Category: The Sabbats

Melbourne’s longest day of the year is happening this weekend – here’s your guide to the 2025 summer solstice

Written by Melissa Woodley

Contributor: Liv Condous

Want to make the most of the extra daylight? Sunday, December 21 is the best time to do so, If the three-day heatwave we’ve just experienced is any indication, Melbourne’s summer is officially in full swing – and we couldn’t be happier about the extra sunshine. So if you’re also a fan the long, warm days and balmy nights, you’ll want to mark your calendar for the summer solstice – aka the longest day of the year – which is happening on Sunday, December 21.

This year in Melbourne, the summer solstice is set to bless us with 14 hours and 47 minutes of sunshine. Here’s a rundown of how long the daylight will last and the exact timings of sunrise and sunset.

What is the summer solstice?

The summer solstice marks the longest day of the year, bringing the most daylight hours between sunrise and sunset. In the Southern Hemisphere, this happens when… Click here to read the rest of this article Source: timeout.com

Winter Solstice 2025

When is the Winter Solstice, and What Is it All About?

Written By:Catherine Boeckmann

When is the first day of winter? In 2025, the winter solstice date is Sunday, December 21. So, what is the winter solstice, and why does it happen? Learn all about the shortest day of the year—and tell us what winter means to you!

When Is the Winter Solstice?

The first day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere is marked by the winter solstice, which occurs on Sunday, December 21, 2025, at 10:03 A.M. (EST). Use our Time Zone Converter to calculate what time that is where you live.

For the Northern Hemisphere, the winter solstice occurs every year between December 20 through 23, most often on December 20 or 21. (The Southern Hemisphere’s winter solstice occurs in June.)

The winter solstice is the day with the fewest hours of sunlight throughout the year, making it the shortest day of the year. Thankfully, after we reach the winter solstice, the days begin to grow longer and longer again until we reach the summer solstice—the first day of summer and the longest day of the year.

Think of it this way: … Click here to read the rest of this article Source: almanac.com

13 Herbs for Litha

Disclaimer: No herb should be used for medicinal purpose until you have checked with your health care professional to ask if it is safe for you to use it for any reason. The content provided on this website is for informational purposes only and DOES NOT CONSTITUTE THE PROVIDING OF MEDICAL ADVICE and is not intended to be a substitute for independent professional medical judgment, advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health providers with any questions or concerns you may have regarding your health. WitchesofTheCraft.com, any staff member of WitchesofTheCraft.com and/or Lady Carla Beltane are not responsible for any type of negative reaction when using this herb for any reason.

Make magick for Midsummer with the abundant plants that are all around you. I’ve got 13 Herbs for Litha to help you honor the summer solstice.

The earth is at it’s most abundant at Litha, the longest day of the year. It’s been absorbing the sun’s rays as the days slowly grow longer, and this sabbat marks the peak of the sun’s power. Because of this, it’s one of the most powerful days of the year to collect herbs for your witchcraft practice.

Some say that Midsummer herbs should be collected skyclad (aka naked) and they should only be cut with a consecrated silver knife. Some say metal should never touch the plants. There are all sorts of myths and legends, but your witchcraft practice is your own, so do what’s right for you.

Herbs for Litha

Really, any herb that’s growing in summer is a Litha herb, but some are more traditionally tied to this sabbat than others. Don’t limit yourself, but if you’re not sure where to start, this should give you a good idea. There were nearly 30 herbs I found in just one book which correspond to Midsummer, but I’ve narrowed it down to some of the more common or easy to find herbs to make things easier for you.

Remember that if you’re foraging for herbs and botanicals to only take what you need, and never take more than 10% of a plant. You might also want to consider leaving an offering for the plant or connecting with its energy to thank it for its contribution to your thriving.

Chamomile – With powers of regeneration, protection, and peace, this herb also attracts money and luck, so you definitely want it in your apothecary. Use it in tea or other infusions.

Daisy – Tied to innocence and purity, this flower can be used in spells for true love.

Dill – Can be used for protection and cleansing, as well as clearing the mind.

Elder – Gather leaves on Midsummer morning and use the flowers to make cordials or liqueurs.

Fennel – A plant for courage, purification, and protection.

Heather – Can be used for protection and to draw in luck and money. Also helpful in working with fairies.

Honeysuckle – Use for divination, dreams, and love spells.

Lavender – The classic herb for peace and harmony, it can also be used for purification and cleansing and to enhance meditation.

Lime – Add to spells for healing, love, and protection.

St. John’s Wort – Use this herb for protection, especially to repel negativity. Also effecting in clearing and purification spells.

Strawberry – Tied to blessings, love, and fertility, there’s nothing sweeter than a freshly picked ripe summer strawberry.

Sunflower – The ultimate symbol of the sun, this flower also brings happiness, blessings, fertility, and courage.

Violet – Use in spells for love, fertility, faithfulness, and luck.

How to Use Your Herbs

Recipes to Use Your Litha Herbs

Click here to read the rest of this article Source: awesomeon20.com

5 Easy Decorating Ideas for Litha

Need some quick and affordable decorating ideas for Litha, the summer solstice? Here are some tips on how to bring the season into your home without breaking your bank account!
Celebrate the sun at midsummer!. Image by Peter Cade/Image Bank/Getty Images

• Suns and Solar Symbols

The Litha sabbat falls on the longest day of the year – that means you have more hours of daylight on the summer solstice than on any other day, and that’s definitely worth celebrating! Solar symbols like suns and circles, gods eyes, Brighid’s crosses and sunwheels are all perfect representatives of this season – hang them on your walls and doors, or add them to your Litha altar. More »

• Fresh Blossoms and Blooms

By the time midsummer rolls around, our flower gardens are in full bloom. This is a time to gather up those blossoms and enjoy their beauty – collect an assortment of brightly colored flowers and bring them indoors to keep you company. Consider, especially, flowers in bright sunny colors like yellows and reds and oranges. Sunflowers, tulips, roses, tiger lilies, and black-eyed Susans are all associated with the sun at the height of its power.

Bring the bounty of your garden inside to celebrate the midsummer harvest. Image © Patti Wigington; Licensed to About.com

• The Bounty of the Garden

In addition to fresh flowers, we’ve also got fresh produce rapidly filling our gardens. The sun brings warmth to the earth, which in turn brings new life to our plants. Harvest your midsummer fruits and vegetables, and leave them in bowls and baskets around the house. Some goodies, like onions and herbs, can be hung up to dry, which will allow you to enjoy the scents as well as the flavor.

Fire and Light

Carrying on the solar theme, Litha is a celebration of fire – after all, that’s what the sun is, right? Use big candles all around your home, in yellows and golds and other sunny colors. You can also string festively colored lights along your walls and windows, to bring that brightness indoors. For your outdoor decor, use a tabletop brazier or even Tiki torches to celebrate with flames and fire. More »

Litha is a time of opposites, between light and dark.Image by Alan Thornton/Image Bank/Getty Images

• Opposites

At Litha, the summer solstice, it’s the last day of the sun’s full power. For the next six months, darkness will begin to take over, growing stronger until Yule, the longest night of the year. At that point, the process will reverse once more and the light return. Decorate your home with symbols of opposites – fire and water, earth and air, darkness and light, yin and yang.

 

Litha Legends and Lore – Myths and Mysteries of the Midsummer Solstice

Litha Legends and Lore

Myths and Mysteries of the Midsummer Solstice

Litha, or Midsummer, is a celebration that has been observed for centuries, in one form or another. It is no surprise, then, that there are plenty of myths and legends associated with this time of year!

In England, rural villagers built a big bonfire on Midsummer’s Eve. This was called “setting the watch,” and it was known that the fire would keep evil spirits out of the town. Some farmers would light a fire on their land, and people would wander about, holding torches and lanterns, from one bonfire to another. If you jumped over a bonfire — presumably without lighting your pants on fire — you were guaranteed to have good luck for the coming year.

After your Litha fire has burned out and the ashes gone cold, use them to make a protective amulet. You can do this by carrying them in a small pouch, or kneading them into some soft clay and forming a talisman. In some traditions of Wicca, it is believed that the Midsummer ashes will protect you from misfortune. You can also sow the ashes from your bonfire into your garden, and your crops will be bountiful for the rest of the summer growing season.

It is believed in parts of England that if you stay up all night on Midsummer’s Eve, sitting in the middle of a stone circle, you will see the Fae. But be careful – carry a bit of rue in your pocket to keep them from harassing you, or turn your jacket inside out to confuse them. If you have to escape the Fae, follow a ley line, and it will lead you to safety.
Residents of some areas of Ireland say that if you have something you wish to happen, you “give it to the pebble.” Carry a stone in your hand as you circle the Litha bonfire, and whisper your request to the stone — “heal my mother” or “help me be more courageous”, for example. After your third turn around the fire, toss the stone into the flames.

Astrologically, the sun is entering Cancer, which is a water sign. Midsummer is not only a time of fire magic, but of water as well. Now is a good time to work magic involving sacred streams and holy wells. If you visit one, be sure to go just before sunrise on Litha, and approach the water from the east, with the rising sun. Circle the well or spring three times, walking deosil, and then make an offering of silver coins or pins.

Sun wheels were used to celebrate Midsummer in some early Pagan cultures. A wheel — or sometimes a really big ball of straw — was lit on fire and rolled down a hill into a river. The burned remnants were taken to the local temple and put on display. In Wales, it was believed that if the fire went out before the wheel hit the water, a good crop was guaranteed for the season.

In Egypt, the Midsummer season was associated with the flooding of the Nile River delta. In South America, paper boats are filled with flowers, and then set on fire. They are then sailed down the river, carrying prayers to the gods. In some traditions of modern Paganism, you can get rid of problems by writing them on a piece of paper and dropping them into a moving body of water on Litha.

William Shakespeare associated Midsummer with witchcraft in at least three of his plays. A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Macbeth, and The Tempest all contain references to magic on the night of the summer solstice.

Source:
Author: Patti Wigington
Website: Article found on & owned by  About.com

Enjoying the Holidays With Children – Make Reindeer Food for Yule c.2015

(SIDE NOTE: I love this recipe but make sure you do it somewhere in your home where if glitter falls it is not going to bother you when it still shows up in June even after repeat vacuuming or mopping)

Make Reindeer Food for Yule

If your family still gets visits from Santa Claus, it’s traditional to leave out a plate of cookies and some milk for him — after all, it’s hard work flying around the whole world in one night. But what about his reindeer? They do most of the work, so why not leave a treat for them too? You can scatter it on the lawn before your kids go to bed, or leave it in a bowl near the stockings.

Traditional reindeer food includes glitter with the ingredients.

Glitter is very pretty and sparkly, but it’s also a synthetic that doesn’t biodegrade. Instead, you can use other, earth-friendly ingredients to give your reindeer food some sparkle. Here’s what you’ll need:

Plastic baggies or baby food jars

Dried oatmeal

Chopped nuts

Raisins

Red and green sugar crystals

Ribbon

Cardstock

Place a scoop of oatmeal in each baggie or baby food jar. Add a handful of raisins, and then some sugar crystals. Shake well. Seal the bag or jar, and add a ribbon around the top. Print out a card that says:

Reindeer, Reindeer, pulling the sleigh,
We’ve left you something nice today!
Oats and raisins and sugar so sweet,
It’s a tasty reindeer treat!
Have a Merry Yule!

and attach it to the jar of reindeer food so you can share it with friends.

Source: Published on & owned by About.com By Patti Wigington

A Yule Story Just for Your Children – The Year’s Longest Night

The Year’s Longest Night

 

It was dark and cold within the middle of the forest. It was not a forest on this plain, but one in the hearts of our souls and in the chambers of our minds. Within the middle of this dark cold forest was a old log cabin blanketed by snow and frost. With in the cabin was a roaring fire and lighted candles, the cabin was warm and dry and full of warm animal furs spread about on the floor and bed. The cabin smelled of pine and spices and a touch of warm rum.

The old women sat at the dressing table looking into the mirror slowing brushing her long white hair. The Crone’s hands were pale and wrinkled and her face as pale and cold as the snow outside. She closed her eyes and breathed in the smell of pine from the tree she had brought in from the winters cold and the incense burning and smoking on the Yule log gave her soft warm visions. The Crone saw her future; she saw her hair turning a light brown and her eyes giving off a bright twinkle. Youth would return and the Wheel would turn and spin–turn and spin. With her hands still brushing through her hair she saw herself young again a Maiden–waiting to dance with the young Lord Bright Sun/Son and Lord of the Dance.

Mama Crone saw her Maiden belly swell with life and as the Mother gave birth to the spring– to flowers and trees and animals and to the very heavens gave it a new shine. This future was to be soon, but not too soon. The longest night must come and Winter must play it’s self out as the Sun grows stronger day by day. The Dark Mother looked to her crown of thorns and bones and in her mind’s eye saw the green of spring a yellow of flower spring from it. The Old One rose from her chair and thought “not yet” and put on her crown of thorns and bones and pulled her cloak closed and pulling up the hood tight around her face she went to the cabin door. She pushed open the door and went to the forest clearing taking slow steps chanting as she walked and sat by a prepared bon fire. Mama Crone sat in front of the fire and slowly rocked calling to the Sun–calling to the Light Of The World to return–calling for the new beginning to come and the new cycle to come–the wheel to spin– the seasons to move–the dark to retreat and the light to come. The blessings to come.

May in the forest of your heart the old cry out to the new the old change with the coming Sun–the coming of the new. Blessings called from your heart for yourself and others. Cry out to the new with hope and prayers and good tidings. Blessings to you and yours in this season of joy and change.
by Endora

Yules Lessons from Days of Yore: Perfect Love, Perfect Trust

Yules Lessons from Days of Yore: Perfect Love, Perfect Trust
Author: Morbek

This is the season to celebrate! Over one third of the people on our planet celebrate the birth of a God around winter solstice. Point-two percent of the world’s population celebrate a major holiday of light during this time and twenty-two percent of our brothers and sisters in the family of man have a celebration of new beginnings and, a week or so later, another holy day, which commemorates freedom. All of this celebrating occurs around the Yuletide season. For Wiccans and Pagans, we celebrate the birth of the God and the waxing of his power as the days from Yule will get longer which leaves the night less frightening because it is getting shorter and less intimidating.

So, why even think about other religions during our holy season of Yule? I can sum it up in two words… Available Energy! With all the positive vibes roaming around think of the amazing magic that can happen if we harness and direct that energy for the good of our home. Well over half of mother Earths population considers this time of year sacred and, in western countries; those that are not religious still exude positive energy due to the consumer driven need to present gifts to one another in the spirit of Santa. That is a lot of people putting out positive vibrations!

Merry making is, indeed, infectious. Think of the community events, the parties that are held both in our workplace and our homes, the carols that are played twenty four seven by various media outlets, decking the halls and dressing up our pets that goes on in our culture. I will diligently search every year (and then be sure to watch) for Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer and A Charlie Brown Christmas because it’s not the same on DVD as it is on commercial TV. The deeply held traditions anyone who celebrates during the Yule tied season adds a type of power boost to the energy already being exuded into the environment.

Do I feel that we should greedily gather up all of this energy and use it for our selfish ends? Absolutely not…no way! That point may be moot anyway. A great deal of the sentiment in our surroundings is that of giving and loving nature. I would be hard pressed to manipulate it so that it would become egocentric. I am a lazy person by nature and that sounds to me like way too much work just to attain something that I could have acquired with other magic or by simply going to a store. The attempt would leave me way too exhausted to trim the Yule tree. What, then, do I think we should do with it and why?

Let’s examine the basis of the season and discuss what drives human beings to celebrate our planets personal star’s return into our lives. The apparent reason for the season is the New Year aspect. Back in the day, thousands of years ago when knowing the seasons was a matter of life and death for the entire group, not just an individual, people had to know when the shortest day of the year was so that they could allocate their remaining resources in order to survive until mother Earth, once again, shared her bounty with all. But there must be more to it than that. After all, in a season where ancient man had to be frugal out of necessity, traditions of benevolent works arose and persist to this day!

From an anthropologic point of view, we could discuss all manner of reasons for this to be occurring but the most likely one is, in my mind, the need to draw closer to each other. We need love and acceptance. What better way to foster those emotions in others than by kindness? I expect that when humans were still nomadic or just beginning to settle into an agricultural lifestyle, kindness was a rare commodity. I find it hard believe that (wo) man didn’t desire to be kind; I just don’t think that there was a lot of time and opportunity to exhibit philanthropically motivated deeds. Life was short and hard what with procuring food and water, internal and external tribal struggles as well as trying to understand the greater world around an individual.

In a time of meager reserves, giving to another from what is essential rather than what is surplus without expecting payment of any kind would be seen as the ultimate act of perfect love and perfect trust. The act would have made a deep impression upon the receiver and any bystanders in the immediate area. It would have caused quite a commotion and, as we all know, humans love to gossip. There is no way that anyone can convince me that thousands of years ago, even before the advent of the city, (wo) man didn’t enjoy telling and retelling of an event that profoundly touched them. Every time the story was told, the original emotions were felt and the deed was imprinted a little deeper into the person’s psyche. The next thing you know, that person is committing similar acts of kindness and the circle begins again.

In order for my theory to be valid, one must recognize that there is an inherent and ancient respect for the concepts of perfect love and perfect trust. The people that walk upon this planet have known for millennia that if you live by those philosophies, you will live a wonderful life filled with more joy than sorrow.

Back to all that mirth filled energy! If you intend to do something for our world this Yule, as I do, take hold of as much of that joyous stuff as you can handle and visualize healing. Our planet needs to be healed from pollution, over grazing from stock animals and way too much concrete and blacktop. The animals that are supposed to continue evolving need healing in order to adapt and progress along the paths that are intended for them. They need proper habitat and to be untouched, as much as possible, by the hands of (wo) man. Last but not least, the amazing creatures that can ponder the problems and devise solutions need healing as well. Humans are struggling to become more than just a flesh sack that reacts to stimuli.

I have noticed throughout the years that spirituality is becoming, more and more, a central focus of many of my brothers and sisters in this very large family. The wounds that need healing are immense gashes in our spirits: fear, jealousy, hypocrisy, greed and loneliness. Those wounds lead to behaviors such as; addiction, selfishness, emotional pain that must be countered with physical pain and a worldwide economy that is in such a horrific state of hopelessness that the innocents among us are the ones who are paying the price. And that price is very high! It includes hunger, illness, illiteracy and homelessness. Saddest fact of all: Our children are the ones who are paying the largest percentage of that bill.

That list has been around for as long as we have been able to acknowledge ourselves as spiritual beings in a material world. We strive, generation after generation, to lessen the effects that those infections of the soul have on our lives. Now, with a little help from the witches, that healing can begin in earnest because the available energy that we will be using is already imprinted with the best desires that we have deep within ourselves.

Feel the amazing power that surrounds us this time of year, remember that it is borne from perfect love and perfect trust, visualize what you believe to be remedies for a planet and its’ inhabitants who are ill and send all of that imprinted energy out into the universe to work the amazing miracles that we know are just waiting in the wings for someone who respects, understands and strives to live within the construct of perfect love and perfect trust to give those miracles the cue to enter the stage and start dazzling all of us with the healing and understanding that we all need.

May you have a blessed Yule Tide season!

Let’s Have Some Fun – Coloring Page Litha

Let’s Have Some Fun Coloring Page Litha

Let’s Have Some Fun – 2 Coloring Pages

WS 2

WS 3

WS

WS 4

Let’s Have Some Fun – Yule Coloring Page

A Yule Drink and Litha Cake – Combined Them for Brunch or a Snack for a Solstice Feast – Flashback to 2012

I know I have been doing separate posts for Yule and Litha things but when I came across these two recipes, in Llewellyn’s Witches’ Datebook 2012, one for each season of the year the two hemispheres are going into, they sounded yummy to me to have together. I apologize in advance for not calculating from American measurements to other parts of Mother Earth. I just found this website https://www.europeancuisines.com/ while it says European Cuisines it covers other countries measuring styles as well.

SIDE NOTE if you do not have a Sun shaped disc to pour the batter in use cookie cutters for whatever shapes remind you of the Sun or use a knife to cut out a shape. Even a young child could use cookie cutters with the child’s caregivers supervising. Then either eat the scraps from the cut outs or put them outside for the wildlife in your area to celebrate the Solstice with your family. This is a good day to have breakfast for dinner/supper/tea or use for part of your feast after your families Solstice ritual

Sun God Supreme

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 Tablespoons of melted butter or oil

1 egg

3/4 cup yogurt

Garnish with 3 cups cubed fruit, all colors

Sift dry ingredients together. Then separately whisk wet ingredients together. Combined wet and dry ingredients, mixing for no more then 20 strokes, one for each day in June (or December) until the Solstice. Let mixture sit for 10 minutes     while you prepare the fruit, set the table, and heat the frying pan lightly coated with oil or butter on a medium heat.

(SIDE NOTE Depending on the ages of the people attending your celebration feast designated cutting the fruit, setting and clearing the table, and doing dishes along with wiping the table and kitchen surfaces. If you allow a child of 3 to cut up their pancake with a plastic knife this can also be used to slice bananas or other soft fruit. This is a family celebration so let the family help with the work and as you are your homes’ Priestess or Priest you can relax and enjoy the feast and time together with a lot less stress) 

Pour batter into sun-shaped discs (or pour batter from a measuring cup with a lip to get lovely round pancakes.) cook until bubbles that have formed in the batter burst and make little dry craters. Flip one and briefly cook the other side. Serve on brighly colored plates surrounded by fruit of all colors, which represent the abundant growth and glory of the Earth Goddess. Drizzle with honey or maple syrup and enjoy.

Pancakes combine the traditional foods of Litha — butter, milk, cakes, and honey — represent the Sun God at the height of his reign.

Copyright Dallas Jennifer Cobb page 77

Magical Mulled Cider

(SIDE NOTE This cider contains no alcohol so the whole family can enjoy it. If you want to spike it for the adults I have used dark rum measured to taste of the person drinking it. It is also good cooled to room temperature but I did not like the taste after being chilled in the refrigerator)

1 quart (or 1 liter) apple cider

6 orange, sliced to look like the sun

12 whole cloves

1/8 teaspoon of nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

6 cinnamon sticks

Honey to taste

Toast the return of the Sun God, and the holy rebirth, with this warming drink when you gather with friends and family on the longest night of the year, Best made over an open fire, but easily concocted on a stove indoors will warm the hearth, heart, and home. Sip this and know anything is possible.

In a large pot combine apple cider which represents the Sun God, cloves, nutmeg, and ground cinnamon. Simmer for at least half an hour to make your house smell wonderfully festive, or longer for a stronger mulled taste. This simmering symbolically brings the God and Goddess together. and adds a little “spice” to the mix. Pour into a mug, carefully an orange slice into each cup. Add cinnamon stick and serve. Makes 6 servings.

Copyright by Dallas Jennifer Cobb page 129

Flashback 2005 – Litha

The Summer Solstice, the zenith of the sun, is an excellent time to do spells for abundance and prosperity. Take three green candles and three gold or bright yellow candles and put them in gold-colored or brass candlesticks. Arrange them in a circle on your altar or on a table, alternating colors. In the center of the candles, arrange money and symbols of money. Coins are good, for example, and dollar coins work especially well because they are gold colored. You might also put pictures or drawings of what form you want your abundance to take, like a new car, a bill paid, or stocks and bonds and other symbols of wealth and security.

cast a circle as you usually would. Then chant, “Sun so high, bring me your bounty, warmth, and prosperity, bring me success. Bring me the means to fulfill my desires, enough and some to share.” Repeat this chant and imagine the pile of coins on the altar growing, and the pictures and symbols becoming real. Hold the thought as long as you can, and as soon as your attention begins to waver, say, “So mote it be,” and quickly blow out all the candles. End your circle in the usual manner.

Source: Magenta Griffith in Llewellyn’s Witches’ Datebook 2005 Page 79

Flashback 2005 – Yule

Gather with friends at sunrise, or as soon after as possible, on the Winter Solstice. Meditate on the idea that this is the darkest time of year, but that light will return. As it is the circle of the year, so may it be in the world: that as the light grows, illumination and warmth extend through-out the globe. Concentrate on the idea of peace, understanding, and harmony between all peoples spreading as the light of the Sun spreads. Resolve to be a more peaceful person in the coming year and think of ways you could promote understanding. Feel in your heart of hearts that peace is not only possible be inevitable, that the time of war is over, that the human race is evolving past such foolish pursuits. Then sign a song of peace, like “Imagine” or “Give Peace a Chance” by John Lennon; “Universal Solider” by Donovan; or “Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream” which has been recorded by Joan Baez, the Weavers, Pete Seeger, among others. If you are alone and don’t wish to sing, play a peaceful selection of music – either folk songs or music like Pachebel’s Cannon or Dubussy’s La Mer –while concentrating on the same idea.

Source: Magenta Griffith in Llewellyn’s Witches’ Datebook 2005 Page

‘Twas The Night Before Samhain c 2018

‘Twas The Night Before Samhain

T’was the night before Samhain and all through the house,
Not a creature was stirring except for my spouse.

The incense it burned in his cauldron so black,
For Witchcraft and magick he’d a wondrous knack.

The Circle was drawn with the athame of power.
The Guardians were called to each Quarter tower.

The Lord and the Lady attended our rite,
In wonder and glory and power and might!

The Dearly Departed came as our guests,
To live once again, after their rest.

We bid them goodbye with a tear in our eye;
Such a lovely presence of Loved Ones so nigh…

The candles danced in the flickering light,
With the Great Rite we bid them all a good night.

The Guardians thanked have all sped away.
The Lord and the Lady, thanks for the day.

The night before Samhain, Gods bless this house,
A Circle of Wonder ’round me and my spouse.

(~Author Unknown)

Feast of Samhain c.2018

 

“The Celts honored the opposing balance of intertwining forces of existence: darkness and light, night and day, cold and heat, death and life. The Celtic year was divided into two seasons: the light and the dark, celebrating the light at Beltane on May 1st and the dark at Samhain on November 1st. Therefore, the Feast of Samhain marks one of the two great doorways of the Celtic year. Some believe that Samhain was the more important festival, since it marked the beginning of a new dark-light cycle. The Celts observed time as proceeding from darkness to light because they understood that in dark silence comes whisperings of new beginnings, the stirring of the seed below the ground. Therefore, the Celtic year began with the season of An Geamhradh, the dark Celtic winter, and ended with Am Foghar, the Celtic harvest. The Celtic day began at dusk, the beginning of the dark and cold night, and ended the following dusk, the end of a day of light and warmth. Since dusk is the beginning of the Celtic day, Samhain begins at dusk on October 31. Samhain marks the beginning of An Geamhradh as well as the New Year.    Whereas Beltane was welcomed in the summer light with joyous celebrations at dawn, the most magically potent time of Samhain was at night. Oidhche Shamhna, the Eve of Samhain, was the most important part of the celebration. Villagers gathered the best of the autumn harvest and slaughtered cattle for the feast. The focus of each village’s festivities was a great bonfire. Villagers cast the bones of the slaughtered cattle upon the flames. (Our word bonfire comes from these “bone fires.”) Personal prayers in the form of objects symbolizing the wishes of supplicants or ailments to be healed were cast into the fire. Many sacrifices and gifts were offered up in thanksgiving for the harvest. With the great bonfire roaring, the villagers extinguished all other fires. Each family then solemnly lit their hearth from the one great common flame, bonding all families of the village together. As they received the flame that marked this time of beginnings, people surely felt a sense of the kindling of new dreams, projects and hopes for the year to come.”

–   Feast of Samhain

A Very Happy and Blessed Samhain to All

The Wheel of the Year has turned completely around as we come to close of another year.

In the coming year may your and your family’s lives be filled with enough income to meet every thing you have to with some leftover for fun, more love, happiness, laughter, joy, and positive things!

Blessed be dear Sisters, Brother , and Honored Guests

How the Early Catholic Church Christianized Halloween

After the Romans conquered ancient Celtic realms, pagan traditions were adopted into a holiday honoring Catholic saints.

Halloween may be a secular affair today, dominated by candy, costumes and trick-or-treating, but the holiday is rooted in an annual Celtic pagan festival called Samhain (pronounced “SAH- wane”) that was then appropriated by the early Catholic Church some 1,200 years ago.

The ancient Celts were an assortment of tribes and small kingdoms once scattered across western and Central Europe with distinctive languages and culture, explains Frederick Suppe, a historian specializing in Celtic and medieval history at Ball State University in Indiana.

Even after the Romans conquered their realm, Celts continued to survive and thrive in places such as Brittany, Cornwall, Ireland, the Isle of Man, Scotland, and Wales.

Halloween Inspired by Samhain

Samhain, the Celtic festival that is the ancestor of Halloween, was related to the Celts’ way of looking at the world. “All the Celtic peoples conceived of a fundamental dichotomy between light and dark, with the former representing positive, lucky, fruitful values and the latter representing negative, threatening, destructive values,” Suppe explains.

The Celtic year began at sundown at the end of the autumn harvest, continued through the… Click here to read the rest of this article about How the Early Catholic Church Christianized Halloween

Let’s Have Some Fun – Beltane