Welcome, Darkest Night

by Janice Van Cleve

I love this season of growing dark. The night starts earlier to cast its blanket of quiet and peace upon the land and calls me to wrap up what I am doing. Early darkness coaxes me to sit down to supper at six o’clock instead of nine, so I can digest properly before I go to sleep. Longer nights delay the prodding light of morning, so I can grab a few more winks. It encourages me to work more efficiently with the daylight that I do have. The dark time of the year is a healthy time for me.

It is a healthy time for plants and animals as well. Perennials focus on building up their root systems during the dark time, and annuals spread their seeds. Leaves fall to the ground to be leached and composted into next year ‘s soil. Animals feast on the yield of crops and orchards and store up surplus to see them through the winter and spring. In the dark time, all nature refocuses on renewing itself, sloughing off that which is no longer necessary and nurturing the best for the new year.

For northern tribes who lived where night falls longest and deepest, the dark time of the year was a time of great creativity. Bards honed their songs and added new verses for the entertainment and education of their audiences. Farmers turned to woodworking to fashion furniture or to decorate the interiors of their homes. Tradespeople made cloth, tools, jewelry, clothes and other goods to sell the merchants when they returned in the spring. Cooks became more and more inventive as the darkness lingered and the variety in the larder grew more limited. Even today, most school and university classes are scheduled for the winter months. In the business world, new product releases from software to movies to automobiles are debuted during this time.

In short, the dark time of the year is a busy, industrious and very creative time for nature and for human activity. So why in modern society does it get such a bad rap? The ancients certainly figured out that spring followed winter every year, and they used their skills to create solstice calculators like Stonehenge to predict how much more winter they had left. Were they really immobilized in fear of the dark, waiting for solstice to give them hope of spring? Or, on the other hand, did they grumble at solstice that they only had a few more months to play, eat, sing and finish their carvings before they had to get back out and work the farm again? Ancient peoples, after all, did not create surpluses for profit or a year-round global economy. They simply raised enough to sustain themselves so they could devote their time to crafts and play.

Perhaps it was the new religion of Christianity that tried to separate light from dark, exalting the former and disparaging the latter. Perhaps it was Christians’ idea to create fear of the dark so they could make light seem like a sort of salvation. However, nature doesn’t seem to need saving from anything, except from human greed. Nature goes on, year after year, with summer and winter alternating appropriate to the latitude. Nature values the dark time as much as the light and uses both to its advantage. The dark time is healthy and wholesome. It is as necessary for life as rain and sun, decay and bacteria.

And so it is appropriate that our pagan new year starts with Samhain, the beginning of the darkest time of the year. We rest before we work. We focus inwardly before we focus on the wider world. We sleep, we feast, we meditate, and we renew ourselves so that when spring’s light returns and calls us to next year’s work we can respond with new health and strength. These are gifts of the dark time. We are fortunate to have them!

SAMHAIN, All Hallow’s Eve / Halloween

SAMHAIN

All Hallow’s Eve / Halloween

by Mike Nichols

Halloween. Sly does it. Tiptoe catspaws. Slide and creep. But why? What for? How? Who? When! Where did it all begin? “You don’t know, do you?” asks Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud climbing out of the pile of leaves under the Halloween Tree. “You don’t really know!” —Ray Bradbury, The Halloween Tree

Samhain. All Hallows. All Hallow’s Eve. Hallow E’en. Halloween. The most magical night of the year. Exactly opposite Beltane on the wheel of the year, Halloween is Beltane’s dark twin. A night of glowing jack-o’-lanterns, bobbing for apples, tricks or treats, and dressing in costume. A night of ghost stories and séances, tarot card readings and scrying with mirrors. A night of power, when the veil that separates our world from the Otherworld is at its thinnest. A “spirit night”, as they say in Wales.

All Hallow’s Eve is the eve of All Hallow’s Day (November 1). And for once, even popular tradition remembers that the eve is more important than the day itself, the traditional celebration focusing on October 31, beginning at sundown. And this seems only fitting for the great Celtic New Year’s festival. Not that the holiday was Celtic only. In fact, it is startling how many ancient and unconnected cultures (the Egyptians and pre-Spanish Mexicans, for example) celebrated this as a festival of the dead. But the majority of our modern traditions can be traced to the British Isles.

The Celts called it Samhain, which means “summer’s end”, according to their ancient twofold division of the year, when summer ran from Beltane to Samhain and winter ran from Samhain to Beltane. (Some modern covens echo this structure by letting the high priest “rule” the coven beginning on Samhain, with rulership returned to the high priestess at Beltane.) According to the later fourfold division of the year, Samhain is seen as “autumn’s end” and the beginning of winter. Samhain is pronounced (depending on where you’re from) as “sow-in” (in Ireland), or “sow-een” (in Wales), or “sav-en” (in Scotland), or (inevitably) “sam-hane” (in the U.S., where we don’t speak Gaelic).

Not only is Samhain the end of autumn; it is also, more importantly, the end of the old year and the beginning of the new. Celtic New Year’s Eve, when the new year begins with the onset of the dark phase of the year, just as the new day begins at sundown. There are many representations of Celtic Gods with two faces, and it surely must have been one of them who held sway over Samhain. Like his Roman counterpart Janus, he would straddle the threshold, one face turned toward the past, in commemoration of those who died during the last year, and one face gazing hopefully toward the future, mystic eyes attempting to pierce the veil and divine what the coming year holds. These two themes, celebrating the dead and divining the future, are inexorably intertwined in Samhain, as they are likely to be in any New Year’s celebration.

As a feast of the dead, this was the one night when the dead could, if they wished, return to the land of the living, to celebrate with their family, tribe, or clan. And so the great burial mounds of Ireland (sidhe mounds) were opened up, with lighted torches lining the walls, so the dead could find their way. Extra places were set at the table and food set out for any who had died that year. And there are many stories that tell of Irish heroes making raids on the Underworld while the gates of faery stood open, though all must return to their appointed places by cockcrow.

As a feast of divination, this was the night par excellence for peering into the future. The reason for this has to do with the Celtic view of time. In a culture that uses a linear concept of time, like our modern one, New Year’s Eve is simply a milestone on a very long road that stretches in a straight line from birth to death. Thus, the New Year’s festival is a part of time. The ancient Celtic view of time, however, is cyclical. And in this framework, New Year’s Eve represents a point outside of time, when the natural order of the universe dissolves back into primordial chaos, preparatory to reestablishing itself in a new order. Thus, Samhain is a night that exists outside of time and, hence, it may be used to view any other point in time. At no other holiday is a tarot card reading, crystal reading, or tealeaf reading so likely to succeed.

The Christian religion, with its emphasis on the “historical” Christ and his act of Redemption 2000 years ago, is forced into a linear view of time, where seeing the future is an illogical proposition. In fact, from the Christian perspective, any attempt to do so is seen as inherently evil. This did not keep the medieval church from co-opting Samhain’s other motif, commemoration of the dead. To the church, however, it could never be a feast for all the dead, but only the blessed dead, all those hallowed (made holy) by obedience to God—thus, All Hallow’s, or Hallowmas, later All Saints and All Souls.

There are so many types of divination that are traditional to Hallowstide, it is possible to mention only a few. Girls were told to place hazelnuts along the front of the firegrate, each one to symbolize one of her suitors. She could then divine her future husband by chanting, “If you love me, pop and fly; if you hate me, burn and die.” Several methods used the apple, that most popular of Halloween fruits. You should slice an apple through the equator (to reveal the five-pointed star within) and then eat it by candlelight before a mirror. Your future spouse will then appear over your shoulder. Or, peel an apple, making sure the peeling comes off in one long strand, reciting, “I pare this apple round and round again; / My sweetheart’s name to flourish on the plain: / I fling the unbroken paring o’er my head, / My sweetheart’s letter on the ground to read.” Or, you might set a snail to crawl through the ashes of your hearth. The considerate little creature will then spell out the initial letter as it moves.

Perhaps the most famous icon of the holiday is the jack-o’-lantern. Various authorities attribute it to either Scottish or Irish origin. However, it seems clear that it was used as a lantern by people who traveled the road this night, the scary face to frighten away spirits or faeries who might otherwise lead one astray. Set on porches and in windows, they cast the same spell of protection over the household. (The American pumpkin seems to have forever superseded the European gourd as the jack-o’-lantern of choice.) Bobbing for apples may well represent the remnants of a Pagan “baptism” rite called a seining, according to some writers. The water-filled tub is a latter-day Cauldron of Regeneration, into which the novice’s head is immersed. The fact that the participant in this folk game was usually blindfolded with hands tied behind the back also puts one in mind of a traditional Craft initiation ceremony.

The custom of dressing in costume and “trick-or-treating” is of Celtic origin, with survivals particularly strong in Scotland. However, there are some important differences from the modern version. In the first place, the custom was not relegated to children, but was actively indulged in by adults as well. Also, the “treat” that was required was often one of spirits (the liquid variety). This has recently been revived by college students who go ‘trick-or-drinking’. And in ancient times, the roving bands would sing seasonal carols from house-to-house, making the tradition very similar to Yuletide wassailing. In fact, the custom known as caroling, now connected exclusively with Midwinter, was once practiced at all the major holidays. Finally, in Scotland at least, the tradition of dressing in costume consisted almost exclusively of cross-dressing (i.e., men dressing as women, and women as men). It seems as though ancient societies provided an opportunity for people to “try on” the role of the opposite gender for one night of the year. (Although in Scotland, this is admittedly less dramatic—but more confusing—since men were in the habit of wearing skirtlike kilts anyway. Oh well…)

To Witches, Halloween is one of the four High Holidays, or Greater Sabbats, or cross-quarter days. Because it is the most important holiday of the year, it is sometimes called “The Great Sabbat”. It is an ironic fact that the newer, self-created covens tend to use the older name of the holiday, Samhain, which they have discovered through modern research. While the older hereditary and traditional covens often use the newer name, Halloween, which has been handed down through oral tradition within their coven. (This often holds true for the names of the other holidays, as well. One may often get an indication of a coven’s antiquity by noting what names it uses for the holidays.)

With such an important holiday, Witches often hold two distinct celebrations. First, a large Halloween party for non-Craft friends, often held on the previous weekend. And second, a coven ritual held on Halloween night itself, late enough so as not to be interrupted by trick-or-treaters. If the rituals are performed properly, there is often the feeling of invisible friends taking part in the rites. Another date that may be utilized in planning celebrations is the actual cross-quarter day, or Old Halloween, or Halloween O.S. (Old Style). This occurs when the sun has reached fifteen degrees Scorpio, an astrological “power point” symbolized by the Eagle. The celebration would begin at sunset. Interestingly, this date (Old Halloween) was also appropriated by the church as the holiday of Martinmas.

Of all the Witchcraft holidays, Halloween is the only one that still boasts anything near to popular celebration. Even though it is typically relegated to children (and the young-atheart) and observed as an evening affair only, many of its traditions are firmly rooted in Paganism. Incidentally, some schools have recently attempted to abolish Halloween parties on the grounds that it violates the separation of state and religion. Speaking as a Pagan, I would be saddened by the success of this move, but as a supporter of the concept of religion-free public education, I fear I must concede the point. Nonetheless, it seems only right that there should be one night of the year when our minds are turned toward thoughts of the supernatural. A night when both Pagans and non-Pagans may ponder the mysteries of the Otherworld and its inhabitants. And if you are one of them, may all your jack-o’-lanterns burn bright on this All Hallow’s Eve.

‘Twas the Night of Samhain

‘Twas the night of Samhain and all through the house,
Not a creatures was stirring except for my spouse.
The incense it burned in his cauldron so black,
For witchcraft and magick he’d a wondrous knack.
The circle was drawn with the athame of power,
The guardians were called to each quarter tower.
The Lord and the Lady attended our rite,
In wonder and glory and power and mite.
The dearly departed came as our guest,
To live once again after their rest.
We bid them goodbye with a tear in our eye,
Such a lovely presence of loved ones so nigh.
The candles danced in the flickering light,
With the Great Rite we bid them all a good night.
The guardians thanked, have all sped away,
The Lord and the Lady, thanks for the day.
The night of Samhain, Gods bless this house,
A circle of wonder ’round me and my spouse.
—(Unknown)

Buzzing In To Say Have A Super Tuesday!

Hi there, Bye there, lol! Sorry I am running late. I am worse than Lady A on being prompt anywhere. But today I have a good excuse. We were debating over what we were going to do for Samhain. We still didn’t come up with anything and we were at it for about two hours. Maybe by the time Samhain gets here, we will know what we are doing. I hope!

That would be a good topic for discussion, what are your plans for Samhain?

More Tuesday Comments

SAMHAIN RITUAL FOR REMEMBERANCE AND RELEASE

At Samhain, the Witches’ New Year, we remember our past, including departed loved ones and friends. We also plan for the future with new hopes, dreams and ambitions. Part of creating a good future is releasing the negative energies of the past.

Find a safe place to light a bonfire, cauldron fire or several orange and black candles. Carve one orange candle with the Rune symbol for Signals and one black candle with Gateway. Set up your Altar and close the Circle as usual.

Perform the following meditation:

Gaze deeply into the flames and relax, calling up memories of your past. Greet long gone friends and ancestors, asking them what knowledge or wisdom they can offer you for the future. Listen carefully to their advice and suggestions, give thanks and move on.

Recall the highs and lows of the past year. Compliment yourself on your successes and forgive your failures. Bring positive images closer and brighter and make negative thought recede into the background. Release any negative energy you feel towards yourself or others for mistakes. Move on.

Picture the coming year as you would like it to be – prosperous, filled with health, love and satisfaction. Envision friends and loved ones happy and successful in their own way. Give this year a colour or colours of your choice, or even your personal colour. Picture this colour casting a glow over the upcoming year. Raise your chalice and give thanks saying:

“Out with the old, in with the new, the coming year will make dreams come true. Great thanks and blessed be.”

Drink from your chalice and return to the present. Write the above affirmation or any messages you received in black ink on your parchment paper. Wrap the Samhain herbs in the paper, add the stones, place it on the fabric square and tie it with the ribbon. Cleanse and charge the talisman as describe. Give thanks and Open the Circle.

Later on, after you have finished the ritual, find a stone and paint it the colour you chose to symbolize the coming year. Write the date on the stone e. g. 2012. Put the stone in a noticeable place and when you see it, recall the dreams and hopes you envisioned for the New Year. Blessed Be and Happy New Year!

“Simple Wiccan Magick Spells & Ritual Ceremony”

Holly Zurich

Samhain Solitary Ritual

Samhain Solitary Ritual

By Eden
Decorative Suggestions:
pumpkins, apples, masks, candles, black, red, orange,cauldron, besom

Supplies:
Photos of relatives or friends who have passed
White candle for each relative ( tea lights )
36 inches of yarn ( continuous piece) bright color such as red or orange
13 hazelnuts for tradition Druid method * or candy corn for a modern twist
1 apple (traditional)** or pomegranate, either cut in half
jack o lantern
4 mini pumpkins
4 votive candles for quarters
dried leaves (enough for circle size)
two candles one black one white
long piece of yarn ( this is a separate pc from above pc.)

Prep:
break off stems of mini pumpkins, hollow out big enough place for votive candles in top, cut doesn’t have to be deep,
just enough to keep candles form falling, set at quarters (use care when cutting!)
Outline circle with leaves Visualize jack o lantern as a protective ward (it’s traditional use) and have lit in circle from set up through ritual
Decorate according to taste
Have black and white candles on altar have black candle lit on altar, do not have white candle lit
Have photos with unlit candle in front of each, on altar if there is room or in other designated space

Ritual:

(Cleanse, Cast, Invoke)

” Blessed be the season of Samhain!
The time of the wise Crone!
The time of the last fall harvest
The time of the birth of winter
Night that we remember our loved ones who have passed from this life.
Night when we look on to the new year.
Night that reminds us that death holds the seeds of new life!”

(Prepare to light candles for departed)

” My dear loved ones, tonight as the wheel turns the veil which separates us is thin. On this night hear my words of love and honor”

(Light candles in front of photos one at a time, while lighting candle speak name of loved one and say what
you wish in honor or love, do this for each)

(Prepare to welcome the new year)

(Focus on black candle, while making banishing pentagram towards black candle)

” Farewell old year, take with you the season of summer”

(put out flame of black candle)

(Focus on unlit white candle, while making invoking pentagram)

“Welcome new year, bring with you the season of winter”

(light white candle)

“The wheel has turned yet again. Now at the time of ending that is yet also the time of beginning.
What is to come is, what was will come again, circling on and on throughout the ages.”

(prepare for meditation)

” And what of the past”

(close eyes with the intent to remember aspects of a past life, look at things in this life that you
believe could be related to a past life, focus on these things, see if this focus turns into scenes or
feelings about a past life)

( Prepare for resolutions)

” And what of the year to come”

(Take fruit, hold both halves in hands and visualize the habits you would like to rid yourself of over the next year being poured into it,when done place halves back together and tie halves together with one of the pieces of yarn, put aside to bury later)**

(Prepare for divination)

(Take bright colored yarn and make a circle on ground or altar if room, hold hazelnuts or candy corns in hands,focus on question, toss them into the circle and look for patterns of answer, such as y or n or if they make a shape or initial)*

(Offering, libation, feast)

(prayer for upcoming year)

“The wheel of the year turns on and on, from season to season, age to age. I remember and recognize that all time is here and now. I have paused to watch the wheel turn on this blessed eve, and, I praise the Wise Crone, in this time of Her glory. Blessed be Wise Crone.”

(Close Circle)

* according to Edain McCoy in ‘Sabbats’ pg. 42
** traditional Wittan Samhain practice per Edain
McCoy, ‘Witta’ pg 170 (adapted)

About The Author: Eden, is a recent level one graduate of the
White Moon School of the Feminine Divine. She lives in the North
Georgia mountains with her husband and three young children, where she practices eclectic paganism both as a member of a coven and as a solitary.

Witch Works: Spells and Rituals for Every Season

By Kelly

Happy Halloween! Is it Bedtime Yet?

After a long night of tricks and treats, many a witch will want to settle down for a long winter’s nap. Why
not work a little dream magick while you’re at it?Homemade dream pillows or sachets make very effective,
and very smelly (in a good way!), forms of magick. See what messages you receive when you try this dream
pillow spell for yourself, on Samhain or any night!

Dream Pillow/Sachet Spell for Dream Work

Ingredients:

Equal parts of the following herbs (amount will very depending on whether or not you are making pillows or
sachets, and the size of either):

Catnip
Lavender
Peppermint
Hops
Eucalyptus
Chamomile
Rose Petals
Mugwort

Felt/Fabric – Black and orange for Samhain, or any color you like.
Thread/Ribbon – The color of your choice
Essential Oil – Use one of the scents listed above. I recommend Chamomile, Lavender, or Eucalyptus.

Decide ahead of time if you will be making sachets or dream pillows. The pillows require more work and
materials, so choose wisely. If you are making dream pillows, you will want to pre-cut the material and
stitch the sides closed before casting a circle. Pre-cut your sachet material, but no pre-assembly is
required for the sachets.

Combine all of the herbs together in a large ritual bowl and then cast a circle in your normal manner.
Call on any deities/elements/guardians you feel comfortable with. Bless the herbs and empower them
with your intent. Raise energy, if you like, and run your hands lightly through the herb mixture to further
empower the herbs.

Portion out the sachets on the pre-cut squares or fill the pre-sewn dream pillows. Before closing the
sachet/pillow, place 1 drop of essential oil on the herb mixture. For sachets, draw up the sides of the
cloth and tie with a ribbon, or stitch closed if making the pillow.

Empower the finished sachets/pillow. Finish any magickal business you have and then close the circle. Sleep on your new dream pillow or pin a sachet to your bedclothes. Keep a journal next to your bed to record
your dreams upon waking.

Have a blessed Samhain!

About The Author: Kelly, is a solitary practitioner from the Midwest. She is currently a student at The White Moon School, studying to become a High Priestess. Kelly has been a practicing witch for 4 years and performs tarot readings and long distance energy work via the Internet.

Lady of the Crossroads

Lady of the Crossroads
by
Heathwitch

One on three
which way to go
a second stood
still
faces outcast
Darkness about clasped
with snake and lion and
hound
thin veins under leather
untouched by time
outstretched a
touch
with eyes of heaven.
One on three
take a step
make a
choice
I will be with you
silent when needed
A fury when you
fear
Face the Moon
I will be here.
.
At Samhain, our thoughts turn
toward the memory of our ancestors, the mysteries of death and rebirth, the
practice of divination. We decorate our altars with blacks and oranges,
photographs of those who have passed on, and we commune with the Lords and
Ladies of the Underworld such as the Greek Goddess Hecate.

Hecate is
the Thracian Goddess of the moon, absorbed as a Titan by the Greeks and
worshipped at crossroads, for She has the ability to see past, present and
future pathways. Though most commonly perceived as a Crone Goddess, Hecate can
also appear as a Maiden, terrible and beautiful to behold.

She is the
dark Goddess, the Lady of the Wild Hunt and keeper of occult knowledge and
wisdom. Known as the “Goddess of Witches” and the “Patroness of Priestesses”,
Hecate stands at the gateway between life and death, such is Her role as Queen
of the Underworld and the Lady of Spirits. She is also the changer, the one who
destroys in order to cause rebirth and regeneration.

Hecate’s roles are
not solely tied to the “darker” aspects of life however. She is also the midwife
who blesses new life in the world, the teacher who guides seekers and the
witness who aides with decision-making and determining truth, the giver of
courage and strength. She is intuition and psychic ability, the Lady of dreams
and nightmares who helps us see the deeper, shadow-side of our psyches. She is
the Wise Woman who sees all and knows all, and who will willingly share Her
knowledge and wisdom with you, if you but ask.

Hecate’s colours are deep
reds, purples and black, and She rules over all wild animals in particular
dragons, dogs, frogs, horses, reptiles, toads and snakes. Her trees are willow
and yew, most commonly seen in graveyards, and She can be found in the tarot
cards the Hermit, the Moon and the High Priestess.

You can invite Hecate
into your life by mixing an oil for Her (add 10 drops cypress oil, 6 drops
patchouli oil and 4 drops sandalwood oil to 20ml of base oil) and including it
in a ritual or meditation dedicated to Hecate. Alternatively you could make an
incense blend to honour this Goddess try the following recipe:

½ part
crushed garlic
½ part mandrake root
½ part mugwort
2 parts willow
bark
1 part lavender
4 parts myrrh
A few drops of cypress oil
A few
drops of myrrh oil

You can also work with Hecate in ritual; She can be
invoked to aid in inner exploration, dream-work, divination, healing, spells of
all kinds, banishings and the release of negativity, communicating with the
dead, and meditations and journeys to your inner self.

At Samhain,
Hecate can be called upon to focus your intuition when practicing divination on
this night when the veils between the world are thin. She can be invoked for
help in spell workings and the making of charms, or to help in soul-searching
meditations.

Most often, though, Hecate is invoked at Samhain to aid in
honouring and contacting our Beloved Dead, those who have passed from this
physical life before us:

Decorate the altar with blacks and oranges. Use
flowers of the same colours, and fruits of the season (pumpkins, root
vegetables). Light orange and black candles if possible and use a mixture of
cedarwood and sweetgrass incense — cedarwood for purification, sweetgrass for
your ancestors.

Assemble on your altar pictures of your ancestors and
mementos you may have received from them.

Cast circle in your usual way.
Invoke Hecate:

“Hecate, Goddess of the Realm of Spirits,
She who
stands at the crossroads,
Seer of past, present and future,
Guardian of
all Witches and Lady of the Dark,
I ask you to come forth into my
circle
And stand with me this night
Hail and welcome!”

Feel Hecate
come into your circle. Sit with your altar and slowly focus on each of your
ancestors. Speak aloud of their life and their impact on you. Ask Hecate to
acknowledge your reverence of those who have gone before, and ask that your
ancestors know of your love and thoughts.

Take your time and do not be
afraid of the emotions which may come to you; embrace them and welcome them into
your circle. As you speak of your ancestors you may feel them draw near from the
Summerlands; do not be afraid — instead, feel touched by their presence and
thank them for all they mean to you.

Thank Hecate and your ancestors for
their presence and say goodbye. Blow out the candles and take up
circle.

Have a Blessed Samhain!

Sources:
———-
Ann,
Martha, and Dorothy Myers Imel. Goddesses in World Mythology: A Biographical
Dictionary. Oxford University Press: New York (1995).
Ardinger, Barbara.
Goddess Meditations. Llewellyn: Minnesota (1998).
Conway, D. J. The Ancient
and Shining Ones. Llewellyn: Minnesota (1993).
Franklin, Anna. Magical
Incenses and Oils. Capall Bann: Berkshire (2000).
Marashinsky, Amy Sophia.
The Goddess Oracle: A Way to Wholeness through the Goddess and Ritual. Element:
Boston (1997).
Sjöö, Monica & Mor, Barbara. The Great Cosmic Mother:
Rediscovering The Religion of the Earth. HarperCollins: San Francisco (1991).

Zell, Morning Glory. “Manifesting Hecate”, SageWoman # 60 (Winter 2003).
Blessed Bee: California (2003).
.
About The Author: Heathwitch is a
Witch, teacher and author. She runs courses and workshops on energy work,
healing, Witchcraft and magic. High Priestess of the Circle of the Moon coven, Heathwitch lives in Cheshire, England.

Excerpt taken from:

Seasons of the Moon E-zine

Lighten Up – Are You a TechnoPagan?

Are You a TechnoPagan?

You may be a TechnoPagan if…

If your athame has a SCSI interface…

If your OBE’s begin with a netsplit…

If your priest robes conceal a pocket protector…

If you calculate the phases of the moon with Windows ’95…

If your altar has a keyboard…

If drawing down a circle is a POST (power on self test)…

If you call the Watch Towers on your cell-tell…

If you do most of your correspondence by email and sign off with Blessed Be…

If you don’t call it a ritual, you call it a Macro…

If you end a circle with Ctl-Alt-Del…

If you have ever attached ribbons to a May Pole using a staple gun…

If you invite the God and Goddess to come online…

If you keep a Disk of Shadows (with encrypted backups)…

If you participate in online rituals more than you do FTF…

If you refer to eclectic ritual as cross-platforming…

If your Beltane ritual includes more than one news group…

If your candles have batteries…

If your cauldron is a crock-pot…

If your deities include Murphy and Gates…

If your drumming is done on a CD player (pre-recorded)…

If your herbs are always mail-ordered (express, overnight)…

If your idea of a great retreat has a Computer City, electricity, and a TV nearby…

If your incense is by Glade…

If your magic wand is a light pen…

If your magical name, email address, and online name are all the same…

If your magical writing is done in binary code or C++…

If your pentacle is made of computer chips…

If your technician compains about the wax and incense ash on your motherboard…

If, instead of asking what tradition someone comes from, you ask what operating system they run…

If your Yule ritual involves defragmentation…

If your coven is spread over a 12,000 sq. mi. area…

If your Book of Shadows has a 6-digit version number…

If you refer to deities using 3-letter acronyms (ODN, LKI, THR)…

If you do cord magick with ethernet…

If you ritually down your server for Samhain…

If your altar cloth is a mouse pad…

If, when your quarter candles burn out, the UPS backup system kicks in…

If erecting the temple entails formatting more than 4 disks…

If casteing the circle changes an (int) to a (float)…

If your Star Trek screen-saver signals when your meditation period is over…

If your Beltane ritual includes more than one news group…

If passing the cakes and ale entails using a /me command…

If your search for truth involves regular expressions…

If your familiar is a computer mouse…

If you draw down the moon using a light-pen…

If your cone of power has a surge suppressor…

If your tarot cards multi-task…

If your daemons collect news for you…

If your crystal ball has a horizontal-hold control…

If you refer to solitary practice as a stand alone…

If you tap into the collective unconscious using Netscape…

If your favorite deity has a homepage…

If the address of your covenstead begins with http://…

and finally, if your circle is a token ring…

Well, you just might be a TechnoPagan!

May the Fifth Month of the Year of our Goddess, 2019

“The new earth quickens as you rise.
The May Queen is waiting.
Feel the pulsing ground call you to journey,
To know the depths of your desire.
The May Queen is waiting.
Moving through the night, the bright moon’s flight.
In green and silver on the plain.
She waits for you to return again.
Do not keep Her waiting.
Her temper stings if you refuse to taste Her honey.
Surrender as enchantment brings
The first light of dawning.
Move with Her in sacred dance, through fear to feeling.
Bringing ecstasy to those who dare.
Living earth is breathing.
Loving through the night in the bright moonlight,
As seedlings open with the rain.
She’ll long for you to return again.
Do not keep Her waiting.”

– Ruth Barren, The May Queen is Waiting

MAY – THE FLOWER MOON

May is the fifth month of the year. It’s astrological sign is Taurus, the bull(April 20 – May 21), a fixed earth sign ruled by Venus. The month is name for Ma’a, a Roman goddess and mother of the God Hermes. May is known as the queen of months. Since May begins one of the halves of the year, it is an initiation, similar to a cardinal zodiac sign, it shifts power to the new dynamic. The dynamic of May is one of fertility in plants and animal (including human, birth, growth, and abundance.

For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, the month of May is a month of lushness and beauty. The main holiday is May Day or Beltane. This sabbat celebrate the sacred union of the Goddess and God. It is a celebration of growth and fertility. A traditional part of this holiday is the maypole, usually a fir tree with the side branches removed–a symbol of fertility. Since growth is a theme of May, another central figure of the month is the Green Man, a male form covered with leaves and branches. He is an ancient nature spirit, who brings life to the fields and forests after the long winter.

The Full Moon of May in the Northern Hemisphere is known as the Flower Moon. The Moon is so named for the many flowers and trees that bloom this month associated with magic. Lilacs were originally grown near the home to repel evil. Wild blue violets can be used in love magick. A steaming infusion made with dried dandelions root was use to contact spirits. The Hawthorne three is also associated with May folk magick in the North. To make a wish come true, burn three Hawthorne branches in a Beltane fire.

—Excerpt from Llewellyn’s Witches’ Spell-A-Day Almanac

Festival: Beltane, May Day. Symbols include the May pole, boughs of flowers, and fires.

Moon name: Flower Moon. Flowers come into full bloom and the corn is ready to be planted. Other names include Grass Moon, Milk Moon, Hare Moon, and Corn Planting Moon.

Astrological signs: Taurus, April 21–May 20; Gemini, May 21–June 20.

Birthstones: Emerald and agate.

Nature spirits: Tree fairies and spirits.

Animals: All cats, butterflies, and foxes.

Birds: Swallow, dove, and swift.

Trees: Hawthorn, apple, and elder.

Flowers: All tree blossoms, foxglove, and lilac.

Herbs: St. John’s wort, chamomile, flowering thyme, elderflower, and yarrow.

Scents: Rose, frankincense, honeysuckle, lilac, and jasmine.

Colors: Pink, apricot, and green.

Goddess: Diana.

Powers: Love, fertility, and joy—the expressive energy of life’s forces.

Other: May Day, Labor Day, Oak Apple Day.

—Hedgewitch Book of Days: Spells, Rituals, and Recipes for the Magical Year
Mandy Mitchell

Symbols for the Month of May

May’s Festivals
Beltane, May Day, Labor Day, Oak Apple Day

May’s Sign of the Zodiac
Taurus(April 21–May 20)
Gemini(May 21–June 21)

May’s Celtic Tree Astrology
Saille (Willow) (April 15 – May 12)
Huath (Hawthorne) (May 13 – June 9)

May’s Runic Half Months
Lagu (April 29 – May 13)
Ing (May 14 – May 28)
Odal (May 29 – June 13)

May’s Birthstone
Emerald and Agate

May’s Birth Flower
Foxglove, and Lilac

May’s Goddess
Diana

May’s Folklore

“A swarm of bees in May is worth a load of hay.”

“Mist in May, heat in June, makes harvest come right soon.”

“If you wash a blanket in May, you will wash one of the family away.”

“Those who bathe in May will soon be laid in clay!”

Folklore Courtesy – Hedgewitch Book of Days: Spells, Rituals, and Recipes for the Magical Year
Mandy Mitchell

Pagan Calendar of Events for May

MAY 1: BELTANE SABBAT: Festival of Spring and Fertility. Sidhe Day. Beltaine – Celtic festival marking the arrival of summer in ancient times.

MAY 4: Celtic/British Festival of Cerridwen and Brigit: Corn Goddesses of Fertility

May 4 – Celtic Festival of Cerridwen and Brigit – Corn Goddesses of fertility, healing, and poets.
– St. Monica’s Day (Irish)
– Veneration of the Thorn (Irish)
– Festival of Sheila Na Gig (Irish)

MAY 6: – Shepherd’s Day – Day to meditate on Deity as Lord of Animals: Dumuzi (Old Sumerian), Osiris (Egyptian), Pan (Old Greek), Shiva Pasupati (Hindu).
– Eyvind Kelve (Norse)

MAY 9: – Greek Feast of Artemis

MAY 9-12: Lemuria – Roman festival when the spirits of the dead are thought to revisit their homes.

MAY 13: – Roman Garland Day, Offering garlands to Neptune.
– Month of Hawthorn, Celtic festival of the tree.
– Our Lady of Fatima Day (Portugal)

MAY 14: – Isis Day in ancient Egypt

MAY 14: -16 Feast of Divine Love and Compassion – Source of healing and beneficence, honoring the Goddess as Isis (Old Egyptian), Oshun (Yoruba/Santeria), Lakshmi (Hindu).

MAY 15: – Festival of Vesta (Roman)
– Maia and Mercury’s Day (Roman)

MAY 18: – Celtic Feast of Greek God Pan – Who represents the masculine in Nature and protects men throughout their lives. Men recognized the transitions in their lives and honored male fertility.

MAY 19: Celtic Feast of Brigid – In which sacred healing wells and springs were adorned with flowers in honor of Goddess Brigid, daughter of Mother Goddess Danu and Father God Dagda.

MAY 21: Dark/Bright Mother Goddess Day—honoring Hecate/Demeter; Uma; Kali/Parvati .

MAY 26: – Festival of Diana begins (ends 31st) (ancient Roman holiday)

MAY 28: FEAST OF BENDIDIA—family feast day honoring of the Goddess of the Moon, Dark Moon, Underworld, Secret Wisdom and Witches.

May 30 – Frigg’s Day, Northern Goddess, spouse of Odin (Teutonic “heathen” European pre-Christian holiday)
– Feast of the Queen of the Underworld Begins (Roman)

May rolls in soft and lovely, weaving within the grasses a bevy of wildflowers that bewitch our senses and are a colorful reminder of life’s ever-renewing power. Of the many wildflowers associated with Beltane and the peak of spring’s fertility,, my favorite has to be the dandelion. The happy yellow flowers take me back to my childhood, when I would spend hours chasing butterflies through wild fields and bejeweling myself with dandelions in buttery circlets that would leave me covered with soft yellow pollen–proving yes, I did, indeed like butter.

Little did I know then of the simple dandelion’s many magickal and medicinal uses. Highly nutritious spring greens, dandelions are packed with calcium, potassium, and high amounts of vitamins and they have been used to stimulate the digestive system, restore mineral balance to the kidneys, and detoxify for hundreds of years.

According to folklore, blowing dandelion seed heads was said to divine how much your partner loves you. If you could blow all of the seeds off the dandelion head in one puff, your lover carried a passionate fire for you. If a few seeds remained, he or she might have a few reservations about the relationship. If you blow the seed head and the majority of seeds remain, you are not loved at all.

Magically, dandelion is used in spells for wishes, for divination, to call spirits and for growth and transformation. Make a tea from the ground dried root and add it to mugwort (avoid during pregnancy) and cinnamon for a powerful psychic tea.

Dandelion Renewal Spell

Just as the onset of spring transforms the earth with a lush green haze and a profusion of blooms that hint to the bounty of summer, we too can feel a lightening of spirit, a renewal of body, mind and soul as spring’s promises are fulfilled all around us.

With dandelion’s association with growth and transformation, this dandelion renewal spell can be done alone or with your coven or circle and would be appropriate to do at Beltane or anytime during the Maiden’s reign. The simplicity of this spell makes it a great spell for kids, too.

All you need is one intact dandelion seed head per person. If working with children, talk for a moment about renewal and what it means to them. Have everyone hold up their dandelion seed heads and say together,

The air is alive with the hum of bees
As the wind tousles the tops of trees,
The blooms are bright and fertility abounds,
Our wish, dear Lady, for renewal to be found,
Not only across this greening land,
But within the heart of every woman, child and man.
Blessed Be!

Blow your dandelion seed heads to the four directions. As you do this, imagine the dandelion seeds planting themselves into the hearts of humankind. Imagine an abundance of joy, peace and fulfillment for all that happens as the dandelion takes root. When you’re done, find a nice spot in a field, park or lawn. Make yourself a circlet of dandelions and reflect on sunny thoughts and bright ideas for the future.

–Monica Crosson

Witchy Ways to Celebrate May

Decorate your home and altar with combinations of flowers and colors to celebrate the union between the Goddess and the God.

Work with herbs in your magic by creating spell bags and sachets. Cook with herbs whenever you can.

Create a spell for strength and wellness by lighting a Beltane candle and burning your spell written on some pretty paper.

Create a harmonious magical garden with symbols and signs of the craft. Paint pebbles and draw shapes in the earth.

Get outside and find one useable foraged ingredient for your recipes. This is also good for expanding your plant knowledge.

Connect with the God aspect by connecting with nearby trees. Spend time touching the tree and water the roots as an offering.

Make daisy chains as offerings for the Fae folk.

–Hedgewitch Book of Days: Spells, Rituals, and Recipes for the Magical Year
Mandy Mitchell

We are Witches
We walk the path of the Old Gods
From this moment forth
We will not walk alone
Together, we will worship
Together, we will practice our Craft
Together, we will learn and grow
We vow to work, from this day forward
In perfect love and perfect trust
According to the free will of all
And for the good of all
Creating only beauty
Singing in harmony
Our song upon the Earth
Love is the law and love is the bond
In the name of the Goddess and the God
So do we vow, and so mote it be.

––Circle, Coven, & Grove: A Year of Magickal Practice

Deborah Blake

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