and open to Her Wisdom."
3rd Day of the 5th Lunar Cycle
Ruled by Persephone
Lunar Tree Cycle of Saille/Willow
21st Day of the Celtic Tree
Month of Saille/Fearn
3rd Day of the Cycle of Mab -
Days of Faeries
Moon Phase: Waxing New Moon
Moon rises: 7:34AM EDST
Moon sets: 10:58PM EDST
Moon in the Mutable Air Sign
of Gemini
Blodeuwedd's Cycle of the Moon
Lunar Meditation: Lovers you have
lost and found.
Sun in Taurus
Sunrise: 6:15AM EDST
Sunset: 8:18PM EDST
Solar Question for the Day: "Where
are your energies overextended?"
Beltane (Calan Mai) Quarter
of the Year
May 5th, 2011
TBOR'S DAY - Jupiter Day - the Day of Vision, Spiritual Insight, and Expansion... there are Major magickal energies today for Business Plans and minor magickal energies for networking...
ETA AQUARIDS METEOR SHOWER:
Mystical Associations: To the ancient Celts the willow was the Tree of Enchantment and Mysteries, a feminine tree that was ruled by the moon, with a great influence over the vision-producing subconscious. Being in the company of willows was believed to promote and increase psychic and intuitive powers, making dreams more vivid and more open to interpretation. Groves of willows were
considered so magical that poets, musicians, priests and priestesses would meditate within them to enhance their visionary skills and to gain inspiration and clarity of the mind. This practice of exploring inner worlds in sacred groves was known to the Celts as gaining Tree-top Inspiration. The willow was associated in many other cultures with poetic and visionary skills.
Many ancient goddesses are associated with willows. Persephone, Queen of the Underworld, had a sacred willow grove. The Greek sorceress Circe (a favorite of mine) had a riverside cemetery planted with willows that was dedicated to Hecate and her moon magick. Hecate, most powerful goddess of willow and water, presided over the magick of the dark side of the moon. Hecate taught sorcery and witchcraft and haunted crossroads and tombs. The ancient Sumerian goddess, Belili, presided over all trees and willows in particular, as well as the moon, love and the Underworld. Her willow god consort was called Bel. Bel became honored by European Celts as the Sun god Belin, Lord of Life and Death.
Great fires were lit in his honor at Beltane, on April 30th and May 1st. These celebrations were once
sacred primarily to the moon goddess and her watery willow magick, but as patriarchal sun-god worship ousted the more ancient matriarchal order, so the emphasis shifted away from the mysterious feminine energies of water and the moon toward the more direct masculine approach of fire and the sun. Wells and springs are also honored at the traditional fire and water ceremony at Beltane, which is the second of the four Cross-Quarter Days in the witches' calendar.
The goddess Anatha had a willow cult in Jerusalem until Jehovah's priests ousted her and claimed the willow as Jehovah's tree at the Hebrew Feast of Tabernacles - a fire and water ceremony that to this day is still known as the Day of the Willows. In Britain, sprays of Goat Willows covered with golden catkins were customarily carried to Christian churches at Easter on Palm Sunday, in remembrance of the branches of palm strewn before Jesus as he entered Jerusalem. This is why the Goat Willow is known as the "Palm Willow" or Pussy Palm.
The Willow reminded ancient peoples of the White Goddess in all three of Her aspects, lithe and supple like the virgin, fertile and prolific; like the mother, and wizened and hoary like the crone. They were encouraged to recognize in themselves the whole range of emotions, from love and joy, to jealousy and hatred. With its roots deep in the waters of the subconscious and the emotions, the willow is the sacred tree of the visionary goddess, queen of the world of dreams and intuition, of prophecy and psychic powers.
Circe
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