Month: June 2012

A Smattering of Solistice Spells

by Melanie Fire Salamander

As a pagan, you may well light a  bonfire Midsummer night and jump it,  for Litha is a fire festival. Likewise, you  may stay up to greet the Midsummer  dawn.

If you do, keep a pair of garden  shears handy. Midsummer’s Eve at midnight, Midsummer’s Day at dawn and Midsummer noon are prime times to collect plants sacred to the sun or special  to the fey. In fact, any magickal herb  plucked at Midsummer is said to prove  doubly effective and keep better. Divining rods cut on Midsummer’s Eve are  said to be more infallible, too. You can  charge your charms, depending on their  purpose, at midnight, noon or in dawn’s  first light.

Charms traditional at Litha include those for courage, dream divination, fertility, invisibility, love, luck, protection, wealth, the restoration of sight and the ability to see the fey. Midsummer is a fey time, both by tradition and observation. The scent of the air is thick, green and juicy; it’s lost its spring astringency and is simply lush. The whole world is stretching its limbs and frolicking. The fey are big on that.

Especially for charms of love, gardening and magickal abilities, the fey are  a great help in herb collecting. In exchange, they like gifts of milk and honey,  cookies, sweet liqueurs, or any sweet  food, drink or liquor. They also like  baubles, particularly pretty or shiny. Or  cold hard cash — but in coin, not paper,  and it’s best if shiny.

To stay in good with the fey and the  herbs you collect from, leave enough of  the plant or other plants of the type that  the herb survives in the spot collected  from. Remember too to always ask the  plant before taking a cutting, and to wait  for an answer. A quid pro quo usually  works: a shiny dime, some fertilizer, or  a bit of your hair or clothing — whatever  you think the plant most wants.

Courage: Tuscans use erba della  paura (stachys)collected on  Midsummer’s Day as a wash against fear.  Steep the herb in hot but not boiling  water, then rinse the limbs with long  strokes moving outward from the torso.  You might substitute wood betony, a  relative more common in North America.

Dream divination: Litha is a good time for foretelling things in dreams. Specifically, to induce dreams of love and ensure them coming true, lay a bunch of flowers under your pillow on Midsummer Eve. That’s what the girls of old Scandinavia did.

For effective dream divination, remember to keep a notebook beside  your bed. At bedtime, relax, ground and  center, then clearly define your question.  Meditate on that question until it’s firm  in your mind, and assure yourself you  will remember your dream on waking.  Then go to sleep.

As soon as you wake, record your dream. One trick is to set an alarm clock so you’re wakened artificially, which can help dream recollection. Dreams dreamed on Midsummer’s Eve are said to be more likely to come true.

Fertility for your garden: For a lush garden, mix ashes from the Midsummer bonfire with any seeds yet to  plant. (You still have time to plant cosmos and a handful of fall-blooming flowers.) Likewise, for fertility sprinkle bonfire ashes on any flowers or vegetables  you have growing.

Fey charms: To see the fey, pick  flowers from a patch of wild thyme where  the little folk live and place the flowers  on your eyes. A four-leafed clover not  only grants you a wish but also, carried  in your pocket or a charm, gives you the  power to see fairies dancing in rings. A  good place to look is by oaks, said in  Germany to be a favorite place for fey  dances. To penetrate fey glamour, make  and wear an ointment including fourleaved clovers.

St. John’s wort, also known as ragwort, has a strong connection to the fey  and transportation. You might add it to  charms to travel quickly. The Irish call  the plant the fairy’s horse, and the fey  are said to ride it through the air. But  beware: The Manx say if you step on a  ragwort plant on Midsummer’s Eve after sunset, a fairy horse springs out of  the earth and carries you off till sunrise,  leaving you wherever you happen to be  when the sun comes up.

Invisibility: Collect fern seed on  Midsummer Eve for use in charms of  invisibility. To become invisible, wear or  swallow the seed (that is, the spores)  you have collected. Such spores also  put you under the protection of spirits.

The fern is said to bloom at midnight on Midsummer Eve, either a sapphire blue or golden yellow depending  on your source.

Love: Plant two orpine starts (Sedum telephium) together on Midsummer  Eve, one to represent yourself, one to  represent your lover. If one withers, the  person represented will die. But if both  flourish and grow leaning together, you  and your lover will marry.

Luck and human fertility: As at  Beltaine, leap the Midsummer bonfire for  fertility and luck.

Protection: Herbs traditional to  Litha (also know as St. John’s Day) in  England include St. John’s wort, hawkweed, orpine, vervain, mullein, wormwood and mistletoe. Plucked either at  Midsummer’s Eve on midnight or noon  Midsummer Day and hung in the house,  they protect it from fire and lightning.  Worn in a charm on your body, they protect you from disease, disaster and the  workings of your enemies.

Sight: Dew gathered Midsummer  Eve is said to restore sight.

Wealth: The fern also has a connection with wealth. Sprinkle fern seed  in your savings to keep them from decreasing. The alleged golden-yellow fern  flower, plucked on Midsummer Eve at  midnight, can be used as a dowsing tool  to lead to golden treasure. Alternatively  (the Russian version), you throw the  flower in the air, and it lands on buried  treasure. Or, if you’re Bohemian, you pluck  the flower and on the same Midsummer  Night climb a mountain with blossom in  hand. On the mountain, you’ll find gold  or have it revealed in a vision.

If you wait patiently till midnight on  Midsummer Eve and see no such golden  fern flower, perhaps invisibility will have  to do.

Solstice Day, Chasing the Clouds Away!

by Andy

Litha is the time of the sun. While  the sun was ascending at Beltaine, it  is in its full glory now. In the northern  latitudes, which we share with the  Northern European peasants who created many of our traditions, it doesn’t  even get dark until 10 o’clock. All  around the world, sun gods and goddesses from different mythologies  have Their special rites on this, the  longest day. They come in Their various guises, fighting the dark and bringing fertile, healing light. Today is the  day of Their greatest victories.

In ancient Greece, Helios was the  God of the Sun. Every day, He rode  across the sky in a chariot pulled by  four wild, flaming steeds. Every day  the horses fought Helios, but every day  He was their master. Helios had a son  named Phaëthon. He was a mortal and  with pride did he watch his father ride  across the sky. Phaëthon loved his  father and wanted to know more  about him and be like him. In short, he  wanted to drive the chariot for a day.

Phaëthon begged his father to  grant him his fondest wish. Helios, loving his son, agreed. Then the son revealed that his wish was to drive the  chariot, and Helios had to grant it.  Phaëthon put on the crown of golden  rays, mounted the chariot, and off he  went. Across the heavens he rode,  lighting the sky. The horses began their  daily struggle, but Phaëthon could not  master them. The horses rode wild.  They towed the chariot at the zodiac  animals who became enraged and  drove the it from the sky. When  Phaëthon neared the earth, it dried and  cracked. Lakes boiled away. Then he  rode up high again and the earth froze.

Zeus saw all this and knew He had  to step in. To prevent Phaëthon from  destroying the earth, He hurled his  great thunderbolts, slaying Phaëthon  and destroying the chariot. Helios’ grief  was terrible, and he vowed that no one  but He would ever drive His chariot  again.

The gods are at the height of their  power and majesty at Litha and now  is the time to meet them up close, but  not too close. It is dangerous to for  mortals to meet and interact with the  divine. As Phaëthon wanted to know  the Sun God, so do we go to the God  or Goddess. Let us hope that we don’t  get burned.

‘THINK on THESE THINGS’ for June 18

By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

Courage must have its everyday face. We can’t preserve it just for special occasions. We must have courage when we are disappointed, because disappointment is a robber of reason and faith, and even dignity. We must remember that whatever we have to meet there is something within us to help us meet it. But it is like a vein of rich ore. We must tap it, know what it is, and turn it into a finished product that will serve a purpose.

Every day we must have courage to forgive. The adamant we shall always face, but to forgive is to disarm. To forgive is to release and to release is to remove the graceless things that make it necessary to forgive.

A little common, everyday courage can give a life so much more to live for and to find contentment in the knowledge that today I did not give on to the smaller self. And I can draw on the strength from One who bore personal suffering with supreme courage.

A comforting adage is that it is always darkest just before the dawn. The darkness of fear and worry and misunderstanding can last only so long, and then the light of dawn breaks through to show everything in its true perspective.

To someone who is troubled, the darkness holds only the most frightening difficulties. This kind of night seems to have no end, but given a little time it will pass, as will our problems.

The very fact that we are not alone should give some comfort, for no matter what we are experiencing someone else has been there too. We must not delude ourselves with notions that we are meant to be cross-bearers forever.

And frequently, they are much better people who emerge from their own night to remember that it is as important to have faith in the dark as it is easy to have faith in the sunshine.

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Available online! ‘Cherokee Feast of Days’
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler.

Visit her web site to purchase the wonderful books by Joyce as gifts for yourself or for loved ones……and also for those who don’t have access to the Internet:

 

http://www.hifler.com
Click Here to Buy her books at Amazon.com

Elder’s Meditation of the Day
By White Bison, Inc., an American Indian-owned nonprofit organization. Order their many products from their web site: http://www.whitebison.org

Elder’s Meditation of the Day June 18

“I am particularly found of the little groves of oak trees. I love to look at them, because they endure the wintry storm and the summer’s heat, and, not unlike ourselves, seem to flourish by them.”

–Sitting Bull, SIOUX

Every season, Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter, has gifts that it gives to all creatures. The animals will develop thicker furs just before Winter and will shed this fur in the Spring. Squirrels will store their food in the Fall; other animals build up fat so they can hibernate during the Winter. We can watch all forms of nature and see all creatures work in harmony with the seasons. The secret for us is to learn by observing nature. Watch the trees. Learn from them. We human beings need to learn the gifts and blessings of the seasons.

Grandfather, Grandmother, teach me to live in harmony with the seasons.

June 18 – Daily Feast

Talking too much is a little like painting a picture. It is frequently what we leave out that makes it the masterpiece. We don’t have to tell everything we think – not use every color on the palette. Subtlety makes someone else think, and that is more important. Our tendency is to think that no one understands unless we spell things out for them. It is hard to keep our mouths shut when we want to say something so much – usually with a da li s ga na ne hi, irony or a degree of sarcasm, according to the Cherokee. Silence can be as unkind as saying too much but in the long run it serves a better purpose in preserving friendships. There is a time to speak and a time to keep silence, but it is a person of rare sensitivity who knows when the time is.

~ Tell your children of the friendly acts of Indians to the white people who settled here. Tell them of our leaders and heroes and their deeds. ~

INDIAN COUNCIL

‘A Cherokee Feast of Days’, by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

Daily OM for June 18 – Acceptance as Giving

Allowing Ourselves to Receive

by

Madisyn Taylor

 

By allowing ourselves to receive we are given the gift of seeing through another person’s eyes.

 

Giving and receiving are part of the same cycle, and we each give and receive in our own ways. But we can lose our balance when we try to be too controlling on either side of the cycle. On the receiving end, we may feel that we don’t deserve the effort made if what we gave was easy for us to give. But perhaps there is a different lesson there for us. We may be receiving not only gratitude, but a chance to see the world through the eyes of another. We may be learning that just because we gave easily, it doesn’t diminish its value. Or perhaps the universe is giving us an example to hold close to our hearts, to encourage us on some future day when our own generous act of giving is not met with a visible act of receiving. When we can allow ourselves to receive as well as give, we do our part to keep the channels of abundance open for ourselves and others.

Sometimes we may find ourselves struggling to respond to others’ gifts in the same ways—like responding to an expensive present with something equally expensive, or feeling like we have to throw a dinner party for someone who has thrown one for us. But when these are done out of a sense of obligation, their energy changes from something that shares to something that drains. If this sounds familiar, we can decide next time to allow ourselves to receive with arms, minds and hearts open and simply say thank you.

Accepting a person’s gift is a gift in itself. Sincere appreciation for their acknowledgement and their effort joins our energy with theirs in the cycle of giving and receiving, and nurtures all involved. If ever we find we are still having difficulty, we can decide to allow ourselves to be conduits for gratitude and accept on behalf of a loving, giving universe.

 

DailyOM 

Astronomy Picture of the Day for June 18 – Milky Way Above Easter Island I

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 June 18

Milky Way Above Easter Island

   Image Credit & Copyright: Manel Soria  

Explanation: Why were the statues on Easter Island built? No one is sure.   What is sure is that over 800 large stone statues exist there.   The Easter Island statues, stand, on the average, over twice as tall as a person and have over 200 times as much mass.   Few specifics are known about the history or meaning of the unusual statues, but many believe that they were created about 500 years ago in the images of local leaders of a lost civilization.   Pictured above, some of the  stone giants were illuminated in 2009  under the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy.

6 Natural Mosquito Repellents

Recent studies have linked DEET-based mosquito repellents to brain and  neurological damage.  So how do you avoid the mosquitoes and the dangerous  effects of DEET?  While Mother Nature offers dozens of different options, here  are some of my top natural mosquito repellents:

1.     Citronella—the old standby—use only pure essential  oil of citronella—not fragrance oil.  Oils purchased in bulk for burning are not  adequate for applying topically to your skin.  For your skin it is best to get a  high quality citronella essential oil from a natural food store.

2.  Soy oil—The New England Journal of Medicine reported that natural repellents made of soybean oil are just as effective as  DEET-containing repellents.  Soy oil is inexpensive and easy to find, making it  an excellent choice.  Plus, it is an excellent body moisturizer.  As an aside,  research shows that an ingredient in soy can slow the growth of body hair when  applied topically.  Choose organic soy oil if possible.

3.    Catnip—an Iowa State University research group showed  that the essential oil found in the herb catnip is about 10 times more effective  than DEET in repelling mosquitoes in the laboratory.

Discover the mosquito repellent that the US National Research Council states  is more effective than DEET…

4.     NEEM seed oil, or “neem oil” is extracted from a  plant that grows in India.  An ingredient in Neem seed oil has also been found  to be more effective than DEET by researchers at the Malaria Institute in India.  Both the US National Research Council and the Journal of the American  Mosquito Control Association have confirmed this finding.

5.     Lavender essential oil smells great and is a commonly  used and effective mosquito repellent.

6. Garlic—eat lots of fresh garlic—mosquitoes can’t stand  the stuff.

I mix some of the essential oils into an unscented and natural moisturizer  which I rub onto my skin prior to heading outdoors.  There are likely some  pre-made products with these ingredients at your local health food store.

 

Adapted with permission from World’s Healthiest News by Michelle Schoffro Cook,  PhD. Subscribe to my free e-newsletter World’s  Healthiest News to receive monthly health news, tips, recipes and more. 

 

 

Research Links DEET Mosquito Repellents to Nerve Damage

 

DEET (diethyl-meta-toluamide), a common ingredient in mosquito repellents,  has been linked to nerve damage.

 

A new study by the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, published  in the Journal of  Neurochemistry, found that DEET-based mosquito repellents interfere  with proper nerve signals, disrupt the hormone dopamine needed for healthy brain  function, and invoke chemical mechanisms associated with neurological disorders  and nerve degeneration.

 

Earlier studies have also linked DEET to brain damage.  Duke University  researchers found that the toxin is linked to brain cell damage, harmful  interactions with some medications, and behavioral changes.  The scientists  also observed brain cell death and behavioral changes in animals exposed to DEET  after frequent and prolonged use.

 

According to the chemical industry’s own material safety data sheets, the  toxic effects of diethyl-meta-toluamide include:  reproductive  disturbances, genetic material mutations, and central nervous system  disorders.

 

The effects may be worse in children since their brains and nervous systems  are in the developmental stages.  Instead of spraying yourself or your  family members with DEET-based mosquito repellents, why not give  the natural options a try?  Some have even been proven to be more  effective at repelling mosquitoes than DEET.

 

Subscribe to my free e-newsletter World’s  Healthiest News to receive monthly health news, tips, recipes and  more.

 

A Year of Full Moons

Learn the name and meaning of the Full Moon every month

Tarotcom Staff on the topics of moon, full moon, astrology

 

In Astrology, the Full Moon signals a time each month when we are able to take a clear look at what is happening in our lives so we can decide if we need to make changes. But culturally and historically  speaking, the Full Moon has additional meaning that changes from month to month throughout the year.

Either way, the Full Moon stirs our emotions, so it’s fitting that the Full Moon for each month has a different name and personality. Many of the Full Moon names date back to ancient tribes who followed the Full Moon to help keep track of the seasons.

Other Full Moon names have been created by different cultures around the world, and most of the Full Moons have more than one name — although one is likely more widely used than the others.

Let’s take a glance at a year’s worth of Full Moons!

January: The Wolf Moon

The Full Wolf Moon in January is named for the time when wolves could be heard howling with hunger in the heart of winter. Alternate names: Snow Moon or Old Moon.

February: The Snow Moon

The Full Snow Moon in February is named for the time of the heaviest winter snowfall. This is also a time when hunting is more difficult, so it is also known as the Hunger Moon.

March: The Worm Moon

The Full Worm Moon in March is named for the time of year when the temperature begins to warm, the earth softens and earthworms begin to reappear, followed by the birds. Alternate names: The Sap Moon or the Crow Moon.

April: The Pink Moon

The Full Pink Moon in April is named for the time of year when the earliest pink phlox and wildflowers begin to bloom. Alternate names: The Grass Moon, the Egg Moon or the Fish Moon.

May: The Flower Moon

The Full Flower Moon in May is named for the abundance of flowers that begin to bloom this month. Alternate names: The Corn Planting Moon or the Milk Moon.

June: The Strawberry Moon

The Full Strawberry Moon in June is named for the time of year the Native American Algonquin tribes would rush to gather ripe strawberries. Alternate names: The Honey Moon, the Rose Moon or the Hot Moon.

July: The Full Buck Moon

The Full Buck Moon in July is named for the time of year when buck deer begin to grow new antlers. Alternate names: The Thunder Moon (for frequent thunderstorms) or the Hay Moon.

August: The Sturgeon Moon

The Full Sturgeon Moon of August is named for the time when Native American fishing tribes could most easily catch this fish in certain lakes. Alternate names: The Green Corn Moon, the Red Moon or the Grain Moon.

September: The Corn Moon or Harvest Moon

The Full Corn Moon of September is named for the time of year when Native Americans harvested corn. It’s alternately called the Harvest Moon (which is the Full Moon closest to Fall Equinox and can happen in September or October) or the Barley Moon.

October: The Hunter’s Moon or The Harvest Moon

The Full Hunter’s Moon of October is named for the time of year when Native American tribes hunted for the fattest game and stored provisions for winter. October’s Full Moon is called the Harvest Moon when it falls closest to the Fall Equinox. Alternate names: The Travel Moon or the Dying Moon.

November: The Beaver Moon

The Full Beaver Moon of November is named for the time when Native Americans would set their beaver traps before the water began to freeze over. It’s also the time of year beavers begin to prepare for winter. Alternate name: The Frosty Moon.

December: The Cold Moon or The Long Nights Moon

The Full Cold Moon or Full Long Nights Moon of December is named for the mid-winter month in which the cold really takes hold, and nights become long and dark. Alternate name: Yule Moon.