Aria Sparrowsong's TAROT AND STARS

Lammas / Lughnassad is the only Sabbat that does not have a major Christian holy day or celebration attached to it. It is still a sacred time--as summer winds to a close it is the beginning of preparations for the Dark Time of the year. The Celtic Sun God, Lugh rules this special time as does John Barleycorn, who puts all of his energy in the crops and lays down to die beckoning the coming Fall season. It is thought that in times past, many fairs and festivals were happening during this part of the Wheel of the Year and of course, the First Harvest was the highlight of the Summer. The harvesting of the barley, wheat and corn kept egalitarian people busy and in the fields. Celebrating the fruits of their labor with copious amounts of beer and bread (and the shaping of the bread into the Lady and the Lord) was customary. Wheels of wood or straw wreaths, decorated with flowers and ribbons were set alight and rolled down a hill to symbolize the turning of the Wheel of the Year. There ...

July 16 is an astrologically eventful night, bringing us a  full buck moon  and partial  lunar eclipse . What does that all mean? Let’s break it down. First, each month's full moon has different traditional names. According to  the Old Farmer’s Almanac,  July’s full moon is called the  buck moon  or thunder moon, because it coincides with the time of year when a buck’s antlers are full grown and thunderstorms are frequent. Next, a  lunar eclipse  only occurs during a full moon. It happens when the sun, moon, and Earth align in such a way that the Earth’s shadow moves over the face of the moon. This month brings us a  partial lunar eclipse , so the Earth’s shadow will be seen on only part of moon. While much of the world — including most of Australia, Africa, South America, Europe, and Asia — will be able to see the partial lunar eclipse, the majority of North America is out of luck. A total lunar eclipse is sometimes calle...

Mildred Payne's Secret Pocket Oracle in French--Second Edition Well, I gotta say, I love this little deck! It truly is pocket sized and can fit in the palm of your hand! Throw in your purse or take when you travel, it really takes up hardly any space. Patrick Valenza, the creator and artist of the Deviant Moon Tarot also created this tiny deck. I bought the original First Edition when it was initially published and the original did not have as many cards. There was an expansion pack that came out later to take the deck from the original count to the 69 cards--where it is numbered now. There is another expansion pack that I have seen on the website but not explored yet. Also on the first edition, the backs had unusually drawn designs that could be fit together to make into a really cool puzzle. Both editions came nicely packaged with extra cards, the cards were in a standard tuck-box and included a small red pouch to carry them in. The First Edition had the meanings of the car...