The Holidays of Witches occur on what we refer to as the Wheel of the Year. This illustrates the innate belief that earth regions hold that time is circular, not linear. We celebrate the Circle of Life, Death and Rebirth, apparent in nature as well as human life. Trough the celebrations and connections of these Holidays we are allowed to experience and thus understand the eternal process.

Each Holiday is briefly explained, and has its Ritual and special recipe.

• Samhain

• Yule

• Imbolc

• Ostara

• Beltaine

• Lammas

• Midsummer

• Mabon

Samhain

(Halloween - Shadow Feast - Old Hallowmas - Martinmas) October 31st

Southern hemisfere : May 1st

Samhain Ritual

Balefire in centre. Two black candles upon the altar. A red candle in each of the Quarters. A wreath of autumn flowers and the crown of the Horned One are upon the altar.
All Coveners are properly prepared, naked and bound. All are purified by the scourge.

HPS erects the Circle. The HP says: 

Facing north with arms upraised, coveners hand-linked in a semicircle behind him, the HP invokes the Horned One.

HPS bearing a priapus wand then leads the Coven in a meeting dance, slowly, to the Witches' Rune. HP gives each an unlit candle and brings up the rear of  the dance. The candles are each lit from the balefire before the outward  spiral. When it is done the HPS assumes the Goddess position saying:

HPS goes to the HP and, with wand, draws the five-point star upon his breast and upon the crown of the Horned God. HP kneels and HPS places the crown upon  his head. Fresh incense is cast into the thurible. HPS strikes the bell and HP says:

HPS strikes bell. Witches walk slowly around the Circle. HPS fills chalice with wine and hands it to HP who drinks and then says:

HP takes chalice to first witch, giving it with his right hand whilst taking the taper with his left (kiss), then extinguishing the taper before accepting back the chalice. Repeat with each witch present. HP then says:

Coveners partake of cakes and wine. Dances and games follow closing of Circle.
Great Rite if at all possible by High Priestess and High Priest if no other. Merry meet, merry part.

Samhain Cakes

Makes about 3 dozen; dough must be chilled several hours to overnight.

1/2 c veg. oil
4 sq unsweetened chocolate (4 oz) melted
2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups pastry flour (not hard, sifted or cake flour)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup confectioner's sugar

Mix oil, chocolate, and granulated sugar. Blend in one egg at a time until well mixed. Add vanilla. Measure flour by dipping method or by sifting. Stir flour, baking powder, and salt into oil mixture. Chill several hours to overnight.

Heat oven to 350 deg F [175 deg C]. Roll about a tablespoon of dough into a ball (yes, it's messy). Drop balls into confectioner's sugar & roll around until coated. Place about 2 inches apart on greased baking sheet. Bake 10-12 min. They will be a little soft but should not be mushy. Edges should be firm. Don't overbake---these burn easily.

Yule 

(Yuletide - Alban - Arthan)  Winter Solstice

Southern hemisphere : June 21st

Yule Ritual

Let all be properly prepared and purified. In the centre (or just south of centre) of the Circle stands the Cauldron of Cerridwen wreathed about with pine boughs, holly, ivy and mistletoe and therein is laid a balefire of nine woods: Rowan, apple, elder, holly, pine, cedar, juniper, poplar and  dogwood.

The altar is decorated as is the Cauldron and bears two red candles as well as an unlit red candle or torch for each covener present. There should be no other light except the altar candles and those  about the Circle.

HP casts the Circle, calling forth the Ancient Ones to bear witness. HP draws down the moon upon the HPS and then lights the balefire. HP then moves to the north, before the altar, as the HPS stands in the south with the coveners in a circle, alternately man and woman, about the Cauldron between them.

The circle now moves slowly deosil once about the Circle. As each passes the HPS they kiss her upon the cheek; as they pass the HP, he hands each one a candle which is lit from the balefire.

Coveners dance slowly deosil as the HP calls: 

All raise their tapers high and repeat twice the last line.  HPS joins the dance, leading it with a quieter rhythm. The burning cauldron is pushed into the centre and the dancers jump over it in man and woman couples.  The last couple over the fire should be well purified, three times each, and may pay an amusing forfeit as the HPS may ordain.

Cakes and wine follows and, after the Circle has been closed, much merriment, feasting, dancing and games.

Wassail- A Yule Beverage

3 red apples
3 oz brown sugar
2 pints brown ale, apple cider, or hard cider
1/2 pint dry sherry or dry white wine
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger strips or lemon peel

Core and heat apples with brown sugar and some of the ale or cider in an oven for 30 minutes. Put in large pan and add rest of spices and lemon peel, simmer on stove top of 5 minutes. Add most of the alcohol at the last minute so it heats up but does not evaporate. Burgundy and brandy can be substituted to the ale and sherry. White sugar and halved oranges may also be added to taste. Makes enough for eight. Wassail!

Imbolc

(Candlemas - Lupercus - Imbolg - Disting) February 2nd

Southern hemisphere : August 2nd

Imbolc Ritual
The HPS, carrying the Wand, leads the coveners with a dance step to the chosen site.
The Volta Dance follows: in other words, lively dancing in couples. HPS casts the Circle in the usual way. HP then enters the Circle, with a Sword in his right hand and a Wand in his left. He lays these on the altar. HP now salutes the HPS with the Fivefold Kiss. She says 'Blessed be' and gives him the Fivefold Kiss in return. HP assumes the god position before the altar as the HPS invokes:

Any initiations to be done are done at this point. The ceremony of Cakes and Wine follows.
The Great Rite is done if at all possible. Feasting, dancing and games follow the closing of the ritual.

Imbolc Cresent Cakes

Ingredients:

1¼ cups flour
¾ cup sugar
1 cup finely ground almonds
3 drops almond extract
½ cup butter or margarine, softened
1 tablespoon honey
1 egg yolk

In a large mixing bowl, combine the first four ingredients. Add the butter, honey, egg yolk and mix together well. Cover with aluminum foil or plastic wrap, and then chill for 1½ to 2 hours in the refrigerator.

When ready, pinch off pieces of the dough (about the size of plums) and shape them into crescents.

Place the crescents on a well-greased cookie sheet and bake in a 350-degree preheated oven for approximately 20 minutes. The recipe yields about one dozen crescent cakes.

Ostara

(Vernal Equinox - Ostara - Esther)  First day of Springtide

Southern hemisphere : September 21st

Ostara Ritual
A Symbol of the Wheel is on the altar, flanked with burning candles, or with fire in some form - torches, or small tripods with fire in their cups. The Symbol of the Wheel may be a plain disc, or an eight spoked wheel, or the pentacle. Alex and Maxine Sanders used a circular mirror with a broad frame, also circular, decorated as a twelve-pointed star.

In the centre of the Circle is either a cauldron full of inflammable material, or (out of doors) a bonfire ready to be lit. HPS casts the Circle. HPS then stands in the West, and the HP in the East, both with carrying wands, and says :

HPS then draws invoking pentagram before the HP and then hands the Wand to him, together with the scourge.

The Maiden strikes a light and hands it to the High Priest, who lights the cauldron or bonfire. He (carrying a wand) and the High Priestess (carrying a sistrum) lead the dance, with the rest following in couples. Each couple must leap over the fire.  The last couple over the fire before it goes out must be well purified. The man must then give a fivefold kiss to each of the women, as the woman to the men, or any other penalty the HPS shall decide. Cakes and wine shall follow.

Ostara Egg Cookies

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup margarine or butter, softened
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
Granulated sugar
Frosting (See recipes following instructions)

Mix powdered sugar, margarine, egg, vanilla and almond extract. Stir in flour, baking soda and cream of tartar. Cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours. Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Divide dough into halves. Roll each half 1/8 inch thick. Cut with egg-shaped cutter made by bending and shaping round cookie cutter. Bake as directed and decorate with Easy Creamy Icing or another frosting. (See below)

Easy Creamy Icing

Mix 1 cup powdered sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Beat in 1 to 2 tablespoons half and half until smooth and of spreading consistency. Add food coloring to color as desired. Or try the next recipe!

Easy Cream Cheese Frosting

Mix 1 cup cream cheese, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 3/4 cup powdered sugar. Blend powdered sugar and cream cheese well until lumps are gone. Add vanilla and salt, blend again for one minute. Color with food dye if desired.

Beltaine

(Mayday - Walburga - Bealtinne) May 1st

Southern hemisphere : November 1st

Beltaine Ritual

Two white candles are on the altar with a wreath of spring flowers. Quarter candles are green.

HPS leads the coven, riding poles if possible, about the Covenstead with a quick, trotting step, singing:
  

A ring dance follows after which the High Priestess casts the Circle. High Priest draws down the Moon upon the High Priestess. All are purified in sacrifice before Her. She then purifies the High Priest at her own hands. All partake of Cakes and Wine followed by feasting and dancing and singing and the Great Rite, if at all possible, in token or truly.

Another Beltaine Ritual for two (c) Diana Rajchel 1998

Casting the Circle
  

White light, encircle us brightly
dance around us, ever spritely!
Protect us in this circle round
Where love and light are all profound!
All the dark is cast without
And the circle raised, so shall we shout:
  

IO EVOE! IO EVOE! IO EVOe!
 

As above, so below, so mote it be!

At the east I release the scent
of honeysuckle
while in a field winds caress
two lovers spent!

At the south I light the fire
in deepest red
as the sun licks the skin
arousing lovers to desire!

At the west I pour out water
cleaning my bare skin
the rivers flow around the bodies
of lovers finding their secrets within

At the north I kiss the earth
that supports my body
it is the bed where lovers lie
as they build each others' worth

Invocation:

Great Horned God
Oh Wild Son
We adore you in this rite of spring!

Oh Maiden Goddess
Virgin and Lover
We celebrate your maidenhood!

Meditation time

Each person should take a candle, previously blessed and oiled. There should be one red ribbon, about 13 inches. Partners should sit facing each other and take one end of the ribbon. Each person should name something he/she loves about his/her partner, and wrap the ribbon around the candle. Once all is named, knot off the ribbon and say: so it is! And light the candles.

Perform the Great Rite in any method preferred.

"Sweet Lady,
Our rite is done
And we ever thank you for your blessings!

Wild Lord
Our rite is done
Your present and strength are ever welcome!

Earth that supports us, our celebration is done!

Water that washes us, our celebration is done!

Fire that kindles us, our celebration is done!

Air that rouses us, our celebration is done!

This circle is open, but never broken
to return from whence it came! So mote it Be!"

Beltaine Oat Cakes

1 1/2 cups oat flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup brown sugar (to make them sweeter use up to one full cup)
3/4 cup butter (unsalted)
1 egg
1 cup mashed ripe fruit (banana, peaches, something soft)
1 3/4 cup rolled oats

Spices: nutmeg, cinnamon is a good combo or cardamom is nice by itself (approx. 1/4 tsp) 1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional).

Mix flour, baking powder, and brown sugar together. Make sure to smash any lumps. Cut butter into mixture with a pastry blender (or make do with a fork). Add egg and fruit, and nuts. Drop rounded tablespoon of dough onto greased cookie sheet (about 2-3 in apart). Bake at 350 deg F [175 deg C] for 15 min or until cookies look "dry".

Lughnasadh

(Lammas - August Eve) August 1st

Southern hemisphere : February 1st

 
Lammas Ritual

Poles should be ridden in a ring dance about the Covenstead. And sing the Ancient Call. The casting of the Circle follows. HPS traces the Five Point Star before the Coven saying:

HPS draws down the Moon upon herself and all salute Her. After a brief silence for contemplation, the Ceremony of Cakes and Wine follows.

Lammas Raisin Bread

2 cups rolled oats
5 cups water
1/3 cup honey
1 Tb salt
2/3 cup wheat germ
2 package (2 Tbs) dry yeast
6 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup raisins
2 cups white flour

Cook the oats in 4 cups boiling water until they are just soft (5-10 min). Stir in honey, salt, and wheat germ. Allow to cool to lukewarm.

Dissolve yeast in 1 C. warm water and stir into oats with 3 C. of the whole wheat flour. Beat this sponge w/wooden spoon for a few minutes. Cover bowl with tea towel. Let rise in warm, draft-free place for 1 hour or until doubled volume.

Stir down sponge. Stir in raisins & remaining 3 C. whole wheat flour. Sprinkle 1 C.white flour over a flat wooden or marble surface and turn the dough out onto it. Sprinkle the second C. of white flour on top of the dough and carefully begin kneading. Knead for about 10 min, or until smooth and elastic. Form into ball. Put in large, buttered bowl. Turn so it is evenly buttered. Cover with tea towel and put the dough away to rise for another hour or until doubled in volume.

Punch down. Cut into 4 even parts. Form each into a loaf and place in 4 buttered medium-size pans. Cover with tea towels. Let rise for about 1/2 hour. Bake in preheated oven at 400 deg F [200 deg C] for 15 min, then turn heat down to 350 deg. (175 deg. C) and bake for another 30-40 min. Makes 4 loafs.

Midsummer

Summer Solstice

Southern hemisphere : December 21st

Midsummer Ritual

The cauldron, filled with water and decorated with flowers, is placed before the altar. HPS casts the Circle and then stands before the Cauldron, wand upraised. HP stands in North behind the altar; coven is in a circle, facing inwards, alternately man and woman. HPS says:

HPS traces an invoking pentagram upon the HP with her wand. He comes desoil about the altar picking up his own wand and the scourge.  He plunges the wand into the cauldron and holds it up, saying:
  

Saluting HPS with wand, he joins the Coven in their circle. HPS picks up a sprinkler and stands by the cauldron, saying:

HP leads a slow circle dance deosil about the Cauldron. As each passes, HPS sprinkles them with water from it. Cakes and wine follow and dances, rites and games as the HPS shall direct. A balefire may be lit and leaped.

Candied Roses

1 cup hot water
2 cups sugar
2 cups small rosebuds OR 4 cups violets

The flowers, very fresh and firm, should be washed, drained, and stemmed.

Combine water and sugar. Stir until sugar is thoroughly dissolved. Add flowers. Simmer over medium heat until the syrup reaches 234 degrees farenheit on a candy thermometer (or until a small amount of syrup, when dropped into very cold water, forms a ball which flattens on removal). Stir flowers gently with a wooden spoon. Remove from heat and continue stirring until syrup begins to crystallize, and reaches the consistency of coarse meal.

Drain in a colander. Shake off excess sugar. Cool on wax paper. Pack into sterilized jars. Use as edible decorations for fruit salads, desserts, and cakes.

Mabon  

Autumn Equinoxe

Southern Hemisphere : March 21st

Mabon Ritual
The altar is decorated with the symbols of autumn: pine-cones, oak sprigs, acorns, ears of grain, etc. After the Circle has been cast, the coven stands in a ring facing inwards, men and women alternately. The High Priest stands to the west of the altar and the High Priestess to the east, facing each other. The High Priestess recites:

HPS hands HP the wand, and picks up a sistrum; they lead the dance three
times round the altar. The Candle Game is played, followed by cakes and wine and any other games the High Priestess decides on.

The Candle game

        The men form a ring facing inwards, either sitting or standing.
        The women stand in a ring outside them, standing on something if too short.
        The men pass a lighted candle from hand to hand, deosil, while the women lean
              forward and try to blow it out.
        The man who holds it when it is blown out gets three flicks of the scourge from
              the successful blower, and must give her the Fivefold Kiss in return.
        The candle is relit and the game proceeds.

Marigold Custard

2 cups milk
1/3 cup unsprayed marigold petals
1/4 tsp. salt
3 tbsp. sugar
1 to 2-inch piece vanilla bean
3 egg yolks, slightly beaten
1/8 tsp. allspice
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. rose water
Heavy whipped cream

Using a clean mortar and pestle reserved for cooking purposes, pound marigold petals. Or, crush with a spoon or fork. Mix the salt, sugar and spices together. Scald milk with the marigolds and the vanilla bean. Remove the vanilla bean and add the slightly beaten yolks and dry ingredients. Cook on low heat. When the mixture coats a spoon, add rose water and cool.

Top with whipped cream, garnish with fresh marigold petals (optional).

Thirteen Goals of a Witch

1. Know Yourself
2. Know your Craft (Wicca)
3. Learn
4. Apply knowledge with wisdom
5. Achieve balance
6. Keep your words in good order
7. Keep your thoughts in good order
8. Celebrate life
9. Attune with the cycles of the Earth
10. Breathe and eat correctly
11. Exercise the bode
12. Meditate
13. Honor the Goddess and God

1. The power shall not be used to bring harm, to injure or control others. But if the need rises, the Power shall be used to protect your life or the lives of others.
2. The Power is used only as need dictates.
3. The Powe can be used for your own gain, as long as by doing so you harm none.
4. It is unwise to accept money for the use of your Power, for it quickly controls its taker. Be not those of other religions.
5. Use not the Power for prideful gain, for such cheapens the mysteries of Wicca and magick.
6. Ever remember that the Power is the sacred gift of the Goddess and God, and should never be misused or abused.
7. And this is the law of the Power.

 

To practicing Craft members , Samhain is one of the four High Holidays, or Greater Sabbats. It is one of the cross-quarter days. Because it is the most important holiday of the year, it is sometimes called 'The Great Sabbat. Samhain, (pronounced sow-en) is celebrated beginning the Eve of October 31 (starts at sunset) until November 2nd (at sunset) as the beginning of the Celtic New Year, and represents one full turn of the "seasonal" year. It is the holiday that signalizes the end of harvest and the initiation of the winter season, lasting until May (Bealtaine, which is a gaelic word and more commonly said "Beltane" in America.). It is a memorial day for deceased friends, similar to the national holiday of Memorial Day. It is a time for giving thanks and much celebrating. It is a time to begin projects, to throw out the old and begin the new. Samhain is considered a time of reflection, a time for remembering ancestors and setting new goals. The day before Nov 1st, at sunset, when Samhain begins is one of the more powerful and magickal days of the seasons. This is the day that we say a temporary farewell to the God as he passes on and readies himself to be reborn. It is said to be the time when souls that are leaving this physical plane pass out and souls that are reincarnating pass in. Directly opposite Bealtane on the wheel of the year, Samhain is considered Bealtane's dark twin. It is a night of much power, when the veil that separates our world from that of Tir Nan Og (The land of the Young) or known to the celts as Emania in some traditions, is at its thinnest. (This is also called The Land of the Dead, where our "souls" go upon death to await rebirth.) It is said that one can commune with lost loved ones as they begin their journey across the barriers.The end of autumn, it is also, more importantly, the end of the old year and the beginning of the new. The dark phase of the year (winter) begins once more. Now for a bit of history, we must go back to old Irish tradition. The Celts had 3 harvests: Aug 1, or Lammas, was the first harvest, when the first fruits of the season were offered to the Gods in thanks. The Fall Equinox was the "true harvest". This was when the bulk of crops would be brought in. Samhain was the final harvest of the year. Anything left on the vines or in fields after this date was considered blasted by the fairies and unfit for human consumption. Samhain was one of the sacred "Fire Festivals" of the druids. All the hearth fires in Ireland were extinguished, and then re-lit from the central fire of the Druids at Tlachtga, 12 miles from the royal hill of Tara. The extinguishing of the fires symbolized the "dark half" of the year, and the re-kindling from the Druidic fires was symbolic of returning life. It was believed that departed loved ones could return to the land of the living on Samhain to celebrate with their families. The great burial mounds of Ireland, "sidhe (shee) mounds", translated as "faery mounds", were opened up and strewn with lighted torches along their walls, so the beloved dead could find their way home safely. Extra places were set at the table and food provided for any of the years deceased that wished to partake. This holiday was said to be the very best for divination. At no other holiday was it as likely to succeed. The custom of dressing in costume and going from house to house is of Celtic origin and was actively indulged in by adults as well as children. Also, the 'treat' which was required was often one of spirits or alcohol. Here is a prayer that is used frequently on this day . Every beginning has an ending, And every ending is a new beginning. In Life there is Death, and in Death there is Life. Watch over me and my loved ones, and all of my Brothers and Sisters, here and departed, Who, tonight are joined together once again for Fellowship and celebration. Bless us all as we light our bonfires, our hearth fires, And the eternal fires in our hearts. Guide us and protect us, Tonight and throughout the coming year. Blessed Be Emania! Blessed Be Akasha! Symbolism of Samhain: The Third Harvest, the Dark Mysteries, Rebirth through Death. Symbolized by jack-o'-lanterns, the balefire, besoms, masks, and cauldrons. Herbs of Samhain: Mugwort, Allspice, Broom, Catnip, Deadly Nightshade, Mandrake, Oak leaves, Sage and Straw. Foods of Samhain: Corn,Beets, Turnips, Gingerbread, Apples, Spices, Pumpkin Pie, Hazelnuts, Gourds, Nuts, Mulled Wines, Beef, Pork, Poultry. Also potatoes, cabbage and onions, oatcakes. Incense of Samhain: Heliotrope, Apple, Sage, Mint, Nutmeg, Frankincense, Basil, Yarrow, Clove, and Camphor. Colors of Samhain: Black, Orange, Red, White, Silver, Gold and Yellow Gold. Stones of Samhain: All Black Stones, jet, obsidian, onyx. Spellwork for Samhain: Protection, Reflection, Renewal, Getting rid of the negative.

    The Winter Solstice/Dec 21  

A big change of scenery in here for the season. lol! I can't help it. As an artist, I love to play with decorations and web pages. I would guess that many of you have already put up your trees and maybe even put the gifts beneath them. And I'm sure by now that you have the lights and decorations on them. And a few of you have probably attended parties and watched someone getting a kiss or two beneath the mistletoe.

Nobody much goes wassailing anymore but we all used to. I know I did a few times anyway as a kid. I couldn't sing very well, and still can't, lol, but I did try back then. Thankfully I have other talents. But we do hear a lot of songs like "Deck the Halls" and Jingle Bells" anyway these days on the radio, tv, and in the stores we shop in. The neighborhoods we live in are all alight with the glow of the season. There are wreaths on the doors and candles in the windows. There's punch, eggnog, cakes, pies, and a feast at this time of year for those that are lucky enough to have one. And for those that aren't, there are wonderful people like Elf Louise and Father McNeil here in Texas. Have you ever wondered where all these traditions come from?

As followers of the Craft, our celebrations still follow many of the ancient customs of the season, such as the ones above. We have decorated trees, wassailing or carroling, gift giving, Yule logs, and mistletoe as a part of our ancestry during the holidays. Yes, these " Christmas" traditions are pagan in nature. But if you will notice, the word "Christmas" isn't in that sentence above anywhere, and the reason for that is because when I did these very things for my first few years, I wasn't celebrating "Christmas" but the Winter's Solstice. All of these customs were handed down from our pagan traditions. In the olde days, we still sang from house to house, and as part of a household full of the Irish spirit, there was quite a bit of laughing, toasting, and partying.

In the olde days, (Not in my time, lol,Way before it. In the days of the Druids.) a hymn was (and sometimes still is) sung to the trees, wishing them good health and long lives. Then after the singing, a blessing was also given to aid them in fruitfulness. Soon you would hear the sound of guns being fired into the distance to drive away any baleful spirits and the toasts would begin. Nobody but a Celt can make toasts like those you would hear on this sacred day. Once the drinking and toasting was all finished, the remainder of the drink was poured out on the earth around the trunk while bread or cakes from the wassail celebrations were placed upon its branches. It was such a merry and joyous time of year. The Midwinter's Festival, it is also called. But it wasn't to be merry for very long. Soon the church would come in and try to change it.

In all actuality, this holiday season of Christmas has always been more Pagan than Christian, with it's associations of the Celtic fertility rites. As a matter of fact, the Christian version of this holiday wasn't celebrated in Ireland until the late fifth century; in England, Switzerland, and Austria until the seventh; in Germany until the eighth; and in the Slavic lands until the ninth and tenth.

In the olde days, the Church deplored anything pagan and had this holiday declared "outlawed", and so the pagans were no longer allowed to enjoy their holidays in the open. It was only many years later that christians finally began to celebrate the Winter Solstice, but by another name. This began when the church finally delegated the birth of the Christ child to December 25th, and thus "Christ Mass". This new christian holiday was so close to the birth of our own sweet Sun King on December 21st, whose birth, death, and resurrection seemed strangely close to that of Jesus Christ and predated him as well, that one has to wonder. *smiles*

The Winter Solstice, (Dec 21st or thereabouts) is a Lesser Sabbat or Lower Holiday, one of the four quarter-days of the year, but a very important one. It is the seed-time of the year, the longest night and shortest day.

In the olde days, it was also a druidic festival known by the name of Alban Arthuan, or Arthur's Light and it was a time when gifts were bestowed on the less fortunate. It was the birthday of King Aurthur. This is when the dark half of the year gives over to the light half. From now on, the light will be increasing, from the Winter Solstice until the Summer Solstice. Beginning at sunrise , the sun will climb a little higher and stay out a little longer each day. On Solstice Eve, the longest night and shortest day of the year, among the celts of olde, there was much celebrating as the ancestors awaited the rebirth of the Oak King, the Sun King, and the One that had warmed the frozen Earth and made her bear fruit. On this darkest of nights, the Goddess becomes the Great Mother once again and gives birth to the new Sun King. (Very similar to the birth of Christ, is it not?)

Alban Arthuan was a festival of peace and a celebration of waxing solar light. Many honored the forthcoming Sun child by burning an oaken Yule log, and honored the Goddess in her many Mother aspects. The Father God was also honored in various forms, such as Santa Claus, the Old Sky God, Father Time, and the Holly King.

The full moon falling closest to the Winter Solstice is called the Oak Moon in honor of the God, and is associated with the Oak tree. As we celebrate the Winter Solstice, many of us think of the elderly "old year" being replaced by the child "new year." The dualistic God experiences the Holly King dying of old age (the old year passing) and at the same time, the Oak King is reborn (the new year arriving).

Back in the days of the druids, this holiday was also celebrated by the lighting of bonfires in the fields and wassailing (carroling) of the trees and crops. Many a time the nature spirits were toasted with the delicious taste of spiced cider.

The children of that ancient time period, used to run and sometimes sing from house to house with apples and oranges. These were carried in baskets full of evergreen and wheat stalks dusted with flour. The apples and oranges represented the sun. The Evergreen was symbolic of immortality, the wheat stalks portrayed the harvest, and the flour was an accomplishment of triumph, light, and life. Holly, mistletoe, and ivy decorated many a home, both outside and in. Mistletoe (and their white berries) represent the rebirth power and fertility of the God. The Holly (and the red berries) represent the rebirth power and fertility of the Goddess.Those that decorated in this way thought to offer an invitation to the Nature Sprites so that they might come and join in the celebration on this night. All year long, a sprig of Holly was hung near the door as a constant invitation to good fortune.

On this, the longest night of the winter, 'the dark night of our souls', there springs new hope, the Sacred Fire, the Light of the World. On this night, divinations will be cast, magick and rituals will be performed, and everyone will celebrate with food aplenty. This was a night for fertility rites in the olde days as well, but in the olde days, girls standing under the mistletoe were apt to receive much more than a kiss. Many pagans may choose to perform the Great Rite at this time of year as well in honor of the birth of the new Lord.

 

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  Ritual for the Winter Solstice here!!

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  Winter Solstice  

Also called: Yule, Jul, Saturnalia, Christmas, solar/secular New Year

Full Moon closest to the holiday: December 10th, 2000 - 4:03 A.M. - Full Moon (Cold Moon)

dates: around December 21

Nature Spirit Correspondences: snow faeries, storm faeries, winter tree faeries

energy: regeneration & renewal

Goddesses: Great Mother, Isis, Mary, Tonazin, Lucina, Bona Dea, Brighid, Isis, Demeter, Gaea, Diana, Hectate, Athene,The Fates

Gods: Sun Child, Horus, Jesus, Mithras, Santa/Odin, Saturn,Apollo,Lugh, The Oak King, The Horned One, The Green Man, The Divine Child, Mabon.

Holly King rituals: personal renewal, world peace, honoring family & friends

customs: wreaths, lights, gift-giving, singing, feasting, resolutions, ....The evergreen tree is used to represent eternity of life and longevity ...

Symbols: yule logs, evergreen boughs, holly, mistletoe, baskets of clove studded fruit, Christmas Cactus, poinsettias

Herbs or Plants: Christmas Cactus, Bayberry, blessed thistle, evergreen, frankincense holly, laurel, mistletoe, oak, pine, ivy, fir, sage, yellow cedar.

Foods: fruits, nuts, pork dishes, turkey, eggnog, ginger tea, spiced cider, ale, roasted apples).

Incense: violet, patchouli, frankincense, myrrh, lilac, rose geranium, pine, cedar, bayberry, cinnamon.

Colors: blood red, white, black, red, green, gold, silver, yellow, orange.

Stones: serpentine, jacinth, peridot,rubies, bloodstones, garnets, emeralds, diamonds.

Animal Correspondences: Mouse, deer, horse, bear
Bird Correspondences: rook, robin, snowy owl

Activities: Wassailing the trees, burning the Yule log, decorating the Yule tree, gift giving, kissing under the mistletoe

Spellwork: Peace, harmony, love, and increased happiness.

     

IMBOLG Oimelc (“ee-melc”), is known in Modern Irish as Imbolc (pronounced the same). It is one of the major fire festivals and is a Cross Quarter holiday. This is the festival of the lactating sheep. In the gaelic, Imbolc/Imbolg (pronounced "IM-bulk") means 'in the belly' (of the Mother). Most of the cattle and sheep have either given birth or their wombs are swollen and ready around this time of the year. Being one of the first festivals of Spring, Imbolc is geared towards the return of the Fire Goddess, Brighid. This goddess is another aspect of the Triple Goddess, yet she herself has 3 aspects. And these three aspects are all depicted as being the same age, and not the “Mother-Maiden-Crone” trinity, and so she is often called The Three Mothers or The Triple Brigids. It is said that she breathes life into the mouth of the dead Winter to get him to open his eyes to the tears, the smiles, the sighs and the laughter of Springtime. The cold trembles for its safety on the day of this most Holy Goddess. She is honored as the Maiden and the Bride on this Sabbat. Celebrations of banishing the winter and welcoming the spring abound on this day throughout the Irish countryside. This seasonal holiday marks the recovery of the Goddess after giving birth to the Sun God. Finally recovered, she awakens and then Spring begins at last, bringing with it the first blossoms of new growth and hopefully the last of winter. Marking the center point of the dark half of the year, Imbolc is also known as the festival of the Maiden, for from now until March 21st, it is her season to prepare for growth and renewal. At the ancient Irish capitol of Kildare, there is a sacred shrine set up in Brighid's honor. There, a group of 19 priestesses keep a perpetual flame burning in her honor. Considered the goddess of fire, patroness of poetry, smithcraft, and healing, this holiday was originally marked by the kindling of the sacred fires. Her name means 'The Exalted One.' Brighid also symbolizes the fire of birth and healing, the fire of the forge, and the fire of poetic inspiration. This goddess, known to christians today as Saint Brigit, was so revered that the celtic people refused to give her up, when the catholic church came along and tried to force them into refuting their old beliefs. So instead the church claimed she was a missionary and that the Irish people were simply confused, and thus the Goddess also became a Saint. Prior to this occurence, the olde ways of celebrating were by feasting on cake and ale and giving gifts of butter and roasted meat to those neighbors too poor to be able to afford their own. Home hearth fires were extinguished and re-lit. A besom was placed by the front door to symbolize sweeping out the old and welcoming the new. Candles were lit in every window in every room, and left to burn until morning. The people also created straw brideóga or small Corn dollies from oat or wheat straw and placed them in baskets with white flower beddings to symbolize Brighid. The young girls then carried them to each of their neighbors homes, and some form of gift was bestowed upon the bearer from each household. On occasion, a young girl dressed in white was representative of Brighid instead. This girl might hand out a Brigid’s Cross as she stopped at each household. These crosses of rushes or straw were made on the eve before and hung inside the house, and sometimes even in the byre and the stables, in honor of Brigid and to gain her protection. The crosses, themselves, are not traditionally Christian crosses, but appear to be symbolic of the sun. It was said that at this time of year, Brighid herself traveled the countryside, blessing the people and their livestock. In return, the celtic people left an offering of cake or bread and butter outside on the windowsill for her. A sheaf of corn was often left as well, as an offering of food for the white cow, whose milk had nourished her since she was a child, and was often found traveling with her. One of the stories told about 'Saint Brigit', who is of course, also the goddess, Brighid, was that as a child, the villagers noted a glowing fire coming from the house where she and her mother lay sleeping, yet not a spark touched either them or the house. It simply glowed like the burning bush of the Old Testament and was gone by morning. Deities All Virgin/Maiden Goddesses, Brighid, Aradia, Athena, Inanna, Gaia, and Februa, and Gods of Love and Fertility, Aengus Og, Eros, and Februus. Symbolism of Imbolc: Purity, Growth and Renewal, The Re-Union of the Goddess and the God, Fertility, and dispensing of the old and making way for the new. Associated with Imbolc Brideo'gas, Besoms, White Flowers, Candle Wheels, Brighid's Crosses, Priapic Wands, and Ploughs. Herbs Blackberry, Celandine, Tansy, Violets, Coltsfoot, Angelica, Basil, Bay Laurel, Blackberry, Heather, Iris, Myrrh, and all white or yellow flowers. Foods Butter, Peppers, Onions, Garlic, Raisins, Sunflower seeds, Poppyseed Cakes, muffins, scones, and breads, all dairy products, Spiced Wines and Herbal Teas. Incense Basil, Cinnamon, Violet, Bay, Wisteria, Vanilla, Myrrh. Colors White, Pink, Red, Yellow, Light Green, Brown. Stones Amethyst, Ruby, Onyx, Bloodstone, Garnet, Turquoise.

Spring Equinox

The Vernal Equinox, also called the Spring Equinox, Lady Day and ”Alban Eiler” (which means, "Light of the Earth) is one of the Lesser Sabbats or Low Holidays of the year, one of the four quarter-days. It is also called the Festival of Trees and is a time to cultivate gardens and celebrate Mother Nature's bounty. This holiday varies as far as celebrations are concerned. Some will choose the traditional folk 'fixed' date of March 25th, starting on its Eve while others will choose the actual equinox to celebrate .

Ostara is a celebration of conception, regeneration and the triumph of light over darkness. Life is returning to the land and we begin to see the blossoms of springtime and new plant growth. This marks the first day of spring and as the Goddess regains her strength, she prepares for motherhood once again. During this time, the hours of day and night are equal, and the light is overtaking darkness. This is the season to celebrate the victory of life over death. The young God is maturing, and is once again the consort of the Goddess. The Goddess, who has returned to her Virgin aspect, welcomes the young sun god's attentions and conceives a child. And the child will be born nine months hence, at the next Winter Solstice. And so the cycle continues.

Many call this Equinox "Eostara" or "Ostara". And because of this it is often mixed up with the christian holiday of Easter because it also celebrates the victory of the sun god or Jesus over darkness (death). The name 'Easter' was coined from the name of a Teutonic lunar Goddess, Eostre and her symbols were the bunny and the egg, both symbols of fertility. Her holiday, the Eostara, was held on the Vernal Equinox at the Full Moon. Of course, the Church doesn't celebrate full moons, so they celebrate Easter the first Sunday, after the first Full Moon, that falls after the Equinox.

The Vernal Equinox is the season to celebrate the victory of life over death. It is a time of new beginnings, of action, of spells for future gain, and a time of tending to your gardens.

Deities: Taliesin, Lugh, Bríd, Aren, Danu, and Bel

colors: green, yellow

Traditional Foods: Leafy green vegetables, Dairy foods, Nuts such as Pumpkin, Sunflower and Pine. Flower Dishes and Sprouts. Light foods, fish, maple sugar candies, sweet breads, eggs.

Herbs and Flowers: Daffodil, Jonquils, Woodruff, Violet, Gorse, Olive, Peony, Iris, Narcissus and all spring flowers.

Incense: Jasmine, Rose, Strawberry, Lavender, Narcissus & Broom, Floral of any type.

Sacred Gemstone: Jasper

Special Activities: Planting seeds or starting a Garden. Nature walks.

Bealtaine (April 30 - May 1)     Oh, do not tell the Priest our plight,
Or he would call it a sin;
But we have been out in the woods all night,
A-conjuring Summer in!
By Kipling  

According to the ancient Irish 'Book of Invasions', the first settler, Partholan, arrived in Ireland on May 1st; and it was on this date that an awful plague came and destroyed his people. Years later, the Tuatha De Danann, the gods of Ireland, (faeries to many) were conquered by the Milesians on May Day. It is also on this day, May 1st, that the celts celebrate the holiday of fertility and flowers, Maypoles, and greenwood, otherwise called Bealtaine...(Beltane, Beltaine). By the way, this is NOT what the celts referred to as Lady's Day. The Vernal Equinox holds that honor, yet many have mistaken this celebration for it and called it by this name in error.

 

Although springtime actually begins at the spring equinox, it finally comes to complete fruition at Beltane or May Day, the May cross-quarter. The coming of Beltane forecasts the final arrival of Summer. Legend has it that if you bathed in the dew of Beltane morn, you would retain your youthful beauty throughout the following year. Also called May Eve, it is at this time that the God (Bel), the Celtic god of light, and Goddess fall in love once more and she looks upon him now as her consort. Joining together, soon she will become pregnant as the unending cycle continues. Some say that Bel is the Brythonic Celt equivalent to the Goidelic Celt god Cernunnos.

Honoring this Celtic god known as Bel, the ancient celts would light a balefire (Bel Fire) in his honor. Bel has also been called Balar, Beli, Balor or Belenus among other names. The word "Beltaine" itself means "brilliant fire," and so it is, as this is another of the celtic fire festivals.

And since the celtic people celebrate the renewal of the Sun and of life itself on Beltane, this makes this the perfect time to honor the fertility of the Earth as well as that of the Mother. This special time of year is also a good time for love, marriages and meditation.

In the olde days, the people often used this day to come together and find mates or even lovers. It was always a celebration of fertility and pleasure. Beginning on sundown of April 30 in ancient Ireland, tradition decreed that no one lit a Bel-fire until the Ard Ri, High King, had lit the first one up on Tara Hill, in Co. Meath, Ireland. Cattle was then driven between these two sacred fires to protect them from disease and to ensure a good production of milk the following season . According to lore, these 'need-fires' had many healing properties.

Afterwards, there was often the dance of the May Pole, a fertility dance in which men and women danced around the pole or (Yule) tree, holding onto red & white ribbons and interweaving them as they went round. Often this celebration ended in the culmination of the joining of the sexes here as well. By custom, many young lovers would disappear into the forest, only reappearing with the morning. Handfastings were also abundant at this time of year, where a couple would take each other in marriage for a year and a day, then dissolving it only if not pleased with each other. Another oft used tradition was to leap over the BelFire for luck. Unmarried people leaped over the fire in hopes of finding a mate, travelers jumped to ensure a safe journey, and pregnant women jumped it in hopes of an easy delivery.

This cross-quarter festival itself has gone by numerous names throughout the centuries. One of such names is Cetsamhain which means 'opposite Samhain' .It was also known as Beltaine in Ireland, Bealtunn in Scotland, Shenn do Boaldyn on the Isle of Man and Galan Mae in Wales. By the Saxons it was called Walpurgisnacht, “the night of Walpurga”, goddess of May. Unfortunately as they did with Brighid, the Church transformed this goddess into St. Walpurga in an effort to convert the people to christianity.

Beltaine is the perfect time to extend all cleansing and purification rites to the very boundaries of your property as well as mend any old arguments etc with your neighbors. Being the tree of hope, pleasure, and protection, the Hawthorn Tree was used in the past to decorate the homes of the people during Beltaine but cutting it was only allowed at this particular time of year. This tradition is carried over by many today.

  BELTANE CORRESPONDENTS    

colors: rainbow spectrum, blue, green, pastels, all colors
tools: Maypole & ribbons, flower crowns, fires, bowers, fields
energy: youthful play, exhuberance, sensuality, pleasure
Goddesses: May Queen, Flora
Gods: Bel, Cerrunnos, Oak King, Jack in the Green
rituals: love, romance, fertility, crop blessings, creativity endeavors
customs: dancing Maypole, jumping fire, mating, flower baskets
Herbs: Almond, Belladonna, Clover, Frankincense, Hawthorn, Ivy,
Marigold, Meadowsweet, Orchid Root, Rose, Rowan, Sorrel, Woodruff

  BELTANE RITUAL (April 30)    

If possible, Beltane should be celebrated out of doors in a forest or near a living tree. If this is impossible, bring a small potted tree (of any kind you please) into the circle with you. Make a token or charm beforehand to honor the wedding of the Goddess and God and to hang upon the tree. These charm bags can be filled with leaves, flowers, beads, or anything you wish.

Arrange the altar.
Light the candles and censer.
Cast aCircle of Stones.
Recite a Blessing (your choice)
Invoke the Goddess and God.

Stand before the altar. Raise your wand (or arms as you wish), and say:
My Goddess, Lady of the night and of the Earth,
My Lord, God, King of the day and of the forest,
I celebrate your coming together once more as nature
flaunts its reward of renewed color and life this Beltane.
I offer these gifts to you,
Oh beauteous Mother and life-giving Father ,
To honor of Your union.

Place your gifts on the tree.
From Your joining new life shall arrive;
And with it all manner of living creatures
shall walk these sacred lands,
The winds blow pure and sweet in welcome to you.
O Ancient Ones,
I celebrate with You and in your Divine Honor!

Now is the time to do any magick and to have a Simple Feast of dairy items such as ice cream, custard, puddings, etc. Thank the God and Goddess. The circle is then closed.

 

Autumn Equinox   Called the Celtic 'Festival of the Vine', Alban Elfed, Meán Fómhair, Autumn Equinox, 2nd Harvest, September 21st and Mabon by some. The Autumn Equinox is the second of the harvest festivals. It is a time of balance, as it divides the day and night equally. The sun is now fading from the sky, as the hours between dusk and dawn shift to become greater than those of daylight. One of the quarter days of the year and a Lesser Sabbat, the Druids call this celebration Alban Elfed, and honor the The Green Man, the God of the Forest.  Also celebrated is the Goddess as she passes from Mother to Crone, and her consort, the God, as he prepares for death and re-birth. In Celtic mythology, Mabon was the young welsh god, abducted and imprisoned, only to return later. As pagans, now between the worlds of life and death, dark and light, we grieve for that which is finished, yet celebrate that which is bountiful. At this time, we attempt to find grains of wisdom and insight in that which has gone before, regardless of its nature, be it tragic or joyous. It is time to relax and enjoy the fruits of our harvests. This is the time to give thanks for what your hard work has brought you, for all the things that you have accomplished. It is also a time to let go of the old, the sorrows, the grudges, anything that needs to be passed on and forgotten. In a way, it is much like the christian Thanksgiving. On this holiday, a harvest supper and celebration is traditional. Everyone dresses in their finest, and the home is decorated for the upcoming festivities with autumn colors, corn stalks, cornucopias filled with fruits and nuts, wheat, pumpkins, autumn leaves, acorns and pinecones. The table is set with various dishes such as turkey, ham, roast beef or pork, cheeses of various kinds, corn, squash, beans, custards, cakes, pies, corn bread, apples, pears, peaches, cider and poteen. There is both laughter and tears, sharing and giving, joy and sorrow at these festivities. This is considered a good time for coming together with friends and family, for making wine and  gathering  plants and herbs and seeds. It is also favored for leisurely walks in the forests, offering sacrifices of a fertile nature to fields and trees for what we have received, and decorating burial sites of loved ones. It is now a good time for doing spells of protection, security, harmony, prosperity, and self-confidence   Deities The GreenMan,  Mabon, Modron, Morrigan Symbolism of The Autumnal Equinox: grains, pine branches, oak leaves, rattles, herbs, plant life, corn, wheat, wine, pine cones, autumn leaves, pumpkins, acorns, fruit, apples, vines, dried seeds, horns of plenty, dogs, wolves and birds of prey. Herbs  Acorns, hops, wheat, cedar, ivy, grains, honeysuckle, marigold, hazel, corn, aspen, passionflower, rose, sage, solomon's seal, tobacco, thistle, and vegetables.   Foods Breads, nuts, apples, pomegranates, onions, potatoes, carrots, pumpkins, gourds, fruits and vegetables. Incense frankincense, benzoin, jasmine, cinnamon, musk, cloves, pine, sage, and myrrh. Colors Autumn colors, such as red, orange, brown, maroon, and gold. Stones Sapphire, amethyst, topaz, carnelian, lapis lazuli, and yellow agates.   by StormWing Mabon (pronounced MAY-bun, MAY-bone, MAH-boon or MAH-bawn) or the Autumn Equinox is one of the Lesser Wiccan Sabbats and is usually celebrated around September 23rd, though it can occur as early as the 20th, depending on the timing of the actual Astrological event (check the calendar). The Autumn Equinox, like the Spring Equinox divides day and night equally. However during Autumn, (as opposed to Spring, when the opposite occurs) we begin to see the waning of the Sun more obviously now as the days continue to grow shorter until the Wheel of the Year spins around again to Yule. (Images to the left and below are by Anthony Meadows and from Llewellyn's 1998 and 1999 Witches' Calendars. Click on either image to go directly to Llewellyn's Web Site.) The various other names for this Sabbat include the Autumn (or Autumnal) Equinox, the Fall Equinox, the Second Harvest Festival, Festival of Dionysus, Wine Harvest, Cornucopia, Feast of Avalon, Equinozio di Autunno (Strega), and Alban Elfed (Caledonii, or Druidic - which celebrates the Lord of the Mysteries). The Teutonic name for this period is Winter Finding, which spans from the Equinox itself until Winter Night, on October 15. Winter Night is the Norse New Year. The symbolism of this Sabbat is that of the Second Harvest, the Mysteries, Equality and Balance - when day and night are equal. Symbols to represent the Mabon Sabbat are such things as grapes, wine, vines, garland, gourds, pine cones, acorns, wheat, dried leaves, burial cairns, rattles, Indian corn, Sun wheels, and horns of plenty. Altar decorations might include autumn leaves, acorns, pine cones, a pomegranate to symbolize Persephone's descent into the Underworld, and a small statue or figure to represent the Triple Goddess in Her Mother aspect. Deities associated with Mabon include all Wine Deities - particularly Dionysus and Bacchus, and Aging Deities. Emphasis might also be placed on the Goddess in Her aspect of the Mother (Demeter is a good example), Persephone (Queen of the Underworld and daughter of Demeter), and Thor (Lord of Thunder in Norse mythology). Some other Autumn Equinox Goddesses include Modron, Morgan, Snake Woman, Epona, Pamona, and the Muses. Some appropriate Gods besides those already mentioned are Mabon, Thoth, Hermes, and Hotei. At this point in the Wheel of the Year, two appropriate mythological legends are that of Mabon and Modron, and the story of Demeter, Persephone and Hades. The Sabbat is named for Mabon, the Welsh God who symbolized the male fertilizing principle in the Welsh myths. Some mythologists equate him as the male counterpart for Persephone. The universal story of Mabon and his mother, Modron has been passed down to us from the ancient proto-Celtic oral tradition. Mabon ap Modron, meaning "Great Son of the Great Mother", is the Young Son, Divine Youth, or Son of Light. Just as the September equinox marks a significant time of change, so, too, does the birth of Mabon. Modron, his mother, is the Great Goddess, Guardian of the Otherworld, Protector, and Healer. She is Earth itself. From the moment of the Autumn Equinox, the Sun's strength diminishes, until the moment of the Winter Solstice in December, when the Sun grows stronger and the days once again become longer than the nights. Mabon also disappears, taken at birth when only three nights old (some legends say he was stolen from Modron at the age of three years). Modron cries in sweet sorrow... and although his whereabouts are veiled in mystery, Mabon is eventually freed with the wisdom and memory of the most ancient of living animals - the Blackbird, the Stag, the Owl, the Eagle, and the Salmon (other legends state that King Arthur himself was Mabon's rescuer). All along, Mabon has been quite a happy captive, dwelling in Modron's magickal Otherworld - Modron's womb. It is a nurturing and enchanted place, but also one filled with challenges. Only in so powerful a place of renewable strength can Mabon be reborn as his mother's champion, as the Son of Light. Mabon's light has been drawn into the Earth, gathering strength and wisdom enough to become a new seed. According to one Greek myth, Autumn begins when Persephone returns to the Underworld to live with her husband, Hades. This is the tale...   Demeter's daughter, known as Kore at this time, was out picking flowers in a meadow when the Earth opened, and the god Hades dragged the girl into the Underworld Kingdom to be his wife. Kore's name changed to Persephone when she became the wife of Hades. For nine days Demeter looked everywhere for Kore, to no avail. In despair, she finally consulted the Sun god Helios, who told her that her brother Zeus had given the girl to Hades. Furious to hear the news, Demeter left Olympus and wandered the Earth disguised as an old woman. She finally settled in her temple at Eleusis. She cursed the Earth so it yielded no crops. Zeus became frantic and sent her a message as to why she had done this. She responded by stating to Zeus that there would be no renewing vegetation on Earth until her daughter, Kore, was returned to her. Zeus sent Hermes into the Underworld for the girl. Hades, not wanting to give up his wife permanently, enticed Persephone to eat pomegranate seeds before she returned to her mother. Upon learning of this trick, Demeter again despaired, until Zeus declared that Persephone-Kore would live with her husband during half of the year, and return to live with her mother during the other half. In gratitude, Demeter lifted her curse on the Earth, thus creating Spring at the time of her great joy of her daughter's return; and Fall at her time of great sorrow when her daughter returned to the Underworld to live with her husband, Hades.   Mabon is considered a time of the Mysteries and marks the end of the second of three Pagan Harvest Festivals, when the majority of crops have been gathered. It is considered a time of balance, a time of darkness overtaking light, a time of celebration of the Second Harvest. It is a time to honor the Aging Deities and the Spirit World. The principle key action of Mabon is giving thanks. Pagan activities may include the making of wine and the adorning of graves. A traditional practice is to walk wild places and forests, gathering seed pods and dried plants. Some of these can be used to decorate the home or altar, others saved for future herbal magick. It is considered taboo to pass burial sites and not honor the dead. The Autumn Equinox is a wonderful time to stop and relax and be happy. While we may not have toiled the fields from sunrise to sunset every day since Lammas - as our ancestors did - most of us do work hard at what we do. At this time of year, we should stop and survey the harvest each of us has brought in over the season. For us, like our ancestors, this becomes a time of giving thanks for the success of what we have worked at. Spellwork for protection, wealth and prosperity, security and spells to bring a feeling of self-confidence are appropriate for Mabon. Since this is a time for balance - you might include spells that will bring into balance and harmony the energies either in a room, home, or situation. Ritual actions might include the praising or honoring of fruit as proof of the love of the Goddess and God, and a ritual sprinkling of Autumn leaves. Depending on when the leaves turn in your area, beautiful multi-colored leaves can be dipped in paraffin, to be used for decoration. Quickly dip the leaves in melted paraffin, and put them on wax paper. When the leaves are dry, you can put them in a huge decorative jar with a sigil of protection carved lightly on some or all of the leaves. Appropriate colors for this Sabbat are red, orange, deep gold, brown, russet, maroon and violet. Candle colors might be orange, dark red, yellow, indigo, or brown. Altar cloths can also be made of material with Fall designs. Stones to use during Mabon are amethyst and yellow topaz, carnelian, lapis lazuli, sapphire, and yellow agate. River and stream stones gathered over the Summer can be empowered for various purposes. Animals associated with the Autumn Equinox are dogs, wolves and birds of prey. Mythical creatures include gnomes, minotaurs, sphinx, cyclopes, andamans and gulons. Plants associated with Mabon are vines, ivy, hazel, cedar, hops and tobacco. Traditional herbs of the Mabon sabbat include acorns, asters, benzoin, ferns, honeysuckle, marigold, milkweed, mums, myrrh, oak leaves, passionflower, pine, roses, sage, Solomon's seal, and thistles. Incense for the Mabon Sabbat Ritual might include any or all of the following: frankincense, aloes wood, jasmine, cinnamon, musk, cloves, benzoin, myrrh, and sage The foods of Mabon consist of the gleanings of the Second Harvest, so grains, fruit and vegetables predominate, especially corn. Corn bread and cider are traditional fare, as are beans and baked squash. Others foods include wine, grapes, breads, pomegranates, roots (carrots, onions, potatoes, etc.), nuts and apples. May the Lord and Lady bless you all with lots of prosperity, and a plentiful Second Harvest!   Next I will list several recipes appropriate for the Mabon turn in the Wheel of the Year. I have gathered these from various places, noted on each...   Covenstead Bread Recipe by Gerina Dunwich 3/4 cup water 1/2 cup honey 1/2 cup finely chopped citron 1/2 cup sugar 2 tablespoons anise seeds 2-1/3 cups flour 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon nutmeg 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon allspice Bring the water to a boil in a saucepan. Add honey, citron, sugar, and anise seeds. Stir until the sugar completely dissolves and then remove from heat. Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, and spices, and fold into the hot honey mixture. Turn the batter into a well-greased 9 X 5 X 3-inch loaf pan and bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for one hour. Turn out on a wire rack to cool. (This recipe yields one loaf of bread.) Covenstead Bread improves if allowed to stand for a day, and it is an ideal bread to serve during Lammas and Autumn Equinox Sabbats as well as at all coven meetings. (This "Covenstead Bread" recipe is from "The Wicca Spellbook: A Witch's Collection of Wiccan Spells, Potions and Recipes" by Gerina Dunwich, p. 169, a Citadel Press Book, Carol Publishing Group, 1994)   Salem Witch Pudding Recipe by Gerina Dunwich 4 eggs, separated 1-1/2 cups pumpkin puree 1 cup light brown sugar 3/4 cup half-and-half 5 tablespoons rum 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/4 teaspoon salt In an electric mixer or large mixing bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff. In a different bowl, beat the egg yolks until thick and lemon-colored. Combine the yolks with the remaining eight ingredients; mix together well; and then fold in the egg whites. Pour the pumpkin mixture into a buttered 1-quart souffle dish. Place it in a pan of hot water and bake in a 350-degree preheated oven for about 45 minutes. (This recipe yields 6 servings.) (This "Salem Witch Pudding" recipe is from "The Wicca Spellbook: A Witch's Collection of Wiccan Spells, Potions and Recipes" by Gerina Dunwich, p. 173, a Citadel Press Book, Carol Publishing Group, 1994)   Texas-Style Pecan Pie Recipe by Edain McCoy This recipe makes two pies. 2 deep-dish unbaked pie shells 6 beaten eggs 1/2 cup butter, melted (The real thing is best. If you use margarine, add 1/8 teaspoon salt to the recipe.) 2 cups brown sugar, packed 1-3/4 cups corn syrup 2-1/4 teaspoons vanilla 2-1/2 cups chopped pecans Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Slowly and thoroughly mix together the eggs, butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, and vanilla. Pour the mixture into the two pie shells. As this mixture will not "rise" like some pies, you can fill the shells higher than usual, but not so high that they boil over and leave a sticky, burned mess in your oven. Cover the pie with the pecans. Bake for about an hour. (This "Texas-Style Pecan Pie" recipe is from "The Sabbats: A New Approach to Living the Old Ways" by Edain McCoy, Llewellyn Publications, 1994)   Blackberry Wine Recipe by Edain McCoy 2 & 1/2 pounds fresh Blackberries 3 cups Sugar 2 cups Hot Water Let the berries set out in a large bowl for about four weeks, stirring them occasionally. The berries will get a rank smell and may begin to mold. With mortar and pestle, crush the berries into as smooth a pulp as possible. Stir in the sugar and then the water. Pour the wine into casks to ferment for eight to ten months. The longer it is kept the better it will be. The wine will have to be aired every few days to allow building gases to escape. This wine has a gentle port-like flavor when finished. (This 'Blackberry Wine' recipe is from "Witta: An Irish Pagan Tradition" by Edain McCoy, Llewellyn Publications, 1994)   Mabon Incense Recipe by Scott Cunningham 2 parts Frankincense 1 part Sandalwood 1 part Cypress 1 part Juniper 1 part Pine 1/2 part Oakmoss (or a few drops Oakmoss bouquet) 1 pinch pulverized Oak leaf Burn during Wiccan ceremonies on Mabon (the Autumnal Equinox, circa September 21st), or at that time to attune with the change of the seasons. (This 'Mabon Incense' recipe is from "The Complete Book of Incense, Oils & Brews" by Scott Cunningham, Llewellyn Publications, 1989)   Autumn Equinox Ritual Potpourri Recipe by Gerina Dunwich 45 drops Honeysuckle Oil 1 cup Oak Moss 6 small Acorns 2 cups dried Oak Leaves 2 cups dried Honeysuckle 1 cup dried Passionflower 1 cup dried Rosebuds and Petals 1/2 cup dried Pine Needles 1 tablespoon Sage Mix the honeysuckle oil with the oak moss and then add the remaining ingredients. Stir the potpourri well and store in a tightly covered ceramic or glass container. (This 'Autumn Equinox Ritual Potpourri' recipe is from "The Wicca Spellbook: A Witch's Collection of Wiccan Spells, Potions and Recipes" by Gerina Dunwich, a Citadel Press Book, Carol Publishing Group, 1994)   And finally, here are a few nice devotional incantations/poems with proper credit given to each author... Enjoy and May Ye Blessed Be!   Autumnal Equinox by Rhiannon Cotter The Autumnal Equinox represents a turning point from Summer to Fall during which the themes of balance and equality are once again evident. The crops that have been ripening during the Summer now come to fruition. The Goddess as Mother generously offers us the fruits whose harvest She has overseen. Our energy is now directed inside so that we can reflect upon the harvest and integrate its components into our lives and personalities.   Lady Autumn by Deirdre Akins Lady Autumn, Queen of the Harvest, I have seen You in the setting Sun with Your long auburn tresses blowing in the cool air that surrounds You. Your crown of golden leaves is jeweled with amber, amethyst, and rubies. Your long, flowing purple robe stretches across the horizon. In Your hands You hold the ripened fruits. At Your feet the squirrels gather acorns. Black crows perch on Your outstretched arms. All around You the leaves are falling. You sit upon Your throne and watch the dying fires of the setting Sun shine forth its final colors in the sky. The purple and orange lingers and glows like burning embers. Then all colors fade into the twilight. Lady Autumn, You are here at last. We thank You for Your rewards. We have worked hard for these gifts. Lady Autumn, now grant us peace and rest.   Mabon by Ezzy Violet The Time of Change is upon us again - the Equinox comes, the Wheel turns... The Goddess and the God prepare for Their journey to the Otherworld, as the Earth and all of Her children prepare for the Time of Quiet and Reflection that lies ahead... May we use this Autumnal period to seek for the strength and power within to assist us on our own quests for vision, feeling, and peace... May we see and feel the presence of the Goddess and the God within, though without, the Earth begins Her slumber... Keep us in Your light...   Invocation of Blue Corn Girl for Autumn Equinox by Noel-Anne Brennan (If there is more than one person present for this invocation, others can whisper "listen, she is coming" or "Blue Corn Girl is coming" at various points in the chant, as indicated by parentheses.) Listen, She is coming, Blue Corn Girl is coming, She is coming in the winds, (Listen, she is coming) She is coming in the sunlight, (Blue Corn Girl is coming) She is coming in the fallen leaves, She is coming in the dying meadows. Listen, She is coming, Blue Corn Girl is coming, (Blue Corn Girl is coming) She is coming To see the harvest (Listen, she is coming) Of the fruits of the soil And the fruits of the soul Listen, She is coming, Blue Corn Girl is coming, Listen, She is coming. Blue Corn Girl is here. Welcome.

Samhain marks one of the two great doorways of the Celtic year, for the Celts divided the year into two seasons: the light and the dark, at Beltane on May 1st and Samhain on November 1st. Some believe that Samhain was the more important festival, marking the beginning of a whole new cycle, just as the Celtic day began at night. For it was understood that in dark silence comes whisperings of new beginnings, the stirring of the seed below the ground. Whereas Beltane welcomes in the summer with joyous celebrations at dawn, the most magically potent time of this festival is November Eve, the night of October 31st, known today of course, as Halloween.  Samhain (Scots Gaelic: Samhuinn) literally means “summer's end.” In Scotland and Ireland, Halloween is known as Oíche Shamhna, while in Wales it is Nos Calan Gaeaf, the eve of the winter's calend, or first. With the rise of Christianity, Samhain was changed to Hallowmas, or All Saints' Day, to commemorate the souls of the blessed dead who had been canonized that year, so the night before became popularly known as Halloween, All Hallows Eve, or Hollantide. November 2nd became All Souls Day, when prayers were to be offered to the souls of all who the departed and those who were waiting in Purgatory for entry into Heaven. Throughout the centuries, pagan and Christian beliefs intertwine in a gallimaufry of celebrations from Oct 31st through November 5th, all of which appear both to challenge the ascendancy of the dark and to revel in its mystery. In the country year, Samhain marked the first day of winter, when the herders led the cattle and sheep down from their summer hillside pastures to the shelter of stable and byre. The hay that would feed them during the winter must be stored in sturdy thatched ricks, tied down securely against storms. Those destined for the table were slaughtered, after being ritually devoted to the gods in pagan times. All the harvest must be gathered in -- barley, oats, wheat, turnips, and apples -- for come November, the faeries would blast every growing plant with their breath, blighting any nuts and berries remaining on the hedgerows. Peat and wood for winter fires were stacked high by the hearth. It was a joyous time of family reunion, when all members of the household worked together baking, salting meat, and making preserves for the winter feasts to come. The endless horizons of summer gave way to a warm, dim and often smoky room; the symphony of summer sounds was replaced by a counterpoint of voices, young and old, human and animal.  In early Ireland, people gathered at the ritual centers of the tribes, for Samhain was the principal calendar feast of the year.   The greatest assembly was the 'Feast of Tara,' focusing on the royal seat of the High King as the heart of the sacred land, the point of conception for the new year. In every household throughout the country, hearth-fires were extinguished. All waited for the Druids to light the new fire of the year -- not at Tara, but at Tlachtga, a hill twelve miles to the north-west. It marked the burial-place of Tlachtga, daughter of the great druid Mogh Ruith, who may once have been a goddess in her own right in a former age.  At at all the turning points of the Celtic year, the gods drew near to Earth at Samhain, so many sacrifices and gifts were offered up in thanksgiving for the harvest. Personal prayers in the form of objects symbolizing the wishes of supplicants or ailments to be healed were cast into the fire,  and at the end of the ceremonies, brands were lit from the great fire of Tara to re-kindle all the home fires of the tribe, as at Beltane. As they received the flame that marked this time of beginnings, people surely felt a sense of the kindling of new dreams, projects and hopes for the year to come.  The Samhain fires continued to blaze down the centuries.  In the 1860s the Halloween bonfires were still so popular in Scotland that one traveler reported seeing thirty fires lighting up the hillsides all on one night, each surrounded by rings of dancing figures, a practice which continued up to the first World War. Young people and servants lit brands from the fire and ran around the fields and hedges of house and farm, while community leaders surrounded parish boundaries with a magic circle of light. Afterwards, ashes from the fires were sprinkled over the fields to protect them during the winter months -- and of course, they also improved the soil. The bonfire provided an island of light within the oncoming tide of winter darkness, keeping away cold, discomfort, and evil spirits long before electricity illumined our nights. When the last flame sank down, it was time to run as fast as you could for home, raising the cry, “The black sow without a tail take the hindmost!” Even today, bonfires light up the skies in many parts of the British Isles and Ireland at this season, although in many areas of Britain their significance has been co-opted by Guy Fawkes Day, which falls on November 5th, and commemorates an unsuccessful attempt to blow up the English Houses of Parliament in the 17th century. In one Devonshire village, the extraordinary sight of both men and women running through the streets with blazing tar barrels on their backs can still be seen! Whatever the reason, there will probably always be a human need to make fires against the winter’s dark. ... Divination at Halloween      Samhain was a significant time for divination, perhaps even more so than May or Midsummer’s Eve, because this was the chief of the three Spirit Nights. Divination customs and games frequently featured apples and nuts from the recent harvest, and candles played an important part in adding atmosphere to the mysteries. In Scotland, a child born at Samhain was said to be gifted with an dà shealladh, “The Two Sights” commonly known as “second sight,” or clairvoyance.  Apple Magic At the heart of the Celtic Otherworld grows an apple tree whose fruit has magical properties. Old sagas tell of heroes crossing the western sea to find this wondrous country, known in Ireland as Emhain Abhlach, (Evan Avlach) and in Britain, Avalon. At Samhain, the apple harvest is in, and old hearthside games, such as apple-bobbing, called apple-dookin’ in Scotland, reflect the journey across water to obtain the magic apple.  Dookin' for Apples Place a large tub, preferably wooden, on the floor, and half fill it with water. Tumble in plenty of apples, and have one person stir them around vigorously with a long wooden spoon or rod of hazel, ash or any other sacred tree.  Each player takes their turn kneeling on the floor, trying to capture the apples with their teeth as they go bobbing around. Each gets three tries before the next person has a go. Best to wear old clothes for this one, and have a roaring fire nearby so you can dry off while eating your prize! If you do manage to capture an apple, you might want to keep it for a divination ritual, such as this one:  The Apple and the Mirror Before the stroke of midnight, sit in front of a mirror in a room lit only by one candle or the moon. Go into the silence, and ask a question. Cut the apple into nine pieces. With your back to the mirror, eat eight of the pieces, then throw the ninth over your left shoulder. Turn your head to look over the same shoulder, and you will see and in image or symbol in the mirror that will tell you your answer. (When you look in the mirror, let your focus go "soft," and allow the patterns made by the moon or candlelight and shadows to suggest forms, symbols and other dreamlike images that speak to your intuition.)  Dreaming Stones Go to a boundary stream and with closed eyes, take from the water three stones between middle finger and thumb, saying these words as each is gathered:                                    I will lift the stone            As Mary lifted it for her Son,            For substance, virtue, and strength;            May this stone be in my hand            Till I reach my journey’s end.  (Scots Gaelic)             Togaidh mise chlach,             Mar a thog Moire da Mac,             Air bhrìgh, air bhuaidh, ‘s air neart;             Gun robh a chlachsa am dhòrn,             Gus an ruig mi mo cheann uidhe. Carry them home carefully and place them under your pillow. That night, ask for a dream that will give you guidance or a solution to a problem, and the stones will bring it for you.

This season belongs to Brigid, the Celtic goddess who in later times became revered as a Christian saint. Originally, her festival on February 1 was known as Imbolc or Oimelc, two names which refer to the lactation of the ewes, the flow of milk that heralds the return of the life-giving forces of spring. Later, the Catholic Church replaced this festival with Candlemas Day on February 2, which is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and features candlelight processions. The powerful figure of Brigid the Light-Bringer overlights both pagan and Christian celebrations. In most parts of the British Isles, February is a harsh and bitter month.  In old Scotland, the month fell in the middle of the period known as Faoilleach, the Wolf-month; it was also known as a’ marbh mhiòs, the Dead-month.  But  although this season was so cold and drear, small but sturdy signs of new life began to appear: Lambs were born and soft rain brought new grass. Ravens begin to build their nests and larks were said to sing with a clearer voice.   In Ireland, the land was prepared to receive the new seed with spade and plough; calves were born, and fishermen looked eagerly for the end of winter storms and rough seas to launch their boats again. In Scotland, the Old Woman of winter, the Cailleach, is reborn as Bride, Young Maiden of Spring, fragile yet growing stronger each day as the sun rekindles its fire, turning scarcity into abundance. Of her, Alexander Carmichael wrote:  Bride with her white wand is said to breathe life into the mouth of the dead Winter and to bring him to open his eyes to the tears and the smiles, the sighs and the laughter of Spring. The venom of the cold is said to tremble for its safety on Bride’s Day, and to flee for its life on Patrick’s Day. THE EXALTED ONE …woman of wisdom…a goddess whom poets adored…                                                               — Cormac’s Glossary It is tempting to view this tender goddess of the early Spring only as she is pictured in Scottish artist John Duncan’s famous picture, The Coming of Bride: a wide-eyed, golden-haired girl, encircled by children.  But behind her girlish innocence is the power of a once-great ancestral deity, Brigid, whose name means “The Exalted One,” queen and mother goddess of many European tribes. She is also known as Brigid, Bridget, Brighid, Brighde, Brig or Bride and some scholars consider her name originated with the Vedic Sanskrit word brihati, an epithet of the divine. The 10thcentury Cormac’s Glossary describes her as the daughter of the Daghda, the “Great God” of the Tuatha de Danaan. He calls her a “woman of wisdom…a goddess whom poets adored, because her protection was very great and very famous." Since the discipline of poetry, filidhect, was interwoven with seership, Brigid was seen as the great inspiration behind divination and prophecy, the source of oracles. She is said to have had two sisters: Brigid the Physician and Brigid the Smith, but it is generally thought that all three were aspects of the one goddess of poetry, healing, and smithcraft. Elsewhere she is described as the patron of other vital crafts of early Celtic society: dying, weaving and brewing. A goddess of regeneration and abundance, she was greatly beloved as a provider of plenty who brought forth the bounties of the natural world for the good of the people. She is closely connected with livestock and domesticated animals. She had two oxen called Fea and Feimhean who gave their names to a plain in Co. Carlow and one in Tipperary. She was also the guardian of Torc Triath, king of the wild boar, who gave his name to Treithirne, a plain in West Tipperary. These three totem animals used to raise a warning cry if Ireland was in danger. Some Irish rivers bear her name, as do places as far apart as Breconshire in Wales, Brechin in Scotland and Bregenz in Austria, which was once the capital of the Brigantii tribe. This tribe was under the tutelage of the goddess Brigantia, who is thought to be another aspect of Brigid. The most powerful political unit of Celtic-speaking Britain, the Brigantii mostly held sway in Northern England, where place-names and rock-carvings still echo the presence of their mother-goddess. SAINT OF THE FLAME …she shall arise like a shining sun…                                                             — Lives of Saints, The Book of Lismore With the coming of Christianity, the powerful energy of the pagan goddess  was transmuted into Ireland’s much-loved saint, second only to Patrick himself. Her transformation happened almost literally in Drumeague, County Cavan, at a place called “The Mountain of the Three Gods.” Here a stone head of Brigid was worshipped as a triple deity, but with the coming of Christianity, it was hidden in a Neolithic tomb. Later it was recovered from its burial-place and mounted on a local church where it was popularly canonized as “St. Bride of Knockbridge.” [iii]Though many legends are attached to her, there is certainly no firm evidence of her as a historical figure. Accounts of the saint’s life reveal what Sir James Frazer once called her: “a goddess in a threadbare cloak.” Saint Brigid  was said to be the daughter of a druid who had a vision that she was to be named after a great goddess. She was born at sunrise while her mother was walking over a threshold, and so "was neither within nor without." This is the state known as liminality, from the Latin, limen: a threshold – the state of being “in between” places and times. In Celtic tradition this is a sacred time when the doors between the worlds are open and magical events can occur. Another legend tells how her mother was carrying a pitcher of milk at the time, with which she bathed her new-born child. As a child, Brigid was unable to eat ordinary food, and was reared on the milk of a special white red-eared cow. White animals with red ears are frequently found in Celtic mythology as beasts of the Otherworld. We have also seen how the pagan goddess owned two magical oxen.  In Celtic society, cattle were the most highly valued of all animals, revered as symbols of plenty, and Saint Brigid was very closely associated with livestock in general, and dairy cows in particular. As an adult, she was accompanied by a cow who also supplied her with all the milk she needed.  When she became abbess of Kildare, she miraculously increased the milk and butter yield of the abbey cows; some accounts say that her cows produced a whole lake of milk three times a day, and one churning filled hundreds of baskets with butter. When Saint Brigid died, her skull was kept at Kildare after the pre-Christian custom of revering the head as sacred. Norman soldiers were supposed to have stolen it from the abbey and taken it to Portugal. Here it played its part in a spring ceremony where cattle were driven past it. In Scotland she was invoked as “Milkmaid Bride,”   or “Golden-haired Bride of the kine,” patroness of cattle and dairy work. Medieval Christian art often depicts her as holding a cow, or carrying a pair of milk-pails. She also provided abundant ale-harvests: At one Easter-time, one measure of her malt provided ale for seventeen churches. Her miraculous powers changed water into ale and stone into salt. With boundless generosity she fed birds, animals, and the poor, and they all loved her in return. The bountiful mother goddess of the fruitful earth shines through the generosity of the Christian saint. Early writers believed Brigid’s name stemmed from breo-aigit: “fiery arrow,” a false but somehow very fitting etymology for a goddess of smithcraft, and one who kindles the fires of creativity and regeneration. Her association with fire and the sun continues into the folk-lore of the Christian saint. In one version of her life from the Book of Lismore, a druid prophesies that she will be “a daughter conspicuous and radiant, who will shine like the sun among the stars of heaven.”  As a child, a fire was seen rising from the house where she and her mother were asleep. Yet it did not burn the house, but glowed like the burning bush of the Old Testament. When she first began to pray to God, a column of flame was seen rising from the house. She emerged unharmed, but “full of the grace of the Holy Spirit,” a reference to the Pentecostal flames. A charming story tells how stories of Brigid’s deeds drew the attention of the famous Saint Brendan who stopped by on an unannounced visit. She had been out working in the fields on a showery day, and was so surprised to see the great man in her house, that she flung off her rain-cloak without bothering to hang it up. The cloak caught on a sunbeam and to the older saint’s astonishment, hung there till it dried. Like the rising sun, she belonged to the East, where her influence radiated out from her convent at Kildare in the heart of Leinster. Within the convent burned a perennial flame which became known as one of the three inextinguishable fires of the Irish monasteries. Stories about the flame's miraculous properties told that it stayed alight through the grace of God while the ashes from the burnt wood never increased even though it burned for a thousand years, from the 5th to the 16th centuries. Gerald of Wales wrote about it when he visited the convent sometime in the twelfth century. He tells that there used to be twenty nuns keeping watch over the flame during Brigid's lifetime; since her death, nineteen took turns, one each night, in guarding the fire. When the twentieth night came, the nineteenth nun put the logs beside the fire and said: “Brigid, guard your fire.  This is your night.”  In the morning, the wood was found burned and the fire still alight. Brigid's flame was housed within a sacred enclosure, surrounded by a withy hedge which, Gerald reports, "no male may cross." A terrible fate awaited any man who tried, although the nature of the punishment was not specified. It seems probable that Kildare was once a pagan sanctuary attended by priestesses, similar to the Vestal Virgins of Roman tradition. Some scholars have seen a connection between Brigid and Sulis Minerva whose sacred fire burned at Aquae Sulis (Bath) in the 3rd century. Elsewhere only nine maidens are described as guarding the Brigid’s flame, a scene reminiscent of the nine maidens in the Welsh poem, The Spoils of Annwn, whose breath warmed the magical cauldron of the Underworld. Goddess of the Sun and Christian saint of the Eternal Fire are equally invoked in the beautiful invocation known as Brighid's Arrow:  Most Holy Brighid, Excellent Woman, Bright Arrow, Sudden Flame; May your bright fiery Sun take us swiftly to your lasting kingdom. Like the goddess of old, Saint Brigid was renowned for her gift of healing. She wove the first piece of cloth in Ireland and wove into it healing threads which kept their power for centuries. Many healing wells and springs were named after her. Earlier this century, an old woman recounted her experiences at a well of Brigid’s on the west coast – one of many that are still active today. “I had a pearl in my eye one time, and I went to Saint Brigit’s well on the cliffs. Scores of people there were in it, looking for cures, and some got them and some did not get them. And I went down the four steps to the well and I was looking into it, and I saw a little fish no longer than your finger coming from a stone under the water. Three spots it had on the one side and three on the other side, red spots and a little green with the red, and it was very civil coming hither to me and very pleasant wagging its tail. And it stopped and looked up at me and gave three wags of its back, and walked off again and went in under the stone….And in three days I had the sight of my eye again. It was surely Saint Brigit I saw that time; who else would it be?” At Kildare her well stands just outside the town, and was refurbished by the local nuns in 1984. Near the spring, an upright stone tablet bears two crosses on either side. One is a Christian cross, the other is the cross of Saint Brigit, the fiery sun-wheel turning.  SAINT BRIDE OF SCOTLAND “Oh the blessing of Brìd on the child of my heart”        —Scottish Lullaby In Scotland Brigid was known as Bride and like her pagan predecessor reigned over fire, over art, and over beauty,  fo cheabhar agus fo chuan (beneath the sky and beneath the sea.) As she presided over the birth of Spring, so legends tell that she was the midwife at Christ’s birth. She was called Muime Chriosd, “Foster-mother of Christ”, while the divine Child was known as Dalta Brìde, “the Foster-Son of Bride.” Sometimes Brigid was conflated with the Virgin herself, for in the Highlands and Islands she was often addressed as “Mary of the Gael.”  Her presence was invoked at childbirths, as Alexander Carmichael recounts: When a woman is in labour the midwife…goes to the door of the house, and standing on the door-step, softly beseeches Bride to come in:  ‘Bride, Bride, come in! Thy welcome is truly made, Give thou relief to the woman, And give thou the conception to the Trinity.’   Highland women also invoked Brigid’s presence at the hearth-fire, the center of the home. The hearth was not only the source of warmth and cooking but also symbolized the power of the sun brought down to human level as the miraculous power of fire. Every morning the fire was kindled with invocations to St. Brigid, the “radiant flame” herself: I will build the hearth As Mary would build it. The encompassment of Bride and of Mary Guarding the hearth, guarding the floor, Guarding the household all.[xi] THE FEAST-DAY OF BRIDE Bride put her finger in the river On the Feast Day of Bride And away went the hatching mother of the cold.                                      — Carmina Gadelica It was said: "from Brighid's feastday onwards the day gets longer and the night shorter.” Although this refers to the time of the winter Solstice, the felt truth was that the goddess brought back the growing light. On the eve of Là Fhéill Bhrìghde (St.Brigid’s Day), the Old Woman of Winter, the Cailleach, journeys to the magical isle in whose woods lies the miraculous Well of Youth.   At the first glimmer of dawn, she drinks the water that bubbles in a crevice of a rock, and is transformed into Bride, the fair maid whose white wand turns the bare earth green again. Another version of the story of Spring tells how Bride is a young girl kept prisoner by the Cailleach all winter long in the snowy recesses of Ben Nevis. She is rescued by the Cailleach’s son who elopes with her despite his mother’s attempts to keep them apart with fierce storms.  The coming of Bride was celebrated in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland with heartfelt prayers and songs.  Of these all are gone except for a few evocative titles and fragments—“Mantle of Bride,” “Staff of Bride,” “Bride’s Prayer—empty sea-shells on a forgotten shore. But thanks to Carmichael’s work in collecting old customs, we do know more about the festivities of this joyful time. On Bride’s Eve, young girls made a female figure from a sheaf of corn, and decorated it with colored shells and sparkling crystals, together with snowdrops and primroses and other early spring flowers and greenery. An especially bright shell, symbol of emerging life, or crystal was placed over its heart, called in Gaelic, the “guiding star of Bride,” after the star over the stable in Bethlehem that led Bride to the Christ child. The figure was named Bride or Brideag, Little Bride, and was carried about the town in procession by the young girls who were called banal Bride, the “Bride Maiden band,” all dressed in white and wearing their hair down, personifying the spirit of purity and youth. Everyone they visited had to pay homage to Bride and give her a gift such as a flower or a crystal, while the mothers gave bannocks, cheese or butter, reciprocating Bride’s lavish gifts of food. When they had finished their rounds, the girls spent the night at a house where the figure was made to sit in state, while the girls prepared the Bride feast for the next day.  The young men of the town soon came knocking at the door and were let in to pay tribute to Bride, after which there were songs, dancing and much merrymaking until the break of day. At first light, they all joined hands and sang a hymn to Bride, and shared out the remains of the feast among the poor women of the town. The older women of the town also conducted a ceremony on the Eve of Bride. They too made an effigy of Bride out of oats, lovingly decorated it, and prepared for her a basket called leaba Bride, Bride’s bed. Carmichael describes what happened next;  …  one woman goes to the door of the house, and standing on the step with her hands on the jambs, calls softly into the darkness, ‘Bride’s bed is ready.’ To this a ready woman behind replies, ‘Let Bride come in. Bride is welcome.’ The woman at the door again addresses Bride, ‘Bride, Bride, come thou in, thy bed is made. Preserve the house for the Trinity.’ The women then place the ikon of Bride with great ceremony into the bed they have so carefully prepared for it. In her hand they placed a small straight white wand, generally of birch, the tree of spring, or other sacred wood: straight to signify justice, white for purity and peace.  Then, before retiring for the night they smoothed the ashes of the hearth. Their dearest wish was that she visit them in the night, and in the morning they eagerly examined the ashes for traces of her presence: if they discerned the marks of her wand, they knew they were favored; if the footprint of Bride was discovered in the ashes then they were overjoyed, and knew to expect increase in family, flock and field in the coming year. If there were no signs at all, they were downcast, believing she must be offended. To remedy this, they buried a cock as an offering at a place where three streams met—a three-fold confluence of sacred power—and burned incense on the fire the next evening. There are places in Scotland where St. Bride’s Day festivities are still very much alive. For example, Canon Angus MacQueen on the Isle of South Uist celebrates all the Celtic feast days with his parishioners, especially Là Fhéill Bhrìghde, when the Brideog is carried round to each house on the island.  In Ireland, similar joyous rituals were enacted to welcome back the light on Lá Fhéile Bríde, St. Brigit’s Day. An 18th century account tells how every farmer’s wife made a special cake, the ale was brought out, the neighbors came round and a festive evening was had by all. Fresh butter was churned and always formed part of the meal; the more wealthy farmers gave gifts of butter to poorer neighbors, along with some roast meat, to celebrate the return of the bringer of bounty. At this time, Brigid herself was believed to travel about the countryside, blessing the people and their livestock, and so an offering of cake or bread and butter was left outside on the window-sill for her. Sometimes they left a sheaf of corn too, as sustenance for the white cow who traveled with her. Or a bundle of straw or fresh rushes were laid on the threshold for her to kneel upon to bless the house, or possibly so she – or the cow! – could wipe their feet before entering. In many districts an effigy of Brigid was carried about from door to door as in Scotland.  Often the figure of Bride was fashioned from a churn-dash covered with straw, emphasizing her presence in the dairy; sometimes it was a child’s doll decked out for the occasion, and sometimes a young girl dressed in white represented Brigid herself. The girl might hand out a Brigid’s Cross to each household, for the saint’s special cross was an important part of the Irish celebrations in all parts of Ireland. These crosses of rushes or straw were made on St. Brigid’s Eve and hung in the house and often in byre and stable too, to honor Brigid and to gain her protection. The crosses took shapes that are not traditionally Christian, but bear marked resemblance to symbols of the sun in cultures throughout the world. One kind was actually not a cross at all, but a figure with three legs, recalling the three-fold nature of the goddess-saint. It is, in fact, an ancient Celtic symbol known as the triskele. A less common design from counties Cork and Tipperary is a shape we should by now be most familiar with: the circle-cross. An added beauty of its symbolism is that the figure is formed from triple-braided straw rope, thus marrying the sacred numbers of four and three. Another ritual object involving these numbers sounds as if it is from a much earlier time. Known as the Crios Bríde, or Saint Brigid’s Girdle, it was made from braided straw rope and carried in procession with the effigy of Bride throughout the town. At each house, the occupants were expected to pass through it, to obtain Bride’ protection and good health for the coming year. As they did this, the bearers of the crios chanted a verse. One version goes in translation: Brighid’s girdle is my girdle The girdle with the four crosses Arise, housewife And go out three times. May whoever goes through my girdle Be seven times better a year from now. Rituals such as these anchored participants securely in the cosmic order represented by the four directions and the three worlds: lower world, physical world and upper world, mediated by the sacred presence of Brigid.  CANDLEMAS  A wondrous force and might Doth in these candels lie…            — Barnaby Gouge: The Popish Kingdome In keeping with the policy of the Catholic Church to subsume pagan festivals into Christian feast-days, the Day of Bride became equated with Candlemas on February 2nd, the feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary. At this time, forty days after childbirth, Mary was supposed to have gone to the Temple at Jerusalem to make the traditional offering to purify herself. As she entered the temple, an old man named Simeon recognized the baby as the Messiah of Israel, and a “light to lighten the Gentiles.” So, once again we encounter the archetype of the young Sun or Light come to redeem the darkness, but now in Christian clothing. Certainly, the service most used for this day in the medieval church made much of this symbolism, playing upon images of the appearance of divine light in the darkness of human sin, of renewal and rebirth of light in the dark time of the year, and of the new light of heaven come to transform an old world. In Britain, Candlemas was celebrated with a festival of lights. In the dark and gloomy days of February, the shadowy recesses of medieval churches twinkled brightly as each member of the congregation carried a lighted candle in procession around the church, to be blessed by the priest. Afterwards, the candles were brought home to be used to keep away storms, demons and other evils. This custom lasted in England until it was banned in the Reformation for promoting the veneration of magical objects. Even so, the symbol of the lighted candles had too strong a hold on the popular imagination to be entirely cast aside. Traces of the festival lingered until quite recently in other areas of the British Isles like little lights that refused to be blown out. In Wales, Candlemas was known as Gwyl Fair y Canhwyllau, Mary’s Festival of the Candles, and was celebrated as late as the 19th century by setting a lighted candle in the windows or at the table on this night. Special Candlemas carols were sung by singers who processed from house to house. One of these contains the lines: Hail reign a fair maid with gold upon your chin, Open up the East Gate and let the New year in; The carolers had to undergo a contest of riddles before being allowed to enter (an example of ritual at a liminal place.) When they were allowed in, they might see a young girl with a baby boy on her lap, surrounded by candles, to whom they sang once more and pledged in drink. She of course personified Virgin and Child, but in a country where Catholicism never had a strong hold, it is not difficult to discern a pre-Christian custom similar to the Scottish welcoming of Bride behind the Christian trappings. In the county of Shropshire, the snowdrop, first flower of spring, took the place of candles, being named, “Candlemas bells,” “Purification flowers” or – with a faint remembrance of Brigid, perhaps – “Fair Maid of February.” And an interesting survival was noted in Cornwall, where until recently in the town of St. Ives, a silver ball was passed around from 10.30 till noon on this day throughout the streets and on the beach. It was started off by the mayor at the parish church, and whoever holds the ball at noon receives a small prize. The significance and history of this unusual and isolated custom is not known. Does the silver ball represent the pale orb of the returning sun? Finally, traces of the festival of the growing light can even be traced to modern America in the Groundhog Day custom on February 2.  If the groundhog sees his shadow on this morning, it means there will be six more weeks of winter. The custom comes directly from Europe, and Scotland in particular, where an old couplet goes: If Candlemas Day is bright and clear,  there'll be two winters in the year. A Scottish rhyme about the Feast Day of Bride begins: This is the day of Bride, The queen will come from the mound… In other versions it is a “serpent” that will emerge from a hole, an allusion which Professor Séamus Ó Cáthain has linked to Scandinavian customs regarding the reappearance of the hibernating bear.  For this is the time when the animal world begins to stir from its winter sleep in the depths of earth, and life and light is ushered in by Brigid, the Queen.         This is traditionally a time of purification — clean your house! If you have any Christmas greenery lingering, burn it now. Make your own Brighid’s crosses and hang them up, especially in the kitchen where her influence can bless your food. Put out food — cake, buttered bread and milk will do — outside your door: Brighid and her cow walk through the neighborhood tonight, and will appreciate your offering. Leave a silk ribbon on your doorstep for Brighid to bless: It can then be used for healing purposes. Meditate upon what you would like to see grow in health and strength this year: for yourself, your family, your community, the Earth, and ask for Bride's blessing upon your prayers

MAY 1: BELTAINE   The Return of the Sun... Beltaine is an anglicization of the Irish "Bealtaine" or the Scottish "Bealtuinn." While "tene" clearly means "fire," nobody really knows whether Bel refers to Belenus, a pastoral god of the Gauls, or is from "bel," simply meaning "brilliant." It might even derive from "bil tene" or "lucky fire" because to jump between two Beltane fires was sure to bring good fortune, health to your livestock, and prosperity. When the Druids and their successors raised the Beltaine fires on hilltops throughout the British Isles on May Eve, they were performing a real act of magic, for the fires were lit in order to bring the sun’s light down to earth. In Scotland, every fire in the household was extinguished, and the great fires were lit from the need-fire which was kindled by 3 times 3 men using wood from the nine sacred trees. When the wood burst into flames, it proclaimed the triumph of the light over the dark half of the year. Then the whole hillside came alive as people thrust brands into the newly roaring flames and whirled them about their heads in imitation of the circling of the sun. If any man there was planning a long journey or dangerous undertaking, he leaped backwards and forwards three times through the fire for luck. As the fire sunk low, the girls jumped across it to procure good husbands; pregnant women stepped through it to ensure an easy birth, and children were also carried across the smoldering ashes. When the fire died down, the embers were thrown among the sprouting crops to protect them, while each household carried some back to kindle a new fire in their hearth. When the sun rose that dawn, those who had stayed up to watch it might see it whirl three times upon the horizon before leaping up in all its summer glory.                                                       ...The Rites of Spring Beltaine was a time of fertility and unbridled merrymaking, when young and old would spend the night making love in the Greenwood. In the morning, they would return to the village bearing huge budding boughs of hawthorn (the may-tree) and other spring flowers with which to bedeck themselves, their families, and their houses. They would process back home, stopping at each house to leave flowers, and enjoy the best of food and drink that the home had to offer. In every village, the maypole—usually a birch or ash pole—was raised, and dancing and feasting began. Festivities were led by the May Queen and her consort, the King who was sometimes Jack-in-the-Green, or the Green Man, the old god of the wildwood. They were borne in state through the village in a cart covered with flowers and enthroned in a leafy arbor as the divine couple whose unity symbolized the sacred marriage of earth and sun.       TO CELEBRATE BELTAINE TODAY...   Arise at dawn and wash in the morning dew: the woman who washes her face in it will be beautiful; the man who washes his hands will be skilled with knots and nets. If you live near water, make a garland or posy of spring flowers and cast it into stream, lake or river to bless the water spirits. Prepare a May basket by filling it with flowers and goodwill, then give it to one in need of caring, such as a shut-in or elderly friend. Beltane is one of the three "spirit-nights" of the year when the faeries can be seen. At dusk, twist a rowan sprig into a ring and look through it, and you may see them. Make a wish as you jump a bonfire or candle flame for good luck—but make sure you tie up long skirts first! Make a May bowl —wine or punch in which the flowers of sweet woodruff or other fragrant blossoms are soaked—and drink with the one you love.