Woden's Day - Crescent Moon phase

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

5th Day of the 3rd Lunar Cycle
Ruled by Artemis
Lunar Tree Cycle ~ Nion/Ash
28th Day of the Celtic Tree Cycle ~ Luis/Rowan
Moon Phase: Crescent - 11:51PM EST
Moon rises: 8:22AM EST
Moon sets: 9:43PM EST
Moon in the Cardinal Fire
Sign of Aries
Blodeuwedd's Cycle of the Moon
Lunar Meditation: Your kinship
with humanity.
Sun in Aquarius
Sunrise: 7:11AM EST
Sunset: 5:56PM EST
Solar Question for the Day: "What
message is your body trying to tell you?"
Imbolc (Gwyl Mair) Quarter of the Year
February 17th, 2010

     Crescent Phase of Moon - Keywords are: expansion, growth, struggle, opportunity. This is the time in a lunar cycle that you gather wisdom learned in the New phase and communicate your intention to move forward. Light a candle. Write or read an affirmation. LISTEN & ABSORB. Commit to your goal.   Hopefully you have a list of goals and intentions for this lunar cycle made.  This is the day to commit yourself to them.  This is the time when you're committing to your vision for the future.

   The Moon at this time in the lunar cycle rises mid-morning and sets before midnight. Throughout the lunation cycle, the Moon rises and sets a little later each day; sometimes fifteen minutes, sometimes ninety minutes after the previous day's rise and set. A special quality of the waxing Crescent Moon is how illuminated the 'earth shine,' the entire orb of the Moon is dimly visible behind the crescent, making an early evening "Moon sit" especially compelling. This is a good time to think of the unknown - and all the good it holds in store for you.  The Crescent Moon appears approximately three and a half days after the New Moon, when the Moon goes forty-five ahead of the Sun. Visible in the western sky after sunset, this slender, shimmeirng Crescent has an expquisite luminescence, as though inked with the radiance of angel wings. Its image universally inspires optimism and hope. Even the word 'Crescent' seems to draw us forward, deriving from the Latin 'crescere,' meaning to increase or grow. At this phase we can lasso a dream so bold, we'll pattern a great leap in succeeding phasses.
     The most eager New Moon devotee often falls away from the lunation cycle here. What we need is a good witch Glenda to throw snow on the poppy field and pinch our cheeks awake. After all, fertility is promised; we need only discover what to cultivate. Setting the right goal for the cycle can keep us moving along the path. If we've fixed our objective prematurely at the New Moon, we may have propped the old goal with little power to carry us forward. But at the Crescent it's not only right to focus ourselves, it's important.  Our good witch Glenda offers some advice: "Remember, not all dreams are energeticallyt supported at all times."  She wants us to stay awake to the world, to retain some of that New Moon openess. This means our goal should respect the messages in our environment as well as the desires in our heart. We need to both direct effort and listen. This is especially true when the world is telling us something we don't expect to hear, something that makes us yawn or drives us nuts.
[Excerpts from Dana Gerhardt's "Moon Watching"]


Affirmations - Meditation techniques and exercises from "Inner Temple of Witchcraft" by Penczak

   Affirmation are beneficial statements we make to ourselves, out loud or silently, to re-program our deep levels of consciousness. You know that magick requires an alignment of the conscious mind with the psychic and divine minds. One of the methods of achieving this alignment is through meditation, quieting the inner chatter to bring this harmony. From this alignment, magick flows. When people start meditating, many are filled with a sense of accomplishment, while others are unsure if it is really working. This uncertainty can accompany disbelief, doubt, and fear. The root of these frustrations and fears is found in the subconscious, a connecting link to your psychic mind.

   Humans are like vast, unlimited computers, capable of quite literally anything we set out to do. We are only limited by our programming, the directions, instructions, and images we contain. As individuals, we program ourselves, but use templates and programs from our family, friends, and society. Unfortunately, at the moment we do not live in the lost life-affirming and optimistic world, and our self-programning can reflect that. Every thought and idea becomes a part of our overall programming. If we think we are unworthy, unwanted, or unlovede, our self-esteem falls. Feeling confident and good about ourselves is paramount when using our magickal abilities. If our programming prevents us from feeling connected to spirit, our abilities are greatly diminished. When we try to connect them, the blocks surface. When difficult feelings arise in meditations, at any level, we are attempting to clear through the blocks.

   Clearing away the blocks through experienceis important, but there is another way to tackle this problem: through direct, conscious reprogramming. Because every thought you have becomes a part of your new programming, conscously think new, helpful thoughts to replace old pargramming with the new. Affirmations are the new programming. The idea of inner programming does not replace free will or conscious choice. We choose and create our own programming. Most of us have accepted a log of programming that is not of our own making. Now is the time to take back control and responsibility.

   Daily affirmations are a great way to instantly reprogram the subconscious and gain greater access to our personal power. They can be done in meditation, to deeply implant them in your consciousness. They can also be done in a regular beta state with great effect. Here are come sample affirmations that have help Penczak and his students. This set is great to start out with to build self-esteem and a sense of connection to your own spirit.

I love myself, I love all others, I am infinitely loved.

I forgive myself. I forgive all others.

I am walking in the love of the Goddess, God and Great Spirit.

Everything I do is for the good of all involved, harming none.

I am open to my highest guidance.

For those who have programmed block to their own prosperity, using affirmations can help clear the way to great blessings.

I am successful and talented.

I am prosperous.

I have all the money and resources I need.

I am always in the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing.

I am joyful in all that I do.

This third set of affirmations is to open and awaken psychic abilities.

All of my senses are growing stronger every day.

I am safely opening and increasing all of my psychic abilities.

I am seeing psychically.

I am hearing psychically.

I am knowing psychically.

I am traveling psychically.

I am psychic.

This last set creates personal health and prepares you to take an active role as a healer. Healing is one of the highest skills learned in witchcraft.

I am completely healthy on all levels.

I am in balance and harmony.

I release all that does not serve my highest good.

I am safely opening my healing abilities.

  Many of these affirmations are in the form "I am" statements. The phrase "I am" is very powerful because it connects the affirmation to the highest quality of your being, your higher or divine self.  The phrase goes back to an Old Testament phrase when the Divine, taking the form of a burning bush, says, "I am that I am."  You don't have to be Jewish or Christian to use the power of these two simple words. In the kundalini-yoga tradition, a popular mantra is "Healthy am I. Happy am I. Holy am I." In the Silva Mind Control Method, they use "Everyday, in every way, I am getting better and better and better."

   The "I am" statements are also in the form of what you want to create, rather than what you don't want. An affirmation of health is "I am healthy" rather than "I am not sick." In the latter, you are focusing on the word sick and may be creating more sickness, even though that is not the intent of the statement.

   Affirmations are often said a certain number of times. Set of three are popular, for not only the pagan Triple Goddess, but for the conscious, psychic, and divine minds. Saying affirmations in sets of three, nine, thirty-three, ninety-nine, and 108s are extremely effective. Others prefer sets of four, for the four elements. The elements correspond to our physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual bodies. Use what resonates most strongly with you.

   Don't feel uncomfortable doing affirmations. When you start them, there is a tendency to feel awkward or foolish. Let yourself feel that way - it will soon fade. Then get back to the affirmations, no matter how silly it seems. That is part of your programming. You are trying to dissolve feelings of self-consciousness so that you can be free to do whatever you want, whenever you want, without embarrassment. Once you nstart to see how powerful they are, you quickly overcome the embarrassment. The power of affirmations can make you rethink many song lyrics that you sing over and over again, as well as using exporessions such as 'He's a pain in the neck."  Your words literally create your reality.

Tomorrow I will post Affirmation exercises....