REMINDER: If you want to submit for the Imbolc/Brighid's Day/Candlemas edition of the Stew, I'll need your submissions no later than Friday, January 25.
It's been a bit of a crazy week, but with many planets and our big star in Aquarius, it looks like we've got some great things about to take place. Are you still up for owning 2013? I know I am! Check out the Astrology, Tarot and Totem sections for the how-to's ;) And with that, it's on to the stew...
Happy Birthday this week to Sandy Campbell, my granddaughter Morghan, Mark Burkhardt, Margaret Blake, Nina Zambrano, my son Andrew, Heather Joseph, Raven Desiderius Grimoire, Mary Beth Kincaid-Cummings, Lisa Howard. and Kathy Olbeter. May this be your best birthday ever, and may your next year of life be filled with all good things!
In The News
Witchcraft Murder: Court refuses application on autopsy, video - Osun Defender
The Modern Magic in Africa's Witchcraft Industry - Think Africa Press
Supernatural Eastbourne: Exploring winter potions, Wicca and witchcraft at this English seaside holiday town - TNT Magazine
Woman Branded as Witch Beaten to Death - Daiji World.com
Witch Doctor Arrested in Rhino Plot- iol.net
Pagan Lore with Karen Szabo
Sunday, January 20th
On this date (approximately), the Sun enters the astrological sign of Aquarius. Persons born under the sign of the Water Bearer are said to be inventive, independent, unconventional, and often idealistic. Those born on this day, the cusp of Capricorn and Aquarius, are believed to make the best astrologers. Aquarius is an air sign and is ruled by the planets Saturn and Uranus.
On this date (approximately) in the year 2160, the Age of Aquarius will begin when the Sun moves into the 11th sign of the zodiac. According to many occultists and astrologers, the following two thousand years will be a Golden Age of spiritual enlightenment, mind power, world peace, love, and harmony. However, according to many prophets, the Age of Aquarius will also bring cataclysmic changes in the Earth and its atmosphere.
Monday, January 21st
Saint Agnes' Day. On the eve of Saint Agnes' Day, according to ancient legend, an unmarried woman will see her future husband in a dream. Saint Agnes' Day (named after the Roman Catholic child martyr who was beheaded in the year 304 A.D. for refusing to marry) is an ideal time for Witches to cast love spells and prepare love potions and charms.
This day of the year is also sacred to Yngona, an ancient Goddess worshipped by the Danish people in pre-Christian times.
Tuesday, January 22nd
Today is the Festival of the Muses. Each year on this date, the invisible spirits that inspire and watch over all poets, musicians, and artists are honored and invoked with Goddess-inspired poetry, Pagan folk songs, music and dancing.
Wednesday, January 23rd
A Pagan festival known as the Day of Hathor is celebrated annually on this date in Egypt to honor the ancient cow-headed Goddess of heaven, beauty and love. A libation of cow's milk is poured into the River Nile as prayers to the Goddess are recited.
Thursday, January 24th
Ekeko, the Aymara Indian pot-bellied god of prosperity, is honored on this date with an annual fair called the Alacitas, which is held in La Paz, Bolivia. In Hungary, a Pagan purification known as the Blessing of the Candle of the Happy Women is performed annually on this date.
Friday, January 25th
Good-luck rituals are traditionally performed during the Vietnamese Lunar New Year Festival (Tet), which takes place annually on or around this date. Offerings are made to ancient deities and ancestors, traditional feasts are prepared, and evil spirits are driven away with whistles, bells, and horns.
Saturday, January 26th
Each year on the second new moon after the winter solstice (which normally occurs on or around this time of the month), the traditional Chinese New Year begins and is celebrated for two consecutive weeks until the full moon. On the first day of the New Year, ancestral spirits are honored and houses are decorated with strips of red paper to attract good luck and ward off evil ghosts. A Lantern Festival and Dragon Parade traditionally take place on the last night of the New Year celebration.
And there you have it! See you next week with more Pagan Lore!
Karen
Sparkle and Shine with Sosanna
I’d like to start this post with a note, not all my posts will be about Bipolar Disorder. There’s a lot more to Sparkle & Shine than a support mechanism for this. Currently I’m on day five of a mania so I’m taking the opportunity to provide information, hints, suggestions and dialog around what happens when someone is in the highs of a mania. With that, let’s get on with it.
Even with an outlet, the right diet and a game plan from your doctor/counselor, many will still experience extreme highs and extreme lows. What we can do is manage them effectively. I mentioned before that I use art as a way to try to slow my mind down. That works sometimes. Other times I sit around with 50 sculptures around me, three blog posts a new recipe for bread and decide wait… I must stop and wash all the dogs!
It happens.
When some are in a full blown mania they stay up for hours and hours, and sometimes all this extra energy is what gets them in trouble. From heightened sexual activity to compulsive shopping or gambling, a Bipolar in a mania is probably one of the most “fun” people to be around. Now I put the words in quotes because just like beauty, fun is in the eye of the beholder. It’s great to see someone enjoying life and celebrating, but think about it from the prospective of celebrating for 10 days straight. Here we see where the sense of “I can do anything” can quickly become a nightmare.
Usually there’s a cycle with Bipolar that are triggered. Triggers can be in the form of people, holidays, foods, smells. You name it, it can be a trigger. I have holiday triggers. I begin cycling around the first part of November and usually cycle faster until the end of February. That’s not to say the spring and summer are mania free for me. I can be triggered by a movie or in a car. One morning I was triggered by, “I’m going to the store, do you need anything?”
Here are a few things that I try to do to help keep my manias safe.
1.Avoid excessive use of Alcohol/Drugs
2.Get support – family, friends, doctor – someone you can talk to
3.Remember feelings change
4.Get an outlet
5.Write it down
During a mania I become extremely creative. I think of all sorts of new things to sculpt, new items for the shop, new books and songs and poetry… it’s crazy!! We talked about outlets before, this time… WRITE IT DOWN. After you crash you’re not going to remember all the great stuff you had while your brain was on over drive. Get a little notebook, or use your phone with a notepad app and write that stuff down. Sometimes you may come up with crap, but other times, you’ll find things that will allow you to embrace that sparkle and in the end… You will shine.
If you’d like to connect with me, you’re welcome to email me directly at sosanna@sosannascloset.com.
Namaste & Blessed Be
Sosanna
)O(
This Week in Astrology
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| Aquarius- Josephine Wall |
The Sun is now in Aquarius (January 19-February 18)
Mercury is in Aquarius (January 19-February 5)
Mars is in Aquarius until Feb 1
Jupiter is Retrograde until January 30
Full Moon in Cancer 11:38pm EST January 26
The Full Moon on January 26 is at 7º Leo 24′ and on the fixed star Praesaepe in Cancer the crab. It is also known as “The Hive” with all the little stars functioning as the worker bees. The Full Moon is conjunct asteroid Ambrosia, the food of the gods that confers immortality. This full Moon is the honey that will help soothe that sore throat we got from singing our heads off at the January 11 New Moon in the Lyre. If we have had our heart or pocket burnt by a trickster then we may be tempted to withdraw back into our crib and self medicate with tubs of ice-cream (or worst..). But this moon will not allow you to indulge for too long"...continue reading at *Darkstar Astrology*
Moon Void of Course Calendar for January
Song of the Week with Kestril Trueseeker
This Week's Tarot: The Magician
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| Vanessa Tarot |
Mastery over word, mind, and matter. The ability to turn ideas into actions, handle problems, and control one's life. The initiation of new projects, great works, or a new way of life. Eloquent and moving communication.
The Magician Tarot card typically appears in a tarot reading at a time in your life when you have the creative power and energy to create a new life cycle for yourself. You have the ability to take the power of the Universe and manifest your desires. The Magician Tarot card suggests that a situation has been (or soon will be) presented to you that has all the inherent components to allow the manifestation of your desires. Those desires may be spiritual (fire), physical (earth), emotional (water), or mental (air), and are each aligned with the four elements of the tarot. You have the ability to make it happen!
The magician is the ultimate achiever.She symbolizes the power to tap into universal forces and use them for creative purposes. She is not afraid to act. She believes in herself and is willing to put that belief on the line. She also knows what she intends to do and why... she doesn't hesitate because she understands the situation exactly. She keeps in mind her source of power, and thus becomes the perfect conduit for miracles.
Bottom line: The primal forces of creativity are yours if you can claim your power and act with awareness and concentration. This card is a signal to act and act now, provided you understand exactly what you want and are committed to getting it.
This Week's Totem: Antelope
"And what shall we do?" asked the People. "If you are naked and cold, you should kill me and take my coat to keep you warm. It is my gift to you. Do it.""We will," said the People. "But what of our hunger. We are starving. What can we do to save ourselves?" "If you are hungry, you should kill me and take my flesh, for it will nourish you and make you strong. It is my gift to you, and a part of my evolution. It is my service.
Do it." '~Medicine cards, Jamie Sams and David Carson
The Pronghorn antelope is found in North America. Pronghorns are an ancient species dating back nearly 20 million years-the only survivor of a group of hoofed mammals that originated in North America, and one of the few living links with the Ice Age. Pronghorns successfully survived the late Cenozoic and Pleistocene eras, as well as massive changes 11,000 years ago when a mysterious mass extinction claimed many other species. Indeed, the pronghorn was here to greet the first humans who set foot in North America, and ancestral Native Americans hunted pronghorn as much as 30,000 years ago.
The pronghorn may have endured in part because it's tough. If necessary a pronghorn can go days without water, and will eat and thrive on plants no other grazing animal will touch-even thorny cactus. Pronghorns successfully survive both bitter cold and desert heat equally well.
No other creature in the world is related to the American antelope. The pronghorn's namesake-its distinctive horns-is the hallmark that gives the pronghorn its own genus, because it's the only animal in the world to annually shed a branched horn.
The name "antelope" comes from the Greek antholops, meaning "brightness of the eye." Perhaps this curious name is appropriate. Pronghorn eyes are protruding, exceptionally large relative to the animal's size, and set high on either side of their head. These unusual eyes give these animals extraordinary vision and the ability to better detect the presence of distant predators three or four miles away.
The message of Antelope is that of proper action; action that has its basis in clarity, focus, and commitment. Antelope medicine is the knowledge of life's circle. Knowing of death, Antelope can truly live. Action is the key and essence of living. Antelope medicine gives you strength of mind and heart, and the ability to take quick and decisive action to bring your goals to fruition. If you're feeling stuck, or you need clarity and focus, Antelope can help you get on track. Antelope indicates a message of higher purpose. Antelope forces you to act on behalf of self, family, clan, nation, and Mother Earth.
The Shameless Plug
That's it for this week's Stew. Mull. Digest. Enjoy!