Wednesday 31 August 2011

Stargazing

The Stargazer's Guide
By Emily Winterburn

Photo by Yvonne

Yet another synchronous charity shop find. I had bought this book for a friend in America, and after a recent 'planetary collision' with him, I found myself thinking about the book. No surprise then, when it turned up under my nose in mint condition. I took it as a sign from the cosmos.

It's a lovely book, written by Emily Winterburn, the Curator of Astronomy at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, London. The book guides you through the night sky in relation to the months and seasons, and includes myths connected to the zodiac. The author also brings astrology into the picture, and in a way that is respectful to the subject: unusual for a scientist. I think she has a secret sympathy for the ancient wisdom of the planetary spheres.

"There we stay,
and watch the procession of the stars and planets
as our our bodies intertwine, like ribbons,
in this field of the night."

By SB 2007

Tuesday 30 August 2011

Good Faeries/ Bad Faeries

Good fairies/Bad faeries
By Brian Froud

I happened across this in a charity store recently. Mr Brian Froud is one of my favourite faery beings...this came to me as I was reaching to look at another book..I hadn't seen this one next to it..and when I withdrew my hand, this book was smiling up at me. Goddess bless you Mr Froud!

Pictured faeries are: top left,
Quempel, the faery of special moments.

Top right: The Vervain Faery. True flower faeries are "tiny specks of light involved with the processes of plant growth at the cellular level. Sometimes however, they manifest themselves in more substantial forms. Even flower faeries have to grow up. The Vervain faery can be called upon for healing, protection, and her general soothing ways."

Bottom left: The Morning faery "fond of appearing in the sudden quiet of the moment" and bottom right The Knowing Faery " There are no secrets from this faery... she knows what you have hidden in your heart." From Good faeries/ Bad faeries by Brian Froud.

Sunday 28 August 2011

The Queen of Passage

Surrender / Transition / Trust

All things change. All situations move from one phase into another. Sometimes those transitions are difficult. Letting go and moving on, whether to a new life, a new love, or perhaps just a new phase of a current relationship, can be painful, but the Queen of Passage is there to help with those transitions. She looks ahead with the keen sight of the kestrel and can see the future with the wisdom of the raven. She holds a pomegranate, a sign of fertility. There is growth in the future. There is a way ahead. The darkness comes as you step from one state to another. The moment of passage between the past and future, between the worlds themselves, is a moment of surrender. Trust this great queen to be your guide. Listen to what she has to tell you and then take that step. She will be by your side in the moment you move out of the past and into the future.

Yvonne is in transition, surrendering to the change.