Change Is An Adventure:Cat’s Angel Number for May 1, 2017

May’s Theme:  Change – Growth – Embrace New Adventures

Adventure is not outside man; it is within.  ~ George Eliot

51: Welcome to May and Happy Beltane! Even though we don’t know exactly what the future holds for us be assured that things are improving. The angels are asking us to focus our thoughts on the best positive outcome and to reaffirm your positive  intentions and goals. Fear of the future is normal , however the key lies in how you perceive change. If we acknowledge our fears and do our best to let them go we can  fill that space with  positive intention and a sense of adventure. Visualize yourself as an explorer heading out into the uncharted territory of personal growth. What does the future hold? Who knows…..but man it’s going to be good!

Blessings for a magickal day!

Cat’s Bits for the Week of April 30- May 6: The Beltane Fire

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

May Events:

May 1: Beltane/ Mayday
May 5: Cinco de Mayo
May 10: Full Moon at 5:42 pm EST
May 13: Celtic Tree Month of Hawthorn begins
May 14: Mother’s Day
May 25: New Moon at 3:44 pm EST
May 27: Ramadan begins
May 29: Memorial Day

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Correspondences

Colors: Red, White, Brown, Pink, Green

Stones/Gems: Emerald, Malachite, Amber, Carnelian, Sapphire, Rose Quartz

Symbols & Decorations: The Maypole, bonfires, flowers, trees, plants, ploughs, cauldrons of flowers, broom

Foods: Dairy, bread, cereals

Flowers, Herbs: Lily of the valley, foxglove, rose, broom, hawthorne, dittany of crete, elder, mint, mugwort, thyme, yarrow, almond, tree/shrub, clover, ivy, marigold, meadowsweet, rowan, sorrel, woodruff

Deities: Aphrodite, Artemis, Bast, Diana, Faunus, Flora, Maia, Pan, the Horned God, Venus, and all Gods and Goddesses of fertility.

Animals: Swallow, dove, swan, cats, lynx, leopard

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Greenwood Marriage

Come my lover, take ribbon in hand and dance the Maypole round, Over and under the colors are woven brilliant and breathless in Spring’s warm light.

Come my lover and dance with me, circle the Beltane fires,
A wink and smile as you pass by to make sure that I catch your eye.

Come my lover and walk with me into the magic night
Into the dark and silent trees where our greenwood marriage bed awaits

(C) Cat/LBolotin 2017

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Article for the Week:

The Beltane Fire
by Cat Bolotin

The celebration of Beltane celebrates the joining of the Goddess and God. As the young God emerges into manhood, he is stirred by the primal energy of nature and the Goddess once his playmate and companion now becomes the object of his desire. She returns his adoration and they fall in love. As the natural world around them unites in the ages old dance of fertility, so do the Lord and Lady. The warm fertile earth is their bed and their bower is surrounded by spring flowers. The Goddess will become pregnant as is a symbol of earth’s fertility. This Sabbat is also called : Cetsamhain (opposite Samhain),May Day, Fairy Day,Sacred Thorn Day, Rood Day, Roodmas, the Christian term for Rood Day, Old Beltane, Beltaine, Beltain, Baltane, Walpurgis Night,Walpurgisnacht (Germanic-feast of St. Walpurga), Floriala (Roman feast of flowers from April 29 – May 1), Thrimilce =Anglo-saxon), Bloumaand (Old Dutch). Beltane/May Day usually brings to mind maypoles, may baskets, flowers, and of course bonfires.

The lighting of the Beltane fire or Balefire is one of the most widely known Celtic traditions for Beltane. These bonfires were lit to symbolize of the return of the sun for the summer half of the year. On May Eve (April 30) people would put out their hearth fires, then on Beltane (May 1) they would relight them from the celebratory bonfires. Once the fires were lit people would gather and the dancing could begin. They would dance around the fires, spiraling in and out. The next custom involved jumping the bonfires, this would ensure a successful growing season and a prosperous summer. According to Druid lore the men would jump first, followed by the women. Tools would purified (modern Pagans do this as well) and lastly, the herd animals would be driven through the embers or between the fires for protection, good health and purification. After the fires had died out the ashes would be scattered in the fields as an offering for fertile crops culminating in a good harvest. The ashes were also taken by women who wished to conceive a child, ashes would be placed in a small bag and worn around the neck. Ashes from the balefire can be scattered in the fields as a fertility charm. Women wishing to conceive can tie a bag of the ashes around their necks. Traditionally, cattle and other animals were driven between two fires for protection, healing, and purification. Modern pagans can ritually purify tools or other things in the balefire. Jump the dying embers of the fire for summer blessings.

Traditionally nine sacred woods were used to start the fires and each wood has its own magickal properties. The names of the wood to be used appears in the long versions of the Witches Rede, while the shorter versions contain the first and last sentence.

“Nine woods in the Cauldron go, burn them fast and burn them slow.

But – Elder is the Lady’s tree burn it not or cursed you’ll be.”

I have seen conflicting lists of the  Sacred Woods but this is the one I use:

Oak~ Symbolizes the God and male energy

Birch~ Symbolizes the Goddess and female energy

Rowan or Mountain Ash: Symbolizes life

Hazel~ Symbolizes wisdom and knowledge

Willow~ Symbolizes death and the otherworld

Hawthorn~ Symbolizes fairy magick and purity

Vine~ Symbolizes happiness and joy

Fir~ Symbolizes birth and rebirth

Apple~ Symbolizes family and love

The sacred Beltane fire can also be made in your altar cauldron and you would only need a few chips or shavings from each of the 9 woods. However not everyone has access to wood chips let alone 9 different kinds of them. So if you are going to try this just do the best you can. Believe me, the Lady and Lord understand and will smile upon your effort!

Bright Blessings for a Magickal Week!
Cat

======================================

Brought to you by:

Sacred Spirals (a place for all paths to meet)
Visit our group on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/SacredSpirals/

And by:

Cat’s Treasure Trove …. an eclectic collection of jewelry & gifts!

http://catstreasuretrove.weebly.com
Visit us on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/CatsTreasureTrove

This page may be shared with other Groups as long as NO changes are made and ALL Credits, Links, Photos and Copyrights remain intact. All Cat’s Bits Graphics are created and © 2007-2017

Believe in Yourself: Cat’s Angel Number for April 27, 2017

April’s Theme: Love and Security. Our angels are here to help us. They are letting us know that we are safe and that all of our needs are being met.

Believe in yourself. Have faith in your abilities.Without humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy.  ~ Norman Vincent Peale

427: As I’m sure that you’ve noticed, the daily readings focus quite often on faith. Faith isn’t inherent to just one religion. it encompasses them all. This includes spirituality. While we can have faith in many things one of the most important is faith in ourselves. Spirit and the angels are here to help us but we must be willing to do our part. This is where faith in yourself come in. The more confidence and faith you have in yourself the better equipped you are to create the life you want. Faith also helps us to grow mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Today the angels are asking us to armor ourselves in faith and courage. Ask them for assistance and open yourself to receiving the guidance that is shared and take action accordingly.

Archangel Jeremiel can help us interpret dreams and  visions. The following Ascended Masters can also help:  Brigit helps to promote courage particularly in women. Ganesh will remove the obstacles that lie in your path. Jesus helps you work through issues of faith and connects you to Spirit and Yogananda helps us to heal on all levels and promotes divine communication and helps open to divine love.

Our Sacred Stones for today are Red Jasper  which helps us see problems before the get out of hand while promoting  new ideas and creative problem solving. It strengthens personal boundaries  and keeps us grounded. Ruby assists us in making decisions and helps us find our courage. It is a protective stone and helps against psychic attack. If you need help connecting to your angels use celestite or angelite.