willow arlenea

 

14* Libra New Moon
By Tara Sutphen

15* Libra New Moon (no moon – starry dark sky, the time of dreaming), culminating October 7, 2010. This Libra New Moon is about taking action and paying attention to you. Assessing your sensibilities and needs, what inner work do you need to do on you. Are you being nice to yourself, I mean really nice. We can get caught up with a lot of busy activity and not focus on clearing up our frustrations or anxiousness. Where do we need to re-stabilize, and bring harmony into depth of being. We can remain a mystery even to ourselves unless we tune in. Tuning in instead of tuning out, why is it that we can see into others problems but sometimes we just can’t seem to fix our self. The stress that accumulates in our lives needs to be set free. How do we leave behind everything that holds us locked up and unable to function, or interact the way we want things to turn out. Are there simple tricks and anecdotes or will it be grueling hard work that will take years to accomplish a sense of rightness and peace. And what does it matter. We see plenty of people that don’t work on their inner child or their inner adult. They seem to meander and make a lot of mistakes and sometimes we think they get along just fine with all the problems. We see plenty of others who have never awakened to a spiritual connection, they do what they do. But why are you compelled to know more, dig deeper, is it to access the knowledge that this vast universe may hold. Basically I do think we know when we leave this existence we will carry thoughts, sentiments, and any unrest. We will carry our feelings and love. For this new moon, you’re going to focus on the real you, the truth that lies deep within. To balance the outer and the inner you is to be in wellness, striving for clear thinking and oneness with body, mind and spirit. To flow in your environment and everyday life. Letting burdens of the modern world slip away. Breathing in harmony and exhaling chaos, going deep within and opening your mind. Recognizing your soul and it’s callings and resplendence.

Journal Questions:

Describe the ‘Inner You’?

Are you tuning into yourself too much or too little?

How many times a week are you releasing stress? In what way do you release stress?

• Exercise,
• inner dialogue
• meditation
• arguing
• ignoring
• processing
• dialogue with others

Can you take advice well? Why or why not? Do you need to learn the hard way and why?

What person, place or thing brings you the most contentment?  Why?

What activity makes you feel peaceful?

How do you feel you escape your problems?

Do you intellectualize your problems?

Do you feel too much or too little about the important issues in your life?

How are you working them out?

• Meditation
• Counseling
• Unsettled behavior
• Over reactions
• Under reactions
• Busy errands
• Crying
• Irrational
• Realistic
• Steps to solve

If you are taking steps to solve your problems or issues.

What steps are you taking

Step 1 – 10

It can start with panic, but should end in balance and a realistic ending.

Dilemma

• Home
• Inner
• Outer
• Personal
• Secret
• Love
• Health
• Work
• Career
• Success
• Friendship
• Family
• Sexual
• Overweight
• Bad habit
• Exercise
• Alcohol
• Drugs
• Learning
• Self esteem
• Confidence
• Money
• Anxiousness
• Frustration
• Overwrought
• Grief
• Non issue but making a dilemma
• Boredom
• Panic
• Out of control situation
• Holding on
• Letting go

Confidently write down why you deserve:

• Love
• Money
• Wellness
• Happiness
• Playfulness
• Wisdom
• Contentment

“You are led through your lifetime by the inner learning creature, the playful spiritual being that is your real self. Don’t turn away from possible futures before you’re certain you don’t have anything to learn from them.”

~ Richard Bach (American Writer)

Full Harvest Moon

By Tara Sutphen

The Harvest Moon at 0* Aries will culminate September 24, 2010 2:19am pdt/ 5:19am edt (almanac). Last full moon was a spiritual occasion.  And this full moon gets our body up and moving. Not only is it the Fall Equinox about World Thanksgiving. It’s about putting our gratitude for life into action. We are asked to begin again, refresh and regroup. What were those interrupted dreams in your past, you can go far back as childhood. What goals had meaning to you and sidetracked you to be responsible or dutiful. Regress and meditate for a few minutes, recall what makes you tick. We forget over and over why we came to earth. Who are we supposed to be. Who are we supposed to love. What is supposed to make us happy.  Have others made it hard to like or love them. Did you change directions in a career. What has veered you in other directions. What has been gifts. What has been a total sacrifice on your part. Do you know or did you start going with the flow awhile ago and stopped being who you want to be. We all want to be realistic for our survival. But there comes a time to think outside the box and risk in practical matters. You might experience joy or fulfillment, you seek and need. You risk at helping others, you risk at love, you risk at money, you risk at setting intentions. You risk to open your energy instead of close yourself down.

 

0* Aries is the start of a “new day, new emotions, new physical well being, new viewpoint, a new spiritual journey, new projects, new goals and new random adventures”. Begin to live…for you, a higher order, wide awake, wide awake……….no more humdrum days.

Journal Questions:

New Beginnings:

8 sentences of dreams, desires and goals for your new future or enhanced current future in these life areas, EACH subject.

• Physical level
• Emotional level
• Intellectual level
• Spiritual level

 

What in your past have you regretted somehow? 3-10 sentences for each subject?

Parents

• Children
• Lovers
• Spouses
• Friendships
• People
• Places
• Career Choices
• Eating Habits
• Exercise Habits

 

We can’t change the past or the growth experienced. We can learn from mistakes and past actions.

Your greatest lessons:

• Physical
• Mental
• Emotional
• Spiritual

 

What is it in the now of your life that you can change, it may be a slow change but what is possible?

Write out 3-7 sentences on how you change to enhance your life. Each Subject.

 

• Love
• Career
• Health
• Happiness
• Knowledge
• Success
• Weight
• Appearance
• Shyness
• Confidence
• Accessibility
• Hobby

 

Write out how you must start to think outside the box?

7-10 sentences or more on each subject.

• Love
• Career
• Health
• Happiness
• Knowledge
• Success
• Weight
• Appearance
• Shyness
• Confidence
• Accessibility
• Hobby

 

“Virtue tested: “Have I not survived hunger and thirst, suffering, and mockery for the sake of the truth which heaven has awakened in my heart?”  ~Kahlil Gibran (Lebanese born American philosophical Essayist, Novelist and Poet. 1883-1931)

 

Happy Mabon, the Autumn Equinox Current mood:  grateful Category: Dreams and the Supernatural

Happy Mabon, the Autumn Equinox. Celebratration of the harvest. I only know one sungazer, they gain sustenence from the sun. For the rest of us nourishment is essential for all life. And as Thanksgiving gives thanks for America and her gifts, Mabon is a time of giving thanks for the World. Gratitude of food for all people.

Our Mabon plans will be to sit around a nicely laid out table with some family and friends. We will say what our best and happiest summer memories were and what we wish to happen this fall. Cheyenne will lead a blessing, lighting of the candles and a toasting ritual. We will toast our appreciation for the farmers, markets, cooks and nurturers.Gratitude, the first of many steps to living a well to do existense. A celebration of life.

What are your warm and cherished memories from your summer? What are your plans for this fall? Are you setting goals?

I wish you a blessed Autumn.Love & Light,Tara Sutphen

 

 

 

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MabonAutumn Equinox, 2nd Harvest, September 21st

Mabon, (pronounced MAY-bun, MAY-bone, MAH-boon, or MAH-bawn) is the Autumn Equinox. The Autumn Equinox divides the day and night equally, and we all take a moment to pay our respects to the impending dark. We also give thanks to the waning sunlight, as we store our harvest of this year’s crops. The Druids call this celebration, Mea’n Fo’mhair, and honor the The Green Man, the God of the Forest, by offering libations to trees. Offerings of ciders, wines, herbs and fertilizer are appropriate at this time. Wiccans celebrate the aging Goddess as she passes from Mother to Crone, and her consort the God as he prepares for death and re-birth.

Various other names for this Lesser Wiccan Sabbat are The Second Harvest Festival, Wine Harvest, Feast of Avalon, Equinozio di Autunno (Strega), Alben Elfed (Caledonii), or Cornucopia. The Teutonic name, Winter Finding, spans a period of time from the Sabbat to Oct. 15th, Winter’s Night, which is the Norse New Year.

At this festival it is appropriate to wear all of your finery and dine and celebrate in a lavish setting. It is the drawing to and of family as we prepare for the winding down of the year at Samhain. It is a time to finish old business as we ready for a period of rest, relaxation, and reflection.

Symbolism of Mabon:         – Second Harvest, the Mysteries, Equality and Balance.

Symbols of Mabon:         – Wine, gourds, pine cones, acorns, grains, corn, apples, pomegranates, vines such as ivy, dried seeds, and horns of plenty.

Herbs of Maybon:         – Acorn, benzoin, ferns, grains, honeysuckle, marigold, milkweed, myrrh, passionflower, rose, sage, solomon’s seal, tobacco, thistle, and vegetables.

Foods of Mabon:         – Breads, nuts, apples, pomegranates, and vegetables such as potatoes, carrots, and onions.

Incense of Mabon:         – Autumn Blend-benzoin, myrrh, and sage.

Colors of Mabon:           – Red, orange, russet, maroon, brown, and gold.

Stones of Mabon:         – Sapphire, lapis lazuli, and yellow agates.

Activities of Mabon:         – Making wine, gathering dried herbs, plants, seeds and seed pods, walking in the woods, scattering offerings in harvested fields, offering libations to                trees, adorning burial sites with leaves, acorns, and pine cones to honor those who have passed over.

Spellworkings of Mabon:         – Protection, prosperity, security, and self-confidence. Also those of harmony and balance.

Deities of Mabon:         – Goddesses-Modron, Morgan, Epona, Persephone, Pamona and the Muses. Gods-Mabon, Thoth, Thor, Hermes, and The Green Man.

Mabon is considered a time of the Mysteries. It is a time to honor Aging Deities and the Spirit World. Considered a time of balance, it is when we stop and relax and enjoy the fruits of our personal harvests, whether they be from toiling in our gardens, working at our jobs, raising our families, or just coping with the hussle-bussle of everyday life. May your Mabon be memorable, and your hearts and spirits be filled to overflowing!

 

rhonda ekland

15* Virgo New Moon

By Tara Sutphen

15* Virgo New Moon (no moon – starry dark sky, the time of dreaming), culminating September 8, 2010. This Virgo New Moon is about taking action toward your dreams, your romances, children and creativity using detail with earthly practicality. If you want something you can no longer be a dreamer, you must step into the material world of reality. Remember it only takes one small step and then another. And let’s look at your birth pre-plan…..brave, taking on too much physically and emotionally. Are you in control or have you lost that. Have you forgotten how to love, how to dream, how to create your reality. Are you watching as you walk forward or are you still entranced in the past.

Real life didn’t promise to be anything but perceptible. We will all lose and we will all gain. Sometimes we lose our footing due to not having enough energy to deal with circumstances and must gently strive at wellness and wholeness. Work at being strong enough to live life on your terms. We know many that suffer and it is our mercy and wisdom to help them along also. It’s hard to help others unless you are in a position to offer thus. Create health, genuine love and exploring your talents and ideas. It’s never too late.

Journal Questions:

What needs to be created again in your life? Write 3-5 sentences on each category.

How can you enhance ______?

• Love
• Money
• Wellness
• Happiness
• Playfulness
• Wisdom
• Contentment

Do you believe in yourself? Do/Did your parents believe in you? Who has believed in you?

Who do you believe in?

What needs to be changed in your health routine? Write out advice if it was for someone else.

What are you proud of yourself for?

List your talents: Extensively

List your ideas: extensively

Create a story of your perfect health.

Create a story of your perfect love.

Create a story of your perfect reality.

Make a daily record, grocery note and add a goal to that list.

(example: enhance my love life, I’d like to learn to paint – slot it into your schedule)

Life stares us down, tries to run us over, and people bump into us. We can be dazed and confused until we awaken and take our lives back and continue on the way, tapping into our depth of being and full consciousness. Stepping into our personal power and creating the life we are meant to live.

“Most people would succeed in small things if they were not troubled with great ambitions.”

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (American Poet in the 19th century, 1807-1882)

 

 Full Sturgeon Moon
By Tara Sutphen

The Sturgeon Moon at 1* Pisces will culminate August 24, 2010 10:05 pdt/1:05pm edt (almanac). This moon is a powerful and spiritual occasion.  A gift, we don’t have aspects like this every day. A time to intercede logic and try to understand our deeper mind and motives. Where have we come from. What are we doing on earth. Why have we come into being. As a recollection we speculate we have been on a search starting long ago for soul recognition in the darkest regions of earth and space. Our subconscious mind knows where we come from but our conscious mind is wiped clean of pre-birth memories. As we study other’s past theories, we may come to conclusions and think we know. We may study our whole life to gain a well spring of belief and yet only reveal idealogies. In daily life we may have it figured out what we want on an intellectual and/or physical basis. But to research the soul’s agenda, it is hidden. We are here on earth stumbling around, trying to do our best or maybe our worst. How do we ignore our self, pamper our spirit or should we fill it with dogma. Are we lost, ever roaming the universe going from one reality to another. Lost is only a state of mind. The opportunity may be to open your mind and be present with the oneness of all. You have been given this individual journey, the wondrous sanctity of life. Recognize where your feet are this moment. Start thinking and doing what enhances your life instead of what breaks it. Make the connection between the cosmos, your soul and your breath.

Journal Questions:

 

Describe your personal theory on what is your soul. Is it matter? Try not to use anyone else’s preconceived concepts. Create your own story. Make it 5 sentences or more.

If you had a soul agenda, what would it be?

Would you be doing something differently than you are now?

Rate your Strengths 1 lowest-10 highest

• Knowledgable
• Likable
• Lovable
• Organized
• Even tempered
• Thoughtful
• Congenial
• Knows boundaries
• Conscious
• Understanding
• Helpful
• Supportive
• Approachable
• Unafraid
• Brave
• Adventurous
• Enterprising
• Honorable
• Polite
• Sympathetic
• Professional
• Qualified
• Skillful
• Accomplished
• Gifted
• Capable

 

Make a list of bad traits or habits in others?

Do you cast judgment or compassion?

What are your bad traits and habits?

What’s the remedy to change them. List each one and give yourself a quick fix. Can you be good to yourself?

In the process of creation, the union is sparked by feelings of love and chemistry. Remember to love yourself.

What do people like about you?

What do you like about yourself?

Have compassion for your soul’s journey. Gain courage, potency and wellness. You know your spirit is strong. Your mind and brain are strong. Your body is strong. So it is…………….

   “I have but shadowed forth my intense longing to lose myself in the Eternal and become merely a lump of clay in the Potter’s divine hands so that my service may become more certain because uninterrupted by the baser self in me.” ~ Mohandas Gandhi

17* Leo  New Moon
By Tara Sutphen

17* Leo New Moon (no moon – starry dark sky, the time of dreaming), culminating August 10, 2010. This Leo New Moon is about taking action toward developing contentment with people, those encircling you and those you want surrounding you. Satisfaction should consist of people who support you and give emotionally, intellectually, physically and spiritually. We learn our manners and behavior from society, peers and relatives. We are on constant renewal with our emotions, and sometimes we let them influence us for days or years. What is the behavior for creating meaningful exchange. There is depth of soul connection to everyday interactions with some people. Who has helped you and who has hindered you. Where have you allowed yourself to become passive or maybe aggressive. Are your communication skills at work for or against you. Life can be long and boring without connection. Examine what it is needed and how to acquire those desires. Where does one begin to create reciprocity.

Acknowledgement and interchange can work wonders. You don’t have to talk or do a lot, you can smile. Most others want their existence to be noted. And when we find those others personally significant, our lives can truly be enriched. Every day can be an analysis of love if you allow it. You should make it alright with yourself that who you love, is who”you love”. No matter what trials and tribulations you both go through.  Sadly there are people that make life difficult or unhappy, there are many circumstances throughout our lives that are beyond our control. You know what tests you’ve been through and how you have learned. Is it time to start revising unending discord. Much like a musical instrument that is untunable, sometimes it takes work but every instrument can brought back to harmony. Fate can’t always be changed overnight, but it can be adjusted over time. There are new ways to refigure competitive or combative behavior. Your test to outthink the dilemma, not embroil yourself in it. And we know how disappointed we will be if we don’t at least make an attempt and exert effort. Refresh your perspective on others around you. Restore or start friendships. Renew your love life.  Improve your relationships with your family members. Spark your creative drive. Open yourself for Love…

Journal Questions:

What kind of friends do you have? Do you want new friends? What are your old friends like? Are they supportive? Do you make friends easily? How could you make friends?

Do you have a lover or partner? Do you have a strong connection? What are the solid parts of the relationship? Are you experiencing weak connection and why? List what areas you or your partner need work.

Is your connection:

Write on each, in detail

• Emotional
• Intellectual
• Physical
• Spiritual

What makes a Friend or Lover

Write your views

• Enthusiasm
• Cooperation
• Fair trade
• Good sportsmanship
• Availability
• Appreciation
• Confidante
• Supporter
• Consultant
• Companion
• Listener
• Attraction

Make up a story of a make-believe friend. Have them fulfill all your expectations.

Make up a story of a make-believe Lover. Have them fulfill all of your expectations.

Is your life remotely similar to these inner desires? Why or why not?

List of Expectations:

Write in detail concerning your expectation with each point

• Family
• Friends
• Social
• School
• Emotions
• Reactions
• Physical
• Goals
• Security
• Money
• Environment
• Community
• City
• State
• Country
• Nation
• World
• Universe
• God

How are you reacting with each area of expectation? Are you a family person?  Friend?  Career person? A Community Server?  World Person?  Where are you realistic and idealistic?

There is inner knowing what is right, what is wrong when dealing with others and general mankind. Trust is an ideal, Love is an ideal, Happiness is an ideal…we will still try over and over to reach them. It is important to not give up hope, to play the game. Life………You are Here.

“True friendship multiplies the good in life and divides its evils. Strive to have friends, for life without friends is like life on a desert island..to find one real friend in a lifetime is good fortune; to keep him is a blessing.”

~ Baltasar Gracian (Spanish Philosopher and Writer, leading Spanish exponent of conceptism, 1601-1658)

 

 

Full Buck Moon
By Tara Sutphen

The Full Buck Moon at 2* Aquarius will culminate July 25, 2010 9:37pm pdt/July 26 12:37am edt (almanac). This enchanting summer moon is a time to make plans for the future. To sit under the moonlight pondering, closing your eyes and making wishes. And in our inner knowing, it is time to become like the butterfly. In our lifetime will we become the butterfly instead of the caterpillar.  Look at the caterpillar with it’s 3 sets of legs and 8 eyes, it leisurely slinks along the ground, drags the earth and slowly gets to where it wants to go until it uses it’s ability to transform. Once in the cocoon, growing, deep in thought and plans for the change. Emerging brand new, forming beauty and wonder, flying and no longer crawling. The butterfly flies with grace and easily lands on soft flowers instead of dirt. The metaphor is much like us as humans, we go slowly and deliberately feeling half blind at times with narrow ideas and untried measures until we soon get tired of not taking some steps to right our lives. Knowing that we must change into our best and highest selves, we must strive toward securing our lives. And once we are a butterfly to spread light and love to anyone in our path. We all need assurance and the will to accomplish. To try new things. A butterfly tastes with it’s feet. How do we get to butterfly status. You don’t want to wait till you die to know, you want it now…on earth.

When you dream, daydream or hope about anything that could be a possibility in the world, easily let yourself be free. Your mind is a powerful tool. There are times when you will only see colorful illusions, but allow for some intervals of rest and play. When you sorce and pray, let your vision be for real things upon the earth. Your intentions become your world.

Journal Questions:

Write in your journal for the full moon and throughout the month.

Dreaming:

• Do you remember your night time dreams?
• Do you pay attention to your daydreams?
• Do you have wishful thinking?
• Do you have expectations?
• Do others have expectations of you?

 

Are you someone who moves your wishes into action?

• Do you feel you create a plan and easily bring those plans into fruition?
• How do you do it?
• How do you feel when you accomplish what you want?

 

What areas do you feel accomplishment?

(write a sentence, paragraph or more)

• Money
• Love
• Friendship
• Family
• Happiness
• Wisdom
• Knowledge
• Exercising
• Eating well
• Good Health
• Fun
• Beauty

 

What is your first impression about yourself in these areas?

(write a sentence, paragraph or more)

• Money
• Love
• Friendship
• Family
• Happiness
• Wisdom
• Knowledge
• Exercising
• Eating well
• Good Health
• Fun
• Beauty

 

Dreaming and Wishing doesn’t mean we’ll get what we want, but it certainly can’t hurt to create a mindset for goals . With all the changes that happen around us, we want to change into our best selves. To become the butterfly…

“I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly dreaming I am a man” ~ Chuang Tzu (The most significant of China’s early interpreters of Taoism, 389-286 BC)

19* Cancer  New Moon
By Tara Sutphen

19* Cancer  New Moon this month (no moon – the time of dreaming), culminating July 11, 2010. There is also a Total Solar Eclipse 12:40pm pdt/3:40 edt.  The eclipse will only be visible through the South Pacific and it will be intense lasting over five minutes. Eclipses are about change or letting go, it can be to bring something exciting or illuminating into your life. This Cancer New Moon is about your emotions and finding balance in your home life. How might we use the eclipse to change our personal world to the one we really want to be in. By using your instincts to center yourself, balance your needs, and to recognize where you belong. When your instincts are in a quandary, you might find yourself irrational and irritable. Let us come back to solid ground. Your life starts at home — your wellness starts from the home, your beauty starts from the home, your success starts from the home. And your spirituality starts from the home. This is why it’s important to create a sanctuary and wholesome life. What you walk out your door with every day is “structure” to get you to your next level of wellness, happiness, success, and love.  Inner formation of strength and vitality renews your spirit to conquer an outer world.

You may not live in a castle, you may not be near to living in a place of your dreams, let alone with the people who surround you or the city or town you find yourself in, so what will you do. You could complain and become overly anxious, we must ask for a certain amount of help to gain help. But complaints can lead to whining and disapproval, people can shut off instead of being supportive. Often seen in the eyes of our elders we must be reasonable or have something to trade. Be it time and energy to an actual craft. We must stay open, tuning into our primal survival instinct and our conscious motives. We must conform to what is good for us, helping us sustain our home life and feelings of emotional stability. If everything is going wrong for you, what is going right for you. Where are you not listening to the inner workings of your heart, of your wants, your mind, your goals and your treaties. Those compromises you’ve made to be living the life you are living right now. You’ve made choices and now find yourself where you are. Is it what you want or do you need a correction. Look at your feet…where do you stand. Look in the mirror…who are you. Look at your hands…what do you do.

Journal Questions

Natural Behavior:

List a positive and a negative trait you posses with each word

• Attainment
• Circumstances
• Conduct
• Development
• Enjoyment
• Enlightenment
• Growth
• Happiness
• Human condition
• Journey
• Knowledge
• Lifestyle,
• Participation
• Personality
• Realization
• Suffering
• Trials

and tribulations

• Way

of life

Natural  Instincts:

• Killer Instinct – Hunger (luckily we have grocery stores)
  • Could you hunt for food or grow a garden?

• Sex Instinct – the other hunger – Perpetuation of Humans
• Are you hungry for love and fulfillment? You know when you feel right about things or feel wrong. Tune into your inner knowing again. It takes some practice. It will help you overcome moving too fast or too slow or stalling when you should be acting.

We often say we are confused and don’t know what we want, but it may be that we don’t know how to get what we want. So we settle…

• What home would you like to have?
• What “home life” would you like to have?
• Are you living in the right place?
• Why if so or if not.
• What type of land do you like?

Make a fantasy of a house, what kind of land it’s on, what it looks like on the outside, what it looks like in the inside.

• How many bedrooms?
• Do you allow guests?
• What are your electronics?
• What are your toys?
• Pets?
• Friends?
• Relatives?
• Children?
• List anything that would make for a happy home.

When you are faced with problems, do you freeze, crumble or go into action?

Life’s Details, Actions & Results

How are you going into action on your problems right now?

• Make a list and write a solution.  (No killer instincts)

Are you happy with the results so far in your life?

• When were you happy?
• What were you doing then?
• How can you readjust to a happier now for the same result?

Are you making the most of where you live?

• Home
• Environment
• City or Town
• Country

Look at your Feet…

Stories:  7 sentences or more

• Where are your feet?
• Create a fantasy on where your feet should be.
• Make a realistic scenario where your feet should be.

“Try to put your happiness before anyone else’s, because you may never have done so in your entire life, if you really think about it, if you are really honest with yourself. ~Margaret Cho (American Comedian, b.1968)

Full Strawberry Moon
By Tara Sutphen

The Full Strawberry Moon at 4* Capricorn will culminate June 26, 2010 1:31 am pdt/4:31am edt (almanac). There will also be a Partial Lunar Eclipse. This is when the moon will cross through the southern portion of Earth’s shadow and will be visible to those in western and central North America. The Umbral shadow will cover 54 percent of the moon’s surface. Eclipse’s are about change or letting go, it can be to bring something exciting or illuminating into your life. Especially true this month as there is extra ‘jet fuel’ coming from Pluto. When we have such big events happening in the sky, it might stir up not only our personal worlds but the planet itself. It could be a time to joggle us awake.

The meaning of this full moon is about our homes, places we conduct business and how we offer ourselves to the betterment of mankind. You don’t have to do major things in the world to help out, it’s the little things that sometimes matter, the support we receive close to home. What are your giving traits, spiritually, emotionally and physically. As earthlings we act in our self interest. Healthy self interest that flow into talents, ideas, and service allows a person to have something to share. We see when people go overboard with being greedy, jealous, hateful or angry. Why does this happen? Where is the perspective to keep it real. And what is real?  If we look into the sky, and stretch our minds eye to go farther out away from the world into space and now past our solar system and turn ourselves around to look back at earth. Where are we? What are we? We are a human speckle. We deem ourselves as important speckles on missions. As a speck we want to create something worthwhile for ourselves. At our end, we’ll have wanted to share a few hugs and helped do a little something here or there. We know we’re exceptional. What makes for a meaningful life? What is your mission?

Journal Questions:

Write in your journal for the full moon and throughout the month.

10 areas of life or chores you need help with?

10 Ways in how you can help others?

List your self-less traits

How do you give?

• How do you give spiritually?
• How do you give emotionally?
• How do you give physically?

How are you feeling ‘lack’?

• Do you have family issues with people and lack?
• Do you have friend issues with people and lack?
• Do you have business issues with people and lack?
• Do you have success issues with lack?
• Do you have health issues and connect them to lack?

Where do you trade or exchange with people as in your job… in your home….with your family…… with your friends?

• What are your goals?
• What is your personal goal?
• What is your business goal?
• What is your success goal?
• What is your happiness goal?
• What is your health goal?
• What is your World goal?

What do you feel is a meaningful life?

What do you feel is your mission?

Selfless actions and thoughts actually bring a person more satisfaction and contentment. Sometimes we aren’t acknowledged or feel appreciated. At least your effort was for the right reasons to bring something good to another. You will give many times and it won’t be returned from the same source. You may crave the same sentimental attitude that you offered to another. Or what was given would be returned in an even exchange. But that is not truly giving, that would be manipulating. In your heart and minds eye, visualize your open hands to receive. Staying accessible in mind, heart and body will bring many rewards. Seek emotional simplicity and value. Your true mission will soon be clear.

He was no martyr. He was no hero. But in the last two years, selfishness gave way to selflessness, lies gave way to truth and indulgence gave way to spirituality, and anyone watching that couldn’t help but be moved by it.”- Lex Lasry

Summer  Solstice, Midsummer, Litha

By Tara Sutphen

21^st June

“In the world’s audience hall, the simple blade of grass sits on the same carpet with the sunbeams, and the stars of midnight” – Rabindranath Tagore (Indian Poet, Playwright and Essayist, Won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913, 1861-1941)

Summer Solstice marks the end of the waxing year.  And the rays of the sun directly strike one of the two tropical latitude lines.  June 21 marks the beginning of summer in the northern hemisphere, as  winter begins in the southern hemisphere. On this day, the earth’s “circle of luminescence” will be from the Arctic Circle to the Antarctic Circle. The equator receives twelve hours of daylight, as there will be 24 hours of daylight at the North Pole and 24 hours of darkness at the South Pole. All over the world people honor this day as an important reminder of the apex of light and to cast away evil and their problems. Northern Hemisphere inhabitants use June 21 as the day of celebration, but the splendor of light lasts from new moon to full moon.

Worshipping the Sun’s great power, all cultures celebrate in some way. Celts and Slavs dance around bonfires while Chinese marked the day honoring Li, the Goddess of Light. The celebrants of modern and ancient ceremonies tune in that life comes from the sun. It is life giving and life supporting.  We’ve recently had the good fortune to have electricity, greenhouses, and shipment suppliers. How will you celebrate? We all may not get a chance to dance around the bonfire but it’s a time to bask in the light, sit in the sun, cast our worries away and awaken to our lives.

Recipes:

Cucumber Salad

• 1/2 cup sour cream
  2 tablespoons chopped parsley
  2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
  1 tablespoon granulated sugar
  1 tablespoon chopped chives
  3 small cucumbers, thinly sliced

• Directions…
  1. Combine the sour cream, parsley, vinegar, sugar, and chives.
  2. Gently fold in cucumbers

Spinach-Strawberry Salad

• Yield: 4 to 6 servings

• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
• 1-1/2 teaspoons minced onion
• 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 1 bag (10 ounces) fresh spinach
• 1 pint strawberries, sliced thin

In a blender, combine the sugar, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, onion, Worcestershire sauce, paprika, oil, and vinegar. Blend well. If the dressing seems thick, add a few drops of water.

Remove the stems from the spinach and tear the leaves into bite-size pieces. Arrange them on individual salad plates or in a salad bowl. Arrange the strawberries on top. Drizzle the dressing over the strawberries and serve.

Bonnie Brae Strawberry Pie

A mixture of cooked and fresh berries helped make this pie a family favorite.

• 1 quart strawberries or 1 large package frozen strawberries, thawed and drained
• 3/4 cup water
• 4 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 cup sliced berries, fresh or frozen, thawed and drained
• whipped cream
• whole berries for garnish

Combine strawberries and water in saucepan. Cook until just softened, about 4 or 5 minutes. (Let frozen berries thaw; heat but don’t cook them.) Mix together cornstarch, sugar, and water until smooth; add to hot berries. Cook over medium heat until clear. Add lemon juice; immediately remove from heat and let cool. Place sliced berries in cooked pie shell. To assemble pie, pour cooked mixture over berries, top with whipped cream, and garnish with whole berries.

Old-Fashioned Buttermilk Wedding Cake

Yield: Makes 12 to 16 servings.

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
• 3 cups sugar
• 4 cups cake flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon butter flavoring
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 6 egg whites

Preheat over to 350° F. Grease and flour three 9-inch round cake pans. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Pour in buttermilk and begin mixing slowly. Continue to mix until well blended. Add flavorings and stir. In another bowl, beat egg whites until stiff. Fold the egg whites into the cake batter. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared pans. Bake for 20 minutes at 350° F, then lower heat to 300°F and bake for about 25 minutes longer, until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Remove cakes from oven and cool on racks. After 10 minutes, remove from pans and continue cooling on racks.

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 3 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

No wedding needed to have this cake

Other food /drink ideas –

• mint iced teas, dandelion salads, strawberry shortcakes, geranium leaf sorbet, berry pies

Ceremonies:

The Druids celebrated with “The Wedding of Heaven and Earth”.

• Two people represent Mother Earth and the Sun King. Create a Bonfire, dancers adorned in garlands and flowers, and young men jumping through the tall flames. A time of cleansing and renewal. The participants playing Mother Earth and the Sun King go to each participant, and speak to each person as though planting seeds of growth, imparting words of love, wisdom, thankfulness and prosperity.

Candle or Bonfire Ritual

• With a candle or your bonfire – Give blessings in the 4 directions. Cast a blessing for yourself, a blessing for the harvest, a blessing for your loved ones, and a blessing for the earth.  (make this blessing 3-5 sentences long for each subject)

A Call to Love

• Single women are to sleep with 4 flowers under their pillow

Flowers:

• Flowers blooming in your area, also daisies, roses, lilyof the valley, calendulas, marigolds

Decorations:

• daisy chains, lavender wreaths, rosemary garlands

Head wreath

• Circle base, thin gauge wire, or vines and tie or wire on flowers of your choice

Symbols:

• Fire to celebrate the power of the sun, Sun Wheels, Medicine Wheels, Stone Circles, Candle Circles, Mother Goddess, Ripening fruits, Sun Dials, Feathers, and Swords/Blades.

Candles:

• Green & Blue representing the earth
• White representing God light