Sometimes its good to stop thinking about serious things and engage in a bit of silly fun. Everywhere you look there is some blog quiz to take, so occasionally I indulge my silly side to find out things like What Kind of Cake Are You? (lemon), What Color is Your Lucky Underwear? (red), What Art Movement Are You? (Romanticism).

I've been feeling a bit heart-focused lately. I'm not sure why exactly, although I could venture a few guesses if I were in the mood to reveal personal data, which I'm not. Suffice it to say that I am very sensitive right now to the heart that is beating against my ribcage like a bird who wants to be let out. When I ran across a quiz to find out what color my heart is, I couldn't resist.

Your Heart Is Orange

Love equals unbridled happiness for you. You enjoy the wild ride of falling in love. And while the ride is fun for a while, you always get off once the thrill is gone. Your flirting style: Hyper Your lucky first date: Anything you need your passport for! Your dream lover: Is both daring and well grounded What you bring to relationships: Energy

What Color Heart Do You Have?

Is any of that true? Maybe. But I'm more interested in exploring the magickal possibilities in having an orange heart.

The Heart Chakra is located at the center of the chest; the midway point of the chakra system with three chakras above and three chakras below. The Heart is the point where we experience balance, equilibrium, community and love. Along with its physical connection to the heart, lungs, diaphragm, arms and hands, and respiration, the Heart Chakra is associated with growth, the ability to change and adapt, caring, sharing, relationships with others. It gives structure to our existence, routine and discipline, all aspects of personal growth and the ability to discern and travel our own personal road. When this chakra is balanced, there is a sense of calm, clear-sightedness, friendliness and tolerance of others. It is possible to understand the needs of others without feeling our own needs have to be ignored or suppressed. We know where we want to go and we can hold our own ground well. The Heart Chakra is usually considered to be green, while orange is the color of the Sacral Chakra. The Sacral Chakra is connected to the sensuality of touch and the innocent desire for pleasure; nonjudgmental, spontaneous enjoyment.

Magickally speaking, according to one of my favorite sources on Wiccan color correspondences, the color orange is associated with: Encouragement, Concentration, Attraction, Compassion, Energy, Good harvest, Warmth, Power, Adaptability, Prosperity, Fortune, Stamina, Discouraging laziness, Psychic energy, Appetite, Solar aspects, Business goals, Career goals, Selling, Studiousness, Plenty, New home, Material gain, Sealing a spell, Justice, Positive thinking, Strength, Courage, Luck, Stimulation, Success, Vitality, Encouraging fun, Enhancing mental agility, the God, Abundance, Property deals, Ambition, Legal matters, Action, Active finances, Kindness, and Creativity.

Whew. I need to sit down; that made me dizzy. We're talking about my heart here. I think there are a few we can cross off the list. Property deals and legal matters to start. Geez louise. But I think I get where this is going.

Orange is associated with the God Apollo and Goddesses Brigid, Diana, and Fortuna. In the tarot, orange is represented by The Sun and the Twos. In spell work, orange is used for encouragement, concentration, intellect, knowledge and understanding. Under the purview of the Sun, orange is active and energetic, courageous and intelligent. It helps us to achieve the goals we set for ourselves and it makes us giddy with pleasure and success. So the quiz got a few things right.

It seems to me that having an orange heart is a lucky thing, especially for one who has felt unlucky in love lately (okay, so I spilled a bit of personal data). It takes courage to love, to open one's heart even after it has been broken, to continue to believe in the possibility that true love is possible and can be a source of great happiness. In a world where there is so much evidence to the contrary, being the owner of an orange heart seems like a very good thing indeed.

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 6:27 PM | Comments (1)

I found this over at Cute Overload and it was just too good not to share.

As shamanic totem animals, otters' medicine includes: woman’s healing wisdom, sensibility without suspicion, guidance in unmasking talents, psychic awareness, faithfulness, recovery issues, and understanding the value of playtime.

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 5:01 PM | Comments (0)

by Czeslaw Milosz
Translated by Anthony Milosz

On the day the world ends
A bee circles a clover,
A fisherman mends a glimmering net.
Happy porpoises jump in the sea,
By the rainspout young sparrows are playing
And the snake is gold-skinned as it should always be.

On the day the world ends
Women walk through the fields under their umbrellas,
A drunkard grows sleepy at the edge of a lawn,
Vegetable peddlers shout in the street
And a yellow-sailed boat comes nearer the island,
The voice of a violin lasts in the air
And leads into a starry night.

And those who expected lightning and thunder
Are disappointed.
And those who expected signs and archangels' trumps
Do not believe it is happening now.
As long as the sun and the moon are above,
As long as the bumblebee visits a rose,
As long as rosy infants are born
No one believes it is happening now.

Only a white-haired old man, who would be a prophet
Yet is not a prophet, for he's much too busy,
Repeats while he binds his tomatoes:
No other end of the world will there be,
No other end of the world will there be.

Copyright © 2006 The Czeslaw Milosz Estate.

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 11:57 PM | Comments (1)

Blogickal has the perfect thing for you.

Okay, this is shameless self-promotion at its worst. But come on. These new Blogickal tees are cute. And cheerful. And they have a big pink flower on the front.

You know you want one.

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 6:42 PM | Comments (0)

In the ever-popular game of blog tag, I've been challenged by Slade at Shift Your Spirits to explore and write about my relationship with money and how I think that changing that relationship has affected, or could affect, my life - spiritually and otherwise.

The Personification of Money is a critical spiritual exercise, for a few reasons:

• You interact with Money as deeply and as often as any living person you know
• You believe in Money as much or more than you do your God, your Guardian Angels, your Spirit Guides (at least, you certainly behave as if you do — you think about Money everyday; do you think about your spirit everyday?)
• No abstract concept has a greater tangible effect on your life
• Many of the techniques required to personify and talk to Money come from the same head space that you must employ to communicate with your spirit guides
• Money / Abundance is one of the oldest, most enduring relationships you have
• Your relationship with Money is most likely to remain dysfunctional, because you don’t treat it as a relationship that can be improved upon

Few things come with as many demons as money. Our human relationship with money is dizzyingly complex and more often than not it brings out the worst in us. Throughout the entirety of human history, money - or its equivalent - has led people to do all sorts of morally and legally questionable things and money is the motivator for all kinds of behavior, most of it nothing that people would be readily willing to admit to. Yes, people do use money to do good things, but you rarely hear about someone being rewarded with money for doing something good. Why do you think that poverty is so often associated with virtue?

For me, attaching a moral value to money is precisely the problem. As magickal people, we learn that energy is neither positive nor negative, it simply exists. How we choose to use energy is where our ethics guide us. Likewise, money is a neutral thing; how we behave in response to money - getting it, spending it - is when morality comes into play. I don't believe that having money automatically makes you immoral and I don't believe that poverty makes you virtuous. I also have never accepted the view that just because someone has a lot of money that that makes them somehow special or better than anyone else. Money simply is.

But considering money from a philosophical point of view - or any other point of view for that matter - is anything but simple. And writing about one's own personal relationship with money, well that's downright terrifying! Why is it terrifying? Because it forces you to face your demons and to be honest about them. Facing one's demons is difficult and most people are content never to do it at all.

As part of my shamanic training I spent a lot of time confronting my shadow self. It is not quite as scary to do again once you've done it before and you know what a transformational experience it can be. So I was willing to face my personal money demons in order to address the question of my relationship with money.

Slade's challenge is based on an exercise of creating a personification that represents one's relationship with money and then giving "money" a "makeover." My version isn't so much a makeover as it is an evolving series of relationships with different personæ.

In my story there is Older Money, Old Money, and New Money.

Older Money

Older Money was Fey. (As I write that, the significance doesn't fail to escape me, knowing that Fey, or Sidhe, are often referred to as the "old ones." But I digress. My brain does that sort of thing to me all the time.)

Unlike humans who are so attached to outcomes, Fey live entirely in the moment. Older Money was a college student who liked to hang out in cafes with her friends and watch obscure foreign films at odd hours of the night. This lovely, naive Fey and I believed that the simple pleasure of the company of our friends was more important than money and so when it came time to pay for fun, whoever had money at the time covered the one who did not. Our relationship was sweet and idealistic. No one kept track of who spent what. It wasn't necessary, it would all come out in the wash, and besides, that wasn't the point.

Then the Fey left that rarified world - she graduated and got a job. So did I. And I encountered Old Money.

Old Money

Old Money was an arrogant, haughty woman who wore designer clothes and expensive jewelry. She held a big job with a fancy title, had her achievements touted in her alumnæ magazine and local newspaper, and sneered at anyone who did not measure up to her level of success. She was married to a preppy husband with a pedigree and an Ivy League degree and they owned an expensive condo in the city as well as a house on the socially acceptable island of the time.

Being in a relationship with her was very difficult because she made me feel inadequate and insecure. I was measuring my success by her definition and I was failing with my little job in the arts. So I took my considerable skills (for which I did not give myself enough credit) and used them to get a job with a very large salary. That was my sole reason for taking the job. Eventually it made me miserable and I still didn't have the things I thought I needed to be happy. So I bought lots of other things to fill the void in my life. That was when the relationship with Old Money went from bad to worse.

Old Money got me into lots of trouble. In addition to other problems it created, my relationship with her caused a great deal of difficulty in my romantic relationship at the time. And of course she never gave me a second glance when I decided I had had enough and walked away from my well-paying job to try to figure out what it might be that would truly make me happy.

It took me a while, but eventually I met New Money.

New Money

New Money is Fey too but she has picked up a few things over her years of living in the human world. For one thing she has a fierce shoe habit and in this world shoes don't grow on trees. While she lives in the moment, she knows that taking responsibility for herself is one of the best ways to maintain freedom. No matter what, she always pays the rent on time, but she's been known to splurge on something pretty she just had to have and worry about how to pay the electric bill later. She is a true individual, a free spirit. She's a little bit nutty but she exudes confidence, style, wit and charm. She draws the line around her life and she has a big eraser.

Having learned from the mistakes I made with Old Money, I've developed a healthy friendship with New Money. New Money and I are not competing; she provides a much-needed sense of balance. My relationship with New Money has taught me the value of defining success for myself. By coming to terms with the fact that it is OKAY not to have the big job with the big title and the big salary, instead of trying so hard to be something that someone else is I can focus on becoming something that I am. I'm not naive enough to believe that wealth (or abundance) doesn't matter, because it does, but I'm wise enough to know now that as long as I have enough to live my life the way I want then that is wealth enough for me. Part of the wisdom that New Money has given me also is that I don't have to apologize to anyone for having my own definition of abundance.

What does this mean to me?

Sometimes I still feel pressure to be a success in the obvious ways our culture defines for us. I read about Old Money's accomplishments and I feel twinges of shame that at my age I don't own my own home and that I don't have anything of obvious value to show for myself. But then New Money reminds me that I am the one I have to prove something to and that I have the ability to build whatever it is that I want for myself. Will I be the CEO of a Fortune 500 company? No, and truthfully I don't want to be. But I hope to be the owner of my own shoe store before too long. And imagine how happy New Money and I will be then!

My relationship with money has evolved as my sense of self has and in this way it is like any other relationship. The stronger my sense of self, the less I need relationships to define me or make me happy. And of course the irony is that it is precisely that lack of dependence that ultimately makes us better partners in our relationships.

Does this have anything to do with my spiritual life? Yes. It has been part of my journey toward Wicca that has given me a stronger sense of self. Discovering a source of truth in one area of life makes it easier to find truth elsewhere. It also has been interesting for me to observe that no matter what group of people you associate with there is a certain amount of pressure to conform to the group norm, whatever that may be. Even among Pagans, who generally consider themselves to be non-conformists, it takes a person with a strong sense of self to feel comfortable being a part of the group if you don't look or behave like the rest in some way.

There might be some people in my Pagan community who look at me and wonder what I'm doing there in my fancy shoes and obvious lack of the usual trappings. But I don't care. I am who I am and if I've learned anything over the past few years it is that the only person whose opinion counts when it comes to living my life is my own.

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 4:57 PM | Comments (5)

In no particular order:

1. The little sparrows that flit and hop around the city. They are so cute and they are fearless. Sometimes I think they are talking to me.

2. The fact that, after years and years of having very short hair, my hair is now long enough to put into a pony tail and wear in a twist. My goal is to be able to stick it on the top of my head with chopsticks.

3. A cleverly turned phrase.

4. Slipping into a newly made bed - smelling the clean sheets and putting my head on the pillows which are all puffy from being newly fluffed and feeling my head sink into their softness.

5. Running into friends in unexpected places.

6. Interesting reflections. For example, in San Francisco the street names are often etched into the cement of the sidewalk at corners. Once when I had gone back for a visit, I was walking down California Street. It had rained the night before and although the sidewalk was dry, water was standing in the etched letters of "California" and it was reflecting the sun and buildings around it. I will never forgive myself for not having my camera at that moment to capture that image.

7. The particular texture of a French macaroon.

8. Color coordinated loads of laundry. Blues and greens in one load. Orange and pink in another.

9. The way it feels to walk on a well-made stiletto heel.

10. Fonts

Now, it's your turn - go forth to your own blog and make a list of Ten Small Things You Love for No Big Reason.

Thanks to Dianne Sylvan, who started this meme at Dancing Down the Moon.

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 11:37 AM | Comments (0)

There's been a lot of talk in the Pagan blogosphere lately about the Law of Attraction, magickal manifestation and the relative merits of The Secret. It's clear from the varied opinions people hold on the topic that, as with many issues concerning Pagan practice and faith, there is no one right way and no consensus on how it really works or why. Jeff at The Druid Journal presents an overview of posts on the subject. Dianne Sylvan specifically addresses questions surrounding The Secret, complete with thought-provoking comment thread. And Slade at Shift Your Spirits asks whether there is a difference between magick and manifestation.

I like Slade's practical approach. As he said, most of the disagreements come down to a question of vocabulary and that, while the law of attraction does work, it is magick and it is WORK. He does a good job of reminding us that while the law of attraction is part of every witch's magickal vocabulary, it's not a quick fix and requires the same discipline and personal responsibility that govern the rest of the work that we do. For me, the part of his message that struck a chord was about consciousness programming. It's good, practical advice for "creating the experience you desire with mindfulness, care, and will, and altering your behavior over time to resonate with the change you wish to find in your environment." Not always easy considering the realities of the world we live in and the fact that we are mere humans with the inherent frailties and emotions that come along.

In another post, Slade offers some advice that I think is particularly helpful when we need a bit of help to think more positively.

Put yourself on a Whine Diet. Pessimism is a bad habit. Start retraining your conscious mind to process challenge in a new context.

A Diary or Personal Journal is a particularly fertile breeding ground for manifesting negativity. There are two prescriptions that will, over time, cure pessimism and literally change your life - Gratitude and Challenge Renovation.

You hear about “changing your vibration” to accommodate the positive things you want to manifest more of in your daily life. You can do this by keeping a Gratitude Journal. Make whining and complaining totally OFF limits. You are only allowed to list what is good.

To Renovate Challenges, try this: whenever you find yourself wanting to write down What Sucks — what problem has been thrown your way, what life has slapped you with — express it in terms of what you could do about it.

For example: “I’m broke. I don’t have enough money.” Translate this when you record it into something like “I am going to address my financial problems by…” And list the way you’re going to change it. Problems - Challenges - Life lessons always have built-in solutions.

How many times have we reached for our journals to pour out our heart about a lost love, a lost job, our fears, our failures? Think about how much power we give those things by committing them not just to words but to paper. I like Slade's advice about focusing on those things for which we are grateful instead; about focusing on solutions instead of problems.

After a recent Nor'easter that dumped more snow on Boston than we had all winter, yesterday's Vernal Equinox brought warming sun and it really felt like Spring had come. The snow was melting all around and yes, I saw crocuses, a whole bunch of them released from their snowy blanket, blooming bravely in a garden in my neighborhood. I am so grateful for those crocuses. For the promise of warmer weather to come and for the hopeful transformation they represented - at least to me.

Today, Cafe Astrology tells us:

Minutes into the day (EDT), the Moon enters Taurus, and we naturally begin to slow down in order to take in the world with our five senses. Now, we are motivated by the desire for serenity, security, peace, and comfort. The Moon is at her most sensual and constant in Taurus. Our basic impulses are to relax, resist change, and "stop to smell the roses". Life slows down a little, and we get comfortable.

As a Taurus, when the Moon is in my sign it creates a cozy, comfortable space. I'm going to choose to ignore the stubborn and materialistic side that Taurus sometimes brings and focus instead on using the energy of the day for enjoyable activities and relaxation. The Sun is shining, the crocuses are blooming, Spring is here. Life is good and I am grateful.

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 9:55 AM | Comments (4)

Today we celebrate the return of the Goddess to Earth, the arrival of Spring, life's reawakening and the annual process of renewal. The God begins to shine his warmth and light upon us to banish the darkness of Winter. Ostara (Eostre) the Goddess of Spring, presides over this day. As the second of the three Wiccan fertility festivals, this day is rich with symbols of fertility - eggs, rabbits, seeds.

A Prayer In Spring

Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers today;
And give us not the think so far away
As the uncertain harvest; keep us here
All simply in the springing of the year.

Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white,
Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night;
And make us happy in the happy bees,
The swarm dilating round the perfect trees.

And make us happy in the darting bird
That suddenly above the bees is heard,
The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill,
And off a blossom in mid-air stands still.

For this is love and nothing else is love,
The which it is reserved for God above
To sanctify to what far ends He will,
But which it only needs that we fulfill.

Robert Frost

Wishing you the blessings of this day. May you be filled with a joyful sense of renewal and light.

Ostara by Christina Aubin at Witches' Voice and Christina's Ostara links

My post on Ostara eggs

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 9:19 AM | Comments (1)

Drowning Peacefully ©2006-2007 Solkeera at deviantART

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 8:46 AM | Comments (4)

Kali is a wonderful Goddess to call upon when we need to banish something that has ceased to be good for us, to give us the ability to awaken to new possibilities and new opportunities.

According to ancient Hindu tradition, Kali is the mother of us all. Kali is often depicted as a bloodthirsty harbinger of destruction, but this is so that through death we can experience the wonder of rebirth. When our lives seem as though they are out of control, this is Kali telling us that we have not chosen the right path. Through Kali's strength, we are forced out of complacency and fear to find the right path for ourselves.

Kali has unwavering judgment, strong willpower and penetrative insight. She also characterises how we feel about our attachments to people and possessions, and how we react when we are threatened with losing them. Don't be afraid to shed - Kali offers you the strength to rid your life of excess baggage, to confront the forces that threaten you, to destroy the elements of destruction in your life. Once this is done, you can celebrate new life!

I am the End ©2006-2007 Solkeera at deviantART

Kali comes to hurl your life onto a new path that will ultimately prove to be more fulfilling than your current path. The following affirmations will remind you of Kali's gift and help you to manifest that which is truly for your highest good.

• My new life path reveals itself to me
• I say goodbye to destructive influences
• There are rainbows in every rainfall
• I am awake to my life's calling
• I welcome Kali's strength & recuperative powers
• I trust the Universe to provide
• It's OK to release my juicy anger
• I can say "no" to negative influences

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 10:32 PM | Comments (2)

Tonight there is a New Moon and Solar Eclipse in Pisces. As usual, Cafe Astrology tells us what this event has in store for us much better than I ever could:

On Sunday evening, an especially potent New Moon occurs in late Pisces--potent because it's a Solar Eclipse. Because this solar eclipse occurs in the sign of Pisces, imagination, service, dreams, ideals, and compassion will be in focus. In the sign of Pisces, this eclipse is about new beginnings when it comes to taking a leap of faith, our beliefs, the acceptance of imperfections, imagination and intuition, selfless service, and dreams.

This eclipse squares Pluto, suggesting that deep, transformational change is required of us now. This is a time when we should build our powers of acceptance, belief, and compassion; take a leap of faith--believe in something higher; start a creative, imaginative project; practice putting ourselves in others' shoes, and let some things go (such as judgments, annoyances, and the like); revitalize ourselves through experiences that require imagination, compassion, or that simply represent a "break" from the routine; give ourselves selflessly through compassionate service; and to share a dream with others. For some of us, circumstances are such that we need to pay more attention to our spirituality.

We may find ourselves completely re-working the area of life ruled by Pisces in our charts. It's a time to take special note of our dreams, as well as insights or thoughts/emotions that seem to come from "out of the blue". These could be creatively inspiring. The range of emotions that Pisces registers is extraordinary, and this could be a time when we feel that enormous range. We've been focusing on what works in the real world since the Full Moon on Lunar Eclipse on March 3rd. With Virgo, we are acutely aware of imperfections. We see the flaws around us and perhaps become very tense and irritable, or we work hard at fixing them. To Pisces, however, imperfection is beautiful. With the health and service axis (Pisces-Virgo) involved, health or work issues may come to the fore. As well, the ability to set boundaries to the amount of service we render can become a major issue. Situations that test our faith, or magnify our fears and doubts, may be part of the picture. For some, a new "calling" will surface in the coming six months. A new line of work that better matches our inner nature, desire to serve, or emotional make-up may unfold in the months following this eclipse. We may discover that we need more rest and relaxation or attention to our spiritual nature than we are currently allowing ourselves. Compassion, and finding beauty in imperfection, is our path to balancing this energy, symbolized in the North Node's position in Pisces.

That's some pretty powerful stuff, especially coming mere days before Ostara and its promise for the reawakening of the Earth, and by extension, ourselves. The promise of Spring speaks to our soul of hope, growth and new possibilities.

Since the actual moment of the New Moon is later tonight, 10:43 pm EST, we have all day to use the last of the Waning Moon to energetically and literally clean out the old to make room for the new. Clean your house today. The proverbial Spring Cleaning is a great way to prepare for Ostara and, to follow Chinese belief, to wait to clean house after the auspicious event occurs means you may be hoovering up the good chi that the New Moon brought in with it.

With the profound potential for transformation that the Eclipse adds to this New Moon, today is an ideal time to use the Dark of the Moon to perform a spell to banish something that you just haven't been able to shake. Call upon one of the dark mothers, light a black candle. I like to use petition spells for banishing because there is something very satisfying about seeing the words (and thus the issue) literally go up in flame.

Personally, I'm just one of those people who needs "more rest and relaxation or attention to our spiritual nature than we are currently allowing ourselves." The compassion I owe is to myself and while this Eclipse illuminates that which is hidden, I'm going to recognize the beauty in my own imperfection. I can't wait to turn my face toward the radiance of the new Sun and let it warm me to the core.

Petition spell and correspondences follow.

Petition Spells

Petition spells are easy and very effective. Basically, you are making a statement of intention while in the magick circle. You write your petition on a piece of paper. After reading your petition in the circle as the work, burn the spell and raise the cone of power, sending your intention out into the universe. As your petition burns, visualize your intention, bring up your strong emotion to back it up, and repeat the key words in your mind. (A word to the wise - if you live in an apartment with smoke detectors, make sure you leave a window or something open so the smoke can get out and cast your circle wide enough to include whatever outside area this includes. I learned this tip the hard way!)

Petition spells have five basic parts. You can do them in any order but this is the basic flow:

Announcement: The announcement simply states who you are. You are announcing yourself, and your intention to do magick, to the universe.

Evocation: The evocation is asking the divine powers to be present. You may want to focus on a specific God or Goddess, or simply say "Goddess, God and Great Spirit." You may call other helpful beings into your circle to help you, but it's best to focus your petition on the God and Goddess.

Intent: Here is the basis of the work. This is the actual spell. Write down what you want to manifest as clearly and succinctly as possible. Remember, your spell will manifest what you say, not what you meant to say. Give some thought to this. Maybe you'll have to write it a few times before you get it just right.

Conditions: With the conditions, you put in any parameters or limits you want to the spell. Usually conditions include some request that it be in balance with divine will, so your own ego doesn't supersede the spell. Phrases such as "I ask this be for the highest good, harming none," or "I ask this be in accord with divine will," are good to add to your conditions. You can ask that your petition happen within a certain timeframe, within a particular Moon or Sun cycle, or simply "immediately." Conditions are your safeguards. It's better for a spell not to work than to work in a way you didn't intend. The trick is that your heart must really be in it in order for it to work. You must really mean what you say; your emotions and intentions must be on the same page (no pun intended - oh who am I kidding, of course it was intended) in order for the conditions to protect you.

Gratitude: Gratitude acknowledges the divine help and gives thanks. Often included in the conditions, it ends with an affirmation that puts all requests into a positive tense.

Petition spells often look like this:

I (state your name or magickal name), ask in the name of the Goddess and the God to grant me/remove from me (state your intent). I thank the Goddess and the God and ask that this be correct and for the good of all involved, harming none. So mote it be.

Feel free to get creative to make the spell more personal. Some people like to use special paper and special inks (just make sure you use paper that will burn all the way - nothing is more disheartening than a petition spell that doesn't burn completely). You can also combine petition spells with other things, like charms, potions and symbols.

Just remember, the keys to a successful petition spell are to be specific, focus your intention, and really mean it.

Correspondences

Some Pisces correspondences:

Ruler: Neptune

Physical Correlation: feet and ankles

Tarot Correspondent: The Moon

Element: Water

Quality: mutable

Energy: feminine

Color: purple or lavender

Natural House: Twelfth

Natural House Qualities: cadent and endings or terminal

Keywords: sacrificing, introspective

Phrase: "I believe"

Since Pisces is ruled by Neptune, here are some Neptune correspondences:

Colors: sea blues, sea greens, gray, all incandescent and opaque colors

Metal: platinum, pewter

Stones: amethyst, aquamarine, bloodstone, blue aragonite, blue tourmaline, calcite (all colors), celestite, coral, gem silica lithium, green tourmaline, jade, kyanite, lepidolite, mother-of-pearl, pearl, petalite, petroleum products (oils and plastics), sea salt, sea shell, watermelon tourmaline, turquoise

Herbs: Adam and Eve root, African violet, agaric, alder, aloe, apricot, ash, blue flag, cabbage, catnip, cedar, celery, chives, copal, cucumber, elm, fennel, fig, fir, grape, lemon, lemon grass, lettuce, lotus, lovage, magnolia, mastic, milkweed, morning glory, moss, mugwort, mushroom, narcissus, onion, papaya, passion flower, peach, pear, plum, poppy, pumpkin, sea weed, skunk cabbage, soapwort, sweet pea, violet, water lily watercress, watermelon, willow, wisteria, yerba mate, ylang-ylang

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 9:48 AM | Comments (1)

Yes, it's St. Patrick's Day. Living in Boston, it's kind of hard to avoid it, and unless you like to drink green beer or Guiness, smashed in an overcrowded bar with a bunch of drunken guys pretending to be Irish, it's the perfect day to stay in with a DVD and a nice pinot noir. Obviously I'm not Catholic and I'm not Irish, I'm Scottish (well, I'm actually descended from the Scoti who left Ireland around the first century CE and settled in a land that came to bear their name, one of whom married a Pictish princess and had a son who became the first king of Scotland, but that's a long story). I'm also the smartass who thought it was funny to wear orange to school on St. Patrick's Day. Needless to say, I did not grow up here or I probably wouldn't have survived to be writing this.

Anne Johnson is Scottish too and today, in her post No Green Please, We're Celtic, she gives us a terrific interview with Mannanán Mac Lir, Celtic God of the Sea. In it, Mannanán suggests that we join him in solidarity against those nasty Irish priests who ran out the ancient Celtic Gods by wearing the tartan of our Clan.

MacAlpine Ancient tartan

Here's mine. I found some badass designers of modern kilts. I'll get one made for next year. (I know, girls aren't supposed to wear kilts. I don't care, I think they're cool, and since I don't live in Scotland I doubt the kilt police are going to come after me.)

But more about Mannanán Mac Lir. I'm ashamed to admit that before Anne introduced me to him I didn't know anything about him. Bad Celtic fairy witch!

Who is Mannanán Mac Lir? He is a father, lover, sage and gatekeeper. He is often seen as a psychopomp, and considered to have strong connections to the Otherworld islands of the dead, the weather, and the mists between the worlds. He is usually counted as one of the Tuatha Dé Danann, although most scholars consider him to be of an older race of deities. Among a number of romantic associations with other Goddesses, he is said to have been married to Fand, who was a Fairy Queen, and was father or step-father to many known figures throughout Celtic mythology, including Lugh.

As an ancient God who can aid those in need of guidance, protection, wisdom and magick, Mannanán Mac Lir can be a powerful ally and is known to be accessible to those who seek him. In addition to being associated with the ocean, mists and stormy weather, he also is associated with astral protection, psychic abilities and magickal knowledge. Apparently, he's also great fun just to hang out with. Mannanán is often invoked in Spring Equinox and Midsummer rituals, but his feast day is November 10th. The Temple of Manannan Mac Lir has samples of rituals to work with Mannanán Mac Lir, as well as a great number of mythological and artistic references.

According to Wikipedia:

Manannán has strong ties to the Isle of Man, where he is referenced in a traditional ballad as having been the nation's first ruler. On Midsummer, the Manx people offer bundles of reeds, meadow grasses and yellow flowers to Manannán in a ritual "paying of the rent", accompanied with prayers for his aid and protection in seafaring and fishing. He is also believed to have been a magician who could make an illusory fleet from sedge or pea shells in order to discourage would-be invaders.

According to the Book of Fermoy, a Manuscript of the 14th to the 15th century, "he was a pagan, a lawgiver among the Tuatha Dé Danann, and a necromancer possessed of power to envelope himself and others in a mist, so that they could not be seen by their enemies." It was by this method that he was said to protect the Isle of Man from discovery.

Manannán was associated with a "cauldron of regeneration". This is seen in the tale of Cormac mac Airt, among other tales. Here, he appeared at Cormac's ramparts in the guise of a warrior who told him he came from a land where old age, sickness, death, decay, and falsehood were unknown (the Otherworld was also known as the "Land of Youth" or the "Land of the Living").

As guardian of the Blessed Isles as well as Mag Mell he also has strong associations with Emhain Abhlach, the Isle of Apple Trees, where the magical silver apple branch is found. To the Celts, the Blessed Isles that lie beyond the sea are the gateways to the Otherworlds, where the soul journeys to after death. Manannán is the guardian of these gateways between the worlds. He is the Ferryman, who comes to transport the souls of the dead through the veils.

Thanks, Anne, for introducing me to Manannán Mac Lir. I think I'll pay him a visit. I've always had a thing for father figures.

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 1:23 PM | Comments (0)

Slade at Shift Your Spirits has a post and interesting comment thread going on how to calculate the meaning of your name with numerology. This involves assigning numbers to each of the letters in your name and then arriving at a "soul urge" number and and "expression" number for yourself. (Check out Slade's post for instructions for the numerology and interpretation chart, and be sure to read the comments!)

Slade and most of the commenters experimented with different variations of their name (first, full, given, chosen) to see how the results would differ depending on which name they used. I was curious about the difference between a given and a chosen name too. What insight is revealed when you compare the differences?

My given name is Angela.
Soul urge - 7 - introspection, analysis, spirituality
Expression - 4 - limitations/restrictions, system, order

My chosen Wiccan name is Angela-Eloise.
Soul urge - 5 - freedom/variety
Expression - 6 - service to others/responsibility

It's really interesting to me that, according to this system, my given name indicates a person who looks inward for answers and whose expressions are restricted by some system of order. This is surprising given that I'm actually very extroverted in personality. But if I really think about it, I can see how this could be true. My Wiccan name appears to be more free and expresses itself as being devoted to others. Perhaps what the difference between the two reveals is that my Wiccan self is my real self finally finding a means or an avenue for soul-fulfilling outward expression. Does this suggest that the name we choose for ourselves is a truer reflection of who we are as as a person?

I interpreted "soul urge" and "expression" as similar to the way you use personal soul cards in Tarot. This is a technique I learned from my first tarot teacher. Again with numerology, you use your birthday to determine which cards in the Major Arcana reflect your personality and your soul. The personality card represents what a person projects to others, what others see, one's persona or mask. The soul card represents the real person beneath the exterior. So, I equated "soul urge" from Slade's exercise to the soul card and "expression" as the personality card.

To figure out your personal soul cards, you add the numbers of the day, month and year you were born, then add the numbers of the result. A person with the birthday of March 12, 1958 would be 3+12+1958=1973; 1+9+7+3=20. The first number represents a person's personality card, which in this case is Judgment (XX in the Major Arcana). Then you reduce the first number to a single digit - 2+0=2. The second number represents the soul card, which in this case is the Priestess (II in the Major Arcana).

For myself, I add the numbers of the day (29), month (4) and year (1967) I was born to get 2000. This is reduced to 2. When the first number you get is a single digit number, it means that there is no persona card, only a strong card of the soul - who you are and what you project are the same. In my case, I am a Double Priestess.

The soul of the PRIESTESS is expressed through love, service, peace, gentleness, harmony, and quiet meditation. The PRIESTESS blossoms with a simple life dedicated to metaphysical work. Cultivate a peaceful environment away from the limelight. The total bliss of samadi (unity of body, mind, and spirit) is available to the PRIESTESS who walks the inner path of spirit and service without thought of a reward.

It seems the numbers may be trying to tell me something.

You can learn more about Tarot and Numbers - and the meanings of your personal soul cards - in Chapter 8 of Susan Levitt's book Introduction to Tarot.

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 9:15 AM | Comments (14)

Have you ever read an astrological report for a particular day that said aspects were good for love, or communication, or business, or whatever but your schedule kept you stuck somewhere that kept you from taking full advantage of the super ducky planetary energy? If I had a dime . . .

Well, there is a way to work around this. You can capture the benefit of planetary energies in a crystal, a charm or a potion - literally catching a "falling" planet and put it in your pocket to save for a rainy day.

Let's say Venus is in a once-in-a-lifetime aspect to Jupiter, which would serve to give your current romance a much-needed expansion, but the love of your life is on a business trip half-way around the world. All cheesy advertising to the contrary, the telephone isn't exactly your idea - or Venus' - of the best way to reach out and touch someone. What's a witch in love to do? She charges a pink quartz (or the effective stone of choice) with the energy of the moment to use when honey bunny gets back, that's what. Charging stones with energy is a very effective and easy way to use them to help you when you need them, whether it's to imprint the memory of a magickal working to help you do it again properly when you need to or to store the energy of a particular planetary alignment so you can benefit from that energy even after the planets involved have moved on. It's all about charging the stone with intent and channeling the energy available to you.

Potions work well for this type of work. At a moment when planetary energies are beneficial for a particular purpose, use the ingredients that correspond best to the planets involved to make a potion. Then, when you need to recreate those energies, even if the planets are not aspected in the same way, you can use the potion to bring the power to your spellwork that the planets would have if you had been able to do your work at the time they had been in that particular place. Whether you anoint candles or use the potion in other ways that work for you, the point is that the potion can serve you when the planets no longer can.

Busy witches with a little ingenuity never need to let auspicious astrological moments go to waste.

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 7:29 PM | Comments (0)

Those of us who are drawn to the magickal arts generally do so because we recognize that we have a higher level of sensitivity to the world around us that allows us to do amazing things. But sometimes that same sensitivity can be an obstacle when it comes to functioning in our society because sensitives are so often misunderstood or our sensitivity gets in the way of our own success. Magickal training does much to teach us how to protect ourselves and how to live within our power, but sometimes we need a little help.

Jenna Avery is a Life Coach who has built her entire practice around helping sensitive souls succeed. This article is reprinted with her permission.

Are You Giving Away Your Power?

In both my coaching work and personal life, I've noticed a recurring conversation around giving away our power. Many clients and friends have found themselves in situations where they have been relinquishing their personal power and over-empowering others. Usually they end up feeling betrayed, taken advantage of, or simply pushed beyond their limits. I wrote this little primer on the subject of personal power for a client, and thought I would share it with you.

You give away your power when you ...

• Doubt yourself. Energetically other people sense this and take advantage of it.
  
• Try to be nice and polite, and make everyone else happy.
  
• Just go along so you don't make waves, cause trouble, or disrupt the "peace." Does the phrase "peace at any price" mean anything to you? Are you giving up your own personal inner peace to create the illusion of peace with others?
  
• Over-empower others by looking for approval and validation from them, instead of getting it from yourself. This gives other people the power to hurt you.
  
• Forget that you do know what you're doing, and you are good at it.
  
• Have poor boundaries.
  
• Get energetically "mixed up" with other people by not staying in your own energy. Or, you let other people take over your energetic space by leaving your body or by pulling back.
  
• Allow yourself to be intimidated by bluster, bragging, or emotional assaults from other people.
  
• Don't say what's true for you and then honor it. You can do this without being confrontational.
  
• Energetically and emotionally buy into other people's dramas, emergencies, and aspersions.
  
• Allow other people to run your life, or try to run other people's lives.
  

You might do these things because ...

• It's a habit, or you're engaged in unconscious patterns of behavior with another person.
  
• You've been raised to be a "good girl" or a "good boy" who doesn't cause trouble.
  
• You doubt yourself, your reactions, and your truths. Our society doesn't validate your high sensitivity, so you've learned to doubt ALL of yourself.
  
• You fear confrontation.
  
• You try to take care of people.
  
• You think that if the superficial level is quiet and peaceful, you will feel better. Sometimes this is true in the short term. But again, at what long-term price?
  

Here's what you can do instead:

• Remember to breathe! Focus your breath into your solar plexus and third chakra, which is your personal power chakra.
  
• Practice staying in your own energy, your own body, and your own skin.
  
• Learn energy skills to strengthen your energetic and interpersonal boundaries.
  
• See yourself as a whole, resourceful, and spiritual being, with your own best answers. When you choose to focus from the inside out in this way, you'll be less susceptible to outside influence.
  
• Learn to say "No" and mean it. This means being firm -- and not just with the tough people, but with everyone. Your personal power must become your habit, not a reaction, afterthought, or counterattack.
  
• Use your anger wisely -- anger is the energy of personal power -- and stand up for yourself.
  
• Stand on the courage of your convictions. Believe in yourself no matter what anyone else does or says, or how they behave.
  
• Ask for what you need and want. Give yourself what you need and want.
  
• Similarly, don't burden others with the task of validating you. Use your own yardstick to measure your successes. Look to your higher self for validation and approval.
  
• Own this truth: Other people have their own path and you are not responsible for them. You might even be doing them a disservice by not acknowledging this.
  
• Claim your rights and place in the world. You do have the right be treated respectfully by other people.
  
• Be detached and practice detachment by observing other people's behavior without attachment. Think to yourself: "Isn't that interesting? I wonder what that's about?" Remember that another person's behavior has almost nothing to do with you.

  A final thought:

  Some people think that being powerful is a negative thing. When I talk about power, I'm talking about operating in the world from a deep place of strength, trust, and alignment within yourself. Owning your power is having the courage to show up as your full and true self, without apologies, and without holding back about who you are and what you want. It doesn't mean being rude, pushy, inconsiderate, or uncompassionate. But it does mean speaking your truth, honoring your sensitivity, and believing in yourself.

  Resources:

  Trust Your Vibes At Work And Let Them Work For You!, by Sonia Choquette.

  Take Your Power Back, Sonia Choquette speaking on "Trust Your Vibes," Hay House Radio archives, Nov. 1, 2005.

  True Balance: A Commonsense Guide for Renewing Your Spirit, audio and book by Sonia Choquette, third chakra chapter.

  My Energy Skills TeleClasses teach great skills to help you strengthen your power.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ?Copyright January 2006, Jennifer K. Avery

  Jenna Avery, the Life Coach for Sensitive Souls, offers an original coaching program designed to guide highly sensitive souls to a deep sense of inner rightness, so they are inspired to step forward and shine. You're invited to visit her website, Highly Sensitive Souls to take her free online assessment, "Is Your Sensitivity Working For You?"

  Posted by Angela-Eloise at 8:52 AM | Comments (3)

CLOTHES are to us what fur and feathers are to beasts and birds; they not only add to our appearance, but they are our appearance. How we look to others entirely depends upon what we wear and how we wear it; manners and speech are noted afterward, and character last of all.

Emily Post

There's been much discussion in the Pagan blogsphere lately about how Pagans dress, what our choices in fashion communicate about us as a community, and whether Pagans would get more respect from others if we dressed more like the mainstream. The debate boils down to two major issues: gaining respect for the Pagan minority and whether Pagans even care to be accepted in mainstream society. There are no easy or obvious answers but some wise and well-spoken members of the Pagan community have had some interesting things to say.

Diana Vreeland

In her post Pink Is The Navy Blue of India (the title of which is a quote from Diana Vreeland, the twentieth century's greatest arbiter of style and elegance) Hecate tells us:

I know witches who wear Hermes and Jimmy Choo, witches who wear jeans and t-shirts, and witches who are Goth beauty queens. They're all serious about their religion and all of them belong to a religion that "others" don't respect. Maybe Uncle Gerald was onto something with all that skyclad business.

Well, as Mark Twain said, "Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence in society." And in her post On Clout, or the Lack Thereof Anne Johnson makes an interesting point:

Pagans are not going to be taken seriously, no matter what they wear. In order to be taken seriously in America you need to be numerous, well-heeled, and organized.

From a political point of view I agree with Anne but the shoe-hound in me wants to return to the "well-heeled" part of her comment. I think those who argue that modern Pagans would be taken more seriously if they gave some thought to how they dress have a point. The fact that what we wear conveys a certain message is just a fact of our culture.

In my opinion, one of the best posts on this whole matter of Pagan dress is Diane Sylvan's essay On Pagan Conformity. In it she asks the question: "When all is said and done, is it our outfits that are going to keep us from being taken seriously, or is it what we represent?" Read the whole thing; it's brilliant. But this statement most completely states the argument for nonconformity:

Ideally, Paganism represents a fundamentally different way of looking at the world from the mainstream's materialistic commercialism and environmental degradation. Why should we dress to fit into a status quo we don't want to be a part of? Becoming Pagan isn't something that tends to attract conformists; why look like everyone else when you aren't like everyone else?

In many ways we're not like everyone else, I agree. But whether we like it or not, unless we have a trust fund, most of us still have to work and pay rent just like everyone else. There's a time and a place for everything. My personal belief is that at home, in coven, at a ritual, and even at a festival people should wear whatever they want and whatever the occasion suggests and public opinion be damned. I'm not telling someone else what they should be wearing to worship. But Pagans who stubbornly insist upon dressing like "Renaissance-festival reject freaks" at work, in court, or in any other mainstream public arena shouldn't be surprised if they don't get the promotion, the judgment or the respect that they want.

Of course, being the smart ass that I am, my favorite part of Sylvan's essay is this:

We've had hundreds of years to get used to clerical collars and saffron-colored Buddhist robes.  If I show up for an interfaith council dressed in a Gandalf cloak with prosthetic pointed ears and a six-foot staff tipped with a $300 quart point, well, I pretty much waive the right to be surprised when they laugh at me.  Do I have the right to dress how I want to dress?  As far as I know, as long as my bits are covered to the satisfaction of state and local laws, yes I do.  Do other people have the right to think I look like a moron?  Oh yes, and I promise you, they will.

The part for which I admire her the most is this:

I wish I could say I agreed completely with either side of the debate, but the truth is, I can see both points.  I too have been embarrassed by my co-religionists.  I too get tired of being looked at as a kook because of other people's wardrobes.  Yet I too want to rage against the society that demands I dress and act a certain way and sink my hard-earned dollars into being just like everyone else.

The only thing I can say with certainty is this: my duty is not to dress like a Pagan or like a Christian or like anyone. My duty is to be 100% myself 100% of the time, and not apologize for who I am or what I look like.

I loved Hecate's post on high-fashion with a pagan twist, Speaking Of What Witches Wear. Alexander McQueen dedicated his dramatic Parisian presentation of his Autumn/Winter 2007/2008 collection to a distant relative, Elizabeth How, one of the Salem witches, and Jason at The Wild Hunt thinks McQueen's Pagan Fashion could be the start of a new "Pagan chic." Imagine the thrill!

Golden witch: one of Alexander McQueen's Salem inspired witches, Photograph by Heathcliff O'Malley © Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited

Honestly, I'm most likely to turn up for ritual in a favorite pair of Yohji Yamamoto pants. That's just me. And I'd be tickled pink to find a bunch of sister witches who wanted to start a coven devoted to that goddess of fashion Coco Chanel. Okay, I'm kidding. Mostly.

How many cares one loses when one decides not to be something, but to be someone.

Coco Chanel

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 5:13 PM | Comments (1)

Last night at 11:45 pm EST Mercury returned to its Direct station. For anyone who has been feeling the often unsettling effects of the Mercury Retrograde, things should start to smooth out a bit.

It's been so long since I've been tuning into Mercury's effects on my personal life that I sometimes overlook the fact that others may have no idea what I'm talking about when I mention Mercury's Retrograde and breathe a sigh of relief when it's gone Direct again.

When Mercury went Retrograde on February 13, Sojourner commented in this post about the "rise of posts about astrology, specifically those referencing Mercury in retrograde." She asked the question, "What are they talking about"

A few knowledgeable commenters chimed in. There was this more scientific apporach:

Is your question simply, "What does "Mercury retrograde" mean?"

Answer: The planets appear to move east-to-west through the sky most of the time (relative to the background stars). Sometimes, however, they slow down, stop, move west-to-east for a while, slow and stop again, and then continue their forward motion. This is called going "retrograde" (from Latin, "retro" backward, "gradi" to step). All planets go retrograde at least once a year. The apparant backwards motion is caused by the motion of the Earth in its orbit as it catches up and passes the other planets (to simplify things a little).

Astrologically, the effect of retrograde is to reverse or inhibit the usual influence of the planet. Thus, when Mercury goes retrograde, communications go haywire. In theory, when Venus goes retrograde, relationships and motherly influences are inhibited or reversed; when Mars goes retrograde, energy and power either fizzle out or are misdirected; etc.

And this nice summary of how Mercury affects us:

Mercury is the planetary muse and mentor of our mental and communicative lives. As [another commenter] explains...it reverses it course, which Mercury does three or four times a year.

While these times of retrograde can be stressful, we can reduce such stress by seeing these retrograde periods as a symbolic "sleep cycle." This is a good time to take pause, and use this period to go back over familiar territory, reflecting on different situations and thinking about possible miscommunications, dropped projects that we need to pick up again, and so forth. It's a good time for revisiting the past and looking at how lessons of old can be applied to issues of the present; a time to pay attention to underlying issues. On the other hand, leave matters that focus on future commitments for later, when Mercury comes out of retrograde.

Mercury will go retrograde three times this year, and we are currently in the midst of the first one, which began on February 13th and will continue until March 7th. It began in the Air sign of Aquarius...signaling our mental energies being at a real peak, and then those energies will seem to go into a real flux starting this Sunday when the Sun goes into Pisces, a water sign. Don't be too surprised or concerned if starting next week and continuing for two weeks your mind feels like its playing tricks on you - moments of deja vu competing with times when it seems you can't remember shit.

This particular retrograde is attitude adjustment time, so use common sense to find common ground, and share your visions. This is a good time for exploring how your attitudes might be influencing your perception of things and how you deal with certain issues. It might be worthwhile to look at finding the commonalities, instead of focusing on the differences.

Mercury retrogrades are a good time to reflect, regroup, and rejuvenate. Once it goes straight again, you can then knuckle down and get to work on the issues that you identified during such "RE" periods. After March 7th we will have three months or so until June 15th, when Mercury will go into retrograde for the second of three times this year.

I agree, Mercury Retrograde often can be a time to reflect and revisit. A friend of mine got a piece of business she thought she had lost during a Mercury Retrograde. The backwards motion sometimes can bring things back to you. In fact, after feeling rather negative effects when Mercury began it's Retrograde cycle last month, a few things returned to me as well. You just never can tell.

Part of what makes Mercury Retrograde feel differently for different people is where Mercury is in your astrological chart and whether or not Mercury was Retrograde at the time of your birth. People for whom that is the case usually experience Mercury Retrograde as a time of very good energy because it's kind of like returning home.??Mercury is in my 8th house, which is the house of passion, death, rebirth and soul. That is why a Mercury Retrograde has the ability to affect me so profoundly. When things are good, they're great, but when they're not, well, you get the picture. My Mercury is also in the house of Aries, which can present some communication problems on its own - Aries communicators are often misunderstood.

A great source of information about Mercury Retrograde is Cafe Astrology. There are numerous books on the subject but the one that had been recommended to me as a good one to read if you are just learning astrology is Isabel Hickey's Astrology: A Cosmic Science.

Sojourner also asked the question, "what's up with this astrology stuff?"

Well, I've grown more interested in astrology as I've started getting into more advanced spell craft. Working with the energy of the planets and how they are moving through the signs can bring powerful energy to spell work. I see astrology as a way to explore these energies and how they affect us. Following a nature-based spiritual path, it feels, well, natural, to turn to astrology for information. I also believe that more advanced astrology can lend a great deal of insight into our personalities and help us to work through issues that we face.

People have been interested in astrology for thousands of years. Here is an interesting overview of the history of astrology and Wikipedia's entry on the subject covers the different types of astrology as well as the general history (note that the Wikipedia article is of disputed neutrality - I still found it interesting).

A post for another time!

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 8:05 AM | Comments (0)

The first total lunar eclipse in nearly three years:

A shadow falls on the moon during a lunar eclipse as seen from Amman, Jordan. Reuters photo by Ali Jarekji

The Associated Press reports.

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 9:26 PM | Comments (1)

A few days ago a coworker and I were discussing the recently reported, depressing news about the decimation of honeybees. Hecate brought our attention to it in this post highlighting reportage by The New York Times. Bad news indeed.

I snapped this bee, who was enjoying a zinnia at Martha's Vineyard Glassworks.

But the news isn't all as grim. An article in today's San Francisco Chronicle says that bees may have found their saviors in a somewhat less than obvious place: urban gardeners.

[Professor Gordon] Frankie, an entomologist at UC Berkeley and a specialist in the behavior of native bees, has been the leader of a decadelong urban bee research project. By documenting bee diversity and populations in urban gardens throughout California, he's discovering which flowering plants attract native bees and determining whether urban gardens can support bees.

According to Professor Frankie, as suburban developments replace wild habitats where native bees once thrived and agricultural practices, which often include widespread pesticide use and plowing under native plants, destroy numerous bee populations, urban environments have the potential to become safe havens for struggling bees.

The dire circumstances facing our native pollinators is the motivation behind Frankie's project. As native bees in the wild dwindled, Frankie began documenting bee diversity and frequencies in urban environments to determine whether urban gardens could support reasonable native bee populations.

As I have said before - joining many of my brothers and sisters in this belief - pagans should be on the forefront of environmental activism. What could be a more satisfying way to do your part than to grow a bee garden?

"Instead of planting a garden with only the flowers you enjoy, look around at the flowering plants that are native to your area. Those are the plants that will attract the bees. The bees know what they need, and they'll come. If you plant it, they will come," [Professor Frankie] said.

One of the challenges of being an urban pagan is that we often don't have the ability to experience nature the way we might like. Growing a bee garden, even if it's just a few potted plants on a fire escape, could provide the opportunity to grow your own herbs and to plant other things that are important to your magickal work, in addition to saving native bees. Having a few bees around could be a good thing. As animal spirits, bees' wisdom includes connection to the goddess Diana, understanding female warrior energy, reincarnation, communication with the dead, helping earth-bound spirits move on to their proper place, concentration, and prosperity.

UC Berkeley has a wonderful website that tells you all you need to know about planting urban bee gardens.

And what do bees have to do with chocolate? Frankie says:

In a world without bees, the only choice they'd have would be the dried-out tortillas or rice cakes, since wheat and rice are self-pollinated. Even chocolate, from the cacao plant, depends on the pollination of bees.

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 1:09 PM | Comments (0)

Tonight at 6:17 pm EST is a Full Moon Lunar Eclipse. More than simple astronomical and astrological events, for witches Full Moons are times for spiritual and ritual observance known as Esbats. When we are new to the craft we buy books that teach us how to be a witch and they tell us about Esbats; we accept their importance and we learn rituals to observe them. But how many of us stop to wonder, "What is an Esbat?"

According to Wikipedia:

An esbat is a ritual observance of the full moon within Wicca and other Wiccan-influenced forms of Neopaganism. Some groups extend these celebrations to include the dark moon, or even the first and last quarters. Traditionally, the Sabbats are times of celebration, while magical work is done at the esbats.

There are thirteen canonical full moons each year, although some years will have only twelve, because a synodic lunar month is more than twenty-eight days long (actually about 29½ days). A "blue moon" is popularly defined as the second full moon in a calendar month, although some define it as the second full moon while the sun is in one sign of the Zodiac.

In The Witches' Goddess, Janet and Stewart Farrar note that the Babylonians considered the new moon to be the time when the Goddess was menstruating, and it was bad luck to do work on that day. In Jewish culture, this is the first day of the month, called Rosh Chodesh, and is still observed by some as a holiday for women.

The term esbat is probably a recent adoption, dating to the writings of Margaret Murray. It is derived from French esbat (modern ébat), meaning roughly "frolic, romp", with some sexual connotations. This term was used during the European witch trials to describe the supposed behaviour of witches engaging in Devil worship, and it has been claimed that Murray was misled by the word's coincidental resemblance to the word sabbat.

You learn something new every day.

In an effort to focus on the more spiritual and philosophical aspects of being a witch, rather than analyzing the correspondences of this Full Moon for spell working I wanted to explore the basis for recognizing a Full Moon for its spiritual significance. Turns out I've been right all along to focus on the various ways that Full Moon energy can best be used for magick.

Hare, by Modern Society at deviantART

March's Full Moon is known as the Hare Moon. The hare is sacred to the Goddess, in particular to Eostre, symbolising rebirth and renewal, abundance and good fortune. She is the commonest witch familiar, teaching divination and clairvoyance under the moon's influence. Associated with moon deities, the image of the hare in the moon appears throughout spiritual traditions the world over.

Dancing Hare has a great overview of the hare's role in mythology, her association to various gods and goddesses, and practices around the world that center around the hare.

Because of its fertility (one doe can produce 42 young a year), the Rabbit or Hare is an emblem of fertility, abundance, good fortune, sexuality, lasciviousness, lust, procreation, puberty, renewal, spring, rampant growth, excess, and love gods and goddesses such as Venus, Aphrodite, and Cupid. Philostratus said the most suitable sacrifice to Aphrodite was the Hare as "it possesses her gift of fertility in a superlative degree". Pliny the Elder even prescribed its meat as a cure for female sterility. Hares genitals were carried to avert barrenness. Folk magic says that if anyone eats hare flesh for seven days it will make them beautiful. Pliny reported that people thought that if you ate a hare your body would be sexually attractive for nine days. The Hare is addressed in an Anglo Saxon poem as "shagger"!

The hare, along with the egg, is a traditional symbol associated with Ostara, the Sabbat that celebrates fertility and abundance. This Full Moon would be an excellent time to work spells to bring fertility and abundance into your life; literal fertility if what you want is to have a child in lucky Pig Year, or metaphoric fertility if there is something else you hope to manifest.

In Jungian theory, the Rabbit or Hare can symbolize the mother archetype. Jung's Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious displays a photograph of a window in the Paderborn cathedral in Germany, in which three hares move clockwise within a circle, which Jung says represents consciousness "scenting or intuiting" the unconscious and the center/Self.

A Full Moon is always a good time for performing divination and tapping into the power of this lunation to work on psychic skills. If self-analysis is what you want to work on at this time, use the hare's power and energy to help you.

This is what Cafe Astrology has to say about the effects of this particular Full Moon:

This month's Full Moon is a Lunar Eclipse. Lunar Eclipses are about relationships and polarities. With the Virgo-Pisces service axis involved, this Lunar Eclipse presses us to look more closely at our needs, lacks, and wants in our lives. We are pushed to find a balance between day-to-day functions and routines, physical health, and the need for order (Virgo) and vision, spiritual health, disorder, and the infinite (Pisces). Virgo rules the tools and techniques that we use to deal with day-to-day life, while Pisces rules the tools that we use to deal with our spiritual selves. Some sort of crisis (which can be a crisis of consciousness) or sudden awareness of a lack in our lives provides us with a golden opportunity to explore our emotional needs within the context of the house polarity where the eclipse occurs in our natal charts. Relationships may be challenged, broken, or strengthened dramatically at this time. Our discovery is emotionally charged and dramatic. Epiphanies are likely at this time as we become acutely aware of our lack. This understanding can propel us into positive action. This Full Moon urges us to strike a balance between work and service, practicality and impracticality, criticism and acceptance.

Crises and epiphanies can be useful to overcome challenges and move forward in more positive ways. What were you working on at the New Moon? The Full Moon is a time of culmination and the promise of fulfillment of that which was started at the New Moon. A Full Moon is a time when our tendency is to focus on romance, fertilization, and relationships in any case.

Virgo Babydoll Tee ©2003-2007 Novokain at deviantART

For those of us who are working on relationships, this is good information to keep in mind. It's also important to remember that Mercury is still in Retrograde (and will be until late in the evening on March 7). Communication may be challenged but it's also a good time for reflection and to revisit old issues. While we're talking about relationships, sometimes the energy of a Mercury Retrograde brings things back to us. I'm just saying.

When the Moon is in Virgo it is a good time for intellectual pursuits, more so for those requiring critical detail rather than innovative creativity. This is also a good time to take care of any matter that requires painstaking attention. People may become shy and retiring with the Moon in Virgo, but they also tend to be discriminating, fastidious and overly critical. These influences lead to concern about food and health as Virgo rules the intestines and the powers of assimilation. Many people feel the urge to clean their homes at this time, which is a good way to channel Virgo energy.

Spring cleaning anyone? Want to start a diet or health regimen to get ready for swimsuit season? Virgo's influence over the energy of the Full Moon make this an excellent time to concentrate on workings around these goals as well.

Correspondences

Correspondences that can help make your Full Moon in Virgo magick more effective are listed below.

The Full Moon in March, in addition to being called the Hare Moon, also is referred to as Sap Moon, Crow Moon, Lenten Moon, Storm Moon and Chaste Moon. Celtic traditions call it the Moon of Waters, associate it with the Alder Tree, and use its energy for prosperity, protection, healing.

Energy at this time is about breaking illusions, seeing the truth in you life however much it may hurt. It is a time of new beginnings, growing, prospering, exploring. A time for seeking a balance of Light and Dark.

Some common correspondences with the March Full Moon:

Deities: Black Isis, the Morrigan, Hecate, Cybele, Astarte, Athene, Minerva, Artemis, Luna ?
Nature Spirits: Mer-people, Air and Water beings who are connected with spring rains and storms ?
Herbs: broom, High John root, yellow dock, wood betony, Irish Moss ?
Colors: pale green, red-violet ?
Flowers: jonquil, daffodil, violet ?
Scents: honeysuckle, apple blossom ?
Stones: aquamarine, bloodstone ?
Trees: alder, dogwood ?
Animals: cougar, hedgehog, boar ?
Birds: sea crow, eagle ?
Virgo correspondences:

Planet: Mercury

Element: Earth

Incense: narcissus

Colors: pastel blue, peach, yellow, gold, black

Metal: platinum

Crystals: cornelia, jade, jasper

Flowers: rosemary, madonna, lily, valerian

Tree: elder

Birds: magpie, parrot

Body: intestines, bowels, pancreas, gall bladder

Archangel: Hamliel

Mercury is associated with the element of Air, the color orange, and the following gemstones: opal, moss agate, aventurine, sodalite, and flourite. Herbs most commonly associated with Mercury are: almond, anise, clover, dandelion, dill, hyssop, lavender, lemongrass, lilac, mace, peppermint, rosemary, vervain.

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 9:18 AM | Comments (1)

Despite what the weatherman has to say about tonight, this morning in Boston is sunny, bright and mild. March has come in like a lamb. Being born in the Year of the Sheep, I tend to be fond of lamb associations, but I realized I had no idea where March's lamb and lion folkore began.

The phrase apparently has its origins with the constellations Leo, the Lion, and Aries, the Ram (or lamb), and the relative positions of these constellations in the sky at the beginning and end of the month.

This great illustrative cartoon comes from Jack Horkheimer: Stargazer.

Of course, in most places the weather at the end of March is warmer than at the beginning, so common sense led people to use the phrase to describe weather conditions. A little creative license (and the whims of Mother Nature) and suddenly you've got Aries coming before Leo!

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 8:45 AM | Comments (1)