December 21, 2014, Winter Solstice - “Although It’s Been Said Many Times Many Ways”

Winter Solstice arrives on December 21st at 3:03 p.m. PST.  The word ‘solstice’ comes from the latin words, sol – meaning sun and sisto – stop.  During Solstice the Sun will appear to stop in the sky and then ever so infinitesimally, reverse its direction. From that point until the Summer Solstice in June, our number of daylight hours continues to increase. 

Earth’s orbit causes us to tilt 23.5 degrees away from the Sun at this time of year. Not all at once, of course.  We start leaning this way after the Summer Solstice and arrive at full tilt by December 21st.  Afterwards we start the journey back so that by early summer we are tilting a full 23.5 degrees towards the Sun. At Winter Solstice everything above latitude, 66.5 degrees north (the Arctic Circle) has twenty-four hours of darkness and everything below latitude 66.5 degrees south (Antarctica) receives twenty-four hours of light.  This also gradually reverses after December 21st.

Humans began cultivating crops more than 10,000 years ago.

January through April were known as the ‘famine months.’

Unfortunately, they still are in many parts of the world with strictly agrarian cultures.  Each civilization has had its way to mark the end of the year and all of them centered on Winter Solstice.  Plentiful stores of grain and preserved foods were the only chance you had of surviving the bleak winter months.  Typically, excess animals were slaughtered during Winter Solstice to make certain there would be enough feed for the rest of the herd to last the winter.  The culled animals  were then used to create the medieval feasts that still live on in songs like “Good King Wenceslas.”  

The ancient Egyptians (approximately 4,000 years ago) marked Winter Solstice with a festival celebrating the rebirth of their sun god, Horus.  The festival lasted twelve days – one day for each month of their twelve month year.  The palm fronds used to decorate their homes had twelve leaves as well.  I wonder what the lyrics were to the “Twelve Days of Horusmas?” Each ancient civilization (particularly those enjoying a good party) celebrated solstice – Babylonians, Persians, ancient Greeks and Romans, to name a few.  Each of them also left their imprint on how cultures celebrate Winter Solstice and Christmas today.

The Persians crowned a mock king during their celebrations,

a practice that centuries later, morphed into the European traditions of naming the Lord of Misrule to oversee their celebrations.  The Greeks burned large logs in their homes every year to ward off the kallikantzaroi,monster-like imps who threatened children, giving us the first Yule log. Druidic tradition gave us holly, mistletoe and evergreen boughs to be used as decorations.  

The numerical card for Winter Solstice
12/21/14 is #13, Transformation
seen here from "OSHO Zen Tarot©"
by Deva Padma - The end of one cycle and
the beginning of another - most appropriate

All these festivals share a common theme – the celebration of light.  Ancient solstice festivals were primarily a time for reflecting on your place in the world. They were a time of sharing hope as well as some of what you’d put by for the winter with your friends, family and those less fortunate than yourself.  You took stock of the year gone by, rejoiced in it and made plans for the year to come – what you’d do differently given the chance.  Most importantly, you’d take time to think about the miracle of life and how light, either physical or spiritual, turns cold, dark earth into something rich and fertile.  Each of us carries this genetic memory deep in our DNA.  It is the reason that past all the mall decorations and online hoopla we can still look into a single candle flame and feel the nature, the wonder of the Divine.  

No matter the tenets of your faith, enjoy the light of this special season.  May it bring you hope, peace and resolve for the year ahead. 

With Love and Blessings,

LADY ORACLE

Holiday Magic for the Home, Part One – Crystals and Candles

Candlelight adds a sense of magic to every occasion and

none more so than the December holidays.  Whether you celebrate Christmas, Winter Solstice, Hanukah or, Yule you are also honoring life-giving light as part of your celebration and ability of mankind to hold on to hope in times of darkness.  During holiday season, we combine good food and drink with friends and family.  We strive to provide a warm and inviting atmosphere where new memories are made and old ones are shared. 

fi

Peach Selenite - Selenite radiates high
vibrational 'white light' energy. It clears
spaces and gives a sense of deep, inner peace

Using crystals with your candle displays gives a marvelous two level effect.  Crystals don’t merely reflect candlelight and add to the room’s ambience. They also give off vibrations that can ease stress, social anxiety, sadness and help with some of the less pleasant baggage that can appear when families come together. 

Cleansing sprays, smudges and incense (See blog: "Tis the Season To Be Smudging" ) are all well and good pre-party measures for eliminating negativity, but face it, guests get suspicious when you start wafting them with cedar and sage during cocktail hour.  Combining candlelight and crystals subtly keeps an up tempo vibration in any room.  Below are some suggestions to enhance the energy during your holiday gatherings this year.

Danubrite gets a big my big 10-4.  This crystal carries a high degree of spiritual energy.  It assists in emotional healing, halts stubbornness, brings a deep sense of peace and also helps you link to angelic realms during meditation.  Pink Danburite teaches us self-love.  You can pick up Danubrite crystals online anywhere from $1.00 to $25.00, depending on size and clarity. 

Kunzite, the lovely, blush-pink variety, not only enhances intuition and inspiration, but also the concept of unconditional love.  This stone awakens our desire to be of service to others and our sense of humility as well.  Kunzite also offers a key component of holiday magic.  It re-awakens childlike wonder, trust and innocence – something we can all use.  While the cost of gem quality kunzite has increased in recent years, you can still acquire small pieces of rough stone for between $8.00 to $40.00.

Sunstone offers us insights into self-worth and co-

Above: Your basic quartz cluster for spiritual energy
and to the left, ametrine, a mixture
of citrine and amethyst

dependency.  It has been used by energy healers to treat Seasonal Affective Disorder and depression.  The best thing about Sunstone though, is the over-all feeling of delight, or “joie de vivre” that it radiates through a room.  Opaque stones run $4.00 to $10.00, while clear, gem quality stone run considerable more. 

Gold Sheen Obsidian is a lovely balancing stone that emanates compassion for past present and future events.  Scrooge could really have used this one.  It eliminates feelings of conflict and curbs passive aggressive behaviors.  Most pieces offered for sale are smooth finished – either spherical of cabochon cut for jewelry.  Prices run from $2.00 per bead to $45.00 for finished, gem quality jewelry.  

There are many more crystals that can be used for enhancing the holidays: Orange calcite, for are emotional balance and energizing, citrine for prosperity, amethyst for Divine connection, reducing stress and preventing over-indulgence, tiger’s eye for wealth and the ability to distinguish between wants and needs. Also, don’t forget good, old quartz for awakening spirituality.  (See blog: "Crystals Every Person Needs 2 - Claiming Yourself" )

Malachite, a stone of transformation that
balances negative and positive energy
(on of the few stones that its best to use
a polished piece

Let your creativity flow as you decorate with crystals this holiday season.  Keep a couple of things in mind, however.  You don’t have to use large crystals, nor do they have to be gemstone quality (for jewelry). Crystal rough works just fine and adds a wonderful, earthy sparkle.  Combine a variety of pebble-sized crystals around white votives or candle pillars. Be sure to include crystals with grounding energy in your mix like agates, cat’s eye chrysoberyls, bloodstone, or smoky quartz. High vibration stones can shake things up energetically, so it’s important to promote grounding energy and eliminate as much negativity as possible.  Try a candle and crystal centerpiece at your holiday table and let the good times flow.

The Holidays are never complete for me without "Christmas With Crystal," a video featuring one of my favorite comedians, Peter Zias.  If you're  fortunate you can catch him at The Groundlings in LA, or see his one-man show. Enjoy!

LADY ORACLE

December 2, 2013, New Moon in Sagittarius – “The Art of Manifesting”

We’ve talked a lot about clearing our emotional and mental

#10, The Wheel of Fortune
The tarot card for Jupiter, ruler of Sagittarius
From Stephanie Pui-Mun Law's and Barbara
Moore's "Shadowscapes Tarot"©

decks in preparation for the power burn at the end of 2013.  Now it’s show time.  On December 2nd at 4:22 p.m. PST, the New Moon in Sagittarius arrives.  What’s so special about this particular New Moon? Optimism and luck for starters. Being in the right place at the right time.  New Moon in Sagittarius is one of the best moons of 2013 for easy manifesting and plain dumb luck.

This month Sagittarius baths Lady Moon in fast-paced, positive energy.  All of us (but most particularly those with Sagittarius in our birth charts) will be surrounded by fiery, upbeat power surges that push us to not only get involved, but to get going as well. Turn your eyes to the horizon this month and look for the next big opportunity coming your way. It’s there. During December’s lunar cycle, our vision will be clearer, our wit, sharper and our actions, while perhaps spontaneous, will be Divinely guided.  

There’s an art to manifesting and Sagittarians have it down

#14, Temperance is the tarot association for Sagittarius
Aly Fell and Barbara Moore's "Steampunk Tarot"©

pat.  Manifesting is literally like breathing for them because Sags stay focused in the moment better than most of us.  December already has an intense spiritual core as we all celebrate the natural order of life through a variety of wonderful, time-honored beliefs.  Sagittarius carries the energy of the spiritual philosopher (See blog: “Sagittarius the Archer”).  Archers are highly optimistic. They don’t see barriers, they see opportunities.  Work with this positive boost this month, particularly if you’ve been pulling the 8 of Swords (self-restriction) in your readings lately.  This is a perfect opportunity for you to push your boundaries, pull off the blindfold and step on out.

RWCS 8 of Swords shows
the illusion of self-restriction
US Games ©

Jupiter, the Santa Claus planet, (perfect for this month, don’t you think?)remains in Cancer and while Jupiter is still in retrograde, there are still plenty of perks to go around from this planet’s naturally expansive energy.  Where you might find that you have to watch your holiday dollars a little more closely, which is good advice any time, you’ll still have a fantastic holiday season. Explore the new, the different, even the offbeat.  Lights shine a little brighter this year, wherever and whoever you’re with.  Experience is the keyword this month because Sagittarius is never about things.  For them life is one big visceral experience.  Focus on people and events, not the number of shiny packages.

Put a list of your goals and desires together during the next couple of days.  Remember that goals must be specific, realistic and attainable.  They must also be yours, not someone else’s.  Once you have your list focus on it several times a day, but with one major difference.  Envision the items as if they have already occurred and you are already experiencing whatever it is you seek.  Don’t say to yourself, “When I get to Paris I’m going to be so excited.” Instead say, “Here I am in Paris and the lights on the Champs-Élysées are so beautiful at night that they steal my breath. I walk along the Seine and tears fill my eyes at the magic of being here. I’m so grateful to be here with all these marvelous sights and smells – even the traffic noise is amazing.”   Present tense brings your goals into reality, people.  It works like a charm. 

This month’s lunar cycle in Sagittarius is a gift to you from the

7 of Pentacles is an excellent focal point for
manifesting meditations, RWCS, US Games©

Universe and a golden opportunity for you start manifesting ( 7 of Pentacles, self-perpetuating harvest) the fruit of your own potential.  Work with Sagittarius’ energy and you’ll see amazing results.

LADY ORACLE