Liza Simpson Wiccana

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La religi'on Wicca llego para quedarse. Ya hasta en series famosas de televisi'on podemos dar fe de que se nos toma en cuenta. Veamos por ejemplo los Simpsons y su hija Liza.

Lisa Marie Simpsons es uno de los personajes de la serie animada de televisi'on. Aunque apoya a la iglesia cristiana en la que fue criada, Lisa practica el budismo y toma la decisi'on de seguir el 'octuple noble sendero. Aunque aparentemente no es una seguidora, ella dice en un episodio que considera a la Wicca como 'una religi'on muy poderosa'. He aqu'i el episodio donde Liza tiene su encuentro con la Wicca. Esta en ingles pero tiene subt'itulos. By the way, un aparte. Este video lo encontr'e en la secci'on de Paganos de Costa Rica del cual me honro en ser parte en Facebook. Les dejo su direcci'on tambi'en para que se den la vuelta y conozcan gente buena. Saludos a R'oger que fue quien publico el video. Seguimos dando fe de que en todos los pa'ises de habla hispana la wicca sigue creciendo. Agradezco a todos los que se han unido a este blog Puerto Rico Wicca...poco a poco estamos creciendo y nuestro compromiso se hace mayor. Disfruten el video.

Paganos de Costa Rica

Grupo para Paganos, Wiccanos, y son bienvenidos los estudiosos del esoterismo, astrolog'ia, metaf'isica, chamanismo y magia

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=150693808541

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Tareas Para El Ao Nuevo De Una Brujilla

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Ahora que entramos en un a~no nuevo, ?qu'e podemos hacer como brujos?, pues a mi me gusta organizar todo, no se porqu'e el 1 de enero me levanto con muchas ganas de ordenar, y hacer cambios. Empezando por mi diario m'agico, que si lo he ido dejando anoto los datos relevantes de cosas que me han pasado que tengan que ver con la Wicca, el Paganismo y la Brujer'ia. Otra cosa que hago todos los a~nos en enero es leer todo lo que he anotado en mi diario el a~no anterior, y hacer balance, siempre hago una lista de objetivos a cumplir, la repaso y escribo lo que he conseguido y escribo una lista nueva para el a~no nuevo, siempre cambiamos muchas prioridades, pero otras permanecen. Tambi'en me hago tiradas de tarot para ver como me ir'a el a~no, y explico como se ha cumplido todo lo de la tirada del a~no anterior, es genial.

Volviendo a lo de los prop'ositos, es importante hacer balance, por que el a~no que se fue nos dio muchas cosas, algunas buenas y otras malas, pero que nos hicieron aprender y crecer, ahora sabemos lo que hemos conseguido de ese a~no, pero debemos tener en mente ?qu'e queremos conseguir de este a~no que acaba de entrar? Hay brujas que incluso hacen un panel donde apuntan en grande sus objetivos, les ponen im'agenes y lo cuelgan para verlo siempre y tener sus objetivos presentes todo el a~no, para no olvidarse.

Tambi'en me gusta revisar mis LDS para actualizar lo que haga falta. Revisar mis blogs, por si hay algo desactualizado. Revisar mis plantas, porque los d'ias de navidad suelen ser muy ajetreados, y se quedan un poco olvidadas. Hoy he estado quitando hojas secas a mis plantitas, y las flores mustias de los cactus de navidad. Y como est'a siendo un invierno realmente caluroso, ya hoy he plantado algunas semillas de ruda y melisa, aunque yo suelo plantarlas en febrero, pero con este calor, nacer'an bien en este tiempo, y mi melisa se muri'o en oto~no.

He revisado las semillas que tengo (inventario de bruja verde, jajaja), y pensado en las que tengo que comprar, que ya las puedo comprar si quiero porque planto en febrero.

Incluso estoy pensando ya en Imbolc, que es uno de mis Sabbats favoritos, igual que no tengo ningunas ganas en Yule, en Imbolc me lleno de ganas, ser'a el retorno del sol que me llena de energ'ias.

Otra cosa importante es lo que yo llamo la Desintoxicaci'on tras la fiesta, nos hemos puesto ciegos de manjares, ja ja ja, hemos cocinado de todo, y hemos ingerido m'as de la cuenta. Ahora en estos d'ias que vienen toca desintoxicar nuestro organismo un poco, ?c'omo? Pues haciendo comidas m'as ligeras, libres de grasas, comiendo muchas frutas y verduras, agua mineral, muchas infusiones, incluso hay quienes hacen ayuno. Vuestro cuerpo os lo agradecer'a.

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Witchcraft Paganism And Folk Magic

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"Despite my 20 years of self-identification as a Druid, I spent my early years seeking to be a Witch. This was back in the 1960s and 70s when there was no such thing (mostly) as self-initiation, and no non-initiated popular 'Wicca'. In the occult fashions of the period, Witchcraft was understood as a religion, one that taught the practice of magic, and that's what I looked for, and found. You can "read some of my stuff on all that", and on the history of the idea of the witch in a back post here."

"This post is an effort to compose my mind around the relationship between the terms and concepts 'witchcraft', 'Paganism' and 'folk-magic', sparked by discussions on a Traditional Craft list I've been reading. If any of those readers find this controversial, I can only express my respect for the feel and content of the work being done under the Traditional Witchcraft tag, and plead a hardened and skeptical mind..."

I'm confused. Or rather I can't tell whether I'm confused - and that's really confused.

For the past several years I've been reading various books and articles and blogs discussing what is now being called 'Traditional Witchcraft' or 'the traditional Craft'. These books present a form of magical practice, and sometimes of Pagan religion, that claims to represent forms of practice and belief older and more authentically structured than those of the Gardnerian and Alexandrian Crafts, and their popular imitators. Because of my general understanding of the 'occult' scene - i.e. that it is traditional to back-date materials and claim lineage and history that one does not have - I have tended to discount the claims of greater age. Because of some obvious-to-me failures of folklore and scholasticism, and because not a single secret document or old artifact has been revealed by any of these systems, I have tended to discount claims that it represents survival Paganism any more than does post-Gardnerian Wicca. So, in this little discussion I mean to set out my thinking on the topics of the survival of Pagan ways into the early modern period (1.e. 1600-ish and later), and how that relates to the practice of magic and other 'occult' traditions along the way.

Pagan Survival

First, I still consider it entirely unlikely that worship of European Pagan deities consciously continued into modern times from the late Pagan and medieval periods. There are a couple of possible exceptions, such as the Baltic cultures and possibly a trickle of direct survival among Scandinavians. Baltic Paganism was firmly living in 1250 ce, and some Baltic folk customs have certainly continued unbroken. But even they have trouble showing continuity through the late medieval, and many of the ways were 'revived' in the folkish rediscovery times of the late 18th and 19th centuries.

In Western Europe the case is much weaker. Folklore collections of the early modern period do find traces of memory of Pagan images and vocabulary, and literate magical tradition, largely unbroken since the fall of Rome, would flower in the creation of what we call the grimoires in the 1700s and 1800s. In those magical basic-training manuals you can find a few garbled remnants of the ancient Gods, and a great deal of ritual action that is authentically old. However, the possibility of deliberate worship of the classical Gods apart from the seven planets of astrology seems to be undocumented in any way. There are no folkloric or personal records of rites of Pagan worship from early modern times, and those could not have been any more illicit than the manuals of demon-summoning that were extensively copied and distributed. If there were a tradition of Pagan magical and ritual practice that lasted into literate times I'd expect it to have left some remnants.

If we want to measure whether or not some bit of folk culture is "Pagan' or not, we might use several different standards. Most obviously, we can ask whether the material involves the active worship of Gods or spirits identifiable in pre-Christian sources. In almost every case, this brings us a negative answer - early modern magical and folkloric material has very little of that. We can find a few examples in Gaelic and Scandinavian countries, such as the offering to Manannan in Scotland, or other offerings to the sidhe or troll folk. There also might be a little something in the 'fairy evocation' workings of early modern magicians - if we think that King Oberion is some sort of survival. What resemblance later 'fairy faith' customs might have to pre-Christian customs is unknowable at this time, but we might give the benefit of that doubt if we like. However, the literate magical tradition, which was so important in transmitting technique and content over the centuries, seems to preserve nearly nothing of this sort. That does not, of course, prove absence but it does make presence less likely.

What seems clear is that traffic with spirits, uses of 'sympathetic' magic, herbal charms, other natural charms with bones, skins, woods, etc and many other magical and occult practices did persist into modern times. Is this material 'Pagan'? If measured by whether or not such things call upon Pagan deities, then the answer would be no. Barring a very few examples from Scandinavia, we see none of that. If close resemblance to practices and customs that Pagans would have used is our measure, there's some chance for that to be the case. Each of the practices mentioned is clearly described in pre-Christian literate magical sources. On a spiritual level, calling upon land-wights and the dead may be as Pagan in 1890 as in 890, even if all the names have changed. Still, without a conscious intention on the part of the practitioner to call upon spiritual powers other than the Christian pantheon, (including its demons) I'm hesitant to refer to the rites used by 18th and 19th century charmers and cunning folk as Pagan. So, if we don't classify traditional folk-magic as Pagan, shall we classify it as 'witchcraft'?

Witchcraft

The word wicce is first plainly used in context of Pagan religion. Of course we have no Germanic mythic or ritual material written down by Pagans (nor any Celtic). Some of the first references to wicce or wicca we find are from Roman church laws and proclamations. I found:

"If any wicca (witch), wiglaer (wizard), false swearer, morthwyrtha (worshipper of the dead) or any foul contaminated, manifest horcwenan(whore), be anywhere in the land, man shall drive them out."

And:

The word wicca is associated with animistic healing rites in Halitgar's Latin Penitential (c.890 ce) where it is stated that:

"Some men are so blind that they bring their offering to earth-fast stone and also to trees and to wellsprings, as the witches teach, and are unwilling to understand how stupidly they do or how that dead stone or that dumb tree might help them or give forth health when they themselves are never able to stir from their place."

These plainly refer to 'wiccan'(pl) as religious, as well as magical practitioners - there's little functional difference between religion and magic in many traditional cultures.

It does seem likely that a wicce in Anglo-Saxon Britain would have occupied the place later approximated by the cunning man or woman. Cures, uncrossings, finding lost things, far-seeing and fortelling, dealing with problems with local wights and ghosts would have been standard stock in trade. Because of the screen of the monkish authors, we cannot see whether these same people helped householders to make proper sacrifices, or tended forest shrines and temples, or lived as functional 'priests' or 'clergy' in villages. I suspect they did. "As the witches teach" seems to me to suggest a central place in religion as well as magic.

Other Christian descriptions of 'witches' and 'witchcraft' retain this Pagan religious atmosphere. One of the late references to Pagan deity is found in the famous Canon Episcopi (c.875 ce):

"Have you believed or have you shared a superstition to which some wicked women claim to have given themselves, instruments of Satan, fooled by diabolical phantasms? During the night, with Diana, the pagan goddess, in the company of a crowd of other women, they ride the backs of animals, traversing great distances during the silence of the deep night, obeying Diana's orders as their mistress and putting themselves at her service during certain specified nights.... Thus they leave the true faith and fall into pagan error in believing that a god or goddess can exist besides the only God."

So from about the same period as the previous clerical reference we have Church authorities plainly identifying Pagan deity as the source of opposition. Certainly we can hold out for 'witchcraft' of that period to have been Pagan survival, infused with Pagan religion. This leads me to want to define witchcraft as part of Pagan religious phenomena.

So for their first 500 years or so, the church slowly ate away at the Pagan memory, outlawing the practices, destroying the shrines, and teaching the next generations. The next wave of rinsing-away of Pagan content from European folk tradition seems to have been the propagation of the 'satanic witch' by the church. The Pagan gods and spirits, as their ways were forgotten became replaced, in literate narratives and in folk-magic charms, by mythic figures from Christianity. Conjuring that might once have been done under the blessing of the Dead was perhaps transferred to the saints, Gods with the Trinity, etc. Wells and caves were baptised in the new religion. But whatever the church couldn't fit into it's ways - the wild revels, the sacrifices, the dealings with strange wights, divinations,etc, became 'sorcery' and witchcraft, and eventually heresy.

When the witch 'craze' begins, around 1400 the church produces a description of witchcraft that is once again plainly religious. Diana and the nature spirits have been forgotten, and replaced with 'the Devil' and his imps. The delightful Pagan revels of folk memory (and likely ongoing practice, whether with or without Pagan religious content) became the outre Witches Sabbath, reviving classical fears of cannibalism, infanticide and debauch.

The greatest blow to folk memory of Pagan ways in Europe seems to have been the Protestant reform. The destruction of the Roman church's structures and the prohibition of their folk customs was a harsh break in continuity in much of western Europe. The Protestant leaders taught that Catholic rites were little better than witchcraft, and the image of the black-robed wizard and his book and staff owes a great deal to the Protestant memory of the Roman Catholic bishop or priest. In the end folkways often reasserted themselves, but had to be reconstructed, if only from a generation or two of lapse.

Cunning Craft

So, it gets to be 1650 or so, and Europe is blinking and waking up from the stress of the renaissance and reformation, and the birth of science, and the end of church hegemony. We see the birth of the modern wave of occultism, in the Masons and other fraternal orders, the rise of democracy and personal choice in religion, and the synthesis of ritual magic that comes through the grimoires. By this time literacy is more wide-spread; literate magic and folk-magic become closely entwined.

I think that it's in this period that we see begin to see magical practice divorced from the popular religion of its culture. By the late 1700s both religion and rationalism argued against magic, while the popular demand for the arts remained steady. Religion was no longer monolithic or implicit, and citizens began to view themselves as having a choice as to what and whether they worshipped. The cunning man of that time might have his choice of ideas available in folkways and literature.

Here's the thing - I don't see why these secular-ish cunning folk of early modern times are 'witches'. Witch in parlance by that time almost always meant malefice - the cunning folk mastered witches - that is, they defeated them. A witch-master turned aside the malefice of the witches still imagined by the rural people (or actual evil magic, on occasion, I suppose...). Of course the church's definition made witchcraft and magic identical - all 'magic' (as opposed to orthodox spiritual practice, which was 'religion' whether or not it precisely resembled magical techniques) was powered by Satan and his demons, and all magicians had made at least a tacit pact with Satan. So when popular parlance referred to cunningfolk as 'witches' they didn't mean 'wise ones' or 'charmers', they meant 'evil magic-users'.

Looking from the perspective of practitioners I have trouble finding much of pre-Christian survival in the cunningman's bag. Of course some of the basics of magic don't change, but the content of the material has often been thoroughly Christianized. What has never been discovered is a cunningman's work in which the devil is worshipped in a religious fashion, or which calls on Pagan gods or spirits (apart from the very Christianized spirits of the planets...). Just at this moment I cannot recall instruction for any cult of the dead practices, or genius-locus practice, though those could be hidden under works about 'terrestrial demons', etc. Of course both such spirits are employed implicitly in using natural objects, proper waters, woods, etc, but this is pretty heavily disguised or forgotten in early-modern instructions. To the extent that the cunning worker made a 'pact' with some local wight, I suppose that's a Pagan element in survival.

Now, I do think it's fair to say that revival Witchcraft has drawn on the cunningman's sources, while adding a broader list of folklore and mythic sources as a spiritual or religious overlay. Gardner's quartered circle, tool set, and style of circle-casting owes a good deal to the same grimoire sources that cunningfolk would have known. Methods of divination, of spirit arte and of making charms and talismans have migrated into non-Gardnerian forms of revival. However, as far as I can see, this is a case of modern revivals imitating literary sources. I have yet to encounter any evidence for direct inheritance of Pagan content. In cunning craft we find invocations of God and the Saints, the angels and archangels, demons of the sort found in the grimoires occasionally even of the early-modern notion of 'fairies'. Most of these have little or no apparent relation to the ways of a wicce, or of a dreeman, much less of a truly pre-Christian, western European magic-user.

All of this inclines me to make a sharp distinction between the cunning man's art and witchcraft. We have solid vocabulary words that help make sense out of magical practice - folk magic, astrology, conjury, charming, all plainly describe cunning art, while applying the strange term 'witchcraft' to it only seems to imply that cunning arts involved the worship of illicit (whether Pagan or demonological) spirits. While some cunning folk did describe their relation with a familiar, all is presented in a thoroughly Christian mythic setting.

Neopagan Witchcraft

I define all known modern examples of conscious Paganism, including Pagan Witchcraft, as Neopagan. I remain unconvinced that active worship of the Old Gods, or unbroken pre-Christian initiatory lineages, continued in secret circles anywhere in Europe - and least likely in western Europe. Therefore all modern people who consciously worship (i.e. enter into magico-religious relationship with) spirits not from the Christian pantheon are drawing on recent (whether 70 years old or 170 years old, oldest...) reconstructions. Thus, we are Neopagans.

I disapprove of using 'neopagan' to refer to or exclude any specific style of modern Paganism. Hellenic or Saxon reconstructionists are as neopagan as tie-dyed eclectics with hoola-hoops. Neopagan refers to the family of magico-religious movements that first arose in the 20th century (maybe the late 19th...) in which I would include Asatru, Wicca, Traditional Witchcraft (not traditional folk-magic), Thelema, the various ethnic reconstructionisms and no doubt a long list of smaller systems. There's some chance that Baltic religion retains some unbroken lines of practice, but even that is uncertain.

In the same way, I rather think that using 'witchcraft' to refer to folk-magic practices divorced from religious context is needlessly confusing, and mixes very different ideas. Witchcraft has almost always referred to systems connected with religion (apart from anthropological usage, which I haven't dealt with here), and at least the term should be modified by whatever religious system it's worked in. In this sense one can be a 'Christian Witch', even if being a Christian Wiccan is a contradiction in terms (as it would have been in the Old English usage). However, traditional magic-users in cultural intact settings simply don't use the term 'witch' or 'witchcraft' for what they do. When you find someone using that term, it almost always indicates conscious reinvention.

Conclusion (-lessness)

So, there's no real conclusion to this screed...

Those who are attracted to the idea of witchcraft will continue to devise methods to express their self-identification. One of the things I like best about the Trad Craft trend is its interest in using authentic sources to reconstruct what a Pagan cunning practice might be like. For me, as a fairly liberal reconstructionist Pagan, I just don't have an interest in reconstructing the world or worldview of 17th century Europe - it's too latter-period, already too stripped of myth and mystery, with only scraps and tag-ends of the pre-Christian material that pushes my buttons. I don't assume that 17th century folkways retain much of pre-Christian lore, and find archeology and observation of surviving tribal and polytheistc ways to be at least as instructive about what Pagan magic might have looked like as what remained in the last few centuries.

Did this walk through a confused topic make me feel less confused... maybe a little...

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More February Lore

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February was named for the Roman goddess Februa, mother of Mars. As patroness of passion, she was also known as Juno Februa and St. Febronia from febris, the fever of love. Her orgiastic rites were held on February 14th, St.Valentine's Day. In Norse traditions, she is equated with Sjofn.

The Irish called this month Feabhra or an Gearran, the gelding or horse. The horse was used to draw the plough, but Gearran also means 'to cut' and 'Gearran' can be used to describe the 'cutting' Spring winds. To the Anglo-Saxons, this was Solmonath, "sun month," in honor of the gradual return of the light after the darkness of winter. According to Franking and Asatru traditions, this month is Horning, from horn, the turn of the year.

The first full moon of February is called the Quickening Moon. It shares the titles Snow Moon with January and November, Wolf Moon with January and December, and Storm Moon with March and November. February's Moon is also called the Hunger or Hungry Moon, and it has been called the Ice, Wild, Red and Cleansing, or Big Winter Moon.

Aquarius and Pisces share power over February, with Pisces taking over around the 19th of February. Violet is the flower for those born in February. Though jacinth and pearl appear on some lists, amethyst is the jewel for those born in this month and for Pisces, while aquamarine is the stone for Aquarians. Other stones associated with Aquarius are chrysoprase, garnet, labradorite, lapis lazuli, and opal. Albite, aquamarine, chrysoprase, fluorite, green tourmaline, labradorite, moonstone, and opal are linked to Pisces.

Found at: Angelfire.com

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Mars The Marcher

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"You're right to come, Marcher; your days demand their place and the month that bears your stamp is here." ~" March (Martius), the first month of the lunar calendar, was named after Mars and the entire month was dedicated to Him. The festivals reflected a purification and regeneration of the arms and fields, marking a time when farmers had to think of cultivating and protecting their lands. The efficacy of Mars' divine aid was much needed in preparation for the seasonal crop growth and upcoming military campaigns, as wars often began or were renewed in the spring.

March 1st was the lunar calendar's New Year's Day, and may have also been Mars' birthday. The festival of Quinquatrus (named for its length of five consecutive days) commenced on 19 March when the ancilia of the Salii and the weapons of the whole army were purified. On 23 March, the Romans venerated Mars during the Tubilustrium, a cleansing ceremony for the trumpets used in sacred rites and the instruments of the entire army. A subsequent purification rite was performed on 19 October during the Armilustrium, and the Salii, commemorating the return of the legions in the fall, made their final procession through the streets of Rome. It signified the end of the military campaign season when arma (arms) and ancilia were purified and laid to rest for the winter.

HOW DO WE RELATE TO MARS TODAY?

Mars is still the essence of the god from antiquity. He is still the captivating aggressor, the rouser, and the protagonist of destiny; breathtakingly candid in His purpose and deliberate in His bounty. Mars personifies a vigorous energy that carries with it its own reproductive weight, immersed in singular ambition, and seldom outdone. He is the quintessential model of male sexuality; the catalyst for creation Who leaves little doubt that our perpetuation is imminent and our survival inevitable. Yet His artful passion is lucid; a flowing expression steeped in honorific intent and delivered with remarkably unbiased conveyance. The expression of our basic needs remains the one true constant among all living beings. When we peel back the layers of aspirations and ideals, we reach the crux of the human race with uncanny fidelity; the instinctual drives that have served us so well. It is here, at this center that we find Mars, ceaselessly reminding us that no matter how far we venture from this place, the road back is always nearer than we realize.

HOW DO WE HONOR MARS TODAY?

Mars represents the instinctive nature still evident in all species: that of survival and protection. In antiquity, Mars' reigning aspects were interwoven into a society that understood a definable application of pursuit and preservation. The Romans recognized the necessity of this sequence as the occurring truth behind any deliberate progress. These enduring principles are at the very heart of Perpituitas (see Virtues page); qualities attributed to our role as the caretakers of our posterity. In His warrior aspect we associate Mars with iron, but an iron will is of the same caliber. Protection has always been our gift to those we love, and a duty to ourselves. Though we no longer spend our days in the fields, the fruits of our labors still determine the quality of our life.

Pray to Mars when you need to shift into another gear, to bring your purpose from wishful pondering to fruition and culmination. Look to Mars when your spirit needs reawakening and you find yourself lost in the cycle of delay, needing to summon up the courage to act. When the mundane begins to chisel your determination into quiet resignation, let Mars hear your call to arms. His still powerful voice speaks volumes to all who listen. Mars continues to provoke and ignite while craftily providing us with His earthly wisdom; those universal gifts of our own nature which allow us to fully embrace our life's experience and remain secure in our duration.

ASPECTS:

* - He that walks in battle
* - Unconquered Mars
* - Mars the Father
*" Silvanus, Mars "- Mars the Avenger

MAIN FESTIVALS:

* Febuary 27 and March 14 - "- FESTIVAL OF HORSE RACING
* March 1 -" of Mars "- ROMAN NEW YEAR AND BIRTHDAY OF MARS
* March 19 - "- WEAPONS OF THE WHOLE ARMY WERE PURIFIED
* March 23 and May 23 -" - C LEANSING CEREMONY FOR THE TRUMPETS USED IN SACRED RITES AND THE INSTRUMENTS OF THE ENTIRE ARMY
* May 14 -" of Mars "* October 15 - * October 19 - "- COMMEMORATING THE RETURN OF THE LEGIONS IN THE FALL

MONTHS SACRED TO MARS:

* March
* October

OFFERINGS:

* Laurel,
* wine,
* spelt cakes,
* bacon fat,
* meat

COMMON PRAYERS TO MARS IN ANTIQUITY WERE FOR:

* Agricultural fertility,
* prevention of diseases and bad water,
* safety of shepherds and flocks,
* health

Source: Religioromana

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Thanksgiving

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Even though "Thanksgiving" is only celebrated in the United States, this is the perfect time of year for everyone around the world to be thankful for what they've been given.

Sit quietly for a few minutes in complete silence. It's best if you're alone, and you close your eyes. Remove all problems from your thoughts for a moment. Push everything aside.

Then... think about what you DO have:

* Are you breathing? Yes, you are. Be thankful that you've been given LIFE...the biggest miracle of all.

* Do you have loved ones? Be thankful that they are in your life.

* Do you have a roof over your head - even if it's hard to pay for? Be thankful for that... many people don't.

* Are you starving? No? Be thankful that you have food to eat. There are millions starving around the world that would love to have some food from your cupboard.

* Think for a moment how lucky you are to be alive... even if it's not always easy.

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The Yule Story

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Also known as Mithras (for the Persian Sun God), Saturnalia (for the Roman God of sowing and husbandry) and The Great Day of the Cauldron (from Druid Legend). It is the celebration of the return, or rebirth, of the Sun God, the Lord of Life. The celebrations were traditionally performed with the utmost solemnity, yet also with the highest rejoicing, for they resolve the paradox of Death and Rebirth. It represents the redemption of the world from Death and Darkness, as such it is a celebration of hope and joy amidst the gloom of winter.

The word Yule can be traced to the Celtic word `Hioul" which means wheel. This festival is an important point in the turning of the wheel of the year. Wreaths were made to symbolize this wheel, combining solar significance with tree-god significance. In ancient times Celts venerated trees as earthly representatives of the Gods, and it was felt that nothing short of the sacrifice of a mighty tree-god would cause the receding sun to take pity on them and return.

The burning of the Yule log was thought, through sympathetic magick, to increase the brightness and strength of the Sun, and would therefore bring good luck. Passersby would tip their hat or nod in salutation to the log. It is traditional to cut the log from oak or from a slow-burning fruit tree. The fire was lit from a piece of the previous years Yule log, which had been saved for this purpose. It was believed that this piece of the old log was a charm against fire, because it would refuse to burn until it was time to light its successor. A wish was also made while pouring wine over the burning log. It was believed to be bad luck if the log burned out before the 12 days of Yuletide were over. The ashes from the fire were spread in the fields to bring fertility to the next crop.

The Wassail bowl is another favored part of Yule celebrations. A large bowl or pot was filled with wassail, a mixture of cider and spices, and warmed over the Yule fire. The meaning of the word wassail is to be `hale or hearty', and was the reason for the many toasts and salutations made from the bowl. It was also common for a procession to go to the nearest orchard and wassail the trees, thus blessing them and encouraging them to bear a good yield in the coming season. Libations of wassail were also poured over the roots of the trees, and cider drenched cakes were left in the forks of the older trees as an offering to the trees spirit.

Mistletoe is a regeneration symbol, considered to be the Essence of Life due to the resemblance of the juice of the berries to male semen. It was often gathered at this time. Evergreen boughs are also symbols of renewal. Evergreens were decorated to show honor to the tree spirits. The lights on modern trees were the candles of old, and represent the newly born sun god. Trees were not cut down and brought indoors.

The Sacred Seed of Life, having been nurtured by the foster mother Tailltiu, sprang forth from her breast, and was born. As the Wyrrd had foretold, here was the Child of Promise, son of the Gods and of the Earth. This baby was the Sun God, born in the Rule of Darkness, by the magick of the Gods. He was destined to grow in strength and knowledge. It was his task to bring back life and warmth to the land, and to wrest the power from the Lord of Darkness. To appease Cernunnos, who is at the peak of his strength, the people made sacrifices of roasted boar. To distract Callieach, the Wise Ones, or Witches invoked her to teach them of her mysteries. To aid the new-born Sun God the Celts felled a giant oak tree, and burned the log as a sacrifice, that the sun would gain strength from it, and grow.

Despite the powers of Cernunnos and Cailleach, the signs of new life were still upon the land. The sacred seeds which had fallen onto the barren branches of the winter-dead trees had come to life, and thus became the Mistletoe, which could be seen hanging from the oaks in the forests. Upon the land these sacred seeds had grown into the sweet smelling evergreens, and thus they were decreed to be a part of the celebration.

In honor of this magickal birth the people decorated the evergreens with candles and other symbols of life. The Druids told of Hu-Gadarn, the first druid, who had fled from the Atlalntean flood with his family on this day on the Ark, "The Great Cauldron" in which they brought the Essence of Life, and the knowledge of magick into the world. They would also tell tales of the Killing of the Wren, and of the Battle between the Oak King and the Holly King. Throughout the land the people rejoiced, and there was light in the midst of the darkness.

by Lady Galadriel

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