Wishing you a most joyous This is the great moment in the Wheel of the Year when we welcome the first stirrings of Spring. Though snow may still blanket the ground in many places, and storms are sure to continue, the light is growing stronger every day, and new signs of the return of life … Read more
Today I’d planned to continue our explorations of harvest lore, specifically making corn dollies, but instead, I feel the urgency of this occasion to share these words from two of my dear teachers with you. The Three Candles, Marc Chagall Words from Starhawk:September 11, 2001: Hecate sits on her tripod at the crossroads in the … Read more
Dance of the Harvest © Rik BerryTrumpets, harps, hollow-throated horns, pipers, timpanists, unwearied… fiddlers, gleemen, bone-players and bag-pipers, a rude crowd, noisy, profane, roaring and shouting.— Medieval eyewitness account of Lughnasadh festival at Teltown Happy Birthday today to Harry Potter and, coincidentally, Madame Helena Blavatsky, author of Isis Unveiled, co-founder of the Theosophical Society, and … Read more
Howbeit we know after a time there will now be a general reformation, both of divine and humane things, according to our desire and the expectation of others; for it is fitting, that before the rising of the Sun there should appear and break forth Aurora, or some clearness, or divine light in the sky. … Read more
As the sun spirals its longest dance,Cleanse us!As nature shows bounty and fertilityBless us!Let all things live with loving intentAnd to fulfill their truest destiny.— from a Wiccan Summer Blessing (as reported by the BBC) Happy Litha (Summer Solstice) to those of us in the northern hemisphere, and Happy Yule to our friends below the … Read more
I look back with gladness to the day when I found the path tothe land of heart’s desire, and thank Fate ceaselessly with aloud voice that she did not permit town to sap all the yearsaway while the heart was turning to wind-voices andflower-faces and the hands of kindly earth. — Mrs. George Cran, The … Read more
The Goddess Ostara © Mickie MuellerThe country habit has me by the heart,For he’s bewitched forever who has seen,Not with his eyes but with his vision, SpringFlow down the woods and stipple leaves with sun. – Vita Sackville-West Also known as Lady Day or Alban Eiler (in Druid traditions), on this day, night and day … Read more
O Yuletide Tree, O Yuletide TreeEvergreen and fragrantO Yuletide Tree, O Yuletide TreeEvergreen and fragrantWe bring you in our home to beA sign of life’s eternityO Yuletide Tree, O Yuletide TreeForever green and lovely. Evergreens have long been part of Winter Solstice celebrations. The evergreen trees, such as fir, pine and cedar or juniper, keep … Read more
O Christmas Tree © Rachel Cochrane Pagans sing, are you listenin’,Altar’s set, candles glisten,It’s a Magickal night, we’re having tonight,Dancing in a Wiccan Wonderland. Blades held high, censer smoking,God and Goddess, we’re invoking,Through Elements Five, we celebrate life,Dancing in a Wiccan Wonderland. In a Circle we can light a Yule Fire,And await the rising of … Read more
Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.— Exodus 22:18 On this day in 1985, the American House and Senate dropped the “Helms amendment,” which would have barred the IRS from granting tax-exempt status to groups that promote Witchcraft. And on this day in 1998, less than ten years ago, the Vatican finally took responsibility … Read more