The Circle of Goddesses

On December 22 at 12:30 AM Eastern Standard Time we celebrate Yule, Yuletide and the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year, with the correspondingly longest night. Yule is a solar festival, celebrated with fire and decorating trees, giving gifts, burning a Yule log, harvesting mistletoe and hanging evergreen boughs. After feasting, the tree is lighted and the Yule log is burned. A portion of the Yule log is saved to be used in next years lighting of the Yule log. This piece of the yule log is kept throughout the year to protect the home.

The seasons colors are red and green. Holly is used as decoration for this festival, originally named for the dark underground Crone-goddess Holle, or Hel, from whose womb the sun arose. The red berry symbolized the Goddess’ holy blood, shaper of all life, according to the oldest beliefs. The evergreen leaves of the holly represent ongoing life, retaining vitality through the winter, with an implied promise of immortality.

The Winter Solstice has long been associated with the birth of a ‘Divine child or King’ long before the rise of Christianity. Since the Sun represents the male deity, this time is honored as the return of the sun god, where he is reborn of the Goddess. Yule is centered around the idea of rebirth, assisting the newly born sun to grow in strength when it emerged from the dark womb of night. It is a time for reflection and celebration as we think about where we have been and anticipate the new Sun and its promise for increasing light, as the days start to slowly become longer and warmer.

The theme for Yule, is re-birth, with emphasis on the divine birth-giver rather than the one born, as in the Christian revision. The birth-giver is Hel, or the Dark Goddess, also known as Mother Night, Hecate, Myrrha, Cerridwen, Cybele-Nana, Black Demeter and many other names. Savior cults, such as of those of Jesus, Mithras and Attis, use this traditional birth season for their heroes and dying-resurrecting ‘god men’. In ancient cultures, they celebrated the birth of a divine child at this time, nine months after the god’s death and re-conception (resurrection) at the Spring Equinox.

The true origins of Halloween lie with the ancient Celtic tribes who lived in Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Brittany. For the Celts, November 1st marked the beginning of a New Year cycle and the coming of winter. The night before the New Year, they celebrated the festival of Samhain,  pronounced Sah-won, the Lord of the Dead on All Hallows Eve. In pagan mythology this is the night that marks the death of the Sun God as well as his simultaneous conception in the dark womb of Mother Earth. As the Sun God dies he makes preparation for his rebirth at the Yule celebrations where he will be found beneath the fir tree. Samhain celebrates the circle of life and the knowing that from death comes life as the circle continues not only in the earth and planting seasons but in our own personal lives as we prepare for the new year cycle.

During this festival, Celts believed the souls of the dead returned to mingle with the living. On the eve of Samhain, a veil between the worlds parts, allowing communion with ancestors and the spirit world. Families would leave their doors open and set tables with meals for the dead who return to visit. The purpose of this feast is to remember all those who have crossed to the other side and the love we shared with them. I always set a place for them at the table and cook a special dish that might have been their favorite. I put some food on a plate that put in the special setting I have set for them. We fill the mealtime with memories of them and talk about them, remembering the love and memories we shared with them. Upon the meal’s completion, traditional Celtic custom says to then place the ‘ancestor’ plate and cup outside so the wandering spirits can find it.

The element associated with Autumn is water, which is attached to our emotions and feelings. It is a time of letting go and releasing the things and situations that affected us negatively and caused us pain, and assimilating the spiritual growth that certainly came from those experiences. It is a time of leaving the things behind that no longer serve us on our journey to our soul’s perfection and being open to the new things we will attract for the same reason. As the year officially draws to a close and we mark the beginning of the New Year, it is a good time to let go of the old and make ready to embrace the new and all that the new year will bring. Is it new love? Is it new job or career? Will your relationship deepen and go to the next level? Are you embarking upon a personal journey of spiritual growth and development and need guidance? What lies in store for you in the new cycle of the year?  Lady Sarah or Sophia are able to see clearly into the coming year for you so that you are prepared and aware of what to expect!

The true origins of Halloween lie with the ancient Celtic tribes who lived in Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Brittany. For the Celts, November 1st marked the beginning of a new year cycle and the coming of winter. The night before the new year, they celebrated the festival of Samhain, pronounced Sow-one, the Lord of the Dead. During this festival, Celts believed the souls of the dead returned to mingle with the living. On the eve of Samhain, a veil between the worlds parts, allowing communion with ancestors and the spirit world. Families would leave their doors open and set tables with meals for the dead who returned to visit.The purpose of these feasts is to remember those who have died.

Have a blessed Samhain and All Hallows

Twas the evening of Samhain
By Cathor Steincamp

‘Twas the evening of Samhain, and all through the place
were pagans preparing the ritual space.
The candles were set in the corners with care,
in hopes that the Watchtowers soon would be there.

We all had our robes on (as is habitual)
and had just settled down and were starting our ritual
when out on the porch there arose such a chorus
that we went to the door, and waiting there for us
were children in costumes of various kinds
with visions of chocolate bright in their minds.

In all of our workings, we’d almost forgot,
but we had purchased candy (we’d purchased a LOT),
And so, as they flocked from all over the street,
they all got some chocolate or something else sweet.

We didn’t think twice of delaying our rite,
Kids just don’t have this much fun every night.
For hours they came, with the time-honored schtick
of giving a choice: a treat or a trick.

As is proper, the parents were there for the games,
Watching the children and calling their names.
“On Vader, On Leia,
On Dexter and DeeDee,
On Xena, on Buffy,
Casper and Tweety!
To the block of apartments
on the neighboring road;
You’ll get so much candy,
you’ll have to be TOWED!”

The volume of children eventually dropped,
and as it grew darker, it finally stopped.
But as we prepared to return to our rite,
One child more stepped out of the night.

She couldn’t have been more than twelve or thirteen.
Her hair was deep red, and her robe, forest green
with a simple gold cord tying off at the waist.
She’d a staff in her hand and a smile on her face.
No make-up, nor mask, or accompanying kitsch,
so we asked who she was; she replied “I’m a witch.
And no, I don’t fly through the sky on my broom;
I only use that thing for cleaning my room.
My magical powers aren’t really that neat,
but I won’t threaten tricks; I’ll just ask for a treat.”

We found it refreshing, so we gave incense cones,
A candle, a crystal, a few other stones,
And the rest of the candy (which might fill a van).
She turned to her father (a man dressed as Pan)
and laughed, “Yes, I know, Dad, it’s past time for bed,”
and started to leave, but she first turned and said
“I’m sorry for further delaying your rite.
Blessed Samhain to all, and a magical night.”

As the year officially draws to a close and we mark the beginning of the new year, it is a good time to let go of the old and make ready to embrace the new and all that the new year will bring. Is it new love? Is it new job or career? Will your relationship deepen and go to the next level? A psychic reading with Sophia or Lady Sarah can help you see what is leaving your life and what is coming in. You may find out more about our psychics by clicking on their images at left. To speak with them, please click on their Click4advisor buttons also at left.

This year’s fall equinox occurs on September 22nd. Mabon is the second grain harvest, nestled between the first harvest, Lughnasadh, and Samhain. It celebrates a moment of perfect balance – a time when light and dark, night and day are briefly and perfectly equal. Shortly after Mabon, the days become shorter, the nights longer, as the sun begins to wane; the year comes to an end to symbolically represent the waning of our own lives as we approach the death of the winter months.

Mabon is very much like Thanksgiving celebrated in the United States bringing with it an abundant harvest and all of its colors. It is a time when we reap the fruits of our labors, both seen and unseen. I Rich golden colors decorate our homes with symbols of the season. Corn, pumpkins and the cornucopia of the harvest adorn our porches with their brilliant gold, amber, russet and garnet until the winds of Samhain blow them away. The full moon closest to the Autumn Equinox is called the Harvest Moon, and farmers would harvest their corps by this moonlight as part of the Second Harvest celebration.

Mabon is named for a Celtic dying-resurrecting god. Between the times of Lughnasadh and Yule, there is an underlying awareness of approaching death, and the rebirth that most certainly comes with it. It is a time to celebrate the approaching darkness and the transformation it will most assuredly bring.

It is a time for journeys as animals begin their migration to where they will spend their winter. For us, however, it becomes a journey within where we assess and reassess the year’s joys and sorrows as we feel the year winding down just 6 weeks from now. As the Earth begins its death song, we once again begin to appreciate the things that are important to us, the things that truly last – our families, our friendships, our inner wisdom. It is a time of celebration to honor our experiences of the past year and gaze toward a brighter future.

Symbols of Mabon
Dieties: The Mother aspect of the Triple Goddess, Morgan, Mabon, Persephone, Aging Dieties
Food: Corn, Root vegetables, Nuts, Squash, Acorns, Wine and Ale
Colors: Gold, Orange, Brown, Yellow, Burgundy, Russet
Stones: Sapphire, Agate, Carnelian
Plants: Gourds, Pine Cones, Acorns, Pomegranate, Cedar
Herbs: Marigold, Milkweed, Sage, Cedar, Pine