Today marks the 1st day of the Lunar Calendar such as the one the Chinese follow, this is known as the Spring Festival and goes for 15 days. It is a time when people return to their families and celebrate the past year and welcome in the New. On the first day the Chinese believe you should not shower, clean or do laundry so you do not wash away all the Good Luck. This year we will be entering the Chinese year of the Fire Monkey on February 8th.
Tomorrow we also celebrate Lammas here in the Southern Hemisphere and Imbolc in the Northern. Lammas is the "cross-quarter" day marking the first harvest of early grain, where the first loaf of the bread from the harvest is broken and shared in the name of the Goddess. All crops associated with grain and of the season are sacred to this time. It is a time to reflect on the successes of the year and to reward yourself for jobs well done. Lammas magic can be magic of facing up to change. The God gives his energy to the crops to ensure life while the Goddess, as Mother, prepares to transform into her aspect as the Crone. The God loses his strength as the days grow shorter. Traditionally this day falls on February 2nd, however astrologically it falls on February 4th this year.
For those of you in the Northern Hemisphere the Wheel of the Year is turning to Imbolc. Also known as Candlemass. For those of you going through Winter take a peek outside and get some inspiration from nature, you will see signs of New Life popping up everywhere. This weekend you celebrate Imbolc which is the mid-way point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. Astrologically the mid-way point this year is February 4th. As this date changes each year it is often observed on February 2nd.At Imbolc we begin to see the first signs of Spring, flowers are starting to bloom and the days are getting longer. Imbolc is the Celebration of the Mother Goddess with the young Sun God that was born at Yule. This is Sacred day for the Divine Feminine. On this day our Ancestors would initiate any of the young girls who had begun their Moontime into the Sisterhood and the Feminine Mysteries.
Mercury is also in Shadow Phase at the moment, which is the phase just after the actual retrograde period, until February 14th. This is the time to consolidate anything that arose during the retrograde period. Jupiter has also recently entered its retrograde phase, on January 8th, allowing us to look at issues concerning self-love and self-esteem. This phase continues until May 9th.
Use this time wisely as the universe gives you a cosmic push in these areas.
I wish you all a Magical Month!
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