New Moon Risings

I was sidetracked from my assigned course of duty by tidbits of information once again which has resulted in a minor update to the Book of Light

While working to complete Chapter VIII Herbal I ran across a table of herbs, plants and scents sacred to various deities. While this informations does appear as Herbs of the Gods in the Herbal chapter, I thought it would be helpful to also include it in the encyclopedia entries for the deities and so I did.

The Encyclopedia of Deities Chapter V Deities Myths & Heroes now contains information regarding plants, fruits, foods and trees sacred to certain deities where I had the information readily available.

I hope this addition streamlines searches for folks who are looking to create rites or feasts for particular deities and is also interesting nuggets of knowledge for those just browsing.

Chapter VIII Herbal, containing 50 informational pages plus the A-Z Encyclopedia listing gardening, magical and medicinal uses for over 150 herbs with photographs of each plant, has been uploaded to the Book of Light.

Minor changes have been made since the old format, many for ease of navigation and reading. Pages that were previously presented as one have been split apart and Herbal Timeline now links to the relevant section of History of Herbs for further explanation of a timeline entry.

The detailed essays regarding the lore, history, magical and medicinal use along with growing information surrounding the 10 sacred woods mentioned in longer version of the Rede of the Wiccae have been promoted to primary links.

Regarding the 10 Sacred Woods, the essays for Birch, Oak, Rowan and Willow are complete and Hawthorn’s essay in the final editing stages. The essays discussing the remaining woods are on my to-do list.

I hope you find Chapter VIII Herbal helpful and informative whether your search be for magical, practical, horticultural or medicinal information*.

*The medicinal information is provided for interest and informational purposes only and is not intended to be used as a guideline to self-administer herbs, plants or spices.

Finally the revamp of Chapter XI :: Lady Luna has been completed and uploaded. All the former content has been edited and restyled to conform to the new layout and a new New Moon meditation has been added. The chapter totals 43 pages of information.

A new featured article about an archaeological find on the island of Cyprus, Oldest Perfumes Found on “Aphrodite’s Island” has been added to Chapter V :: Deities, Myths & Heroes

Of course the Book of Light’s Site Index has been updated to reflect these latest additions.

I stumbled on a song about Marie Laveau and had to add it to the Influential Pagans :: Past section of Chapter IX :: History. You’ll find it conveniently located right next to the bio of the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans.

They aren’t the most flattering lyrics, but interesting none-the-less. Take the ditty with a grain of salt, and remember Marie comes out on top in the end!