Piero Barone and his vocal vibrations, Rowan Trees and Hermetic Principles

According to the Celtic Tree calendar, the first day of Rowan.  I was looking at the instructions for growing rowan trees from seed – looked complicated but doable -  and if I held myself to the dogwood and the rowan, I might get away with not having trees take over the whole garden I have planned, if I planted them at the far back corner of the property.

In preparation for class tonight (true to form, it’s snowing, I’m sick with a bad cold and I have to fly to North Carolina a day or so later), I was studying Hermetic Principles.  One of seven was The Property of Vibration.  Which got me to thinking about the more pleasant properties of vibrations.  Such as the vibrational properties of male tenor voices.

“I have owed to him, in hours of weariness
sensations sweet,
Felt in the blood and felt along the heart;
And passing even unto my purer mind,
With tranquil restoration ...”
Paraphrased from William Wordsworth, Lines composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey, 1798, 1:26

Enjoyed the Wolf Moon (I love the Wolf Moon!), and reading about the Roman Feasts going on simultaneously:  celebrating Juturna, the water nymph and Goddess of healing, and of Carmena (Carmentalia), the Goddess of women’s health, birthing and prophesy.  For some reason, Carmena’s was celebrated on both the 11th and the 15th although I don’t know why.  Back to the Witch’s Book of Days, their suggestion is to bake a “cream filled cake in the shape of male genitalia”.  Hmmm.  The Real Witch’s Year, for some inexplicable reason, chose Carmentalia (although they never mention it) as a day to perform an animal healing spell.  (???)

It occurs to me that “birthing” doesn’t necessarily have to mean the birth of a child – could be the birth or creation of a project or lifestyle change.

Am reading a lot of things at the moment:

The Philosophy of Natural Magic, in order to get some understanding of the origins of the fire-earth-air-water elements, and how the ancients viewed them.  One’s first reaction is, “How silly!”, because (obviously) I can think of plenty of things that don’t have any of those elements (unless you consider “air” to be the space between vibrating particles.)   So it’s interesting.

I’m also reading a fascinating biography:    Frances A. Yates’ Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition (University of Chicago Press, 1964, reprinted in 1979 and 1991).  Now, I may have a few issues with the Yates the author (although not necessarily with the Yates the historian), as she did seem to pepper some of her prose with pro-christian interpretations of what a “demon” was, and interpreted the magic of some as “transcendent” and others as “crude”, based on that viewpoint – which I found irritating.  But her research into the medieval and renaissance magickal and philosophical mindset that surrounded Bruno, his predecessors and contemporaries was unquestionable, so you have many threads of further study to follow.  Downside:  it helps if you know Latin, as she doesn’t translate any of her extensive quotes in that language.  I naturally packed my Latin dictionary already, so came across some of her quotes that I can’t follow.

Remodeling demolition and construction begins this week.  Twenty days from now – more or less – I should be moving into my new home.  Finally!