The Legend of the Holly King and the Oak King

In many Celtic-based traditions of neopaganism, there is the enduring legend of the battle between the Oak King and the Holly King. These two mighty rulers fight for supremacy as the Wheel of the Year turns each season. At the Winter Solstice, or Yule, the Oak King conquers the Holly King, and then reigns until Midsummer, or Litha. Once the Summer Solstice arrives, the Holly King returns to do battle with the old king, and defeats him. In the legends of some belief systems, the dates of these events are shifted; the battle takes place at the Equinoxes, so that the Oak King is at his strongest during Midsummer, or Litha, and the Holly King is dominant during Yule. From a folkloric and agricultural standpoint, this interpretation seems to make more sense.

“the rebirth of the Sun or the Oak King. On this day the light is reborn and we celebrate the renewal of the light of the year. Oops! Are we not forgetting someone? Why do we deck the halls with boughs of Holly? This day is the Holly King’s day — the Dark Lord reigns. He is the god of transformation and one who brings us to birth new ways. Why do you think we make “New Year’s Resolutions”? We want to shed our old ways and give way to the new!”

Often, these two entities are portrayed in familiar ways— the Holly King frequently appears as a woodsy version of Santa Claus. He dresses in red, wears a sprig of holly in his tangled hair, and is sometimes depicted driving a team of eight stags. The Oak King is portrayed as a fertility god, and occasionally appears as the Green Man or other lord of the forest.

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Never-Ending Battle Of The Oak King and Holly King – Confrontation Of The Light And The Darkness

A. Sutherland  – AncientPages.com – Holly King is a character in Pagan folklore. Celtic myths describe his fight against his brother, Oak King. He presides over the six months of the year following the summer solstice.

The fight between King Holly and King Oak symbolizes the clash between the cold season (the winter period) and the hot season (the summer period). The kings remain in never-ending “battle,” reflecting the seasonal cycles of the year. It is about solar light and darkness, crop renewal, and successful growth.

The Oak King is ruling the waxing year, and the Holly King is leading the waning year, having attributes in the form of holly and other evergreens. During warm days of Midsummer, the Oak King is mighty and at the height of his strength.

These two mythical pagan figures – symbolizing the changing seasons – personify the winter and summer in numerous folklore and mythological traditions.

The Holly King must accept it and wait patiently to regain power at the Autumn equinox. Then, he has his strength peak during mid-winter.

The Oak King is reborn during this time, with a new power to meet Spring equinox and preserve the legacy. Many consider that the Holly King and Oak King story has its origin in Celtic mythology.

The Celts divided the year into two periods and made Holly King and Oak King the representatives of these two seasons. Let us also remember a clear and dark season among the Celts, thus marking the wheel of time.

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In 2003, archaeologists looking for evidence of the migration of modern humans from Asia to Australia stumbled across a small, fairly complete skeleton of an extinct human species on the Indonesian island of Flores, which came to be known as Homo floresiensis. Or, as it became more commonly known, the Hobbit, after the small, breakfast-guzzling creatures from J.R.R. Tolkein’s The Hobbit.

The species was initially thought to have survived until relatively recently, around 12,000 years ago, before further analysis pushed that date back to around 50,000 years. But one retired professor of anthropology at the University of Alberta says that evidence that the species’ continued existence may have been overlooked, and the Hobbit may still be alive today, or at least within living memory.

In an opinion piece for The Scientist promoting his upcoming book Between Ape and Human, Gregory Forth argues that palaeontologists and other scientists have overlooked Indigenous knowledge and accounts of an “ape-man” living in the forests of Flores.

“My aim in writing the book was to find the best explanation — that is, the most rational and empirically best supported — of Lio accounts of the creatures,” Forth wrote in the piece. “These include reports of sightings by more than 30 eyewitnesses, all of whom I spoke with directly. And I conclude that …

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MAY 1: BELTANE SABBAT: Festival of Spring and Fertility. Sidhe Day. Beltaine – Celtic festival marking the arrival of summer in ancient times.

MAY 4: Celtic/British Festival of Cerridwen and Brigit: Corn Goddesses of Fertility

May 4 – Celtic Festival of Cerridwen and Brigit – Corn Goddesses of fertility, healing, and poets.
– St. Monica’s Day (Irish)
– Veneration of the Thorn (Irish)
– Festival of Sheila Na Gig (Irish)

MAY 6: – Shepherd’s Day – Day to meditate on Deity as Lord of Animals: Dumuzi (Old Sumerian), Osiris (Egyptian), Pan (Old Greek), Shiva Pasupati (Hindu).
– Eyvind Kelve (Norse)

MAY 9: – Greek Feast of Artemis

MAY 9-12: Lemuria – Roman festival when the spirits of the dead are thought to revisit their homes.

MAY 13: – Roman Garland Day, Offering garlands to Neptune.
– Month of Hawthorn, Celtic festival of the tree.
– Our Lady of Fatima Day (Portugal)

MAY 14: – Isis Day in ancient Egypt

MAY 14: -16 Feast of Divine Love and Compassion – Source of healing and beneficence, honoring the Goddess as Isis (Old Egyptian), Oshun (Yoruba/Santeria), Lakshmi (Hindu).

MAY 15: – Festival of Vesta (Roman)
– Maia and Mercury’s Day (Roman)
MAY 18: – Celtic Feast of Greek God Pan – Who represents the masculine in Nature and protects men throughout their lives. Men recognized the transitions in their lives and honored male fertility.

MAY 19: Celtic Feast of Brigid – In which sacred healing wells and springs were adorned with flowers in honor of Goddess Brigid, daughter of Mother Goddess Danu and Father God Dagda.

MAY 21: Dark/Bright Mother Goddess Day—honoring Hecate/Demeter; Uma; Kali/Parvati .

MAY 26: – Festival of Diana begins (ends 31st) (ancient Roman holiday)

MAY 28: FEAST OF BENDIDIA—family feast day honoring of the Goddess of the Moon, Dark Moon, Underworld, Secret Wisdom and Witches.

May 30 – Frigg’s Day, Northern Goddess, spouse of Odin (Teutonic “heathen” European pre-Christian holiday)
– Feast of the Queen of the Underworld Begins (Roman)
– Feast of the Queen of Heaven (European)

From WiccanFamilyTemple.org