Category: Daily Posts

Daily Motivator for July 3rd – Unexpected

Unexpected

Something unexpected will happen today, and tomorrow, and every day. You can  worry about what it might be, and fight against it when it comes, or you can  accept it and deal with it in a positive way.

You cannot escape from life’s uncertainty, and you really wouldn’t want to.  Although that uncertainty can bring pain, it can also bring great joy and  powerful new positive possibilities.

What you can do is choose to grow stronger with each twist and turn. What you  can do is learn, adapt, create, innovate and successfully adjust to life as it  changes from day to day.

Uncertainty can sometimes be very disruptive and inconvenient and  challenging. Fortunately, you have the skills to meet those challenges, and to  move your life forward no matter what may come.

Though you can’t know for sure what will happen in the future, you can know  for sure that there’s always a way to make the best of it. There’s always a way  to remain true to your most treasured values, and to live your life according to  your highest vision.

Life is not always predictable, but that’s no reason to fret. Because in that  unpredictability, you’ll always find valuable and meaningful new positive  opportunities.

— Ralph Marston

The Daily Motivator 

Daily OM for July 3rd – Laying Our Burdens Down

.Laying Our Burdens Down
The Feet of the Divine

by Madisyn Taylor

Lay your burdens down at the feet of the divine and feel the relief from your heart.

We all know the feeling of walking through life as if we are carrying the huge burden of our worries and stresses on our backs and shoulders, struggling to keep moving forward. There is no real way to move freely and fluidly in such a situation, and we are all longing to lay our burdens down. Just imagining that it would be possible to do such a thing can be enough to elicit a sigh of relief and a feeling of lightness.

The human imagination is a powerful tool, and we can use it to take journeys to faraway places without ever leaving our home. Because of this, we too can lay our burdens down at the feet of a divine being such as the great Mother, Buddha or a mountain. Releasing ourselves from that which we can’t handle on our own. No matter how smart we are, how capable we are, or how hard we work, no one can single-handedly cope with all the worries that we tend to take on in the course of our lives. And, we aren’t designed to do so. Our wellbeing depends upon our ability to hand over that which we can no longer carry by ourselves.

Visualizing yourself carrying your burdens to the feet of someone or something much bigger than you can be a powerful daily practice. To begin, sit with your eyes closed and envision an all powerful, supremely comforting being in what ever form that takes for you, standing at the end of a road. See yourself carrying a large sack, box, or other container, imagining that all your worries are inside it. Watch as you make your way to the being of your choice, and lay your baggage down at their feet. Allow yourself to feel the lightness and relief of this action, express your gratitude, and surrender. You will be amazed by how this simple meditation can liberate you from a burden you were never meant to carry.

Astronomy Picture of the Day – In the Shadow of Saturn’s Rings

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 July 3

In the Shadow of Saturn’s Rings 

 Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute/J. Major

 Explanation: Humanity’s  robot orbiting Saturn has recorded yet another amazing view. That robot, of course, is the  spacecraft Cassini, while the new amazing view includes a  bright moon,  thin rings,  oddly broken clouds, and  warped shadows. Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, appears above as a featureless tan as it is continually shrouded in thick clouds. The rings of Saturn are seen as a thin line because they are so flat and imaged nearly edge on. Details of Saturn’s rings are therefore best visible in the  dark ring shadows seen across the giant planet’s cloud tops. Since the ring  particles orbit in the same plane as Titan, they appear to skewer the foreground moon. In the upper hemisphere of Saturn, the clouds show many details, including  dips in long bright bands  indicating disturbances in a high altitude jet stream. Recent precise measurements of how much Titan  flexes as it orbits Saturn hint that  vast oceans of water might exist deep underground.

Lighten Up – Keeping Summoned Beings as Pets is a Bad Idea

Keeping Summoned Beings as Pets is a Bad Idea

by Faerie K. with thanks to viii on chat for ideas and comments

Why keeping summoned beings as pets is a bad idea…

They may be cute and cuddly when they’re little, but they tend to grow. Fast. To something large.

You can’t flush your overgrown summoned pet down the toilet and no pound will take one. (Trust me on this one.)

Unless you spay or neuter them, they will breed, quickly.

Good luck trying to find a vet that will spay or neuter one…

The feeding costs are astronomical. New Age shops are very expensive. Oh, sorry, I meant “astrological”.

An exotic summoned pet is very difficult to feed. Museums start suspecting your interests in ancient cultures rather quickly.

Getting them used to gourmet food is a bad idea: there aren’t that many virgins around, you see!

Cats sitting on the chest of a sleeping child sucking their life-force out may be a myth. With summoned pets, it isn’t.

No insurance will cover it if your summoned pet bites your guests.

They may even eat your guests while you pop into the kitchen for tea.

When they nibble your toes on Sunday morning, it does NOT feel nice. Besides, you need those toes for proper balance.

Clipping their toenails to save your sofa from being torn into shreds is pretty damn hard.

You think a pet stealing your stuff is bad? Summoned pets steal your stuff and hide it to the astral plane!

Summoned pet dung is difficult to get rid of. They won’t accept it at the toxic waste plant anymore …

Cat’s hairballs are easy to clean away. Try dealing with astral slime puke.

They don’t stay in their cage unless you remember to seal it magickally properly. Every single time.

It also gets a bit tedious to keep that triangle of salt intact in the corner of the living room.

A summoned pet possessing your grandmother is NO fun, I can tell you!

A summoned pet possessing your  stereo system  may be painful.

Having them play with your altar tools is not cute.

Having them play with your Book of Shadows is even less cute.

Smell of sulfur wafting in the apartment tends to deter Jehovah’s Witnesses and other pests, though… But it does make breathing labored in the long run.

Landlords tend to dislike the “things that go bump in the night” routine you have going on in your flat.

Landlords will detest finding out that paying residents in your block are disappearing as if by magick.

On the other hand, the police may become a tad too interested in the very same phenomena.

It’s not fun to have your pet deciding to “hump” your neighbor’s dog in the middle of your daily walk.

It’s practically impossible to find new, caring homes for the resulting Cerberoses, too.

While it may be cute to have a pet that actually does talk back to you, it’s not nice when they start throwing curses.

It may be nice to have a pet that can retrieve your e-mail along with regular post, but it’s NOT fun having them actually posting replies…

Advanced summoned pets may summon pets of their own. That means BIG trouble.

Last but not least: If you’re not quite careful, you may one day wake up realizing that it is in fact YOU who are the pet in this deal.

New Moon Report for July 3rd – Full Moon In Capricorn

New Moon Report

By Jeff Jawer

 

Full Moon In Capricorn

Tuesday, July 3, 11:52 am PDT, 2:52 pm EDT

The Full Moon in reliable Capricorn is usually about self-restraint and discipline. However, this time the focus is on the relationship between power and freedom. Controlling Pluto’s conjunction to the Moon stirs resentment of authority figures, which is intensified by rebellious Uranus’ tense square to the Sun and Moon. A feeling that the world is about to change provokes fear but is meant to inspire action. Original thinking and masterful management of resources gives birth to a vision that can alter one’s career path and maybe even help to transform the world. Bold concepts are the fires that ignite action, but self-discipline is needed to sustain faith and focus in a radical plan.

New Moon Report for July 3rd – Mars In Libra

New Moon Report

By Jeff Jawer

 

Mars In Libra

Tuesday, July 3, 5:33 am PDT, 8:33 am EDT

Assertive Mars has been busy managing details since its entry into efficient Virgo last November. Its move into sociable Libra opens up new opportunities for personal and business alliances, making this a favorable time to launch a product or seek a job. Passive aggression is the shadow of this transit because anger can hidden behind insincere smiles. Mending fences and making compromises are fine as long as inner truth isn’t sacrificed to maintain appearances.

Calendar of the Moon for Tuesday, July 3rd

3 Tinne

Parvati’s Day

Color: Red
Element: Water
Altar: Upon a red cloth lay a great bowl of water, incense of lemongrass and vetiver, wreaths of dried flowers, and bowls of colored rice.
Offerings: Food. Coconut milk. Meditate on the nature of asceticism and love.
Daily Meal: Indian food.

Invocation to Parvati

Hail Parvati, dancer in the dawn,
Mother of Ganesha, wife of Shiva,
Living body of Shakti.
Parvati the sensuous one
Who knows the paths of self-denial,
Parvati the embodied one
Who knows how to leave the body behind.
When Parvati fell in love with Shiva
And yet he would not love her in return,
Being bound to his rites of meditation,
She danced before him in a dance
Beautiful enough to shake the world,
And yet he did not relent.
So she went to the top of another mountain,
Cast off all her fine raiment,
And meditated until her mind
Became one with the cosmos
And shone so brightly in the paths
Of the universe that great Shiva
Could not help but be awed by it,
And Shiva fell in love.
Lady who is the bridge between
The sensuality of the flesh
And the asceticism of the mind,
Help us to achieve that balance,
And never to fall fully to one side or the other.
Give us your blessing, Parvati,
Mother of Ganesha, dancer in the dawn.
Chant: Mother of Fortune, Parvati, Parvati,
Holy dancer, Shakti, Shakti
(Let there be drumming and dancing in a circle during the chant.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Calendar of the Sun for Tuesday, July 3rd

Solstitium

Colors: Green and gold
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon cloth of green and gold set flowers and herbs in pots, a bowl of rainwater, a large pitcher of manure tea, and several empty baskets.
Offerings: Water and fertilizer, to be added to the garden.
Daily Meal: Vegetarian.

Solstitium Invocation

Earth, you begin to give forth your bounty!
Like the maiden blossoming into the mother,
Like the youth growing into the father,
You yield your children up to us
For our sustenance and health,
As we are also your children.
We will not waste your gifts!
We will nurture what you bring forth
With the labor of our hands,
That those gifts shall be sustained
Year after year, and that you shall
Never be exhausted.
We will not be ungrateful, O Earth whose life is ours,
But we will give back as much as we take,
For this is the way of balance.

Chant:
Life harnessed
Call the sun to us
Sacred harvest
You are one with us

(Two who have been chosen to do the work of the ritual take up the rainwater and the manure tea, and carry them out to the garden, where they are ceremonially poured around the roots of the herbs and vegetables. All others follow with the empty baskets, and harvest some thing from the garden, whether a token or a main part of the next meal. After this, each should do some part of the work of further watering, or fertilizing, or mulching, to give back to the earth as much as is taken away.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Current Moon Phase for July 3rd – Full Moon

Full Moon

100% of Full

A veil of self-absorption is lifted and suddenly you gain access to an unbiased view of others. This is a rare moment when you can see yourself objectively and become aware of whether or not what you want in your heart is actually beginning to manifest in your life. Traditionally, the Full Moon phase stirs emotion, and this is because when you “see” what is happening, you may become upset if you’re experiencing the “same ole, same ole” — rather than the things you would like. If the Full Moon phase is a disappointment, on the next New Moon it’s time to take creative action in the direction of your dreams.

 

Your Magickal Spell for Tuesday, July 3rd – Full Moon Ritual

Full Moon Ritual

Materials:

  • A small globe of crystal or clear glass.

 

Initial Preparation:

The first time you starts this spell and every time you wish to use it for a new special purpose, you have to clear and consecrate the globe of crystal/glass by holding it up to the light of the Full Moon, so that the lunar image is caught therein.

Monthly:

After this has been performed, the globe may be used as a charm to procure the secret wish of the owner.  On the night of each New Moon, hold the sphere in the left palm, by candlelight, gaze upon it, and chant:

Crescent be full and crystal fill: Thus my eye and thus my will: Fiat Voluntus Abdita! Fiat Voluntus Abdita!! Fiat Voluntus Abdita!!!

 

The globe should then be kept in a small bag of leather inscribed with figures of the Moon’s phases, and worn about the neck during those days and nights between the crescent and the full.  While it is not being worn, the globe should be wrapped in a black cloth and hidden away.