• This Month's Holiday

    Summer Solstice/Litha Correspondences

    Wed, Jun 21, 2023 10:57?AM Also known As: Midsummer, Midsommer, Summer Solstice, Litha, Alban Hefin, Sun Blessing, Gathering Day, Feill-Sheathain, Whit Sunday, Whitsuntide, Vestalia, Thing-tide, St. John’s Day Purpose Rededication to the Lord and Lady, beginning of the harvest, honoring the Sun God, honoring the pregnant Goddess Dynamics/Meaning Crowning of the Sun God, death of the Oak King, assumption of the Holly King, end the ordeal of the Green Man Tools, Symbols & Decorations The sun, oak, birch & fir branches, sun flowers, lilies, red/maize/yellow or gold flower, love amulets, seashells, summer fruits & flowers, feather/flower door wreath, sun wheel, fire, circles of stone, sun dials and swords/blades, bird feathers,…

  • Monthly Columns

    Poetry – Lúnasa

      We come to eat, we come to play To revel in the joy of the sun The heat of the height of the year The Solstice has come and gone. We bring in the first grains And pick first fruits to share We store away for later months We pickle and prepare. And while we feast and compete We honour those who came before By being better Being kinder Being something more For this green and graceful world Fragile in some ways But She’ll go on after us Nature stays, always stays… Let us hold the sun in our hearts Let us give space for the wild Let us…

  • Monthly Columns

    Stellar Applications

    Current Astrology Using Hermetic Applications   Welcome Back to Stellar Applications…. In this issue of PaganPagesOrg we are celebrating Litha, the abundance of summer’s peak and the brilliance of light that fills this space of transition. Astronomically this is the date of the Summer Solstice and sits as one of two points on the Witch’s Wheel where the scales tip in balance towards the growing of light or darkness, as the sun waxes or wanes, respectively.   This year the Summer Solstice occurs on June 21st at 10:38am (EDT)and astrologically, Cardinal energy abounds creating the product of what has been quickened and set on the path towards manifesting in its…

  • This Month's Holiday

    Summer Solstice/Litha Correspondences

    (Wood Sun Garland with Rice Paper Center, Limited Edition by Jessica Pezalla of Bramble Workshop on Etsy.)   June 21, 2022   Also known As: Midsummer, Midsommer, Summer Solstice, Litha, Alban Hefin, Sun Blessing, Gathering Day, Feill-Sheathain, Whit Sunday, Whitsuntide, Vestalia, Thing-tide, St. John’s Day Purpose Rededication to the Lord and Lady, beginning of the harvest, honoring the Sun God, honoring the pregnant Godddess Dynamics/Meaning Crowning of the Sun God, death of the Oak King, assumption of the Holly King, end the ordeal of the Green Man Tools, Symbols & Decorations The sun, oak, birch & fir branches, sun flowers, lilies, red/maize/yellow or gold flower, love amulets, seashells, summer fruits…

  • Monthly Columns

    Dancing Into Summer – Poetry

      Pick up your feet Your dancing feet Even if you’re stuck in one place Even if you’re body refuses Or simply can’t Close your eyes Let your thoughts dance Tap tap tapping down the corridors Of your mind Whirling in worlds Of soul and spirit Sending your essence flying high Towards a domed ceiling Candelabras shaking Under the onslaught of joy Dance, dance, dance into summer Heat waves a slave to the beat Solstice imbalance pouring Funk into the shadows Open the windows and Fly, fly out into blue Into fluffy white Into thirsty, hot afternoons And giddy evenings Sing, laugh, love Embrace the chaos that you can And…

  • This Month's Holiday

    Summer Solstice/Litha Correspondences

    (Litha Witch Poppet-Midsummer May Queen Corn Husk Doll by Jenna Miller can be purchased from OfSmokeandSoil on etsy.)   Sunday June 20th Also known As: Midsummer, Midsommer, Summer Solstice, Litha, Alban Hefin, Sun Blessing, Gathering Day, Feill-Sheathain, Whit Sunday, Whitsuntide, Vestalia, Thing-tide, St. John’s Day Purpose Rededication to the Lord and Lady, beginning of the harvest, honoring the Sun God, honoring the pregnant Godddess Dynamics/Meaning Crowning of the Sun God, death of the Oak King, assumption of the Holly King, end the ordeal of the Green Man Tools, Symbols & Decorations The sun, oak, birch & fir branches, sun flowers, lilies, red/maize/yellow or gold flower, love amulets, seashells, summer fruits…

  • Monthly Columns

    Peeking in the Shadows: Crafting a Book of Shadows and Light

    This month I want to offer something a little different. We have had stressful and draining experience since the beginning of the COVI-D-19 Pandemic. I would like us to stand in the light of the Summer Solstice; anticipating this longest day and the hope that this light will bring. This is a writing that I return to again and again as I call to the Sun’s brilliance and the hope that it brings. Perhaps this is something you would like to add to your BOS. Rework, rephrase, rewrite it in any way that speaks to you. (Photo by Adrian Pelletier on Unsplash) Mother’s Flowering- The Summer Solstice The night is…

  • Monthly Columns

    19-Days of Illuminated Darkness Course Offering

    19-Days of Illuminated Darkness Winter Solstice 2019 December 21st @ 11:19p.m. (EST)     Join me, once again, as we count down to the Winter Solstice and “19- Days of Illuminated Darkness”. What was begun as the veils of Samhain parted and the Witch’s New Year turned another cycle of the Great Wheel, continues as we welcome the Winter Solstice and the burgeoning of the Solar Light! Topics will include: … The deeper meaning of the Sabbat, consciousness, honoring and fueling the spark of the Divine within and more. And, a few bonus posts with new writings and experiences to enjoy. The countdown begins on Tuesday, December 3rd as the…

  • Monthly Columns

    Modern Yuletide Tales

      **This is an excerpt from my first book, A Modern Celt: Seeking the Ancestors. The Winter Solstice has always been an incredibly magical time for me, despite not being (as far as we know) typically a Celtic festival. Here are some of my more mysterious experiences during the shortest day and longest night.   My most precious memories of the winter solstice all seem to be of going to a specific lakeside on the longest night. I remember it always feels later in the day than it is, because despite it only being early evening it is already pitch black, and once you move away from the roads there…

  • Monthly Columns

    Excerpt From Winter Solstice Short Story…

    Winter Fires: A Solstice Story in Two Parts Part One Lily pulled on her warmest coat and snow boots, ready for an adventure outside. Snow had been falling for several hours and she loved the quiet that descended when the ground was blanketed in fluffy white snow. Even the coziness and warmth of her cottage could not entice her to stay inside and miss the chance of walking at sunset through the woods that bordered her home. She wrapped a wool scarf snugly around her neck and pulled on the winter cap that she had just finished knitting and had been hoping for a chance to wear it sooner rather…