On June 20th, the Sun enters the 30 degree portion of the Zodiac we know as Cancer. Cancer is the first astrological sign of Summer, its beginning indicated by the Summer Solstice. The constellation of Cancer is one of the least visible in our time but was one of the first constellations named. The Sun in Cancer indicates a caring and nurturing time of year. It is no coincidence that family vacations, reunions and weddings fill our calendars this time of year.

June 20th is the Summer Solstice and Festival of Litha

The word Solstice is Latin in origin and means "The Sun stood still". On June 21, the North Pole is tilted most directly Sunward. Those of us in the Northern Hemisphere experience this as the longest day and shortest night of the year. On December 21, the Winter Solstice, the North Pole is pointed away from the Sun giving us in the Northern Hemisphere, our shortest day and longest night. This tilting of the Earth's rotational axis gives us our seasons. During each Solstice, the Sun appears to both rise and set at the exact same spot on the horizon. This is how the Solar Calendars like Stonehenge and the Sun Dagger in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico operate.

Litha is a Fire Festival, usually celebrated with a bonfire or community Bar-be-que. Traditionally, there would be mummer's plays and dancing culminating with dancers actually leaping through the flames as the fire burned lower. Amulets or magickal tools that have served their purpose or have broken are added to the fire at this festival. The solstices were know in Babylonian astrology as "the portals" identifying Cancer and Capricorn as the time when the "veil between the worlds" is most permeable. This is the origin of the European tradition of seeing fairies and ghosts or spirits on Midsummer's and Midwinter's Eve'. I haven't gotten around to confirming it yet but I've read that, even now, most sightings of Angels, UFOs, etc. coincide with these portal periods of Cancer and Capricorn.

• Learn more about the The Fremont Fair and Solstice Parade at http://www.fremontfair.com
• To learn more about ancient solstice observations, read about Stonehenge, Newgrange and Maeshowe at www.candlegrove.com/solstice.html#architecture
• Check out passage tomb at Newgrange, County Meathe, Ireland at http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/newgrange/newgrange.html
• Read from "Ireland for visitors" about The Fires of Midsummer's Eve at http://goireland.miningco.com/travel/goireland/library/weekly/aa071497.htm

July 1st is a New Moon (Solar eclipse at 10 degrees of Cancer)

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 ritual involving a new project, to ask for new vision.

July 4th is Independence Day in the United States of America

The American Revolution ended British political ambitions in the American Colonies. Interestingly, the colonist's complaints sound awfully topical today. The PBS Series, "Liberty!" will be rebroadcast this month, beginning on July 3rd. Check their website for local listings.

• Click this link to learn more about "Liberty!", a series of six one-hour documentaries about the American Revolution, originally broadcast on PBS in 1997.
• Visit American Revolution - National Discussions of Our Revolutionary Origins at http://revolution.h-net.msu.edu/
• Visit The Library of Congress website at http://lcweb.loc.gov/homepage/lchp.html
• See the American Colonial History (1607-1770) Internet Sites at www.hc.cc.tx.us/library/histucl.htm

July 7th, the first Friday of the month, is The Monthly IEM Get Together. Our Gemini party was quite the adventure! We hiked to a nearby Italian restaurant and ate, drank red wine and did tarot readings until they closed down! We returned to our house to explore the portal in our backyard and discuss dreams of great import. Thanks everyone! So please join us for Cancer. Click here for more information.

July 16th is a Full Moon (Lunar eclipse at 24 degrees Capricorn)

Howlite is a white marble-like stone patterned with smoky gray banding. In the past, howlite was generally encountered dyed blue to masquerade as turquoise but it has become popular recently on its own merits. It carries the attributes of Cancer and is wonderful to wear for Lunar rituals. An empowered howlite amulet is nurturing and comforting to wear during pregnancy or when you are spending a lot of your energy dealing with children. It is also a perfect stone to wear when you are working on home or security issues in your life.

Cancer has me planning house projects. Thanks to Audra's recommendation of this book, I believe I can make informed decisions about what to tackle and how. I have read several Feng Shui books and all of them have left me with the feeling that this would be something interesting to study when I retire! But not this one... her explanations and instructions are clear, logical and easy to put to use right now with what you already have to work with. There are two primary schools of Feng Shui (pronounced fung-shway) the Form School and the Compass School. This book focuses on the Form School because the author feels that "these techniques produce excellent results and are generally easier to integrate into the Western lifestyle."

The Bagua Map is the key to making Feng Shui work for you. Terah Kathryn Collins teaches you how to use the Bagua map or grid with your home as a whole and then extends the system into each room. Here is a quote from the book: "People have solved many problems using the Bagua Map. It's uncanny how often people find a correlation between the way their homes are designed and their ongoing problems. One couple found that the Wealth and Prosperity area of their home was located in a bathroom with leaky plumbing, symbolic of the continual leaking away of their savings account. Another couple discovered that the Career area of their home was located in the garage, which was crammed with junk, a perfect metaphor for the stagnant condition of their professional lives. A single woman discovered that her Love and Marriage area was located on a back porch full of empty pots and dead plants - symbols of her empty dead love life."

Pretty scary, huh? I learned that the career, or water, area of our home is the front porch and surrounding environs so watch for some changes there over the summer. Overall, I found the book very validating of my intuition and feelings about my home and worse... It has given me permission for some of the wilder color schemes I hadn't previously broached with Scott! Of course, seeing how he's always wanted to live in Pee Wee Herman's Playhouse, it shouldn't be a problem!

The Element: Water

(Click here for the introduction to the Elements that appeared in our Pisces 2000 issue.)

Water is a Yin or Feminine element. It symbolizes our emotions, nurturance, security, caring, and comfort. Water is where Life originated on this planet. Regardless of the fact that we call it EARTH, when seen from space - this is obviously a water planet. Likewise, we are water creatures. Before our birth we grow and live in water. While we are alive we carry huge amounts of it in our bodies. Water is the fluid that conducts all the impulses and electrically "carries" our consciousness. None of us are isolated because the sacred fluid is in and around us all.

Water is sacred, it is cleansing as well as nurturing. Water is used ritually to symbolize that "flow" of inspiration or consciousness from deity to mankind. Rain has always symbolized divine favor and revelation. All cultures use some form of anointing, baptizing or libation to commemorate this flow. Meditate on this for a moment when you bathe, shower or drink. Your daily shower is a perfect time to cleanse your being and re-consecrate it to your goals. When drinking, you are drinking in Ch'i or elementals, allowing their consciousness and intelligence to become a part of your own.

We think of this newsletter as a community forum. You, our friends and clients, can participate by letting us know what topics you would like us to cover. We would love to see reader ideas reflected throughout the newsletter. We celebrate diversity and we'll print whatever you send in whether it be Wiccan, Christian, Pagan, New Age, etc. as long as it reflects Love. Send in your own book reviews, ideas for rituals, ideas about stones, tell us your experiences with stones or ritual and ask us questions. We love answering questions!

From Charlie

From 11:45 until 1:00 Saturday I had a lunch break, on my own. I drove to the QFC, bought a little antipasto salad and a few slices of salami, and drove to a nearby park. I sat at a picnic table with my back to the sun, ate quietly, and enjoyed the sun, the sky, the few clouds, the motion and the feel of the Spring air, the trees, a few people. It was a beautiful scene.

Lunch done, I began to walk one of the paths. I met a few more people, not many. Mostly I just focused on "being there." After a short while, I began to wonder, "Am I going as far as the lake?" "How far am I going?" "How will I know I've gotten there?" Then I heard a bird's song. It was incredible! It could sing, I'm sure, for as long as I could hold my breath! And it sang and sang. The woods were rather open with some underbrush, some fallen trees, a twisted Madrona among the firs. I heard the breeze overhead in the treetops, and that bird. Even the light seemed special. That part of the woods slightly glowed.

Finally, I began to walk back, deliberately stepping silently on the dirt path. I waited to watch a little wren by some seepage water. I laughed as a couple of robins were crashing through the place, flying like crazy drivers on wings. Once I wondered what I heard and listened to find out that the slight air movement at the ground was enough to help the sword ferns to "clack" together. They ARE swords! When I heard the swords, I realized they were talking to me! Earlier, I knew the bird had been singing FOR me, but then I realized the bird was singing TO me! The animals, the trees and undergrowth, the soil itself were sharing the day with me, AND THEY WANTED ME TO KNOW IT! The dry leaves on the ground, the fresh leaves breaking out of their stems, the entire scene was vibrant, supercharged.

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. We start eating at 6 PM so please join us but feel free to drop in later, too!
• 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 and plenty of microbrews and red wine. If you have specific preferences, please bring whatever you'd like.
• How long: Until the witching hour, midnight, at which time Scott turns into a pumpkin. It's quite a sight! 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!

The only problem with all this astral travel stuff I've been doing is that it makes me realize how totally inadequate my worldview is. At the same time and maybe for the first time in my life, I'm overcoming my Protestant upbringing and realizing that I don't have to feel guilty about it. After all, my white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant culture has done absolutely nothing to prepare me for the multi-dimensional existence that is unfolding inside me. Since I'm not wasting time on the guilt thing, I can get right down to the task of how to upgrade my worldview and integrate it into my daily life.

So when did I first realize that my paradigms were being trashed? I think the straw that broke the camel's back was opening night of "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace". At the time, Inga and I were deep into learning more about the Elementals and remembering Inga's shamanic skills from a previous lifetime. (Shamanism is the practice of spiritually communicating with Mother Earth, the Elementals and all other life forms on the planet.) So up on the big screen, we hear Qui-Gon Jinn explaining to young Anakin Skywalker that the "Force" is the result of midichlorians, a cellular level intelligence found in all matter. Now I'm no Jedi knight but in my astral travels, I'm actually communicating with those entities and seeing my secret, elemental relationship brought out in public in the movie was like having my sense of reality assaulted by a light saber!

Ok, so I'm either way off the deep end or maybe I'm rediscovering something our ancestors took for granted and our Age of Science thrust aside for the realm of logic. Logic, as represented by the Air Elementals, is essential but only if balanced by the other elements of Earth, Water and Fire. White Elk tells me that too much emphasis on logic (air) and not enough intuition (water) is causing my overweight condition and that of many Americans. Our bodies compensate for the lack of intuition by storing water. Conversely, when there is too much emphasis on water, logic and action (fire) can suffer. It always comes down to balance which sounds like something Yoda told Luke Skywalker.

During one of my astral journeys, it really became clear to me that the elemental consciousness is in everything earthly. I saw myself taking in air elementals with every breath. I saw myself drinking and bathing in water elementals. I saw the fire elementals we use for light, power and heat and the earth elementals in every physical object. I realized that I am a conscious entity inhabiting a body comprised of elemental entities. I always joked about my body being a rental car but now I was feeling that my body was a gift, a sacred temple of life from Father/Mother/God and the Elementals.

See where my worldview becomes road kill at this point? I am not an isolated, self-contained biological unit that scratches out an existence, competing with other life forms on Earth. I am part of some grand partnership. I exist in consciousness by invitation. And these elementals are telling Inga and me that we've been ignoring them for 500 years doing this science/logic thing. They'd like to get back into partnership with humans and start co-creating again. I ask these elementals what we humans bring to the table and they say, "Creativity and imagination but most of all, your personal expression of Divine Love." Oops! We've been ignoring our partners and forgetting our duties to such an extent that for the last 150 years, mankind has been unilaterally creating a world without Love as evidenced by world wide ecological damage, landfills and nuclear weapons testing. Now I do feel guilty as a human being!

• The Lady in Red, Scott's Honda VFR750F motorcycle shrine!

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