To celebrate Lughnasadh I will craft a new corn dolly today, burning last year’s while thanking her for the health, wealth, and prosperity she brought to this household. Corn dollies are Celtic in nature – funny that last year’s turned out looking rather medieval. This year I will stick closer to my Irish/Celtic roots and create one with a decidedly gypsy mien about her.
Lughnasadh (also called Lammas) marks the first of the three harvests: the Grain Harvest of Lughnasadh, the Harvest of Fruits at Mabon, and the Harvest of Game at Samhain.
The sun loves the moon so much
that he dies every night to let her breathe, and in return,
she reflects his love. – Jeffrey Fry
The second of four consecutive Full Supermoons occurs this morning at 11:31AM PT in the sign of Aquarius. “Supermoon” is a catchy term for what astronomers call “a perigean Full Moon” which is when the Full Moon happens at (or very near) the exact time when the Moon is closest to us in its orbit. Celebration and gratitude are the energies attached to Full Moons. Today, give thanks for what you have accomplished and created.
As if these two events weren’t enough to get your feet dancing and your heart singing, today is National Night Out (day). National Night Out falls on the first Tuesday in August every year and serves to promote police-community partnerships in neighborhoods all over the country. A large part of National Night Out involves shining the spotlight (A Super Full Moon spotlight.) on community police and neighborhood watch programs.
“Dog Walker Watch has been incorporated into the program in recent years, which means there are 75 million dog walkers that are out day and night with their dogs walking neighborhoods. These people can become an extra set of eyes to help the police keep the neighborhood safe!” [source]
Talk about “giving thanks” and “celebrating gratitude”…
Finally, let us commemorate one of the most important dates in history: The birth of MTV.
On Saturday, August 1, 1981, at 12:01AM Eastern Time, MTV was launched with the words “Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll”. That was 42 years ago but it seems like yesterday to me. VJ’s Mark Goodman, Nina Blackwood, and Alan Hunter are still rockin’ & rollin’, too, being DJ’s on Sirius’ ’80s on 8 Channel. And the first music video played? The prescient “Video Killed The Radio Star” by The Buggles.
Hummingbirds are curious and astute observers. Backyard hummers quickly learn to recognize individual humans and approach people who feed them – even if they are not carrying food. (Sometimes they’ll hover at windows to attract a particular person to come out and refill an empty feeder.) Hummingbirds remember what they see. Many folks who feed hummers report that if they’re slow to get their feeders out in the spring, hummers show up and hover right where the feeder used to hang the year before.
– The Hummingbirds’ Gift
The ancient Mayans believed that the hummingbird was the “sun in disguise”, appearing in hummingbird form to court the moon.
Aztecs believed hummingbirds are reincarnated warriors.
Both Celtic and Native Americans believed that hummingbirds deliver messages and guidance from the spirit world.
In Greek mythology, the hummingbird was associated with the goddess of the rainbow, Iris, and was said to carry messages between the gods.
Years ago I worked at a local plant nursery. It sat on the 600′ long California Historical Landmark #784 known around here as El Camino Real long enough that it was home to many local and migratory creatures, from Monarchs to nesting Mourning doves. Every Spring and Summer there would be one or two hanging pots that a bird would set-up house in and we’d dutifully put a sign on them saying “Bird’s Nest. Do not water.” One year we even had a tiny finch build a nest in a 4″ container. We couldn’t move that one to a safe place but we did put up a sign and made sure it went undisturbed until her babies had hatched and flew away. Of course we had hummingbirds visiting quite regularly but I remember one time in particular in which I and the Assistant Manager were in the cashier’s booth – a little shack built right inside the gates. Suddenly I heard a frantic peeping right behind me on the floor of the booth. It’s very fortunate I did not take a step backwards to see what the commotion was all about because I would have stepped on a hummingbird. Our guess was that it somehow got inside the booth and stunned itself on one of the windows trying to escape. Thank Goddess it let me know it was there! I gently scooped it up and set it on the ground outside, in an area where it would be safe and could take its time recovering. Sure enough, when I went back to check on it 15 minutes later the little guy (or gal) had flown the coop…erm…nursery.
Rare albino hummingbird.
Last week I caught some pretty amazing footage of two hummingbirds performing an aerial dance in the Concrete Jungle. I’ve been wanting to write a Post on these “winged jewels” for quite a while and have been amassing a number of articles on them with the idea that I would get to that Post SOON. So it’s not only serendipitous that I shot those videos one evening as we sat watching (of all things) a horror movie, but it just so happens I finished reading a little book on two rehabilitated baby hummers and it contained all kinds of surprising – and amazing – details about them. Like I always say: “I don’t believe in coincidences but I DO believe in synchronicities”. The Universe was giving me a sign. A green light. NOW was the time to write that Post…
There can be no doubt it reigns supreme over all the other birds of the world and truly deserves to be called the champion of flight. – Hummingbirds: Their Life and Behavior
The pattern created when a hummingbird flaps their wings resembles symbol for infinity: ∞. During the forward and back strokes, the wings make two turns of nearly 180° – every stroke is a power stroke. Hummingbirds can turn on a dime, and go from flying full speed to a full stop. They are the only birds that can fly backwards, hover up and down (They can hover for up to an hour.), and even fly upside down. Except for the flight feathers on the wings and tail, the top third of hummingbird feathers have elliptical structures called platelets filled with microscopic air bubbles, which diffract light into colors that reflect in a flash of iridescence; this creates their jewel-like colors.
The tongues of hummingbirds, when retracted, extend back to the rear of the skull, curling around to lie on top of the skull. This tongue can be flicked into a flower up to 18 times a second. At its tip, the tongue divides in two and its outer edges curve inward. As the hummingbird drinks the forks of its tongue furl and unfurl, similar to a cat lapping up milk, and the hair-like extensions (lamellae) essentially soak up the nectar.
Nectar doesn’t cover their nutritional needs completely, so they snack on insects and spiders as well. As the birds open their mouths, they can actively bend the lower half of their beaks, giving it a pronounced kink and getting it out of the way. Then, the hummingbirds essentially ram insects with their open mouths.
“One woman found such a victim on the floor of her barn, so dirty and lifeless-looking that she kicked it with her shoe before realizing it was not a clod of dirt but a glittering, still living hummingbird, imprisoned in a robe of cobwebs.” – The Hummingbirds’ Gift
There are more than 325 unique species of hummingbird in the world, the smallest of which is the Bee hummingbird of Cuba which measures only 1.969″ from beak to tail. Each of the hummingbird species has co-evolved with particular nectar producing flowers and the length and curvature of each species bills insures that species’ survival – as only that particular species can usurp nectar from that particular flower.
The Buff-tailed Sicklebill beside one of the flowers to which they are specialized, showing how the flower and recurved bill have co-evolved.
Hummingbirds are extremely vulnerable to pollutants and poisons – even garden pesticides, for which there is no antidote. (I have stopped using all types of insecticides in the Concrete Jungle, even insecticidal soaps and those marked for “Organic Gardening” – can be used up to one day prior to harvesting.)
Hummingbirds can die in their sleep
To save enough energy to survive the nights, hummingbirds go into a hibernation-like state (torpor) which allows the bird to lower its internal body temperature to a hypothermic state in which their metabolism is reduced by as much as 95%. Body temperature drops, heart rate lowers, and breathing rate lowers to almost non-existent levels – where their systems are barely sufficient to keep them alive. About 1-2 hours before dawn they will begin to awaken from torpor. Their heart rate and breathing will increase while their wing muscles will start to vibrate – producing a shivering effect to generate heat. This process can take from 20 minutes to an hour before the hummingbird is ready to start the day. This requires a tremendous amount of energy in the form of calories expended and hummingbirds that are very weak very often do not survive.
“At first, in their exquisite nest, the babies seem as still as stones in a jeweled ring. We were tending to tiny creatures as delicate as froth.” – The Hummingbirds’ Gift
Our day is ruled by inch-and-a-half-long birds. Baby hummingbirds require constant, diligent, round-the-clock attention. They tax even their mothers, who may make more than a hundred flights a day to find food for their babies.
“Miss a feeding by twenty minutes and they can expire.
Feed them too much and they can explode.”
He pushes his tail high above the nest’s rim – and, with impressive force, blasts out two turds. They fly more than thirty times the length of his body, past the rim of the nest, past the basket, past the table, and splatter on the window.
Instead of squirting the food down the bird’s throat, she pushes the needleless, food-filled syringe onto the bird’s beak. The beak, thin as a straw, easily fits into the opening. The bird’s throat flutters and his black eyes seem to widen. “He’s just discovered his tongue!”
The moment we step into the sunshine, they rise from their nests and rev their wings in unison. I feel like a new mother with her child in a stroller. Here is the sweet, green world! my heart silently promises the babies. And one day, all of it will be yours.
“Let’s name them.” For the larger bird, Maya. For the smaller one, Zuni. And before long, Maya and Zuni will be embarking on the arduous journey to seize the greatest of all birds’ blessings: the blessing of flight.
Maya and Zuni
The bumblebee is Zuni. I hear him long before I see him, and the sound, so loud and deep, makes me laugh. Zuni is practicing his flights and hovers. He zooms up, down, back, and forth. The stems of flowers bounce when he lands on them. It reminds me of a child playing on a trampoline.
“One day she discovered that she could ride the stream, a solid jet of water about three quarters of an inch thick. Flying at right angles, she alighted on the jet, as though it were a branch, and permitted it to carry her forward. Over and over she did this, apparently enjoying the stunt.” – The Hummingbirds’ Gift
“An Anna’s will kill an Allen’s.” One brash Anna’s even dares to perch on the cage bars and stick his swordlike bill inside. Zuni dissolves into peeping, like a child bursting into tears. “You know how kids get cranky and nothing can console them?” Brenda muses. “I think the Anna’s just messed up Zuni’s whole day.”
Anna’s hummingbird
These are the species that visit the Concrete Jungle.
Attached to the fence with a wad of putty, a syringe can become a hummingbird feeder in a jiffy. The idea is to overwhelm the Anna’s with abundance so little Maya gets a chance to feed. People who set out feeders and plant wisely for hummers know this well. It’s possible to have as many as forty hummingbirds in your yard at once – even though every bird thinks every feeder and flower belongs to him.
In three days, Zuni will be released; two days later, both he and Maya will vanish, headed on the fall migration. We don’t know that yet as we stand before the tiny bird in the release cage. But already, we can imagine him flying to Mexico.
“That sense of wonder, that sense of connection to something great and mysterious? It’s the same feeling looking at a baby hummingbird.” Each is just a speck – a firefly, a flash, a brilliant atom. Yet each is an infinite mystery.
I lie in bed, listening to the sounds of the day waking up – one lone robin is singing. The sky outside is still clouded with sleep, yet his song echoes through the neighborhood. He is our rooster heralding the approaching sunrise. Our Sun King. Then I hear the sounds of the far-off commuter trains. Just as dawn is…well…dawning the crows awaken. A Canada goose honks overhead as it rides the early morning rays of sun.
This time of year we get a tiny bit of morning sun peeking through the bedroom window. I love waking-up and seeing dappled bits of sunlight on the wall next to the bed.
It’s going to be another beautiful Summer day. The wrens and finches know it, too. I see them darting from rooftop to a tree branch, then back again. I am ready to get up and usher in the day myself. However, Ramses has other plans as he has decided NOW is the time to snuggle under the covers and doze some more.
So I get up and start writing this. Eventually he notices I am not in bed anymore and pulls his lanky body out from under the bed covers. Yawns. Then something outside the window gets his attention. Perhaps a bird?
It’s 7:00 and our neighbor (and cat-owner) has started her workday as I can see the light in her office is on. Have I mentioned that another cat has joined her other two? It’s a sleek black kitty that looks more like Ramses than her other black cat, who looks more like Diego.
Now that Ramses has gotten off the bed I can make it, brush his teeth, and make my way downstairs – with Ramses in tow. I need coffee…
♫♪ In the summertime when the weather is high
You can stretch right up and touch the sky ♫♪
Before I begin, let’s talk about an obscure Roman goddess associated with running water, thieves and robbers (her name means “thief”): Furina. She had a priest, a temple, and a sacred grove on the Janiculum ridge alongside the Tiber’s west bank. (The site is now occupied by the Villa Sciarra.) Today is Her day. The Furinalia. In ancient Rome, The Furinalia was part of a three-day celebration devoted to the gods and goddesses of the forest and water.
Tell me a story of this week…
The bowl in the center is an offering to Furina: spring water from Italy.
Aces are “Controlling Cards” which indicate new beginnings, control your path, and relate to where you are heading. (Always a wonderful sign when they appear.)
Ace of Skulls (Pentacles) is the essence of Mother Earth’s energy, the material realm, endurance and power, new physical energy, and prosperity. A seed of productivity has been planted. Opportunities are headed your way. Something in the physical or material realm will be created or begun. The Ace of Skulls expresses material force in working with the physical, which manifests into tangible rewards.
Daughter of Skulls (Page of Pentacles)
As you can see, the color purple is representative of the Skulls suit in this deck, as is the pentagram-engraved Vampyre skull. The latter is symbolic of the suit’s bond to Mother Earth. In this card, it connects back to the Ace of Skulls.
Pages are considered messengers in Tarot readings, signaling the start of something or a new stage in one’s life. When the Daughter of Skulls appears in a spread, it may also portend of a golden opportunity that must be seized upon.
We leave the material world for one that is more intangible. Emotions, the unconscious, intuition, and psychic awareness are the essence of the suit of Grails (Cups). In Tarot, Kings develop ideas and bring them to an established and stable state (manifestation).
Visionary, enchanter, sorcerer, and shapeshifter, the Lord of Grails (King of Cups) is a master in the art of Witchcraft, shaping reality to his own image. On an abstract level, the Lord of Grails represents esoteric matters, the healing arts, philosophy, and creative expression. He is ruled by Scorpio – a Water sign. This makes him very fluid, hence his ability to shapeshift; transforming and absorbing any energy at will.
Aces bring you gifts and the Ace of Skulls brings you the gift of an opportunity which will require you to “put in the work”, which is where the Daughter of Skulls comes in as she’s here to help you nurture that seed. Set intentions and take steps, no matter how small.
Which areas of your life could use more enrichment? This is what the Lord of Grails represents. The area of my life into which I need to put more effort.
Doing Magick is all about creating and moving energy. – Moonwater Silverclaw
House M - 