The Samus Chronicles - I'm home!

She came back! I'm so happy but I'm still a bit shy. And that microchip hurt like the dickens! The ride to my new home was long but I was comfortable in a carrier. There's a huge backyard for me to play in. My new family has 3 humans. I think I know which one Mom is. Loud noises and sudden moves frighten me. I was without a home for quite some time.

After I explored inside a bit, I was taken for a walk outside. Then I had a bath. Mom said I was really smelly. I dried off and went to sleep with Mom & Dad.

Cheese!

Chillaxin'

Oh my name? Samus is a bad-ass female video game character. People thought she was a boy until she took off her armor.

I'm getting to know one of my pack members

That bath did wonders. Now I'm tired

I was adopted from the Baltimore County Animal Shelter. On 5/26, a few people came to look at me including Mom. When she left my fence to go talk to my sister 2 pens down, I called for her to come back. Two days later, I went to the vet. Running the streets caused me to have a slight infection but I'm all better now. The vet said I'm about 4 yrs old. Well a lady never tells her true age, right?! Dad keeps calling me a cockapoo. Isn't that some kind of bird? My fur coat is so curly it must be poodle though. No matter, I know  Mom loves me.

Pawfully yours,
Samus

I was gonna post about my new dog but she won't let me :-)

Pagan Blog Prompt - Nature Escapes

I really like going to the shore (Ocean City). In the summertime, it brings all 4 elements together. On my visit, some sand dollars came home with me. They will be going on my altar.

I have an okay backyard that's nice to sit in when the weather is nice. Although I live in a townhouse, I'm fortunate enough to have my backyard facing a common grassy area and not a parking lot or other backyards. There are 3 willow trees right outside my back fence.

Other than the above, I'm really not an outdoorsy type.

Actor's Moon

On the Actor's Moon, we meditate on what we give up for the approval and applause of other people, including people we don't even know...Consider the ways you act in public that aren't really you an what purpose they serve. Go out doing something different for a change. - Moon Phase Astrology by Raven Kaldera.

Little Sister's Moon

Isis' Day

Waxing crescent in sidereal Gemini

On the Little Sister's Moon we examine our communication patterns as well as our nonverbal signals that are out-and-out advertising, messages we send in order to seem better (or in some cases, worse) that we really are. How do we manipulate people's perceptions of us? If you have trouble with this, think about your behavior on a first date or a job interview. - Moon Phase Astrology by Raven Kaldera.

On my way home from Denmark. It was good seeing my girl Jackie. We didn't do much sight-seeing but we have some girl talk and that was the most important thing. I'll be hosting her when she comes here in October.

Dryad's Moon - Solar Eclipse

Geb's Day

New Moon in sidereal Taurus
Annular solar eclipse

During the Dryad Moon we struggle with our relationship to nature, and especially the Green World...It may also lead to an exploration of our relationship to "inanimate" objects of all kinds, as the Dryad's Moon is a time when animism creeps into our lives around the edges. - Moon Phase Astrology by Raven Kaldera.

I'm watching the annular solar eclipse online since I'm here in Denmark. An amateur astronomer was nice enough to broadcast live from near Area 51 in Nevada. I was watching a feed from Japan but it was cloudy. So I actually got to see the eclipse twice :)

I never was a nature buff; I'm more into astronomy and science. Yes, I do think of the Moon as female. Trying to get use to listening to the Universe.

Mystic's Moon

Ra's Day

Waxing crescent in sidereal Pisces

On the Mystic's Moon, we pray or meditate or go to a moving religious ritual or find some other way to experience All That Is. If this is something that is not part of your life, skip this Moon. - Moon Phase Astrology by Raven Kaldera.

Pagan Blog Project - J is for Janai, or What's in a Name

Sekmet's Day
LuniSol - Moonth 6, Day 3
Metonic - Year 17, Lunation 203, Day 22
Dreamspell - Blue Solar Night (9 Akbal) - Kin 243
Mayan Tzolk'in - 1 Cib (Yellow Magnetic Warrior) - Kin 196
Mayan Ha'ab - 19 Uo

Thanks, Cool Text!

Janai, Janae, Janay, Janaye, pronounced juhNAY (long A) or juhNEYE (long I). Janai (long A) is my given name, my middle name at birth. After I moved out of my mother's house 16+ yrs ago, I started using my middle name as my first name, kinda like a rebirth. Even though MD has a common law name change, many government agencies either don't know about it or refused to acknowledge it. So 2 yrs ago I paid the government $200 to legally drop my first name.

History & Meaning
Janai is a biblical name from the old testament and appears only once in the entire bible at 1 Chronicles 5:12. Apparently Ja'nai was a Gaddite who lived in Ba'shan with the rest of his tribe. He was 3rd in charge. It is unknown if he had any children or was even married. The Hebrew pronunciation may be jah-NAY-i or yah-NAY. Where I used to work, the Spanish-speaking cleaning lady used the 2nd one.

My name means Jah answers (prayers). Jah is a shortened from of Jehovah as in Hallelujah and many other biblical places and names. I was supposed to be name Donna LeNise to have my mother's initials. I think my father picked Donna (not sure why) and LeNise was the name of one of Mother's childhood friends. So why did my JW mother choose this name? She told me that out of all 4 of her pregnancies, she was the sickest with me. At this point she had been JW for about 5 yrs. I supposed she prayed for healthy pregnancy, baby, and perhaps surviving the end of the world with 3 young children. I was born 4 days after the estimated due date in September. I refused to nurse but otherwise a healthy happy baby.

Magical Name
I have none yet. I read about pagans picking their magical names or having the Divine rename them. They may have 2 magical names - one for public use and message boards and one that's private. I thought about picking one for myself but it sounded too forced. I'm not a dainty flower and I don't want to be another Moon-something-or-other. Maybe my given name is magical enough. Yes, it's biblical but I have my own relationship with Deity. Or maybe I should choose something Kemetic? Should I be Bodhisattva Cool-Name-Goes-Here (examples)? Should I find out why my father wanted to name me Donna (means lady of the house) and incorporate that somehow?

Do you have a magical name? If so, did you choose it or did Deity? Is it public or private? Do you feel that your given name is magical enough?

Philosopher's Moon

Waning Gibbous in sidereal Sagittarius 

Nut's Day
LuniSol - Moonth 5, day 28
Metonic - Year 17, Lunation 205, Day 19
Dreamspell - Yellow Rhythmic Sun (6 Ahau), Kin 240
Mayan Tzolk'in - 11 Ben (Red Spectral Skywalker), Kin 193
Mayan Ha'ab - 16 Uo

On the Philosopher's Moon we read what other people have written about life, and we judge it. We also talk about our philosophy of life to others....Consider the ideas of people about whom you are ambivalent - perhaps their ideas are good but you find them personally reprehensible or perhaps you approve of half their ideas and not the rest. - Moon Phase Astrology by Raven Kaldera.

What a perfect day to get caught up on the blogs I'm subscribed to! Just for fun, I click the next blog button. Seems like I'm sandwiched in between Christian blogs and sometimes I read them. I don't post on them because most seem to be too conservative. Learning about other religions is interesting. Respect should be shown and given. What some don't realize - or don't care about - is that not everyone wants to convert. I'm not gonna debate with anyone but will gladly share my beliefs and views. I don't like people who are always right in everything. I don't like know-it-alls. No one knows it all.

How do you handle people you disagree with?

In closing, I like to leave you with this:

Calendar Reformation Revisited

Sekmet's Day
LuniSol - Moonth 5, Day 22
Metonic - Year 17, Lunation 203, Day 14
Dreamspell - Blue Magnetic Eagle (1 Men), Kin 235
Mayan Tzolk'in - 5 Manik (Yellow Rhythmic Star) - Kin 188
Mayan Ha'ab - 11 Uo


The Metonic cycle is the best thing since sliced bread! Ok, well, sorta. The Metonic cycle is equivalent to 235 synodic lunar months (e.g. new moon to new moon or full moon to full moon) or 19 tropical years (spring equinox to spring equinox). This means that on your [insert multiple of 19]th birthday, the sun and moon will be exactly where they were in the sky when you were born.

The universe is perfect in its own way but a lunar month does not go evenly into a solar year. All lunisolar calendars must be adjusted to keep in sync with the seasons. I've complained about our current Gregorian calendar previously: the months are arbitrary lengths and no longer coincide with any lunar cycle.

I'm going to attempt to use 3 different cycles.

The tropical lunar month and the tropical solar year
A tropical lunar month is about 28 days. The tropical solar year is 365.25 days. This gives us 13 months of 28 days + 1 extra day (2 extra days during leap year). The first extra day will be Yule Eve and the second one will be 2/29. Extra days do not belong to a month or week; they are a "day out of time."

Metonic cycle
This is comprised of 19 lunar years of unequal lengths. A lunar year varies from 354 to 384 days. A leap month is sometimes inserted to keep pace with the seasons. Chinese calendar is great example of this.

Mayan 13:20 count
I have 2 apps for this, Dreamspell & Tzolk'in. Dreamspell is a modern interpretation while Tzolk'in is the authentic count of the Mayan. It takes 52 tropical years for a Tzolk'in day (called kin) to fall on the same day in the Gregorian calendar.

The Dreamspell combines the Mayan 13:20 with the tropical lunar month & solar year. However I don't agree with the Dreamspell's yearly start date of 7/26, the heliacal rising of Sirius. I like the winter solstice better. 


Whew! That's a lot! Following the lunar cycle is the easiest. I'm getting good at determining where the moon would be in the sky during the different phases. Full moon is better seen from my front porch whereas the waning crescent is viewable from my backyard.

Housewife's Moon

Waxing Gibbous in sidereal Virgo


On the Housewife's Moon we clean house - of course - but we also take into account the people living in our house and their needs in the matter. If you live alone, work on making some cleanliness and order in your neighborhood - not the community at large full of strangers, but the messy ambivalences of people who share a day-to-day living space of some sort with you, whether they like it or not. - Moon Phase Astrology by Raven Kaldera.

Ugh. I haven't cleaned up in a minute. Just haven't had the energy. I guess I should attempt to organize some part of my life. There are tons of books lying about and clean clothes strewn around. I really want a dog but I need to get this house organized. The rescue orgs do home checks so I must be ready. Hopefully the sun will be visible tomorrow. Must.get.energy.

Happy International Pagan Coming Out Day!

In case you didn't know, I'm Buddhist Pagan. Once I started studying about a year ago, I realized that I had always been pagan but it was suppressed due to my strict Christian upbringing. Since paganism is a religious minority, today has been designated as International Pagan Coming Out Day. Those that openly declare their pagan faith are said to be out of the broom closet. No, we are not making fun of our LGBT brethren; we realize that we have a lot in common with them.

In honor of today, this post will be about myths and facts related to paganism as I understand them. I invite everyone to do his/her own research on paganism to avoid the knee-jerk reaction which seeing a pentagram or hearing the word witch. The best info on paganism comes from pagans, not a holy book from one of the Big Three religions. If I wanted to learn more about Islam, would I go to a Muslim or to a Christian?

Myth: Wiccan and Pagan is the same thing.
Fact: Wiccan is to Pagan as Catholic, Protestant, and Mennonite is to Christian. All Wiccans are Pagan, but all Pagans are not Wiccan.

Myth: Pagans worship the Devil.
Fact: The Devil as Satan aka opposer of God is a Christian belief. Pagans do not believe in the Christian Devil; therefore we do not worship him.

Fact: Many if not all Christian and secular holidays have Pagan roots. For example, the December solstice is celebrated by cultures all over the world. Christmas is just the most popular. The reason for the season is earth's axial tilt. No winter solstice = no holiday celebrations.

Myth: Satanists are Pagan.
Fact: This one is difficult. I would like to hear from a Satanist to clarify. Satanists believe in and worship Satan. By definition, Pagans do not believe in Satan. However, to be Christian is to follow Christ. I'm not even sure if Satanists recognize Christ or the God of the old/new testament.

Myth: Pagans sacrifice babies.
Fact: There are historical accounts of cultures sacrificing humans (think Mayan) in the past. Pagans today are actually Neo-Pagan. We live in the modern world and we follow modern laws. So no, we do not sacrifice babies, children, humans, animals, or aliens.

Myth: All Pagans are witches.
Fact: All Pagans are not witches, and all witches are not Pagan. I am too inexperienced to fully define what a witch is and is not. Witches practice magic. Paganism is a nature / earth-based path.

Myth: Witches are female.
Fact: That's like saying nurses are female and doctors are male.

Any other facts / myths you want to share?