Sowelo

The rune with an appearance similar to the letter S is Sowelo, with this rune even unintentionally written by people at times. Sowelo has the fortnight of 12th of February to 27th February and rules the hour of 3:30 to 4:30. The gods Baldur and Thor are very much in association with this rune.

Sowelo has the meaning of ‘life force’, ‘love’ and ‘poetic justice’. The trees of Sowelo is the oak, juniper and bay, while the animal of this rune is the eagle. Mistletoe is another plant of this rune, with mistletoe being associated with the sun and Sowelo just happens to be the rune of the sun.

In a reading Sowelo tells of hope and if the reading is with multiple runes, Sowelo tells to not worry about all the ill-fortune the other runes may tell of as such bad luck is unlikely. Sowelo gives the message of if there is trouble, a happy outcome is of high chance.

Sowelo is a great rune to see when dealing with love, as overall Sowelo tells of happiness and harmony for all but the unjust. Justice will be likely when Sowelo appears in a reading, and those who do wrong are to gain nothing.

A rune with no introverted meaning, seeing Sowelo is a great rune to see in divination.

Obtaining Wood For A Wand

Making a wand can be quite easy, but the more complex a wand the harder it is to create. A problem that can arise in the creation of one’s own personal wand is getting hands on a certain kind of wood.

In one’s own local area there may be no trees with the wood wanted to make a wand. In Australia, eucalyptus trees are easy to come by which is great for people here who want to make a wand for protection, healing, good luck (especially with knowledge) and health. Eucalyptus wood is a great wood in itself to choose for if healing and protection magic are of focus. Knowing the most populace trees in the area can help in choosing the wood for one’s wand, as it might just have the magical properties wanted.

However, those in Australia may not focus on healing and protection magic. Knowing one’s local area and the trees within it is useful in this case. Even if the trees in the local area are personally not well known, it is always good to look around and learn. Take note of the trees and the magical properties of them, as it can create an easier time getting a wand.

Growing trees can come of benefit in the case of choosing a wood of a wand. While certain trees can be difficult to come across, if one already has a tree or two growing in their back or front yards it can save time going out and obtaining the wood elsewhere. Finding out the magical properties of the trees in one’s yards can be a great time saver for those busy bees or if simply currently lacking time.

Knowing the magical properties of the wood you are after is important, you can simply go to a search engine and find out the trees with such properties wanted. If such trees are not in the local area, going out to see nature in a not so local place is great not just for finding wood to create a wand but also to enjoy life at the same time.

Getting a wand for magic itself is personal, it is even said magic performed is stronger if the wand used was created by the wand user. It all comes down to choice on how one gets a wand and what wood is used.

Nine Fijian Coins

It is understandable how coins from one country can sometimes be circulated in another. Coins from New Zealand and Fiji are no surprise for many people in Australia. Some have the luck to get given foreign coins as change from countries besides New Zealand and Fiji, I’ve personally had the luck to be given a coin from Singapore and another Mexico.

Finding foreign currency on the other hand has shown amusement on my behalf. One would likely suspect to find a single coin on the street if lucky, two or three if it’s a especially lucky day. But in all honestly, how often does anyone find a couple Australian coins alongside nine Fijian coins totalling thirteen cents?

There’s always the joys of finding coins, it can simply be from the luck of finding money to smiling over that one coin needed to buy lunch or a drink. As joyful as I am to find eleven coins, there would have been much more joy if it was all Australian money.

Life, you know how to amuse me in weird ways.

Gods And Goddesses: Kali

Kali is the consort of the god Shiva and her name means “The Black One”. Easily recognizable with her tongue sticking out, long black hair and wearing a necklaces of human heads. Kali has black or dark blue skin and four arms. The sword she often is depicted holding is what has chopped off the head Kali also holds, the head Kali holds is the ego.

 Kali herself is seen as a mother goddess, many whom go to Kali herself for comfort, and is the goddess of time and change.
Kali is also the goddess of death, but not the death of beings, the death of the ego rather.

There is a story on how Kali came to manifest, it starts off with the gods being unable to defeat a demon called Raktabija, who had blood that whenever it touched the ground turned into another Raktabija making this demon utterly difficult to defeat.

The god Shiva was turned to and he was unable to be reached so it was the consort of Shiva, Parvati that got asked for help. Parvati agreed to help and this is where she took the form of Kali. During the battle with the demon Raktabija, Kali rode a lion and ordered the gods to attack Raktabija. Covering the battlefield with her tongue, Kali made it impossible for Raktabija's blood to spill over the ground. This allowed the gods to be victorious against Raktabija.

Kali is said to have once become drunk on the blood of her victims on a battlefield and danced with frenzy. In this case, Kali didn’t see Shiva’s body lying amongst all the corpses, causing Shiva to cry. The cries of Shiva attract Kali’s attention, calming the goddess who stuck out her tongue in shame.

In the Devi Mahatmya, Kali makes an appearance where early in battle the two demons Canda and Munda approach the goddess Durga prepared to attack. Durga became infuriated and her face turns black, where Kali suddenly springs from Durga’s forehead. Kali roaring, she tears demons apart with her bere hands and decapitates the demons Danda and Munda with her sword.

Benten

Benten, also known as Benzaiten or Benzai-Ten, is the only goddess out of the Seven Lucky Gods of Japan whose virtue is of amiability. Benten is very much associated with snakes and dragons as she is often seen mounted on a serpent or dragon and her messenger is said to be a snake itself.

Benten is the goddess often depicted as a beautiful women who often depicted playing a lute, seated on a dragon or serpent. It is even said that Benten is also to take on the form of the serpent. Interestingly, Benten is the same goddess as Saraswati.

A goddess of language, literature, love, wisdom, fortune, learning, art, music, poetry, rhetoric, speech, eloquence, wealth and longevity. Patron of children, artists and geishas, inventor of Sanskrit, one whom protects against natural disaster and a river goddess.  Benten is actually the goddess of everything that flows, water to words, music to knowledge.

A legend tells of Benten descending to earth where she met and married a dragon so it would stop eating children.

Totems: Lion

Lions are natural enemies of the spotted hyena are the well known for their title of king of the jungle. Social animals that group together, lions form prides and hunt together to take down powerful prey.

The lion teaches the power of femininity. It is the female lion that works hard in the pride, looking after cubs and hunting the animals to survive. When one looks at this side of femininity, it can be seen that femininity can be fierce and strong just like masculinity.

Male lions, while they have little involvement in hunting and looking after cubs, they do serve as the leader of the pride and the protector. The lion also teaches to protect what is worthwhile as the male lion will use his strength to protect his pride and territory.

While the male lion protects, it does need the help of the females of the group. Working together, it be protecting or hunting, is much needed. Teamwork is the lesson as when a group gets together, goals can be achieved much faster as small actions are taken by various members of the group. Teamwork is what has made so many species successful, proving itself important.

Emerald

Being the birthstone for the month of May, the emerald is a stone with the goddess Venus and is has been believed that emeralds themselves could counteract poisons. A stone used to gain an advantage for the benefits of business ventures and the gain of money, like many other green stones.

This gemstone can also be used for love, where keeping an emerald close to one’s heart is of suggestion. Carrying an emerald itself, kept near the heart or not is said to help with one’s love life regardless.

Emeralds are also used for the healing of diseases of the eye and problems affecting eyesight. Even if an emerald is kept for the purpose of healing one’s eyes, it can also be used for the aid of perception and inner clarity.

Sailors have carried emeralds to the belief of their power to calm seas and ensure safe journeys. Carrying an emerald can help ensure one’s own safe journey wether it be land, air or sea.

Algiz

Algiz is the rune that appears as if a foot of a bird, to be more specific Algiz might just be the rune that represents the foot of a crow. The Valkyries and Heimdall are deities in connection with Algiz.
Algiz itself has a fortnight consisting from the 28th of January to the 12th of February and rules over the hour of 2:30 to 3:30.

The very meaning of Algiz is healing and protection. While this rune is in association of crows Algiz is connected by symbolism to elk. Algiz is associated with multiple plants, the yew tree, lime tree and semi-aquatic plants (such as reeds, rushes, eelgrass and sedge). As mentioned before, Algiz appears as if the foot of a crow but can be seen as an outstretched hand or the outstretching branches of a tree.

When Algiz appears upright in a reading it tells of success, healing of illness and that dreams and desires should be held onto. Looking after yourself should be first as it is said that looking after others won’t be possible if looking after oneself is done. However, selfishness is not what the rune promotes but rather making time for yourself.

Inverted meaning of Algiz it is further reinforcing its messages when upright, but one’s health should have a special eye out as problems with health is likely sometime soon. Slowing down and allowing time to rest to gain strength is what the inverted Algiz tells in a reading.

Learning of Atlatonan

During the weekend I took the time to see if I could get more information on the Aztec goddess Atlatonan. I knew not to expect much, I didn’t find much information on Atlatonan in the first place. I again didn’t find much on Atlatonan just as before, however, what I found was plenty considering how hard it is to come across anything new on Atlatonan in the first place.

Despite the fact that learning about Atlatonan is troublesome, there’s the upside of learning about this goddess even at a slow pace. A lot of the sites I can across presented the same knowledge as multiple others, often with the exact same wording, proving some frustration that was accompanied by the pleasure of having found what has been found.

Gods And Goddesses: Kitchen God

The Kitchen God, known by his name Zao Jun or Zao Shen, is the god of the kitchen whom on the twenty third day of the twelfth lunar month (which is just before the Chinese New Year) returns to Heaven to report the activities of every household from the year to the Jade Emperor (who accordingly punishes or rewards based on Zao Jun’s reports).

Zao Jun is often depicted with his wife on a paper effigy and traditionally said paper effigy would be placed above the fireplace in the kitchen. On the day Zao Jun returns to Heaven (twenty third day of the twelfth lunar month) to report to the Jade Emperor, people smear the lips of Zao Jun on their paper effigy or statue of the god with honey to sweeten his words to the Jade Emperor or keep his lips stuck together. After this the effigy would be burnt, or in the case of a statue of Zao Jun, it will be cleaned.

The third day of the eighth lunar month people offer food and incense to Zao Jun, as it is this day that is his birthday, offerings of food and incense occur to Zao Jun also on the day he returns to Heaven. Sweets are what are usually offered to this god.

Zao Jun, like many other Chinese gods and goddesses, was originally mortal. Zao Jun himself started off as a wealthy farmer with the name of Zhang whom has the blessing of owning fertile land with great harvests and livestock, had everything he needed and had a loving family. It was until Zao Jun got a concubine that things went down hill, his wife left him and it was him that exhausted his wealth. It was after he exhausted his wealth that his concubine left him, leaving Zao Jun to live on the streets as a homeless beggar.

During a winter, Zao Jun became too weak and fainted while knocking on a door begging for food. The woman who answered the door nursed Zao Jun back to health, with Zao Jun waking up in a small kitchen by a warm hearth. Looking at the woman who nursed him back to health, it was the former wife of Zao Jun much to his embarrassment.

Due to the embarrassment and the inability to look at the face of his former wife, Zao Jun jumped into the hearth and died despite the attempts of his former wife to save his life. When the Jade Emperor learnt of Zao Jun and his life, it was declared that Zao Jun will be the kitchen god.

Zao Jun’s life serves as a lesson to many, and is one of the better known gods as he is seen as one of the more important gods of China. As a god who reports to the Jade Emperor it is understandable on why he is seen as so important.

Rosemary

Rosemary is a fairly common herb to find and has multiple uses. Rosemary can be used for protection, love, purification, healing, sleep, improving memory and youthfulness. A masculine herb associated with fire and the sun.

Burning rosemary is great for cleansing and purifying an area, with rosemary being a herb people do burn to cleanse an area for ritual or divination. Burning rosemary is also of use for banishing negative energies.

Carrying rosemary helps with good health and keeping negative energies away. Placing rosemary under a pillow protects the person sleeping in the bed at night, along with keeping away nightmares and helps with getting a good sleep. When it is added to the water of a bath it helps with preserving youth and purifying oneself.

When in the practice of magic, rosemary is one of those herbs that is fantastic to have on hand. Rosemary can be used for various kinds of magic, love, healing, purification, and it is best used for protection magic due to its powerful protective properties. Rosemary is also great for spells that involve the protection of loved one’s.

In my experiences, rosemary is easy to grow and should be grown if herbs are being used for their magical properties. Even if not used for its magical properties, rosemary is a good choice for an ornamental plant to grow.

Totems: Panda

Probably best known for its black and white colouring, the panda is a large and powerful animal currently in danger of extinction.

Despite being a large creature it seems quite gentle, a being that is quiet and peaceful. The contrast to this, the pandas fierce strength. The panda teaches of using ‘gentle strength’, as it is known.

The black and white of the panda tells of masculinity and femininity, how the two should be balanced. One without the other, after all. Balance is important, which includes such things as the eight hour day (eight hours sleep, eight hours work and eight hours recreation). Balance itself can come in many forms, making it a great lesson to be taught by the panda totem.

The ability to tap into higher knowledge is what this totem is also about along with the power of solitude. Tapping into higher knowledge may be tricky to learn from this totem but certainly of much worth, and solitude itself can help with getting in touch with our gentle side.

It may be difficult to get stalks of bamboo to give as offerings. Luckily, pandas also occasionally eat a tiny bit of meat and grass, so such as offerings may have to do much of the time.

Saint Patrick's Day

St. Patrick’s Day as people know it is a holiday for wearing green, drinking (green) beer and generally having fun. A loved day and one which has been observed by the Irish for a thousand years. Celebrated amongst the people of Great Britain, Canada, the United States, Argentina, Australia and New Zealand. St. Patrick’s Day a public holiday for the people in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Montserrat, Newfoundland and Labrador.

St. Patrick himself has a story beginning where he was born in Roman Britain in 387AD.  At age sixteen Saint Patrick was kidnapped by Irish Raiders and made a slave in Ireland. Much to Saint Patrick’s luck, he was able to escape and return to Britain where he joined a church and studied to become a priest.

Saint Patrick eventually went back to Ireland in 432AD where he tried to convert the Irish from Celtic polytheism, using a shamrock (or clover as people prefer to call it) to explain the group known as the Holy Trinity. After nearing thirty years of evangelism Saint Patrick died on March 17th 461AD.

A popular legend of Saint Patrick is that he rid of the snakes in Ireland, however, snakes were never in Ireland in the first place.

The colour in association with Saint Patrick originally was blue but later became green as it is known today. Shamrocks are also popularly seen on Saint Patrick’s Day due to how the very saint is said to have used them. Parades are common on this day along with the dying of water such as with the Chicago River. Religiously, this day is also celebrated in honour of Saint Patrick.

Parties where Irish foods and drinks are common on Saint Patrick’s Day just like parades, with pubs (especially Irish pubs) having Saint Patrick’s Day parties where Irish music tends to be played. Foods that one is likely to see on this day happens to be bacon, cabbage and potatoes.

For me, Saint Patrick’s Day this year is drawing to a close. I may have done little to celebrate this day but for others the day is just beginning. As people would say, may the luck of Irish be with you.

Pertho

Pertho is the rune of the fortnight of 13th January to 28th January and rules over the hour of  1:30 to 2:30. Pertho means ‘chance’ and ‘destiny’, the group known as The Three Norns and Frigga are the goddesses associated with this rune.

Other associations to Pertho besides the deities mentioned is of mysteries and with the amusement created from the revelations from the very mysteries. Pertho is the rune also associated with birth and death, making it a rune of beginnings and endings of all. Pertho’s name is said to mean ‘pawn’ or ‘gaming piece’, with the shape of Pertho said to look like a dice cup on its side and making it a rune largely in association with gaming.

When Pertho appears upright as either the first or only rune in a divination reading it is telling a quick message, whatever question wanted to have answered is not meant to be known. When this rune appears in the middle or end of a reading it has the meaning of fate is on your side and celebration will be eventual as problems will be solved and knowledge shall be increased. Any information that one gets also should be taken with discretion when this rune appears upright.

When Pertho appears in a reading inverted it tells of a bad time, especially for gambling and taking caution might be a good option.

Lavender

With all the variants of lavender out there, I am referring to any type of lavender when it comes to magical properties. Not much to my surprise, lavender has the magical property of love and makes a great herb to choose from if doing a love spell. Pieces of paper rubbed with lavender makes the paper itself great for writing love notes on. Rubbing lavender on oneself is for the purpose of attracting love.

Lavender is also a herb of protection, where one can wear lavender for against cruel treatment and the evil eye. Wearing lavender is said to also make it easier to see ghosts.
Dried stalks of lavender along with individual flowers can be dried and be burnt as incense sticks, making it useful for spells and rituals for love and protection.
The smell of lavender also helps with longevity, making it something to smell on a regular basis.

Sometimes people need help with insomnia or with getting a better rest, lavender just happens to be one of those plants that you can use to aid in sleep. Putting lavender in a pillow case is what is suggested to do when needed for the help of overcoming insomnia and get a better sleep.

Japan

Many people probably have been keeping their eyes on what is happening in Japan. Apparently over two thousand people have been confirmed dead with at least ten thousand people expected to have died. From what I’ve heard today, a second explosion at a nuclear power plant has occurred and there have been warnings of possibly a second tsunami and earthquake. Good luck to those in Japan, and may the country have the blessing of not having to deal with another earthquake or tsunami anytime soon.

I also have been hearing word of how the very earthquake and the events that have so far followed are one big sign of how the world will end next year. Last time I checked, the world ended back in 2000.
At least at the start of 2013 I will be able to say I survived on the end of the world twice.

Gods And Goddesses: Yellow Emperor

The Yellow Emperor, better known as Huang Di (also spelt Huangdi), is the man said to be the ancestor of all Chinese, the founder of Chinese civilization and the first of a group known as the Three Sovereigns where he ruled from 2697 to 2587 BC or 2696 to 2598 BC. The name of the Yellow Emperor is Gongsun Xuanyuan and his birth is said to be in Shou Qiu (which is modern day Qufu found within the Shandong Province), becoming first a farmer then later founder of Chinese civilisation.

Before Huang Di became an emperor, order and government is said to be unknown to the world, which he is credited for. During his reign as emperor, Huang Di is said to have been challenged by a rebel god, aided by the Yellow Emperor’s son Fei Lian, whom sent fog and rain to drown imperial armies. However, Huang Di’s daughter, Ba, used her powers to dry up the rain and helped greatly with defeating the rebel god and Fei Lian.

Huang Di is said to have has many achievements, including teaching how to build shelters, how to tame wild animals and how to grow what is known as the five cereals. Huang Di is also known as an inventor, having credit for the invention of carts, boats, bow sling, Chinese astronomy, the Chinese calendar, sound laws, a type of football and clothing. Huang Di also requested a historian, Cang Jie, to create the first Chinese character writing system, with such a request being taken and done. Huang Di also had a wife, Leizu, who taught how to weave silk from Bombyx mori silkworms and how to dye clothes.

Along with gods Fu Xi and Shennong, Huang Di took part in the creation of the musical instrument  known as the guqin.
Huang Di is said to have had an interest with medicine and introduced one of the earliest forms of martial arts in China due to this interest, seeing martial arts as a source of good health and self-defence.

Totems: Turtle

Turtles are rather interesting creatures and there are many ideas of what the turtle represents (to some longevity, others cowardice). 

This totem teaches the power of being at a slower pace, “slow and steady” you could say. Being fast doesn’t mean everything is better, being slow gives time to develop something, a project or an idea. After all, being late is better then being rushed.

The turtle teaches to be careful in new situations. Being in a new situation doesn’t mean one is safe, one could be lost or confused, and this is why being careful is important. Carefulness can be of what actions is taken, or what actions should be considered to not be taken.

Patience is very much a lesson of the turtle. It is can patience in waiting for a job to be done, a goal reached or for something to happen. Being patient itself can make things a lot easier, where impatience may get one in plenty of trouble.

Turtles are greatly known for their strong shells, while at the same time the turtle tells of self-protection and the importance of it. It might be a good idea for those with a turtle as a totem to learn how to protect themselves.

Offerings to the turtle may include fish, crayfish and shrimp.

Eihwaz

Eihwaz is the rune ruling the fortnight of 28th December to 13th of January and hour of 0:30 to 1:30. The meaning of the rune Eihwaz is adaptability and the deity relating to Eihwaz is the god of hunting, Ullr.

Eihwaz itself has much association with trees, symbolizing three trees, the apple tree, poplar and yew. Eihwaz’s association seems to be strongest with the yew due to the fact that bows were often made from yew itself and that the god Ullr is said to use a yew bow. Since yew is also a tree found often in graveyards, Eihwaz is also a symbol of the past growing into the future. Eihwaz has connection with the world tree, or Yggdrasil, and with horses (especially so for the eight legged horse of the god Odin, Sleipnir). The herb symbolizing this rune is bryony.

When this rune appears it encourages risk taking and now is the time to take action. With Eihwaz considered a lucky rune for those who gamble and live by their wits. For students, the appearance of Eihwaz is a indicator of benefits.

Long term benefits is what is suggested by Eihwaz, even if it means going through a short time of stress and frustration.  Indication of process is what Eihwaz tells, where adaptability and a readiness to make quick decision is needed.
Eihwaz is an overall positive rune with no inverted meaning.

Thyme

Thymus vulgaris, also known by its common names Common Thyme and Garden Thyme, is a rather well known herb, having its multiple uses. It can be used for aromatic flavouring to, as I’ve heard it, almost anything. During the medieval times thyme was a gift from men to women to show love.

Thyme is associated with the element of water and the planet Venus. Described as a feminine herb. Magical properties of this herb is of health, courage, bringing restful sleep and purification.
When doing a healing ritual, thyme can be used. This herb is said to be a good choice to use during divination.

Thyme with its properties can also protect against nightmares, making it a potential use in pillows for the very purpose.  A sprig of fresh thyme can also be worn to protect others from the sadness of others and to the ancient Greeks thyme was used as an incense to help lively up a spirit, which thyme can be used as an incense today for the same reason.

Ancient Greeks also used thyme by burning it to purify temples and to this day, thyme can be used to purify any area. Thyme is also thought to increase one’s psychic ability, while burning or wearing the herb is for the purpose of good health.

Loving The Sunshine

One day to another, life has been slightly busy.
I’ve noticed my lack of posting about how the very gourds I’m raising, amusing how I’ve posted so little on the very thing I am attempting to give the best care. At least I can say the very plants I am growing are doing well.

What I find most interesting is not long ago there was plenty of rain, a contrast to what is now a period filled with sunshine. The warmth from the sun is both plentiful and much adored by me.

Gods And Goddesses: Jade Emperor

The Jade Emperor is known by many names and titles that include Heavenly Grandfather, Most Venerable Jade Emperor of the Heavenly Golden Palace, Supremely High Emperor of the Heavens, Holder of Talismans, Container of Perfection and Embodiment of Tao, Most Venerable and Highest Jade Emperor of All Embracing Sublime Spontaneous Existence of the Heavenly Golden Palace, the Pure August Jade Emperor, August Personage of Jade, Huanling High Sovereign and Peace Absolving, Central August Spirit Exalted, Ancient Buddha, Most Pious and Honourable, His Highness the Jade Emperor, Xuanling High Sovereign.

While he is the ruler of Heaven and the realms below, the Jade Emperor is below to three known as the Three Pure One’s.

Interestingly a crater discovered by the spacecraft Voyager 2 on Saturn’s moon Rhea is named after the Jade Emperor. The birthday of the Jade Emperor is said to be the ninth day of the first lunar month and on this day incense and food offerings are given to the Jade Emperor. The Jade Emperor is also worshipped by many on the day before the first day of Chinese New Year as it is said to be the day the Jade Emperor makes his annual inspection of the deeds of mortals, rewarding and punishing accordingly.

Originally the Jade Emperor was the assistant of Yuanshi Tianzu (whom is said to be the limitless and eternal creator of Heaven and earth) who picked the Jade Emperor as a successor as a ruler of Heaven. It is said that the successor of the Jade Emperor will be the god of war, Guan Yu.

The Jade Emperor has many sons and daughters that include Tzu-sun Niang-niang (fertility goddess who grants children to couples), Yen-kuang Niang-niang (goddess whom provides good eyesight) and Zhi Nu (who is responsible for weaving colourful clouds in Heaven). The wife is the Jade Emperor is known as Wang Ma and is said to have had ten sons, nine who were killed by the divine archer known as Houyi.

The Jade Emperor’s daughter Zhi Nu would go down to earth everyday with the help of a magical robe so she could bathe, with one day being different as a lowly cowherd named Niu Lang spotted Zhi Nu bathing in a stream. Niu Lang fell in love with Zhi Nu and stole her rove, when Zhi Nu left the stream she was left unable to go back to Heaven and Niu Lang grabbed her, carrying her to home. When the Jade Emperor heard of this he was furious but he couldn’t do much seeing as by the time he learnt of what happened, his daughter already fallen in love and married the cowherd.

Over time, Zhi Nu grew homesick and did miss her father. Zhi Nu did one day find her magic robe that allowed her to go back to Heaven, letting her to see the Jade Emperor once again. The Jade Emperor summoned a river across the sky (notably, this is the Milky Way) making Zhi Nu to get back home and see Niu Lang again. The Jade Emperor took pity on the two and once a year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month he allows Zhi Nu and Niu Lang to meet. The seventh day of the seventh lunar month is a holiday known as Qi Xi, which is also called Chinese Valentine’s Day by some.

The Jade Emperor is said to be originally the crown prince of a kingdom of Pure Felicity and Majestic Heavenly Lights and Ornaments. Upon birth a light filled the entire kingdom and when young the Jade Emperor is described to have been kind, intelligent and wise, helping those in need. When the Jade Emperor’s father died the Jade Emperor himself took his father’s place on the throne, where he made sure that everyone within his kingdom found both peace and contentment.

It was the Jade Emperor who said to his ministers that he wished to cultivate Tao on what is known as the Bright and Fragrant Cliff. Story goes that after 1550 kalpas (one kalpa being 129,600 years) the Jade Emperor attained ‘Golden Immortality” and after another one hundred million years of cultivation of Tao finally became the Jade Emperor.

How the Jade Emperor came to be ruler of Heaven starts at the beginning of time where the earth was vastly different to today. This was a time of not many gods but plenty of demons. The Jade Emperor was at the time an immortal at this time who helped as many people as possible.

Eventually the Jade Emperor retreated into a mountain cave to cultivate Tao, where it is said he went through 3,200 trials, each lasting three million years. A demon wanted to become the ruler of the entire universe and did the same as the Jade Emperor to try to expand its own power although at a later time.

This demon went through the trials and was confident, recruiting an army of demons to attack Heaven.
The gods fought this demon and were unable to defeat this demon and the immortals were preparing themselves to fight this demon. The Jade Emperor fortunately came along and defeated the demon, allowing for the army prepared by this powerful demon to be defeated. Due to this the Jade Emperor became the ruler of Heaven.

Zebra Stone

The zebra stone, as the name implies is a stone that is black and white pattern, this stone is also known as zebra jasper. This stone is able to protect one’s own aura.

During religious work it is the zebra stone that does a good job of keeping one grounded with the earth. A stone great to use for meditation along with being the stone when dealing with the first, third and sixth chakras. The zebra stone is the stone with the power to remind to live in balance with nature, to protect and revere it.

When carried is said to have the ability to increase one’s compassion and understanding of others. A stone with the ability to help connect to the earth and universe, such connections with earth and universe is claimed to help see our true nature and see past illusion.

Zebra stone benefits stamina, endurance, bone disorders, osteoporosis, teeth, gums, muscle spasms and heart palpitations. Anxiety and depression is also helped along with a bit of protection is by this stone. Certainly a stone that helps with pain.

Relief of stress and increased appreciation for life, helping one to escape over-thinking. Helping with the transition from the material plane to the astral plane. This is what the zebra stone does.

Totems: Vulture

The vulture is a creature that is disliked by many due to its connections with death. Lessons of this totem includes accepting appearances, embracing death and energy conservation.

A question the vulture asks is if we are using too much of our own energy. Too much energy might be used throughout the day. It is the vulture itself that uses the wind and sun to move through life making little energy needed to be used, vulture teaches it is also possible to do this ourselves.

The importance of all roles in societies, big or small, is a teaching of the vulture. No matter the role, wether big or small, it is of importance. A job may seem small or even pointless, but it can be in fact quite important to society in some shape or form.

Another teaching is that it is okay to accept help from others, help is needed at times and asking for help when needed can indeed be of a large amount of help itself. Help doesn’t have to be getting an objective done quicker, it can be about getting food or a place to stay.

Embracement of death is notable as a lesson of death, but to also accept death. Death itself is a part of life, and it is vultures that can locate death and survive off of it. The vulture teaches to understand death, to embrace it and it can be of our own deaths or of others.

Appearances can be misleading, the vulture is known as an ugly creature. It is taught by the vulture that appearances aren’t important, it is more to do with the actions of a person that is important.
It is the vulture that is also associated with a mythological creature known as the harpy. Researching the harpy for those with the vulture totem is an idea and to look at the significance of the harpy in one’s own life will be an idea.

Vultures have a digestive system that can deal with bacteria that humans would be unable to deal with themselves. This totem suggests to look at one’s own diet, to see what foods and drinks we consume that causes more harm rather then good.

Sanzang

Sanzang, also known as Tang Sanzang, Xuanzang, Tang Monk and in some English translations of Journey to the West, Tripitaka. He is the monk that vowed to the Tang Emperor to go from China to India to get Buddhist scriptures and gained three disciples along the way; Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing.
It is said that Sanzang lived from 602AD to 664AD.

Sanzang himself has the ability to easily remember scriptures after reading it once and to meditate two or three years non-stop if needed. He is a compassionate and caring man who tries to help those in need, but can be easily fooled by demons along with easily captured. If it wasn’t for his three disciples he surely would have died during his travels to fetch scriptures.

Sometimes, a bodhisattva known as Ksitigarbha is mistaken as Sanzang or the other way round due to the two being portrayed similarly with robes, a crown and a staff of a monk. Sanzang is also described often as handsome.
Sanzang also appears in the games Warriors Orochi 2 and Warriors Orochi Z but as an attractive woman rather then handsome man.

Originally this monk was Jin Chan Zi, a disciple of the Buddha and was banished to earth due to being disobedient and didn’t pay attention to Buddha’s teachings. Over the course of ten lives Sanzang was a monk until he was born to a couple known as Mr. and Mrs Chen.

Mr. and Mrs. Chen were taking Sanzang’s grandmother to a high post that was recently secured, with the grandmother falling ill on the way. Mr. Chen bought a carp for her and noticed this carp blinking, so he put it back into the sea as he thought it was a special creature. It was after this that the grandmother decided to stay at an inn, asking Mr. Chen and Mrs. Chen to go by themselves.

Upon taking a boat the couple were in trouble, the two men in charge killed Mr Chen and pushed him into the sea with one of them impersonating Mr. Chen. Mrs. Chen who also was heavily pregnant bore a son soon after, Sanzang, tying him to a board and throwing him into the nearby river seeing as she was fearful that he would be killed.

Sanzang eventually was found by the head monk of a monastery who raised him under the name of Jiang Liu. It was during this time that Mr. Chen’s spirit was revived by the Dragon King who found him. It was this Dragon King that turned out to be the carp that Mr. Chen had released and Mr. Chen’s body was preserved by a magic pearl, from then on Mr. Chen stayed with the Dragon King waiting for his family to find him.

Sanzang grew up as a monk known as Xuanzang, and it was one day that he would ask the head monk of his heritage due to being provoked by another monk. It was revealed to Sanzang a letter found with his body as a baby that explained his origins and what happened to his father. Sanzang vowed revenge and left the monastery.

Sanzang did find his mother who told him to go see Sanzang’s very grandfather, a powerful official. Sanzang’s grandfather lead troops to execute the people who caused his very family trouble. Sanzang went on to find his grandmother and found her just as he found his mother, bringing the old woman back to see Sanzang’s mother.

Upon the reunion, family went to the bank of the river that Sanzang’s father, Mr. Chen, died. Mr. Chen’s body was seen floating towards them on the river. Mr. Chen was pulled out and he started to breathe again.

Years after this, Sanzang was asked by the Emperor of Tang to hold a religious ceremony. It was during the ceremony that Sanzang was approached by Guanyin and her disciple in disguise whom gave Sanzang a monks staff and robe, telling Sanzang to find scriptures known as the Sanzang in India. Guanyin and her disciple left in their original forms and after this the Emperor became sworn brothers with Sanzang, giving him the surname of Tang and changing his name of Xuanzang to Sanzang.

Soon after the events during the religious ceremony, Sanzang left for the scriptures. During the travels he found his first disciple stuck under a mountain and freed him, this was Sun Wukong and he had a band put around his head to keep him under control.
In going to Gao Village Sanzang found his second disciple, Zhu Bajie, and his third disciple Sha Wujing was found in going to a river that needed to be passed.

Over the course of his travels, many demons have captured Sanzang. Many wanted to eat the meat of Sanzang for long life due to a rumour that the very meat of Sanzang will cause the consumer to live for a considerable amount of time. Some whom have captured Sanzang didn’t want to eat his meat, they wanted sex with him. Sanzang got away from all those who captured him thanks to the help of his disciples and eventually got the scriptures he so long he sought after, becoming a Buddha.

Jera

Jera is the rune of the hour 23:30-0:30 and the fortnight of 13th December to 28th December. This rune is associated with the gods Baldur, Hudur and Loki along with having the meaning of both joy and celebration.

Jera is the rune that has connection to the harvest, and with the harvest the celebrations that come along it. Because of this connection to celebration Jera is also associated with the winter solstice.
The tree that symbolizes Jera is the oak just as the herb rosemary also a symbol of this rune.

The rune Jera has no inverted interpretation for when it appears, and with that when Jera appears it tells of endings alongside new beginnings. Jera’s association to the harvest makes this rune the one telling to get the rewards from your work for the efforts you have gone through.
The likelihood of personal success is high as Jera notes and good times may be right in front of you.