The Moon will be Full this afternoon at 2:40 EDT. As usual, I turn to my favorite resource, Cafe Astrology, to learn what to expect:

On Friday afternoon, the Full Moon occurs when the Sun in Aries opposes the Moon in Libra. The Full Moon is a time of culmination and the promise of fulfillment of that which was started at the New Moon. It is an emotional time—a time of romance, fertilization, and relationships.

The Aries-Libra polarity is a relationship axis, where Aries represents "self" and Libra represents "other". Where Aries is about self-assertion, Libra is about compromise. The energy of the Libra Moon is the awareness of the need for relationships and all that comes with maintaining them--compromising, negotiating, graciousness, and balancing. The Aries Sun, on the other hand, is self-assertive, leading, and personally courageous. This Full Moon urges us to strike a balance between meeting our personal needs and tending to the needs of a significant other, and between independence or autonomy and dependence or companionability.

The Libra Moon is diplomatic, equality-minded, and fair-minded. The Aries Sun, however, values authenticity over tact, and is energized by independent efforts. The Full Moon illuminates this conflict.

With the Moon full and bright in the sky, symbolic "illumination" occurs in our own lives. However, these new feelings and revelations are emotional ones, as emotions burst forth into our consciousness. It's time to express ourselves, and to let things out of our systems. Of course, we might want to exercise some care while doing so, knowing that what is coming out of us is new and not particularly rational as yet. Full Moons are about exposing or illuminating issues that are already there, but that have not yet been dealt with.

At the risk of sounding like a sappy romantic, I really believe that this Full Moon is going to be all about manifesting love, whether it's finding a new love or supporting the one you have.

For one thing, we just experienced Ostara. Remember that part of preparing for Ostara is about clearing out the old to make room for the new? So many women I know have ended relationships recently and made lots of changes in their lives, including lots of haircuts just like mine (I explain the significance of that in my post Cut the Crap). I wondered what was going on that could be influencing so many people in a similar way, and now I think I'm getting my answer. There's such a confluence of magickal energy that it would be difficult not to come to the conclusion that the universe has been preparing us to be able to use the energy of this Full Moon to fill the space we've worked so hard to create. It's Spring and we, embodying the Maiden Goddess, have returned ripe with fertility and filled with hope at the promise of new things (so, everyone make sure to stock up on birth control if a baby is not part of your romantic picture). It seems that we may be destined to find new love this Spring. Before long, it will be Beltane and we all know what that means.

This Full Moon has the potential to support love magick in a very positive and powerful way. The balance (another reference back to Ostara!) between the energy of the Aries Sun and the Libra Moon strikes me as representing the qualities that we need in an ideal relationship. It also seems like a stabilizing influence while Venus is in slippery Pisces (as it will be until April 6). Venus in Pisces can be the ultimate way to express love, tenderness and affection being at their strongest now. But borders and boundaries blur under Venus in Pisces, so it can be difficult to tell the difference between dreams and reality. Astrologically, there is a lot going on with Venus this week that also supports my sense that this Full Moon is the ideal time to try out that love spell you've been hanging on to. Check out This Week in Astrology to learn more details.

Speaking of that perfect love spell, Christopher Penczak included the spell he used to find his true love in the book Outer Temple Of Witchcraft: Circles, Spells and Rituals. I've been holding on to it, waiting for the perfect opportunity to use it. I think this may be it.

Lifemate Love Spell

You will need:

1 live red rose
Vase
Spring water
Sugar
Dragon's blood

On the last Friday before the Full Moon, or any waxing day with beneficial aspects to Venus (which makes today perfect as long as you do it before 2:40 pm), cast a circle and meditate with the rose. Pour your heart out to it. Tell it all the things you want in a partner, and how you envision your life with a partner. It's best not to get too specific about who, or about superficial qualities, but to express the essence of what you want in a partnership. Call upon the spirit medicine of the rose to make your magick.

Bless a pinch of sugar (white or brown) and place it in the water of the vase. If you can obtain water from a special spring or well, so much the better, but any pure water will do. Then place a pinch of dragon's blood in the water for power. Put the rose into the vase, raise your energy to the universe, release the circle, and leave the rose on the altar for three days. As the rose begins to wilt, take the petals apart, dry them, place them in a green, pink, or red bag or box, and put them someplace special. You can carry it with you, but one thing that works is to put them under your mattress. If you are ready to meet your love, you will meet within three months.

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 11:37 AM | Comments (1)

Ostara is a celebration of the Goddess' rise from the underworld, refreshed and renewed as the Maiden of Spring. On the Vernal Equinox the equal day and night tips the balance towards light and life and Spring speaks to our soul in messages of hope, of growth, and new possibilities. As the Earth quickens, so does something within us. For me, the warmth of Spring can't come soon enough.

One of my favorite online Ostara references has always been Christina Aubin's post at Witches' Voice. Christina writes about all of the Sabbats with tremendous authority and knowledge about the lore, symbology, practices and spiritual significance that bring meaning to each turn of the Wheel.

On the subject of balance, Christina says:

Spring Equinox is also celebration as well as a practice of balance. For it is not quite Spring and yet not quite winter, it is the time when we are perched magically between the two seasons. The trees and plants are stirring with renewed life, and yet we still receive the March wintry storms. It is a time to remember our balance in the greater scheme of things, we are an important part of all that happens around us, our actions and inactions, our deeds and not, all have effect on the Earth, Her people, and the Universe. So it is the time of the year when we understand our need to walk in balance with the Universe much more clearly.

Of course, the observance of any equinox has to do with balance. As we are experiencing a time of equal day and night, spiritually and philosophically we turn to ideas of how to achieve balance in our lives. Whatever this means for each of us, Ostara is one of those times of the year when there is significant energy to support whatever work we feel the need to do. Are we balancing work and home? Are we balancing personal priorities with those of our relationships to others? Are we balancing inward looking with outward acting? Hecate's Ostara post addresses this issue quite eloquently.

Among the bases for the Wiccan Sabbat of Ostara is the tradition of planting the seeds that will later become the bounty of the harvest. On this aspect of Ostara, Christina Aubin also writes:

Seeding, of course, has a multi-level meaning, for the seeds we plant can be on the soil of our Being as well as the soil of the earth. It is the time after the final harvest of fields and of self during Samhain, the contemplation during the fallow periods of winter, to plant the new seeds given from our experience, pondered and understood. A time to begin to create new life, from the seeds of experience past. A life rich in the wisdom of experience past, brimming with the promise of times future.

On the issue of seeding I have been thinking lately that I'm feeling pretty sapped and, instead of planting any new seeds, maybe I need to lie fallow for a while, to let the "soil" of my being heal a little bit before I ask it to support the growth of anything new.

Although I haven't officially started training in the Feri Tradition, and now whether or not I will has been a question I've been asking myself, I have been doing lots of work and reading to prepare myself to embrace this new path, and my frame of reference on a number of matters magickal is starting to shift, including how I perceive the significance and observance of the Sabbats. I looked back on my preparations for Ostara in years past and found that I am in a very different mood this year. Perhaps it has more to do with what's going on with my life than what's going on with my practice of the Craft, but it is interesting and worth noting how Ostara's approach feels to me now.

Karina, my teacher-to-be and founder of the Blackheart Feri line, offers A Feri Perspective on the Wheel Year, in which she says:

If your natural tendency is to withdraw during the Springtime, it won't do you much good to try to do manifestation work then, will it? If Samhain is a time of deep creativity for you, does it make sense to try to force yourself into silence? What we are seeking is a marriage of sorts—between what our own natural rhythms dictate and what the energies of the Earth and Sky are bringing forth at anytime on the Wheel Year. This way, we both embody and ride the Wheel. This way, we both engage and become the Gods of our own mythology.

It's true that right now my most powerful inclination is to retreat a bit - if not literally then certainly spiritually - when everyone else around me is celebrating an acceleration of energy and the sprouting of newness. It's refreshing to discover a point of view that tells me it's okay if I want to be quiet now and full of excitement at Samhain.

As I consider another perspective on the turning of the Wheel, I also find it interesting that two of my favorite spiritual bloggers have recently addressed the idea of creating one's own mythology. Slade Roberson writes about Spinning Your Story and Dianne Sylvan writes that The Rest is Still Unwritten. Is it coincidence that they, and I, in this season of new and renewed life, are turning our thoughts to personal mythology and questions of whether or not the story we have been telling ourselves is even relevant any more?

Again I turn to Christina for wisdom:

The Vernal Equinox also serves to remind us that there are times when we must individually "clean house" in order to maintain fertile ground, clear out our outdated conceptions and misconceptions, our grievances and hurts, our self-perceived many times self-inflicted wounds, regrets of our past actions and inactions, our grudges and resentments, our inability to forgive others and ourselves. By clearing house we create the room for new experiences, new understandings, new hope and new joy that would elude us had we not cleared the way and made room for them to occur.

I've been doing a lot of "cleaning house" lately and all of that work has left me wiped out. This Ostara finds me at a place somewhere in between the old life I cleared away and the point at which the space I have created becomes refilled with something new. I'm not quite ready for the seeds of my new story to take root - I'm not sure I know yet exactly what they are. Even so, I'm not without hope. I am starting to manifest some growth in my personal business. I look forward with eager anticipation to the day when I can put away my winter layers to go out in light, Spring clothes, feeling the warmth of the Sun and the freshness of the Spring breeze.

Perhaps for a bit, the balance we experience at Ostara will remain as a kind of state of limbo for me, until I'm ready to truly tip toward the next direction. I have faith that everything will come in its time. Now, if it would just hurry up already . . .

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 3:27 PM | Comments (0)

Today at 12:14 pm EST we will have a New Moon in Pisces. As usual when it comes to a Moon cycle, I turn to Cafe Astrology, whose insight and analysis I find, well, insightful:

The New Moon in Pisces is a good time to commit to personal goals that express the positive energies of the sign of the Fish. These include taking a leap of faith, accepting imperfections in ourselves and in others as a different kind of "perfection", starting a project that requires imagination and visualization skills, consciously putting time aside for peaceful and rejuvenating activities, and sharing a dream with another. With this potent Pisces energy, we have the chance to make important changes in our lives.

This month's New Moon is conjunct electric Uranus and sextile Jupiter. New commitments and resolutions made now need to be unusual, nontraditional, and certainly not monotonous. It's time to make some solid yet realistic plans, and to set the stage for reaping the rewards from our new beginnings, as little or big as they may be, in approximately two weeks' time after the Full Moon occurs.

Lots of useful information here. The energy of this New Moon, as with all New Moons, gives us tremendous support for making positive change and new starts. There is something that feels especially gentle, creative and loving about this Pisces Moon. In particular, I like this idea of seeing imperfections as "a different kind of perfection."

I have a ring made with a Peruvian opal, a stone that is usually seen as a smooth, milky blue. In my ring, the stone has a number of occlusions that appear as a line of black and orange spots of color. The artist who made the ring liked the way the occlusions added visual interest and actually set the stone using the occlusions as an intentional design element. Rather than choose another stone or have the occlusions cut out, she thought this imperfect stone was all the more beautiful because of the things that make it imperfect. I couldn't agree more.

In us, the quirky imperfections are the things that make us human, individual, and yes, even beautiful. Most of us are so critical of ourselves, so quick to find fault and pass judgment. And yes, sometimes we are critical of others, too. This New Moon offers us a wonderful opportunity to shift our perspective to allow us not only to accept imperfection but to celebrate it, to find a way to appreciate how the things that are not perfect make us, and life, more interesting.

Someone I used to work with always used the phrase "It's a feature, not a bug." It comes from the high tech world of software development but we can apply it to the low tech world of spiritual and personal development as a way to embrace this new perspective. If someone, including yourself, focuses on a perceived imperfection, just say, "It's a feature, not a bug."

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 9:49 AM | Comments (0)

I knew that tonight was a Full Moon (10:30 pm EST) but had not been aware that it was also a Lunar Eclipse until I looked up what Cafe Astrology had to say on the subject:

On Wednesday night, a Lunar Eclipse occurs. A Lunar eclipse is an especially potent Full Moon. Lunar eclipses are relationship-oriented. The "crisis" that these eclipses tend to elicit is a crisis of lack--a time when we suddenly realize a great need or want. The impact of the crisis can act to sever a relationship--it's possible. But it can also bring two people together with a sudden awareness of a great need for each other. Although Lunar eclipses are more relationship-oriented than Solar eclipses, they are not always about relationships between two people. They can trigger awareness of need in other areas of our lives, such as our relationship to work, to our health and bodies, and so forth. This is a time when matters come to light--things that have been brewing under the surface.

In personal relationships, I'm not sure that I have much left that hasn't bubbled up, given that this has been such a focus of my energy for the past several months. In fact, I think those bubbles have popped and dissipated into the atmosphere. Do I "lack" a relationship? Well, that depends on what we're talking about when we say relationship. I certainly don't have the one I had before. It's actually been quite freeing to recognize that the energy I had been putting into that relationship is now available to me in a whole new way - to focus on things that I want to do for myself.

Perhaps this is the "crisis" and the relationship this Lunar Eclipse is forcing me to address - my relationship to self - but in a more active and outward-facing fashion than it has been up to now. I am aware that I've been procrastinating starting a new yoga practice. Perhaps today is the day I step out of my lethargy and into a yoga studio. But then, some priest in Poland will try to exorcise me, but I digress...

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. This energy pits realism against idealism. 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. With Saturn and Pluto involved, events or epiphanies are likely very practical and productive. They could feel burdensome, as increased responsibilities come to light.

To me this resonates as energy that needs to be focused outwardly, albeit in ways that could have strong emotional ramifications. Sometimes we experience the most emotional upheaval when we make even the smallest change to our daily routines. Erm - otherwise known as a rut? Shaking things up can be a good thing and now that we can sense Spring on its way, I think we're feeling antsy. Curling up in front of the fireplace doesn't have the same sense of satisfaction. My body wants to move.

I was reading Thorn Coyle today and she says a lot about the need to have a healthy body that can facilitate and embody a healthy spirit. Perhaps that is what this Full Moon Lunar Eclipse is all about for me. My training in the Feri Tradition begins soon and I want my body to be as ready as the rest of me!

This Lunar Eclipse gives us a cosmic push to make needed changes in our lives. The areas of life activated by the eclipse may see dramatic turns, after which the path is clear to move forward. Note that whatever "happens" at this time is nothing truly new. The issues have been brewing inside of us, and emotions have been building. Something comes to light at the time of the Full Moon, and if we get in touch with our emotions, we can get a better idea of what needs to change, or what needs to go.

It makes perfect sense to me that this especially powerful lunation comes at a time when it is most needed to support and complete a period of great - and necessary - change in my life. So many others have written of this too. All we have to do is pay attention to the political ads that have been running ad nauseum for the past few months to know that what everyone is yearning so desperately for is CHANGE! Astrologers say that the effects of this Full Moon Lunar Eclipse may be felt for up to six months; I'll think we'll be seeing a lot of change in that period of time.

Most references to Full Moon correspondences refer to February's Full Moon as the Storm or Quickening Moon. It is Moon of vision and astral travel and a time to plan a ritual to ask the Old Ones for help in planning your future. Go out and play with the Fey tonight. Me - I feel like dancing!

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 5:03 PM | Comments (2)

There will be a New Moon Solar Eclipse tonight at 10:45 pm EST. I couldn't possibly say anything better on this subject than Cafe Astrology. This is just too spot on:

On Wednesday night, an especially potent New Moon occurs in Aquarius--potent because it's a Solar Eclipse. In the sign of Aquarius, friendship, brotherhood, group activities, social pursuits, group projects, trying something new, humanitarian efforts, or joining a group will be a strong focus on a personal level. This eclipse is about new beginnings regarding all of these matters.

This eclipse conjuncts Neptune, Chiron, and retrograde Mercury and loosely trines Mars. This is a time when we should solve problems that require thinking "outside of the box"; look to the future with a brand new, positive, and hopeful vision; brainstorm and socialize; focus on extending a friendly hand, receiving support, and expressing platonic love for those around us; give our emotions and passions a "break", as we develop more objectivity and some detachment from past haunts; learn how something (or someone) works; revitalize ourselves through experiences that are new or simply different; reach out to people in our social circle and in our community, and recognize the value of our friendships and social networks; recognize that some level of detachment and distancing ourselves from our habits and attachment to the past will help us break away from destructive behaviors that are holding us back. With this potent Aquarius energy, we have the chance to make progressive changes in our lives. For some of us, circumstances are such that we need to pay more attention to these matters.

Flaws in an important system in our lives are revealed around the time of the eclipse, prompting us to redo or to start fresh. Something ends in order for something else to start anew. Major developments in the personal areas ruled by Aquarius are likely to occur over the course of the next 3-6 months. However, not everyone will feel the effect of the eclipse with the same intensity. Those whose personal planets are activated by the degree of the eclipse will feel its effects on a personal level.

This confirms for me that I've been spending way too much time looking within; it's time for me to focus my energy outward. One of my "three big rocks" for this new year was to get out more, spend time with friends, cultivate new ones, explore more social outlets. Those circumstances mentioned above? Yes, I do need to pay more attention to making progressive change in my life in a positive way. I could sit at home tonight, working a spell carefully planned and timed to coincide with the arrival of the New Moon, but I think going out to spend some time with friends would do more to move me toward realizing these goals. Some wise witches I've come to know through reading their works online have taught me that sometimes there is more magick in the simple act of doing something than in all of the incense, herbs and candles you could collect on an altar.

Ordinarily, I might talk about using the last remaining Waning energy of this Moon cycle, the Dark Moon, for banishing work. Frankly, I feel I've been expending way too much energy thinking about what needs to be banished and not enough thought and energy on what I need to manifest. I've been thinking, writing and talking a lot about new beginnings but I haven't put my magick where my mouth is, so to speak.

The astrological energy at work right now offers us powerful clues about what we can do in an active way to manifest new and wonderful things in our lives. Call a friend today. Socialize. Feel the blessing of having these people in our lives. Do what we girls do best - chat - and brainstorm about new things to do that will energize and fulfill us.

The Women Friends, Gustav Klimt, 1917

To quote Veronique Vienne, author of The Art of Being a Woman: A Simple Guide to Everyday Love and Laughter:

Let's be here for each other; it is in our self-interest to contribute to the cheerfulness of all our women friends.

With love and blessings to friends everywhere. Blessed be.

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 9:39 AM | Comments (1)

Some time ago, a friend whom I'd met in witchcraft class held a ritual at her house. Placed among the other objects on the mantel in the dining room and on the altar on the table were some beautiful, vaguely mysterious, cards depicting faeries. These, she told me, were from The Faeries' Oracle, a deck she loved and worked with a lot. It wasn't until recently that I finally decided to get this deck for myself.

Himself - Natural law. Life force. Magic. Shamanic power.

Through shamanic journeying and other meditative work with guides, it had become very clear to me that not only did I have Faery guides but that they were actively calling to me, claiming me as one of their own. I remembered only recently that when I was a child I spent hours playing with the faeries who lived beneath a huge tree in our front yard and among the flowers that grew around the house. During a bookbinding project in class, I actually made my own book and filled it with pictures and a story of my Faery friends. How I wish I could find that book today! As I've awakened to this tremendously strong connection to Faery, I wanted to find ways to strengthen it and to go deeper into the Otherworld. The Faeries' Oracle has been a way to do that.

Painted by Brian Froud, widely accepted as one of the best Faery artists there is, the deck is truly beautiful. From the sheer skill of his artistry, the Faery faces peer out at you from the cards and you feel them connecting with you. Their world comes alive and you slip right in. As Jessica Macbeth says in the accompanying book:

Using the Faeries' Oracle is unlike using any other card deck, whether tarot or oracle. In other decks we (you and I, gentle reader) are working with archetypes and intellectual concepts. In The Fairies' Oracle we are, of course, still concerned with those. However, we are also interacting with the living breathing, faery beings. They are just as real as we are, if not more so, but they are very different from us. These differences between us and the faeries' inimitable approach to life will provide us with some interesting joys, challenges, and experiences as we become acquainted with and use this deck.

This is precisely what makes this deck so different for me. I've read tarot for a long time and, as I've written many times here on this site, I've been using the Fey Tarot to do readings for myself for a couple of years now. Those pictures are wonderful - I could just look at them all day - and I like reading with this deck because it gets me thinking about things from a Fey mindset, changing my perspective and getting me to step outside of my rigid human way of seeing the world. Despite all that, I rarely use that deck to do readings for other people and I rely heavily on the book, because the meanings of the Fey Tarot cards deviate quite a bit from the traditional meanings I was taught. When I want to do a reading for someone else, wherein I am able to be at my intuitive and insightful best, I still use the pocket Waite-Rider deck I've had for years and when I wanted to find a way to create a more personal connection with the Fey, I turned to The Faeries' Oracle.

Nelys the Alchemist - Inner transformation. Irrevocable change.

It is that "inimitable approach to life" that was the first hook. I've recognized lately that my own approach to life - from my relationships to my outward expression of myself in the world to my practice of the Craft - needed a serious overhaul. If I were to make a list of words that I want to describe the new me, emerging as if from a chrysalis, into this new year and into this new way of being, inimitable would be right up there with audacious and bewitching. I am already all of these things; I just needed someone to hold my hand and draw me out from the place where I've been hiding. Faery hands do that very well. If you need someone to show you the way toward this path, then it is a Faery guide you want.

In her book, Jessica Macbeth gives some practical advice about getting to know faeries, acquainting yourself with their world, and making the cards of The Faeries' Oracle resonate and have personal meaning for you. Despite my impatience to "get to the meanings" I heeded her advice and was very glad I did. She has personal relationships with the faeries who are depicted on these cards and her guidance on how to begin working with them is an important part of using this deck. Even though I've had plenty of encounters with faeries on my own, I did not yet know these faeries. Now that I've actually started to work with the deck, I understand the necessity of an introduction. Now that they know me, they are happy to be my guides and my friends.

Jessica says that "truly skilled readers can see everything they need to know in a scattering of dead leaves on the ground or in the twist of the stem of a flower." In my case I meet faeries in the woods, on the beach and, when I'm paying attention, right here on the city streets. So why use cards at all?

Because they are beautiful and enlighten our spirits. Because they are fun and lighten our hearts. Because they help illuminate and focus our attention and awareness. They help us stay awake and aware in this world and Faery. And because faeries think they are great fun, too, and find this an easy, joyful way of reaching out to us.

One of my favorite Wiccan writers and bloggers is Dianne Sylvan. Here she offers an in depth review of The Faeries' Oracle. I was amazed to read that she, too, had a strong reaction to Himself, one of the faeries from the deck. Himself is an important card for me, a messenger from the Universe and my higher self who tells me what I need to know about how to resolve my issues and heal my pain so that I can move closer to fulfilling my heart's desire (both of which are represented in cards that I worked with in one of Jessica's exercises).

If you feel a connection to Faery, I would suggest that you definitely get this deck and begin to explore its personalities. I would offer a cautionary word, however, that working with Faery is not something to trifle with. It can be rewarding and bring you to places you could hardly have imagined, but Faery magick is powerful stuff. Do not go at it without a healthy dose of respect and a willingness to accept whatever you find. But remember, too, that these are faeries. Whatever happens, you will have fun!

~*~

Jessica Macbeth has a wonderful website, Faery Wisdom, where she shares much about working with Faery Magic, visiting the Otherworld, and more about working with The Faerie's Oracle. I also found a blog she used to keep (the last entries are from the Summer of 2006) wherein each entry discusses one of the oracle cards in depth. For someone just beginning to use this deck, I'm sure this information would still be of great interest.

Brian Froud also has an amazing website devoted to his Faery art that features an interactive Faeries' Oracle. It's fun and worth trying.

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 3:20 PM | Comments (0)

THE WOMAN IN SUNSHINE

It is only that this warmth and movement are like
The warmth and movement of a woman.

It is not that there is any image in the air
Nor the beginning nor the end of a form:

It is empty. But a woman in threadless gold
Burns us with brushings of her dress

And a dissociated abundance of being,
More definite for what she is -

Because she is disembodied,
Bearing the odors of the summer fields,

Confessing the taciturn and yet indifferent,
Invisibly clear, the only love.

- Wallace Stevens

While this poem is not really about Brigid, it made me think a little bit about her, she being the Goddess who brings the warm spark of inspiration, the forge, and the quickening of the Earth in early Spring. But more than that, this poem makes me think about the Goddess who is in each woman, particularly in myself. I've been writing a lot about shining one's personal light and living in the power as one who has divine within, and this poem speaks to me of that.

Wallace Stevens is one of my favorite poets ever. He has such a way with words, that Wallace. Here's another poem, apropos of nothing. As I read it, it makes me think of a man who has fallen hopelessly in love with a Faery Queen.

BOUQUET OF BELLE SCAVOIR

I
It is she alone that matters.
She made it. It is easy to say
The figures of speech, as why she chose
This dark, particular rose.

II
Everything in it is herself.
Yet the freshness of the leaves, the burn
Of the colors, are tinsel changes,
Out of the changes of both light and dew

III
How often had he walked
Beneath summer and the sky
To receive her shadow into his mind . . .
Miserable that it was not she.

IV
The sky is too blue, the earth too wide.
The thought of her takes her away.
The form of her in something else
Is not enough.

V
The reflection of her here, and then there,
Is another shadow, another evasion,
Another denial. If she is everywhere,
She is nowhere, to him.

VI
But this she has made. If it
Another image, it is one she has made.
It is she that he wants, to look at directly,
Someone before him to see and to know.

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 9:10 AM | Comments (0)

Like the iconic Breck commercial, I love the way that bloggers pass along a great idea and before you know it countless of us across the cybersphere are adding our energy to a working, joining our sisters in a boundless circle of community.

I learned from Hecate about a lovely way to honor Brigid on Imbolc, her day, which is tomorrow. The event is the third annual Brigid in Cyberspace Poetry Reading, started by Reya and publicized by Deborah Oak at Branches Up, Roots Down, among others.

WHAT: A Bloggers (Silent) Poetry Reading



WHEN: Any time February 2, 2008



WHERE: Your blog



WHY: To celebrate the Feast of Brigid, aka Groundhog Day



HOW: Select a poem you like - by a favorite poet or one of your own - to post February 2nd.



RSVP: If you plan to publish, feel free to leave a comment and link on this post. Last year when the call went out there was more poetry in cyberspace than I could keep track of. So, link to whoever you hear about this from and a mighty web of poetry will be spun.



Feel free to pass this invitation on to any and all bloggers.

Thank you, Reya, for beginning what is now an annual event.

While it might be fun to try my hand at a bit of poetry, I think I'll spare myself the embarrassment and post something that is actually good. Tune in tomorrow! And be sure to make your way around the blogosphere to see how others are honoring Brigid for Imbolc.

Blessed be everyone!

UPDATE: All participants should create a link their blog poetry in a comment at this post by Deborah Oak. You can leave a link in comments here if you like, which would be lovely, but Deborah is the keeper of the thread.

May you feel Brigid's inspiration and the quickening of the Earth today!

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 3:12 PM | Comments (2)

I have a thing for crows. It comes from meeting the Morrighan in the Underworld, being claimed by her as one of her own - complete with armor, sword and a pair of black wings - and encountering beings I call my "crow sisters" in most of my meditative and shamanic journeys.

Photo from Roseburg, Oregon; found in SFGate's Day in Pictures.

This photo is an amazing shot, for the contrast of the black of the crow against the white of the snow if nothing else. But I love the spread of the crow's wings most. It captures exactly the look of the wings I was given and those of my sisters. This could be one of my sisters, flying through Oregon.

Crows have a rich symbolic history that stretches across almost every spiritual pantheon and time in history. From Celtic mythology, the Crow is associated with Morrighan and her triple goddess form that includes her sisters Macha and Badb. In this way and a number of others she is beloved of many witches. The Native Americans see the Crow as a trickster, but also as the protector of the sacred writings of the Great Spirit. In alchemy, encountering a crow is considered a particularly good omen. The Black Crow symbolizes the beginning of the alchemist's journey through inner space and in the symbol of the Black Crow we have the stepping out in consciousness from the world of the physical senses the restrictions that bind us to the physical body. The Crow is an important symbol in Buddhist traditions as well, with many meanings. I have read that the sight of three crows flying over head means that a new Buddha is born.

While there are many stories and superstitions about the Crow and a number of its associations have to do with death and ill omens, the Crow also has powerful medicine and her presence can be very beneficial. A subject worthy of a longer post at a later time.

THE ONES that disappeared are back,
The Phoebe and the Crow,
Precisely as in March is heard
The curtness of the Jay—
Be this an Autumn or a Spring?
My wisdom loses way,
One side of me the nuts are ripe—
The other side is May.

Emily Dickinson (1830-86). Complete Poems. 1924
Part Five: The Single Hound

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 9:29 AM | Comments (4)

At 8:35 am EST this morning we had a Full Moon in Leo. If one of the things that this Full Moon represents is the culmination of things started at the New Moon, then I look back to my New Moon in Capricorn post, wherein I wrote about the many signs for positive change in the New Year that seemed to be appearing everywhere. I, for one, have seen positive change in a number of areas of my life since 2008 began - new beginnings that bring me much hope. What better way to celebrate such auspicious harbingers of things to come than under the influence of Leo?

This is a time of warmth and enjoyment. It is a time for romance and pleasure, with our emotions at the forefront of our consciousness. Rather than focusing on spellwork today, I'm drawn to luxuriate in the feelings Leo evokes and to savor the happiness that the last few weeks have brought me. And since Leo is ruled by the Sun, I want to spend my day (here in chilly New England) daydreaming of being on a lovely beach with someone I love.

Cafe Astrology says:

Mercury aligns with Neptune today, which adds to the mystique of the Full Moon. Our intuitive creativity is stimulated under this influence. Conscious reasoning can be distorted by subconscious matter, so concentrating on cold hard facts can be challenging. Daydreaming, visualization, and prophecy are stimulated.

While today may not be the greatest day to conduct serious business, it will be a perfect day for divination and other psychic work. Messages may be unclear or vague, but the energy is out there today to bring them to us in full force.

Leo is ruled by the Sun. He is associated with the tarot card Strength, the element of fire, and the color gold. To look up other correspondences for working with Leo energy, visit Spelwerx and Phoenix Rising.

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 9:02 AM | Comments (0)

Whenever I'm shuffling cards to do a tarot reading and one of them comes out of the deck of its own accord, I figure this is the most important card of the reading - it's the one that actively said, "Hey, look at me!" This morning as I was getting ready to consult the cards about a situation at hand, reading as I do these days with The Fey Tarot, this little beauty literally flew out at me:

Three of Chalices

The simple message of this card is to take pleasure in the simple delights of abundance and joy, to just go with the flow of feeling happy. From the book, we get this more advanced insight into what the Fey version of this card has to teach us:

Happiness is one of the strongest energies that we can generate. It comes from knowing how to see the good in everything, but not only that; it also comes from knowing how to express oneself spontaneously in unexpected circumstances. Happiness is to live absolutely in the present, with no remorse for the past, nor worries for any future. Happiness, therefore, is playing and energy without reason, shape or any other kind of prop.

Seeing this card changed my outlook on the day. Instead of focusing on weekend plans that are threatening to go awry, I will just be in the present, taking my happiness where it comes without investing in a particular outcome. How freeing. How fun!

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 10:31 AM | Comments (2)

As many of you know, I belong to the group Spells for Democracy, started and led by none other than Isaac Bonewits, which is dedicated to effecting political change by pooling the magickal energy of Pagans across the country. In 2006 I posted the 13 Tuesdays spells that were meant to support Democratic efforts to regain the House and the Senate. Now that we are in a Presidential election year, the outcome of which is so important to all of us, it seemed like a good time to revive the practice of sharing the spells with you. The more the merrier and the more effective the magick will be!

The latest spell: Turning up the lights!

Between now and February 5th is a good time to do revelation spells on all the US party candidates for the presidential nominations. Every Monday night (Jan. 21, 28, and Feb. 4th), pick a candidate or two, then invoke appropriate American deities (Justice, Liberty, Democracy) to bring light to all evil shadows around them. Let ugly rumors dissipate and hidden truths stand out clearly, so that even the traditional "mainstream" media cannot hide the results from the American people. These spells will be the ethical equivalent of investigative journalism actually being done about the rich and powerful.

Some of you may want to do divination to decide which candidates to work on and whether revealing negative information is more important than revealing positive. Similar spells will be needed during the following months, but the number of candidates to focus upon should be smaller, except for those of you with important Senatorial or Congressional contests involving corrupt figures.

If none of this makes any sense, or seems somehow "unethical" - imagine forcing politicians to run honest campaigns! - you may wish to read my Spells for Democracy page. Those of you who've participated in spells like this before will notice that we are switching our working nights to Mondays, though some of you may want to work on Friday or Saturday nights instead; especially if you can get a group of friends to help.

Let the light of Truth and Justice shine out brightly!

bright blessings,
Isaac

Imagine witches across the country working together to accomplish some real change in our currently horrible government. It is possible! Remember the story about the witches in England who cast spells together to protect the British from German air attack? With bright blessings, indeed, let's turn up the lights!

If you wish to join Spells for Democracy, visit the website Isaac links in his letter above.

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 8:16 AM | Comments (1)

Nervous System is a mathematically inspired jewelry design company founded by a couple of brainy chicks who graduated from MIT. Jesse and Jessica developed a computer program that uses pattern generating algorithms to create the designs for the jewelry. From their write-up at Daily Candy:

The Los Angeles-based duo writes and runs pattern-generating computer scripts that create delicate, naturey designs. Then they replicate the patterns in real form, using materials like stainless steel and silicone rubber to forge earrings, brooches, necklaces, and bracelets.

One of the coolest parts of the Nervous System website is the Play and Learn page where you can play with an applet they've created to simulate the growth of coral and dendritic crystals. The applet is based on an algorithm called "diffusion limited aggregation." (For the mathematically challenged among us they have kindly provided links to information that explains what diffusion limited aggregation is.) Luckily for us, we don't actually need to know the math to use the applet to create interesting designs, but there is an advanced application where you can plug in specific numbers to control how the applet generates the designs. Once you create a design you like, you can have it made into a piece of jewelry.

What, you ask, does any of this have to do with magick?

Using mathematical formulas to create jewelry designs reminded me of a post by Essais from May of last year wherein she described a system she had developed for creating sigils from sudoku puzzles "via a complicated numerology system involving ogam and fractions." Sigils fascinate me, with the endless possibilities they present for magickal application, and I would like to incorporate them into my own work. I was mightily impressed with what Essais had done and hoped that she might share her technique. Clearly there is something in the numbers that works for her magickally.

If it's possible to use mathematical formulas to create sigils, why not talismans and charms? If you knew - or were able to figure out - how to change the numerical parameters of the Nervous System design applet and you were using magickally significant numbers, you could control the creation of a design so that the end product was infused with magickal properties. Once the design was rendered as a piece of jewelry you'd have a mathematically magickal charm to wear.

This idea is extremely appealing to me. I love talismans and charms and have lots of jewelry charged for one purpose or another. I would love to give Nervous System a try. Using numerology or other methods to determine what numbers to use would be easy enough. The trick would be finding a math whiz who could help me understand diffusion limited aggregation!

Come to think of it, diffusion limited aggregation sounds like the name of spell. I mean, who wouldn't want to limit diffusion? But I digress . . .

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 1:16 PM | Comments (0)

Tomorrow, Tuesday is the first New Moon of this new calendar year: a New Moon in Capricorn.

One of the reasons we focus on the astrological sign in which a New Moon occurs is because this is the most opportune time for working to incorporate into our lives the constructive qualities that sign embodies and the areas of life it rules. Capricorn, the tenacious Goat, is resourceful, disciplined, wise, ambitious, prudent, and constant. These Capricorn qualities are ideal to help anyone who has made a new year's resolution, or something of the sort, realize those goals.

According to Cafe Astrology:

One of Capricorn's "lessons" is acceptance of the concept that reasonable boundaries and rules actually do offer us freedom--freedom from worry and chaos, for example. Setting goals for ourselves allows us to focus on what really matters. With this potent Capricorn energy, we have the chance to make important changes in our lives.

What did I say about that Three Big Rocks spell? I've figured out what my three big rocks are for this year. Have you?

There are many signs around us that indicate that 2008 will be a tremendous year of positive change. Numerologically, we are entering a new cycle - this is a #1 year (2+0+0+8=10, this reduces to 1). It is a time of potential, of new beginnings and for some, the recognition of what has been missing.

In her January email update, my friend Carolyn of In the Lap of the Goddess Productions says:

I also think of a 1 year as a time to bring our attention back home to ourselves. Many of us have become so externally focused that we may experience burn-out or depression and may find ourselves feeling disconnected from our true nature. This year contains an energy that calls us home to our hearts, reconnecting us to our Magick and the highest expression of all that is waiting to be birthed within us.

For me, this couldn't be more true! One of my "big rocks" is reclaiming and nurturing my true Self.

It seems to be true for many sensitives, who by nature or training are conditioned to focus on the needs of others. Lucid, at Lucid Amphibology, a new blog I recently discovered, writes in her post To the Compassion Fatigued:

I realized that I’d relegated myself to an unconscious and psychologically young paradigm that limited my ability to simultaneously hold compassion for others and myself. In this paradigm, there was an unspoken rule, which is this: Only one person gets to have their needs met. From which I derived a related belief: Taking care of myself comes at the cost of someone else, which I cannot bear.

By setting reasonable boundaries and creating rules for how we choose to give of ourselves, we make it possible to meet our own needs as well as exhibit compassion for those around us, to be true to our nature as sensitive, nurturing souls as well as honoring and keeping whole our internal, essential selves - functioning in the world as I, Not As We.

Spellcasting

One thing to remember is that the Dark of the Moon, that moment right before the New Moon occurs, is the very best time for doing any banishing work. Banishing or releasing the old is the best way to make space for new things to enter our lives. This may be a very important and powerful component to all of the New Moon work we hope to do. Make note of the time of the New Moon - January 8th, 2008, at 6:37 AM EDT - and plan your workings accordingly. Banishing spells should be complete before then, and any work around manifesting new things should happen after that time, when the Moon has moved into its Waxing phase.

Another important thing to note is that the Moon goes Void of Course at 6:37 AM, and will be there until it moves into Aquarius on Wednesday, January 9, at 6:13 AM EDT. Many people believe that you shouldn't perform any magick while the Moon is Void of Course - I'll leave that up to your discretion. But I do think if you wait until Wednesday to do your work, even though the Moon will be in Aquarius by then, you can still tap into the power of the Capricorn New Moon if that is the energy you wish to use. Just put items on your altar that correspond to Capricorn to boost that energy. Your intention is always the most important element to any spell.

Capricorn correspondences:

Ruler: Saturn

Colors: black, brown

Stones: garnet, jet, onyx

Herbs: aconite (monkshood), belladonna, bindweed, bistort, bluebell, boneset, buckthorn, comfrey, cornflower, cramp bark, elder, elm, fern, fleabane, garlic, heart's-ease, horsetail, Irish moss, ivy, knotweed, laurel, lobelia, mandrake, mastic, myrrh, nightshade, patchouli, poke, rowan, shepherd's purse, Solomon's seal, vetch, witch hazel, yew

These correspondences came from Christopher Penczak's Outer Temple Of Witchcraft: Circles, Spells and Rituals.

Other magickal correspondences for Capricorn can be found at Spelwerx and Phoenix Rising.

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 3:24 PM | Comments (1)

We've all heard the time management chestnut about the guy who puts rocks in a jar and asks his audience if they think the jar is full. Usually the moral of the story is that you can always find a way to fit more in. Well, Jenna Avery, the Life Coach for Sensitive Souls, recently wrote about this story from a slightly different perspective. In her version, this is the punchline:

"No," the speaker replies, "that's not my point. The Truth is: If you don't put the big rocks in first, you will never get them in at all."

We've all been in situations where we've filled our lives with so many small, relatively inconsequential things that we don't have room to focus on what's really important. Most of the time I think this is because we haven't stopped to consider with any real seriousness what our "big rocks" actually are. So we prefer to busy ourselves with a maelstrom of mundane tasks to keep ourselves from facing the fact that we just don't know what we really need to make us happy and fulfilled.

I've spent a lot of time lately asking and being asked what I want for myself this year, what is most important to me, where do I want to focus my energy so that my needs will best be fed. The short answer - I don't know. Someone said to me once that rather than being a bad answer, this is actually good. Not knowing is coming from a place of open readiness; a space within us just waiting to be filled. But this is where the lesson of the jar and the rocks is instructive. Choose wisely.

The way I've learned to look at this is that we have to pick out what our "Big Rocks" are first, organize our priorities around those, and only then look at what else we want to add into the remaining interstitial spaces of our lives.

Similarly, when my intuitive development teacher, Sonia Choquette, leads her "Creating Your Heart's Desire" workshop, she talks about the importance of focusing our manifestation efforts on no more than three things in any given year. If we try to do more than that, she says, our efforts have little chance of manifesting into reality because they are too watered down.

Three big rocks.

Jenna advises:

As we move into the beginning of 2008, I invite you to carefully consider your Three Big Rocks. When I work with my clients through my coaching program, I ask them to first "cast a wide net" in their explorations. Often, our greatest dreams and intuitive next steps get buried by our mind's "good ideas" and our internalized "shoulds" about what's most important. But deep down, our inner guidance can lead us in the proper direction if we allow it to do so.

Powerful questions to ask:
- What do I really, really want?
- Where am I being called to focus my energy right now?
- If I didn't have to worry about time, money, or anyone else, what would I do?
- What really matters to me in terms of how I spend my time?

Further questions to consider as we choose our "three big rocks" come from a Celtic Devotional by Cailtin Matthews that I found here:

What am I endeavoring to manifest now in my life?

How can I make the best use of this lifetime?

Maybe one of the reasons why the beginning of a new calendar year feels so full of promise is because it has the same energy as a New Moon. We start from the blackest point of the year and it only gets brighter from there, waxing toward whatever we want to do with this clean slate we've been given. Whether we call them resolutions, dreams, or rocks, these things with which we step into the new year - like the Fool stepping off the cliff - are the glimmering, nascent hopes held safe within us before we send them out into the world to manifest.

What if we turned the metaphor of the jar and the three big rocks into a manifestation spell?

Angela-Eloise's Three Big Rocks Manifestation Spell

Find your "jar." It can be any vessel that you like, that you believe will be a good place to keep safe your three most important hopes and dreams for the new year.

Spend some time thinking and meditating on what your three big rocks will be. As ideas occur to you, write them down and put them in the vessel. For now all they are doing are sitting, waiting for you to decide what you want to do with them.

Then find your three rocks. These could be gemstones or other stones that have particular energetic properties that are important to you and the things you wish to manifest. They could be rocks that you find in nature.

By the next New Moon, on January 8, you should have chosen both your metaphorical and your actual three rocks (if you are not ready by January 8, wait until the next New Moon on February 6). At the New Moon, you are going to charge your three actual rocks with the intentions of your metaphorical Three Big Rocks.

Have your jar, your rocks and any other materials you want to include in the spell to aid in manifestation. You may decide to anoint your rocks with oils, write sigils on them, etc. Perform whatever preparation you normally do for spellcasting.

Take your slips of paper from the jar and set aside the three that represent your big rocks. You can decide to burn the others, or perhaps you want to keep them in a different vessel to consider later as the "interstitial" things to add to your life.

One by one, take up your actual rocks. Hold each rock in your hands and charge it with the intent from one of your slips of paper. When you feel that it is charged, put it into your jar. Do this until you have charged all three rocks. Seal your jar any way you feel is appropriate.

At this point, I would burn the three slips of paper upon which you wrote your intentions in the manner of a petition spell. As the paper is burning, think of the smoke carrying your intentions out to the universe.

Once your work is complete, perform whatever closing practices you normally use.

Put your jar on your altar or any other place that is important to you, where it can safeguard your intentions, manifest your desires, and remind you of your Three Big Rocks.

May your wishes be manifest and may your new year be full of happiness and abundance! Blessed be.

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 3:07 PM | Comments (4)

This was too good not to blog.

A couple of days ago I needed to burn some paper. In a witchy way, not in the prevent-identity-theft sort of way. Now that I have a back deck this is much less likely to incur the wrath of the fire department by setting off the alarms. So I pulled out the trusted tool I've used for doing petition spells and anything else in which I needed to burn something: my Calphalon stainless stir fry pan.

After all this time I still haven't bought a proper cauldron, so the stir fry pan has been pressed into service on a number of occasions. I was always taught that the intention is more important than the trappings. And it worked, didn't it? Could it be that this is the modern witch's cauldron?

I wonder what Calphalon would have to say.

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 9:53 AM | Comments (2)

Thanks to Luna at Stars For Eyes for sharing this planetary hours calculator.

In my writings about spell crafting I've often mentioned how finding the optimal hour of the day can add extra power to your work. In order to be the most accurate one has to do complicated math, using the sunrise and sunset to determine the twelve "hours" of any given day. This handy online tool does the work for you. As Luna says, it only works for the current day so makes planning ahead difficult, but is still helpful.

From the site, here are a few notes about how to choose an appropriate hour for your planned activities:

Hour of the Sun This hour is good for success with anything, obtaining favors, prosperity, to approach an authority figure, to ask for a job or a raise, for social occasions, to attract business, to speculate, to improve your health

Hour of the Moon
This hour is best for doing things that are likely to change — for things not expected to be final, permanent or binding, good for domestic activities

Hour of Mercury
Choose this hour only when you are mentally clear, capable of being logical and rational (Mercury can be a trickster). That said, this hour is appropriate for communication activities and abstract thinking

Hour of Venus
This hour is good for social calls, parties, asking for favors, buying luxury items, improving appearance, forming partnerships, reconciling after quarrels, mediating disputes, initiating investments

Hour of Mars
good for action and energy, but can be confrontational. Choose this hour with caution unless your feelings are in check and other aspects are favorable

Hour of Jupiter
This is a good hour to choose for just about anything in business or otherwise. There is one caveat: caution is needed in regard to any tendencies to excess or overindulgence.

Hour of Saturn
This is not an easy hour, and it may be a time you notice lagging energy, but it can be very good for plowing through tedious work that needs to be done. Good for organizing, serious thinking or talks, meditation, prudent and practical moves and disciplined work or study.

My teacher Christopher Penczak also has a great discussion of using planetary hours to boost spell work in his book Outer Temple Of Witchcraft: Circles, Spells and Rituals. He also gives detailed instructions for accurately calculating hours yourself.

Here in Boston, at 6:45 pm, we've just entered the hour of Jupiter. I don't feel like doing much business unless you count finding the business end of a nice glass of wine. Perhaps Jupiter's expansive qualities will make it easier for a hearty Cabernet to open up!

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 6:31 PM | Comments (1)

I was walking home this afternoon as twilight began to fall and I looked up amazed to see the nearly-full Moon hanging heavy in the sky, gleaming perfect and bright just above the rooftops. I had nearly forgotten that tomorrow is a Full Moon and there it was huge and undeniable right in front of me.

This makes me ponder other things I've ignored of late and I wonder what else is looming right in front of me that I simply haven't looked up to see. I think of rituals I've missed and altars I've neglected to assemble and mediations I keep meaning to get around to. I thought the other day about working a spell but wondered why magick would provide for me when I have given it so little lately. What does it mean when our lives leave us without energy to attend to our spiritual practice? It's called practice for a reason. Does faith exist in the face of neglect?

Staring up at that amazing Moon I was struck by its nearness, its beauty, its magnificence. In the clear sky of today's early evening it felt as if the Moon had chosen to appear to me, calling for my attention. The Universe has its ways of getting our attention but sometimes it simply waits for us to notice. It occurs to me that whether I looked up to see it or not, the Moon has been there all along. Perhaps there are other things that have been there all along, just waiting for me too. I feel inspired to reconnect with them.

Continue reading "The Full Moon Appears In All Its Glory"

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 5:47 PM | Comments (0)