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Seeing Stars

I don't have a lot of gadgets in my life, all I have is my camera and laptop. Last night when I went to visit my boyfriend's parents, Daddy Evans was keen to show off his new iphone. He had this new app which shows you the stars and planets. All you do is hold the phone up to the sky, or point it in any direction you like, and it will show you exactly which stars and planets are in that direction. This is such a useful tool! When we got home, my boyfriend downloaded a similar app for his android and we had fun walking around the flat, plotting the zodiac around us. It was a cloudy night, not even the moon was visible to the naked eye, so having this app gave us a clear picture of what exactly was around us.

I'm grateful to my boyfriend's dad, he always has some neat information to teach me as he's a keen naturalist. He used to be a diver, before health problems got in the way, and he was able to teach me about the tides. I had read about neap tides and spring tides before, but didn't really understand until he explained it to me. I am also grateful to my boyfriend who has taken several foraging courses with a well known local expert. Now whenever we go for walks, he is able to point out to me the names of various herbs and wild fruit. These are things I have always been interested in, but it's not the kind of stuff you can learn from books. You have to get out there and look at the stars, look at the moon and the tide, look at the herbs and the trees, and really experience your environment.

So as we were stood in the living room, looking at stars, I was thinking to myself about the magic circle and its relation to the zodiac. I noted which stars the cardinal directions pointed toward and where the constellations and planets were, and it gave me a greater understanding of our place in the solar system. Try this for yourself if you can download the app, stand on the spot and turn slowly in a circle, facing each of the directions. Find the zodiac line or astronomical horizon which is traced around you and note the star constellations which meet that line. Do you think about the stars and planets as you cast the magic circle?


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  1. c. Joy24 September 2012 at 16:01

    One of my friends has this, we were visiting him in the country. No city lights and there were so many stars - I was loving it. After we went inside, he pulled out his phone with this clever app - which I insisted on taking outside just to make sure it was 'telling me the truth.' Yes, the moon and all the stars I could see lined up with what the phone 'said.' When I pointed the phone towards the earth and saw the stars that surround me /us /this earth, it was 'breath taking.' I still can't describe the feeling, I must admit I had never looked at the world or the universe in that way. It was great.

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    Replies
    1. OathBoundSecrets25 September 2012 at 10:04

      Yes, that is one of the most amazing things, to see the stars beneath your feet, it really opens up your mind! Thank you for sharing your experience :)

      Delete
  2. Joanna DeVoe25 September 2012 at 17:44

    I am sooo NOT technologically inclined, but I love that ap! My husband has it & uses it to show my son the stars & planets. Too cool.

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