Thursday, December 31, 2009

Cancer Blue Moon, Lunar Eclipse New Years Eve Ritual

Cancer Blue Moon, Lunar Eclipse
New Years Eve Ritual
December 31, 2009

Starhawk: Children’s Lunar Elemental Invocations from Full Moon House Blessing, from Circle Round, and chant.
Lady Cattra Shadow the Scarlet Cat, Goddess Invocation
Chrsitine Moonflower: Goddess Invocation, embellishments

Supplies:

Smudge stick and salted water
Blue Spruce incense
3 stages of the moon candle holders
New Years Goals
A mini cauldron
Tarot cards
Offerings

In preparation for the ritual, take a ritual bath and dress in new clothing if at all possible. Take a moment to review the year in your mind, take stock, count your blessings and acknowledge and let go of any upsets. Meditate, mourn, celebrate and say goodbye then smudge and asperge the room and altar and say:

I cleanse this room, this sacred space, so it may be cleansed of the old year and that it may be made ready to welcome in the new.

Smudge and asperge yourself in preparation for the ritual. Say:

I cleanse myself (NAME) so I may be cleansed of the old year and that it may be made ready to welcome in the New Year, body, mind and soul.

Face the North and say:
She shines through the deep night of the North
Bringing forth grounding, transformation, prosperity and a pregnant promise

Face the East and say:
She shines in the farthest reaches of the East
Clearing the old away and bringing forth the bright new, reborn light of a new day, a new year



Face the South and say:
She shines in the blazing glory of the South
Burning the Old Year to ashes and illuminating a light that will lead us to home and hearth again

Face the West and say:
She shines through the twilight in the West
A watery wave that purifies and washes, rebirths and comforts all

She shines on through and in all
Illuminating the children who seek her
Who wish to touch her brilliant face
We call to you oh Moon Mother
Oh Celestial Goddess of the Waves
Of stars and watery wombs
Oh Accumulation of all her faces
Oh eclipse, oh light Shrouded
Oh Darkness within Illuminated
Oh Mystery, Oh Unknown, Oh Promise
We call to you
Enter our circle and our rite
Celebrate and join us, show us your lovely face

Light the Waxing crescent Moon candle and say:
Maiden, cast your circle white, Weave a web of healing light.
Round and Round the Circle's Cast, Joining Present, Future and Past.

Light the Full Moon candle and say:
Mother, cast your circle red, Weave the strands of family threads.
This Sacred Space shall now be Bound, As I cast this Circle Round.

Light the Waning crescent Moon candle and say:
Old Crone, cast your circle black, Weave the wisdom that we lack.
Thrice is the Circle cast this Night and now begins my Magick Rite.

Blessed be all three, Blessed be!

Now is the time to perform any acts of divination to see what you should have learned in the last year and what challenges and joys the New Year will bring.

After divination it is time to bless you New Years Goals. Say the goals you would like to achieve out load and ask the Elements and Goddess to help you achieve them. Coat the paper it candle wax and burn it, with your promise to do your best to achieve these goals and to release them to the universe. As the paper burns chant:



She changes everything she touches and everything she touches, changes
She changes everything she touches and everything she touches, changes
Change is, touch is; touch is, change is. Change us, touch us; touch us, change us.
We are changers; everything we touch can change. We are changers; everything we touch can change.

At this time prepare a simple feast of fruit, cake and an alcoholic beverage. Give offerings to the Moon, the Stars, The Elements, The Elementals, Gods, Ancestor and all things seen and unseen. Release the circle and the Elements and Goddess, with emphasis that they may stay and enjoy the rest of the party as they wish. Then drink, eat and be merry and when the sun rises tomorrow begin slowly working towards your goals.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Blue Moon

Blue Moon

There are many references to a “Blue Moon, “in our modern society. Most often the phrase, “Once in a Blue Moon, “is uttered as something that happens only occasionally; something rare and sometimes, something very special. Songs full of loneliness and sadness surround the Blue Moon. This wasn’t always this way. The Phrase “Blue Moon,” comes to us around four hundred years ago and was a saying to express absurdities. It was like saying that the moon was made of green cheese. “He would argue that the moon was blue,” was someone that would argue that black was white. It was also a way to say that something never happened or was never going to happen. “I will merry you at the Blue Moon.” Meaning he would never marry her.

The term Blue moon seems to have four distinct definitions. One refers to an actual Moon whose light appears blue in color. This occurs very rarely only a few times in a century, it happens when large amounts of dust or smoke particles linger in the atmosphere. Usually this is after a catastrophic event like a raging wildfire or a volcanic eruption. The smoke causes the long-wavelength light, which appears red to the viewer, to be scattered out of the line of sight and short-wavelength light, which appears blue to the viewer, is selectively transmitted into the viewer’s eyes.

The second and older definition for a Blue Moon is an extra Full moon that occurred in a season; one season usually had three Full Moons. If a season had four full Moons, then the third Full Moon was the Blue moon. This event can only occur in February, May, August or November, about a month before the Equinoxes and the Solstices.

A third for a Blue Moon is two Full Moons that occur in a row with the same sign. This only occurs when the first Full Moon is in Zero or One degree of the sign and the next Full Moon is in 28 or 29 degrees of the same sign

The fourth most recent, most common and wildly accepted definition for a Blue Moon is a Full Moon that occurs twice in a calendar month. This happens because a lunar month is a 28-29 day cycle while our calendar month is usually 30-31 days long. This means that the extra days begin to accumulate about, 11 or 12 days a year and about once every 28 months you have an extra full moon. For a Blue Moon to occur, the first of the Full Moons must appear at or near the beginning of the month so that the second would fall within the same month. Blue Moons can occur in any month except for February, because it s shorter than a lunar month. A Blue Moon occurs about 7 times in a 19 year period. Occasionally whether a moon is called blue depends on the time zone. Any full moon occurs simultaneously everywhere, but at that moment clocks and calendars are not the same. It may be early evening in Europe on August 31, but it is early morning in Australia. So people viewing the Moon from England would see that this was the second Full Moon of the moth and would deem it the Blue Moon while those in Australia would not.

Double Full Moons which is when two Blue moons occur in one calendar year happens approximately once every 19 years. The months of the Double Blue Moon are almost always January and March. That is because the short month of February falls in between them. February is a key ingredient in this once-every-19-year phenomenon. For January and March to each have two full moons, it's necessary for February to have none at all. Since February is usually 28 days long, and the average span between full moons is 29.5 days, if a full moon occurs at the end of January, it's possible for the next full moon to skip February entirely and fall in the beginning of March.

Whichever definition you go by a Blue Moon is a rare and powerful event. Oftentimes these Moons are called “Goal Moons,” and are especially powerful times for spell work involving setting goals especially longer terms goals that you would like to accomplish between now and the next Blue Moon. Blue Moons are good times to look over your past and review your accomplishments and failures.

At the Blue Moon the Lunar energies are amplified. Some say that Blue Moon energies are Full Moons on steroids and are potent times for all kinds of attracting spell work prosperity, love, luck and healing magick is very powerful at this time, just make sure to be very clear on your intentions and what you want or it can have unexpected and sometimes undesired results.

Blue moon energies are said to hold all the knowledge and wisdom of the Goddess and is an accumulations of the Goddesses three sides; Maiden, Mother and Crone. It is also a Full Moon that allows greater ad easier communication between us and the divine. It is a thinning of the veil; meditation, prayer, divination and acts of prophecy are easier at this time.


It is said that during a Full Blue moon that the Moon has a face and that she spoke to those in its light, imparting wisdom for the year to come. So seek her out and enjoy this rare, powerful Moon.







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