Thursday This Is Your Spell - Northern Lights Magics

OK, ok, I know I've been slacking...but I have good reason. I have a 2-car garage so full of boxes, I can't get one car in it...my computer is still not right - my Windows Live Writer has disappeared, and it absolutely refuses to reinstall - one of the guys from work is going to come look at it in a day or so, so hopefully that will be corrected soon...I have to give a birthday party for my almost 6 year old boy on Saturday...Christmas is only 2 weeks away, and I haven't wrapped a single gift...*sigh* No rest for the weary, 'cuz trust me, the list goes on and on...
But - that's not your problem, and I will try to do better. With that being said, I am going to (try to) start posting daily again, hopefully following the guidelines I have established for myself...

* Northern Lights Magic *
by Sarah The SwampWitch

How to use the northern lights in magic:

1. I've used the added energy from the lights as an energy booster to many types of Magic - much the same way that the energy from an approaching storm can be used (what type of magic that I end up using the energy for depends on my needs at the moment and what phase the Moon is in).

2. I have used the lights as the quarter for either the element of air or the element of fire in my rituals, it just depends on my whim at the moment.

3. Since the fey dance at night under the Aurora Borealis, this is a neat time to do Elven or Fey magic.

4.. My family coven actually does what we call the yearly Northern Lights Rites. In this ritual we honor a Goddess (and I suppose some day we might honor a God ) that is connected to the Aurora Borealis and ask for whatever benefit that the Goddess is associated with. Some that we have honored are:

· The Frost Giantess Skadi (also spelled Skaoi, Skadhi or Skade). Known as the Snow-Shoe Goddess:
"When wolves howl upon the mountain heights,
Swift beneath the northern lights,
Skadi comes skimming o'er the snow."
Skadi is a good goddess to call upon for help in doing protective magick, or if you desire to reclaim your own wild nature and to go outside your own limits and boundaries.

· Arianrhod - The Welsh Goddess known as "Silver Wheel" or "High Fruitful Mother". She is a star goddess; sky goddess; Full Moon goddess; virgin; and the goddess of reincarnation. Her palace is called Caer Arianrhod (Aurora Borealis). She is the Keeper of the circling Silver Wheel of Stars, a symbol of time and karma. This wheel is also known as the Oar Wheel, a ship which carried dead warriors to the Moonland (Emania). She is honored at the Full Moon and so we did Her ritual when there were northern lights at Full Moon time. Arianrhod can be invoked for Beauty, fertility, reincarnation.

· The Zorya (ZOR-yah) are Slavic Goddess sisters. They are the Guardians of the God-hound, which is chained to the constellation, Ursa Major. Like the Fenris wolf of the Norse mythos, this creature will destroy the world if it ever breaks free. Each morning, Zorya Utrenyaya opens the gates of Her father's (Dazhdbog) Eastern palace so he may ride across the sky. In the evening, Zorya Vechernyaya closes the gates after Her father's daily ride is finished. Two other sisters, Zezhda Dennitsa and Vechernyaya Zezhda, the morning star and evening star are the caretakers of Their father's horses and are sometimes considered to be the same two goddesses. The last daughter is called Polunocnica and She is midnight. All the Zorya are said to come together to dance and the light They radiate becomes the dancing aurora borealis. The Zorya are good to ask for help in protection and in family matters.

· The Valkyries ("chosers of the slain") are beautiful young women, mounted upon winged horses and armed with helmets and spears. Odin needs many brave warriors for the oncoming battle of Ragnarok, and the Valkyries scout the battlefields to choose the bravest of those who have been slain. They escort these heroes, called the Einherjar to Valhalla, Odin's hall. The Valkyries are also Odin's messengers and when They ride forth on Their errands, Their armor causes the strange flickering light that is called the Aurora Borealis. The Valkyries are good to call upon for justice, and the dispensing of divine retribution.

· Aurora is the Roman personification of the dawn. She is also the Roman equivalent of the Greek goddess Eos. Aurora is seen as a lovely woman who flies across the sky announcing the arrival of the sun. Aurora has two siblings: a brother, the sun, and a sister, the moon. She has had quite a number of husbands and sons. Four of Her sons are the four winds (north, south, east, and west). According to one myth, Her tears cause the dew as She flies across the sky weeping for one of Her sons, who was killed. Aurora can be asked for help in family matters and new beginnings.

5. The Northern Lights are associated with dogs and foxes. In Finnish folklore the lights are called "revontulet", which means "fox fires" a name derived from an ancient fable of the arctic fox starting fires fire or spraying up snow with its brush-like tail. Because of this my coven thinks that the Northern Lights is a good time to do any canine magic, like doing a Ritual to welcome a new dog into the pack... or doing a healing ritual for a sick dog. We often do Foo Foo dog magic** under the lights which involves howling with the dogs and what ever wolves, etc are out in the swamps at the moment.

* The Northern Lights Fairy Spell *
By Claire Nahmad

When the firmament is alight with meteoric phenomena and the merry Dancers assume their pretty gowns and make great sport up and down the curtain of the night sky until they are in a fair frolic and frenzy, these Northern Lights are come to let you know that the evening is full of magic, and the season ripe for spells and craft working. Therefore, coax a cat (better if she be black) on to your lap, and sit alone with her in the garden, stroking her until a sheen appears on her coat and she purrs contentedly. Have at your elbow a nipperkin of wine in a small vessel, and at the cat's first stretch, anoint her lightly with the wine, making the holy sign of the cross on her head, and then do the same for yourself.
Gently grasp her tail and stroke it three times swiftly over your left eye, and then over your right, saying:

"Elves of the night, enchant my sight,
Your forms for to see in moon or sunlight'
With this spell and with this sign
I pri'thee, forward my design."

Let puss run off, and steal away to your bedchamber, there to contemplate the moon and the stars and all the magical lights of the sky from your lattice. If you have found favor with the fairies, then mystic dreams will come to you that night, and afterwards you will begin to see Little People at their revels, faintly at first, but yet more clear, more lucid, as the fairy-enchantment blesses ever deeper your inner seeing.

(from Cat Spells: Cat Magic through the Ages By Claire Nahmad)

**This refers to the pack of small, fluffy “foo foo” dogs that Sarah shares her home with…lol dawtch

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