21st Day of the Seventh Lunar Cycle

"I'm one with the Goddess
and open to Her Wisdom."


21st Day of the Seventh Lunar Cycle
Ruled by Hestia
Lunar Tree Cycle ~ Duir/Oak
Moon Phase: Disseminating - 1:23AM EDT
Moon sets: 10:05AM EDT
Moon rises: 41PM EDT
Moon in the Aquarius v/c 5:44AM EDT
Moon entered the Mutable Water Sign
of Pisces at 6:51AM EDT
Rhiannon's Cycle of the Moon
Solar Question for the Day: "Which of
your dreams do you most want to
come true?"
Lunar Meditation: The shores of home.
"Deepest communion with Goddess is beyond words,
on the other side of silence." -- Ursula LeGuin
July 4th, 2007



"The heart's depth cannot be measured.
It is a fathomless ocean. On its floor
lie gems of wisdom, precious beyond belief.
You must dive and dive to find them.
More than once. More than twice.
Do not believe the ocean's bed is empty
if you fail at first. No, take a deep breath
and dive again. Dive, and make your way to Kali.

Speak Kali's name and dive. Dive deep.
Avoid the alligators who swim there -
anger, greed, and all life's other distractions -
or swim smeared with that turmeric, discrimination,
whose smell drives them all away.

Innumerable gems and shining pearls:
these lie on the ocean's bed. Plunge in,
the poet says, and gather your own treasure."
-- Indian poet Ramprasad

What would be true independence? Today we celebrate a festival of birth, of a people's freeing themselves from tyranny. But each of us remains, in our hearts, subject to secret tyrannies. Perhaps it is a familiar pain we cling to, or a habit we know we have outgrown. Perhaps it is a groove worn in our thoughts by endless repetition, a way of thinking that deadens us to the spiritual dimensions of our life. These are the tyrants, these are the gatekeepers of our inner prisons.
Hindu wisdom urges us to focus on the great goddess Kali, to offer her prayers that we be freed from such tyrannies. She is a fierce goddess, bearing swords and wearing a necklace of human skulls. Her tongue juts out at us, and her eyes bulge. Intimidating as her image is, Kali is a loving mother, for she urges us to cut our ties to the habits binding us in negativity. Mediate upon her, and you will find real freedom.
[Source: "The Goddess Companion" by Patricia Monaghan]


Inalienable Rights

"Three indispensables of a nobleman are: his harp, his blanket, and
his cauldron." -- triad from "Laws of Hywel Dda"

Under most modern laws of distraint - whereby goods are removed from a household in compensation for debts unpaid - there are certain articles that cannot be removed. These usually include the items by which the householder earns her living, the tools of a worker's trade, the bed and the means to make food. in the triad above, from the Welsh legal code formulated by King Hwyel Dda (HOO'wel THA) in the ninth century, we discover that three indispensable objects of the nobleman are the harp by which his bard entertained him, the blanket that kept his body warm in bed, and the cauldron that heated his food. Today these items would probably be equivalent to the television, the bed, and the stove: means of entertainment, sleep and food.
We have become used to the possession of certain inalienable rights: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, among others, in our modern world. These are rights that we take for granted, that are enshrined in constitutions and maintained by the law of the land; and yet, even within civilized societies there are many who do not enjoy these rights. The poor, the disadvantaged, and others who live on the margins of society need the actions and voices of those who honor the commitment to the inalienable rights that we should all enjoy.

"If you could take only three things from your house right now, which
would they be? Of all your basic, inalienable rights, which do you most
cherish?"
[Source: "The Celtic Spirit: Daily Meditations for the Turning Year" by Caitlin Matthews]