Gemini 8. A man performing a strange, expressive dance only by moving his hands
The dance being choreographed for hands alone allowed him to sit peacefully on clouds or lotuses as he danced. He enjoyed watching his hands, being always surprised and delighted to see what they would do next, and he learned much from them as they spoke to each other in the language they made up as they went along. Instinctively his hands knew the art of giving and receiving, the flow into and out of their source.
And then closing his eyes the hands, too decided to rest for awhile, as they laid themselves, one on top of the other, facing upward, in his lap.
Azoth Oracle
A full Moon brightens the Arctic night.
On the Island of Larna in the far northern reaches of the Caladan sea there are sometimes travelers who come to this desolate place to receive the rays of the first full Moon after the winter solstice, for such rays provide powerful protection in all magical and alchemical workings. And though they need not be naked to be infused with this special light, they do well cover themselves with a radiant salve concocted of the flesh of salamanders, those creatures of fire whose heat the skin feels not, but which protects the wearer from cold and fierce wind and which makes him feel anywhere as if he walked in bright sunshine and mild breezes.
Few people make the voyage to this place, for the salve is most costly. The salamanders of which it is made may not be killed, for such would render the salve impotent, and since salamanders live to a great age and hide themselves deep in caves their deceased bodies are infrequently discovered, and are more coveted than gold.
Serapis has informed us that the many therapeutic and protective effects of the Northern solstice full moon are due not only to the Moon’s light but to its mixture with the unique atmosphere of Larna Island, as well as the salamander salve worn by the receivers, which the light and land empower to kindle the Moon’s rays into a most bright balm to illuminate the soul’s deepest reaches.