Eostre’s Eggs of Ostara Eostre’s Day: Ostara Ostara is the pregnant phase of the fertile season.  This is due to the fact that animals are either giving birth or are going through their sexually receptive or estrus period (named after the goddess Eostre).  Because of this, the egg is a prevalent symbol of the Spring Equinox and the theme of birth, life, death and life renewed. Eggs and those that lay them are harbingers of Spring and the fertile season to come.  For instance, schoolchildren are taught that the sight of a Robin is a sure sign that Spring has actually sprung.  The turquoise-shelled eggs of the Robin have since…

The Cauldron of Inspiration with Brigit, the Lady of the Sacred Flame February begins with a Sabbat that is usually celebrated on February 2nd.  Although it has many names, it is usually referred to as Imbolc or Imbolg (pronounced em-bowlg or immol’g) meaning “in the belly” (being pregnant with life) or Oimelc (pronounced oy-melk) meaning “ewe’s milk” (nourishing life).  Other names for this day are Disting-tid (Norse), Laa’l Breeshay (Isle of Mann), and Candlemas (Saxon; “mas” meaning “feast”, not a Catholic word).  As this is the day of Brigit, be she goddess or saint, this day is also called White Brigit’s Day, Feast Day of Saint Brigit (Irish) or Feast…

Removing Obstacles with Ganesha Ganesha is an Indian God with the body of a man and the head of an elephant. The God of wisdom and prudence, he is sometimes called Ganapati, Ganesa or Gajani and he is known as the God of Scribes and Merchants as well as the Lord of Obstacles. For the purposes of January, we will use Ganesha to help us make wise decisions for the coming year (it is the time to make New Year’s Resolutions after all!) as well as to help to clear the obstacles that lie in the way of getting our goals accomplished.  But before we get to work, let’s take…

Guardian Statue Household Protector Spell The Roman festival of Compitalia honored the Lares for their help. The Lares are household hearth deities said to reside with each family as a type of protection. The story began with two children born from a liaison between the god Mercury and a mute Naiad named Laura, whose tongue had been cut out by the god Jupiter. The Lares became widely revered by Romans as house guardians and were depicted as monkeys covered in dog skins with a barking dog at their feet. Another Roman deity associated with the hearth and fire is the goddess Vesta. She too, became a popular household guardian, depicted…

Financial Abundance with the Help of Mawu Mawu, pronounced MAH-woo and sometimes alternatively spelled Mahu, is a West African Mother Earth creator goddess associated with both the sun and moon.  Sometimes she is seem as a moon goddess, the twin sister-wife of the sun god Liza (alternatively spelled Lisa), but sometimes “she” is seen as one androgynous or hermaphroditic deity, Mawu-Lisa.  When seen as two separate deities, Mawu and Liza are the children of Nana Buluku and the parents of Xevioso. Mawu is said to have created all life on earth with her husband Liza, but after doing so, she worried that it might be too heavy, and so she…

Halloween Black Cat Magick: calling upon the Egyptian Bast We know the day as Samhain, but the non-magickal call it Halloween.  And what is Halloween without the iconic black cat; fluffy tail, arched back and seated on the back of a witches’ broom.  Besides being associated with Witches, how did the infamous black cat get to be the unofficial ambassador for the holiday?  Well, many goddesses have had feline companions of one sort or another including the Norse Freya and the Greco-Roman artemis-Diana but the goddess that is possibly best known as a cat is the Egyptian Bast. Bast, or Bastet, wasn’t always as we know her today, she started…

Balance Through the Sacred Apple One of the fruits most associated with the Autumnal Equinox is the apple.  You can use it as an altar decoration or as part of your Sabbat feast.  This versatile yet average-every-day-fruit has some very ancient magickal roots. The Apple Tree is associated with the goddess, most specifically Ishtar, Aphrodite (Venus), Hera, Athena, Freya, Cerridwen, Pamona and Idunna.  The Greek Pamona and the Norse Idunna are perhaps the best known for their sacred, magickal apples.  Pamona was considered both a Hamadryad (a wood nymph) as well as a goddess while Idunna was a maiden goddess of the earth.  Pamona as the goddess of the apple…

Odin’s Ordeal Odin, like the Greek Zeus, is the principle deity of the Norse pantheon.  Spelled Odin, Odinn, Odhin, Othin or Odhinn; his name is derived from Old Norse meaning “wind” and “spirit”.  One of his nicknames is “Thundur” which means “one who thunders” or “the stretched one”.  Odin received this title after what we now call “Odin’s Ordeal” where, according to the Edda, he hung himself from the Tree of the World for nine days and nights. The World Tree, also called Yggdrasil, is where Odin sacrificed himself in an initiatory manner to gain the knowledge of the Runes.  For nine long days and nights, hungry, thirsty and in…

7/26 Sleipnir’s Day: Aid with Meditational Journeys Even if you are not familiar with the Norse Pantheon, most likely you have heard of Odhinn, the All-Father.  Odhinn is the Shaman-King that travels through the three worlds on his eight-legged horse Sleipnir.  These three worlds are known to the Norse and Celts as the Upperworld (Asgard to the Norse and the Sky/Star World to the Celts), the Middleworld (our world that we call Earth; Midgard to the Norse and Surface/Stone World to the Celts) and the Underworld (Utgard to the Norse and the Ocean/Sea World to the Celts). Sleipnir could run on land, sea or air, which are the three worlds…

Midsummer is considered a fire festival, but it is also a water festival as well. Rivers, lakes, wells and springs were considered holy and pilgrimages were made on this holy day to make offerings, solicit cures and work magick. The magick people would work would either refer to nourishing the crops (Russia), granting fertility to childless women (Scotland) or ask for healing (England). In exchange for these, offerings of pins, flowers and coins were made to the Guardian Spirit or the Water Nymphs. This guardian was not always seen in human form; instead they would sometimes appear as a frog, mermaid, a winged serpent or a fly. In any form,…