‘Wednesday What Herb’ is being interrupted to bring you the beginning of Ostara information – Spring Equinox, Alban Elfed, Eostar Sabbat
Spring Equinox, Alban Elfed, Eostar Sabbat
From Welsh Faerie Witchcraft
The season of the Spring Equinox each year is unique. It includes:
- A Pagan Sabbat: Lady Day, usually celebrated on or near the evening when the Sun crosses the Equator and enters the astrological sign of Aries. Mainly celebrated by Neo-Pagans.
- Two Christian holy days: Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin and Easter.
- A secular celebration.
- A Welsh festival: Gwyl Canol Gwenwynol. Begins sundown, (March 20th or 21st or the day before the Equinox) Day of the Gorse. Festival of the Goddess Eostar, to whom the hare and the scarlet egg are sacred.
- Fertility rites for the early sowing.
- The Goddess Arianrhod names and arms the Sun God, Llew. The Sun God, Llew, rides forth in splendor.
Gwyl Canol Gwenwynol – Spring Equinox
Gwyl Canol GwenWynol or Eostre: (pronounced E-ostra, also known as Ostara, Spring Equinox etc.), March 21-23. Time of equal day and equal night. This is often celebrated with eggs (beginnings) and rabbits (fertiity) – see the theme? It is now time to lay the seeds of new projects and new directions that you have meditated on throughout the cold months. Now is the time to start taking action. (A lot of traditions use this particular Sabbat for initiations. New roads, a new breath.)
Colors for this Sabbat: Purple and Yellow
The Spring Equinox defines the season where Spring reaches it’s apex, halfway through its journey from Candlemas to Beltane. Night and day are in perfect balance, with the powers of light on the ascendancy. The God of light now wins a victory over his twin, the God of darkness. In the Welsh Mabinogion, this is the day on which the restored Llew takes his vengeance on Goronwy by piercing him with the sunlight spear. For Llew was restored/reborn at the Winter Solstice and is now well/old enough to vanquish his rival/twin and mate with his lover/mother.And the great Mother Goddess, who has returned to her Virgin aspect at Candlemas, welcomes the young Sun God’s embraces and conceives a child. The child will be born nine months from now, at the next Winter Solstice. And so the cycle closes at last to begin anew.
The customs surrounding the celebration of the spring equinox were imported from Mediterranean lands, although there can be no doubt that the first inhabitants of the British Isles observed it, as evidence from megalithic sites shows. But it was certainly more popular to the south, where people celebrated the holiday as New Year’s Day, and claimed it as the first day of the first sign of the Zodiac, Aries. However you look at it, it is certainly a time of new beginnings, as a simple glance at Nature will prove.
There are two holidays of Christianity which get mixed up with the Vernal Equinox. The first, occurs on the fixed calendar day of March 25th in the old liturgical calendar, and is called the Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. ‘Annunciation’ means announcement. This is the day that the angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she was ‘in the family way’. Naturally, this had to be announced since Mary, being still a virgin, would have no other means of knowing it. The Church picked the Vernal Equinox for the event because it was necessary to have Mary conceive the child Jesus a full nine months before his birth at the Winter Solstice (i.e., Christmas, celebrated on the fixed calendar date of December 25). Mary’s pregnancy would take the natural nine months to complete, even if the conception was a bit unorthodox.
The older Pagan Festival focuses on the joyous process of natural conception, when the young virgin Goddess (in this case, ‘virgin’ in the original sense of meaning ‘unmarried’) mates with the young solar God, who has just displaced his rival. This is probably not their first mating, however. In the mythical sense, the couple may have been lovers since Candlemas, when the young God reached puberty. But the young Goddess was recently a mother (at the Winter Solstice) and is probably still nursing her new child. Therefore, conception is naturally delayed for six weeks or so and, despite earlier matings with the God, She does not conceive until (surprise!) the Vernal Equinox. This may also be their Hand-fasting, a sacred marriage between God and Goddess called a Hierogamy, the ultimate Great Rite. Probably the nicest study of this theme occurs in M. Esther Harding’s book, ‘Woman’s Mysteries’. Probably the nicest description of it occurs in M. Z. Bradley’s ‘Mists of Avalon’***, in the scene where Morgan and Arthur assume the sacred roles. (Bradley follows the British custom of transferring the episode to Beltane, when the climate is more suited to its outdoor celebration.)
The other Christian holiday which gets mixed up in this is Easter. Easter, too, celebrates the victory of a God of light (Jesus) over darkness (death), so it makes sense to place it at this season. Ironically, the name ‘Easter’ was taken from the name of a Teutonic lunar Goddess, Eostre (from whence we also get the name of the female hormone, estrogen). Her chief symbols were the bunny (both for fertility and because her worshipers saw a hare in the full moon) and the egg (symbolic of the cosmic egg of creation), images which Christians have been hard pressed to explain. Her holiday, the Eostara, was held on the Vernal Equinox Full Moon. Of course, the Church doesn’t celebrate full moons, even if they do calculate by them, so they planted their Easter on the following Sunday. Thus, Easter is always the first Sunday, after the first Full Moon, after the Vernal Equinox. If you’ve ever wondered why Easter moved all around the calendar, now you know. (By the way, the Catholic Church was so adamant about not incorporating lunar Goddess symbolism that they added a further calculation: if Easter Sunday were to fall on the Full Moon itself, then Easter was postponed to the following Sunday instead.)
Incidentally, this raises another point: recently, some Pagan traditions began referring to the Vernal Equinox as Eostara. Historically, this is incorrect. Eostara is a lunar holiday, honoring a lunar Goddess, at the Vernal Full Moon. Hence, the name ‘Eostara’ is best reserved for the nearest Esbat, rather than the Sabbat itself. How this happened is difficult to say. However, it is notable that some of the same groups misappropriated the term ‘Lady Day’ for Beltane, which left no good folk name for the Equinox. Thus, Eostara was misapprop-riated for it, completing a chain-reaction of displacement. Needless to say, the old and accepted folk name for the Vernal Equinox is ‘Lady Day’. Christians sometimes insist that the title is in honor of Mary and her Annunciation, but Pagans will smile knowingly.
Another mythological motif which must surely arrest our attention at this time of year is that of the descent of the God or Goddess into the Underworld. Perhaps we see this most clearly in the Christian tradition. Beginning with his death on the cross on Good Friday, it is said that Jesus ‘descended into hell’ for the three days that his body lay entombed. But on the third day (that is, Easter Sunday), his body and soul rejoined, he arose from the dead and ascended into heaven. By a strange ‘coincidence’, most ancient Pagan religions speak of the Goddess descending into the Underworld, also for a period of three days. Why three days? If we remember that we are here dealing with the lunar aspect of the Goddess, the reason should be obvious. As the text of one Book of Shadows gives it, ‘…as the moon waxes and wanes, and walks three nights in darkness, so the Goddess once spent three nights in the Kingdom of Death.’ In our modern world, alienated as it is from nature, we tend to mark the time of the New Moon (when no moon is visible) as a single date on a calendar. We tend to forget that the moon is also hidden from our view on the day before and the day after our calendar date. But this did not go unnoticed by our ancestors, who always speak of the Goddess’s sojourn into the land of Death as lasting for three days. Is it any wonder then, that we celebrate the next Full Moon (the Eostara) as the return of the Goddess from chthonic regions?
Naturally, this is the season to celebrate the victory of life over death, as any nature-lover will affirm. And the Christian religion was not misguided by celebrating Christ’s victory over death at this same season. Nor is Christ the only solar hero to journey into the underworld. King Arthur, for example, does the same thing when he sets sail in his magical ship, Prydwen, to bring back precious gifts (i.e. the gifts of life) from the Land of the Dead, as we are told in the ‘Mabinogi’. Welsh triads allude to Gwydion and Amaethon doing much the same thing. In fact, this theme is so universal that mythologists refer to it by a common phrase, ‘the harrowing of hell’.
However, one might conjecture that the descent into hell, or the land of the dead, was originally accomplished, not by a solar male deity, but by a lunar female deity. It is Nature Herself who, in Spring, returns from the Underworld with her gift of abundant life. Solar heroes may have laid claim to this theme much later. The very fact that we are dealing with a three-day period of absence should tell us we are dealing with a lunar, not solar, theme. (Although one must make exception for those occasional male lunar deities, such as the Assyrian god, Sin.) At any rate, one of the nicest modern renditions of the harrowing of hell appears in many Books of Shadows as ‘The Descent of the Goddess’.
Lady Day may be especially appropriate for the celebration of this theme, whether by storytelling, reading, or dramatic re-enactment. For modern Witches, Lady Day is one of the Lesser Sabbats. Which date is appropriate to celebrate the Spring Equinox? You may choose the traditional ‘fixed’ date of March 25th, starting on its Eve. Or you may choose the actual equinox point, when the Sun crosses the Equator and enters the astrological sign of Aries.
Disclaimer: No one involved in this blog or its contents may be held responsible for any adverse reactions arising from following any of the instructions/recipes on this list. It is the reader’s personal responsibility to exercise all precautions and use his or her own discretion if following any instructions or advice from this blog.
Fair Use Notice: This page may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This website distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107.
Friday (yes, I know it’s Thursday…) Form A Circle – New Year’s Eve Blue Moon Ritual
Blue Moon
A Blue Moon is that wonderful occurrence when the Full Moon shows us her face twice in one month. Also known as a Goal Moon, it’s an excellent time to set new goals for yourself. This year we have a blue moon on New Year’s Eve. Because it is falling on Thursday, I am going to go ahead and post Friday’s Form A Circle a day early – so all three of my regular visitors have the option to make use of it…
Adapted from "Full Blue Moon Ritual"
March 27, 1999
Morgaine Windrider
Opening:
We are here to celebrate the Full Blue Moon. I conjure this circle of power to be a world apart. I encircle this sacred space and all within. Let nothing enter unwelcome.
Welcome to Elements:
East:
Spirits of Earth, Guardians of the East; come to us. Gnome, Wise Wolf help us celebrate this magical night of the Blue Moon. Show us the building blocks of stability.
South:
Spirits of Fire, Guardians of the South; come to us. Salamander, Fiery Dragon help us celebrate this magical night of the Blue Moon. Bring to us the flames of creativity and inspiration.
West:
Spirits of Water, Guardians of the West; come to us. Mermaid, Playful Dolphin help us celebrate this magical night of the Blue Moon. Wash over us with the joy of life.
North:
Spirits of Air, Guardians of the North; come to us. Faerie, Soaring Hawk help us celebrate this magical night of the Blue Moon. Give us the breath of new beginnings.
Welcome to God and Goddess:
I would like to ask the Blessed Goddess to be with us on this night of the Blue Moon.
Welcome and Blessed Be.
I would like to ask the Loving God to be with us on this night of the Blue Moon.
Welcome and Blessed Be.
Priestess:
This evening holds special meaning for us as we begin a new journey along our path to the Lord and Lady. This is the night of the Full Blue Moon, a time for beginnings, initiation. How wonderful that it has fallen on the last day of the old year, giving strength to desire to make new beginnings in our lives! The Blue Moon is a time for healing and honoring the Goddess. This is also the last Full Moon of the old year, tomorrow begins the New. The Moon rides high in the night sky preparing the earth for the new growth which will slowly awaken after a long winter’s slumber. Preparing us for the new growth which will slowly awaken within us as we walk our paths…
Priestess:
It is the end of the old year, and we are ready to reaffirm our desires to grow & improve ourselves, as the days lengthen on the way to Spring and the warmth of the growing days.
Speaker 1:
We are as the seeds and bulbs awaiting the warmth of the sun to call us to a new beginning.
Speaker 2:
The winter snows are our blanket. We will soon grow a new coat of green.
Speaker 3:
As we re-emerge, we are as newborns. Our eyes wide open when we are reborn in the spring.
Speaker 4:
The gray winter sky is now growing brighter with each passing day, lifting our spirits and soon to bring us back outside, much as we grow active again.
Goddess Chant:
We are the people of the Goddess
In Her honor we celebrate….
Joining together in community
Pagan peoples of the Earth.
The Goddess Speaks:
"I am Aradia, the avatar of the moon. I incarnated as a woman and walking among you. You are seeking me because you are wishing strength to reinforce desired change…You know that you need to learn more about yourself and the world. You need not run around seeking knowledge or strength from outside sources, for if you do not find the strength within you; you will never find it outside."
Priestess:
I would like for you all to get comfortable now. Sit and be comfortable. This is a very emotional ritual and if you feel uncomfortable about doing this you may leave the circle and join us again afterward. We are ready to begin our Creative Visualization for Release From Pain and Anger With Healing to Follow immediately afterward.
Creative Visualization For Release From Unwanted Traits & Feelings – With Healing to Follow
This ritual and visualization is for release and healing. During the following you will release any pain and anger that you wish and are able to, and then immediately follow by replacing that with healing energy. This is a very emotional ritual/visualization and you may participate if you wish or not. I only wish to tell you ahead of time so you have the choice.
Sit in a comfortable position. Focus on your breathing. Take a deep cleansing breath. Release the breath slowly. Feel your body relax. In your mind, go to a place that you feel safe. Most all of us know a place we allow ourselves to go when we want or need to feel safe. Visualize yourself in that safe place.
Continue breathing.
Familiarize yourself with this space. You will notice that in front of you there are two clay jars. One you will use now and the second you will use later in the ritual.
Take the first of the two jars in your hands, begin to draw up the parts of you you wish to be rid of – pettiness, fear, discontent, pain or any other traits or feelings you wish to be rid of, that are residing inside you and causing you discomfort. Feel them gathering in one place within you. Let yourself feel these things, knowing that they will not be part of you for much longer. Begin to see them leaving you and going into the clay jar. See the jar filling with as much of these negative traits as you are able to let go of. Do the same with all those things within you you wish to be rid of. Allow all of those things to flow freely out of your heart, mind and soul. Feel the negativity draining from your body and pouring into the jar. Don’t be concerned that the jar isn’t big enough as it will grow to contain anything you need it to.
When you feel that you are finished filling the jar, take a good look at it. See how much you’ve been carrying, making your life heavier than necessary. When you have wrung the last of the negativity you are able to muster or feel comfortable letting go of, see the jar sealing with a lid of clay and wax. Know that the jar is sealed and that these feelings & traits will not return to you. Watch the jar as it shrinks, ever smaller and smaller until it’s small enough to hold in the palm of your hand. See how unimportant it appears now in it’s new size and shape. Now take this shrunken container of formerly immense pain and anger and throw it across the room. See it smash to tiny bits and scatter to the four winds powerless to affect anyone ever again.
Take a deep cleansing breath. Let it out slowly. Feel yourself calming down, your heartbeat and breathing returning to normal after the intense emotional upheaval you just purged yourself of.
You now remember there were two jars before you. Now visualize the second jar sitting in front of you. It begins to pulse with a small light from within. Watch as that light grows while healing, loving, peaceful energy pours into it. See it filling with things you desire to be part of you – love, compassion, tolerance, confidence, contentment…Feel the energy wash over you as it flows to the jar. Let that feeling grow. The jar has doubled in size and is bright with a healing blue light. It fills and grows and glows. You look again and it nearly fills the room.
Reach out and place your hands on the jar of healing light & positive energy & traits. Feel the power that fills the receptacle. As you have your hands on the clay jar, you feel the new energy come into you. It flows through your hands, up your arms. You feel the warmth as the energy flows through you healing your heart and soul, filling the holes from which all those things you are now rid of were emptied. As the energy & light flows through you, you notice that the jar has gotten much smaller. You can now hold it in the palm of your hand. Look at the jar, you notice that it is sealed with a glowing blue light that warms the soul. You notice that it now has a clasp ring that can be put onto a thong. In front of you now is a leather thong that you didn’t see before and it is just the right size to fit you perfectly as a necklace. It is as if the Gods made it just for you. Place the jar of healing energy on the thong. It is now ready for you to put it on and keep near your heart. Know that it will be with you always to draw from in any time of pain or anger, fear, insecurity or when you feel those negative traits trying to again take hold of you. It will never empty, as it is a gift from the Lady and Lord and the Elemental Energies to remind you of their love being always with you.
You now see them, although they have been there all along and you weren’t aware they were with you through the entire journey. They embrace you and tell you that they will always be with you, you only need to ask them to come. You look to them as a child and feel the warmth of their smiles and loving embrace. Thank them and accept their gift as a token of their love for you. Hold this close to your heart. When you look up again they have gone but they are never far.
Come back now to this place when you feel that you are ready. Take a deep breath, release it slowly. Remember that you have been given a gift of spirit and healing to carry with you always. When you feel you are ready and able, you may open your eyes and come back physically to this place also.
***Note from Morgaine – My thanks to Hawk, who gave me the inspiration to this ritual. December 31, 1998
Song: Blue Moon (With thanks to Marj Grover)
Blue Moon you see us standing as stone,
With every dream in out hearts,
With all the hope that is known
Blue Moon you know how much we cad dare
For you hear us singing a prayer
For The One She really does care for
Will there suddenly appear before us
The One whose heart will then enfold
We whisper "Goddess we adore Thee"
If you can see, the moon will turn to gold
Blue Moon, now all the shadows have flown
The dreams are answered in part
We know that love is our own.
Cakes and Wine:
Lance to the Grail
Plow to The Earth
So man is to woman
In joy & mirth
Thank Dieties
Priestess:
We thank the Goddess for being with us this evening of the Blue Moon. Hail & Farewell – Blessed Be
We thank the God consort for being with us this evening of the Blue Moon. Hail & Farewll – Blessed Be
Dismiss the Quarters:
We thank the Spirits of (name each element in turn) for their presence. Hail & Farewell – Blessed Be
Close The Circle & Merry Meet:
All:
By the Earth that is Her body,
By the Air that is Her breath,
By the Fire that is Her spirit,
By the Waters of Her living womb,
The circle is open, but yet unbroken
May the peace of the Goddess and the lobe of the God go in our hearts.
Merry Meet, Merry Part & Merry Meet again!
Blessed Be!
Disclaimer: No one involved in this blog or its contents may be held responsible for any adverse reactions arising from following any of the instructions/recipes on this list. It is the reader’s personal responsibility to exercise all precautions and use his or her own discretion if following any instructions or advice from this blog.
Fair Use Notice: This page may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This website distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107.
Tuesday Try A New Taste – Mabon Wine Moon Cider
Mabon Wine Moon Cider
From The Dust Gully
Ingredients:
-
4 cups apple cider
-
4 cups grape juice
-
2 cinnamon sticks
-
1 tsp. allspice
-
1/2 tsp. whole cloves
-
additional cinnamon
Bring to a boil then lower heat and simmer 5 minutes
makes 8 cups
Disclaimer: No one involved in this blog or its contents may be held responsible for any adverse reactions arising from following any of the instructions/recipes on this list. It is the reader’s personal responsibility to exercise all precautions and use his or her own discretion if following any instructions or advice from this blog.
Fair Use Notice: This page may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This website distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107.
Thursday This Is Your Spell – Scarecrow Magic
Many of us have those fun garden scarecrows – or we may have made our own – in our gardens. These can be enchanted for abundance or protection. You will need your own scarecrow, ideally make one – it can even be a fairy! (but it doesn’t matter if shop bought,) place in your garden.
Do the first spell at a waxing moon for pulling protection to you, or during a waning moon to banish negativity/prowlers. Do at sunset or sun rise. Go to the scarecrow and say three times:
‘Made from straw and old rag clothes
This scarecrow will see more than we know
Ward my garden and protect me, too
Under midnight stars and skies of blue .’
Place your dominant hand on its head and say:
‘By the magic of the harvest this spell is spun
As I will, so mote it be, and let it harm none ‘
For abundance, again do at sunrise or set. Stand beside your scarecrow & say:
‘Jack in the straw bless this garden of mine
By the powers of fire, water, earth, air, and divine
These elements abundance will surely bring
Spin around us now in a multi-colored ring ‘
Visualize the element’s colors spinning around you and the scarecrow as you chant softly over and over
‘Earth, Air, Fire and Water’
holding out your hands, palm up. See it spinning faster and faster, from your ankles up and down, slowly raise your hands to shoulder height raising the energy up with you, when you feel you have raised enough, send it out with a toss of your hand. Crouch on the ground and place hands in soil to ground and center, saying:
‘My magic encircles this space above and below
I ground this spell into the Earth,
May it yield abundance, joy and love
So mote it be ”
Stand up and brush soil off hands….
Disclaimer: No one involved in this blog or its contents may be held responsible for any adverse reactions arising from following any of the instructions/recipes on this list. It is the reader’s personal responsibility to exercise all precautions and use his or her own discretion if following any instructions or advice from this blog.
Fair Use Notice: This page may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This website distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107.
Thursday This Is Your Spell – Prosperity Spell
Prosperity Spell
from Fullmoon Magic
With ritual on a Thursday. This is a general prosperity spell to help with cash flow problems. It is intended to attract money and material prosperity into your life.
Supplies:
- a dressed green candle
- your favorite prosperity incense
- a High John the Conqueror root (or a Galangal root, or piece of Ginger root if you don’t have the High John)
- prosperity oil**
Gather all your materials and place them on the altar. Light the incense and the altar candles. Cast the circle. Light the green candle saying:
"I come here on the day
And in the hour of Jupiter
The ruler of fortune,
I light the flame of prosperity
To signify what I seek."
Pick up the root and pass it through the flame of the candle stating:
"I purify this root
To serve as a lasting token
Of my desire spoke this night"
Pick up the prosperity oil.
Anoint the root with the oil stating:
"High John (or Galangal or Ginger)
I annoint you with this essence of prosperity
That you shall serve
To draw to me the money that I need.
May it’s power add to your own
To speed good fortune on it’s way."
Pass the root through the smoke of the incense stating:
"I add the power of this
Perfume of prosperity
To those already bestowed,
That it shall increase your power still more
To bring me the prosperity that I seek."
Place the root in the center of the altar and meditate for a few moments on the great need you have for financial help. When you have this clearly in mind, visualize a green light coming from above to surround the root and yourself with it’s glow stating:
"Prosperity descend upon me
And this token of my desire,
The rich green glow of fortune
Shine brightly for all to see.
My financial woes are at an end,
As I will so mote it be."
Allow the candle to burn out and leave the root on the altar in front of it. Dismiss the circle. Carry the root with you to draw prosperity.
**
Madam Fortuna’s Prosperity Oil
From Gypsy Magic
The optimum time to make this oil is 5 days following the new moon. But it can be made any time during the new or crescent moon phase.
Supplies:
- A small item made of gold
- Olive oil
- Small clean container (preferably glass) with a tight fitting lid
- Powdered cinnamon or cinnamon essential oil
Instructions:
Place the item made of gold into the container. Add a pinch of cinnamon or a drop of cinnamon essential oil. Pour enough olive into the container to cover the item and fill the container to the halfway mark. Cradle the container in your hands and think about how grateful and happy you are for the prosperity that you already have, and for the prosperity that is coming to you. Gently breathe this gratitude and happiness into the container, continuing to breathe it into the container until it has been filled the rest of the way to the top with loving gratitude. Put the lid on the container, and tighten it. Tap the lid with your middle finger once and say
"Thank you to the Father"
Tap the lid with your middle finger a second time and say
"Thank you to the Mother"
Tap the lid with your middle finger for a third time and say
"Thank you to the Living Spirit in all things"
This prosperity oil will gradually increase in potency as the moon waxes toward full, and can be used at any time.
On the full moon remove the gold item – and gently and lovingly clean it. Drop a pinch of powdered ginger into the container. Cradle the container in your hands and think about how grateful and happy you are for the prosperity that you already have, and for the prosperity that is coming to you. Put the lid on the container, and tighten it. Tap the lid with your middle finger once and say
"Thank you to the Father"
Tap the lid with your middle finger a second time and say
"Thank you to the Mother"
Tap the lid with your middle finger for a third time and say
"Thank you to the Living Spirit in all things"
Hints and tips:
- If it seems that there is no prosperity in your life to be grateful for, think of something that makes you happy, or someone you love.
- A Sacajawea gold dollar is a great item to use – and they can be purchased for $1 at your local bank.
Thursday This Is Your Spell – A Smattering of Midsummer Spells
A Smattering of Midsummer Spells
Melanie Fire Salamander, at Widdershins
As a pagan, you may well light a bonfire Midsummer night and jump it, for Litha is a fire festival. Likewise, you may stay up to greet the Midsummer dawn. If you do, keep a pair of garden shears handy. Midsummer’s Eve at midnight, Midsummer’s Day at dawn and Midsummer noon are prime times to collect plants sacred to the sun or special to the fey. In fact, any magical herb plucked at Midsummer is said to prove doubly effective and keep better. Divining rods cut on Midsummer’s Eve are said to be more infallible, too. You can charge your charms, depending on their purpose, at midnight, noon or in dawn’s first light.
Charms traditional at Litha include those for courage, dream divination, fertility, invisibility, love, luck, protection, wealth, the restoration of sight and the ability to see the fey. Midsummer is a fey time, both by tradition and observation. The scent of the air is thick, green and juicy; it’s lost its spring astringency and is simply lush. The whole world is stretching its limbs and frolicking. The fey are big on that. Especially for charms of love, gardening and magical abilities, the fey are a great help in herb collecting. In exchange, they like gifts of milk and honey, cookies, sweet liqueurs, or any sweet food, drink or liquor. They also like baubles, particularly pretty or shiny. Or cold hard cash – but in coin, not paper, and it’s best if shiny. To stay in good with the fey and the herbs you collect from, leave enough of the plant or other plants of the type that the herb survives in the spot collected from. Remember too to always ask the plant before taking a cutting, and to wait for an answer. A quid pro quo usually works: a shiny dime, some fertilizer, or a bit of your hair or clothing – whatever you think the plant most wants.
Courage: Tuscans use erba della paura (stachys) collected on Midsummer’s Day as a wash against fear. Steep the herb in hot but not boiling water, then rinse the limbs with long strokes moving outward from the torso. You might substitute wood betony, a relative more common in North America.
Dream Divination: Litha is a good time for foretelling things in dreams. Specifically, to induce dreams of love and ensure them coming true, lay a bunch of flowers under your pillow on Midsummer Eve. That’s what the girls of old Scandinavia did. For effective dream divination, remember to keep a notebook beside your bed. At bedtime, relax, ground and center, then clearly define your question. Meditate on that question until it’s firm in your mind, and assure yourself you will remember your dream on waking. Then go to sleep. As soon as you wake, record your dream. One trick is to set an alarm clock so you’re wakened artificially, which can help dream recollection. Dreams dreamed on Midsummer’s Eve are said to be more likely to come true.
Fertility For Your Garden: For a lush garden, mix ashes from the Midsummer bonfire with any seeds yet to plant. (You still have time to plant cosmos and a handful of fall-blooming flowers.) Likewise, for fertility sprinkle bonfire ashes on any flowers or vegetables you have growing.
Fey Charms: To see the fey, pick flowers from a patch of wild thyme where the little folk live and place the flowers on your eyes. A four-leafed clover not only grants you a wish but also, carried in your pocket or a charm, gives you the power to see fairies dancing in rings. A good place to look is by oaks, said in Germany to be a favorite place for fey dances. To penetrate fey glamour, make and wear an ointment including four leaved clovers. St. John’s Wort, also known as ragwort, has a strong connection to the fey and transportation. You might add it to charms to travel quickly. The Irish call the plant the fairy’s horse, and the fey are said to ride it through the air. But beware: The Manx say if you step on a ragwort plant on Midsummer’s Eve after sunset, a fairy horse springs out of the earth and carries you off till sunrise, leaving you wherever you happen to be when the sun comes up.
Invisibility: Collect fern seed on Midsummer’s Eve for use in charms of invisibility. To become invisible, wear or swallow the seed (that is, the spores) you have collected. Such spores also put you under the protection of spirits. The fern is said to bloom at midnight on Midsummer’s Eve, either a sapphire blue or golden yellow depending on your source.
Love: Plant two orpine starts (Sedum telephium) together on Midsummer Eve, one to represent yourself, one to represent your lover. If one withers, the person represented will die. But if both flourish and grow leaning together, you and your lover will marry.
Luck and Human Fertility: As at Beltaine, leap the Midsummer bonfire for fertility and luck.
Protection: Herbs traditional to Litha (also know as St. John’s Day) in England include St. John’s Wort, Hawkweed, Orpine, Vervain, Mullein, Wormwood and Mistletoe. Plucked either at Midsummer’s Eve on midnight or noon Midsummer Day and hung in the house, they protect it from fire and lightning. Worn in a charm on your body, they protect you from disease, disaster and the workings of your enemies.
Sight: Dew gathered Midsummer Eve is said to restore sight.
Wealth: The fern also has a connection with wealth. Sprinkle fern seed in your savings to keep them from decreasing. The alleged golden-yellow fern flower, plucked on Midsummer’s Eve at midnight, can be used as a dowsing tool to lead to golden treasure. Alternatively (the Russian version), you throw the flower in the air, and it lands on buried treasure. Or, if you’re Bohemian, you pluck the flower and on the same Midsummer Night climb a mountain with blossom in hand. On the mountain, you’ll find gold or have it revealed in a vision. If you wait patiently till midnight on Midsummer Eve and see no such golden fern flower, perhaps invisibility will have to do.
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Saturday Something – Summertime Moon and Astrology Gardening
Summertime Moon and Astrology Gardening
by Ravenna Morgan
The Moon’s magnetic force pulls all that contains water: the tides of our oceans, the blood and fluids of our bodies, and all plant life – it lets you know when to sow, when to gather, and when to weed. By learning to flow with the rhythm of the Goddess we are ensuring the best crops, herbs and flowers and this in turn will resonate within us to create a connection with Mother Earth such as we have never known before, it will enrich us spiritually, emotionally, physically and mentally.
The Moon travels through each one of the Zodiac signs about once a month – she stays in one sign about 2 1/2 days before moving on to the next one. It’s never wise to plant on the day of the New Moon or Full Moon. The waxing and waning process of the moon can be divided into the four phases of new moon, first quarter moon, full moon, and last quarter moon. In each phase, certain plants have the best chances for growth.
A moon that is waxing increases in light from a new moon to a full moon. A waxing moon, which is increasing in light, will be beneficial for plants growing above the ground. The first week is especially good for crops that have their seeds on the outside, such as asparagus, broccoli, celery, cabbage and spinach. The second week (between the 1st quarter and the Full Moon) is best for crops that produce seeds on the inside, like peppers, tomatoes, peaches, cucumbers and melons.
A moon that is waning decreases in light from a full moon until the next new moon. Plant root crops such as potatoes, peanuts, carrots and onions, bulbs, perennials, and biennial plants during a waning moon. Harvesting also should be done during a waning moon. To encourage your lawn to grow fast, cut it during new or first quarter moon. To encourage it to grow more slowly, cut it during a full or last quarter moon.
Charts are available that tell you what phase and what Zodiac sign the Moon is in at any given time. The following is a guide. Planting & Garden Care by the Zodiac:
Aries is a dry & barren time; plant onions, hot peppers & garlic, kill weeds deter unwanted insects.
Taurus is a moist and productive time; plant root crops such as turnips, potatoes, carrots.
Gemini is a dry and barren time – a good time to pinch tips from plants to stop unwanted growth, fork up and aerate the soil, pull weeds.
Cancer is the most moist and fertile time of all. Watch those seeds germinate! Time to irrigate, to graft, and to transplant new seedlings.
Leo is the driest and most barren time. No planting, pruning of vines or trees should be done. This is the best time to kill weeds and deter unwanted insects.
Virgo is a moist, but barren time, a time to weed, tie up vines, clean your garden tools and do all the garden maintenance jobs that have been waiting.
Libra is a moist and reasonably productive time, good for planting ornamental flowers or sowing flower seeds.
Scorpio is a very moist and productive time. This is the best time for fertilizing your garden; good for planting too – especially vines.
Sagittarius is a dry and barren time – this is not the time to plant or prune.
Capricorn is a reasonably productive time and is good for planting root crops such as carrots and potatoes.
Aquarius is a dry & barren time, no good for planting, but take the time to rake the soil and get rid of weeds.
Pisces is a moist and very productive time, excellent for the growth of fruits and berries, and to fertilize the garden. Good for short, quick growth and deep roots, and for planting bulbs.
Copyright Ó Nerys Purchon (AKA Ravenna Morgan). Permission is granted to share this article with others, provided you do so in it’s entirety and include this copyright statement.
Disclaimer: No one involved in this blog or its contents may be held responsible for any adverse reactions arising from following any of the instructions/recipes on this list. It is the reader’s personal responsibility to exercise all precautions and use his or her own discretion if following any instructions or advice from `this blog.
Friday Form A Circle – Full Moon/Cleansing Rite
Full Moon / Cleansing Rite
I have no source info on this 😦
Special tools:
- Cauldron filled with salt water
Altar Devotion.
Cast the circle.
Invocation of the Goddess:
I greet the Lady and call upon thee
Mighty Mother of us all, bringer of all fruitfulness.
I ask you, Mother, to descend upon my circle
And reside within me, thy priest/ess.
Invocation of the God:
I call upon thee O Great Father,
Sun and Consort of the Mother,
Who brings her light and warmth.
Come forth Mighty Horned One.
Live now within the body of this thy priest/ess.
Cleansing:
Anoint forehead with salt water
"I cleanse my thoughts
That they might be pure and honest –
Grant that they always be pleasing
To the God and Goddess."
Anoint throat
"I cleanse my voice
That all that I say
Might be for good
And naught for ill or harm."
Anoint heart
I cleanse my heart that it might be open,
Giving and full of light.
Grant that I might give freely
Of my love and care to others."
Anoint hands
"I cleanse my hands
That I might use them
For workings of good,
To help and never to harm."
Anoint feet
"I cleanse my feet
That they might take me far in life,
That my journeys may be
Filled with love, light, peace
And the joy of the Goddess and God."
Meditation for a time.
Cakes and Wine (eating bread and drinking wine or juice to restore energies spent during ritual). Release the circle, thank the God and Goddess.
Disclaimer: No one involved in this blog or its contents may be held responsible for any adverse reactions arising from following any of the instructions / recipes on this list. It is the reader’s personal responsibility to exercise all precautions and use his or her own discretion if following any instructions or advice from this blog
Wednesday Whatever – Lady Day – The Vernal Equinox
* Lady Day: The Vernal Equinox *
by Mike Nichols; August 28, 2000
from The Witches’ Sabbats
Now comes the Vernal Equinox, and the season of Spring reaches it’s apex, halfway through its journey from Candlemas to Beltane. Once again, night and day stand in perfect balance, with the powers of light on the ascendancy. The god of light now wins a victory over his twin, the god of darkness. In the Mabinogion myth reconstruction which I have proposed, this is the day on which the restored Llew takes his vengeance on Goronwy by piercing him with the sunlight spear. For Llew was restored/reborn at the Winter Solstice and is now well/old enough to vanquish his rival/twin and mate with his lover/mother. And the great Mother Goddess, who has returned to her Virgin aspect at Candlemas, welcomes the young sun god’s embraces and conceives a child. The child will be born nine months from now, at the next Winter Solstice. And so the cycle closes at last.
We think that the customs surrounding the celebration of the spring equinox were imported from Mediterranean lands, although there can be no doubt that the first inhabitants of the British Isles observed it, as evidence from megalithic sites shows. But it was certainly more popular to the south where people celebrated the holiday as New Year’s Day, and claimed it as the first day of the first sign of the Zodiac, Aries. However you look at it, it is certainly a time of new beginnings, as a simple glance at Nature will prove.
In the Roman Catholic Church, there are two holidays which get mixed up with the Vernal Equinox. The first, occurring on the fixed calendar day of March 25th in the old liturgical calendar, is called the Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (or B.V.M., as she was typically abbreviated in Catholic Missals). ‘Annunciation’ means an announcement. This is the day that the angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she was ‘in the family way’.
Naturally, this had to be announced since Mary, being still a virgin, would have no other means of knowing it. (Quit scoffing, O ye of little faith!) Why did the Church pick the Vernal Equinox for the commemoration of this event? Because it was necessary to have Mary conceive the child Jesus a full nine months before his birth at the Winter Solstice (i.e., Christmas celebrated on the fixed calendar date of December 25). Mary’s pregnancy would take the natural nine months to complete, even if the conception was a bit unorthodox.
As mentioned before, the older Pagan equivalent of this scene focuses on the joyous process of natural conception, when the young virgin Goddess (in this case, ‘virgin’ in the original sense of meaning ‘unmarried’) mates with the young solar God, who has just displaced his rival. This is probably not their first mating, however. In the mythical sense, the couple may have been lovers since Candlemas, when the young God reached puberty. But the young Goddess was recently a mother (at the Winter Solstice) and is probably still nursing her new child. Therefore, conception is naturally delayed for six weeks or so and, despite earlier matings with the God, She does not conceive until (surprise!) the Vernal Equinox. This may also be their Hand-fasting, a sacred marriage between God and Goddess called a Hierogamy, the ultimate Great Rite. Probably the nicest study of this theme occurs in M. Esther Harding’s book, ‘Woman’s Mysteries‘. Probably the nicest description of it occurs in M. Z. Bradley’s ‘Mists of Avalon’, in the scene where Morgan and Arthur assume the sacred roles. (Bradley follows the British custom of transferring the episode to Beltane, when the climate is more suited to its outdoor celebration.)
The other Christian holiday which gets mixed up in this is Easter. Easter, too, celebrates the victory of a god of light (Jesus) over darkness (death), so it makes sense to place it at this season. Ironically, the name ‘Easter’ was taken from the name of a Teutonic lunar Goddess, Eostre (from whence we also get the name of the female hormone, estrogen). Her chief symbols were the bunny (both for fertility and because her worshipers saw a hare in the full moon) and the egg (symbolic of the cosmic egg of creation), images which Christians have been hard pressed to explain. Her holiday, the Eostara, was held on the Vernal Equinox Full Moon. Of course, the Church doesn’t celebrate full moons, even if they do calculate by them, so they planted their Easter on the following Sunday. Thus, Easter is always the first Sunday, after the first Full Moon, after the Vernal Equinox. If you’ve ever wondered why Easter moved all around the calendar, now you know. (By the way, the Catholic Church was so adamant about not incorporating lunar Goddess symbolism that they added a further calculation: if Easter Sunday were to fall on the Full Moon itself, then Easter was postponed to the following Sunday instead.)
Incidentally, this raises another point: recently, some Pagan traditions began referring to the Vernal Equinox as Eostara. Historically, this is incorrect. Eostara is a lunar holiday, honoring a lunar Goddess, at the Vernal Full Moon. Hence, the name ‘Eostara’ is best reserved to the nearest Esbat, rather than the Sabbat itself. How this happened is difficult to say. However, it is notable that some of the same groups misappropriated the term ‘Lady Day’ for Beltane, which left no good folk name for the Equinox. Thus Eostara was misappropriated for it, completing a chain-reaction of displacement. Needless to say, the old and accepted folk name for the Vernal Equinox is ‘Lady Day’. Christians sometimes insist that the title is in honor of Mary and her Annunciation, but Pagans will smile knowingly.
Another mythological motif which must surely arrest our attention at this time of year is that of the descent of the God or Goddess into the Underworld. Perhaps we see this most clearly in the Christian tradition. Beginning with his death on the cross on Good Friday, it is said that Jesus ‘descended into hell’ for the three days that his body lay entombed. But on the third day (that is, Easter Sunday), his body and soul rejoined, he arose from the dead and ascended into heaven. By a strange ‘coincidence’, most ancient Pagan religions speak of the Goddess descending into the Underworld, also for a period of three days.
Why three days? If we remember that we are here dealing with the lunar aspect of the Goddess, the reason should be obvious. As the text of one Book of Shadows gives it, ‘…as the moon waxes and wanes, and walks three nights in darkness, so the Goddess once spent three nights in the Kingdom of Death.’ In our modern world, alienated as it is from nature, we tend to mark the time of the New Moon (when no moon is visible) as a single date on a calendar. We tend to forget that the moon is also hidden from our view on the day before and the day after our calendar date. But this did not go unnoticed by our ancestors, who always speak of the Goddess’s sojourn into the land of Death as lasting for three days. Is it any wonder then, that we celebrate the next Full Moon (the Eostara) as the return of the Goddess from chthonic regions?
Naturally, this is the season to celebrate the victory of life over death, as any nature-lover will affirm. And the Christian religion was not misguided by celebrating Christ’s victory over death at this same season. Nor is Christ the only solar hero to journey into the underworld. King Arthur, for example, does the same thing when he sets sail in his magical ship, Prydwen, to bring back precious gifts (i.e. the gifts of life) from the Land of the Dead, as we are told in the ‘Mabinogi’. Welsh triads allude to Gwydion and Amaethon doing much the same thing. In fact, this theme is so universal that mythologists refer to it by a common phrase, ‘the harrowing of hell’.
However, one might conjecture that the descent into hell, or the land of the dead, was originally accomplished, not by a solar male deity, but by a lunar female deity. It is Nature Herself who, in Spring, returns from the Underworld with her gift of abundant life. Solar heroes may have laid claim to this theme much later. The very fact that we are dealing with a three-day period of absence should tell us we are dealing with a lunar, not solar, theme. (Although one must make exception for those occasional male lunar deities, such as the Assyrian god, Sin.) At any rate, one of the nicest modern renditions of the harrowing of hell appears in many Books of Shadows as ‘The Descent of the Goddess’. Lady Day may be especially appropriate for the celebration of this theme, whether by storytelling, reading, or dramatic re-enactment.
For modern Witches, Lady Day is one of the Lesser Sabbats or Low Holidays of the year, one of the four quarter-days. And what date will Witches choose to celebrate? They may choose the traditional folk ‘fixed’ date of March 25th starting on its Eve. Or they may choose the actual equinox point, when the Sun crosses the Equator and enters the astrological sign of Aries.
(Document Copyright © 1986, 2000 by Mike Nichols; This document can be re-published only as long as no information is lost or changed, credit is given to the author, and it is provided or used without cost to others. Other uses of this document must be approved in writing by Mike Nichols.)
Disclaimer: No one involved in this blog or its contents may be held responsible for any adverse reactions arising from following any of the instructions / recipes on this list. It is the reader’s personal responsibility to exercise all precautions and use his or her own discretion if following any instructions or advice from this blog
Thursday This Is Your Spell – Getting Pregnant Spell
The upcoming Ostara holiday is all about fertility, so in that vein…
Getting Pregnant Spell
You will need the following:
- ace of wands,
- 10 of cups,
- the SUN,
- something for a baby you bought specifically for this ritual (a bib, a small blanket…etc…..),
- 9 red candles.
Light the candles and lay out the tarot cards one by one.
Visualize yourself finding out your pregnant, staring at a positive pregnancy test. Repeat the following:
With these cards and with this spell
I call upon the good and helpful powers.
I desire to start a family
I desire energy and love to continue.
This small item (hold up the baby item)
Is the token of the commitment
We are ready to make.
We are ready to love our children
We are ready to teach our children
And we are ready to have our children
So it is – so it shall be!
Seal this spell with kisses and hugs followed by the actions necessary to start a family. Seashells represent fertility. She can create a small seashell altar in her bedroom. If she wants to add a deity, I’d use the Goddess of Willendorf. Any round and fertile/pregnant goddess will work, and there are many!
Holed stones are also symbols of fertility. Have her carry one her person or have her wear one around her neck as a charm.
Placing one by the bed or between the matters is also good.
Eat healthy! Diet plays an extreme part in fertility. Use visualization.
She must be relaxed. Also, studies show that when the man and woman climax together the woman has a higher chance of conception.
Full moons… In tribal times and pre-electricity, women would ovulate around the Full Moon and menstruate around the Dark or New Moon. One way to get yourself onto this cycle is to start paying more attention to the phases of the moon and also going out under the moon for even a minute or two.
Disclaimer: No one involved in this blog or its contents may be held responsible for any adverse reactions arising from following any of the instructions / recipes on this list. It is the reader’s personal responsibility to exercise all precautions and use his or her own discretion if following any instructions or advice from this blog.
A Witch In Time...Wandering The Path of Life 