Dog Days and End of the Oak Month

"Dog Days bright and clear / indicate a happy year. / But when accompanied by rain, / for better times our hopes are vain." Taken from the Old Farmers Almanac

We are approaching the beginning of what the Egyptians first termed as the Dog Days (3rd July to 11 August), when Sirius, the Dog Star rises, predicting the type of weather there will be for the rest of the year. It is part of the hottest, most humid time of the year (although this weather can continue well after the 11th of August) but for the Egyptians this was the time preceding the flooding of the Nile.

We are in to the last phase of the Oak Month, the time of masculine power and strength, stability and success, healing and fertility, money and luck, of Solar power and is therefore associated with the element fire. It is especially associated with thunder/lightening deities like Thor, Zeus, Jupiter, and Perkunas (Lithunaian deity) because they often attract lightening to them.

Artemis was sometimes depicted as having a necklace of acorns and the acorn is often associated with creativity of the mind.

The oak is a tree of truth and honesty and is therefore classed as a holy tree. A leaf from this tree can be worn over the heart and allows the wearer to see through deceptions.

Oak can be used as talismans for protection and to bring in money. The best time to harvest anything from an oak is now, during the waning time of the oak moon. The last quarter of the moon begins tomorrow.

Have a wonderful summer!

On another note, my second book, The Island of the Mist, is now available on both Kindle and paperback formats:

Kindle: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Island-Mist-Kingslayer-Series-ebook/dp/B0092TUS7U/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1346945410&sr=1-2

And paperback: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Island-Mist-N-Roy/dp/147921292X/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346506656&sr=1-2

and in the US: http://www.amazon.com/Island-Mist-N-Roy/dp/147921292X/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346946271&sr=1-2&keywords=the+island+of+the+mist

My first book, The Stone in the Sword, is now reduced in price: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stone-Sword-ebook/dp/B006ZQIEPG/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1327179005&sr=1-3