Hi, folks!
The shop opens at 1pm. Winter hours are 1-6pm Thurs.-Mon. Featured photo by Ken Gagne.
[posting at 6pm] Rain gauge at noon on 3/20 – 0.2inches. Still cloudy. The sun tried to come through, but didn’t quite make it. 49F, wind at 0-6mph and gusting into the teens, AQI 6-43, UV3. Chance of rain 93% today and 56% tonight. SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY until 9pm mon.
Rain should start late this evening. It’ll be heaviest from sunrise to lunchtime then taper back off to showers. Total today (50/48) about 1/3 of an inch. The rest of the week will go back and forth from partly cloudy to showers… Tue (63/46), Thur (52/42) and Mon (51/42) will be dry and Wed.(52/40) Fri.(54/44) Sat.(53/43), Sun.(50/42), Tues (53/43) are likely to be dampish. Not much at a time, nor is it a large chance, but possibles…. 2 firespots.
Chicken with green stuffing.
Saturday evening was “a whole lot of foodin’ going on”! We had gotten out of the shop around 8:30, ate and crashed, but I was up by midnight and cooking. I did the chicken with green stuffing, set up the pears, carrots and fennel bulb, set up a whole batch of greens for a soup, later in the week and pulled out the various things that were going to be needed for today. It takes a lot less time to write than it did to do!
Tripot with carrots, pear muse and fennel bulb cooked in mead.
Tempus headed out at about 1:30, with some dishes that needed to be done and a couple of bottles of stuff that had gone funky. I worked steadily until 4 and then took a book to bed. I was up and down…. I finally did my Ostara ritual at dawn, and then I slept, but Tempus didn’t get in until 11am. I was back up a bit after noon, got things together and finally woke him at 12:30 and we packed the stuff up and headed into town.
Rolls, tvarog (spreadable cheese) Pickled egg, bean pickle, pickled brussels sprout, olives, chive butter
The was a lumpy, grey cloud kind of morning. There was a flock of mallards in the Eckman outflow that made me chuckle with their tails all in the air. For once there was someone ahead of us who made *us* slow down. It was a small pickup and they tooled along at 30mph, dropping to 20 as we got into town. It made the bad pavement much more tolerable.
My snack plate
It was fairly quiet today. We had a few people through during the day. All spring breakers, I think.
I started in cooking almost right away, although I had stuff prepped, so we just had to get it into the tri-pot. I stirred, frequently, but otherwise talked with House folks online and sewed a little, then printed the Neuschwanstein castle model… 1/2 of it, anyway. I ran out of card-stock! I also processed the pictures that I’d been getting. About 1/2-way through the afternoon I got the cheese out of the cloth and into jars and then started on this. …and then realized I needed to put the nibbles together… So I did that and came back, having snacked. …and then Tempus made me another plate, so I snacked some more!
A pair of garden statues that Sash bought us for Christmas.
We were going to eat the main course here, but then thought it over and decided to take it all home, so we can crash after supper. I still have to heat the chicken and make the “grewel of aulemandes”, but that’s minimal and easy enough to do on the stove.
Today is back to normal. We’re set to open at 1pm. Books and plants and cleanup is the plan today!
Photo by Ken Gagne of Yachats Bay from 3/30/16
Today’s Plant is Cascade penstemon, or coast penstemon, Penstemon serrulatus. A member of the plantain family, this was used by the 1st nations peoples as a medicinal remedy for toothache. It’s common name, “Beardtongue” is because the flower appears to be sticking out it’s hairy tongue! It has a lovely flower, and is a semi-deciduous shrub, which usually is very short, unlike many shrubs. The tender shoots that the flowers grow on often get frost-nipped so only survive for a year or so, with the rest of the plant surviving below the level of surrounding plants, acting as a perennial ground-cover. –Feminine, Venus, Earth – Use for headaches, particularly headaches coming from tooth pain or infection by binding the herb with red wool and/or putting it into a red cloth pouch and bind to the head, or even put into your pillowcase at bedtime. You can put a leaf in your shoes to help with the effects of standing on them too long. Roots protect from snakebite and a bunch of the flowers will chase negativity away, particularly that coming from outside. Iow, it won’t do much for a bad mood…. More on Penstemon here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penstemon
Maslenitsa is a Slavic Feast. It literally means “Butter Woman”. Nowadays it is observed as part of the pre-Lent festivities, but it may originally have been just an end of winter feast like Caillach or some of the other more Western festivals, which is how it is celebrated with Rodnoveri. It’s a week of dairy products and pancakes! One of the odder ones to Western taste is a “red & black cake” which is several large pancakes stacked in layers with red and black caviar in individual layers, a cottage-type cheese in other layers, slathered with butter, and sliced like a layer cake. This is a totally different kind of pancake from our sweet ones! More here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslenitsa and here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kostroma_%28deity%29
Maslenitsa – Suhii (March) 21 – Maslenitsa is a very ancient festival, the holiday of the Spring Equinox and the end of the winter frosts. People enjoy themselves, engaging in much feasting, dancing, wearing of masks, playing on traditional musical instruments, and contests of strength, all to enact spring unbridled, in action and fighting. Traditional pastries are also baked, called blini (a type of potato pancake), to symbolize the sun. A number of easter customs, like giving decorated eggs as gifts, and the “whipping” of teenage girls (while they throw water on the boys!) probably derive from my older celebrations.
Slytherin Pride – A lot of readers assume that Slytherins are all evil. Granted a lot of nasty characters come from that house. They value ambition, cunning, leadership, and resourcefulness, and the Sorting Hat says that they’ll do anything to get their way… which is why so many can turn to evil. They don’t have to, though, and some of the ones (Draco Malfoy?) get turned back from that path, eventually.
Winter hours are 1-6pm Thurs.-Mon. Need something off hours? Give us a call at 541-563-7154 or Facebook message or email at anjasnihova@yahoo.com If we’re supposed to be closed, but it looks like we’re there, try the door. If it’s open, the shop’s open! In case of bad weather, check here at the blog for updates, on our Facebook as Ancient Light, or call the shop.
Love & Light,
Anja
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Today’s Astro & Calendar
Moon in Scorpio
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 3/31 at 11:24pm. Waning Gibbous Moon – Best time for draining the energy behind illness, habits or addictions. Magicks of this sort, started now, should be ended before the phase change to the New Moon. – Associated God/dess: Hera/Hero, Cybele, Zeus the Conqueror, Mars/Martius, Anansi, Prometheus. Phase ends at the Quarter on 3/24 at 10:37pm.
Mizar & Alcor – The double star Mizar and Alcor sits at the bend of the Big Dipper, the second-to-last star from the end. Can you separate them with the naked eye? – Alison Klesman (via TheSkyX)
Ursa Major is high in the north after dark this evening. Let’s look to the Great Bear, whose rear end forms what is perhaps one of the best-known asterisms: the Big Dipper. The Dipper’s handle depicts the bear’s unnaturally stretched-out tail. Second from the end is a famous double star formed by 2nd-magnitude Mizar and 4th-magnitude Alcor. The two are separated by just under 12′ — enough for the eagle-eyed to spot without any optical aid at all, particularly when they are high and seeing conditions are good. Try this natural eye test for yourself! Magnify the view, and you will see a there’s more going on than meets the eye. Mizar itself is a close binary separated by 14″ — easy to split with a telescope. What you can’t see is that each of these stars is also a double, so you’re looking at four stars, not two. Astronomers have also discovered that Alcor is a binary, making this a potentially sextuple-star system. Although researchers have not solidly confirmed that Mizar and Alcor are themselves bound together, many suspect this is the case.
Top image: Closeup Image of Orion’s Belt (Public Domain) and Vucedol Pot (oocities.org)
This is the time of year when Orion declines in the southwest after dark, with his Belt roughly horizontal. But when does Orion’s Belt appear exactly horizontal? That depends on where you’re located east-west in your time zone, and on your latitude. How well can you time this event? If you’re near your time zone’s standard longitude, expect it around 9:15 this evening (daylight-saving time). . . more or less.
Saturn on November 20th, 2019, also imaged by Damian Peach with the Chilescope. South is up. This, he notes, is “a late-apparition image [i.e. the planet is not very high in darkness, even from Chile]. Probably my last one of this apparition. Little activity, but the polar hexagon is well seen along with the central polar spot.”
Saturn, magnitude +0.8, glows in early dawn lower left of Venus as shown above. Bring binoculars; Saturn is faint, perhaps appearing almost the equal of Mars considering the greater atmospheric extinction at Saturn’s lower altitude. Its separation from Venus closes from 9° on the morning of March 19th to just 3° on the 26th. Saturn will pass 2° under Venus at their conjunction on the mornings of the 28th and 29th, with Mars still nearby. Saturn is still way too low for decent telescopic viewing, but better times are coming. Saturn will reach opposition in August, and it will remain in fine evening view through September despite its southerly declination in Capricornus this year. And plan to examine its globe as carefully as you can. Saturn is entering the season in its 30-year “year” when massive white spots — gigantic, continent-size thunderhead clouds — tend to burst upward into view from the deeper, hidden atmospheric layers below. Read all about it in Bob King’s Will Saturn Sprout Spots This Observing Season?
Uranus (magnitude 5.8, in Aries) is low in the west right after dark.
Runic half-month of Berkana/ Beorc, 3/14-29 Half-month ruled by the goddess of the birch tree; a time of purification for rebirth and new beginnings.
Sun in Aries
Goddess Month of Columbina runs from 3/20 – 4/17
Celtic Tree Month of Fearn Alder Mar 18 – Apr 14
Color – Grey
Planting 3/20-22
©2022 M. Bartlett, Some parts separately copyright
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Celtic Tree Month of Fearn/Alder, Mar 18 – Apr 14. Fern (FAIR-n) Alder – The common alder (Alnus glutinosa (L.) Gaertner) is common along lowland rivers, where it grows with aspens, poplars, and willows. Like willows, alders sprout from stumps. This allows them to regenerate after heavy flooding. In protect sites they may grow to 20 m (65 feet) tall. Their leaves are more blunt-tipped than most North American alders, which look more like the grey alder (A. incana (L.) Moench). This species is more common in the mountains of Europe, and is not restricted to moist soils. Like ashes, European alders are not widely cultivated in North American (they are often sold as black alders), but several native species are. Alder wood is said to resist rotting when it is wet, and was the wood of choice for pilings in many regions. Alders are members of the Birch family (Betulaceae).
Fearn – Alder Ogam letter correspondences
Month: January
Color: Crimson
Class: Cheiftain
Letter: F, V
Meaning: Help in making choices; spiritual guidance and protection.
Ogam letter correspondences to study this month – Ailim – Silver Fir
Month: None
Color: Light Blue
Class: Shrub
Letter: A
Meaning: Learning from past mistakes; Take care in choices.
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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
M 21 High 3:02 AM 8.3 7:17 AM Set 9:05 AM 92
~ 21 Low 9:40 AM 0.0 7:30 PM Rise 11:57 PM
~ 21 High 3:48 PM 6.9
~ 21 Low 9:32 PM 1.8
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Affirmation/Thought for the Day – Help Wanted: Telepath. You know where to apply.
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Journal Prompt – Which? – Which talent would you most like to have?
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Quotes
~ Better a dry crust with peace and quiet than a house full of feasting, with strife. – Proverbs 17:1, New International Version
~ Character building begins in infancy and ends in death. – Eleanor Roosevelt
~ Character, in the long run, is the decisive factor in the life of an individual and of nations alike. – Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) US President (26)
~ Either he’s dead or my watch has stopped. – Julius “Groucho” Marx (1890-1977) US comic, actor
when I was anchored
to the world
I made an enemy out
every mirror I walked
in front of
I was at war with my reflection
each time I stared at myself
in a piece of looking glass
I was pulled into a dark fog
of self-loafing, disgust and
senseless shame
I would cringe at every
flaw in my form
I would lament my
uneven pieces
I would openly wonder
if the mirror would
have to endure 7-years
of bad luck now that it
broke my heart
these days
my eyes are a bit kinder
and I now see the divine
brushstrokes and miracles
that exist in all of my
scratches, scarred, untidy and
lumpy parts of me
I have become a witness to my
own unsymmetrical wonder
’m reveling in my perfectly
sculpted imperfections
now, I no longer call
every mirror I look at
my enemy
I call mirrors “an opportunity
for self-love”
I call mirrors “a reminder
that creation is a marvel”
~ and just yesterday
I finally smiled
while looking
at my reflection
and guess what happened?
the mirror finally
smiled back at me
~it’s the beginning of
a wonderful relationship
~ it’s all such an adventure!”
Written by John Roedel
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Magick – Forgetful Witch
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Silliness – Organized Crime
No matter how much the government fights it, organized crime just seems to get more organized every day. The police pulled in a Mob kingpin recently and reminded him he had the right to make a phone call.
“Just fax the arrest report to my lawyer,” the mobster said calmly.
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