Monday Moon Lore

I just love folklore and old wives tales...sometimes they just make you wanna giggle. Since today is the New Moon (Dark Moon, as I prefer) and void of course for most of the afternoon up until just after midnight and therefore not good for working spells, I thought I would hunt down some of the funniest New/Dark Moon folk tales..



It's Lucky to . . .

*It is lucky to see the first sliver of a new Moon "clear of the brush," or unencumbered by foliage.


*It is lucky to own a rabbit's foot, especially if the rabbit was killed in a cemetery by a cross-eyed person at the dark of the Moon.


*It is lucky to hold a moonstone in your mouth at the full Moon; it will reveal the future.


*It is lucky to have a full Moon on the "Moon day" (Monday).


*It is lucky to expose your newborn to the waxing Moon. It will give the baby strength.


*It is lucky to move into a new house during the new Moon; prosperity will increase as the Moon waxes.


It's Unlucky to . . .


*It is unlucky to see the first sliver of a new Moon through a window; you'll break a dish.


*It is unlucky to point at the new Moon or view any Moon over your shoulder.


*It is unlucky to sleep in the moonlight, or worse, be born in the moonlight.


*It is unlucky to see "the old Moon in the arms of the new" or the faint image of the full disk while the new crescent Moon is illuminated, especially if you're a sailor. Storms are predicted.


*It is unlucky to have a full Moon on Sunday. (Some say Saturday . . . ) 

I hope you got a chuckle out of that, it's hard to believe at one time people took that kind of thing seriously...(okay, maybe some still do, after all...there are those who do think we're in league with a concept we don't even believe in...)


* From The Farmers Almanac

Serenity Sunday

in·cite (in sīt′)

transitive verb incited -·cit′ed, inciting -·cit′·ing

* to urge to action; stir up; rouse: to spur on.

(from Merriam-Webster dictionary)

My List:


1.) My kids


To those who have ...


2.) Those who have inspired me...

3.) Those who have made me think...


4.) Those who have caused me to question...


5.) Those who have moved me to tears


6.) Those who have dared me to dream...


7.) Those who have told me I could...


8.) Those who have helped me along the way...


9.) Those who have given me insight...


10.) Those who have made me angry...


Thank you, for without you, I would not be who I am today.

“Witches”

I got this today in my inbox and watched each video on YouTube.  It was such a great series of videos, I just had to share...I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.




The Biography Channel special “Witches” will be re-aired again this Monday and Tuesday. The show features interviews with Llewellyn authors Christopher Penczak and Silver RavenWolf.

Original airdate was 10/08; it is re-airing 4 times this fall.

Biography Channel: “Witches”

Original airdate: 10/30/08

2009 Airdates:
Friday 10/30/09
Saturday 10/31/09
Monday 11/16/09, 8 pm (upcoming)
Tuesday 11/17/09, midnight (upcoming)

You can also watch the Biography Channel’s “Witches” episode on our YouTube channel!

Part 1 includes interviews and early comments from Silver RavenWolf and Christopher Penczak, then discusses the European witch hunts.

Part 2 focuses primarily on the details of the Salem witch hysteria/trials.

Part 3 covers the end of 17th century through modern times, evolution of Halloween, and Hollywood witches; the segment ends with an early biography of Laurie Cabot.

Part 4 begins with Laurie Cabot; Christopher Penczak appears at about 2:20 in this clip.

Part 5 starts with Silver RavenWolf; this segment focuses on Silver and Wicca.

Part 6 features an interview with Roberta Stewart, the Wiccan widow who won the VA Pentacle suit, and more comments from Silver RavenWolf.

Crap Happens...

The night before, the video card quit working on the computer I was using and the hard drive on my really fast computer died not long after I moved in here..so yesterday I went out and bought a new hard drive for my really fast computer and spent all day formatting and downloading programs and updates...the moral of my story you ask?

 Well, the moral of my long winded story is..... I didn't write a post for today. I was totally beat and I deeply apologize that you're stuck reading this meandering narrative but I promise to have a regular post for Saturday. Thanks for bearing with me and I'll see you all tomorrow!

* Crap...it's FRIDAY the 13th! I should have known!

Tarot Shadow Work- Repression

This week I'm going to address the second most popular coping skill...Repression or affectionately referred to as "Out of sight, Out of mind." This has got to be my personal favorite coping skill that I adopted growing up. If it was too emotionally painful, I would always stuff it so far down that if it wasn't right in my face, I could possibly get through my days without too much trauma. The only problem with this is...whatever you have stuffed,  will eventually fester and float to the surface.

Repressed memories and experiences have an uncanny ability to remain in our subconscious "Shadow" realms and will emerge in various types of destructive, often violent behaviors. Why do we put ourselves through this...? Well, speaking from personal experience, it was what my mind had to do to survive the trauma of the time but now, as an adult there is no need to continue to stuff my issues and trust me, the older you get  the harder it is to even  realize that you are repressing things...becoming an unconscious habit.

Taking the twenty one Major Arcana, I again shuffled and kept in mind memories that I may have repressed. I pulled the Judgement card which Shadow Qualities include: having a harsh inner critic, being too hard on myself, having value judgments that keep me stuck in the same place and failing to be merciful and forgive myself or others. I almost always give others the benefit of doubt but seldom grant myself the same courtesy...why is that you may ask? I think it all comes down to the messages I received from the adults in my life when I was a child. 

My mother ( for one) had a way of conveying her displeasure at my sometimes childish antics or ideas and deep down it gave me the impression that I must always live up to her adult ideal that, at best, was unattainable to me as a child. To this day I refuse to accept my limitations or I set very unrealistic ones for myself , to the point that I doom myself for failure. I tried to live up to this image that I thought would please my mother but always fell completely short of the mark and when it caused me emotional issues and anger, I would stuff it and walk it off. 

Years later, this ideal  that my mother has for me still exists and the only healthy thing I could do for myself was to lovingly remove myself from that situation. I still mourn the absence of a mother/daughter relationship but the wonderful connection that I have with my children helps to fill that void. Looking back with my adult eyes, I tell myself often that it was okay to think like a child because I was one...I did have odd ideas (from the adults viewpoint) but it's okay because that's part of growing up.

 It lifts a huge weight off my shoulders and helps me realize that allowing myself to  feel emotions is good...I would not be human if I didn't and it's okay to cry, it's okay to be angry...being myself is okay!  I won't say all of my skeletons will fall out of the proverbial closet at once but it's a great start.

"What Is...?" Wednesday

.Friday The 13th (horrified gasp!)

In the Western world, a significant chunk of the population suspects bad things will happen whenever the 13th day of a month occurs on the day of the week called Friday. But the really strange thing is that most of the people who believe the day is unlucky offer no explanation at all... logical or illogical. As with most superstitions, people fear Friday the 13th for its own sake, without any need for background information. The superstition does have deep, compelling roots however, and the origins help explain why the belief is so widespread today.

The Biblical roots of Friday the 13th are often thought to come from three main events. The first event is when Eve tempted Adam to eat the apple. It is believed this incident happened on a Friday, making Fridays unlucky days. Another Biblical tradition believes the Great Flood and the confusion at the Tower of Babel both began on Fridays.


* Both Friday and the number 13 were once closely associated with capital punishment. In British tradition, Friday was the conventional day for public hangings, and there were supposedly 13 steps leading up to the noose. 

* The Templar Knights (or Poor Knights of Christ) were a monastic order of knights founded in 1112 A.D.  Over the years the Templars rose from their humble beginnings to become the wealthiest of the Crusading Orders - eventually garnering the favour of the Church and the collective European monarchs.

However, after two centuries of defending the Christian faith, the Order met its demise when Philip IV - known as Philip le Belle (the Fair) - sought to destroy the Templars. Historians are generally in agreement that Philip was motivated by greed rather than his belief that the Templars were corrupt. Regardless of his motivations, Philip had the Templars arrested on October 13, 1307 and ultimately tortured and killed (there are  many conspiracy theories surrounding the Knights Templar but I'm not going to make this post that long!)

In the end, the  folklore of Friday the 13th doesn't have much to do with people's fears today. The fear has much more to do with personal experience. People learn at a young age that Friday the 13th is supposed to be unlucky.., for whatever reason and then they look for evidence that the legend is true. The evidence isn't hard to come by, of course.


If you get in a car wreck on one Friday the 13th, lose your wallet or even spill your coffee... that day will probably stay with you. But if you think about it, bad things  big and small, happen all the time. If you're looking for bad luck on Friday the 13th, you'll probably find it.

Tarot Tuesday

When I first started out learning to read the tarot, I almost always relied on the LWB (little white book) that comes with (whatever) deck I was using. Later, I learned to trust in myself a bit more and started "going with my gut" which usually turned out to be more appropriate for the situation than the LWB was. I began take the advice of many seasoned readers and kept a notebook with my observations of the cards and a few simple spreads...I now give this advice to anyone just starting out.

Aces, I learned, are about beginnings and Pentacles stood for material things such as financial issues and material goods. Just for grins and giggles, I picked up the LWB for The Universal Waite deck (which I'm going to be using for a while as my daily deck and for Tarot Tuesdays) and read what keywords it had for the Ace of Pentacles. It read: perfection; attainment; prosperity; felicity; bliss; valuable coins or artifacts; treasures and the combination of material and spiritual riches...Wow, that's heavy!

Although the keywords from the LWB are a general idea to start with when learning,  it's been my experience that the Ace of Pentacles,( like the Aces of the other suits)  represents  new beginnings, fresh energy and inspiration. and  symbolize the material world and things associated with matter and the body... (they also represent money and  financial concerns) and therefore a deeper meaning can be attributed than just single words such as riches, treasure, bliss or gold. To me, it is a progression... starting  from... 1.  having a  desire or need (Cups) 2. the need becomes an idea or concept (Swords) 3. then the idea is put into action (Wands) 4. and with the action, you then begin experiencing the end result (Pentacles.)

The Ace of Pentacles can be an indication that you will be able to make your dreams real. Your ideas can now be turned into something tangible.  Maybe that funding that you needed will be available for you to get your ideas off the ground. Now may be the time to tap into the material force of the Ace of Pentacles and  have all your ideas  succeed.

Silly Picture Of The Week

Not only is he Meaghan's best friend...

.

He makes an excellent elbow-rest too!

Serenity Sunday

Every time you see a tree
or dream a cloud,
there is that in you of the tree
there is that in you of the cloud.

The saguaro dreams in drought
and endures. The cloud dreams
our woe --sneezes, cries.
The rain falls

Elaine Maria Upton

My List:

1.) My children

2.) My sweetie

3.) Pumpkin  Spice coffee creamer

4.) Chakra stones

5.) Bubble wrap

6.) Handmade tarot bags

7.) Learning new things

8.) Indoor herb gardens

9.) Leaves dancing in the wind

10.) Music

The Trip...

Here are a few photo's from  my sweetie, Chris'  trip to Talladega Alabama to see a NASCAR race on Halloween eve...