“The sense of danger must not disappear: / The way is certainly both short and steep, / However gradual it looks from here; / Look if you like, but you will have to leap.”
—W.H. Auden
To encourage our leaping, Seán Pádraig O’Donoghue,
will be joining us tonight!
Yip-Yip!
(as we all help Sean and me to brew our Mid-Winter to Equinox Celtic Trickster Cahoot,
hee-hee)
me from 2011
let’s toss the passivity of tired language and out-worn metaphor and “For God sakes do not hope, nor fear, nor regret – the bogles (underworld demons) are attracted to those because they are vulnerably weak,” say the Wee Free Men in Terry Pratchett’s novels.
&
How splendid
the Moon Mercury conjunction at 2+ Aquarius – “deserter from the conventional, following their own wilderness path…”
Unfurling as it be in accord with our dedication…
Saturn does the dedication – & Uranus does the booking accordingly.
All the planets in the West- so our Wilderness path goes into the past,
with Venus,
sextiling Neptune
to retrieve
what we need to practice now.
From Caitlin Mathews:
“In the medieval liturgical calendar, the festival of Christmas Day stood alone by itself as a supreme holy day, and so the counting of the twelve days began from 26 December which is the 1st day of Christmas until the 6th January which is Twelfth Night, or the 12th day of Christmas.”
Well, in Brittany and in Wales, the Twelve Days of Christmas, which mark the intercalary days of the year, are called ‘the Omen Days,’ and they have a special purpose. ‘Intercalary days’ are really the days left over from reckoning up the solar year and, in calendars throughout the world and at different times, they are special because they are considered to be ‘the days out of time.’ It is in this interval between the ordinary count of days that gods are born or conceived in many different mythologies, including the Irish one, where Oengus Og, Young Angus, is conceived, grown and born at Brúg na Boinne within this time, all in one day, by the magical workings of the Dagda.Brúg na Boinne
Within these twelve days lies a wonderful secret that those dismissive of the Christian tradition might well miss, for each of the twelve days is assigned to a month of the coming year, with the first day of Christmas the 26th December as symbolic of January, the second day or 27th December representing February and so on, right through to 6th January which represents the December yet to come. It was the custom of many to go out on each day of the Christmas festival to observe the signs in nature and divine from them the state of the year to come. The omens experienced on each of the Omen Days indicate the nature of each month in the coming year.The divining of oracles from nature has a long tradition in Celtic lore. The Scots Gaelic tradition of the frith or the augury from the signs of nature is well established. The listening to bird’s calling was a critical part of druidic lore, as was the movement and behaviour of other animals. Some of these auguries have come down to us, like the little white book of meanings in a tarot pack: some people used them, but others did not. The real skill is to read the signs in accordance with your understanding at the time, and as it relates to the question that provoked the augury in the first place. I’ve been teaching this skill for over 25 years and not yet found anyone who couldn’t do it, as long as they first asked a well-framed question.In this case, you treat each day of Christmas as the opportunity for an augury for the month it represents in coming year. This might be experienced during a daily walk, or perceived in the nature of the day itself and how it falls out. Personally, I like to make a frame for each Omen Day, by asking to be shown an augury from nature and allowing the next thing I experience, see or hear to be the sign I am expecting. It helps to find the right place to do this on a walk, to close your eyes, to spin around on the spot and then be attentive…
That the Twelve Days of Christmas have kept their assured place at the heart of Celtic divination is one of those wonderful instances of double-decker belief that are scattered throughout folk tradition worldwide. The Russians have a good word for this kind of thing, naming it dvoverie or ‘double-belonging,’ a word originally coined to cover those who had an earlier belief running alongside a later one. Wherever a newer tradition has come into a country, the older one doesn’t just die or go away, but becomes fused with the newer one, so that the traditional continuity can be enjoyed by us all.”
From Thoms Carlisle:
Backwards to try
Smithsonian Magazine: Stone Age People Donned Elk-Tooth Ornaments During Spirited Dance Sessions Thousand of animal incisors discovered at an 8,000-year-old Russian cemetery may have been valued for their role in keeping a beat
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/elk-tooth-ornaments-reveal-ancient-dance-moves-180977902/
Jupiter, the protector!
EarthSky: Super-Earth exoplanets often have giant ‘Jupiter’ bodyguards The largest planet in our solar system, Jupiter, has often been credited for helping life to exist on Earth, by deflecting dangerous asteroids from entering the inner solar system and colliding with our world. So what about in other solar systems?
Super-Earth exoplanets often have giant ‘Jupiter’ bodyguards
Don’t look ….(up, down)
…at the doomsday glacier
Rolling Stone: ‘The Fuse Has Been Blown,’ and the Doomsday Glacier Is Coming for Us All New data suggests a massive collapse of the ice shelf in as little as five years. “We are dealing with an event that no human has ever witnessed,” says one scientist. “We have no analog for this”
Our conundrum….
Without hubris, but with experimental humility,
to protect what we love – become more like what we love…
To protect wolves – become like wolves
to protect water – become more like water…
Let’s encourage us all to wonder what would it mean to converse… glaciers…
No enemies – dance partners…
Omicron not enemy, opponent, but engaged as catalyst for mutual evolution…
Let’s talk valiant viruses, as necessary –
if we are Venus with it…
Venus now retrieving our manners…..
the sine qua non for against all odds redemption.
and
*****essential!!!!!!: Leonardo DiCaprio explaining “Don’t Look Up”
The most crucial choreography, to which we bring all our dance moves -our altruistic ingenuity humbly cooperating with, available to
Nature’s Guiding Trickster Genius…
We are Good-Hearted People & We are Available!
Leonardo DiCaprio Explains Don’t Look Up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEMaLsPTWlo
and this also – fabulous:
The Ending Of DON’T LOOK UP Explained: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MmFhKwcx_Y
Meanwhile
Rick Levine:
“On the surface, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of movement in January, but first glances are often deceiving. Uranus, the last of the outer planets still retrograding turns direct on January 18. The deeper planetary notes are all making themselves heard again as we move steadily into the future. Venus turned retrograde on December 19 and continues to backpedal nearly all month, until January 29. Mercury entered its shadow on December 29, turns retrograde on January 14, and remains so until February 3. This Mercury-Venus dance continues to bring up unresolved issues as we reevaluate our priorities, review our recent accomplishments and disappointments, and reinvent ourselves for the new year. There are relatively fewer aspects than normal being formed since there are no outer planet transits (Jupiter and beyond), and the fastest-moving inner planets (Mercury and Venus) are both stationing this month. Accordingly, January may seem like a welcome relief in contrast to the level of change we recently endured.January opens and closes with a New Moon. The Capricorn New Moon on January 2 shows the potential of what’s ahead with its trine to futuristic Uranus. However, the Saturn-Uranus square is still about one degree from exact, reminding us that we’re still managing the fallout from all the recent chaos. The Cancer Full Moon on January 17 is closely opposed powerful Pluto, revealing the importance of that which is not apparent. The emotional Cancer Moon tends to create protective boundaries while the radiant Sun’s conjunction with mysterious Pluto shines the light of consciousness into the hidden realms to bring conspiracies out into the open. The innovative Aquarius New Moon on January 31 is the second New Moon this month, signaling the unforeseen breakthroughs that bring us closer to our imagined futures. But we are still not through with this powerful transition, for the progressive Aquarius New Moon is not only square unpredictable Uranus, but also applying to a conjunction with the cosmic naysayer, Saturn. Apparently, we have not fully learned our lessons yet which means our willingness to admit our mistakes is essential to our growth.A quick note: although two New Moons in one month is as rare as a Blue Moon, February has no New Moons, setting up March for two New Moons like January. Although this is not astrologically significant, it is a very rare calendrical occurrence. Make of it what you will.”
