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Dear Moon Muser, Time now to call upon the Divine Warrior Within for your anger can be healthy if released in a life-changing and powerful way. Here's an Aries painting & snippet to inspire you from my upcoming Goddess Zodiac Oracle Deck due out in Spring, 2020.

Sparkly Blessings!
Kathy Crabbe
Soul Reader & Artist

Aries – The Ram
Time of Year – Spring, March 21 - April 19
Quality – Cardinal
Element – Fire
Ruler – Mars
Anatomy – Head
Natural sign of – 1st House
Opposite sign – Libra
Color – Red
Gemstones – Amethyst, diamond, fire opal, garnet
Tarot cards – The Emperor, The Empress
Goddesses – Amazons, Fuji, Kali, Sekhmet, Valkyries

Aries Meditation
Fire God, Fiery Goddess,
Red the path to your heart’s desire,
Lead the way to your soul’s fire.

Aries Affirmations
- I embody spring fire
- I am true to my path and my inner convictions
- I am erotic and independent
- I am a primal, revolutionary rebel
- I am adventurous, assertive and courageous
- I am the Divine Warrior
- I remember who I truly am even if it bothers others

Tap Into Your Aries Fire
- Take on any challenge
- Start a project
- Assert your rights
- Get creative
- Feel power, strength and vitality come alive within you

Irish Revival writer James Stephen's dazzling little 1924 novel  In the Land of Youth, though largely forgotten today, is nothing short of a modern pagan classic. In it, Stephens takes up an ancient Irish literary genre, back-stories to the Táin Bo Cuailinge, and recounts, in shining, lapidary prose, his tales (and tales-within-tales, and tales-within-tales-within-tales) of human and sidhe, of This World and the Other, and of the intercourse between the two.

The Song of Death is drawn from the novel's second section, “The Feast of Lugnasa,” but in this Season of the Ancestors it is the novel's first half, “The Feast of Samhain,” which I commend to the reader and which, in my opinion, richly deserves to become to the modern Samhain what Dickens' Christmas Carol has become to its eponymous holiday.

In the royal hall at Cruachan, on the Eve of Samhain—when gates between worlds swing wide—Ailill the King proposes to his assembled heroes a pastime while waiting for the feast to be made ready: that on this night of terrors, one of them should go out alone to tie a withy around the ankle of one of the dead men hanging from a nearby tree.

Two men go out, two men fearfully return, deed undone. Then Nera the Hero goes out into the night's darkness, withy in hand.

But things are not as they seem, for Ethal Anbual, King of the Sidhe of Connacht, is that very night proposing to raid and burn the royal hall at Cruachan....

The Song of Death

(James Stephens)

The festival organizers had chosen the one mostly flat place on the slope between the woods and Turtle Creek on which to lay out their ritual circle. So far, so good.

Unfortunately, it went downhill from there.

Mistake Number One. They'd designed their Circle using the "Quarter altar" model, with four card tables, one per quarter, each covered with a schmatte in a garishly bright “elemental” color.

On the living body of the valley's natural beauty, the cheap and artificial tables and cloths stood out like an open wound.

Moral Number One. When it comes to the gods, only the real and the beautiful are worthy.

Mistake Number Two. The landscape had a distinct and palpable flow to it, from the forest above to Turtle Creek below, and back again, running roughly ENE by WSW.

Unfortunately, the organizers had decided to lay out their Circle with a compass, thereby placing the Card Tables of the Gods in due East, South, West, and North.

Completely out of rhythm with the land around it, this skewed circle in fact impeded the valley's natural flow rather than augmenting it.

Moral Number Two. Regardless of what the books may say, real sacredness inheres in working with the landscape.

OK, Posch: so how would you have done it any better?

The summer has passed and here is what got accomplished at White Mountain Druid Sanctuary.

There’s a house across the hill from mine that has a wagon wheel mounted on a post in their front yard. It’s painted white with eight spokes, and in front of it is a small garden bed with flowers. I’ve seen wagon wheels in yards and even mounted on house exteriors before, but I never thought much about them until recently. When I noticed this particular wagon wheel on the way to my son’s school one morning, it struck me as one of those old traditions that have been practiced consistently for so long that people have forgotten what they mean. But still they use them, out of superstition (a code word for lingering belief in folk magic and religion), a love of tradition, or both.

Making massage candles is very similar to making any other type of potted candle  I recommend using soy wax as it is soooo gentle on the skin . Soy was is also nice and soft so it melts easily and stays together in a puddle after melting and can be reused for us thrifty crafters. If you have an allergy to soy and it won't irritate your skin unless you have a soy allergy, you can use beeswax instead which is so widely used. (For example, it is in nearly every single Burt’s Bees product.)  It is the addition of the additional oils and prevents it from hardening again and also enables your skin to absorb it.  Essential oils or cosmetic-grade fragrance oils are also added to create a soothing atmosphere. All soap-making fragrances that are also soy candle safe are perfect choices for scenting your massage candles. Try the basic directions below to make your first candle. For every three ounces of wax, you'll add one ounce of liquid oil, and one-quarter ounce of fragrance. I suggest making two candles in 4 ounce metal tins while you master this craft.

Gather together:

·        2 ounces sweet almond carrier oil or vitamin E oil

·        6 ounces High quality soy wax