The Waxing and Waning of the Moon

“Nothing that is can pause or stay The moon will wax, the moon will wane, The mist and cloud will turn to rain, The rain to mist and cloud again, Tomorrow be today.”-- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Waxing and waning are terms that astrologers use to describe the brightness of the Moon. The waxing Moon begins on the New Moon...the Moon is becoming brighter, stronger and more pronounced.  We say that the rising of the waxing Moon inaugurates a new cycle, a new beginning so to speak.  It sets the pace for the month ahead.  Basically, the waxing moon is for increase, growth, building, and gain.Therefore anything you wish to increase should be blessed or started at this time.  To our ancestors, this was a time of optimism and hope. Magickally, the waxing moon allows us to increase something or draw in positive energies.  

O fair full moon! that did'st embay the dark
With slender horns, when first my vow was made;
1 saw thee grow, half-trustful, half-afraid,
But still prest onward to my goal and mark;
Hard task was mine! the true prayer to be prayed—
The bidding back of all my coward fears—
The ointment to be bought, the homage paid—

--Charles Tennyson Turner--

The waning Moon begins on approximately the third day of the Full Moon and ends on the New Moon and is diminishing from full to dark.   The Waning Moon brings about a decrease of energy. This is more of a resting and reflection period. It signals a time to practice releasing and letting go.
This is a good time to end anything that isn't working, which allows something new to enter your life and for evaluating and completing work begun in the first half of the cycle.  Magickally, the vibrations of the waning moon allows us to let go of negative energy and cleanse our souls. 

And like a dying lady, lean and pale,
Who totters forth, wrapt in a gauzy veil,
Out of her chamber, led by the insane
And feeble wanderings of her fading brain,
The moon arose up in the murky East, 

A white and shapeless mass.

--Percy Blythe Shelley--

Simply put, the cycles of the Moon asks us what we are we calling into our lives, and what are we letting go of.  The beauty in the waxing and waning Moon is a reminder to all of us that change and constancy are something we can all depend on.

 O Lady Moon, your horns point toward the east:
Shine, be increased;
O Lady Moon, your horns point toward the west:
Wane, be at rest.

--Christina Rosetti--

The Land That Time Forgot

Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home.

  --Matsuo Basho--

I often look back on those childhood days, now long gone and wonder where the time has gone.  And, as I find myself growing older, I find myself  doing this more often, sitting alone at times,   contemplating, and looking back. It's not that I desire to  re-do my childhood.  For the most part, aside from those times spent with my grandparents which were wonderful times of play and discovery, my childhood, for the most part, is something I would much rather forget...

...but then, there is that other part of me that remembers  those special Halloween nights,  going from door-to-door...the anxiety of waiting for Santa to arrive.  Bicycle riding from morning til night...running barefoot through the grass...snowball fights, snow forts...spinning around in a rainfall.  Sleeping outdoors in a tent in my backyard and watching the stars and the moon.   I remember when I would catch tadpoles and lightning bugs and play hide and seek in the bushes and wooded area surrounding our house.  Yes, while the children at school may have bullied me, times were not always bad.  

And when I mention these thoughts to hubby, he has graciously offered to drive me there, to my parents' first home, but I have always refused.  I have my memories, and I want to remember the place it as it was, not some unrecognizable place with no home to go back to...so, you can imagine my surprise when...

...yesterday, through the satellite imagery of Google maps, I discovered that I not only could  see my old neighborhood , but I was also able to take a step back in time. Amazingly, although nearly 60 years have passed since we first moved there, the neighborhood is still much the same.  My house still sits right where I it always was, and aside from a few improvements and minus the hedge, it was still very much the house I grew up in.  In fact, not very much had changed.   

To know after absence the familiar street and road and village and house is to know again the satisfaction home.

--Hal Borland--

In the 1950's, when we first moved in, the neighborhood was new. The cookie cutter houses had just been built, and aside from color, all looked mostly the same. There was no grass; my parents planted it themselves along with the trees that now stand taller than the house.  The streets themselves had not changed and I was able to trace the route I took on my bicycle on my daily go-rounds.  The wooded area next to me house has not been destroyed, and if anything, it stands more beautiful than I remembered.  A car sits in the same driveway where my mom's yellow Edsel once sat.  The brook remains and continues to run under the streets in the concrete tunnels on which my initials may still remain. Would you believe that even the Dairy Queen sits in the same spot?  It is almost as if I have stumbled into the land the time forgot.

Home is a word that carries all kinds of means for us.  For most of us it usually means love, security, and comfort.  Yes, that was my home, and it is nice to see it as it was and remember, but today it belongs to someone else who, maybe one day,  will look back with fond memories.  Because, the truth is, I have a new home now, and as much as I may think of that little house of 60 years ago as my home, I can never go back. It belongs to a place and time that lives within that special place within my heart.  

Home is a place you grow up wanting to leave, and grow old wanting to get back to.

--John Ed Pearce--

Feast of the Milky Way: August 7

Lately I have been looking for ways to liven up my weekend.  I realize that for far too long I have been working far too hard and doing little in my leisure time to help myself wind down.  So, this year I have decided to give myself permission to celebrate and enjoy life once again. Of course, Saturday will be a busy time...shopping and cooking again.  

Joan, you had asked me to comment on how I organize it.  It's taken practice, that's for sure, but once you are into a schedule, it's not hard at all.  I also used to cook for catering, and that sure helps.  We don't eat fancy here, only if we throw a party which is rare nowadays.  So, meats usually include the basics.  The first thing I do is the chopping....onions, garlic, peppers, carrots, and anything else I plan to cook with.  The seasonings and sauces are all lined up.  Then, the cooking begins....4 meals on top and 4 in the oven.  I also have some meals that that can be two to a pot...such as my Italian meat sauce and the sausages my hubby loves.  When that is the case, I can have 9 meals cooking at once.   I'll start with the fastest cooking first because by the time the slower ones cook, I am pretty worn down.  Everything is then stored in freezer bags.  

So, that will be my Saturday, but I am determined to make my Sunday fun.  Now, I am not a world traveler.  I won't fly because the plane might crash, and I won't sail because the boat might sink.  Totally irrational fears, I know, but fears nonetheless that keep my feet on solid footing.  But that doesn't mean I cannot partake in festivals and fairs from around the world.  Indeed, it can actually be a lot of fun.  Take the following, for example, which is on my agenda for Sunday.  But first a little info about the old legend.

In China, the annual Feast of the Milky Way takes place each year on this day to celebrate the romantic encounter between Vega the Weaver Maid and Aquila the Herd Boy, the two bright stars on either side of the Milky Way.  It is a day to celebrate astrology and Celestial powers. Some parts of the country celebrate this day on July 7th while other regions choose to keep the old lunar calendar which puts the festivities in August.  The festival marks the time when celestial movement brings the two stars, Vega and Aquila, together in the night sky.  

Both in China and Japan, the tale of the two lovers is told in several different ways. Here is one version of the story. The two bright stars on both sides of the Milky Way are supposed to be a weaver girl and a young cattle herder, who are very much in love with each other.  The two face each other across the Milky Way, a river of stars,  but because it is so wide and vast, they find it almost impossible to meet.  One day, a god in heaven took pity on them and arranged for them to meet via a bridge formed by birds. But, so enamored were they with each other that their work suffered, and as a result, the angry god punished them by separating them from each other...but once a year, however, on this night, they draw near the opposite banks of the river, and all the magpies in the world gather there to form a winged bridge so the lovers can meet. The rest of the year they must attend to their chores.

(Aquila on the left and Vega on the right)

I do love that tale and can actually close my eyes and imagine the star-crossed lovers.  The festival itself was originally was basically for the women, who prayed for enhancement of their skills at sewing and weaving.  In modern times,  this festival is celebrate at night, outdoors, with food and drink, songs and star gazing which is right up my alley.  Japanese families hold parties to celebrate this day, and every household brings out its fineries  and dishes of delicacies (pretty easy to fulfill).  Bamboo branches are decorated with colored paper and bells, and when the stars come out, the tale of the two lovers is told, my favorite part of the night.  Finally, an offering is made to the legendary couple of fruit, flowers, tea, and cosmetic powder; this is placed outside the home. 

Sounds like fun, doesn't it?  Well, different, to say the least.  I'll let you know how it went on Monday.  May you all have a joy-filled weekend.

Be Not Afraid of Life

Be not afraid of life. Believe that
life is worth living and your
belief will help create the fact. 

--William James--

 
My goodness, today is Thursday.  Problem is, I thought yesterday was Thursday....as evidenced by my Thursday's Quote.  Why, I didn't even go to run my group because I thought I didn't have one.  They had to come and get me.  Not only did I think it was Thursday, but was also putting the 4th on everything I wrote.  I guess the heat is really starting to get to me. 

(The following is rather depressing, and I do apologize for laying it on you.  It's something I have to talk about.  I don't know any other way of dealing with it.)

Lately, I have been having a pretty rough time at work, and it is beginning to take its toll.  I really was hesitant sharing about this, but it appears that time is running short now.  It has to do with one of my clients, one of the sweetest men you would ever want to meet.  He is only 50 years old, and with recovery from alcohol use, has a full life ahead of him, but he just won't see it.  The man wants to die.  He's tried suicide three times and lived.  The last time he took enough pills to kill a horse, but he survived.  Now, it turns out his heart is in pretty bad shape, and all of his arteries are clogged.  The doctor wants to do a bypass, but he is refusing, saying this is a blessing in disguise for him, that now he won't have to take his own life.  He's not afraid of the surgery.  He says he was raised a Catholic, and he knows that suicide is wrong.  I tell him that this is like a slow form of suicide.  He doesn't see it that way. This is like a blessing to him. 

Week after week I meet with this man for our sessions and talk about all the reasons he has to live.  I speak of his siblings and the good changes that recovery brings, and he says he doesn't care.  I speak of his living a productive life, and his response to that is that he knows that as soon as he gets his first check he will  drink once again.  He says that knows himself.  I speak of his failed suicide attempts and how he should look at that as proof that he is here on this earth for a reason.  He tells me that he doesn't care. The reason has come and gone.  I tell him that no, we are not taken from this world until we accomplish what he came here for.  He says that he has accomplished nothing in his life.  I speak of life and the blessing that we have been given, and he tells me that life is nothing but 'hell'.  I tell him to think of those that he will leave behind, and he tells me that they will get over it.  'I want no one to remember Joe.' he says.  I've tried motivating him by offering him the responsibility for caring for the fish and the turtles.  When people feel needed, it gives them the motivation to live. He doesn't want the responsibility...because he doesn't plan to be here for long.  

I don't know what else I can do or say.  I've been giving him positive affirmations on a weekly basis for him to repeat on a daily basis.  I doubt very much that he has.  I know that there is a part of him that wants to live, or he wouldn't have agreed to the tests in the first place.  My fear is that by the time he realizes that, it will be too late.  We ended  yesterday's session with my telling him that although I may not agree with his decision, I have to respect his right to choose.  I may not believe in it, but that I will be there for him no matter what.  

But darn it.  I am so angry...so very, very angry.  I am in love with life; I cherish it. and it infuriates me that someone is ready to just toss it aside. I don't know anymore what I can do or say...if anything.  And it is taking its toll on me.  His negative energy is dragging me down, but I cannot give up on this man.  I refuse to give up on this man.  I know it's a long shot, but maybe someone knows something, I can say, or do, anything that I can use to motivate this man to want to live.    I do believe in miracles.

How easily we can forget how precious life is! So long as we can remember,
we've just been here, being alive. Unlike other things for which we have
a good comparison--black to white, day to night, good to bad--we are
so immersed in life that we can see it only in the context of itself.
We don't see life as compared to anything, to not-being, for example,
to never having been born. Life just is. But life itself is a gift. It's a
compliment just being born: to feel, breathe, think, play, dance, sing,
work, make love, for this particular lifetime. Today, let's give thanks for life.
For life itself. For simply being born!

--Daphne Rose Kingma--

Thursday's Quote

Our ideals resemble the stars; you will not succeed in touching
them with your hands. But like seafarers on the desert waters,
you choose them as your guides, and following them you will reach your destiny. 

-- Carl Schurz -- 

Wanted to take a moment to thank all of you for your suggestions about my rash.  Summer has never kind to my skin, but it seems as if since I've gotten older, it affects me even worse.  Guess it is because I am so fair.  Prickly heat on my chest and arms, and I always break out in the heat from the metal on my watch band.  They are controllable, but the one on my neck? That itch reminded me of childhood days when I'd picked up a case of poison ivy.  So, thanks again.  Will keep all of these things on hand.  August is going to be a long month.

The Last of Summer is Delight

"The last of Summer is Delight -

Deterred by Retrospect.
'Tis Ecstasy's revealed Review -
Enchantment's Syndicate.

To meet it - nameless as it is -
Without celestial Mail -
Audacious as without a Knock
To walk within the Veil."

--Emily Dickinson-- 

It's that time of year again; Summer is at its height, but relief is in sight, and it will soon be winding down.  For although the heat is still with us, the days are sinking into the horizon earlier. Gosh, time has passed quickly. It seems like only yesterday that we were all anxiously awaiting the long, leisurely days of summer, but who knew back then that the summer was going to be this hot.  We all expect it in August,  but whoever thought it would be such a record-breaking July. Never has the phrase dog days of summer held such meaning as the past few weeks.

I grew up hearing talk about the Dog Days of Summer, but who knew then that the expression actually originated with the celestial path of the brightest star of the night sky, Sirius, who just happened to be known as the Dog Star. He's been around since the beginning of time, and during the summer, he  moves into the early morning sky and rises with the sun.  Our forefathers believed that it was the star's heat added to the heat generated from the sun which created the hot and muggy weather.  Some make the  time from July 3d to August 11th, while others extend it  from July 15th to August 20fh, and others from July 24th to about September 1st.

The ancient Egyptians noted that the dog star’s arrival in July coincided with the annual flooding of the Nile, which was important for a good harvest.  The dog days were considered to be an evil time by the Romans, when disease outbreaks, natural disasters and general laziness were most prominent. When you look at it, this time of the  year just happens to coincide when the flies and mosquitoes are out in full force.

-
I don't know about the rest of you, but September is beginning to look mighty good to me about now.  I have always enjoyed the first hints of fall, cool breezes, the sound of leaves under my feet.  I love the Spring and the thought of Summer entices me , but once I find myself in the throes of the dreadful heat and humidity, visions of snowstorms begin to dance in my head.  

Truth be told, I actually don't do well at this time of the year.  The heat drains me, and I am always tired.  My clothes stick to me. And I am so glad I had my hair chopped off this year.  Wash and wear is definitely the way to go.  The electric bill has gone through the roof, and still there is not much relief at home (brownouts).  And now  I've developed the heat rash from hell on my neck.  Not only does it look ugly, but it feels even uglier.  It's one of those rashes that the itch just won't go away.   I want so badly to scratch, but I know that will only make matters worse.

So, do me a favor, will you?  When Spring comes once again, and I start bemoaning how I am waiting for summer, remind me of this.  Okay?

All your renown is like the summer flower that blooms and dies; because the sunny glow which brings it forth, soon slays with parching power. - Alighieri Dante

The Month of August

"Whilst August yet wears her golden crown,
Ripening fields lush- bright with promise;
Summer waxes long, then wanes, quietly passing
Her fading green glory on to riotous Autumn."

- Michelle L. Thieme, August's Crown-

Astrological Signs: Leo , July 23 - August 22
Virgo , August 23 - September 22

Welcome to the month of August.  It is hot and muggy and we’re feeling downright miserable with this heat.  After all, they don't call it the  Dog Days of Summer for no reason.  How well I remember those Dog Days of my youth. Polio was still around, and although the vaccine was in the works, it had not yet been released for public use. Our petrified parents would not let us go near the lake during the month of August for fear we would catch it.  All during the summer we were allowed swim in the lake, but never during the Dog Days of August. 

August is the eighth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian  calendars and one of seven months with a length of 31 days.  It was called Augustus by the Roman senate, in honor of Octavius Caesar, to whom they gave that title when they chose him Emperor of Rome. This  month celebrates  the bounty of Mother Nature and the harvest of grain.  Saxons called the month of August woedmonath, meaning the weed month, named after the fast-growing weeds,  and the Franks called it Aranmanoth or corn ears month.  

"In August, the large masses of berries, which, when in flower, had attracted many wild bees, gradually assumed their bright velvety crimson hue, and by their weight again bent down and broke their tender limbs."

-  Henry David Thoreau

August marks the end period of Summer growth, the ripening of grain. fruits, and vegetables.  To our ancestors who were in the fields from first light to nightfall, this was a month dedicated to long hours of hard work.  

People gathered on the hills to play games, eat and drink, and festivals celebrating the summer feast of  Lughnasa on August 1st included climbing hills to gather bilberries, which were eaten on the spot or saved to make pies and wine. The first sheaf of new wheat is cut , and the first loaf of the new harvest is baked and  taken to the local church where they were blessed and distributed amongst the parishioners while  Pagans celebrate by weaving corn doilies and offering the first loaves to their goddess. 

August is shared by the astrological signs of Leo the Lion and Virgo the Virgin, and is sacred to the following Pagan deities: Ceres, the Corn Mother, Demeter, John Barleycorn, Lugh, and all goddesses who preside over agriculture. The traditional birthstone amulets of August are the peridot and the sardonyx; and the sunflower and the marigold are the month’s traditional flowers.   Traditional herbs include the  following:  angelica, chamomile, fennel, Orange, Rue,  Heather, and   St. John's Wort. Colors for August are gold, yellow, amber, and green.

August is a time of gathering and celebration, a time to reflect and count up our achievements and focus on what still may be needed to produce.

August rushes by like desert rainfall,
A flood of frenzied upheaval,
Expected,
But still catching me unprepared.
Like a match flame
Bursting on the scene,
Heat and haze of crimson sunsets.
Like a dream
Of moon and dark barely recalled,
A moment,
Shadows caught in a blink.
Like a quick kiss;
One wishes for more
But it suddenly turns to leave,
Dragging summer away."
- Elizabeth Maua Taylor, August