New Solar Month - July

"I'm one with the Goddess
and open to Her Wisdom."

20th Day of the 7th Lunar Cycle
Ruled by Demeter
Lunar Tree Cycle ~ Duir/Oak
20th Day of the Celtic Tree Month
of Duir/Oak
Moon Phase: Disseminating
Moon sets: 10:52AM EDST
Moon rises: 11:39PM EDST
Moon in the Mutable Water
Sign of Pisces
Rhiannon's Cycle of the Moon
Lunar Meditation: The thing you must dare
to do now.
Sun in Cancer
Sunrise: 5:53AM EDST
Sunset: 8:54PM EDST
Solar Question for the Day: "What creative
possibilities are surfacing at this time?"
Beltaine (Calan Mai) Quarter of the Year
July 1st, 2010

Moon in Pisces - During Moon in Pisces emotional life is more introverted, intuition is at its height and psychic energy is powerful. You are now able to get in touch with in touch with your deepest self, but it can also be a time of vagueness, unclarity and uncertainty. Pisces is about endings as a result of internal processing. With this moon transit you may notice a moodiness in others around you. The outer world busyness become fuzzy and vague. Issues are clouded and cold, hard facts slide through your fingers like slippery fish. Things are not what they seem, so don't be confused by this transit. Moon in Pisces is the best time to work magick involving dreamwork, clairvoyance, telepathy, music and the creative arts. Healing rituals for aliments of the feet or lymph glands are also done at this time.

Curse Breaking

It is worth pointing out that real curses and hexes are extremely rare as Witches are mindful of the Wiccan Rede and the law of Threefold Return.  While it may be easier to blame things on outside influences, many misfortunes are down to our own actions and inactions and some are just plain bad luck. Having said that, it is possible to be affected by negative energies from others, even if they are not actually intended. Indeed, negative energies can leave traces, which is why it is a good idea to cleanse a new home.

There are several techniques and spells to deflect anything from general negativity to a genuine directed curse. Place a mirror in a window on each side of your home, facing outwards, will reflect negativity back to the sender. Likewise hanging a Witch Ball, a polished glass globe, in the window will absorb and return negative energy. Many herbs and plants can be grown and hung in windows or scattered on windowsills and doorways to prevent ill will from entering. Chili, Hydrangea, Thistle and Vetivert are all good examples. Protect your car or other vehicle with a spring of these or with Rosemary, which has the additional advantage of keeping you alert to more mundane dangers. Wear Onyx or Sapphire, or carry a small piece of Lava or Pumice to defend yourself on the move. In rare cases when you are sure of who has cursed you, take a new pin and drive it into the ground where they are sure to pass, to break the spell.
[From: "The Real Witches' Year" by Kate West]

A witch ball is a hollow sphere of plain or stained glass hung in cottage windows in 18th century England to ward off evil spirits, witch's spells or ill fortune, though the Witch's Ball actually originated among cultures where witches were considered a blessing and these witches would usually "enchant" the balls to enhance their potency against evils. Later, they were often posted on top of a vase or suspended by a cord (as from the mantelpiece or rafters) for a decorative effect. Witch balls appeared in America in the 19th century and are often found in gardens under the name "gazing ball". However, "gazing balls" contain no strands within their interior.


According to folk tales, witch balls would entice evil spirits with their bright colours; the strands inside the ball would then capture the spirit and prevent it from escaping.

Witch balls sometimes measure as large as 7 inches (18 cm) in diameter. The witch ball is traditionally, but not always, green or blue in color and made from glass (others, however, are made of wood, grass, or twigs instead of glass). Some are decorated in enameled swirls and brilliant stripes of various colors. The gazing balls found in many of today's gardens are derived from the silvered witch balls that acted as convex mirrors, warding off evil by reflecting it away.

Because they look similar to the glass balls used on fishing nets, witch balls are often associated with sea superstitions and legends. In the Ozark Mountains, a witch ball is made from black hair that is rolled with beeswax into a hard round pellet about the size of a marble and is used in curses. In Ozark folklore, a witch that wants to kill someone will take this hair ball and throw it at the intended victim; it is said that when someone in the Ozarks is killed by a witch's curse, this witch ball is found near the body.

The word witch ball may be a corruption of watch ball because it was used as a guard of evil spirits.
It is sometimes claimed that the modern Christmas ornament ball is descended from the witch ball. The ornament was allegedly originally placed on the tree to dispel a visitor’s envy at the presents left beneath the tree. However as the modern Christmas bauble's origins are documented in Lauscha, Germany in 1847, the provenance of this claim is debatable.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witch_ball

http://www.witchball.net/