Tag: Rome

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)  
 

Zurich: SIX RINGINGS FESTIVAL: Boog (Old Man Winter), a giant snowman stuffed with explosives, is jeered, taunted,
& then blown up. Much feasting & revelry.
  
Tibet: SUNNING OF THE BUDDHA. Lamas bring buddha statues out of temples of abstract tranquility to enjoy the sun.
  
Festival for Good Luck in Rome; the Goddess Fortuna.
 

Resources : GrannyMoon’s Morning Feast Archives 
  
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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 .  

Seasons of the Witch!   Ancient Holidays (and some not so ancient!)        

Your Charm for 4/5

Your Charm for Today
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Capricornus the Goat
 
Today’s Meaning:
This aspect of your life will be strongly influenced by a person who is practical, prudent, ambitious, disciplined, patient, careful, humorous and reserved. They could be someone you know in the medical field–a nurse or doctor perhaps.General Description:
Tenth sign of the Zodiac, Dec 22nd to Jan 19th. Ruling planet, Saturn; correct metal, lead. Those born under Capricornus influence were believed to be prudent, deep thinkers, prosperous in financial affairs, generous, with strong and foreible tempers. The capricorn stone is the Ruby. The Ruby was a favourite talisman in the Orient. In India it was worn to guard against attacks of enemies, foretell danger, supposed to change colour in presence of poison, and attract friends and good fortune; China and Japan health, Happiness and long life. The Romans believed that the Ruby preserved health and strength, averted danger, plauge and fevers.
Your Charm for Today
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Your Charm for Today

Abracadabra
 
Today’s Meaning:
The most powerful of all talisman indicating you or someone close to you will recover from an infection.General Description:
One of the most famous of all talismans, and used as a magical formula by the Gnostics in Rome for invoking the aid of beneficient spirits against disease, misfortune and death. Sammonieus, the celebrated Gnostic physician; instructed that the letters of this magical triangle which he used for curing agues and fevers, were to be written on paper, folded into the shape of a cross, worn for nine days suspended from the neck, and, before sunrise, cast behind the patient into a stream running eastward. It was also a most popular charm in the middle ages. During the Great Plague, 1665, great numbers of these amulets were worn as supposed safeguards against infection.

The Goddess Companion

The Goddess Companion

 

The law of the season becomes
the law of religion. According to that law,
the day born of this night is sacred. 
for on this day offerings are made
that dedicate all ships to me.
As this day dawns, the storms of winter
lose their strength. The surging waves
grow calm. The sea is a highway once again.
Go through this day with a mind not clouded
by worry over the past or fear of futures
that have not yet come to be.
~The Goddess Isis, speaking in Apuleius’ The Golden Ass
 
Although Isis was originally an Egyptian Goddess, her worship spread to Rome during imperial times. There she was honored as the Goddess of the sea, Stella Maris, Each year at this time, all the boats that would ply the waters during the summer were blessed in lavish festivals. The Goddess was invoked to keep the sea-farers safe and to bring the goods they sought safely back to port.
 
We too are sailors, navigating the oceans of our lives, often buffeted by storms and gales. We leave the safe harbour of our homes each day to travel in search of the goods we need to survive. Yet we have no seasonal festivals that bless our voyages. Taking time to ask for the kindness and protection of the Goddess as we move through the day is a small ritual, but one that can sustain us as we travel.

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By Patricia Monaghan