Seasons of the Witch! Ancient Holidays (and some not so ancient!)
Live each Season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each. ~Henry David Thoreau (1817 – 1862)
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Astronomy Day
Celebration of War Veterans Day – Azerbaijan
Child Care Provider Day
Day of Memory and Honour – Uzbekistan
Earls Court Day – Kansas, Virginia, Iowa, Wyoming, Minnesota
Feast of Artemis – Greek
Grand Bairam Holiday begins – Egypt
Green Man Festival
Joan of Arc Processions – France
Lemuria (Old Roman; Honors Ghosts of Dead without Family)
Lost Sock Memorial Day
Memorial Day of Victims of World War II – Latvia
Military Spouses Appreciation Day
Mother’s Day – Belarus
National Bike To Work Day
National Butterscotch Brownie Day
National Heroes Day – Moldova
National Holiday – Czechoslovakia
National Night Shift Workers Day
National Teacher Day
National Third Shift Workers Day
School Family Day
St. Pachomius’ Day
VE Day – Bosnia-Herzegovina
Victory & Peace Day – Armenia
Victory Day – Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Montenegro, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine
Lemuria – The Romans set aside a week for appeasing the lemures (the ghosts of one’s ancestors). At midnight, the head of the household performed a ritual to summon hem, by washing his hands in spring water, casting away as many black beans as there were residents in the household, washing his hands again and clashing bronze cymbals to summon the ghosts. This ritual was repeated on the 11th and the 13th. Blackburn, Bonnie and Leofranc Holford-Strevens, Oxford Companion to the Year, Oxford University Press 1999 – Rufus, Anneli, The World Holiday Book, Harper San Francisco 1994
St Christopher – This saint, portrayed in the Eastern church as a man with the head of a dog, was supposedly descended from a legendary race of giants with human bodies and canine heads. When he converted to Christianity, he was given the name Christ-bearer to show he carried the divinity within. This became the source of the story of how he carried the Christ Child across a raging river in a storm, thus he is the patron of travellers, who often wear St Christopher medals for protection.
St Christopher – This saint, portrayed in the Eastern church as a man with the head of a dog, was supposedly descended from a legendary race of giants with human bodies and canine heads. When he converted to Christianity, he was given the name Christ-bearer to show he carried the divinity within. This became the source of the story of how he carried the Christ Child across a raging river in a storm, thus he is the patron of travellers, who often wear St Christopher medals for protection.
A French scholar, Saintyves, whose work is cited by McNeill, thought Christopher was a successor of Anubis, Hermes and Hercules. He notes that he has two festivals on May 9th (in the Eastern church) and July 25th (in the Western church) and that these dates correspond to the setting and rising of Sirius, the Dog Star.
At Guadalajara in Mexico, porters solicit the help of St Christopher with this prayer:
Dichoso Cristobalazo – Fortunate Great Christopher,
Santazo de cuerpo entero – mighty saint with sturdy body
Y no como otros santitos – and not like other saints
Que ni se ven en el cielo – Who aren’t even noticed in heaven.
Santazo de cuerpo entero – mighty saint with sturdy body
Y no como otros santitos – and not like other saints
Que ni se ven en el cielo – Who aren’t even noticed in heaven.
Herucleo Cristobalazo – Herculean Great Christopher
Forzudo como un Sanson – brawny as a Samson
Con tu enorme cabezon – with your huge great head
Y tu nervoso pescuezo – and your sinewy neck
Forzudo como un Sanson – brawny as a Samson
Con tu enorme cabezon – with your huge great head
Y tu nervoso pescuezo – and your sinewy neck
Hazme grueso y vigoroso – make me stout and strong
Hombrazo de cuerpo entero – a real man with sturdy body,
Y no come estos tipitos – and not like those feeble fellows
Que casi besan el suelo – who all but kiss the ground
Hombrazo de cuerpo entero – a real man with sturdy body,
Y no come estos tipitos – and not like those feeble fellows
Que casi besan el suelo – who all but kiss the ground
Blackburn, Bonnie & Leofranc Holford-Strevens, The Oxford Companion to the Year, Oxford University Press 1999
MacNeill, Maire, The Festival of Lughnasa, Oxford University Press 1962
MacNeill, Maire, The Festival of Lughnasa, Oxford University Press 1962
NOTE: Because of the large number of ancient calendars, many in simultaneous use, as well as different ways of computing holy days (marked by the annual inundation, the solar year, the lunar month, the rising of key stars, and other celestial and terrestrial events), you may find these holy days celebrated a few days earlier or later at your local temple .
The Witchcraft Chronicles 
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