Bright Blessings! Imbolc in upon us. One of my favorite Sabbats. It originated in Pre Christian times when there was milk because lambs had babies and it was time for a feast!!!!!!!!!!! And believe it or not, in that hard frozen ground…first signs of Spring appear. A few birds return, buds appear on the trees, and for many of us, cabin fever creates an eagerness for warm weather.  Seed companies in modern times anticipate this, and send out their catalogues, and stores begin stocking up on gardening supplies. If you are like me, you buy everything you can! As a matter of fact, a seed catalogue came in the mail…

On Witch Wars…   My articles focus on Sabbats, and it is not time to write about the next Sabbat JUST yet. So I am writing about something that we all know all too well about and that drives many of us insane. The ugly presence of Witch Wars in our communities. It seems like the spats, ego contests, and just plain out bad behavior in Pagan communities and groups gets a lot more attention than the good things we do sometimes. Shops compete for patrons. Covens argue over who knows most, and people fling name calling and curses at one another on a regular basis. Many reading this probably…

#2 Yule Last time I wrote a personal essay about how I feel about the holidays. I promised an educated, informative article this time. Oh stop laughing! I’ll write a little about Yule and a bit about Winter Solstice. Modern Christmas is a mix of these two ancient celebrations as well as what happened to honor the god Mithras. The reasons the Winter Holiday was celebrated differ a bit from why we celebrate today, but not completely. For example. “The Light of the World” , seen by many Christians today as their god is celebrated. In days past, lengthening days were celebrated. THE light of the world! I don’t know…

Yule Part 1 Bright Blessings, I am writing two Yule articles. The first is unresearched and lacking history or citation of sources. I’m struggling with mono right now and not only is my energy sapped, but my concentration is completely blown. This article will be a personal essay and the next will be filled with all the good well-researched stuff. If I keep it interesting, maybe our editors and admins will be magnanimous and forgive me for straying from assignment this time. Pretty please? By the time you read this, you will likely be in the frenzy of Yule Planning as well as caught up in the responsibilities of being…

Bright Blessings. My favorite Sabbat is upon us soon. Samhain.  Images of cute witches on broomsticks and the popular “The Witch is in” decorations hanging about come to mind. The popular saying “Ghoulies and ghosties, long leggety beasties and things that go bump in the night” comes to mind as well. Jack-o-lanterns- seances, and if course the Christian All Saints day. Not to mention candy and costumes are all some thin gs I hold sacred at this time of year. But Samhain is more, so much more than these awesome things. This blessed High Day has roots in Pre-Christian Celebrations and is named in the famous Coligney Calendar from Ireland. Most…

Blessed Be!    I’ve been to Mabon Sabbats. I don’t like it. I garden, sure. But I get my foods from supermarket. So celebrating the bounty of one of three harvest celebrations, (Lammas, Mabon, Samhain) does not hold meaning for me. Then if you live in North America, like me, you do Thanksgiving, too. FOUR harvest celebrations! The older I get, the less energy I have for so much. I have an indifference to Mabon., I never bother with it. That is how I see it. A bother. Shadow taught me Neo-Pagans had four Sabbats at one time. One for each of the four seasons. Sounds better than eight to…

Bright Blessings, This is my first submission to Pagan Pages, and in it is a short intro to who I am and what this column will be about- as well as an article. By the time I finish this, I will have a title! (I think) Right now, I’m writing about the Sabbats and a little history on them and suggestions on how to celebrate them. I will also include suggestions for celebrating the Sabbat once Circle or the High Day event has finished. Many of the Pagans I know tend to extend their devotions outside of ritual, and like the Pre-Christian Pagans we follow in the footsteps of, our…