Searching for a soul mate

I have been asked this week to provide a spell, which will help to attract a soul mate and lead to a happy marriage.

Whilst this is probably something many of us ultimately desire, there is no magic wand that I can wave in order to bring the love of someone's life hurtling through the ether towards them. The magic wand lies within each and every one of us. Only we have the power to manifest what we need in our lives.

In order to attract a soul mate, we have to radiate positive energy outward into the world, for what we give out surely shall return. We can't expect good things to come from negative vibrations. Remember the words in the song, 'Something Good', from 'The Sound of Music'? 'Nothing comes, from nothing, nothing ever should.'

Therefore we must work on ourselves first and foremost before we attempt to work our magic on others. It isn't enough to look good, we must be happy with who we are, deep down inside, for that's where positive energies radiate from. We need to look at what we do; does our work satisfy us? We need to look at our relationships with others; are they nourishing? Once we are happy with who we are then our energies will change and hopefully attract that elusive someone.

In the words of Ghandi: 'Be the change you want to see.'

Good luck in your quest.

Plough Monday

The Monday following Twelfth Night was known as 'Plough Monday', as this was the time that farmers returned to work and the winter ploughing began. In actual fact very little ploughing was done and instead, the plough was dressed in ribbons and dragged around the streets, accompanied by people dressed up as goblins and witches and a man dressed as a woman who was referred to as a Betsy, Molly or Bessie.

The owners of the plough would ask for money from passers by and anyone who refused to donate would be at risk of having their garden ploughed up. Before the time of the reformation the money collected, was used to purchase a large candle known as the 'Plough Light', which burned on the church altar in order to bring good ploughing weather, a fruitful harvest and protection for the farmers.

These traditions stem back to Pagan times where sacrifices were made to the old Gods in exchange for a blessing before the new agricultural season began.

Endings

Today is the modern festival of Twelfth Night, which marks the end of the Seasonal celebrations. This is the day on which all the decorations should be taken down to avoid the hauntings of hobgoblins and mischevious spirits throughout the coming year. (More on Twelfth Night traditions and ritual mid month, when 'Old Twelfth Night' is celebrated)

Many people confuse Twelfth Night with the Christian festival of the Epiphany, which commemorates the visit of the three wise men to Christ and therefore leave their Christmas decorations up until the 6th January. This however, would be the 13th night of Christmas, so please take your decorations down today!

Twelfth Night also marks the anniversary of a very personal ending for me, as my Mum died a year ago today and I miss her now as much as I ever did.

A Heavenly Treat

Today sees the last day of the Roman festival of Kalendae, a time when gifts of sweet foods and coins were exchanged to bring luck for the following year, a good excuse no doubt for us to eat up all the sweet meats that are left over from the seasonal festivities.

In the heavens, the next few days are particularly exciting, with a spectacular meteor shower visible tonight and tomorrow in the area of the constellation of Bootes, although it will be best after midnight.

Tomorrow (4th) there will be a partial solar eclipse visible as the sun rises in Northern Europe, Asia and Africa and of course for this to happen it has to be a new moon, a time of new beginnings. Also tomorrow two of the largest moons of Jupiter are visible with a good pair of binoculars; namely Callisto and Ganymede.

What a heavenly treat! Make the most of it, enjoy the view and prepare for exciting times ahead.