The Fae Star

The Fae Star 

The seven-pointed star is called a septagram, an Elven star or a Fairy star. Not as widely seen as the pentacle, but it's becoming a popular Pagan symbol. It embodies individuality, uniqueness, creativity, and intelligence. The number 7 is a very spiritual number that represents our need to find a spiritual connection beyond ourselves.  The seven-pointed star, also known as the Elven Star, or Faerie Star, has many meanings: 

• The seven directions: North, South, East, West, Above, Below, Within
• The seven elements: Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Life, Light, Magick
• The seven chakras
• Seven notes in a musical scale: Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti
• The seven (visible) colors in a rainbow

And many other possible meanings. It represents universal balance, as represented by the symbol for earth (a square, four sides) united with the trinity, representing heaven (or its equivalent), bound together in harmony, three over four, 'heaven over earth'. All is well, and in balance.  

The Elven Star is found in some branches of the Faerie tradition of Wicca. Also called the Seven Pointed Star or Faerie Star, it represents a gift from Faerie to humans to bridge the understanding between the Mortal human realm and the of Faerieland.  The variou different names can be associated with many other Magical traditions.  The 7 pointed star is known as a gateway symbol, a Gate entrance between our World and that of Faery, the Otherworld.  Each point on the Star represents a gateway or path of the Higher Self to prepare one for entrance into Faery.

Mermaids

Mermaids

Mermaids and mermen are human down to the waist, and fish-tailed below. Mermaids love to sing, and they have beautiful voices that carry easily over the waves. They enjoy using corals and empty shells for jewelry. They also love to play with other fish. The dolphins are their favorites. When they get tired of swimming, all they have to do is to grab the fin of the dolphin and they are carried thru the depths of the ocean. However, they can be seen more often than not, brushing out their long silky hair while sunning on a lily-pad or rock. 

Mermaids come in a variety of sizes and colors, depending on where they dwell. They can be found in the ocean, seas, lakes and even rivers. They are very skilled at hiding and can sense people before they themselves can be seen. Mermen however, are very rarily seen. They hide deep in the depths of the ocean to avoid getting caught in the many traps that people set to capture them. Whereas mermaids will frolick anywhere there is a body of water, mermen prefer to stay in large bodies of water where it is deep and dark. 

Mermen, who are seen less often than mermaids, sometimes are equally as fair skinned or have a stormy appearance. Mermen are more serious as they take their responsiblities to protect the merpeople very seriously. Both mermaids and mermen, according to various legends, are creatures that have the ability to change into human form. Mermen and mermaids don't have any magical abilities in themselves, but the King carries with him a trident that is magical. The King of the Seas uses his trident primarily to protect the merfolk

History of Mermaids

Mermaids have long fascinated humans, right from the days of Hans Christian Anderson’s novel, The Little Mermaid, to the children of today that read about Mermaids and Mermen in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books. The fascination of humans with these peculiar creatures is not restricted to the West. Philippines, Japanese and a variety of other completely distinct and separate cultures refer to mermaids and mermaid like creatures.  A mermaid is a creature that is half human, and half fish. Mermaids are female, while the Mermen, naturally, are the males. They have the torso of a fish, and the upper body of a human being. Mermaids are also often interchanged with water nymphs, water fairies and selkies. Mermaids are usually considered to be very beautiful, and extremely attractive in looks, as opposed to one’s normal presumption that their scales would make them look repulsive. According to legends of yore, there were many instances where in sailors that caught a glimpse of the Mermaid were so attracted to it, that they jumped into the sea to make contact, and were eventually drowned in the process. Some cultures accuse Mermaids of possessing such beauty that they have a hypnotic effect on men. Some claim that the Mermaid drowns them in the process of taking them to their underwater homes, while others insist that Mermaids are creatures to stay away from, as they drown their victims of lust purposely, and suck out their life from them.  The word Mermaid itself is a word made of two parts; the first being the word Mer, the ancient English word for sea, and maid referring to a female.

Historical insight of the Mermaid

Unlike the Disney movie, The Little Mermaid, the original mermaid referred to by various cultures and civilizations, and their records and books testify to the presence of the mermaid. However, many of these reports cite that the mermaids were not very pretty, as depicted in the movie! The numbers of references available to Mermaids, from Russia to Japan, India to East Indies, The British Isles to the Atlantic Ocean bring forth a spirit of curiosity and awe in these magnificent and wonderful creatures that grace the sea.

One of the earliest mentions of the mermaids dates back to well over five thousand years ago, and finds mention in ancient Mesopotamian culture. According to them, it was the merman, Oannes, which rose everyday from the water and gave man knowledge, reasoning and brought writing, wisdom, science and other such civilization institutions. The Mesopotamian culture credits Oannes with the deed of thrusting forward the civilization by advancing their development and helping man in technology.  The Assyrians mention mermaids or half human half fish like creatures in records that date back to 1000 BC. According to their folklore, the first mermaid was a goddess that loved a human shepherd, and eventually killed him. The story goes forth that she tried to hide in a lake out of sheer ill fame and agony, but the waters could not contain the power of her beauty. Hence, she was transformed into half a fish, and lo! The first Mermaid was born!

The Greeks also recognized the Assyrian Mermaid and referred to her as Derketo. According to Greek mythology, King Alexander the Great’s sister was transformed to a Mermaid after her death, and she still lives in the seas in the Aegean.

The Arabians and Persians also mention the Mermaids and Mermen in their famous folk lore, the Arabian Nights. References to Mermaids and Merpeople are made in a number of stories. However, more than as half human and half fish creatures, the Arabian version of the Mermaid looked like a normal human being, but had the uncanny ability to breathe underwater. Some of the stories of the Arabian Nights deal almost completely with these strange peoples, their cities, their way of life and their character. The Arabian Nights also make mention of the mermaids that have the hypnotic effect on sailors. This time it is not their looks that make the sailors helpless and drive them to their doom, but the beautiful and irresistible songs that the mermaids sing to lure them into their traps.  Strangely enough, the British and English mention of the Mermaid in their folklore does not do the mermaid any kinder. They consider the mermaid to be a bad omen and the Mermaid is usually an indication of an upcoming thunderstorm, hurricane or a ship that will eventually sink and go down. The sight of a Mermaid meant death for all the sailors of the ship that sighted the Mermaid.

The number of paintings of Mermaids and Mermen by various artists and the poems written on these fascinating creatures has indeed reinforced firmly the fact that they possess a strong hold over native cultures throughout the world.  The African folklore is also not far behind in the tales of Mermaids. African culture gives the mermaid a special place in their religion. The god of water Yemaja, is actually a mermaid, and is referred to as the mother whose offspring are like fishes! The Africans deem the water goddess Yemaja as a very important and crucial personality among all their gods. According to them, the water goddess Yemaja, supports all life underneath the water, and without her existence, no other sea creature can survive.

The West Africans also mention the Mami Wata, which is their version of the mermaid, which matches the description of what we currently consider the Mermaid to be. According to their legends, Mami Wata is a powerful spirit that can bestow upon one horde of wealth, health, power and immense beauty. The spirit however, demands in return, a strict confidential sexual fidelity. The goddess sprit is difficult to please and any slight displeasure caused to the spirit by the human partner will result in the complete removal of all the accumulated wealth and powers of the human being, rendering the unfaithful mate helpless in the world. There are festivities that are celebrated in Western Africa even today, of which Mami Wata forms an important part.

Legends from Warsaw say that the Mermaid swam all the way to Warsaw from the Baltic seas, in order to take the position of the slain Griffin that the mermaid greatly loved and admired. The Griffin was the defender of Warsaw, and was killed in the war that followed a Swedish invasion. As a tribute to the loyalty and courage of the Griffin, the Mermaid took its place unhesitatingly, and has ever since, been the symbol of Warsaw.  Christopher Columbus also reported sightings of Mermaids in his travel logs. He claimed that he saw three mermaids that were playing with themselves in the water. According to him, the mermaids were not as beautiful as ancient texts and literature had mentioned they were, and he testified that they had a face that resembled a human one with striking and distinctive human like facial features.

Henry Hudson, the explorer and traveler also reported sightings of Mermaids along the coasts of Russia, near the North Pole. The explorer claims that the mermaid, upon attracting the attention of the whole crew of his boat, looked earnestly upon all the sailors that gathered. He reported that the Mermaid had long, flowing black hair, white skin and fully developed breasts of a woman.

There is also the story of the Viceroy of Goa, in India, that performed a completely autopsy on the bodies of seven mermaids recovered by them from fishermen, after they were caught in their nets off the coasts of Ceylon, currently Sri Lanka.

There are also reports from Borneo, where local fishermen claimed to have trapped a mermaid in their nets, following which they brought it to land, and kept it in a large vat, where it died after a few days. According to them, the mermaid made the noises of a mouse, and shrieked many times, before it finally died.  Sailors of the ship The Halifax also claimed that they had hunted down mermaids in the seas, and eaten them. They claimed that mermaid meat tasted like veal, and that they were successful in capturing many such mermaids, near the East Indies.

P.T.Barnum, in the year 1842, claimed to the world that he had finally procured the body of a real mermaid from an English scientist that found the Mermaid near the islands of Fiji. He called his exquisite display, the Fiji Mermaid. However, the Mermaid was a fake, and again, there was no concrete proof towards the existence of the mermaid in this world.

★•*¨*•.¸¸ ☽0☾Happy Full Moon☽0☾.•*¨*•★

Full Moon Names and Their Meanings

Full Moon Names and Their Meanings

Full Moon names date back to Native Americans, of what is now the northern and eastern United States. The tribes kept track of the seasons by giving distinctive names to each recurring full Moon. Their names were applied to the entire month in which each occurred. There was some variation in the Moon names, but in general, the same ones were current throughout the Algonquin tribes from New England to Lake Superior. European settlers followed that custom and created some of their own names. Since the lunar month is only 29 days long on the average, the full Moon dates shift from year to year.  Here is the Farmers Almanac’s list of the full Moon names.

• Full Wolf Moon – January Amid the cold and deep snows of midwinter, the wolf packs howled hungrily outside Indian villages. Thus, the name for January’s full Moon. Sometimes it was also referred to as the Old Moon, or the Moon After Yule.  Some called it the Full Snow Moon, but most tribes applied that name to the next Moon.

• Full Snow Moon – February Since the heaviest snow usually falls during this month, native tribes of the north and east most often called February’s full Moon the Full Snow Moon. Some tribes also referred to this Moon as the Full Hunger Moon, since harsh weather conditions in their areas made hunting very difficult.

• Full Worm Moon – March As the temperature begins to warm and the ground begins to thaw, earthworm casts appear, heralding the return of the robins. The more northern tribes knew this Moon as the Full Crow Moon, when the cawing of crows signaled the end of winter; or the Full Crust Moon, because the snow cover becomes crusted from thawing by day and freezing at night.  The Full Sap Moon, marking the time of tapping maple trees, is another variation. To the settlers, it was also known as the Lenten Moon, and was considered to be the last full Moon of winter.

• Full Pink Moon – April This name came from the herb moss pink, or wild ground phlox, which is one of the earliest widespread flowers of the spring. Other names for this month’s celestial body include the Full Sprouting Grass Moon, the Egg Moon, and among coastal tribes the Full Fish Moon, because this was the time that the shad swam upstream to spawn.

• Full Flower Moon – May In most areas, flowers are abundant everywhere during this time. Thus, the name of this Moon. Other names include the Full Corn Planting Moon, or the Milk Moon.

• Full Strawberry Moon – June This name was universal to every Algonquin tribe. However, in Europe they called it the Rose Moon. Also because the relatively short season for harvesting strawberries comes each year during the month of June . 

 • The Full Buck Moon – July July is normally the month when the new antlers of buck deer push out of their foreheads in coatings of velvety fur.It was also often called the Full Thunder Moon,  for the reason that thunderstorms are most frequent during this time. 

 • Full Sturgeon Moon – August The fishing tribes are given credit for the naming of this Moon, since sturgeon, a large fish of the Great Lakes and other major bodies of water, were most readily caught during this month. A few tribes knew it as the Full Red Moon because, as the Moon rises, it appears reddish through any sultry haze. It was also called the Green Corn Moon or Grain Moon.

 • Full Corn Moon or Full Harvest Moon –September This full moon’s name is attributed to Native Americans because it marked when corn was supposed to be harvested. Most often, the September full moon is actually the Harvest Moon, which is the full Moon that occurs closest to the autumn equinox. In two years out of three, the Harvest Moon comes in September, but in some years it occurs in October. At the peak of harvest, farmers can work late into the night by the light of this Moon. Usually the full Moon rises an average of 50 minutes later each night, but for the few nights around the Harvest Moon, the Moon seems to rise at nearly the same time each night: just 25 to 30 minutes later across the U.S., and only 10 to 20 minutes later for much of Canada and Europe. Corn, pumpkins, squash, beans, and wild rice the chief Indian staples are now ready for gathering.

 • Full Hunter’s Moon or Full Harvest Moon – October This full Moon is often referred to as the Full Hunter’s Moon, Blood Moon, or Sanguine Moon. Many moons ago, Native Americans named this bright moon for obvious reasons. The leaves are falling from trees, the deer are fattened, and it’s time to begin storing up meat for the long winter ahead. Because the fields were traditionally reaped in late September or early October, hunters could easily see fox and other animals that come out to glean from the fallen grains. Probably because of the threat of winter looming close, the Hunter’s Moon is generally accorded with special honor, historically serving as an important feast day in both Western Europe and among many Native American tribes.

 • Full Beaver Moon – November This was the time to set beaver traps before the swamps froze, to ensure a supply of warm winter furs. Another interpretation suggests that the name Full Beaver Moon comes from the fact that the beavers are now actively preparing for winter.

 • The Full Cold Moon; or the Full Long Nights Moon – December During this month the winter cold fastens its grip, and nights are at their longest and darkest. It is also sometimes called the Moon before Yule. The term Long Night Moon is a doubly appropriate name because the midwinter night is indeed long, and because the Moon is above the horizon for a long time. The midwinter full Moon has a high trajectory across the sky because it is opposite a low Sun.