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.

October was the eighth month of the old Roman calendar and was sacred to the goddess Astraea, daughter of Zeus and Themis.

Deireadh Fóómhair or an Damhair, the stag rut, was the Irish name for this month or Gealach a 'bhruic, moon of the badger. Winterfelleth, "winter is coming," was the Anglo-Saxon name. The Franks called October Windurmanoth, "vintage month." Hunting is the Asatru name.

The first Full Moon is called the Hunter's Moon. This moon is also known as Shedding Moon, Ten Colds Moon, Ancestor Moon or the Moon of the Dead, and the Moon of the Changing Season. It shares the name Blood Moon with July and Harvest Moon with September.

The sun passes from Libra to Scorpio around October 23rd. Marigolds are for October children. Beryl, aquamarine, opal, or tourmaline are best for people born in October, and opal or tourmaline are also the birthstones of Libra, while topaz is the stone for Scorpio. Libra has connections to aquamarine, emerald, kunzite, moonstone, opal, peridot, and pink tourmaline, and other Scorpio stones include albite, aquamarine, emerald, garnet, green tourmaline, malachite, moonstone, obsidian, and ruby.

Winter Saturday and Winter Sunday is a two-day Asatru festival held at the end of the month to commemorate the end of winter.

Kanname-Sai

Hengest

feast of Sekhmet

Thesmophoria

Pandrosus

Nicholas Culpepper

Bettara-Ichi

festival of Sobek

Ishhara

Hathor Goes Forth

Hi Matsuri

Orionids

Ceremony of Thoth, festival of Selket

The broom has long been associated with magick due to its symbolic shape. Though considered primarily a female icon due to its domestic use, it is also a fertility symbol for both sexes –the shaft and the brush denoting their union. For this reason, brooms were long used in handfasting rituals (the broom leap). According to Yorkshire belief (and Appalachia and rural country folk), if a young girl inadvertently stepped over a broom handle, she would be a mother before a wife. Gypsies in Wales kept the old custom of the broomstick wedding for some time. The couple would leap over a broom placed diagonally in a doorway without dislodging it. If they wished to dissolve the marriage, one or both would simply reversed the process, jumping backward over the broom before the same witnesses.

This common household tool is so sacred, in some parts of the world there are broom deities. In China, the broom is a sign of the goddess Sao Ch’ing Niang or Sao Ch’ing Niang-Niang. She is known as the “Lady with the Broom,” and she lives on the Broom Star where she presides over good weather. If rain continues for too long, farmers cut out paper images of brooms and paste them on their doors and fences to bring clear weather and sunshine. In pre-Colombian Mexico, the Aztecs worshiped Tiazolteotl who was usually depicted carrying or riding a broom. In her rites, priests burned black incense and laid brooms made from rushes across the fire. She was invoked to sweep away her worshipers’ transgressions.

The broom is an ancient tool of magick and ritual that is still used by witches today. The traditional Witch's Broom is made of ash, birch (broom or heather), and willow, but it can be made of just about any wood available. The most common superstition connected with brooms, that they were used by witches to fly, did not appear until the fourteenth century. Toward the end of the eighteenth century, the question of witches flying was settled once and for all in an English law court. Lord Mansfield declared that he knew of no law that prohibited flying and, therefore, anyone so inclined was perfectly free to do so. Shortly thereafter, reports of witches flying on broomsticks ceased.

Although not employed for flying purposes, the broom does have many uses. It is often used for protection. Two brooms crossed and hung on a wall or nailed to a door guard the house, as does a broom placed on the ground before the main door. Take two needles and make an equal-armed cross with them. Place the cross into a broom, and stand it behind a door for protection. When standing a broom, place the bristles up, handle to the floor. This not only insures that the bristles last longer, it is good luck. In Sicily, on Midsummer's Eve, people often put a broom outside their homes to ward off any wickedness that might come knocking. Likewise, brooms laid across the doorways are believed to keep out evil. Placing a broom across any doorway allows your departed friends and family to speak to you if they so choose. As long as the broom remains in place, they can communicate freely. If you feel as though you are being followed and haunted by unfriendly ghosts, stepping over a broomstick will prevent them from disturbing you.

Placing a small broom beneath the pillows will keep evil far from your slumbers. If nightmares are a problem, hang a broom on the bedroom door and place garlic beneath your pillow, or put the broom under your bed. You should sleep peacefully. If you have reason to fear for your safety while you sleep, lay a broom beneath your bed and sprinkle a circle of salt around it (while inside the circle’s perimeter). You should be safe until morning, at which time, feel free to sweep up the salt with the broom.

The broom is also and most commonly used for physically and magickally cleaning an area that will be used for sacred space, hence the term "making a clean sweep." The broom does not have to touch the ground to sweep away the psychic clutter that often collects in well-used places. The broom, or parts of it, could be used in healing. One old wart cure instructed the afflicted one to measure a wart crosswise with a broom straw. Then bury the straw. The straw would decay, and so should the blemish. This is a spell with many variations. The most common is using two halves of a potato.

Many broom superstitions exist in a variety of cultures. In China, the brooms should only be for cleaning the house, shop etc. They believe a spirit inhabits the broom; thus explaining why it should not be used for games or playing, etc. When gambling, the spirit in the broom is sometimes invoked by ‘threatening’ it until luck in gambling ensues. The broom should also not be used for cleaning the household gods or altar, as this is disrespectful. These objects are usually cleaned with a cloth or a special small brush. For three days from New Year’s Day during the Spring Festival, Chinese custom prohibits the use of the broom as it is thought that it will sweep away the good luck the New Year brings.

There are many times when using a broom is not advisable. It should never be used when there is a dead person in the house. You should never sweep outside the house, unless the inside of the house has been cleaned first. It is also said you should never sweep upstairs rooms in the afternoon. It is sometimes said that sweeping the room of a departing guest immediately after he has gone will bring him back, but I have also read the exact opposite; if you sweep directly after an unwanted guest has gone, he will never return. Because these traditions oppose one another, you might try simply placing a broom upside down behind his door to make him go away. It is unlucky to buy a broom in the month of August, but it can be downright dangerous in May. Two variations of an old English Rhyme say that if you:

If you buy a broom in May,
you will sweep your friends away.
and
If you sweep the house with broom in May
You will sweep the head of house away.

There are many other beliefs involving the broom. The broom should never touch the head for this is very bad luck. Beating a person with a broom will bring bad luck to that person for years, though the curse can be lifted by rubbing the part of the body hit several times. In Africa, should a man be struck by a broom, he will grab hold of it and hit the broomstick seven times or he will become impotent. The broom is also sometimes used in temple rituals. The person’s entire body is swept with the broom in front of the deities, and the broom is then beaten. This is done to remove bad luck.

It is said that a new broom should sweep dirt out of a house only after it has swept something in, and dirt should never be swept out onto the porch. Generally when sweeping, everything should be swept into the fireplace if you have one or to the center of the room to be gathered in a dustpan. Also never sweep after sunset. Doing so will chase away happiness or hurt any wandering souls. To ensure that your regular sweeping brings you only good, carve "I sweep in money and luck" on the handle (the words running from bristles). On the other side (running in the opposite directing) carve "I sweep out evil and poverty." American country folk believe no good comes of carrying a broom across water or burning one. Leaning it against a bed will bring bad luck to the bed. Never bring old brooms into new houses, as it will have become attached to the old home and bring only bad luck, but good luck comes from sending a new broom and a loaf of bread into a new home before entering it.

The broom is also a prophetic tool. If you drop a broom, you will soon have company. It was believed that if someone swept over your feet while they were sweeping the floor, you would never get married. If a broom falls over of its own accord, you may never remarry. This belief may stem from the old broom marriage custom. If a broom drops across a doorway, you’ll soon go on a journey. However, make sure to pick it up quickly, and don’t step over it.

Brooms were also used in weather magic. In Hamburg, when sailors had had enough of toiling against a contrary wind, they would throw an old broom before any vessel traveling in the opposite direction to reverse the wind. To bring rain, stand outside and swing a broom in the air over your head, but to ward off lightening put a broom on your porch to act as a lightening rod. Electricity and lightening are thought to be attracted to brooms. Another way to safeguard your home against lightning is to cross a spade and a broom outside the main entrance.

If you would like a besom of your own, they are fairly easy to find in craft stores, country markets, or folk art fairs, but you can also make one yourself. This is a good idea if you wish to use it in place of a wand or other ritual tool.

To make a besom you will need:
A four foot dowel one inch in diameter (or an ash branch of equal thickness)
ball of twine (or supple willow branches)
scissors
straw (birch, broom, or heather)

Take your straw (or other herb you have chosen for the bristles) and allow them to soak overnight in warm, lightly salted water. The water softens the straws to make them pliable. When you are ready to make your besom, remove the straws from the water and allow them to dry a bit (but not so much that they lose the suppleness you will need to turn them into your besom).

Find a work area where you can lay out the length of your dowel and begin lining the straws alongside the dowel. Starting about three inches from the bottom, lay the straws, moving backward along the length of the dowel. Begin binding these to the dowel with the twine. You will need to tie them very securely as you go. Add as many layers of straw as you wish, depending on how full you would like your besom to be.

When the straw is secure, bend the top straws down over the twine ties. When they are all gently pulled over, tie off the straws again a few inches below the original tie. Leave the besom overnight to allow the straw to dry.

The dowel part of the besom can be stained, painted, or decorated with pagan symbols, your craft name, or any other embellishments you choose.

Atri is one of the seven great Rishis according to Vedic myth. They are sometimes identified with the seven stars of Ursa Major. The Rishis or Prajapratis were created from the mind of Brahma. Atri is the senior most amongst the Rishi. His wife Mahasati Anasuya was the daughter of the highly devoted and pious couple, Kardam and Devahuti.

Atri and his wife Anasuya wanted their son to be an incarnation of Nirguna Parabrahma (the Infinite Supreme). To achieve this, Atri performed tapasya (penance), standing on one leg for one hundred years on the Ruksha Mountain with neither food nor water. Pleased with this feat, the Gods Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh appeared before him to grant his wish.

Description: Buchu is a small shrub two to five feet high. It is found principally in South Africa. The pale-green leaves are obovate or ovate with blunt, strongly curved tips and serrate margins. They are opposite, glossy, and leathery. Round oil glands are scattered through the leaves. Each flower has five petals and is whitish to pink. The fruit is an ovate capsule. The leaves smell somewhat like rue or peppermint, and have a strongly aromatic taste.

Effects: gentle
Planet: Moon
Element: water
Associated Deities:

Traditions:
The leaves are gathered while the plant is in flower or fruiting and dried.

Magic:
An infusion of Buchu is drunk to increase prophetic ability. It is also a diuretic however, so be prepared for that potty break afterwards.

It was used among many tribes, especially the San and Khoi tribes of Southern Africa, as an ointment to ward-off evil spirits, but if nothing else, it wards off insects which can be evil all on their own.

Known Combinations:
Buchu may also be burnt with Frankincense before sleep for prophetic dreams.

Medical Indications: Parts used: leaves
In the seventeenth century, Dutch colonists of South Africa learned about the herb from the natives and adopted buchu for urinary tract infections, kidney stones, arthritis, cholera, and muscle aches. The leaves of this shrub contain barosma camphor, diasmin, essential oils, l-enthone, hesperidin, mucilage, resin. The oils found in buchu increases urine production. The Hottentots have used buchu to brew a strong tea of dried leaves for urinary disorders, painful urination and inflammation, gravel, catarrh of bladder, and leucorrhea for many years. In South Africa an infusion is made with brandy for a stomachic and stimulant tonic. Buchu is also known to decrease inflammation of the colon, gums, mucus membranes, prostrate, sinuses, and vagina. Some studies have even indicated that it may be helpful for diabetes, and digestive and prostrate disorders. When added to the bath, it may be used to relieve body aches.

Nutrition:
none known

Mercantile Uses:
Authorities of Cape Town have restricted the harvesting of buchu in an effort to protect the wild plants. No one is permitted to pick or buy it without a license.

I am who the trail took,
nose of whom I followed,
woodwit I confided in
through thorned-and-briared hallows;
favoring my right side for
clouds the sun had hemmed in.
Behind the North I sought daystar,
bore down highroads hidden
to undiscerning gaze.
My right, my right I turned to
on trails strangely unblazoned
where fistfive forkings burgeoned,
I took my right. Was destined
among deerdroppings on the ridge
or chipmunk stone astrain
or hoofmucks in the swamp cabbage
to err? Landmarking birch
self-multiplied in malice till
woods reared a white-barred cage
around my spinning eye. The spool
of memory had run out my yarn
and last the last hank. Found
I the maze I wander in
where my right, trusted hand,
leads round and round a certain copse,
a sudden mound of stone,
an anthill humming in the rocks
an expectant tune?
Lacklearning now my knowledge is
of how to coax recalcitrant
ignition from cold engines,
or mate a fugue in either hand
on spinet or converse
in any tongue but stonecrop signs.
Clouds hump like battling bulls. The firs
lash me with angry tines,
shred my cloths. A wind-whipped will
uncompassed, lacking fur or fang,
strange to these parts, yet whom the anthill
anticipating, sang.

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Quote : David Starr Jordan
Wisdom is knowing what to do next; virtue is doing it.

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

Autunite ranges in color from bright yellow to pale or deep green. It is one of the more attractive and popular radioactive minerals. Uranium in its chemical formula provides this radioactivity. The crystal aggregates look like inflated mica books and are very distinctive. It encourages the user to not only embrace changes offering the highest reward, but to seek those changes which will most benefit the user’s development. Malachite and has the same chemical composition. In time, malachite can replace azurite crystals. As some medieval painters ground it for use in their paintings, some formerly blue skies have now turned green.>

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Humor : You might be a Pagan Yuppie if…

your altar comes with matching throw pillows from IKEA your chalice is made from Swarovski crystal you have ever hired a maid to cleanse and consecrate your circle you have ever worn Mother's pearls while going skyclad you have ever made holy water from Perrier you have ever had a Reikii master "on staff" you have ever called the Quarters from your Cell phone. your Coven meetings involve a webcam and a speaker phone you believe you can download the Akashic Records to your Palm Pilot if you have ever been "beeped" during a Full Moon Ritual you serve Chateau Lafite and Fois Gras as "Cakes and Ale". you have ever used caviar to represent the element Water you have ever had to stop a ritual because the ice sculpture was melting too quickly you have ever called a caterer for your Sabbat feast your familiar has ever won "Best of Show" you keep your Tarot Cards in a bag by Gucci you have ever had your Circle meeting at a country club you have vanity plates on your car that say "Rch Wtch" or "BroomStk" you refer to channeling as "taking a meeting on speaker phone" you refer to your High Priest as the CEO of Magick you think "balance with nature" means giving equal amounts to PETA and World Wildlife Fund

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A Dreamer's Guide : Mammoth to Manuscript

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

A Mammoth indicate insurmountable obstacles lie ahead of you. You will receive an unexpected gift if it was in a cage, and a mammoth being trained presages good earnings.

Glory and honor or boundless wealth will be yours if you dreamt of an unknown Man. A tall man means good luck, while a fat man indicates bad decisions. A bald man is a sign of abundance. If you saw an armed man, you will have sorrow and disgrace follows a dream of an angry man. Beware of whom you meet if you saw a naked man, and a dirty man is a sign of family spats. You will have no friends if you saw a horrible man, while a handsome man augurs satisfaction and joy. A haughty or proud man signifies a secret admirer. You may lose your temper if you encountered a man with a beard, and a lawsuit may be lost if you saw a dead man. A prominent man promises improvement of your business, and a politician indicates happiness. A murderer is a contrary indication meaning security.

You may be frightened after a dream of a man in a park, and a savage man encountered in a forest is a warning that someone may try to cheat you. A man battling wild animals is an omen of good friendships. A man with a crown is a sign of good profits. Excessive good luck will be yours if you saw a man in white, while a man in black brings misfortune. A man being executed foretells loss of business, and sickness is augured if he was hanged.

A dream of Mankind is a warning of nervous depression brought about by overwork.

Your enemies will annoy you if you were Manacled, but if others were restrained, you will overcome all obstacles. Enemies thus restrained indicate good prospects in business, and handcuffed relatives mean you will get out of trouble.

Your happiness is assured if you dreamt of a Manicure. You will marry a wealthy person if you were a manicurist, and if you received a manicure, you will fall in love with someone much older than yourself.

A nude Manikin in a show window promises financial gain, but if it was dressed, beware of being jilted. Avoid rivals if you saw someone dressing a manikin, while buying the clothes from a manikin indicates frivolity.

Good earnings are foretold by heavenly Manna, especially if it was in your possession. If you shared it with others, money is coming your way.

Bad Manners indicate an inferiority complex which you must overcome to progress. Over courteous behavior on the other hand pertain to some social climbing you may be planning which will not end well for you at all.

A Man-of-War denotes long journeys, separation from country and friends, and political dissension. A crippled war ship or one sailing on rough seas indicates damage to your interests from abroad.

A Manservant means you will be cheated by friends, and if you were a manservant, someone of ill intent is watching you. If you employed a manservant, a change is coming soon, and firing one augurs unexpected bad luck.

A Mansion in the distance is a sign of advancement. Pleasure of a short duration is indicated if you owned a mansion, while owning several means you will be attacked. You are an innocent if you owned a small mansion, but a regal mansion signifies ingratitude from others. Living in a mansion is a warning of sorrow, but simply being inside one foretells wealth. If there was a haunted chamber, you will find misfortune in the midst of contentment. Others in a mansion is a warning of jealousy directed toward you. Someone will take something from you by force if a mansion was demolished, and burning one indicates foolishness. You will spend much money if the mansion was in a city. A mansion, which is sumptuously furnished, is an omen of changes that may not entirely be to your liking. An empty mansion or one in bad repair is a sign of a change for the better, though it may not seem to be so at first.

Security and long life are foretold by committing Manslaughter, and if you were yourself the victim, you will escape danger. Be cautious if you were acquitted of this crime, and if you were found guilty, there may soon be a divorce.

Beware of treachery if you saw a beautiful Mantel, especially from those you trust if there was a clock on it.

Wearing a Mantle is a sign of dignity, and putting one on yourself indicates new employment. Taking one off however is a warning of disgrace.

Manufacturing materials means you will have an active hand in the making of your fortune. If you sold manufactured materials, you will realize your grand ambitions. If you worked in a plant, you will receive services, and owning a plant means financial gain. If you made playing cards, you will escape danger, but making pots and pans indicates someone’s death. Unhappiness in marriage is indicated by the manufacture of combs, and making starches is a sign of poverty and misery.

Fertilizing soil with Manure or selling it augurs prosperity, and buying it promises wealth. Even handling it is a sign of profit.

Disappointment concerning some plan or project follows a dream of an incomplete Manuscript or one that is lost, but if it was finished and clearly written, you will realize your grand plans. If you were successfully at work upon some manuscript, you will be successful in your undertakings, but any trouble with it means you harbor doubts. If your manuscript was rejected, though you may feel hopeless at the moment, eventually you will achieve your desires. Some work of yours will bring you much profit and elevation if you saw it burn.

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Quote : Helen Keller
The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen, nor touched… but felt in the heart.

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