Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Leonardo's Earthshine Moon









Also known as the Moon's ashen glow, Earthshine is Earthlight illuminating the Moon's night side. Taken on Nowruz, the March 20 equinox, from Esfahan, Iran, planet Earth, this telescopic image captures strong Earthshine from an old Moon. The darker earthlit disk is in the arms of a bright sunlit crescent. But the view from the Moon would have been enchanting too. When the Moon appears in Earth's sky as a slender crescent, a dazzlingly bright, nearly full Earth would be seen from the lunar surface. The Earth's brightness due to reflected sunlight is known to be strongly influenced by cloud cover. Still, a description of Earthshine, in terms of sunlight reflected by Earth's oceans in turn illuminating the Moon's dark surface, was written 500 years ago by Leonardo da Vinci. He used backward or mirror writing to document his discoveries to keep most of them secret, but his drawings are exquisite, as everyone can see!

Thursday, March 22, 2012

New Moon


New Moon, New Beginnings, New Intentions, New Life, New Actions! This new moon is in Aries (The Ram)and is known for moving forward! Some of this energy is tempered by Mercury in Retrograde, however, so it will be reasonable moving ahead for now, until April 4, when Mercury moves out of Retrograde- then, as the new moon grows into first quarter, it's full steam ahead! Time for Springing into our fertile future, the seeds of our intentions are now sprouting seedlings and rising toward the sun in growth of manifesting & becoming!

Monday, March 19, 2012

Spring Equinox & New Moon Intentions

At Intenders of the Highest Good Circle last night, we made our intentions for the upcoming spring season, mentioning that the spring equinox (Tues) & new moon (Thurs) are the best times for intentions to seed. This post from Molly Hall, astrologer reflects our thoughts precisely! Intend & Enjoy!

There's a nature bursting forth atmosphere this week, starting with Spring Equinox, marked by Sun into first sign Aries. It's the astrological new year!
Looking at the solar calendar, the Spring Equinox, when day and night are equal, is one of the four big turning points of the year. The rhythm of the seasons are a chance to seed and develop your most longed-for intentions.

Seasonal Intention Setting:
•Spring Equinox (March 19) is the time of conception, to put forth intentions that are most meaningful and desired.
•At Summer Solstice (June 20), what's in development is ripened and brought to tangible form.
•Autumnal Equinox (September 22) begins a time of refining, streamlining, weighing what's taking shape.
•Winter Solstice (December 21) takes us into restful musing on how to share what's been created, as a legacy and contribution to the whole.
It's a momentous time for any on-the-ball intention setters out there. But if it's snuck up on you, like it has for me, this entire week of the darkening Moon is for super alert soul searching. The Aries New Moon is Thursday, and the three days after, extend the intention-setting window. My philosophy is better not to set intentions, if they're a rush job. Take time to choose goals that are achievable and are rooted in your overall sense of life purpose.
Of course, a big part of experiencing the New Moon mystique is surrender and being receptive to something to emerge out of the dark. If you're overwhelmed, or don't have definite intentions, resting and tuning inward is always a wise approach. Happy Spring Equinox and New Moon to you all!

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Happy St Patrick's Day


Green is Good today! St Patrick is the old Saint who banned the snakes (serpents) from the Emerald Isle. It is said that Ireland has no more snakes, but how can an entire island have not one snake? I don't believe it. I think that the serpent is a symbol for health, healing and wise ones who are the healers. The Celts, who are the original Irish were very advanced healers- their books of medicine still have not been translated, their language is so ancient!
St Patrick brought Christianity to Ireland, but the Irish (Celts) were already in the Holy Land, prior to this. St Patrick's Day is a special bridge transforming winter into spring, so green, whether it is a green snake, the Emerald Isle, the green of spring or the green-colored glow of healing is good! It's all good!

Thursday, March 8, 2012

International Women's Day

International Women's Day is today, also known as Lady Day (which I like better). The whole month of March is Women's Month, now known as Women's History Month (Shouldn't it be Herstory Month?) I like to recognize and celebrate this day and month by honoring the great women in my life! The men are supposed to honor us, as women, but we can't always wait for that, can we?

This is from internationalwomensday.com

The tradition sees men honoring their mothers, wives, girlfriends, colleagues, etc with flowers and small gifts. In some countries IWD has the equivalent status of Mother's Day where children give small presents to their mothers and grandmothers.

The new millennium has witnessed a significant change and attitudinal shift in both women's and society's thoughts about women's equality and emancipation. Many from a younger generation feel that 'all the battles have been won for women' while many feminists from the 1970's know only too well the longevity and ingrained complexity of patriarchy. With more women in the boardroom, greater equality in legislative rights, and an increased critical mass of women's visibility as impressive role models in every aspect of life, one could think that women have gained true equality. The unfortunate fact is that women are STILL not paid equally to that of their male counterparts, women still are not present in equal numbers in business or politics, and globally women's education, health and the violence against them is worse than that of men.

However, great improvements have been made. We do have women astronauts and prime ministers, school girls are welcomed into university, women can work and have a family, women have real choices. And so the tone and nature of IWD has, for the past few years, moved from being a reminder about the negatives to a celebration of the positives.

Annually on March 8, thousands of events are held throughout the world to inspire women and celebrate achievements. A global web of rich and diverse local activity connects women from all around the world ranging from political rallies, business conferences, government activities and networking events through to local women's craft markets, theatrical performances, fashion parades and more.

Many global corporations have also started to more actively support IWD by running their own internal events and through supporting external ones. For example, on March 8 search engine and media giant Google some years even changes its logo on its global search pages. Year after year IWD is certainly increasing in status. The United States even designates the whole month of March as 'Women's History Month'.

So make a difference, think globally and act locally !! Make everyday International Women's Day. Do your part to ensure that the future for girls is bright, equal, safe and rewarding.


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