Balsamic Moon enters Virgo

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

29th Day of the 10th Lunar Cycle
Ruled by Hecate
Lunar Tree Cycle of Muin/Vine
23rd Day of the Celtic Tree
Month of Muin/Vine
Moon Phase: Balsamic - there
was just a wisp of a crescent in
the eastern sky this morning at 6:30AM
Moon rises: 4:55AM EDST
Moon sets: 5:53PM EDST
Moon enters the Mutable Earth
Sign of Virgo at 12:49AM EDST
Ceridwen's Cycle of the Moon
Lunar Meditation: The dimensions
of the universe
Sun in Libra
Sunrise: 7:10AM EDST
Sunset: 7:14PM EDST
Solar Question for the Day: "What
excites your soul?"
Lughnasadh (Gwyl Awst) Quarter
of the Year
September 25th, 2011

Moon in Virgo - The Moon in Virgo sends us back to work and gives us a to-do list. We become impatiently aware of what needs to be improved, fixed or healed. Our compassion is strong, but we can get irritated at less industrious folk.  This transit is a time to study, learn, train, organize and turn our compassion into pragmatic action. Don't get stuck in your head. During this transit, important issues are practicality, organization, cleaning up your diet or your house, healing your body or offering healing to others and attending to loose ends. After the Leo party, it's time to clean up our act and turn our attentions to the matter of our health and hygiene. Practical Virgo cleans the house, sets things in order, washes the dog, and harvests the vegetables. She purifies and organizes our diet, setting us on the road for the month. It is a time of taking responsibility and cleaning up the messes we've been leaving. Virgo brings painstaking attention to detail; housecleaning is a good way to work through a Virgo transit. During a Virgo Moon transit, women are mentally active but there is a tendency to excessive criticism both of oneself and others. Emotionally, it's a inward time, when we can reflect on personal relationships. Moon in Virgo is the best time to work magick involving employment, intellectual matters, health, and dietary concerns. Healing rituals for ailments of the intestines or nervous system are  also done during this period of time.   Those who born under a Virgo Moon sign are curious, responsible, caring, but need to cultivate gentle acceptance of self and others.

Sun Day - is the Day of Intent, Creation and Renewal - Creation Day

Water Meditation -  The Autumn Equinox time is associated with the Element of Water, the Element of our feelings and emotions and is one of the hardest to come to terms with.  There are no 'wrong emotions' - your feelings, whatever they are, are yours, and are not easy to control. However, what we can control is how we express our feelings and whether we let them get in the way of our lives. To help us it is often a good idea to take a little time to explore our feelings, to 'wallow' in them.
    Reserve the bathroom for a quiet time when you will not be disturbed. Decorate it attractively with blue candles,incense or burning oils, and perhaps even flowers. Run a warm bath and add a few sprigs of Lavender, Thyme, Chamomile and Jasmine; tie them into a clean flannel if you don't want bits floating about. Also add about 1/2 teaspoonful of blue food coloring to the water. Take with you 2 palm-sized stones, one dark and one light in color. Completely immerse yourself 3 times. Then take the stones, one in each hand and close your eyes and think through the things you feel strongly about in your life. As you hold the stones, place the negative parts in the dark stone and the positive in the lighter stone. After you have filed your emotions in this way, immerse yourself 3 more times. Later, place the light colored stone in a prominent place, and bury the dark one deep in the ground to take away the negativity. 

Balsamic Moon phase in Leo

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

28th Day of the 10th Lunar Cycle
Ruled by Hecate
Lunar Tree Cycle of Muin/Vine
22nd. Day of the Celtic Tree
Month of Muin/Vine
Moon Phase: Balsamic - 1:13AM EDST
Moon rises: 3:43AM EDST
Moon sets: 5:21PM EDST
Moon in Leo v/c 10:39PM EDST
Moon will enter the Mutable Earth
Sign of Virgo at 12:49AM EDST tomorrow
Ceridwen's Cycle of the Moon
Lunar Meditation: The nonexistence
of time
Sun in Libra
Sunrise: 7:09AM EDST
Sunset: 7:16PM EDST
Solar Question for the Day: "Do
you abuse or respect obligations?"
Lughnasadh (Gwyl Awst) Quarter
of the Year
September 24th, 2011

Balsamic Moon - (or waning crescent moon) rises before dawn and sets midafternoon. She is the last sliver of Moon seen in the eastern sky in the dawn and in the very early morning. The Balsamic Moon is the COMPOST phase, when the nutrients remain in the soil, providing nourishment for the next new seed. This is end of one cycle and the beginning of another. Keywords for the Balsamic phase are: transition, release, transformation, renewal and purity. It is the phase in a cycle when you must let go of everything you have been working on that does not deal with the current cycle issues. During this phase you reflect on the passing cycle and prepare for the new. Trust in renewal. It is important to separate from others now so that you can clear the intellect of negativity. LET GO. Become still and meditate.
Those who were born during a Balsamic phase possess the potential to be wise, insightful, understanding and patient. They are prophetic and unique.

Sun in Libra - Libra is an Air sign, relating to the world of thought, ideas, communication and humanity. It is also a Cardinal sign bringing eagerness, initiative, action and impatience.

  Librans are generally self-expressive, communicative, mentally alert and extrovert. They tend to be charming, easy-going, diplomatic and compromising. They are happiest in harmonious company, preferring to conform and to avoid conflict and dissension. Librans are typified by the scales; they like to weigh things in the balance. They are intelligent and capable of seeing all sides of an issue, however this can lead to indecisiveness, and sometimes to misunderstandings through doing what they think others expect. Librans enjoy bringing people together and often have a strong artistic or creative streak.

Mabon/Autumn Equinox

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

26th Day of the 10th Lunar Cycle
Ruled by Hecate
Lunar Tree Cycle of Muin/Vine
20th Day of the Celtic Tree
Month of Muin/Vine
Moon Phase: waning Last Quarter
Moon rises: 1:26AM EDST
Moon sets: 4:10PM EDST
Moon in Cancer v/c9:23PM EDST
Moon enters the Fixed Fire Sign
of Leo at 9:55PM EDST
Ceridewn's Cycle of the Moon
Lunar Meditation: The blessing
twilight
Sun in Virgo
Sunrise: 7:07AM EDST
Sunset: 7:19PM EDST
Solar Question of the Day: "Are you
appropriating someone else's resources
or time?"
Lughnasadh (Gwyl Awst) Quarter
of the Year
September 22nd, 2011

Autumn Equinox or Alban Elued - Significance: Alban Elued means in Gaelic 'light on the water' and so the sun is moving away over the water to shine on the Isles of the Blest, leaving the world with encroaching darkness. It is a festival of discarding what is rotten like overripe fruit and storing what will last for use through the winter - not just material but spiritual resources.
Duration: A quarter day. This lasts for three days from sunset around 22 September.
Mythological energies: The god is in the underworld, the womb of the mother awaiting rebirth and while goddess mourns for her love she must prepare for the harvest over which she presides. But she is tired herself and getting heavier with the light child. Some myths blame Llew the Welsh god of light's faithless wife Blodeuwedd or Arthur's Queen Guinevere for transferring their attention to the dark twin who destroys the light brother and impregnates the goddess. But even these treachery myths reflect the need for the dark twin to be born at the summer solstice so that the wheel continues to turn.
    In this strange legend, Blodeuwedd is instrumental in bringing about the death of Llew at the hands of Gornwy and the magickian. Llew becomes an eagle whose physical deterioration progresses as pigs, icons of Cerridwen, mother of regeneration, eat the rotting flesh as it falls to the ground. Llew will not be released from the form of the eagle until his rebirth at the midwinter solstice.
    In the light cycle, the dark brother challenges and kills the light brother who returns to the earth/the womb and the two legends temporarily merge again.
Focus: Abundance, the fruition of long-term goals, for mending quarrels and forgiving yourself for past mistakes, for reaping the benefits of earlier efforts, for assessing gain and loss, for family relationships and friendships and material security for the months ahead.

Symbols: Copper-colored, yellow or orange leaves, willow boughs, harvest fruits such as apples, berries, nuts; copper or bronze coins and pottery geese
Animal: Salmon
Tree: Apple
Incenses, Flower and Herbs: Ferns, geranium, myrrh, pine, sandalwood, Solomon's seal; Michaelmas daisies, and all small petalled purple and blue flowers
Candle colors: Blue for the autumn rain, and green for the earth mother
Crystals: Soft, blue crystals such as blue lace agate, blue beryl, chalcedony or azurite, also rose quartz and all calcites
Element: Water
Direction: West
Deity forms: All river and freshwater deities, also the mistresses of the animals and lords of the hunt
Agricultural Significance: The gathering of the second or green harvest of fruit, nuts and vegetables, as well as the final grain harvest; the storing of resources for the winter and barter for goods not available or scarce. Feasts of abundance and the offering of the harvest to the deities was a practical as well as magickal gesture, part of the bargain between humans and deities. Rotten fruit and vegetables were, where possible, fed to the animals or discarded. Barley wine was brewed from the earlier crop.
Mythological and magickal significance: The thanksgiving for the abundance of the harvest and in Christian times the harvest festival and supper.
    In traditional pagan celebrations a priestess and later a woman representing the goddess would carry a wheat sheaf, fruit and vegetables and distribute them to the people. A priest or man, representing the slain god, given the name of John Barleycorn, would offer ale, made from the fermented barley cut down in Lughnasadh.
    In Ancient Greece, the rites of the Greater Eleusinian mysteries took place at this time to honor Kore/Persephone and her mother Demeter.

    Michaelmas, the day of St. Michael, the archangel of the sun, was celebrated on 29 of September with a feast centered on geese. Since St. Michael was patron saint of high places and replaced the pagan sun deities. he was an apt symbol for the last days of the summer sun. Goose fairs were held and workers in the fields were often pain with slaughtered geese.
    Some Druidesses and Druids climb to the top of a hill at sunset on the autumn equinox day to say farewell to the horned god, lord of the animals as he departs for the lands of winter.
    The autumn equinox in many lands in the northern hemisphere still signals the beginning of the hunting seasons, and in Scandinavia huntsmen still leave the entrails of slain animals on rocks in the forest as a relic of ancient offerings of the first animals.

Alban Elued spells and rituals:

* Prepare a feast of fruit and vegetables, game meat, duck, goose or meat substitute, bread, cider and barley wine or fruit cup and warming soups and hold an outdoor equinox party.
* Bless a dish of cakes and a large goblet of fruit/juice/wine/beer in the name of the mother and father of abundance and ask for protection throughout the winter for all present.
* Make offerings to the land and the earth mother and the spirit of the corn on  wine/juice and bread by dropping a little of each on the ground.
* Then pass round a dish of small fruit cakes, each person making a wish for abundance for a person or place that needs it.
* Next pass the communal cup, asking each person to turn before they drink to send individual blessings to people and places, naming with thanks someone who has been kind to them during the past year.
* Ask everyone to bring along small personal treasures or household items (not junk) they no longer use or maybe never used, in the style of the Native North American giveaway. Let everyone take what they want and donate the rest to a car boot sale or charity shop to pass on abundance.
* Stand where autumn leaves are falling and catch one for each precious thing you want to carry forward to the winter. Collect them together in your crane bag. Pick up other leaves for each thing you must let go. Put those also in your crane bag.
* Before dusk, climb to the top of a hill to say goodby to the sun and release all your leaves, all are carried, gains and losses, to be transferred by the cosmos.
 [These Autumn Equinox information and rituals come from Cassandra Eason's Complete Book of Natural Magick...   While many of her ideas and information is different that a lot of us considered Autumn Equinox celebrations and stories I have found them to be quite interesting and can be woven quite nicely into some of my own every year rites.

The image at the beginning of this entry is from: http://cybercoven.blogspot.com/2009/09/today-marks-norse-last-harvest.html

Last Quarter moon phase in Cancer

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

25th Day of the 10th Lunar Cycle
Ruled by Medusa
Lunar Tree Cycle of Muin/Vine
19th Day of the Celtic Tree
Month of Muin/Vine
Moon Phase: Last Quarter waning
Moon rises: 12:24AM EDST
Moon sets: 3:30PM EDST
Moon in the Cardinal Water
Sign of Cancer
Ceridwen's Cycle of the Moon
Lunar Meditation: A poem of
your choice
Sun in Virgo
Sunrise: 7:06AM EDST
Sunset: 7:21PM EDST
Solar Question for the Day: "Do
you overconsume the world's resources?"
Lughnasadh (Gwyl Awst) Quarter
of the Year
September 21st, 2011

Last Quarter Moon - The moon reached this phase yesterday at 9:58AM EDST - The moon's age now is 21-24.5 days old - It is 270-315 degrees ahead of the sun. The crescent shape is turned westward, to the realm of death. The power of the moon is now waning, being drawn inside for later use. Cast spells now requiring resolution or for something to be concluded. The waning moon is used for banishing magick, illness or negativity. This moon rises around midnight and sets around noon. Astrologically the Moon is square to the Sun. She is visible from the time she rises until she sets. The Last Quarter moon is the HARVEST phase - the lunar plant gives her life so that others may continue theirs. Keywords for the Last Quarter Moon phase are: realignment, revision, integration, cleansing. It is the time in a lunar cycle to take closing action, follow-up and complete the activities begun at the New Phase. During this phase you become aware of what is and is not working with respect to the achievement of your goal for the cycle. The movement is toward integration. Open to your success. MANIFEST YOUR GOAL. Be responsible.

Moon in Cancer - The Moon in Cancer deepens our feelings; our moods are stormy and vast, our hungerr and desire to others sharpen. We protect our own nest in our cave. need to know we're safe. Hunger grows but for more than food. With Moon in Cancer our feelings take the lead. Cancer encourages the wisdom rising out of our oceanic unconscious through moods and feelings. Ground in the magick of our home as a temple. This transit concerns desires about a home, emotional security, entertaining friends, cooking, security issues, nostalgia and the desire to nurture - Moon in Cancer brings heightened sensitivity. Moon in Cancer is the best time to work magick for home and domestic life. Healing rituals for ailments of the chest or stomach are also done during this period of time.

Disseminating Moon enters Gemini

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

22nd Day of the 10th Lunar Cycle
Ruled by Hesita
Lunar Tree Cycle of Muin/Vine
16th Day of the Celtic Tree
Month of Muin/Vine
Moon Phase: Disseminating
Moon sets: 1:01PM EDST
Moon rises: 11:27PM EDST
Moon in Taurus v/c 3:08AM EDST
Moon enters the Mutable
Air Sign of Gemini at 4:06AM EDST
Rhiannon's Cycle of the Moon
Lunar Meditation: Memory of places distant
or no more.
Sun in Virgo
Sunrise: 7:03AM EDST
Sunset: 7:26PM EDST
Solar Question for the Day: "What joy
do you miss most; where is joy within you?"
Lughnasadh (Gwyl Awst) Quarter
of the Year
September 18th, 2011

Moon in Gemini - The Moon in Gemini wakes us up; we lose our concentration but quicken our communication. The conversation sparkles, our thinking broadens but doesn't deepen. This transit is a good time to network, investigate, translate, brainstorm, meditate, edit, explain and broadcast. This is a time of communication and other means of expression, freedom, adaptability, short journeys, reading or writing, there a desire for variety and having more than one thing going at once. You feel talkative. If a person has proved fickle in the past take their promise with a grain of salt. This can be a hard time to make decisions, but a good time to use your wit and cleverness in conversation. Build a web of understanding, absorb new information. Those who were born under a Gemini moon sign want to understand; they live and breath communication. They may need to learn to honor stillness and concentration. They translate for us, they question us.

Sun Day - is the Day of Intent, Creation and Renewal....  there are minor magickal energies for spells/rite to relieve stress.

Saturn's Day - Disseminating Moon in Taurus

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


21st Day of the 10th Lunar Cycle
Ruled by Hestia
Lunar Tree Cycle of Muin/Vine
15th Day of the Celtic Tree
Month of Muin/Vine
Moon Phase: Disseminating Moon
Moon sets: 12:05PM EDST
Moon rises: 9:54PM EDST
Moon in the Fixed Earth Sign
of Taurus
Rhiannon's Cycle of the Moon
Lunar Meditation: The restoration
of sleep
Sun in Virgo
Sunrise: 7:02AM EDST
Sunset: 7:28PM EDST
Solar Question for the Day: "Which of
your skills needs to honed at this time?"
Lughnasadh (Gwyl Awst) Quarter
of the Year
September 17th, 2011


Saturn's Day - the Day of Manifestation and Structure, Assessment and Responsibility.... there are minor magickal energies today for doing spells/rites of protection.  

Autumn Equinox - Autumn is well-named Fall as it is the time when greens give way to a glorious array of yellows, golds, oranges and reds before the wind takes the leaves to the ground. Autumn is the season of winds, the harbingers of the storms of Winter. It is the time of harvest and plenty when the crops ripen, before the hardship of Winter.
    Even if we do not tend the land to produce our own food it is a time of harvest. This is the time when we should look to what we have achieved: the tasks and projects we have completed, the successes we have had. Even where not all has turned out as hoped for, there is often much which has been achieved. As the farmer is setting aside seed for next year, so we too can sort out the seeds of ideas for new things to begin. Much like we did in the Spring this is a time for sorting through our lives, discarding that which is finished and preparing to start afresh.
    Take time to consider and sort through your life. Celebrate your own harvest, whether it is a sprig of herb grown on the windowsill or a friend you have helped through a bad time, and mark every achievement great and small. For each collect a seed or a nut and create a string of them. Sunflower seeds are good for this. Paint each in a color which reminds you of the good things of your year and place it in a prominent place where you can remind yourself of the positive aspects of life.
[From Kate West's The Real Witches' Year

Disseminating Moon in Taurus

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

20th Day of the 10th Lunar Cycle
Ruled by Demeter
Lunar Tree Cycle of Muin/Vine
14th Day of the Celtic Tree
Month of Muin/Vine
Moon Phase: Disseminating - 8:15AM EDST
Moon sets: 11:07AM EDST
Moon rises: 9:16PM EDST
Moon in the Fixed Earth Sign of Taurus
Rhiannon's Cycle of the Moon
Lunar Meditation: The freedom of
letting go.
Sun in Virgo
Sunrise: 7:01AM EDST
Sunset: 7:29PM EDST
Solar Question for the Day: "Do
you practice hospitality of spirit?"
Lughnasadh (Gwyl Awst) Quarter
of the Year
September 16th, 2011


Disseminating Moon - The Disseminating Moon is the waning full getting visibly smaller. She rises midevening and sets mid to late morning. She is visible from the time She rises almost until She sets. The Disseminating Moon is 17 to 21 days into Her lunar cycle. As we go into the darkening phase of the disseminating moon, we get the FRUIT of the lunar plant's life cycle - the fruits of wisdom and experience. Banishing work starts now. Workings should focus upon addiction, decisions, stress and protection. Keywords for the Disseminating phase area: demonstration, distribution, sharing and introspection. It is the time in a lunar cycle to further process your advancement toward your goal by looking at the results of your adjusting action taken at the Full Moon phase. During this phase you gain clarity by sharing what you've learned through awareness. Demonstrate your power of abundance by giving back to your community. Visit friends. Distribute your knowledge. SHARE. Reach and touch someone. For those in a Disseminating Moon phase life must have meaning, purpose.  They enjoy sharing their ideas with others.

Moon in Taurus -  The Moon enters the Fixed Earth Sign of Taurus yesterday afternoon. The Moon in Taurus grounds; it slows us down and wakes our sensual nature and stubbornness, helps us dig deeper roots. The Moon in Taurus asks us to discover what nurtures us and how to grow deeper roots. We can almost feel the mud oozing between our toes, awakening our senses and sensuality and growing our stubbornness. It is time to cultivate our material resources, our homes and our body. This lunar transit concerns money, work, property, the body, home and family, sensuality, building cautiously, and slowly, being conscientious, growth, sensitivity, planting and emotional patterns based on security. The energy flow is even and a time for us to experience the sensual. The forceful movement of Aries becomes solid, calm, and patient during Taurus. This is good time to continue or to finish projects, or to stay at home with the family. Taurus gives attention to order and detail. Emotionally there is stubbornness, but great sensitivity to others. This sensual sign is a good time to appreciate the wonders of the beautiful earth.  Moon in Taurus is the best time to work magick for love, real estate, material acquisitions and money. Healing ritual for ailments of the throat, neck, and ears are also done during this period of time.  Those born under a Taurus Moon sign have deep roots and will change slowly; they collect, touch and support - they see the sacred in the world of matter. Being very steady they can loan their strength to others but may need to learn the beauty in change.

Freya's Day - Venus Day, the Day of Sharing and Relationships....

Waning Full Moon enters Aries

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

17th Day of the 10th Lunar Cycle
Ruled by Gaia
Lunar Tree Cycle of Muin/Vine
11th Day of the Celtic Tree
Month of Muin/Vine
17th Day of the Cycle of Beiz -
Days of Fire
Moon Phase: waning Full Moon
Moon sets: 8:12AM EDST
Moon rises: 7:46PM EDST
Moon in Pisces v/c 2:20PM EDST
Moon enters the Cardinal Fire Sign
of Aries at 2:40AM EDST
Rhiannon's Cycle of the Moon
Lunar Meditation: A song of
your choice
Sun in Virgo
Sunrise: 6:58AM EDST
Sunset: 7:34PM EDST
Solar Question for the Day: "What
is your spiritual goal?"
Lughnasadh (Gwyl Awst) Quarter
of the Year
September 13th, 2011


Moon in Aries - The Moon in Aries lights a fire under our tails; it wakes us up, strips away our complications and our patience. We can make a fresh start but tend to shoot from the hip, move fast, argue quickly.  This transit is a time to initiate, speak up and honor independence. The Moon in Aries asks us to wake up and remember who we truly are, even if it bothers those we love or work for. Tempers, tears, and passions run hot. Moon in Aries is a time of new beginnings, intense activity, pioneering in any field, reaching out with emotional surges, impulsiveness. This moon is a great tester
of the limits. When the moon is in Aries you may want to depend on yourself, as there is a certain amount of ego involvement. You might feel impatient now or want to initiate new things. Aries Moon transits is based on acting on feelings of the moment rather than the result of reason. Sometimes snap
decisions are made - later to be regretted. The energy force in a Aries transit are sometimes felt in emotional surges, whereby we are highly assertive and enthusiastic.  Moon in Aries is the best time to work magick involving leadership, authority, rebirth, spiritual conversion, or willpower. Healing rituals for ailments of the face, head, or brain are also during this period of time. Those born with an Aries Moon sign are passionate, honest and fierce, big-hearted but intensely self-directed. They are happy to loan their fire to inspire others, but don't tell them what to do.

Tiu's Day - Mars Day, the Day of Activity and Physicality, Passion and Desire....   So you have new
moon transit starting in Aries on a day of Mars.  There will be blow ups and passions exploring for the next twenty-four hours.. 

Full Moon - Harvest Moon

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


16th Day of the 10th Lunar Cycle
Ruled by Gaia
Lunar Tree Cycle of Muin/Vine
11th Day of the Celtic Tree
Month of Muin/Vine
16th Day of the Cycle of Beiz -
Days of Fire
Moon Phase: Full - 5:26AM EDST
Moon sets: 7:13AM EDST
Moon rises: 7:22PM EDST
Moon in the Mutable Water
Sign of Pisces
Rhiannon's Cycle of the Moon
Lunar Meditation: The alchemy of
Autumn
Sun in Virgo
Sunrise: 6:57AM EDST
Sunset: 7:38PM EDST
Solar Question for the Day: "Where
do you need to invest your trust at
this time?"
Lughnasadh (Gwyl Awst) Quarter
of the Year
September 12th, 2011

Gibbous Moon phase begins in Aquarius

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

12th Day of the 10th Lunar Cycle
Ruled by Hera
Lunar Tree Cycle of Muin/Vine
7th Day of the Celtic Tree
Month of Muin/Vine
12th Day of the Cycle of Beiz -
Days of Fire
Moon Phase: Gibbous - 6:32AM EDST
Moon Sets: 3:10AM EDST
Moon Rises: 5:35PM EDST
Moon enters the Fixed Air Sign
of Aquarius at 5:42AM EDST
Rhinnon's Cycle of the Moon
Lunar Meditation: The tides of
the moon and sea.
Sun in Virgo
Sunrise: 6:53AM EDST
Sunset: 7:43PM EDST
Solar Question of the Day: "What
traditional framework supports you?"
Lughnasadh (Gwyl Wyst) Quarter
of the Year
September 8th, 2011

Gibbous Moon phase - The Gibbous moon rises midafternoon and sets before dawn. She is bulging getting ready to be full, visible soon after she rises until she sets. The Gibbous moon is the BUD of the moon plant, the pulse of life tightly wrapped, wanting to expand. Keywords for the Gibbous phase are: analyze, prepare and trust. It is the time in a lunar cycle to process the results of the actions taken during the First Quarter. During this phase you are gathering information. Give up making judgments, it will only lead to worry. Your knowledge is incomplete. Laugh. Analyze and filter. LOOK WITHIN. In the Waxing Gibbous moon phase the age of the moon is 8 to 14 days since the New Moon birth and the Moon is 135-180 degrees ahead of the Sun. This is a time for patience and for drawing up energy for the coming Full Moon. For those who were born in a Gibbous Moon phase, their talents lie in the ability to refine, organize and purify. They are seekers, utilizing spiritual tools as guides on their path.

Moon in Aquarius - The Moon in Aquarius connects us to our community, reminds us that we are in this together. It asks us to make sure we walk our talk and integrate our philosophy with our politics. We abstract, communicate and work the crowd, but may be less intimate. A Moon in Aquarius transit expands our circles and offers the magick of collaboration; spirit and politic weave together. We can get too farsighted now and need to stay aware of others' feelings. Let go of assumptions and find new, unusual allies. This is a transit of dealing with facts, organizing, political issues, desire to save the world through social action, connecting with others in social situations, scientific pursuits, detachment and the need to come and go without restriction. Aquarius Moon's monthly transit is a dramatic mood change. Where Capricorn values tradition and caution, Aquarius indicates anything new, innovative, different or unconventional. Extremes of behavior occur during this moon, especially extreme of optimism and pessimism. We feel the need to be friendly and social but don't want to be too personal or go too deep. An Aquarius moon transit can bring feelings of detachment  or rational rather than emotional and we find ourselves making changes only if logical to do so. Freedom is very important now and you feel the need to lives with as few restrictions as possible. Moon in Aquarius is the best time to work magick involving science, freedom, creative expression, problem-solving, extrasensory abilities, friendship and the breaking of bad habits or unhealthy addictions. Healing rituals for ailments of the calves, ankles, or blood are also done at this time.  For those born under an Aquarius moon sign (such as myself) came here to understand group dynamics. They may need to learn to be comfortable with emotional intimacy. They offer us a global perspective and collaboration.

Thor's Day - Jupiter Day - the Day of Vision, Spiritual Insight, and Expansion... There are Major magickal energies for Networking.  

Hedgerow Harvest - Through out late Summer and Autumn the woods and hedgerows bear their own harvest. There are nuts, seeds and berries galore.   
     Many of these would have been a welcome addition to the diet of our forebears, being gathered and stored against the chill of winter. Today, although we are not dependent on finding food in the wild, we can still look for and reap nature's harvest. Look for Blackberries, Beechnuts, Sweet Chestnuts, Hazel Nuts, Crab Apples and Sunflower heads in seed. If you are lucky you may also find occasional Apples, Pears, Plums and other fruits which have 'escaped' and can be found in the wild. If you are knowledgeable you might also collect Mushrooms, Red- and Black-currents too. You may well have other things to add to your harvest if you have planted and grown your own. Other fruits such as Quince, Elderberry and Sloes are also worth collecting for cooking and wine making, even though they may be too bitter to eat off the bush.
     Where you have grown or come across a huge surplus of fallen produce, then it is worth collecting extra to take home for freezing, bottling or drying as appropriate, or to feed the birds when the winter comes. However, do not pick a surplus from bush or tree, nor take everything you find on the ground, as this will be the source of food for the wildlife around. If you have grown herbs outside this is the time to pick and dry the leaves as few will over-winter successfully.
[From The Real Witches' Year by Kate West]

Woden's Day - Waxing Half Moon in Capricorn

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

11th Day of the 10th Lunar Cycle
Ruled by Hera
Lunar Tree Cycle of Muin/Vine
6th Day of the Celtic Tree
Month of Muin/Vine
11th Day of the Cycle of Beiz -
Days of Fire
Moon Phase: waxing Half Moon
Moon sets: 2:07AM EDST
Moon rises: 5:01PM EDST
Moon in Capricorn v/c 4:35PM EDST
Rhiannon's Cycle of the Moon
Lunar Meditation: The glory of
the sunset
Sun in Virgo
Sunrise: 6:52AM EDST
Sunset: 7:44PM EDST
Solar Question for the Day: "How do
you use the world's resources to sustain
your life?"
Lughnasadh (Gwyl Awst) Quarter
of the Year
September 7th, 2011

Woden's Day - Mercury Day, the Day of Communication and Connection ....   there Major magickal energies for dealing with Politics and Negotiations  and minor magical energies for divination, and performing elemental magick. 

Elemental Magick - The root of human spirituality is grounded in four elements - earth, water, fire and air. When we explore and savor and interact with these elements, we are both remembering a primal connection and forging it anew.

"Earth my body

Water my blood

Air my breath and

Fire my spirit."

In some Covens knowledge of the Elements is taken very seriously and new members are set specific

'tests of the Elenments' as a part of their early training. These can involve such things as visiting an underground cave and having the lights turned out, to gain a better appreciation of the sensation of Earth. Or total immersion in the sea for Water. In other groups, individuals are encouraged to set themselves their own 'tests' and to report back on what they did and how they reacted.

    The Elemental Beings or Elemental, are the 'life-forms', or creatures, made directly of the Elements. Sylphs are the creatures of Air, Salamanders are those of Fire, Undines are the creatures of Water, and Gnomes the creatures of Earth. Try not to confuse these with their fairy-tale counterparts who are often depicted as being cute beings akin to the fairies of childhood.  Remember that they are not made of their representative Elements but that they are capable of being the extremes of those Elements. They should not invoked casually, but should be treated with respect and should always be thanked, whether or not you feel you succeeded.

    To try to contact any of the Elemental beings you need to create the right environment for their presence. Burning appropriate incense can also help to attract. In each case it is a good idea to spend a short amount of time focusing all your thoughts on the Element in question so you can immerse your mind in thoughts of the Element. Then when you truly ready to concentrate, you will be set to try to detect the Element in question.  

   I would these two books if you wish to explore Elemental Magick in a more intense scope:

Elemental Witch by Tammy Sullivan  and Earth, Water, Fire  & Air by Cait Johnson.  There are

many other good Elemental books and websites out there.

  "Knowledge and understanding of the Elements underlies the whole of the Craft and is essential to the creation of effective magick. Almost every aspect of the Craft relates back to the Elements in one way or another. While it is possible to work some spells without a thorough understanding of them, such spells are generally less effective and others do not work accurately or even at all."

[From: The Real Witches' Craft by Kate West]

Waxing Half Moon enters Capricorn

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


9th Day of the 10th Lunar Cycle
Ruled by Kore
Lunar Tree Cycle of Muin/Vine
4th Day of the Celtic Tree
Month of Muin/Vine
9th Day of the Cycle of Beiz -
Days of Fire
Moon Phase: waxing Half
Moon sets 12:05AM EDST
Moon rises: 3:31PM EDST
Moon in Sagittarius v/c 8:30PM EDST
Moon enters the Cardinal Earth
Sign of Capricorn at 10:03PM EDST
Rhiannon's Cycle of the Moon
Lunar Meditation: The vision through
the window
Sun in Virgo
Sunrise: 6:50AM EDST
Sunset: 7:47PM EDST
Solar Question for the Day: "What needs
to fulfilled or accomplished right?
Lughnasadh (Gwyl Awst) Quarter
of the Year
September 5th, 2011

Moon in Capricorn - The Moon in Capricorn inspires our ambitions for good or ill, we just have to be gentle on our souls if we're not there yet. Lead and manage, but do not manipulate or control. This transit is a time to: build, dig, organize, exercise discipline, work on foundations, make practical progress on a dream. Moon in Capricorn brings planning magick and takes your ideas, giving them form and hope. We can tap into the inner wisewoman - ask how form, ritual, organization or tradition can serve. This transit concerns leadership issues, security, responsibilities, the need to be recognized, desire to create environments, time to take care of business, deal with alternative healing for your body and intensification of your powers of concentration.
    After Sagittarius' expansiveness, now we feel contraction and a time to pay attention to our needs for security, duties, obligations, drives and ambitions. It's good for setting and achieving goals, 'going for it' materially; as now we feel persistent and ambitious. Capricorn brings a desire to create environments and energy is slowed down. Be careful to avoid insensitivity to others, and stay out of negative and pessimistic mind sets that will only drag you down. Take this moon transit to deal with your material plane, especially if you have neglected it too long. Do non-traditional healing as Capricorn is the sign of the medicine womon.  Moon in Capricorn is the best time to work magick for organization, ambition, recognition, career, and political matters. Healing rituals for the knees, bones,teeth, and skin are also done at this time. For those born under a Capricorn moon sign have a strong work ethic, competence, and leadership capacity, but may need to learn to love themselves holding still.

Moon Day - the Day of Remembering and Feeling ......

First Quarter phase in Sagittarius

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


8th Day of the 10th Lunar Cycle
Ruled by Kore
Lunar Tree Cycle of Muin/Vine
3rd Day of the Celtic Tree
Month of Muin/Vine
8th Day of the Cycle of Beiz -
Days of Fire
Moon Phase: First Quarter - 1:39PM EDST
Moon rises: 2:35PM EDST
Moon sets: 11:40PM EDST
Moon in the Mutable Fire Sign
of Sagittarius
Blodeuwedd's Cycle of the Moon
Lunar Meditation: The courage to change
Sun in Virgo
Sunrise: 6:49AM EDST
Sunset: 7:49PM EDST
Solar Question for the Day: "Are you
abusing or respecting other's boundaries?"
Lughnasadh (Gwyl Awst) Quarter
of the Year
September 4th, 2011

First Quarter Moon - or waxing half moon rises around early afternoon and sets around midnight. Astrologically the Moon is square to the Sun. She is visible from the time she rises until she sets. The first quarter moon is the GROWTH phase of the lunar plant. Roots go deeper, stems shoot up and leaves form as she creates a new strong body. Those who were born during the First Quarter live a full active life - old structures are cleared away providing room for new development.

Sun Day - is the Day of Intent, Creation and Renewal......  There is Major Magickal energies for spells and rites for Self-Improvement....and minor magickal energies for motivation and personal finances.

Vine Month -

    Although associated with warm climes the Vine will grow quite successfully in cooler places, although you may have to shelter them in a greenhouse if you actually want grapes you can eat. Properly cared for, Vines live a very long time, some in France being said to be 400 years old.
    To the ancient Celts the Vine was a tree of strength, growth and unity. It was called the 'highest of beauty' and 'strongest of effort' for its ability to grow higher than any plant which supported it, and to grow from one tree to another. While the fruit is used to make wine, the vine has many other uses. The roots were plaited and twisted to make fine string and strong rope. The leaves can be eaten in salads and are strong in vitamins and minerals, ensuring a clear skin. They are also good for the blood and calm the nerves. Boiled, they can be used as a lotion for sore mouths or as a poultice on wounds and swellings. Grapes were recommended in speeding the healing process. The tradition of giving grapes to someone recovering from illness goes back a very long time indeed.
    The fermented fruit of the Vine was considered to bring divine inspiration, although only in moderate quantities. In addition it was thought to be a tree of teaching and knowledge. Meditation under or by Vine gives access to the inner mind and is especially useful when seeking answers about the self. Place grapes on the Altar in Rituals to Bacchus,  Dionysus and Hathor.
(From Kate West's The Real Witches's Year]

Bramble/Vine

     There are many similarities in the symbolism of the vine and bramble and both have been used in wine making. In Celtic times sprite flails were made by binding nine bramble branches with willow bark and using it to banish mischievous nature spirits. The five-petalled flowers of the bramble are strongly linked to the Goddess, and its fruit, like the dark grape, has three stages of color: green, then red and finally black, which is symbolic of the three aspects of the Goddess-maiden, mother and crone. The bramble is also known as a fairy plant and it is said to be bad luck to pick its fruit after Samhain as the fruit then belongs to the birds and fairy folk.
    Both bramble and vine are linked to the Goddess of Joy, Exhilaration and Wrath - the temptress of the poet and Goddess of intoxication. Her gift is a two-edged sword that can lead to either inspiration or madness. Her teaching is profound but can also be painful and one must be prepared for a scratch or two in payment for tasting her sweet fruits of wisdom. Poets and shamans have drunk sacred bramble or grape wine in search of inspiration but it takes great will power to know when to stop before intoxication takes over and clouds the mind.

Bramble/Vine

Letter:        M

Tree:          Muin/Bramble/Vine

Bird:      Mintan/Titmouse

Color:           Mbracht/Variegated

Original Meaning:       Gathering, assimilation, learning 

Keyword:             Many lessons 

[From Ogham - The Celtic Oracle] 

            

Waxing Crescent Moon enters Sagittarius

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


7th Day of the 10th Lunar Cycle
Ruled by Kore
Lunar Tree Cycle of Muin/Vine
2nd Day of the Celtic Tree
Month of Muin/Vine
7th Day of the Cycle of Beiz -
Days of Fire
Moon Phase: waxing Crescent
Moon rises: 1:30PM EDST
Moon sets: 11:11PM EDST
Moon in Scorpio v/c 3:41PM EDST
Moon enters the Mutable
Fire Sign of Sagittarius at 5:01PM EDST
Blodeuwedd's Cycle of the Moon
Lunar Meditation: The urgency of vocation
Sun in Virgo
Sunrise: 6:48AM EDST
Sunset: 7:51PM EDST
Solar Question for the Day: "How do
you use the world's resources to
sustain your life?"
Lughnasadh (Gwyl Awst) Quarter
of the Year
September 3rd, 2011

Moon in Sagittarius - The Moon in Sagittarius gets us moving; it brings cheerful impatience and refreshing honesty. We need wide open minds, souls, and attitudes, but can't sit still. This transit is
a time to get honest, forgive, dance, hike, explore and connect to the natural world. Moon in Sagittarius
brings out our Artemis; we need to roam, to explore in body and in soul. Our curiosity intensifies. Check out untraveled territory and connect with the organic world. Have a long talk with the animals in your garden. Restless, enthusiastic Sagittarius loves adventure, change, and motion. The moon in this sign is a time for philosophy, metaphysics, travelling, studying and freedom from responsibility. Moon in Sagittarius is the best time to work magick for publications, legal matters, travel, and truth. Healing rituals for ailments of the liver, thighs, or hips are also done at this time. Those born under a Sagittarius Moon sign are funny, restless, freedom-loving, and direct; they are natural global citizens but need also to look for answers at  home. They accept the wild in all sentient beings.

Saturn's Day - the Day of Manifestation and Structure, Assessment and Responsibility - Foundation Day.......

Waxing Crescent Moon enters Scorpio

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

5th Day of the 10th Lunar Cycle
Ruled by Artemis
Lunar Tree Cycle of Muin/Vine
28th Day of the Celtic Tree
Month of Coll/Hazel
5th Day of the Cycle of Beiz -
Days of Fire
Moon Phase: Waxing Crescent - 4:19AM EDST
Moon rises: 11:07PM EDST
Moon sets: 9:41PM EDST
Moon in Libra v/c 1:34PM EDST
Moon enters the Fixed Water Sign
of Scorpio at 2:48PM EDST
Blodeuwedd's Cycle of the Moon
Lunar Meditation: The lessons
of illness
Sun in Virgo
Sunrise: 6:47AM EDST
Sunset: 7:54PM EDST
Solar Question for the Day: "What
soul-food nourishes you?"
Lughnasadh (Gwyl Awst) Quarter
of the Year
September 1st, 2011

Crescent Moon - (or waxing crescent moon) rises midmorning and sets after sunset. She is the first visible sliver of Moon seen in the western sky in the late afternoon and early evening. The Crescent Moon is the SPROUT of the moon plant. The seed has broken through the earth and reaches up as she ventures from the dark moist earth she has known. Keywords for the Crescent moon phase are: expansion, growth, struggle and opportunity. It is the time in a cycle that you gather the wisdom learned in the new phase and communicate your intention to move forward. Light a candle. Write or read an affirmation. LISTEN AND ABSORB. Commit to your goal(s). Those who were born in the Crescent
phase feel as if they must break with past to create their own destiny.

Moon in Scorpio - The Moon in Scorpio gives us attitude, and brings out our primal side; it sharpens our curiosity and our edges, our focus to the point of obsession. Fluff doesn't cut it; get real or let it go; honor privacy, don't crowd. This is a time to investigate, keep secret and love each other up. The moon's transit through Scorpio is a time of death and rebirth (not necessarily physical death), intensity, extremes and heightened sensitivity. It is a good time for focusing, being sexual, and doing psychic work because of the deep emotions and desires that Scorpio brings. Emotional resentment from past can surface and block your heightened creative energy, so fight urges to be suspicious, secretive and moody. This is a time of regeneration and cleaning out of emotional debris from the previous month. There is great energy to complete things and focus on certain areas that you have found yourself too scattered to deal with in the previous lunar cycle. Now that we are beginning a new lunar cycle and Mercury Retrograde is well over - we can begin a more positive forward movement. With Moon in Scorpio, dig deep. Scorpio weaves the visible and invisible worlds together. We see through and into the roots. Direct this energy away from obsession and towards creation. Moon in Scorpio is the best time to work magick involving sexual matters, power, psychic growth, secrets and fundamental transformations. Healing rituals for ailments of the reproductive organs are also done during this period of time. Those who were born under a Scorpio moon sign are intense, fiercely curious, and need to create solitude with healthy boundaries rather than isolation.

Thor's Day - Jupiter Day - the Day of Vision, Spiritual Insight and Expansion.....there are minor magickal energies today for business success.

"Earth is green and so is money,

Business flows like milk and honey,

Fortune ebb and fortune flow,

Magick makes my business grow."

[From Seasons of the Witch datebook, 2011]