Tag: Patricia Telesco

Goddess Of The Day: SARASVATI

Goddess Of The Day: SARASVATI

Festival of Sarasvati (India)

Themes: Learning; Wisdom; Communication
Symbols: White Flowers (especially Lotus); Marigolds; Swans

About Sarasvati:

A Hindu goddess of eloquence and intelligence, Sarasvati extends a refreshing drink from her well of knowledge to complete the month with aptitude. In Hindu tradition, Sarasvati invented all sciences, arts, and writing. In works of art she is depicted as white-skinned and graceful, riding on a swan or sitting on an open lotus blossom.

To Do Today:Today is an excellent time to embark on any course of study or to reinforce your learning in a specific area. In Hindu tradition, Sarasvati’s festival is held on or around this date. During the celebration, students gather in the Katmandu Valley (Nepal) bearing gifts for the goddess, who visits here today. Traditional offerings at the temples include lotus and marigold blossoms and incense, while students bring pens or books to invoke Sarasvati’s aid with their studies. Adapting this a bit, try dabbing your personal tools or educational books with a little lotus oil, and burn any sweet-scented incense to improve your awareness (rosemary is a good choice).

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To generate Sarasvati’s assistance in matters of communication, find a white flower and remove its petals. Place these in any moving water source, saying:

Sarasvati, let my words bear gentle beauty and truth,
falling gently on other’s ears, even as these petals to the water.

Let the water (which also represents this goddess) carry your wish.

By Patricia Telesco

 

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Goddess Of The Day: VESTA

Goddess Of The Day: VESTA
Feast of Vesta (Rome)
 
Themes: Home; Love; Fertility; Peace
Symbols: Fire; Donkey; Veils
 
About Vesta: In Roman mythology, Vesta was part of every fire. As such, Vesta commands the sacred fires of the hearth, the heart of spiritual and emotional stability in your home. Today was one other festival days, Christianized as the Feast of the Ass, which is a sacred animal to her. Traditional offerings for Vesta include homemade bread and salt cakes.
 
In works of art, Vesta was never shown directly but always depicted her in veils, possibly to honor her importance in Roman society. The vestal priestess was one of the few people considered suited to negotiating peace during war threats.
 
To Do Today: The first month of the year is a good time to think about the spiritual warmth in your living space. Ask Vesta to kindle those fires anew. Do this by lighting any fire source you have handy-a match, a candle, the oven, a pilot light-or, alternatively, just turn on a light as a symbolic fire. Be sure to keep this lit all day. When a fire goes out on Vesta’s day, it’s considered a bad omen, indicative of love being lost. To encourage peace on any battleground you’re facing this year, light a white candle (the color of truce) and put it in a window to invite Vesta’s presence (being sure it’s safe to do so, of course). Then take a piece of bread outside, breaking it into small bits so the birds can carry your wish of harmony across the earth.
By Patricia Telesco

Minne

Today’s Goddess: Minne

Linden Festival (Germany)

Themes:Protection; Love; Luck; Devotion; Unity

Symbols: Linden Tree; Cup; Beer

About Minne: Minne is a German goddess of love and fertility. Her name–meaning “remembrance”–was applied to a special cup for lovers in this part of the world. The cup was filled with specially prepared beer and raised between two people wishing to deepen their love. This gives Minne a strong association with devotion, unity, and fidelity.

To Do Today: During the second weekend in July, people in Geisenheim, Germany, gather around an ancient Linden Tree (six hundred plus years old) and celebrate the year’s new wine. All aspects of the festival take place beneath the Linden’s branches, which in magic terms represent safety and good fortune. The Linden flowers portray Minne’s spirit, having been used in all manner of love magic! To protect a relationship, two lovers should carry dried Linden flowers with them always.

When making a promise to each other, a couple may drink a wooden goblet of beer today, linking their destinies. Raise the glass to the sky first, saying, “Minne’s love upon our lips, devotion in each sip.”

Drink while looking deeply into each other’s eyes. Or, exchange pieces of Linden wood as a magical bonding that invokes Minne’s blessing. If Linden isn’t native to your area, other trees and bushes that promote Minne’s loving qualities include avens, elm, lemon, orange, peach, pear, primrose, rose, and willow.

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By Patricia Telesco

Today’s Goddess: Minne

Today’s Goddess: Minne

Linden Festival (Germany)
 
Themes:Protection; Love; Luck; Devotion; Unity
Symbols: Linden Tree; Cup; Beer
 
About Minne: Minne is a German goddess of love and fertility. Her name–meaning “remembrance”–was applied to a special cup for lovers in this part of the world. The cup was filled with specially prepared beer and raised between two people wishing to deepen their love. This gives Minne a strong association with devotion, unity, and fidelity.
 
To Do Today: During the second weekend in July, people in Geisenheim, Germany, gather around an ancient Linden Tree (six hundred plus years old) and celebrate the year’s new wine. All aspects of the festival take place beneath the Linden’s branches, which in magic terms represent safety and good fortune. The Linden flowers portray Minne’s spirit, having been used in all manner of love magic! To protect a relationship, two lovers should carry dried Linden flowers with them always.
When making a promise to each other, a couple may drink a wooden goblet of beer today, linking their destinies. Raise the glass to the sky first, saying, “Minne’s love upon our lips, devotion in each sip.”
 
Drink while looking deeply into each other’s eyes. Or, exchange pieces of Linden wood as a magical bonding that invokes Minne’s blessing. If Linden isn’t native to your area, other trees and bushes that promote Minne’s loving qualities include avens, elm, lemon, orange, peach, pear, primrose, rose, and willow.
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By Patricia Telesco

Today’s Goddess: Securita Lemuria (Rome)

Today’s Goddess:  Securita

Lemuria (Rome)

 

 Themes:  Protection; Ghosts; Grounding

 

Symbols:  Amulets and Protective Sigils

 

 

 

About Securita:  As the name implies, Securita is a protective Goddess who watches over not only individuals in need but also entire empires.  In the true spirit of security, she also actively promotes stability and firm foundations in our lives.

 

 

 

To Do Today:  In ancient Rome, lemures were considered to be the ghosts of family members who like to pester the living, if given the chance.  So, in all due prudence, the Romans took time once a year to put ghosts back where they belong and invoke Securita’s protection by tossing beans behind them 9 times.  We can use this symbolism today in banishing any ghosts that linger in our figurative closets.  Just name a handful of beans after your “ghost”, toss them behind you in an open area, and walk away.  This appeases the spirits and leaves the troubles behind you in the past, where they belong.

 

 

 

Today is an excellent day to make Securita amulets for protection against mischievous spirits.  Take any one or all of the following and bind them in a white cloth with red wool: sandalwood, sage, violet, or peach pit.  As you tie the wool, say,

 

 

 

“Securita’s power lies inside.

 

Where this amulet sits, no ghosts may abide.”

 

 

 

Put the token wherever you need it.  Eating leek soup keeps away spirits, too.

  )0( 

By Patricia Telesco

Today’s Goddess: Kwan Yin

 

By Patricia Telesco ~ From “365 Goddess” and GrannyMoon’s Morning Feast

Today’s Goddess:  Kwan Yin

Festival of the Goddess of Mercy (China/Japan)
  
Themes:  Children; Kindness; Magic; Health; Fertility
Symbols:  Lotus; Black Tea; Rice; Rainbow
  
About Kwan Yin:  Kwan Yin is the most beloved of all Eastern goddess figures, giving freely of her unending sympathy, fertility, health, and magical insight to all who ask.  It is her sacred duty to relieve suffering and encourage enlightenment among humans.  In Eastern mythology, a rainbow bore Kwan Yin to heaven in human form.  Her name means “regarder of sounds,”  meaning she hears the cries and prayers of the world.
 
To Do Today:  If you hope to have children or wish to invoke Kwan Yin’s blessing and protection on the young ones in your life, you can follow Eastern custom and leave an offering for Kwan Yin of sweet cakes, lotus incense, fresh fruit, and/or flowers.  If you can’t find lotus incense, look for lotus-shaped soaps at novelty or import shops.
 
For literal or figurative fertility, try making this Kwan Yin talisman:  During a waxing-to-full moon, take a pinch of Black Tea and a pinch of rice and put them in a yellow cloth, saying,
 
As a little tea makes a full cup, so may my life be full.
As the rice expands in warm water, so may my heart expand with love and warmth.
The fertility of Kwan Yin, wrapped neatly within.
 
Tie this up and keep it in a spot that corresponds to the type of fertility you want (such as the bedroom for physical fertility).

 

Goddess Of The Day: HERA

Goddess Of The Day:  HERA
Daedala (Greece)
 
Themes: Love; Romance; Forgiveness; Humor
Symbols: Oak; Myrrh; Poppy
 
About Hera: Hera rules the earth, its people, and the hearts of those people. Using passion and creativity, Hera nudges star-crossed lovers together, chaperones trysts, and helps struggling marriages with a case of spring twitterpation!
 
Legend tells us that Hera refused to return to Zeus’s bed because of a quarrel. Zeus, however, had a plan. He humorously dressed up a wooden figure to look like a bride and declared he was going to marry. When Hera tore off the dummy’s clothes and discovered the ruse, she was so amused and impressed by Zeus’s ingenuity that she forgave him.
 
To Do Today: Ancient Greeks honored Hera and Zeus’s reconciliation today, often in the company of old oak trees. Small pieces of fallen wood are collected to symbolize the divinities, then burned on the ritual fire to keep love warm. To mirror this custom, find a fallen branch and burn a small part of it as an offering to Hera. Keep the rest to use as a goddess image year-round, burning a few slivers whenever love needs encouragement.
 
Present someone you love or admire with a poppy today to symbolically bestow Hera’s blessings on your relationship. If you have a loved one away from home, burn some myrrh incense in front of their picture so Hera can watch over them and keep that connection strong.
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By Patricia Telesco ~ From “365 Goddess”  (FMP) and GrannyMoon’s Morning Feast