Hi, folks!
It’s foggy and 61F. My computer got restarted during the night, so I had to re-format the newsletter and that’s taken awhile. The recovery process removes all the spaces!
Yesterday started slowly, but by 11am both of us were hard at work sorting things. The sun was going in and out and the breeze picking up.
By 3pm I had a whole set of drawings done and set up to do more, but realized that’s *all* I was getting done!
Tempus was re-stacking the old records. I have to figure out what we’re going to be doing with those…. yeah, a whole *lot* of LP’s…. I found a bunch of my old D&D figurines and had to figure out where to put those.
I got outside for a bit, after working on the OCPPG stuff , mostly weeding, and moving some things so Tempus could mow the lawn. Not that he got that far.
Late in the afternoon, I got a bath and was shocked to hear rain on the skylight. It was pouring and the porch roof dripping like crazy. I really hope the fire areas got some of this!
…and then I worked well into the evening on drawings. I didn’t seem to have enough brain cells to rub together to do anything else, and there’s such a backlog…. Tempus was digging through things at a steady rate and I managed to empty a couple of boxes during the course of the day.
During the night I finally realized that I was running a temperature. Tempus had whatever-it-is and I’m running about 5 days behind him. No wonder I couldn’t think!
So, I’m running very late this morning….afternoon, now. Tempus is at the shop.
Today’s Feast is for Vesta, Keeper of the Flame. It’s also Assumption Day, the day that the Virgin Mary was taken to heaven, also sacred to all the forms of the Great Mother. For Vesta, light 6 red candles and burn herbs for your intent in a hearth fire. For the Virgin, light white. Give thanks to the Great Mother Goddess for your life, your family, your friends and our world.
Today’s Plant – Maidenhair Fern is cultivated for use in gardens, but out here on the coast you can’t walk past a stand of trees without seeing it. Our variety is Adiantum Pedatum, (northern maidenhair, five-fingered fern) most often , but others of the aidantums get mixed in, too. – Feminine, Venus, Water – This represents the physical presence of the Divine Feminine, much as the Sword Fern represents the Divine Masculine. To get more in touch with this part of your Higher Self and to gain grace and physical beauty (always remembering that true beauty is from within) soak a sprig of this plant in water (…better by moonlight, and it’s a great ritual for a Full Moon) and hang it in your bedroom. This is also helpful for the transition times between life stages, and can even help with becoming pregnant if there are physical difficulties with a woman’s cycles. More here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adiantum_pedatum and on the family grouping here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maidenhair_fern
The shop opens at 11am! Spring hours are 11am-7pm Thursday through Monday. 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 at 541-563-7154.
Love & Light,
Anja
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Today’s Astro & Calendar
The Moon is Waxing Gibbous. Waxing Moon Magick – The waxing moon is for constructive magick, such as love, wealth, success, courage, friendship, luck or healthy, protection, divination. Any working that needs extra power, such as help finding a new job or healings for serious conditions, can be done now. Also, love, knowledge, legal undertakings, money and dreams. Phase ends on 8/20 at 6:45pm. Waxing Gibbous Moon – From seven to fourteen days after the new moon. For spells that need concentrated work over a ¼ moon cycle this is the best time for constructive workings. Aim to do the last working on the day of the Full moon, before the turn. Keywords for the Gibbous phase are: analyze, prepare, trust. It is the time in a cycle to process the results of the actions taken during the First Quarter. During this phase you are gathering information. Give up making judgments; it will only lead to worry. Your knowledge is incomplete. Laugh. Analyze and filter. LOOK WITHIN. God/dess aspect: Maiden/Youth, but in the uncommitted phase, the Warriors Associated God/desses: Dion, Dionysius, Venus, Thor. Phase ends on 8/19 at 6:45am.
Antares is lower right of the Moon this evening.
Mercury,
Mars, and
Jupiter shine in the east-northeast before and/or during dawn. Jupiter is the highest and brightest (magnitude –1.9). Look for faint Mars (magnitude +1.6) increasingly far to Jupiter’s lower left. Both are in Gemini, with Pollux and Castor to Mars’s left.
Goddess Month of Hesperus runs from 8/9 – 9/5
Celtic Tree month of Coll/Hazel, Aug 5 – Sep 1 – Coll – (CULL), hazel
Runic half-month of Ansuz/ As /Os/, 8-13-8/29 – This time is sacred to the god/desses of Asgard and contains the time of the Ordeal of Odin and the festival of the Runes. This time is also referring to Yggdrasil, the Tree that give order to the Worlds. This is a time of stability and divine order visible in the world.
Sun in Leo
Moon in Sagittarius
Uranus, Chiron, Juno, Neptune and Pluto Retrograde
Color: Green
Planting 8/13-14
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©2013 M. Bartlett, Some parts separately copyright
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from Wikimedia commons
Coll/Hazel – Aug 5 – Sep 1 – Coll – (CULL) – The hazel (Corylus avellana L) is the source of hazelnuts. It forms a shrub up to 6 m (20 feet) tall, inhabiting open woodlands and scrubs, hedgerows, and the edges of forests. The filbert nut in North American groceries is Corylus maxima, a related species. The European hazelnut is cultivated in North America, primarily as an ornamental. Hazelnuts are in the Birch family (Betulaceae). 
Coll – Hazel Ogam letter correspondences
Month: July
Color: Brown
Class: Chieftain
Letter: C, K
Meaning: Creative energies for work or projects.
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Tides for Alsea Bay
Day High Tide Height Sunrise Moon Time % Moon
~ /Low Time Feet Sunset Visible
Th 15 Low 1:49 AM 0.4 6:20 AM Set 12:30 AM 54
~ 15 High 8:09 AM 4.9 8:21 PM Rise 3:49 PM
~ 15 Low 1:17 PM 2.7 ~ 15 High 7:38 PM 7.5
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Affirmation/Thought for the Day – Today I celebrate all that I am and all that I will become!
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Journal Prompt – Multicultural Connections – Explain what you think the following Chinese proverb means: “With time and patience, the mulberry leaf becomes a silk gown.”
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Quotes
~ Adopt the pace of nature: Her secret is Patience. – Emerson ~
It took me a long time not to judge myself through someone else’s eyes. – Sally Field ~
The best cure for insomnia is plenty of sleep. – W. C. Fields ~
Before everything else, getting ready is the secret to success. – Henry Ford
Frost
Notice each windowpane has a different
Swirling pattern of frost etched on the glass.
And notice how slowly the sun melts
The glaze.
It is indelible: a fossil of a fern,
Or a coelacanth, or a derelict who
Rummages in his pockets and pulls out a few Apple cores.
Notice the peculiar angle of light in the slow shift of sunrise.
Where is the whir of the helicopter?
The search for escaped convicts in the city?
Be amazed at the shine and the wet.
Simply to live is a joy. – Arthur Sze (The Redshifting Web)
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Magick – Summer Grapevine Wreath – (For all Sabbats) from http://members.aol.com/ivycleartoes/wreath.html (link is broken) edited by Anja 8/13
At this time of year, grapevines often need to be trimmed after harvest. Gather some fresh, and make your own!
Make the acquaintance of a local vineyard, or ask a friend who has some growing.
Decide what size you want your wreath.
Start from the larger end and make a circle that size and tie in place with a bit of brown thread. Wind around twice more and tie, so that you have three circles lying on top of each other. This is the base of the wreath.
Now begin feeding the tender end of the vine through the middle and around in a spiral around those three circles so that you end up with 4 wraps around the original circle.
Keep going until you have used up all the vine you have a tie off with a bit of thread.
If you don’t have enough wraps or size, add another vine, large end first, tying it to the original circle and then continue.
Let dry and then decorate.
Use a grapevine wreath of any size and thickness to decorate with seasonally appropriate dried or fake flowers. This brings into the home a sense of the seasonal changes. Suggested wreath decorations for each season:
|
Yule |
Flowers of red, green, white, silver, or gold; holly, mistletoe, pine cones; nuts, apples, popcorn strings, red, green, white, silver, or gold ribbons |
|
Imbolc |
Flowers of white, orange, red, yellow, pink, or brown; snowdrop, bay, heather, first flowers of the year; small brooms |
|
Ostara |
Flowers in green or yellow; honeysuckle, iris, peony, violet, all spring flowers; colored eggs, green and yellow jellybeans, rabbit decorations, spring flowers, butterflies |
|
Beltane |
Flowers in green, soft pink, blue, yellow, white; strings of beads or flowers, ribbons, spring flowers (roses, bluebells, daisies, primrose, lilac) |
|
Litha |
Flowers in blue, green, yellow, white, red, maize yellow, or tan; lavender, chamomile, roses, daisies, lilies; dried herbs, potpourri, seashells, summer flowers, fruits |
|
Lughnasadh/Lammas |
Flowers in yellow, orange, green, brown, or red; corn dollies, any wheat weaving crafts, shafts of grain; grains, grapes, heather, blackberries, sunflowers |
|
Mabon |
Flowers in orange, dark red, yellow, brown, violet, or deep gold; acorns, pomegranates, pine cones, fallen leaves; hazel, corn acorns, oak, wheat stalks |
|
Samhain |
Flowers in black, orange, red, brown, golden yellow; pumpkins, apples, fall leaves, autumn flowers, squashes, food from harvest; nuts, thistle, chrysanthemums, broom, oak leaves |
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Silliness – How many Witches does it take to change a light bulb? Depends on what you want to change it into.
