I know, I know, I am always going on about “containment” and being careful with too much disclosure and so on. All this sharing doesn’t negate any of that. I simply want to show that augury is NOT superstition, much as it may appear to be so –  and that looking deeply into the holy interface between the spiritual and the material(where signs and portents appear)  is a valid and powerful practise for all us esotericists. I want to explore this accompanied by the ones who Get It. That’s about all, really, as a preface to yesterdays Omen.

First let me say, I used to think that taking pictures of food was kind of hokey. Much like sharing 4863729 pictures of your face on FB  might just indicate a bit of self-importance (or maybe, working out some personal stuff? but then one day it has to stop or slow down…doesn’t it?) I felt – judgemental, I know – that photographing your breakfast and sharing it with the world might incline to narcissism (LOOK! EGGS!!TOAST!! ) but then, the Jupiter in Libra that defines so much of who I am (in a good way) considers the opposite; what if it’s not narcissism but a deeply joyful revelry in life?
Ah, I can never make my mind up about stuff. (Gemini…Gemini…Libra.)

Back to topic – yesterday was all about wheat – wheat on Caitlin Matthew’s page, wheatfields all over a movie I watched (Prairie Giant) and wheat in the sticky toffee pudding and dinner biscuits I made for us(and did not take a picture of). Everyone these days hates wheat! Well, more of a love/hate relationship – we continue to rely on bread, pasta and baked goods to sustain us daily, at the same time many of us can’t really cope with so much gluten. Taken out of the modern role, wheat is sacred stuff indeed:

“Wheat – In the Old Testament wheat and bread re symbols of the fecundity of the earth. The New Testament associates the fruits of the earth – a gift of God to humankind—with the symbolism of wheat and associates the gift sof God with the hearts of humans (grace), especially in the parable of the good seed and the bad seed. Bread becomes the symbol  of the supreme gift  from God to humankind—eternal life, the body of Christ in the Eucharist: “Take this and eat, for this is my body”.

In Shakespeare’s time, sheaves of wheat were carried in the wedding procession and sometimes tucked into the Bride’s veil.  Wheat, while synonymous with Fall and all its bounty, is also a symbol of fertility.  It is referred to as the “Giving Grain”, and because wheat was historically a sign  of bounty and prosperity,it was also the incubus for the advent of the Wedding Cake.”

http://www.wildcharm.net/flourish/flora-and-fauna/sacred-plants-symbolism/

Okay – prosperity works for me, at least the more superficial me. In Pagan symbolism, we find Demeter/Ceres, the Graeco/Roman goddess of agriculture, and the power of the life-giving earth is probably nowhere better expressed than this image:

http://www.theoi.com/Olympios/DemeterTreasures.html

So, gluten be damned, I am taking the reiteration of wheat on Day Two as indicating that sustenance and prosperity become forefront issues in February. It can indicate many aspects but I am thinking that prosperity shines here… and let me finesse my remarks on augury a bit – this ins;t New Age tarot, where a symbol *might* mean this or it *might* mean that – in this discipline, a thing MEANS SOMETHING or it doesn’t.
So, I am going to say,it means February is a month of prosperity, not without drawbacks(damn, all that gluten).

Is money making hazardous to my health? I’ve thought so for a very long time.

Points to ponder, February.

On to March and the power of conifer resin, in a moment or so.

I am off to the forest. Let’s see what March will bring, need me to know, offer, take away.