Tag: Full Moon

Astronomy Picture of the Day for June 6

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 6

Eclipsed Moon Over Wyoming  

Credit & Copyright: Mack H. Frost 

Explanation: A setting full moon rarely looks like this. Monday morning just before a fully lit  Strawberry Moon dropped behind the  Absaroka Mountain Range near  Cody,  Wyoming,  USA, the  shadow of the Earth got in the way. A similarly setting  partial lunar eclipse was visible throughout most of North and South America, while simultaneously the same  partially darkened moon was visible throughout eastern Asia. Pictured in the foreground is a snowbank formation known as the  Horse’s Head off a tributary of the  Shoshone River. Lunar eclipses occur about twice a year, and the  next one —  a penumbral eclipse —  will occur in late November.

Advertisement

Your Magickal Spell for Monday, June 4 – A Full Moon Wish

A Full Moon Wish

Go outside during a full moon, hold a glass of water up to the moon, so the moon reflects on the water. Close your eyes, make your wish, then drink all the water while wishing all the negative things in your relationship dispersing with the flow of the moon. The waning moon will carry away all the negative emotions.

 

Your Magick Spell for Sunday, June 3 – Solitary Moon Rite

Solitary Moon Rite

Since there is a Full Moon on the horizon, I thought this would be very appropriate and useful. Enjoy!

This rite may be used for either New or Full Moon. The difference is in your meditation and mental attitude in preparation. Remember that the New Moon is a time of outward work and thought, building to the peak which is the Full Moon.

At the Full Moon, you should be preparing to lessen the outward flow of energy, bit by bit, until the period before New Moon, during which you are passive, building a pool of energy within you, in preparation for the New Moon.
The altar should be placed in the center of the ritual area. On it should be placed a rose or stick of incense on the eastern side, a red votive candle to the South; a cup of water on the West, and a bowl of salt or living plant on the North. Around your ritual area, you should place an unlighted candle at the cardinal point of each direction.
To begin your rite, enter your darkened temple, carrying one burning candle, white or lavender, with you. Place it on the center of your altar, sit, and meditate on the meaning of the rite. When you feel the time is right, stand, and go to the eastern point, carrying with you, the burning taper. Light the votive at the eastern point and go to the southern, picturing, as you do, an arc of pure strong light curving from one candle to the next. Continue to the West, and then to the North, lighting the candles as you go, and then walk to your eastern candle again, having formed a circle of protective light surrounding the area in which you worship. Return to the center of the circle, replace the candle on the altar, and say:

“My Lady of the Moon, who is called Diana,
Artemis, Levanah, Isis and by any other names,
I come to you to bring you my love and my devotion.
May you grant me the joy of your presence.”

Mentally divide the room into four quadrants by visualizing a line of silvery moonlight from the southeast to the northwest, and from the northeast to the southwest. Go the East, taking with you the rose or incense. Say:

“Sweet Goddess,
the gentle breeze is the touch of your loving hand,
the wind of storm a reminder of your strength.
The sound of the trees in the wind is your voice,
and the fragrance of flowers borne on the wind is your gift of beauty.”

Place the rose next to the votive candle, then stand there as you picture the quadrant filling with moonlight. See the moonlight streaming quietly and gently into the room, filling the quadrant from center point to the edge of your circle. When this is complete, take the red candle to the South. Place the gift and see the quadrant fill with moonlight. Say:

“Most loved Lady,
the light of the candle is a guide along our path leading to you;
its warmth the reassurance of your presence and your love.
The light of the Sun is the knowledge you impart to us,
driving out ignorance and those things which can survive only in darkness.”

At the West:

“Lovely One,
the quiet pool is the serenity of your being.
The vast sea where life began on this planet
is the vast sea of your being whence all life came;
its waves are the ebb and flow of the universe you rule.”

At the North:

“Goddess of all,
the fertility of the earth is a sign of your fertility, whence all life rose.
The solidity and permanence are still of it are still less than yours.
The Earth’s fertility feeds our bodies, and your fertility feeds our souls.”

Go to the center of your temple, which is now filled with moonlight. Everything in the circle is touched by it, blessed by it, including you. Sit down and feel this moonlight around you. Know that it is the Goddess. Realize that you are in the center of a sphere of light that is half above and half above and half below where you sit.
Begin to breathe slowly and evenly, deep breaths that penetrate your whole body. When this rhythmic breathing becomes natural, imagine that the moonlight by which you are surrounded enters you, fills you entirely. With each exhalation of your breath, some of the essence of yourself leaves your body, and with each inhalation, the light enters you. You are being filled ever so gently with this beautiful light. This light, which is the presence, the being of the Goddess, is within you as well as without. With each breath, you are less yourself and more the Goddess. When you are filled with light, filled with the Goddess, the shell of your body fades away. You have no body; there is nothing to separate you from the entire being of the Goddess. Nothing exists but the being of which you are apart. You have ceased to be a separate entity. You are nothing and everything. All that was, that is, and all that will be, you are. Enjoy this feeling as long as you like.
When you feel it is time, picture the outer shell of your physical body reforming, becoming solid again. It is being built out of the Universe of which you are a part. Now, as you continue your slow deep breathing, see the moonlight flowing out of your body, as gently and slowly as it entered. As it flows out, realize there is a difference. Because you have become one with the Goddess, with the Universe, your being has changed. As the moonlight flows out of your body, it takes with it a part of that which was yourself, now part of the Goddess, and leaves behind a part of the Goddess, forever now part of you. You become yourself again, solid as you were, but changed. You are surrounded by the presence of the Goddess, which now contains a part of yourself . Move again to the East. As you speak, and after, picture the moon- light in that quadrant flowing back to its source, leaving that quadrant as it was. Do this at each quadrant, until all the moonlight has returned to the Moon.
At the East:

“My Lady, guide my thoughts.
Let them lead always closer to you.”

At the South:

“Gracious Goddess, guide my actions.
Let them always help and never harm others or myself.”

At the West:

“Lovely One, guide my emotions:
Let them be healing and touched always by you.”

At the North:

“Sweet Goddess,
let my mind always be fertile and strong,
that I may grow always toward you.”

Return to the East to complete the circle and say:

“Queen of Heaven,
I thank you for your presence,
both now and always.
My love and devotion are yours.
Blessed be!
All spirits who have joined me tonight may depart,
with my love.
Return to your proper places.”

Walk again around your circle, but this time counterclockwise, extinguishing the quadrant guards as you go, and at the same time, mentally erasing the white line which surrounded your circle. When the candles are out and the circle gone, rap on your altar and say:

“So mote it be!”

By: Ellen Reed, Coven of Sothistar

Dragons of the Zodiac: Aries

Dragons of the Zodiac: Aries 

Note: Perform during bright noon or the hour of Mars, and during the waxing Moon, with the Full Moon being strongest.

 

Color: Red

 

Ruling Planets: Mars

 

Stone Diamond

 

Flower: Geranium

Description: Energetic, impatient, lacking in foresight, short-tempered, sarcastic, witty, demanding, sharp-minded, cutting, egocentric, adventuresome, feisty.

Chant:

Sharpened mind, energy,

Aries Dragon, Bring to me.

Boundless luck, adventure bold,

These are things I want to hold.

Dragon Red of luck and will,

Help me my desires to fill.

 

Dancing with Dragons

D. J. Conway

Dragons of Moon

Dragons of Moon

  

Notes: Perform on a Monday and/or during the waxing Moon, with the Full Moon being strongest. A silver, blue or lavender candle.

Day: Monday

Color: Lavender, silver, blue, pearl-white

Metal: Silver

Stones: Moonstone, quartz crystal, beryl, pearl.

Plants: Calamus, camphor, cascarilla, clary sage, fragipani, jasmine, lotus, mint, rosemary, sandalwood, wisteria, ylang ylang.

Rituals Involving: Travel, visions, divinations, dreams, magick, love, agriculture, domestic life, medicine, luck, feminine aspects, water, birth, time, theft, emotions.

 

Physical Chant:

 

“I seek magick deep and old,

All the love my heart can hold,

Green Magick of the Plants and Earth,

Psychic gifts to aid rebirth.”

 

Mental-Emotional Chant:

 

“Emotions and Time are so hard to control

And to fathom, O power of the Moon,

Teach me your magickal rituals and ways

That I may learn control very soon.”

 

Spiritual Chant:

“Views of the future that come in the night

When the silver Moon rides high in the sky,

I seek your instruction to unlock my dreams

That my spirit may grow and thrive.”

A Little Witchy Tip of the Day for Feb. 9th

Witchy Cat Graphics & Comments I am sure everyone already knows this. But just in case there are any new Witches visiting today…….The Full Moon this month was on the 7th. The powers of the Full Moon extends three days before till three days after. Right now is a fantastic time to do your house blessings and also wardings. The Full Moon gives your blessings, spells, rituals, wardings and etc., an extra boost. Personally I like doing my house blessing during the Full Moon. You can feel the energy inside your home and you feel nice, safe & cozy!

~Magickal Graphics~

Current Moon Phase – Waning

Moon & Witch Comments & Graphics
Current Moon Phase: Waning

 
Waning Moon Magick: The period between the Full Moon and the New Moon, from three-and-a-half to ten-and-a-half days after the Full moon. From the Full Moon to the New is a time for study, meditation,and magic designed to banish harmful energies and habits, for ridding oneself of addictions, illness or negativity. This is a time for banishing and rejecting things in our lives that we no longer wish to carry around with us.

~Magickal Graphics~

Four Quarter

You average wall calendar divides the moon’s cycle into four equal phases called the first quarter, second quarter, third quarter, and fourth quarter. It would be remarkably nifty if these four quarters  matched the waxing full-waning-dark classification that the layperson observes by looking up into the night sky, but it isn’t so. The four quarters are each seven days long and as you probably know by observation, the full moon doesn’t last a week-long, nor does the dark moon.

The first quarter begins with the dark moon. The sun, moon, and the earth are all lined up during the beginning of the lunar cycle. This is a terrific time to launch new projects or undertakings, because the sun’s energy is traveling along the same energy paths as the moon’s energy, giving you a two-for-one zip to your magick. The moon rises in the early morning and sets around sunset, rising and setting a bit later each day. This is why you don’t see the moon for about three days; it’s keeping the same hours and position that the sun is keeping. When  the moon reaches a point where it’s setting slightly  later than the sun, it can be seen as a luminous slim crescent hanging low in the western sky for a few minutes after the sun goes down.  The first quarter is a good time to work on issues involving children, animals, plants and motivation.

The second quarter begins halfway between the dark moon and the full moon. The moon is seen as a half circle, which rise around mid-day and sets around twelve at night. The second quarter is excellent for expansion, patience, peace, family and harmony.

The third quarter begins with the full moon, rising at sunset and setting at dawn,  The full moon is ideal for powering those ventures you started at the dark moon and for almost everything knowledge, love, money, protection, dreams and psychic powers. Two days after a full moon is when the moon appears to begin waning. This begins a time of decrease; where you can prune away old and outgrown thoughts and  habits and discard what is no longer benefiting you. Use this energy for health and healing (as in banishing illness), protection, difficult decision and easing stress.

The fourth quarter begins halfway between the full moon and the dark moon. The moon rises just after midnight and sets around noon. This energy is good for justice, endings, separation, and limiting action or expansion.

These quarters aren’t absolute, of course; the moon moves through them all sequentially, occupying a lightly different position each day.

Fast Money Wash

1  teaspoon cinnamon

5  cloves

1  tablespoon orange zest

1  teaspoon ginger

1  teaspoon nutmeg

3  drops pine essential oil

Combine all ingredients, empowering them one by one by stating aloud the specific function each will perform. For example, if you were to use rosemary as an ingredients in a memory potion, you would need to say, “the rosemary will serve as a memory enhancer, ” or something of that nature. Then bless the ingredients on your altar. Let the mixture rest in a dark area for a week. Take it out once a day, shake it, bless it and then return it If possible, change this potion under a full moon during its week of rest, to magnify the magickal properties it contains. The power of a full moon is present for three days before and three days after the actual of the full moon. After a week, add the mixture to a bucket of warm, clear water for washing. Important note:This wash seems to have the side effect of making those that come into contact with it hungry. It smells wonderful.

Blessed Full Moon

Blessed Full Moon

Author: Lady Wolfwind

Almost every full moon we celebrate. My children and I. My husband sometimes stands on the periphery as if he’s afraid to join in. It makes me sad to watch him. He’s always seemed a bit reluctant to allow himself to show what he truly believes. Afraid of what others may think of him, even in his private moments. So, he watches. He did participate in our Blue Moon Ritual. Almost as if he felt the significance of the moment, like we were on the cusp of something and it was too important to let pass. I feel that one day he may openly participate and feel comfortable in doing so.

This is really not a story about my husband and his beliefs. It is a story I would like to share with everyone about one witch’s experiences and how they happened. I must admit that we do not celebrate every full moon. I particularly do not like the oppressive summer heat of Florida and, I might add, the mosquitoes. Sometimes I am just too tired or overwhelmed by my mundane life to pay respect to the Goddess who is responsible for bringing it all to me.

Over time in my life, I have changed a great deal, as I’m sure we all have. A few years ago I had a very deep emotional wound that left me changed forever. This wound is what put me on this path with both feet, never to look back. I have found within me a deep peace. I watch people all around me and they try to fill the silent moments with whatever they can. I find that the silence speaks to me. It’s when I recharge my own batteries and feel the vibrations of the world around me.

I deal with people in my job 50 hours per week. Not only do I deal with our customers but my employees as well. It’s strange the way they talk to me. I sense their vibrations as soon as they enter the room. For one example, I was taking a lady’s order the other morning. She seemed to have a sense of sadness about her. I asked her if she was okay and she replied that “Yes, I am good. How are you?” I proceeded to tell her that all was well when she blurted out to me that her son had committed suicide a few years back. I instantly was thrown into a tailspin. I had felt the sadness but didn’t expect this woman to open up to me about something so personal. I told her that I was sorry for her loss and her pain. She told me that it was okay and that she had learned to move on. I felt that the sadness had never gone away.

So, the silence is very important to me. I am an empath. That is another story altogether. It’s not what I really want to write about. When I am not at work I shield myself from the world’s crazy vibrations. I surround myself with nature and animals. I feel their energy as well but it is a kinder, more natural vibration and it soothes me. There is not a day that goes by that I am not being followed by cats, dogs or chickens.

I very rarely invite people to my home. They leave their imprint behind. It interferes with the flow of energy that I feel here. It feels as if it is an intrusion. I know that I can banish this energy but I don’t want to be bothered with the disruption. It is like a momentum, I want it to keep its pace.

So, the night of the last full moon. This night had significant meaning. My husband was working so it was just the children and I. Goddess forbid if my son thinks I’ve forgotten the full moon. He reminds me all night. His excitement is palpable.

We were in the yard. We had set down our blanket. We had all of our necessary tools. Maybe not necessary tools by some people’s standards but enough for us. After all, the Goddess does not look down on us for not spending loads of money on fancy ritual tools. The witch of yesteryear made do with what she had on hand and we shall do the same.

We had our candle for fire, we had our salt for the earth, we had our incense for the air and we had our blessed water. My son cast the circle. We set the incense in the middle, my son carries fire, my daughter sprinkles water and I sprinkle the salt. We set the items at the appropriate directions and my daughter politely asks the Quarters to join us and I ask reverently for the Goddess to join us as well.

Once the circle is cast we sit in a circle and hold hands. We take turns thanking the Goddess for everything she has blessed us with the previous month. We speak of all that we are thankful for. The good and the bad. Then we silently sit and say our own silent thanks. After this we speak of all of the ills we would like to see changed and people we would like to see helped. We ask that She show us a path in which we may help her to do her work in the following month. We say thank you. My daughter asks the Quarters to return to where they came and my son returns the energy back to the earth.

It is a deeply healing time. It makes us aware of all we have to be thankful for while others suffer, sometimes by their own choosing without even knowing it. It helps my children learn to be ambassadors for peace in their world and that different is not always wrong.

I understand that all of this is a great story in and of itself but it is still not what I wish to speak of. At every Esbat the animals join us. The cats always join us in circle. They lie in the middle and look at us all with great love and respect. Sometimes we are joined by others as well. We have a fox that lives nearby and if you look out at the edge of the field, he stands there watching. We also have a family of raccoons and at times they will stand at the edge of the grass and curiously look on. On occasion, the owl provides his two cents as well.

I must add, that the first few times I witnessed this amazing audience, I was unnerved. After all, it was just my children and I. These were wild creatures and I have always been taught that they can be dangerous. The first few times we finished early and moved inside.

Lately I have been more at peace with these visitors. I have found peace with them and they are welcome. Maybe they just want to hear the words and in their own way they want to say thanks as well. They have never created any danger. They just sit and watch. I feel them there. They have something to say. I feel privileged to be trusted enough to have them witness the beauty of it all.

So there, you have the story. This is how it is here. This is our life. Not the life I have chosen but the one that I was called to. It is filled with pain and confusion at times but at others it is filled with beauty and wonder. I have found that the more I am aware of these things the more is revealed to me. Sometimes I feel afraid of what may be next. I know the Goddess will only give me what I can withstand and I place my full trust in Her. I am in awe of all She has to teach and I am envious of how gently she teaches it. I only wish that I had her gentle way with which to bring wisdom to others.

This is what I strive for. I feel that this is what she wishes from me. To just gently teach. To share small glimpses of what the world could be like if one would only stop and listen.

Blessed Be My Fellow Witches.