Ancestor Worship As winter is upon us and Yule is just around the corner I find myself reflecting back on Samhain and our time spent honoring the dead. Ancestor worship has been going on since the beginning of time, and almost all religions embrace some form of it. As Pagans we chose to bring a little ancestor worship into our practice through sabbats, rituals, and altars. One of the most common forms of ancestor worship is an altar dedicated to non-living family members. I have found that ancestor altars are not only a great addition to a witch’s practice, but are also a great way to bring people of different…

The Long Night’s Moon and Yule “The Wheel turns and I feel my fire has burned away. I feel the Earth holding me tight. I know the Crone now walks through the night. And I know the Wheel still slowly turns, back to me to make me burn, With the love, I forever, hold for thee…..” For me, both of these moments separately mark very significant changes upon the Wheel. When they coincide within the same night, something that occurs roughly once every 19 years, there is magick in the air.  This night, I am able to witness and emerge myself in the middle of the dance that shadow and…

Lesson 6: Rhyming Couplets and Quatrains Couplets are back to back lines which end in similar sounding syllables. Quatrains are two sets of couplets, with one of four rhyming patterns, put together to make a group of four. The four patterns are: AABB, ABAB, ABBA, ABCB. For example: A The gloom of a rainy day A Won’t damper my spirits in May. B The best things I will ever see B Is everything that will be me. A The gloom of a rainy day, B The best things I will ever see A Can’t damper my spirits in May B And everything that will be me A The gloom of a…

Santa Claus “You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout I’m telling you why. Santa Claus is coming to town…” December, the last and most favored month of the year. Although December usually associated with cold, winter, ice and snow it’s also associated with one of the most famous holiday of all. Christmas. Even more popular than Christmas is the figure that represents Christmas. He’s jolly, big, wears red and white, has a snowy white beard, glasses and a deep rumbling laugh. He is none other then Santa Claus. Santa Claus is the one that in the late hours of Christmas Eve and the early hours…

CERRIDWEN Welsh Goddess of Wisdom Her long dark hair spiraling down towards her cauldron of knowledge.  She stirs up a potion of transformation for her son Afagddu, who has become ugly and one who is greatly feared.  So Cerridwen set off creating the perfect potion to make her son glorious and loveable. For one year and a day Cerridwen added herbs at all the correct astrological times to her potion.  She chanted and sang the right songs, as the servant boy who tended the fire watched her carefully.  Then on the very last day as she set out to get the last bit of herbs, she heard an enormous crash. …

Pagan Theology:  Yule, theodicy, and magic Yule seems to occupy a special place in the cycle of the seasons.   It is a time of contradictions: the shortest day of the year, but the longest and happiest night.  A time of bloodshed, when the Holly King dies at the hands of the Oak King of summer, and a time when the animals are slaughtered in preparation for winter.  It is named after a German festival, but it’s commemoration of the winter solstice, a very Mediterranean idea [1].   Yule is at Christmas time, but it has not been tainted like Christmas.   It is a pure celebration of joy.  It is finding light…

Lesser Sabbat – Winter Solstice, circa Dec 21 Other Names: Jul (“wheel”, Old Norse), Saturnalia(Rome ~December 17 & 18), Yuletide(Teutonic), Midwinter, Fionn’s Day, Alban huan, Christmas (Christian~December 25), Xmas, Festival of Sol, Solar/Secular/Pagan New Year Animals/Mythical beings: yule goat (nordic), reindeer stag, squirrels, yule cat, Sacred White Buffalo, Kallikantzaroi-ugly chaos monsters(greek), trolls, phoenix, yule elf, jule gnome, squirrels, wren/robin Gemstones: cat’s eye, ruby, diamond, garnet, bloodstone Incense/Oils: bayberry, cedar, ginger, cinnamon, pine, rosemary, frankincense, myrrh, nutmeg, wintergreen, saffron Colors: gold, silver, red, green, white Tools,Symbols, & Decorations: bayberry candles, evergreens, holly, mistletoe, poinsettia,mistletoe, lights, gifts, Yule log, Yule tree. spinning wheels, wreaths, bells, mother & child images Goddesses: Great Mother,…

A wall of dark clouds cover me Like a warm ocean wave Darkness is here My friend is here She has shown me her creatures She has shown me their shadows She has shown me the fears That hide in the daylight The darkened skies colors are my palette And I paint on this winter’s night For this is the time When the velvet is alive With the light She will fade To be remembered And, I shall remember

Principles of Paganism Lesson 6:  Greek Domestic Religion Introduction Those of us interested not only in studying but emulating ancient religion naturally take an interest in the domestic religion of ancient peoples, for unless we live among surviving or revived pagan communities, we are reduced to celebrating ancient piety in solitude, or with our families.  Judging by recent scholarship, there has been a steady increase of interest in sacra privata, the sacred privacies, and though evidence for such is scanty compared to that available for ancient civic religion, more is being revealed by the efforts of archæologists, epigraphists and scholars as time goes on. The information available on domestic religion…

The wheel of the year makes it’s final turn And on this night, to my log I add wishes to burn I welcome the return of the God and the light And ask Goddess’ blessing on my wishes this night In this upcoming year increase mankinds prosperity Not only of money, but of spirit and peace Let their love of each other, and our planet increase So as my Yule log burns all night I pray for that kind of prosperity It is my sacred Yule time wish, with thanks so mote it be.