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Posts Tagged ‘Inspiration’

The Beginner’s Guide To The Summer Solstice

Posted in Wheel of The Year, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 17, 2015| Leave a Comment »

     You can call it Midsummer, The Longest Day, Litha or The Summer Solstice.  Whichever you prefer just click the link to read all about it in our popular guide to The Wheel of The Year festivals…

https://lilywight.com/2013/06/20/litha-the-summer-solstice-the-beginners-guide-to-the-wheel-of-the-year/

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The Beginner’s Guide To Beltane

Posted in Wheel of The Year, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 30, 2015| Leave a Comment »

     How will you celebrate your May Day bank holiday weekend?  You could always get married, jump over a broomstick or get naked and paint yourself red like these folks.

     You can discover the origins and traditions of the Beltane festival by clicking the link below for Lily Wight’s Beginner’s Guide To The Wheel Of The Year.

Beltane Fire Festival

https://lilywight.com/2013/05/01/beltane-the-beginners-guide-to-the-wheel-of-the-year/

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The Beginner’s Guide To Imbolc

Posted in Wheel of The Year, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 30, 2015| 3 Comments »

     The Celtic Fire Festival, Imbolc is celebrated on the 1st of February.  Click the link to read all about it in Lily Wight’s Guide To The Wheel Of The Year.

 

 https://lilywight.com/2013/02/02/imbolc-the-beginners-guide-to-the-wheel-of-the-year/

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Yule ~ The Beginner’s Guide To The Wheel Of The Year

Posted in Wheel of The Year, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 18, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Lily Wight

Updated 18/12/2014

     There are four Solar Quarter Days (two equinoxes and two solstices) on The Wheel of The Year calendar.  Yule or The Winter Solstice is celebrated during a twelve day period from December into January.

     Yule commemorates the demise and rebirth of the sun’s powers because The Wheel continues to turn and daylight hours begin to lengthen again beyond The Shortest Day.

     The name “Yule” is thought to derive from the Old Norse ” jólnar”  – a collective term for the gods or “Yule Ones”.   Jólfaðr (Yule Father – interchangeable with All-Father) is one of many names attributed to Odin.  In Old Norse poetry names and terms for Odin are frequently synonymous with celebration and feasting.  Odin The Gift-Giver is undoubtedly the origin of our Santa Claus.

     The Midwinter period between the last harvest (Samhain)…

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Modron, The Autumn Equinox ~ The Beginner’s Guide To The Wheel Of The Year

Posted in Wheel of The Year, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 23, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Lily Wight

     Updated 23/09/2014

     The Wheel Of The Year calendar comprises four Celtic fire festivals interspersed with two solstice and two equinox celebrations.  September’s Equinox denotes the height of the Autumn season.

     The Autumn Equinox is named variably as Modron (Mother Goddess) or Mabon (Divine Son) – deities from Welsh Mythology who can be found in The Legends Of King Arthur.

     Modron is a harvest and fertility goddess who shares characteristics with the Roman Ceres.  On the agricultural calendar Lughnasadh (August) is The First Harvest (grains and cereals) and The Autumn Equinox (September) is The Second Harvest (fruits and vegetables).

     At the Equinox the year wanes, yet the harvest is plentiful.   The ancient tribal people of The Western Hemisphere believed their Mother Goddess entered the third trimester of her pregnancy whilst her…

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Lughnasadh ~ The Beginner’s Guide To The Wheel Of The Year

Posted in Wheel of The Year, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 29, 2014| 1 Comment »

Lily Wight

     Updated 29/07/2014

     Lughnasadh (pronounced Loo-na-sah) is one of eight festivals celebrated on the ancient Wheel Of The Year seasonal calendar.  It marks the midpoint between The Summer Solstice and The Autumn Equinox.  It was once observed when the first sheaf of corn was cut and now, most commonly, on 1st August.

     The First Harvest is named for the Irish Sun God, Lugh, who also lends his name to the Modern Irish name for August.  In Gaelic Mythology Lugh held a funeral and athletic games to honour his foster-mother, Tailtiu who died of exhaustion after clearing the land for agriculture.  Tailtiu represents an earth or harvest deity whose labours feed and nurture the people.

     At Lughnasadh tribal people throughout Western Europe and The Northern Hemisphere gave thanks for their grain and cereal harvest and sought blessings for…

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Litha, The Summer Solstice ~ The Beginner’s Guide To The Wheel Of The Year

Posted in Wheel of The Year, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 24, 2014| 2 Comments »

Lily Wight

     Updated 24/06/2014

     The ancient seasonal calendar – known as The Wheel Of The Year – has reached Litha (meaning “wheel”) also known as The Longest Day, Midsummer and The Summer Solstice.

     Litha marks the height of the sun’s powers at the middle of the year before the inevitable shortening of daylight hours.

     Midsummer has been observed since Neolithic times.  It held special significance to the Scandinavian, Germanic and Anglo-Saxon people and is still celebrated throughout The Northern Hemisphere today.

     Litha was a time to urge the growth of crops in the hope of a plentiful harvest.  A wheel would be set on fire and rolled downhill to “warm” the fields, a practice first recorded two thousand years ago.

     Golden-flowered  Midsummer plants, such as Calendula and St. John’s…

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