Lughnasadh is one of the four Celtic fire festivals. A feast is held
to commemorate the funeral games of the Irish Sun-God Lugh.
Lughnasadh marks the start of the harvest season and is a time when
the fertility aspect of the union between the Goddess and God is honored.
First
Quarter Moon 9°56 Scorpio
1:46 am PDT
Finally the First Quarter Moon and this time it's in Scorpio building up our
moods in an intense manner and creating a sexual heat with the Sun in Leo and
the Moon in Scorpio. Scorpio inspires deep emotion and vast creativity,
imagination, and excitement. Scorpio Moon often calls up the feeling of being on
the edge of life and death. This is a good time to let it out but be sure to
stay well within bounds of the edge you're most familiar with. Be aware and live
life to the fullest today, Scorpio energy would like us to live life like this
all the time, but this is an important time to acknowledge the precious sense of
life being here now.
Thought for this Moon - Unveil the whole uncensored truth of who you
are: to get out there and be part-saint, part-wild thing, part beauty-worshiper,
and part-hard-ass negotiator.
Lammas is a festival of regrets and farewells, of harvest and
preserves. Reflect on these topics alone in the privacy of your journal or share
them with others around a fire. Lughnasad is one of the great Celtic
fire-festivals, so if at all possible, have your feast around a bonfire. While
you're sitting around the fire, you might want to tell stories. Look up the
myths of any of the grain Gods and Goddesses mentioned above and try re-telling
them in your own words.
Things to do:
This is also a good time for making
preserves, either literally or symbolically. As you turn the summer's fruit into
jams, jellies and chutneys for winter, think about the fruits that you have
gathered this year and how you can hold onto them. How can you keep them sweet
in the store of your memory?
the Day of the Dryads,
is an annual nature festival
dedicated to the maiden spirits who inhabit and rule over forests and trees. There are
several divisions of Dryads, each of which have their special areas of expertise and
magic. Some work only with groves, valleys, and trees. Others are found only around
water. Still others belong to mountains and grottos.
On this date each year, the waters of Scotland's Loch-mo-Naire become charged with
magical powers to heal all who drank from or bathed in it, it is believed. It was custom
for those who visited Loch-mo-Naire to toss in a coin (preferably silver) as an
offering to the benevolent spirits of the lake
The Lady of the Lake
On the first Sunday in August, the Welsh used to make pilgrimages to
Llyn y Fan fach (a lake near Llanddeusant in
Dyfed) to watch for the annual reappearance of the fairy from this lake who
married a mortal but returned to the lake the third time he struck her. Before
she left, she bequeathed her knowledge of herbal medicine to her sons, who
became the ancestors of the renowned physicians of Myddfai. .
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Start of the Celtic tree month - hazel
Wands made of this wood symbolize white magic and healing. Forked
sticks are used to find water or buried treasure. To enlist the aid of plant
fairies, string hazelnuts on a cord and hang up in your house or ritual room. Magically,
hazel wood is used to gain knowledge, wisdom and poetic inspiration.
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Londoners believe that if you eat an oyster today you will not want for money
all year. This sentiment is expressed in the following rhyme from Hone's
Every-Day Book, published in 1829, which describes the mad dash to Billingsgate
where the fish market was located:
Greengrocers rise at dawn of sun
August the fifth — come haste away
To Billingsgate the thousands run
To Oyster Day! To Oyster Day!
This day was dedicated to Salus, Roman Goddess of health. Our
word salubrious, meaning good health comes from Salus. Are there ways you can
take care of yourself better? Call on Salus for the answer.
Lugh Dydd (Day of Lugh)
Festival of the Coming Ice Age - This day is
our equivalent of the
Mad Hatter's tea party. You'll need a large tub of ice (filling the
children's wading pool would be ok :-)
The Day of the Holy Helpers. By tradition Catholics use this day
to call on any specific saint who might solve their immediate problem. In
the Green Rose tradition this day is a good one to contact the
power animal of your choice
Liang
- The Cool Breeze.
Direction: SW
Trigram: k'un
Instrument: earthen crock
- Season: Summer-Autumn
- Element: latent Metal
- Activity: Report on efficiency of the land, make sacrifices at the four
suburbs
BURRYMAN FESTIVAL. A man in tight-knit suit & mask is covered from head to toe with
burrs & strolls the streets of Linlithgow, collecting tribute from housewives. No one
knows why.
Full
Moon
@ 16°44 Aquarius
3:54
am PDT
Sabian Symbol:
A watch dog standing
guard
What were you
thinking about at the new moon in Aquarius on January 29,
2006? Back in January you were thinking,
thinking, thinking. The results of that thinking is
now manifesting on a physical level in tangible ways. In
your face!! Literally. At this Aquarius Full Moon it is a
time to release, surrender what is no longer working for
you. A spiritual rebirth is in order. Aquarius represents:
-
Inventive
solutions- understanding how things work.
-
Seeing the Future-
New trends and unconventional approaches.
-
Humanitarian
attitudes- operating from a larger world view.
-
Revelation-
unexpected surprises or results.
-
Humor-
objectivity, tools of divination
-
Friends-
reciprocity, the giving and receiving, networking
-
Excessive
attachment- fear of involvement, inflexible opinions,
cold aloofness
-
In the physical
body this sign rules ankles, circulation, electrical
forces in the body, the central nervous system.
The ancient Romans celebrate the
Eve of the Festival of Venus
annually on this date. The Goddess of love and beauty was honored and invoked with
prayers, love songs, libations, and passionate lovemaking on this night. It was also a
time when sorceresses performed all forms of love magic and marriage-mate divinations.
The Teinne Hill festival commemorates the personified Celtic holy Fire, Teinne or Tan.
It's still actively celebrated on the highest peak of Wiltshire Downs, miles
from any town. Salt beef & beans eaten.
This is a day for Fire scrying, and undertaking any
creative venture.
An Irish festival known as the
Puck Fair begins on
this day. This is a medieval type festival, which pays homage to the mischievous sprite
Robin
Goodfellow, and continues for three consecutive days.
At 1:21 pm PDT, Venus enters the sign of
Leo where she remains until September 5th
The leaves fall early this autumn, in wind.
The paired butterflies are already yellow with August
Over the grass in the west garden;
They hurt me. I grow older.
The Festival of Hecate was held at Moonrise by torchlight (as were all her festivals). Hecate was the oldest Greek form of the triform
Goddess, who ruled heaven, the Underworld, and the Earth. The Amazons knew her as the
Goddess of the Dark Moon. She was also worshiped as one of the queens of the
Underworld, and ruler of three-way crossroads.,
This day is scared to the Flame dragons. Those small little carriers of
companionship and good fellowship. Since this year it's also a full moon,
there's only one way to celebrate. Invite your friends and family over for
a mid week barbecue. Then light a fire outside in your back yard (we have
a small outside fireplace that we spent $80 for that works perfectly) and honor
the Flame dragons.
Last Quarter Moon
23°05 Taurus
6:51 pm PDT
The Waning moon in Taurus encourages us to let go of
emotional baggage created within the last month that doesn't contribute to
our personal growth and progress. It emphasizes our emotional
attachments to the physical and it encourages us to let go. This could
represent any form of physical, from one's own appearance, to the ownership of
property and valuables. The things that we emotionally attach ourselves to
are the things we strive to possess and immortalize, the things that we
stress ourselves over to 'afford'.
The fact of the matter is that entropy is
inevitable and that even ancient sites touched by God/Goddess are
dematerializing all the time. If this concept troubles you then you should
use this moon to work with Hel and
get her aid in understanding that everything eventually goes back to dust
and hence to her realm.
Another use of this moon is in remembering that you
shouldn't sweat the small stuff and as the book says "it's all small stuff"
At the Last Quarter Moon the Sun has moved into Leo and the Moon
into Taurus. The Taurus energy will bring a necessary slowing of events so that
change can be incorporated and grounded in our lives. The Leo Sun will give us a
great deal of radiant energy, but it's important to act carefully and
methodically at this point in the cycle. It's vital we take the time to ground
new behavior so that it's stable and secure. This is also a good time to tune in
and connect with the parts of ourselves that have been most resistant to change.
It's especially important to patiently nurture the vulnerable parts of our
psyche that are just flowing into our awareness.
Ritual Question - Consider that the crisis before you is
merely a series of choices in the larger scheme of your spiritual path.
Accept it as transformation.
This is the first day of Odin's ordeal on the world tree
Yggdrasil, leading to the discovery of Runes (by Odin - Freya always had the power
to work with them). Odin hung on the tree for nine days and nights. On the
ninth day he fell "screaming" from the tree, having gained the knowledge he
sought.
This day is sacred to Cardea in her role as keeper of the keys
Cat Nights
Someone thought that cats deserved their own month-long holiday after the
Dog Days and decided that this was the starting date for it. Makes sense to me.
Ancient Bardic TUORNEY OF DRUIDS. Group singing, processions, musical & literary
competitions, awarding of bardic degrees.
St. Bernard Day (patron of bees, beekeepers, candle makers)
Vinalia Rustica is a day of offering to the ripening grapes, this is a
festival that honors Venus in her role as guardian of gardens, olive groves and vineyards.
- This turns out to be a wonderful festival to
celebrate. Just hold a wine tasting.
This day is sacred to
Nu Kwa, the Chinese Goddess
identified with the healing Goddess
Kuan Yin.
Mother Nu Kwa created the race of the golden
people from yellow clay. At first, she carefully molded them. At length, finding
this too tedious, Nu Kwa just dipped a rope into slip-like clay and shook it so that drops
splattered onto the ground. Thus were two types of beings born: from the molded
figures, nobles; from the clay drops, peasants.
She sent great winds and life giving waters so
the Earth was ready for planting. The excess water became a bay filled with
fish so everyone would eat and never hunger. Then a time came of great chaos
and destruction. When Mother Nu Kwa saw this, she repaired the damage to
heaven with colored stones and brought perfect harmony to all. Thereafter she
created the guardians of the four quarters, placing the Black Tortoise in the
north, and giving it control over winter; the Blue Dragon in the east, who was
given control over spring; the White Tiger in the west, who was given control
over autumn; and the Red Bird in the south, who was given control over summer,
with the Gold Dragon, whose special duty was to guard the sun, the moon being
protected by the White Deity of the west. Mother Nu Kwa established the order
and rhythm of the universe and the sacred way of harmony and balance.
When Buddhism entered China in 560 BC, worship
of Great Mother Nu Kwa, the fishtailed Goddess was already very old. Since
Nu Kwa was loved so deeply and by so many, Buddhists absorbed Her into their
belief system and renamed Her Kuan Yin: Kuan means earth and Yin means woman.
She even survived Mao’s revolutionary regime in China, when large numbers of
people, risking severe punishment, hid statues of Her in their homes.
The Sun enters
the astrological sign of Virgo,
11:23 pm PDT
When the Sun is in Virgo, details take on an enormous importance. An
intellectually stimulating time, the Virgo Sun hones our logic and sharpens our
sense of stability and value. Only the best will do right now -- from clothing
to food to interpersonal communication -- anything that seems low in value will
fall by the wayside. This Earth Sign also connects us to our physical selves
through a sharp awareness of health and hygiene as well as a keen sensuality.
Practical to almost a fault, Virgo energy will motivate us to enforce order onto
whatever chaos the past months may have wreaked. Once comfortable with the
nervous tension that this astrological influence can create, there is pleasure
to be had at this time. It comes in the form of an acute appreciation of
aesthetic beauty and the arts.
A good time for:
- Hunkering down with our most meticulous and detail-heavy tasks or
responsibilities
- Taking a more active interest in your health -- quitting smoking, starting
new fitness routines
- Enjoying detail-oriented games and crafts
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Queen of Heaven and Earth - Today the Church celebrates the
Queenship of Mary -- the Fifth Glorious Mystery of the Rosary.
Hail, holy Queen, Mother of Mercy,
our life, our sweetness, and our hope,
to you do we cry, poor banished children of Eve;
to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears.
Turn, then, most gracious lady, yours eyes of mercy toward us;
and after this our exile show unto us the sanctuary of your loving arms
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| Since almost every Catholic holiday has its
roots in a pagan holiday it seemed only appropriate to borrow this one back.
Us this day to honor the Mother Goddess in what ever Pantheon you follow.
In the Green Rose tradition this day would be for
Danu. |
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New
Moon at 0°31 Virgo
12:10 pm PDT
Sabian
Symbol:
A portrait showing a man's idealized character
a time for visioning, when our dreams
begin to take hold. It is a time of initiation and new experiences. Energy
is more inward and personal as a new cycle of activity begins. Take time to
know what it is you want. Write down all of your intentions.
Virgo’s energy brings the ability to
organize and systematize, to create order and balance by
taking care of endless details and routine jobs. The
joy of humble service and patience. The house
where Virgo is represents the need to analyze, perfect and
digest all that has been absorbed through the previous
experiences in an attempt to find a useful application for
acquired skills. The goal is not be become trapped in the
detail but to develop an appreciation for it. The
experiences offered here require analysis, assessment,
digestion and the elimination of those things (clutter
busting) that have proven unfit for future use. The
experiences attracted in the Virgo house will make you
aware of what needs your attention.
What to do: The new moon time is a point
of manifestation, a fertile seed time. A call for all of us to dream the
dream, go within and connect to what is needed in the Virgo area of our
life. 24 hours after the new moon, write it down, verbalize it, visualize it
and send the intentions out. By the full moon you’ll see practical results.
Birth
of the Kitchen God
On the first day of the 8th lunar month, the Chinese celebrate the
birthday of the Kitchen God Zaoshen, also called the Black Lord. His temple
is opened for three days and visited, especially by cooks.
The festival Volcanalia is held this day to honor Volcanus
(Vulcan), the God of fire, volcanoes, earthquakes and lightning. Great bonfires
were lit at night in his honor. The day after this celebration in 79 AD, at 1
PM, Mount Vesuvius erupted.
The ancient Greeks celebrated a festival dedicated to
Nemesis called the Nemesca
annually on this day. She was the Goddess of destiny, and divine anger against mortals who
broke moral laws or taboos. Nemesis was a harsh, unremitting force representing acceptance
of what must be
Greece holds the Day of Moira (Doom) and the Day of Nemesea (Revenge).
Witches around the world celebrate the annual
Feast of the Fire Spirits
on this date. Dried mandrake root or yarrow herb is cast into fires as offerings to the
Salamanders
Fundus
Mundi seems to be a
Greek/Roman mixture of Lammas and Halloween. It means "bottom of the world," or
underworld, in Latin. It's a time of transition, when the gates of the
underworld open for a few days, and hence has been used as a justification for
ritual trials of endurance.
Bast, the Cat-mother, was a goddess whose cult began in the delta city of
Bubastis and eventually covered all of Egypt with the rise of the XXII Dynasty.
Unlike the fierce lion-headed Sekmet from earlier Egyptian myth, Bast embodied
the benevolent aspects of cats: fertility, sexuality, love and life-giving heat.
Bronzes from the period show the goddess in her feline form (seated and wearing
earrings), as well as in human form with the head of a cat, kittens at her feet.
The twice-annual Festivals of Bast (as described by Herodotus) were carnivals of
music, dancing, wine-drinking, love-making and religious ecstasy -- dedicated to
Bast in her aspect as Mistress of love and the sensual pleasures.
5th Day of the New Moon in August
Festival of Arrephoria, culled from the rites of the Augralids. Two girls who
had been living in the temple of Athena for a year carried an unopened package
out of the building as their final duty. The two girls chosen to replace them
carried a new sealed package into the temple. The festival was maintained for
fear that stopping it would harm the olive harvest. The Augralids are a trinity
of dew Goddesses, who could provide too little dew if not shown respect,
resulting in a poor harvest. Later, the two Arrephoroi would start the process
of weaving Athena's peplos, probably by threading the warp on the loom.
In Norway, a festival celebrating the harvest is held on this date each year. Norse
Gods and Goddesses are invoked to protect the spirit of the harvest throughout the dark
half of the year
St. Sabina's Day (Frigga) (patron of
housewives)
First
Quarter Moon 8°24 Sagittarius
3:58 pm PDT
Moon in Sagittarius continues to put
the emphasis on such endeavors as travel and vision quests. Throughout the
rest of the day and evening the 'void of course' factor of the Moon makes it
very easy to get lost and end up far off the usual beaten track. This is
okay if the need to explore is still present in one's moods, however it may
be best to pace oneself and take caution not to over do it. This is
especially true with sports activities and the act of taking on new
endeavors. There may be a tendency toward some serious partying that can
leave you bleary eyed and dragging tomorrow at the office.
Thought for this Moon
Take a piece of paper and write "I
will do everything in my power to attract all the help I need as I
accomplish the following goal." Then compose a declaration that crisply
describes exactly what satisfying, growth-inducing experience you want most
in life. Keep copies of this magic formula under your pillow for the next 14
days.
