September 21st is the Autumn Equinox. Another old name for this day was Harvest Home before Aidan Kelly decided on the name Mabon. In the mid 20th century, the United Nations decided to name September 21st as the International Day of Peace. I find this an interesting choice and a fascinating overlap. The first thought that came to mind was how the equinox is the balance point and the days surrounded it are more or less equal hours of day and night. A moment of peace between one the bright and long days of summer, and dark and long nights of winter in the Northern Hemisphere. Whichever one you decide to observe, may you have a blessed day, and may these blessings continue to bring you more blessings in the future.
Happy Spring Equinox! Personally I see this as “Mid Spring” as the Solstices are known as Midsummer and Midwinter respectively. Spring really begins on February 1st with Candlemas. The weather predictions done on the 1st and 2nd of February based upon snakes, or groundhogs, or just the weather being dark and gray or clear and bright decides if the first part of spring is going very much the idea of “spring” or just an extended winter. It seems this year in North America, it was much more a long winter, but then February first and second where I live was bright, clear and warm. So it seems the prediction was true.
I wish only that your personal lives can quicken, grow and blossom, as we leave the vestiges of winter behind us and move into the growing and hopefully flourishing part of the year. Things look grim in the world around us on a greater scale, but I wish we can all find what we need to not just survive, but thrive.
Statue of Gabriel from the Heroes Square in Budapest Hungary
Happy Feast Day of the Archangel Gabriel! March 18 was the feast day of Gabriel until 1969. I still continue to observe this as Gabriel’s Feast day, including many others from different sects of Christianity.
As i have said many times before, in many ways Gabriel seems to be the overlooked archangel. Far more people will turn to Saint Michael for many things, and only think of Gabriel for the Annunciation, even though Gabriel appears many times in many stories.
As the angel of Annunciation, and many other appearances as bringing messages from God, Gabriel is a divine Messenger, an angel of angels in that the word Angel originally means messenger. Many people will pray to Gabriel asking for messages and guidance, and for help with psychic abilities, to reveal things that are hidden.
Some people are recognize Gabriel for the meaning of his name. His name comes from the Hebrew meaning Strength of God. If you are familiar with Kabbalah, and the Sefirot, the Sefirot Geborah is actually the beginning of the name Gabriel. the end -iel means of God. Thus, the Strength or Might of God. Gabriel as the Strength of God is called upon by someone people for Divine Strength and Might, or getting his power to help you in any number of situations. In a spell from the PGM, Gabriel is even called up to bring his power to make someone fall in love with the client of the sorcerer. But this divine strength can be applied to anything.
Another common sphere of influence for Gabriel is a commander of the celestial hosts. While some may think this applies to the angels, but I think this refers to the spirits who govern the celestial objects ie the planets and stars. This is why Gabriel is also considered the Angel of the Moon. As the Moon was considered to take all the celestial rays of the planets and stars and transmit them to the earth, so Gabriel is considered to command the spirits of the celestials objects. So, if you’re doing a summoning of astral spirits, you might make some devotions to Gabriel to help you with them.
I have never felt much of a connection to Imbolc and Brigid who is the more popular goddess associated with February and it’s beginning. In searching for alternatives, I found a connection to Juno. Having a preference for Graeco Roman divinities, this is who I choose to devote the first cross quarter feast to. Juno/Hera often gets the short end of the stick in most popular media these days. Usually the stories of her vengeance on the bastard children of Zeus from his uncountable paramours is the most often told story, and for that she is painted as being cruel, wicked, evil, vindictive, a harridan, and generally a bad example of a woman. They often overlook her other qualities, and other stories about her. One overlooked and rather important thing, that is often left out from modern retellings is that she was the divine patron of Jason of Jason and the Argonauts. Jason’s success in his journey came about because she favored him and helped him. As long as he held her favor, his ventures worked out for him. It wasn’t until he lost Hera’s favor, by screwing over Medea and breaking promises to her, and abandoning his own children, did his fortunes change and he ended up losing, hard. The month of February is also named for an title of Juno, that of Juno Februa, or Juno of Purification. The month February in the old Roman calendar was closely connected with purification, which would culminate on the 15th of February with the Februa purification. After this it would become a time of feasting and honoring the Gods, the dead, the Lares, and the prosperity of the people and the city itself as evidenced by it’s stability and prosperity.
If you want to improve your psychic abilities, undertake the following practices for 29 days. You can start at any time, but it will be easier to keep track if you start at the first of the month, or if you can start at a particular moon phase, as a complete cycle will return you back to that moon phase where you started.
Drink a cup of mugwort tea every day. Mugwort is an herb known to aid in psychic abilities, and it is common for some people to drink it as a tea. (check any for contrary recommendations for yourself) If mugwort is not your choice of herb, star anise also makes a good psychic herbal tea.
Take a picture of yourself and place it under a candle holder. Using a white candle of any kind, tealight, chime, or even a glass encased vigil candle. Fix the candle with Psychic Vision oil or Aunt Sally’s Lucky Dream oil. As the candle burns each day, spend 5-15 minutes sitting in silence and letting your inner voice communicate with you. This may take the form of visions, sounds, smells, tastes, sensations, or just a knowingness.
To help with dreams, keep a dream journal. Keep it nearby while you sleep and whenever you wake up, whatever you recall of your dreams, write it down in the journal. If you don’t recall anything, write this down as well, as it shows that you’re wanting to recall and can stimulate recall. This journal can be a notebook, sketchbook, even an app on your phone, or sound recording.
During this 29 day period, take 4 spiritual baths using psychic vision or lucky dream bath crystals. Collect your bath water and dispose of it at a crossroads while facing towards the rising sun.
To help with dreams, you can write down the 23rd Psalm on a sheet of paper. Fold this up and place it under your pillow while you sleep. This will help bring fortunate dreams that can give you insight, lucky numbers, guidance to resolve problems and many more.
During and towards the end of the 29 days, you will find your psychic abilities to have increased and noticeably as well as an increase in dreaming and lucky or prophetic dreams.
Recently on social media I saw a post about the phrase “May you live in interesting times” and a reminder that the phrase is meant as a curse. The poster than followed this by saying their blessing was “May you living in boring, peaceful times” which I found a little lackluster, so I offer this up to the world. May you live in Peaceful and Prosperous times. I think people forget about the benefits of peace, tranquility and calm. Free from stress. Able to focus. You can rest, you can heal, you can recharge.
Todays is the Eastern Orthodox Synaxis of the Archangel Michael and all the Bodiless Powers. This includes the Archangel Gabriel is who is a favorite of mine and near and dear to my heart.
May the blessings of God through the Archangel Gabriel be upon you!
Another approach to finding personal empowerment can be found in western astrology. In his 3 books of Occult Philsophy, Cornelius Agrippa explains that all peope have a spirit or angel is assigned to them when they are born. By seeking out your personal angel or good spirit of your natal chart, you bring bring about an increase of good luck and fortune, gain advice, and numerous other benefits.
The key to this is spirit is understanding the nature of this spirit, which falls under one of the 7 Classical Planets ie Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter or Saturn. There are many ways to do this. The simplest method is to look at the planet that rules the cusp of the 11th house. The sign on that cusp, and it’s exact degree can be examined to determine the which planet rules that house. In Hellenic astrology, the name of the 11th house was the Agathodaimon or the Good Spirit. Thus why the Lord of the 11th house is an indicator of the nature of the Good Spirit. The sign that rules this house has a ruling planet. The ruling planet is also the planet that your Good Spirit falls under. So if your 11th house ruler is Libra, then Venus is the nature of your Good Spirit. If the ruler was Capricorn, then Saturn is the nature of the good spirit. This is a simple method, but it can be made more precise with a detailed look into the most influential planet at that degree. For example, in Capricorn, at specific degrees of Capricorn, the planetary ruler of that degree might actually be Mars, as Mars is exalted in Capricorn and certain degrees have more Mars influence than Saturn.
Another method is determining the almuten figuris of your natal chart. This is a bit more complex method as it requires identifying several specific points in your natal chart. Even this method also has some variations. The foundational method is to identify the position of your natal Sun, Moon, Ascendant, Point of Fortune, and Syzygy. While the first three may be more familiar to people, the Point of Fortune and the Syzygy is not commonly talked about. The Point of Fortune is a calculated point. It is determined by looking at the distance from the Sun and Moon. This distance is then applied to the Ascendant, and it’s end point is the Point of Fortune. Depending upon if you were born at or night, the calculation will change, with it starting at the Sun in a day chart, and starting with the Moon in a night chart. The Syzygy is the position of the moon when it was Dark or Full before the time in the chart. Of course, if your moon is Dark, or Full, in your natal chart, then your moon position is also your syzygy. So, if the moon is waxing in your chart, then your syzygy will be the previous dark moon, and if the moon is waning, it will be the previous full moon. All of these points are examined, and added by which planets have dignities in them. All the dignities are calculated together, Rulership, Exaltation, Triplicity, Term and Face. In some systems, they will also include the planetary Day, and the Hour as well, and also the house the planet occupies in the natal chart, as some houses are considered to be more influential than others. A planet in the first house is much stronger than a planet in the 3rd house for example. The planet with the highest sum is considered the Almuten Figuris, or the Ruling planet of the Natal chart, and this planet thus also indicates the nature of the angel or good spirit of the natal chart.
With this method, sometimes the ruling planet may surprise you. The influence of day, hour and house can take a relatively weak planet and make it a powerhouse over a planet in rulership, but in a weak house, and lacking day and hour. This is not a bad thing however, and it can indicate that your fortune and spiritual advancement lays with the nature of that planet, which might require you to break out self imposed limitations and see things differently.
Once you know that planet, you can then start to reach out to call that spirit more closely into your life. For your consideration I will include simple connections on how you can construct and personalize the ritual, based upon your ruling planet.
For the Moon – You should start on a Monday, in the hour of the Moon. Moonrise, especially during a full moon, and also when the Moon is at the zenith of the sky during a full moon are also good times to commence or perform this ritual. White candles are recommended, but other colors can work as well, like silver, and pale or pastel colors, especially pastel blues, pastel pinks, pastel yellows, and pastel greens. A good incense to use is Jasmine, but camphor is also a good option. You can also make or purchase a complex incense blend for the moon. I also recommend using a planetary oil of the moon. A camphor oil blend can work well, as well as jasmine, or mugwort, and again there are also complex oil blend recipes online, and many shops sell such blends as well.
For the Sun – You should start on a Sunday, in the hour of the Sun. the first hour is at sunrise, but the 2nd Sun hour is often a little bit after Noon, so also choosing High Noon, when the sun is at the sky’s zenith is also a good choice. Candle colors of yellow, orange, gold, or white are recommended. A good incense is frankincense, but I also find that warm amber incenses draw forth solar influence quite well. A Sun incense blend that you make or purchase is also a good option. You can make a Sun oil with bay leaves and olive oil, or using the essential oil of bay laurel in olive oil that works very well. Other solar plants like St John’s wort works well, Sunflower petals, calendula petals, chamomile and angelica root also make a good solar oil.
For Mercury – You should start on a Wednesday, in the hour of Mercury. As Mercury tends to follow the Sun closely, and is difficult to see against his bright light, those are the best times. Sometimes Mercury is acting as the morning or evening star, and you can time this work to those periods as well, if you want to go to that effort. The candle colors I recommend are shades and tints of purple, brown, orange or gold, or rainbow or mixed colors, or sparkling candles ie glitter coated. I like holographic glitter, but any glitter will work. I find mercury works well with cinnamon incense, mastic resin, elemi resin, or storax if you can find them. A mercury oil can also be made from the same resins or from cinnamon EO. Anis, fennel, celery seed essential oils also make a good oil or incense.
For Venus – The day and hour of Venus works well, as does locating Venus as the Morning or Evening Star. Venus also doesn’t get very far from the sun, but when it is far away, it is often taking the position of one of these stars, and it can work well to invoke your Venusian spirit when those stars are visible above the horizon. The colors for Venus that I recommend are rich Green, rich or intense Pink, White, Turquoise, Blue-Green, Peach. I highly recommend a Rose incense and Rose scent in your oil, but Vanilla also works well, and any floral scent that you can enjoy. Orris oil aka Queen Elizabeth root oil is also a good.
For Mars – The day and hour of Mars. If you want to track Mars, he can be apparent at night and you can time him for when he rises above the horizon, or when he reaches the Zenith of the sky as well. The color of Mars is Red. No other color is really recommended. I prefer using the Pine as an incense, but Musk also resonates well with Mars. If you can afford dragon’s blood resin, that is also favored by Mars in my experience. For the oil, An herbal oil can be made with Basil, known to be a mars plant, but if you want something floral Tobacco flower makes a good scent although expensive essential oil. Just macerating hot dried chilis in oil can also make a good Mars oil.
For Jupiter – The day and hour of Jupiter, and also when Jupiter rises, or when Jupiter is at the zenith of the sky. The colors for Jupiter is royal blue, or cerulean blue, white or gold. The incenses I recommend is cedarwood, sandalwood, fir or juniper, or just burn powdered nutmeg on charcoals. A single scent Jupiter oil can be made from any of the incenses as well.
For Saturn – The Day and Hour of Saturn, or when Saturn rises or reaches the zenith of the sky. The colors for Saturn is primarily black, but shades (that is colors that have some black in them) of Green, dark greys, darker earth tones, and also White. For incense I prefer using Myrrh, but I also enjoying using Patchouli for it’s rich dark earth notes, if you want something unusual, Valerian root also makes a good incense, although it smells like feet in enough concentration. A good oil for Saturn can also be made with Patchouli, or Vetiver, of which the root is used to make the essential oil. Valerian root essential oil also makes a good Saturn oil.
As part of any of the rituals, I recommend making an offering of clean water in addition to the incense. Just about any spiritual being enjoys clean water, as a means to refresh itself. A simple blessing over the water is enough, in a clean glass.
You can call out the spirit through prayers, conjurations to the planets, poetry of the planets etc. A popular form is using the Orphic Hymns, which have hymns dedicated to the Graeco Roman Gods associated with the planets. You can also find prayers and invocations to spirits of the planets and then ask them to connect you with your natal spirit. The Olympic spirits, The Archangels of the Planets, The Planetary Intelligences and Spirits, and more. You can also freeform or compose your own prayer or evocation.
In Agrippa he also gives a method to determine the name of this spirit. It can be done using any alphabet, but Agrippa gave examples using Hebrew and Latin. Essentially each degree is assigned a letter, starting with A at the first degree of Aries, and repeating until the last letter at the final degree of Pisces. Then look to the previous planets and points ie Sun, Moon, Ascendant, Point of Fortune, Syzygy. Those points will give you the letter that make up the name of your spirit. This may not have any vowels in it, so you can use your own inspiration to fill in vowel sounds, or just make your best guess. You can also forgo this method, and just reach out the spirit, until it gives you a name to use.
You should repeat this ritual every week, on the same day and hour, until you feel certain you have made contact with your natal spirit. This can take many forms. It may come with a vision, or a dream. It may come as a knowingness, or as a clairaudient experience where you hear a voice speaking to you, and answering your questions and aiding you. It may happen quickly with just one session. For myself it took 9 months, starting on the Winter Solstice and finishing on the Autumnal equinox. Your mileage may vary.
If you want to know your almuten figuris and other information, I can calculate it for you. Book your consultation here.
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