Aries, symbolized variously by the ram, ewe or lamb, has represented new starts since antiquity. Spring fever is not just a cliché. It is that impatient feeling we all have during the time the Sun is passing through Aries. We feel full of (Aries) new ideas and new starts but we may not have the (Taurus) resources, time or proper weather just yet to carry them out. Take advantage of this creative energy by making plans and getting in shape. The active time of the year is here.

The monthly installment of The Great Astrological Light Bulb Joke:

Q. How many Ariens does it take to change a light bulb?

A. Just one. You want to make something of it?

Note: I have no idea who originally wrote this. Erika sent it to me years ago and I still think it’s as funny as it is insightful!

Happy New Year: The Spring equinox in the Northern Hemisphere, is the beginning of the new zodiacal year. The rise of the constellation Aries indicates the beginning of a new cycle in evolutionary development. The equinoxes are the two times during the year when the dark of night and the light of day are in balance or equal.

The vernal equinox is Ostara, from the name of a German Goddess of fertility, Oestarae. She is the deific equivalent of Aurora, the personification of the sunrise. Her name is where East and Easter both come from. This is logical considering that the sun rises in the East.

A creature associate of hers is Ostara's hare or the Easter bunny. She transformed a pet bird into a rabbit in order to amuse the children who follow her everywhere. Even though the bird is now a hare- she still lays eggs, only now they are brightly colored eggs. Another version has Ostara herself becoming a hare in order to distribute colored eggs in the Goddess' honor. That one doesn't work as well for me, but either way, these are the traditional pagan explanations for the tradition of Easter eggs.

March 20th is a New Moon in Aries: The Moon and Sun are conjunct in the sky. The moon is dark and gradually increases to a crescent. This is the time to begin a new project, a ritual or to ask for a new vision. To learn more about actively using the Moon's energy in your life, see The Moon Through the Signs and Moon Phases. These guides are located in our Library.

April 1st is April Fool's Day: "The first of April is the day we remember what we are the other 364 days of the year." -- Mark Twain

Here is how the American Embassy explains this holiday: In sixteenth-century France, the start of the new year was observed on April first. It was celebrated in much the same way as it is today with parties and dancing into the late hours of the night. Then in 1562, Pope Gregory introduced a new calendar for the Christian world, and the new year fell on January first. There were some people, however, who hadn't heard or didn't believe the change in the date, so they continued to celebrate New Year's Day on April first. Others played tricks on them and called them "April fools."

April 1st, 2nd and 3rd is the GARDEN CENTER Spring Opening Sale:

• Place: South Seattle Community College Garden Center
• Hours: 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
• Contact: Penny McCormick, (206) 764-5323
• Link to map
• Link to Garden Center Events Calendar

April 2nd is the First Friday of the month and the Dunthor Open House! Click here to see details below.

April 4th Daylight Saving Time begins.

April 5th is a Full Moon in Libra: The Moon and Sun are opposite each other in the sky. The Moon reflects all of the Sun's light. This is the time to perform rituals for protection, clarity of vision and consecration. To learn more about actively using the Moon's energy in your life, see The Moon Through the Signs and Moon Phases. These guides are located in our Library.

April 6th is National Tartan Day.

April 9th is Good Friday.

April 11th is Easter Sunday.

April 15th is Tax Day: - "The income tax created more criminals than any other single act of government." -- Senator Goldwater, 1989

Prior to 1913, there was no income tax. Taxes were most commonly levied against consumption of various goods and services, like sales tax and cigarette taxes today. It was the tax issue that helped give birth to the American Revolution.

Here are some interesting ideas to protest where our taxes are going from the War Resisters League.

This pendant is a poppy jasper cabochon set in a whimsical, wrapped setting of sterling silver wire. Poppy jasper, according to tradition, resonates with Aries and is used for energy, physical vitality and initiating activity. It will help you shake off sadness, start a new project, enhance your assertiveness for engaging in competition or self-promotion. Jaspers relate to the root chakra and help with matters of cleansing, stability and grounding. Silver is a conductor of energy and is said to aid in communication, it improves the transmission of nerve impulses. According to tradition, it is a good metal for healing purposes because it is in tune with the body. Silver can reduce anxiety and help you to relax when solving problems. It is believed to help conduct the energy of stones into your body and auric field.

Click here to see this item and more in my Catalog.

To learn more about how to use Gemstones in your daily life, see "What Gemstones Should I Wear?" guide in our Library.

One of the most interesting points, to me, is the immediacy of their Gods in their lives. The gods walk among them, interbreed with them and watch over them personally. Men and women make offering through their toasts, they make sacrifice before any major decision or action and generally credit their personal patron Gods with their successes and failures. Apollo is credited with awakening the kinsman of Rhesus from sleep just in time to prevent his overthrow. Athene is credited, or accused, of making the soldiers break the first truce for her own purposes. When Agamemnon and Hector sit down to discuss a duel between champions, Homer describes Athene and Apollo sitting in a tree watching, “both proud of their men.”

The Greeks saw Zeus, the god of thunder and pride, as their primary god, and so saw victory in war as their highest expression. This serves as a perfect case of our beliefs shaping our culture. The Cretans saw Rhea, mother earth as their primary god, and shaped their culture around motherhood and a veneration of caring and humanitarianism. The next question of course is to look at what we personally venerate as our patron gods, whether it is beauty, greed, hedonism, caring, anger, or pride that motivate us.

If you haven't already done so, try this quiz. It pairs you with a member of the Greek Pantheon based on your answers: “Which Goddess are you most like?”

Click here to see a great study guide to Homer.

We think of this newsletter as a community forum. You, our friends and clients, are welcome to participate. We celebrate diversity and we'll print whatever you send in be it Wiccan, Christian, Pagan, New Age, etc., as long as it reflects Love. You may choose a one-time holiday to write about or have a regular column. We'll give you space and a byline! Please send in your own book reviews, ideas for rituals, ideas about stones, your journal excerpts, your experiences and most of all, ask us questions. We love answering questions!

From Pattie:

"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming -- Wow! What a ride!"

From Judy:

Granny, Defender of Justice:

An elderly Florida lady did her shopping and, upon returning to her car, found four males in the act of leaving with her vehicle.

She dropped her shopping bags and drew her handgun, proceeding to scream at them at the top of her voice, "I have a gun and I know how to use it! Get out of the car, you scumbags!"

The four men didn't wait for a second invitation, but got out and ran like mad, whereupon the lady, somewhat shaken, proceeded to load her shopping bags into the back of the car and get into the driver's seat. She was so shaken that she could not get her key into the ignition. She tried and tried, and then it dawned on her why...

A few minutes later she found her own car parked four or five spaces further down. She loaded her bags into her car and drove to the police station. The sergeant to whom she told the story nearly tore himself in two with laughter and pointed to the other end of the counter, where four pale white males were reporting a car jacking by a mad elderly woman described as white, less than 5' tall, glasses, and curly white hair carrying a large handgun.

No charges were filed.

From Doug:

You may be aware that a small planetoid was discovered 3 times farther than Pluto. Here's a link to the news story. They named it Sedna after an Eskimo Goddess who ruled the seas. I'm passing along a little bit about her myth. Here’s the myth of Sedna, from The Book of Goddesses and Heroines by Patricia Monaghan. (Which is a very handy reference book to have.)

“Beside the water, there once lived an old widower and his daughter, Sedna, a woman so beautiful that all the Eskimo men sought to live with her. But she found none to her liking and refused all offers. One day, a seabird came to her and promised her a soft life in a warm hut full of bearskins and fish. Sedna flew away with him.

The bird lied. Sedna found her home a stinking nest. She sat, sadly regretting her rejection of the handsome human men. And that was what she told to her father, when she listed her complaints when he visited her a year later.

Anguta (‘man with something to cut’) put his daughter in his kayak to bring her back to the human world. Perhaps he killed the bird husband first, perhaps he just stole the bird’s wife, but in either case the bird people’s vengeance followed him. The rising sea threatened the escaping humans with death. On the struggled, until Anguta realized the flight was hopeless.

He shoved Sedna overboard to drown. Desperate for life, she grabbed the kayak with a fierce grip. Her father cut off her fingers. She flung her mutilated arms over the skin boat’s sides. Anguta cut them off, shoving his oar into Sedna’s eye before she sank into the icy water.

At the bottom of the sea, she lived thereafter as queen of the deep, mistress of death and life, ‘old food dish’ who provided for the people. Her amputated fingers and arms became the fish and marine mammals. Her amputated fingers and arms became the fish and marine mammals, and she alone decided how many would be slaughtered for food. She was willing to provide for the people if they accepted her rules: for three days after their death, the souls of her animals would remain with their bodies, watching for violation of Sedna’s demands. Then they returned to the goddess, bearing information about the conduct of her people. Should her laws be broken, Sedna’s hand would begin to ache, and she would punish humans with sickness, starvation, and storms. Only if a shaman traveled to her country, Adlivun, and assuaged her pains would the sea mammals return! to the hunters, which, if the people acted righteously, they did willingly.

In Adlivun in a huge house of stone and whale ribs, Sedna dragged along the ground with one leg bent beneath her. A horrible dog guarded her, said by some to be her husband. Anguta himself lived there too; some versions of the myth say that, hoping the seabirds would think her dead, he allowed her back into the kayak and returned home. But she hated him thereafter and cursed her dogs to eat her hand and feet; the earth opened and swallowed them. In any case, Anguta served Sedna by grabbing dead human souls with his maimed hand and bringing them home. These dead lived in a region near Sedna’s home through which shamans had to pass to reach the goddess. There was also an abyss, in which an ice wheel turned slowly and perpetually; then a cauldron full of boiling seals blocked the way,; finally, the horrible dog stood before Sedna’s door, guarding the knife-thin passageway to her home. Should the shaman pass all these dangers and ease Sedna’s aching hands, the goddess permitted him to return, bearing the news that Old Woman had forgiven her people, that the seals would again seek the hunter, that the people would no longer starve.”

From Kim:

This collection of quotations is from Rob Brezny's weekly newsletter. Click here to find more Rob Brezny.

"Everything that can be invented has been invented." - Charles H. Duell, Director of US Patent Office, 1899

"Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?" - Harry M. Warner, Warner Bros Pictures, 1927

"There is no likelihood man can ever tap the power of the atom." - Robert Miliham, Nobel Prize in Physics, 1923

"Heavier than air flying machines are impossible." - Lord Kelvin, President, Royal Society, 1895

"The horse is here today, but the automobile is only a novelty – a fad." - President of Michigan Savings Bank advising against investing in the Ford Motor Company

"Video won't be able to hold on to any market it captures after the first six months. People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night." - Daryl F. Zanuck, 20th Century Fox, commenting on television in 1946

"Space travel is utter bilge." - Sir Richard van der Riet Wooley, The Astronomer Royal (1956)

"Rail travel at high speeds is not possible because passengers, unable to breathe, would die of asphyxia." - Dionysius Lardner, English scientist (1793-1859)

"While theoretically and technically television may be feasible, commercially and financially it is an impossibility." - Lee DeForest, American inventor (1873-1961)

"Guitar music is on the way out." - Decca Records turning down the Beatles, 1962.

"If I had thought about it, I wouldn't have done the experiment. The literature was full of examples that said you can't do this." - Spencer Silver, originator of Post-It Notepads.

"Louis Pasteur's theory of germs is ridiculous fiction." - Pierre Pachet, Professor of Physiology, 1872.

"This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us."

- Western Union internal memo, 1876.

"Sensible and responsible women do not want to vote." - Grover Cleveland, 1905

"Professor Goddard does not know the relation between action and reaction and the need to have something better than a vacuum against which to react. He seems to lack the basic knowledge ladled out daily in high schools." - 1921 New York Times editorial about Robert Goddard's revolutionary rocket work.

"Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau." - Irving Fisher, Professor of Economics, Yale University, 1929.

"Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value." - Marechal Ferdinand Foch, Professor of Strategy, Ecole Superieure de Guerre.

"The abdomen, the chest, and the brain will forever be shut from the intrusion of the wise and humane surgeon". - Sir John Eric Ericksen, British surgeon, appointed Surgeon- Extraordinary to Queen Victoria, 1873.

"640K ought to be enough for anybody." - Bill Gates, 1981

"Such startling announcements as these should be deprecated as being unworthy of science and mischievous to its true progress." - Sir William Siemens, electrical engineer, upon hearing Edison's announcement of a successful light bulb.

"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." - Ken Olson, president of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977.

We've always wondered what would happen if we got the friends we've made through Inga's Earth Magic (IEM) into a room together. Why? Because every one of us has a unique gift to offer to the world. And if we get enough of us in one place at the same time, something magical is bound to occur.

• When: The 1st Friday of every month. Please join us for dinner. We start eating around 7 PM. Or join us for dessert later on!
• Where: Our place (click on LIBRARY in the navigation bar at the top of the screen and then MAP ROOM for directions)
• What to bring: Just your enthusiasm and love! There's a big pot of pasta on the stove, salad, bread and plenty of microbrews and red wine. If you have specific preferences, please bring whatever you'd like.
• How long: Until the good conversation ends! If you'd like, you can spend the night on one of the couches with the kitties or bring your sleeping bag and mat and camp out on the floor of Inga's office.
• RSVP: Just let us know in advance via e-mail or phone if you are coming and if you are bringing guests so we don't run out of food or beer!

If you read Pisces 2004, you know that I engaged that water energy in a big way by taking up SCUBA again after a 22 year hiatus. I have put myself through a basic SCUBA course and have aced all the written exams as I only needed to make minor adjustments here and there to my knowledge of the sport. The pool time was a blast and the old skills I described in Pisces came online the instant I got wet. There is something really cool about sitting on the bottom of the pool blowing bubbles! One unexpected complication was my long hair. It repeatedly got caught in all that gear and after each pool session, it would take two days to get all the snarls out. My motorcycling hobby is also tough on my hair and I've considered, from time to time, cutting it short. So SCUBA definitely brought the issue to a head, no pun intended.

Once I logically made the decision to cut my hair, I realized that I had some emotional aspects to consider before making the change. My ponytail represented quite an investment of time, energy, patience and healing. It had become a symbol of beauty and independence for me and I have affirmed many times that I would never cut my hair. But at this juncture, I sensed an opportunity for transformation and I realized that the beauty and independence I spoke of will now always be a part of me, with or without the ponytail. So Inga and I visited our dear friend and hair stylist of 15 years, Robert. Once he realized we were serious, he lopped my ponytail off with enthusiasm and handed it to Inga. As I held the severed ponytail in my hands, I was taken aback at the energy emanating from it and the fact that it still felt connected to my head. I could see a decade of my life within it, filled with healing and transformation. No wonder Inga insisted on keeping it.

So what was imagined in Pisces has become a wonderful new adventure in Aries but as with most things Arien, I quickly find myself sorely tested as I realize that I do not have the Taurean resources to move forward. Let me explain. A SCUBA class requires its students to fill out a medical questionnaire and if you check "yes" on any number of items, you must obtain a doctor's written assurance of your ability to safely dive. As I'm covered with scars from numerous surgeries and as one often is standing around on the beach or boat with nothing but swim trunks on, I thought it best to disclose them up front. So off to the doctor I go.  I select one who is very experienced in diving medicine and learn that with all that I've been through, it's going to take a CAT scan of my chest, pulmonary testing of my lungs and an EKG to prove that I can safely return to diving. As I am between jobs at the moment and without health insurance, this will run $1,000. Add the fact that this also isn't the best time to be buying dive gear. In the back of my head, I can hear that Aries energy saying "What do you mean I have to wait????". But I sense greater powers at work and I calmly accept the delay. I've learned the hard way that if I stubbornly refuse to listen to my higher self and my guides, they will proceed with whatever they are working on while leaving me in the dark.

This delay is highly effective in refocusing my attention on the real matter at hand - finding a new job. Oh yeah, that issue. I was so busy with SCUBA, I had sidelined the job hunt out of frustration due to the lack of any visible progress. Learning SCUBA again gave me something tangible to work with. I will admit that I could feel progress being made by the Universe but when it goes "underground" and I feel out of the loop, I become rather petulant and childish. I do have to chuckle at the thought that I actually think I'm up to the task of fully comprehending, and accepting, the plans of the Universe. When I'm told to "trust the process" of the Universe, I peevishly demand full disclosure of the "process". After all, how can I follow something I'm not versed in? And trust? Who am I trusting? The Universe? That's mighty vague. Once the fearful blustering stops and I enter that calm space of meditation, I realize the trust issue is not an external one, but an internal one. It's all too easy to lash out at some huge, nebulous Universe than to look within. It comes down to this - do I trust myself?

Do I trust myself to act at all times with compassion, love, integrity, clarity and wisdom? To be brave and not fearful? To spot the divine opportunities for healing and transformation that the Universe arranges in my path? A tall order, indeed, but then I realize that I have a mighty and devoted ally, my higher self, a powerful being of pure Light and Love. Who else knows me better? If I am the low man on the totem pole, then my higher self is at the top and can see the forest while I only see the trees. As I've gotten to know my higher self, I've begun to realize that despite my ego and its sense of self importance, my mortal self is just an extension of my higher self, a singular manifestation of its consciousness. So despite the egotistical tantrums described above, I have been deferring more and more to my higher self and slowly developing a greater sense of trust. I can now see that the idea about SCUBA came from my higher self and was intended to give me something to occupy myself while preparations were being made by the Universe.

This three month period of so-called "unemployment" has been anything but that. I have felt my higher self guiding me as an employee of the Universe and as I have performed the duties put before me, I have been compensated in many wondrous ways, including cash for our household. As I write this, the "process" has resurfaced with two very viable, rewarding jobs that are very suited to my skills. Despite my occasional fearful doubts, this has been an amazing demonstration for me and as such, I have developed a deeper bond with my higher self, one based on trust. My reintegration of Mind, Body and Spirit has indeed taken a giant step forward. Thank you Father/Mother/God for this opportunity! -- Scott Bruce Duncan */:-)

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