What Would Jimmy Do?

We have a store in Shepherdstown that I call the “witch’s store.” Of course, it’s not a witch’s store, but it sells all sorts of kind of neat stuff,and it has all kinds of “crystals.” Lots of people believe in the power of crystals — healing and otherwise. 

Crystals and stones have been used in the art of alchemy and magic for ages.
A lot of people, including some that I know, believe in the healing power of crystals, so I thought that might be an interesting topic for today. What are crystals? Well, they’re rocks. If you’re a believer in crystals, there are thousands of different crystals, and the process by which they’re formed and the minerals they’re composed of creates their different physical and energetic properties. 

As I mentioned, the use of crystals for their healing properties isn’t anything new. Crystals have been used for thousands of years, dating as far back as the ancient Sumerians in Mesopotamia and their use has been identified in cultures throughout the world, such as ancient Egypt and Greece.

Crystals have become indispensable in our world — much of our modern technology is made possible by crystal technology and their ability to transform pressure into an electrical current — without them, we wouldn’t have LCD (liquid crystal display) TVs, or quartz watches or a lot of other electronic equipment.

As for the theory behind crystal healing, things aren’t quite so straightforward. Even though alternative medicine experts believe in the power of crystals to positively influence the body, no one has scientifically linked crystals to improved heath and well-being. 

It’s thought that there are three main “channels” through which crystals operate: vibration, color and as talismen —objectst believed to hold magical properties that offer luck and protection to the owner. The vibrational theory has never been proven, but, supposedly, it has been scientifically documented that colors have different effects on your emotional and mental well-being. Since crystals come in unique, beautiful colors, having one in your physical space brings that color — and benefit — into your space. As to the use of a crystal as a talisman, that requires a little more imagination, or faith — one example given is that if you want to heal from a breakup, you buy a rose quartz, which is the most popular “love” crystal. Every day when you see the crystal, your subconscious is reminded that you deserve to be loved and love is coming — and that changes your vibration. 

So even with all that science has discovered about crystals, they remain a mystery. The properties of crystals vary among the different types of crystals. That “mystery” of crystals is what has led some people to believe that crystals have special powers.
But whether or not you believe crystals have special powers, they are still extremely beautiful, interesting objects that we can all appreciate.
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I guess we’ve all heard the phrase “once in a blue moon” — meaning that something happens not very often. In the context of astronomy, a blue moon is most commonly used when there’s a second full moon within a single month. If August hasn’t been as messed up for you as it has been for me, you probably remember the first August supermoon, called the full Corn Moon or Sturgeon Moon, happened on August 1. 
So tonight, we can witness another astronomical phenomenon — not only will there be a blue moon, but it will be a supermoon blue moon, and the biggest and brightest full moon of 2023.
The “blue” supermoon’s name has nothing to do with the moon’s color — in fact, it will actually be orange.

There are two types of blue moons — the August blue supermoon falls into the first category — two full moons occurring in the same month. That always happens occasionally, because a new full moon rises every 29.5 days. Given that the Sturgeon Moon occurred on August 1, the August 30 full moon will be a blue moon…. blue moons of this type are called “calendar blue moons,” and occur every two or three years. (The next one will occur on May 31, 2026.)

The second type of blue moon, called a “seasonal blue moon,”describes the third full moon of four during one astronomical season. This occurs when a calendar year has 13 full moons instead of the typical 12. A lunar year — 12 orbits of the Earth by the moon — takes 354 days. The Earth’s solar year is 365 days. The next seasonal blue moon, that also happens every two or three years, will occur on August 19, 2024.

The next full moon will also be the Harvest Moon, on September 29. It’s one of the best known full moons of the year, and this year, it’s the last supermoon in 2023.

I’ve mentioned several times that one of by brothers-in law puts a lot of stock in the various phases of the moon, so I read a little about how the August supermoon might make an impact our our lives — most of the literature points to specific astrological signs and goes into detail about each of those signs, but I did run across some generalities….

New moons signify the beginning of a cycle and push us into the new and the unknown, but full moons allow us to “cut loose any old paths or baggage.” So this full moon could be the inspiration you need to let go of what’s draining your energy — ultimately leaving you with more room to be in your power and experience joy. 
Around the time of the full moon, you might finally gain insight into your emotions and know what you need to do to move forward and be the most liberated, authentic version of yourself. Full moons typically offer moments of extreme clarity, because the sun (your identity) starkly lights up the moon (your emotions.)

I don’t know if my brother-in-law is in to this, but it might be something that interests him — moon water. Moon water is created to essentially “capture” the energy of the full moon and offer an extra boost of that energy when you need it most. Drink it anytime you need an intuitive message to come through. 

As a public service, here’s how to make moon water….
1, get a jar.
2. fill with water (any water.)
3. Add crystals or herbs to the water to enhance or focus on the kind of energy you’re seeing from the full moon. If you’re hoping to deepen your intuition, for example, amethyst or mugwort would be great additions.
4. Leave the jar out overnight to “charge” under the light of the full moon. 
5. Store in a protected area and drink it when you need an intuitive message.

Astrology experts say the supermoon at the end of the month is a great opportunity to get clarity about what you want and let go of what no longer serves you. Sounds like good advice anytime, but maybe tonight is the time to just do it!
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For the first 16 or 17 years of my life, I never heard of butterflies being associated with death. The first time I heard someone associate the two, I thought it was an interesting concept, but it was just that. But over the years, I heard it more and more and began to believe there might be something to it. 
Often times we’d be somewhere and someone would see a butterfly and say there’s “such and such” or “such and such” is sending us a message. I always thought that was nice and it made me feel good.

Last week we attended a memorial service for Bobbie the Nun at Chardon. It was very nice, and afterwards, we visited the gravesite and one of the Nuns released 3 or 4 butterflies from a container near the headstone. A couple of the butterflies fluttered about a bit, but one flew directly to a flower on Bobbie’s headstone and another flew directly to Terry’s shoulder — there was no circling or complicated flight pattern. From the container, it flew directly to Terry’s shoulder. There were lots of people standing around, but the two butterflies went directly to the flower and Terry — and stayed there. I believe the one was still on the flower when we left. 

 I read a little on the subject today and it seems that many people associate the appearance of butterflies with messages beyond death. When people suffering from the loss of loved ones have this kind of unique experience with a butterfly, they feel it is their loved one communicating with them. They interpret the appearance of the butterfly as a message that the deceased is okay and continues to live in another realm.

Butterflies have been around for 150 million years. There are over 20,000 types of butterflies, they live on every continent, except Antarctica and they only live a few weeks.
They can only see the colors red, green and yellow — Terry’s dress was black with white dots (??!?)

Believe what you do — or don’t — what I described is exactly what happened. I’ve heard about things like this, but it’s the first time I’ve experienced it…. it made an impression.
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Both faithful readers know that we don’t go out on Valentine’s Day (February 14) because the restaurants are always too crowded, many have limited menus and we just find it generally more trouble than its worth. We usually go out a day before or after to celebrate the day in February.

But luckily, come August, Chinese Valentine’s Day appears — and we can go out without those “maddening crowds.”
Actually yesterday was the Qixi Festival  or Double Seven Festival and has always been the most romantic of traditional Chinese festivals, and especially since China’s globalization, it’s become known as Chinese Valentine’s Day. The day falls on the 7th day of the 7th Chinese lunar month. This year, in 2023, that was yesterday — August 22.

Today in also sometimes referred to as The Daughter’s Festival — a day dedicated to unmarried young girls looking for love.If you’re interested in the detailed background for this celebration, you can check the archives of this blog. But basically, this festival began because of an old Chines love story about the 7th daughter of the Emperor of Heaven and and an orphaned cowherd (someone that tends grazing cattle.) The emperor separated them and the 7th daughter was forced to move to the star Vega and the coward moved to the star Altair. They are allowed to meet only once a year on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month.

This festival is celebrated in China, but it’s not a public holiday. And unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, even in China, Western Valentine’s Day in now more popular than the Qixi Festival.
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We’ve been gone and I didn’t get around to posting this yesterday…but I figured I shouldn’t let this kind of day go by withough mentioning it. So it’s a little late, but….They’re annoying summertime pests, but mosquitoes are also responsible for spreading malaria — a disease that kills over half a million people every year. 

Today, August 20 is World Mosquito Day — it honors the date when Sir Ronald Ross — a British army surgeon, working in India, proved that mosquitoes transmit malaria by identifying pigmented malaria parasites in mosquitoes that fed on an infected patient. The discovery revolutionized our knowledge of the disease and led to preventive measures. Ross won the Nobel Prize in 1902. 

Worldwide, there are nearly 16,000 mosquitoes for every human.
One of the deadliest animals on Earth (search the archives of this blog for more,) mosquitoes cause the deaths of more than 725,000 people every year. 
There are more than 3,500 species of mosquitoes, but only about 6% of them bite humans — the rest feed on other animals or plants.
Only female mosquitoes bite, because they produce eggs from blood proteins.
The only place mosquitoes don’t exist is Antarctica.
The lifespan of a male mosquito is 6 or 7 days — but — the lifespan of a female mosquito can be up to five months.

So even though it sounds like we’re honoring mosquitoes today, we’re not. The day is set aside to honor Sir Ronald Ross. There are a lots of quotes about mosquitoes about their size, irritation, persistence, and so forth. But I think the one I like the best is by Benito Mussolini, who said, “The best blood will at some time get into a fool or a mosquito.”
So I hope you celebrated World Mosquito Day appropriately…
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Yesterday, 17 August was Indonesian Independence Day — I didn’t get around to mentioning it, I guess because I was pre-occupied with “Cat Nights.”

I’ve mentioned before that I was in Jakarta one year for Independence Day and I usually remember it around this time of year. Indonesian Independence Day is known locally as Hari Merdeka and is observed every August 17 to celebrate the nation’s declaration of independence from Dutch colonization — in 1945.

Indonesia is the largest island nation on Earth, and Java is the world’s most populous island. There are a lot of volcanos in Indonesia, some of them pretty famous — the eruption of Krakatoa in 1883 is believed to be the loudest sound ever heard in recorded history. Mount Tambora erupted in 1816 and the eruption was so intense, it altered the climate so much it was incredibly cold throughout the year — 1816 is known as “The Year Without A Summer” and there’s a volcano in Indonesia that erupts blue lava. 

Even though two-thirds of the 17,508 islands that make up Indonesia are uninhabited, Indonesia is the fourth most populous country on Earth.
Borobudur is the largest Buddhist temple in the world. It was built in the 9th century and was constructed using over two million stone blocks.
The national animal is the komodo dragon — the world’s largest lizard. The national mystical animal of Indonesia is the Garuda — it is a golden bird that can be seen on Indonesia’s national emblem. I’ve spent a fair amount of time in Indonesian Airlines airplanes…. the airline? Garuda.

Unlike the American Declaration of Independence, which contained over 1,000 words and contained 56 signatures, the Indonesian proclamation, when translated to English, consisted of only 45 words and contained two signatures — Sukarno, the new president, and Mohammad Hatta, the new vice president. It was drafted the night before declaring independence.
Happy Independence Day to Indonesia.
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Today is August 17, and the beginning of Cat Nights. Back in July we discussed the “dog days of summer.” In August, the Dog Star Sirius is no longer visible in the predawn sky, bringing an end to the Dog Days of Summer. So I guess that it’s appropriate that if dogs have their days, cats should have their nights.

Probably not a lot of people are familiar with “Cat Nights,” but it’s pretty old, going back to when most people believed in witches. 
A somewhat obscure old Irish legend said that a witch could turn herself into a cat eight times, but on the ninth time she couldn’t regain her human form. This legend is the origin of the phrase “a cat has nine lives.”

But what does the legend have to do with Cat Nights? Well — summer nights in August are getting longer and cooler. We notice the seasonal change, but animals are much more sensitive than we are to those changes. You’ve probably noticed animals are a little more lively this time of year. Cats, in particular, are more active at dusk and dawn. Cats see eight times better in the dark than we can. They can see colors and their eyes are much more sensitive to movements than our eyes. And cats are, by nature, nocturnal hunters — so their superior night vision means the nights belong to them.

So this time of year it’s nice to sit outside, or take a walk in the evening, but if you see a cat, be sure it is a cat and not a witch lurking about…..
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Today, August 16, is National Rum Day. Quite a few years ago, rum was a very popular drink — at least with the crowd I associated with. Rum and Coke was popular and most gatherings usually featured a few pitchers of Daiquiris. Some of my friends were very fond of Myers dark rum, and drank it over ice. 

Rum has been a staple of the economy of the Americas just about from its founding. Today, people put run into various cocktails, punches and mixed drinks.
Some form of rum has been distilled since the third century, but it wasn’t until the 17th century that colonizers started growing sugarcane in the Caribbean that it’s popularity really took off. Molasses is a byproduct of sugar production and rather than let this excess go to waste, it was distilled into booze.
It was initially called “kill devil” because of its high alcohol content — and — its less than savory taste. But the process of fermenting and distilling molasses became more sophisticated and the concoction became significantly more enjoyable. 

The etymology of the word “rum” is still debatable, but most agree that it is probably derived from the terms rumbuillion or rumbustion — both mean an upheaval. But the term was eventually shortened to rum.
Rum production spread throughout the Caribbean — and beyond, to islands such as Bermuda and Jamaica, becoming one of the most popular spirits….. it was even used as currency in some places. 
Rum became so popular in America that it eventually contributed to 80% of the exports from New England, and a tax on sugar in the 1760s led directly to the American Revolution. 

Of course, like many/most labor-intensive industries of the early American colonies — sugarcane (and rum) trade was based on slave labor and rum’s popularity contributed to the slave trade in America. 

But we have a bit of rum in our house — some of it purchased in the Caribbean while on cruises. It still makes great drinks and you can drink it anytime. One good thing about it is that drinking rum before noon makes you a pirate, not an alcoholic.
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Last year at this time I mentioned that we have new residents across the circle from our house, and they are originally from India. So in the spirit of world harmony, I’d like to wish our neighbors a happy 76th, or maybe 77th, Independence Day today. Why is there some confusion as to India’s Independence Day? Well, let me explain…..

Independence Day (Swatantrata Diwas) is celebrated on August 15 and is declared a National Holiday in India.
On 15 August, 1947, India got its freedom, ending an almost 200-year British rule on the subcontinent. It’s a day of pride for all indians and it commemorates the sacrifices made by millions of freedom fighters, who sacrificed their lives in the freedom struggle and forced the British empire to finally retreat. 

But every year, there is some confusion about which Independence Day is it? This year, India will cross a milestone of 76 years of freedom from British Rule. So — is India celebrating its 76th or 77th Independence Day in 2023?
On August 15, 1947, India earned its long-fought independence from British domination. This implies that India celebrated its first year of independence on August 15, 1948, 10 years later on August 15, 1957, twenty years later on August 15, 1967, and seventy years later in 2017. So this year marks the 76th anniversary of freedom.
But — counting the number of Independence Days celebrated in India since August 15, 1947, which would count as the first, the total will be 77. So by that reasoning, India will celebrate its 77th year of Independence in 2023. Both arguments are valid. 

But whether you think it’s the 76th or 77th, the Prime Minister of India will hoist the national flag at Delhi’s historic old Red Fort monument and make an address to the nation — that will be followed by a military parade. 

Last year I described the significance of the colors of India’s flag — you can check last year’s entry, if you’re interested. But I should mention that India’s national flag was adopted in its present form 23 days before India’s independence. The flag is made from khadi which is domestically spun Indian cotton as a symbol of nationalism and freedom.
Happy Independence Day to India.
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We have an ongoing project around our house — we have thousands of old photographs taken over the years and we’re making an attempt to organize them and scan them into a digital format. I’ve got the job of scanning and Claire has the un-enviable  job of categorizing them and identifying the subjects. 

Anyhow, as I’ve gone through these old pictures, I noticed that a lot of the pictures were of friends, and families, gathered together. It made me think about the way people take pictures these days. If you check the pictures you’ve taken on your iPhone, I’d bet it’s full of screenshots and selfies. Why don’t people take pictures with their friends — or family — anymore?

I mentioned screenshots — a lot of the pictures I have on my phone are of things I need to buy a part for, or to remember, or something someone sent to me for some reason — it’s more of a memory/reference book than a photo album.

I noticed a lot of our older pictures are of groups, usually families, gathered in from of the house. The house seems to always be a part of the picture. Front-of-the-house family photos seemed to have been  the thing back then.
I suppose before people had cameras, they must have hired photographers to take their pictures. Since a lot of these pictures are in front of the house, I guess photographers made “house calls” like doctors. But we do have some old photos that were quite probably taken in a photographers studio. 
I hadn’t thought about it before, but maybe having these pictures taken in front of a house was to send a message that the family was prosperous enough to own their home. I noticed that a lot of the newer — but still “old” — pictures were often taken at what looked like a picnic or  with a car of some kind in the picture…. again, maybe that was sending a message about their “wealth.”

But what’s with all theses selfies? The Oxford Dictionary declared “selfie” the word of the year in 2013. At that time, it was defined as “a photograph that one has taken of oneself.”  But today it seems to be a bit more than that…. it’s kind of a photograph that “features” oneself. 
And to be honest, our society has become so complicated, that taking group pictures is more difficult, and people may think it’s intrusive. You now have to worry about being sued or some kind of legal action being taken anytime you’re around other people.

Looking at our old pictures, it seems that they weren’t taken just for the sake of taking a picture — a lot of them marked some important event or milestone — a baptism, wedding, or maybe a vacation. 
Looking through the pictures on my phone, doesn’t feature many special events — there’s probably more pictures of “stuff” and “things” than people — or — special occasions.
If your phone pictures are like that, maybe it means that our online life is becoming more important than our offline existence…. maybe we should change that. It might be nice to look at our families in front of the house again…..
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