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…
Posts Tagged ‘Nature’
The Beginner’s Guide To Beltane
Posted in Wheel of The Year, tagged Beltane, Culture, Events, Festival, History, Holiday, Inspiration, Life, Lifestyle, May Day, National, Nature, Photography, Spirituality, Wheel Of The Year 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.
https://lilywight.com/2013/05/01/beltane-the-beginners-guide-to-the-wheel-of-the-year/
The Beginner’s Guide To Imbolc
Posted in Wheel of The Year, tagged Brighid, Brigid, Candlemas, Celtic Festivals, Culture, Events, History, Holiday, Imbolc, Inspiration, Lammas, Life, Lifestyle, Nature, Religion, Spirituality, Spring 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/
Yule ~ The Beginner’s Guide To The Wheel Of The Year
Posted in Wheel of The Year, tagged 2014, Arts, Christmas, Culture, Events, History, Holiday, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Nature, New Age, Pagan, Spirituality, The Shortest Day, The Wheel of The Year, The Winter Solstice, Yule on December 18, 2014| Leave a Comment »
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)…
View original post 390 more words
Samhain ~ The Beginner’s Guide To The Wheel Of The Year
Posted in Wheel of The Year, tagged 2014, Art, Culture, Events, Halloween, History, Holiday, Life, Lifestyle, Nature, Religion, Samhain, Spirituality, Wheel Of The Year on October 23, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Samhain – pronounced “sow – inn” and known presently as Halloween – is celebrated from sunset to sunset on 31st October to 1st November. It is the most important Fire Festival or Sabbat on the ancient Wheel of The Year calendar.
“Samhain” has been variously translated as “first frost” or “Summer’s end”: opposing suggestions with the same meaning. It is the name for November in ancient and modern Gaelic.
Samhain lies between The Autumn Equinox and The Winter Solstice. It marks the death of the year and the end of the annual agricultural cycle. Many ancient cultures throughout The Western Hemisphere regarded Samhain as their New Year’s Eve.
Samhain is the third and final harvest on The Wheel of The Year calendar. After Lughnasadh (grain and cereals) and Modron (fruit and vegetables) herding communities drove livestock back from…
View original post 423 more words
Modron, The Autumn Equinox ~ The Beginner’s Guide To The Wheel Of The Year
Posted in Wheel of The Year, tagged Apples, Art, Autumn Equinox, Candy Apples, Culture, Events, History, Holiday, Inspiration, Life, Lifestyle, Mabon, Modron, Mother Goddess, Mythology, Nature, Photography, Spirituality, The Wheel of The Year on September 23, 2014| Leave a Comment »
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…
View original post 142 more words
Lughnasadh ~ The Beginner’s Guide To The Wheel Of The Year
Posted in Wheel of The Year, tagged 2014, Arts, Celebrations, Culture, Events, Festivals, History, Holiday, Inspiration, Life, Lifestyle, Lughnasadh, Nature, Pagan, The Wheel of The Year on July 29, 2014| 1 Comment »
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…
View original post 243 more words
Cute Baby Bat ~ Gratuitous Gif Of The Month
Posted in Gifs, tagged baby animals, Baby Bat, Bat, Bat Gif, cute, Cute Bat, Fluffy, gif, gifs, humor, Humour, Nature, video, Videos, Watch & Listen on June 28, 2014| 3 Comments »
Did you know that cute baby bats are actually known as pups? What a blog, eh? Informative AND adorable!
Pop back next month for a brand new and totally gratuitous gif 🙂
Litha, The Summer Solstice ~ The Beginner’s Guide To The Wheel Of The Year
Posted in Wheel of The Year, tagged 2014, Culture, Events, History, Inspiration, Life, Lifestyle, Litha, Longest Day, Midsummer, Mythology, National, Nature, Photography, Spirituality, Summer Solstice, Wheel Of The Year on June 24, 2014| 2 Comments »
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…
View original post 201 more words
Puss In Boots ~ Gratuitous Gif Of The Month
Posted in Gifs, tagged Cat, cute, gif, gifs, humor, Humour, Kitten, Kitten in Boots, Nature, video, Videos, Watch & Listen on May 10, 2014| 2 Comments »
Startled Hamster ~ Gratuitous Gif Of The Month
Posted in Gifs, tagged Animals, cute animals, Entertainment, gif, Hamster, humor, Humour, Nature, video, Videos, Watch & Listen on March 11, 2014| 3 Comments »
Shocked Owl ~ Gratuitous Gif Of The Month
Posted in Gifs, tagged cute, Fluffy, gif, gifs, Hedwig, humor, Humour, Nature, Owl, Owls, Shocked, Snowy Owl, Surprised, video, Videos on February 8, 2014| 4 Comments »
Who’s Afraid Of This Big Bad Wolf? ~ Gratuitous Gif Of The Month
Posted in Gifs, tagged Animals, Cub, cute, humor, Humour, Nature, Photography, Watch & Listen, Wolf on January 14, 2014| 7 Comments »
Lily Wight ~ The Arcade of Arts & Arcana is a terribly serious and highbrow blog for arty-types and intellectuals – as proved by the following… 😉
Samhain ~ The Beginner’s Guide To The Wheel Of The Year
Posted in Macabre, Wheel of The Year, tagged Arts, Culture, Day of The Dead, Dia de Los Meurtos, Events, Halloween, History, Holiday, Jack O' Lantern, Life, Lifestyle, Nature, Religion, Samhain, Spirituality, Wheel Of The Year on October 29, 2013| 10 Comments »
Updated 23/10/2014
Samhain – pronounced “sow – inn” and known presently as Halloween – is celebrated from sunset to sunset on 31st October to 1st November. It is the most important Fire Festival or Sabbat on the ancient Wheel of The Year calendar.
“Samhain” has been variously translated as “first frost” or “Summer’s end”: opposing suggestions with the same meaning. It is the name for November in ancient and modern Gaelic.
Samhain lies between The Autumn Equinox and The Winter Solstice. It marks the death of the year and the end of the annual agricultural cycle. Many ancient cultures throughout The Western Hemisphere regarded Samhain as their New Year’s Eve.
Samhain is the third and final harvest on The Wheel of The Year calendar. After Lughnasadh (grain and cereals) and Modron (fruit and vegetables) herding communities drove livestock back from Summer pasture to be housed or slaughtered for winter, furthering the festival’s associations with death. The eighth century scholar, Bede refers to November as the “blood month”.
According to ancient beliefs the mythic courtship of a god and goddess symbolised the eternal rotation of seasons. At Samhain the Goddess, in her crone or hag aspect, midwifes the waning or sacrificed God into the Underworld where he will journey until his rebirth at Yule with the promise of Spring.
Crone Goddesses, such as Celtic Ceridwen and Greek Hecate, ease transitions and guard borders and crossroads. They are keepers of arcane wisdom and herbal lore who are associated with broomsticks (for cleansing thresholds) and cauldrons (for brewing natural medicines). Halloween “witches” are a modern remnant of this frequently misunderstood ancient archetype.
Sexy Halloween witches owe their style to The Morrígan, the Gaelic Dark Mother or Raven Goddess who presides over death and battle – akin to the Scandinavian Valkyries. At Samhain The Morrígan mates with The Dagda (the Gaelic All-Father) to bring creation from chaos.
Samhain is considered a liminal time; when the veil between the mortal and the preternatural realms – the living and the dead – is at its thinnest. Ancestors are remembered and honoured with a variety of worldwide customs that continue to this day, such as the Mexican Dia de Los Meurtos or Day of The Dead.
Costuming for Halloween is an ancient tradition with many possible origins and purposes. Celebrants may have daubed themselves with ash from ritual bonfires or disguised themselves to confuse, deter or even consort with mischievous otherworldly creatures before parading from house to house to collect donations for the Samhain feast: the likely origin of trick or treating.
It wouldn’t be Samhain without a pumpkin lantern. The gourd was the first domesticated plant species and has been used for carving for thousands of years. Pumpkin lamps were carved with fearsome faces as festival decorations; to light parades and repel unwelcome spirits. Jack o’ Lantern was another name for will-o’-the-wisp; strange but naturally occurring flares of marsh gas. Jack o’ Lantern evolved into a folkloric hero who tricks The Devil in a variety of tales. Barred from the afterlife he roams the world forever, carrying a single ember from the fires of Hell in his pumpkin lamp.
Related articles
Modron, The Autumn Equinox ~ The Beginner’s Guide To The Wheel Of The Year
Posted in Wheel of The Year, tagged Art, Autumn Equinox, Avalon, Candy Apples, Culture, Events, Festivals, History, Holiday, King Arthur, Life, Lifestyle, Mabon, Modron, Mythology, Nature, Photography, Spirituality, Wheel Of The Year on September 25, 2013| 15 Comments »
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 divine consort prepares his descent to the wintry underworld.
According to Arthurian Legend the fallen King Arthur is transported to Avalon, the “Isle Of Apples” to await his rebirth – an echo of the story of the dying god. The Autumn Equinox is the best time for apple-picking and the fruit has come to have many sacred and mystical associations.
Apples are used for a variety of regional folk customs, games and recipes at this time of year. Slicing an apple across the middle reveals a pentacle or star – the symbol of man in harmony with the elements.
Why not celebrate your Harvest Festival with some apple bobbing or by indulging in some candy apples?
Related articles
- Lughnasadh ~ The Beginner’s Guide To The Wheel Of The Year (lilywight.com)
Run Wombat, Run! ~ Gratuitous Gif Of The Month
Posted in Gifs, tagged Animals, cute, Fluffy, gif, humor, Humour, Nature, Videos, Watch & Listen, Wombat on July 13, 2013| 1 Comment »
The Wonderful World of Froud
Posted in Art, tagged Animation, Art, Arts, books, Brian Froud, Design, Faeries, fairy tales, film, Green Man, Inspiration, Midsummer, Movies, Nature, Oak King, Spirituality, Television, TV, Videos on July 2, 2013| 5 Comments »
Can’t Catch, Won’t Catch ~ Gratuitous Gif Of The Month
Posted in Gifs, tagged cute, Dog, Entertainment, gif, humor, Humour, Nature, Pets, Puppy, video, Videos on June 29, 2013| 7 Comments »
Is it gif time already?
There is a eye-meltingly cute gif every month at Lily Wight ~ The Arcade Of Arts & Arcana, just search through the archives for more…
Related articles
- Giving it up for the GIF: Happy birthday, GIF – you are an Internet treasure! (digitaltrends.com)