Fontinalia
Welcome to the Ancient Whispers Newsletter, a multi-cultural newsletter with a little something for everyone of any creed or religion. Here you will find inspiring quotes, irreverent jokes, crafts, and most importantly, historical and/or religious scholarship. Every Wednesday a new edition should appear on this website with reminder emails sent out the night before to those who have opted to join one of the many forums and mailing lists to which I subscribe. If you wish to share this newsletter with others, please keep it intact with the original authors' names on all the articles. Any articles or sections, to which an author or URL is not affixed, were written by Candace (with the exception of the various jokes found herein).
Questions, comments, and topical requests are encouraged and should be posted to the AskCandace open forum at yahoogroups. I'd like to start a help column for the newsletter, so if you'd like to have your problem featured in a newsletter, let me know when you post.
Some Sites of Interest
Moon Magick
Keith’s Moon Page
Lunar Magick and Moon Signs
Moon Lore
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This Pagan Week : May/June
Humor : Moon Message
Article : Luna, the Summerlands
Quote : Vince Lombardi
Craft of the Week : Moon Planting
Humor : The Moon, Mars, and… the sun?
Who's Who in World Mythology : Bacchus
Quote : William Shakespeare
The Magi's Garden : Chestnut
Cartoon
Poem : Sometimes
Quote : William Makepeace Thackeray
The Power of Stones : Bronzite
Humor : Why haven’t they put a woman on the moon?
A Dreamer's Guide : Pan to Paprika
Quote : Jean-Paul Sartre
Previous Newsletters
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Some Sites of Interest
Moon Magick
http://www.geocities.com/lavenderwater37/lunar.htm
Links and resources, phases, spells, and folklore… this is a great site for moon information.
Keith’s Moon Page
http://home.hiwaay.net/~krcool/Astro/moon
More information about the moon than you probably ever thought to ask (though it hasn’t been updated since 2001).
Lunar Magick and Moon Signs
http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/4893/luna.html
Magick according to the moon phase as well as according to what zodiac sign the moon is currently in.
Moon Lore
http://www.moonxscape.com/Moon_Lore.shtml
Still more details on the history and lore of the moon.
The Pagan Month of May
can be found in its entirety Here. For more detailed entries, please visit the full calendar.
In May get a weed-hook, a crotch [fork], and a glove,
And weed out such weeds as the corn do not love.
May is named for Maia Majestas, the Roman goddess of spring who encourages crops to grow. She is the chief goddess of the Seven Sisters or Pleiades. She can be equated with the Irish Queen Medb or Celtic Meave. Hawthorm, her sacred plant, blossoms during this month. Artemis, Diana, Faunus, Flora, and Pan also have dominion over this month.
The Anglo-Saxons called this month Thrimilcmonath, "thrice-milk month." In England, May was also called Sproutkale. Winnemanoth, "joy month," was the Frankish name, and the Asatru name is Merrymoon. The Irish call May Bealtaine or an Ceitean, the first weather of summer. The two weeks before Bealtaine is ceitean earrach, spring May-time, and the two weeks after Bealtaine is ceitean samhradh, summer May-time. Bealtaine, also associated the God Bel, means 'the fires of Bel'.
The first Full Moon of May is called the Flower Moon. It shares the names Planting Moon, Hare Moon, Pink Moon, and Green Grass Moon with April. The May moon is also the Bright Moon, Dryad Moon, the Moon When the Pony Sheds, the Frogs Return Moon, and Sproutkale.
The sun passes from Taurus to Gemini around May 21st. Those born in May have the lilly of the valley for their birth flower. The stone for the month of May, and for Taurus, is the emerald, though agate, chalcedony, and carnelian are sometimes mentioned for May instead, while Gemini lays claim to agate, particularly moss agate, and pearl. Aquamarine, lapis lazuli, kunzite, rose quartz, and sapphire are associated with Taurus, and chrysoprase, sapphire, and topaz are connected to Gemini.
Fontinalia
Ludi Saeculares
receiving of Ra
Ludi Saeculares
Morning Glory Zell
Ceremony of Horus
Ludi - Pythian Games
Ludi Saeculares
Ambarvalia
Oak Apple Day
Horus hears prayer
Ludi Saeculares
Frigg
Joan of Arc
Ma´at is taken to Ra
Ludi Saeculares
Triple Blessings of Buddha
June is the sixth month of the current Gregorian calendar and the first month of summer. It is the "door of the year," the gateway to the inner realms. The original name for this month was Junonius. It was named for the Roman goddess Juno, patron of the female sex, and so this month was considered an excellent month for marriages. As Juno Moneta, whose temple was located on the Capitoline hill in Rome, she was guardian of money and wealth. June is sacred to Juno and all gods and goddesses who preside over love, passion, and beauty.
The Irish call June Meitheamh or an t-Ogmios, the young month. The Anglo-Saxon name was Aerra Litha, "before Litha." The Franks called it Brachmanoth, "break month." June is called Fallow by the Asatru.
The first Full Moon of June is called the Hot or Strawberry Moon in parts of America. It is also referred to as the Strong Sun Moon, Lover's Moon, and Rose Moon, and it has been called the Moon of Making Fat and the Moon of Horses, and name similar to one of the names for May’s Moon. It shares the names Mead Moon and Honey Moon with July.
Cancer becomes dominant on June 21st as the sun passes from the constellation of Gemini. Roses are for those born this month. June plays host to many stones claiming to be its birthstone. Of them all, emerald is listed most, followed by agate, chalcedony, turquoise, pearl, cat’s eye, or alexandrite, in that order. Pearl and moss agate are also birthstones of Gemini, and moonstone or pearl is the birthstone of Cancer. Chrysoprase, sapphire, and topaz are also connected to Gemini, while albite, chrysoprase, emerald, green tourmaline, opal, pink tourmaline, and rhodochrosite are associated with Cancer.
Lunar Holy Days
The first Sunday of this month is date of the Bulgarian Rose Harvest Festival.
The Dragon Boat Festival, also known as the Double Fifth Festival, occurs on the fifth day of the fifth moon. It is one of the three most important of the annual Chinese festivals, the other two being the Autumn Moon Festival and Chinese New Year.
Chu Yuan, the divine poet, lived in the third century BCE, serving the King of Chu during the Warring States period. He enjoyed the full confidence and respect of his sovereign at first, but eventually he was falsely discredited by rivals and found himself in disfavor. During that time, he composed his immortal poem, "Encountering Sorrow", an allegorical description of his search for a prince who would listen to good counsel in government. Never able to regain his emperor's favor, on the fifth day of the fifth moon in the year 295 BCE at the age of 37, Chu Yuan held a stone to his chest and leapt into the Milo River in the Hunan Province. Respect for the minister caused the people living in the area to jump into their boats in a vain attempt to find him while other villagers threw rice dumplings in the river to distract dragons and evil spirits lurking in the water. This unsuccessful rescue attempt is a part of what the Dragon Boat Festival commemorates in its annual races. The annual Dragon Boat Festival was at one time a Pagan Summer Solstice ritual designed to appease the dragon gods of the rivers.
Whitsunday, an annual Christian festival marking the descent of the Holy Ghost upon the disciples, is celebrated on the seventh Sunday after Easter. However, like most Christian holidays, Whitsunday was at one time a Pagan fertility festival. It was celebrated in Europe with a "heathen feast" that marked the death of the spirit of Winter and the birth of the spirit of Summer.
According to English folklore, if a baby comes into the world on Whitsunday, he or she is destined to either commit an act of murder or to be murdered unless a chicken was put into the infant's hand and it was made to squeeze the creature to death. A foal born would either win a race or kill a man. Whitsunday is also associated with drowning. Some would not go to sea unless a bride steered the ship, and those who had drowned were thought to return to take new victims. Children often had their heads massaged with salt to prevent their being taken by fairies.
festival of Carna
Juno Moneta; Hebe, Cup-Bearer of Olympus
festival of the Oak Nymph
Ma´at and Ra go forth
The Witchcraft Act of 1563
Gawai Dayak
Mother Earth
Shapatu of Ishtar
Apollo
Secular (Centennial) Games
Cataclysmo
Buddhist ritual for young girls
Marion Zimmer Bradley
Secular (Centennial) Games
Bellona
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| Humor: Moon Message |
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| In 1966 NASA was testing equipment for the upcoming moon launch in a barren corner of the Navajo Reservation near Tuba City. As two men in full spacesuits waddled around while being monitored by scientists, a
Navajo sheppard and his son ambled over to find out what was going on.
The father spoke no English, but the son asked about the odd encased beings, and one of the scientists explained that they were men preparing to go to the moon. when the father heard his son's translation, he became very excited and asked if the astronauts would carry a message to the moon.
The NASA boys thought it a great joke and produced a tape recorder so that he could record his message. The son refused to translate what his father had said. After some difficulty, the NASA representatives found a Navajo prepared to tell them, and heard that the message ran: Watch out for these guys, they come to take your land. |
Article : Luna, the Summerland
from http://www.ladyoftheearth.com/stories/stories.html by Lady Of The Earth
It was an ancient belief that the Moon was the dwelling place of those souls who had passed from the physical life. Old myths speak of the God, as the Sun, crossing the sky each day and gathering the souls of all who had died during the night. He would then carry them off to the West, and down into the Underworld. Here they were presented to the Goddess (remember, the moon sets in the west too) who then carried them off to the Afterlife World. Aradia called this Realm, Luna. Today, many Wiccans refer to this concept as the Summerland.
Luna is a "place" in which the soul is renewed and revitalized. It can then become prepared for its next incarnation, or in some cases, for its next "move" up into the Higher Dimensions (when it no longer requires the need for the physical dimension experiences). The Moon is connected to the cycles of Fertility, the Tides, and to menstruation. It is not difficult to see why the ancients then linked the Moon to the cycles of Death and rebirth.
Old legends spoke of the Moon receiving souls from the physical life, and that the light of the moon swelled with the collective light of their spirit bodies. As the souls returned back into the World, the light of the Moon began to wane.
The old teachings say that in Luna, there is communion with those who have gone before us, and that "plans" are made to be reborn among those who we knew before. In a way this also addresses the issue of "Karmic" links and connections.
The "portal" to the Realm beyond Life, stands at the Western Quarter. This association was established due to the fact that the Sun and the Moon "disappear" in the West, just as we too, in our time, disappear. The association of a body of Light and the Soul, also seem to have originated with this concept, and the non-physical (yet physical) properties of the Sun and the Moon, as "understood" by the Ancient Peoples.
The beliefs of a People, have a powerful impact upon the Astral material, of the Astral Dimension. Within the Astral Plane, thoughts ARE things. So, it is here that the Summerland, or Luna, exists.
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| Quote: Vince Lombardi |
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Unfortunately, so is losing. |
Craft of the Week: Moon Planting
As we are well into the growing season, those who have gardens may be interested in how the moon affects their plants. The passage and phases of the moon influences many things on Earth. In addition to the tides and emotions, the effect of the moon on plant life can be used to the gardener’s advantage. As the Moon travels around the earth, it passes through each of the twelve signs of the Zodiac, staying approximately two and a half days in each.
Waxing moon
This is a period of increasing light from the new moon to the full moon. Plant above ground crops (leaf, fruit, grain etc) during the "Waxing" or rising moon. Also sow the seed of plants grown for flowering display.
Waning moon
Plant root crops during the "Waning" or declining moon. This is from the full moon to the new moon when the moonlight is declining. Plant bulbs, transplant seedlings into the garden, and make cuttings.
Do not do any of the above during full moon or new moon.
Some moon planting guides take into account the influence of stars. Differences between these guides occur due to the fact that the astrological star signs used by some do not correspond with the constellations of astronomy used by others.
For more information, try these sites:
http://www.gardeningbythemoon.com/
http://www.panplanet.com/garden/plantmoon.html
http://www.gardenersnet.com/atoz/moon.htm
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| Humor : The Moon, Mars, and… the sun? |
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| There was an American, a Russian, and a Blonde standing talking to each other. The American started to brag "You know, we were the first to land on the moon."
Then the Russian, and the blonde got mad. So the Russian started to brag: "Well we were the first to land on Mars." The blonde started to get real mad. So the blonde said, "Well we are going to be the first to land on the sun." The Russian and the American started to chuckle. "You can not possibly land on the sun," said the Russian. "Well duh! We are going to go at night." |
Who's Who in World Mythology : Bacchus
For past articles and the bibliography, please go to the
Who's Who Archive.
Bacchus (Bakchos, Bakkhos) is the son of Semele and Jupiter and was worshipped in Greece, Rome, Arabia, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Phoenicia. He is equated with Iacchus, Lakchos, Orontal, and Salmoxis (or Zalmoxis). Originally a nature god, he became a god of wine and revelry. Though in some aspects he is considered the same entity with Dionysus and with Liber, he is also seen as a distinct being by the Greeks and Romans. During times of peace, he is seen dressed in robes of purple like his grapes, while in wartime he is depicted wearing panther skins. He is also shown seated in a chariot drawn by panthers, leopards, and tigers. A crown of grape leaves grace his head, and he is surrounded by a group of satyrs and nymphs. In the earliest representations, he might be shown simply as a pillar of stone or substituted with a goat (a symbol of fertility as well as agility and sociability).
Semele encouraged Jupiter to appear to her in his divine splendor, but when he appeared to her as thunder, she was killed by lightning. Luckily he was able to save their unborn child, fostering the child with the Nysaean nymphs. Juno, ever the enemy of her husband’s lovers and children, struck Bacchus with madness. He found no relief until he met and was cured by the goddess Rhea in Phrygia. Still, he continued his travels, teaching all he encountered the cultivation of the grape. When he was taken by pirates who wished to sell him into slavery, he became a lion and filled the ship with snakes and jungle foliage. As the pirates leapt overboard, he transformed them into dolphins.
The youthful aspect of Bacchus is not only interpreted as representative of the intoxicating influence of wine, but also the social and beneficial aspects. Red wine is a symbol of blood and sacrifice as well as life and youth. Though he was cured of madness by Rhea, the wine he produced was still capable of causing temporary insanity. In Greece, when the ruler Pentheus refused Bacchus, his mother Agave tore him apart while inebriated during Bacchanalia rites.
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| Quote: William Shakespeare |
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The valiant never taste of death but once. --Julius Caesar, Act II, Sc. 2, line 32. |
The Magi's Garden: Chestnut
For past featured foliage and the bibliography, please go to the
The Magi's Garden Archive.
Chestnut (Castanea spp, C sativa, C vesca, C dentata)
Description: Chestnut is a member of the beech family. It is widespread throughout Europe and Southern Eurasia, and it is cultivated in the United States. Growing from sixty-five to eighty feet, sometimes even to one hundred to one hundred fifteen feet, it can eventual grow to large diameter in its long life. The chestnut tree is exceptionally long lived (one thousand years). After twenty years, the bark forms raised, gray-brown ridges in a right hand spiral. The large (seven to nine inches) oblong-lanceolate leaves have distinctly raised main and secondary veins and crenate margins. The top of the leaf is green and shiny, while the underside paler. Though the flowers are unisexual and pale yellow, the trees normally require another one of their species in order to produce nuts. The male flowers appear in June from erect catkins. One to three green females are joined in a distinctive cupule at the base of the male catkins or may be found in separate round catkins. One to five chestnuts grow in a woody, spiny bur. These turn brown when the nuts are ripe. The tree is subject to two serious diseases: ink disease and bark canker.
Castanea dentate is the American chestnut. Though now nearly extinct due to chestnut blight (Endothia parasitica) introduced into N. America in the 1800's, trees planted outside the native range (mid-west and west coast) escape the disease and live to maturity. In the eastern US, this species is now a shrub, sprouting from the base then dying back when the disease becomes severe. The leaves are large and spear shaped. They are coarsely toothed and hairless. From September to October, stiff-prickly husks produce two to three slightly flattened nuts. Nuts are relatively small (3-12 g), but said to have the best flavor of the four species. It grows from southern Michigan and southern Maine northeast to Mississippi and Georgia.
Effects: strong
Planet: Jupiter Zodiac: Virgo
Element: fire
Associated Deities:
Traditions:
The name Castanea comes from the town of Castanis in Thessaly where the tree once grew in great abundance.
Magic:
Chestnuts are used most in love and lust spells directed at men. Like many nuts, chestnuts are thought to have a positive affect on male sexuality and potency.
Known Combinations:
An old folk remedy for earaches calls for the powdered nuts to be mixed with mutton tallow. Mixed with honey, the powdered nut-bark was used for cough by Culpepper.
Medical Indications: (Caution:) Parts Used: leaves, wood
The leaves and wood are rich in tannin content and are good for astringent, antispasmodic, and demulcent applications. Culpepper preferred the inner skin of the nut to treat diarrhea. The leaves are considered a particularly effective treatment for whooping cough or any nagging cough.
Nutrition:
Chestnuts are edible. They may be candied or reduced to flour and are quite popular in Italy. The nuts are popular as a stuffing for turkey and pheasant. The best nuts, referred to as Marones, contain fifteen percent sugar. They can be made to yield thick syrup that can be processed into sugar. In France, this is the basis for a popular sweetmeat, Marons glaces.
Check here for a large collection of Chestnut Recipes
Mercantile Uses:
Chestnut wood is useful in tanning. It was also once used as timber for house building in the Mediterranean. Though the older the tree, the more brittle the wood becomes. However, the younger wood has proved more durable than oak in timber that must be in contact with the ground: fences, posts, etc.
The nuts are used in swine food. Chestnut meal has been used to lighten linen and to make starch.
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Cartoon
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Poem : Sometimes
Hermann Hesse
Sometimes, when a bird cries out,
Or the wind sweeps through a tree,
Or a dog howls in a far-off farm,
I hold still and listen a long time.
My world turns and goes back to the place
Where, a thousand forgotten years ago,
The bird and the blowing wind
Were like me, and were my brothers.
My soul turns into a tree,
And an animal, and a could bank.
Then changed and odd it comes home
And asks me questions. What should I reply?
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| Quote : William Makepeace Thackeray |
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to tire out hostile fortune; to be daunted by no difficulty; to keep heart when all have lost it – who can say this is not greatness? |
The Power of Stones: Bronzite
For past articles and the bibliography, please go to the
Power of Stones Archive.
Bronzite is bronze in color. It is a stone of courtesy and is excellent for those in the service industries. Certainty can be achieved without sacrificing adaptability using this stone.
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| Humor : Why haven’t they put a woman on the moon? |
|---|
| Because it doesn’t need cleaning yet. |
A Dreamer's Guide : Pan to Paprika
For past articles and the bibliography, please go to the
Dreamer's Guide Archive.
You will soon be able to laugh your troubles away if you dreamt of the Greek God Pan.
A cooking Pan indicates that prosperity is just around the corner. One pan means that any unhappiness will be short-lived, while several suggest a loss of money. If you used one to cook, you will have the virtue and devotion of others. You will have plenty of money if you bought a pan, but if others had pans, money will be delayed.
Making or serving Pancakes predicts success and an exciting and satisfying increase in social activity. A way will be found out of your current difficulties if others were making pancakes. Persevere and you will be successful in your current undertakings if you ate them. Others eating pancakes is a warning that your business associates will cause trouble. Buckwheat pancakes are an augury of slow but steady progress.
If you saw a Panda it is advising you to stop feeding your worries and they will go away.
A Pane of glass suggests you are dealing in uncertainties. Your failure will be heightened if you broke it. There are slight obstacles in your immediate future if you spoke to someone through glass.
You will change your occupation or residence if you viewed a Panorama.
Pansies in your own garden are a sign of contentment, while these flowers growing in someone else’s garden are a prediction of big changes. A bouquet of pansies brings happiness, and a corsage means you will participate in a wedding. Your love is secure if a man gave you pansies. In any other use, they are a forecast of a misunderstanding or an unpleasant experience with someone of your own sex.
You will be lucky in love if you saw a woman wearing Pantaloons. If you wore pantaloons and a mask however, do not be too gullible.
You will triumph over your enemies if you saw a Panther in your dream, and if you saw more than one, you may have to travel on business. Panther cubs foretell joy and happiness. Success is augured if you were attacked by one, and killing one predicts many changes with eventual success. Watching a panther die however is an omen of the death of someone prominent. A panther skeleton means you will soon have money. Your enemies will fail in their attempts to harm you if you saw a panther in a cage, though a chained panther means an enemy will surprise you. Grief will find you if you heard a panther roar, and panthers fighting are a sign of illness. Serious illness is foretold if you saw a panther running. Watch out for deceitful friends if you surprised a panther. If you were afraid of a panther, you will be persecuted by your enemies. A frightened panther indicates unexpected reverses in love or business.
A Pantomime means your friends will deceive you. If you participated in a pantomime, you will offend someone.
A well-stocked Pantry is a prediction of prosperity ahead. If it was only partially stocked, you will be comfortable, while a bare pantry is a warning to curb your extravagances. Success in all your affairs is indicated if you were in a pantry or prepared something in one. If you were not alone, you will always have obstacles to overcome. You will receive news from someone who you have not heard from in a while if you were fixing drinks in a pantry. Your lover is thinking of you if you spilled anything in a pantry.
Clean or new Paper pertains to your efforts. Interpret it by color. White indicates innocence, and colored paper means people are secretly watching you. Your joy will be of short duration if the paper was painted, while printed paper augurs good faith. Paper of poor quality is a prediction of news from a friend, though newspaper paper means loss of temper. Waste-paper is a warning of some new opportunity which you should be careful not to waste. You like to argue if you saw paper upon which something had been written. Your actions are questionable if you saw dirty paper. Folded paper is a sign of small disappointments.
You will have a good job in your chosen field if you saw paper being manufactured. Handling paper is a threat of loss, and seeing your enemies handling paper may indicate some kind of lawsuit.
Papering a room suggests the illness of a friend. You are deceitful if you were a professional paperhanger. Peril is imminent if you watched others paper a room.
Control your excesses and your temper if you dreamed of Paprika. Buying it predicts profit, and using it in your food means you will enjoy many pleasures in life. Selling it is an omen of misfortune in love.
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| Quote : Jean-Paul Sartre |
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