Beth The Sun moves into the sign of Aquarius today, at 11:43am, Eastern time. People born under this sign are fiercely proud of their idiosyncrasies. While they have a reputation for sometimes being unfeeling, hyper-intellectual, Mr. Spock types, they are highly sensitive souls who care deeply about the people around them. As astrologer Jon Cainer notes, … Read more
ON WINTER’S MARGINMary Oliver On winter’s margin, see the small birds nowWith half-forged memories come flocking homeTo gardens famous for their charity.The green globe’s broken; vines like tangled veinsHang at the entrance to the silent wood. With half a loaf, I am the prince of crumbs;By time snow’s down, the birds amassed will singLike children … Read more
All things, oh priests, are on fire . . . The eye is on fire; forms are on fire; eye-consciousness is on fire; impressions received by the eye are on fire.— Gautama Buddha As we journey to Graceland, we are exploring the gifts of the Graces, starting with the youngest of these beautiful Goddesses, Aglaia, … Read more
Deep within man dwell these slumbering powers; powers that would astonish him, that he never dreamed of possessing; forces that would revolutionize his life if aroused and put into action. — Orison Swett Marden (1848-1924) We are exploring the gifts of the youngest of the Graces, Aglaia, who is radiance, beauty and splendor. In the … Read more
Creativity comes from awakening and directing men’s higher natures, which originate in the primal depths of the universe and are appointed by Heaven.— I Ching Yesterday, I wrote that in some Hermetic magickal traditions, Aglaia is the Grace who calls forth the Serpent-fire, or the Secret Fire that is the kundalini energy of fully aroused … Read more
InspirationMove me brightly,Light the song with sense and colorHold away despair. — Robert Hunter The Graces, also called the Charites (sometimes spelled Kharites), are three beautiful daughters of Zeus, the supreme ruler of Olympus. Their mother was the sea-nymph Eurynome, daughter of the Titan Oceanus. The Graces, then, would be related to Zeus’ other children, … Read more
Supple and turbulent, a ring of menShall chant in orgy on a summer mornTheir boisterous devotion to the sun,Not as a god, but as a god might be,Naked among them, like a savage source.Their chant shall be a chant of paradise,Out of their blood, returning to the sky;And in their chant shall enter, voice by … Read more
The Song of Wandering Aengus by W.B. YeatsI went out to the hazel wood,Because a fire was in my head,And cut and peeled a hazel wand,And hooked a berry to a thread;And when white moths were on the wing,And moth-like stars were flickering out,I dropped the berry in a streamAnd caught a little silver trout. … Read more
Illustrious Kharites, mighty named, from Zeus descended, and Eunomia famed [Eurynome], Thalia and Aglaia fair and bright, and blest Euphrosyne, whom joys delight.– from The Hymns of Orpheus, translated by Thomas Taylor (1792) The Graces, also called the Charites (sometimes spelled Kharites), were three beautiful daughters of Zeus, the supreme God of ancient Greece. Their … Read more
Give me a look, give me a face, that makes simplicity a grace; Robes loosely flowing, hair as free — Such sweet neglect more taketh me Than all the adulteries of art: They strike mine eyes, but not my heart. — from Epicæne; Or, the Silent Woman by Benjamin Johnson Known as the Gratiae by … Read more