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Witchcraft is a legally recognized religion in the United States,as declared in 1985, Dettmer V. Landon (617 E Supp.529) the District Court of Virginia pursuant to rule 52a of the Rules of Civil procedure. Reaffirmed in 1986 in the Federal Appeals Court, Fourth Circuit, Butzner J. (592 F. 2d. 934) Henceforth, Witchcraft and Witches are protected under the United States Constitution (Amendment I;XIV)
Tuesday, March 02 2010 @ 08:34 AM PST
Contributed by: summerfey
Views: 54
Gender Balance
Ritual
March is Gender
Equality Month. Throughout history, the war between the sexes has created a lot
of casualties. Although some of the worst inequities have been addressed,
domestic violence and sexual assault still haunt our society.
Monday, February 15 2010 @ 07:17 AM PST
Contributed by: summerfey
Views: 60
In the mysterious days of long ago, when
Ra-wen-io (Creator) was fixing the earth so that mankind might have a happy
place to live, all the trees had tongues and they talked.
There was much to talk about, for terrible
monsters roamed the world. None was so terrible as the stern warriors of Winter: Hadui, the storm wind, Hatoe, the frost God, and Gwenny-Oyent, the whirlwind.
These monsters fought the
trees and tried to tear them to bits because the trees loved Sun and his friends, Zephyr and Thaw, the kind chiefs of Spring.
Tuesday, February 02 2010 @ 07:32 AM PST
Contributed by: summerfey
Views: 109
CANDLEMAS
A wondrous force and
might Doth in these candels lie…
~ Barnaby Gouge: The Popish Kingdome
In keeping with the policy of
the Catholic Church to subsume pagan festivals into Christian feast-days, the
Day of Bride became equated with Candlemas on February 2nd, the feast of the
Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary.At this time, forty days after
childbirth, Mary was supposed to have gone to the Temple at Jerusalem to make
the traditional offering to purify herself. As she entered the temple, an old
man named Simeon recognized the baby as the Messiah of Israel, and a “light to
lighten the Gentiles.”
So, once again we encounter the
archetype of the young Sun or Light come to redeem the darkness, but now in
Christian clothing. Certainly, the service most used for this day in the
medieval church made much of this symbolism, playing upon images of the
appearance of divine light in the darkness of human sin, of renewal and rebirth
of light in the dark time of the year, and of the new light of heaven come to
transform an old world.
Thursday, January 07 2010 @ 08:33 AM PST
Contributed by: summerfey
Views: 176
The Goddess is Alive in Every Woman - The
True Story of How She Came to Be, How She Disappeared, and How She Returned
c. 1999, Susun S. Weed
In the beginning, everything began, as it always does, with birth. The Great
Mother of All gave birth, and the Earth began to breathe. Again, and again, and
again, the Great Mother gave birth. And the plants began to breathe and the
animals began to breathe and the two-legged ones began to breathe. All forms of
life began to breathe. To breathe, to live. In the air, on the land, in the
water, and even in the fires of deep sulfurous vents where light never shines,
all forms of life began to breathe. And they were all very hungry.
The following was written for a bardic circle
several years ago and is the telling of the myth as our ancestors might have
known it.
Long, long ago when the earth was new
And mankind was younger yet.
There came a time of the dark and cold.
Let never a soul forget.
There came a time when the ice drew nigh,
And the sky with snow turned grey.
And the earth grew hard, and the trees were bare,
And the timber wolf howled in the brae.
Huddled and cold the tribesmen sat
Round fires of peat and of moss.
And dreamed of the warm time, dreamed of the Lord,
And mourned for the Lady's loss.
For with the harvest had
come the Lord
And laid his body down,
To pay with his life for the earth's repast,
To yield to the Holly his crown.
Sunday, December 13 2009 @ 10:15 AM PST
Contributed by: summerfey
Views: 206
Hearth Folklore
For ancient cultures, the hearth was
the center of the home. It was the provider of warmth through the harsh winter
months, and also provided heat for cooking all meals. It was the gathering
place of the household. Fire has a special attraction for all of us. Within its
smoke and flame lies the origin of many religions. Fire, the element of
transformation, causes change to occur. It can be destructive, but through
destruction comes creation. The fire in the house was never allowed to die. It
was considered unfortunate if the household fire went out during the night. If
this occurred, hot coals would need to be borrowed from neighbors. If the coals
died while being transported home, it was an omen that the family would have an
unlucky future.
Wednesday, December 09 2009 @ 07:44 AM PST
Contributed by: summerfey
Views: 204
REINDEER
Santa's reindeer most probably evolved
from Herne, the Celtic HornedGod. Eight reindeer pull Santa's sleigh, representative of the eightsolar Sabbats. In British lore, the
stag is one of the five oldest andwisest animals in the world, embodying dignity,
power and integrity.From
their late Autumn dramatic rutting displays, stags representedstrength, sexuality and fertility. As evidenced by
multiple prehistoricexcavations
of stag antler ritual costumes, the wearing of stag antlersin folk dance recreated the sacred male shaman
figure called Lord of theWild Hunt, Cernunnos, or Herne the Hunter, among others--he who travelsbetween worlds, escorting animal
spirits to the afterlife and sparkingwisdom and fertility in this world. Likewise, the stag's
branchingantlers echo
the growth of vegetation. In America, the stag representsmale ideals: the ability to "walk one's
talk," and powerfully,peacefully blend stewardship and care of the tribe with sexual andspiritual integrity.
Saturday, December 05 2009 @ 10:52 AM PST
Contributed by: summerfey
Views: 332
The Yule Log
The Yule log is a central part of Yule festivities. The log
is kindled from the remains of the previous year's Yule fire. This piece was
kept in the home throughout the year for protection. The Yule log symbolizes
the light returning to conquer the darkness. According to tradition, the log
must either have been harvested from the householder's land, or given as a
gift...it must never have been bought. Once dragged into the house and placed
in the fireplace it was decorated in seasonal greenery, doused with cider or
ale, and dusted with flour before set ablaze. The log would burn throughout the
night, then smolder for 12 days after before being ceremonially put out.
A different type of Yule log, and perhaps one more suitable for modern practitioners
would be the type that is used as a base to hold three candles. Find a smaller
branch of oak or pine, and flatten one side so it sets upright. Drill three
holes in the top side to hold red, green, and white (season), green, gold, and
black (the Sun God), or white, red, and black (the Great Goddess). Continue to
decorate with greenery, red and gold bows, rosebuds, cloves, and dust with
flour.
Once, the Yule log had been the center of the celebration.
There are many traditional ways to collect your log; some collect a log at
Beltane and dry it out till Yule. Others use the thickest part of the Yule tree
trunk to save till it becomes next years Yule log. Still others will make a
ritual of trekking into the woods at Yuletide and dragging their Yule log home.
Friday, December 04 2009 @ 08:02 AM PST
Contributed by: summerfey
Views: 206
The Yule Faeries
Pagan children have few stories for
this time of year to counteract the flood of Christian material aired on
television, radio, and in movies. This is a Pagan tale for children to help
them enjoy the Winter Solstice and its beauty.
A group of little faeries huddled in
their home deep under the roots of a giant oak tree. They were safe and snug in
their tiny underground cave lined with dandelion fluff, bird feathers, and
dried moss. Outside, the wind blew cold and the snow fell softly down to cover the ground.
"I saw the Sun King today,"
the faerie named Rose said as she pulled her mossy cloak tighter about her.
"He looked so old and tired as he walked off through the forest. What is
wrong with him?"
"The great oak said he's
dying," answered Daffodil.
"Dying? Oh, what will we do
now?" Little Meadow-Grass started to cry. "If the Sun King dies, our
little plant-friends will not grow. The birds will not come and sing again.
Everything will be winter forever."
The waning and Dark Moon aspect of the Goddess is the
Crone. She is the Goddess of the end of things, of harvest and the time after harvest
before the new seeds are sprouted, when life seems to come to a stop and the
forces of growth are buried deep under the ground. She is the Goddess of
banishing, of bringing to an end those things which have reached the point at
which they require it. She is the Goddess of the wisdom of old age, of hidden
things, of darkness and silence and the solitude realized by each living thing
as it dies alone.
The Crone is a Shadow-figure to modern society. Even people
who resemble the Crone are avoided: old people, especially old women, are figures
of fear and loathing. Psychologically, there is much to be said about men's
fear of women, and of old women in particular. In her book THE CRONE, Barbara
Walker states: "Witch persecutions were one more manifestation of
men's never-ending effort to deny that negative archetype, the Crone Mother who
can destroy. Modern male prejudices against aging women represent another manifestation
of the same effort. Such prejudices are rarely studied with any degree of
frankness. Freud himself was subject to this male fear, but made heroic
efforts to suppress his own knowledge of it...
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This Month
October is the tenth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with a length of 31 days. The eighth month in the old Roman calendar, October retained its name (from the Greek "octo" meaning "eight") when January and February were added.
October's birthstone is the opal or tourmaline, and its birth flower is the calendula (pot marigold) or Camellia.
October is commonly associated with the season of autumn in the Northern hemisphere and spring in the Southern hemisphere, where it is the seasonal equivalent to April in the Southern Hemisphere and vice versa.
In common years January starts on the same day of the week as October, but no other month starts on the same day of the week as October in leap years.
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