Venus occulting the Sun!

The ancient Mayans prized Venus
 and felt this year's transit of Venus
 was very important to the events of the year, 
and would point the way to events later in the year,
 leading to December 21, 2012. 
Venus does not cross the face of the Sun
 (in between the earth and Sun)
 very often. 




Venus will do this in pairs of years, always eight years apart.
 The last time we saw this happen, it was June 8, 2004,
 and the next time will be on 
Tuesday, June 5 or 
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
 (depending on your time zone).
 After that, we will never see this happen again in our lifetime. 
The last time this happened was 
December 1881 and December 1889. 

The next time Venus will transit the Sun,
 it will be December 2117 and December 2125,
 more than a century from now. 

We are now on the eve of the second transit of a pair, after which there will be no other till the twenty-first century of our era has dawned upon the earth, and the June flowers are blooming in 2004 (and 2012). When the last transit season occurred the intellectual world was awakening from the slumber of ages, and that wondrous scientific activity which has led to our present advanced knowledge was just beginning. What will be the state of science when the next transit season arrives? God only knows. Not even our children's children will live to take part in the astronomy of that day. As for ourselves, we have to do with the present. - William Harkness,
 U.S. Naval Observatory 1882

 

"Every 8 years, Venus returns to almost exactly the same point it was 8 years before, and in the exact same relationship to the Sun. In this time, Venus makes 10 exact conjunctions with the Sun. Plotting these 10 conjunctions creates a perfect 5-pointed star, known as the pentagram:



the ancient symbol of the goddess from all pagan cultures..

 

In actuality, Venus will actually dance these conjunctions in the shape of a heart, because of her backwards or retrograde cycle. The shape of these 5 hearts over the 8 year cycle creates a 5 petaled Rose.

  omg watch this! its so beautiful
click above

Thus, we have the Star, Pentagram, Heart, and Rose, all traditional symbols of the Goddess and Beauty that Venus literally traces in her elegant dance in the sky.
 VerDarLuz

 

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The Sounds of Venus!

 click above to listen

Love, eroticism, money, values, pleasure and worth are up for reevaluation and renegotiation. 
Venus turned Retrograde on May 15 
and will be so until June 27,
 and though we’ve been “in the shadow” since April 11,
 now it’s time to dive in
 and deepen the process of healing
 and regenerating the feminine.

When a planet turns Retrograde, 
its function turns inward, and outer circumstances 
conspire to help us really get the message that
 we are the source of our own suffering, 
and our own healing. 
 Venus Retro reveals 
ways that we look outside ourselves for love,
 validation and worth
 which typically happen in the
 Venus-ruled arenas of 
relationship and money.

 

Venus Retro takes us back into the past, 
for the purpose of healing and resolution,
 so we can move forward more easily. 
This reminds me of the shamanic process of Soul Retrieval 
 a part of ourselves that was traumatized 
and left behind now wants to be reclaimed 
 and brought into present time.

Gemini the Twins signifies duality, 
and Venus Retrograde in Gemini reveals
 the places where we lost a felt sense of oneness 
 both within ourselves 
and in relation to all beings 
 and split off into separation. 
 In traditional astrology Gemini is ruled by Mercury, 
but I was pleased to learn that,  
at an esoteric level, 
Gemini is thought to be ruled by Venus  .

- Emily Trinkaus

 Its anyone's guess at this point how it will all play out, but the astrology is off the charts!! What exciting and beautiful times to be living through. Everyone just love each other and take good notes for the history books! xo, Paetra

Beltane!

 

Beltane celebrates the fertility of the earth  
and the potency of the life-force.

 and traditionally marked the arrival of Summer

 in ancient times.

At Beltane the Pleiades star cluster rises just before sunrise on the morning horizon, whereas winter (Samhain) begins when the Pleiades rises at sunset. The Pleiades is a cluster of seven closely placed stars, the seven sisters, in the constellation of Taurus, near his shoulder.   It stands very low in the east-northeast sky for just a few minutes before sunrise.

Beltane, and its counterpart Samhain, divide the year into its two primary seasons, winter (Dark Part) and summer (Light Part). As Samhain is about honoring Death, Beltane, its counter part, is about honoring Life. It is the time when the sun is fully released from his bondage of winter and able to rule over summer and life once again.

   

Beltane, like Samhain, is a time of "no time" when the veils between the two worlds are at their thinnest. No time is when the two worlds intermingle and unite and the magic abounds! It is the time when the Faeries return from their winter respite (faeries migrate too!), carefree and full of faery mischief and faery delight.

 On the night before Beltane, in times past, folks would place rowan branches at their windows and doors for protection, many otherworldly occurrences could transpire during this time of "no time".

  
Traditionally on the Isle of Man, the youngest member of the family gathers primroses
on the eve before Beltane 
and throws the flowers
 at the door of the home for protection.
 In Ireland it is believed that food left over
 from May Eve must not be eaten, but rather buried or left as an offering to the faery instead.
 Much like the tradition of leaving of whatever
 is not harvested from the fields on Samhain,
 food on the time of 'no time' is treated with great care. 
(It is generally a good idea to pay mind to those old adages)

  May-Eve was a night to be out in the wildwoods. People walked the labyrinths and slept by the wells, which were said to be especially healing at this time.

When the veils are so thin it is an extremely magical time. Legend has it that if you sit beneath a tree on Beltane night, you may see the Faery Queen or hear the sound of Her horse's bells as She rides through the night. 

  The beginning of summer heralds an important time, for the winter is a difficult journey and weariness and disheartenment set in, personally one is tired down to the soul. In times past the food stocks were low; variety was a distant memory. The drab non-color of winter's end perfectly represents the dullness and fatigue that permeates on so many levels to this day. We need Beltane, as the earth needs the sun, for our very Spirit cries out for the renewal of summer jubilation.

Beltane marks that the winter's journey has passed and summer has begun, it is a festival of rapturous gaiety as it joyfully heralds the arrival of summer in her full garb. Beltane, however, is still a precarious time, the crops are still very young and tender, susceptible to frost and blight. As was the way of ancient thought, the Wheel would not turn without human intervention. People did everything in their power to encourage the growth of the Sun and His light, for the Earth will not produce without the warm love of the strong Sun.


 Fires, celebration and rituals were an important part of the Beltane festivities, as to insure that the warmth of the Sun's light would promote the fecundity of the earth.

Beltane marks the passage into the growing season, the immediate rousing of the earth from her gently awakening slumber, a time when the pleasures of the earth and self are fully awakened. It signals a time when the bounty of the earth will once again be had. May is a time when flowers bloom, trees are green and life has again returned from the barren landscape of winter, to the hope of bountiful harvests, not too far away, and the lighthearted bliss that only summer can bring.

 

   Flowers are a crucial symbol of Beltane, they signal the victory of Summer over Winter and the blossoming of sensuality in all of nature and the bounty it will bring.

 In the past it was the night of the Greenwood marriage, when the union between the Horned God and the Fertile Goddess was re-enacted by the women and men to ensure the fertility of the land.

Young men and women wandered into the woods before daybreak of May Day morning with garlands of flowers and/or branches of trees. They would arrive; most rumpled from joyous encounters, in many areas with the maypole for the Beltane celebrations. Pre-Christian society's thoughts on human sexuality and fertility were not bound up in guilt and sin, but rather joyous in the less restrained expression of human passions. 

Life was not an exercise but rather a joyful dance, rich in all beauty it can afford.

The Maypole is an important element to Beltane festivities, it is a tall pole decorated with long brightly colored ribbons, leaves, flowers and wreaths. Young maidens and lads each hold the end of a ribbon, and dance revolving around the base of the pole, interweaving the ribbons. The circle of dancers should begin, as far out from the pole as the length of ribbon allows, so the ribbons are taut. There should be an even number of boys & girls. Boys should be facing clockwise and girls counterclockwise. They each move in the direction that they are facing, weaving with the next, around to braid the ribbons over-and-under around the pole. Those passing on the inside will have to duck, those passing on the outside raise their ribbons to slide over. As the dances revolve around the pole the ribbons will weave creating a pattern, it is said that the pattern will indicate the abundance of harvest year..

 Today in some towns and villages a mummer called Jack in the Green (drawing from the Green man), wears a costume made of green leaves as he dances around the May pole. Mumming is a dramatic performance of exaggerated characters and at Beltane the characters include Jack in the Green and the Fool. The Fool, and the Fool's journey, symbolism can be understood in relation to Beltane as it is the beginning of beginnings, the emergence from the void of nothingness (winter), as one can also see the role of the green man as the re-greening of the world.

 

The Maypole dance as an important aspect of encouraging the return of fertility to the earth. The pole itself is not only phallic in symbolism but also is the connector of the three worlds.

 

 Dancing the Maypole during Beltane is magical experience as it is a conduit of energy, connecting all three worlds at a time when these gateways are more easily penetrable. As people gaily dance around and around the pole holding the brightly colored ribbons, the energy it raises is sent down into the earth's womb, bringing about Her full awakening and fruitfulness.

 

Edinburgh Beltane Festival 2010 - May Queen

There is also a Queen of May. She is said in many areas to have worn a gold crown with a single, gold leaf at its front, in other areas her crown was made of fresh flowers. 
 She was typically chosen at the start of the Beltane festival, which in time past was after sundown on the eve before Beltane day. Many accounts mention both a May Queen and King being chosen, whom would reign from sundown the eve before the Beltane day to sunset on Beltane.
Among their duties would be to announce the Beltane games and   
award the prizes to the victors. The rudimentary base of this practice can be drawn back to the roots of Beltane festivities, the union of the Goddess and Her Consort, the joining of earth and sun, the endowment of summer.

 

It is customary that trial unions, (called Handfastings) for a year and a day, occur at this time. More or less these were statements of intent between couples, which were not legally binding. The trial marriages typically occurred between a couple before deciding to take a further step into a legally binding union. It seems ancient wisdom understood that one does not really know another until they have lived with them, and when you live together things change and we change, as well. With this understanding unions were entered upon, first as a test period, and then if desired, a further commitment could be taken. It through always knowing that it is only through the choice of both to remain, that the relationship exists favorably.

http://loveliverspread.wordpress.com/2011/05/04/rainy-may-dew-photography/

Water is another important association of Beltane, water is refreshing and rejuvenating, it is also imperative to life. It is said that if you bathe in the dew gathered before dawn on Beltane morn, your beauty will flourish throughout the year. Those who are sprinkled with May dew are insured of health and happiness. There are other folk customs such as drinking from the well before sunrise on Beltane Morn to insure good health and fortune.

The central color of Beltane is green. Green is the color of growth, abundance, plentiful harvest, abundant crops, fertility, and luck.

 Offerings of bannocks and drink are traditionally left on doorsteps and roadways for the Faeries as an offering, in hope of faery blessings.

Happy Beltane!!!
(now go and make some love in the fields and get those crops to grow!)

Eastertide.. or the rising of the Zombie Jesus

  

 

 

Easter Facts

Easter is a grand festival of Christians. 
 The name Easter owes its origin to Eostre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess who symbolizes hare and egg.
Easter always falls between March 22 and April 25.
 From the very early times, the egg has been considered to be the most important symbol of rebirth.
The initial Easter baskets were given the appearance of bird's nests.
 Each year witnesses the making of nearly 90 million chocolate bunnies.
 

 

 

Easter is the most important festival of Christians as it is observed to honour Jesus' return to life. Easter is a festivity of colours and joy. It conveys the message that after the dark clouds, there is a silver lining.     
               Easter always falls on the first Sunday after the full moon night of the spring season. 
That's about as Pagan of a calculation as exists!

   Historically Easter was addressed as the festivity of Eostre that always occurred during the period of vernal equinox, when the ratio of day to night was exactly the same.
  But in all the legends, one thing that is emphasized is Easter is a grand holiday that is celebrated to glorify the victory of life over death and light over darkness.

German tradition of decorating trees with Easter eggs © Rainer Sturm 

  

 

 

 
When the time approaches for Easter, the first thing 
that comes to mind are Easter eggs. 
 Eggs symbolize fertility! 
  People embellish their houses with handmade painted Easter eggs.
In the ancient times, these Easter eggs were very brightly coloured, giving a warm welcome to the spring season. 

Easter Bunny
When the talk is about Easter, it is definitely incomplete without the mention of the Easter bunny.  The Easter bunny is a symbol associated with fertility and the reason behind is that, well, bunnies love to hump and they reproduce.. like.. rabbits!

In order to understand anything about the Goddess Eostre (the Goddess worshiped at that time) we must draw on the traditions associated with the holy tide.  Grimm in his Teutonic Mythology maintained that "Ostara, Eástre, was goddess of the growing light of spring."  The date of the holy tide would make this a reasonable conclusion. Holy water in the form of the dew or water collected from brooks was gathered at this time. Washing with it was said to restore youth. Beautiful maidens in sheer white were said to seen frolicking in the country side.    
Easter eggs seem to go fairly far back in both English and continental celebrations, and of course symbolize the beginning of new life. The hare also known for its fertility appears fairly early in Easter celebrations. Bonfires and vigils also seemed to play a role in many Easter rites.
Based on this Eostre would appear to be a Goddess of purity (the holy water), youth and beauty (the young maidens), as well as one of new life beginnings. 
  Eostre has shining maidens at dawn associated with her,  
    Easter therefore would be seen as a holyday of transition.

Today, Easter bunny occupies the most dominant position amongst all symbols of Easter. Chocolate bunny rabbit cookies
 and cakes sell like hot cakes during the Easter spring season. 
This symbol of Pagan times,
the Easter bunny, symbolizes new life.
(info gathered from the interwebs)

 

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