Hi, folks!
Minus Tide at 8:49 PM of -1.1 feet. The shop opens at 1pm. Winter hours are 1pm-5pm Thursday through Monday (although we’re often here, later). Featured photo by Ken Gagne.
Everything’s wet, but it’s not raining at the moment, just overcast. 46F, wind at 5-9mph and gusting, AQI 36-40, UV. Chance of rain 80% today and 15% tonight. We’re under a SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY through 8am on Friday, and a GALE WATCH for Friday. Light rain this morning is going to taper off and it should be mostly dry until the next weather system rolls in mid-morning on Friday with heavy and wind. It’s going to waterpik weather through Monday. Tuesday through Thursday should be dry, maybe even sunny and Christmas day should have light showers, if anything. No “watch the sun rise” on the 21st. You’d be lucky to not drown! At least this is rolling in after the King tides have subsided.
Yesterday Tempus got in on time, and the tire patch held. We got up late and before I got the mail done AllClassicalFM was playing the whole of Beethoven’s 9th in honor of his birthday. I spent a blissful most-of-an-hour with that. Tempus went out to pay some bills and pick up mail, so he was spared my shrieking along…. if someone went by outside, they would have called the cops, I think… 🙂
I got the mail done and started checking in some of the new stock. I got my spider beads! I hope I actually have the chain that I think I do…so I can get the earrings made for myself.
Tempus got us both bowls of onion soup and toasted buns (of his good bread) with butter for a meal. I used the Herbs de Provence in the soup this time. I think I prefer the plain soup with caraway, but the Herbs de Provence make it very tasty.
The chicken had cooled by then, so I headed in the back to get that taken care of. Meat in a box, chopped veg and added to the broth, then the broth will get strained away and the meat separated from bone and gristle, later, and the schmaltz scraped off before Tempus goes “ew” over it. <sigh> I hate to waste it. We used to have cats to feed it to, but no one around here has any. He actually, asked what the “skin” of top of the onion soup was. It was just the butter from caramelizing the onions!
So then I got to work on checking in the new stuff and started to fade. Goodness… I had only been up for a few hours, but it’s my usual time to at least nap.
I got the chicken taken care of when I got up. Tempus had pulled the canned goods around to where I could get at them. He got a long snooze before he headed out, which was a good thing. I worked on inventory until he dropped me at home.
Today we’ll be open regular hours. I have some sewing to finish and to start getting the kids’ boxes ready to go. I need to water the indoor plants and I have some veg ends to plant, so it’s good that it will be dry.
A photo by Ken Gagne of the Alsea Backbay on 12/16/17.
Today’s Plant is Skunk Cabbage, Lysichitum americanum. This is one of the signs of spring here on the coast, where every drainage ditch or marshy field has it’s glow of brilliant yellow and bright, deep green. It is a famine food with a spicy or peppery taste, but contains calcium oxalate, which can upset the insides and even cause death if you get too much. Bears eat it after hibernation to get their intestines working again. It is used to cure sores and swellings, particularly after winter, when starvation conditions make these things immensely worse. However the typical use of the local peoples of this herb was to line baskets with the huge leaves to keep things from bruising or dropping through and to wrap around foods when baked under a fire, where it imparts a distinctive taste to the crust. Cunningham’s Encyclopedia references Eastern Skunk Cabbage, which is a different plant with a red flower, but the magicks are the same, Symplocarpus foetidus –Feminine, Saturn, Water – Carry when you have legal troubles, or keep in the drawer with the filed papers. Wrap in a bay leaf on a Sunday to draw good fortune. More here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysichitum_americanum and on Eastern Skunk Cabbage here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symplocarpus_foetidus
Saturn’s Temple was founded on this day in 457CE.
“Io, Saturnalia” is a cry that would have been heard around the Roman Empire at this time. The days wrapped around the Winter Solstice were a time for feasting and fun, gambling and flipping societal roles on their heads, masters and servants changing places just to be silly. The custom of cookies, oranges, nuts, sweets and small toys hung on evergreen branches (called strenae) was part of this, too. More here: http://wildhunt.org/2012/12/io-saturnalia-2.html and here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturnalia Btw, “Io!” is pronounced like the modern “Yo!” “Gangsta” culture’s been around that long? <grin>
The shop opens at 1pm. Winter hours are 1pm-5pm Thursday through Monday (although we’re often here, later). 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 12/29 at 7:28pm. 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 at 8:17am on 12/18.
The Pleiades star cluster – The brightest object in Charles Messier’s list of deep-sky objects, the Pleiades (M45) ranks as a favorite among all observers. – Bob Franke
The little Pleiades cluster shines very high in the southeast after dinnertime, no bigger than your fingertip at arm’s length. How many Pleiads can you count with your unaided eye? Take your time and keep looking. Most people can count 6. With sharp eyesight, a good dark sky, and a steady gaze, you may be able to make out 8 or 9.
Constellation of Lyra
Bright Vega in Lyra is hard to miss in the evening sky, blazing in the northwest after sunset. Although this magnitude 0 luminary far outshines the other stars in its constellation, there are many more reasons to explore the rest of the Harp. One is Sheliak (Beta [β] Lyrae), a multiple-star system that sits 6° south-southeast of Vega. Through binoculars or a small scope, you can easily resolve a magnitude 3.6 primary and a magnitude 6.7 secondary separated by 45″. Furthermore, the brighter star, Beta A, is an eclipsing binary (think Algol in Perseus), swinging between magnitude 3.3 and 4.3 in a little less than 13 days as its companion passes in front of and behind it. At maximum, Beta is closest in brightness to nearby Gamma (γ) Lyrae, about 2° to its east. At minimum, it better matches Zeta (ζ) Lyrae, 4.5° north. Zeta is also a multiple-star system, comprising as many as seven stars. Through binoculars, you can easily separate Zeta A and B — A is the brightest at magnitude 4.3, while B is a dimmer magnitude 5.6 and sits 44″ away from its companion.
Neptune (magnitude 7.9, in Aquarius) is nearly as high in early evening, over in the south-southwest. Neptune is 2.3 arcseconds wide, harder to resolve than Uranus except in very good seeing. Finder charts for Uranus and Neptune.
Old Farmer’s Almanac NIGHT SKY MAP FOR DECEMBER 2020 – https://www.almanac.com/night-sky-map-december-2020-rotation-stars
Runic half-month of Jera/ Jara 12/13-12/27 – Jara signifies the completion of natural cycles, such as fruition, and has a more transcendent meaning of mystic marriage of Earth and Cosmos. *Ø* Wilson’s Almanac free daily ezine | Book of Days | December 13
Moon in Aquarius
Goddess Month of Astrea runs from 11/28 – 12/25
Celtic Tree Month of Ruis/Elder Nov 25 – Dec 22 – Ruis – (RWEESH)
Uranus (1/14/21) Retrograde
Color – Turquoise
©2020 M. Bartlett, Some parts separately copyright
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Ruis/Elder Nov 25 – Dec 22 – Ruis – (RWEESH), elder – Celtic tree month of Ruis (Elder) commences (Nov 25 – Dec 22) – Like other Iron Age Europeans, the Celts were a polytheistic people prior to their conversion to (Celtic) Christianity. The Celts divided the year into 13 lunar cycles (months or moons). These were linked to specific sacred trees which gave each moon its name. Today commences the Celtic tree month of Elder.
Elder or Elderberry (Sambucus) is a genus of fast-growing shrubs or small trees in the family Caprifoliaceae. They bear bunches of small white or cream coloured flowers in the Spring, that are followed by bunches of small red, bluish or black berries. The berries are a very valuable food resource for many birds. Common North American species include American Elder, Sambucus canadensis, in the east, and Blueberry Elder, Sambucus glauca, in the west; both have blue-black berries. The common European species is the Common or Black Elder, Sambucus nigra, with black berries.
The common elder (Sambucus nigra L.) is a shrub growing to 10 m (33 feet) in damp clearings, along the edge of woods, and especially near habitations. Elders are grown for their blackish berries, which are used for preserves and wine. The leaf scars have the shape of a crescent moon. Elder branches have a broad spongy pith in their centers, much like the marrow of long bones, and an elder branch stripped of its bark is very bone-like. The red elder (S. racemosa L.) is a similar plant at higher elevations; it grows to 5 m (15 feet). Red elder extends its native range to northern North America, and it is cultivated along with other native species, but common elders are seldom seen in cultivation. Elders are in the Honeysuckle family (Caprifoliaceae).
Ruis – Elder Ogam letter correspondences
Month: Makeup days of the thirteenth Moon
Color: Red
Class: Shrub
Letter: R
Meaning: End of a cycle or problem.
to study this month Straif – Blackthorn Ogam letter correspondences
Month: None
Color: Purple
Class: Chieftain
Letter: SS, Z, ST
Meaning: Resentment; Confusion; Refusing to see the truth
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Tides for Alsea Bay
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Day High Tide Height Sunrise Moon Time % Moon
~ /Low Time Feet Sunset Visible
Th 17 High 2:42 AM 7.4 7:47 AM Rise 10:46 AM 5
~ 17 Low 7:59 AM 3.3 4:38 PM Set 8:00 PM
~ 17 High 1:42 PM 8.8
~ 17 Low 8:49 PM -1.1
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Affirmation/Thought for the Day – In the name of the maiden: I will play at least once a today! – Galen Gillotte
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Journal Prompt – What would you? – What would you write in a letter you could send forward in time to yourself in 10 years?
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Quotes
~ Remember, there are two benefits of failure: First, if you do fail, you learn what doesn’t work; and second, the failure gives you an opportunity to try a new approach. – Roger Von Oech, Creativity expert
~ We must fill our lives with meaning, meaning is not automatically given to life. It is hard work to fill one’s life with meaning. – Chaim Potok
~ The Earth is degenerating today. Bribery and corruption abound. Children no longer obey their parents, every man wants to write a book, and it is evident that the end of the world is fast approaching. – Allegedly from an Assyrian tablet, c. 2800 BCE.
~ Do not fear going forward slowly; fear only to stand still. – Chinese Proverb
The holly! the holly! oh, twine it with bay—
Come give the holly a song;
For it helps to drive stern winter away,
With his garment so sombre and long. – –Eliza Cook (1818–89)
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Yule Magick – Lore – It’s the attitude that matters – Published: December 3, 2012
Here we are approaching the winter season once again, when children are nestled all snug in their beds (if parents are lucky) and visions of sugarplums dance in our heads ( if we happen to know what a sugarplum looks like).
It’s a joyous, merry, happy season. Now if we only knew what to call it without offending someone.
Some people insist on “Merry Christmas,” others prefer “Happy Holidays” or some other salutation. In a season of peace when the so-called war over Christmas invariably rears its ugly head, I thought it might be interesting to examine the various seasonal greetings we use to wish one another well.
Let’s start with the big one: Christmas. I’ve always found it fascinating that Protestants seem so fond of this word, with its decidedly Catholic suffix. A lot of Protestants talk about “putting the Christ back in Christmas,” but you’ll never hear them suggest putting the Mass back in Christmas — unless they’re bending over backward to be ecumenical. The term “Christmas” wasn’t even used for the first time until 1038, more than halfway into the Christian era.
So is that particular word really so sacred?
And speaking of sacred, what about “Happy Holidays”? That expression comes from the term “holy days,” so if you don’t believe the days are somehow holy, that probably won’t work for you. “Happy Holidays” would be a pretty poor fit for an atheist.
Then there are some other options. Some people prefer to wish others a happy winter solstice. It seems a fairly safe option. The solstice is an astronomical event that doesn’t have any inherent spiritual connotation, though it has historically been an occasion for religious festivities. So it works eitherway. But “Happy Solstice” is too generic for some. So is “Season’s Greetings.”
OK, how about Yule? This one has a couple of advantages. First off, it’s old — it precedes the term Christmas by several hundred years — and secondly, it has long been used as a synonym for Christmas itself. Yuletide. The yule log. But it originally had nothing to do with the Christian nativity at all. Back in the fourth century, it was associated with the Norse god Odin, not Jesus of Nazareth.
Other pagan figures have been associated with the season, as well. In the classical world, feasts for Saturn — the Saturnalia — and the birthday of the Persian god Mithras were celebrated around solstice time, too. But neither of these figures has too many followers these days, so you’re likely to look pretty silly if you go about saying “Merry Mithras” (though it rhymes nicely with Merry Christmas) or “A splendid Saturnalia to you!” In advertising terms, your target audience is pretty small.
I’ve always liked the word “nativity” because it’s versatile. It means birthday, so it can refer to Jesus’ birthday, Mithras’ birthday or the birthday of Sol Invictus, the invincible sun that begins its ascent from the horizon, seasonally speaking, at the winter solstice. The word “noel” serves roughly the same purpose in French.
Unfortunately, however, such options leave Hanukkah and Kwanzaa out in the cold, as these celebrations have nothing to do with anyone’s birthday. All this leaves us back at Square One. No term is universal enough to satisfy everyone, and purists are bound to be disappointed unless they get specific.
But that’s precisely the problem. Aren’t we being too literal here? What if keeping “Christ in Christmas” has nothing to do with semantics and everything to do with attitude? Peace on Earth. Goodwill toward men and women. New beginnings. Hope. Jesus symbolizes all these things to Christians, and most who hold to other faiths — or no faith — will agree that they’re worthy sentiments.
So maybe we should focus on what’s behind the words instead of the words themselves. When it comes right down to it, a scotch pine by any other name smells just as good.
Steve Provost is a Tribune copy editor. Read more here: http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2012/12/03/2315484/its-the-attitude-that-matters.html#storylink=cpy
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Silliness –
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