Today (Jan 26) Is A POWER Day!

With the new moon having a solar eclipse in Aquarius, today also marks the CHINESE NEW YEAR (aka: "Lunar new year!)

2009 being "the year of the ox ~ I thought I'd share some totem information about this powerful and majestic animal.

Here's a beautiful web page that describes how quickly the wild ox adapted to its new surroundings, what a quick learner it is and much more. (Click on italics to follow hyperlink)

Coven Mates: What Would You Like To See Happen?

Why did you join this coven? To pose questions? Bravely asking yours will help others learn. (The only dumb question is one that's not being asked.)

What I see happening is each member presenting ideas and sharing success stories . . . more. I will also (personally) continue to post ideas for each Full Moon celebration.

Got any tips for the Feb 9 ritual? {Share it.}

According to astronomical sources, we should be looking for a partial or imperfect shadow around this upcoming Full Moon. Called a "penumbral lunar eclipse" this will be the first of four such phenomena happening in 2009.

Forecast For 2009

Surfing on-line today, I went to Nova Magazine (holistic journal, based out of Australia). The Astrology-writer there suggested we should all be simplifying our lives, reducing stress levels, looking after the physical and emotional health of ourselves and our families.

This all sounds very ordinary -- the kind of advice that we might get from our medical care providers. At the same time, something the astrologer did say jumped out from the page at me: "watch for signs of new life and new potentials amid the rubble."

Any time there's a huge world-change going on, it's time to get creative and help figure out ways to capitalize on potential needs. Here's the full "Celestial Shake-up" article; which suggests MAGIC will come into play -- in a much bigger way than previously available.

NOTE TO COVENMATES:
The next Full Moon {in Leo} is Monday, Feb. 9th. Be thinking about what you'd like to see happen at this next ritual celebration.

*See: (animated gif) of planets in Leo.
* Click on the following image to enlarge:

Faerie Thoughts

I'm going to open this blog up to those Coven Mates who have left comments (so they may also post craft or ritual-related entries here at CyberCoven.blogspot.com).

For today: I'd like to share a short segment from a much more detailed obituary written by Robert Kirk, author of The Secret Commowealth of Elves Fauns and Faeries." (Evidently the Rev. Robert Kirk went to the Faerie Lands at age 52).

He heard, he saw, he knew too well
The secrets of our fairy clan;
You stole him from the haunted dell
Who never more was seen of man,
Now far from heaven, and safe from hell
Unknown of hearth he wanders free.
Would that he might return and tell
Of his mysterious company!

Music is such a binding, comforting, tribal sort of medium for sharing or raising energy. Here's excellent music on YouTube; good background aesthetics while casting your ritual circles.

The other night, while I was locking up my hen-house at roughly 7 p.m. (to keep the three chickens and three pet doves warm for the night) I heard a hoot-owl. His repetitive "Hoo-hoo-hoooooooo" was very loud and I realized he had to be somewhere in my yard; a 1/3 acre plot that I've been painstakingly caring for since buying this home nearly 4 years ago.

In fact, I have been gradually rescuing more and more native plants from the Puget Sound Region: foliage that would otherwise have been bulldozed, since forested plots have been designated as development sites. Replanting such (with permission) in my own yard means I'm attracting more wildlife inside my 6 feet-tall cedar fence. Animals in the form of frogs, birds, squirrels, etc. continue to visit me.

The hoot-owl's visit was different, however. I had not heard such an owl's call for more than a few years and this was the first time I heard of one on my own property. Since the sky was black, I could not see him, but I could place the sound as coming from either the top of my house or from the fir tree in my front yard.

Considering the wisdom of totem animals, I decided to do a little reasearch and learned: "The owl is the bird of magic and darkness, of prophecy and wisdom." To read more on this topic, please see: http://www.linsdomain.com/totems/pages/owl.htm

Here's a fascinating web-page on the various hoot owl sounds: http://www.owlpages.com/sounds.php. (You don't have to download anything to hit the "play" button).

WHAT SORT OF TOTEM ANIMAL EXPERIENCE HAVE YOU HAD LATELY? (Please comment)

Tired of The Cold? Jan 10 Ritual: Feast W/Thor!

Thank you Coven Mates who have left exceptional ideas (including comments) for this Saturday, Jan. 10th, ritual (see previous entries). On this Saturday night, it might also be interesting to also realize that in the ancient Nordic tradition, the first full moon in January (the Jan. 10 full moon this year) is celebrated as "Thurseblot."

Thurseblot is a minor holiday that honors the red-haired bearded son of Odin (aka "the god of thunder"). Customarily, celebrants would prepare a small feast, surround themselves with good fire, good drink and good friends, and then they'd invoke Thor to drive back the Frost Jötunns (giants who are also nature spirits with superhuman strength). By Thor's power, spring could return to Midgard (our world, the place inhabited by humans).

Note: According to Wikipedia: "Thor, became a defiant symbol of Norse paganism during the Christianization of Scandinavia." Regarding the Jötnar (plural form of Jötunn) the giants often had claws, fangs, and multiple heads!

(Today's image was borrowed from: http://aboutheroes.com/meta/images/Thor%20Thunder-thumb-250x381.jpg)

{Submitted by Faerheart} NOW is the time to start new projects

Further planetary considerations for the January 10, 2009, ritual work with CyberCoven: TIME IS OF ESSENCE. {Read why you want to create any new effort NOW, before Jan. 11!)

The day AFTER our upcoming ritual (see details about that, in previous entry, below) regarding the January 11^th to February 1^st time period – Mercury will go into Retrograde (This means, from Earth's perspective, Mercury appears to move backwards in the zodiac and it lasts for a 3-week time period.)

What Mercury retro­grades most often mean:

• increased frustration
• interruptions and snafu's that make even simple projects seem impossible.
  
  WORDS OF WISDOM: You will need more caution, more care, and a pinch more of elbow grease to get things done. Typically there are delays, interferences, mis-communication occurs; especially for those with strong Virgo or Gemini in our charts (Mercury is the ruler of these two signs.)
  
  With Mercury travels in retrograde, it is NOT a good time to launch new projects. (That's like pushing off to swim the ocean just as the tide is coming in). It will be more of a strain to make headway with your plan – better to wait until the current is moving with you, as it will be up through January 10.
  
  How to best use these "Mercury in Retrograde" periods?
  
• Finish up projects already started
• Refresh your memory about subject matter you have already learned
• Straighten up the home and dismiss any accumulated clutter....

{Thank you, Faerheart, for your wonderful contribution to CyberCoven}