You encounter another one of those fairly rare quiescent days – from the standpoint of the universe – when only a few alignments grace the stage of Planet Earth. As the Moon continues its monthly transit in Pisces, it unites with Venus (5:13AM PST) and then Vesta (7:41AM PST). This is a major boost for increasing the value of your assets, prized possessions and investments. You may also want to talk to soul-sisters who may be good and trusted advisers across the board. Surprises and shocks to the system are more likely to occur around the time when the Moon first parallels Uranus (11:25AM PST) and then makes a contra-parallel to Uranus just 12 minutes later (11:37AM PST). Consider experimenting with a digital or video camera today. Photography, film and video work, as well as improvisation in art, music and dance can go well under the monthly Pisces Moon dispensation. Intense or hostile vibes may be on the rise tonight as the Moon opposes Mars (8:54PM PST) – beginning a void lunar cycle that lasts until 10:29AM PST tomorrow when the Moon enters Aries. Fighting with a loved one this evening is a no-no. Find common ground and surround yourself with plenty of serenity to ride out the overnight psychic storm.
Tag: Moon
A Sip of Inspiration
A Sip of Inspiration
by Miriam Harline
Invocation/Meditation
You are in a dark room, empty of furniture, a box of wood rough-hewn. The window looks out on night. You smell woodsmoke, though there is no fire. You are cold, and you huddle on the floor, wrapping your arms around yourself.
The door opens, and standing in the doorway is a woman with long blonde hair. She wears a white dress, hanging in graceful folds, and no shoes. In her hand is a white candle, burning. “Rise,” she tells you; you do, and follow her.
Outside hangs black night, a sky dusted with stars, no moon. The ground is cold, frozen hard, but there is no snow. You follow the woman down a narrow path. To either side rise hills, grass tan when the candle shows it. You walk down; the stones under the hills begin to show to either side. Beside you, slowly, rock walls rise.
The walk down turns steep. You smell salt, hear waves crash. The land flattens, and under your feet is sand; you are on the seashore.
Ocean water pours across the sand, a margin of foam at its edge. The candlelight glows, a yellow globe on the water. You follow the woman still; you turn and walk above the surf. It is low tide.
A cliff rises ahead, to your left, and in the cliff you see a black mouth, a cave. It is so dark, black on black, you feel some fear. But the woman walks right up to it, enters the tall mouth, twice her height. You walk after her into the cave, still on hard-packed wet sand; when the tide is high, the cave floor must be covered in water.
The path of sand narrows between rocks; you continue along it. You turn a bend, and behind you can no longer see the sea, but you hear it still, rushing, sighing.
You walk on. To either side rise black walls of stone, occasionally veined with red. Ahead, as the path curves, you see not darkness, but golden light.
You turn another bend, and the cave ceiling rises; you are in a vast room, lit by candlelight. Before you is a line of eight women robed in white, all holding white candles.
One woman steps forward. She is blonde, like your guide, but taller, older, in the prime of womanhood. Her face is still, not smiling, full of pride. “Greetings,” she says. “What is your name?” You tell her.
“Why have you come here?” she asks. Your eyes go wide, because you have no idea; you were waiting, and were summoned, but you do not know why. But your guide steps up and whispers in your ear, “For inspiration.”
You repeat, “For inspiration.”
The woman who greeted you smiles; you have made the right answer. “Very well,” she says. “Come forward.”
All nine women turn, move further into the cave, form a circle. You see in its center a huge cauldron, waist-high, its legs straddling a fire. The cauldron is boiling, and from it rise rainbow bubbles that pop in the air, leaving a smell of spice and honey. “This is the cauldron of inspiration,” your greeter says.
Two women in the circle loosen their hands and beckon to you. You pass by them, and the circle rejoins around you. You stand before the cauldron. “Drink from the cauldron,” the greeter says.
Drink? you say to yourself. But the liquid in it is boiling. I will boil my hands. “Drink,” she says. “That is why you are here.”
You look around, in fear. These people are crazy. Then you catch the eye of the woman who guided you, and she smiles very slightly. You sense there is some magick here. Foolishly or wisely, you lower your hands into the cauldron.
The liquid is just cooler than lukewarm, delightful, like a bath on a hot summer day.
You cup liquid in your palms, raise it to your lips. The smell of spice and honey fills your nostrils. The liquid seems to shine upward into your face, rainbow colors. You sip.
An explosion goes off in your head. You fall backward onto the ground. You see stars, moons, suns, rainbows flare; a stream of firework, many-colored, falls from the sky. You hear music, whispers, laughter; someone close is speaking in your ear, you can almost make out the words….
After a long time, you wake on the floor of the wooden house. All is dark, and your head hurts. But now the house is warm.
Cosmic Calendar for January 25th
Strange forces are very much on the prowl in the early going today as the Moon makes its monthly union with Neptune in Aquarius (12:34AM PST) – simultaneously launching a short void lunar cycle that lasts until 1:12AM PST when the Moon enters Piscean waters. Watch your dreams for clues about the future and don’t be surprised if maternal archetypes are present in your soul-wanderings since the Moon is also parallel to Ceres (1:10AM PST). Healing forces are making a comeback since the Moon forms its monthly conjunction with Chiron in Pisces (7:14AM PST) while the lunar orb is also parallel to Chiron (8:57AM PST). This double emphasis on Chiron reminds you to meditate for clarity and peace of mind. Learn more about advances in the field of alternative medicine. Be more of a bridge-builder between your multi-faceted personality and spirit realms. Pisces Moon gives you an opportunity to lend a helping hand to the truly disenfranchised and abandoned. Tough it out this evening when Venus forms a frictional, 135-degree tie to Saturn (7:04PM PST). This aspect can bring the big chill into affairs of the heart on a temporary basis. Dance away the blues as the Moon in the last sign of the zodiac can give you a dose of happy feet.
Calendar of the Moon for January 25th
Calendar of the Moon
Rowan Tree Moon
Color: Orange-red
Element: Fire
Altar: Upon a cloth of orange-red set a row of red candles, Brigid’s cross, and a bell.
Offerings: Votive candles. Quicken a newborn idea into birth.
Daily Meal: Hot drinks with every meal. Keep food warm.
Luis/Gamelion Invocation
Call: Now is the quickening of the year.
Response: Now is the time of the first movement.
Call: Now the child stirs in the womb.
Response: Now the seed stirs in the earth.
Call: Now the plains flood and our fire is threatened.
Response: Now the cold water drowns our spark.
Call: Now is the time of the hard struggle.
Response: Now is the month of desperation.
Call: Now is the time of desperation to live.
Response: Now is the time of desperation to be born.
Call: We turn in our sleep as the earth turns.
Response: We dream with the sleeping earth.
Call: Each of our dreams is a lit candle in the dark.
Response: Each of our dreams is a single point of hope.
Call: They shine faint and alone in the night of struggle.
Response: They are alone as we are alone.
Call: Yet we are not alone in our dreams.
Response: We are not alone!
Call: We will keep our fires burning.
Response: We will burn against the night!
Call: We will warm our dreams with the force of life.
Response: We will not die alone in the cold!
Call: We will ward off all evil.
Response: Only good shall pass our gates.
Call: We will care for each other.
Response: We will never cease to care!
Call: We will survive the winter.
Response: We will survive!
(Repeat last two lines twice more.)
Chant:
Protect the flame that warms your dreams
And dreams shall never die.
Lunar Almanac for Wednesday, January 25th
Lunar Almanac for Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Waxing, New Moon Age: 2 ¾ days.
Ascending Node is at 11° Sagittarius.
Moon in 10th degree of the Sign Pisces, the Fishes;
also in 13th deg. of the Constellation Aquarius, the Water-Bearer.
Ascending Node is at 11° Sagittarius.
Moon in 10th degree of the Sign Pisces, the Fishes;
also in 13th deg. of the Constellation Aquarius, the Water-Bearer.
Moonrise: 8:16 morn. Midheaven: 2:10 eve. Moonset: 8:14 eve.
HERBS OF THE MOON
HERBS OF THE MOON
The energies of the Moon effect the activities of the subconscious,
the intuition, dream work and the emotions. The plants attributed to
the Moon act principally on the major fluids of the body and on the
stomach (attributed to Cancer, ruled by the Moon). Their fluidic
action is primarily regulatory and eliminative. Much of the
digestive activity seems also to influence the individual’s moods –
the emotional effect of stomach action being well known so this dual
action of several of the herbs makes a great deal of sense.
Several herbs bear marked resemblances to the Moon in her various
phases, both in color and shape of plant, fruit and flower. The
white fruits of fennel grow in pairs of curved oblong shapes that
seem to represent the waxing and waning lunar crescents. The lily,
long an associate of Lunar Goddesses, has round, bell-shaped flowers
that are frequently bright white and it bears oblong to crescent
shaped leaves. The fruit of the almond generally is also pure white
and oblong to crescent shaped.
Those herbs that deal with fluidity generally act upon water and
blood most specifically even as the Moon herself controls the tides
and the flow of blood. Cucumber helps eliminate excess water from
the body and is an anti-constipatory diuretic, particularly
effective in dissolving uric acid accumulations such as kidney
stones. Fennel and lily are eliminatives, laxatives and diuretics
and while the lily acts as a digestive antispasmodic, fennel is
commonly used to stimulate the flow of milk in nursing mothers.
Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) is particularly apt in its lunar
attribution in that in addition to its digestive and purgative
qualities, a decoction can be used quite effectively to regulate the
flow of menstrual blood.
Several Lunar herbs act on other fluids of the body (generally to
eliminate excess) as well as acting as digestives. Camphor, by
reducing fluid accumulation in the lungs and pleural sac, is an
excellent remedy for whooping cough and pleurisy. Bitter almond is
used as a cough remedy while sweet almond is used internally as a
soothing syrup and externally as an emollient. Meanwhile, white
sandalwood is used to reduce inflammation of mucosal tissue as well
as being a diuretic – a decoction of the wood can also be used for
indigestion.
Myrrh and Sandalwood share both astringent and stomachic properties,
but along with jasmin and bitter almond, they share qualities
ascribed to the Moon that surpass the simply medicinal. Bitter
almond and jasmin both have sedative effects, calming the nerves and
allowing a more intuitive, psychic lunar mode of brain function to
manifest. It is probably also this aspect that has earned jasmin its
reputation as an erotogen, the resultant intuitive empathy credited
with aphrodisical properties and the ability to overcome inhibition.
Almond, jasmin, sandalwood and myrrh seem when used in incense to
also possess the ability to trigger olfactorily the subtle, lunar
mode of perception that is so effective in work of intuition,
psychism and pathworking.
Magickally speaking, herbs of the Moon affect the subconscious mind.
They are a very good aid in the development of the intuition and of
psychic abilities as well as in remembering dreams. As they have
such a primary effect on the subconscious, they can be used to
successfully influence it to break old habits and to recall past
lives. Traditional Lunar herbs include anise,cabbage, camphor, cucumber,
iris, jasmine ,lettuce, lily, poppy, violet, willow,lotus, moonwort, mugwort , pumpkin and white
sandalwood.
author..unknown
Correspondences of the Elements
Correspondences of the Elements
Earth’s Correspondences:
Direction: North.
Earth Rules: The Body and Nature, manifestation, physicality, fertility, birth, death, healing, rocks, trees, animals, vegetation, mystery, silence, growth, crystals, common sense, empathy, grounding, employment, stability, success, runes, strength, practical wisdom, mystery, metals. Is the element that is most stable and dependable. It represents abundance, prosperity, and wealth, and is creative but in a practical, physical manner. Earth, that which sustains all life and on which the other elements rely.
Time: Midnight.
Season: Winter.
Colors: Deep earth tones, Green, brow, black, gold and white.
Zodiac: Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn.
Tools: Pentacle, salt, images, stones, cord magick.
Chakra: Root.
Virtues: Being centered, patience, truth, thorough and dependable.
Vices: Dullness, laziness, inconsiderate.
Posture: (Arms extended) Palms down.
Season of Life: Death/rebirth.
Animal: Bull, cow, stag, deer, snakes, bear, bison, dog, horse, gopher, ant, wolf.
Elemental Spirits: Gnomes, dwarfs.
Gems: Rock crystal, emerald, jet, tourmaline, quartz, tourmalated quartz, rutilated quartz, granite, bedrock, salt, peridot, onyx, jasper, azurite, amethyst.
Sense: Touch.
Goddesses: Hathor, Ceres, Gaia, Bo-Ann, Cerridwyn, Demeter, Gaia, Persephone, Epona, Kore and Rhiannon.
Gods:Adonis, Athos, Arawyn, Cernunnos, Dionysus, Herne, Marduk, Pan, Tammuz, Thor.
Types of Magick: Gardening, grounding, magnet, image, stone, tree, knot, binding.
Energy: Receptive, feminine.
Metals: Iron, lead.
Plants: Cedar, cypress, comfrey, honeysuckle, ivy, grains, magnolia, patchouly, primrose, sage, vetivert, nuts, oak.
Air’s Correspondences:
Direction: East.
Air Rules: The mind, clarity, discernment, wisdom, knowledge, abstract thinking, logic, the spoken word, the wind, breath. Intellect and theory. It is creative and is that which causes magickal intentions to become manifest. It is also associated with higher consciousness and wisdom, divination, and purification, mental and psychic work, intuition. Clouds, inspiration, hearing, herbal knowledge, plant growth, freedom, revealing truth, finding lost things, instruction, telepathy, memory, learning the secrets of the dead, Zen meditation, new beginnings and illuminations.
Time: Dawn.
Season: Spring.
Colors: All light hues, colors found at dawn. White, yellow, light blue, lavender, gray.
Zodiac: Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius.
Tools: Athame, sword, censer and incense.
Chakra: Third Eye.
Virtues: Intelligence, practical, optimistic.
Vices: Impulsive, frivolous, easily fooled.
Posture: (Arms raised) Palms parallel.
Season of Life: Youth.
Elemental Spirits: Sylphs/Fairies.
Gems: Topaz, amber, citron, mica, fluorite, crystals, amethyst, yellow or blue stones.
Sense: Smell.
Goddesses: Arianrhod, Nuit, Iris, Ostara; Goddesses of dawn and spring, Aradia, Athena and Urania.
Gods: Mercury, Hermes, Shu, and Thoth.
Types of Magick: Divination, concentration, karma. Prophecy, visualization and wind magick.
Energy: Projective.
Metals: Tin and copper.
Plants: Acacia, anise, aspen, benzoin, clover, frankincense, lavender, lemongrass, myrrh, pine, vervain and yarrow.
Animals: Birds, Eagle and hawk in particular. Insects and spiders.
Fire’s Correspondences:
Direction: South.
Fire Rules: Energy, will, healing, destruction, courage, strength, physical exercise, self-knowledge, loyalty, vision, illumination, power and passion, authority, transformation, purification, heat, flame, embers, lifeblood. Fire is associated with change and passion. It is both physical and spiritual, being related to sexuality and to divinity. Fire magick is quickly manifested and filled with primal energy.
Time: Noon.
Season: Summer.
Colors: Colors of flame as well as the noonday sun, Red, red-orange; fiery colors, gold and white.
Zodiac: Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius.
Tools: Censer, athame, wand, candles, dagger, burned herbs or requests on paper.
Chakra: Solar Plexus.
Virtues: Courage, enthusiasm and willpower.
Vices: Anger, jealousy and hatred.
Posture: (Arms over head) Forming triangle.
Season of Life: Maturity.
Animal: Lion, horse, lizards, salamander, snakes, praying mantis, ladybug, bee, scorpion, shark, phoenix, coyote, fox.
Elemental Spirits: Salamanders.
Gems: Fire opal, ruby, carnelian, garnet, red jasper, bloodstone, lava, quartz crystals, tigers eye, rhodochrosite, agates.
Sense: Sight.
Goddesses: Sekhmet, Pele, Vesta, Aradia, Ameratsu, Lucina. Brigit, Freya, Hestia, Pele and Vesta.
Gods: Vulcan, Ra, Agni, Hepaetstus, and Horus.
Types of Magick: Candle, storm, time.
Energy: Projective, masculine.
Metals: Gold, brass.
Plants: Allspice, basil, cinnamon, garlic, hibiscus, juniper, lime, nettle, onion, orange, red peppers, red poppies, thistle.
Water’s Correspondences:
Direction: West.
Water Rules: Emotion, Intuition, psychic abilities, love, deep feelings, the unconscious, the womb, generation, fertility, water of all kinds, tides, the Moon, menstrual blood, amniotic fluid, saliva, the third eye, wisdom, vision quests, self-healing, sorrow, reflection.
Time: Twilight.
Season: Autumn.
Colors: All blue-green-black hues, corresponding to the colors of water, gray, indigo, aquamarine, white.
Zodiac: Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces.
Tools: Chalice, cauldron and mirrors.
Chakra: Heart.
Virtues: Love, compassion, receptivity, flexibility and forgiveness.
Vices: Indifference, depression and instability.
Posture: (Arms extended) Palms up.
Season of Life: Old Age.
Animal: Sea serpents, leviathan of the deep, dragons, fish, sea lions,
creatures of water all fish, shellfish and sea mammals, sea birds, cat, frog, turtle, swan, bear.
Elemental Spirits: Undines, mermaids.
Gems: Aquamarine, beryl, opal, amethyst, blue tourmaline, pearl, coral, blue topaz, blue fluorite, lapis lazuli, sodalite.
Sense: Taste.
Goddesses: Aphrodite, Tiamat, Mari, Yemaya, Isis, Ran, and Kupala.
Gods: Dylan, Ea, Manannan, Osiris, Neptune, Poseidon, Varuna.
Types of Magick: Magick involving the sea, snow or ice, mirror, magnet, rain, cleansing and purification.
Energy: Receptive, feminine.
Metals: Mercury, silver, copper.
Plants: Aloe, apple, catnip, chamomile, ferns, gardenia, lemon, lettuce, lilac, lily of the valley, lotus, mosses, orris, passion. Flower, rose, seaweeds, thyme, valerian, water lilies, all water plants, willow tree.
Spirit Correspondences:
Goddess, transcendence, immanence, omnipresence, the void, all and nothing, within and without, the center of the universe and the Self.
Location/ Direction: Center; up, down and all around.
Color: Purple or white, rainbow, black.
Season: The cycle itself.
Season of Life: All life, life beyond death, rebirth.
Time: Beyond time, the Lunar and Solar cycles.
Magickal Tool: Cauldron.
Animal: Owl and Sphinx.
Gems: Diamond and amethyst.
Sense: Hearing.
Goddesses: Isis, Cerridwyn, Shekinah, your personal matron deity.
Cosmic Calendar for Tuesday, January 24th
It may be difficult to get your bearings on the first day after Mars has turned retrograde. The fact is that Mars isn’t truly retrograding at all; it is virtually motionless and on the verge of reversing direction. The great reality is that when any celestial body is retrograde, it is moving in counterpoint to the motion of the Sun and Moon – which, from our vantage point, always appear to be moving forward in the zodiac. Therefore, Mars becomes somewhat of a maverick, outlaw, rebel or rabble-rouser when viewed from the solar, lunar and earthly perspectives now that it is no longer direct in motion. Thus, acting in an unruly fashion and calling undue attention to yourself are out-of-bounds – unless you are deliberately looking for trouble. Intensity and shock waves are still on center stage because the Sun parallels distant Pluto (1:22AM PST) while Ceres unites with Uranus in Aries (3:08AM PST). The unknown may temporarily be in the catbird seat and circumstances beyond your control are running the show. Hope that you can somehow be an expert problem-solver and strategist when the Moon in Aquarius unites with Pallas (2:03PM PST). Strive for a loving and peaceful interaction with a significant other this evening during the Moon-Venus parallel (8:31PM PST).
Calendar of the Moon for Jan. 24th
Calendar of the Moon
Rowan Tree Moon
Color: Orange-red
Element: Fire
Altar: Upon a cloth of orange-red set a row of red candles, Brigid’s cross, and a bell.
Offerings: Votive candles. Quicken a newborn idea into birth.
Daily Meal: Hot drinks with every meal. Keep food warm.
Luis/Gamelion Invocation
Call: Now is the quickening of the year.
Response: Now is the time of the first movement.
Call: Now the child stirs in the womb.
Response: Now the seed stirs in the earth.
Call: Now the plains flood and our fire is threatened.
Response: Now the cold water drowns our spark.
Call: Now is the time of the hard struggle.
Response: Now is the month of desperation.
Call: Now is the time of desperation to live.
Response: Now is the time of desperation to be born.
Call: We turn in our sleep as the earth turns.
Response: We dream with the sleeping earth.
Call: Each of our dreams is a lit candle in the dark.
Response: Each of our dreams is a single point of hope.
Call: They shine faint and alone in the night of struggle.
Response: They are alone as we are alone.
Call: Yet we are not alone in our dreams.
Response: We are not alone!
Call: We will keep our fires burning.
Response: We will burn against the night!
Call: We will warm our dreams with the force of life.
Response: We will not die alone in the cold!
Call: We will ward off all evil.
Response: Only good shall pass our gates.
Call: We will care for each other.
Response: We will never cease to care!
Call: We will survive the winter.
Response: We will survive!
(Repeat last two lines twice more.)
Chant:
Protect the flame that warms your dreams
And dreams shall never die.
Calendar of the Sun for Jan. 24th
Calendar of the Sun
24 Wolfmonath
Paganalia: Celebration of the Country Farmer
Color: Green
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon a cloth of green set agricultural tools, and perhaps a small model farm of paper.
Offering: Give aid to a farmer.
Daily Meal: Food from a small local organic farm.
Paganalia Invocation to Gaea
The mother of us all,
The oldest of all,
Hard, splendid as rock
Whatever there is that is of the land
It is she who nourishes it
It is the Earth that I sing.
(All cry out: “Hail Gaea, Mother beneath our feet!”)
Hear now the words of Gaea:
Without me
No seed grows
No milk flows
No honey in the hive
Without my touch
No sweet exchange of breath between plant and animal
No safe nest from which to try your fledgling span
No one to miss you when you go
Without the part of you that is me
No working the earth
No food in the belly
No caring hand to help another.
(All cry out: “Hail Gaea, Mother who gives us all!”)
Remember that those who work the earth
With their own hands are closest to me.
Lie upon me when the spring comes
And give thanks that you were born here.
(All cry out: “Hail Gaea, we give thanks to you!”)
Chant:
Mother I feel you under my feet
Mother I hear your heartbeat
The Witchcraft Chronicles 
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