Ostara, Spring Begins

Wishing All A Happy Saturnalia

 

Here's wishing everyone a happy Saturnalia! From December 17 to December 23, festive role reversals, merriment, and gift giving were the practice in prechristian Rome. Io Saturnalia!

Beltane Greetings

 

Beltane Greetings, everyone!

Winter Solstice Greetings

 

 Happy Winter Solstice, everyone!

Spring Equinox

Alban Eiler, otherwise known as the Vernal Equinox, is here. This is the traditional Easter, or Ostara, which takes its name from the Germanic Goddess, Eostre. She represents the Maiden, and Spring. Easter eggs are symbols of fertility, and hiding them for children to hunt for them was a traditional Pagan pastime for this Sabbat. In agrarian communities, it was a time to plant.

Whatever you intend to harvest later in the year, now is the time to plant and invest energy and effort. Blessed Be!

Mabon Blessings

 

Today is the Autumnal Equinox, known in Pagan circles as Mabon. It is referenced as the "second harvest", Lammas being the first, and Samhain, or Halloween, being the third and final. As an equinox, it is a solar holiday, while Lammas is lunar. This makes it a Sabbat, which, to those who observe the Sabbats, means that rituals are practiced that are all about balance, personal balance, collective balance, and global balance. It is what we all work toward.

Mabon is the Thanksgiving of our European ancestors. Rather than focusing on trade, which was done at carnival, we spend time with family. After the holiday, this is still a very busy time of year. Everything must be harvested by the third harvest. 

Have a wonderful Mabon, all. Blessed Be!

Summer Solstice 2015

Happy Summer Solstice. Today is not only Fathers Day, but also the longest day of the year. Because of the earth's axial tilt, which gives us our seasons, the sun shines directly on the northern hemisphere, and it is summer above the Equator. This day is also a Pagan Sabbat, the time of the mystical marriage between the Holly King, who rules from now until Winter Solstice, and Mother Earth. This holy day is not only about the upcoming harvests, it is about balance. Blessed Be!

Light Of The Earth

Happy Alban Eiler, everyone! Alban Eiler means "light of the earth", and today is the first day of spring! Sacred to the Goddess Ostara, the vernal equinox is the original Easter. The ancients wanted to make sure fields were plowed, or ready to be plowed, and eggs were decorated,  symbolic of fertility. Easter egg hunts were held in celebration, and rabbits are also associated with this Sabbat, as fertility symbols. Even those among us whose pursuits are not agricultural should still prepare in whichever ways are appropriate for the upcoming seasons of planting and harvesting. I hope everyone is ready for a fun and productive growing season. Blessed Be!

Treat The Goddess With Respect

I could not have said it better.

Summer Solstice Greetings!

Happy Summer Solstice! 

Candlemas

Happy Imbolc!

Keep Sol In Winter Solstice

 

Blessed Be, Everyone! Remember to keep Sol in Winter Solstice!

 

While The Moon Is Waxing

 

The deed is done,

The battle's won.

 

Hello Bast

 

To Fix A Misunderstanding

 

This is very good advice. Hopefully, it will clear up a few things.

Blessings.

Beltane

 

 

Dewali

 Diwali, or Divali, is the Hindu Festival of Lights. It is a five day lunar holiday, and this year, it begins tommorrow on the New Moon. Houses are cleaned, gifts are given, and lights are lit in celebration. As there are many different Hindu traditions, I will just say that the main message here is the conquest of Light over Darkness. The legend is about the defeat of the demon, Narakasur, by Lakshmi, the Goddess of wealth and Light. Other versions have the demon conquered by Krishna or Satyabhama, one of Krishna's wives. My very first understandings of the Goddess came here, in reading about the conquest of the Goddess, Kali, over the demon king. But then, I have always had an unusual relationship with certain energies and associated Dieties. But this did not come without love and guidance. A friend, who practices the Hindu traditions of her country, once asked me pointedly about my tendency to recognize and relate to any God or Goddess of war and conquest, yet fail to recognize the Buddha, or any God of peace! It became a very defining moment in my understanding of matters spiritual and matters occult.

 

An Early Return Of Persephone?

Almost Imbolc! I can feel the Earth getting ready for the next season! It's almost time to start nagging my husband about the garden!