Month: July 2011

Today’s Featured Picture…….

Today’s featured picture
Macleay's Swallowtail Macleay’s Swallowtail (Graphium macleayanus) is a swallowtail butterfly native to Australia, named after Scottish entomologist Alexander Macleay. It is found in coastal areas of Eastern Australia and on Tasmania. It has a wingspan of about 55 mm (2.2 in), with females being larger than males.

Photo: JJ Harrison

Did You Know……..

Did you know…

From Wikipedia’s newest content:

A group of passing-by people, including two children stopped at a child lying face down on a street

  • … that among the Jewish ghettos in German-occupied Poland the most populous was the Warsaw Ghetto (pictured) with over 400,000 inhabitants crammed into an area of 1.3 sq mi (3.4 km2)?
  • … that The Herald said the character Manda from Alan Warner’s 2010 novel The Stars in the Bright Sky was “the most vivid, aggravating lynchpin in recent Scottish fiction”?
  • … that when the SS Ava was wrecked off the coast of Ceylon in February 1858, her passengers included Lady Julia Inglis and her sons, John and Alfred, who were evacuees from the Siege of Lucknow, and the ship’s doctor, James Little, who was later to become Honorary Physician to King George V?
  • … that Temple III at the Maya city of Tikal in Guatemala was the last pyramid ever built there?
  • … that Green Seamount, an underwater volcano, could have taken up to 260,000 years to reach its present height?
  • … that, in 1933, when attempts were made to restore the monarchy in Bavaria to stall the Nazis’ rise to power, Adolf Hitler warned the Bavarian government that this would lead to a “terrible catastrophe”?
  • … that although Jeremy Howard-Williams was a fighter pilot, he wrote the “classic account of the sail-maker’s art”?

On This Day…….

On this day…

July 5: Independence Day in Venezuela (1811), Algeria (1962) and Cape Verde (1975); Saints Cyril and Methodius Day in the Czech Republic and Slovakia

Spam canned meat

  • 1687 – The Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica by Isaac Newton was first published, describing his laws of motion and his law of universal gravitation.
  • 1937 – The Hormel Foods Corporation introduced Spam (pictured), the canned precooked meat product that would eventually enter into pop culture, folklore, and urban legend.
  • 1946 – Named after Bikini Atoll, the site of the nuclear weapons test Operation Crossroads in the Marshall Islands, the modern bikini was introduced at a fashion show in Paris.
  • 1962 – The Late Late Show, the world’s longest-running chat show by the same broadcaster, aired on Irish television for the first time.
  • 2009 – A series of violent riots broke out in Ürümqi, the capital city of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China.

July 5th in the News Today……..

In the news

Otto von Habsburg

  • Otto von Habsburg (pictured), former Crown Prince of Austria-Hungary, dies at the age of 98.
  • In the Thai general election, the Pheu Thai Party, led by Yingluck Shinawatra, wins a landslide majority against the Democrat Party, led by Abhisit Vejjajiva.
  • In tennis, Petra Kvitova wins the women’s singles and Novak Djokovic wins the men’s singles at the Wimbledon Championships.
  • Treasure worth at least 25 billion rupees (€385 million) is found at the Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Kerala, India.
  • The wedding of Albert II, Prince of Monaco, and Charlene Wittstock takes place at the Prince’s Palace in Monaco.

Crystal Formation

The mechanism that creates crystals is movement in the Earth’s crust. As layers of crust float on the liquid rock mantle beneath collisions and pressure create fractures that allow superheated liquids and gases, filled with different elements to move rapidly toward the surface. As these liquids and gases cool. they often crystalize. The temperature, pressure, surrounding rocks and mix of elements all determine which minerals crystallize at a particular place. Crystals and rocks produced in this way are known as igneous.

If crystals and rocks are exposed to wind, frost and water, they begin to erode. Small particles are washed into the sea where they form silt deposits. After many millions of years of extreme pressure, these deposits become compressed, forming sedimentary crystals and rock. Minerals of this type ten to be softer than igneous crystals as they form at lower temperatures and pressures.

Crystals and Color

Qualities like chemical make-up structure, shape, hardness and lustre focus the energies of crystals in certain ways, but colour is the key to how a crystal heals.

We appreciate colour as an adornment, forgetting that it represents a real force – the level of energy in light. This energy stimulates the brain, altering the way we think and feel as well as our physical well-being. Our reaction to colour is instinctive and cannot be controlled. But if we learn the effects of each colour, we will begin to understand why we are drawn to some stones more than others, which will help us to choose the right crystal for every situation.

Many crystals appear in more than one colour. This is because some samples may contain a few extra atoms of an uncharacteristic element that slightly distorts the internal lattice and changes the colour we perceive.

Gem experts discover the true colour of a crystal by a streak test. This involves scraping the crystal across an unglazed ceramic tile to leave a fine dust of particles, revealing the crystal’s underlying colour. The streaks of smoky quartz, violet amethyst, yellow citrine, rose quartz and green aventurine, for example are all grey-white – exactly the same as for clear quartz.

Basic colour qualities

Black – grounding
Brown – enabling
Red –  energizing
Orange – releasing
Yellow – organizing
Green – balancing
Blue – communicating
Indigo (deep blue) – cooling
Violet – integrating
Pink – accepting
White – cleansing
Clear – clarifying

Crystals From Ancient to Journey

The forms of crystal healing that are in use today arose in the alternative culture of the 1970’s and 1980’s but like many complementary systems, they have developed out of old cultural traditions. The idea that every store has special magickal properties can be traced back through Europe literature  of the  early Middle Ages  to their sources in Greek, Roman and Arabic philosophy which in turn owe much to the Ayurvedic traditions of indian.

Modern crystal healers initially focused very much on the properties of rock crystal (clear quartz). Traditionally crystals of quartz have been highly valued  by healers around the world for their ability to connect with spirit worlds, to reveal and diagnose illness and to allow a Shaman or healer to remove the causes of disease. The use of crystals, crystal mirrors and crystal balls for divination is simply a continuation of the long tradition.

These mystical ways of using crystals are usually dismissed by modern science as mere superstition and yet science recognizes the unique – properties of minerals and crystals, making use of their characteristics in everything from wristwatches (quartz), automobile spark-plugs (kyanite), medical lasers (ruby) and space shuttle windows (sapphire).

The pragmatic and metaphysical views of the crystal world may seem to be mutually exclusive. However, both approaches are valuable. One provides useful tools and technologies, while the other enables us to see beyond the attention to one of these sides of our natures, we miss out on a wealth of experience – both are necessary to keep us whole and healthy. Crystal healing can restore fundamental balance to our existence.

Happy Fourth Of July, America!!!

 

 Prayer for the Fourth of July

Gods of liberty, goddesses of justice,
watch over those who would fight for our freedoms.
May freedom be given to all people,
around the world,
no matter what their faith.
Keep our soldiers safe from harm,
and protect them in your light,
so that they may return to their families
and their homes.
Goddesses of liberty, gods of justice,
hear our call, and light the sky,
your torch shining in the night,
that we may find our way back to you,
and bring people together, in unity.

Ten Commandments of Witches

I know there is always an argument when it comes to Witches having Laws or Commandments.  When you get right down to it Witches don’t have anyone at all to answer too. They answer to theirselves and no one else. But there are little Guidelines, Laws, Commandment and so on, that give Witches the ideas how they are supposed to conduct theirselves. White witches follow these types of Commandments almost to the tee. Everyone occasionally strays that is just part of being human.

I would like to point out something. I don’t want anyone thinking that the witch that answers to no one but herself is a bad witch. That is the furthest from the true. A witch like this has been practicing magick a long time. She knows she contains the power within herself. She also know deep down right from wrong. She is very knowledgeable, very skilled, very sure of herself  and will always try to do right. 

If you are new to Witchcraft, you will soon learn  there are lines that we walk every day. There are three of them: First one is white, the middle one is gray, and the last one is black. These lines determine what kind of witch you will be. You decide to be a White Witch (which I do), you will walk the white line. Choose the black line, you will be a black witch.  Are you can do as my friends and I do walk the gray line. Gray witches are not bad witches at all. Being a gray witch I look at this way, I am ready for any magickal havoc that may arise. I can also slip for side to side if need be. I don’t like to slip to the black side but if a friend needs help or there is a problem I will. I think most witches become gray is because they can add any intent they would like to their spells and rituals. Remember intent makes the magick. Also remember a true Witch answers to no one but their self.

Well enough of that, I have intentions of personally going over the Gray, White, and Black issues in Witchcraft. But let’s get to those Commandments (oh if you have a printer you might want to print them out for your Journal or BOS)……..

Ten Commandment of Witchcraft

  1.  Always ensure that no other person will be harmed as a result of your magickTo call yourself a witch means that you will always endeavor to do the right thing and send out only love and kindness. Think about The Wizard of Oz and strive to be like the Good Witch of the North Glinda managed it, and so can you!

  2. Keep your thoughts free of negativity — remember the rebound effect. Keep in mind that every thought you send out can just as easily bounce off the receiver and be hurled back at you at the speed of light. You created the negative fog, so it belongs to you!

  3. Never cast a spell when you are upset or unhealthy. Funny as it may seem, our thoughts projections can go haywire if we are cross, unhappy or sick. Spells may fail to work or the results may be confusing. Therefore it’s imperative that we be in the right frame of mind and physically healing before we begin any magick.

  4. Think positively. If you smile, then you are more likely to be happy. Every time a miserable thought pops into your head, shake it away and try to think about something nice. Your aura is a magnetic energy field and if it’s drab or gloomy you will attract disruptive and depressing situations.

  5. Create a peaceful, calm environment for your spell casting. Make your space as lovely as possible with candles, soft music, and lots of salt at hand to ward old negativity. Keep your home free of clutter and clean house regularly.

  6. Call upon your Angels/Guides to assist you. Your angels/guides are never far away, and they will gladly help and support you when you are trying to change  a situation.  Before casting your spell, say a silent prayer to the to the angelic forces for protection and you’ll ge sure to envelop yourself in their influence.

  7. Respect everything. There is no need to be obsessive, especially if you are feeling the financial pinch, but try as hard as you can to eat all the right foods.  Food is fuel and it affects your aura, so be as organic as you can. Eat badly and you’ll feel bad. Bear in mind that every animal, vegetable, and leaf has a spirit, so treat everything with the respect it deserves.

  8. Wish for money by be careful of greed. If you need to cast spells for material gain, then make sure that when you receive money as a result of magick, you give a little away to keep the cycle of good fortune going. A dollar in a charity box is quite enough; as long as you spread the wealth, your karma will stay positive.

  9. Never influence a person’s mind with magick.  Everyone deserves the right to free will, so never cast a spell to influence a person’s decisions. Doing so has drastic consequences. You could indirectly take that person off the path they are destined to travel and deprive them of lessons they need to learn. If you cast a spell to win back an ex, for example,  it may ge that you’ve derailed their fated union with somebody else in the future. If you’ve reeled them back  in, you have interfered with their karma, and you could get your karmic wrist slapped when you eventually pass over into spirit.

  10. Believe in yourself. No amount of magick will  work unless you have faith in yourself, so make sure that  you truly believe in your spells. Then success will be yours.