The Ancient Whispers Newsletter

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.

September acquired its name as the seventh month of the old Roman calendar. Pomona, patroness of fruit and fruit-trees, was tutelary goddess of this month in which autumn begins.

September was Meán Fómhair in Ireland or an t-Sultainn, the fat time. All these names refer to the ripening harvest. The September moon is gealach an abachaidh, moon of ripening. Haligmonath, "holy month," was the month of September among the Anglo-Saxons. The Franks called this month Witumanoth, "wood month," for this when the majority of wood was gathered for the coming cold months. September is Shedding among the Asatru.

The first Full Moon is called the Fruit or Grain Moon, a name it shares with August. It shares the name Harvest Moon with October and Sturgeon Moon with August. It has been called the Singing, Wine Moon, and the Moon When Deer Paw the Earth.

Libra takes over from Virgo around September 23rd. Those born this month have the aster for their birth flower. The stone for Virgo and those born in September is the sapphire. Chrysolite and sardonyx are also listed as stones for those born in Septmeber. Libra’s birthstone is opal or tourmaline, and Libra is also linked to aquamarine, emerald, kunzite, moonstone, opal, peridot, and pink tourmaline. Amazonite, amber, carnelian, chrysocolla, citrine, and sapphire are other stones associated with Virgo

Lunar Holy Days

During China's Choyo-no-Sekku or the Kiku no Sekku, Chrysanthemum Day, chrysanthemum wine is drunk on the ninth day of the ninth moon to ensure long life. At the Chrysanthemum Doll Fete, lifelike clay figures are dressed in robes made of fresh chrysanthemums and arranged as parts of legendary and historical scenes. The celebration is also held to honor the poet T'ao Yuan-Ming who flavored the flower which only blooms in the autumn. After his death, he became the god of the flower.

Feast of Hathor

Thoth

bill HR-3389

birth of Quetzalcoatl

Alexander the Great

feast of Divine Life

Kappa-Aquarids

Raud the Strong

Mabon

Higan

Eleusinian Mysteries

Karpo and Carman

Greater Eleusinian Mysteries

Mielikki

Atum

Day of Going Forth of Isis

feast of Obatala

halade mystai

Durga Puja

amendment denying tax-exempt status to Wiccan groups

Greater Eleusinian Mysteries

Mabon, falls on September 22 when the sun enters the sign of Libra, marking the second harvest of the Celtic Pagan year. It is the end of the grain harvest which begun at Lughnasadh. Because the pagans of antiquity could not determine exact astrological positions, the European peasantry usually began celebrating Mabon on the eve of September 24th. "Michaelmas" on September 25th, is both a feast in honor of the Archangel Michael and the Christianized form of Mabon. This holiday has also been known as the Second Harvest Festival, Feast of Avalon, Cornucopia, Wine Harvest, Harvest Home, Festival of Dionysus, and Alban Elfed. The full moon closest to the Autumn Equinox is called the Harvest Moon, and farmers would harvest their corps by its light as part of the Second Harvest celebration.

Like the modern American holiday of Thanksgiving, at Mabon most of the crops have been reaped and people are ready to celebrate their abundance. Any spells or rituals focusing on balance and harmony are appropriate during this period. Since it is the time of dwindling sunlight, in other words the death of the sun, effort is also made to honor the dead at this time, a practice which culminates with the final harvest Samhain on October 31st. One may not pass a burial site without giving honor to the dead.

Mabon ap Modron, "great son of the great mother,” is a Welsh God of the dying and rising sun, music, love, and fertility. He represents the change of seasons. He is also called the Son of Light, the Young Son, or Divine Youth. The Equinox is the birth of Mabon from his mother Modron, the Guardian of the Outerworld. She is the Healer, the Protector, and the Earth.

According to the Mabinogion, Mabon ap Modron was the best huntsman in the world, but he was stolen from his mother when he was three nights old (or three years). In the story of "Culhwch ac Olwen,” he was imprisoned at Caer Llowy, "City of Light" (thought to be Gloucester). He was needed to capture the boar Twrch Trwyth, who was in fact an evil man become a boar through magic. Yspaddaden Penkawr, father of Olwen, demanded the boar be caught before allowing Culhwch to marry his daughter. Before Mabon could be freed however, the Salmon of Llyn Llyw, the oldest animal in the world, was consulted. (The salmon often represent wisdom in Celtic stories.) Cei and Bedwyr, the prototypes of the later Arthurian Kay and Bedevere, rode the salmon to the prison, and on being set free; Cei carried Mabon on his back to King Arthur's court. From there, they hunted the boar. Mabon took the comb and shears behind its ear, and then drove it off a cliff into the sea around Cornwall.

Activities vary by region and tradition, as well as personal preference. Activities appropriate for this time of the year include wheat weaving such corn dollies or other god and goddess symbols. The corn dolly may be used both as a fertility amulet and as an altar centerpiece. If you follow the Celtic path, dressing a corn stalk in cloths and burning it in celebration of the harvest and upcoming rebirth of the sub god might be more to your liking. You may want to string Indian corn on black thread to make a necklace. Some bake bread in the form of a God-figure or a Sun Wheel. You can try your hand at making a Sun Wheel in this week’s craft.

Wandering through your garden, harvest what is ready to be gathered. Making a pilgrimage through your local woods can give you some beautiful natural additions to your altar as you collect leaves, acorns, berries, and other things symbolic of nature's gifts along your way. If the leaves where you live have begun their autumnal change, you may wish to scatter them around the house as decoration. You can also dip the leaves in paraffin and lay them on wax paper to dry. Once they harden, lightly carve symbols of protection or abundance into them and place them around the house or in large jars.

Seeds and grains may be set out for birds and other animals preparing for hibernation or migration. Small gifts of food and drink would be appropriate for the homeless as well. A feast for friends and family also encourages an aura of abundance and thankfulness. Breads may be baked in the shape of the Sun, combining fruits or vegetables and grains. This incorporates both of the major aspects of this Harvest. To honor the dead, it is traditional to place apples on burial plots as symbolism of rebirth and gratitude, and burying them in your lawn is also a traditional way to feed the ghost that may be traveling at this time. Mabon is also a time to honor your living elders, who have devoted so much time and energy to your growth and development.

Mabon Associations

Foods: nuts and acorns, corn (grains), cornbread, wheat bread, root crops -Onions, Carrots, Potatoes, etc., beans, squash, dried fruits, grapes, apples and pomegranates, goose, goat or mutton

Drinks: wine, beer, ale, cider

Colors: red, maroon, russet, yellow, deep gold, orange, brown, violet, indigo

Animals: dogs, wolves, stag, birds of prey (especially blackbird, owl, and eagle), salmon, goat

Stones: yellow topaz, carnelian, sapphire, yellow agate, lapis lazuli, and amethyst, river or stream stones

Plants: vines, ivy, gourds, pinecones, acorns, dried leaves, corn, wheat, pomegranate, hazel, hops, cedar, tobacco

Herbs: myrrh, thistles, tobacco, oak leaves, hazel, mums, hops, acorns, marigold, rose, sage, milkweed, Solomon’s seal, aster, fern, honeysuckle, benzoin, passionflower, pine, cedar

Incense: wood aloes, cinnamon, cloves, benzoin, jasmine, frankincense, myrrh, sage

Gods: all deities of wine -especially Dionysus and Bacchus, Thor, Mabon, Thoth, Hermes, Hotei, Harvest Deities, and Aging Deities

Godessess: the Mother, Persephone, Modron, Snake Woman, Epona, Pamona, Muses, Harvest Deities, and Aging Deities

Other Symbols: burial Cairns, rattles, and sun wheels, horn of plenty, garlands

1 wire coat hanger
cardboard
5-8 ears of Indian corn with husks intact*
optional –heavy work gloves and needle nose pliers

Bend the wire hanger into a circle, keeping the hook intact to hang it later. If you’re doing this by hand, without the use of a vise, you may want to wear heavy gloves to save your skin from mishaps. A pair of needle nose pliers may also come in handy when shaping your circle.

Attach the ears of Indian corn around the perimeter of the wire circle. Wrap the husks around and glue where necessary, leaving some of the husks to hang loose and fray out from the edges. Cut out a small cardboard circle. Where the ears of corn meet in the center, lay the small cardboard circle behind them and glue them together. This will give your creation more solidity.

Use your sun wheel as a door wreath or hang it above or on your altar. You can also make this as a gift for friends and neighbors. Use your decorative judgment and add ribbons, dried flowers, and other natural embellishments to your sun wheel.

*Note: You may decide to craft your Wheel as a pentagram using five ears, or a Solar Wheel using eight ears, one ear for each Sabbat.

Athtar is depicted in the Ras Shamra text of Canaan. He attempted to act as a substitute for Ba’al, but when he was unsuccessful, he descended to become the lord of the underworld instead. He is known as the chief divinity of the Minaeans, so perhaps his descent into the underworld indicates hostilities between the Canaanites and Minaeans. Athtar, apparently from the word athara, "to be fertile, to irrigate," would be an appropriate name for an underworld god, but is only considered a minor vegetation deity.

"Thereupon Athtar the Fierce
Goes up to the crags of Saphon;
He takes is seat on the throne of Ba'al the Mighty.
His feet do not reach the footstool,
His head does not reach the top thereof.
Then Athtar the Fierce declares, '
I may not be king on the crags of Saphon'.
Athtar the Fierce comes down,
Down from the throne of Ba'al the Mighty,
And he becomes King over the whole vast underground."

- Ras Shamra texts

The Sabeans of Sheba also recognize Athtar, for them however, he is superseded by Almaqah, the planet Venus and therefore is identical with Astarte. On the Shabwat inscription Athtar is the father of Sin, a Sabean moon-god. These two deities also appear as nearly related in the Babylonian legend of Ishtar’s descent to the Underworld, where Ishtar is regarded as the daughter of the god Sin. The mother of Athtar on another inscription is probably the sun.

In Arabia, Athtar was another name for Astarte or Ishtar. Divided into a male and female deity, (s)he was considered the mother and father of mankind. In this instance, Athtar was the name given to the male half. From pre-Islamic southern Arabia, his worship spread to Abyssinia, where he was known as Astar. Other possibly connected deities include Athar a(sh)-Shariq, Athtar Dhu Qabdim, Athtar Shariq, Athtar Shariqan, Athtar Sharqan, and Attr.

Description: Brazil nut trees are native to the Amazon basin and Rio Negro in Brazil. The trees can reach ages of five hundred to eight hundred years old, forming great forests in the tropics. It will take a tree ten to thirty years just to begin fruiting. It is a tall tree, growing from one hundred to one hundred thirty feet with a trunk diameter of three feet. The limbs and trunk are covered with a scaly bark. The leathery green leaves are alternate, reaching up to twenty inches in length with secondary veins branching from one another without reaching the leaf margin. The Brazil nut tree produces bisexual, creamy-yellow flowers in panicles. The gamosepalous calyx splits in two when the buds open, and has six petals. The fruit is a globoid or elongated capsule about the size of a grapefruit and weighing five pounds. Each fruit contains eight to twenty-four triangular seeds with a rough skin, which is quite stiff, but thin. A mature tree can produce approximately three hundred of these cannonball like fruits which come plunging through the canopy from January to June to strike the ground with enough force to break the fruit into orange-like sections containing the nuts.

Effects: strong
Planet: Mercury Zodiac: Virgo
Element: air
Associated Deities:

Traditions:
For centuries the indigenous tribes of the rainforest have relied on Brazil nuts as an important and significant staple in their diet—so important, that it has even been used as a trade commodity, much like money. The empty seed pods, often called "monkey's pots," are used to carry around small smoky fires to discourage attacks of black flies. They are also utilized as cups to collect rubber latex from tapped trees and as drinking cups.

Magic:
The Brazil nut, with shell intact, is used as a luck or love talisman.

Known Combinations:
none known

Medical Indications: Parts used:
Brazil nut has no medical indications aside from their high nutritional value. They are a source of iron, sulfur, magnesium, selenium, and vitamin E. Brazil nuts are one of the best natural sources of selenium. One single Brazil nut exceeds the U.S. Recommended Daily Allowance of selenium, and the proteins found in Brazil nuts are very high in sulfur-containing amino acids, like cysteine and methionine, and are also extremely rich in glutamine, glutamic acid, and arginine. The presence of these amino acids enhances the absorption of selenium and other minerals in the nut. Selenium is an essential trace mineral in the human body with antioxidant, anticancer, and cancer-preventative properties.
The husks of the seedpods have been used in Brazilian folk medicine to brew a tea to treat stomachaches. The tree bark is also brewed into a tea for liver ailments and diseases.

Nutrition:
Both the nut and it’s oil is edible. The nut may be eaten fresh or dried. Indigenous tribes of South America eat the nuts raw or grate them and mix them into gruels. In the Brazilian Amazon, nuts are grated with the roots of Socratea palms into a white mush known as leite de castanha and then stirred into manioc flour. This food is a valuable source of calories, fat, and protein for much of the Amazon's rural and tribal peoples.

Mercantile Uses:
Brazil nut oil is used commercially for scented soap. With such a large oil content, Brazil nuts will burn like miniature candles when lit. The oil is extracted from the nuts and used by indigenous and rural people for cooking oil, lamps, and livestock feed. Exportation of the Brazil nut began in the 1600s with the Dutch traders and is now second only to shipments of rubber. Virtually all harvesting comes from wild harvesting. Not only is this tree a slow fruiter, it requires a specific species of bee to pollinate its flowers. Both of these factors make it unsuitable and unprofitable for plantation cultivation.

How time reverses
The proud in heart!
I now make verses
Who aimed at art.

But I sleep well.
Ambitious boys
Whose big lies swell
With spiritual noise

Despise me not!
And be not queasy
To praise somewhat:
Verse is not easy.

But rage who will.
Time that procured me
Good sense and skill
Of madness cured me.

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Quote : Oscar Wilde
Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.

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The Power of Stones: Atelestite
For past articles and the bibliography, please go to the
Power of Stones Archive.

Atelestite ranges in color from yellow to green. Named from the Greek for "incomplete," this is presumably because its composition was unknown when first described. Self-expression or retrieval of lost memories are the hallmarks of this stone. It is also a crystal affecting business and material gain, allowing you to direct your energies toward successful ventures.

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Humor : Bad Pun
A man went into a fortuneteller's tent. She was smiling and laughing, and he hit her. Of course he was arrested. When he arrived in court, the judge asked what he had to say in his defense. His answer? He said that he had always been brought up to strike a happy Medium.

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A Dreamer's Guide : Look to Losing

For past articles and the bibliography, please go to the
Dreamer's Guide Archive.

Abundance is your reward if you Looked at a beautiful person, while looking at other things means advancement. If you looked forward to something, a change will come soon. Looking a man straight in the eyes indicates a triumph over enemies, and looking a woman in the eyes means it is time to pursue courtship. Worries of all kind are on their way if you gave anyone a sidelong glance.

If you looked down from a very high place, you are very ambitious, and looking down from a hill means you are a restless desire for love. Do not go too far in your schemes if you looked down from a window, but looking down from your home foretells a change in your environment.

If you looked up at a mountain, hard work awaits you, but looking up at a monument indicates success. Proceed with your plans in confidence if you looked up at the sky, and looking up at your home means good luck is yours. Control your passions if you looked up to a window.

Treason is foretold by a Looking Glass. Friends are cheating you if a woman peered into the glass, and a man looking into the class is a warning to be careful in business. Your staff is not giving you support if a businessman looked into the mirror, and if a young girl looked into the glass, it would be advisable to change boyfriends. If your spouse or lover looked into the mirror, they may not be faithful.

Making yarns into fabric on a Loom presages good times, a thrifty spouse, and lovely children. Recovery from an illness or a temporary setback is foretold by a loom appearing in your dreams. If you stood by as a stranger worked the loom, you will soon experience much turmoil and irritation from gossipers. If the stranger was a beautiful woman however, you will soon meet with success in love.

If something Loomed above the surface of the sea, you will have luck and prosperity. Something looming above the land means money will come easily.

Knowledge of a Loophole means you have the ability to see far ahead. If you made loopholes, your ability will aid you in attaining your own wishes. If others found loopholes, you will have misfortune in love, and others being caught by a loophole indicates sorrow.

Social success is augured by speaking to a Lord. If a woman spoke to him, you will gain monetarily. You will have high authority if you heard a lord speaking to others.

It is a suitable time to pursue your romantic interests if you dreamt of a Lorry, and you should attempt to repair your love life if you road on one. If you saw others riding on a lorry, your hopes will meet with rapid success. Enemies riding one means financial gains, and children on one indicate a mystery solved. Important and beneficial events await you if you saw friends riding on a lorry.

If you dreamt of Losing some article, difficulties lie ahead. Good times are ahead if you lost your wedding ring, but losing your shoes means a serious disaster is in your future. You are being deceived if you lost any clothes, while trouble through your own actions is predicted if you lost any household items. If you lost your dog, you will gain dignity and distinction, and losing your car means money in your future. Be more careful in your finances if you lost your home, and losing your business foretells humiliations.

Shame and sorrow await you if you lost your boyfriend, and losing a girlfriend means you will suffer for your own foolishness. If you lost your wife, avoid rivals, and losing a husband is a warning of temptation. Domestic trouble is augured if you lost a child. Losing friends indicates a change in your love life.

If you were lost in the streets, you will have joy without profit. Your worries are over if you lost at gambling. Losing blood means you will be in need of financial help, and losing your nose is a warning of trouble. Beware of jealous friends if you lost your hearing.

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Quote : Ted Greisel (Dr. Seuss)
Told cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.

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