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nix
B.V. Info Seeker
Joined: Oct 31, 2001
Posts: 2052
Location: UK
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 Posted: Wed May 22, 2002 8:40 pm Post subject: the eight fold year. |
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THE EIGHT-FOLD YEAR
Samhainn-October 31st
The biginning of the year, and the festival of the dead. This is the time that all the people who have died since last Samhainn are gathered by the God (in form of Herne or Gywn during the wild rade or Anubis) on His way to the underworld after his death. The Goddess goes into mourning for the next 6 weeks and so we call callupon Her as the Crone aspect in rituals.
This is a time for celebration, it is the Third Hrvest and we give thanks for the past year and all it gave us as well as for remembering loved ones who have passed on and celebrating the truimph of life (reincarnation) over death.
Yule-December 21st
Also known as Alban Arthuan, the winter solstice is the middle of winter-cold and dark..but the Goddess gives birth to God now, the star-child, and with him comes the promise of summer and new life. This is one of the tradionally largest festivals, originally numbering a full twelve days in lenght. It begins with \'Mother Night\' where the Goddess, in the underworld, Becomes the Maiden once more, on the day of solstice She gives birth to God, and the festival culminates at Twelfth Night when God is deemed to have reached his adulthood.
This day also marks the fall of the Holly King in the battle to the Oak King, the end of the waning year and the beginning of the waxing year.
Imbolc-February 2nd
Imbolc (lit. \'in the belly\' of the mother) also called Oimelc (lit. Ewe\'s milk-lambing season), the bitter cold of winter reamins and naturally harvested food is scarce but in that dark time there is hope. The first flowers, like snowdrops, are opening already. Nature stirs from its rest and prepares for spring.
This is the time when the Godess Brigid\'s (pron. Breed) fire, the fire of birth, is burning bright, the pagan tradition of burning a candle at each window until sunrise is symbolic of this. Imbolc is also a fertility festival and could be recognized as the pagan\'s Valentines day.
Ostara-March 21st.
Also called Alban eilier, this is the spring or vernal equinox. From Wren Walker of The Witches Voice.\' At Beltane, pagans and Witches honour the sexual union of the God and Goddessamid the flowers and fruits that have begun to cover the land, but prior to that, at Ostara, we welcome the return of the spring Goddess from her long season of dormat sleep. The sap begins to flow, the trees are budding, the ground softens, ice mets, and evrywhere the fragrance and colour of spring slowly awakens and rejuvenates our own life force. This is a very powerful time to do magick, not only because of the balancing of the earths energies, but because of the way our own beings echo the earths changes. We are literally reborn as we emerge from our winter sleep, ready to partake of all the challenges we will face as the world changes around us daily. As we greet and celebrate with our pagan brothers and sisters of the southern hemisphere, we remember that Spring is not only a season, it is a state of mind.\' In short tthis is a day of equal balance, sex and gender magick works very well today. The Goddess has returned to us from her period of dormancy and now mates with the God-conceiving next years God and the harvest to come.
Beltaine-May 1st
A celebration of the Goddess\'s fertility and the growth and development of living things, naturally a greta time ofr fertility and birth rites. It is also said to be a very active time for the Fae (fairys) and old customs such as wearing bells and daisy chains for protection seem to centre around this festival as well as Midsummers. One theory about the name \'Beltaine\' is that it comes from the old word meaning \'balefire\' and it is customary to light a fire on beltaine\'s eve. The Great Rite should, either symbolically or actually, be performed as part of rituals to symbolise the sacred marriage of Goddess and God.
Litha- June 21st
The summer solstice, sometimes named Alban Heruin, is my favourite holiday  We revel in the God\'s peak of power, the sun is at it\'s strongest, and so is he; therefore we may consider this the foremost Fire festival. It is also the traditional month to hold handfastings. The annual battle between the Holly King and Oak King is remembered too, where the Oak King looses to the Holly King representing the beginning of the waning of the sun. The Goddess is heavily pregnant, representing the growing bounty on Earth. Most herbs are ready for harvesting and traditionally this is the best time to gather your magickal supplies for the coming year - remember to only cut them with your bolleen. It\'s also the best time to gather branches and make new wands, staffs, and stangs.
Even more so than Beltaine, Alban Heruin is a Faery festival and many of us leave food out as an offering. They are said to like dairy produce, cakes, wine, ale, salt and honey. I believe that this is a great time for lucid dreaming and communing with the Fae.
Lughnasadh - August 1st
Sometimes also named Lammas (lit. loaf mass), this festival honours the Sun God Lugh and gives thanks to the Mother for birthing the First Harvest, \"First Fruits\". If possible we have a big feast for our friends and family consisting of foods made from the fruits and grain abundant at this time, breads are particularly appropriate. Corn is generally considered the most honoured of the Goddess\' gifts to her people, many altars sport a corn dolly to honour deities such as Ceres. It is magickally a time to assert your goals for the near future, and to give thanks for all the good things in your life.
Mabon- September 21st
Autumn Equinox, similar in much of its nature to the Spring Equinox, is a time of balance and equality, where negative and positive are in perfect harmony. It is also the Second Harvest, and one of the main focuses of this festival is giving thanks for it. Commonly we offer a libation of food and drink in honour of this.
We also consider the meaning of death at this time when the leaves are changing colour and the Sun God is preparing for his own death. A custom I like is to spend the previous day and night in fast and meditation, using this reflective time to learn and think as the Goddess moves into Her Crone aspect. Typically divination, visioning, and astral travel are practiced now. Pouring red wine into the Earth is another symbolic tradition originating in the old custom of \"spilling the blood of a sacrifice that the God may live until Samhuinn\".
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"And I mean this in a pink, slightly special way" |
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