October Full Moon, Blood Moon

Sunday, October 4, 2009 at 2:10 am EDT

Also called the Falling Leaf Moon and Hunter's Moon. This is the time of new goals, protection, resolution and spirituality. The night of the Blood Moon is a great time for divination.
This is a good time to reflect on the past year and to evaluate your accomplishments.
Also a good time to concentrate on removing stress from your environment.

announcing a new project!

I want to announce the opening of a new online magickal store.
Three old witches....and this is supposed to be a description of our wisdom and experience, NOT a physical description!
got together to open an online store. We will be offering classes, readings and some really great supplies; herbs, oils, potions etc.
The website is only partly done but we decided to go live with it anyway. The Facebook link is over on the right hand column of this blog. You can link to the photo or HERE to go directly to the site.
Even if you are not interested in the store, if you become a 'Fan' on Facebook it gives the page a little free advertising time on the site, so anybody who wants to help out, we appreciate you doing that.
We are excited about this and plan to have fun and give good service to our customers.

The Scarlet Witch

a couple more podcasts

Podcasts are coming and going so fast right now that I am not posting about them until they have put out more than a couple of episodes and managed to maintain an interesting show.
I have a couple to recommend ...

Mooncircles

If you have read my previous posts on podcasts you know that I am not overly fond of multiple hosts. There are a very few shows that manage to pull this off. I am glad to say that Mooncircles is one of them.
This is a great podcast, good converstion and good topics. This podcast has been around for a while and I hope it continues for a long time. I am really enjoying it.

A Pagan in the Threshold

This is a fairly new show but off to an excellent start. Meadowmoon has decided to go back to the beginnings of her study of paganism and witchcraft and fill in the holes. Like many of us, in her enthusiasm for her new path a few years ago, she skipped over some things. She is sharing this new beginning with her listeners. She found a series of text type books that she has selected and is using as a guide to help organize this path of study. If you are new to the Craft, or even if you are not, you will enjoy this show.

Both of these shows are available from their own websites and from iTunes.

Hecate: The Burning Times -- Yes Again

Hecate: The Burning Times -- Yes Again (link)

And just when I was thinking that I had a nice, quiet week with a lot of the insanity in my own life calming down.
This is a MUST read. Perhaps all of us bloggers could coordinate a ritual and stir up some magick from a far flung group.
If you are interested, let me know and we will figure out how to coordinate something.

Bast

I confiscated the dining room table for a desk. Since I actually had a little unclaimed space I decided to put something honoring Bast in my work area. A friend gave me this lovely little incense burner. I added a candle for her and a candle that I use in ritual and was very happy with the result. Then a statue of Bast that I found on ebay arrived. I had intended to put it on my main altar, which is in my bedroom, but it just looks perfect here with the incense burner. I was pleasantly surprised at how beautiful the statue is and I love the end result and having this little mini altar to Bast right where I work.

Mabon

In the northern hemisphere it is the time of the autumnal equinox. The balance between light and dark, day and night, summer and winter. The days will start to grow short at a seemingly accelerated pace, heading for the winter solstice.

Many legends, myths, festivals and rituals revolve around this day, but we are not the only ones to observe this change. Nature around us is preparing for winter; predator and prey, all are aware of the need to get ready or begin to migrate to avoid the coming winter.

Pay homage to Hern, lord of the forest, at your Mabon ritual and share your feast with some of his creatures.
Get outside, walk in the leaves, feel the touch of winter in the wind, watch the geese circle high overhead. Think for a moment about how many times this change has come to this planet.....be part of it.

Happy Mabon!

I love fall...

which is rather odd, considering that I am not crazy about winter. In this area the days are still hot, but the breeze has a hint of the coming winter. The nights are cool and crisp and we are due for the first frost.
We do not have the wonderful colors of the Midwest here, once you get away from the city. Landscaping has brought all those colors to our neighborhoods, but the native colors are greens and golds. Sunflowers, wildflowers, aspen trees, cottonwood trees against the backdrop of pines and evergreens.

one small random political thought....

Why are the people who were against bailing out the banks and the auto companies so concerned about protecting the insurance companies?

repeating New Moon ritual...

If this looks familiar....it's because you read this blog! This is the same ritual that I posted for last month's New Moon. It is a recurring ritual that I am going to do for a few months. New Moon is on September 18 @ 2:44pm EDT.



You will need:

One candle to honor the Goddess in her new moon, blue or white is nice, any color is fine. I have a large pale blue/green candle that I use for all moon rituals.

Incense or sage for cleansing the area.

A small unused notebook and a pen.

Four items to honor the elements.
I sometimes use:
a small bottle of sand for the element of earth
a feather for the element of air
a red candle for the element of fire
a small cup of water for the element of water

When I am in a candle mood I use candles for the elements:
brown or green for earth
yellow or pink for air
red or orange for fire
blue or white for water


Cleanse the area with incense or sage. I create sacred space by simply grounding and centering and visualizing an area around myself filled with energy, closed to random or chaotic spirits and open only to those I invite.

Call the Elements.
I start with Earth. If you are using candles, light them as you call each Element.
Calling them can be as simple as 'I call the Element of Earth to attend and add energy to this sacred space' or as elaborate as you wish.

After calling the Elements, take a moment to honor Goddess, ask her to look favorably on this ritual that you offer up to her and light the candle for her.

Take a few minutes to sit quietly. Reach out to the Elements for additional energy and power. Fill the space around you with their power and energy and reflect on the new moon as an opportunity for new beginnings. An opportunity that we are offered over and over again.

Take your notebook and write something along the lines of:
I will manifest these things that I desire and need in my life and I will do so without harm to anyone else.

Then begin to write down what you need to create in your life. It can be a few things or many. Large or small, tangible or not.

Concentrate on manifesting these things in your life without harming anyone else.

Release the energy that you have created with this work and send it out into the universe to do your bidding.

Thank the Goddess for her presence in your life and put out her candle.

Thank the Elements for loaning you their energy and ask them to return to their own realms, putting out their candles (if any).

Bring yourself back to normal time/space, ground the energy creating your sacred space.
_____________________________

On the full moon take your notebook and cross off any items that have manifested in your life since the new moon. On the next new moon create a new list, leaving off the things that have already arrived. Do not just cross off and add to the old list, each new moon write down the new list.

On her blog Liz has a cleansing ritual bath that would be a wonderful way to prepare for this ritual. Check it out at Lizzie's Logic.

Mary Travers

1936 - 2009

I found a wonderful podcast!

On Blogtalk Radio..... Witchtalk with Karagan. This is a fabulous show.
I download it as a podcast, but you can also listen live on Blogtalk Radio and take part by joining the chat room.

This is a two hour interview show. Karagan is a great host, with an interesting way of expressing himself (he is Portuguese). He is an Alexandrian witch with a great understanding of many paths.

Some recent interviews include Oberon Zell, Selena Fox, Raven Grimassi and Christopher Penczak. Two hours is a lot of time for an interview and a lot of discussion.

You can download this at iTunes or the Witchtalk site. I highly recommend this show, especially if you are interested in what some of the high profile people in paganism are doing, thinking and writing.

You can also find information about upcoming shows on Facebook.
Seriously, check out this show.

new moon coming up

The New Moon is on Friday September 18. For those of you taking part in the recurring New Moon Ritual for New Beginnings, I thought it would be nice to give you a heads up instead of startling you at the last minute.

For anyone who is interested in starting a continuing New Moon ritual, check out the post on August 21 for the one that I am doing.

Hecate is at it again

Some gorgeous pictures announcing the arrival of autumn...
Hecate: Mabon Approaches

Three Sisters Garden

Harvest time is also the time to plan and prepare for spring planting. Making sure you have and protect the material that you will need to save through the winter to have on hand in the spring.
Many modern gardeners are planning for spring even before they harvest this fall.

Three Sisters is an ancient way of planting, well documented to have been used by many Native Americans. The three plants support each other as they grow. The roots are left intact in the ground after harvest to enrich the soil in three ways and the harvest gives you three foods that compliment each other nutritionally. As you can see this would not take a lot of room, just a corner of your garden or yard would yield quite a lot of food. Click on the image for a great article on planting the Three Sisters in your garden next year.

Please participate

Go to Owl's Wings for some important information.

September Full Moon, Harvest Moon

This Full Moon is the first of the Harvest Moons. Harvest is celebrated throughout the fall. This is also a time of balance, the autumnal equinox is September 22. Let this be a part of your life and let it be reflected in your rituals and spells as we approach the equinox. The flow of energy is resting, Light and Dark are in balance.
September Full Moon is a time to clean up clutter: physical, emotional or spiritual. The dark and cold are approaching, now is the time to put things in order and finish tasks and projects.


Full Moon September 04 at 12:03pm EDT