Obsidian is a stunning and glassy volcanic rock. The name obsidian is derived from the name of a prominent ancient Roman, Obsius. It is most frequently black or very dark; however there are many variations of obsidian.

Black Obsidian is traditionally used for scrying, gazing, and seeking insight into the future because it is a natural glass from Gaia. It also is a powerful elminiator of negative or harmful energies both from the self and one’s environment. With the strong connection to the removal of disharmonic energy it is often called on to be a stone of protection.

Using black obsidian spiritually can aid in recognizing where you are holding negativity and help to eliminate those negative or harmful emotions and attachements.

An affirmation you might use with Black Obsidian could be “I cleanse myself of disharmonic energies and ground myself in light to the heart of the Earth and Gaia so that I can see clearly as I move in my path”

You can find some beautiful Obsidian pieces at the Sacred Mists Shoppe:
Black Obsidian Scrying Sphere:

http://www.sacredmists.com/obsidian-scrying-sphere.html

Black Obsidian Arrowhead:

http://www.sacredmists.com/obar.html

Black Obsidian Pyramid:

http://www.sacredmists.com/blobgepy.html

Obsidian – Nature’s Power for Protection Amulet:

http://www.sacredmists.com/slg-np-obsidian.html

Mankind has always had a special relationship with the stars. In the modern world we explore them scientifically: searching for the answers to the Big Questions regarding the origins of life and the extent of the wider universe around us. We look up at the stars through veils of ambient electric lights and smog, wishing upon them still. We escape to the countryside to truly see the stars as best we may, watching them in place of the television sets which usually fill our nightly vision.

And in so doing we are continuing a bond man and womankind has had with the stars from the very beginning. For much of the time mankind has walked the earth, we did not know the stars as we know them to be today: huge balls of plasma energy strung out in space billions of light years away. Instead, we held them on high as something else, something magickal. In ancient societies, when the sun went down, there was the vast illuminated landscape of a starry sky lurking above them: mysterious and constant. It was a distinct part of their cultural worldview; its placement in the heavens and its occasional idiosyncrasies explained as part of ancient mythologies and religions. Imagine their wonder looking up at the night sky and imagining it looking right back at them.

And bear in mind, that without electric lights to dim the view, the night sky would have been distinctly brighter and filled with finer textures and gradients of colors and lights. The Milky Way not a slightly filmier band across the sky but a broad avenue of swirling colors stretching across an upside down starscape: a fitting pathway for the gods or divine river among the cosmos.

Shooting stars in particular hold a special place with the cosmic mythologies of most ancient civilizations. For the falling star represents an interaction between man and the divine. It represents something moving from a heavenly cosmic plain to the mortal, earthly world. It was probably with some surprise that upon tracking the falling place of a “star” to earth, they would discover a small crater filled with a glassy rock, which, today of course, we call a meteorite. Many cultures venerated meteor rocks as powerful magickal talisman, sent from the sky gods to the denizens of earth. The ancient Greeks believed that finding one would bring you a year’s worth of good luck and a wish; and it is from them that we have ultimately inherited the idea of wishing upon a star. Native American medicine men have been known to wear them as protective amulets, passing them down through generation after generation of shaman as symbols of their power. And temples throughout the ancient Mediterranean were in possession of meteorites, likewise holding them as sacred objects. Even in the modern world, a meteorite is one of the most venerated objects in contemporary monotheistic religious practices: the Black Stone of the Ka’baa. Believed to have been sent from God to Abraham and then passed down to Mohammad, the Ka’baa stone is technically a relic of all three Abrahamic faiths (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), and is the centerpiece of the holiest of holy Mosques in Mecca in modern Saudi Arabia, a former temple to the local Moon/Water God.

Falling stars have traditionally had a myriad of metaphysical and spiritual meanings behind them as well.
Stars are, in particular, frequently associated with the idea of the human soul. In the Teutonic mythology of central Europe, it was believed that every person was represented by a star which was attached to the ceiling of the sky by the threads of fate. And when Fate ended your story on earth, she would snip the thread attaching your star and it would fall, presaging your death. In Romania, there is a belief that the stars are candles lit by the gods (and later the saints) in honor of each person’s birth and that the brighter the star the greater the person. The falling star represents the soul’s final journey to the afterlife as it is being blown out and across the sky by the divine candle keepers. In these and other cultures, falling stars and meteor showers were celebrated ~ they honored the ancestors who had come before them, and in particular the newly deceased who were joining the ranks of the highly venerated generations who had come before.

Even in the Middle Ages after the triumph of Christianity, the pagan equation between shooting stars and the movement of souls could not be snuffed out entirely. And so it was vilified; the shooting stars were cast as the souls of evil and impious men being cast out of heaven and down into the bowels of the earth.

Shooting stars have and always will hold a special amazement to those viewing them. For their beauty alone they are worth staying up for. And if you’re ready for the long haul tonight or tomorrow night (August 12th and 13th respectively) and you live in the Northern Hemisphere~ you’re in luck! It’s the peak of the Perseid Meteor Shower. Every year between August 9th and 14th, the Earth bumbles through the trail of rocky and icy debris left behind by the comet Swift-Tuttle: creating one of the most dependable and spectacular arrays of shooting stars on earth. It has, undoubtedly, been witnessed by man for millennia; though the first recorded instance of it did not occur until 36 AD in China; with the first official scientific description of the shower occurring almost 2000 years later in Belgium in 1835.

The Perseid meteor shower is named after its seeming origination in the nightsky from the constellation Perseus, itself named after the Greek hero of the same name. The stars which make up the constellation of Perseus have their own elaborate mythologies. In particular the star Algol; which, due to its variable eclipsing nature and unpredictable level of brightness was known first as the Gorgon’s Head after Perseus’ arch-nemesis the Gorgon Medusa, and then the Demon’s Head until it was simply just the Demon Star or the Ghoul Star (algol= al-ghoul). The shower was also later referred to in a more saintly manner. In medieval times they were called the Tears of St.
Lawrence in consideration of the fact that they would fall around his feast day on August 10th.

So if you can ~ go out late tonight or tomorrow night and watch the Perseids. Watch them and remember all those who have come before you to watch them down through the millennia. Watch them in honor of the souls they were said to represent. Watch them simply for the thrill of watching something so beautiful and cosmic and so beyond the human ken. Make some wishes. Catch one in your mind’s eye and never let it go.

Bibliography

Burke, J.G. 1986. Cosmic Debris: Meteorites in History. University of California Press.

Perseus Constellation: Myths, Stars, Deep Sky Objects, & Comets
Perseids: The Legendary Shower

Daily Magick posts are on hold for a little bit.  Mundane life has gotten quite crazy and I will post what I am doing each day to remain in touch with spirit as I can.

As we approach Lammas, I have begun harvesting and gathering the fruits of my labor this year and it’s pretty life changing for me.  Just in time our good friend Pat Olsen sent me an email early this morning with her Sabbat Poem.  Usually we share these on our facebook pages only but I thought it would absolutely do wonderfully sharing it with everyone today as we all begin the approach to the first harvest of our year.

Gathering in the Grain
(c) Patricia Olsen

Straw Flower

The days are mellow with amber;
The old God of Fire still potent in the sky;
The nights are still and sweet as musk,
With a green corn moon on high.

The grain ripens like silken threads of gold,
Fruit hangs heavy and expectant on the bough;
The season has turned — it’s Lammas Fair,
And time to speed the plough.

As bread we bake and corn dolls we weave,
To honor the spirit of John Barleycorn,
To once again regenerate,
Even though now he must be shorn.

For soon winter’s wraith will envelop the land,
As the wounded fisher-king grows weak and frail;
Our blessed Goddess nourish and sustain us all,
With the fruits of your life-giving grail;

To have bread on the board and wheat in the barn,
And shelter from storm and hail;
And in every cottage and tavern near and far,
Plenty of good brown ale.

So let us reap the bounty of harvest time,
At this season of growth and decay;
And know that what dies will be reborn again,
With the lengthening of the days.

A time of passing, a time of change;
A cycle of life, death and rebirth;
Like the little shorn sheaf of grain, we too must go
The way of all life on this earth.

But we do not grieve as the wheel turns;
Instead we celebrate and make cheer;
And honor the Lord and Lady,
As they bide with us throughout the year.

So come make merry, drink, dance and sing;
Lovers embrace as you did on the Eve of Beltane,
And kindle the fires of love, life and rebirth,
With the gathering in of the grain.

Last week I wrote up a little ritual for Sacred Mists Students for the Full Moon tomorrow. We are all performing this solitary instead of our normal meeting in a chat-room. I thought it might be nice to share with you all too!

A little note about this ritual for July:

The 4 winds were given magical names by the ancient Greeks – Boreas, Eureus, Notus and Zephyrus – it is these forces together with those of the elemental spirits of air, water, fire and earth that are called upon in the spell to carry your wish or workings to the four points of the universe.

For this solitary ritual we will be working with the Four Winds and our own life connections. If your life has been anything at all like what I have seen in my own lately you may feel the need for balance, for cutting ties to events or even people to continue your spirit growth. Normally you would do this type of working on a New Moon for banishment; however, with the current moon in Capricorn we are being gifted clarity, which has been absent in recent weeks. The light of the Full Moon is excellent for clearly delineating the depths of our obsession or desires which we need to separate ourselves from AND fill the space with that which we desire.

Items for this ritual:
-White Candle (this can be a votive or Ritual/Spell candle but of a size that can safely burn out)
-Incense of choice for cleansing/purification. I will be using Amber & Sandalwood sticks
-White Ribbon (length is not super important but if possible at least 9 inches in length)
-Colored ribbon to represent that which you will be cutting ties to (length does not matter here at all and if you only have white you can color the ribbon with markers or write on the ribbon that which you wish to clear).

Walking or pointing deosil-
I conjure you, O Circle of Power, you are a boundary of Sacred Mists between the world of men and the realms of the Mighty Ones; a meeting place of love, joy and truth; a shield against all wickedness and evil; a rampart and protection that shall preserve and contain the power that we raise within.

Move to the East.
Hail to thee Guardians of the Watchtower of the East and the Element of Air, blowing forth thought and communication on your gentle breeze we call to thee, please join us this night! Hail and Welcome!

Move on to the South:
Hail to thee Guardians of the Watchtower of the South and the Element of fire, dancing on the flames of passion, vigor and transformation we call to thee, please join us this night. Hail and Welcome!

Moving to the West:
Hail to thee Guardians of the Watchtower of the West and the Element of Water, riding on the waves of emotion and fresh ideas we call to thee, please join us this night. Hail and Welcome!

Moving to the North:
Hail to thee Guardians of the Watchtower of the North and the Element of Earth, dancing under the protective embrace bringing knowledge and growth we call to thee, please join us this night. Hail and Welcome!

Returning to Center:
Hail to thee Bright Lady and Goddess, in your name we have gathered beneath the Silvery light of the Full Moon in your honor and seek your blessings, we ask that you join us in the Sacred Circle of Power. Hail and Welcome!
Hail to thee Warm Lord and God, in your name we have gathered beneath the Silvery light of the Full Moon in her honor and seek your blessings, we ask that you join us in the Sacred Circle of Power. Hail and Welcome!
Having chosen the appropriate ribbon color for banishment or cutting of the cord for an obstacle and the growth that you wish to bring, hold both white and colored ribbons in your hands and visualize the outcome of your banishment and the filling of this space with growth in fine detail.

Tie your ribbons together with 3 knots near the top, you will want to have enough ribbon that it can “blow in the breeze”. Hold the ribbons in your hand near your mouth and breathe upon it trying to force the magick and desire through your breath into the very structure of the ribbons.

When you are satisfied, turn to the North and say:
“King Boreas of the North Wind,
by the powers of earth,
I call you to carry my working to the Northern quarter,
and by the powers of the gnomes,
I ask that you bring me balance and growth.”

Blow onto the ribbons wrapped in your palm so they might unravel and wave in the ‘wind’ in the direction of North. (gather them back up in your palm)

Turn to the East and say:
“King Eureus of the East Wind,
by the powers of air,
I call you to carry my working to the Eastern quarter,
and by the powers of the sylphs,
I ask that you bring me a light heart and freedom.”

Blow again onto the ribbons wrapped in your palm so they might unravel and wave in the ‘wind’ in the direction of East. (gather them back up in your palm)

Turn to the South and say:
“King Notus of the South Wind,
by the powers of fire,
I call you to carry my working to the Southern quarter,
and by the powers of the salamanders,
I ask that you bring me passion and joy.”

Blow again onto the ribbons wrapped in your palm so they might unravel and wave in the ‘wind’ in the direction of South. (gather them back up in your palm)

Turn to the West and say:
“King Zephyrus of the West Wind,
by the powers of water,
I call you to carry my working to the Western quarter,
and by the powers of the undines,
I ask that you bring me balance of emotion and movement.”

Blow again onto the ribbons wrapped in your palm so they might unravel and wave in the ‘wind’ in the direction of Center.

Turn to Center/Altar and say:
Great Lady of the Bright Moon, High Lord of the Warm Sun we call to life a balance of spirit, a removal of obstacles and a growth so that we might continue on our journey. We have called forth the winds to bring our magick to the four corners of the world. Your blessings received with joy and thanks. Blessed Be.
With the ribbons in hand and your scissors or other cutting utensil nearby Say:
“We sever the ties which restrict us
We sever the chains which bind us”

**Just below the final knot on your ribbons cut away the colored ribbon from the knot and place it aside, after the ritual is complete you will bury this ribbon piece or throw it away so that it is no longer near you. The place of burial should not be on your property or near your home/sacred space**

Continue the working by saying:
“We bring forth balance and freedom
We bring forth passion and joy
Moving forward in life our obstacles removed
Moving forward in life our attractions given the breath of life.
Our will is done, So Mote It Be!”

Moving to the North:
Guardians to the Element of Earth, We thank thee for thy presence and aid. As the seed grows within so shall it without. Go if you must, harm none, but know you are welcome to stay. Hail and Farewell.

Moving to the West:
Guardians to the Element of Water, We thank thee for thy presence and aid. With pure love within so shall it be without. Go if you must, harm none, but know you are welcome to stay. Hail and Farewell.

Moving to the South:
Guardians to the Element of Fire, we thank thee for thy presence and aid. With burning light within so shall it be seen without. Go if you must, harm none, but know you are welcome to stay. Hail and Farewell.

Moving to the East:
Guardians to the Element of Air, we thank thee for thy presence and aid. With the air of change blowing within so shall it be without. Go if you must, harm none, but know you are welcome to stay. Hail and Farewell.

Returning to Center:
Great Father, Lord of the fertility and what will be, we thank you for your blessing and love this night. You have sown the seed and it shall grow. Hail and Farewell.
Great Mother, Lady of all that is and will be, we thank you for your blessing and love this night. You have nurtured the seed and it shall prosper. Hail and Farewell.

As I bring my hands together, the Mists lower and dissipate. This circle is open to all those who may enter with love in their hearts always and never broken for we are friends, brothers and sisters in the olde ways. Merry we Meet and Merry We Part to Meet Merry again another day.

Today I’d like to share my horoscope with you and my thoughts on it afterwards and a little challenge to you that I intend on doing myself.

Aries Daily Horoscope
You might be open to new experiences and meeting new people today, which may make you seem more approachable. Your friendly demeanor could be the result of your desire to expand your circle of friends in order to infuse your social life with fresh energy. Perhaps you can consider finding different ways to meet people today. Joining a club, trying a sport, or taking a class are all ways to increase your social circle. If you notice any anxiety about meeting new people while engaged in one of these activities, take a deep breath and think about all the wonderful qualities you have. You might picture yourself from the other person’s perspective and see how unique and interesting you are. Knowing what you have to offer people may make it easier for you to make contact with others.

Going out on a limb and trying new things is a wonderful way to widen our social network. Unless we take a chance at doing something different, we will never increase our social contacts. It then becomes more difficult to expand our worldview since we stay within the confines of our comfortable social world. Meeting new people means that we engage in discussions and activities that are fresh and exciting and help us grow and evolve. We not only gain alternate perspectives through our new acquaintances, but we also learn more about who we truly are. By opening yourself to new experiences today, your social world will expand and you will uncover parts of yourself that you didn’t know existed.

I apologize for the lack of the daily posts as I had been doing pretty well.  Last weekend (Friday night) my home had a massive failure.   This failure being what we originally thought was a broken phlange on the downstairs bathroom toilet (we found a leak).  Confirmed the broken phlange, cleaned up the mess (yay bleach!) and set out to find a plumber we could get on Monday.  Anyway LONG story short, it was not the problem only a symptom.  There were ROOTS in my pipes.  This is now fixed and we are in the clean up and repair phase of the whole ordeal.  This is why I have been oddly silent the last several days.

Onward to the challenge that I am undertaking.  On facebook I have a very limited set of people I allow on my “friends list” usually people that are a part of Sacred Mists School, a few wonderful customers of the store but otherwise friends and family.  Sometimes I have a hard time keeping up with it all but do OK.  I have decided to open myself up on facebook to include more people even when connections to people I am already friends with are not present.  I am also interacting more with people when I visit my favorite places locally.  While I do hope to be moving West soon I am actively becoming better friends with those around me right now and finding amazing joys in that companionship.

In today’s world of activity and online networking, what can we do to always be true to ourselves while at the same time trying to make new friends?

ME? I don’t hide who I am in any of my posts or interactions.  Right now I am on a short “vacation” from facebook but will be back on Monday.  I hope to see you all then!

Wishing you the most beautiful weekend and the opportunity to make amazing connections both online and off.

-Lilyth

Fairy Tales should not be swiftly discounted for their seemingly fictional and innocent purposes as children’s stories. The tales thus preserved are, in fact, windows into other times, ancient peoples’ thoughts, and older magicks. They are just as valuable a tool in anthropological study as traditional religious mythology, and to a certain extent, observational science and archaeology. They provide insight into the psychology and perception of their contemporary societies by both the people living in those societies and those transmitting the stories since. Furthermore, their archetypal nature speaks to something deeper in all man and womankind; regardless of the story’s origins or original temporal setting. This archetypal voice is why these stories still resonate with audiences today. And it is research into understanding this archetypal psychology which has dominated the anthropology of the fairy tale and been the focus of work for famous names such as J.R.R. Tolkein, Joseph Campbell, Claude Levi-Strauss, Georges Frazer, and Carl Jung, etc.

The witches of the traditional canon of fairy tales, i.e. of Hans Christian Anderson, the Brothers Grimm, and the rest of their late 17th through to early 19th century peers provide particularly remarkable insight into two periods of time: the time of the authors themselves; as well as the earlier pre-Industrial Revolution era their stories are typically set in.

Growing discontent with the pervading religious system and local government, coupled with rampant diseases (like the Black Plague), led to a rise in fear on the European continent. With the advent of writing and a stronger infrastructure of roads and trade, this fear was not an isolated incident, but was communicated between groups of people: between villages on a smaller level and between countries -for indeed, now we have come to the period where countries are starting to define themselves as separate states with distinct borders rather than cultural alliances and princely empires as before. Though this new, unprecedented opportunity would later prove to be the cure for the darkness of the period, it was at first but a promoter of the miasma of fear which hung over the late medieval world. In need of a scapegoat, the western world, and in particular the Catholic Church, looked around for something ‘other’ to blame all of their fears and woes upon. And they found what they sought in the form of the witch. A female with power, an outsider to the community, a link to the devil or the pagan communities that had ruled Europe prior to Christian domination ~ the figure of the witch was a multi-purpose target. An easy mark, the witch was vilified, both in person and in the resultant stories of her.

If you want to learn more about the witches of fairy tale and take a deeper look at the residual layers of fairy tale and symbolism of the new characters and archetypes attached to the myth of the witch, then join the Sacred Mists’ newest class: The History of Witches in the Western World ~ taught by yours truly. Using an anthropological perspective, this class explores the changing forms of magick and the evolution of the ‘Witch’ through the biographies of mythological witches of the antiquity through to the historical magickal figures.

Above image courtesy of fanpop