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| ~*Samhain*~ On October 31, known by Christain concepts as Halloween or All Hallows Eve. By tradition, on Samhain night a plate of food is left outside the home for the souls of the dead. A candle is placed in the window to guide them to the lands of eternal summer and burying apples in the hard-packed earth feeds the passed ones on their journey to the other world. For a traditional Samhain Ritural click Here! |
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| ~*Yule or Winter Solstice*~ Starts on December 21st which is generally the shortest day of the year. The day is also known as "sun return" and "mothers night" in honer of the great goddess who has given birth to the new solar cycle. Pagens through out the Nothern Hemisphere celebrate this day as the dealth of the old and the birth of the new. This is also known as the Celtic New Year and marks the end of the earth's solar cycle. Depending on the tradition the season lasts for 6 to 12 days. Occording to Christatin concepts this holiday is known as Christmas, however yule and the Winter Solstice was celebrated long before the birth of Christ. By tradition the Yuletide practice of decorating a tree was generally done with strings of dried rose buds, cinnamon sticks, stringed popcorn and cranberrys, bags of spices hug from the branches, and quarts crystals wraped with wire and hung to resemble icecles. Apples, oranges and lemons where hung like bulbs to add color and olther all hand make ordaments were crafted and skattered over the tree. This tradition has been taken over in Christain tradition and is more popularly known as the Christmas Tree. For a traditional Yule Ritural click Here. |
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| ~*Imbolc*~ (pron: "Im-bulk"), also known as Brighid is a Celtic fire festival celebrating the "quickening" of the earth in preparation for the spring. The word "Imbolc" comes from the Old Irish and was thought to of ment "Ewes' Milk" in direct translation. This festival is dedicated to the Tripple Goddess Brighid and is celebrated as the |
| the season of new growth. It is traditional that at sunset on this day to light a every lamp or candles in every room in honor of the suns rebirth into spring. Id snow should fall outside then go outside and walk in it remembering the warmth of summer then trace the image of the sun in the snow. For a traditional Imbolc Ritural click Here. |
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| ~*Ostara*~ Falls at the Spring Equinox when the day and night are of equal length on March 21st. It's the time to celebrate spring and the begining of warmer days. It Celebates the balance of light and darkness and the new growth and life in nature. It is also known as the "Vernal Equinox" or "The Festival of Trees". It is associated with the goddess of fertility , Eastre or Andraste and is also associated with the animal totem, the hare. In Christain concepts this holiday is called Easter however like the previous, was a pagen holiday, getting the easter bunny from the hare totem of Eastre and the easter egg from the symbolism of fertility. It is traditional in some |
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| Pagen cultures to go to a field and randomly collect wildflowers then divide them by their magickal meanings. The flowers you have chosen reflect and reveal your inner thoughts and emotions. Remember while gathering them to ask the god and goddess for permission to take them. For a traditional Ostara Ritural click Here. |
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| ~*Midsummer (Lilha)*~ Embarks on June 20th and is the festival clelbrated at the Summer Solstice. Durring a few days in midsummer as with midwinter the sun is seen to "stand still" as it sets in the same place each day of the midsummer period. The physical solstice usually takes place on June 21st which Pagens often set out before the darkness to keep vigil all night to welcome the sunrise at dawn on the longest day of the year. This is the time to celebrate the rebirth of the sun and the heigth of it's powers as an opportunity to gather strength just before the days become shorter over the following six months. Midsummer is the one perfect time to practice magick of all kinds. Healing, love and protection magick and riturals are particually sutiable at this time for the power of the sun and the sun god is at it's peek. For a traditional Midsummer Ritural click Here. |
| ~*Beltane*~ Is celebrated on April 30th and as the Celtic fire festival it signals the beginning of the summer and the celebrates fertility and marriage. Beltane celebrations are traditionally are taken place outdoors rejoyceing the increasing warmer weather and the longer days and less hours of darkenss for this reason it is a solar based festival. It is also the time of carnival, wxcess, and high spirits and is associated with fairies and nature spirits at play. It is seen as a time when the veil between the worlds is much thinner then normal just as at Sambain, when the separation between the living and the souls of the dead is breached. Any acts of fancy and joy are celebrated durring this time and it is traditional to let yourself to and enjoy the nature of the world around you. For a traditional Beltane Ritural click Here. |
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| ~*Lammas or Lughnasadh*~ Is celebrated on August 1st and is the festival of the harvest and is signfied by a feast. This feast originates form Ireland and is connected with the god Lugh, with whom some present-day Pagens assiciate with the sun. Some consitter it to be another Cletic fire festival but it's origins outside Ireland points to a Angle-Saxon feast on August 1st and is also celebrated as a ancient British agrarian custom. Lammas or the "loaf mass", is more-so a celebraion of the harvest of grains more then any other crop. It makes the ripening and gathering of grains and the sacrifice of the corn for the good of the people. By some traiditions it is appropriate to weave wheat in the making of such things as corn dolls, whreaths and brooms. For a traditional Lammas Ritural click Here. |
| Information on this page was gathered from the following books: Wicca, A Guide For The Solitary Practitioner by: Scott Cunningham & Inner Magic, A Guide to Witchcraft by: Ann-Marie Gallagher |
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| ~*Mabon or Modron*~ Is celebrated on September 21st as the Autumn Equinox and stands as the midpoint between the darkness and the light halfs of the solar year and prefaces longer hours of darkness and shorter days. It is a time of balance and is seen as the time when the light ends as summer ends. It is the time for many harvests and Modron or Mabon, meaning "mother", celebrates the frutefull earth before it goes bare durring the winter months. Some traiditions see it as a time to walk wild places and forests, gathering seed pods and dried plants to use to decorate the home or saved for use in magickal workings durring the winter when these are not a readily avalible. For a traditional Mabon Ritural click Here. |
| Background is from Ostara.com |
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