Hi, folks!
The sun is coming out occasionally. Everything is damp, but it’s warm and quiet. At least we have a little time before the next storm. The next two days are likely to be very wet, possibly quite windy. That’s good because Tempus wants to work on his car.
Yesterday was a good, if rather scrambled day. I had dozed off after getting the newsletter out. Rain on the skylights often does that to me…. I started awake at 20 till 11, woke Tempus, who was *very* soundly asleep, and we scurried out the door as quickly as we could.
When we got to the shop we got things open and settled in to work on various small tasks. We had a number of people in during the day, shopping, despite the weather. We did get a little done on the inventory, finishing up the used books finally, and finding a set of books that had gotten misplaced. The Duckmeister stopped by and we talked for quite awhile.
Late in the afternoon when we were getting pretty sick of inventory stuff, we started on some other things, like doing headers, powdering cedarwood, and making up a set of Sabbat incenses (if you buy the whole year’s worth it’s $20, instead of $24 if purchased separately.)
Wicca 101 has 3 students, now, but we decided to go with Lesson 5 instead of starting at the beginning, making sure that the one who is farthest along can get finished, and we’ll go back to the beginning for the other two. Complicated, but do-able….
The weather got interesting yesterday. First, the cloud deck lowered all morning until it was nearly at ground level and stayed very low all day, except when it was raining when it really came to visit… *really* came to visit at one point. It was roaring on the shop roof and the shop awning was running streams onto the pavements. That was the only time it got that hard, but the misty distances and dripping cedars caused one customer to refer to it as a dreary day. I don’t see that kind of weather as dreary, but rich and beautiful.
Today we have the usual house chores, but I’m so tired I want to go back to bed….
St. Casimir is a little odd for a saint, being royal but having no miraculous events connected with his life. He is the patron saint of Lithuania and Poland. More here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Casimir …and about the celebrations here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Casimir%27s_Day
Today’s plant is the Evergreen Violet, Viola sempervirens. This is a pretty plant that looks like nothing much through 9 months of the year here on the coast, but is spectacular in March, when it covers the ground with beautiful golden flowers on a deep blue/green background, and still lovely in April/May. It is indeed evergreen, not withering to the ground, although it sometimes is overshadowed by grass. It grows well in the park behind the house. As any viola it is Feminine, ruled by Venus, but unlike the blue violets (corresponding to water) the Evergreen Violet corresponds to the element of Air and the Sun – Protects against malevolent spirits, brings changes in luck & fortune, wear to help with headaches, dizziness and to bring calm and sleep, wear in a green sachet to heal wounds. More here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viola_sempervirens
The shop is closed on Tuesday/Wednesday! Winter hours are 11am-5pm Thursday through Monday, although closing time is drifting later with the longer days. 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
The Moon is in Diana’s Bow. 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 Full on 3/16 at 10:08am. Diana’s Bow – On the 3rd day after the new moon you can (weather permitting) see the tiny crescent in the sky, the New Moon holding the Old Moon in her arms. Begin on your goals for the next month. A good time for job interviews or starting a project. Take a concrete step! God/dess aspect: Daughter/Son/Innocence Associated God/dess: Vesta, Horus. Phase ends on 3/5 at Noon.
Around the trailing foot of Gemini and top of Orion’s Club are star clusters and nebulae both famous and obscure. Track them down with your telescope using Sue French’s Deep-Sky Wonders column, photos and chart in the March Sky & Telescope, page 56. http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/newtrack/st_201403/
Jupiter (magnitude –2.4, in Gemini) dominates the high south during evening. No other point in the evening sky is so bright. See our articles on observing Jupiter in the January Sky & Telescope http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/newtrack/st_201401/ or the briefer online introduction Jupiter: Big, Bright, and Beautiful. http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/home/238809441.html
The supernova in M82 is still hanging in. Six week after its outburst began, it’s still about visual magnitude 11.7. And it’s reddening. Take another look while the evening sky is still moonless. See our updated article. http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/highlights/Bright-Supernova-in-M82-241477661.html
Goddess Month of of Moura, runs from 2/20-3/19
Celtic Tree Month of Nuin/Nion/Ash, Feb 18 – Mar 17, Nion (NEE-uhn)
Runic half-month of Teiwaz/Tyr, 2/27-3/13 This is a time of positive regulation, sacrifice and hard work in order to progress.
Sun in Pisces
Moon in Aries enters Taurus at 11:12am
Mercury Stationary
Saturn, Mars, Vesta, Ceres and Jupiter Retrograde
Color: Black
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©2014 M. Bartlett, Some parts separately copyright
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Celtic Tree Month of Nuin/Nion/Ash, Feb 18 – Mar 17, Nion (NEE-uhn), ash – the common ash (Fraxinus excelsior L.) is a major tree of lowland forests in much of Europe, along with oaks and beeches. It grows to 40 m (130 feet) in open sites, with a broad crown reminiscent of American elm trees. Ash was and still is an important timber tree, and is a traditional material for the handle of a besom. The common ash is occasionally cultivated in North America, and similar native ash species are widely grown as street trees. Ashes are members of the Olive family (Oleaceae).
Nuin – Ash Ogam letter correspondences
Month: March
Color: Glass Green
Class: Cheiftain
Letter: N
Meaning: Locked into a chain of events; Feeling bound.
Ogam letter correspondences to study this month Oir – Spindle
Month: None
Color: White
Class: Peasant
Letter: TH, OI
Meaning: Finish obligations and tasks or your life cannot move forward.
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Tides for Alsea Bay
Day High Tide Height Sunrise Moon Time % Moon
~ /Low Time Feet Sunset Visible
M 3 High 1:35 AM 8.6 6:50 AM Rise 7:54 AM 3
~ 3 Low 7:52 AM 0.2 6:07 PM Set 9:25 PM
~ 3 High 1:53 PM 8.1
~ 3 Low 8:04 PM 0.4
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Affirmation/Thought for the Day – I shall resolve to show the same face everywhere, and I’ll become serene.
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Journal Prompt – Wiki – Make a list of what you would like to do before you die.
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Quotes
~ Let the world know you as you are, not as you think you should be, because sooner or later, if you are posing, you will forget the pose, and then where are you? – Fanny Brice
~ But I can tell – let truth be told – That love will change in growing old; Though day by day is nought to see, So delicate his motions be. – Robert Bridges (1844-1930) English writer
~ I know that if odour were visible, as colour is, I’d see the summer garden in rainbow clouds. – Robert Bridges (1844-1930) English writer
~ Overcompensating to be liked and wanting to “save” people who were hurting. I had learned how to give but not how to receive. The most courageous thing I ever had to do, hands down, is learning to receive. I’m doing that gracefully and letting other people feel good. ~ Kathy Buckley
~ Nothing travels faster than the speed of light with the possible exception of bad news, which obeys its own special laws. – Douglas Adams in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
~ Circumstance does not make a man, it reveals him. – James Allen
~ Every Religion is flawed. But that’s only because man-kind is flawed…Including this one. – Angels and Demons
~ A father is a guy who has snapshots in his wallet where his money used to be. – Unknown
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Ostara Magick
Ostara Song – http://crystalforest3.homestead.com/beltane.html
from the Pagan and Wiccan Parenting Page (to the tune of “Goodbye Ladies”)
Good Bye Winter,
Good bye Winter,
Good bye Winter,
We wish you’d leave us now.
(replace the following words for “Winter:” snow, slush, snowsuits, cold wind, and any thing else the children come up with.)
Come back Springtime,
Come back Springtime,
Come back Springtime,
We wish you’d come today.
(replace the following words for “Springtime:” green grass, flowers, birds, and any thing else the children come up with.)
Eostre
When the snow melts
And winter breathes its last
Then do we dream of you
Eostre Lady of Springtime
Bringer of new growth and freshness.
The frozen Earth beneath your feet
Becomes soft and yielding
Now ready to burst forth with new life.
Return to us, Eostre.
Return to us, Sacred Hare.
Melt the snow from the ground
The ice from the streams
The frost from our hearts.
– GateWest Invocations (link no longer works, don’t know if they’ve moved or not)
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Silliness – Lexophile time – The batteries were given out free of charge.