I’m sorry for the lateness of this post. Can you believe that I just forgot? I thought about not posting at all once I remembered, but that’s a separate story. Suffice it to say, it’s July and I’m back on schedule.
July was named after Julius Caesar, and it’s the 7th month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars.
Here we are in the hottest time of year, just past the Summer Solstice. The days are long, sweaty and sticky, and there’s nothing we can do but just go through it to the other side. The mimosa trees and hostas are blooming, and there are wildflowers in the woods. I saw a turtle escape the swamp a few days ago and make a run for under our car, but I’m not sure what he was expecting to find there. He turned around and went back to the coolness of the water.
Birthstones: Ruby
Lunations:
July 5, 12:44am EST Full Moon (Capricorn) (Lunar Eclipse)
July 20, 1:33pm EST New Moon (Cancer)
Astronomy:
July 12- Mercury goes direct
Celtic Tree Month:
Oak (June 10- July 7): Solar magick, health, success, prosperity, blessings, bravery, endurance, strength, deep emotions, love, nurturing our family, mediating conflict, healing wounds, sovereignty, rulership, power, strength and endurance, justice and nobility, honesty, male fertility.
Holly (July 8- August 4); Protection, enjoying and celebrating success (nearing first harvest), renewal/restoring your direction, rebalancing your energy, moving towards your purpose, energizing. Truth, unconditional love, sacrifice, reincarnation, protection, luck, dream magick, male counterpart to feminine ivy.
Holidays (mundane):
July 4: Independence Day
Holidays (Pagan):
July 31: Lughnassadh!
Themes and general activities for the month: Starting the harvest- mostly veggies and a little early grain, fireworks, crushing racism, crushing the patriarchy, trying to see what we can appreciate about our country and building upon that while exposing all the things we’ve done wrong, weeding removing what hiders our growth, and looking to the purifying (and cooling) properties of water.
Herbs I’m using: Fresh peppermint in lemonade, fresh basil and oregano in dinner, and the perpetual favorite, tea.
Stones I’m using: Lots of heart chakra stones- rose quartz, aventurine, nephrite jade.
Goddess of the Month: Saraswati (Mastery) This is the Goddess of learning until you’ve become an expert. Usually tied to the creative arts, writing, poetry, dance, music, etc., she’s a sign that the only way to get really good at something is through dedicated practice. What a great way to spend this time in lock down!
3 card reading:
First, we start the month off with the 9 of Swords. We’re feeling like we’re at the end of our ropes. We’ve been struggling for too long, and we’re feeling depressed, like our energy reserves are running really low. I think this feeling is due to the lock down. It’s wearing really thin these days.
Next, we have the 5 of Discs. So add to that worries about our finances, and that’s really adding to the struggle. The supplemental unemployment insurance is running out at the end of this month, and that’s been keeping a lot of people afloat. So money worries are not surprising.
Finally, we see the 3 of Wands. So in the midsts of all this worry, we’re going to start putting things together for ourselves. We’re going to be building something new and exciting out of the chaos. It’s just a question of setting our minds to the future instead of the past and finding something that sets us on fire with excitement and creativity!
Our special guidance card is Wren. Wren is all about achieving great things through cunning, and is a sign that deity resides in the small things, the small details of our lives. If we take this lesson, everything becomes sacred and everything is ritual.
Song. O Spirit Of The Summer-Time!
By William Allingham
O spirit of the Summer-time!
Bring back the roses to the dells;
The swallow from her distant clime,
The honey-bee from drowsy cells.
Bring back the friendship of the sun;
The gilded evenings calm and late,
When weary children homeward run,
And peeping stars bid lovers wait.
Bring back the singing; and the scent
Of meadow-lands at dewy prime;
Oh, bring again my heart’s content,
Thou Spirit of the Summer-time!
My personal tides and goals:
The kitten thing didn’t work out, two of them disappeared and I’m imagining that they were taken in by their loving new families. We could never get near them, try as we might. So now we feed them and try to keep an eye out for them, and leave them to their own devices. That’s all we can do. This has been a lesson for me in letting go of control when I never really had any control to start with.
I’ve also been thinking about writing again. The work I do sucks up a lot of my brain power, but I miss doing something creative. While I probably won’t get my shit together enough to do Camp NaNoWriMo in July, maybe I can just make a start. Isn’t that how anything worthwhile starts? (See Saraswati above.)