Happy Birthday Cancerians!

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.

Cancer is complex and variable in temperament coinciding with the variability in appearance of its ruler, the Moon. This yin, cardinal, water sign is nurturing, protective, tenacious, and emotionally sensitive, with strong roots. It can also be smothering, unwilling to let go, timid and reclusive. The energy of Cancer is often invoked in real estate dealings and I think it is important to clarify that Cancer relates to safety, security and long-term investment. It does not relate to risk taking or “making a killing” in the market.

The monthly installment of The Great Astrological Light Bulb Joke:

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

A. Just one, but it takes a therapist three years to help them through the grieving process.

Inga's Celebration Calendar

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 exactly opposite 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 known 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'.

Photos of the Chaco Canyon Sun Dagger petroglyphs

Here is a beautiful picture of the Sun rising over Stonehenge this solstice.

June 25^th is a New Moon in Cancer: 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.

July 7^th is the First Friday of the month and the Dunthor Open House! Click here to see details below.

July 10^th is a Full Moon in Capricorn

July 25^th is another New Moon in Leo: 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.

Stone of the Sign - Agate

This dainty pendant is a beautiful oval Botswana agate wrapped in sterling silver wire. Agate is a form of quartz that shows color banding. It was formed in a gas cavity left in volcanic rock. Since volcanoes are fairly common around the earth agates are fairly common too. Agates form as gelatinous masses that slowly dehydrate and crystallize or by deposits from slowly percolating ground waters. According to tradition, it builds self-confidence and aids digestion. Agate is grounding and helps you achieve better physical and emotional balance. Agate works to raise consciousness and encourages accepting ourselves more fully. 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.

Sale priced this month: 40.00 USD

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

Inga's Space

Here is a favorite website: The Astronomy Picture of the Day

They run a different picture every day and have a utility you can install in order to get the pic of the day delivered to your desktop.

Okay, now since you’ve all been so patient, here they are…. The babes!

Malcolm enjoying the couch cushions
Angus relaxing in the Sun
Freya enjoying the grass

Letters from our Readers

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 Scott:

Beware of too sublime a sense of your own worth and consequence.
The man who dreams himself so great,
And his importance of such weight,
That all around in all that's done,
Must move and act for him alone,
Will learn in the school of tribulation,
The folly of his expectation.

-- William Cowper (1731 – 1800)

From Stephanie:

Colloquialisms from the 16th Century

In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes. When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase "goodnight, sleep tight."

It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month or what we know today as the honeymoon.

In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts. So in old England, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them mind their own pints and quarts and settle down. It's where we get the phrase "mind your P's and Q's."

Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim or handle of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get some service. "Wet your whistle" is the phrase inspired by this practice.

In Scotland, a new game was invented. It was entitled Gentlemen Only Ladies Forbidden.... and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language.

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May and were still smelling pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the b.o. Baths equaled a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons, then the women and finally the children. Last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water."

Houses had thatched roofs. Thick straw, piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the pets. . . dogs, cats and other small animals, mice, rats, bugs, lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. Hence the saying, "It's raining cats and dogs."

There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could really mess up your nice clean bed. So, they found if they made beds with big posts and hung a sheet over the top, it addressed that problem. Hence those beautiful big 4 poster beds with canopies.

The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt, hence the saying "dirt poor." The wealthy had slate floors which would get slippery in the winter when wet. So they spread thresh on the floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on they kept adding more thresh until when you opened the door it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed at the entry way, hence a "thresh hold."

They cooked in the kitchen in a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They mostly ate vegetables and didn't get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes the stew had food in it that had been in there for a month. Hence the rhyme: " peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old."

Sometimes they could obtain pork and would feel really special when that happened. When company came over, they would bring out some bacon and hang it to show it off. It was a sign of wealth and that a man "could really bring home the bacon." They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and "chew the fat."

Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with a high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food. This happened most often with tomatoes, so they stopped eating tomatoes . . . for 400 years.

Most people didn't have pewter plates, but had trenchers -- a piece of wood with the middle scooped out like a bowl. Trenchers were never washed and a lot of times worms got into the wood. After eating off wormy trenchers, they would get "trench mouth."

Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or the "upper crust."

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whiskey. The combination would sometimes knock them out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of holding a "wake."

England is old and small and they started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take their bones to a house and re-use the grave. In reopening these coffins, one out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they thought they would tie a string on their wrist and lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night to listen for the bell. Hence on the "graveyard shift" they would know that someone was "saved by the bell" or he was a "dead ringer."

The Monthly Dunthor Open House

Please come join in the community that has been created over the years with the friends we've made through Inga's Earth Magic. You'll find insight, sharing, healing and fellowship and you are most welcome. 

• 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!

The Duncan Domain

I had a wonderful opportunity to spend Memorial Day on one of my motorcycles at the race track in Auburn. A non-profit organization hosted the event and insured that the proceedings were fun and safe for all. It was a lovely Spring day and a colorful event due to all the outfits, motorcycles and tents. I've written up the event and included photos of me on the track by a professional photographer. Click here to check it out.

Meanwhile, I'm off later this week to embark on another motorcycle trip with my brothers and friends. We were going to meet at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon but it's been totally cutoff from the outside world by wildfires. Fires have broken out around Zion National Park as well so we've altered our plans at the last minute and we're going to rendezvous in Telluride, Colorado. From there we plan to roam the Western half of the state seeking adventure, relaxation and fun. I'll let you all know when the ride journal is posted.

And in case you missed mention of it in our Gemini 2006 newsletter, my 2005 Alaska Adventure motorcycle journal is now online with tons of photos and lots of stories.

– Scott Bruce Duncan */:-)

New and Updated Pages on our Website

E-Commerce stuff!

Click on this link to visit the Amazon home page. If you buy a product through this link, Amazon will pay Inga's Earth Magic a referral fee that we'll use to help offset the cost of our web page. Thanks in advance!
 

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