Moon Rituals for July

Z Budapest talks about Moon folklore and rituals for the month of July.

Grandmother Moon invites us to "look at the moon as the old ally she is."

Renowned feminist witch Zsuzsanna Budapest shows us how to tap into the moon's power for peace, health, and energy. With delightful wit and wisdom, she shares practical and entertaining lunar lore, from ancient moon-based rituals to lunar cycle diet tips.



Budapest reveals how, by acting in harmony with the moon, women can balance everything from their mood and weight to fertility. Here is a spirited illumination of the natural moon cycles that influence our lives.

IAMANJA

Ancient Mirrors of Womanhood, Merlin Stone

Your holy spirit floats

along the cresting waves of water,

as we walk out upon the sands,

night time closing on the longest day of the year,

and join together in small circles

around the sacred boats

that we shall send you,

each whispering our prayers to a flower

that we lay upon the boat,

for Iamanja, Holy Queen Sea.

Flames set to floating campfire logs

flicker on the mounting flowers,

as our boats of prayers are set afloat

upon the edges of your being,

your gently caressing waves

washing about our bared legs,

cleansing away our sadness and our troubles,

bathing away any wrongs that we have done,

and as we watch the sparks of dancing light

dimming in the growing distance,

we know that you are waiting

for the messages we send,

Iamanja, Holy Queen Sea.

Fire reflections in your gently rocking darkness,

light above, so light below,

chanting chorus, keeping time

to the rhythm of your being,

I stand to one side

to watch the others

toss their last flower prayers upon the moving boats,

thinking that you have enough to do

without my adding to your work.

But just before the last boat

floats out too far for change of mind,

I too toss my flower upon the others,

with prayers for your health and long years

and that you may always be

just as we have known you,

Iamanja, Holy Queen Sea

FEAST OF THE FLAMES

Circle of wimmin, halfway to spring

Quickening hope, earthsoul rising

Candlemas song to waxing light

Bridget's fire burning bright

Cauldron, broom, candle, wine

Apple , Elder, Dogwood, Pine

New witch, old witch, spiral line

Cirle of womyn, circle of time

~ Illa Suzanne

" If Candlemas Day be fair and bright, Winter will have another flight;

If Candlemas Day be shower and rain, Winter is gone and will not come again."

 

Makes EGO seem all the more useless and ridiculous .. ha ha ha

 
LONDON (Reuters) – God did not create the universe and the "Big Bang" was an inevitable consequence of the laws of physics, the eminent British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking argues in a new book.

In "The Grand Design," co-authored with U.S. physicist Leonard Mlodinow, Hawking says a new series of theories made a creator of the universe redundant, according to the Times newspaper which published extracts on Thursday.

"Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing. Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist," Hawking writes.

"Not ALL women are guilty"

Amazing the things that turn up in old books while doing research ;

Reynolde Scot, a Kentishman whom we recall as gardener

and author of the Hoppe Garden, 1574, wrote the

Discouerie of Witchcraft in 1584. He felt that not all

women who were tried as witches were guilty, stating,

"Now the witches are mortal women, which be commonly

old, lame, blear-eyed, pale, foul and full of wrinkles,

poor, sullen."

MOON, MOON by Anne Kent Rush

In 2003 I found myself closing another witchy store in another small west coast town. I had a huge, month long, estate sale and sold everything. Everything from the store, everything from my life. I filled my 22' witch wagon with the necessities, some prized books, some store stock to barter along the way, and some personal mementos. My journey was to be 3000 miles at a slow pace that wouldn't wear out my old wagon. I hit the road with the fall chill on my coat tails. The inevitable happened in the Northern California mountains and I found myself camping in a relatives driveway while waiting for engine parts. Two weeks I was stranded in a California driveway during a freak heatwave in a tin box wagon. I walked about town, from shade tree to mountain fed rivers passing the longest of hottest days. I found a decent health food grocery and the coolest second hand bookstore hidden away in an industrial warehouse. The bookstore guy played the best browsing vinyl, had quartz crystal clusters the size of  breakfast tables crated in from Brazil (his own mine) and a whole room dedicated to herbals and the mystical arts. Moon, Moon was a book that had been attracting my attention for a couple years. I never bought it for some reason or another, it's big, it's outdated, it's not going to be what I want it to be, blah, blah, blah. This time, in this store, there it was again. And here I was with two weeks to burn and in need of some inspiration. I bought it, paid more than I normally would have, and went home to my little hot tin wagon. This book was amazing. Every page answered a question I had about the moon. Things I'd pondered and was too lazy to research (for years) was right there in my new "old" book. What a joy to read. Pictures of ancient moon goddesses, moon mythology and folklore in other countries, the ancient feminine connection to the moon and her cycles. I continued to read, page by page, and absorb the information. It became my little comforting ritual each day to turn to a new page and let my troubles melt away. My witchy wagon was ready to go while still reading my book so I said my goodbyes and once again continued on my slow journey with a new ritual added to my daily routine. I collected maps and pamphlets from the places I stayed and added them as bookmarks amongst the pages of my book. It was a sad day when I finished the last pages somewhere in Louisiana. I've never had the same experience with any other book, but each of my special books have their own rituals and stories I guess. I've never read another of Anne Kent Rush's books, but this one has joined my collection of books that will always have a place in my wagon wherever life may take me.

Moon, Moon