Samhain Introduction

Samhain, the third of the Harvest Festivals, occurs when the Sun is aspected at 15 ° Scorpio.
Traditionally, this has been celebrated on October 31st, but since the precession of the equinoxes
this date now falls on or about Nov 5th most years. Since the October 31st date has been so popular
for so long, there is a lot of Samhain energy associated with that date. So whether you choose to
celebrate on Oct. 31st, or whether you choose the actual astrological date of Samhain, the energies
will be there for you to tap into. Most groups now pick the nearest available weekend between these
dates that best fits into their schedule.

In agricultural cultures, this was the last of the Harvests, when the gourds and pumpkins, and the last
of the grains would be brought in. Whatever was left in the fields after this was considered puka, or
fairy blasted, and was certainly not considered fit to eat. For the fairies were said to go underground
right after Samhain, and not show themselves again until the day after May Day. If a person was
careless, they could find themselves in the land of Fairie! This was part of the tradition relating to
costumes and masks at Samhain.

This is the time when the veils between the world of the living and the world of the dead is the
thinnest. Our ancestors knew this, and so there was also the fear that the dead would return to haunt,
or even possess, the bodies of the living, or drag them back to the Underworld. Masks and costumes
prevented the dead, and the fairies, from knowing who was who, and those with vengeful deceased
relatives could feel safe from harm. We wear masks so that our playful side can come out and take
over without fear of ridicule. Some traditions wore a mask at every Sabbat to preserve secrecy, along
with the traditional black hooded robe.

This would also be the time when the herds were culled, which means that the farmer would have to
decide which of his animals would most likely not survive the winter. These animals would be
slaughtered, and the meat smoked and also used for the Feast. Reason being that if the animal
would probably be too weak to live anyway, might as well eat it now, rather than waste fodder feeding
it, and then have to kill it later, when it was tough and thin, or not be able to eat it at all if it suffered a
long illness. Practicality was the most important survival trait. Thus it is that for us, this time of year is
when we cull our habits, our possessions, and also our feelings. Getting rid of anything that we don't
want to bring with us into the new year is what this is all about. Feelings of anger and resentment,
bad habits that keep us from our desired goals, or even possessions can sometimes be holding us
back from our spiritual goals. These are best evaluated and eliminated at this time of the year.

In several traditions, the Goddess rules half of the year, and the God rules the remainder. In some
this is an equal 6 months and 6 months, in others, it sometimes differs with the growing season. In
our tradition, Samhain is when the High Priestess gives the Staff of the Coven over to the High Priest,
to ritually commemorate that it is now his time to rule. Since it is now the hunter time of the year, he
leads the circle, casts the circle, and we will evoke the God first during ritual. At Beltane, he will
ritually hand the Staff back to the High Priestess to signify that her rule begins, and so on. Since our
coven is based in South Florida, our agricultural year doesn't coincide with our traditional one, so we
don't keep this tradition in its strictest sense. These are the foundations on which our religion is built,
but our real guide is whether or not it works for us as a group and as individuals, and only each
person can judge that for herself.

The myth of Persephone going underground to Hades is a very popular Samhain Sabbat story.
Actually, I have heard two similar versions. The first, is the matriarchal myth which told how
Persephone loved all life, and was saddened by the death of the things that she loved. Demeter, her
mother, also was in charge of the Underworld, but she let Hades rule there without her, since she
preferred the living world above. Persephone took pity on the souls who had no one to greet them
and show them compassion, so she followed a hare down into a hole which became a cave and led
her to the Underworld. There she met Hades, who fell in love with her. Eventually, she loved him as
well, and so she stayed there. Demeter was distraught, and all the earth suffered her sadness, as she
would allow nothing to grow until her daughter's return. Persephone, upon hearing this news,
returned to her Mother, but as she had promised to love Hades, and the souls of the dead, so she
returns to Hades for a few months each year. So goes what I believe to be a version of the original
myth.

After the takeover of the matrifocal cultures by the patriarchal invaders, this myth was changed, as
were many that featured our Goddesses prominently. Now the myth had Persephone kidnapped
against her will, held captive in Hades, raped, and tricked into eating pomegranate seeds so that she
would have to return and dwell there. This version can be read in most Greek mythology books, but I
prefer the prior version, where Persephone chooses freely out of her compassion for all creatures and
beings to become Queen of the Underworld for a certain number of months each year. The number of
months differs from culture to culture and depends on their own climate, it corresponds to the number
of winter months they experience. It usually varies from 3 to 6, and also corresponds to the number of
pomegranate seeds that Persephone ate.

As Persephone descends into the Underworld, she also becomes a symbol of the Crone, wise with
her years, and willing to face death. As the Crone, we seek within to find our fears and to release
them. We can send our fears to the Underworld with Her, there to have them transformed into
strengths, and be reborn to us.

Our tradition teaches us that we will also be reborn, with those that we love, and that we will
remember, and love them again. This is the promise of the Goddess, which is symbolized by the
apple. When you slice the apple crosswise, a pentagram is revealed, the symbol of life. The
Goddess's promise is that the seeds of rebirth are revealed in the fruit, even the fruit of death, as
symbolized by the pomegranate. We say that the promise of a whole orchard is revealed in the
pentagram of one apple.

Many Sabbat celebrations will include divination, as this is the best time of year to confer and speak
with the spirits of the dead, and to honor your ancestors and other deceased family and friends. The
dumb supper is a place setting set out at the feasting table with food for the spirits of the dead, so that
they may join in the feasting. Where others may fear their dead, we honor them, knowing that we will
join them, and be reborn with those we love. As the veils between the worlds are sheer, the dead can
tell us what we wish to know. But use caution, remember - just because they're dead, doesn't mean
they are now virtuous! If someone was a liar in life, death won't change that! I do not condone the use
of ouija boards for those who are inexperienced; spirit possession is not just a cheap movie script. At
the very least, you could simply attract a malicious spirit and not be able to get rid of it, and it can
cause you trouble. Tarot cards, runes, I Ching, and other means of divination are safer than a ouija
board as they do not request that a spirit come and make direct contact with you. Rather, your higher
self speaks through your subconscious mind by using the symbols there. Divination of this sort can be
extremely accurate at this time, to let you know what is in your immediate future.

Decorate with orange and black, also yellow, and deep russets and browns. Gourds are appropriate,
especially carved pumpkins with candles in them! These originated as scary faces carved in gourds
to frighten away any evil spirits in the vicinity, and were used with candles in them to light the way of
carolers. Wassailing, or caroling, was once associated with most holidays. Groups of neighbors would
go from house to house singing songs that were appropriate to the holiday in return for drinks and
treats. This has now become the trick-or-treat associated with Halloween, and the Christmas carols
associated with Christmas. However, once they were not divided, but done at the same time.

Foods for this season are apples and pomegranates, the fruits of life and death. Also pumpkin pie,
apple cider, venison, and root vegetables such as carrots, yams, potatoes, and turnips. Of course, we
are lucky in that we can usually buy any kind of food we prefer, rather than having to rely on what is
available locally. It is still fun, however, to tie the Sabbat together with the proper foods and drinks for
the season.
 The Origins of Halloween

In recent years, there have been a number of pamphlets and books put out by various Christian
organizations dealing with the origins of modern-day Halloween customs.

Being a Witch myself, and a student of the ancient Celts from whom we get this holiday, I have found
these pamphlets woefully inaccurate and poorly researched. A typical example of this information is
contained in the following quote from the pamphlet entitled What's Wrong with Halloween? by Russell
K. Tardo.
The Druids believed that on October 31st, the last day of the year by the ancient Celtic calandar, the
lord of death gathered together the souls of the dead who had been made to enter bodies of
animals, and decided what forms they should take the following year. Cats were held sacred
because it was believed that they were once human beings ... We see that this holiday has its
origin, basis and root in the occultic Druid celebration of the dead. Only they called it
'Samhain', who was the lord of the dead (a big demon)

When these books and pamphlets cite sources at all, they usually list the Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Americana, and the World Book Encyclopedia. The Britannica and the Americana make
no mention of cats, but do, indeed list Samhain as the Lord of Death, contrary to Celtic scholars, and
list no references. The World Book mentions the cats, and calls Samhain the Lord of Death, and lists
as its sources several children's books (hardly what one could consider scholarly texts, and, of
course, themselves citing no references).

In an effort to correct some of this erroneous information, I have researched the religious life of the
ancient Celtic peoples and the survivals of that religious life in modern times. Listed below are some
of the most commonly asked questions concerning the origins and customs of Halloween. Following
the questions is a lengthy bibliography where the curious reader can go to learn more about this
holiday than space in this small pamphlet permits.

1. Where does Halloween come from?

Our modern celebration of Halloween is a descendent of the ancient Celtic festival called Samhain.
The word is pronounced sow-in, with sow rhyming with cow.

2. What does Samhain mean?

The Irish-English Dictionary published by the Irish Texts Society defines the word as follows:

Samhain, All Hallowtide, the feast of the dead in Pagan and Christian times, signaling the close of
harvest and the initiation of the winter season, lasting till May, during which troops were
quartered. Fairies were imagined as particularly active at this season. From it, the half-year is
reckoned. Also called Feile Moing finne (Snow Goddess).

The Scottish Gaelic Dictionary defines it as:

Hallowtide. The Feast of All Souls. Sam + Fuin = end of summer.

Contrary to the information published by many organizations, there is no archaeological or literary

evidence to indicate that Samhain was a deity. Eliade's Encyclopedia of Religion states as follows:
The Eve and day of Samhain were characterized as a time when the barriers between the human and
supernatural worlds were broken... Not a festival honoring any particular Celtic deity,
Samhain acknowledged the entire spectrum of nonhuman forces that roamed the earth
during that period.

The Celtic Gods of the dead were Gwynn ap Nudd for the British and Arawn for the Welsh. The Irish
did not have a lord of death as such.

3. Why was the end of summer of significance to the Celts?

The Celts were a pastoral people as opposed to an agricultural people. The end of summer was
significant to them because it meant the time of year when the structure of their lives changed
radically. The cattle were brought down from the summer pastures in the hills and the people were
gathered into the houses for the long winter nights of storytelling and handicrafts.

4. What does it have to do with a festival of the dead?

The Celts believed that when people died, they went to a land of eternal youth and happiness called
Tir nan Og. They did not have the concept of heaven and hell that the Christian church later brought
into the land. The dead were sometimes believed to be dwelling with the Fairy Folk, who lived in the
numerous mounds, or sidhe, (pronounced shee or sh-thee) that dotted the Irish and Scottish
countryside. Samhain was the new year to the Celts. In the Celtic belief system, turning points, such
as the time between one day and the next, the meeting of sea and shore, or the turning of one year
into the next were seen as magical times. The turning of the year was the most potent of these times.
This was the time when the veil between the worlds was at its thinnest, and the living could
communicate with their beloved dead in Tir nan Og.

5. What about the aspects of evil that we associate with the night today?

The Celts did not have demons and devils in their belief system. The fairies, however, were often
considered hostile and dangerous to humans because they were seen as being resentful of man
taking over their land. On this night, they would sometimes trick humans into becoming lost in the
fairy mounds, where they would be trapped forever. After the coming of the Christians to the Celtic
lands, certain of the folk saw the fairies as those angels who had sided neither with God or with
Lucifer in their dispute, and thus were condemned to walk the earth until judgment day. In addition to
the fairies, many humans were abroad on this night, causing mischief. Since this night belonged
neither to one year or the other, Celtic folk believed that chaos reigned, and the people would engage
in horseplay and practical jokes This also served as a final outlet for high spirits before the gloom of
winter set in.

6. What about trick or treat?

During the course of these hijinks, many of the people would imitate the fairies and go from house to
house begging for treats. Failure to supply the treats would usually result in practical jokes being
visited on the owner of the house. Since the fairies were abroad on this night, an offering of food or
milk was frequently left for them on the steps of the house, so the homeowner could gain the blessing
of the good folk for the coming year. Many of the households would also leave out a dumb supper for
the spirits of the departed. The folks who were abroad in the night imitating the fairies would
sometimes carry turnips carved to represent faces. This is the origin of our modern Jack-o-lantern.

7. Was there any special significance of cats to the Celts?

According to Katherine Briggs in Nine Lives: Cats in Folklore, the Celts associated cats with the
Cailleach Bheur, or Blue Hag of Winter. She was a nature goddess, who herded the deer as her
cattle. The touch of her staff drove the leaves off the trees and brought snow and harsh weather. Dr.
Anne Ross addresses the use of divine animals in her book Pagan Celtic Britain and has this to say
about cats:

Cats do not play a large role in Celtic mythology ... the evidence for the cat as an important cult
animal in Celtic mythology is slight.

She cites as supporting evidence, the lack of archaeological artifacts and literary references in
surviving works of mythology.

8. Was this also a religious festival?

Yes. Celtic religion was very closely tied to the Earth. Their great legends are concerned with
momentous happenings which took place around the time of Samhain. Many of the great battles and
legends of kings and heroes center on this night. Many of the legends concern the promotion of
fertility of the earth and the insurance of the continuance of the lives of the people through the dark
winter season.

9. How was the religious festival observed?

Unfortunately, we know very little about that. W.G. Wood-Martin, in his book, Traces of the Elder
Faiths of Ireland, states:

There is comparatively little trace of the religion of the Druids now discoverable, save in the folklore of
the peasantry, and the references relative to it that occur in ancient and authentic Irish
manuscripts are, as far as present appearances go, meager and insufficient to support
anything like a sound theory for full development of the ancient religion.

The Druids were the priests of the Celtic peoples. They passed on their teachings by oral tradition
instead of committing them to writing, so when they perished, most of their religious teachings were
lost. We do know that this festival was characterized as one of the four great Fire Festivals of the
Celts. Legends tell us that on this night, all the hearth fires in Ireland were extinguished, and then re-
lit from the central fire of the Druids at Tlachtga, 12 miles from the royal hill of Tara. This fire was
kindled from need fire which had been generated by the friction of rubbing two sticks together, as
opposed to more conventional methods (such as the flint- and-steel method) common in those days.
The extinguishing of the fires symbolized the dark half of the year, and the re-kindling from the Druidic
fires was symbolic of the returning life hoped for, and brought about through the ministrations of the
priesthood.

10. What about sacrifices?

Animals were certainly killed at this time of year. This was the time to cull from the herds those
animals which were not desired for breeding purposes for the next year. Most certainly, some of
these would have been done in a ritual manner for the use of the priesthood.

11. Were humans sacrificed?

Scholars are sharply divided on this account, with about half believing that it took place and half
doubting its veracity. Caesar and Tacitus certainly tell tales of the human sacrifices of the Celts, but
Nora Chadwick points out in her book The Celts that:

It is not without interest that the Romans themselves had abolished human sacrifice not long before
Caesar's time, and references to the practice among various barbarian peoples have certain
overtones of self-righteousness. There is little direct archaeological evidence relevant to
Celtic sacrifice.

Indeed, there is little reference to this practice in Celtic literature. The only surviving story echoes the
tale of the Minotaur in Greek legend: the Fomorians, a race of evil giants said to inhabit portions of
Ireland before the coming of the Tuatha de Danaan (or people of the Goddess Danu), demanded the
sacrifice of 2/3 of the corn, milk, and first born children of the Fir Bolg, or human inhabitants of
Ireland. The de Danaan ended this practice in the second battle of Moy Tura, which incidentally, took
place on Samhain. It should be noted, however, that this story appears in only one (relatively modern)
manuscript from Irish literature, and that manuscript, the Dinnsenchus, is known to be a collection of
fables. According to P.W. Joyce in Vol. 2 of his Social History of Ancient Ireland,

Scattered everywhere through our ancient literature, both secular and ecclesiastical, we find
abundant descriptions and details of the rites and superstitions of the pagan Irish; and in no
place - with this single exception - do we find a word or hint pointing to human sacrifice to
pagan gods or idols.

12. What other practices were associated with this season?

Folk tradition tells us of many divination practices associated with Samhain. Among the most
common were divinations dealing with marriage, weather, and the coming fortunes for the year.
These were performed via such methods as ducking for apples and apple peeling. Ducking for apples
was a marriage divination. The first person to bite an apple would be the first to marry in the coming
year. Apple peeling was a divination to see how long your life would be. The longer the unbroken
apple peel, the longer your life was destined to be. In Scotland, people would place stones in the
ashes of the hearth before retiring for the night. Anyone whose stone had been disturbed during the
night was said to be destined to die during the coming year.

13. How did these ancient Celtic practices come to America?

When the potato crop in Ireland failed, many of the Irish people, modern descendants of the Celts,
immigrated to America, bringing with them their folk practices, which were remnants of the Celtic
festival observances.

14. We in America view this as a harvest festival. Did the Celts also view it as such?

Yes. The Celts had 3 harvests. Aug 1, or Lammas, was the first harvest, when the first fruits were
offered to the Gods in thanks. The Fall equinox was the true harvest. This was when the bulk of the
crops would be brought in. Samhain was the final harvest of the year. Anything left on the vines or in
the fields after this date was considered blasted by the fairies (pu'ka) and unfit for human
consumption.

15. Does anyone today celebrate Samhain as a religious observance?

Yes. many followers of various pagan religions, such as Druidism and Wicca, observe this day as a
religious festival. They view it as a memorial day for their dead friends and family, much as the world
does the national Memorial Day holiday in May. It is still a night to practice various forms of divination
concerning future events. It is also considered a time to wrap up old projects, take stock of one's life,
and initiate new projects for the coming year. As the winter season is approaching, it is a good time to
do studying on research projects, and also a good time to begin hand work such as sewing, leather
working, woodworking, etc., for Yule gifts later in the year. And while satanist are using this holiday as
their own, this is certainly not the only example of a holiday (or even religious symbols) being
borrowed from an older religion by a newer one.

16. Does this involve human or animal sacrifice?

Absolutely not! Hollywood to the contrary, blood sacrifice is not practiced by modern followers of
Wicca or Druidism. There may be some people who think they are practicing Wicca by performing
blood sacrificing, but this is not condoned by reputable practitioners of today's neo-Pagan religions.
 ALL HALLOW'S EVE

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Halloween. Sly does it. Tiptoe cats paw. Slide and creep. *
* But why? What for? How? Who? When! Where did it all *
 * begin? 'You don't know, do you?' asks Carapace Clavicle *
* Mound shroud climbing out under the pile of leaves under the *
* Halloween Tree. 'You don't really know!' *
* --Ray Bradbury from 'The Halloween Tree' *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Samhain. All Hallows. All Hallow's Eve. Hallow E'en. Halloween. The most magical night of the year.
Exactly opposite Beltane on the wheel of the year, Halloween is Beltane's dark twin. A night of
glowing jack-o-- lanterns, bobbing for apples, tricks or treats, and dressing in costume. A night of
ghost stories and seances, tarot card readings and scrying with mirrors. A night of power, when the
veil that separates our world from the Otherworld is at its thinnest. A 'spirit night', as they say in
Wales.

All Hallow's Eve is the eve of All Hallow's Day (November1st). And for once, even popular tradition
remembers that the Eve is more important than the Day itself, the traditional celebration focusing on
October 31st, beginning at sundown. And this seems only fitting for the great Celtic New Year's
festival. Not that the holiday was Celtic only. In fact, it is startling how many ancient and unconnected
cultures (the Egyptians and pre-Spanish Mexicans, for example) celebrated this as a festival of the
dead. But the majority of our modern traditions can be traced to the British Isles.

The Celts called it Samhain, which means 'summer's end', according to their ancient two-fold division
of the year, when summer ran from Beltane to Samhain and winter ran from Samhain to Beltane.
(Some modern Covens echo this structure by letting the High Priest 'rule' the Coven beginning on
Samhain, with rulership returned to the High Priestess at Beltane.) According to the later four-fold
division of the year, Samhain is seen as 'autumn's end' and the beginning of winter. Samhain is pro-
nounced (depending on where you're from) as 'sow-in' (in Ireland), or 'sow-een' (in Wales), or 'sav-en'
(in Scotland), or (inevitably) 'sam-hane' (in the U.S., where we don't speak Gaelic).

Not only is Samhain the end of autumn; it is also, more importantly, the end of the old year and the
beginning of the new. Celtic New Year's Eve, when the new year begins with the onset of the dark
phase of the year, just as the new day begins at sundown. There are many representations of Celtic
gods with two faces, and it surely must have been one of them who held sway over Samhain. Like his
Greek counterpart Janus, he would straddle the threshold, one face turned toward the past in
commemoration of those who died during the last year, and one face gazing hopefully toward the
future, mystic eyes attempting to pierce the veil and divine what the coming year holds. These two
themes, celebrating the dead and divining the future, are inexorably intertwined in Samhain, as they
are likely to be in any New Year's celebration.

As a feast of the dead, it was believed the dead could, if they wished, return to the land of the living
for this one night, to celebrate with their family, tribe, or clan. And so the great burial mounds of
Ireland (sidhe mounds) were opened up, with lighted torches lining the walls, so the dead could find
their way. Extra places were set at the table and food set out for any who had died that year. And
there are many stories that tell of Irish heroes making raids on the Underworld while the gates of
faery stood open, though all must return to their appointed places by cock-crow.
As a feast of divination, this was the night par excellence for peering into the future. The reason for
this has to do with the Celtic view of time. In a culture that uses a linear concept of time, like our
modern one, New Year's Eve is simply a milestone on a very long road that stretches in a straight line
from birth to death. Thus, the New Year's festival is a part of time. The ancient Celtic view of time,
however, is cyclical. And in this framework, New Year's Eve represents a point outside of time, when
the natural order of the universe dissolves back into primordial chaos, preparatory to re-establishing
itself in a new order. Thus, Samhain is a night that exists outside of time and hence it may be used to
view any other point in time. At no other holiday is a tarot card reading, crystal reading, or tea-leaf
reading so likely to succeed.

The Christian religion, with its emphasis on the 'historical' Christ and his act of redemption 2000 years
ago, is forced into a linear view of time, where 'seeing the future' is an illogical proposition. In fact,
from the Christian perspective, any attempt to do so is seen as inherently evil. This did not keep the
medieval Church from co-opting Samhain's other motif, commemoration of the dead. To the Church,
however, it could never be a feast for all the dead, but only the blessed dead, all those hallowed
(made holy) by obedience to God - thus, All Hallow's, or Hallowmas, later All Saints and All Souls.

There are so many types of divination that are traditional to Hallowstide, it is possible to mention only
a few. Girls were told to place hazel nuts along the front of the firegrate, each one to symbolize one of
her suitors. She could then divine her future husband by chanting, 'If you love me, pop and fly; if you
hate me, burn and die.' Several methods used the apple, that most popular of Halloween fruits. You
should slice an apple through the equator (to reveal the five-pointed star within) and then eat it by
candlelight before a mirror. Your future spouse will then appear over your shoulder. Or, peel an apple,
making sure the peeling comes off in one long strand, reciting, 'I pare this apple round and round
again; / My sweetheart's name to flourish on the plain: / I fling the unbroken paring o'er my head, / My
sweetheart's letter on the ground to read.' Or, you might set a snail to crawl through the ashes of your
hearth. The considerate little creature will then spell out the initial letter as it moves.

Perhaps the most famous icon of the holiday is the jack-o-lantern. Various authorities attribute it to
either Scottish or Irish origin. However, it seems clear that it was used as a lantern by people who
traveled the road this night, the scary face to frighten away spirits or faeries who might otherwise lead
one astray. Set on porches and in windows, they cast the same spell of protection over the
household. (The American pumpkin seems to have forever superseded the European gourd as the
jack-o-lantern of choice.) Bobbing for apples may well represent the remnants of a Pagan 'baptism'
rite called a 'seining', according to some writers. The water-filled tub is a latter-day Cauldron of
Regeneration, into which the novice's head is immersed. The fact that the participant in this folk game
was usually blindfolded with hands tied behind the back also puts one in mind of a traditional Craft
initiation ceremony.

The custom of dressing in costume and 'trick-or-treating' is of Celtic origin with survivals particularly
strong in Scotland. However, there are some important differences from the modern version. In the
first place, the custom was not relegated to children, but was actively indulged in by adults as well.
Also, the 'treat' which was required was often one of spirits (the liquid variety). This has recently been
revived by college students who go 'trick-or-drinking'. And in ancient times, the roving bands would
sing seasonal carols from house to house, making the tradition very similar to Yuletide wassailing. In
fact, the custom known as 'caroling', now connected exclusively with mid-winter, was once practiced
at all the major holidays. Finally, in Scotland at least, the tradition of dressing in costume consisted
almost exclusively of cross-dressing (i.e., men dressing as women, and women as men). It seems as
though ancient societies provided an opportunity for people to 'try on' the role of the opposite gender
for one night of the year. (Although in Scotland, this is admittedly less dramatic - but more confusing -
since men were in the habit of wearing skirt-like kilts anyway. Oh well...)

To Witches, Halloween is one of the four High Holidays, or Greater Sabbats, or cross-quarter days.
Because it is the most important holiday of the year, it is sometimes called 'The Great Sabbat.' It is an
ironic fact that the newer, self-created Covens tend to use the older name of the holiday, Samhain,
which they have discovered through modern research. While the older hereditary and traditional
Covens often use the newer name, Halloween, which has been handed down through oral tradition
within their Coven. (This is often holds true for the names of the other holidays, as well. One may
often get an indication of a Coven's antiquity by noting what names it uses for the holidays.)

With such an important holiday, Witches often hold two distinct celebrations. First, a large Halloween
party for non-Craft friends, often held on the previous weekend. And second, a Coven ritual held on
Halloween night itself, late enough so as not to be interrupted by trick-or-treaters. If the rituals are
performed properly, there is often the feeling of invisible friends taking part in the rites. Another date
which may be utilized in planning celebrations is the actual cross-quarter day, or Old Halloween, or
Halloween O.S. (Old Style). This occurs when the sun has reached 15 degrees Scorpio, an
astrological 'power point' symbolized by the Eagle. This year (1988), the date is November 6th at
10:55 pm CST, with the celebration beginning at sunset. Interestingly, this date (Old Halloween) was
also appropriated by the Church as the holiday of Martinmas.

Of all the Witchcraft holidays, Halloween is the only one that still boasts anything near to popular
celebration. Even though it is typically relegated to children (and the young-at-heart) and observed as
an evening affair only, many of its traditions are firmly rooted in Paganism. Interestingly, some
schools have recently attempted to abolish Halloween parties on the grounds that it violates the
separation of state and religion. Speaking as a Pagan, I would be saddened by the success of this
move, but as a supporter of the concept of religion-free public education, I fear I must concede the
point. Nonetheless, it seems only right that there should be one night of the year when our minds are
turned toward thoughts of the supernatural. A night when both Pagans and non-Pagans may ponder
the mysteries of the Otherworld and its inhabitants. And if you are one of them, may all your jack-
o'lanterns burn bright on this All Hallow's Eve.
 Yule Introduction

Yule, also known as the Winter Solstice, has so many traditions associated with it that there are entire
books dedicated to this subject. Many of the customs will be quite familiar as they have been adopted
by other religions into their practices, and that is how much of the tradition has survived.
Firstly, Yule, or the Winter Solstice, occurs when the Sun enters the sign Capricorn, and is at 0 °
Capricorn. Thus, Yule is a minor Sabbat because it is at zero degrees, the beginning of the energy.
This is the longest night of the year, at the darkest time of the year. In ancient times, it was believed
that the Sun needed our help to return, so the people would light bonfires both to strenghthen the Sun
through sympathetic magic and also to show the Sun the way back to the earth. Lighted candles in
windows and lights on houses and trees (Christmas tree lights) are the leftover symbols of these
bonfires, and are meant to symbolize and aid the return of the Sun.

This was also a season of the year when the herds were culled, as there was only enough food to
feed the strong and young who would be needed to breed in the spring. Weak cattle who may not
survive the winter anyway were sacrificed, or just slaughtered, and used for feasting, or salted and
saved. They were also traded, along with many other items, for this time of year, many people had
time on their hands. The hunting was harder now because of the weather, and there was no
agricultural concerns going on in the northern areas, so people had time to create and make things.
The gifts that some of us still exchange at Yule originally were from trading what one had extra for
what one lacked. During the Kalends in Rome, January 1-3, handmade gifts were exchanged, and
this tradition also took place in Egypt at their new year, where people exhcanged scent bottles and
scarabs for good luck in the coming year. We still exchange gifts at Yule, the only rule we adhere to is
that they must be handmade - and I have always been the lucky recipient of the most excellent
crafted things imaginable!

The main focus of most Yuletide celebrations is the rebirth of the Sun, as this is when the Goddess
gives birth to the Sun in many traditions. In addition to the theme of birth, we also have the theme of
death, symbolized by the Yule log. The ancient druids worshiped the Great Trees, symbolic of the
Gods, and often sang or chanted to them and poured libations to them, as well as made other
offerings. The custom of wassailing is a descendent of of the druids wassailing the trees. The word
means to wish good health to and at one time was associated with many other holidays, not just this
one. The Yule log is also wassailed, being decorated with mistletoe, holly, ivy, red berries, and bright
ribbons, and having libations poured over it, and also being sung to, especially while it is burning. The
Yule log symbolized the sacrificed god, since the druids believed that only the sacrifice of a Great
Tree was strong enough to bring back the Sun. In Rome, their Yule log was expected to burn during
the entire 12 days of the Saturnalia, a mighty Tree indeed! Pieces of the Yule log were then kept to
protect the home and family throughout the coming year, and also used to light the following years
log. This is the last traces of the Perpetual Fire that was once kept in honor of many Gods and
Goddesses.

Many of the older celebrations were extremely baudy and a time for regular hierarchies in society to
be turned around. During the Saturnalia, for example, slaves were allowed freedom, there was cross-
dressing between the sexes and also between the classes. Inhibitions and prohibitions were mostly
lifted, and drunkeness and lascivity were allowed. This kind of behavior was associated with many of
the traditions celebrated at the Winter Solstice, and even carried through to the Middle Ages. So
much so, that the Puritans in England, and in New England, forbid the practice of Christmas, saying
that it was a Pagan holiday, and would not allow it in their religion. The Christmas season, as we
know it, with it's high emphasis on the birth of Christ, on family reunions, and on gift-giving, is largely
a product of our American culture, and is only about 150 years old, if that.
As far as the birth of Christ is concerned, prior to 354 AD there was no official date for the birth of
Jesus. However, the Mithraic religion, as Chritianity's closest rival, celebrated the birth of Mithras on
Dec. 25th. Constantine, the Roman emperor at that time, and more or less converted to Chrisianity
himself (though not actually baptized until he was on his death- bed), was being pressured by the
Christian priests to ban this Pagan holiday. Contstantine was a pragmatic ruler, by all accounts, and
he knew that the common people would either revolt, or celebrate it anyway. He therefore decreed
that Dec. 25th was to be celebrated as the birth of Jesus. The observance of this date as Jesus'
birthday was not actually accepted by Christians except in Rome. The Bible, and the early Christians,
were much more interested in Christ's resurrection, as proof of immortality in Jesus, than in his birth.

Today, almost the only Christian sect to oppose celebrating Christmas is the Jehovah's Witnesses,
who rightly recognize that the traditions carried out are totally Pagan in their origin. Especially the
Christams tree, with it's garland, lights, and ornaments, has it's roots in the Druid worship of the
Trees. The garland represents the circle of life, the never-ending cycles of the Goddess, and also the
snake, which is a sacred animal to the Goddess. The lights, as discussed above, add energy to the
Sun, and are an encouragement for the Sun's return. Glass balls were to reflect evil, thereby
protecting against the evil eye, and also to reflect the lights on the tree (originally candles on the tree)
and increase the effectiveness of their light. Candy canes are a reminder of the renewal of all life as
they are symbolic of the maypole, with their red and white colors, which stand for the blood and the
milk of the Goddess, the ancient waters of life. Tinsel and icicles are fertility magic also, representing
the rains which will come to fertilize the earth in the spring. Bells were used to purify the air, and to
summon the friendly spirits for protection. The star at the top of the tree is our own pentagram,
representing the four elements of air, earth, fire and water, overseen by Spirit.

Holly and Ivy were seen as the male and female principles (respectively) and were believed to bring
good luck and fertility to men and women. Holly, berries, pine cones, and acorns were all used to
signify the God aspect at this season, while the wreath symbolized the Goddess aspect. As a
complete circle, the wreath symbolized the circle of life, the wheel of the year, and the sacred cycles
of the Goddess, and was usually decorated with the holly, berries, ribbons, etc. of the God, and so
combined both aspects in one decoration.

Of course, mistletoe has come down as the plant most associated with the Yule season. Being a
parasite, it only grows high in trees, where the seeds land after being borne on the wind. The Druids
therefore believed the plant was put there by the Gods, probably by lightning bolt, or put there by the
Sun. It was believed to have miraculous healing powers, be very strong good luck, and have many
other magical and mystical attributes, and thus was referred to as the Golden Bough. In
Scandanavian countries, enemies would often be reconciled underneath boughs containing mistletoe,
and any contract thus made could never be broken. Thus comes our custom of kissing beneath the
mistletoe.

There are many other customs from many cultures, as was mentioned earlier, and these are but a
few. The Yuletide season was celebrated in almost every known civilization, and many traditions have
survived in altered forms from many different cultures. Researching these customs is both informative
and fascinating, and will enrich your knowledge and understanding of both your own Pagan roots, as
well as the roots of other religions. The bibliography to follow is just a sampling of what is available on
this subject...Enjoy!
 Midwinter Night's Eve: Yule Introduction

Our Christian friends are often quite surprised at how enthusiastically we Pagans celebrate the
'Christmas' season. Even though we prefer to use the word 'Yule', and our celebrations may peak a
few days before the 25th, we nonetheless follow many of the traditional customs of the season:
decorated trees, carolling, presents, Yule logs, and mistletoe. We might even go so far as putting up
a 'Nativity set', though for us the three central characters are likely to be interpreted as Mother
Nature, Father Time, and the Baby Sun-God. None of this will come as a surprise to anyone who
knows the true history of the holiday, of course.

In fact, if truth be known, the holiday of Christmas has always been more Pagan than Christian, with
it's associations of Nordic divination, Celtic fertility rites, and Roman Mithraism. That is why both
Martin Luther and John Calvin abhorred it, why the Puritans refused to acknowledge it, much less
celebrate it (to them, no day of the year could be more holy than the Sabbath), and why it was even
made illegal in Boston! The holiday was already too closely associated with the birth of older Pagan
gods and heroes. And many of them (like Oedipus, Theseus, Hercules, Perseus, Jason, Dionysus,
Apollo, Mithra, Horus and even Arthur) possessed a narrative of birth, death, and resurrection that
was uncomfortably close to that of Jesus. And to make matters worse, many of them pre-dated the
Christian Savior.

Ultimately, of course, the holiday is rooted deeply in the cycle of the year. It is the Winter Solstice that
is being celebrated, seed-time of the year, the longest night and shortest day. It is the birthday of the
new Sun King, the Son of God -- by whatever name you choose to call him. On this darkest of nights,
the Goddess becomes the Great Mother and once again gives birth. And it makes perfect poetic
sense that on the longest night of the winter, 'the dark night of our souls', there springs the new spark
of hope, the Sacred Fire, the Light of the World, the Coel Coeth.

That is why Pagans have as much right to claim this holiday as Christians. Perhaps even more so, as
the Christians were rather late in laying claim to it, and tried more than once to reject it. There had
been a tradition in the West that Mary bore the child Jesus on the twenty-fifth day, but no one could
seem to decide on the month. Finally, in 320 C.E., the Catholic Fathers in Rome decided to make it
December, in an effort to co-opt the Mithraic celebration of the Romans and the Yule celebrations of
the Celts and Saxons.

There was never much pretense that the date they finally chose was historically accurate. Shepherds
just don't 'tend their flocks by night' in the high pastures in the dead of winter! But if one wishes to use
the New Testament as historical evidence, this reference may point to sometime in the spring as the
time of Jesus's birth. This is because the lambing season occurs in the spring and that is the only
time when shepherds are likely to 'watch their flocks by night' -- to make sure the lambing goes well.
Knowing this, the Eastern half of the Church continued to reject December 25, preferring a 'movable
date' fixed by their astrologers according to the moon.

Thus, despite its shaky start (for over three centuries, no one knew when Jesus was supposed to
have been born!), December 25 finally began to catch on. By 529, it was a civic holiday, and all work
or public business (except that of cooks, bakers, or any that contributed to the delight of the holiday)
was prohibited by the Emperor Justinian. In 563, the Council of Braga forbade fasting on Christmas
Day, and four years later the Council of Tours proclaimed the twelve days from December 25 to
Epiphany as a sacred, festive season. This last point is perhaps the hardest to impress upon the
modern reader, who is lucky to get a single day off work. Christmas, in the Middle Ages, was not a
single day, but rather a period of twelve days, from December 25 to January 6. The Twelve Days of
Christmas, in fact. It is certainly lamentable that the modern world has abandoned this approach,
along with the popular Twelfth Night celebrations.
Of course, the Christian version of the holiday spread to many countries no faster than Christianity
itself, which means that 'Christmas' wasn't celebrated in Ireland until the late fifth century; in England,
Switzerland, and Austria until the seventh; in Germany until the eighth; and in the Slavic lands until
the ninth and tenth. Not that these countries lacked their own mid-winter celebrations of Yuletide.
Long before the world had heard of Jesus, Pagans had been observing the season by bringing in the
Yule log, wishing on it, and lighting it from the remains of last year's log. Riddles were posed and
answered, magic and rituals were practiced, wild boars were sacrificed and consumed along with
large quantities of liquor, corn dollies were carried from house to house while carolling, fertility rites
were practiced (girls standing under a sprig of mistletoe were subject to a bit more than a kiss), and
divinations were cast for the coming Spring. Many of these Pagan customs, in an appropriately
watered-down form, have entered the mainstream of Christian celebration, though most celebrants do
not realize (or do not mention it, if they do) their origins.

For modern Witches, Yule (from the Anglo-Saxon 'Yula', meaning 'wheel' of the year) is usually
celebrated on the actual Winter Solstice, which may vary by a few days, though it usually occurs on
or around December 21st. It is a Lesser Sabbat or Lower Holiday in the modern Pagan calendar, one
of the four quarter-days of the year, but a very important one. Pagan customs are still enthusiastically
followed.

Once, the Yule log had been the center of the celebration. It was lighted on the eve of the solstice (it
should light on the first try) and must be kept burning for twelve hours, for good luck. It should be
made of ash. Later, the Yule log was replaced by the Yule tree but, instead of burning it, burning
candles were placed on it. In Christianity, Protestants might claim that Martin Luther invented the
custom, and Catholics might grant St. Boniface the honor, but the custom can demonstrably be
traced back through the Roman Saturnalia all the way to ancient Egypt. Needless to say, such a tree
should be cut down rather than purchased, and should be disposed of by burning, the proper way to
dispatch any sacred object.

Along with the evergreen, the holly and the ivy and the mistletoe were important plants of the season,
all symbolizing fertility and everlasting life. Mistletoe was especially venerated by the Celtic Druids,
who cut it with a golden sickle on the sixth night of the moon, and believed it to be an aphrodisiac.
(Magically -- not medicinally! It's highly toxic!) But aphrodisiacs must have been the smallest part of
the Yuletide menu in ancient times, as contemporary reports indicate that the tables fairly creaked
under the strain of every type of good food. And drink! The most popular of which was the 'wassail
cup' deriving its name from the Anglo-Saxon term 'waes hael' (be whole or hale).

Medieval Christmas folklore seems endless: that animals will all kneel down as the Holy Night arrives,
that bees hum the '100th psalm' on Christmas Eve, that a windy Christmas will bring good luck, that a
person born on Christmas Day can see the Little People, that a cricket on the hearth brings good
luck, that if one opens all the doors of the house at midnight all the evil spirits will depart, that you will
have one lucky month for each Christmas pudding you sample, that the tree must be taken down by
Twelfth Night or bad luck is sure to follow, that 'if Christmas on a Sunday be, a windy winter we shall
see', that 'hours of sun on Christmas Day, so many frosts in the month of May', that one can use the
Twelve Days of Christmas to predict the weather for each of the twelve months of the coming year,
and so on.
Remembering that most Christmas customs are ultimately based upon older Pagan customs, it only
remains for modern Pagans to reclaim their lost traditions. In doing so, we can share many common
customs with our Christian friends, albeit with a slightly different interpretation. And thus we all share
in the beauty of this most magical of seasons, when the Mother Goddess once again gives birth to
the baby Sun-God and sets the wheel in motion again. To conclude with a long-overdue paraphrase,
'Goddess bless us, every one!'

Yule In Britain

Midwinter has long been a traditional time for celebration and merrymaking in Britain. All of the
activities at midwinter were meant to ensure that the season would renew itself and the days would
begin to grow longer again. Greenery was brought into decorate the house: evergreen to symbolize
the promise of life to come even in the darkest winter; the mistletoe, believed to hold the life of the
host tree even when the tree itself appeared to be dead in winter; and the holly and ivy, symbols of
male and female, both of course necessary for new life. Carols, some of which survive to this day,
such as the Gower Wassail, were sung. The earliest carols consisted of taking hands and singing
while dancing in a ring or around a bush, May tree, or even an apple tree (as in the case of the Apple
Tree Wassail, sung in hopes of a good crop of cider the following year).

The Wassail Carols in particular date back to the Viking invasions of England, about 700 A.D. , when
the greeting was Ves heill. By Anglo-Saxon times, the greeting had evolved into Waes thu hal,
meaning be whole or good health. The response was drink hail , meaning I drink and good luck be to
you. People would travel from house to house in the village bringing good wishes and carrying an
empty bowl. The master of the house being wassailed was expected to fill the bowl with a hot spicy
ale and then it would be passed around to the carolers.

Midwinter was also a time for exchanging gifts and for feasting. Turkey only dates to the 1500's. Much
more common were boar, geese, capons, swans, and pheasants. Minced pies were originally made
with meat, and with the coming of spices to England during the Crusades, plum pudding became
quite the traditional dish. Plum pudding makes a great dish for cakes and wine in the Yule circle,
especially if you pour warmed brandy over it and set it afire before the blessing.

While I am writing about midwinter customs in Britain because our heritage in .K.A.M. is largely Celtic
in origin, the Isles do not have a monopoly on Yule. The Romans celebrated Saturnalia for seven
days around the Solstice, and it was a time to look ahead and rejoice in the longer days to come.
Slaves and masters switched places at table, and presents were exchanged. The Persian Mithraists
held December 25th as sacred to the birth of their Sun God, Mithras, and celebrated it as a victory of
light over darkness. And in Sweden, December 13th was sacred to the Goddess Lucina, Shining
One, and was a celebration of the return of the light. On Yule itself, around the 21st, bonfires were lit
to honor Odin and Thor.

Midwinter has always been a Pagan holiday, so much so that during the 1600's the Christian
Christmas was recognized as a celebration based on Pagan customs and was outlawed in England
and many of the colonies in America.

(Text version of the Journal has Gower Wassail here)

A Monthly Rune (Traditional)

January By this fire I warm my hands

February And with my spade I delve my lands
March Here I set my seeds to spring
April And here I hear the birds to sing
May I am as light as bird in the treetop
June And I take pains to weed my crop
July With my scythe my mead I mow
August And here I shear my corn full low
September.... With my flail I earn my bread
October And here I sow my wheat so red (Winter wheat)
November At Martinmas I kill my swine *
December And at Yule I drink red wine

Recipe for Wassail

3 red apples
3 oz brown sugar
2 pints brown ale, apple cider, or hard cider
1/2 pint dry sherry or dry white wine
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
strips of lemon peel

Core and heat apples with brown sugar and some of the ale or cider in an oven for 30 minutes. Put in
large pan and add rest of spices and lemon peel, simmer on stove top of 5 minutes. Add most of the
alcohol at the last minute so it heats up but does not evaporate. Burgundy and brandy can be
substituted to the ale and sherry. White sugar and halved oranges may also be added to taste.

Plum Pudding

1/4 lb. flour

1/4 lb. currants
1 tsp. salt
1/4 lb. sultanas (small raisins)
1 tsp. allspice
2 cooking apples, peeled, cored and chopped
1 tsp. ginger
1 ounce cut mixed (citrus) peel
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 oz. shredded almonds
pinch fresh grated nutmeg
Juice and grated rind of 1 orange and 1 lemon
1/4 lb. fresh breadcrumbs
1/4 lb. molasses (treacle)
1/2 lb. shredded suet
4 large eggs
1/4 lb. brown sugar
2 tbsp. brandy
1/4 lb. dried chopped apricots
1/4 lb. prunes
1/4 lb dates
Sift flour, salt and spices into a large bowl. Stir in breadcrumbs, suet and sugar. Add fruits, peel and
rind. Beat lemon and orange juice, molasses and eggs together and add to other ingredients. Steam
for 6 hours -- a coffee tin filled with the mixture and placed in a steamer in a covered pan does well. A
little vinegar and lemon juice in the water will prevent the pan from discoloration. After steaming cover
in a cool place and let age as long as possible -- usually about 5 weeks. To serve, re-steam for
another 3 hours. Remove from tin, douse with warm brandy and set it ablaze!

If you haven't got six weeks before Yule to prepare a proper pudding (I never do) a tinned one from
Crosse & Blackwell will do fine. Just be sure to always heat the pudding first, no matter who made it,
or all the warmed brandy in the world won't help. And don't forget the hard sauce!

Imbolc Introduction
Imbolc, Oimelc, Imbolg, or Candlemass (the Christianized version of the name) is the celebration that
occurs when the Sun reaches 15 ° Aquarius, and is therefore considered a Major Sabbat. This date
was traditionally celebrated on Feb 1st or 2nd, and is still noted today in our country as Ground Hog's
Day, which marks that there is only 6 more weeks of winter; we have reached the half-way point.

There are some traditions that may say this holiday marks the beginning of Spring, but this doesn't
hold up under scrutiny. Imbolc marks the middle of the winter season, just as Yule marked the
beginning, and Ostara will mark the beginning of Spring at the Equinox.

The Celts marked this holiday as Brigit's Day or Brid's Day in Irish. Bridget is one of the few Pagan
Dieties to have survived as Saints in the Christian religion. She was a very powerful and meaningful
Goddess, and there was no way to force the populace to give her up, therefore they canonized her as
Saint Brigit and up until 1220 BCE, her shrine at Kildare had a perpetual fire that was constantly
tended by virgins, by the Priestesses of the Goddess, and after Christianity took over, it was
continued by the virgin nuns. In the 1960's after Vatican II, it was decided that Saint Brigit did not
have enough evidence to canonize her and then she was decanonized. However, in Ireland, she is
still very much reverenced, as she is by Wiccans, as the triple Goddess. One aspect ruled poetry,
writing, inspiration, and music; one ruled healing and midwifery and herbology, and one ruled fire, and
the arts of smithcraft. Incidentally, this holiday was also called by the Christians, the Feast of the
Purification of Mary, for it was believed that women were unclean for six weeks after giving birth. So
since she had given birth at the Winter Solstice, this is the date when she would be purified. We look
upon this as the time when the Goddess who gave birth at the Winter Solstice, is now transformed in
the Maiden once again.

The Imbolc, or Oimelc, was the ancient Celtic festival celebrating the birth and freshening of sheep
and goats, the Feast of Milk. Brigit's feast day was called La Feill Bhride and represents the seed that
is waiting to stir again. It is a time of great anticipation and the celebration of possibilities. New life is
about to awaken in the earth, the earth is furrowed and prepared to receive the seed.

The Valentine's Day festivities were also connected to this time, being celebrated now on Feb 14th.
There are different explanations for this day, the Christian church having one, and folklorists having
another. The Christian version states that a Dr. Valentine in ancient Greece used to perform illegal
Christian weddings and he was sacrificed to the lions on this date and became Saint Valentine.
Therefore, hearts and flowers are exchanged to honor the love that he had and the love of the
Christian couples he joined in matrimony. The folklorists attribute this holiday to the gallant or
galantine young men who pursued their sweethearts at this time, since some Latin languages
pronounced g as a v in earlier times. Thus, the valentine would be the attentions of a would-be suitor,
and whatever methods he might employ to win the maiden's heart!

At this time the Roman's celebrated Lupercalia, which also was a fertility festival. The Priests of Pan
ran through the streets insuring women's fertility by spanking them with thongs made from goatskin
and blessed by the local Strega. There are many cultures which had similar holiday practices at
similar times. So much so that one has to wonder if this was due primarily to an agricultural society
having a tendency to celebrate the same things at the same times of the year, or to an more universal
religion or culture, having roots far in antiquity and being handed down over the centuries, changing
only slightly over the generations?
Our tradition celebrates with a Brid's Bed, in which our Brid's Doll, made of corn, or straw, and
dressed very prettily, is placed. She is the Maiden at this time, young, playful, and belonging only to
herself, or virginal. Alongside her is placed an acorn wand, sized according to the Doll's size, which
represents the penis, the regenerative male force in nature. We tell Brid our secret dreams and
wishes that we want to see manifest. This is a time when we look to the future and dream! This is the
Sabbat where we can plan ahead for what seeds we will sow in the coming year, and how we plan to
nurture our seeds for a successful harvest later.

Other customs include lit candles in every window of the house, and keeping a perpetual candle on
the Altar to Brid. Seeds are brought into circle to be blessed by the Goddess and the Gods and to
absorb the circle's vibrant energy. Chant, dance, and sing, and send energy back into the earth to
help her awaken, so that Spring may once more bloom. Straw can be woven into Brid's Cross,
Bridget's Knot, or Corn Maiden and hung in the corners of rooms, over doorways, and over beds, for
fertility, prosperity, and for the blessings of the Goddess. Remember - fertility doesn't necessarily
mean having babies! Fertility of the mind, imagination, and of projects you are working to bring to
birth are also desired manifestations, and will be blessed by fertility rituals. If you are of child-bearing
ability and do not wish to be pregnant, than stress that the fertility you desire is of the mind, or of a
certain project, or your creativity, etc, and that is what you will manifest.

It is also traditional in some covens for the Priestess to wear a crown of thirteen candles, a lunar
number, representing herself as the Maiden of Light. Some covens have a crown made up, others
use thirteen small electric bulbs instead of candles (which seems safer!). This is the Feast of Light, as
the winter is dying away, and the sun grows stronger, and so bonfires are especially appropriate as
well. In ages past, people jumped the bonefires to be cured of winter colds and flu. This is the holiday
to bring your candles to circle, to have them be blessed by the Sabbat energies. We have small
candles of each color in circle, and we mark them appropriately with symbols. Then during the year,
when we dress any candle for any purpose, we add a few drops from our Imbolc candles, so that the
Sabbat blessings and energy will also be added to the working.

The candles, the bonefires, and the lights are all symbolically adding energy to the waxing sun. In
addition, they have another purpose. For remember at Samhain, Persephone went to the Underworld,
to greet and care for the spirits of the dead? That was three months ago, and now, it is time for us to
signal to her to return, and bring Spring back to the earth. We light the way for her to see her way
back from Hades, and to remind her that we, with Demeter, are awaiting her here among the living.

In our tradition, this Sabbat is the only Sabbat where new coveners can be initiated into first degree.
This makes this holiday a special one for us as it marks our birthday into the Craft! We always have a
birthday cake for ourselves, and we celebrate together our inititation anniversary. We also use one
candle for each covener, a large white candle, which is dressed, blessed, and lit only on Imbolc, and
on each succeeding Imbolc thereafter until it is burned out. This candle is special to us, and among
other things is a symbol of the Light which we are now celebrating, and which we embody.

The usual colors for Imbolc are white and yellow. White contains all the other colors in the spectrum,
and therefore embodies all colors, and is a symbol of all possibilities; the beginning, the new. Yellow
has always been the color associated with the Sun, along with gold, and is a call to the Sun to
continue strengthening, and chase winter away. Traditional foods include potatoes, carrots, and any
root vegetables, as people in ancient times were getting near the bottom of their root cellar by now.
Also corn, as it is yellow for the Sun, and so many cultures relied on corn as a main staple of their
diets. Lambs were being born around this time, and so lamb was also served at this holiday, along
with rabbits, which were easy to trap, and other wild animals who stayed above ground during the
cold months. We serve a hearty red wine during the God's half of the year, but you can also serve
milk, since this was a celebration of the freshening of the goats as well. Indeed, it was often a Milk
Festival and Oimelc means milk of ewes.

Ideas for ritual can be the making of Brid's Beds, Brigit's Knots, Corn Dollies, as well as blessing
seeds for your garden, blessing the water for the seeds, and blessing your candles for the coming
year, to name just a few. In our tradition, we don't do personal magick on the Sabbats. We save that
for the remaining 357 days of the year! Sabbats are for returning energy to the Gods and Goddesses,
for being thankful for our blessings, and for blessing our dreams, wishes, and hopes. We make plans
for the development of our lives on a spiritual level; for example: a happy home, healthy environment,
peaceful country, and the renewal of the earth would be appropriate blessings for the Sabbat, and
wonderful ideals to give your energy towards.

Imbolc Preparation
For this ritual, we had at least 4 people to perform the Myth of Persephone and also a HP and HPS,
but they can double up and do some of the Myth parts as well. Also, you will need 1 white candle for
each person. We suggest using the small hurricane tapers or the kosher candles that are about 4
long. Cut paper circles out and stick the candles through them ahead of time so that no one gets
burned by wax, or if you have sufficient candlesticks, of course use those!

For Brid's Bed, please refer to Ancient Ways and Wheel of the Year by Dan and Pauline Campanelli,
they are usually in the local library. These are excellent books on the traditions and practices
associated with all the old holidays and with the seasons. Well researched and easy to read and
understand, these are highly recommended to add to your research library! If you are not crafty then
you can sometimes purchase a doll made from straw that is ok to use. Making your own doll from
corn or wheat and the clothes to fit her are a great coven project! Her bed can be a basket that has
been decorated and lined. This doll can be used over and over each Imbolc, as ours is, and the
wishes from the previous year stay with her in the bed until the following year, when we read our own,
reflect on how it has manifested for us, and then burn the old wishes.

So for this part of the ritual you will need, either in addition to or instead of Brid's Bed, a small
cauldron, parchment paper, and pens.
If you wish, you can have people bring their own candles for blessing. We usually have one person
bring the white candles, one buys some packages of seeds, one brings parchment squares and pens,
and then cakes and/or wine is assigned to others. Seeds can now be purchased at discount stores for
very little money, and are a wonderful symbolic tool.

You will notice there is no initiation ceremony in this ritual. Ours is done privately and individually, and
so has no place in an outer court circle.

By the way, in the myth, we explain that Persephone ate three seeds so she stays away in the
underworld for three months. If your winter season is longer than that, please amend this so it is
correct for your area. We have used the adaptation of the patriarchal myth in this case for our Sabbat,
but you can certainly redo the myth to use the matriarchal version if you desire, or change to
whatever myth suites you.

These are presented only in the spirit of sharing and of teaching, and are not meant to be taken as
the absolute gospel of what a coven should do for ritual. We change our outer court Sabbats from
year to year, and rewrite them, or do entirely new ones when it suits us.

Thank you for allowing us to share ours with you!

Ostara Introduction
Ostara, Eostre, Easter, Vernal Equinox, Spring Equinox, and First Day of Spring are all names for the
same festival time. This is the day when the light and darkness are of equal length, and afterwards
the days get longer. This occurs when the Sun enters Aries, which is on March 20th or 21st. This is
the time when the light symbolically triumphs over darkness, so it is no wonder that the Christian's put
their Easter, wbere the God of Light triumphs over darkness and rises again, at this time of year. It
has long been the time for Gods to return from the Underworld, or the darkness, as we shall see.

Agriculturally, this is the time in most of Europe and America when the seeds are sown and planted in
the ground. This corresponds in Wicca also to the planting of new ideas, new goals for the coming
year, new businesses or new activities to be started.

This holiday is sacred to Eostre, Anglo-Saxon Goddess of Spring, also known as Ostre. Sacred to
Her are eggs, and white rabbits. There is a legend in which a white rabbit fell in love with her, and to
prove his love he laid colored eggs for her everyday. (Eggs and white rabbits, sound familiar
anyone?) The white rabbit symbolizes the transformation of innocence, and constant fertility. The
eggs symbolize new life, and also rebirth. In ancient times, when hens were not domesticated, it was
necessary to climb trees and hunt for these eggs, no doubt a welcome treat after the dreary winter
fare. Thus we may have the origination of the egg hunt so many cultures still do today. Also, since the
eggs are found in the woven nests of birds, which were the inspration for woven baskets, we can see
the link between the ancient ways and our traditions today of putting the colored eggs into pretty
woven baskets.

Why decorate eggs? Birds eggs are naturally decorated for camoflauge or for other reasons having to
do with the preservation of the species. And that is the same reason why we decorate our eggs today
and why our pagan ancestors did theirs, the presevation of the species! They used not only color to
symbolize what they wanted to be born but also, signs, runes, and different geometric designs.

If you want to see a very old tradition still in practice today, research the Ukranian art form of making
pysanky (from the word pysaty which means to write). These eggs have highly stylized decorations of
geometric and other designs, and are also quite beautiful.

To decorate your own eggs, here are some of the ancient signs and what they mean:

Circle and Concentric Rings for the cycles of life and rebirth.
Solar Crosses for union of matter and spririt, or the union of the God and Goddess.
Triangles for triple Goddess.
Squares for the earth.
Pinwheels and 8-Pointed Stars for the sun.
Wavy Lines, or 3 C's for water.

More modern symbols are:

Dollar Signs for money,

Hearts for love,
Smiley Faces for happiness, etc.

You can also use pentagrams, ankhs, and any other symbols which have meaning for you. Conincide
the symbol with the color, for example, an egg for love and friendship would have a heart on it and be
pink or red. One for healing might be green or blue. One for new ideas might be yellow and show an !
on it! Be creative - use your imagination, this is how we grow and learn our traditions, and incorporate
them into our lives.

Decorated eggs were found in Egyptian tombs, and were not for food, since the eggs were hollow,
they were more of an amulet intended to help the soul find rebirth. It is known that the Druids dyed
eggs red in honor of the sun. Today, we have choices, such as whether to use either commercial
dyes, or natural ones.

If you want to experiment with natural dyes, here are some that I have seen listed in books. I must tell
you that I have not personally tried these, but they have been published by several authors I respect,
so I will pass them on for your benefit:

GREEN : colts-foot or bracken

YELLOW: turmeric
YELLOW-GREEN: carrot tops
ORANGE: onion skin
RUST: onion skin
RED: madder root or cochineal
PINK: madder root or cochineal
BLUE: blueberries
BRIGHT BLUE: red cabbbage leaves

Leaving the eggs in the dye longer, will create the darker colors. Many of these must be boiled, or
brought to a boil, then add the egg and vinegar, and allow both to cool. Eggs should be hard=boiled
first, before dying. Mark the eggs before hand with crayon or wax, or afterwards you can use lemon
juice for the darker colors, or even magic markers. Be sure to add white vinegar to your colors so they
will stick to the eggshell. With the natural dyes, the eggs do scratch more easily, so handle with care!

Before your circle you may want to take your ritual bath and add an egg, and use an egg shampoo by
putting raw egg in your hair. It is wonderful for your hair, and also for your bath!

Getting back to the theme of returning from the Underworld, there are quite a few myths surrounding
this holiday which all have the same theme, though the names and circumstances may differ slightly.
All have the common thread of the Goddess's love bringing them back from the Underworld. Most
were of lovers, such as Isis and Osiris, Ishtar and Tammuz, Aphrodite and Adonis, Cybele and Attis.
However, Mother and daughter, Demeter and Persephone also follow this theme. As does the myth
of Mother and Son Bacchus and Semele, except that it was Bacchus who loved his Mother so much
even though he had never seen her, that he descended into the Underworld to bring her back to
Mount Olympus with him. These myths can be read in many books, so I won't go into them here, but
they are all appropriate themes for any Ostara Sabbat rite. (A note: in our tradition and living in
Florida we have already experienced the return of the Goddess at Imbolc, so this is less appropriate
for us, being in the warmer climate. You can adapt the seasonal celebrations to more closely follow
what your seasons are.)

All pastel colors are sacred to Eostre, but her color is especially blue. (Robin's egg blue!) She is the
Goddess of the East, and Spring. She is the same as Eos, the Greek Goddess of the East, and of
sunrise and dawn. Is this why so many Christians celebrate Easter Sunday with a sunrise service?
She is the Maiden aspect of the triple Goddess. In Hindu, she is called Ushas, and her lover and
opposite is the God of the West, of death, of the sunset. This also corresponds to the Norse God,
Vestri, god of the sunset and of fire, and the latin word Vespers. The Greek Goddess Vestra, who
was goddess of fire and had a perpetual flame tended by the Vestal Virgins also fits the fire in the
west theme. In our tradition, we put fire in the west, and it seems at some time in the past, fire was
the traditional element for the west, representing death, as most funerals were done by cremation in
many cultures. Even the Norse ships which carried the dead out to sea were first set aflame, then
launched. It seems a natural opposite to the water in the East where all life begins, (amniotic fluid)
and where the Goddess of Spring, the Maiden, rules.

In Ireland, the Shamrock is associated with Ostara, because it is the green of new life, and the three-
leafed variety was sacred to the triple Goddess. Four-leaved clovers were and still are considered
lucky, they represent the four elements in balance, and also a symbol of the sun wheel.
Foods for this Sabbat include eggs (of course!), and hot cross buns, which have the solar wheel
representation on them in the form of the cross. Also the traditional Easter ham comes to us from
cultures which had a wild boar hunt at this time, and paraded the boar's head around on a platter.

However you celebrate this holiday, remember that the traditions which have been passed down to us
are all pagan in origin, (as is the case with so many holidays!) and you can join right in with them
whole-heartedly!

If you would like to read further on this or any other holiday I strongly recommend two books by Dan
and Pauline Campanelli, Wheel of the Year, and Ancient Ways. They are a wealth of well-researched
information, and also have a lot of practical hands on recipes for many traditional holiday endeavors.

Ostara Preparation
This is a group ritual, and has parts for High Priest, High Priestess, 4 watchtower people, and other
parts can be assigned to other people as needed.

You will need (aside from regualar altar supplies and seasonal decorations): colored eggs with runes
on them (enough for one each minimum). basket to keep the eggs in.

The eggs can be colored prior to ritual by your group, and adorned with the appropriate rune or
symbol to go with the color. This can be done as a group activity, but the eggs do take more than a
few hours to dry, so do plan to do this at least 8 hrs prior to ritual, or the day before would actually be
best. We had our students do them and had each bring a dozen.. that way there was plenty for all
who came and plenty for feast later.

The meditation journey can be actually done in circle if you wish to have the participants weave their
own basket for the eggs they will pick. In that case, practice beforehand so you can instruct everyone,
and you will need to provide or have people bring basket weaving material.
Or you could put a myth play on regarding one of the many goddesses returning from the underworld
which tie in to this time of year in many parts of the country. (We are in Florida, so our Goddesses
return at Imbolc!)

In any case, the ritual is there for you to use, rewrite, or substitute whatever you wish.

Blessed Be and Happy Ostara!

Beltane Introduction
La Baal Tinne, Beltane, Beltain, all are names for the ritual which was traditionally held on May 1st,
also known as May Day. The astrological festival occurs when the Sun reaches 15 ° Taurus, which
lately has been happening more towards May 4-6th. Either the traditional date or the astrological date
can be used to determine when to hold your festival as both will have significant energies for the
season.

And the season is Spring! The lusty month of May is called so for a reason! Watch the animals, they
are rutting now, looking to attract mates to raise their families. Butterflies and insects are pollenating
flowers all over, and trees are bursting into blossoms and new green growth. In spring, the young
man's fancy turns to love.. and the young girls fancies turn to young men!

Beltane, named for the Celtic Sun God, Bel, or Bal, or Baal, also means Bale, to banish, as in the
bale fires, which are lit on Beltane to cleanse and purify. Cattle were led between two fires to cleanse
them, and I have heard theories that the Druids quite possibly may have put purifying herbs on the
fires to physically help the process along, but there is no actual proof of this. Couples would jump the
fire to bless their union and to make it fruitful. You can jump the fire to leave behind bad habits or
thoughts. Or stand close enough to the fire so that it's heat can burn out sickness. You may call upon
the flames to burn away whatever you want to be free of by mentally casting it into the fire.

Virgin women would jump the fire to be blessed by a child of the fire, an immaculate conception, as it
were. The fire symbolizes life, passion, love and sex, and can also protect you for the coming year.
To gaze into the flames and become firestruck is to cause an altered state of conciousness that is
useful for divination.
Nine woods in the Bale fire go, Burn them fast and burn them slow... (from the Wiccan Rede) Those
nine woods were usually:

Oak for the God

Birch for the Goddess
Fir for birth
Willow for death
Rowan for magic
Apple for love
Grapevine for joy
Hazel for wisdom
Hawthorne for purity and for May

Now of course if you live in an area, such as South Florida, where there is a definite lack of some of
these woods (such as apple) you can always substitute another wood - as long as this wood is also
known for the same properties! So do some research, and make intelligent substitutions.

Probably the most memorable and obvious symbol of Beltane is the May Pole. A phallic symbol, it
represents the male regenerative force in nature, and is used to show the Sacred Union between the
Goddess and God that takes place at this time. The pole represents the God of course, and the earth
represents the Goddess. Red and white were the traditional colors of the ribbons on the pole, and
there are different explanations for them, one being that they represent the male semen and the
female menstrual blood, and are a reminder that this is a game that only men and women enjoy, and
is not for children. The other is that the red and white represent the two fluids that women safely give,
milk and blood, of which men were in awe.

Either way, these can still be seen in the cadaceus, the symbol of healing and also the red and white
barbers pole. In ancient times, the Doctor was also the Barber, hence the similar symbolism!

Today we choose a ribbon color which represents something we wish to weave into our lives as we
weave it onto the pole, hopefully something that will also benefit the community as a whole, since this
is a communal dance. Yellow for wisdom and inspiration, orange for success, blue for peace, or
peace of mind, pink for friendship or patience, green can be healing or financial gain, white for health,
and protection, etc. I have even seen rainbow ribbons, and also plaid ribbons! They certainly do stand
out in the pattern.

The pole is erected, with appropriate ritual ceremony (see the file containing the ritual for this Sabbat
for details), with the ribbons all tied to the top of the pole. The dancers stand in the circle around it
each holding to the ends of the ribbon. Typically this is done with the males and females alternating
around the circle, but we almost never have an exactly even number, and it doesn't matter that much.
If you do have an almost equal number, then you can have all the males go deosil, and the females
go widdershins (clockwise and counter-clockwise) as they go around the pole. If your numbers are
too uneven, then have the participants count off by twos, with all the number ones going one way and
the number twos going opposite.
It is better to have some lively music to dance to, we use celtic jigs and reels, and have a half hour
tape with just that on it, which is easy to leave on the player, so it can be unattended. 30 minutes is
quite sufficient, even a bit long! Believe me, unless you are a professional dancer, you will be tired out
long before 30 minutes are over. You can also use Louisiana cajun zydeco, or Tennesse bluegrass,
as well as the celtic songs, since all of these have a similar beat, and are very lively. That is the most
important thing for a successful dance, because we have found that chanting leaves you out of breath
very quickly.

To start the dance, have all the people facing deosil raise their ribbons and the people going
widdershins will go under them. Then the widdershins group will raise their ribbons and the deosil
group will go under them. So it continues, over and under, over and under, as you progress around
the pole. Very quickly a beautiful pattern will emerge, as these bright ribbons are woven together.
Don't worry if people forget which way they were supposed to go, this often happens when you have
first time dancers, or an uneven number of people, someone is bound to go under when they should
have gone over, no matter. It is the enjoyment of the dance that matters most, not whether the weave
comes out perfect, and no one can tell the difference anyway!

When the ribbons become too short to allow for comfortably continuing, then it it time to tie off. Tie the
ribbon to the pole at the end of the weaving, and you can leave the ribbon hanging loose below the
knot. Some groups leave the ribbons on year after year, and simply allow them to build up on the
pole, until they decide a new pole is needed, then the old pole with all the layers of ribbons, is ritually
burned during the Beltane circle. Other groups will carefully work the old ribbons off the pole just prior
to this years dance, and these ribbons will be ritually burned in the balefire. Of course, you could use
a new pole each year, and ritually burn the old pole with ribbons intact. Another exception I have seen
is where a wheel was used at the top of the pole, and this group actually unwove all the ribbons, and
left the pole bare again. Personally, I think that it is undoing the magick of weaving into your life if you
unweave the ribbons after the dance, but each group must decide for themselves what works best for
them.

In our groups, we have men and women, and there is a lot of playing that goes on in the Maypole
dance. We kiss, we stroke, we nuzzle a neck here or an outer thigh there, or we give a quick pat on
the posterior as we pass by the person. These are all welcome and perfectly expected in our group,
and we announce ahead of time, that if anyone is uncomfortable with that then please let us know
now so we will not invade their space. You can tell when someone is unapproachable, they will let
you know that these advances are not welcome, and you should honor that. Some groups I know
have asked participants not to do any touching or kissing as they dance, and while that may make all
the cowans more comfortable, it also leaves the energy of the dance flat.

For this is a dance for fertility! For abundance of the fields! For abundance in our lives! It was meant
to be a courtship dance and to raise the libido of both those dancing and those watching, and to add
to the sexual flavor that permeates this Sabbat. Keep that in mind, and the pats, hugs, kisses, and
squeezes, are simply affection between friends and NOT sexual harrassment! Please bear in mind
that this is a Sabbat about sexual fertility, and it was very important to our ancestors, and it is a lot of
fun for us today. One of the biggest taboos in mainstream religions is about sex, and we as Pagans
have always understood the real power behind sexual energy. Please let's not let a sue happy society
ruin this aspect of our religion and take this away from us! Keep it joyous as it was intended.
Another Beltane traditon is that of electing a King and Queen of the May, a young women and man,
who may not necessarily be a couple already, or they can be newlyweds. They are crowned with
flowered wreaths, and paraded before everyone, while people cheer Hurrah for the King and Queen
of the May! In ancient times, this couple would be expected to go into the woods and consummate
the energy of the circle for abundant hunts during the coming year, or in the fields for abundant crops.
It was not unusual for young ladies and young men to pair off in the forest, and was called a green
wedding. Any child which was a result of those unions was considered a great blessing. This is also
the reason for so many June weddings, and why the period after the wedding is call the Honeymoon,
after the Moon in June, which is also called the Honey Moon.

The scarf chase is another Beltane tradition, which the couple who are the King and Queen of the
May or the couple who are the Lord and Lady, will start. The Lady teases the Lord with a green scarf,
and then drops it as his feet as a signal for him to pursue her. She eludes him success fully for a few
rounds, then allows him to catch her and rewards his efforts with a kiss. The scarf can then be
passed on to another women to do the same to a man of her choice. This originated as a courtship
ritual at a time when sexuality was not expressed openly, and was a way for a woman to tastefully let
a man know that she was interested in him in a publicly acceptable manner. (Many of our traditional
courtship rituals were evolved when it was not considered lady like or genteel for men and women to
be open about their partnership preferences.)

Another variation is to use a wreath with flowers in it, and the woman walks around the circle
parading it before her, as men attempt to take a flower out of the wreath. Whoever is successful is
rewarded with a kiss, and the wreath is them passed on to another woman. These chases can be
used to lead into the Spiral dance, which is another Beltane ritual dance, but is used at other Sabbats
as well.

The Spiral dance is especially appropriate at Beltane, in that it is reminescent of the DNA chain.
(Which of course we are told our ancestors knew nothing about!) To do the Spiral dance, one person
starts by taking the hand of someone next to her, and they take another hand, and so on until all are
holding hands and moving in a circle. Usually, the step done with the feet is called the grapevine step,
and involves one foot crossing in front of the other, then the other foot crossing behind, and the knees
are kept flexed for balance. However, the main reason why this is a Spiral dance is that the first
person leads the dancers in a tighter and tighter ring toward the center, then abruptly turns inward to
face the other dancers, and still everyone follows. The end result is that all the dancers face another
person, and the circle then spirals outward again. This sometimes takes practice, but remember not
to duck under anyone's arms, for this will only end up in a knot! (Knots can be fun, too, but they do
interrupt the flow of energy in the dance!)

Beltane is the exact opposite of Samhain on the wheel of the year, and just as Samhain is an
aknowledgement and celebration of death, so Beltane is an equally powerful reaffirmation of life.
Other societies have had traditions in the same manner, and have myths that equate with ours
regarding the Sacred Union of Lord and Lady; indeed that of all nature, without which life on this
planet would cease to exist. Beltane and Samhain are considered the two most powerful, most
important Sabbats, and there were cultures that celebrated only those two for many centuries. Today
we have the Solar Sabbats and the Agricultural Sabbats, that were the celebrations of two types of
culture which were married together to form the wheel of the year we know. And of these Sabbats,
still the two most powerful and most important are Samhain and Beltane.

A Celebration of MAY DAY

 * * * * * *
Perhaps its just as well that you
won't be here...to be offended by the
sight of our May Day celebrations.
--Lord Summerisle to Sgt. Howie
from The Wicker Man
* * * * * *

There are four great festivals of the Pagan Celtic year and the modern Witch's calendar, as well. The
two greatest of these are Halloween (the beginning of winter) and May Day (the beginning of
summer). Being opposite each other on the wheel of the year, they separate the year into halves.
Halloween (also called Samhain) is the Celtic New Year and is generally considered the more
important of the two, though May Day runs a close second. Indeed, in some areas -notably Wales - it
is considered the great holiday.

May Day ushers in the fifth month of the modern calendar year, the month of May. This month is
named in honor of the goddess Maia, originally a Greek mountain nymph, later identified as the most
beautiful of the Seven Sisters, the Pleiades. By Zeus, she is also the mother of Hermes, god of
magic. Maia's parents were Atlas and Pleione, a sea nymph.
The old Celtic name for May Day is Beltane (in its most popular Anglicized form), which is derived
from the Irish Gaelic Bealtaine or the Scottish Gaelic Bealtuinn, meaning Bel- fire, the fire of the Celtic
god of light (Bel, Beli or Belinus). He, in turn, may be traced to the Middle Eastern god Baal.

Other names for May Day include: Cetsamhain (opposite Samhain), Walpurgisnacht (in Germany),
and Roodmas (the medieval Church's name). This last came from Church Fathers who were hoping
to shift the common people's allegiance from the Maypole (Pagan lingam - symbol of life) to the Holy
Rood (the Cross - Roman instrument of death).

Incidentally, there is no historical justification for calling May 1st Lady Day. For hundreds of years,
that title has been proper to the Vernal Equinox (approx. March 21st), another holiday sacred to the
Great Goddess. The nontraditional use of Lady Day for May 1st is quite recent (within the last 15
years), and seems to be confined to America, where it has gained widespread acceptance among
certain segments of the Craft population. This rather startling departure from tradition would seem to
indicate an unfamiliarity with European calendar customs, as well as a lax attitude toward scholarship
among too many Pagans. A simple glance at a dictionary (Webster's 3rd or O.E.D.), encyclopedia
(Benet's), or standard mythology reference (Jobe's Dictionary of Mythology, Folklore & Symbols)
would confirm the correct date for Lady Day as the Vernal Equinox.

By Celtic reckoning, the actual Beltane celebration begins on sundown of the preceding day, April 30,
because the Celts always figured their days from sundown to sundown. And sundown was the proper
time for Druids to kindle the great Bel-fires on the tops of the nearest beacon hill (such as Tara Hill,
Co. Meath, in Ireland). These need-fires had healing properties, and sky- clad Witches would jump
through the flames to ensure protection.

* * * * * *
Sgt. Howie (shocked): But they
are naked!
Lord Summerisle: Naturally.
It's much too dangerous to jump
through the fire with your
clothes on!
* * * * * *

Frequently, cattle would be driven between two such bon-fires (oak wood was the favorite fuel for
them) and, on the morrow, they would be taken to their summer pastures.

Other May Day customs include: processions of chimney-sweeps and milk maids, archery
tournaments, morris dances, sword dances, feasting, music, drinking, and maidens bathing their
faces in the dew of May morning to retain their youthful beauty.

In the words of Witchcraft writers Janet and Stewart Farrar, the Beltane celebration was principly a
time of ...unashamed human sexuality and fertility. Such associations include the obvious phallic
symbolism of the Maypole and riding the hobby horse. Even a seemingly innocent children's nursery
rhyme, Ride a cock horse to Banburry Cross... retain such memories. And the next line ...to see a fine
Lady on a white horse is a reference to the annual ride of Lady Godiva though Coventry. Every year
for nearly three centuries, a sky-clad village maiden (elected Queen of the May) enacted this Pagan
rite, until the Puritans put an end to the custom.

The Puritans, in fact, reacted with pious horror to most of the May Day rites, even making Maypoles
illegal in 1644. They especially attempted to suppress the greenwood marriages of young men and
women who spent the entire night in the forest, staying out to greet the May sunrise, and bringing
back boughs of flowers and garlands to decorate the village the next morning. One angry Puritan
wrote that men doe use commonly to runne into woodes in the night time, amongst maidens, to set
bowes, in so muche, as I have hearde of tenne maidens whiche went to set May, and nine of them
came home with childe. And another Puritan complained that, of the girls who go into the woods, not
the least one of them comes home again a virgin.

Long after the Christian form of marriage (with its insistence on sexual monogamy) had replaced the
older Pagan handfasting, the rules of strict fidelity were always relaxed for the May Eve rites. Names
such as Robin Hood, Maid Marion, and Little John played an important part in May Day folklore, often
used as titles for the dramatis personae of the celebrations. And modern surnames such as
Robinson, Hodson, Johnson, and Godkin may attest to some distant May Eve spent in the woods.

These wildwood antics have inspired writers such as Kipling:

Oh, do not tell the Priest our plight,

Or he would call it a sin;
But we have been out in the woods all night,
A-conjuring Summer in!

And Lerner and Lowe:

It's May! It's May!

The lusty month of May!...
Those dreary vows that ev'ryone takes,
Ev'ryone breaks.
Ev'ryone makes divine mistakes!
The lusty month of May!

It is certainly no accident that Queen Guinevere's abduction by Meliagrance occurs on May 1st when
she and the court have gone a-Maying, or that the usually efficient Queen's guard, on this occasion,
rode unarmed.

Some of these customs seem virtually identical to the old Roman feast of flowers, the Floriala, three
days of unrestrained sexuality which began at sundown April 28th and reached a crescendo on May
1st.

By the way, due to various calendrical changes down through the centuries, the traditional date of
Beltane is not the same as its astrological date. This date, like all astronomically determined dates,
may vary by a day or two depending on the year. However, it may be calculated easily enough by
determining the date on which the sun is at 15 degrees Taurus. British Witches often refer to this date
as Old Beltane, and folklorists call it Beltane O.S. (Old Style). Some Covens prefer to celebrate on
the old date and, at the very least, it gives one options. If a Coven is operating on Pagan Standard
Time and misses May 1st altogether, it can still throw a viable Beltane bash as long as it's before this
date. This may also be a consideration for Covens that need to organize activities around the week-
end.

This date has long been considered a power point of the Zodiac, and is symbolized by the Bull, one of
the four tetramorph figures featured on the Tarot cards the World and the Wheel of Fortune. (The
other three are the Lion, the Eagle, and the Spirit.) Astrologers know these four figures as the
symbols of the four fixed signs of the Zodiac (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius, respectively), and
these naturally align with the four Great Sabbats of Witchcraft. Christians have adopted the same
iconography to represent the four gospel- writers.

But for most, it is May 1st that is the great holiday of flowers, Maypoles, and greenwood frivolity. It is
no wonder that, as recently as 1977, Ian Anderson could pen the following lyrics for Jethro Tull:

For the May Day is the great day,

Sung along the old straight track.
And those who ancient lines did ley
Will heed this song that calls them back.

BELTANE:
Its History and Modern Celebration in Wicca in America
The celebration of May 1st, or Beltane as it is known in Wicca Circles, is one of the most important
festivals of our religious year. I will attempt here to answer some of the most often asked questions
about this holiday. An extensive bibliography follows the article so that the interested reader can do
further research.

1. Where does the festival of Beltane originate?

Beltane, as practiced by modern day Witches and Pagans, has its origins among the Celtic peoples
of Western Europe and the British Isles, particularly Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.

2. What does the word Beltane mean?

Dr. Proinsias MacCana defines the word as follows:

... the Irish name for May Day is Beltane, of which the second element, `tene', is the word for fire, and
the first, `bel', probably means `shining or brilliant'.
The festival was known by other names in other Celtic countries. Beltaine in Ireland, Bealtunn in
Scotland, Shenn do Boaldyn on the Isle of Mann, and Galan Mae in Wales.

3. What was the significance of this holiday to the ancients?

To the ancient Celts, it symbolized the coming of spring. It was the time of year when the crops began
to sprout, the animals bore their young, and the people could begin to get out of the houses where
they had been cooped up during the long dark cold winter months. Keep in mind that the people in
those days had no electric lights or heat, and that the Celtic counties are at a much more northerly
latitude than many of us are used to. At that latitude, spring comes much later, and winter lasts much
longer than in most of the US. The coming of fair weather and longer daylight hours would be most
welcome after a long cold and dark winter.

4. How did the ancient Celts celebrate this festival?

The most ancient way of observing this day is with fire. Beltane, along with Samhain (Nov. 1), Imbolc
(Feb. 1), and Lughnassadh (Aug. 1), was one of the four great fire festivals which marked the turning
points of the Celtic year. The most ancient records tell us that the people would extinguish all the
hearth fires in the country and then relight them from the need fires lit by the druids (who used friction
as a means of ignition). In many areas, the cattle were driven between two great bonfires to protect
them from disease during the coming year. It is my personal belief, although I have no documentation
to back up the assumption, that certain herbs would have been burnt in the fires, thus producing
smoke which would help destroy parasites which might make cattle and other livestock ill.

5. In what other ways was this festival celebrated?

One of the most beautiful customs associated with this festival was bringing in the May. The young
people of the villages and towns would go out into the fields and forests at Midnight on April 30th and
gather flowers with which to bedeck themselves, their families, and their homes. They would process
back into the villages, stopping at each home to leave flowers, and to receive the best of food and
drink that the home had to offer. This custom is somewhat similar to trick or treat at Samhain and was
very significant to the ancients. John Williamson, in his study, The Oak King, the Holly King, and the
Unicorn, writes:

These revelers were messengers of the renewal of vegetation, and they assumed the right to punish
the niggardly, because avarice (as opposed to generosity) was dangerous to the community's hope
for the abundance of nature. At an important time like the coming of summer, food, the substance of
life must be ritually circulated generously within the community in order that the cosmic circuit of life's
substance may be kept in motion (trees, flocks, harvests, etc.).(3)
These revelers would bless the fields and flocks of those who were generous and wish ill harvests on
those who withheld their bounty.

6. What about maypoles?

The maypole was an adjunct to the festival of bringing in the May. It is a phallic symbol, and as such
represented fertility to the participants in the festival. In olden days, the revelers who went into the
woods would cut a tree and bring it into town, decking it with flowers and greenery and dance around
it, clockwise (also called deosil, meaning sun-wise, the direction of the sun's apparent travel across
the face of the Earth) to bring fertility and good luck. The ribbons which we associate with the
maypole today were a later addition.

7. Why was fertility important?

The people who originated this custom lived in close connection with the land. If the flocks and fields
were fertile, they were able to eat; if there was famine or drought, they went hungry. It is hard for us
today to relate to this concept, but to the ancients, it was literally a life and death matter. The Celts
were a very close tribal people, and fertility of their women literally meant continuity of the tribe.

8. How is the maypole connected with fertility?

Many scholars see the maypole as a phallic symbol. In this aspect, it is a very powerful symbol of the
fertility of nature and spring.

9. How did these ancient customs come down to us ?

When Christianity came to the British Isles, many of the ancient holy sites were taken over by the new
religion and converted to Christian sites. Many of the old Gods and Goddesses became Christian
saints, and many of the customs were appropriated. Charles Squire says:

An ingenious theory was invented after the introduction of Christianity, with the purpose of allowing
such ancient rites to continue with a changed meaning. The passing of persons and cattle through
flame or smoke was explained as a practice which interposed a magic protection between them and
the powers of evil.

This is precisely what the original festival was intended to do; only the definition of evil had changed.
These old customs continued to be practiced in many areas for centuries.
In Scotland in 1282, John, the priest in Iverkething, led the young girls of his parish in a phallic dance
of decidedly obscene character during Easter week. For this, penance was laid upon him, but his
punishment was not severe, and he was allowed to retain his benefice.

10. Were sacrifices practiced during this festival?

Scholars are divided in their opinions of this. There is no surviving account of sacrifices in the legends
and mythology which have come down to us. As these were originally set down on paper by Christian
monks, one would think that if such a thing had been regularly practiced, the good brothers would
most certainly have recorded it, if for no other reason than to make the pagans look more depraved.
There are, however, some surviving folk customs which point to a person representing the gloom and
ill fortune of winter being ostracized and forced to jump through the fires. Some scholars see this as a
survival of ancient human sacrificial practices. The notion that animals were sacrificed during this time
doesn't make sense from a practical standpoint. The animals which had been retained a breeding
stock through the winter would either be lean and hungry from winter feed, or would be mothers
nursing young, which could not be spared.

11. How do modern day pagans observe this day?

Modern day pagan observances of Beltane include the maypole dances, bringing in the May, and
jumping the cauldron for fertility. Many couples wishing to conceive children will jump the cauldron
together at this time. Fertility of imagination and other varieties of fertility are invoked along with
sexual fertility. In Wiccan and other Pagan circles, this is a joyous day, full of laughter and good
times.

12. What about Walpurgisnacht? Is this the same thing as Beltane?

Walpurgisnacht comes from an Eastern European background, and has little in common with the
Celtic practices. I have not studied the folklore from that region and do not consider myself qualified
to write about it. As the vast majority of Wiccan traditions today stem from Celtic roots, I have
confined myself to research in those areas.

Litha Introduction
Summer Solstice, or Litha as it is also called, occurs on or about the 21st of June, when the Sun
enters zero degrees Cancer. It marks Midsummer for many cultures, even though in most of the US,
summer has barely started and the kids are just now getting out of school! It is the longest day of the
year, and the shortest night; when the sun reaches his apex in the sky, and the days will now grow
shorter as the light begins to wane.

Many legends explain this phenomena as the darkness triumphing over the light. The darker brother
kills the lighter brother in these legends, and the brother who dies resides in the underworld until it is
time for him to return and slay his brother again, to rule for the next 6 months. The stories of Lugh
and Goronwy, and the Oak King and the Holly King are but two of these legends.

It is interesting to note here that the Christian religion has also tried to usurp this holiday by decreeing
it the birth of John the Baptist, and declaring it his feast day. Now, other Saints in the Church are only
remembered for the day they died (usually in martyrdom) so it is very curious that St. John the Baptist
should be the only one recognized on his natal day. Also, the original birth of Christ was moved from
late Spring when he was actually born, to December 25 to coincide with the birth of all the other Sun
Gods. So even the Christian religion has rotated to the Pagan cycle of the Earth, with their births
lining right up with our Solstices. The natural cycle, what we call the Wheel of the Year, is evidently
highly compelling!

This was the traditional time of year to harvest your magickal and medicinal herbs. Cut them with a
scythe or boline, by the light of the Moon, while chanting the appropriate chant for the purpose for
which the plant will be used. Leave an offering for the rest of the plant, and try not to harvest more
than 1/3rd of the plant so that the rest will remain healthy and vigorous. If you have to harvest the
roots, then you will need to find a bunch of them growing together, and then only harvest 1/3 of them,
so that the rest will thrive in the space you have just provided. Harvesting a branch should be done at
the lowest junction where the branch joins the main plant, and be careful not to damage the
remaining plant. Nature will provide all our needs, but not if we destroy Her gifts!
If you live in the southern part of the US, you can harvest many plants now also, unless you are in the
deep south. This far south, like southern Florida, and southern California, not much that has magickal
or medicinal value will still be alive by this time. Most of the harvesting must be done at Imbolc, or
Ostara, because the intense heat and sunlight will have burned off many herbs by this time. One way
to try to save them is to put them under screening, or indoors with diffused light. That will enable
some of the hardier varieties to survive through the early summer at least.

Since the Sun at Litha is entering Cancer, a water sign, this holiday is one of the best ones for
gathering your magickal water which will be used on your altar and in your spells for the coming year.
We usually go to the beach at Litha, and gather salt-water. We bring offerings of flowers and nuts,
and 3 pennies or 3 dimes for prosperity and throw these into the waves before we take our water. We
honor Aphrodite and Yameya as the Goddesses of the Sea by taking some jewelry as an offering. It
can be simply a broken silver chain, a ring you used to wear, one half of an earring set, things like
that. We find that doing this means that when we visit the beach anytime at all, we don't have to worry
about losing any of our good jewelry to a jealous Goddess!

If you don't live near the sea, another excellent source of magickal water, is rain water from a
thunderstorm, and there are plenty that occur at this time of year. The more electrical energy the
storm puts out, the more energized the water is, so the fiercer the better! Collect in a glass jar, or
porcelain, avoid metal containers. Store on a shelf, and don't leave the jar on the ground, or the
energy will ground. We only use our water for 6 months, after that we return the water to the source,
and collect fresh. The energized water really only lasts about 6 months. If you add shells, rocks from
the sea, or other non-perishable sea items such as coral, the energy of the water will stay higher
during the 6 months. This water is not for drinking, but only for magickal use.

In June, the Full Moon is called the Honey Moon, because this is the time to collect the honey from
the beehives. Mead is an excellent brew made from honey, and there is Lord Riekin's Mead making
recipe on this web-page, or you can e-mail Lady Bridget for his instructions also. Mead is the
traditional drink for Summer Solstice for that reason. Small mead, or Soda-Pop mead, can be made
about 10 days prior to drinking, and is low in alcohol and on the sweet side. For these reasons, it is
the preferred Mead to make just prior to this Sabbat. Incidentally, it was believed that since the Grand
Union between the Goddess and God happened in May, at Beltain, that it was unlucky to have mortal
weddings in May. In addition, many couples found that after the May Day frolic, they were expecting
and so June became the most popular month for weddings, and still is today. Since the June Full
Moon is called the Honey Moon, can you guess now why that term is used for the time right after the
marriage ceremony?!!

It is appropriate also, to have honey on the altar during the Cakes and Wine to dip your cakes in for
this celebration. In our tradition, we always have honey on the altar to symbolize the sweetness of
life. It also is a symbol of what combined energies to a single goal can accomplish!

There are many songs associated with Litha, or the Summer Solstice, and chants dealing with the
ocean and the ebb and flow of the year are especially appropriate. Do some research, find books of
poetry and see how much material is available with the Sun theme, and the Ocean theme. Our
ancestors have been worshiping the Sun for long ages, and the wealth of material out there will
astound you. Anything that pleases you and your group can be used in your rituals without copyright
infringement as long as it is not published, and if you distribute words be sure to credit the proper
sources.

A MIDSUMMER CELEBRATION

In addition to the four great festivals of the Pagan Celtic year, there are four lesser holidays as well:
the two solstices, and the two equinoxes. In folklore, these are referred to as the four 'quarter-days' of
the year, and modern Witches call them the four 'Lesser Sabbats', or the four 'Low Holidays'. The
Summer Solstice is one of them.

Technically, a solstice is an astronomical point and, due to the precession of the equinox, the date
may vary by a few days depending on the year. The summer solstice occurs when the sun reaches
the Tropic of Cancer, and we experience the longest day and the shortest night of the year.
Astrologers know this as the date on which the sun enters the sign of Cancer.

However, since most European peasants were not accomplished at reading an ephemeris or did not
live close enough to Salisbury Plain to trot over to Stonehenge and sight down it's main avenue, they
celebrated the event on a fixed calendar date, June 24th. The slight forward displacement of the
traditional date is the result of multitudinous calendrical changes down through the ages. It is
analogous to the winter solstice celebration, which is astronomically on or about December 21st, but
is celebrated on the traditional date of December 25th, Yule, later adopted by the Christians.
Again, it must be remembered that the Celts reckoned their days from sundown to sundown, so the
June 24th festivities actually begin on the previous sundown (our June 23rd). This was
Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Eve. Which brings up another point: our modern calendars are
quite misguided in suggesting that 'summer begins' on the solstice. According to the old folk calendar,
summer BEGINS on May Day and ends on Lammas (August 1st), with the summer solstice, midway
between the two, marking MID-summer. This makes more logical sense than suggesting that summer
begins on the day when the sun's power begins to wane and the days grow shorter.

Although our Pagan ancestors probably preferred June 24th (and indeed most European folk festivals
today use this date), the sensibility of modern Witches seems to prefer the actual solstice point,
beginning the celebration at sunset. Again, it gives modern Pagans a range of dates to choose from
with, hopefully, a weekend embedded in it.

As the Pagan mid-winter celebration of Yule was adopted by Christians as Christmas (December
25th), so too the Pagan mid-summer celebration was adopted by them as the feast of John the
Baptist (June 24th). Occurring 180 degrees apart on the wheel of the year, the mid-winter celebration
commemorates the birth of Jesus, while the mid-summer celebration commemorates the birth of
John, the prophet who was born six months before Jesus in order to announce his arrival.

This last tidbit is extremely conspicuous, in that John is the ONLY saint in the entire Catholic
hagiography whose feast day is a commemoration of his birth, rather than his death. A generation
ago, Catholic nuns were fond of explaining that a saint is commemorated on the anniversary of his or
her death because it was really a 'birth' into the Kingdom of Heaven. But John the Baptist, the sole
exception, is emphatically commemorated on the anniversary of his birth into THIS world. Although
this makes no sense viewed from a Christian perspective, it makes perfect poetic sense from the
viewpoint of Pagan symbolism.

In most Pagan cultures, the sun god is seen as split between two rival personalities: the god of light
and his twin, his 'weird', his 'other self', the god of darkness. They are Gawain and the Green Knight,
Gwyn and Gwythyr, Llew and Goronwy, Lugh and Balor, Balan and Balin, the Holly King and the Oak
King, etc. Often they are depicted as fighting seasonal battles for the favor of their goddess/lover,
such as Creiddylad or Blodeuwedd, who represents Nature.

The god of light is always born at the winter solstice, and his strength waxes with the lengthening
days, until the moment of his greatest power, the summer solstice, the longest day. And, like a look in
a mirror, his 'shadow self', the lord of darkness, is born at the summer solstice, and his strength
waxes with the lengthening nights until the moment of his greatest power, the winter solstice, the
longest night.

Indirect evidence supporting this mirror-birth pattern is strongest in the Christianized form of the
Pagan myth. Many writers, from Robert Graves to Stewart Farrar, have repeatedly pointed out that
Jesus was identified with the Holly King, while John the Baptist was the Oak King. That is why, 'of all
the trees that are in the wood, the Holly tree bears the crown.' If the birth of Jesus, the 'light of the
world', is celebrated at mid-winter, Christian folk tradition insists that John the Oak King was born
(rather than died) at mid-summer.
It is at this point that I must diverge from the opinion of Robert Graves and other writers who have
followed him. Graves believes that at midsummer, the Sun King is slain by his rival, the God of
Darkness; just as the God of Darkness is, in turn, slain by the God of Light at midwinter. And yet, in
Christian folk tradition (derived from the older Pagan strain), it is births, not deaths, that are
associated with the solstices. For the feast of John the Baptist, this is all the more conspicuous, as it
breaks the rules regarding all other saints.

So if births are associated with the solstices, when do the symbolic deaths occur? When does
Goronwy slay Llew and when does Llew, in his turn, slay Goronwy? When does darkness conquer
light or light conquer darkness? Obviously (to me, at least), it must be at the two equinoxes. At the
autumnal equinox, the hours of light in the day are eclipsed by the hours of darkness. At the vernal
equinox, the process is reversed. Also, the autumnal equinox, called 'Harvest Home', is already
associated with sacrifice, principally that of the spirit of grain or vegetation. In this case, the god of
light would be identical.

In Welsh mythology in particular, there is a startling vindication of the seasonal placement of the sun
god's death, the significance of which occurred to me in a recent dream, and which I haven't seen
elsewhere. Llew is the Welsh god of light, and his name means 'lion'. (The lion is often the symbol of
a sun god.) He is betrayed by his 'virgin' wife Blodeuwedd, into standing with one foot on the rim of a
cauldron and the other on the back of a goat. It is only in this way that Llew can be killed, and
Blodeuwedd's lover, Goronwy, Llew's dark self, is hiding nearby with a spear at the ready. But as
Llew is struck with it, he is not killed. He is instead transformed into an eagle.

Putting this in the form of a Bardic riddle, it would go something like this: Who can tell in what season
the Lion (Llew), betrayed by the Virgin (Blodeuwedd), poised on the Balance, is transformed into an
Eagle? My readers who are astrologers are probably already gasping in recognition. The sequence is
astrological and in proper order: Leo (lion), Virgo (virgin), Libra (balance), and Scorpio (for which the
eagle is a well-known alternative symbol). Also, the remaining icons, cauldron and goat, could
arguably symbolize Cancer and Capricorn, representing summer and winter, the signs beginning with
the two solstice points. So Llew is balanced between cauldron and goat, between summer and winter,
on the balance (Libra) point of the autumnal equinox.

This, of course, is the answer to a related Bardic riddle. Repeatedly, the 'Mabinogion' tells us that
Llew must be standing with one foot on the cauldron and one foot on the goat's back in order to be
killed. But nowhere does it tell us why. Why is this particular situation the ONLY one in which Llew
can be overcome? Because it represents the equinox point. And the equinox is the only time of the
entire year when light (Llew) can be overcome by darkness (Goronwy).

It should now come as no surprise that, when it is time for Llew to kill Goronwy in his turn, Llew insists
that Goronwy stands where he once stood while he (Llew) casts the spear. This is no mere
vindictiveness on Llew's part. For, although the 'Mabinogion' does not say so, it should by now be
obvious that this is the only time when Goronwy can be overcome. Light can overcome darkness only
at the equinox -- this time the vernal equinox.

So Midsummer (to me,at least) is a celebration of the sun god at his zenith, a crowned king on his
throne. He is at the height of his strength and still 1/4 of a year away from his ritual death at the hands
of his rival. The spear and the cauldron have often been used as symbols for this holiday and it
should now be easy to see why. Sun gods are virtually always associated with spears (even Jesus is
pierced by one), and the midsummer cauldron of Cancer is a symbol of the Goddess in her fullness. It
is an especially beautiful time of the year for an outdoor celebration. May yours be magical!

Lammas Introduction
Lammas, Lughnasadh, the First Harvest, all are names by which the Major Sabbat which occurs in
August is known. Astrologically, this Sabbat is when the Sun is 15 ° Leo, and is a major Sabbat
because it is at the peak of the season and the highest point of energy. If you check your astrological
calendars or ephermeris, this energy now peaks around August 4th, though the traditional date for
celebrating Lammas is August 1st.

This is the time of the Sacrificial King, whose self-sacrifice allows the people who worship him to
survive through the winter. We say that his blood is poured out upon the fields so that the corn and
grain harvest will thrive. His Spirit enters into the corn and the grain, and is then known as John
Barleycorn. As the God dies with the harvesting of the grain, so also is he resurrected in the new
sprouts. So therefore, we are given the myths of the Gods who are sacrificed, and then reborn, again
and again. These myths occur in every country and culture, and are just too numerous to name here.
Ancient Ways by Pauline and Dan Campanelli, and The King Must Die ( I forget the author on this
one) are highly recommended for further reading.

Baking bread and corn muffins, then, are very sacred to this Sabbat. The cakes for ritual are usually
homemade corn muffins, or if you can find a pan shaped like a person (gingerbread man perhaps?)
then you can bake your own John Barleycorn to share in circle. Be sure to invoke the God of the
Grain when you are baking the bread/muffins/cakes, and to chant positive affirmations while stirring
or kneading the dough!

Corn husks are excellent to outline the circle area, and to burn in the cauldron after they have dried
out. We use corn on the cob as part of our feast, to make corn necklaces from, and also to make corn
dollies. See Wheel of the Year by Pauline and Dan Campanelli for more ideas on making corn dollies
and necklaces.
At this time you should be seeing the efforts of your work beginning to manifest as this is the start of
the harvest season. Look at your life and see where you have aimed, and if you are still on target.
What have you accomplished that you set out to do? What do you still have to get done? Many times
we get bogged down in the day to day details and we forget to take stock and look at the larger
picture of our lives. Are we where we want to be? Are we who we want to be? Meditate on how what
has happened has been directly or indirectly caused by the choices we have made. Reflect now on
those choices, and see where your free will has led you. Are you happy about them? If not, what can
you change now?

As the sun is waning now, even though the heat has increased, we will be turning more and more
inward, until we finish this process at Samhain. This is just the start, so don't be too hard on yourself if
you haven't done all you set out to do. There is still time before the winter to get accomplished those
things which need the sunlight and summer breezes to grow. Don't let the lazy sultry summer heat
sap you of your strength and determination.

In the days of our ancestors, this would mark the beginning of the hardest work they had to do, the
back breaking labor of bringing in the harvest. Getting all of it in, and packed, stored, canned, cooked,
salted, etc. before the storms of winter set in, was sometimes a race against time. No wonder they
needed the help and strength of the Gods, and no wonder they partied so wildly when they were
given the chance! Lammas teaches us to live in the Now, as fully as possible, and get done what can
be done now; and to plan for the future at the same time. To share what we have an abundance of
with others, and to share the burdens of survival so that the burdens are lightened by many other
shoulders.

Get in touch with your Pagan community in your area, and network, share, and commune with them.
Bring in the harvest together, and make new friendships that will sustain you through the coming dark
of winter.
 Mabon Introduction

Mabon, or the Autumnal Equinox, occurs when the Sun is at zero degrees Libra, and as the name
implies, it is the time when day and night are of equal length. Libra is the sign of the zodiac
symbolized by the scales in balance, and it is a perfect symbol also for the day and night in balance.
Balance is the theme for many of our Mabon rituals, as this is a good time to restore balance to your
life. As we see the winter time approaching, it is a time to get your priorities in order. The night
conquers day, as we slide into the dark half of the year.

This was the true Thanksgiving, the Harvest Home, the second of the harvest festivals, and the most
important one to the agricultural cultures as this is when the majority of the harvest came in. The
Harvest Moon is the brightest of all the Moons, and a good thing, because many farmers had to work
long into the night under the light of this Moon to get all their harvesting finished in time. Usually the
last bit, or a small corner of the harvest was left in the fields and not taken up. It was bound and left to
stand until the Harvest Festival, when it would be symbolically sacrificed to represent the Sacrificed
God of Vegetation. It was considered unlucky to cut down the very last of the Harvest, and so was
also left to stand in the field by some traditions. If wheat or a grain, it was bound tightly, and also
could be dressed in men's clothing, and was the fore-runner of the scarecrow. This man was often
burned in a sacrifice to the Gods, as well as animals, in a large wicker man. In many fields today, you
may see one small area left unharvested, as many farmers still believe it to be unlucky to harvest the
last corner.

Animals are also preparing for the winter, storing food, getting fatter, eating more. And as we are also
animals, you will find your body tending toward the same trend. It isn't lack of willpower that puts
pounds on you at this time of year, it is centuries of the species survival training that tells your body
that fat will keep you from starving through the winter! People also get testy, edgy, and more
competative at this time, because subconciously we still see this as the beginning of the lean time.
Just as the animals compete, butting heads, so do people, and males will especially be more apt to
want to be in control of things. This is not sexist, this is ingrained survival of the species. Men at this
time would take stock of their hunting equipment, to repair or replace whatever they need to, in order
to provide for their families in the coming winter months. This is the height of the agricultural harvest,
and the beginning of the hunting time of year.

As the Goddess is in the Mother stage, bountiful, full and ripe, so we celebrate this aspect, we
celebrate what we have harvested in our lives up to this point. We look to see what has grown and
matured from the seeds we have sown earlier. We take stock now to see what we still need for our
own growth, both mentally and spiritually. And we also give thanks for what we have, this is the true
Thanksgiving season. The reasons the American Thanksgiving is so late in November are twofold:
firstly, the Pilgrim's were ignorant of the growing season and had the Indians not gone and brought in
the harvest, they all would have died during that first bitter winter; secondly, the United States
government changed the date of Thanksgiving to always be the fourth Thursday of the month, so that
more shopping days could be added for Christmas shopping, thus improving our economy at that
time. (But that's another story for another holiday!)

This was also the time for replacing your old broom with a new one. As the broom corn is ripe now,
besom making is traditional and magickal this time of year. (Unless you live in an extreme southern
sub-tropical climate such as south Florida or southern California, when more things are ripe in Feb!)

The Harvest Moon was also referred to as the Wine Moon, because the grapes also ripen now in the
wine making countries. The first wine dieties were female, and wine is one of the oldest libations
known to us; it symbolizes the blood of the Sacrificed God in many religions.

The apple is also a fruit that comes ripe now, and is a staple of Mabon recipes, such as apple pie and
apple cider. Tradionally apples were rubbed before eating to remove all demons or evil spirits that
were thought to be within them. Apples are thought to restore health, aid longevity, and restore
physical strength. Apples have long been associated with health, as an apple a day keeps the doctor
away will tell you! Apple cider, or hard cider was often a traditional wassailing drink, appropriate as
the term wassailing means to wish good health.

Beer is also appropriate at this time of year, as at Lammas, and so also is Mead, which is a lightly
alchoholic drink made from fermenting honey and water. As honey is mostly gathered in the fall,
mead was made at this time of year. Small mead, which only takes about 12 days to mature, is still a
favorite of ours at all the harvest festivals.
Incidentally, the word Sabbat comes from the Babylonian SA-BAT meaning heart's rest and was
when the Goddess Ishtar had her period & rested. This was her period of tabu which originally meant
set apart and had no negative connotations, but instead was a time for women to rest from their
normal labors. Only woman had the sacred bleeding, therefore, only women could bless the harvest,
or the crops. The word blessing comes from the anglo-saxon word BLES which means blood. Women
were the greatest mystery, since only women bled, and did not die, and when they did not bleed, they
gave birth, and shed milk. Thus the two colors most associated with the Goddess are red and white.

Colors for Mabon are reds, maroons, oranges, golden yellows, deep greens, russets, browns, and
other colors reflective of the autumn season. The incenses are woodsy and musky, such as pine
smoke, sage, or animal musk. Your altar decorations could be fall leaves, ears of corn, nuts, acorns,
apples, fall colored flowers, or any seasonal thing which is common where you live.

Themes for our Mabon celebration can be the harvest, as an individual and as a community, what
have we reaped? What did we sow? Also realizing that we need to share abundance, and that there
is abundance for all - one person's good fortune doesn't diminish another's! We are thankful for
blessings, especially those we normally take for granted, i.e. good jobs, homes, friends, freedoms,
food, etc. There are many who don't have the lifestyle that we enjoy today in this country. This is also
a time to reflect on the nature of sacrifice, the God of vegetation, and also the plants and animals who
sacrifice themselves so that we may survive. Willing sacrifice must always be honored.

Other themes include the equality of day and night, and also equality among ourselves, sexual
equality, racial equality, etc. and what real equality means to us as a community. The ability to draw
on one anothers strengths and to honor equally all strengths, not just those of one sex, or age related
ones. Balance is another theme, balance in our lives, and in other areas of our culture, as symbolized
by the Libran scales, and what we might have to do to achieve that balance.

The legend of Lugh and Goronwy, in some versions, takes place at the Equinox, rather than the
Solstice, and can be a theme for Mabon Sabbats. As also can the legend of John Barleycorn, who
symbolized the Sacrificed God. You can, if you have outdoor facilities and a fire permit - even make a
wicker man and fill it with tokens of your harvest, to burn as a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the Gods!
Your imagination is all you need to create as powerful a ritual as you can wish.