The Dawn of a Happy New Day

I'm very pleased to say, my prediction was wrong. A little while back, I had a nasty dream that something horrible would happen on 15 May. I even blogged about it.

And yesterday was 15 May - a day that started with an early morning storm that shook the trees and blew down a bit more of the fencing in my garden. But, I was delighted to discover, nothing worse than that happened to myself or my family or loved ones.

I checked the UK news and saw that unseasonable snow had fallen in parts of the country and a new thriller by Dan Brown had been published, but that seemed about the worst of it. Hardly the end of the world.

Obviously, I feel slightly embarrassed that I made a prediction that did not materialise - but at the time I said I would rather look foolish than for some disaster to occur that might have been prevented had I not warned anyone.

So, it is a new day today, and a happy one. Later on I'll be checking the news and seeing if there is anything more interesting to blog about. Apart from that, the sun is shining and its back to bad witching business as usual.

Links
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22547769

Inferno: (Robert Langdon Book 4)
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2013/05/tomorrow-beware-ides-of-may.html

Tomorrow, Beware the Ides of May

About a month ago, I woke up in the middle of the night with a premonition that something bad is going to happen on 15 May.

To go into more detail, I woke up from a dream in which I was on holiday and swimming in an amazing swimming pool, but not enjoying it because I knew it was the last day of my holiday and I also felt apprehensive. I woke up and, while still half asleep, I got a vivid image in my mind of a Facebook events calendar page for 15 May, accompanied by a feeling of dread.

In the morning I told several friends and asked them to take extra care on 15 May, even if they thought I was being silly and didn't believe anyone can have premonitions. One of my friends commented, "Is that the Ides of May?"

Looking it up, I found that May is indeed one of the months in which the Ides is on the 15th. The Ides of March are traditionally thought to be unlucky - being the date on which Julius Caesar was assassinated. I very much hope that The Ides of May are not similarly unfortunate for anyone.

I have some mixed feelings about writing about this premonition on my blog. After all, there is a good chance it wasn't a premonition at all - merely a bad dream. That's certainly what most of my friends are reassuring me and I hope they are right. I would much much rather that on May 16 people say, "See, nothing happened",  than I say, "I told you so".

And I certainly don't believe that the future is fixed. Despite the reputation, Friday 13ths are supposedly days in which accidents are less likely to happen than normal - partly because a lot of people take extra care.

So, please do take a little extra care tomorrow. As I have already said, I would rather everyone was safe, and I looked a little foolish, than feel guilty because someone had a nasty accident and I didn't warn them to be more careful.

Links and previous related posts
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2008/01/prophetic-dreams.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ides_of_March
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2009/02/friday-13th-lore-luck-and-superstitions.html

The solar eclipse - myths and meanings

Solar eclipses have since the dawn of time been a source of fascination, speculation and often fear. And there is one this week, on July 22 - the longest total eclipse of the 21st century, due to be more than 6 minutes in duration.

Historically, eclipses were often seen as a bad omen - a symbol of the overthrow of the natural order of things. The word "eclipse" is rooted in a Greek word meaning “abandonment”.

To anyone witnessing one without expecting it - let alone knowing what is really going on - that view is completely understandable. It would be easy to imagine some evil force was obliterating the light and that things would never be quite the same again.

Even for those who are expecting an eclipse, and know it happens when the moon moves between the Earth and the Sun, it is an eerie experience and doesn't feel quiet natural although it is.

It is also a motif frequently used in fiction, either to indicate impending doom, such as in the TV series Heroes, or to let the protagonists make a lucky escape - such as in the Tintin story Prisoners of the Sun.

Many believe that eclipses can and do affect the fate of men on a grand scale, and even signal the rise and fall of civilisations. To some extent, history backs this up.

Eclipses have affected the outcome of war. An eclipse on May 28, 585BC ended a five-year war between the Lydians and the Medes. They took the event as an indication they should finally make peace, cementing the agreement with a double marriage.

An eclipse is also blamed for the death of Charlemagne's son, Emperor Louis, on May 5, 840. Some say he died of fright.

Many eclipses are mentioned in the Bible, including one on June 15, 763 BC. In Amos 8:9 the Christian God says: "'And on that day I will make the Sun go down at noon, and darken the Earth in broad daylight." However, an eclipse is almost certainly not responsible for the darkness witnessed during Christ's crucifixion, as that is thought to have happened during a full moon, whereas eclipses only happen during a new moon. Scientists believe that darkness is more likely to have been caused by a sandstorm or other types of dark cloud blocking the sunlight.

For those who use astrology, solar eclipses indicate new beginnings, extreme change, some strange event or unforeseen news.

Psychologically, the moon represents the subconscious mind and the sun the conscious one. An eclipse can therefore be a time when subconscious or hidden things impact on our life in a big way, and often quite unexpectedly. This could be good or bad, depending on what it is and how we deal with it. But it is worth remembering that even something that initially seems traumatic can lead to better things in the end.

If you want to see the total solar eclipse on July 22, you will need to be in Asia. It won't be visible from the UK. The best place to see it is apparently the eastern Indian state of Bihar, which is gearing up for the event in a big way. Wish I was there.

The pictures shows Heroes, Eclipse, an art print by GB Eye, available through Amazon for £7.99.

Links
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/1/hi/world/south_asia/8149149.stm
http://practicalastrology.prettyfedup.com/articles.htm#solar
http://www.earthview.com/ages/history.htm
http://www.colorsofindia.com/eclipse/eclipstorytintin.htm
http://www.orientexpat.com/forum/7162-july-22-2009-and-august-1-2008-total-solar-eclipse/
http://www.eso.org/public/outreach/eduoff/aol/market/collaboration/soleclipse/solecl-history.html
http://ccweb4.csquareonline.com/~expressn/wordpress2/wordpress/triple-eclipse-may-be-bad-omen/
http://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/solar-eclipse-history.html
http://heroeswiki.com/The_eclipse
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2009/07/fly-me-to-moon.html
GB eye Ltd, Heroes, Eclipse (40x40cm) SC0208

Prophetic dreams

Last week I had a disturbing dream that my home had flooded. This morning, it did.

The immediate emergency of water gushing from a broken pipe is now dealt with, having turned off the water to the entire place. I am now waiting for a plumber to mend the pipe and wondering what I could have done to prevent this if I had paid more attention to my premonition.

It isn't the first time I have had a prophetic dream. A few years ago I awoke from a nightmare that I was locked in my bedroom and then found, when I tried to leave the room, that I was in fact locked in my bedroom. The door catch had somehow broken and jammed shut during the night.

I was a teenager the first time it happened. It was back in the 1970s and I was a fan of Marc Bolan and T-Rex. One night I dreamt I was at a T-Rex concert. I awoke remembering exactly what clothes Marc had been wearing on stage and that he had coloured streaks in his hair. The dream prompted me to go into a record shop and buy their latest release. I was stunned to see a picture on the record, taken at a gig, in which Marc was wearing exactly the clothes I recalled and had the same streaks in his hair. I was certain I had never seen that picture before and felt sure my dream had somehow given me a glimpse of a real event.

Of course, all of these things could have just been coincidence. I have plenty of stressful dreams that don't come true. I'm certainly glad I don't miss my train to work as often as my dreams might suggest and I am delighted I have never suddenly realised I am naked in the middle of the high street.

But, when I have the next prophetic dream of a misfortune, it would be really nice to know how to prevent it from coming true.