CURRENT EVENTS
FEBRUARY
ESBATS, SABBATS AND HOLIDAYS
This months major Sabbat is Candlemas. Oimelc Eve falls on the evening of the 1st and Candlemas comes the day after. Candlemas, the Feast of Lights, also known as Imbolc is a fire festival celebrating the Goddess of Fertility. It is the time of sweeping out the old and preparing for the return of the Goddess and the warmer weather that accompanys her arrival. This months Esbat falls on February 19th with the rising of the full Storm moon. Check out my Book of Shadows,
there's lots of ideas for celebrating the different holidays, some of them you might not recognize as traditional but they are my own personal way of marking the changing of the
seasons. Remember where your waxing and waning phases fall, if you follow the rhythm of the moon your spells and planting will be at their strongest, most effective and healthiest.
ASTROLOGICAL AND MOON PHASES
2nd: moon in Capricorn, 4th: moon in Aquarius, 5th: new moon, 7th: moon in Pisces, 9th: moon in Aries, 12th: half moon in Taurus, 14th: moon in Gemini, 16th: moon in Cancer, 18th: moon in Leo, 19th: full moon, 20th: moon in Virgo, 22nd: moon in Libra, 24th: moon in Scorpio, 26th: half moon, 27th: moon in Sagittarius, 29th: moon in Capricorn.
YELLOWSTONE WOLVES CLAIM VICTORY
For 50 years Defenders of Wildlife has devoted their
efforts to protecting animals and their habitats, preserving the biodiversity of earth. They made history by successfully reintroducing wolves to Yellowstone park. The wolves adapted well to their new home and also successfully had a litter of cubs.
Then the American Farm Bureau and the ranchers they support opposed the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone and took their case to court. A Denver judge declared the wolves presence in the park was illegal and ordered them removed. Groups like DOW and Wolf Haven International appealed the decision. After awhile it looked as though the Farm Bureau would win and the wolves would be removed from the park and euthanized.
Now the DOW and other preservation groups have made history again. They appealed the ruling and I am happy to announce that with the support of wolf lovers everywhere and efforts by preservation groups, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the original ruling and the wolves and their defenders claimed a well deserved victory! Now the wolves will be allowed to flourish inside Yellowstone, safe from the predations of man. Let's not forget to write to DOW and thank them for their courageous efforts!
BOOK OF SHADOWS COMPILATION
I am interested in doing a published Book of Shadows so I and others can share what we know but I'd like to do something a little different. I would like to make this not only a gathering of spells and rituals but also hearth wisdom, recipes for different things (incense, food, oils, drinks, etc), experiences we've had in the course of our studies, affirmations, beliefs, old myths, things that make our different religions unique etc. I would love to have everyone contribute to it.
Ultimately I'd like it to be a compilation of many things, a journal of all our failures and successes, our accumulated wisdom, the blood, sweat and tears we all put into our search for knowledge, our struggles with faith, the fight to be respected as a religion and most importantly all we have experienced on our journeys.
I know we all express ourselves on the net and with all the new Pagan sites we could never feel alone but I think the written word says so much more than words on a webpage or in a chat room. There is more passion in a well written book you can touch and I just don't get the same feeling of connection on a website that I do with a book.
I want this book to be more then a manual, I would like it to be a true Book of Shadows to be shared with our larger family which is all of us. So let me know what you think. I have a form on my Book of Shadows you can use to send me stuff. Selene
P.S. Everyone who contributes will of course get credit and recognition for what they send, not only in the bibliography but also on the actual pages their writings are on.