The Sun! The Sun!

Sun in Leo, on Sunday, July 26th, at 2:15 pm, Sun hour. It had been gray and damp and rainy all day (week? summer?), but as I started collecting my tools and ingredients, the sun came out. After I gathered everything I needed, I went outside, into my circle and just tried to absorb the sun. I stood there, feeling it fill me, until my vision went red, then orange, then yellow, and it was coming from me, out, as well as from above.

This tincture is made with dried orange peel, from oranges that we had eaten last winter, after the solstice. The oranges were washed before we peeled them, and then I removed the pith and set the peels out to dry. Once they were dry, I sealed them in a canning jar until I was ready for this project. When I put the peels in the mortar, they were dry enough to snap and break, but they were still full of oil. Rather than grinding them, I had to pound them, hence the large granite mortar, rather than one of the smaller ones. The smell was amazing, full of heat and sunshine.

This is the tincture, after adding the Everclear and then agitating the jar. Unlike several of the other tinctures (Mercury, Saturn, Jupiter) this one did not change color immediately.

I didn't look forward to starting this with much enthusiasm. I think that I was feeling a bit put off still by the feel of the Lunar tincture, which at the New Moon on July 21st was still very "Don't Touch." I was wondering; was it just the nature of the Lunar Tincture? The herb I chose to use? The fact that the herb came from my Mother in Laws garden and had been picked by her for me? (yes, that last thought garnered me a strange look from DH) Now, I think that it was a combination of things, the nature of the tincture and the fact that this most recent New Moon was ALSO a Cancer Moon, just as the Moon was, when I started it. To everything there is a season, right? Things seem a bit cozier with both Sun and Moon tinctures going through their cohabitation phases next to one another...

On the subject of tools

She stared at Tiffany's hopeful face and sighed.

"Come outside then," she said. "I'll give you lesson one. It's the only lesson there is. It don't need writing down in no book with eyes on it."

She led the way to the well in her back garden, looked around on the ground
and picked up a stick.

"Magic wand," she said. "See?" A green flame leaped out of it, making Tiffany jump. "Now you try."

It didn't work for Tiffany, no matter how much she shook it.

"Of course not," said Granny. "It's a stick. Now, maybe I made a flame come out of it, or maybe I made you think one did. That doesn't matter. It was me is what
I'm sayin', not the stick. Get your mind right and you can make a stick
your magic wand and the sky your hat and a puddle your magic...your magic...er,
what're them fancy cups called?"

"Goblet," said Tiffany.

From "A Hat Full of Sky" by Terry Pratchett

A Request

If you are a reader of my blog, and have a blog of your own, I would very much like to read it, and get to know you, my readers, better. If your blog requires an invitation, and you would be willing to let me in, please email an invitation to:

lavanah.c AT Gmail DOT com

(as the Pagan Soccer Mom would say "take that, you web spiders!")

Thank you!

THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK.

Full Moon/Eclipse

A couple of pictures taken tonight, as I set up, and before the rain. (I love the way the trees in the background look) While the moon wasn't visible, I did have plenty of lightening and lightening bugs, which made the ritual feel "sisterly." It is evenings such as this, that makes me glad that I don't use a lot of tools and equipment for this type of ritual-halfway through, it started to pour. My basket that carries what I do use went under some shelter, and I finished what I was doing. At least I didn't need to worry about whether I had sufficiently snuffed the candles.

An Old Post, from an Older Blog

(this had been posted on my old Yahoo 360 blog, soon to be defunct.)


Subject: The Temperature of Hell

The following is an actual question given on a University of Liverpool chemistry final exam.

The answer by one student was so "profound" that the professor shared it with colleagues via the Internet, which is why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it as well.

Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)?

Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law that gas cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed or some variant.

One student, however, wrote the following: First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving.

As for how many souls are entering Hell, let's look at the different religions that exist in the world today. Most of these religions state that, if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell.

Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially.

Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell. Because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay constant, the volume of Hell must expand proportionately as souls are added.

This gives two possibilities:
1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.

2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.

So which is it?

If we accept the postulate given to me by Sandra during my freshman year, that "it will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you," and take into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number 2 must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is endothermic and has already frozen over.

The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is extinct...leaving only Heaven, thereby proving the existence of a divine being - which explains why, last night, Sandra kept shouting "Oh my God."

THIS STUDENT RECEIVED THE ONLY "A".