Monday, December 28, 2015

2016 In Focus- Astrology Events



2016 Quick Synopsis
Boy oh BOY what a year do we have ahead of us astrologically! This year is going to make you feel limitless and restricted at times! The key players this year are all the big giants! Mercury retrogrades 4 times this year. (Big deal he always retrogrades, worry about the giants). Venus on the other hand, the goddess of love and beauty stays direct all year! This is going to be a highly spiritual year for most, but above all for everyone a testament to the building of character and personal resilience. Navigate the sea of energy with care! Take caution where needed and catch the wind in your sails to keep you moving. 

Jupiter makes to positive aspects with Pluto this year. This is energy that allows you to create win/win outcomes in your life. Dedicate yourself to a goal and follow through. Act in accord with your intentions and you will see them flourish with this energy!

Saturn and Neptune have some unpleasant aspects this year. They are opposing forces in the universe. Saturn is the creature of structure, limitations, and boundaries. Neptune on the other hand, is the dreamer, the actor in the theatre, the dreamy fantasy land that has no need for what Saturn has to offer. These aspects this year will be important regarding priorities. Keep a level head at these times and fight the urge to run off into a fantasy land. Neptune isn't all bad, he does give us the ability to go to our dream space to breathe and collect our faculties. The temptation is to stay there. Keep that discerning Saturnalian energy with you, so that you don't get sucked into procrastination and dramatics. 

The months of March - June are going to be a particularly trying time for many people. Don't take petty arguments personally at this time, but don't get shafted or backed into a corner. There is a fine line between egoism and humility. Don't be surprised if spiritual matters are amplified at this time. During shifting energies it's always good to have a strategy to keep centered. You may feel the greatest urge to fly higher than ever. Remember the reverse can be true as well. 

Mars goes retrograde every 2 years. So when his effects come they come swiftly. This retrograde is probably not the best time to launch new projects; instead refine old ones or shut down ones that are failing. Question your direction and ultimately WHERE you're directing your energies. 

The above was a brief synopsis of the coming year, 2016. As the year progresses I will go into further detail. Below you will the big events of this year. I have set them up by month chronologically. This way we are able to see everything that happens chronologically and can plan accordingly! What an intense year this is going to be!
-Lord Auriael-
Prince of Swords
3rd Degree High Priest of the Craft/Witch


January
  1. Mercury Retrograde: 5th-26th in Capricorn
  2. Jupiter Retrograde: 7 Jan - 9 May in Virgo


February 
  1. Jupiter Retrograde

March
  1. Jupiter Retrograde
  2. Total Solar Eclipse: 8th in Pisces (Supermoon, New Moon).
  3. Jupiter creates positive aspect with Pluto: 16 March
  4. Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: 23rd in Libra
  5. Saturn Retrograde: 26 March -13 August in Sagittarius.

April
  1. Jupiter and Saturn Retrograde
  2. Mars Retrograde: 17 April begins in Sagittarius, dips into Scorpio on 28 May, direct 29 June.
  3. Pluto Retrograde: 18 April - 26 September in Capricorn.
  4. Mercury Retrograde: 28 April -22 May in Taurus.

May
  1. Jupiter Direct: 9 May in Virgo
  2. Pluto, Mars, Saturn Retrograde
  3. Mercury Direct: 22 May
  4.  Mars Retrograde enters Scorpio on 28 May 

June
  1. Pluto, Saturn Retrograde
  2. Saturn Square Neptune: 17 June
  3. Jupiter makes positive aspect with Pluto again 26 June.
  4. Mars Direct: 29 June in Scorpio

July
  1. Pluto and Saturn Retrograde
  2. Uranus Retrograde: 29 July-29 December in Aries

August
  1. Pluto and Uranus Retrograde
  2. Saturn Direct: 13 August in Sagittarius
  3. Mercury Retrograde: 30 August - 21 September in Virgo


September
  1. Annular Solar Eclipse: 1 September in Virgo
  2. Saturn Squares Neptune: 10 September
  3. Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: 16 September in Pisces.
  4. Pluto, Mercury, and Uranus Retrograde.
  5. Mercury Direct: 21 September in Virgo.
  6. Pluto Direct: 26 September in Capricorn

October
  1. Aries Full Moon (Supermoon) 15 October.
  2. Uranus Retrograde.


November
  1. Taurus Full Moon (Supermoon) 14 November.
  2. Uranus Retrograde.

December
  1. Gemini Full Moon (Supermoon) 13 December.
  2. Mercury Retrograde: 19 December -8 January 2017 in Capricorn.
  3. Uranus Retrograde
  4. Uranus Direct 29 December.


Sunday, December 27, 2015

What happened?! Didn't My Spell Work?!



"Ugh why didn't my spell work?!" How many witches out there have had this reaction?! My guess is every last one of you. I bet you even went back over your ritual notes, rewritten the spell, and did it again. I know I have. Unfortunately, many new witches tend to have this belief that their spells will work overnight, this simply isn't how the process works. The following are some quick 'go to' questions when evaluating the effectiveness of your spells.

1. Did you plan properly?

  • Some times spells fail simply because we didn't plan the right correspondences and the timing just wasn't right. A common example is use of color. Suppose you are going to sit down and do a love spell. You get all the red romantic bits and bobs on the altar and you go to work. You set your intention and the result is a more sexual partner then a romantic loving one. Did you check your color correspondences of your candles? Traditionally, red is the color more attributed to lust, passion, ecstasy, and action. If you were looking to attract a partner for a more sustainable and romantic relationship a better option might be to choose the color pink. 
  • Did you choose the right day, phase of the moon, or magickal hour? Each of these areas are attributed to a particular energy for the witch to use. Perhaps it would have been better to choose an hour dedicated to Venus on a Friday (Sacred to Venus). 
  • Timing and proper planning are very important when it comes to crafting spells. Generally, I give myself a week of preparation time. This week prior is used to gather all the supplies, make any oils, incenses, poppets ect. This is also the time I use to write my ritual and make changes as needed. 
  • The planning process is very important for what we call 'ritual consciousness.' This state of awareness is called 'the zone.' The zone where your focus lies, where conscious mind gets quiet, and subconscious gets to work on the task at hand. The ritual tools, incense, candles, and poetry we use all excite this zone the same is said for pre-planning. Finally, Preplanning is the very spark of the ritual. This is where the spell actually starts. The ritual is the culminating event. Think of ritual itself. We start out small, cast circle, call the energies, raise personal energy to a climax and release it. The preparations is just an extended portion of the process.
2. How was your visualization?

  • Sometimes our visualization can be too complex, too little, or not there at all. During your preparation time, write down your intent and try to attach ONE image to that intent. This visual should be something you can hold in your mind and call upon easily. 
  • If you are having difficulty visualizing make an image board something small you can place on the altar. You may consider a specific style of incense or oil. 
  • Change your visualization to simply the RESULT not HOW the task will be achieved. Let that marinate a bit. 
3. How specific was your intention?

  • The devil is truly in the details. If you are too specific you may end up hitting a dead end. If you are too general you may only get a general result. You as the witch need to find your happy medium between the two extremes. For example: You may ask for prosperity. Well, that's a wonderful intention, however I have found that prosperity is generic and too general. Universe tends to spread out the prosperity. This would not be very effective if you are looking for that extra $100 to put on the bills due at the end of the month. Perhaps change your intention to: "I desire $100 to put towards the rent by the end of this month." 
4. What did you expect to happen?

  • Sometimes witches who cast spells expect a certain result. Well of course, or whatever would be the point of doing spells and rituals? The problem is they end up looking for that result exactly as they envisioned it. I have commonly referred to this as living in your spell work. I find this tends to be a common affliction with some earth and air signs. They expect a certain thing and try to control it, which really takes all the magick out of the magick. This miss the ACTUAL manifestation of the spell. Do the spell, document what you need to after the ritual, and move on with your life. Does that mean you don't tend to that intention? Absolutely not! You can continue to 'feed the spell.' Maybe it means placing an offering and dedicating it to that intention. Perhaps you can say a daily affirmation around that intention that repeat through out the day or weeks after the ritual. Whatever it is get creative. 
  • Typically spells slowly manifest over time to a big culminating manifestation, sometimes in 3's. This is the energies way of telling you it's working. Just let it be! As you develop your practice you will become more aligned with the energies.
5. Energy ALWAYS takes the easiest route. 
  • There can be a million and one ways and reasons why your spells either didn't work or simply were not as effective as you anticipated. That's why the Craft is called a practice. Just like a doctor or a nurse has a practice, it's a skill. Skills are not developed overnight. Energy will always take the easiest route. Sometimes we cock up our spell by being too elaborate or having too many moving parts. Sometimes is better to just keep it simple. 
6. Act in accord with your intention.
  • Here's the thing, if your walking around being all mopey, not believing in yourself, or the working, you just wasted your time. Have a little faith. 
  • Get rid of junk. Let me tell you the quickest way to get a prosperity/money spell to work is if you clean house or get rid of old clothes. You can't have new things when you are holding on to clutter, spiritually, energetically or physically. 
  • You have to BE what you are trying to make manifest. I am not saying your going to do all the work, nor is universe/energy going to do the work for you. By acting in accord you will work TOGETHER to make the intention manifest. How do you know if you are acting in accord? Ask yourself and do an HONEST, not critically demeaning, SELF EVALUATION. 
Point is folks there are probably millions of reasons why spells work or don't. We could be here all day discussing this. These are some of the top reasons that I can think of that will help make your spell casting a little easier! 

Lord Auriael
3rd Degree High Priest of the Craft/Witch
The Prince of Swords
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