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General Horoscope
Our attention shifts away from our personal desires and toward the needs of others when the Moon is visiting diplomatic Libra. Thankfully, ruffled feathers are soothed today while the nurturing Moon creates a sweet trine to peacemaking Venus. Although we are more likely to be considerate of those around us now, our emotions don’t just disappear. In fact, our feelings sharpen when the Moon slips into incisive Scorpio at 9:47 pm EDT.
Aries Horoscope
Although you Rams are sometimes criticized for behaving selfishly, the emphasis is on everyone else today. You might even feel a sense of relief now that you can take a break from focusing on your own personal agenda. Instead of trying to get your way, concentrate on what you could do for others to make them feel at ease. Fortunately, your current graciousness allows everyone to reflect your positive vibes back to you.
Taurus Horoscope
Serving others now can take you down a very sweet path to happiness today as the lovely Libra Moon brings you an abundance of pleasurable experiences. However, you might not feel so great if you choose to only satisfy your own needs. It’s not worth the effort to try changing external circumstances to match up with your personal preferences. Instead, let go of your expectations and offer your assistance wherever you think it might help most. Being someone’s angel is its own reward.
Gemini Horoscope
Although complications that are outside the sphere of your control loom close, friends and family are especially supportive now, bringing you joy in the moment. You deserve the respite you may be offered from a rather tumultuous few weeks and the heavier issues clouding the horizon won’t get in your way if you let them slide for a while. Thankfully, taking some personal time enables you to return to your responsibilities emotionally recharged and physically well-rested. A change of pace does you a world of good.
Cancer Horoscope
You might not be able to spend the entire day hanging out with your family and friends, but being around those you love revitalizes your spirit while the Moon is camping out in your 4th House of Domestic Conditions. You are eager to show everyone that you have what it takes to be a consummate host now, so round up a few friends and fire up the barbecue. However, entertaining others is only part of the equation; don’t forget to bask in the love of those closest to you while you have the chance.
Leo Horoscope
You don’t have to say yes to every single invitation with your name on it, because you could end up so scattered that your current spark of excitement is extinguished. You may have many tasks to complete, especially if you are in charge of a family or group activity. Rather than running in circles attempting to take care of everything for everyone, try delegating some of the chores to others. Relinquishing control isn’t easy, but it’s the wisest thing to do now for the benefit of the group.
Virgo Horoscope
You’re able to keep your feet on the ground today while also flitting around like a social butterfly. You have a particular point of view, but don’t want to waste energy defending it. Even if you successfully hide your current beliefs from public scrutiny, you still can’t escape from the pressing concerns that are weighing on you. Spending a little time on more serious matters may be prudent, but even you conscientious Virgos need to get away from your regular responsibilities. Work smarter, not harder.
Libra Horoscope
Maintaining an objective approach to life isn’t straightforward today as the emotional Moon in your sign activates susceptible Venus. Your insecurities, opinions and biases may leak out, even if you think you are cleverly keeping them out of sight. Don’t fight to hide your natural likes and dislikes; if you bury your feelings, you could end up angry or resentful. Instead of pretending that everything is all right just to please everyone, show up and be your authentic yourself.
Scorpio Horoscope
You are in touch with emotional dynamics that are just lurking in the shadows but you don’t want to create additional problems in a relationship now, making it difficult to share your concerns. Nevertheless, you also have some significant information you need to express. Don’t tie your disclosure to anyone else’s actions; just put your feelings out there with no expectations. Ultimately, whatever you say can be less disruptive if you say it with kindness.
Sagittarius Horoscope
Kicking back with a few of your best friends might be just what you need today. In fact, the timing could be right for a celebration, since it’s wise to surround yourself with like-minded people while the Moon is currently visiting your 11th House of Networking. Be grateful that you are a part of a growing community. Your sense of belonging to something greater than yourself grounds you in ways that may not be apparent on the surface. When you’re more comfortable with your place in the world, you become a more productive member of society.
Capricorn Horoscope
You demand respect from all those you encounter while the Moon is energizing your 10th House of Status. Fortunately, doing the right thing elevates your standing in your community. Although you enjoy the company of others, you may be too busy with your own personal agenda to have much to do with anyone who isn’t in your closest circle of friends. Instead of pursuing every social connection now, limit your interactions to those who can move you closer to your dreams.
Aquarius Horoscope
You may feel as if you’re up for nearly anything that sounds like fun, especially if your friends are participating in the activity. In fact, what you do is currently less important than who you do it with. Although you can get away with following your heart now, you still must honor your previous promises. Nevertheless, there’s nothing wrong with trying to postpone a deadline until tomorrow if it means you can do something special today. Ultimately, you need both work and play to be a happy camper.
Pisces Horoscope
You prefer to approach all interactions in a rational manner today. Unfortunately, if someone makes an unreasonable demand, you still might try to fulfill their wishes. Balancing your needs with those of others can be challenging, but don’t be afraid to establish healthy boundaries now or someone may push you too far. Remember, catering to the desires of others doesn’t mean you must give up on finding satisfaction. Be a good friend to yourself.
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You are an independent, determined, and faithful person who is at once stable and restless! While you have a calm manner that soothes others simply by your mere presence, and you value security, you have a rather restless spirit and need to create some challenges for yourself in order to feel “alive”. You remain youthful throughout life, with a mischievous quality that is unmistakable. Famous people born today: Jack Paar, Joseph Heller, D’Arcy Wretzky, Judy Collins, Tim McGraw, Rita Coolidge.
Courtesy of Café Astrology
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Aries
Any worries you’ve been keeping at bay about your work or responsibilities can hang heavy on you early today, Aries. De-stressing may not come easily on an emotional level today, but focusing on solvable problems can be therapeutic now. Certainly, on a mental level, you can be very busy these days and should take advantage of any opportunity to detox, relax, and think without overthinking. Later today, there can be good words or reviews shared, or interesting offers can come your way. A load off your mind can be part of the picture as the day moves forward.
Taurus
There can be a tendency to obsess and worry over problems early today, Taurus, particularly revolving around money or valuables, but for some, it’s about whether or not you’re valued and respected by others. As the day advances, it becomes easier to detach yourself from negative or spiraling thoughts in order to see the bigger picture. You can take a load of your mind now by opening up your mind. A problem that you were too close to might be resolved as you look at it more objectively. Problem solving is especially good when it comes to financial and practical matters, as well as issues with family and home life. You’re more likely to feel respected as you present yourself as worthy.
Gemini
You can begin the day seeing things through a negative or suspicious lens, and end it quite the opposite, with optimism and giving others the benefit of the doubt, Gemini. As the day moves forward, a sincere and modest approach gets you places. You have a special ability to solve problems today. You’re less concerned about being right than you are about enjoying learning. There can be creative relations and improvements with a significant other. You tend to naturally take the lead on an intellectual level.
Cancer
There can be a lot of activity in your inner world today, Cancer. While you can begin the day worried or fretting, not necessarily able to put your finger on exactly why, as the day progresses, it’s much easier to see the glass half full. Intuition and an improved ability to see patterns can have almost magical results, and solving problems is favored. Your greatest enemy in May is likely to be a tendency to overthink things, so take notes today – you’ll want to remember how you approach things and duplicate it! The Moon continues to transit your home and family sector, all day, and you tend to stick with familiar people and situations, even while your mind is doing some gymnastics.
Leo
This can be a strong day for sorting out problems, Leo, although there is a tendency to choose indirect ways for getting what you want. This morning, if you are taking a disagreement very personally, you might examine why that is the case. As the day advances, there is better energy for detaching yourself enough to do some solid work, to look at a problem objectively, and to solve a problem that you may have been too close to earlier. Good advice is circulating later today, and you may be at the heart of it!
Virgo
This is a strong day for devising strategies, plans, and schemes, Virgo, so use it for good! Certainly you can begin the day a bit twisted up with worry. There may be a concern about a professional, performance, or reputation matter that has your mind swirling. However, as the day advances, while money issues can continue to be a concern, you tend to see things in a more positive light. Perhaps you solve a problem that has been weighing heavily on you, and this lightens your mental load, coming as a nice relief. You might enlist others’ help, for example, when you had thought you needed to go it alone.
Libra
You could suffer from tunnel vision this morning, Libra, but more and more as the day advances, you feel lighter and freer. Mind you, there could be some tension with family or a partner who may seem to be disapproving or feeling threatened by your independence, but you’re more inclined to look at the brighter side of life. Today, the brighter side may very well have to do with long-term plans and friendships. There is a sense for future trends, and this helps you to plan accordingly. Opportunities tend to come to you when your mind is open and free.
Scorpio
There can be a lot of focus on your inner world right now, Scorpio, and today, you could be very absorbed in your thoughts. While the morning can feel a little rocky, as you may be slightly off your game and not feeling very understood, as the day advances, you begin to feel detached just enough to enjoy yourself more. Mysteries and research appeal. A problem on the professional front might be resolved with clever thinking or simply benefit from your ability to be objective. Others are readier to truly listen to you and give you useful feedback. An open mind wins more rewards than suspicion and criticism.
Sagittarius
Your ability to put things into perspective can open up doors that were previously closed today, Sagittarius, but you may need to get over a hurdle this morning that also involves your thinking. Looking at matters critically or skeptically is important, but taken too far, and you begin to cause yourself unnecessary frustration. Chances to explore new ways of communicating your ideas and thoughts emerge. Modesty and sincerity truly do allow for healthier conversations and interactions. There can be general agreement with someone close to you today, and this also lifts your spirits.
Capricorn
The Moon in your solar tenth house all day can encourage you to put emotions aside in order to take care of business, Capricorn, but for some of you, there can be a challenge if you don’t much like being in the position of being judged or assessed. There can be some difficulty keeping your good humor this morning, but as the day advances, you’re more likely to enjoy mental tasks and exercises than to entertain emotional perspectives. Uncluttering your mind and conscience makes sense now, so tackle your priorities and free your mind – you may very well enjoy the process.
Aquarius
There can be a tendency to brood or stew over problem areas this morning, Aquarius, but even though the remainder of the day is unlikely to be tension-free, your attitude certainly expands. Your ideas, thoughts, and creative process all flow beautifully later today, making it a strong time for expressing yourself through creative mediums. You can be steered in the right direction, towards exciting or at the very least useful creative outlets. A significant other or good friend can be helpful, but for some of you, your new insights are about a relationship or relationship needs.
Pisces
You may have a tendency to focus on troublesome areas of your life this morning, Pisces, particularly revolving around family or work matters. It doesn’t help that money concerns are on the table much of the day. Even so, as the day advances, there is a tendency to open up to more positive thoughts. You may very well enjoy handling detail work or chores, and inventive ideas can come out of these things. Health can also be a focus or an area for problem solving and fresh, new thinking.
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TAURUS STRONG
Stable and enduring, strong values, unyielding, earthy, acquisitive, strong desires. Can be stuck, stubborn, overly possessive, self-indulgent.
GEMINI STRONG
Agile, versatile, inquisitive, flowing, conversational, airy, many ideas. Can be volatile, superficial, changeable, restless and inconsistent.
LIBRA STRONG
Even-handed, harmonious, artistic, diplomatic, balancing, strong sense of fairness. Can be over- compromising, appeasing, judgmental.
AIR STRONG
We tend to favor rational, objective thought over emotions, impulses, and feelings at this time. We are more intellectual, fair-minded, and logical in our approach, Ideas flow easily and quickly, we are more communicative and guided by principles, and also somewhat dispassionate or impersonal.
WATER WEAK
There may be some insensitivity or lack of empathy now. We may be out of touch with what we’re feeling or with our emotional needs. We may be tougher than usual now, and more inclined to follow mental or practical considerations than we are to listen to our intuition.
LUNAR PHASE: GIBBOUS
Moon 135 to 180 degrees ahead of the Sun.
We are seeking meaning and value to our goals. This is a time for analyzing, questioning, perfecting, and improving.
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This is a day for making plans and devising strategies, but we must first pull ourselves out of a spiraling, suspicious frame of mind first. The tendency to work indirectly towards our goals is strong today.
The Hare Moon is when the Goddess grants the earth unlimited fertility. It is a time of great productivity when you weed out the parasites in your life. In modern mythology, the hare has shape shifted into the Easter bunny, which brings eggs to children. Like the rabbit, the egg is a traditional symbol of fertility. Use this ritual to manifest five personal dreams.
For this ritual, you will need five green candles, five yellow flowers, and five dreams that you would like to come true. Write the dreams down in your journal.
At 5:55 p.m., draw a magick circle, call in the elements and light the green candles, dedicating them to the three faces of the Goddess:
Child, Mother, Grandmother,
Each a fertile part of life,
To the Goddesses of eternal creation,
I give to you this light.
Place the five yellow flowers on your altar, and in a loud voice declare:
Oh great and mighty one,
Let me flower with your fluorescence
Let me glow with your divine light
Like a bright star in the night.
Call out the name of your favorite goddess five times, one for each of your dreams. Finish by shouting:
Ayea! Ayea! Ayea! Ayea! Ayea!
Thank the Goddess, bid farewell to the elements, and close the circle. Allow the candles to burn down safely.
Wiccan Spell A Night: Spells, Charms, Potions for the Whole Year
Sirona Knight
The Fifth Esbat or full moon after Yule is the Hare Moon. A time of self-control and physical manifestation, it represents the fertile nature of the Goddess coming into being. The Hare Moon is a time of learning control over your physical manifestations. Hara, which means “the seat of power,” is the root of the word hare.
Beltane, sometimes called May Day, occurs on April 30th or May 1st in the Northern Hemisphere and October 31st or November 1st in the Southern. Traditions vary, but it is often associated with spring, flowers, and fertility. In this meditation you will explore the areas in your life where you are creating, and focus on a specific act of creation in your life.
In a safe place begin by shaking out tension and stress from your body, then find a comfortable position and close your eyes.
Take a deep breath.
Breathe in, two, three, four and out,
two, three, four and in, two, three, four
and out, two, three, four.
Go ahead and feel your body, are there places you are holding tension? Even if you are indoors, let yourself feel the warmth of the Sun. Begin at your feet; as you see and feel the Sun’s light touch your toes, let them soften and relax.
As the light moves up your body, to your feet and then your legs, feel them soften, releasing any tension they were holding. The light touches your knees, then your thighs. Feel the Sun release your light reaching your chest, and your shoulders, traveling down your arms and in to your hands. Feel as your neck and jaws soften, and finally your face and you whole head. As you rest, bathed in the Sun’s light let its warmth fill you and give you energy. Just breathe. Each breath in absorbing the light and storing it.
Breathe in, two, three, four
and out, two, three, four
and in, two, three, four
and out, two, three, four.
When you are ready bring your awareness to the center of your chest. With each breath in allow your awareness to shift, bringing you into the shade of a apple tree’s branches. You can hear the sound of honey bees and feel grass between your toes.
Your body is still full of the energy from the Sun, and when you look around you can see there is a narrow path leading away from the apple tree and towards a looming mountain.
Let yourself move down the path, leaping and cart wheeling. Release the energy that has been pent up all winter and feel the wind on your skin as you run.
What does the Earth feel like under your feet as you move? Can you hear sounds? What do the plants smell like as you brush up against them?
As you run you feel the wind picking up, growing stronger and stronger at your back.
Soon it is lifting you up, and carrying you towards the mountain. Let yourself feel free and light.
As the wind carries you, you pass over various fruit trees, each bearing colorful flowers and teeming with pollinators, bees and birds of every variety.
As you travel along the air current, take a moment to reflect on the areas in your life where you are a creator, the areas where you are creative or build things.
Breathe in, two, three, four
and out, two, three, four
and in, two, three, four
and out, two, three, four.
When you are ready, let the wind set you down. Look around at your surroundings. Where have you landed? Are their plants or animals? Is it new or somewhere you have been? What does the air taste like?
Look around until you find a hidden nest.
There is an egg in the nest. What color is it? What size is it?
Take a moment to reflect on what you would like to cultivate in your life. What you would like to bring into the world. When you are ready send that intention into the egg, warm it with the light from your inner fire and the light from the Sun. Lay your hands on the egg, and with each out-breath send your intentions into it.
Breathe in, two, three, four
and out, two, three, four
and in, two, three, four
and out, two, three, four.
There is a movement beneath your hands, the egg is shaking, and cracks are forming along its surface.
You have created this egg, and brought it into being! As it hatches, what do you see emerge? Spend however much time you need with your creation.
Breathe in, two, three, four
and out, two, three, four
and in, two, three, four
and out, two, three, four.
When you are ready, let it fully emerge, and full with the energy you have given it, enter the world. A new creation.
When it is time to return to your body, turn and look at the mountain. You are much closer now, and there is a path leading towards it. Follow this path. And with each step you take along it, let your awareness shift back to your body. With each breath come back at little more.
Open your eyes. Say your name out loud, shake, pat yourself. Do whatever it is you need to help yourself return to normal awareness.
You may wish to sit quietly, with your eyes open for a few minutes and reflect on the experience you had.
Pagan Guided Meditations
Yucca Oldoitter
One of the time-honored methods of improving physical beauty in Scotland and England was to gather morning dew on May Day and apply it to the skin. To adapt this idea using a more spiritual tone, try mixing a little catnip tea with this dew. Anoint yourself thrice over the heart with it, saying, “Loveliness within, loveliness without, let beauty shine, remove all doubt.”
If May Day dew is not available, use rain or dew drops collected on the third or twenty-first day of any month. To gather dew, drape a fine linen or cotton cloth over a few plants at nightfall. Just after dawn the next day, wring out the fabric into a clean container. Refrigerate this, otherwise the water will quickly become stagnant and unusable for magic.
Internalizing the spirit of beauty. Grace under pressure. Poise and presence. Self-confidence.
May Day. Beneath a Full Moon. When the moon is in Leo or Virgo, Fridays
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From: GrannyMoon’s Morning Feast Archives Coventry of Healing Arts and Pagan Studies Enroll Now! • • • •
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Tonight’s twilight begins the Bright Fire, or the Celtic festival of Beltane. May’s warm Sun inspires in all thoughts of love and pairing. The longing for merging with our opposite is strong. On this eve of the return of summer’s pleasures, take a moment to honor your own integrity. Prepare a candlelit bath scented with lavender and rose. Scent your hair with rosemary oil and soothe your skin with lotions.
As you care for your body, revel in its gifts and natural beauty. See your-self through a lover’s eyes. Nurture and love yourself. For if you do not love yourself, how can you expect another to truly love you? Self-worth is the gift the Goddess brings to you this night.
By: Karri Allrich
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From: GrannyMoon’s Morning Feast Archives
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WOTC Extra
If possible, celebrate Beltane in a forest or near a living tree. If this is impossible, bring a small tree within the circle, preferably potted; it can be of any type.
Create a small token or charm in honor of the wedding of the Goddess and God to hang upon the tree. You can make several if you desire. These tokens can be bags filled with fragrant flowers, strings of beads, carvings, flower garlands-whatever your talents and imagination ation can conjure.
Arrange the altar, light the candles and censer, and cast the Circle of Stones.
Recite the Blessing Chant.
Invoke the Goddess and God.
Stand before the altar and say, with wand upraised:
O Mother Goddess, Queen of the night and of the Earth;
O Father God, King of the day and of the forests,
I celebrate Your union as nature rejoices in a riotous
blaze of color and life. Accept my gift, Mother Goddess
and Father God, in honor of Your union.
Place the token(s) on the tree.
From Your mating shall spring forth life anew;
a profusion of living creatures shall cover the lands,
and the winds will blow pure and sweet.
0 Ancient Ones, I celebrate with You!
Works of magic, if necessary, may follow.
Celebrate the Simple Feast.
The Circle is released.
Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner
Scott Cunningham
This spell is from the Coven Life Beltane gathering. Should be performed in a sacred circle or a sacred space for the most energy to empower the candles.
On your altar set a green candle on your right and a yellow candle on your left.
Using your pointer fingers place one on each candle on each candle you say,
“I empower these candles with love and light,
to keep my plants healthy from blight.
They will bless my gardens from sunrise to sunrise,
My harvest from, my plants will be my prize.
With your finger from your power hand (the hand you write with) on the green candle you say, “Morrigan I ask you to infuse this candle with your power and energy to help my plants be bountiful and prosper.”
With your finger from your power hand (the hand you write with) on the the yellow candle you say, “Green Man I ask you to infuse this candle with your power and energy to help my plants be bountiful and prosper.”
These are my words, This is my will, so mote it be.
Repeat spell three times over both candles except the last line that is in green. That line is only said at the end of the spell.
You will have excess energy make sure to ground it to Mother Earth is help her and all living things on her to heal. If you have any questions about the spell please write to me ladybeltane@aol.com BEFORE starting the spell. Thank you
In your personal practice, it is better to observe how you feel for a year and base your own festivals on those observations than it is to consult a book, find out that it is the fall equinox, read that it is associated with endings and harvests, and celebrate accordingly. But what if you think of fall as a beginning? While celebrating the age-old associations can be positive, in that it nurtures a sense of unity with your ancestors and with the earth, it can also be counterintuitive if it does not coincide with the energies of your geographic locale. A green witch seeks to honor the energies to which she is seeking to attune herself.
So how do you celebrate a solstice or an equinox? There is no right or wrong way. There are no traditions that must be marked, no rituals that must be enacted. Every green witch creates her own tradition, her own expression of the seasons and how they change. That unique expression will reflect how the season affects her spirit, her heart, and her body.
The most basic way to celebrate the solstices and equinoxes involves allowing yourself to interact with the natural environment around you. Spend the day outdoors. Go for a walk through your neighborhood and look at how things are changing. If you prefer, you can celebrate indoors. Gather seasonal greenery and decorate your home. While some green witches believe that nature’s bounty should be left outdoors and appreciated in its place and not be harvested for something as minor as decorating, others advocate using flowers and greenery as they are available and always with a sense of harmony, responsibility, and fair use.
Meditating at each seasonal shift is one of the most direct ways of experiencing the energy of the natural world and tracing your own response to its ebb and flow throughout the year. Use the following seasonal meditation outline as the basis for your meditations. Appropriate seasonal variations (as listed in the section on each season) are given. Using a consistent meditation with only small differences according to the season allows you to easily sense the minor differences that come out of the meditation that you might otherwise miss if you followed a different sequence each time.
The Way Of The Green Witch: Rituals, Spells, And Practices to Bring You Back to Nature
Arin Murphy-Hiscock
May Day is the ancient festival of Beltane, the midway point between the vernal (spring) equinox and the summer solstice. The days are growing longer, coaxing the earth to open to the life-giving qualities of the sun and to bring forth every kind of fruit. Beltane is a celebration of the fertility of the earth and the fertility of our own souls. It is a call to gratitude that everything in the universe is continually being re-created, including ourselves.
The air and Earth begin to warm, Spring has arrived in full force and is making way for Summer. The leaves and grass have greened and the flowers are in full bloom (as are the allergies for some!) Man and woman begin to start their lives together, new loves are born, new lives are created.
The word “Beltane” in modern Irish means May. Beltane comes from the meaning “fire of Bel”, in which Bel is the “bright or shining one”. In his honor, the Ancient Celts set two large fires made up of nine of the sacred woods:
During this time, the herds of cattle were driven through these fires to clean off the ticks and mites and also as a symbol of purification to protect them. They were left to graze in the pastures until the new year and winter. Witches’ celebrate the fruitfulness of Mother Earth in the union between Witches’ celebrate the fruitfulness of Mother Earth in the union between Her and the young Horned God. This coupling symbolizes the new fertility of the Earth, the beginnings of Spring going into Summer.
May or Beltane, has traditionally represented the sensuality and revitalization of love-making in all living things. This is why many couples traditionally marry around this time of year. In ancient Celtic days, couples would live together for a year and a day, after which they may decide to get married or part ways. The Celts believed in the idea of marriage, but understood people and nature grow, change and sometimes move apart. This is not to say they did not believe in the family unit and still remain together as a family.
In some cultures, the May pole traditionally represented a fertility symbol – specifically a phallic symbol – dancing around it in celebration was a ritual of thanks for the time of season with which all life begins the cycle. From GrannyMoon’s Morning Feast 2002
Beltane/CetSamhain/MayDay – The first day of May is celebrated in many parts of the world. It is believed it evolved from ancient agricultural and fertility rites of spring. There are signs of the first celebrations in Egypt. However, the majority of the current traditions stem from the Roman Festival, Floralia. This was a five day festival to honor the Goddess Flora with offerings of flowers, dancing, ringing bells, May Queens and erecting a Maypole.
The May Queen would oversee crops and rule the day. Some places also selected May Kings. The crowns were typical made of twigs, leaves and flowers.
The Maypole was typically fabricated the night before. The men would strip down a birch tree and plant it in the ground; this ceremony was symbolic of fertility rites. The next day both men and women danced about the Maypole. Several longs ribbons hung from the top of the Maypole holding up a crown of colorful flowers. Each dancer held an end of one of the ribbons. The dancers alternated man and women. All the women would dance in one direction and the men danced in the other direction. The dancers would go under the first person and over the next weaving the ribbons about the tree and lowering the ring to the ground. Today this tradition is still practiced but danced mostly boys and girls.
The Celts had a similar celebration known as Beltain, Beltane, or Bealtaine which in Gaelic means “Fires of Bel” or “Bright Fires”. The ceremony honored the god of the Sun and the rebirth of the earth. Feasting, games and bonfires, began on the eve of May Day and continued through the next day with a day of bonfires and merrymaking. It was customary for couples to walk through the fires smoke or leap over the flames to insure a successful relationship. Faeries were (and are) abundant on the first day of May. Windows were decorated with flowers and food was left on the doorstep to keep the mischievous faeries out.
Those traditions created a wonderful medieval holiday that is still celebrated today. We still elect May Queens and Kings and dance around Maypoles. During this time women would wash their faces with the May Day’s morning dew believing it would bring a good complexion and everlasting beauty.
“The fair maid who, the First of May, Goes to the field at break of day And washes in the dew from the hawthorn tree, Will ever after handsome be.”
People began gathering twigs and flowers to decorate their homes and the lovely tradition of May baskets began. Children would leave baskets made from twigs and filled with flowers on their neighbor’s doorstep, knock and then hide waiting to see the expression of the lucky recipient.
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From: GrannyMoon’s Morning Feast Archives Coventry of Healing Arts and Pagan Studies Enroll Now!
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Nature if often hidden; sometimes overcome; seldom extinguished.
—Sir Francis Bacon
Common in Europe and North America, May Day is celebrated ebrated by the crowning of the May Queen; dancing around the maypole; and mumming from house to house carrying blossoms soms and soliciting gifts of food. Most of the activities that take place on May Day symbolize Spring, relating human fertility tility to crop fertility and rebirth. In the past it was common for young people to pair up, often by lot, and then gather in the woods all May Eve night.
In English folklore, May Day, Bringing in The May, and Going-a-Maying refers to the practice of going out into the countryside tryside to gather flowers and greenery, much of which was used to adorn the May Queen. Bringing in the May remained a staple tradition throughout most of the 16th century, before it was banned by the Protestant reform-fundamentalists who took moral outrage at the unchaperoned activities of the young people. May Day was banned, along with many other traditional customs in the Commonwealth period, but returned after the Restoration.
Today, many of the old customs still prevail, such as woodland land weddings and the gathering of morning dew for skin renewal. newal. Horse racing, parades, and dancing around the maypole have made a comeback, as have garland parties and mumming.
Fridays are days of loving enchantments and passionate emotions.
See how many ways you could add a little loving enchantment into your life and the lives of your loved ones. If you wish to explore the topic of love and romance witchery even further, then check out my book How to Enchant a Man: Spells to Bewitch, Bedazzle &Beguile. If cat magick has tickled your fancy, then for further study read my book The Enchanted Cat: Feline Fascinations, Spells &Magick.
In the meantime, try sharing red berries with your partner some enchanted evening. Work that meditation, and see what other mysteries Freya has to teach you. Wear a Venus planetary color and call on the Goddess for a little inner sparkle. Burn some floral incense, light up some rosy candles, and set a romantic mood. Try wearing a little copper jewelry, and see how it affects you and your Friday magick. Get those potpourri and philter recipes going, and see what you can conjure up.
Advancing your magickal skills takes drive, ambition, and passion. Work with Eros to discover just how much enthusiasm, inspiration, and drive he can bring into your days, for the imagination is a place where dreams flourish and ideas come to fruition.
Call on these fertile and romantic powers, and create your own unique spells and charms. Just think of all the magickal information that you can now add to your repertoire of witchery. Lastly, remember this: when you combine imagination and a loving heart with magick, you’ll succeed every time.
Book of Witchery – Spells, Charms & Correspondences For Every Day of the Week
Ellen Dugan
Love magick is a perennial popular topic. However, there is more to this topic than meets the eye. There are many enchanting layers here for us to explore on this day of the week. What about creating a loving home, or producing a loving and nurturing family? What about keeping your intimate relationships vital and on track? How about promoting happy, healthy, and eduring friendships? See, there is more to be considered than just the “You shall be mine….” type of fictional love spell.
Don’t forget that many of the deities associated with Fridays are also parents. So, yes, while this is the day to work on romance, sex, and love spells, there is additional magick to be considered here, which makes Fridays a more well-rounded and bigger opportunity for witchery than many folks ever truly realize. The truest, strongest magick always comes from the heart.
Book of Witchery – Spells, Charms & Correspondences For Every Day of the Week
Ellen Dugan
Friday: Is associated with Venus and the colors of – Green, Pink and White
Friday is the best time to deal with such matters as: Affection, Alliances, Architects, Artistic Ability, Artists, Balance, Beauticians, Beauty, Change , Chiropractors, Cosmetics, Courage, Courtship, Dancers, Dating, Decorating, Designers, Engineers, Entertainers, Fashion, Fertility , Friendship , Gardening, Gifts, Grace , Harmony, Herbal Magick, Household Improvements, Income, Luck, Luxury, Marriage, Material Things, Music, Painting, Partners, Peace, Physical Healing, Planning Parties, Poetry, Prosperity, Relationships, Romantic Love, Shopping, Social Activity, Soul-mates, Success
Practical Magick for the Penny Pinching Witch
Carol Moyer
Beltane~Rowan Witch Day~Kalends of May~May Day~Cetsahmain
April Showers Bring May Flowers! Leave a bouquet of May flowers at a friend or loved ones door today!
May gets its name from the Roman Goddess Maia, who embodies the earth’s renewal during spring. Next to New Year’s Eve, May Day (Beltane) was among the most popular holidays in the old world, marking the time when the sun’s warmth and nature’s fertility began appearing in the land. Later, well over 100 nations chose to celebrate Labor Day on May 1, giving everyone a much-needed rest from winter’s tasks.
For the purpose of your magical escapades, the theme is definitely blossoming and liveliness. Use as many flower parts as possible in spells and rituals, and go outside frequently to get closer to nature. Energies emphasized by this month include creativity, inventiveness, fertility, health, and metaphysically “spring cleaning” any area of your life or sacred space.
Between the Beltanes – Children born between the Beltanes (May 1 and May 8) have “the skill of man and beast” and power over both. Kightly, Charles, The Perpetual Almanack of Folklore, Thames & Hudson 1987
Bona Dea – This was the day of dedication for the Aventine festival of the mysterious and generically named Good Goddess. Her cult was older than that of Heracles, which was itself pre-Roman. She was known as the wife of Faunus, a rustic god of woods and flocks, and she governed fertility and healing. Her rites were for women only and her oracles were revealed only to women.
Also on May 1st, the priests of Vulcan sacrificed a pregnant pig to Maia. Since a pig is the appropriate sacrifice for an earth goddess, Maia was equated with the earth by some Roman writers, as was Bona Dea. Blackburn, Bonnie and Leofranc Holford-Strevens, Oxford Companion to the Year, Oxford University Press 1999
Lei Day – Apparently in Hawaii this is a day for wearing leis and honoring the spirit of the lei: friendliness and good will. It seems appropriate to me to do this on May Day and in the middle of the Floralia, the festival in honor of flowers and sexuality.
Snake Festival – On the first Thursday in May, the town of Cocullo, Italy is full of snakes, in honor of San Domenico. Snake handlers gather the snakes on March 19 (St Joseph’s Day or equinox) when they are first emerging into the warmth of the spring sun and store them in jars of bran. On the feast day they bring them out and people get their photograph taken with a snake draped around them. Previously they took the snakes to Mass and waved them over their heads when the Host was elevated. Now they carry them in procession, along with the image of San Domenico. The festival used to end with the snakes being killed or sold to pharmacists to be made into ointments and cures. Now they are let loose.
San Domenico, a Benedictine monk, who was born in Umbria in 951 protects people from the bites of venomous snakes and rabid dogs, perhaps because of the story of how he tamed a fierce wolf that was about to steal a child. The story says he came to Cocullo when it was plagued by an invasion of snakes and charmed them out of their nests, just like St Patrick. But before San Domenico arrived in these parts, the Etruscans, the indigenous people in this part of Italy, worshipped the Goddess Angizia, a snake enchantress who lived in a nearby sacred wood and protected people from serpents. She was said to be a sister of Circe. She may be connected with Isis who mated with a serpent. Until some time in the last century, the people of Abruzzo believed the serpent copulated with all women.
Just as in the story of St Patrick driving the snakes from Ireland, this legend may record the transition from the earlier times when snakes were associated with the goddess and the bad reputation they acquired under Christianity. At one time, snakes were symbols of wisdom, and brought the gifts of prophecy and healing, which is why they appear on the caduceus, the symbol of the medical profession. They were also associated with fertility, since they penetrate the earth, and with rebirth, because of the way they shed their skins.
Ciambellone, special breads shaped like a snake biting its tail, are made to decorate the poles which support the statues in the procession. Treats called ciambelle, made from little twisted wreaths of bread, flavored with anise seed, look like snakes wrapped around each other. These sweets that are shaped and coiled like snakes occur only in regions of Italy where the Etruscans lived. Field, Carol, Celebrating Italy, William Morrow 1990 From School of Seasons
Floralia and Beltane ~ Ancient Roman Floralia (Florales Ludi) was a festival from April 28 – May 2 which began in Rome in 238 B.C. Floralia was originally a Spring Festival which honors Roman Goddess of Flowers, Flora (Chloris) another manifestation of the earth-goddess which includes Fauna, Maia and Ops. The temple of this goddess was founded on this day on the Aventine. Offerings of milk and honey were made on this day and the surrounding five days, which comprise the Florifertum. The city would have been decorated in flowers, and the people would wear floral wreaths or flowers in their hair. Games would be celebrated on this day. The celebration of this day survives in many cultures where it is known as May Day. 28 – May 3:The three day Festival of Flora and Venus, or the Florialia in Rome; Goddess of Sexuality and Spring flowers.
30: Walpurgisnacht celebrated by German Witches
Courtesy of GrannyMoonsMorningFeast
Witches Of The Craft® 
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