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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…
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Celebrating The Old Ways in New Times
Celebrating The Old Ways in New Times Summer Solstice for June 2021 Bright Blessings! I can hardly believe it’s just a little over two weeks after Beltaine, and already I’m writing about The Summer Solstice. 2021 is flying by! After more than a year of lockdowns, covid vaccines are more widely available, and States are going to start relaxing mask mandates, opening the way for larger gatherings and indoor things. At 37% of the population of the United States now recorded as fully vaccinated, indeed, many are raring to go to restaurants, and birthday parties, as they have foregone all of that for months and months. Not the top country…
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Beltane Correspondences
(You can purchase Lilacs Coloring Page by Artist Carol Hebling at her shop CTHeblingDesign on etsy.) Also known as: May Day, Bealtaine, Beltane, Bhealtainn, Bealtinne, Festival of Tana (Strega), Giamonios, Rudemass, and Walburga (Teutonic), Cetsamhain (opposite Samhain),Fairy Day,Sacred Thorn Day, Rood Day, Roodmas (the Christian term for Rood Day, Old Beltane, Beltain, Baltane, Walpurgis Night, Floriala (Roman feast of flowers from April 29 to May 1), Walpurgisnacht (Germanic-feast of St. Walpurga), Thrimilce (Anglo-saxon), Bloumaand (Old Dutch) Date: May 1 Animals: Swallow, dove, swan, Cats, lynx, leopard Deities: Flower Goddesses, Divine Couples, Deities of the Hunt, Aphrodite, artemis, Bast, Diana, Faunus, Flora, Maia, Pan, the Horned God, Venus, and all…
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Celebrating the Old Ways in New Times
Celebrating the Old Ways in New Times for May 2021 Blessed May 2021! By now, many will have had Beltane celebrations, but some will hang back this year, continuing to social distance for safety during Covid times. A friend I met recently was asking me if I’d done online meetings for Sabbats, and I said I had not. Locally, the druid grove has kept up with that, and many are enjoying those broadcasts. Xtian groups have done many church services online due to the pandemic, but I wonder who remembers the earlier days of televised worship services. The Magic of Television (Photo by Bruna Araujo on Unsplash)…
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Ostara Correspondences
(Photo by Ilona Frey on Unsplash) (oh-star-ah) – Lesser Sabbat – Spring/Vernal Equinox, March 20-21st – when the Sun enters Ares Other Names: Ostre, Oestre, Eostre, Rites of Spring, Eostra’s Day, Lady Day, First Day of Spring, Easter, St. Patrick’s Day, Alban Eiler, Bacchanalia, Mean Earraigh, Pasch, Caisg, Pess Date: Spring Equinox March 19–23 in Northern Hemisphere. Symbolism: The beginning of spring, new life and rebirth, the God and Goddess in Their youth, balance, fertility Goddesses: all love, virgin, and fertility Goddesses; Anna Perenna (Roman), Aphrodite (Greek), Astarte (Canaanite, Persia, GrecoRoman), Athena (Greek), Cybele (Greco-Roman), Blodeuwedd, Eostre (Saxon Goddess of Fertility), Flidais (Irish), Gaia (Greek), Hera, Ishtar (Assyro-Babylonian), Isis…
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Imbolc Correspondences
(St. Brigid’s Cross, Imbolc Ornament, Celtic Festival, Home Protection from Evil, Hunger and Fire created by Christina Carrie of Pure Gaea Vibes on etsy.) February 1, 2 Other Names: Imbolg (im-molc)(em-bowl’g) (Celtic), Candlemas (Christian), Brigantia (Caledonii), Oimelc, Festival of Light, Brigid’s (Brid, Bride) Day, La Fheill, An Fheille Bride, Candelaria (Mexico), Chinese New Year, Disting-tid (Feb 14th, Teutonic), DisaBlot, Anagantios, Lupercalia/Lupercus (Strega), Groundhog Day, Valentines Day. Animals & Mythical Beings: Firebird, dragon, groundhog, deer, burrowing animals, ewes, robin, sheep, lamb, other creatures waking from hibernation. Gemstones: Amethyst, garnet, onyx, turquoise. Incense/Oil: Jasmine, rosemary, frankincense, cinnamon, neroli, musk, olive, sweet pea, basil, myrrh, and wisteria, apricot, carnation. Colors/Candles: Brown,…
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Yule Correspondences
(Ornate Pentacle Holiday Stocking by Jinx of Mtcoffinz Underground available on etsy.) 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,…
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Celebrating The Old Ways In New Times
Celebrating The Old Ways In New Times for April 2020 Bright Blessings! Before we know it, Beltane will be upon us, and many will be going to gatherings where Maypole is danced, and emphasis on sexuality, and the union of the Mother Goddess and Father God are celebrated. Talk about fertility, union, and all things about growth will abound! I’ve gone to multiple celebrations, all of which often have a focus on the union of things to reproduce. But the older I get, and the more people I meet, the more I realize, THIS, in particular does not apply to all people… Now, sure, we all celebrate the…
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Book Review – The Sacred Herbs of Spring: Magical, Healing, and Edible Plants to Celebrate Beltaine by Ellen Evert Hopman
Book Review The Sacred Herbs of Spring Magical, Healing, and Edible Plants to Celebrate Beltaine by Ellen Evert Hopman 376 Pages ….The month of May is a time of great spiritual power for those who are attuned to natural cycles. In the northern hemisphere the sap is rising in the trees and medicinally beneficial new leaves and flowers are reappearing. For Druids, Witches, and other followers of the Nature Religions, May is the time to celebrate love, fertility and the new growth of summer, and most of this book is dedicated to these magical aspects of the May Day festival…. (Introduction) Call it wishful thinking or the reality that we…
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Book Excerpt – The Sacred Herbs of Spring Magical, Healing, and Edible Plants to Celebrate Beltaine by Ellen Evert Hopman
Introduction The month of May is a time of great spiritual power for those who are attuned to natural cycles. In the northern hemisphere the sap is rising in the trees and medicinally beneficial new leaves and flowers are reappearing. For Druids, Witches, and other followers of the Nature Religions, May is the time to celebrate love, fertility and the new growth of summer, and most of this book is dedicated to these magical aspects of the May Day festival. The May Pole The May Pole is a well-known British tradition associated with May Day. The pole was covered all over with flowers and greens, then bound with ribbons…