Yes, it looks like a wild, fasten your seatbelts kind of month ahead, and the days leading up to the New Moon will be pretty interesting, too. (Then, of course, we have the powerful New Moon eclipse in late August, but more on that later)

If you recognize the title, you know it’s a quote from our era’s beloved princess/General of the Resistance, Carrie Fisher.  Up until this point, we have been cautious, sister #QueensInExile.  We left our respective courts in the middle of the night like ghosts, we’ve been Final Girl ready, we’ve taken what goods we can carry.  We’ve been hiding.  We’ve been casting our witchcraft in the dark of the night with our blood bound sisters. We’ve been planning.  We’ve been plotting.  We’ve been encrypting and decrypting.  We’ve put on our best dress, done our hair up pretty, put on our nicest lipstick.  We sit in our new tiny living rooms, our borrowed rooms with our hands neatly folded in our laps, perfectly made up.  Waiting.  Waiting.

Waiting.

   Each day I do a Tarot reading. The time of day varies--Sunday is really the only day I do a morning reading. Sometimes it's when I get home from work around 4:30 and I am sitting with a mug of tea. Other times it's after dinner at 7:30. Most usually it's just before I go to bed, and by that time it's late enough where I don't do a full reading  and instead do a single-card draw.

     For the last three months or so, the single card I regularly select is the Queen of Pentacles. I use Kris Waldherr's Goddess Tarot, and in that deck the Queen of Pentacles is depicted as a beautiful silk-draped Indian woman, regal and self-assured. (In Waldherr's deck the suit of Pentacles is associated with the goddess Lakshmi.)

 Summer is a time to have fun outdoors and enjoy the beauty of the green world. With so many plants growing and blooming, there is magic aplenty in our own backyards. Even if you live in a city, you can enjoy the magic of herbs grown on a windowsill. Alternatively, buy cut herbs at a farmers’ market or dried ones at a health food stores.

With a strong spicy aroma, it is probably no surprise that basil (Ocimum basilicum) is one of the most popular herbs today. It was also favored in ancient times. The Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans used basil for medicinal and culinary purposes. During the Middle Ages, sprigs of basil were scattered on floors to freshen and clear the air as well as to protect against witches.

Shine

“No, hold,” said the sergeant-in-arms to the crossbowman. “First let them watch their god die.”

He sat on the great stone in the clearing.

Arriving, we went first to greet him: to kiss his hand, and receive his blessing.

When all had gathered, he rose and raised his arms: so naked, so tall. Between his antlers, constellations wheeled.

The bolt took him just below the breastbone.

He fell like a star out of heaven.

On Saturday July 16th at sundown, we completed a two year project to build a Shrine to Cernunnos.  There are earlier blog entries here that describe the process of building the structure.  This entry describes the final touches and the consecration.