GaiasWheelYule06

March 20 ~ Eostar/Spring Equinox

We share the joy of the Earth in spring as we tilt back our heads, sniff the air, and notice that everything smells new. We feel the life force stirring beneath our feet. This season of rebirth was the predecessor of the Christian holy day Easter, which children now celebrate by decorating eggs. Back then, these eggs were eaten to promote prosperity and fertility. Celebrate spring by venturing out for a walk and saying good morning to the earth as she awakens from her long winter nap and shake off the winter blues. Daylight is overtaking darkness, and life is returning.

May 1 ~ Beltane/May Day

Spring is at her peak now. That good green smell is everywhere. Earth is wet and fertile. Flowers of every color fill the meadows, and the promise of new life made to us at Ostara is fulfilled. Just as the passions of the Earth Mother are obvious now, so too are our own. Traditionally, this was the time of year when the ancients danced and wove ribbons around the Maypole, made love in the cornfields, and leaped the bonfires. Creating a May bowl is a way to connect with the season. Fill a bowl with fruits and wine, and float white flowers and green leaves on top. Rejoice in the warmth of spring at her fullest.

June 20 ~ Midsummer/Litha/Summer Solstice This first day of summer is also the longest day of light in the Northern Hemisphere. The breeze is balmy and pleasant, and the flowers are in full bloom. The ancients celebrated Midsummer because the fruits (literally) of their hard work were now obvious in their gardens and fields, and even in the fruit-laden trees. They also considered this the most potent time of year to work magic of any kind, and the best month to be married. The Earth Mother welcomes us outdoors to share her wonders in warmth and comfort. Celebrate summer by walking barefoot whenever you can.

August 1 ~ Lammas/Lughnassadh As summer peaked, it was time for the ancients to take in their first harvests. This was a time of both joy and sadness, for although the light was waning and the growing season was winding down, the cupboards were full of the products of their hard labor. Corn dollies that symbolized the goddess of grain were created by weaving wheat stalks, and corn breads in the shape of the god of grain were baked in honor of his sacrifice. Celebrate this time of first harvest by baking corn bread, to symbolize the resurrection of the Corn King. Spend the warmest of evenings on a porch swing.

September 20 ~ Mabon/Fall Equinox Once again, day and night are in perfect balance. The ancients thought of this month’s Full Moon as the Wine Moon (now our Harvest Moon), and they celebrated accordingly. The second harvest was taken in, and it was time to take stock of how well they had prepared for the coming winterCelebrate this time of balance and preparation by taking stock of yourself. What can you harvest now? Which of your labors has yielded fruit? What’s unfinished that must still be done? Gather seeds of knowledge by taking classes

October 31 ~ Samhain/Halloween

As autumn peaks and the Earth Mother draws in her resources to prepare for the coming cold of winter, we think fondly of those living creatures, both human and animal, who have left us over the year. In many way, the harvest is over, and it’s time to accept what’s gone. This is a time to celebrate those passages-even the passage of the living to the Underworld. This is also a time of recognition, and as such, it is thought that if you look into a mirror by candlelight at midnight, you’ll see the face of your true love. The veil between the worlds is at it’s thinnest now, as any good magic book will tell you, so it’s a wonderful time to use your predictive tools (tarot card, pendulums, runes, or crystal balls) to see the future.

December 21 ~ Yule/Winter Solstice

On the longest night of the year, the Winter Solstice, the Sun God symbolically begins his journey back to the light. It’s a time of silence and rest for all of us. We turn in earlier and seem to have less energy during the dark evenings as the Earth Mother rests, gathering her strength for the coming spring. Celebrate this season by decorating with mistletoe, holly, and evergreen boughs. Decorate a Yule log (also of oak) with greens and a red bow or ribbon-a symbol of the Sun God who is symbolically born at this time.

February 2 ~ Imbolc/Candlemas

Even as winter peaks, the days gradually grow longer, and it seems that spring may come after all. In warmer climates, bulbs begin to peek up through the warming earth. This is the feast of the waxing light, as the Sun God grows and strengthens. It is called Candlemas (and corresponds with our modern Groundhog Day) because the ancients traditionally lit candles just after sunset throughout their homes, sometimes in the shape of a star, to welcome the Son of the Goddess-the Star Child. It is a time of inspiration to prepare for spring. Imbolc also means first milk, and was named as such to celebrate the return of milk to the homes of those who kept animals. Have a cup of warm milk or a glass of spring water during the evenings, light white candles and invite the Earth Mother to wake gradually and peacefully from her slumber.

This is just a nutshell listing of each season, it’s meaning, and a simple celebration for each to help you begin your journey. There are all kinds of books that outline the beliefs and customs of the wise folks who came centuries before us.

Two of the best I‘ve found are; “Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner,” by the late great Scott Cunningham, and “The Wheel of the Year,” by Pauline and Dan Campanelli.

‘To find our path, one must learn from someone who has experience, knowledge, understanding, love, and compassion, all of these come from the one who loves us, Mother Earth. Now let us take care of her the way she has taken care of us.’ Blessings, Silverbutterfly Cat

Hello, Everyone!

I'd like to talk for a moment about one of my favorite subjects:

spellcasting. You can design every spell you cast to work the first time. Impossible, right? No, not really. All you need to use is the key to effective spellcasting, which also happens to control manifestation.

This may sound difficult, but it isn’t. The problem lies in the fact that most of what you read about spellcasting and manifestation seems complicated, since the simple truth is often hidden beneath a veil of mystical jargon and formulas.

I don’t know about you, but I love spells. For years I’ve created them for my own personal use, and for the characters in my Occult novels for women.

Unfortunately, sometimes my personal spells worked, and sometimes they didn’t. I couldn’t seem to achieve a level of consistency in results. So I began searching for the key to effective spellcasting. And when I finally found it, I realized I had stumbled across it many times in spiritual books from

several different religions. But it had always been buried in mystical rituals, fables, and parables, and never presented as simply as it really is, so I didn’t recognize or understand it.

For example, in Pagan circles I had often heard the personal power of the Witch is the main factor determining the success of a spell. Similarly, I knew a spell simply cast could be just as effective as one steeped in layers of complicated ritual. Okay, but what does this really mean?

Actually, it means everything. These comments reveal the spiritual law that governs effective, successful spellcasting. Clearly stated, it says: Whatever you think and believe is what will manifest in your life. Could it be that simple? Yes! And it’s very powerful.

This spiritual law also explained contradictions I saw every day that troubled me. For example, why do some unspiritual people seem charmed with luck, and everything they touch prospers, while others never seem to get ahead? The answer lies in this simple spiritual law. And like all spiritual laws, you don’t have to be a spiritual person to use it. In other words, these people

think and believe they are lucky, and so they are. It’s that simple.

With this mystery solved, I faced yet another stumbling block in my quest for effective spellcasting. I had always felt divine prosperity and healing came from outside myself, that they were gifts from the Goddess for walking my divinely ordained path. What a surprise to learn this isn’t so, especially in the areas of prosperity and healing. It was definitely a shock to my belief system when I finally understood there is no ordained path of success for each of us. And you know what I’m talking about. It’s that path we’ve all been searching for, knowing when we find it everything will go well in our lives forever and ever. Now I realized I’ve been given the power to determine my own path and its degree of success. All I had to do was change my

thinking about it.

I also came to understand the Goddess and other Deities are not in charge of my life. Instead, they are my life partners. I have a job to do, and so do they. There are certain areas of my life I have the power to control and change, and there are other areas where I need my divine partners.

Protection is one of those areas. Yet all areas of spellcasting are much more effective when I use this spiritual law to change my thinking. How simple, yet powerful!

Try this for yourself. Whether you are casting a prosperity spell or a healing spell, it will only be as effective as your thoughts on these subjects. I’m not talking about affirmations repeated endlessly. I’m talking about truly believing your thoughts have the power to come to pass and change your life. Because they do. And they have been doing this all your life.

Okay, now things have changed. Now you know about this spiritual law and how to use it. So change your thinking to agree with what you desire. It’s that simple. When this revelation finally sinks in, you’ll realize you have nothing to fear in the areas of prosperity and healing but your own fearful thoughts on these subjects.

What power! Suddenly, the data coming from quantum physics makes perfect sense, and it’s easy to believe these scientists when they tell us words can change physical matter at a quantum level. The mystics of various religions have been saying this for ages, but they never seemed to state it clearly or

simply.

Let today become a landmark in your spellcasting. First, look at every financial and healing challenge in your life, and then cast a spell to change it. Next, align your thinking to agree with the desired result of the spell. It doesn’t matter if the situation looks hopeless. Chances are that hopeless situation was nurtured by your fearful thinking. Or maybe, like me, you were also waiting for your Deity to change the situation. But today you know

better. Today you know you hold all the power for manifestation. Depending upon how determined you are to change your thinking, you could see positive spellcasting results within hours. I have. And so can you.

By David Harrinton Llewellyn’s 1999 Magical Almanac

With comments by SilverButterfly Cat

A middle-aged reformed hippie couple walking along the street encounters a clean-cut young man- very clean-cut, with a shaved head and a row of lethal-looking stainless steel spikes embedded in his scalp. “How disgusting! How can they do that to their bodies?” one says to the other. They walk on, mortified by this latest expression of youth’s foolishness.

Ironically, in the cultures that have practiced body modification for millennia, such blatant marks of changed soul-status are usually designed to promote unity within a tribe as a method of showing conformity with the norms of the group, and even of compliance, not rebellion. In modern Western culture, body modification has enhanced the ritual meaning of these experiences for many.

Probably the most basic form of body “modification” is the temporary art of body painting. Pigments and clays, and today, prepared body paints, are applied to the flesh. Animal patterns are believed to convey some of the power of that animal to the human, and in the past were used as a form sympathetic magic. In tattooing, similar images are permanently etched on the body and also convey the protective power of the animal depicted. This is the reason even today, dragons, tigers, lion, eagles, and other animals perceived as potent and powerful are still the most common tattoo images. In tattooing in the Indian Subcontinent images of gods and goddesses are used in a similar way, though tattoo artists will sometimes refuse to draw a deity that is too powerful. It is considered to be very bad luck, a form of sacrilege, if a weak individual chooses to wear the image of a powerful god. The god, displeased by an unworthy devotee seeking to benefit from the divine image, will create turmoil in that person’s life instead of conferring blessing or protection.

The recent “tribal” style of tattooing, popularized by artist Leo Zulueta and others and employing bold organic or geometric line, generally black, seeks to transform the skin to a pelt of power. By breaking up the lines of what we perceive as the normal human form, the body becomes more liminal, less attached to ordinary reality, apparently more able to slip between the dimensions.

Many cultures believe that tattoos make permanent marks in the aura, and that these pictures are tokens for entry into a positive afterlife. Other groups believe that these auric marks san be bartered in the afterlife to gain benefits in the underworld or admission to a better class of heaven

The harshest criticism these days is reserved for body piercing, cutting, scarification, and other drastic modifications. The usual question is why anyone would choose to endure the pain associated with these, often in sensitive areas of the body. Some people attracted to this form of body modification state that it is precisely the fact that they can choose to undergo these procedures that makes them so powerful and necessary to their own sense of well-being. The modification of the body under their own control helps these individuals to take back their own flesh, and can compensate, at least for some, for past emotional or sexual abuses that were inflicted on them by others. Others simply choose to mark themselves in a way that they perceive to be beautiful. How better to claim one’s body as one’s own, than to “redecorate” it?

For many, however, the physical act of piercing releases powerful euphoric chemicals into the bloodstream. These endorphins act as a potent, pleasurable shock to the body. Some individuals find that deep spiritual or emotional insights or cleaning can be released by the flow of these natural substances, allowing us to survive and even grow through the experience of pain. Like almost any strong, chemical-based stimulus, some people can become addicted to post-piercing euphoria, and piercing may become a habit rather than a transformative experience.

Others begin to relate differently to a pierced individual. It demands a reaction or response, though this is fading as these arts become more common. The more extreme methods of body adornment are not for everyone, but the marks on the bodies of many individuals have acted as windows to greater spiritual understanding and exploration.

For what ever the reason, whether in remembrance of a loved one, or a symbol to represent trials we have gone through. Unless we have walked in their shoes, and endured their trials, we should not judge others. Maybe instead of judging others, maybe we could learn of their stories, it just might move us in away that we needed.

BB, SilverButterfly Cat

Here in the U.S., Henna is most commonly known as a coloring and conditioner for hair. When I was a hairdresser in the early 80’s we used Henna extensively in the beauty shops. I still love the effect it gives my hair. But, this only scratches the surface for the uses of Henna. It is fast becoming a common form of Body Art and I have embraced this inspirational art form and introduce it to others whenever I can.

“Mehndi” is the Indian name for semi-permanent designs applied with powdered henna plant. All throughout the Middle and Africa, henna is embedded in the culture for ceremony, healing and health.

Henna has not only been used as an adornment and body art but in Ancient Egypt it was used to treat ringworm, headaches, sweaty palms, burning feet, and athlete’s feet. A healing gargle was made for sore throat. It was also used for jaundice, enlarged spleens and skin diseases.

Listed is a quick reference for some of the medicinal uses of Henna.

*It is antipyretic (natural coolant), which is why it is so popular in hot climates.

*It is antispasmodic (soothing), antiseptic, astringent (drying), antibacterial and antifungal.

*It is a natural deodorant and antiperspirant, especially for the feet. *In Ayurvedic medicine, henna tea

is used to treat headache, soothe fevers and stomach pains.

*Henna paste can be applied to the skin for dermatitis.

*Folk remedies around the world feature Henna as a curative for rheumatism, nervousness, some kinds of tumors, cancer, sexually transmitted diseases and leprosy.

*In Aromatherapy the scent of the fragrant henna flower is used for calming and balancing for both men and women.

Henna Kits and supplies are available locally through www.musesinspirations.com