy, Celtic Tree Month, Clarkia amoena (godetia; syn. Godetia amoena), farewell-to-spring, General Pulaski Memorial Day, Goddess Month, Godzilla the Harpist, Journal Prompt, Magick, Moon Moon phase, On All Saints' Day 'tis hard and dry, Oregon Coast, Pagan, Runic Half Month, Samhain, Silliness, Tides, Today’s Feast, Today’s Plant, Weather, Wicca

Daily Stuff 10-10-19 Tewkesbury Mop Fair

Posted on October 10, 2019 by Anja Snihova'

Hi, folks!

OCPPG starts on Saturday at 10am!

The sunshine is bright enough to be throwing sparkles of reflections all over the shop, since we don’t have the lights on yet. A cloud must have gone past a dimmed things a few minutes ago, but that’s the rarity. 59F, wind at 3mph and gusting, AQI30, UV2. Pan-Pagan ought to be decent enough. Looks like a long spate of rainy weather started Tuesday evening, coming up.

Yesterday started way late and we kept on cleaning up. I’d go do one section, Tempus would put the stuff away that I couldn’t, then he’d do another section, then I’d go sort out things that he didn’t know what to deal with…. all day long. Urf…. we’re getting pretty tired of this, but things are starting to look better. …not done, but better….

Today, we’ll be open in a few minutes, although there are some totes that need to vanish, yet. There’s a Chamber of Commerce meeting at noon, but I dunno if I have the time to go. I still need to clean up my project area up front.

Paper run tonight…

…and since this is the month and time to call on the fates…

Today’s Feast is the Tewkesbury Mop Fair which had it’s 400th anniversary in 2010! This is a hiring fair where people go who are looking for work for the coming year. A Wikipedia article here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tewkesbury#Festivals_and_fairs and more info here: http://www.tewkesburyfairsociety.co.uk/

Today’s Plant is Sword fern, Polystichum munitum. It grows all winter on the coast, getting greener and lovelier every year as the new fiddles come up out of the center of the plant and develop into fronds. I’ve been enjoying those, watching them for months, now. they can get to be 6 feet tall and some of the ones down in the park where the stream crosses through are that size! The indigenes used the rhizome as a poverty food (baked and peeled), and the fronds are one of the best remedies for relieving the pain from the sting of a Stinging Nettle. It is also commonly used by florists as an ornamental plant. – Masculine, Air, The God, the Puck. –This is an herb of masculine power, protection and luck. Use in spells to guide to treasure. Burn to drive away pests.…and as any fern, burn for rain…. More here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sword_fern

Love & Light,
Anja

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Today’s Astro & Calendar

astro

Old Farmer’s Almanac Sky map for October – https://www.almanac.com/content/sky-map-october-2019
Goddess Month of Hathor runs from 10/3 – 10/30
Celtic Tree Month of Gort/Ivy Sep 30 – Oct 27
Runic half-month of Gebo/ Gyfu – Sept 28-Oct 12 – Gyfu represents the unity that a gift brings between the donor & recipient. It is a time of unification, both between members of society and between the human and divine.Nigel Pennick, The Pagan Book of Days, Destiny Books, Rochester, Vermont, USA, 1992, p. 102 Runic half-month of Wunjo/Wyn – October 13-28 – Wyn represents joy, the rune being the shape of a weather vane. The month represents the creation of harmony within the given conditions of the present.

Sun in Libra
Moon in Pisces
Neptune (11/27), Chiron (12/12), Vesta (12/29), Uranus (1/10/20) Retrograde
Color: White

Planting 10/10-11

©2019 M. Bartlett, Some parts separately copyright

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Gort – Ivy Ogam letter correspondences
Month: September
Color: Sky Blue
Class: Chieftain
Letter: G
Meaning: Take time to soul search or you will make a wrong decision.

to study this month Uilleand – Honeysuckle Ogam letter correspondences
Month: None
Color: Yellow-white
Class: Peasant
Letter: P, PE, UI
Meaning: Proceed with caution.

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Tides for Alsea Bay

*
Day        High      Tide Height   Sunrise    Moon Time      % Moon
~ /Low      Time    Feet Sunset Visible
Th 10      Low   5:17 AM     0.8   7:25 AM     Set 4:03 AM      85
~ 10     High 11:37 AM     6.9   6:41 PM    Rise 5:54 PM
~ 10      Low   5:41 PM     1.9
~ 10     High 11:28 PM     6.8

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Affirmation/Thought for the Day – Do it. Do it right. Do it right now. These are three simple steps to success.

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Journal Prompt – What do you think? – What do you think courage means?

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Quotes

~   To lengthen thy life, lessen thy meals. – Benjamin Franklin
~   A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song. – Chinese Proverb
~   If nations could only depend upon fair and impartial judgments in a world court of law, they would abandon the senseless, savage practice of war. – Belva Lockwood (1830-1917) US attorney
~   If you ask your husband to pick up five items at the store and then you add one more as an afterthought, he will forget two of the first five. – Murphy’s First Law for Wives

A birdnote sounding here and there,
A bloom, where leaves are brown and sober,
Warm noons, and nights with frosty air,
And loaded wagons say, October. – Thomas Stephens Collier (1842–93)

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Magick – Craft

Halloween Centerpiece – (For Samhain)

http://members.aol.com/ivycleartoes/pumpkin.html

Materials:

Craft pumpkin with hollow interior OR real pumpkin carved in desired shape
Gourds, small pumpkins, and squash
Black and orange candles
Black treat bowl
Candy corn

Directions:

All sorts of seasonal decorations are available in regular shops this time of year! Any can be incorporated into a festive display, but here is a good suggestion: Use the black bowl, filled with candy corn, to place the hollowed-out pumpkin (real or fake) into. Place black and orange candles (any number and combination) on either side. Place gourds and other seasonal plants around and in front of the bowl.

Ritual use:

Ancestors can be remembered and their pictures and keepsakes can be put inside the pumpkin, provided it is either fake or the artifacts are protected.

Fall Leaf Stained Glass

Items needed:

fall leaves
wax paper
iron
towel
picture frame

Directions:

Collect as many different colored and size fall leaves as possible!
Cut two pieces of wax paper slightly larger than your picture frame.
Lay one piece of the wax paper on the towel, and arrainge the leaves in a pleasing design.
Lay the other piece of wax paper over the leaves, and lay another press the two together using a hot iron and moving quickly but firmly
Tape the “stained glass” to the picture frame and cut off the excess
Hang in a window for best results.

Gourd Rattle

You will need: 1 dry gourd (about the size of an orange – the smooth kind, not warty), small craft saw, small keyhole saw, small hand drill, 1 straight sturdy stick for the handle, a handful of sharp stones, 1/2 inch wide strip of thin suede, at least 12 inches long, glue gun, handful of stones, beads, etc, a few dyed fluff feathers, assorted acrylic paints and brushes. Drill a hold in the bottom of the gourd. Enlarge the hole to the diameter of your stick about 5 incehs from the smaller end. Use the end of your stick to remove the seeds and dried pulp from inside the gourd. Place a small handful of shar stones inside and shake vigorously to remove even more loose material, then pour out the stones and the dust. Drill a hold in the top end of the gourd and enlarge it to the diameter of the smaller end of the stick. Insert the stick so that the top end sticks out about 1 inch to check fit, wrapping the suede around the beads and insert the stick. Secure with hot glue. Wrap the bottom joint between the stick and the gourd with more suede to create a smooth transition, stretching and gluing the leather into place. Repeat with the top joing, this time adding two or three feathers inside the leather wrapping as you glue it. Paint the gourd with acrylic paints if desired.

http://paganwiccan.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=paganwiccan&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dreamcatcher.net%2Fmoonwise%2Fcrafts.html

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Silliness – Classic Bumper Stickers – – When you do a good deed get a receipt (in case heaven is like the IRS).

Posted in Daily Stuff, Newsletter, Pagan, Wiccan | Tagged A birdnote sounding here and there, Affirmation, Astrology, Astronomy, Celtic Tree Month, Classic Bumper Stickers, Goddess Month, Journal Prompt, Magick, Moon Moon phase, Oregon Coast, Pagan, Polystichum munitum, Runic Half Month, Samhain, Samhain Crafts, Silliness, Sword Fern, Tewkesbury Mop Fair, Tides, Today’s Feast, Today’s Plant, Weather, Wicca

Daily Stuff 10-9-19 Felicitas

Posted on October 9, 2019 by Anja Snihova'

Hi, folks!

Featured photo by James Brunt.

It’s sunny and most of the puddles have dried up. We’ve got a couple of days of good weather before the rain comes back. We’re definitely running out of sunny days! The days are getting shorter by over 3 minutes, each. That’s over 20 minutes a week. The Wheel is Turning into the Dark! 62F, wind at 5mph and gusting, AQI32, UV2. There’s not a big chance of rain over Pan-Pagan weekend. It’s dropped below 40%, but it could get wet. We’ll most likely do the Full Moon ritual indoors. Later in the week it looks like some real precipitation, though.

Yesterday, once I got the newsletter out, I worked pretty hard for several hours on class handouts and information. Tempus called twice, once when they got to the appointment and once on the way home. I finished up the section I was working on and went in back for a nap.

When I woke around 5pm, he was back and asleep on the sofa. <sigh> It would have been good if he had crawled into the nap bed, but….

Where on earth did the rain come from? There was only a 20% chance, but it was pouring when I woke. …and within 20 minutes the sun was shining, and the wet pavement was reflecting it, blindingly, into the shop! Tempus woke just before 6pm and we had some of the tomato chicken stuff that I made last week for supper. He reminded me that I hadn’t had my 2nd cup of coffee, so I had that for an appetizer.

After that we both worked on getting things set up so I could go on working while he was out delivering papers and he headed out at about 8:30. …and then the papers came out late. At 11:40 he was just starting to bag papers! I tried to get a nap, and didn’t really, so I went back to putting things away.

…and *finally* got the canning jar stuff sorted out! I was starting to wonder if that was ever going to happen….

I got picked up just before 6am and finished the route with him. Wow! It was *cold*! 39F when we were starting and it had been colder, earlier. There was already light in the sky when I got into the car and by the time we were finishing Bayshore you could tell the surf from the ocean. By the time Bayview was done there was a lovely lemon-yellow dawn across the water and the sun was on the cedar tops when we finished. We got breakfast at the Salty Dawg, since we both needed to eat and were really too tired to cook.

…and I just woke at 2:30…. and I’m still tired, but I’ll nap later.

Today is the last full day we have for finishing up the clean-up. Right now the shop is a wreck. I’ve got stuff pulled out and strewn around, but it’s consolidating into the shelves and sorted into totes. I have to pull out a few that are going into the back or will be in the car because they’re in the way for the event. …and I have to remind Tempus to get my office trash can emptied! Oh, dear…. it’s reach the level of the desk….

Autumn spiral – photo by JAMES BRUNT

Today is the Feast of Felicitas. It’s a good day for making luck amulets and offerings for good fortune and prosperity. Felicitas and Fortuna are confusable to us, but the Romans understood that Fortuna could mean bad luck as well as good, while Felicitas was just good. More information here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felicitas

Today’s Plant is Blackthorn, Prunus spinosa, sometimes called “sloe”, “wish-thorn” or “faery tree”. The blossoms, the fruits and the crimson sap display the three colors of the Great Goddess: white, black, and red. The dangerous long spikes and the red “blood” that flows in the veins of this tree enhance the dramatic effect of Her symbolism. Blackthorns are sacred to the Luantishees, which are Blackthorn Fairies who guard the trees. It makes great walking sticks, such as shillelaghs. The fruit and leaves contain Vitamin C, organic acids, tannins, and sugars. Otzi, the “Iceman” had fruits in his stomach, even though they’re pretty bitter for food. Good wines and liqueurs are made from the fruits. Steep the flowers for a diuretic, tonic, and laxative. Dried fruits can treat bladder, kidney and stomach ailments. Boil the leaves for a mouthwash or to sooth the throat from tonsillitis or laryngitis. – Feminine, Saturn, Earth – Blackthorn symbolizes the inevitability of Death, Good in magicks of protection and revenge, strife and negativity, the balance between light and darkness. The staves cane help in exorcism, to make wishes, in divination and general protection magicks. Being a plant that’s bad to tangle with it also symbolizes not only death and the conquering of death, but the wisdom gained in life and beyond life and can be used in magicks for the gaining of such wisdom. More here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prunus_spinosa

Love & Light,
Anja

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Today’s Astro & Calendar

The Summer Triangle meets the Milky Way – The three bright stars of the Summer Triangle occupy the upper left section of this stunning portrait of the summer Milky Way. Brilliant Vega appears near the top of the image, while Deneb lies to its lower left in the Milky Way’s plane and Altair to the lower right, just below our galaxy’s disk. The photographer captured the scene above Lake Alqueva in Portugal’s Alqueva Dark Sky Reserve. – Miguel Claro

Vega is the brightest star very high in the west at nightfall. Arcturus, equally bright, is getting quite low in the west-northwest. The brightest star in the vast expanse between them, about a third of the way from Arcturus up toward Vega, is Alphecca, magnitude 2.2 — the crown jewel of Corona Borealis. Alphecca is an eclipsing binary with a 17-day period, but its brightness dips are too slight for the eye to discern reliably.

Stormy planet

Neptune appeared at its best at opposition one month ago, but its visibility hardly suffers this week. The outermost major planet lies some 30° above the southeastern horizon once darkness falls and climbs highest in the south around 11 p.m. local daylight time. Neptune glows at magnitude 7.8, which is bright enough to spot through binoculars if you know where to look. The trick is to find the 4th-magnitude star Phi (φ) Aquarii, which lies about 15° (two binocular fields) east-southeast of Aquarius’ distinctive Water Jar asterism. Tonight, Neptune appears 0.9° west-southwest of Phi. When viewed through a telescope, the ice giant planet shows a blue-gray disk measuring 2.3″ across.
Now Fomalhaut is nearly straight below the Moon after dark.
Uranus (magnitude 5.7, in Aries) is well up in the east by 10 p.m. daylight saving time. It’s highest in the south around 1 or 2 a.m.

Old Farmer’s Almanac Sky map for October – https://www.almanac.com/content/sky-map-october-2019
Goddess Month of Hathor runs from 10/3 – 10/30
Celtic Tree Month of Gort/Ivy Sep 30 – Oct 27
Runic half-month of Gebo/ Gyfu – Sept 28-Oct 12 – Gyfu represents the unity that a gift brings between the donor & recipient. It is a time of unification, both between members of society and between the human and divine.Nigel Pennick, The Pagan Book of Days, Destiny Books, Rochester, Vermont, USA, 1992, p. 102 Runic half-month of Wunjo/Wyn – October 13-28 – Wyn represents joy, the rune being the shape of a weather vane. The month represents the creation of harmony within the given conditions of the present.

Sun in Libra
Moon in Aquarius enters Pisces at 9:05am.
Neptune (11/27), Chiron (12/12), Vesta (12/29), Uranus (1/10/20) Retrograde
Color: Yellow

©2019 M. Bartlett, Some parts separately copyright

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Gort – Ivy Ogam letter correspondences
Month: September
Color: Sky Blue
Class: Chieftain
Letter: G
Meaning: Take time to soul search or you will make a wrong decision.

to study this month Uilleand – Honeysuckle Ogam letter correspondences
Month: None
Color: Yellow-white
Class: Peasant
Letter: P, PE, UI
Meaning: Proceed with caution.

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Tides for Alsea Bay

*
Day        High      Tide Height   Sunrise    Moon Time      % Moon
~ /Low      Time    Feet Sunset Visible
W    9      Low   4:34 AM     0.8   7:24 AM     Set 3:03 AM      78
~ 9     High 11:05 AM     6.6   6:43 PM    Rise 5:29 PM
~ 9      Low   5:00 PM     2.4
~ 9     High 10:41 PM     6.7

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Affirmation/Thought for the Day – Allowing your creativity to grow, fosters my link with the Divine.

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Journal Prompt –Wiki – What are you most grateful for?

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Quotes

O Suns and skies and clouds of June,
And flowers of June together,
Ye cannot rival for one hour
October’s bright blue weather;

When loud the bumblebee makes haste,
Belated, thriftless vagrant,
And goldenrod is dying fast,
And lanes with grapes are fragrant. – Helen Hunt Jackson (1830–85)

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Magick – Lore – Traditions of the Dumb Supper by Janice Van Cleve

“I reckon we best be settin’ a few mo’ places at the supper table tonight, Martha.”

“Yes, Clem, there be a powerful lot o’ daid folk be needin’ rememberin’.”

One of the most common places to find the custom of Dumb Suppers in America is deep in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas. In a tape-recorded interview conducted in 1954, an old settler told of a Dumb Supper that was a rite of divination concerned with the future fate of young women in marriage.

“In a dumb supper, you’re supposed to set it at the hour of midnight, and two girls has to go backwards and pick up everything they get and put it on the table, till they get nine different things on the table to eat, like pepper and salt and butter and taters, and just anything to make the nine things.

“Three girls was at our house one night, a-wanting to do that, so they tried it. And they say that just before they (the dead) come, why they’ll be dogs a-barking and cats a-squawling, and cows a-mooing, and everything like that. And so we heard the cats a-fighting, and here they come, towards the house, just as hard as they could tear, and us a-setting there holding to one another scared to death. And if we had sat right still, like we was supposed to do, not whispering nor saying a word, why then they’ll come in and whatever they leave in your plate, why that’s what they (the new husbands) will be.

“One come in and left a switch in the plate, and the other one left a little pen knife, and the other one left three doses of medicine. Well, the one that got the switch, her man (new husband) whipped her to death, nearly all the time, she never had no good time at all. And the one that got the knife, just went and hid it and never would look at it no more. And the (one that got the medicine) was kind of sick. (She kept them until a stranger came to the door) and he said, `I want to stay all night with you,’ and they said, `Well, if you can put up with our fare, we’re poor folks, and got a sick girl in here.’ `Well,’ he said, `Probably I might help the sick girl,’ he says. Well, they let him stay all night, and he left three doses of medicine. And then she took them three doses of medicine and she was well. And that was the man she married. Sure enough.”

In rural West Virginia, there is a slightly different version of the Dumb Supper that is passed from one generation to the next. If you wished to contact a recently deceased loved one, you would set a Dumb Supper with extra settings for those who you wished to contact. You would set the table in reverse order than you normally would; forks would be on the right side and so on. All placements would be handled by two people while the table was being set, even the silverware. You would then serve the food in reverse order as well, beginning with dessert and ending with either soup or appetizers.

At some point during the meal, the recently departed loved one would make contact. One reason to try to reach the loved one who recently died was if the family had had signs or “feelings” of restlessness, showing the dead might be confused and had not crossed over to the other side. The contact through the Dumb Supper was a way of helping them to cross over and finally find peace.

The Dumb Supper was not originally part of the old Celtic tradition of Samhain, which dates back to the fifth century B.C.E. Samhain was originally called Trenae Samma and was the Celtic celebration of the end of the harvest. For three days, the Celts would feast, dance and make merry. Gradually, remembrance of those who had passed on during the previous 12 months came to be included. It was believed that for one night that signified the end of autumn and the beginning of winter, the dead could return to the land of the living to celebrate with their family, tribe or clan.

The time chosen for this year-end bash was not arbitrary nor strictly harvest-related. It fell on what is known as a “joint” of the seasons — a time of transition like our modern New Year’s Eve. On these “seams,” particularly this one, the division between this world and the next became blurred. The dead, it was believed, knew this and took advantage of it, returning to visit their earthly families. The living, both in fear and awe, made the spirits welcome, while at the same time endeavoring not to be taken by them back to the land of the dead. The tradition of costumes grew from disguises worn to confuse the spirits and avoid this fate. The disguises were not enough, however, to insure safety on this night. Candles were lit in every room to guide the dead
to their former abodes. They were also placated with food and drink. Sometimes, a Dumb Supper was held in their honor, with both living and dead sharing the same table. Extra places were set at the table and food set out for those who chose to return. The living guests remained silent in reverence for the dead. The food was left out overnight for the spirits to enjoy at their leisure.

In later Ireland, in the area by the fire where family and guests gathered, was also the place prepared for the ancestors to visit on Halloween. The family swept the hearth and set out chairs, stools or whatever other seats they had so that they focused on the hearth. The food intended for the dead was probably set out next to the fire in this later Dumb Supper. Tobacco would also be given to the dead. At Halloween, those members of the family who had herded animals in the summer pastures brought those animals home. This return meant that the festival was a coming together of all members of the family, living and dead.

The particulars for Dumb Suppers vary. One version is summarized by Llewellyn’s Witches’ Calendar for October 1998:
* The Dumb Supper must be held in sacred space.
* All table service, plates, napkins, glasses and tablecloth, should be black.
* No one may speak from the moment they enter the feast room until they leave (with a few exceptions).
* Only lamps or candles are used for lighting.
* Each living guest should bring a prayer written on a small piece of paper and a divination tool.
* Before the supper begins, shroud the head chair, which is the Spirit chair.
* Set place settings, and place a black votive candle on the plate before each empty chair, with a white one on the Spirit plate at the head of the table.
* Light each candle. Place your hands on the shrouded chair and ask for Spirit to be with you. Walk to each ancestor’s chair touch it, explaining that the ritual is being done in the ancestors’ honor.
* The host of the feast sits in the chair opposite the shrouded chair.

As each guest enters the room, he or she should go to the Spirit chair, touch it, then go to each of the ancestors’ chairs and place a prayer under each plate or say a simple prayer silently. The guests then take their seats, join hands and pray a wordless blessing of the meal and for all present.

The host serves the empty chairs, beginning at the head of the table. Then the host serves the living guests from oldest to youngest.
* After the feast is done and all have finished eating, all join hands, silently asking for the blessings of Spirit on the living and the dead.
* Now is the time to gather each prayer left under a plate and burn it in the flame of the candle by that plate, catching the ashes in a container.
* On the sign from the host, the guests leave the area, stopping by empty places or ancestral altar on their way out.
* After the host thanks Spirit, the guests return to share any impressions they received during the feast. The table is cleared, and divination can be done. Allow the candles to burn until all have gone home, and then snuff each candle. Throw the candle ends and prayer ashes into a moving body of water, or bury them off the property.

The EarthSpirit Newsletter from Autumn 1996 contains a fine article by Anne Lafferty called “Feeding the Dead.” She notes that in Mexico the days between October 31 and November 2 are important because the dead are supposed to visit their relatives at this time. An altar is set up for the dead, and here the offering of food is made. The specific foods offered depend partly on tradition, partly on the tastes of the specific relatives being honored and partly on other factors (such as how wealthy the family is and its specific ethnic background). Bread is invariably included, however. The food provided for child spirits is geared towards younger taste buds than the food given to adult spirits.

Samhain 2001 [had] a special meaning for pagans in the United States hosting Dumb Suppers. The sudden awful deaths of 7000 of our human family on September 11 is still grimly alive in our nightmares — so many dead, so violently and abruptly ripped from the land of the living. Most of the body parts [have] never [been] found. What of their souls? Are they still staggering, dazed and confused, in between the worlds? Have they found rest? Have they had any chance to say goodbye?

Our Dumb Suppers for [2003] could [continue to] give them a proper farewell. It is a fitting time for the coming together of our magickal families and our communities. It is a fitting time to remember the real connections we have with our families of birth and with our national family. It is a fitting time to not only grieve our lost sisters and brothers in New York and in Washington and in a field near Pittsburgh but also honor them, and through them honor our roots as an American nation, a melting pot and cauldron for the world.
Copyright © 2003 Emerald City/Silver Moon Productions WIDDERSHINS ARCHIVES, From Galena at Crone’s Corner

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Silliness – Software Development Cycle

Software doesn’t just appear on the shelves by magic. That program shrink-wrapped inside the box along with the indecipherable manual and 12-paragraph disclaimer notice actually came to you by way of an elaborate path, through the most rigid quality control on the planet. Here, shared for the first time with the general public, are the inside details of the program development cycle.
1 Programmer produces code he believes is bug-free.
2 Product is tested. 20 bugs are found.
3 Programmer fixes 10 of the bugs and explains to the testing department that the other 10 aren’t really bugs.
4 Testing department finds that five of the fixes didn’t work and discovers 15 new bugs.
5 See 3.
6 See 4.
7 See 5.
8 See 6.
9 See 7.
10 See 8.
11 Due to marketing pressure and an extremely premature product announcement based on an overly optimistic programming schedule, the product is released.
12 Users find 137 new bugs.
13 Original programmer, having cashed his royalty check, is nowhere to be found.
14 Newly-assembled programming team fixes almost all of the 137 bugs, but introduce 456 new ones.
15 Original programmer sends underpaid testing department a postcard from Fiji. Entire testing department quits.
16 Company is bought in a hostile takeover by competitor using profits from their latest release, which had 783 bugs.
17 New CEO is brought in by board of directors. He hires programmer to redo program from scratch.
18 Programmer produces code he believes is bug-free.

Posted in Daily Stuff, Newsletter, Pagan, Wiccan | Tagged Affirmation, Astrology, Astronomy, Blackthorn, Celtic Tree Month, faery tree, Felicitas, Goddess Month, Journal Prompt, Magick, Moon Moon phase, O Suns and skies and clouds of June, Oregon Coast, Pagan, Prunus spinosa, Runic Half Month, Samhain, Samhain Lore, Silliness, sloe, Software Development Cycle, Tides, Today’s Feast, Today’s Plant, Traditions of the Dumb Supper by Janice Van Cleve, Weather, Wicca, wish-thorn

Daily Stuff 10-8-19 Bartolomé de las Casas

Posted on October 8, 2019 by Anja Snihova'

Hi, folks!

Featured photo by Beth Kattelman.

Overcast, but bright, I think the sun is struggling to come through, and it just made it for a moment, again… and fading…. There are still puddles and some damp pavement. There were rainbows all over this morning, too. Lots of pix on the Waldport Community Facebook page. 59F, wind at 5 mph and gusting, AQI37, UV3. Why is the AQI staying so high? There’s a tiny chance of rain this evening and it looks like Pan-Pagan weekend is going to be quite wet.

He says, “I got shit for my birthday!”

Tempus insisted that I take this picture, just so he could say, “I got s*** for my birthday!” Yes, one of the things he got was a unicorn poop squishie… 🙂 Yes, we’re weird, what did you expect? 🙂

Yesterday we got up early and scrambled around getting things put away and more put into the car. Tempus finally headed for Sash’s at about quarter to 1.

After I got some lunch I was really sleepy, so I worked on cleaning up my clipart files. By then Tempus had laundry and dishes going and he called to find out what the laundry in the dryer was… 🙂 Like I know what’s in Sash’s dryer!

I sorted some more of the “finds” from the last week’s scrabbling-around-to-clean-stuff-up-before-Pan-Pagan and then the phone rang and it was Amor! He’s going TDY for a bit and wanted to give me a heads-up and then chat…. 3 hours later. 🙂

By 9pm it was raining. I had gotten a nap and done a little embroidery. Tempus got home not long after that and we had some supper, then started sorting out the stuff he’d gotten clean.

Today he’s off to Corvallis with a friend who needed a ride for a medical appointment. I slept in and I’m going to work on my class handouts for the weekend, but I also have stuff to sort…. lots of stuff to sort.

Paper run tonight….

Reflections in Alsea Bay – photo by Beth Kattelman on 9/28/19 Used with permission

Today’s Feast is in honor of not of Columbus, whose legal holiday is somewhere in this vicinity, but of Bartolomé de las Casas. Can we cuss any louder at Columbus? He sounded like such a great hero when I was a kid, but looking at his motives and what came of that…. and he wasn’t the first, by a long way. Not only Erik the Red and Lief Erikson, not only the fishermen who had always gone to the Grand Banks, not just Brendon the Navigator (who is debatable…) but even the Chinese probably got to the Americas before he did! Look up Chinese discovery of America on Wikipedia for the last http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-Columbian_trans-oceanic_contact, but there’s more info on Columbus here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Columbus I’m celebrating this: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/columbus_day …and here’s a Wiki article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartolom%C3%A9_de_las_Casas

Pacific Aster, Symphyotrichum chilense, is one form of aster that grows in the PNW. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphyotrichum_chilense China Asters are the ones grown in gardens and are the common garden aster that Cunningham references: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Callistephus_chinensis in his Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs. Feminine, Venus, Water – The aster was sacred to the gods and used on altars in many religious paths. It is often used in love sachets or carry the bloom to win love. You can also grow them in your garden to draw love to you! …and here is an article on the whole family which includes sunflowers, chrysanthemums, yarrow and cone-flower! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteraceae

Love & Light,
Anja

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Today’s Astro & Calendar

The zodiacal light – This ethereal, pyramid-shaped glow lights up the predawn sky this week until the Moon returns on October 12. – Ariana Ahangary

The Moon’s absence from the morning sky these next few days provides observers with an excellent opportunity to view the zodiacal light. From the Northern Hemisphere, the time around the autumnal equinox (which occurred two weeks ago) is the best for viewing the elusive glow before sunrise. It appears slightly fainter than the Milky Way, so you’ll need a clear moonless sky and an observing site located far from the city. Look for a cone-shaped glow that points nearly straight up from the eastern horizon shortly before morning twilight begins (around 5:30 a.m. local daylight time at mid-northern latitudes). The Moon remains out of the morning sky until October 12, when the waxing gibbous returns and overwhelms the much fainter zodiacal light.
Look lower left of the waxing gibbous Moon this evening, by about two fists at arm’s length, and there will be Fomalhaut, the lonely Autumn Star twinkling away. It’s particularly far from any other 1st-magnitude star, and the rest of its constellation — Piscis Austrinus, the Southern Fish — is extraordinarily dim.
Mercury, Venus, and Mars remain deep in the glare of the Sun.

Old Farmer’s Almanac Sky map for October – https://www.almanac.com/content/sky-map-october-2019
Goddess Month of Hathor runs from 10/3 – 10/30
Celtic Tree Month of Gort/Ivy Sep 30 – Oct 27
Runic half-month of Gebo/ Gyfu – Sept 28-Oct 12 – Gyfu represents the unity that a gift brings between the donor & recipient. It is a time of unification, both between members of society and between the human and divine.Nigel Pennick, The Pagan Book of Days, Destiny Books, Rochester, Vermont, USA, 1992, p. 102 Runic half-month of Wunjo/Wyn – October 13-28 – Wyn represents joy, the rune being the shape of a weather vane. The month represents the creation of harmony within the given conditions of the present.

Sun in Libra
Moon in Aquarius
Neptune (11/27), Chiron (12/12), Vesta (12/29), Uranus (1/10/20) Retrograde
Color: Red

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Gort – Ivy Ogam letter correspondences
Month: September
Color: Sky Blue
Class: Chieftain
Letter: G
Meaning: Take time to soul search or you will make a wrong decision.

to study this month Uilleand – Honeysuckle Ogam letter correspondences
Month: None
Color: Yellow-white
Class: Peasant
Letter: P, PE, UI
Meaning: Proceed with caution.

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Tides for Alsea Bay

*
Day        High      Tide Height   Sunrise    Moon Time      % Moon
~ /Low      Time    Feet Sunset Visible
Tu   8      Low   3:43 AM     0.9   7:23 AM     Set 2:02 AM      70
8     High 10:25 AM     6.3   6:45 PM    Rise 5:00 PM
8      Low   4:11 PM     3.0
8     High   9:47 PM     6.5

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Affirmation/Thought for the Day – In seeking happiness for others, you find it for yourself.

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Journal Prompt – What if? – What would happen if it really did rain cats and dogs?

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Quotes

~   Orage’s impersonality was his greatness, and the breadth of his mind was apparent in the speed with which he threw over a cumbrous lot of superstitions, and a certain number of fairly good ideas, for a new set of better ones. – Ezra Pound on Alfred Orage
~   For those who fight for it, life has a flavor that the protected will never know. – African Proverb
~   Silence is the fence around the haggard where wisdom is stacked. – Irish Proverb
~   Books alone are liberal and free: they give to all who ask; they emancipate all who serve them faithfully. – LA Main Library motto

Here was October, here
Was ruddy October, the old harvester,
Wrapped like a beggared sachem in a coat
Of tattered tanager and partridge feathers. – Stephen Vincent Benet (1898–1943)

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Magick – Recipes

WITCHS BREW (Woohoo!) For Kids Of All Ages!!!

Ingredients:
1 (10 ounce) package frozen raspberries, thawed
2 1/2 cups cranberry juice
2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
2 liters ginger ale
2 liters sparkling apple cider (non-alcoholic)
6 gummi snakes candy

Directions:

To make the frozen hand: Wash and rinse the outside of a latex dish-washing glove. Turn glove inside out and set aside.
In a 4 cup measuring cup, combine the thawed raspberries and cranberry juice.
Pour 2 cups of the raspberry mixture into a small saucepan.
Sprinkle the gelatin over and let stand 2 minutes.
Warm over low heat, stirring constantly, just until gelatin dissolves.
Mix back into the reserved raspberry mixture in the measuring cup.
Pour raspberry mixture into the inverted glove.
Gather up the top of the glove and tie securely with kitchen twine.
Freeze until solid, or several days if possible.

To serve: Carefully cut latex glove away from frozen hand. Place frozen hand, palm side up, leaning against side of a large punch bowl. Pour in ginger ale and sparkling cider. Garnish with gummy snakes.

From THE FESTAL BOARD Samhain edition by Rain Redknife NOTE: Real Pagans don’t steal. I worked hard to become a good cook, and so did the folks credited above. If you share these recipes elsewhere, pretty please care enough to leave the source tags on them!

Rain’s Apple Vanilla Chai (good with raisin pie!)

2 qt. apple cider/juice, VERY preferably the fresh unfiltered stuff
2 cups very strong unflavored black tea,
preferably a good Yunnan or Assam if you have it
1 tsp. whole cloves
1 tsp. whole allspice
About half a nutmeg, not grated–crack it with a hammer or (being Pagan) a clean rock. 🙂
1 tsp. cardamom seeds, lightly cracked if desired
but nor powdered
Two 3-inch cinnamon sticks (don’t use powder!)
1/2 to 1 tsp. black pepper, preferably whole
1/2 c. lightly packed brown sugar, or to taste
1 to 2 tsp. vanilla
A few grains of salt
Raisins
Orange sections

Bring all but the tea, raisins and orange segments to a boil in a large kettle. Reduce heat and simmer 30 to 60 minutes. Remove spices if desired, and add the tea. Serve hot in mugs. Thread raisins and orange sections on skewers (or sassafras twigs split lengthwise) and use as stirrers. This could probably handle a splash of cream, but I haven’t tried it yet and can’t vouch. Nor have I tried it with Earl Grey, but the idea intrigues me. Source: Rain Redknife

Mulled Cider

Ingredients & Preparation:

1 Cup Light Brown Sugar (Packed)
2 Quarts Apple Cider
1 Cup Lemon Juice
Cinnamon Sticks
8 Whole Cloves
3/4 Cup Rum

Directions:

Combine brown sugar, apple cider, lemon juice, cloves and 2 cinnamon sticks in large pan and allow to boil.
Reduce heat to simmer and heat for another 10 minutes.
Strain and add rum and a single cinnamon stick to each individual mug.

…and then one for next year. We loved this. Howling Jack Honey Pumpkin Mead by Aurora – This mead is the color of a ripe peach and smells like autumn leaves – perfect for a Harvest party or Sabbat. [Anja’s note: I don’t think this will work they way she’s got it put together. It’s most likely that the pumpkin would explode. We got pretty much the same recipe going in a carboy (with the pumpkin cut into the must…) and it fermented for two and a half years! If someone experiments, let me know…. We’ve drunk the whole thing up and it turned out really, really good….]

1 sound, hard-rind pumpkin (approx. 2 quart capacity)
Paraffin wax
1 1/2 quarts of water
4 lbs. honey
2 each oranges and lemons
1 pkt. wine yeast
1 tea bag (black tea)

Prepare yeast starter.
Sterilize honey and water by boiling for 10 minutes, skimming the froth as it rises.
Remove from heat; stir in sliced citrus fruits, including skins.
Cool to room temperature; pitch yeast.
Allow to sit over night.
Prepare pumpkin by cutting off the top with a sharp knife. The top must “mate” with the bottom so cut carefully. Clean out the seeds, strings, and membranes of the pumpkin. Rinse out with water.
Pour the must into the pumpkin, leaving an inch of air space between the liquid and the rim of the opening. Replace the top.
Prepare the paraffin/water bath: Fill a plastic bucket with hot water, melt the paraffin wax and float it on the water.
Dip the pumpkin, bottom first, into the warm paraffin until it is coated up to its lid. Once the paraffin begins to harden on the pumpkin skin, seal the lid by carefully pouring paraffin over the top, making sure to coat the seam.
Set the pumpkin in the middle of a shallow dishpan full of water to keep any thirsty pickle worms at bay and place it in a dark, quiet spot.
Allow to sit for two months, then siphon off and bottle.

Note: It is probably a good idea to rack the mead into a glass fermenter, fitted with an air lock, for evaluation prior to bottling. If the fermentation is not complete and you bottle prematurely, the corks and glass may blow.

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Silliness – Sniglet – Any word which should be in the dictionary but isn’t.

bandile (BAN dyl) – n. The thin red strip one pulls to release a Band-Aid.

Posted in Daily Stuff, Newsletter, Pagan, Wiccan | Tagged Affirmation, Astrology, Astronomy, Bartolomé de las Casas, Celtic Tree Month, Goddess Month, Here was October, Journal Prompt, Magick, Moon Moon phase, Oregon Coast, Pacific Aster, Pagan, Runic Half Month, Samhain, Samhain Recipes, Silliness, Sniglet, Symphyotrichum chilense, Tides, Today’s Feast, Today’s Plant, Weather, Wicca

Daily Stuff 10-7-19 Joe Hill

Posted on October 7, 2019 by Anja Snihova'

Hi, folks!

Featured photo by Thom Iverson.

It’s partly sunny. The sunshine is currently as bright as it gets this time of year, but every so often it’s blotted out. …and there are splotches around the edges, too. 61F, wind at 1mph and gusting, AQI32, UV3. There’s a chance of some accumulation tonight, but in the form of showers. We ought to have a couple of sunny days over Tuesday and Wednesday, but after that it looks more like a fall weather pattern, with rain likely in smaller or larger amounts.

Yesterday morning was quiet, but we had enough to do to make it feel busy. I had a reading come in during the afternoon. Before and after that we were talking with customers, doing more projects, finishing moving the plants, cleaning up that mess and so on. …and then it got quiet again.

A fellow’s motorcycle broke down right outside the shop. He tried to fix it, but it was still out there earlier, but he’s picked it up, now. Tempus found him some wire…. it was a problem with a headlight.

We watched the ISS go over just after 8pm. It is really amazingly bright to someone who’s been a sky-watcher for over 60 years. There hasn’t been anything like this up there….

We ended up our day and evening sorting out dishes. This is stuff that has been waiting since the first time we moved! Bits and pieces had gotten separated and the boxes are finally floating to the surface, so we can put them back together. That’s also the first thing we’re working on today, after coffee.

Today Tempus is heading for Sash’s with some more dishes and laundry and then they’re going to have some “guy time” this evening. I’ll have the shop open until 6pm, at least. I have a lot of writing to do and I need to do some plant watering. I think I have the plants finally where they need to be for a couple of weeks.

Photo from 10/1/18 by Thom Iverson of the bridge that crosses the Mckenzie river where it comes out of Clear Lake

Today’s Feast is in honor of Joe Hill (d. November 19 [qv], 1915), American labor activist, songwriter (‘The Preacher and the Slave‘) and member of the Industrial Workers of the World, better known as the Wobblies. He was executed for murder after a controversial trial, and after his death became the subject of a famous folksong, Joe Hill. His last words, to his supporters, were “Don’t mourn for me. Organize!” More at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Hill and http://www.wilsonsalmanac.com/book/oct7.html

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 an 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, Exorcism, protection, stop fear, lasting love. More info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yarrow

Love & Light,
Anja

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Today’s Astro & Calendar

A meteor zips past Cassiopeia – The W-shaped constellation Cassiopeia the Queen hung low in the sky as a bright meteor streaked to its right the morning of January 6, 2014. On September evenings, Cassiopeia appears on its side in the northeast, at the same altitude as the Big Dipper in the northwest. – Tony Rowell

Even as the stars begin to come out in twilight now, Cassiopeia is already higher in the northeast than the sinking Big Dipper is in the northwest. Cassiopeia’s broad W pattern is tilting toward vertical.
Saturn remains a glorious sight this week. The ringed planet resides among the background stars of Sagittarius the Archer, a region that appears nearly 30° above the southern horizon an hour after sundown and doesn’t set until close to midnight local daylight time. Saturn shines at magnitude 0.5 and appears significantly brighter than any of its host constellation’s stars. Although a naked-eye view of the planet is nice, seeing it through a telescope truly inspires. Even a small instrument shows the distant world’s 17″-diameter disk and the spectacular rings, which span 38″ and tilt 25° to our line of sight. As an added bonus, the planet reaches quadrature today, which signifies that a line from the Sun to Earth and then to Saturn forms a right angle. Observationally, this means that Saturn’s shadow extends farthest east of the planet and shows up plainly on the rings, giving the world a striking 3D appearance.
Jupiter (magnitude –2.0, in the feet of Ophiuchus) is the white dot low in the southwest as twilight fades. Can you still spot Antares, one sixteenth as bright at magnitude +1.0, 10° to Jupiter’s lower right?

Old Farmer’s Almanac Sky map for October – https://www.almanac.com/content/sky-map-october-2019
Goddess Month of Hathor runs from 10/3 – 10/30
Celtic Tree Month of Gort/Ivy Sep 30 – Oct 27
Runic half-month of Gebo/ Gyfu – Sept 28-Oct 12 – Gyfu represents the unity that a gift brings between the donor & recipient. It is a time of unification, both between members of society and between the human and divine.Nigel Pennick, The Pagan Book of Days, Destiny Books, Rochester, Vermont, USA, 1992, p. 102 Runic half-month of Wunjo/Wyn – October 13-28 – Wyn represents joy, the rune being the shape of a weather vane. The month represents the creation of harmony within the given conditions of the present.

Sun in Libra
Moon in Aquarius
Neptune (11/27), Chiron (12/12), Vesta (12/29), Uranus (1/10/20) Retrograde
Color: Silver

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Gort – Ivy Ogam letter correspondences
Month: September
Color: Sky Blue
Class: Chieftain
Letter: G
Meaning: Take time to soul search or you will make a wrong decision.

to study this month Uilleand – Honeysuckle Ogam letter correspondences
Month: None
Color: Yellow-white
Class: Peasant
Letter: P, PE, UI
Meaning: Proceed with caution.

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Tides for Alsea Bay

*
Day        High      Tide Height   Sunrise    Moon Time      % Moon
~ /Low      Time    Feet Sunset Visible
M    7      Low   2:42 AM     0.8   7:21 AM     Set 1:03 AM      60
~ 7     High   9:34 AM     6.1   6:46 PM    Rise 4:27 PM
~ 7      Low   3:08 PM     3.4
~ 7     High   8:41 PM     6.4

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Affirmation/Thought for the Day – Meditation – Listen to the morning sounds: bird’s songs; wind in the tree; the roar of traffic; children’s voices. What do these sounds convey to you?

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Journal Prompt – Personal taste – My worst mistake was…

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Quotes

~   Be silent always when you doubt your sense. – Alexander Pope
~   You’ve got to do your own growing, no matter how tall your grandfather was. – Irish Proverb
~   Falsehoods have short legs. – Macedonian proverb
~   Every big accomplishment has been brought into manifestation through holding to the vision. – Florence Scovel Shinn

The green elm with the one great bough of gold
Lets leaves into the grass slip, one by one, —
The short hill grass, the mushrooms small milk-white,
Harebell and scabious and tormentil,
That blackberry and gorse, in dew and sun,
Bow down to; and the wind travels too light
To shake the fallen birch leaves from the fern. – Edward Thomas (1878–1917)

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Magick – Studies

Pumpkin Protection Spell – Categories: Spellwork
[Note: by Claudette Griffith (c) 2001-2004]

Scary faces carved into pumpkins were meant to protect, so you can guess where this is going. The easiest thing to do is simply concentrate on protection as you carve your pumpkin, if you would like, you can add carve protective seals instead of the traditional face. Protective herbs can be added to the inside of your pumpkin as well. If you are faced with immediate danger during the fall season try this spell.
Tools needed
1 large pumpkin
1 black candle
Dirt
Carving tools
paper
pen
Pumpkin Pattern book (optional)

Buy or harvest a large pumpkin, design a face of a dragon or any really scary face, as you carve see what ever is threatening you as being warded off by the beast that will become your pumpkin guardian.
When you have completed the pumpkin carving write the name of the person or thing that you fear and place it in the bottom of the pumpkin cover it with several handfuls of dirt.
Now take a black candle and inscribe on it the words “Banish All Evil” place it inside the pumpkin along with a generous amount of protective incense.
Light the candle and incense and watch as the pumpkin glows, soon the smoke from the incense will billow out of the pumpkin, as it does, envision the threat being surrounded by the smoke until it fades into it and blows away with the wind.

*Note~ keep seeds to add to any protection work in the coming year.

Saoirse, ruthee www.turningthewheel.org

Harvest Knotwork – October 6th, 2007 – Color of the day: Black – Incense of the day: Almond

Throughout the month of October, farmers worked hard to bring in the grain harvest during the good weather (and before the end of the year at Samhain). In Ireland, as part of the harvest celebration, small ornamental twists or knots of braided straw were created and worn as a sign that the harvest was completed. These were made throughout the harvest season, and were also worn at the “Harvest Home” supper. Women wore elaborately created knots with the grain ears still attached, and men wore simpler knots without the ears. Patterns for harvest knot-making are easy to find online. After soaking the straw, think about what prayers or magical work you would like to weave into the harvest knot. Repeat your charm or prayer as you make your magical autumn weaving.

By: Sharynne NicMhacha

Prosperity Pumpkins – Categories: Info – [Note: By Claudette Griffith copywrite 2001 (THANKS CLAUDETTE!!)

I’m a big fan of window boxes and this is one of the ways I use to encourage abundance in the fall. Once the frosts have killed off the plantings in my window boxes I place a board over them to serve as a platform to hold my prosperity pumpkins. Simply take several pumpkins of varying sizes from the garden and write on the bottom of them, words like “abundance”, “prosperity”, “comfort” or other things you would like to bring into your life, perhaps harmony or love. Place them on your platformed window box, along with colorful leaves and interesting twigs. Add nuts and perhaps dried corn to be enjoyed by local wildlife and you have a great display that can bring abundance to your life, In many areas of the country it can be colorful all the way through Thanksgiving and if not perhaps you can use the same ideas for a mantle or tabletop display. Your house will look great and your neighbors will be none the wiser! When that hard frost comes remove the pumpkins to the compost pile, Next spring don’t be surprised when the pumpkin vines begin to take over your compost!

Saoirse, ruthee www.turningthewheel.org

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Silliness – I am the mighty lion

Posted in Daily Stuff, Newsletter, Pagan, Wiccan | Tagged Achillea millefolium, Affirmation, Astrology, Astronomy, Celtic Tree Month, Goddess Month, he green elm with the one great bough of gold, I am the mighty lion, Joe Hill, Journal Prompt, Magick, Moon Moon phase, Oregon Coast, Pagan, Runic Half Month, Samhain, Samhain Prayers, Samhain Spells, Silliness, The green elm with the one great bough of gold, Tides, Today’s Feast, Today’s Plant, Weather, Wicca, yarrow

Ancient Light's Daily Stuff

Daily Stuff 10-12-19 Shoe-banging

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©2019 M. Bartlett, Some parts separately copyright

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