Void of Course Moon

The Moon makes a complete circle through the twelve signs every 28.5 days and spends approximately 2.5 days in each sign.

As the Moon moves through the heavens it makes aspects to the other heavenly bodies.

So as I am writing this Jun 06 2011 2:54 PM Pacific  time , the Moon is forming a Square to Mars. If we were doing an invocation or working we would name the aspects this way: Transiting Moon 17 degrees 31 minutes Leo ~ Square Transiting Mars at 19 degrees 44 minutes Taurus.

The reason that we are calling Both transiting is because they are in relation to one another in the heavens rather than to an aspect in our personal birth charts. If the aspect made by the transiting position of the Moon was being made to a position in your natal birth chart, you would say transiting Moon _ degrees _ minutes in Scorpio trine My natal Venus at _ degrees _ minutes (name of sign).

The Void-of-Course Moon cycle begins when the moon in transit has completed its final major aspect with the major planets before it changes from one sign of the zodiac to the next. It ends when the moon enters the next sign.

Our concern with workings in the Void of Course Moon is that we find the moon in a position that is neither here nor there. Since we approach our workings in a scientic manner, it is wise to be able to properly direct the outcome of our desires.

The Void of Course Moon is an appropriate time for rest, contemplation, meditation, enjoyment of the arts and nature. As with the Moon, she has her time for rest and she renews herself before being, once again, the focus of the energies she helps carry for us. We follow her example and do the same.

Beltane

Names:

Bealtaine (Irish Wittan), Whitsun or Old Bhealltainn (Scottish PectiWita), Bealtinne (Caledonii or the Druids), Samhradh and La Baal Tinne (Faery Wicca), Roodmas, Rudemas (Mexican Craft), Walburga (Teutonic), Walpurgisnacht (German), Walpurgis Eve, Celtic Summer, Giamonios, Tana's Day - La Giornata di Tana (Aridian Strega), Floralia, The Great Rite, May Day, and May Eve. It is also known as Cetshamain in Ireland, and is one of the few specifically Irish festivals.

Theme Meaning:

Mythos:

Gods and Goddesses: 
All Virgin-Mother Goddesses, all Young Father Gods, all Gods and Goddesses of the Hunt, of Love, and of Fertility

Goddesses:

Aphrodite, Arianrhod, Artemis, Astarte, Venus, Diana, Ariel, Var, Skadi, Shiela-na-gig, Cybele, Xochiquetzal, Freya, and Rhiannon

Gods:

Apollo, Bacchus, Bel/Belanos, Cernunnos, Pan, Herne, Faunus, Cupid/Eros, Odin, Orion, Frey, Robin Goodfellow, Puck, and The Great Horned God

Symbols: 
Flowers, Chalice, May Pole, May Baskets, Crossroads

Key Action: 
Take Action (ie...Get up and Do Something!) take action on the activities and projects you had planned and started on Ostara.  

Traditional Activities: 
Gathering Flowers, Wrapping the May Pole, The Great Rite and Blowing Horns

Fruitful actions: 
Spellwork to consider include those for fertility, love, spiritual communion/closeness with deity, safety, prosperity, and conservation. A good time for divinations of all types, and for establishing a woodland or garden shrine. The household guardians should be honored at this time.

Colors: 
Red, Green, White, Dark Yellow

Plants: 
Hawthorn,Rosemary, Birch

Flowers: 
Roses, Bluebells, Marigolds, Daisies, Primroses and Lilac

Stones: 
Sapphire, Bloodstone

Animals: 
Goats, Rabbits, Honey Bees

Mythical Creatures: 
Faeries, Satyrs, Pegasus, Giants

Foods: 
Dairy Foods, Oats, Honey

Taboos: 
Giving away fire or food

Attunement Teas:
Burdock, Damiana, Hibiscus, Rose Hips

Ritual Oils: 
Passion Flower, Rose, Vanilla

Hyssop

NAME : Hyssop

LATIN NAME : Hyssopus officinalis (LINN.)
FAMILY: N.O. Compositae
COMMON / FOLK NAMES :
Common Hyssop, Garden Hyssop, Hyssop Herb, Isopo, Ysopo, Yssop
HABITAT: Southern Europe.
FLOWER SPECIFICATIONS
Season: Perennnial, evergreen
Zones: US 3 to 9
Height:  20 to 36 inches high or more x 16 inches wide
Bloom Season: July to September
Foliage Color:
Bloom Color: Clusters of blue, though sometimes pink or white, flowers growing in clusters from a spike originating on the main branch.
Soil:  alkaline soil
Planting Directions
Average Germ Time: Germination is very rapid.
Started from seed or dividing older plants. Transplant seedlings in early summer. Plants should be placed no closer than 6 inches in rows that are 18 inches apart. For best yields plants should be renewed every 3-4 years.
Light Required: sunny place with light
Depth: In early spring, sow seeds 1/4 inch deep in rows about 1 foot apart. In early summer, thin the seedlings to about 1 foot apart within the rows. Prune the plants occasionally and remove flower heads.
Moisture: Light, dry, rocky, well-drained soil
Plant Spacing: Once danger of frost has passed, seeds can be planted 12" apart. Transplant or thin to 2 feet apart or to one foot apart for hedge. Once established they require very little care other than pruning. Hyssop does well in a windowbox or other container and makes an attractive border or edging.
Notes:
DESCRIPTION:  Hyssop is a bushy, evergreen plant from southern Europe. Once widely cultivated for medicinal uses, it is now grown mostly as an ornamental shrub. The plant consists of several square, branched, downy stems which are woody at the bottom and bear opposite, sessile, glabrous to hairy, linear-lanceolate leaves.
FLOWERING PERIOD: The rose-coloured to bluish-purple flowers grow in successive
axillary whorls at the tops of the branches and stem from June to October.
CULTIVATION: Harvest the pick flowers and young flowering top as flowering begins. Gather leaves anytime. The plant should be cut off at 8 inches in the fall. Hang bunches upside down to dry in a warm, dark area. Once dried chop leaves and store in an airtight container.
ASSOCIATIONS:

Element: Fire

Gender:  Masculine

Planet: Jupiter

Deities: Obatala, Apollo, Bridget, Pluto, Zeus, Those invoked for protection or purification

Astrological Sign: Cancer, Sagittarius

MAGICAL USES: Hyssop is the most widely used purification herb in magic. It is added to baths in sachets, infused and sprinkled on objects or persons to cleanse them, and hung up in the home to purge it of evil and negativity. Hung up in the home, hyssop can rid a house of negativity. Add it into a sachet or water to infuse or sprinkle on people in need of purification. It's also good for use in magical self-defense -- carry some in your pocket, or spread it around the perimeter of your property to add a layer of magical protection.
RITUAL USES: Purification & Protection rituals. Hyssop was a holy herb of the ancient Greeks, used to cleanse sacred spaces. It is the most widely used purification herb in magic. Hyssop can be burned in incense, worn, used in decorations, and added to the chalice. Use a bunch to ritually "sweep" the altar as a preparation for a ceremonial rite. It is added to baths in sachets, infused and sprinkled on objects or persons to cleanse them, and hung up in the home to purge it of evil negativity.
COMPANION PLANTING: Hyssop is said to repel flea beetles and lure away cabbage moths. Try planting hyssop next to cabbage and grapes
PARTS USED: Flowering tops, essential oil, aerial parts.
PROPERTIES :  The Hebrew people called this herb azob, meaning "holy herb." Hyssop was used in ancient times as a cleansing herb for temples and other sacred places, used for purifying temples and cleansing lepers, the leaves contain an antiseptic, antiviral oil. A mold that produces penicillin grows on the leaves. A leaf poultice treats bruises and wounds. The antiseptic, antiviral, but hazardous essential oil is used in perfumes and to treat cold sores, disperse bruises, and heal scars. It was also used to repel insects. The Romans used hyssop to bring protection from the plague and prepared an herbal wine containing hyssop. In ancient Greece, the physicians Galen and Hippocrates valued hyssop for inflammations of the throat and chest, pleurisy, and other bronchial complaints. In the early seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, hyssop tea and tincture were used to treat jaundice and dropsy. Astringent,  Carminative,  Emmenagogue,  Expectorant,  Stimulant, Stomach  Tonic
Hyssop is used in essentially the same way as sage, with which it is sometimes combined to make a gargle for sore throat. Hyssop tea can be used for poor digestion, breast and lung problems, coughs due to colds, nose and throat infections, mucous congestion in the intestines, flatulence, scrofula, dropsy, and jaundice. The decoction is said to help relive inflammations, and it can also be used as a wash for burns, bruises, and skin irritations, and as a gargle for sore throats or chronic catarrh. Apply the crushed leaves directly to bruises or to wounds to cure infection and promote healing.
Preparation and Dosage: Do not use continuously for extended periods.
One should harvest hyssop when the herb reaches a height of about 1.5 ft (46 cm). Frequent cuttings from the tops of mature plants will keep the foliage tender for use in salads, soups, or teas. Used sparingly in culinary preparations, hyssop's tender shoots are a digestive aid, especially with greasy meats. When harvesting the herb for medicinal uses, one should use the flowering tops. Gather the herb on a sunny August day after the dew has dried. Hang the branches to dry in a warm, airy room out of direct sunlight. Remove leaves and flowers from the stems and store in clearly labeled, tightly sealed, dark-glass containers.
Leaves:

INFUSION –Place 3 tbsp dried, or twice as much fresh, hyssop leaf and blossom in a warm glass container. Bring 2.5 cups of fresh, nonchlorinated water to the boiling point, and add it to the herbs. Cover and infuse the tea for 10–15 minutes. Strain and drink warm. The prepared tea will store for about two days if kept in a sealed container in the refrigerator. Hyssop tea may be enjoyed by the cupful up to three times a day. Hyssop may be combined with white horehound for additional expectorant action to relieve coughs. For sore throats, a warm infusion of hyssop combined with sage (Salvia officinalis ) is a home remedy recommended by some herbalists.

TINCTURE –Combine four ounces of finely-cut fresh or powdered dry herb with one pint of brandy, gin, or vodka, in a glass container. The alcohol should be sufficient to cover the plant parts. Place the mixture away from light for about two weeks, shaking several times each day. Strain and store in a tightly-capped, dark glass bottle. A standard dose is 1–2 ml of the tincture three times a day.

Flowers:

SYRUP – the hyssop can also be taken in the form of syrup. This is excellent to treat persistent or chronic coughs. The best syrup is made from the hyssop infusion, itself prepared from the stem or the flowering parts. This syrup can also be used in a combination herbal formula with the flowers of the mullein or with some licorice to treat very stubborn coughs and to boost the pulmonary function in people suffering from general weakness in the lungs.

ESSENTIAL OIL–The commercially available essential oil of hyssop is obtained by steam distillation of the flowering tops. The oil is highly aromatic and is used in perfumes, aromatherapy , and to flavor liqueurs, especially Chartreuse and Benedictine. The oil has a warm and pungent aroma with a slight camphor-like smell. It may be used in dilute form as an external nonirritating application on bruises , cuts, eczema, and dermatitis , as a chest rub for bronchitis and the congestion of colds, and as an additive to bath water to relieve nervous exhaustion and melancholy.

Essential oil:

HERBAL CHEST RUB – the volatile hyssop oil can be diluted with other plant oils and used as a topical remedy. Ten drops of hyssop mixed with twenty ml of either the almond or sunflower oils can be used as a chest rub. This oil massaged onto the chest can help bring relief from some of the symptoms associated with bronchitis and colds that affect the chest region. This oil can also be mixed with the oils of the thyme and the eucalyptus as an herbal combination formula for topical problems.
OIL – about five to ten drops of the aromatic hyssop oil can be added to bath water. A person who suffers from some form of nervous exhaustion, persistent feelings of melancholy, or undergoing extreme grief - can soak in this water to gain relief.

MEDICINAL USES:

Key Qualities: Tonic; Cephalic; Nervine; Warming; Calming; Purifying; Cleansing; Aphrodisiac; Mental Stimulant; balancing.

Aromatherapy Uses   Bruises; Cuts; Dermatitis; Eczema; Inflammation; Wounds; Low or High Blood Pressure; Rheumatism; Asthma; Bronchitis; Catarrh; Cough; Flu; Sore Throat; Tonsillitis; Whooping Cough; Colic; Indigestion; Amenorrhea; Leukorrhea; Anxiety; Fatigue; Nervous Tension; Stress related Conditions.

Preparation: Make a standard infusion of the herb using two teaspoons per cup of water and steeping for twenty minutes. The dose is one-fourth cup four times a day.
PRECAUTIONS:
Only moderate amounts of hyssop essential oil should be used. Do not use the herb continuously in any form for long periods of time. Pregnant women, children, and persons with epilepsy should avoid any use of this potent essential oil. High doses (10–30 drops for adults) may cause convulsions due to the ketone known as pinocamphone. Pregnant or lactating women should not use any form of hyssop.
SIDE EFFECTS:
Hyssop can cause nausea , upset stomach, and diarrhea in susceptible persons. Symptoms of overdose include dizziness , tightness in the chest, and disturbances of the central nervous system.
CULINARY USES:
Though not as popular as a culinary herb in the contemporary world, the hyssop was used as a coking herb by the Romans and Greeks. The flowers and the leaves of the hyssop can be used to season all kinds of vegetable dishes, different kinds of soups, all sorts of casseroles and sauces, as well as pickles and preserve. The hyssop leaves can also be used as a stuffing for meats and poultry. The additional of some hyssop leaves can give various green salads, such as fruit salad a minty and refreshing flavor and taste. When used in cooking and in salads, the hyssop is best used sparingly, due to the fact that the flavor of the herb is quite potent. The hyssop can also be made into a refreshing and relaxing herbal tea. Prepare this herbal tea by steeping five ml or a teaspoon of dried hyssop leaves or flowers in two hundred and fifty ml of boiling water. Allow the herb to steep into the water. Once the tea is strained, sweeten it with a little honey to remove the bitterness and to add some taste. The hyssop plant can be mixed with some spearmint or with the lemon balm to prepare an herbal tea that has a lighter flavor. Commercially sold, French liqueurs such as Benedictine and Chartreuse contain the hyssop as an essential ingredient.
COSMETIC USES: The herbal extract and aromatic essence of hyssop is also utilized by industry in the manufacture of quite a number of colognes.
CRAFT USES:
Fresh plucked or even dried hyssop flowers can be added to floral arrangements and floral bouquets. The dried and fragrant smelling hyssop leaves and flowers are a popular inclusion in potpourris and sweet smelling floral sachets or packs.

Caledula

NAME : Calendula

LATIN NAME : Calendula officinalis (LINN.)

FAMILY: N.O. Compositae
COMMON / FOLK NAMES :
Bride of the Sun, Bull Flower, Butterwort, Calendula, Cowbloom, Death-flower, Drunkard Gold, Fior d’ogni (Italian),  Garden Marigold,  Gold Bloom,Golden Flower of Mary, Holigold, Husband’s Dial, Kingscup, Marigold, Marsh Marigold, Maravilla, Mary Bud, Mary Golde, Mary Gowles, Mejorana (Spanish), Poet’s Marigold, Pot Marigold, Publican and Sinner, Ringelblume (German), Solis Sponsa, Solsequia, Summer’s Bride, Sun’s Bride, Water Dragon,  Yolk of Egg
Note:  Calendula is not the same as the common garden or French marigold
(Tagetes ), African marigold ( T. erecta ), or Inca marigold ( T. minuta ).
HABITAT: Calendula is thought to be native to Egypt, hieroglyphics from buildings constructed around 5,000 years ago describe calendula flowers.
FLOWER SPECIFICATIONS
Season: Annual
Zones: United States 4 - 10
Height: 24 inches
Bloom Season: Late Spring to Early Fall
Foliage Color: Light Green
Bloom Color: Orange, Brown Center
Environment: Full Sun to Part Shade
Soil: Light, Well-drained Soil
Planting Directions
Temperature: 70F
Average Germ Time: 1-2 weeks
Light Required: No
Depth: 1/16th
Sowing Rate: 6-8 seeds per plant
Moisture: keep moist (not wet) with weeper ground watering hose or bottom water
Plant Spacing: 8-12"
Notes: Needs good drainage
DESCRIPTION:  A Druid sacred herb, this cheerful annual or perennial has hairy leaves and golden-orange daisy flowers. It grows in a small clump with fragrant lance-shaped leaves; it produces flowers that resemble large yellow and orange Daisy.
The leaves are added to salads and garnishes of flowers color rice and fish dishes. Calendula is antiseptic and antifungal and contains hormone and vitamin A precursors. Essential oil is extracted from the petals but is extremely expensive. 
FLOWERING PERIOD: The plants will begin to flower in June, and continue flowering until the frost kills them. They will increase from year to year, if allowed to seed themselves. The seeds ripen in August and September, and if permitted to scatter will furnish a supply of young plants in the spring.
CULTIVATION:
For the garden the seed is usually started in a hotbed during March or April and the plants pricked out in flats 2 inches apart and hardened off in the usual way.  Seeds sown in April, in any soil, in sunny, or half-sunny places germinate freely. Often the seed is sown in the open and the seedlings thinned and transplanted when about 2 inches tall.  When the weather becomes settled they are set a foot or 15 inches apart in rather poor soil, preferably light and sandy, with sunny exposure. They require no other cultivation but to keep them clean from weeds and to thin out where too close, leaving them 9 to 10 inches apart, so that their branches may have room to spread.
ASSOCIATIONS:

Element:   Fire

Gender: Masculine

Planet: Sun

Deities:  Sun Gods

Astrological Sign: Leo

MAGICAL USES: Consecration, Divination, Business and Legal Matters, Prophetic Dreams, Protection, Psychic powers,  Seeing Magical Creatures, Love, Renewing Personal Energy
Place the flower beneath the head at night to induce clairvoyant dreams. Sometimes added to love sachets. 
RITUAL USES  Marigolds are used to make protective wreaths or magical hoops. Plant marigold to bring joy to the dead (including your dead relatives, family, and friends). Use in beverages for fire rituals, solar festials, or summerland (death) rituals. It should be gathered at noon.
COMPANION PLANTING:
Calendula makes a good companion to herb and vegetable gardens because it repels tomato hornwoms and asparagus beetles. It also attracts caterpillars, leafhoppers, aphids, and whiteflies, so you can plant it away from your main garden to trap these pests. The flowers also attract beneficial insects like bees.
PARTS USED: 
Flowers &  leaves
PROPERTIES :
The flowers are a healing agent. Marigold petal ointment can help chapped hands and varicose veins, also works wonders with eczema and inflammation. Added to fomentations, poultices and salves, they speed healing of wounds and of nerve damage.Also use as an antiseptic in first aid. 
Flowers:

COMPRESS -  Externally, buds are made into compresses for the treatment of burns.

INFUSION –For internal use the flowers are prepared by infusion and recommended for the flu, fever, rheumatism, jaundice, and painful menstruation, intestinal problems and to clean lymph and blood.

LOTION – Simmer 12 heads in 2 cups milk, steep, strain and apply topically.

TEA - To ease inflammation, dip a compress into a strong marigold tea combined with an equal part of apple cider vinegar. Sprains can also be helped with marigold petals steeped in vinegar.

TINCTURE – Useful in fevers, the herb can be used fresh, dry, or in tincture.

MEDICINAL USES:
Calendula flowers have many healing properties. They are used as teas for stomach ailments, to relieve hemorrhoids, to soothe infected eyes and for healing skin irritations. Calendula was used in ancient Greece and Rome in cooking and medicine. The name of the flower comes from the Latin word kalendae, from which the word calendar is derived, because it could be found blooming at the beginning the month. Calendula has been shown to have antibacterial, antiviral, astringent and wound healing properties. Use calendula salve on dry lips and skin, blemishes, burns, slight scrapes and cuts. 
Preparation:

TEA:  steep two teaspoons of flowers per cup of water for twenty minutes; take one teaspoon per hour. Calendula tea may be taken 3 times per day.

TINCTURE: which can be taken with water or tea, can be taken 3 times a day (in doses of 1-2 ml). To make calendula tincture, soak a cup of flowers in .5 quarts of rectified alcohol for 5 to 6 weeks. A tincture dose is 5 to 15 drops.Using tincture, take five to twenty drops four times a day.  Fluid extract, 1/4 to 1 drachm

SALVE

Pick 2 cups fresh calendula flower petals at mid-day on a sunny, dry day to avoid dew or moisture, pulling the petals from the flowers and avoiding any green leaves. Use only smooth and silky petals that are not wet with rain or dew. Gather other ingredients and utensils: 1 cup extra virgin olive oil or pure sweet almond oil, 1/4 cup pure bee’s wax, a stainless steel sauce pot to melt bee’s wax, a double burner, a large piece of unbleached cheese cloth and several small sterilized jars with lids.

Cook the fresh petals in oil for an hour, slowly over low heat and stir constantly. Don’t boil or burn, or leave the pot without stirring. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. When cool but still warm, press calendula oil from the petals by straining the oil and petals through cheese cloth and squeezing all the oil from the cooked petals into a clean bowl. Put the freshly squeezed calendula oil into a new sauce pot and warm over low heat again while melting the beeswax in the double burner at the same time. When the beeswax is melted, pour it into the warmed calendula oil and mix well over low heat. Pour the warm mixture into sterilized jars, adding a few fresh petals for color if desired and a few drops of vanilla essential oil or other essential oils for fragrance; let set for 15 minutes before putting on lids and sealing. Label the calendula salve and store in a cool, dark place, putting the batch date on the bottom of the jars.

CULINARY USES: The flower heads are sometimes dried and used in broths, soups, stews, etc., but the flavor is too pronounced for American palates. 
COSMETIC USES: Calendula petals can be used to make a nourishing skin cream or cleanser, and a strong infusion made from marigold petals can be used to lighten hair. Flowers are used for hair rinse. Combine with chamomile and comfrey for an all-purpose soothing mix for all skin types. Good in bath or facial mixtures. Used in the bath is considered stimulating. Cosmetic Flower Add petals to creams and baths for cleansing, healing and softening the skin. Aromatic Pungent to sweet aroma, deters flies. Calendula used both internally and externally has been found to be one of the single most useful herbs in skin care. Used in a massage oil it is said to help get rid of cellulite. 
CRAFT USES:  Decorative