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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,…
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Beltaine Correspondences
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 Gods and Goddesses who preside over fertility. Tools: broom, May Pole, cauldron Stones/Gems: emerald, malachite,…
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Learning Lunar: Moon Magic and Mystery
Learning Lunar: Waxing Gibbous Welcome back to Learning Lunar, Pagan Pages’ column on everything moon-related! Last time around, we looked at the power of the Dark Moon and some of the differences between the dark moon and the new moon. Check it out here. This time, we’re looking at the Waxing Gibbous moon (not the new moon as previously advertised!) because that’s what phase the moon will be around the time of the Irish festival of Beltaine. What Does Waxing Gibbous Mean? A waxing moon means that the moon appears to be getting larger in the sky each night. Of course, it doesn’t actually expand and contract. The…
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Notes from the Apothecary
Notes from the Apothecary: Columbine The columbine, or Aquilegia, is a striking flower, with hooked spurs that resemble either eagle’s talons or the heads of doves gathered together. It’s in the same family as buttercups (Ranunculaceae), which while isn’t obvious in the shape of the flowers, becomes more apparent when you look at the hairy stems and the lobed leaf shapes. There are up to 70 species of columbines that we know about, with colours ranging from bright blue to deep red. Also known as Granny’s Bonnet, these fantastic flowers carry a wealth of folklore and magical associations. The Kitchen Garden Columbine are one of those plants that…
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As Above, So Below (How the Stars Became Our Hearts)
Does the Universe Care? Throughout the ages, human consciousness has sought to scratch the surface of reality, and those who are able get peek behind the scenes have a different takeaway. For every NDE (near death experience) where a person claims to have seen god and a universe beyond understanding and been reunited with loved ones, you have a claim of those who saw nothing at all. Locally, with experiences like church and psychedelics, some report profound experiences, other’s experience profound boredom. If you dig deeper into the wisdom of the sages, you’ll still be disappointed. While it is popular to believe great minds think alike, it would seem they…
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Samhain Correspondences
(Horned God Harvest Doll/Samhain Poppets/Gothic Cernunnos Corn Husk Dolls created by Courtney Jameson available at CrimsonSageApoth on Etsy.) Samhain 2022 in Northern Hemisphere will begin in the evening of Monday, October 31 and ends in the evening of Tuesday, November 1 Other Names: celtic ~ Summer’s End, pronounced “sow” (rhymes with now) “en” (Ireland), sow-een (Wales) – “mh” in the middle is a “w” sound – Greater Sabbat(High Holiday) – Fire Festival Oct 31-Nov 1(North Hemisphere) – Apr 30-May 1 – The Great Sabbat, Samhiunn, Samana, Samhuin, Sam-fuin, Samonios, Halloween, Hallomas, All Hallows Eve, All Saints/All Souls Day(Catholic), Day of the Dead (Mexican), Witches New Year, Trinoux Samonia,…
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Notes from the Apothecary
Notes from the Apothecary: Blackberry The humble bramble or blackberry (Rubus fruticosus) is a common sight in British and Irish hedgerows and wild places. Blackberries are also found all over the United States, and may also be called caneberries. Blackberries grow on thick, fast-growing branches covered in thorns, making picking the fruit perilous – use gloves! Each berry is a collection of tiny balls called a drupe, and the taste ranges from sweet to mouth-shrivelling and sour if you pick the tiny, hard ones. In the woods near my house, once you venture away from the paths, the spiky branches trail riotously between tree trunks, making it impossible to create…
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Jazz’s Jems
A Snippet on Shungite Shungite is a beautiful, black stone that is mainly Carbon. A fun fact about Shungite is that it contains nearly all the minerals in the periodic table of elements and is thought to be over 2 billion years old! Its element is Earth and is associated with Scorpio and Capricorn. Its main companion stone is Malachite and it’s found in Russia. Shungite will boost your immune system, can help reduce inflammation and promote universal unity. It is helpful for relieving stress and will soak up the negative energy to help balance emotions as well as purify water. Shungite can reduce inflammation and EMF…
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Notes from the Apothecary
Notes from the Apothecary: The Beech Tree The common beech, or Fagus sylvatica, is a majestically large deciduous tree, native to North America and Europe, and a vital part of the ecosystem thanks to being home and food to many forms of wildlife. There are other beech species, all in the Fagus genus, with some native to Asia, including Fagus japonica, the Japanese blue beech, and Fagus engleriana, the Engler or Chinese beech. In the U.K. where I live, we often see “Copper Beeches”, which have distinct, purple-bronze leaves and look like they’re straight out of a fantasy tale. Interestingly, this isn’t a different species, but a carefully cultivated…
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Road to Runes
Nauthiz – Need and Sacrifice As part of my ongoing journey to understand more about the runes, I’ve decided to go totally random and use a rune generator rather than my physical set of runes. I’ve fallen out with these runes for personal reasons, and I do have another set but I don’t feel like I’m attuned to them yet. As frustrating as this purgatory-like stage is for divination purposes, it’s the ideal opportunity for getting some straight up learning in without questioning my own abilities or biases. The rune generator I’m using is ifate.com which I also chose at random after a quick Google search. This month I’ve…