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April’s Pink Moon Is Going Super Saiyan

A story by Calista Moon on .

It’s that time again, my darlings. The wheel continues to turn and we find ourselves preparing for the fourth full moon of this year; the Pink Moon. It’s also known as the Hare Moon or the Egg Moon. Sound familiar? If you were raised in the Christian beliefs, you would be right in thinking that this is yet another pagan celebration that was hijacked by the Catholic church during the Barbarian conversions. There is a lot of mythology and lore that is interwoven magnificently around Easter and the Pink Moon, but I don’t want to get into that too much this month. If you’re interested, I would suggest researching the Germanic goddess Eostre.

I want to focus instead on the sky and the earth, this month. The Pink Moon is about attaining fullness. It falls during Aries season, and the adventurous spirit of this fire sign is coming through to set us after our ambitions. The energy in the air is restless and ready to be utilized! One of the best parts of this year’s Pink Moon is that it is going to be in the air sign of Libra, the scales, who will bring balance to this restless energy. Aries and Libra are a wonderful system of checks and balances. Where an unchecked passionate Aries can burn recklessly, the cool intellect of Libra will stall the flames and help focus our energy toward our goals. Together they blaze a beautiful trail.

This gorgeous pairing of signs around the Pink Moon is the perfect time to reflect on the obstacles or fears stalling our progress and adapt to the situations at hand so that we may overcome and even transcend this level of internal or external struggle. Now is a time to let love flow around you and release the very human need to cling tightly to the familiar. This kind of trust can open the door to a lot of discomfort and fear. That’s okay. Let that fear in. Sit with it. It is there to try to protect you, and it learned to be fearful from the past. Reassure it that everything is going to be fine. The universe has your back, and always has. Attune with your intuition and meet that fear with love until it tires itself out.

That is an act much easier said than done, of course. We’re human after all. But let me toss a few more cosmic movements into this mixture to see if we can persuade your fears to relax. So we’ve got ambition, and the intellect to focus it, as well as the moon’s transcendent energy. Already a lovely combination, but what if we saw Jupiter, the planet of opportunity, potential, and luck, meet up with Neptune, the planet of the unconscious, evolutions, and imagination for the first time in roughly 150 years? Furthermore, what if we saw them align in Neptune’s home sign of Pisces; ruler of dreams, intuition, and emotional awareness? And, to help focus that wild combination of intuitive luck and imagination, what if Venus, the ruler of Libra, showed up to bring love, beauty, and compassion to the equation?

I know. That’s a lot of information. It can get a little muddy sometimes, so let me try to nutshell all of this as best as I can. Today, on April 12th, the fortune and potential of Jupiter aligned with the evolutionary imagination of Neptune. That evolutionary energy is being emphasized since Neptune is in its home sign of Pisces. These two together, evolution and luck, are going to be with us for the Pink Moon on April 16th. The same Pink Moon that is overflowing with the energy of Becoming, wholeness, and adaptation. The same Pink Moon that is driven by the fiery ambition of Aries season towards our desires, and whose energy is being focused by arriving in the clear intellect of the fair and balanced air sign of Libra.

This Full Moon is about Becoming with a capital B! It is about preparing for the next New Moon. It is begging us to Let. Go. Let go of the fears that keep us stagnant. Let go of the what ifs and anxiety that keep us from opening to opportunities. Because, before the month is out, Jupiter and Neptune will be joined by Venus’ compassion in Pisces just in time for the New Moon. These three are an incredibly powerful manifesting trio, and Venus’ added energy will be leveling up all of our interpersonal relationships. Luck, evolution, and compassionate love coming together. Now is the time to be courageous. Reflect on your big picture, adapt and trust in the world around you, and in that flow you will transcend what you currently perceive to be an obstacle, and see it for what it really is. A stepping stone towards the point where your fortune, love, and evolution meet.

I think the key to harnessing this collective energy under the Pink Moon on Saturday is going to rely a lot on balance. It will require the balance of your gut with your mind. Emotions and intellect must be kept in check of one another. Where Libra sits and ponders over a situation, Aries will light a fire under them to keep moving. Some really good balancing stones to incorporate in your Full Moon ritual this month will be Rhodonite and Unakite.

Rhodonite is a self-esteem and self-image booster, as well as helping open us to the world of possibilities. It can help us look closer at ourselves, and helps enhance our relationships with our self, friends, business, and romantic interests. Unakite is a heart healer. It recalibrates our frequency to resonate with love and compassion while balancing the emotions in the body, such as fear and anxiety. If you’ve ever heard someone say feel your feelings, that’s what they mean. The tightness in the chest or shoulders, the knotted forehead muscles. Unakite will help recalibrate the way we interact physically with our emotions. Letting love flow into the spaces where fear lives can help us let go of the stagnation that makes us feel safe in familiarity. Contrary to the old adage, the devil you know is not actually better than the devil you don’t.

This is already a very lengthy post, so I won’t be going into a step by step for the Pink Moon. My ritual this month is fairly personal and will incorporate a lot of shadow work anyway, so I want to leave you with a few questions to help you fill the corners of your heart and mind with the trusting love of the universe, and a prayer. What gives you vitality and energy? What could you lose if you incorporated this into your life more? What could change? What stops you from tending to the needs of your spirit’s flame? Where does this stem from?

I bask in the fullness of the Pink Moon. As the grasses reach for the sky, I too yearn for growth. I acknowledge the traumas that have marred my spirit. I release the pains that weigh on my heart and mind. I meet my shadows with love. I am open to change and love in all forms. I look to nature for examples of how to relinquish worry and embrace the joy of living in the present. I trust in the abundance and perfect love of the universe. And so it is. And so it is. And so it is. Blessed be.

Note: shadow work is absolutely not for everyone. However, if you find some of these questions touch parts of your mind or heart that scare you, and you feel ready for change, I would encourage you to journal a little on these thoughts, my darlings. Examination of ourselves is the best way to prune away that which doesn’t serve us any longer, in my opinion. And I for one am very ready to remove what’s holding me back from my love filled, evolutionary potential. Blessed be!

All Things Must End

A story by Calista Moon on .

Happy Tuesday, my darlings. I know I just posted yesterday, and we changed our perspective about the scary sounding Hanged Man. Well today we’re going to get back on track and look at another scary sounding card. This one may well be scary in the moment, but is a natural part of the wheel that perpetually turns. We’ll be learning about the Death card. Again, scary sounding, and sometimes emotionally painful, but contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t necessarily mean that someone or something is going to die soon. Death is a representative of change, and for something new to begin, we need to let what came before end.

Upright, Death is a harbinger of the ending of a major phase of your life that is no longer serving you. We may know what this is or we may not, but if we resist this necessary change, it could result in emotional and physical pain. This can be sudden or unexpected change, so you might feel like you’re getting sucker punched, but if you can maintain a sense of flow with this transformational energy, you’ll mitigate a lot of unnecessary suffering. This isn’t to say that we shouldn’t grieve what is lost, but losing ourselves to what is being taken from us can stagnate our progress and blind us to unexpected opportunities that are suddenly available to us. Letting go of our unhealthy attachments and cutting out unnecessary excess will ease our journey to our Highest Self. Old memories, belongings, and baggage are weighing you down on your path. It may be painful to let them go, but it will strengthen you for the good that is to come.

That being said, it would make sense that the reversal says we’re resisting the major shift that is trying to take place. Maybe we don’t want to let go yet. Maybe we don’t know what we need to let go of to relieve the distress we’re feeling. You will create more distress by resisting, so make an active effort to embrace change. You can break up your normal routine, add an affirmation about positive change to your daily sayings if you use them, and keep your mind open to opportunities you wouldn’t normally take. If you’re going through a personal transition, keep it to yourself for now. This is your journey to travel, and the opinions of others may shake your resolve. Wait until the transition is complete before you share your metamorphosis with others.

Ultimately, the Death card can bring pain. Change isn’t always easy, but if we accept it instead of fighting it, we can lessen the suffering that we endure. I know that seems like common knowledge, but when the emotions of loss and grief are involved they can cloud our better judgment. Changing your mindset from “this is happening to me” to “this is happening for me” can be the difference between an extended painful release, and a gentle flow forward, my darlings. Be open to change. Believe in the good things coming. I’ll see you next week!

The Hanged Man’s True Nature

A story by Calista Moon on .

Welp, I entirely missed Tarot Tuesday last week, my darlings! Honestly I’m appalled with myself because I’m excited for today’s card! Most people see this one as a negative, but really, it’s all about breaking stagnation! I’m getting ahead of myself. Today we’re talking about The Hanged Man. See? See how ominous that sounds? But it’s not, I promise. The Hanged Man isn’t at the gallows, but he is stuck. Let’s get into it!

Upright, this poor man looks to be upside down. He’s hung by the legs, and encourages us to look for new perspectives on the situation in question. Take the time to pause and let go of old mental models or behavioral patterns that have got you going in circles, and essentially heading nowhere. If you decide not to slow down, the Universe will most likely put things on hold for you, so don’t keep pushing forward hoping brute force will get you where you want to go. Surrender to the opportunity to reevaluate where you’re at. I’m always reminded of the movie Big Hero 6 with this card. If you haven’t seen it, it’s criminally underrated and you should absolutely take the time. But! Near the beginning of the movie, Hiro is facing a creative block and can’t think of how to invent something wonderful and new. So his big brother, Tadashi, picks him up and shakes him around, ultimately turning him upside down and says “Shake things up! Find a new angle!” That’s what the Hanged Man wants us to do. Break the routine and try out different approaches and ways of thinking. This could be really inconvenient, or cause you to put important projects on hold, but it will absolutely be worth it.

Reversed, the Hanged Man denotes resistance and indecision. You know you need to hit the pause button but you’re resisting it by keeping yourself tasked and busy to avoid the issue that needs your attention. The Universe will only force you to pause and you may end up crashing. If other people or circumstances have left you on hold unexpectedly, ease into the period of rest. If you’ve been spinning your wheels for a while, this can be a positive sign that you’re ready to move forward. You’ve got a new mindset and renewed energy to change direction. If you’re stalling due to indecision, take the leap! Make the decision to move forward before the Universe drops you in head first!

See what I mean? This card is about changing up your perspective and breaking out of the stagnant rut. Like we said a couple of weeks ago, change is the only constant in this world. The wheel keeps turning, and we turn with it. So take a break when it is given, and move forward when prompted. Staying in tune with your intuition will help you know when to do what, my darlings. Look to other cards in your reading if your gut doesn’t lean one way or another, and trust yourself. You know what you need. The answers are within!

Where Passion Meets the Mundane

A story by Calista Moon on .

Hello, hello my darlings! It’s that time again. We’ve got a New Moon a couple days away, and this one is sitting in Aries. As the ruler of ambition, passion, action, and desire, Aries wants us to make a move! What better time than April Fool’s to firmly plant some seeds? That’s right, this New Moon comes to us on April 1st, but don’t be taken in by the lighthearted nature of the day. Aries is the first sign of the zodiac year, and much like the Fool of the tarot, it starts us on a long term journey. If you don’t know what I mean, go check out my other blog series called Tarot Tuesday.

Being a New Moon, this is a perfect time for bringing in fresh energy and I know I’m ready to focus on something that makes me feel passionate, something that gives me energy and sparks my inner fire. Aries is a fire sign after all! If you’ve been lacking in the motivation department, maybe it’s time to channel the stubborn, hard headedness of this ram as the moon prepares to fill with light and opportunity. If you want to harness this drive, some stones you can include on your altar are Bloodstone, Topaz, and Jasper. If, like me, you enjoy burning herbs, some Aries herbs to add to your cauldron on Friday are Basil and Eucalyptus. If you’re more of a beast master or mistress, try putting a tiger or ram likeness on your altar to honor Aries and welcome their energy into your life. Keeping it simple is always nice, though so if you just want some colors to add, Aries’ colors are blood red and black. Or, for the gardeners among you, add some geraniums or daffodils. Dogwood branches or Alder branches are a good representation as well, if they’re available to you.

Now I know I’m getting heavy into this Aries energy, it’s coming in hot this month in my opinion. That doesn’t mean we should forget the lady of the hour; the Moon. Mugwort and Cinnamon are good moon herbs for awakening psychic gifts and bringing in abundance, respectively. New Moon stones are Selenite for cleansing, Clear Quartz for grounding, Labradorite, the magic gem, Tiger’s Eye for manifesting, and Tiger Iron for commitment to choices, and her colors are violet and purple, the colors of a moonless night. What else is out thriving on moonless nights, animal lovers? Owls and bats, soaring through the darkness with precision and focus.

When it comes to jump starting ambition, I have some specific desires this month. My health has been very unstable for the last few months, and now that I’m finally starting to feel myself again, I want to maintain my vessel. If you know me, you know I’m a thick lady. That’s thick with a capital T and three C’s. Thiccck. I move my body regularly, I try to feed it good nourishing meals, and overall I do my best to love and appreciate every single cell that works so hard to keep me alive and mobile. With my health being so low these past few months, though, my routine has become much more sedentary as I tried to heal. I want to get back to my movement. I want to have a clean and healthy space in which to live and not only that, but to thrive! So this month, I’ll be doing a lot of mundane magic, which we don’t hear much about in the aesthetic world of witchcraft. As always, this is what my process looks like, but everyone’s craft is different and there is no wrong way to practice. Do what feels good!

Let’s talk about what mundane magic looks like. Instead of a step by step, I’m going to go through how I intend to cleanse my space and what that means to me.

1. Start a simmer pot. You know me, I need good smells for good magic! Since my health problems were respiratory based, I don’t particularly want to burn herbs this month. If you’ve never made a simmer pot before, it’s a fun and easy way to incorporate your herbs. Get a pot and fill it about halfway with water. I’ll be adding lemon slices for cleansing, Rose Petals for self-love, Basil, and Eucalyptus essential oil. The last two are for protection and channeling that Aries determination. If you don’t want to clean a pot, you can also use an essential oil diffuser to get the same effect! Turn that puppy on low and give it the occasional stir to help the scents permeate your home. Changing the quality of the air in my home is refreshing and invigorating to me.

2. Once the simmer pot is going, I’m going to clean up my altar. It’s pretty cluttered at the moment with herbs, tools and stones, as well as wax and ashes. I like to think a messy altar means I’m doing the work, but we’re starting a fresh cycle here. So I’ll remove everything, scrape up the wax, dust and wipe everything down with moon water, clockwise cleaning for manifesting, darlings. My deities will appreciate fresh candles and clean candlesticks too, I’m sure as well as refreshing offerings and organizing all my ingredients and tools. I’ll be adding Bloodstone, Labradorite, and Tiger Iron, as well as Rose Quartz for self-love, a reminder of why I move my body and care for my space. I’m building a discipline. That’s what stays on days when the motivation wanes.

3. When I’m satisfied with my altar space, I’m going to do something I despise. I’m going to dust. SIGH. I probably only dust the whole house once or twice a year. I’m sure that had something to do with my recent respiratory issues, and it’s been a hot minute since I’ve attended to the “magic sprinkles” as I like to call them. So I’ll don a mask, remove all the abandoned cobwebs from the corners (only the abandoned ones, mind you), and wipe down all my knick-knacks and surfaces. Don’t forget to dust your plants too, if you have them! Even though I can’t stand this chore, I am kind of excited to see all my belongings cared for and tended to as I intend to care for myself.

4. To follow that up, I’ll move into plant care. Making sure they’re all watered and removing dead leaves. Check to see if any of them need repotted or a rotation in the sunlight. This is a normal weekly chore for me, but I feel like it’s important to note here that after doing something I really don’t enjoy, it’s important to spend time doing something that brings you a sense of lightness.

5. Finally I’ll do my remaining normal chores; clean and refresh bathrooms, take care of any dirty dishes in the sink, take out the garbage, follow up on the never-ending chore of laundry, and vacuum. These can feel really boring and daunting, especially after doing several other chores, so if you struggle like me, try taking a few minutes before starting them to rest and meditate. Think about the impact these dirty spaces have on your daily life. How often are you in the bathroom? How often do you see the sink of dishes? How often do you step on a weird crunchy on the ground? You are doing these chores to care for yourself. You deserve a clean floor to lay on and flail around on without wondering what’s down there. You deserve a welcoming bathroom where you want to relax and take a hot shower or bath. Clean dishes help maintain your internal health both physically and psychologically, and you deserve to be healthy in all areas of your life. Tell that inner voice to shut up, you DO deserve it! Mindfulness and intention are the keys to mundane magic.

It’s important to note that you know what you need. If you don’t have the energy or capacity to do all of these things, you certainly don’t have to. This is just how I intend to jump back into a healthy routine after being so unhealthy. Take care of you and do what feels good for you.

This will be a long day for me, that’s true. But when I’m finished I will make some tea, sit down in my clean home, and know that I have worked hard for myself. I know that I will feel good. I will feel deserving of the hard work I put in, and the weekend will be spent in a clean space that I have cultivated for my own betterment. I hope that whatever you manifest this month, whatever drives you, and sparks your fire, that you know you are deserving of all things that are good, my darlings. Because you are!

A Short and Sweet Verdict

A story by Calista Moon on .

Hello my darlings! Welcome back to Tarot Tuesday. Today we’ll be diving deep into the Justice card. While the word justice generally evokes a feeling of legality and courtrooms, this card can be applied to any level of confrontation, as the core of Justice is about searching for the truth in an objective and unbiased way.

If you’re seeking justice for a wrongdoing and the Justice card arrives upright in your reading, it’s a positive sign that justice will be served. Beware that if you haven’t acted in alignment with your morals and the overall good of all involved, you will be called out and forced to face the consequences of your actions. However, if you’ve stayed aligned with your Highest Self, you have nothing to worry about. A verdict will be passed down soon and there will be no appeals or second chances. You must accept the decision made and move forward. It can also mean that you are at the crossroads of an important decision that may have long term effects. If you can’t stand by your decision and effect the consequences, continue sifting through your morals and your alignment until you fine the place where you can confidently stand by your choice with integrity. Nothing is as clear cut as we think. Confront your beliefs in what is fair and ethical as you explore new territories that challenge your belief system.

The reversal of the Justice card is just as it sounds. You know that you’ve done something immoral, and you’re deciding to either cover it up and hope no one finds out, or to own up to the mistake and responsibly try to resolve the problem. Whatever you choose will bring consequences, so listen to your conscience and do not try to blame others. You must accept your place in what has happened. The appearance of Justice reversed can also mean the opposite. Your inner critic could be coming down too hard on you for inconsequential mistakes, micromanaging your every decision. If this resonates, start addressing the critiques from a place of forgiveness and self-acceptance. Deciphering which meaning is intended is up to you, so take some time to sit in your feelings and assess the objective truth of what is taking place. If you’re making an important decision that will impact more than just yourself, make sure you have all of the information necessary, and that you aren’t harboring bias that could sway you. These will complicate your ability to find the truth and slow the delivery of justice.

Justice is a card that demands self-awareness and the ability to detach yourself from the situation emotionally. You must dig deep into your own truths to find the good that serves everyone, not just yourself. This can be a difficult journey, especially if you’re trapped in a victim mindset. Self-pity won’t serve you or anyone else in this situation. Quiet your emotions and try to look at what is happening from an objective viewpoint. Often the hardest journeys are the most rewarding, my darlings. Do the work, take the time, and consider everyone’s perspective as valid as you search for the universal truth of a situation, and you’ll find justice.

Big Wheel Keep On Turnin’

A story by Calista Moon on .

Hello, hello again, my darlings! I hope everyone had a lovely Ostara and is thriving in the growth of the earth! What a perfect time to talk about the next card in the Major Arcana! The Wheel of Fortune is up today. No, not the game show, this card is all about the constancy of change. We all know it. Most of us don’t like it, but you can’t fight change. It will happen whether you’re ready or not.

Now upright, the Wheel of Fortune represents good luck and karmic destiny. You are feeling the abundance in your life or will be feeling it very soon! Opportunities you never fathomed are presenting themselves to you, and you can choose to take an entirely new direction with your life. In the same vein, if things have been going well lately, they may be about to return to “normal” soon as the wheel turns. As long as you go with the flow, the outside factors influencing the situation will resolve themselves. Stay open to the idea that the Universe has your back and will take care of whatever is happening. You may not want the good times to end, but change is the only constant in this world. Fighting it will only cause strife.

Reversed, the Wheel of Fortune speaks to just the opposite; bad luck and resisting change are either on their way to you or are already here. You may be feeling helpless or you could be stuck in a bit of a victim mindset right now, but remember that changing your destiny starts with accepting where you are now. You had a role in getting here, and while sometimes things are out of your control, that doesn’t mean that everything is out of your hands. If you’re feeling that this change was forced on you, it makes sense that you would be resistant to it, but accepting the inevitability of change can make the transition smoother and save you from unnecessary distress. There are a couple positives to this reversal, though! One being that, if bad luck and change have been plaguing you for a while, the wheel is about to turn, so this may be coming to an end soon. The second positive aspect could be that you are finally breaking a negative cycle that has followed you through life! Sometimes this can happen naturally and gently after a time of introspection and soul searching. Other times, specifically if other cards of upheaval are present in the reading, such as the Tower, it can mean that you need to hit the absolute bottom before you are able to accept and release to the change that is staring you down.

We’re all familiar with the phrase “life is full of ups and downs”, right? That’s the embodiment of this card. Sometimes, we are on top of the world, others we feel like a bug crushed beneath the boot of life. Either way, the wheel keeps on turning. We can’t be on the top all the time, but neither can we be on the bottom all the time. Nothing is forever, and we can either fight change or flow with it. Which one will you choose, my darlings? Let me know down below, and I’ll see you next week!

Leprechaun

A story by MasterLibrarian on .

Fae Friday happens to fall the day after St. Patrick’s Day this week, so I wanted to take some time to highlight the Pagan stars of the show: Leprechauns. (St. Patrick gets enough attention.) These little guys originated from (you guessed it) Ireland! Unlike most Fae who prefer to hang out in troops, Leprechauns are considered solitary Fae who would much rather spend their time working on a handsome pair of shoes than dancing the night away at a faery revelry (Bane, 2013). That’s not to say that they don’t appreciate their Fae brethren. After all, without all that frolicking, how would Leprechauns keep adding to those giant stashes of gold they’re so famously hoarding at the end of a rainbow? You see, a Leprechaun’s main occupation is cobbling (Logan, 2014). The more shoes that get worn out from all that dancing, the more these craftsmen stand to make. They’re also no strangers to partying on their own terms, often drinking and feasting when their work is all done (Bane, 2013). They are Irish, after all.

Leprechaun
Picture via https://eatsleepbreathetravel.com/traditional-irish-folklore-part-1-legend-leprechaun/?cn-reloaded=1

Though Leprechaun’s don’t really like humans, they don’t exactly leave us alone either. They can be helpful sometimes by lending their cobbling skills in exchange for some human coin. But it’s much more likely for a person to be caught up in some Leprechaun’s deception instead. They are notorious tricksters who love to play pranks on silly humans trying to steal their gold (Bane, 2013). A human might be “lucky” enough to catch a Leprechaun, but it is almost certain that some clever sleight of hand will leave the human stranded while their green-clad friend makes off with the goods. I think my favorite story came from a Joseph Jacobs’ tale (1892). A man named Tom manages to capture a Leprechaun and convinces the Fae to take him to his hidden treasure. The Leprechaun leads Tom to a field of boliauns and tells the man to dig under a certain bush. Tom doesn’t have a shovel on him at the time, so her marks the boliaun with a red garter and releases the Leprechaun. When Tom returns with a spade, every bush in the field now holds an identical red garter, ensuring that the Leprechaun’s gold would be safe from Tom’s greed.

If you ever hear the tap tap tapping of a tiny hammer on a shoe, you can assume that there is a Leprechaun near at hand. Maybe you have the cunning to outsmart them and get their gold. Or maybe you’ll wind up like so many before you with no riches, a bruised ego, and a great tale to tell.

Activity

I have a simple assignment this week. When you’re reveling in the full moon tonight or celebrating Ostara in a few days, don’t forget your Fae friends. Nourish your relationship with them by leaving a nice offering of something sweet. I plan to leave some honey tonight when I visit my Faerie circle. They are also partial to music, so you can give them the gift of song by singing your favorite tune outside, playing an instrument, or hanging bells in your garden or from a tree. Your present will be much appreciated!

For more ideas on how to celebrate Ostara, visit my friend Calista Moon’s post under the Sabbat tab!

References

Bane, T. (2013). Encyclopedia of fairies in world folklore and mythology. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers.

Jacobs, J. (1892). The Field of Boliauns. https://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/cft/cft06.htm

Logan, H. (2014, September 2). Traditional Irish folklore part 1: The legend of the Leprechaun. Eat Sleep Breathe Travel. https://eatsleepbreathetravel.com/traditional-irish-folklore-part-1-legend-leprechaun/?cn-reloaded=1

A Spring Story for Ostara

A story by Calista Moon on .

Happy Ostara, my darlings! Spring is here! With intermittent cold spells and buckets of rain to soak the earth, the planet is revived! Like I said in my Worm Moon blog, this is my favorite time of year, so I’ll do my best to keep this shorter than normal. I could talk about the Spring Equinox for hours! This Sabbat covers several days, from roughly March 19th to March 23rd every year. Globally the first day of Spring is considered to be March 20th, which also happens to be my birthday! So I’m going to indulge myself and share a spring myth that most people know bits and pieces of.

Now, there are a lot of myths in a lot of pantheons and cultures regarding the changing of the seasons, but lately the story of Hades and Persephone has been growing in popularity, at least in America. If you’ve heard of the web comic Lore Olympus, or the musical Hadestown, you’ll also know that the tale of Persephone’s abduction has been incredibly romanticized. I want to talk about the basics of this myth today and I will do my best to keep it simple. The Greek pantheon is my personal focus. I’ve been obsessed with Persephone since I was a little girl, so the names are familiar to me, but I’ll do my best to break it down for you in an easy to understand way.

Let’s start with our characters for this tale. We have Persephone, the Goddess of Grain and Vegetation, and her devoted mother Demeter, Goddess of Agriculture and the Harvest. Another big player, of course, is Hades, King of the Underworld, God of the Dead and Riches, as well as his brother Zeus, King of the Gods and God of the Sky, Lightning, Thunder, Law, and Justice. In addition we have an appearance by Helios, the personification of the Sun, and Hecate, the Goddess of Boundaries, Crossroads, Witchcraft, and Ghosts. An important note about Hecate is that she is often depicted carrying a pair of torches and a key. These will come into play later, I promise.

So what’s the base myth? Upon seeing her beauty, Hades was so taken by Persephone that he went to his brother, Zeus, who also happened to be Persephone’s father, and asked for Zeus’ blessing in taking Persephone for his wife. Zeus knew that Demeter was incredibly protective of Persephone and would be hard pressed to allow Hades to take her to the Underworld, so he granted Hades permission to abduct Persephone without Demeter’s knowledge. Overjoyed, Hades came up from the Underworld through a giant crack in the earth and swept up Persephone as she was gathering flowers.

Imagine Demeter’s heartache when she realized her beloved daughter had disappeared. She enlisted the help of Hecate to search for Persephone, traversing all the crossroads and searching the darkest places with her torches. As the search dragged on, and Demeter’s despair grew, she neglected the earth and crops wilted. Famine spread with Demeter’s attention fixed elsewhere, and anguished cries of the people were raised to the other gods of Olympus. Helios, who towed the sun across the sky, had seen Hades abduct Persephone and eventually told Demeter where she could find her daughter.

Meanwhile, Zeus heard the cries of the people, and saw the barren land that threatened the end of all things. He sent word to the Underworld for Hades to return Persephone at once to restore balance. Hades agreed under the terms that Persephone had eaten nothing while in his care, for that would tie her to his realm. This is where the story diverges in its many retellings. One version says that Hades tricked Persephone into eating six pomegranate seeds, binding her to the Underworld for 6 months out of every year. Another version says that Persephone ate the pomegranate seeds willingly in secret, insuring that she would spend half of the year with the King of the Underworld.

With the knowledge of her future tied to the God of the Dead, she returned to her mother’s arms. Demeter was so overjoyed, that the earth burst forth with new growth and abundance. This is how Persephone became known as the Goddess of Spring. Her six months spent in the Underworld with her husband are when the land is dying and quiet, as Demeter mourns her daughter’s absence during Autumn and Winter. But with her return, comes Demeter’s delight and as such, the planet grows new and lush for six months of Spring and Summer.

There you have it! The myth of Persephone’s abduction. Not quite as romantic as recent retellings would have us think, although I like to think that, if no love existed between the Hades and Persephone at the beginning, perhaps it’s grown with time. And there’s plenty more to Persephone’s tale, of course. After marrying Hades she became known as “dread Persephone”; Queen of the Underworld, Goddess of the Dead, Life, and Destruction, but this particular story is pertinent because Ostara is about celebrating the Spring Equinox. Therefore, if you subscribe to such things as I do, the Queen of the Underworld is returning to us for six months to embrace her mother and tend to her original realm as Goddess of Grain and Vegetation.

I know this has gotten long, so I won’t be going into step by step detail for how to celebrate this Sabbat. However, I do want to reference the Worm Moon blog one more time. I left you with the question “What do you want to grow? What needs weeded out of your life to make room for that growth?” That’s what I want you to think of my dears. What does your life look like on this new path? Connect to the newly awakened earth Connect to the full moon. Steady, hardworking, reliable Virgo’s effect on the Worm Moon is the perfect time to shift into a new stage of your life, plant seeds for yourself, and harness the potential of the earth buzzing beneath our feet as Persephone returns! It’s supposed to rain here this weekend. You bet I’ll be dancing in it and visualizing the success of my spiritual garden! What feels fresh and new to you? How can you welcome the opportunities that are beating down your door? Listen. You’ll hear them! Blessed Ostara!

Growing with the Worm Moon

A story by Calista Moon on .

Oh my darlings, what a lovely time of year! The ground is thawing, the earth is moving, and the wind gets warmer every day! In just a few days’ time, we’ll be seeing the third full moon of 2022. March’s full moon is called the Storm moon, the Seed moon, and the Worm moon. They’re wiggling themselves around in the dirt, those worms, and making the planet ready for sowing the seeds of this year. If we plant our seeds properly, we’ll reap a bountiful harvest later this year, especially since this full moon comes the day before Ostara, the Spring Equinox! But I’ll talk about that in a different post. This one will be long winded enough!

This is my favorite time of year, and not just because my birthday is on the first day of Spring. The way the earth smells, the storms that come to water the ground, potential buzzing in the air. They all come together in such a powerful, yet subtle way to start the cycle of the seasons over again. We have rested through winter and come through ready to start fresh.

The March full moon will be in the steady, organized earth sign of Virgo, and in conjunction with the Spring Equinox, you had best believe this comes with enormous death and rebirth vibes! The Seed moon is already a time of rebirth and fertility, but to align with the rebirth of the entire world in the focused Virgo sign shows change is upon us and new opportunities will shortly be beating down the doors. You may already know what needs to be let go, or be in the process of letting go. Don’t fight it, but welcome the flow of change.

Now if we’re being honest, I’ve recently started a new job and have had far less time and energy to dedicate to these blogs than I had previously, so I think with change upon us in such a grounded way, it would be smart to let it come to us. At least, that’s what I’ll be doing. And boy, is it coming! This is a time of balance, growth, and renewal, so I plan to do a long meditation this month. This is going to be in tandem with my Ostara celebration. I work with Persephone as one of my deities, and welcoming her back topside for Spring is something I really enjoy doing!

So let’s talk about associations! The Worm moon has a small collection of stones associated with it, among which are Aquamarine, Bloodstone, and Green Aventurine. If you’d like to harness some of that reliable Virgo energy, try adding Amazonite, Green Moss Agate, or Snowflake Obsidian into the mix as well. I know I will be! It should come as no surprise that this time of rebirth is associated with soft pastel colors, light lavenders, pinks, yellows, and greens. Remind you of any large commercial holidays that are just around the corner? Hmm? Easter? A time of rebirth? Coincidence? I think not, my darlings. But let’s bolster it this month. Let’s really bring that growth home with Virgo’s deep greens and hearty browns, like the earth after a storm. We’re ready for change. We’re ready to grow. We’re ready to find ourselves on stable, fruitful ground.

Now if you’ve learned anything about me at all, you know I love burning herbs. The Storm moon’s herbs, aren’t in my cabinet currently, but they include Apple Blossom, High John, and Pennyroyal. Instead of stressing about finding these before the 18th, I’ll be burning the Virgo associated herbs Marjoram and Dill with my usual Rosemary for cleansing and Mugwort to honor the full moon. You can also burn Jasmine or Star Anise in tribute to the full moon for love and harmony respectively. And if you’d like to have flowers on your altar, have all of them. It’s springtime! Adorn yourself and your space! It’s time for a joyous awakening! Fake flowers, little baby buds, trimmings, saplings, and seedlings; whatever you like!

I know that normally I give a step by step of my process for my full moon rituals, but that part will be coming in a post later about Ostara as I am combining my full moon ritual with the Spring Equinox celebration over the course of several days. So today I want you to think about what you want to grow. Relationships? Wealth? Hobbies? Your practice? What do you need to let go of to make space for that growth? What do you want to let go of? Now is the time to organize your priorities and decide where you want to go next. What serves that forward movement? The growth is waiting. Virgo’s calm, collected capability will see you through. All you must do is harness it. I’ll see you in my Ostara blog, my darlings. We’ll talk more about carrying these out then. Blessed be!

A Hermit’s Wisdom

A story by Calista Moon on .

Hello again, my darlings! I hope you’re all getting through the Ides of March safely and are ready for Ostara in a few days! I’ll be posting a blog about the Spring Equinox in a few days, but today is Tarot Tuesday, so let’s have a short talk about our next card; The Hermit. He’s a straight to the point kind of guy.

Much like his name implies, The Hermit is all about solitude. Upright, he urges you to take some time for yourself to consider your motivations and get to know yourself in an authentic way. If you’re feeling a little lost, this introspection can help shine some light on the path you walk. It may not show you the end of the road, but sticking to your values can help show you where to step next when you’re feeling uncertain. Remember that the answers you seek can always be found inside you. That is where you will find your own integrity and motivation.

Reversed, The Hermit still speaks to solitary contemplation, but from an isolated or withdrawn perspective. You’re out of balance, either taking too much time alone and shutting out friends and family, or you aren’t taking enough time alone and are struggling to focus on what is important to your innermost self. All life is about balance, and your ability to strike out on your own is just as important as staying connected with others. When we are out of balance in this way, we can feel chaotic and uncertain, or even so lonely at times that it can lead to delusions. Figuring out which way you’re leaning is the first step. The second is taking action to remedy the imbalance.

Trust yourself at this time. You know what you need, whether that is time alone or connection to community. That desire for community is part of the reason we started this webpage! It helps bring us all a little closer to each other, our crafts, and to any passersby that want to join our cyber adventure here. Do what you know is right for you, my darlings!