Seasons of the Witch – Legends and Lore, Ancient Holidays

And Some Not So Ancient!

 

Today Is …

 

Day of Hatshepsut. On this day each year, the eighteenth dynasty Healer Queen of ancient Egypt is honored. Healing rituals are performed by many Pagans.

The Procession of Witches: In Belgium, a centuries-old event known as The Procession of Witches takes place every year on this day.

Greater Panatheneae – This Athenian festival, the most important of the year, was celebrated every fifth year on the last day of the first month of the year, in the brilliant heat and light of summer. It was a time for excess and the display of the new peplos or veil, woven for Athena out of white wool and gold threads, which was so large it was used as a sail on one of the boats in her procession.

St. Pantaleon – I had to include this holiday out of affection for the daimon, Panteleon, in the wonderful trilogy by Phillip Pullman, which begins with The Golden Compass. St Panteleon (whose name means all-compassionate) was supposedly the personal physician of the emperor Maximiam. He is a patron of doctors and midwives. Blackburn, Bonnie & Leofranc Holford-Strevens, The Oxford Companion to the Year, Oxford University Press 1999

Seven Sleepers – According to myth, seven Christian youths of Ephesus hid in a cave to avoid the Decian persecution (250), were walled up by the emperor, fell asleep and woke up nearly 200 years later whereupon they testified to the resurrection of the dead and fell back asleep. Whenever they turn over, bad luck follows. I’ve never seen any details about how to celebrate this holiday but the title is suggestive. Sleep all day? Blackburn, Bonnie & Leofranc Holford-Strevens, The Oxford Companion to the Year, Oxford University Press 1999

Black Crom’s Sunday – In Ireland, on the Sunday before Lammas, pilgrims climb mountains and high places, particularly Croah-patrick in County Mayo, where Patrick allegedly fasted for 40 days and battled demons. Until then the mountain was sacred to a pagan deity, Crom Cruach (Crom of the Reek). Pilgrims often climb the mountain barefoot.

Bilberry Sunday – The Sundays before and after Lammas were the usual times for celebrating a feast that was essentially communnal. People climbed to the top of high mountains, picking bilberries as they went, thus giving rise to the popular name of Bilberry Sunday. Bilberries (also known as whortle-berries and blaeberries) are the small, dark-blue berries of the vaccinium myrtillus a hardy shrub that grow on heaths and sunny moors in Great Britain and Northern Europe. They are one of the first berries to ripen (in Seattle, I go out picking blackberries on this day). In some places, boys thread the berries on grass stalks and make bracelets of them for the girls of their choice. In Cashel Plantin’ in County Armagh, these strung berries were brought home as presents and kept around the house for luck.

Often people left offerings of flowers and grains at the top of the mountains. Many scholars believe this was because Lugh was a sun-god. But some of the Irish folks surveyed by MacNeill said the offerings were left for the fairies, who would be extraordinarily active on quarter days. MacNeill believes the practice of standing on a peak overlooking the landscape, keep alive a passion for the land and its history.

MacNeill, Maire, The Festival of Lughnasa, Oxford University Press 1962
Blackburn, Bonnie & Leofranc Holford-Strevens, The Oxford Companion to the Year, Oxford University Press 1999

Remember The Ancient Ways and Keep Them Holy!

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Courtesy of GrannyMoonsMorningFeast