Month: January 2012

Daily OM for January 15th – Compelled to Create

Compelled to Create
Embracing Your Muse

Nearly all creative possibilities are related to the muses that inspire us. 

 

Inspiration is an intangible yet inseparable part of the creative process. Nearly all creative possibilities are related to the muses that inspire us. The ancient Greeks believed that all creation, whether artistic or scientific in nature, was motivated by goddesses who served as the literal embodiment of inspiration. These were the Muses—the givers of the creative spark. We still rely on muses to drive the creative process, though ours may take a diverse range of forms. People we meet, intriguing ideas, movies, books, nature, and cultural ideals all have the potential to awaken our imaginative minds. When we are touched by our muses, we understand viscerally that we are capable of producing our own unique kind of greatness.

Many people move through life unaware of the presence of their muse. This lack of awareness can be compounded by the fact that we may have one muse that remains with us throughout our lives, multiple muses that inspire us concurrently, several muses that come and go as necessary, or a single muse that touches us briefly at specific moments. You will know that you have found your muse when you encounter a force that makes you feel courageous enough to broaden the range of your creativity. The presence of this force will erase your self-doubt and motivate you to give your thoughts and feelings form. Should your muse continue to elude you, however, there are steps you can take to increase your chances of falling under its inspired influence. If you surround yourself with people who support you, keep a pen and paper handy, immerse yourself in culture, and brainstorm frequently, you will soon reconnect with your muse.

Once you have identified your muse, embrace it by giving yourself over to the creative inspiration it provides. No matter what you are moved to create, you will find that neither fear nor criticism can penetrate the wonderful bliss that goes hand in hand with the act of taking an idea and turning it into something the whole world can enjoy.

Astronomy Picture of the Day for Jan. 15th

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos!Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2012 January 15
See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.

Infrared Portrait of the Large Magellanic Cloud
Credit: ESA / NASA / JPL-Caltech / STScI 

Explanation: Cosmic dust clouds ripple across this infrared portrait of our Milky Way’s satellite galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud. In fact, the remarkable composite image from the Herschel Space Observatory and the Spitzer Space Telescope show that dust clouds fill this neighboring dwarf galaxy, much like dust along the plane of the Milky Way itself. The dust temperatures tend to trace star forming activity. Spitzer data in blue hues indicate warm dust heated by young stars. Herschel’s instruments contributed the image data shown in red and green, revealing dust emission from cooler and intermediate regions where star formation is just beginning or has stopped. Dominated by dust emission, the Large Magellanic Cloud’s infrared appearance is different from views in optical images. But this galaxy’s well-known Tarantula Nebula still stands out, easily seen here as the brightest region to the left of center. A mere 160,000 light-years distant, the Large Cloud of Magellan is about 30,000 light-years across.

Cosmic Calendar for Sunday, Jan. 15th

Learning from esteemed mentors and teachers is one way to get moving this morning as the Moon is parallel Saturn (1:24AM PST) followed some 7+ hours later by an inspirational, 72-degree link from Mercury to Saturn (9:15AM PST). Focusing attention on key business or professional matters also makes sense. Money-making ventures could appear on the scene later on as Venus parallels Neptune (1:50PM PST), Mercury makes a supportive, 60-degree link with Vesta (2:26PM PST), and the Moon parallels Venus (6:00PM PST). The emphasis on Venus, Vesta and Neptune suggests that your highest ideals and dreams can come true with enough self-assurance. Working with the right artistic media is necessary since the Moon continues its march through creative and affable Libra. Some confusion on the partnership front may develop as the Moon parallels Neptune (6:24PM PST) followed by Mercury making a frictional, 45-degree tie to Juno (6:52PM PST). Be prepared for an intense day on Spaceship Earth tomorrow as several planetary pranksters try to mutiny and disrupt the proceedings.

Calendar of the Moon For January 15th

Calendar of the Moon
15 Beth Poseideion

Dionysia Agrous I: Phallikon

Color: Purple
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon a purple cloth set a five purple candles, a wreath of grapevines, a jar of wine, a basket of raisins, the figure of a goat, and the figure of an erect phallus, wound with ivy.
Offerings: Wine libations. Ritual sex is appropriate on this day.
Daily Meal: Vegetarian, with wine and cheese.

Phallikon Invocation

Hail the Phallus of Earth,
Living even beneath the cold ground!
May its joy and excitement spring forth
In all of us, male and female,
May we remember that even
When we are closed to the fire of the loins
It is still the fire that brings forth life,
Sustains life,
Embodies life,
And so we also need that life.
Help us to revere that force,
O Dionysius who sacrificed yours
That the vines might grow,
That fruit might spring from the trees.
Even when the fruit is withered,
It still sustains us.
Even when your manhood was taken,
It still sustains us.
Even when the fire of life is diverted,
It still sustains us.
May we never forget the leaping flame,
The leaping phallus of Earth,
The leaping joy of Life.

Chant: Io Dionysos Io Dionysos

(The basket of raisins is passed, and eaten. The jug of wine is passed, and toasts made to Dionysos. The rest is poured out one by one in libations.)

Calendar of the Sun For January 15th

Calendar of the Sun
15 Wolfmonath

Hestia’s Day

Color: Red
Element: Fire
Altar: Today’s ritual should be done in the kitchen and not the altar room. The hearth and the stove are the altar today, and a flame should be burning, and bread and milk and salt set out on the table. No other altar is required. After the ritual, all shall feast.
Offerings: Do kitchen work, or preserving of food, or cleaning.
Daily Meal: Any wholesome, extremely correct food.

Hestia Invocation

Flame of the Hearth
Keeper of the Inner Circle
Faceless One
Eldest of the Olympians
Lady of the Pantry
Whose open hands dispense hospitality
Chimney and cooking fire
Lady of routine and dailiness
To miss your quiet strength
In the rush of our sudden lives
Would be as great a disservice
As forgetting the air we breathe.
You who are the comforting hearth where we began
And the inner warmth that we will come home to,
Make this place a home for all of us.
Make this hearth a home of the every day,
The ordinary morning and noon,
The expected evening and the consoling night.
Teach us to take our time, Lady.
Teach us of the holiness of step after step
Chore after chore, moving in small circles
Around the hearth of our own beings.

Chant:
Circle round the hearthfire
Join our hands as one
Remember the Virgin Flame burns
Ageless as the Wheel turns
The place for which the heart yearns
Since this tribe has begun.

Having A Great Weekend, My Dear Friends?

Days of the Week Comments Well, at least I hope you are! Mine is so, so. Or I could say “SOS!” I hope you know what that means, lol! You know something I have never asked your opinion on the Mayan prediction for this year. Do you honestly believe the world is going to come to an end this Winter Solstice? I discussed this with my husband and being the bull-headed person, he actually believed my theory. Or at least he said he did to get me to be quiet (we were watching a special on it). You know they have made such a huge deal out of it. Can you imagine the mass hysteria that is going to occur as that date grows closer? People will actually be crazy. I believe it will be an uneventful day. I believe that the Mayans predicted their own doom. That the calendar was theirs and not meant for us. I believe that their Priest made the calendar and it was when their civilization was supposed to end. I believe the person that discovered the calendar thought he was a brain. And perhaps in his time he was and perhaps the scientists that studied the calendar were also well-known in their time. This being the case, they proclaimed that they had discovered what the calendar meant, “Our Impending Doom!”  

 

So what’s your opinion on this matter? Do you believe the world will come to an end or it is just a lot of bologna? Come on I want to hear from you on this one!  

 

Have a great weekend and don’t forget to ponder this question. You know if you were having a great weekend, boy I am a kill-joy! Sorry about that but that was something I had been wanting to get a few opinions on the subject.  

 

Now on with the Magick…….  

 

Correspondences for Sunday

 Magickal Intentions: Growth, Advancements, Enlightment, Rational Thought, Exorcism, Healing, Prosperity, Hope, Exorcism, Money 
Incense: Lemon, Frankincense
Planet: Sun
Sign: Leo
Angel: Michael
Colors: Gold, Yellow, Orange and White 
Herbs/Plants: Marigold, Heliotrope, Sunflower, Buttercup, Cedar, Beech, Oak 
Stones: Carnelian, Citrine, Tiger’s Eye, Amber, Clear Quartz and Red Agate Oil: (Sun) Cedar, Frankincense, Neroli, Rosemary
The first day of the week is ruled by the Sun. It is an excellent time to work efforts involving business partnerships, work promotions, business ventures, and professional success. Spells where friendships, mental or physical health, or bringing joy back into life are an issue work well on this day, too.  

 

Spellcrafting for Sunday

  

BUSINESS DRAWING WASH

If your business has walk-in customers, wash down the front entrance floor and the door handle.

For mail order businesses, wash down the mailbox, and so on. Once a week, use this wash to scrub down the walls and floors of your business, making a fresh batch each time.

Mix 1 oz of powdered squill root, 1 oz of powdered yellow dock,
1/4 oz of five-finger grass, 1 tsp. of cinnamon and 1 tbsp. of blessed salt.

Mix well and add two teaspoons of this mixture to 1 pint of fresh water.
This wash is also good for attracting tenants to an empty apartment or house.

 

SPELL TO START YOUR OWN BUSINESS

Get a string of 3 silver bells and say:
“Bells song, bring good luck
and prosperity the whole day long”
Hang the bells on the door and let each customer ring in the good fortune.

 
~Magickal Graphics~

Daily Cosmic Calendar for January 14th

There’s no need to be a speed demon in the early hours since the Moon in earthy Virgo is void until 5:29AM PST. Cleaning, organizing and putting your home and business matters in order are still appropriate. Once the Moon enters airy Libra at 5:29AM PST, improving the quality of your primary partnerships becomes a major theme for the next two days. Healing forces reassert their potency as the Moon parallels Chiron (9:42AM PST). Antique hunters and collectible aficionados may find buying and selling to their liking – courtesy of a supportive, 60-degree alliance between Venus in Pisces and Jupiter in Taurus that builds up to precision until 6:49PM PST. Explore the fine and graphic arts to your heart’s content. Romance may still be a little tricky and unsettled since Venus makes a subtle and yet still important, 30-degree contact with radical-change agent Uranus (9:16PM PST). Watch out for a rising tide of worry and stress later on as the Moon squares Mercury (11:16PM PST) followed by a Moon-Saturn parallel that forms exactly at 1:24AM PST on Sunday. Drop overnight decision-making like a hot potato.