Kabādu Šaḥaqu'il

Today, September 25, we celebrate the sacred day of the Watcher **Shahaqu'il** (Shahaqiel), who is associated with cloud-interpretation, meteorology, wishes, inspiration, acceptance of uncertainties, and divine ordainment of destiny.

(Since there is no predetermined future, when we say *destiny*, we mean a future the Gods have planned out to happen. However, They are numerous and limited beings who have complex interactions with our world and each other, so Their desires for the future are never guaranteed to work out as planned. The fact remains that They can still influence things to try and make events line up with Their goals, just as we can, and this is what we refer to as destiny.)

Shahaqu'il is the 8th Dekadarch. His name, which may also be written as **Shahaqiel**, likely translates to "cloud god."

Shahaqu'il is mysterious, wise, and aloof; He does not make Himself known until the time is right, but when His blessings are upon you and He has plans for you, things seem to fall into place, and you start to notice signs and strange occurrences that suddenly make sense when He is ready for you to put them all together. He is impossible to contact directly if He does not feel that responding to you would fit into His current vision of things, but He can still be prayed to, regardless. One might pray to Shahaqu'il for a better understanding of strange signs in one's life (especially if the events and people involved are well known and respected to the Watchers or matter significantly in the bigger picture), or for help studying to be a meteorologist, for example. In addition, once you have done all you can to achieve a result you want in a given situation, Shahaqu'il can help you make peace with the rest being out of your control, left up to chance and divine influence.

When Shahaqu'il was incarnate in our realm, He taught about how to predict weather conditions, as well as about the interpretation of signs, and prophecies of the future.

On this day we celebrate Shahaqu'il by:

- Offering to Him (we recommend cotton pods, cottonseed oil, and bracken);

- Praying to thank Him for His contribution to our knowledge of the weather and divination;

- Praying to thank Him for any comfort He has given us in accepting what is no longer in our own control;

- Honoring Him by working to better accept what we can and cannot control and wait patiently for our prayers to be answered;

- Cloud-gazing, contemplating and interpreting clouds that appear strange.

Šaqqilu Lībārak / Yibārak Šaḥaqu'il!

Happy Dul Šaqqilu!