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/
Posts Tagged ‘Religion’
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 »
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
Beltane ~ The Beginner’s Guide To The Wheel Of The Year
Posted in Wheel of The Year, tagged 2014, Beltane, Celebrations, Celtic, Culture, Events, History, Inspiration, Jumping the Broomstick, Life, Lifestyle, May Day, Maypole, National, Nature, Pagan, Photography, Religion, Rituals, Spirituality, Top Stories, Traditions, Weddings, Wheel Of The Year on April 29, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Updated 29/04/2014
Beltane (meaning “bright fire”) or May Day is one of eight festival days marked upon the ancient seasonal calendar known as The Wheel Of The Year.
Beltane heralds the beginning of Summer as it lies halfway between The Spring Equinox (Ostara) and The Summer Solstice (Litha). It is a time when daylight hours are long, trees blossom and herding animals are turned out to pasture.
Beltane was originally observed by the Gaelic people of Ireland, Scotland and The Isle Of Man who performed protective rituals for their crops and livestock whilst The Celtic Tribes of Western Europe and Britain also celebrated mating rituals and male potency.
Beltane is named for the Celtic Sun God, Bel (Belenos/Belenus) who is associated with West Cornwall, formerly Belerion. The Romans dubbed him the “British Apollo” and…
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Imbolc ~ The Beginner’s Guide To The Wheel Of The Year
Posted in Wheel of The Year, tagged 2014, Candlemas, Culture, Events, Festivals, History, Imbolc, Inspiration, Life, Lifestyle, Nature, New Age, Pagan, Photography, Religion, Spirituality, Spring, Top Stories, Wheel Of The Year on January 31, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Updated for 2015
Imbolc (pronounced i-MOLK meaning “in the belly”) is one of eight seasonal festivals marked on the ancient calendar known as The Wheel Of The Year. Imbolc is observed on 1st February each year.
Imbolc heralds the first stirrings of Spring as it lies halfway between The Winter Solstice (Yule) and The Spring Equinox (Ostara). It is a time when days lengthen, new buds and shoots appear and the first lambs are born.
Imbolc was originally observed by the Gaelic (Irish, Scottish and Manx) people as a vital indicator of a new agricultural year.
The festival was deemed sacred to the Gaelic goddess Brighid (pronounced breed) the midwife of the year and protector of women, children and newborns.
Hearthfire celebrations involved the baking of bannocks; the origin…
View original post 101 more words
Yule ~ The Beginner’s Guide To The Wheel Of The Year
Posted in Wheel of The Year, tagged Arts, Christmas, Culture, Events, History, Holiday, Lifestyle, Midwinter, Nature, Norse Mythology, Odin, Religion, Santa Claus, Spirituality, The Shortest Day, The Wheel of The Year, The Wild Hunt, The Winter Solstice, Top Stories, Yule on December 19, 2013| 9 Comments »
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) and the stirrings of Spring (Imbolc) was a time of hardship for agricultural communities. A feast of preserved foods and good fellowship whilst celebrating warmth and light would boost morale and inspire hope during a bleak and inhospitable time.
Homes and halls would be decorated with evergreens to symbolise life’s tenacity in a barren landscape and anticipate the rebirth of Spring. Spikey holly – with its blood-red berries – represented protection, ivy denoted endurance and mistletoe (for kissing under) symbolised fertility.
Germanic and Celtic people perceived the mating cycle of their Father and Mother deities in the changing seasons. At Midwinter the solar god – who passed into The Underworld at Samhain (Halloween) is reincarnated as his own sacred son and “reborn” to the goddess at Yule.
Yule is also regarded as the season of The Wild Hunt, a supernatural procession of hounds, horses and huntsmen. Hunt leaders vary, from horned gods to folk heroes, depending on country and culture. In the United Kingdom hunt leaders include Odin’s equivalent Woden, Gaelic Fairy Folk, Herne The Hunter and King Arthur.
Hunt leaders, often cursed into service, would manifest in their most violent and dangerous forms to cleanse the realm, both spiritually and physically, by rounding-up stray spirits, changelings, evil folk and wrongdoers. Early Christian clerics regarded hunt legends as diabolical due to their association with horned gods and hoofed animals. Controversial Boxing Day Hunts are still enacted throughout the UK today.
Father Christmas’s supernatural chariot drawn by horned and hoofed reindeer bears association to The Wild Hunt. Santa is most likely derived from Odin – a giver of gifts to those who are nice – but also, as a Hunt leader, a judge to those who are deemed “naughty”. In Belgium and The Netherlands Santa Claus is assisted not by Norse Elves but Zwarte Piets; the devilish child-taunting mischief-makers who paint their faces to resemble, you guessed it, the followers of The Hunt.
However you choose to celebrate remember that Yule is a time to recuperate and re-energise ourselves in preparation for another turn of The Wheel and the coming of a brand new Spring.
Related articles
- Samhain ~ The Beginner’s Guide To The Wheel Of The Year (lilywight.com)
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.
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Lughnasadh ~ The Beginner’s Guide To The Wheel Of The Year
Posted in Wheel of The Year, tagged Arts, Culture, Events, History, Holiday, Inspiration, Life, Lifestyle, Lughnasadh, Mythology, National, Nature, Religion, Spirituality, The Wheel of The Year, Top Stories on August 1, 2013| 13 Comments »
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 next year’s crop. The birth, death and rebirth of the cornfield was symbolic of the eternal cycle of all life.
The Anglo-Saxons referred to The First Harvest as Hlaef-mass, meaning “loaf mass”. Loaves would be baked in the shape of a corn god then broken and consumed to represent the blessings of his sacrifice. The practice was adopted by modern Christians who refer to this festival as Lammas.
Corn dollies, or spirit cages, are traditionally crafted at Lughnasadh to lure and capture crop spirits. Combine this with the often misconstrued concept of sacrifice and you have the plot for The Wicker Man!
It was common in agrarian societies for a god and goddess to marry at Beltane (1st May) and conceive a child to represent the new year and it’s harvest cycle. In Folklore the father god “John Barleycorn” is “sacrificed” at Lughnasadh to nourish the bountiful goddess, her child and the people. This is still reenacted today via the burning of a cornstalk effigy (not Edward Woodward). Sometimes a bull would be sacrificed in the fields for a celebratory feast.
Today the people of Ireland still honour Lugh’s prowess by climbing closer to the sun, at the summit of Croagh Patrick in County Mayo, to gather bilberries for celebration foods and wine.
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A Little Summer For The Soul
Posted in Blog Awards, tagged Arts, Blog, Blog Awards, blogging, Inner Peace, Inspiration, Life, Musinings, Religion, Spirituality, WordPress, Writing, Writing 2013 on July 9, 2013| 1 Comment »
The greatest gift is the surprise you didn’t know you needed; so gracious thanks to shiny Summer, Contributing Editor at Grow Your Innerself, for the Inner Peace Award with the accompanying words ~
Sweet you,
I’ve an award for you, for the person who you are and the things you share with the world.
Thank you for that..
Namasté, Summer
Namasté indeed 🙂
We’ll be awarding a little more peace to bloggers who create beautiful spaces on the web next month!
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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 Celebrations, Culture, Events, History, Holiday, Lifestyle, Litha, National, Nature, Photography, Religion, Spirituality, Stonehenge, The Longest Day, The Summer Solstice, Top Stories, Wheel Of The Year on June 20, 2013| 7 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 Wort were collected for their healing powers.
According to ancient polytheist traditions The Antlered God – and his localised variant, The Green Man – reaches the height of his powers at the midpoint of the year whilst his Goddess consort carries the promise of renewal conceived during May’s Beltane celebrations. This seasonal courtship was adapted by William Shakespeare in his play A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
At Midsummer those living in the far Northern Hemisphere experience White Nights or The Midnight Sun as there is little if any darkness. Families celebrate by heading out into the countryside; staying awake, lighting bonfires, feasting, drinking and enjoying saunas.
Many stone circles throughout The United Kingdom are aligned to dawn at Midsummer and considered sacred to solar deities such as the Celtic Bel. Celebrants gather at Stonehenge each year to drum the sun down at dusk and then up at dawn on The Longest Day.
Related Articles
Imbolc ~ The Beginner’s Guide To The Wheel Of The Year
Ostara, The Spring Equinox ~ The Beginner’s Guide To The Wheel Of The Year
Beltane ~ The Beginner’s Guide To The Wheel Of The Year
Posted in Wheel of The Year, tagged Beltane, Beltane Fire Society, Celebrations, Culture, Events, Festivals, Handfasting, History, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Marriage, May Day, National, Nature, Religion, Spirituality, The Green Man, Top Stories, Traditions, wedding, Wheel Of The Year on May 1, 2013| 12 Comments »
Updated 29/04/2014
Beltane (meaning “bright fire”) or May Day is one of eight festival days marked upon the ancient seasonal calendar known as The Wheel Of The Year.
Beltane heralds the beginning of Summer as it lies halfway between The Spring Equinox (Ostara) and The Summer Solstice (Litha). It is a time when daylight hours are long, trees blossom and herding animals are turned out to pasture.
Beltane was originally observed by the Gaelic people of Ireland, Scotland and The Isle Of Man who performed protective rituals for their crops and livestock whilst The Celtic Tribes of Western Europe and Britain also celebrated mating rituals and male potency.
Beltane is named for the Celtic Sun God, Bel (Belenos/Belenus) who is associated with West Cornwall, formerly Belerion. The Romans dubbed him the “British Apollo” and – like many solar deities – he pulls the sun with his chariot and is associated with inspirational light and healing waters.
Beltane also celebrates The Spirit Of The Greenwood in the guise of The Green Man; known variously as The Celtic Antlered-God Cernunnos, Herne The Hunter, Jack-In-The-Green and even Robin Hood. Cernunnos consorts with The Mother Goddess at Beltane to assure the birth of the following Spring from the dead of Winter.
Collecting May blossoms or “bringing in the May” is a euphemism for this time of sexual licence. Beltane remains a popular time for marriage ceremonies and traditional handfastings.
Jumping over a broomstick on May Day symbolises crossing the threshold from Spring to Summer and combines the masculine (handle) with the feminine (brush)… no sniggering at the back please 😉
Dancing around Maypoles at Beltane is still practiced today throughout Europe, Scandinavia and The British Isles. The origins of this tradition are lost but Folklorists believe the pole represents the ancient reverence for sacred trees or a phallic symbol!
Pre-Roman tribes danced and walked themselves and their herds around or between protective Beltane fires. These bonfire celebrations are enjoying a modern revival attracting fire-eaters and coal-walking.
The Beginner’s Guide To The Wheel Of The Year
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Ostara, The Spring Equinox ~ The Beginner’s Guide To The Wheel Of The Year
Posted in Wheel of The Year, tagged Easter, Easter Egg, Events, History, Inspiration, Lent, Life, Mad March Hare, Nature, Ostara, Pagan, Photography, Religion, Spirituality, Spring Equinox, Vernal Equinox, Wheel Of The Year, Wicca, Ēostre on March 20, 2013| 11 Comments »
Updated 19/03/2015
Ostara (Old High German) or Ēostre (Old English) falls upon 20th March. It is one of eight ancient Wheel Of The Year festivals denoting seasonal shifts.
Ostara marks The Vernal (meaning “youthful”) Equinox: the height of Spring.
Daylight and darkness are balanced at The Equinox, prior to the lengthening of days: a period sometimes referred to as Lent. It is a time to celebrate fecundity and growth.
Ostara is named for an ancient Germanic goddess and the month that bears her name; Ôstarmânoth, now April.
Ostara is a dawn goddess associated to the Greek Eos and the Roman Aurora. She represents the resurrection of light following the death of Winter.
Ostara’s totem animal is the hare: a symbol of fertility dating back to prehistoric times. The hare was admired for its enthusiastic mating rituals and it’s associations to moon goddesses and the female reproductive cycle.
Eggs are an ancient symbol of renewal, fertility and life-force. They can be decorated to represent the wishes we hope will manifest in the coming summer.
Eggs were used to play a number of festival games such as treasure hunts, races and relays (our modern egg and spoon race).
Ostara is a solar festival so bonfires, hearth fires and candles can also be lit.
The daffodil or “harbinger of Spring” is the traditional flower of the Ostara festival.
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Return To Lego Hell
Posted in Lego, tagged Construction, Design, Entertainment, Galleries, Lego, Lego Hell, Lego Sculpture, Religion, Sculpture, Spirituality, toys on February 7, 2013| 5 Comments »
Libera Nos A Malo (Deliver Us From Evil) ©Icare.
Click the smiley for a Lego interpretation of Dante’s Inferno! 🙂
Imbolc ~ The Beginner’s Guide To The Wheel Of The Year
Posted in Wheel of The Year, tagged All News, Brighid, Brigid, Candlemas, Corn Dolly, Culture, Events, History, Holiday, Imbolc, Inspiration, Lammas, Life, National, Nature, News, Religion, Spirituality, Spring, The Wheel of The Year, Top Stories on February 2, 2013| 22 Comments »
Updated for 2015
Imbolc (pronounced i-MOLK meaning “in the belly”) is one of eight seasonal festivals marked on the ancient calendar known as The Wheel Of The Year. Imbolc is observed on 1st February each year.
Imbolc heralds the first stirrings of Spring as it lies halfway between The Winter Solstice (Yule) and The Spring Equinox (Ostara). It is a time when days lengthen, new buds and shoots appear and the first lambs are born.
Imbolc was originally observed by the Gaelic (Irish, Scottish and Manx) people as a vital indicator of a new agricultural year.
The festival was deemed sacred to the Gaelic goddess Brighid (pronounced breed) the midwife of the year and protector of women, children and newborns.
Hearthfire celebrations involved the baking of bannocks; the origin of Pancake Day.
Corn Dollies and Brighid’s crosses would be made from dried stalks, reeds and rushes to bless the coming season.
Imbolc was a time for weather forecasting. Watching for snakes or badgers to emerge precedes the North American tradition of Groundhog Day.
Click For Lily Wight’s Complete Guide To The Wheel Of The Year
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Cage Coffins
Posted in Macabre, Victoriana, tagged Blog, Cage Coffin, Cemetery, Coffin, Features, Gothic, Grave Robbing, Graveyard, History, Photography, Religion, Truth & Rumours, Vampire, Victorian on May 16, 2012| 8 Comments »
Amazing!
Although this is a bit different from what I usually post, I came upon this picture on the internet and just had to share. I have read and watched a lot on the subject of the undead and vampires, and even read about this cage over graves before. However, I have never actually seen a picture of one before and found it unique. So, I know what your asking, “so what does this have to do with this site and why is it posted?” Well, it has to do with the Victorian era and all of their superstitions and what we now know of as irrational fears.
The caged grave as seen above was used to prevent one of two things. 1: If you were to come back alive and become a walking undead then you wouldn’t be able to remove yourself from this cage and you could be dealt…
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