Tag: Ariadne

The Goddess Calendar, The Month Hestia from December 26 – January 22

Dragons eye
The Goddess Calendar

Hestia
December 26 – January 22

26– First Day of Yuletide, Frau Sonne, Igaehindvo, The Star Faery, Sunne, Yemaya
27– Birth of Freyja(Norse Goddess of Fertility, Love and Beauty)
28– Half Month of Eoh(yew tree) Begins
29– Day of Nymphs, Andromeda, Ariadne, Artemis
30
31– New Year’s Eve, Hogmanay (Scottish New Year), Hogmagog(Scottish God of the Sun)
1– Fortuna, Jupiter, Juno, Janus, The Three Fates, Bertha(German Goddess), The Morrigan, The Parcae, Japanese Household Gods, New Year’s Day
2– Advent of Isis (Phoenecia), Inanna(Sumerian Queen of Heaven), Perihelion of the Earth
3– Dionysus, The Deer Mothers(Native American Spirit-Goddesses), Lenaia Festival (Greek), Pueblo Deer Dances, Kalends of January (French)
4– Sacrifice to the Seven Stars (Korea)
5– Feast of Befana (Roman)
6– Twelfth Night (England), Day of the Triple Goddess (Celtic), Kore, Persephone
7– Sekhmet
8– Babo, Freya, Justicia(Roman Goddess of Justice), Old Druid New Year, Midwife’s Day (Greek)
9
10– Day of Freyja (Norse), Iroquois Feast of Dreams, Geraint(Welsh Bard)
11– Carmentalia (Roman Nymphs of Prophecy), Juturno
12– The Lares(Roman Household Gods), Frigg(Chief Goddess of Old England), Festival of Saravasti (India), Compatlia (Roman)
13– Runic Half Month of Peorth(womb, dice cup) Begins, Tiu(Ancient Teutonic Chief God, Ruler of the Year), Feast of Brewing Midwinter’s Offering (Norse), Tiugunde Day
14– Surya(Indian God of the Sun)
15– Carmentalia(second festival), Feast of the Ass (Roman)
16– Concordia, Betoro Bromo(Indonesian God of Fire)
17– Felicitas(Roman Goddess of Good Fortune), Wassailing the Apple Trees (Celtic Britain)
18– Zao Jun(Chinese Kitchen-God), Theogamia of Hera (Greek)
19– Thor(Norse God of Thunder and Lightning), Thorrablottar/Husband’s Day (Iceland)
20– Grandmother’s Day (Bulgaria)
21– Celtic Tree Month of Luis(rowan) Begins, Yngona(Danish Goddess)
22– Festival of the Muses

Calendar of the Moon for October 8th

Calendar of the Moon

8 Gort/Puanepsion

Theseia

Colors: Red
Element: Fire
Altar: Upon cloth of red place crossed swords and spears, two torches, and a labyrinth.
Offerings: Give up something you love for the sake of duty. Gymnastika should, on this day, have competitive games and running.
Daily Meal: Meat and bread and wheat/milk porridge, the food that was given to the departing children by their parents.

Theseia Invocation

Long ago, when the world was younger,
Great Athens gave forth tribute to Crete,
Under Minos, father of the Bull.
The tax was their finest children, to be given
As bull-dancers to the Minotaur,
And Theseus, son of King Aigeus,
Son also of great Poseidon Earth-Shaker,
Traveled there in the tribute-band. He slew
The Minotaur in the center of his labyrinth,
Rescued his companions, and set the city afire
Before Poseidon shattered it with an earthquake.
He took with him also Ariadne, she of the Labyrinth,
Without whom he would not have succeeded,
With whom he planned to be husband and wife.
Yet she was claimed by Dionysos, and he
Was seized by Athena, patroness of heroes,
Patroness of his city, and weeping he forsook
His Cretan love, and weeping fled to Athens.
In his sorrow he did not change the sails
From black to white, as was the code agreed-upon,
And his father, seeing the black sails, killed himself.
So bereft of love and parent, he assumed the throne.
Theseus says to us: There will be times when Duty
Must come before any kind of love, and the Gods know this,
And will guide you away, even if in tears.
Do not be so ashamed to weep, O hero,
Even if no mourning stays your hand.

(All walk the labyrinth in the garden – every House should have one – chanting “Eleleu! Iou! Iou!” the cry of the sacrificing parents.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Calendar of the Sun for September 2

Calendar of the Sun

2 Halegmonath

Festival of the Grapevines II: Dionysos

Colors: Gold and purple
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon cloth of gold and purple lay eight purple candles, a chalice of wine, a thyrsus, a fawnskin, and many grapes and grapevines and bottles of wine.
Offerings: Do service work with alcoholics.
Daily Meal: Wine. Grape juice. Stuffed grape leaves. Goat meat. Lentils.

Invocation to Dionysos

Hail, Lord of the Vine!
Hail, Lord of the Lesser Madness
That keeps us safe from the Greater Lunacy!
IO Dionysos, Lord of the Vine,
We call upon the Womanly One,
child of Zeus and Semele.
We drink from your cup and join
The maenad train, O Lord of Masks
That teach the truth. In your cup we gain
Escape from care and ecstasy in the vine,
Your blessing under which
The sacred and profane became one
And the gods’ wedding party never ends.
Twice-born, we will give thanks,
We’ll tell our stories again and again
Of running with maenads
Of the secrets of the earth
And the heavens, and all that lies between,
Of fate, and time, and how to slip
Beyond their confines into immortality.
We’ll teach your mysteries,
Which teach other mysteries,
To all who will listen.
Hail, husband of Ariadne,
Hail, consort of the Mistress of the Labyrinth!
May we continue to be blessed with joy
And the yearly growth of all ripe fruiting.

Chant: Io Dionysos Io Dionysos

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Calendar of the Sun for September 1

Calendar of the Sun

1 Halegmonath

Festival of the Grapevines I: Ariadne

Colors: Gold and purple
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon cloth of gold and purple lay eight purple candles, a chalice of wine, a whip, the figure of a labyrinth, and many grapevines intertwined with serpents.
Offerings: Walk the labyrinth and leave a secret offering of your choice.
Daily Meal: Wine. Grape juice. Stuffed grape leaves. Goat meat. Lentils.

Invocation to Ariadne

Hail, Mistress of the Labyrinth,
Lady of the Coiled Serpents
That crawl under the earth
In curling trails like your twisting path.
Your hands hold the thread of instinct
That brings us unerringly through the turns,
That brings us from our center
To the Heart of all that is
And safely back again.
Hail, Lady of the Mysteries,
Your robes smoky with dark incense
Of the dark temple secrets lying
Under the quiet earth, under our feet.
Your hands receive the torn goat heart
From the bloody fury on the shore of Naxos.
Your hands receive the upturned faces
And the weeping initiates beneath the lash,
You are old in your mysteries
Yet still young enough to love anew.
Hail, Mistress of the Labyrinth,
Bride of the Grapevine God,
Crown of Stars like a sigil in the sky,
Stones below the dancing feet,
The anchor for the call of madness.
All things circle, all things cycle,
Whispers the Mistress of the Labyrinth
Into our wondering ears.

(All walk the labyrinth together, bearing offerings, and leave them in the center. The wine is passed and the remainder poured out as a libation.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

The Wicca Book Of Days for March 17th – A Liberal Festival

The Wicca Book of Days for March 17th

A Liberal Festival

The Liberalia was celebrated in ancient Rome on March 17, this being a festival dedicated to the God Liber or Liber Pater (“Liber, the Father”) – a deity who was said to make seeds fertile, and who was also associated with Bacchus (the Greek Dionysus) – and to the Goddess Libera, who was identified with the maiden Goddesses Proserpine (the Greek Persephone) and Ariadne. That the Latin word liber can also mean “free” may give you some indication of the riotous nature of the Liberalia, which took place at the time of year when seeds were being sown in the hope that they would grow vigorously, and that the harvest would be rich.

Cherish Your Chalice

Wine was offered during the Liberalia, and you may wish to do the same. A chalice is an essential tool for Wiccans/Witches, making this a good time to invest in a new one, or cherish your existing one. It also represents the Piscean element of water and the feminine principle.