Inspirations continue to fly fast and furiously following last night’s lunar move into the universal air sign of Aquarius. The Moon forms trines to expansive Jupiter (2:13AM PDT) and beauty-enhancing Venus (8:09AM PDT). Because Jupiter and Venus are the traditional benefic planets, there is a tendency right now to live for the joy of the moment and throw caution to the wind – in business matters and on the literary, publishing and educational horizons. However, the Moon in also opposing Mercury (9:01AM PDT) and Mercury itself – following its off-kilter, 150-degree tie with Pluto two days ago – now makes another 150-degree contact, this time with Chiron (8:20PM PDT). Healing forces are back on the march, but you need to study up on holistic techniques and alternative medical breakthroughs to know what you are doing. In the meantime, your productivity quotient can soar – thanks to a Mercury-Ceres parallel (10:30PM PDT). Keep a special notebook by your bed overnight to record nocturnal soul-wanderings and visions of the Great Beyond as the Moon parallels Neptune (10:41PM PDT).
Calendar of the Moon for July 5th
Oak Tree Month
Color: Black
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon a black cloth place the vase of oak branches, a hammer, a metal lightning bolt, a sun symbol with the rune Sigil upon it, and a Green Man with an oak-leaf face.
Offerings: Give thanks for personal victories.
Daily Meal: Serve salad with each meal, arranged in the circular pattern of the Green Man.
Duir Invocation
Call: Now is the time of the Sun’s height.
Response: Now is the time when the leaves reach to the heavens.
Call: Now is the time when the Oak King spread his arms.
Response: Now is the time when we reach with him for the Sun.
Call: Now is the time when we return to the ancient grove of the Druids.
Response: Now is the time when we witness the Sun’s sacrifice.
Call: Now is the time when we go forth in glory.
Response: Now is the time of the turning of the year.
Call: Hail to the wren, soul of the Oak King!
Response: Hail to the sky, crown of the Oak King!
Call: Hail to the Earth, bed of the Oak King!
Response: Hail to the Sun, lover of the Oak King!
Call: Hail to the guardians of the door!
Response: May they guard us well, O oaken beams!
Call: We have no need to guard ourselves….
Response: For the Gods will guard us.
Call: We have no need to hide behind bolted doors….
Response: For now is the time to be open to the Sun!
Call: Like the Green Man, we speak through the oak!
Response: Like the Green Man, our voice is the strength of the earth!
Call: Like the Oak King, we do not fear the lightning!
Response: Like the Oak King, we will accept all repercussions!
Call: We have no shame for our actions….
Response: For all that we do, we do from a place of worthiness.
Call: For all that we do, we do from a place of honor.
Response: For all that we do, we do from a place of love.
Chant:
By my body I be earth
By my spirit I be fire
Call the lightning to my heart
Bring my soul what I desire
Calendar of the Sun for July 5th
5 Haymonath
Aphelion Day
Color: Gold
Element: Fire
Altar: On cloth of black place a single gold sun, flanked by five golden candles.
Offerings: Contemplate solitude.
Daily Meal: Fasting today, until Hesperis.
Aphelion Invocation
On this day the Sun swings far from the Earth his lover,
And the two lovers part for a time,
For in any connection there must be spaces
As well as closeness.
For even as the Sun spins far away,
We can feel its brightness
As if it had never left.
And so it is with all connections that are true:
Our loved ones and our gods,
That we feel them even when they are absent,
And that shining echo of their spirits in our lives
Gives us the hope that we need
To wait for them to draw near again,
Even as the Sun will draw near to the Earth once more
And the two smile upon each other yet again.
Chant:
Look for the spaces between our bodies
Look for the openings between our minds
Listen for the places where the wind enters
It’s the way that the Gods find their way through time.
(All sit on the floor in silence for a time, being careful to leave as much space as possible between each other, and meditate on solitude and being apart from others. For the rest of the day, work should be done alone in silence, with as little speaking as possible.)
Today’s Magickal Spell for July 5th: Realization Spell
Realization Spell
Write the person’s name and what they have done to you on a small piece of paper. Light this paper from an alter candle and drop it to burn away in the cauldron. Stand before the altar, the ashes in your right hand, and say:
Wolf and horse, old signs of might.
Lend your strength to me this night.
The pain and grief they so easily give,
Must be returned so they may live,
To know and feel what they have done,
And change their ways, with harm to none.
Send back the pain, teach them this night,
And help them to do what they know is right.
Throw the ashes to the winds, knowing that they will realize what they have done to you.
Daily Correspondence for Thursday, July 5th
Daily Correspondence for Thursday, July 5th
Magickal Intentions: Luck, Happiness, Health, Legal Matters, Male Fertility, Treasure and Wealth, Honor, Riches, Clothing Desires, Leadership, Public Activity, Power and Success Incense: Cinnamon, Must, Nutmeg and Sage
Planet: Jupiter
Sign: Sagittarius and Pisces
Angel: Sachiel
Colors: Purple, Royal Blue and Indigo
Herbs/Plants: Cinnamon, Beech, Buttercup, Coltsfoot, Oak
Stones: Sugilite, Amethyst, Turquoise, Lapis Lazuli and Sapphire
Oil: (Jupiter) Clove, Lemon Balm, Oakmoss, Star Anise
Jupiter presides over Thursday. The vibrations of this day attune well to all matters involving material gain. Use them for working rituals that entail general success, accomplishment, honors and awards, or legal issues. These energies are also helpful in matters of luck, gambling, and prosperity.
The Wicca Book of Days for July 5 – Day of the Jackal
The Wicca Book of Days for July 5
Day of the Jackal
In ancient Egypt, July 5 was dedicated to Anpu (known as Anubis), in
association with the divine children of the sky and earth deities Nut and Geb: Osiris, Isis, Nepthys, and Set. One tale tells that Nepthys, although partnered with Set, once seduced Osiris, and that their union resulted in Anpu, the jackal-headed God of embalming who weighed the souls of the dead in Osiris’ Hall of Judgment. Set, being regarded as pure evil, was feared rather than venerated among humans, but finding favor with Osiris, Isis and Nepthys was considered a crucial prerequisite for resurrection.
Household Affairs
Not only is this Cancerian day’s principle feminine, while the moon, its ruler places the emphasis on the home, but Nepthys’s name means, “Lady of the House.” Take this as a signal to set your house in order, be it literally by tidying and cleaning or metaphorically.
Good Thursday Morning to All My New Friends!
Good Morning and Brightest Blessings to you! Lady A always talks to you about everything. She is more familiar with you and the workings of a blog. I hope with time this will change and I will feel as comfortable as she does. Until that time, I have decided to share with you some of my favorite poetry. Today’s selection is from one of my favorite writers, Edgar Allen Poe, The Raven.
The Raven
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore, While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
”Tis some visitor,’ I muttered, ‘tapping at my chamber door-
Only this, and nothing more.’
Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December, And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow;- vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow- sorrow for the lost Lenore-
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore-
Nameless here for evermore.
And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain Thrilled me- filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before; So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating,
”Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door-
Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door;-
This it is, and nothing more.’
Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,
‘Sir,’ said I, ‘or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;
But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,
And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door, That I scarce was sure I heard you’- here I opened wide the door;-
Darkness there, and nothing more.
Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering,
fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before;
But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token,
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, ‘Lenore!’
This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, ‘Lenore!’-
Merely this, and nothing more.
Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,
Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.
‘Surely,’ said I, ‘surely that is something at my window lattice:
Let me see, then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore-
Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore;-
‘Tis the wind and nothing more.’
Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and
flutter,
In there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore;
Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed
he;
But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door-
Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door-
Perched, and sat, and nothing more.
Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore.
‘Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,’ I said, ‘art sure no
craven,
Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the Nightly shore-
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night’s Plutonian shore!’
Quoth the Raven, ‘Nevermore.’
Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,
Though its answer little meaning- little relevancy bore;
For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being
Ever yet was blest with seeing bird above his chamber door-
Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door,
With such name as ‘Nevermore.’
But the raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only
That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.
Nothing further then he uttered- not a feather then he fluttered-
Till I scarcely more than muttered, ‘other friends have flown
before-
On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before.’
Then the bird said, ‘Nevermore.’
Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,
‘Doubtless,’ said I, ‘what it utters is its only stock and store,
Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful Disaster
Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore-
Till the dirges of his Hope that melancholy burden bore
Of ‘Never- nevermore’.’
But the Raven still beguiling all my fancy into smiling,
Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird, and bust and
door;
Then upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking
Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore-
What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt and ominous bird of yore
Meant in croaking ‘Nevermore.’
This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing
To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom’s core;
This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining
On the cushion’s velvet lining that the lamplight gloated o’er,
But whose velvet violet lining with the lamplight gloating o’er,
She shall press, ah, nevermore!
Then methought the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer
Swung by Seraphim whose footfalls tinkled on the tufted floor.
‘Wretch,’ I cried, ‘thy God hath lent thee- by these angels he
hath sent thee
Respite- respite and nepenthe, from thy memories of Lenore!
Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!’
Quoth the Raven, ‘Nevermore.’
‘Prophet!’ said I, ‘thing of evil!- prophet still, if bird or
devil!-
Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,
Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted-
On this home by horror haunted- tell me truly, I implore-
Is there- is there balm in Gilead?- tell me- tell me, I implore!’
Quoth the Raven, ‘Nevermore.’
‘Prophet!’ said I, ‘thing of evil- prophet still, if bird or
devil!
By that Heaven that bends above us- by that God we both adore-
Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,
It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore-
Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore.’
Quoth the Raven, ‘Nevermore.’
‘Be that word our sign in parting, bird or fiend,’ I shrieked,
upstarting-
‘Get thee back into the tempest and the Night’s Plutonian shore!
Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!
Leave my loneliness unbroken!- quit the bust above my door!
Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my
door!’
Quoth the Raven, ‘Nevermore.’
And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming,
And the lamplight o’er him streaming throws his shadow on the
floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted- nevermore!
Edgar Allan Poe
Lighten Up – Coven Getting Older?
You Know Your Coven’s Getting Older When…
The ritual feast is pureed.
Last Beltaine the coven decided it would be nice to go out to dinner to celebrate.
The last time you tried to do a spiral dance your oxygen feeds got tangled.
Viagra is kept in the coven supplies.
The maiden of the coven is a grandmother.
The ritual room is outfitted with defibrillators.
The coveners drive their RV’s to Scottsdale for Mabon.
When you are at a festival you go to bed at sunset.
It takes the whole coven to move the cauldron.
The high priest still has a vendetta going against Richard Nixon.
You find yourself using your pendulum over the stock pages in the newspaper.
You tell an initiate that in your day you had to slog through five feet of snow uphill both ways when you did a Yule ritual.
You drop your teeth in the ritual cup.
At Samhain you see more of your coveners in the Wild Hunt than you do in circle.
You put your athame in the chalice during ritual but you can’t remember why.
You hold an all night blow-out drum frenzy and none of your neighbors noticed.
You use Glenn Miller records for trance music.
All of your ritual robes are tie-dyed
Your coven has a 401(k) retirement plan.
A nitro pill vial replaces the crystal on your pendant.
No one’s successfully jumped the Beltaine fire since 1983.
When the coven sings, “Creak and groan, creak and groan . . .”
When you set comfy chairs around the circle.
When you sit on the floor and can’t get up again.
You do anointings with Aspercreme.
The oak tree your coven planted died of old age.
You use Bran Muffins and Prune Juice for Cakes & Ale because you need the extra fiber.
You don’t use salt to consecrate you altar because you need to stay away from extra sodium.
You use a walker during the Wild Hunt
You prefer to rent a Hall for rituals because the bathrooms are closer.
You need a flashlight to find the candles.
Daily Feng Shui Tip for July 4 – ‘Happy Fourth of July!’
Happy Fourth of July! On a day devoted to celebrating independence with all sorts of fanfare, including the traditional fireworks, let’s talk about the other ways Feng Shui says you can blast your way to better recognition and career related rewards. But first some Feng Shui firework history. Asian cultures use fireworks to welcome in the New Year and bid farewell to any negativity attached to the old one. They also use fireworks to celebrate weddings, grand openings and to clear the space before enacting sacred rituals. The fireworks are mostly employed to blow away harmful energies and negative spirits. According to this ancient philosophy, they can also be used to symbolically protect a home or to create an ‘explosion’ in the Fame area of your home. For this intention we use the ‘Five Buddha Firecrackers,’ a specific grouping of five faux red and gold foil firecrackers positioned in the Fame area of your home or office in order to promote your career, bring monetary rewards and blast you up the ladder of success. Have a safe and wonderful holiday and may we all enjoy freedom forever!
By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com
The Witchcraft Chronicles 
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