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Samhain - October 31st
Samhain is one of the two great Celtic holidays, the Celts divided the year into two seasons: light and dark, the light being Beltane on May 1st and Samhain on November 1st.
Most of us believe that Samhain is the more important celebration; it marked the beginning of a whole new year. We know that in the dark silence comes whisperings of new beginnings, the stirring of the seeds below the ground. Beltane welcomes in summertime with joyous celebrations at dawn. The most magically potent time of this celebrations is Hallows Eve, the night of October 31st, known today of course, as Halloween.
Samhain (Scots Gaelic: Samhuinn) translates to summers end. In Scotland and Ireland, Halloween is known as Oiche Shamhna, while in Wales it is Nos Calan Gaeaf, the eve of the winter's calend.
For workers of the land Samhain marked the first day of winter, when the herders led the cattle and sheep down from their summer hillside pastures to shelter for the winter. Those destined for the table were slaughtered, after being offered / devoted to our Gods.
All of the years harvest was gathered, which included turnips, barley, oats, apples and wheat. Come November, the faeries would blast every growing plant with their breath, blighting any nuts and berries remaining on the hedgerows.
Wood and peat was stacked high by the families hearth, it was a joyous time for families, working together in the kitchen baking and salting their meat, and making preserves for the winter feasts to come.
In early Ireland, people gathered at the ritual centers of their tribes, Samhain was the principal calendar feast of the year. The greatest assembly was the 'Feast of Tara,' focusing on the royal seat of the High King as the heart of the sacred land, the point of conception for the New Year, the hill of Tara is still as magnificent today as it was then, you can still feel the spirits of our folk who walked those same green hills.
In every household throughout the Ireland, hearth-fires were extinguished. They all waited for the Druids to light the new fire of the year -- not at Tara, but at Tlachtga, a hill twelve miles to the northwest. It marked the burial-place of Tlachtga, daughter of the great druid Mogh Ruith, who may once have been a goddess.
At all the turning points of the Celtic year, the gods drew near to Earth at Samhain, so many sacrifices and gifts were offered up in thanks for their harvest. Personal prayers in the form of objects symbolizing the wishes of supplicants or ailments to be healed were cast into the fire, and at the end of the ceremonies, brands were lit from the great fire of Tara to re-kindle all the home fires of the tribe, as at Beltane. As they received the flame that marked this time of beginnings, people surely felt a sense of the kindling of new dreams, projects and hopes for the year to come.
The Samhain fires continued to blaze down the through the centuries. In the 1860s the Halloween bonfires were still so popular in Scotland that one traveler reported seeing thirty fires lighting up the hillsides all on one night, each surrounded by rings of dancing figures, a practice which continued up to the first World War.
Young people and servants lit brands from the fire and ran around the fields and hedges of house and farm, while community leaders surrounded parish boundaries with a magic circle of light. Afterwards, ashes from the fires were sprinkled over the fields to protect them during the winter months -- and of course, they also improved the soil. The bonfire provided an island of light within the oncoming tide of winter darkness, keeping away cold, discomfort, and evil spirits long before electricity illumined our nights. When the last flame sank down, it was time to run as fast as you could for home, raising the cry, The black sow without a tail take the hindmost.
In Ireland we still have Hallows Eve fires and everybody from our community participates in them, children and adults alike.
Source. The History of Samhain by Agnus C
The Winter Solstice - Yule - December 21st
By the time the Winter Solstice is upon us, I am ready to celebrate the birth of the Sun God in very simple traditional ways. Here are a few ways to celebrate Yule without running yourself ragged.
Tuck some fresh sprigs of berried holly around your house for protection and good luck, If you cannot find any holly with berries you can use holly without the berries. Make sure to keep the berries out of reach for children. We also do a Yule Holly Fire spell every year, last year we done the Yule Fire spell with 4 other friends and a teenage boy who was the son of a comrade, we all had a wonderful time participating, we will include the spell at the bottom of the page.
You can also hang some pine roping over your doorways to ward your home and to encourage good health and joy; we started this ritual last year and will continue to do it in our family. Many families have been doing this for years. Some folk say that by doing this you are inviting the faeries of winter into your home so they can have a warm place to celebrate the Yuletide festivities, we all need a little bit of Faery magick in their home.
We also decorate our home with Yule ornaments mostly suns and stars, you should always check our your local $1 store, I found some beautiful red Sparkly suns their last year and I still have them hanging up from last year. The most important thing about this holiday is to enjoy it, celebrate your life and family and be grateful for all you have.
Yule Fire Spell..
On the darkest night of the year, gather together three dried leaves of holly and pulverize them into powder. On a clean, four-inch by four-inch piece of parchment paper, write a single word in red ink that represents what quality or trait you would like to be born within yourself along with the newborn Yule Sun. Sprinkle the holly powder into the center of the paper and twist the whole thing closed with the holly powder inside. Light the wick of a red candle, and from this flame, lights the holly-filled paper on fire. As it burns, see your wish fulfilled. The spell is done. We put our holly in the microwave to dry it out, and then we crush it with our mortar and pestle.
Imbolc - February 2nd
Imbolc is one of the four major Pagan Holidays for Witches and especially Gaelic Folk. We have been celebrating Imbolc as far back as our people go, it is normally celebrated on February second or at the first dign of Spring, I celebrate in on Febryary first, since this date is the cross quarter day on our Solar Calendar, it is half way between the Winter & Spring Equinox.
Imbolc has always been dedicated to Irish Goddess Brigid yes the same one the wonderful christians turned into a saint. Imbolc is also celebrated in Scotland and is called La Fheill Brighde, in my homeland we call it La Fheile Bride, and in beautiful Wales Imbolc is called Gwyl Ffraed.
The primary celebration of Imbolc is the celebration of the end of Winter and the vigour and joy of Spring, that brings new life to our crops, animals etc. We celebrate with feasting, knowing the coldness of Winter has passed and that food again will be growing again and plentiful.
Various other names for this Greater Sabbat are Imbolgc Brigantia (Caledonni), Imbolic (Celtic), Disting (Teutonic, Feb 14th), Lupercus (Strega), Candlemas. The Maiden Goddesses are honored at this time of the year.
Home hearth fires are put out and re-lit my grandmother would do this and as a child I never really grasped what it meant, now as an adult I want a real fire place where I can light a fire to celebrate the coming of Spring, you should put a besom in place by the front door to symbolize sweeping out the old and welcoming the new. Candles are lit and placed in each room of the house to honour the re-birth of the Sun, I love to light candles all over the house, and I usually put them in a deep glass candle holder to make sure the wax etc. does not spill whilst I am in other rooms.
Whatever way to choose to celebrate the coming of Spring remember to Honour Our Mother always for her beauty and endless bounties.
Ostara - March 21st
Ostara, is the Spring Equinox, it is the day when we see light conquering over darkness, when our glorious Spring has returned. In addition to the historical traditions and related holidays, there is an abundance of pagan ways to mark the return of life, which may add significance to your celebration of Ostara!
Flowers are an obvious choice, I love daffodils and when I see them I am instantly reminded of my Homeland Ireland and Ostara. If there are any wildflowers growing near your home, Ostara would be an ideal time to pick some (respectfully). However, remember that many wildflowers do not survive even a single day after being placed in water, so choose your flowers wisely. You may choose to do this in connection with a nature walk. An Ostara nature walk is a great way to celebrate Mother Nature; it is not for any other purpose such as exercise. Keep the focus where it belongs enjoying mother nature and her gifts.
Your florist will certainly have a wider selection of flowers for you to choose from, whether or not flowers are in bloom in your area, I am not sure if they plant Spring type flowers in parks in the USA, in Ireland once St Patricks day is over we are free to pick Daffodils from the sides of roads. Traditional choices for ostara include violets, daffodils, primrose, iris, peonies, narcissus, and cowslips. Yellow, white, and purple are most often connected with Ostara and Easter, and these would be among the colours to select for flowers and for candles. Yellow is the most traditional.
If you are interested in related traditions, check the Roman god of Attis, whose flower is the violet. His story is yet another one showing rebirth and regeneration. Ostara is an ideal time to fill a cauldron or other container with spring water, and place your flowers--or float them--where they will be seen as soon as you enter your house. A WAU sister bought me a huge cauldron to do exactly this and we have a wonderful stand with a chain to hang it from, Ostara is a special time for my friends and I.
Hot cross buns are another traditional food at this time of year. Some people see the cross on top as a symbol of the Christian cross; others regard it as the traditional markings of North-South-East-West. But the hot cross bun always reminds me of Brigid and living in Ireland; we were raised on Hot Cross buns for Ostara!
A lot of pagans, especially those with small children, enjoy the tradition of knocking on the ground (with their hand, stick, or wand) to "wake up" Mother Earth. This can be done ceremonially, marking a four-pointed circle/compass on the ground. The child who will do the "wake up" call starts at the southernmost point, walks to the northernmost point--representing the cold north--and knocks there. Your Children can take turns doing this, we done something similar for the Winter Solstice with a comrade and his son!
Spring-cleaning can be a family ritual also. It makes housecleaning a little more fun for children and adults alike, if they see the connection to the wheel of the year. Spring-cleaning is upon us and we have just started today March 12th!
However you choose to celebrate Ostara, remember that we are celebrating the abundance of Nature. The New Year, and promised return of life, is finally here. Enjoy!
Beltane - April 30th / May 1st
Irish legends say that the beginning of the summer season for the Tuatha De Danann and the Milesians started at on May 1st Beltane. Our people would have great bonfires to mark it as a time of purification and transition, heralding in the new season with hope of a good harvest later in the year, it was also accompanied with various rituals to protect our people from any harm by spirits from other worlds, such as the Aos Si. Like our other Pagan festival Samhain, it is the opposite to Beltane on October 31st, Beltane was also a time when the Otherworld was seen as being particularly close at hand.
Ancient Pagan traditions say that Beltane marks the emergence of the young God into manhood. Stirred by the great energies at work in nature, he starts to desire the Goddess. They fall in love, lie among the grasses and blossoms, and unite. The Goddess becomes pregnant of the God.
Early Gaelic sources from around the 10th century state that the druids of the community would create a need-fire on top of a hill on this day and drive the village's cattle through the fires to purify them and bring luck (Eadar da theine Bhealltainn in Scottish Gaelic, 'Between two fires of Beltane').
Beltane is a specifically Gaelic holiday. Other Celtic cultures, such as the Welsh, Bretons, and Cornish, do not celebrate Beltane, per se. However, they celebrated or celebrate festivals similar to it at the same time of year. In Wales, the day is known as Calan Mai, and the Gaulish name for the day is Belotenia.
In Modern Irish, Oidhche Bealtaine or Oiche Bealtaine is May Eve, and La Bealtaine is May Day. Mi na Bealtaine, or simply Bealtaine is the name of the month of May. A revived Beltane Fire Festival has been held every year since 1988 during the night of 30 April on Calton Hill in Edinburgh, Scotland and attended by up to 15,000 people.
Gather up some plants or flowers to display in your home, we have so many beautiful flowers and plants available to us at this time of the year so enjoy them. You could also braid your hair, and weave in some flowers to celebrate Beltane.
Source. Beltane Times by S. Keltoi
Litha / Summer Solstice - June 21st
The Summer Solstice, also known as Litha, Midsummers Eve, or St. John's Day, happens on the 21st of June. On that date we celebrate the longest day of the year and the beginning of summer. This is such a wonderful day, and for some reason it always fills me with new hope.
It has also been a time for Pagan tribes to gather, and we have been doing so for centuries. The Christian religion converted this day of "Jack-in-the-Green" to the "Feast of St. John the Baptist," often portraying him in rustic attire, sometimes with horns and cloven feet (like the Greek demigod Pan).
The Goddess manifests as Mother Earth and the God as the Sun King. Summer Solstice colours are blue, yellow, and green; this is a great excuse to once again change the colours in my home. It is a festival of folk, community, sharing, and a time to honour our planet and environment. Make a pledge to Mother Earth; promise to help improve the environment and to aid animals that are facing extinction! WAU members have planted trees in honour of our fallen, and we will also be getting involved and active in many eco-friendly projects.
Agriculturally, our crops are in full growth. They are reaching maturity and coming closer to harvest time. A large percentage of wild herbs are fully mature by Midsummer and this is a traditional time for gathering magickal and medicinal plants to dry and store for winter use. We have stored many since last Midsummer and have used them for gift baskets to new mothers; this year we will focus more on medicinal plants.
In Wales, Midsummer is called "Gathering Day" in honour of this practice.
Foods for the Summer Solstice are fresh fruits and vegetables; try to use organic fruits and veggies for your meals that day, i've been able to buy organic fruits and veggies for the same price as regular fruits at my local farmers market; they have at the weekends during spring and summer.
Herbs and Flowers: Carnation, Daisy, Mugwort, Vervain, Wild Thyme, Chamomile, Rose, Honeysuckle, Lily, Oak, Ivy, Yarrow, Fern, Elder, and Lavender.
Lughnasadh - August 1st
The grains are ripe for us to harvest. Our trees and gardens bear forth the fruits of summer. This is the time of Lughnasadh.
Lughnasadh is the Celtic harvest festival and it takes place on August 1st, it takes its name from the Irish God Lugh, one of the chief gods of the Tuatha De Danann, giving us Lughnasadh in Ireland, Lunasdal in Scotland, and Laa Luanys in the Isle of Man. (In Wales, this time is known simply as Gwl Awst, the August Feast.)
Lughnasadh is the word we use for the funeral games of Lugh the Irish Sun God (pronounced Loo). The celebration is not for Lugh but for his mother Tailte, the last queen of the Fir Bolg, who died from exhaustion after clearing a great forest so that the land could be cultivated. Tailtius name is from Old Celtic Talantiu, The Great One of the Earth, she may originally have been a personification of the land itself.
As autumn begins to emerge, the Sun God has now become old, he is not yet dead though. Lugh symbolically loses some of his strength as the Sun rises farther in the South each day and the nights grow longer.
As the years passed, traditions surrounding the feast at Tailte began to solidify into events and ceremonial activities designed to celebrate not only Tailtiu and the bounty of the harvest that her original sacrifice provided but also to honor the work and sacrifice of human beings as they strove to provide sustenance for their families and community.
Here is a traditional Irish recipe that my Grandmother used to make, its pretty simple to do and tastes really good.
Boxty (Potato Griddle Cakes)
1 cup hot unseasoned mashed potatoes
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup grated unpeeled raw potatoes
1/2 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup milk
Butter or margarine, for frying
In large bowl mix together mashed potatoes and 2 tablespoons of butter. Stir in the eggs and grated potatoes, then the flour, baking powder, salt, and pepper. Blend in milk. Put 1 tablespoon of butter on a hot sizzling large nonstick frying pan. Drop the potato mixture, about 2 1/2 tablespoons at a time, making small pancake type boxties. Flatten slightly. Fry over medium-high heat until crisp and browned, turning once. Repeat with remaining potato mixture, adding butter to the frying pan as needed. Serve hot.
An old Irish rhyme :
Boxty on the griddle,
boxty in the pan,
if you can't make boxty,
you'll never get a man.
Mabon - September 21st
I thank the God and Goddess each and every year when Autumn / Mabon, (pronounced MAY-bun, MAY-bone, MAH-boon, or MAH-bawn) has finally arrived. It has to be my favourite season of the year - Summer has finally ended and we can now cool down and enjoy the beauty and colour that surrounds this wonderful season.
The Autumn Equinox divides our days and nights equally; we should all take a moment to pay our respects to the impending dark and to the waning sunlight, as we store our harvest of this year's crops. The Druids call this celebration, Mea'n Fo'mhair, and honour the The Green Man, who is the God of the Forest, by offering libations to trees.I have one section of my Kitchen wall dedicated to The Green Man and his woodlands. Each Autumn I decorate my kitchen and living room with Autumn Baskets and Mabon nick knacks.
Offerings of ciders, wines, herbs and fertilizer are appropriate at this time. Pagans celebrate the aging Goddess as she passes from Mother to Crone, and her consort to the God as he prepares for death and re-birth. Most of us dread the aging process, but with age comes wisdom and knowledge so I am looking forward to both.
Other names for Mabon are The Second Harvest Festival, Wine Harvest, Feast of Avalon, Equinozio di Autunno (Strega), Alben Elfed (Caledonii), or Cornucopia. The Teutonic name, Winter Finding, spans a period of time from the Sabbat to Oct. 15th, Winter's Night, which is the Norse New Year.
Autumn / Mabon for me is a time of reflection and renewal, to reevaluate the past year, you should gather with your family and prepare for the winding down of the year at Samhain. It is a time to finish up old business as we prepare for a period of rest, relaxation, and reflection.
Mabon is considered a time of the Mysteries. It is a time to honour our Aging Deities and the Spirit World. It is also a time of balance, every year without even planning too I feel the need to relax, read, write and learn.
It is also a time to stop and enjoy the fruits of our personal harvests, whether they be from toiling in your garden, working at your jobs, raising your families, or just coping with the hussle-bussle of everyday life. I hope your Mabon is fruitful and memorable, and that you are ready to take on the world with a renewed fresh outlook on life.
Victoria Ni Cathail
Women for Aryan Unity
Eire ~ Ireland
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