Tag Archive | moon

The Full Moon By Name

“Merlin In The Moon” by Springwolf 🐾

Have you ever wondered what’s behind the name of a Full Moon? Every month the moon graces Mother Earth with her bright Full phase. And occasionally she’ll pop in a second full phase in a single month too.

We know those occasional double full moons in a single month as a Blue Moon. But every full moon has its own name as well. You may have seen some people refer to the September’s full moon as the Harvest Moon, or the Fruit Moon. You might have even seen it called the Corn Moon. So which is it?

Well, it’s all of them really. As with most things, there isn’t a single definitive set of names to correspond to the full moon world wide. There are many.

Ages ago, cultures around the world kept track of the seasons by giving distinctive names to each recurring full moon. So there are a multitude of corresponding names to each Full moon of a single month. Continue reading →

GrandMother Moon In Perigee

Jun22

Full Moon Perigee – June 23, 2013
The Largest Full Moon Of The Year

The Energy Of The Moon

On Sunday June 23, 2013 the moon will enter its full moon phase and it’s point of perigee for the year. Perigee occurs once a year when the moon is at its closest point to Earth during its orbit around our world. This makes it appear larger from our perspective and thus its the largest Full Moon of 2013.

Perigee doesn’t always occur when the moon enters its full phase. So when that happens, it’s extra special to Pagans. When it does happen, the occurrence is referred to as a “SuperMoon“-Wikipedia.

If you’re pagan, you may want to schedule a special ritual for this SuperMoon which occurs tomorrow night. You can check for Moon rise in your area through the WorldClock – Moonrise and Moonset Calculator.

This full moon is known as the Strawberry Moon as the gardens are bursting with berries. Letting us know life is full of sweet flavor. Ages ago, cultures around the world kept track of the seasons by giving distinctive names to each recurring full moon. Their names were applied to the entire month in which the full moon occurred. Today we have the advantage of aligning our energies with the cultures we’re drawn to, or to the perspective our tradition follows. So if you’re of a European tradition, or Norse or Native American tradition; you can pick and choose the name set that you feel most connected to. Learn more at Naming The Full Moon.

The Moon and Pagans
For early pagan cultures, the Moon was often referred to as Grand Mother Moon and she was seen as the Crone aspect of the Goddess. She rises in the sky to watch over Mother Earth and precedes Father Sun across the sky. Continue reading →

The Pagan Sabbats

Apr16

Image from: Megan Granata

What Are They?

Sabbat {Greek – Sabatu – to rest}
The Pagan holidays, called Sabbats, are seasonal celebrations representing birth, life, death and rebirth, the cycle of life itself. These celebrations are a means to attune the physical human mind, body and spirit with the flow of natures’ energy and the essence of the Divine Spirit in one’s life. For Pagans that can be a God, Goddess, or a collective Divine consciousness or spirit, such as the Great Spirit or to some The GreatSpirits, with an emphasis on the plural.

It is a bonding time, a time to recognize the aspects of the season within the self. “To become one with nature” is a common metaphor for the overall purpose and intent of these holidays. They are almost always reverent, link the individual to the Divine force in their life, and reconnect to the Divine Universal energy around us that we are all part of.

You might think of it this way;
I am not the Goddess, you are not the God. But You and I And All things seen and unseen make up the Divine force in the Multi-verse of existence. We are connected and intertwined together to create the whole of the Divine Spirit.

Most Pagans believe that by joining forces with the Divine in our lives, we bring harmony, balance and order to our physical existence. These are necessary aspects of life for positive change and to create an atmosphere for spiritual learning and growth that lead toward enlightenment. Living in harmony and balance creates a daily connection to the Divine within an individual. It’s a connection that’s persistent, instead of only occurring during meditation or ritual. Continue reading →

Today’s Tarot Meditation Drawing: The Star – Inverted

Mar27

Mystic Faery Tarot by Linda Ravenscroft

Put out your buckets and catch the rain that flows your way. There will be more where that came from. Don’t be afraid to dip your toe in. You probably don’t want to go all in, keep some of your resources in reserve. But you can fill your cups and make it through the week if you take advantage of the opportunities of the day.

Additional Insight:

Sometimes you need to be in the right place at the right time and today you are. Make sure you’re prepared to take advantage of the situations that present themselves.

You’ll have an opportunity to fill your reserves and make it through the warm months that coming up. If you let this opportunity slip by, you may have a rough summer.

Be alert and watchful on this full moon day. There’s much going on under its bright light and more happening then you’ll be able to see. It’s a night of new beginnings, so be prepared to take advantage of its midnight glow.

Springwolf Reflections 2013 Motto:
I attract and acquire more happiness and financial abundance than I know what to do with!

Sun & Moon Watching On Your Phone

Dec28

Sun, Planet & Moon Phase Apps

After posting my full moon picture yesterday I received a question about using apps for Sun and Moon watching on your smart phone. I recently upgraded my phone to a smart phone and had an opportunity to do some research on this subject.

Now I might be an IT Geek but I am by no means a professional cell phone / app tech or reporter. So take this for what it’s worth, it’s simply a consumer’s review and it certainly doesn’t cover all astronomical apps available on the market.

Additionally, my phone is an Android so I have no experience with iPhone apps. But I’m sure there are equivalent options available in iPhone and IPads.

I strongly suggest looking at the ratings provided to the app by other uses before you purchase an app. Read the reviews and see what others say about it. One thing I learned to look at are the number of users who rated the app. If an app has 5 gold stars and only 3 people have used it then you may not be getting what you’ve bargained for. However if the app has a 4 star rating and 600,000 users, I’d say that’s a pretty good app.

With all that said, here are a few Sun and Moon apps you might like to look into on GooglePlay. Prices listed are as of the date of this posting. Continue reading →

The Last 2012 Full Moon

Dec27

December 28, 2012 at 5:28am

Technically the last full moon of the year occurs early Friday morning here on the east coast of the U.S. But it sure looks good coming up over the lake in our backyard.

2013 Moon and Astronomical Event Calendar

Dec27

The Moon, Sun and Magik

Every practitioner of magik should know which days to work and which to take off. Which moon phases are best for what kind of casting and which are for rest.

Whither you call yourself a witch, mage, shaman or ceremonial magician, the moon is an integral part of magikal practices. Know what is happening in the skies around you and how those events are impacting the energy not only on Earth but upon the living things on the planet.

Understanding the astronomical events such as moon phase, lunar or solar eclipse, solstice and equinox dates and times will give a magikal practitioner more insight and understanding for their workings. It will also help when aligning your energies to those cosmic forces through your physical tools and your spiritual being.

Of course the guidelines to working with the Universal bodies are not cast in stone. And like most things in the pagan community where you are in the world, what culture you’re familiar with or drawn too will impact the correspondences between objects and energy. You may want to read about The Correspondence Of This And That for more information.

In magik, timing can be crucial to the success of a magikal practice. But even then, emergencies happen. Certainly if you have a friend in dire need of healing, you don’t need to wait until the next Waxing Moon to cast a healing spell or ritual. But when possible and for the best results here’s the Moon Phase Calendar for this year to help you plan your work.

Today we’re rolled out The Pagan’s Path ~ 2013 Moon Phase & Astronomical Calendar to assist in your planning for events during the coming year.

"Believe In Yourself, Even When No One Else Does."
~ Harvey McKay ~
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“Take a chance on faith. Not religion, but faith.
Not hope, but faith.
I don’t believe in hope. Hope is a beggar.
Hope walks through the fire and Faith leaps over it.”
~ Jim Carrey ☆ 2014
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“I describe myself as a simple Buddhist monk. No more, no less. And I am one of the seven billion human being. Basically we are the same… your emotion, my emotion, your mind, my mind.., same physical. So I always look [at it] that way. We are the same.”
~ Dalai Lama 2012 ~
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"Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”
~ Bruce Lee 1971