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Summer Solstice & the Magical Fern Flower of Kupala Night
by Teachings of the Mythic Past Kupala’s Night or Kupalnocka is a Slavic celebration of the Summer Solstice. This celebration is similar to other Summer Solstice celebrations like Midsommar in Scandinavian countries or Litha of the Celts, or one of my favorites, Sanziene (Fairy Festival) in Romania. There is no coincidence that these charming festivals all take place during the week of the Summer Solstice. Many rituals are associated with this Solstice celebration and include natural elements such as fire and water. The significance of fire and water to the Slavic people corresponds directly to their connection with the Earth and also to Solar deities, water spirits, and many more…
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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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WitchCrafting: Crafts for Witches
Shell Wind Chime Merry meet! This issue’s WitchCrafting column is connected to a favorite summer activity: collecting shells at the beach. I have a difficult time not filling my pockets with these marine mollusks. Holding them, I can feel the energy of earth, water, fire, and air. Litha is a special time for capturing the essence of summer, in this case with a wind chime. I used shells that had naturally occurring holes, but instructional videos can be found for drilling them. Thin wire, dental floss, cotton twine, and other fibers can all be used to tie the shells into strips. Arrange them any way that pleases you.…
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Tarot with Lady Saoirse
Tarot with Lady Saoirse Litha 2023 Bright Blessings! In the last article, I had some tips for reading tarot, and how talent is required. No matter how much you read and how many classes you take, if you are not intuitive, doing psychic readings is not something you will excel at. So that brings us to a question then. How do you get a tarot reading from somebody else? You would think all you had to do is pick a random reader, then pay them, and everything else would be perfect. Sometimes, it works out that way, but sometimes it doesn’t. There are a lot of reasons that…
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MagickalArts
What Are the Magickal Arts? … As magickal practitioners we are all “artists” in our own ways, honing our skills of creating magick, weaving patterns of energy that affect change and calling to the most Divine of our natures as we align with cosmos, greater earth and all of the many Beings that inhabit those realms. And, I like where this trend is taking us in exploring the craft in all of forms…. Litha marks a quarter point that expresses the lasting nature of the the sun’s potency as we begin the descent into the dark half of the year. This issue we honor.. The Magickal…
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Summer Solstice/Litha Correspondences
(Wood Sun Garland with Rice Paper Center, Limited Edition by Jessica Pezalla of Bramble Workshop on Etsy.) June 21, 2022 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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Peeking in the Shadows: Crafting a Book of Shadows and Light
A Journey Through the Witch’s Wheel of the Year 2022! The Witch’s Wheel of the Year In the February Issue we began exploring the Sabbats of the Witch’s Wheel of the Year and beginning a journey of filling our BOS with information about how we celebrated and what we found to be true of our practice. For a review of what the Wheel of the Year is take a look at February’s posting here: Peeking in the Shadows: Crafting A Book of Shadows and Light-February2022 We Continue Our Journey Through the Witch’s Wheel and call to the Light of the Summer Solstice…. THE SUMMER SOLSTICE/LITHA The King…
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Celebrating The Old Ways in New Times
Celebrating The Old Ways in New Times for June/July 2022 Bright Blessings! By the time you read this, you may be saying, “It’s too HOT!!!!!” and are wishing for Fall time again! Think about just weeks ago, wishing Wintertime away because it was SO cold! Well…the weather will get hotter in Summer, and by the time you read this article, you may have your Summer Solstice plans underway! For some, this will be the first Summer in a couple of years they have felt safe to gather for Sabbat. What a wonderful feeling it is again to see soul kin. What better time than on a Solstice in Summer when…
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MagickalArts
A New (Witch’s Year)! The Space of Integration Happy July and the Space of Integration Between…. We’ve just celebrated the Summer Solstice and now have an opportunity to rest in the weeks between before the next Sabbat of Lammas and the Autumnal Equinox. How we choose to use that time can serve us in unexpected ways and deepen what we have carried from our experiences of those previous Sabbats. In that spirit, I would like to invite you to just simply breathe into this month of July. This month is the pause before each inhalation and the fullness before each exhalation of breath. We can choose to…
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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…