Category: Deities

Beltane Planting Ritual for Solitaries

This ritual is designed for the solitary practitioner, but it can easily be adapted for a small group to perform together. It’s a simple rite that celebrates the fertility of the planting season, and so it’s one that should be performed outside. If you don’t have a yard of your own, you can use pots of soil in place of a garden plot. Don’t worry if the weather is a bit inclement – rain shouldn’t be a deterrent to gardening. Just be sure you’re past the safe planting date for your region.

You’ll need:

  • Packets of seeds, or seedlings if you have them started already
  • Water
  • Pots of dirt, if you don’t have a garden
  • Gardening tools, such as a shovel

There is no need to cast a circle to perform this ritual, although if you prefer to do so, you certainly can. Plan on taking some time with this rite, though, and not rushing through it.

To begin, you’ll prepare the soil for planting. If you’ve already gotten your garden tilled or mulched, great – you’ll have a bit less work. If not, now’s the time to do so. Use your shovel or tiller to loosen the soil as much as possible. As you’re turning the earth over, and mixing it all up, take time to connect with the elements. Feel the earth, soft and moist beneath your feet. Take in the breeze, exhaling and inhaling calmly as you work. Feel the warmth of the sun on your face, and listen to the birds chattering in the trees above you. Connect with nature, and with the planet itself

If your tradition includes a deity of agriculture or land, now is a good time to call upon them. For instance, if your tradition honors Cernunnos*, a fertility god, you might choose to use the following:

Hail, Cernunnos! God of the forest, master of fertility!
Today, we honor you by planting the seeds of life,
Deep within the womb of earth.
Hail, Cernunnos! We ask you to bless this garden,
Watch over it, and grant it abundance,
We ask that these plants grow strong and fertile
Under your watchful eye.
Hail, Cernunnos! God of the greenwood!

When you have finished turning the soil and preparing it, it is time to plant the seeds (or seedlings, if youstarted them earlier in the spring). While you can do this easily with a shovel, sometimes it is better to get down on your hands and knees and really connect with the soil. If you’re not limited by mobility issues, get as close to the ground as you can, and use your hands to part the soil as you put the seeds in place. Yes, you’ll get dirty, but that’s what gardening is about. As you place each seed into the ground, offer a simple blessing, such as:

May the soil be blessed as the womb of the land
Becomes full and fruitful to bring forth the garden anew.
Cernunnos*, bless this seed.

 

After you’ve gotten the seeds in the ground, cover them all up with the loose dirt. Remember, this could take a while if you’ve got a large garden, so it’s okay if you want to do this ritual over the course of a few days.

 

As you’re performing all the different actions of gardening – touching the earth, feeling the plants – remember to focus on the energy and power of the elements. Get dirt under your fingernails, squash it between your toes if you don’t mind being barefoot outside. Say hello to that worm you just dug up by accident, and place him back in the ground. Do you compost? If so, be sure to add the compost to your plantings.

Finally, you’ll water your freshly planted seeds. You can either use a garden hose for this, or you can water by hand with a can. If you have a rain barrel, use the water from the barrel to start your garden.

As you’re watering your seeds or seedlings, call upon the deities of your tradition one last time.

Hail, Cernunnos*! God of fertility!
We honor you by planting these seeds.
We ask your blessing upon our fertile soil.
We will tend this garden, and keep it healthy,
Watching over it in your name.
We honor you by planting, and pay you tribute with this garden.
Hail, Cernunnos, master of the land!

You may also wish to include a general Garden Blessing.

 

Once you have completed watering, take a look through your freshly planted garden one last time. Did you miss any spots? Are there any weeds you forgot to pull? Tidy up any loose ends, and then take a moment to savor the knowledge that you have planted something new and wonderful. Feel the sunlight, the breeze, the soil beneath your feet, and know you have connected once more to the Divine.

*Cernunnos is used as an example in this rite. Use the name of the appropriate deity for your tradition.

From: http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/beltaneritesandrituals/a/Beltane-Planting-Ritual-For-Solitaries.htm

Simple Solitary Beltane Ritual

Seeing as I am spending Beltane night aboard the ferry to Harwich with my mother and sister and spending the day itself packing and celebrating our new king, I cannot have a full blown celebration. And thus I spend my sudnay planning a simple ritual. This became awfully complicated because I didn’t have time to shop for anything special: I have to work from 1 PM to 6 PM on monday, I can only do a minimum of shopping at the supermarket I work before I start work  because all the other shops will be closed when my shift ends. After hours of puzzling, I came to a solution. A simple ritual incorporating knotwork with candlemagick to honour the Horned God and the earth Mother and their union, and a little herd/pet blessing to finish things up. I will perform my little ritual in the early morning, before the festivities and packing begins.

You’ll Need:

  • 2 candles, in any shade of green, the church or pillar variant
  • Cinnamon sticks, and lots of them, you’ll need to wrap them arround the candles.
  • cooking twinge or rope ( be carefull with the latter and flames!)
  • Small flowers, dried or fresh
  • Moss agate, amber, animal bone or fossils, twigs or tree leaves
  • scissors
  • Beltane/Cernunnos Oil (my recipe will follow this post)
  • Protection oil (the recipe I use will follow this post)
  • a depiction of your pet

The Ritual

1. Calm your mind and clear it, find your center. Then focus your intent. Think only of this holy day, the symbolism attached to it. Think of the fertility of spring, as the ground explodes with an abundance of flowers and plants, as animals give birth to their ofspring. Think of the sacred union between the God and Goddess.

2.  Lay your items out in front of you and say thanks for them

3. Leave about 2-3 inches of twinge or rope at the end and tie it to the cinnemon stick about an inch from the top. As you do say one verse of the Cernunnos prayer out loud or to yourself.

4. Pick up the next cinnemon stick, and keep repeating step 3 until you have enough sticks to wrap around the candle.

5. Once you have enough sticks, wrap the twinge around the last one and tie it about an inch from the bottom. Then you repeat step 3 again, securing all the sticks to each other at the bottom. Still repeating a verse per knot. At the end you’ll have something that looks like a small rope bridge.

6. Now you annoint the candle. I do so by starting at the top, then rubbing it clockwise down until  I’m halfway and then from the bottom back up, also clockwise. If you use another method, use your own. While anointing the candle, say the prayer in full.

7. Then you take your little bridge and wrap it around your candle. It will fall at an angle.  Tie off the top section (the bottom of your bridge is now your top, because you need the loose twinge) so that the ends are secured. Then wrap the twinge all around the candle to keep it tight, then go a second round at the bottom section of the candle and secure the ends there as well.

8. Then you place the agate, amber, bones etc. on top of your candle (use small chips and chunks) and place it on it’s holder on your altar.

9. Repeat the steps above, this tim e chanting the earth mother prayer and adorning it with the flowers.

10. Light the Cernunnos candle, reciting his prayer in full.

11. Light the earth Mother candle, reciting her prayer in full.

12. Place the representaion of your pets) between the candles, and anoint them with protection oil while reciting the blessing for the herd.

13. Let the candles burn out during the day.

From: https://hbtwc.wordpress.com/2013/04/30/simple-solitary-beltane-ritual/

Deity of the Day for April 27th – Hebe, Greek Goddess of Youth

Deity of the Day


Hebe
The Greek Goddess of Youth

 

Areas of Influence: Hebe was the Goddess of youth, she personified the beautiful maiden and everlasting life.

Her name means “youth” or “prime of life.”

She was the cup bearer who served nectar to the Olympian Gods to give them immortality.

This Deity was one of Hera’s handmaidens, her job was to prepare the royal chariot.

As a servant she also prepared Are’s bath for him after a battle.

In one myth she granted a man named Iolaus his youth back for one day so he could fight his enemy Eurystheus.

There is controversy over whether Ganymede took over her position as the cup bearer or whether in fact he just represented her male counterpart.

She was one of Aphrodite’s Bridal attendants and is said to be one of three Greek Goddesses associated with marriage.

Hebe was also the Goddess of forgiveness, granting pardons to prisoners.

Origins and Genealogy: the Goddess of youth was Zeus and Hera’s youngest daughter. Her siblings were Ares and Eileithyia.

This Deity married the Hero Hercules who was made into a demi God, together they had two children Alexiares and Anicetus.

Strengths: Youthful.

Weaknesses: She has less charisma than many of the Greek Goddesses, relying on her gifts to get attention.She was also said to be clumsy.

Temples: Her most famous places of worship were an altar at Cynosarges in Athens and the sacred cypess grove on the Phliasian citadel.

Hebe’s Symbolism

Shown in art either topless or in a sleeveless dress to accentuate her youthful features.

Her ankles were often mentioned , they were described as nicely shaped or neat suggesting the health and fitness of youth.

She carried a pitcher of nectar and a cup to serve the Gods.

Plants: Lettuce as her mother became pregnant without Zeus by eating this plant. Ivy sprigs.

Roman Equivalent: Juventas

Archetype

The Maiden:

The Maiden Archetype represents purity and the innocence of childhood. Where the soul’s dreams, magic and make believe still prevail.

It is also an aspect of the triple goddess, together with the Mother and the Crone they represents the cycles of the moon and the different stages of a woman’s life.

Shadow Maiden is very self centered all, her dreams and energy is expended on achieving her own personal needs and goals.

As a symbol of everlasting youth Hebe is considered to be a Maiden Goddess despite the fact that she is married and is no longer a virgin.

 

How To Work with This Archetype

The Maiden:

The Maiden is one of your Archetypes if you are life still in touch with your childhood intuition and fantasies and have used these to fulfill your dreams. Hence you can still have this archetype at any time of life.

The Maiden reminds you to look after the magical child that lies within us all.

Shadow Maiden asks you to look at whether your dreams and aspirations are selfish and take no account of the needs of others.

 

 

Source:
The Goddess-Guide.com

Earth Day 2015

Remember to give thanks to Mother Earth today and every day for all she gives to us. When you go for a walk take a small bag with you and pick up trash you come across and then throw the bag away or separate the recyclables properly when you get home.

Earth-Quotes-6

What are you ideas for helping Earth to become more beautiful once more and able to sustain a better quality of life for generations to come?

A Few Idea for Celebrating Samhain

Samhain/Halloween October 31st.

All Souls Night, Feast of the Dead, Festival of Remembrance, Feast of Apples, New Year…

Samhain is one of the major festivals of the Wheel of the Year, for many Pagans the most important festival of all. It is the third and final harvest festival of nuts and berries and a fire festival. All the harvest is in, all is complete, it is the end of the cycle of birth and growth, it is the point of death. The seeds of the harvest have fallen deep into the dark earth, they are unseen, dormant, and thus apparently lifeless.

The God, as Sun King is sacrificed back to the land with the seed until the Winter Solstice, and the Goddess, now as Crone, mourns Him until His rebirth at Yule. He travels the Underworld learning its wisdom. This is the time of the descent into darkness, of pre-conception, out of which new life, new ideas, will eventually emerge.

Traditionally the veils between the worlds are at their thinnest now. Boundaries dissolve and all is laid bare. It is time to honour and offer hospitality to, our ancestors.

At Samhain the dark half of the year commences. It is a truly magical time. Death is always followed by rebirth and while this is the end of the old year, it is the beginning of the new year. For the Celts the day did not begin at dawn, it began at sunset, it began with darkness. Light is always born out of darkness, they are inseparable, interdependent, and necessary. Darkness is fertile with ‘all potential’. With the beginning of this dark phase comes the opportunity to rest and reflect on the past and to dream of new beginnings. The seed now hidden in the earth will germinate in its season. Look for the seeds in yourself!

Honouring The Ancestors

Honouring your ancestors is a very special thing to do at this time and can be done in many simple ways. Think about all those departed souls from your life, both family and friends, children may wish to remember pets even – place photographs of them on your altar. Offer them your hospitality, welcome their presence into your home. At your Samhain feast, consider laying an extra place for them to join you at the table – cook and eat their favourite dishes, talk about them – re-member them, bring them closer. You and your children can make an offering for departed pets by leaving some dog food outside on Halloween night, many night creatures appreciate this offering.  Be careful what you put outside – we used to put out bread and milk but are dismayed to find that this is fatal to hedgehogs – and we lovehedgehogs!

Candle Ceremony for The Ancestors

This is a wonderfully simple ritual which can be shared with both friends and family, or worked alone. You can include children in it – it begins in darkness and ends full of light.

It’s a great balance to trick or treating!

You will need a supply of small candles, either black or white, or a supply of night lights. You need a heat proof container or tray of sand or earth to put them in. Place one in the centre of the container from which all the others will be lit. Switch off all the lights and sit gently in thedarkness. Allow the darkness to enfold you. Ask for the presence of your ancestors to come to you. When you are ready, light the central candle saying “We welcome our departed loved ones into this home and honour your presence amongst us”. Allow each person in the circle to spontaneously remember someone who has passed to the Summerlands and remember something about them and light a candle for each person from the central candle: ‘I remember Great Aunt Sheila and her generosity of heart….’. Allow this to continue for as long as it takes to complete the re-membering. You will end with a tray full of radiant candles. When all is complete, give thanks, and allow the candles to burn to completion.

 

Seed Scattering Charm for the Ancestors

 

This simple charm is designed to honour the Spirit of those who have passed onto the Summerland. The seeds you scatter will grow in memory, a gift of remembrance to the Earth.

You will need:

A packet of seeds of your choice

A small dish

A small white candle in a suitable holder

A pouch or bag for your seeds

The night before your Seed Scattering Charm, pop the seeds into the dish and light the candle. Think about the person or people you wish to honour and remember, and as you do so say ‘gone from sight but not from the heart. Merry Meet Merry Part.’ Or you can use your own words. Leave the seeds in the dish overnight and let the candle burn down completely – always taking safety precautions. When you are ready place the seeds in your pouch and hold the pouch in your right hand on the way to a place of your choosing. On arrival take the seeds and scatter them, saying ‘You are remembered and held in my heart’. Repeat three times.

Where to do this? You can go to a favourite special place of your choice, a place that holds fond memories of the people you are honouring, or even your own garden – the idea of watching the seeds germinating and growing in honour of people you love is very special. The charm works just as well if you plant the seeds in a small pot.

This charm works very well as an offering of thanks to Spirit of Place. The instructions are exactly the same, except that when you prepare the seeds the night before the words are ‘ I give thanks for your beauty, it warms my heart. Merry Meet Merry Part.’

Charm donated with generous heart by the Counter Enchantress.

The Isle of Avalon, Isle of Apples, Isle of the Dead.

Glastonbury, where we are based, is also known as the Sacred Isle of Avalon, or Isle of Apples, and also the Isle of the Dead.

In mythology, here the entrance to the Underworld is found, ruled by Morgan, Queen of the Dead. There are many apple games played at Samhain which grew out of the belief in the Apple as a sacred and magical fruit. The Apple is a symbol of life and immortality. In Celtic tradition, apples were buried at Samhain as food for those souls who are waiting to be reborn.
The Apple, cut crosswise, reveals the five pointed star, or pentacle at its core, a symbol of the Goddess.

Symbols of Samhain

The Pumpkin

Pumpkins are very much an American tradition which has been successfully marketed in the UK and Europe. Everyone loves them, especially of course, children. If you consider that the Celts regarded the human head as the Seat of the Soul, the concept of the carved pumpkin with a candle inside it as the Light shining from the Soul, it becomes just about acceptable……..

The Cauldron

The Cauldron or Holy Grail is closely associated with Samhain. It is feminine, and is the cosmic container for all life and death, of transformation and rebirth.

The Besom Broom

The besom is used as this time both practically and symbolically. It sweeps away the last of the Autumn leaves, but is also used ritually to sweep out the old, to clean and clear away old energy, creating space for the new. Traditionally besoms are made from birch twigs – the birch is associated with purification and renewal.

You can make a besom at this time of year by gathering a large bundle of birch twigs tied together. Drive a broom handle into the middle of the bundle – ideally hazel or ash.

Acorns

The Acorn is the seed of the great Oak, representing wisdom, longevity, rebirth – a promise of strength to come. An acorn in your pocket is an amulet of good fortune to come. All nuts from our indigenous trees – walnuts, hazelnuts, conkers and so on – are pure potential and carry the attributes of the mother tree.

Colours of Samhain

Black for death and endings, orange for the vitality of life within death, purple for wisdom, insight and inspiration.

The Samhain Altar

A cauldron. Apples, nuts and berries. Black candles to honour the passage to the Summerland and the Ancestors. Photographs of deceased family and friends.



Buttermilk Bread Charm for Samhain.

You will need:

3 mugs of strong white flour

500 ml of Buttermilk (available from the supermarket)

I teaspoonful of bicarbonate of soda

Samhain ribbon in black or purple.

A handful of rye flour

A scattering of oats

twig of rosemary for remembrance

Place the flours in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre. Sieve in the blended salt and soda and pour in the buttermilk. Mix well with a wooden spoon until the dough feels springy. If it feels too sloppy just add a little more flour. Turn it onto a board and cover with a fine dusting of flour. Pat it with your hands until you have a round shape. Take a sharp knife and score lightly into eight sections, one for each festival. Our picture shows the bread scored five times to make a pentacle.

Place onto a greased baking tray and pop your buttermilk bread into a moderate oven for about 20-25 minutes. Keep and eye on it. When the bread is ready it will change colour and it will sound hollow when you tap the bottom. Cool completely on a wire rack. When it is cool, place the rosemary on top and tie it with Samhain ribbon.

Take time to concentrate on the bread you have created and turn the loaf three times saying

“From the fields and through the stones, into fire, Samhain Bread, as the Wheel turns may all be fed. Goddess Bless.”

Now take your bread and share it with your family and friends and pass on the generous blessings of this festival of completion and beginning. Eat it fresh, as soon as it is made if you can.

Recipe donated by the Counter Enchantress. Adapted by the Boss Lady with permission.

The Counter Enchantress is discovering that you can add almost anything appropriate to this simple bread recipe and it STILL WORKS beautifully. You can decide for yourself what the appropriate additions are for a particular festival, in this case rye flour. oats and rosemary, and just do it. There is much kitchen magic in working with one recipe through the Wheel of the Year just changing it a little as the wheel turns…..


Honour the ancestors, have fun and enjoy………..

All information offered is checked to the best of our ability, and whilst every effort has been made to make it accurate, no responsibility will be accepted for errors and omissions.

Any information displayed on our web site(s) or other printed matter from the shop is not regarded to be authoritative or certified as the best practice and is only considered to be useful supplementary advice to other certified codes of practice. All information on our web site is updated regularly. From: http://www.goddessandgreenman.co.uk/samhain

A Few Ideas for Celebrating Beltane

Beltane April 30th – May 1st

Sunset to Sunset.

Beltane honours Life. It represents the peak of Spring and the beginning of Summer. Earth energies are at their strongest and most active. All of life is bursting with potent fertility and at this point in the Wheel of the Year, the potential becomes conception. On May Eve the sexuality of life and the earth is at its peak. Abundant fertility, on all levels, is the central theme. The Maiden goddess has reached her fullness. She is the manifestation of growth and renewal, Flora, the Goddess of Spring, the May Queen, the May Bride. The Young Oak King, as Jack-In-The-Green, as the Green Man, falls in love with her and wins her hand. The union is consummated and the May Queen becomes pregnant. Together the May Queen and the May King are symbols of the Sacred Marriage (or Heiros Gamos), the union of Earth and Sky, and this union has merrily been re-enacted by humans throughout the centuries. For this is the night of the Greenwood Marriage. It is about sexuality and sensuality, passion, vitality and joy. And about conception. A brilliant moment in the Wheel of the Year to bring ideas, hopes and dreams into action. And have some fun…..

Traditions of Beltane

Beltane is a Fire Festival. The word ‘Beltane’ originates from the Celtic God ‘Bel’, meaning ‘the bright one’ and the Gaelic word ‘teine’ meaning fire. Together they make ‘Bright Fire’, or ‘Goodly Fire’ and traditionally bonfires were lit to honour the Sun and encourage the support of Bel and the Sun’s light to nurture the emerging future harvest and protect the community. Bel had to be won over through human effort. Traditionally all fires in the community were put out and a special fire was kindled for Beltane. “This was the Tein-eigen, the need fire. People jumped the fire to purify, cleanse and to bring fertility. Couples jumped the fire together to pledge themselves to each other. Cattle and other animals were driven through the smoke as a protection from disease and to bring fertility. At the end of the evening, the villagers would take some of the Teineigen to start their fires anew.” (From Sacred Celebrations by Glennie Kindred) Green Man – Beltane

Handfasting

As Beltane is the Great Wedding of the Goddess and the God, it is a popular time for pagan weddings or Handfastings, a traditional betrothal for ‘a year and a day’ after which the couple would either choose to stay together or part without recrimination. Today, the length of commitment is a matter of choice for the couple, and can often be for life. Handfasting ceremonies are often unique to the couple, but include common elements, most importantly the exchange of vows and rings (or a token of their choice). The act of handfasting always involves tying the hands Handfasting(‘tying the knot’) of the two people involved, in a figure of eight, at some point in the ceremony and later unbinding. This is done with a red cord or ribbon. Tying the hands together symbolises that the two people have come together and the untying means that they remain together of their own free will.

Another common element is ‘jumping the broomstick’ – this goes back to a time when two people who could not afford a church ceremony, or want one, would be accepted in the community as a married couple if they literally jumped over a broom laid on the floor. The broom marked a ‘threshold’, moving from an old life to a new one.

Mead and cakes are often shared in communion as part of the ceremony. Mead is known as the Brew of the Divine, made from honey which is appropriate for a love ceremony (and is the oldest alcoholic drink known to humankind).

 

 

 

Going A-Maying

Handfasting or not, both young and old went A-Maying… Couples spent the night in the woods and fields, made love and brought back armfuls of the first May or haw thorn blossoms to decorate their homes and barns. Hawthorn was never brought into the home except at Beltane – at other times it was considered unlucky. Young women gathered the dew to wash their faces, made Flower Crowns and May B askets to give as gifts. Everyone was free to enact the Sacred Marriage of Goddess and God, and there was an accepted tradition of Beltane babies arriving nine months later!

 

 

 

Maypole

The Maypole is a popular and familiar image of May Day and Beltane. A phallic pole, often made from birch, was inserted into the Earth representing the potency of the God. The ring of flowers at the top of the Maypole represents the fertile Goddess. Its many coloured ribbons and the ensuing weaving dance symbolise the spiral of Life and the union of the Goddess and God, the union between Earth and Sky.

Trees of Beltane

Hawthorn

Hawthorn is a deeply magical tree and is one of the three trees at the heart of the Celtic Tree Alphabet, the Faery Triad, ‘by Oak, Ash and Thorn’. Traditionally Beltane began when the Hawthorn, the May, blossomed. It is the tree of sexuality and fertility and is the classic flower to decorate a Maypole with. It was both worn and used to decorate the home at Beltane.

Birch

Birch is regarded as a feminine tree and Deities associated with Birch are mostly love and fertility goddesses. It is one of the first trees to show its leaf in Spring. Eostre/Ostara, the Celtic goddess of Spring was celebrated in festivities and dancing around and through the birch tree between the Spring Equinox and Beltane. Birch twigs were traditionally used to make besoms (a new broom sweeps clean). Maypoles were often made from birch and birch wreaths were given as lover’s gifts.

Rowan

A tree of protection and healing. Branches of Rowan were placed as protection over the doors of houses and barns at Beltane to protect from increased Faery activity as they woke from their winter slumber. Sprigs were worn for protection also. Rowan berries have a tiny five-pointed star on the bottom reminiscent of the pentagram.
Colours of Beltane

The colours of Beltane are green, red and white/silver. Green represents growth, abundance and fertility. Red represents strength, vitality, passion and vibrancy. White represents cleansing and clearing and the power to disperse negativity.

Nana Violet’s Egg Charm For Beltane.

Think carefully what you wish for! The general rule of thumb is a brown egg for wishes involving animals and white for wishes involving people and plants, for example healing a sick animal, person or plant. Eggs with white shells are difficult to come by now as chickens are generally given feed which produces the desired brown shell, but in recent years some of the supermarkets are making white eggs available at this time of year so they are worth looking out for.

1. Blow the egg. Using a fat needle, pierce a hole in both ends of the egg, making one hole larger than the other. Using the needle pierce the egg yolk gently and swirl it around to break up the yolk. Place a small drinking straw in one end and gently blow through the other hole to help gravity do its work.

2. Paint Your Egg Talisman. When your egg has thoroughly dried out place it on top of a little mound of blue tack to hold it in place and you are ready to go! Choose a symbol to represent your wish – a heart for love, coin for prosperity, a candle for wisdom, whatever is meaningful for you. Or you can paint the whole egg in a corresponding colour – red for love, green for prosperity, purple for wisdom and so on. Another way to do it is to stick rose petals on for love, or feathers for fertility – again it is what is meaningful to you that is important.

3. When it is ready find a suitable place for it and prepare for it for hanging by threading a thin thread (embroidery thread, thin wool) through the two holes and secure it with a large knot, a bead, or even a matchstick at the bottom to hold it steady.

4. Clear your mind and focus on your desire for abundance/fruitfulness and its place in your life:

‘Little charm made of shell as I hang you here may all be well. May all things grow. May all things flow. Blessings for the turning of the Wheel.”

Use these words or any others that you are comfortable with – remember this is all about your intention.

Egg charm donated by our Counter Enchantress from her own family traditions.

Making a Wish Box Charm

Beltane is a good time for bringing hopes, dreams and aspirations to life, and here is a truly beautiful charm to help you bring these into manifestation.

You will need:

A small shallow cardboard box. Shoe boxes are good.
Rose petals
Sunflower seeds and/or poppy seeds
Paper
A piece of willow bark or piece of willow, an acorn or oak leaf
Something that represents your wish (see below)
Take a piece of paper and write your wish on it while visualizing your wish coming to life and growing. You can do this alone, with friends, or as a family. If you want to, decorate the lid of the box, with a triple moon, pentacle, heart, or any symbol of your choice. Poke a few holes in the lid – this will help your wish/plants, to grow. Take your box and sprinkle some earth into it. Put in your paper wishes, wish symbol (see below), and seeds/bark/acorn. Cover with another layer of earth. Mix the rose petals with the seeds and scatter them on top. Cover with a final layer of earth and place the lid on top, leaving enough of the rose petal/seed mixture to scatter on top of the box when you are planting it.

Planting Your Wish Box

The best time for planting your Wish Box is just after a fresh cleansing rainfall as this gives you a bright new start, but if the season is dry just give the earth a good watering the night before. Dig a hole two inches deeper than your wish box and lower it into the earth carefully while concentrating on your chosen wish, visualizing it coming to fruition. Imagine your wish growing with the flowers reaching skyward. As you cover the box with earth say:

“Dream that lies within the earth awaken now. Hope that sleeps awaken now. The stars await as so do I. Grow true, grow strong, toward the sky.”

If you don’t have a garden you can make a mini wish pot that can live on a window ledge and it works just as well. Just replace the box with a terracotta pot – one wish and one symbol per pot following exactly the same instructions as above. Remember that wishes are only to be used for positive motives.

Suggested Symbols For Your Wish Box:

Love & Marriage – gingerbread
New Job – copper coin
Abundance – silver coin
Difficult Task – glove
Hearth & Home – thimble
Seeking the Truth – sprig of rosemary
Health, Healing, Renewed Strength – blue & green ribbon entwined
Happiness, Good Luck – cinnamon stick
Seeking Knowledge – apple
To Find A Lost Item – feather
Protection – key (an old iron key is best if you have one)

Charm donated by our Counter Enchantress from her own family traditions.

Beltane Bread As Only Debs Knows How

You will need:

3 mugs of strong white flour
500 mls of buttermilk
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
3 tbs clear honey
3 tbs golden syrup
1 pack dried strawberries
3 drops vanilla essence
1 small beaten egg for glazing
soft brown sugar for sprinkling
Place the strawberries and flour in a large bowl.  Make a well in the centre and pour in the buttermilk, blended golden syrup, honey and vanilla essence together with a wooden spoon – or your hands if that is better.  As you mix, feel the pulsing vibrant Beltane energy and let it run through your hands and out through your fingertips.  And as you mix, say:
 
‘As we light the Beltane flame, I make this bread in Love’s sweet name.
Two halves together bound as one, Beltane’s dance has now begun!’
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board and pat it into a circle.  With a sharp knife lightly score the bread into two halves to represent The Lord and Lady.  Glaze with beaten egg and sprinkle sugar over the top.  Bake in a moderate oven for about 20-25 minutes.  When the bread is cooled break it into two halves along the score mark.  Repeat the words of the charm and tie with purple ribbon.  Purple represents the union of red (love in all its forms) and blue (unity and harmony).  Enjoy.  Brightest Blessings.  Debs.

Things To Do

Whatever you do, remember this is the Great Wedding! Dress in your best, especially in green, and wear a flower crown.

Stay out all night, gathering the green, watch the sunrise and make love. Wash your face in the morning dew.

Conceive a new project, grasp that idea, and get on with it.

Dress your home and/or altar with greenery – especially with hawthorn, rowan and birch branches. Ask permission from the tree before you take anything.

Dress a tree. This is the perfect time to go out and celebrate a tree. Especially a hawthorn, rowan or birch – but the tree spirit will welcome you attention whichever kind of tree it is. Sit with it, talk to it, dance around it (maypole), honour the tree and its fertility. Hang ribbons from its branches, each ribbon represents a wish or prayer.

Flowers, flowers and more flowers. This is the festival of Flora. Make a flower crown to wear – the daisy chain in the simplest of all. Make a traditional flower basket. fill it with Beltane greenery and all the flowers and herbs you can find. Think about, and honour, their magical and healing properties while you do so. Give it someone you love.

Make some Hawthorn Brandy. You will need a bottle of brandy and at least one cup of hawthorn flowers, plus a little sugar to taste. Mix the ingredients together and leave away from direct light, for at least two weeks. Shake occasionally. Strain, bottle and enjoy. Hawthorn is renowned as a tonic for the heart.

Above all, have fun!

ll information offered is checked to the best of our ability, and whilst every effort has been made to make it accurate, no responsibility will be accepted for errors and omissions.

Any information displayed on our web site(s) or other printed matter from the shop is not regarded to be authoritative or certified as the best practice and is only considered to be useful supplementary advice to other certified codes of practice. All information on our web site is updated regularly. From : http://www.goddessandgreenman.co.uk/beltane

Deity of the Day for April 20th – Cliona, Goddess Of The Fair Hair

Deity of the Day

Cliona

Of The Fair Hair

 

In Irish mythology, Clíodhna (Clídna, Clionadh, Clíodna, Clíona, transliterated to Cleena in English) is a Queen of the Banshees (fairies) of the Tuatha Dé Danann. Cleena of Carrigcleena is the potent banshee that rules as queen over the sidheog (fairy women of the hills) of South Munster, or Desmond. She is the principal goddess of this country.

In some Irish myths Clíodhna is a goddess of love and beauty. She is said to have three brightly coloured birds who eat apples from an otherworldly tree and whose sweet song heals the sick. She leaves the otherworldly island of Tir Tairngire (“the land of promise”) to be with her mortal lover, Ciabhán, but is taken by a wave as she sleeps due to the music played by a minstrel of Manannan mac Lir in Glandore harbour in County Cork: the tide there is known as Tonn Chlíodhna, “Clíodhna’s Wave”. Whether she drowns or not depends on the version being told, along with many other details of the story.

She had her palace in the heart of a pile of rocks, five miles from Mallow, which is still commonly known by the name of Carrig-Cleena, and numerous legends about her are told among the Munster peasantry.

In general, it has been observed that Cleena is especially associated with old Irish families of Munster. Cleena has long been associated with the lands that had been the territory of the Ui-Fidgheinte (O’Donovans and O’Collins) during their period of influence (circa 373 A.D. to 977 A.D.), or were later associated with what had been the Ui-Fidghente territory (MacCarthys and FitzGeralds).

Cleena is referred to as an unwelcome pursuer in Edward Walsh’s poem, O’Donovan’s Daughter. And, in an ode praising Donel O’Donovan upon his accession to the chiefship of Clancahill, Donal III O’Donovan he is referred to as the “Dragon of Clíodhna”.

Clíodhna is also associated with the MacCarthy dynasty of Desmond, who adopted her as their fairy woman, and the O’Keeffes and FitzGerald dynasty, with whom she has had amorous affairs Clíodhna appears in the name of one O’Leary in a medieval pedigree, as Conor Clíodhna or “Conor of Clíodhna”, and it is notable that the family were originally based in the area of Rosscarbery, very near to Glandore, before moving north to Muskerry. The O’Learys belong to the ancient Corcu Loígde.

The most traditional story of the famous Blarney Stone involves Clíodhna. Cormac Laidir MacCarthy, the builder of Blarney Castle, being involved in a lawsuit, appealed to Clíodhna for her assistance. She told him to kiss the first stone he found in the morning on his way to court, and he did so, with the result that he pleaded his case with great eloquence and won. Thus the Blarney Stone is said to impart “the ability to deceive without offending”. He then incorporated it into the parapet of the castle. To be fair, Clíodhna does not take credit for all the blarney of the MacCarthys. Queen Elizabeth noted in frustration that she could not effect a negotiation with Cormac MacCarthy, whose seat was Blarney Castle, as everything he said was ‘Blarney, as what he says he does not mean’.

It has been suggested that Clídna derives from the Gaulish goddess Clutonda or Clutondae.

 

Source:
Wikipedia

WOTC Extra – Hecate Chant for Swift Justice

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Hecate Chant for Swift Justice

The chant below brings swift justice to those who treat you unfairly. Take caution in using it, though, especially if you have also behaved inappropriately. Hecate’s justice knows no bounds. She sees to it that all involved get precisely what they deserve.

“Hecate, Dark One, hear my plea,
Bring justice now, I ask of Thee!
Right the wrongs that have been done,
Avenge me now, oh Mighty One.
Turn misfortune back to those
Who cause my problems and my woes.
And heap upon them karmic debt
Lest they all too soon forget
Their wrongful actions, words, and deeds
Don’t let them get away scot-free.
Bring them forth from where they hide,
Bring swift justice ~ wield your knife.
Hasten, Dark One; hear my plea ~
Do what it is I ask of Thee.”

Excerpt from

Everyday Magic: Spells & Rituals for Modern Living
by Dorothy Morrison

Let’s Talk Witch – Hecate, the Goddess of Witches

hecate4

 

Let’s Talk Witch – Hecate, the Goddess of Witches

 

Today, I want to talk about some of the lessons that Hecate’s temple teaches. In the temple of the Dark Goddess Hecate we learn of what many people call our shadow selves. Hecate is the Goddess of the passage into the underworld, of death, of change, and of our shadows. She stands at the Crossroads of life’s journey and holds a torch (or lantern) and provides for us some understanding of the road ahead. She is often depicted as a bent over hag cloaked in black and hooded. One of her methods of teaching is she removes her hood and reveals to you your own true shadow. This is not meant to frighten or scare you but only so that you may be aware of it and overcome its hideousness. She does this because she knows that only once you have released your shadow and your fear you are then able to move on past her into change. Effectively dying, or leaving your old self behind and immerging transformed into the light. She is not necessarily the goddess of the underworld, but rather the Goddess of slef-transformation.

To apply or acknowledge Hecates lesson we must first identify our shadow selves. We bring back the symbolism of Hecate’s veil. When she lifts her veil what you are seeing is not her but rather your true self. No matter how horrifying it seems. To identify our shadow selves look for what annoys you in other people. What is it that you get so negative about? What about that certain somebody can you completely not stand? This is our shadow selves. From personal experience one of the things I couldn’t stand was certain friends being to controlling. It seemed like no matter what someone did they would always get annoyed. The lesson I learned from this is simple. I was really being to controlling. I was really passing judgment of people that did not deserve it. In truth, we were both being far too judgmental and negative of issues than was necessary. I know now that one of my personal issues that I work to overcome is to not be so judgmental of people.

Don’t get the lesson wrong. I’m not saying that the people who don’t annoy you aren’t the problem, because the qualities that annoy you are still present in them. Hecate’s temple teaches that these qualities are not only in them but in you as well. So yes, that one person on your mind right now is exactly what you are thinking they are, but have you ever stopped to say “Hey, maybe I’m to blame as well”. Accepting the fact that we are not all perfect people and we do make mistakes and have flaws is not only necessary to Hecate’s teachings but also essential. Acceptance and acknowledgement is what Hecate truly teaches at the fundamental core of her lessons. The power to over come our fears and shadows is a spiritually profound phenomenon. However the power to accept ourselves in EVERY aspect of who we are, be it light, dark or in between is where the true enlightenment comes from. Hecate’s lantern is just that, one of enlightenment. The road that she travels on with you may be dark, but she teaches us that from this darkness we learn acceptance and we turn it into enlightenment.

To bring the energy of Hecate’s Lantern into your life, I would suggest several things. Keep a journal someplace where you can write and learn about yourself. Make notes of traits in people that annoy you and see if you can find that issue and flaw within yourself. Every once and a while, sit in a dark room with nothing but a single candle or lantern lighting the room and meditate on the dark side of yourself and thing about how you can acknowledge, accept, and move past it into enlightenment. Learning about the Darkness of ourselves is how we find within us the true light.

Source:

Stories from a Witches Cabinet

 

Other Gods And Goddesses – Deities Of Marriage

Other Gods And Goddesses

Because the deities come from so many cultures and times, it is important to invoke only the positive qualities you need and to remember that some did reflect dark as well as benign aspects of divinity. For example, Diana, the goddess of the Moon and the hunt, is thought by most to be a sympathetic soul; but you might be surprised to learn that she would, according to myth, have her rejected lovers torn apart by her hounds. So, when setting up your icons, read about them first, and decide which are the attributes that will assist your magical workings. Some deities fit into more than one category, so I have listed them under their most significant one.

Deities Of Marriage

These deities can be invoked in rituals concerning the family and the home.

 

Frigg

Frigg was the Viking Mother Goddess whose jewelled spinning wheel formed Orion’s belt; as patroness of marriage, women, mothers and families, she can be invoked for all rituals concerned with families and domestic happiness. She invited devoted husbands and wives to her hall after death so that they might never be parted again and so is goddess of fidelity.

 

As Ostara, goddess of spring, she was known among the Anglo-Saxons and is remembered in the festival of Easter as a fertility goddess and bringer of new beginnings. In her role as Valfreya, the Lady of the Battlefield, Frigg recalls the Northern tradition of warrior goddesses and offers courage to women.

 

Hera

 

Hera, the wife-sister of Zeus, is a the supreme Greek goddess of protection, marriage and childbirth whose sacred bird is the peacock. She is a powerful deity of fidelity and is called upon by women seeking revenge upon unfaithful partners.

 

Hestia

 

Hestia is the Greek goddess of the hearth and home, all family matters and peace within the home. She is a benign, gentle goddess and so can be invoked for matters involving children and pets.

 

Juno

 

Juno, the wife-sister of Jupiter, is the Roman queen of the gods, the protectress of women, marriage and childbirth and also wise counsellor. Together with Jupiter and Minerva, the goddess of wisdom, she made up the triumvirate of deities who made decisions about humankind and especially Roman affairs. Her month, June, is most fortunate for marriage and, like Hera, her Greek equivalent, her sacred creature is the peacock. She is invoked in sex magick as well as for all matters concerning marriage, children, fidelity and wise counsel.

 

Parvati

 

Parvati is the benign and gentle Hindu Mother Goddess, consort of the god Shiva and the goddess daughter of the Himalayas. Her name means ‘mountain’ and she is associated with all mountains. She and Shiva are often pictured as a family in the Himalayas with their sons Ganesh, god of wisdom and learning, and six-headed Skanda, the warrior god. She is invoked for all family matters and those concerning children and by women in distress.

 

Vesta

 

Vesta is the Roman goddess of domesticity and of the sacred hearth at which dead and living were welcomed. The Vestal Virgins of Rome kept alight the sacred flame in Vesta’s temple and this was rekindled at the New Year, as were household flames. Vesta can be invoked in rituals centred around the element Fire.

 

Other Gods And Goddesses – Deities Of The Moon

Other Gods And Goddesses

Because the deities come from so many cultures and times, it is important to invoke only the positive qualities you need and to remember that some did reflect dark as well as benign aspects of divinity. For example, Diana, the goddess of the Moon and the hunt, is thought by most to be a sympathetic soul; but you might be surprised to learn that she would, according to myth, have her rejected lovers torn apart by her hounds. So, when setting up your icons, read about them first, and decide which are the attributes that will assist your magical workings. Some deities fit into more than one category, so I have listed them under their most significant one.

Deities Of The Moon

Invoke these for gentle increase, power and banishing energies, fertility, intuition, magick and dreams.

Arianrhod

Arianrhod is a Welsh goddess of the full moon and also of time, karma and destiny. She ruled over the realm of the Celtic Otherworld, called Caer Feddwidd, the Fort of Carousa. Here a mystical fountain of wine offered eternal health and youth for those who chose to spend their immortality in the Otherworld. She brings inspiration, renewal, health and rejuvenation, and is a focus for all magick, as she is a witch goddess.

Diana

Diana is the Roman counterpart of Artemis, and because of her strong association with the Moon in all its phases, is a goddess of fertility as well as love. Like Artemis, she is goddess of the hunt and a virgin goddess, but can be invoked in her role as an Earth goddess and as protector of women in childbirth. Her beauty and hunting skills make her a perfect focus for the pursuit of love, especially from afar.

Myesyats

Like the lunar goddesses, Myesyats, the Slavic Moon God, represented the three stages of the life cycle. He was first worshipped as a young man until he reached maturity at the full moon. With the waning phase, Myesyats passed through old age and died with the old moon, being reborn three days later. As he was the restorer of life and health, parents would pray to him to take away their children’s illnesses and family sorrows. Other sources have a female version, Myesytsa, a lovely Moon maiden who was the consort of Dazhbog the Sun God, and became mother of the stars.

Myesyats brings healing and family harmony.

Selene

Selene is the Greek goddess specially associated with the full moon, sometimes forming a triplicity with Diana and Hecate, the twin sister of Helios the Sun God. Selene rises from the sea in her chariot drawn by white horses at night and rides high in the sky in her full moon.

At the time of the full moon, she is invoked by women for fertility and by all who seek the power of intuition and inspiration.

Mother Goddesses

Mother Goddesses are for fertility, abundance of all kinds, female power and all rituals for women.

Astarte

Astarte is the supreme female divinity of the Phoenicians, goddess of love and fertility, associated with the Moon and all nature.

Invoke her for power and wisdom, seduction and passion as well as fertility.

Cerridwen

Cerridwen is the Welsh Mother Goddess, the keeper of the cauldron and goddess of inspiration, knowledge and wisdom. She is a natural focus for rituals involving all creative ventures and for increased spiritual and psychic awareness. Invoke her for divination and especially scrying and for all rituals of increase.

Ceres

Ceres is the Roman goddess of the grain and all food plants. Her daughter Proserpina was taken into the Underworld for three months of the year by Pluto, causing Ceres to mourn and the crops to die. This was the origin of winter.

Through this, she is seen as goddess of fertility and abundance, as well as a deity of the natural cycles of the year. She represents loss and is a focus for rites concerning grief and mourning, with the hope of new joy ahead for women and especially for mothers. Her Greek counterpart is Demeter.

Demeter

Demeter, the Greek Corn Goddess or Barley Mother, was the archetypal symbol of the fertility of the land. Demeter is often pictured as rosy-cheeked, carrying a hoe or sickle and surrounded by baskets of apples, sheaves of corn, garlands of flowers and grapes. Like Ceres, she mourns for her lost daughter Persephone for three months of the year and so is another icon for those who are feeling sorrow or loss and for maternal sacrifice. But she can be invoked for all matters of abundance, for reaping the benefits of earlier work or effort, for all mothering rituals and as a protectress of animals.

Innana

Innana was a Sumerian goddess, known as the Queen of Heaven, who evolved into the Babylonian goddess Ishtar. Innana was goddess of beauty, abundance, fertility and passion, famed for her loveliness and her lapis lazuli necklaces. She was the first goddess of the morning and evening stars, a legacy that has passed to Aphrodite and Venus.

Like many of the Mother Goddess icons, she descended into the Underworld annually to face and overcome many trials, to bring back to life her shepherd god consort Dumuzi.

Ishtar

Ishtar, the Babylonian version of Innana, also descended into the Underworld each year to restore her consort Tammuz to life. She was a fierce goddess of weapons and war. In Ancient Babylon, a sacred marriage took place each year between Tammuz and Ishtar. This was celebrated at the festival of Akitu, or Zag-Mug, which marked the rising of the waters of the Tigris and the Euphrates and the coming of the spring rains, to bring fertility, at the spring equinox.

Like Innana, she is a goddess of fertility, restoration, renewal, birth and the life cycles; she also
represents power with responsibility and necessary sacrifice for future gain, but above all

Isis

The Egyptian goddess Isis is the most powerful and frequently invoked goddess in formal magick. She is mother, healer and the faithful wife who annually restored her consort Osiris to life, thus magically causing the Nile to flood and fertility to return to the land. She is the patroness of magick and spell-casting, having tricked Ra the Sun God into giving her his secrets. Some accounts say she was taught by Thoth, god of wisdom and learning.

Her cult spread throughout the Roman Empire and she remained in Mediterranean lands in her guise as the Black Madonna, holding her infant son Horus, until the Middle Ages. She is sometimes represented as a vulture, in which form she appears on amulets (protective charms) with an ankh, the symbol for life, engraved on each talon. Isis demonstrated the power of maternal protection when she hid Horus in the marshes from his evil uncle who would have destroyed him.

Other Gods And Goddesses – Deities For Power

Other Gods And Goddesses

Because the deities come from so many cultures and times, it is important to invoke only the positive qualities you need and to remember that some did reflect dark as well as benign aspects of divinity. For example, Diana, the goddess of the Moon and the hunt, is thought by most to be a sympathetic soul; but you might be surprised to learn that she would, according to myth, have her rejected lovers torn apart by her hounds. So, when setting up your icons, read about them first, and decide which are the attributes that will assist your magical workings. Some deities fit into more than one category, so I have listed them under their most significant one.

Deities For Power

These deities may be invoked for strength, success, energy, inspiration and increase.

Apollo

Apollo, the Greek Sun God, was twin brother of Artemis, the Moon Goddess. As god of the solar light, Apollo made the fruits of the Earth ripen, and at Delos and Delphi where he slew Python, the first crops were dedicated to him. (Python, the great lightning serpent, was the son-consort of the Mother Goddess in her form of Delphyne, the Womb of Creation, fertilised by Python. Python in this sense predated all other gods and was later called the Dark Sun, Apollo’s alter ego. The Ancient Greeks rededicated his shrine to Apollo.)

Apollo was god of prophecy as well as music, poetry, archery, healing and divination. He is very strongly animus and is good for all rituals of power, ambition and inspiration, as well as those areas under his patronage. Men tend to work better with him than women.

Aine

Aine is daughter of Manananann, Celtic Sea God and ruler of the Isle of Man and goddess of the cycles of the solar and lunar year. Even during the twentieth century, she was remembered on the Hill of Aine in Ireland, by torchlight processions and burning straw at midsummer and also at the old corn harvest, Lughnassadh, at the beginning of August. She is also linked with love, fertility and healing.

Ama-terasu Omikami

Ama-terasu Omikami is the Ancient Japanese Sun Goddess. Her name means ‘Great August Spirit Shining in Heaven’ but she is also called Shinmet, ‘Divine Radiance’ and O-hiru-me-no-muchi, ‘Great Female Possessor of Noon’.

She is good for female-focused Sun rituals and for ceremonial magick.

Helios

The Greek god Helios, known to the Romans as Sol, was regarded as the Sun itself. He ascended the heavens in a chariot drawn by winged snow-white horses to give light and in the evening descended into the ocean. Homer wrote:

‘Drawn in his swift chariot, he sheds light on gods and men alike; the formidable flash of his eyes pierces his golden helmet, sparkling rays glint from his breast and his brilliant helmet gives forth a dazzling splendour. His body is draped in shining gauze, whipped by the wind.’

He is especially associated with the life force and renewing health and energy.

Horus

Horus was the Ancient Egyptian Sky God, represented as a falcon or a falcon-headed man. His eyes were the Sun and Moon and his wings could extend across the entire heavens. He was frequently associated with the morning aspect of Ra, the Sun God, and worshipped as Re-Harakhte. The son of Isis and Osiris, he is often depicted as an infant on his mother’s lap and together the parents and child form a trinity.

Horus brings clarity of mind and purpose and the ability to seize upon an opportunity, and is effective for uncovering secrets, deception and illusion.

Lugh

Lugh, the Celtic ‘shining one’, who gives his name to Lughnassadh, Celtic festival of the first harvest, was the young solar deity who replaced the Dagda, father of the gods, as supreme king. He was associated with sacrifice, as the Sun King who was reborn each year at either the mid-winter solstice or the spring equinox.

Legend has it that when Lugh arrived to join the Tuatha de Danaan, he went to the palace of Tara and asked for a position in the court. (The Tuatha de Danaan were the ancient Irish gods and goddesses, literally ‘the tribe of Danu’, who was the creatrix goddess.) He said he was a carpenter, but was told that the company of gods already had one.

Lugh then declared he was a smith but again was told that the deities possessed such a craftsman. He then announced that he was a poet, then in turn a warrior, historian, hero and sorcerer. Each position was filled. Lugh then demanded whether any one person could perform all these tasks as he could. As a result, he was admitted to the Tuatha de Danaan and eventually became their leader.

You can invoke Lugh especially at the time of Lughnassadh, for the reaping of benefits sown earlier in the year, but also at any time for adaptability, versatility, innovation and originality.

Other Gods And Goddesses – Deities Of Love And Passion

Other Gods And Goddesses

Because the deities come from so many cultures and times, it is important to invoke only the positive qualities you need and to remember that some did reflect dark as well as benign aspects of divinity. For example, Diana, the goddess of the Moon and the hunt, is thought by most to be a sympathetic soul; but you might be surprised to learn that she would, according to myth, have her rejected lovers torn apart by her hounds. So, when setting up your icons, read about them first, and decide which are the attributes that will assist your magical workings. Some deities fit into more than one category, so I have listed them under their most significant one.

Deities Of Love And Passion

Aphrodite

Aphrodite is the Cretan and Greek goddess of love and beauty. Her name means ‘born from the foam’. She can be invoked for the gentle attraction of new love as well as for sexuality and passion (hence the term ‘aphrodisiac’). Aphrodite is especially potent in candle and mirror spells, romance and for love rituals involving the sea.

Artemis

Artemis is the twin sister of Apollo, the young Greek Sun God, and is goddess of chastity, virginity, the hunt, the Moon and nature. Although a virgin goddess, she also presides over childbirth. Because of her connection with the hunt, she is altogether a more active goddess than Aphrodite if you are seeking love or, perhaps, trying to encourage a reluctant lover of either sex or win love under difficult circumstances. She is perfect for outdoor love spells and for casting your love net wide to attract an as yet unknown lover.

Freyja

Freyja is the Viking goddess of love and sexuality and can be invoked for rituals to increase confidence in inner beauty and worth, for the increase of passion and for fertility in every aspect. A witch goddess, she is potent for all magick, especially astral projection and crystal and gem magick.

Venus

Venus, the goddess of love, is the Roman form of Aphrodite and by her liaison with Mercury gave birth to Cupid. Although she had many lovers, she was the goddess of chastity in women and is a joybringer, and so represents not only sexual pleasure, but also innocent love and especially love in the springtime. Her planetary associations mean she is the focus in all kinds of love rituals. As the evening star, Venus takes on a warrior aspect and so can be invoked in fighting for one’s lover or tough love in relationships.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Goddess as Focus

The Goddess as Focus

 

Many beliefs emphasise the polarity of the female/male, Goddess/god and anima/animus energies. The bringing together of these two powers, the Sacred Marriage that is celebrated symbolically in the Great Rite of the union of Earth and Sky, is a ritual that permeates all cultures.

In Egyptian mythology, Isis, the sister-wife of Osiris, sought and reassembled his body after his murder and dismemberment by his brother Seth. In this connection, she took on the role of the goddess of rebirth, the Bone Goddess, and restored him in a more evolved form. The annual celebrations of this event coincided with the rising of the dog star, Sirius, which heralded the flooding of the Nile and the restoration of fertility to the land and symbolically to the people.

As the Sky Gods gained supremacy, they married the Earth Goddesses who slowly evolved into patronesses of women, marriage and childbirth. So, for example, Odin the Norse All-Father married Frigg, goddess of women, marriage and motherhood.

But in witchcraft, though the Sky Fathers and their wives are used for the focus of specific rites, the Goddess retains the earlier form as the creative principle. As the Triple Goddess – maiden, mother and wise woman or crone – she is frequently central to coven work.

Generally in magick the Goddess is recognized as the prime mover of existence, bringing forth from herself in the first virgin birth the animus, or male, principle. For this reason, it is often the High Priestess who casts the circle, though in some covens the Goddess rules over the spring and summer and the Horned God over the autumn and winter.

 

Reaching Gods And Goddesses In Trance

Reaching Gods And Goddesses In Trance

 

Modern Wiccans call into themselves the energies of the Goddess to amplify their own innate divine spark and at times may work in a deep trance, uttering words of prophecy or profound teaching. This is said to increase the power entering the body, like turning up the current from a power source. But until you have practised magick for many years, I would advocate working only in light trance and then only in the controlled situation of a very spiritual group. You can think of this as opening a channel between your own higher energies and the Goddess or powers of light.

I said just now that the power of a trance can be compared to an electric current. The analogy can be taken further: just as sending a sudden surge of electricity can cause a power failure, deliberately inducing a deep trance can be dangerous. Those who use drugs to induce such experiences are, in my opinion, playing with fire and may in fact be blocking their innate wisdom in return for an artificial mind-bending experience.

Most people quite rightly shy away from the idea of possession by a force, however benign, preferring to work with the energies indirectly – and this is what I believe is safest and most effective. For even if you are working with an experienced group in healing magick and do want to allow power of light or the Goddess to manifest in you directly, it is pretty heady stuff. So go cautiously, work only in the most positive of minds for the good of all, and for trance work have other experienced witches or mediums to guide you and help you to centre.

The gods themselves can offer protection when you are performing rituals. In formal magick, the Guardians, or Devic Lords of the Watchtower, are invited to guard the four directions of a magical circle. The term deva in Sanskrit means ‘shining one’, and the Devas represent the higher forms, akin to angels, who watch and direct the natural world.

They communicate with people by psychic ‘channeling’ and rule over the beings associated with the four elements, Fire, Air, Water and Earth. In less formal practices, either archangels or pillars of light may be visualized in the corners of the room to offer protection at a time when a person is opening then-psyche to the cosmos, to keep out all negativity, earthly or otherwise. But the greatest protection is a pure heart and pure intent, much harder to attain than learning any complex ritual.

 

Source:
Cassandra Eason

Goddess Recipes: Oils, Perfumes, Etc.

GODDESS RECIPES: OILS, PERFUMES, ETC.

MOON PRIESTESS PERFUME:

1 Drop Queen of the Night Oil
3 drops rose oil
1 drop lemon verbena oil
4 fl. oz (120cc) white spirit

Blend the three oils in a bottle. Add the white spirit, and shake all vigorously. A cologne can be made by adding another 1 FL. oz (30cc) of white spirit and 3 fl. oz (90cc) of distilled water.

MOON PRIEST COLOGNE:

1 fl. oz (30cc) lemon verbena or Lime oil
2 fl. oz (60cc) coriander oil
1/2 fl. oz. (15cc) camphor or myrrh oil
1/4 fl. oz. (7cc) white spirit
3 3/4 fl. oz. (105cc) distilled water

Blend the oils in a bottle, add the spirit and water and shake all vigorously. Increasing the myrrh oils gives a darker perfume; increasing the camphor, a lighter and more spicy one. All perfumes ‘behave’ differently on different skins, so it is worth experimenting to find your own balance.

EARTH MOTHER PERFUME:

Musk oil
Patchouli oil
Rose Oil

Blend in equal parts, bottle and shake well.

ISIS PERFUME:

Rose oil
Blue Lotus Oil

Blend equal parts, bottle and shake well.

SUN GODDESS PERFUME:

Cinnamon Oil
Lemon Verbena Oil
Ylang-Ylang Oil

Blend equal parts, bottle and shake well.

OIL FOR THE DARK OF THE MOON:

2 fl. oz.(60cc) tincture of myrrh
1 fl. oz.(30cc) oil of cinnamon
1/4 fl. oz.(7cc) Queen of the Night Oil
1 fl. oz.(30cc) oil of rose

Blend, bottle and shake well.

OIL FOR THE RITES OF ISIS:

7 drops oil of rose
2 Drops oil of Camphor
2 drops tincture of myrrh
3 drops oil of blue hyacinth

Blend the oils of rose, camphor, and blue hyacinth during the waxing moon. Bottle and keep till the Moon wanes. Add the Myrrh

KALI INCENSE:

This is an individual and personalized incense, for attunement to your own Dark of the Moon.

1 oz (30gm) sandalwood chips
1 oz (30gm) Dried jasmine flowers or 6 drops jasmine oil
1/2 oz (15gm) dried rose petals
2 drops of your own menstrual blood

Blend and use for private meditation during the onset of your menstruation.

MORRIGAN INCENSE:

1 oz. (30gm) musk amberette
1/2 oz. (15gm) dragon’s blood (resin used in violin staining)
4 drops patchouli oil
4 drops civet oil
4 drops of blood from your own finger

Blend at the dark of the Moon, put in a jar and bury in the earth for 6 weeks (a flower pot of peat in a cool cupboard will do).

ATHENA OIL & INCENSE:

The olive is sacred to Athena, so use pure olive oil as an anointing oil in particular, rub between the palms of your hands and anoint your feet, forehead
and lips. For the Incense:

1 oz. (30gm) Cedar wood chips
1/2 oz. (15gm) camphor
7 drops musk oil
Female sweat (as much as possible)
6 olives unstuffed and preferably black
Blend the first four ingredients well, at the full moon, and add the olives. Put in a jar and leave for one month to mature. Then remove the olives (Which will have imparted their essence to the rest) and throw them away. Stuffed olives, both black and green, are an obvious food for a ritual of Athena, also stuffed vine leaves, a very Athenian dish. If possible, of course, the wine should be
Greek – especially retina, though that is an acquired taste.

PRE-RITUAL BATH SCENTS:

To cleanse and relax the body before a ritual, and to energize the psychic centers. Fill small sachets of muslin cloth with equal amounts of the following herbs:

Basil (for psychic energy)
Borage (to strengthen the inner self)
Lavender (to banish mental and emotional stress)
Centaury (a traditional witch herb)
Rue (a traditional bathing herb)

Put a sachet into your bath five minutes before you get in, to give the aromatics time to work.

DIANA OF THE MOON INCENSE:

It is recommended that it be made in the hour and the day of the Moon – i.e. the first or eighth hour after sunrise, or the third or tenth hour after sunset, on a Monday.    Thoroughly mix equal amounts of the following:

Gum mastic
Jasmine
Mandrake
Orris root

Add a few drops of wintergreen oil and moisten with a little clear mineral oil

AINE of KNOCKAINE INCENSE:

1/2 oz. (15gm) Meadowsweet flowers and leaf (gathered when the plant is in full bloom and dried)
1/2 oz. (15gm) finely chopped pine needles
1/2 fl. oz. (15cc) lemon verbena oil

By the way, Meadowsweet blossom also makes a delicious

Hear the Prayer of Aradia, the Holy Strega


Moon & Witch Comments & Graphics

Hear the Prayer of Aradia, the Holy Strega

 

Aradia, the Holy Strega, told her followers to seek the Moon above all others, for the purposes of Magic. In the closing prayer of the Full Moon Ritual, we find these words which Aradia’s followers were later to have written :

 

“O’ Goddess of the Moon…
teach us your ancient mysteries…
that the Holy Strega spoke of,
for I believe the Strega’s story,
when she told us to entreat Thee,
told us when we seek for Knowledge,
to seek and find Thee above all others”.

 

Agrippa understood this also, when he wrote,

 

“Therefore. her (the moon) motion is to be observed
before the others, as the parent of all conception……hence it is,
that without the Moon intermediating, we cannot at any time
attract the power of the superiors…”

 

What Agrippa spoke of, is what witches have known for Ages:

The Moon is the focal point of power upon the Earth.

 

Deities of the Moon

Deities of the Moon

 

Aditi: Hindu mother goddess, mother of the sun and moon Gods, Mitra and Varuna.

Aine of Knockaine: Irish-Celtic Goddess of love and fertility, related to the moon.

Alcyone: Greek Goddess of the moon and tranquility.

Alphito: Greek Goddess of destiny and the moon.

Anu: Irish-Celtic Goddess of the moon and air. She is also the Mother Earth Goddess and Maiden aspect of Morrigu.

Aradia: Italian Goddess, protector of Witches. Symbolises the element of air and the moon.

Baal: Canaanite rain God who symbolises air, fertility, health and the moon.

Cerridwen: Welsh-Celtic moon and nature Goddess.

Chons: Egyptian God of the moon.

Coyolxuahqi: Aztec moon Goddess; symbolises the element of fire.

Diana: Queen of the Witches – love, luck, the moon and general magic are hers.

Don: Welsh-Celtic Queen of the Heavens and Goddess of air and sea, who ruled the land of the dead. Also known as Danu (Irish-Celtic) .

El: Canaanite God of fertility and the moon.

Epona: Gaulish Goddess of horses and birds, represents the moon, enchantment and charms. Also called Rhiannon (Welsh-Celtic) .

Freya: Norse Goddess of love, and fertility, symbolises war, the moon and poetry

Frigg: Norse Goddess of marriage and motherhood, symbolises foresight, wisdom and the moon. Also called Frigga.

Hathor: Egyptian Goddess of joy and love, who symbolises the element of Air and the moon.

Hecate: Goddess of the Witches and the Dark Moon. The Crone aspect of the triple Goddess.

Hera: Greek Goddess who can be invoked for love, the moon, element of Air,motherhood.

Jana: Italian Goddess of the moon.

Kuu: Finnish moon Goddess.

Luna: Roman moon Goddess, also known as Lunah.

Neith: Egyptian Goddess of war and weaving, symbolises the moon and courage.

Phoebe: Roman moon Goddess and teacher to sorcerers; also known as Selene(Greek).

Rhiannon: Welsh-Celtic Goddess of horses and birds, represents the moon, enchantment and charms. Also called Epona (Gaul).

Selene: Greek moon Goddess and teacher to sorcerers; also known as Phoebe(Roman).

Tlazolteotl: Aztec Goddess of the crescent moon.

Varuna: Hindu moon God.

Offerings to the Gods: What’s an Acceptable Gift?

Offerings to the Gods

What’s an Acceptable Gift?

By

In many Pagan and Wiccan traditions, it’s not uncommon to make some sort of offering or sacrifice to the gods. Bear in mind that despite the reciprocal nature of our relationship with the divine, it’s not a matter of “I’m offering you this stuff so you’ll grant my wish.” It’s more along the lines of “I honor you and respect you, so I’m giving you this stuff to show you how much I appreciate your intervention on my behalf.”

So the question arises, then, of what to offer them? Different types of deities seem to respond best to different kinds of offerings. For example, you wouldn’t offer flowers to a war god, would you? When making an offering, it’s important to think about what the god represents. The Roman Cato described an offering for agricultural prosperity: Make offerings to keep your oxen in good health. Make the following sacrifices to Mars… three pounds of wheat, four-and-a-half of lard, four-and-a-half of meat and three pints of wine. While it’s probably not necessary to go that far and offer up enough food to feed a small army to your god, the passage does illustrate the fact that our ancestors thought enough of their gods to take their offerings very seriously.

In general, bread, milk and wine are nearly always appropriate for any deity. Here are some ideas for specific offerings you can make to deities, based upon the types of gods they are:

Hearth and Home Gods:

  • Food: Bread and grains, cooking oil, salt
  • Drink: Milk, wine, cider
  • Herbs: Rosemary, thyme

Gods of Love and Passion:

  • Food: Eggs, honey, apples
  • Drink: Wine, fruit juice
  • Herbs: Lavender, sandalwood

Garden/Nature Deities:

  • Food: Bread, cornmeal, fruit
  • Drink: Milk, water
  • Herbs: Bay

Gods of Prosperity and Abundance:

  • Food: Grains, dairy products like cheese or eggs
  • Drink: Milk, beer
  • Herbs: Mint, pennyroyal, catnip

Ancestor Spirits:

  • Food: Any meal from your family’s table
  • Drink: Drinks from the family table
  • Herbs: Sage, sweetgrass

Childbirth or Fertility Godesss:

  • Food: Eggs, baked sweets like cookies
  • Drink: Milk (including breast milk)
  • Herbs: Rose, sandalwood, apple blossoms

 

Source:
About.com