When is Imbolc?

I often see people asking about when, exactly, Imbolc is celebrated. The truth is the answer is a bit complicated. People see Imbolc listed in books as either the first of second of February, and figure maybe it moves around like the solstices and equinoxes do, and that's not always the case. For many, Imbolc is a fixed-date festival and does not move (although it does for some, more on that later).

I think part of the problem comes from the fact that the ancient Celts considered sunset to be the start of the new day, as several ancient cultures did. So, matching that to how we view our days, a holiday might start on the sunset of the 1st, and last until the sunset of the 2nd. (Or the 31st to the 1st.)

Another source of confusion comes from Imbolc versus Candlemas, and how the name is sometimes seen as interchangeable within neo-paganism. Imbolc is an old Celtic festival, and has strong ties to the goddess Brigid. Brigid became a saint in the Catholic church, and her feast day is still the 1st of February. On the other hand, Candlemas is a Christian holiday, which has ties to quite a few old pagan customs, and is still celebrated on the 2nd of February. Groundhog Day is another date that can be considered in all this, as weather divination would be popular around the time of Imbolc, and of course that is what Groundhog's Day is all about - which, again, falls on the 2nd.

To make matters more complicated, remember how I said the festival moves for some? Some choose to celebrate on the exact date between the winter solstice and spring equinox. Since the solstice and equinox shift from year to year, this means the date of Imbolc also moves when using this method. For those curious, this year that date is he 3rd of February.

Let's make things more complicated... some instead choose to celebrate on the full moon nearest the 1st, or when the first signs of spring actually show up, or traditionally with the blooming of blackthorn, or the beginning of the lambing season, which of course can all vary from year to year.

All this is a long way of saying that Imbolc is celebrated... well, whenever you or your tradition says it should be celebrated. Do you want to celebrate from the 31st of Jan to the 1st of Feb? From the First to the second? Just the first? Just the second? Or how about on the third, or the full moon, or...? It really comes down to the individual practitioner, and what makes sense for their tradition.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is in two days here in the US, and I think this is the first Thanksgiving in a few years where I am basically free from kitchen duties! Usually Thanksgiving is at my grandparents, and I help them cook. This year my partner and I are in Denver with her family, and she's the one who gets to help with most of the cooking. My contribution is a bag of frozen meatballs dumped into a crock pot with some whole berry cranberry sauce, and some cocktail sauce. Might sound strange but it tastes good. Thank the Gods for crock pots, let me tell you. Even my grandmother gets a year off, since she is going to my Dad's where he will have done the work. (He bought a new house earlier this year which actually fits guests!) It's not that I don't like cooking, but who doesn't want a break now and then? I'm sure after a million years Mama feels the same.

Since I'll have more free time this year, I've decided to take the time to properly honor Hestia, and make the offerings for a safe winter, since I did not do this during Samhain as I normally would (and it's finally getting cooler out). Since it's Thanksgiving, it seems like an appropriate time to, you know, actually give thanks and all that.

Speaking of Hestia, my hymn was accepted for the devotional to her that will eventfully be coming out, so that's quite exciting for me!

Hekate's Night?

So, apparently yesterday was the festival of Hekate's night. I've read about this a bit before, but it's something I chose not to incorporate into my practice. Since my personal practice has a mix of modern and ancient holidays, I thought I'd write a little about how I do choose to bring in festivals, using this as an example.

First, I like to look at the details and history of the festival (be it ancient history, or more modern). In this case, Hekate's night does not seem to be an ancient festival, either Greek or Roman. Perhaps it comes from some other culture, but I have found no evidence for that.

I have sometimes seen this festival called Hecatesia, with an alternate date of August 13th or 16th, but again, there doesn't seem to be any real information on this festival. Sometimes the August 13th festival is presented as something different. Since I have seen Artemis mentioned with this one, I wonder if it stems from the Kourotrophos festival? There are also possible Roman origins there, but again, in those cases it would be something other than what is presented on November 16th.

All of this kind of hits on a personal pet peeve of mine, which is modern 'made-up' information being passed of as something with legitimate history behind it... but of course, the history is rarely really there.

So, looking to the modern practices, information is kind of scarce there, as well! Hekate is described as wandering that night with her hounds and other spirits, and suppers are left out for her, which sounds no different from the Deipnon - which is a monthly festival I already celebrate. (Actually, a theory I have seen is that the date comes from a misunderstanding. Someone wrote about celebrating the Deipnon on that night, but did not note that it was a moveable lunar festival, and copy and paste, copy and paste... and so Hekate's night was born.) The only additional tidbit I can find is it's apparently a night that witches are initiated into her cult, but again, there never seem to be sources to dig into this deeper. Also, this wouldn't fit in with my particular practice anyway.

Another aspect to celebrating holidays in general is fellowship, knowing you're celebrating something other devotees are, but... well, again, I get that with Hekate's Deipnon each month. Aside from that, I feel more called to the modern Rite of Her Sacred Fires when dealing with that aspect - that's the real fellowship night of the year for me, since a large part of the festival often involves sharing your altar and experiences with others. I did consider that a celebration in November might be an interesting counterpoint to Sacred Fires, which is held in May, but that's basically what Samhain is acting as these days.

One last thing to consider is that the more parties, the better, right? Well... my personal calendar isn't exactly empty, you know? (I should blog the whole list, some day...) That's why I consider which festivals to celebrate a bit more carefully. If it's not adding something different or particular for me, there are other things I could be putting my energy towards. That's how I feel in this case. There's nothing particularly special about this night, it is too similar to other aspects of my practice, and I don't feel I'd get much from it. It doesn't mean that no one should celebrate it, of course, but for me it's a no go.

Colder weather?

Today is the day I traditionally make a special offering to Hestia, keep her fire burning all day, in the hopes that she will keep my family and our homes safe and warm during the winter months. Fuel is expensive, things go wrong and break, power outages... All bad when it's below freezing out.

The thing is, I'm just not feeling it right now. It's been high 70s, even up into the 80s, the past few weeks in Denver. Meanwhile, it's in the high 40s back home. I've kept a candle lit today for Hestia, I'm trying to think of back home, but this weather has me all in the wrong mind.

I know a lot of people would be saying, hey, don't complain, it's too cold! But, truth is, I've just always liked colder weather. (After living in Western Washington five years, the one thing I missed the most was the snow.) Temperatures in the 50s? Great day for me.

One of my favorite memories from when I was little, was when it would snow in the late evening. It would be dark out, and my grandfather would turn on the porch and garage lights, and plow the driveway so it wouldn't be as bad in the morning. Playing out in the front yard in the dark, under all the giant pine trees, snow still coming down. There's just something magical about it. Even now, when the snow starts coming down in the night, I'll still go out and roam around in it, enjoying it.

Too many calendars.

On a side note to my last post, having been following the Greek festival calendar these last few months, which again, runs on lunar based months. So, while this current moon cycle is the blue moon (running with the seasonal method), the same cycle is also the month of Thargelion. This leaves me with some overlap, each 'month' essentially having two names, which leads me to several questions... 

Do I want to continue thinking of the moons in that way, is there a point to continuing to do so, especially when I find myself not really focusing rituals around them so much anymore? Is there a way to incorporate these cycles into the monthly Greek cycles of the new crescent moon's Noumenia, Artemis' sixth night, the rites I preform for Selene on the full moon, Hekate's supper at the end of the month? Could there be an overlap, or is it just taking on too much, and not letting something go just because it's what I've done in the past?

Truth is, I'm not really sure at all yet! I do think it's important to honor my local cultural cycles, which I'm not sure the Greek calendar really lines up with. I do plan on continuing to celebrate the solstices, equinoxes, and cross-quarters. Perhaps those meshed with the Greek months would be the best? No idea yet. I'm excited to see how the next few years end up playing out, though.

Side note to my side note, I sort of love being on an evolving path. I know I've said that before, and I'm sure I'll say it again. Some things stay the same, some things change, and that works well for me. Even if it's not always easy to figure out how some things fit together, or when something is no longer working for me, in the end it's worth it.

Oh, the blue moon, and those crazy luni-solar calendars.

The blue moon is something I've written about before, way back in 2011, and again in 2012. But just to re-cap, there are two ways of marking a blue moon. Many are familiar with the second full moon in a calendar month as being a blue moon. However, the older definition of a blue moon was the third full moon in a season with four, where most seasons only have three.

The two in a month definition actually came from a mistake printed in Sky and Telescope magazine, and it's stuck ever since. This makes sense, as most people are probably much more familiar with the every-day calendar than they are with astronomical seasonal cycles. (Here's an article from 2006, which explains in depth about the history of both terms.)

Now, the recent full moon was actually a seasonal blue moon. This lead to some confusion because, again, most folks know and go by the twice in a month definition, and that's fine. But I did run into one very special lady who was very... well, pissed off about the whole thing. She kept saying that she was sticking to the "old way" and that this was new internet hype and nothing more!

So, again. No. The twice in a month method is less than a century old. The seasonal method dates back to at least 1819, and is likely older than that. This isn't internet hype by any means, and a lot of us have been using this method for quite a while.

Now she did ask an interesting question of why the third full moon is blue, and not the fourth. Unfortunately, she later said this was a totally rhetorical question to show how little sense this method made, and I really should stop imposing information on her! Yeah, really.

The thing is... it actually does make sense. The third moon is given the blue name to keep the other lunar names matching up with their seasonal events as best as possible. The third moon instead of the fourth keeps the whole season from being "moved up" too far. That's really all there is to it. It's often why old luni-solar calendars stuck their occasional "leap month" into the middle-ish of their year, and not just at the end, so that seasonal festivals would still be around the same time as they should be.

Speaking of luni-solar calendars, this same woman also insisted that lunar and solar calendars have always been separate and it's only recently that Christians and neo-pagans have tried to mash the two together to try to fit in with the Gregorian calendar! Which shows an amazing lack of understanding about history. Luni-solar calendars are pretty darn ancient. They predate Christianity by a long shot. This is a calendar that is based on lunar months, fixed around a solstice or equinox. For example, the ancient Greeks fixed their lunar months around the summer solstice. This lady kept going on about the Celtic calendar, too, which is funny because the oldest known Celtic calendar we can reliably assemble is, you guessed it, a luni-solar calendar. 

Really, let's be honest, the twice in a calendar month method only makes sense with the modern Gregorian calendar. If you go back to lunar based months, of course you couldn't have two full moons in a month, because one moon cycle is one month. Not that all these old calendars actually had something called a blue moon, or cared so much about the moons in their seasons, but again, it's not like this is some crazy new idea. Entwining lunar and solar calendars is really darn old school.

And I'm not trying to talk anyone out of using the twice a month method! It obviously makes sense to a lot of people, since again, the Gregorian calendar is one most of us use in our day to day lives! But it's always good to know the origins of what you're using in your personal practice. Especially if you're going to hang out in a public forum and try to call out people for being dumb internet-hype loving neo-pagans...

Solstices, equinoxes, and sabbats, oh my...

Today I was going to write about my Mounykhia celebration, but I'm still processing it a bit, and there's something else at the front of my mind right now.

I've seen a lot of confusion about what a solstice is today. I've spent, well, honestly more time than I should have trying to clear up the confusion. Honest mistakes are one thing, we all make them now and then, but some people would rather eat their own faces than admit they might be wrong, apparently...

So yeah, let's start this talking about what a sabbat is. The term sabbat comes from Gerald Gardner and Wicca, although it's spread to many neo-pagan traditions these days. There are, to most who follow this system, eight sabbats in a year. Two solstices, two equinoxes, and four cross quarter days. (Esbats are another beast altogether, and these days usually refer to a full moon celebration, or other lunar celebrations.)

I think for some the confusion is simply mixing up the word sabbat and solstice. Truly though, there are only two solstices in the year - one in June, and one in December. In the northern hemisphere these days mark the astronomical beginning of summer and winter, and fall around the longest and shortest days. (In the southern hemisphere, this is reversed, with the June solstice being the winter solstice, and the December solstice summer.)

If you want to read a bit more about the two solstices, take a look at this webpage. You can see in the last section the mention of equinoxes. Again, there are two of these in the year, one in March, and one in September. The word equinox is derived from a word meaning equal-night. In other words, on these two days the length of day and night are both equal to each other, or close to it. (The actual day this happens in your area might not be on the day the astronomical equinox occurs, but it will be very close.

Now, these four days, the two equinoxes, and two solstices, are sometimes called the quarter days. If you draw a circle, then draw a line from north to south, and one from east to west, you'll see why. Each point where a line touches the circle can represent one of these days, and they seem to cut the year into fourths, or, in other words, they quarter the year.

So, if you then draw an X through the + in your circle, you can see how there are four more days that cross the quarters, or, in other words, the cross quarter days. These are the sabbats Imbolc, Beltane, Lammas, and Samhain. (Or by any other variant name/spelling one might use for these days.)

And here's what is probably the worst Wheel of the Year graphic out there, but hey, hopefully it gets the point across.

It's probably also obvious from this image why it's often referred to as the Wheel of the Year. Looks like a wheel, turns like a wheel, and like a wheel we always come back to the same spot eventually, the seasons just keep on turning.

Okay, now why does it matter? What's the problem if people want to call everything a solstice? Well, I mean, would you call an apple a cheeseburger? Would you call a bucket of ice cream a cheeseburger? What about a bowl of cereal? No, probably not, because that wouldn't make much sense. And if you did, people would probably get confused real fast. It is essentially like calling Halloween, Easter, and all other holidays Christmas. You might know what you're talking about, but other people are going to have no clue. So if you're, you know, online for the sole purpose of talking to people, that making sense bit is rather important.

Oh gosh, here we go again...

Well first of all, happy Easter to those celebrating!

If you're a member of any online pagan communities, especially on Facebook, you may have seen this meme floating around. (Without my creative artwork.)

The information this image presents is pretty much entirely inaccurate. Other people have already written a great deal about this, so I'm just going to link to this article: Easter Is Not Named After Ishtar, And Other Truths I Have To Tell You

On a related subject, can we talk about the art used for this image? If you've read the article above it mentions that scholars debate who this image actually represents. It's a really fascinating piece of art. Here's another great article all about the relief and who this image might be of: The Queen of the Night (Burney Relief)

Personally I am partial to the image being of Ereshkigal. But, since we do not know for certain who it is, I can understand why devotees of many deities see their Goddess in this image, especially in such a powerful image.

Ostara

This year I continued my tradition of holding a sunrise equinox ritual. I went outside and set up about five minutes before sunrise, under the same maple tree as usual, filled with it's red buds. I'd love to make a stone altar under the tree, but for now the ground is a perfectly good working space!

I lit the charcoal to let it get ready for incense, and settled in with my back against the tree, facing east. It was cold out, 18F, but with a warm jacket it wasn't so bad.

It takes about a half hour or so for the sun to fully become visible. I did a bit of drumming (and thought about getting a deeper sounding drum...), did a bit of praying, and just sat and enjoyed the morning, listening to the birds. As the sun started to poke through the trees I offered some incense to Artemis, in her role as goddess of the dawn, and to Demeter, welcoming her life back to the land.

Eventually the sun was fully visible, and I walked into the woods a bit to offer the bread, and a bit of honey liqueur. Then it was back to bed, at least for a few hours.

Astronomical Cross Quarter Dates 2015 to 2019

There are two sets of dates which can be used to determine when the cross quarter days fall. The first is simply a set of fixed dates, although those dates can vary slightly from person to person, tradition to tradition. Fixed days are perhaps more commonly used. With fixed dates Imbolc is always from sundown on the 1st to 2nd of February, or Samhain is sundown on October 31st to sundown on November 1st - or whatever dates one chooses to use, the same dates will be used every year.

However, there is also the method where the dates are calculated by the position of the solstices and equinoxes of the year. For example, Imbolc would be the exact midpoint between the winter solstice and spring equinox, and Beltaine would be the midpoint between the spring equinox and summer solstice, and so on. Since the solstices and equinoxes can shift slightly from year to year, so can the cross quarter dates when using this method.

The following is a chart of cross quarter dates based on the solstices and equinoxes for 2015 to 2019, all based on Eastern Standard Time.

2015
Imbolc - February 3
Beltaine - May 5
Lammas - August 7
Samhain - November 7

2016
Imbolc - February 4
Beltaine - May 4
Lammas - August 6
Samhain - November 7

2017
Imbolc - February 3
Beltaine - May 5
Lammas - August 7
Samhain - November 7

2018
Imbolc - February 3
Beltaine - May 5
Lammas - August 7
Samhain - November 7

2019
Imbolc - February 3
Beltaine - May 5
Lammas - August 7
Samhain - November 7

Autumn Equinox

The autumn equinox slipped by me this year. This is probably, in part, due to the fact that I'm traveling away from home at the moment. I've been busy, not feeling well, and it just doesn't feel like late-September here. I don't get back to New Hampshire until mid-October, it's going to be a bit of a shock going right from places with averages in the mid to high 70s (it was in the 90s yesterday!), down to the mid-60s.

I'm also a bit sad that I'm missing fair season back home. When I do get back I think I'm going to have to make myself some candy apples and fried dough to get into the autumn spirit. (As if getting all the cold weather preparations done won't be enough for that!)

Hestia, Day Eleven

11. Festivals, days, and times sacred to this deity.

It seems as if Hestia did not have any special yearly festival that was particular to her, although as has been previously noted, she probably received the first offering from a sacrifice done during any festival.

Hestia did receive some special attention during the Noumenia, a festival celebrated on the first day of the visible new moon, which was the first day of the month in ancient Greece. Hestia was honored on this day along with Apollon Noumenious, Selene, and the other gods of the household (which could vary from house to house, or from city to city, although in Athens this often included Zeus, Hermes, and Hekate). 

The Noumenia celebrated the beginning of a new month, and offerings were made in hopes that the household would be blessed for the month. Traditional offerings included honey cakes, barley cakes, fruit, wine, and garlands of fresh flowers.

In Athens no other festivals were allowed to take place on the Noumenia, because it was considered such a sacred day. It was meant to be a time to celebrate, feast with family, relax, and enjoy a fresh beginning.

Now I'm not a Hellenic reconstructionist, but in my personal practice I do honor Hestia on the new moon in a way that is inspired by the Noumenia - but that's a topic deserving of it's own post, at some point. 

Additionally, I've come to associate Hestia with both Imbolc and Lammas. Imbolc is celebrated during the dead of winter here. Most years there's still tons of snow on the ground, snow and ice storms are common, the wind is breaking branches off trees, and although you can see the days begin to get longer, spring won't truly be felt for at least another two months. It also tends to be a quiet and reflective time of year. All of that makes it a perfect time to honor the warmth and blessings of Hestia.

For many Lammas is a time of grain harvest, bread baking, and first fruits, all of which are associated with Hestia in some way, particularly bread baking. It's an interesting time to explore that aspect of her.

Midsummer

Lately in my mind I've been thinking of the summer solstice as Midsummer instead of Litha. Not sure what brought about that particular change, but figure it's worth making a note of.

I spent yesterday cleaning out the fire pit in my grandparents' backyard. Some of the bricks had fallen over, and the whole pit and area around it had become a bit overgrown. Before any fires I'd made were small and off in a little sandy area to the side of the house, but the backyard is nicer so I've been working on cleaning that space up.

So since today is Midsummer I thought it would be a good time to have a fire and bless the fire pit. I know the area is going to need some more work. A bench would be nice, or maybe I'll just have to bring a folding chair out. I'm also considering making a small shrine on top of, or nearby the fire pit, or making one of the sides a bit wider for a bit of altar space. Not sure yet.

Today I also began making a large stang. I've written about this a few times in the past, this as been an ongoing search for... two years now? Something like that. I've just been waiting to find the right branch to start with. I had passed by the branch I ended up choosing many, many times. First, it wasn't the type of tree I was hoping to make a stang from, and two it was actually a whole small tree rather than a branch from a tree.

I was trying to avoid cutting a whole tree down, but this particular tree was in an area that was due to have some clearing anyway. Actually, this is how I lost the original branch I was looking at the year before last. It was a nice branch from a young white oak, but the week before I was going to cut it the whole area was cleared out and the wood hauled off somewhere.

Anyway like I said, this has been a long process, and I've been coming back to this particular tree for at least a year now. It just seemed like the right one to work with. So I left an offering at the base of the tree, and carefully cut it down. The trunk forked off into two branches, which I've trimmed off and kept for later use. I blessed the stang over the Midsummer fire, which had dried mugwort burning in it. Now it's going to be set aside for a while to dry out a bit before being worked further.

Imbolc and the Coming of Spring

There are some who celebrate Imbolc as the beginning of spring, but where I am, we are firmly still in the middle of winter. Like many places in the US, we got hit with a ton of snow yesterday, and it's snowing again today - which is not unusual for this time of year. Everything is covered in snow and ice, nothing's growing.

There's really only one sign that warmer weather is coming - in NH, we now have an hour and a half more sunlight each day. It may not seem like much with the snow and freezing temperatures, but for me it's a welcome reminder that spring is coming.

Until then, while I still try to get outside on the warmer days, there are a lot of cold and icy days where I'm forced to stay inside (especially after hurting my back recently - slipping on ice and re-hurting it is a chance I can't afford to take). I've been keeping busy organizing shelves, decluttering my supply cabinets, and doing all the little things I probably won't want to do when the weather is warmer. It's not always the most exciting work, it can be slow and frustrating at times, but it needs to be done - and the quite time around Imbolc is often the perfect time to do it.

Samhain

Happy Samhain and happy Halloween!

My original Samhain plans ended up being tossed around a bit, so this year it seems I'll be doing the bulk of my Samhain celebrating tomorrow and the day after. Which actually works out well for me, because it will coincide nicely with my regular lunar rituals for the last day of the cycle and the new moon, which have a very nice overlap in symbolism. Isn't it nice when disruptions end up working out?

Still, I was able to celebrate a bit last night as well. Yesterday it rained most of the evening, but stopped around midnight - it was foggy, warmer than it had been earlier in the day, and everything smelled damp and earthy. Perfect atmosphere for a small Samhain ritual. First I went to the edge of the woods and just spent some time meditating. Then I left some simple offerings for the spirits - flat bread, eggs, and apples.

I also ended up doing a little spontaneous working. I'm sure many are familiar with the basic concept of this working - you list negative things you don't want in your life, things that are holding you back, bad habits, and so on, then you burn the list and picture these things being removed from your life. This time of year is traditionally the time to cull the herds, the time to let things go, and of course has associations with death and release, so I thought it would be a perfect little working which would utilize those energies of this season.

I expected the real benefit of this working to come in the actual listing of what's holding me back, and to an extent that was helpful. There were no surprises on the list, but it was good to actually write these things down, to really see them and acknowledge them.

However, the surprise of the ritual was when I actually went back out to burn the paper. I felt like I received two clear messages from Westya (who is personified in flame), who I'd never really felt anything so clearly from before. Until now, our relationship was very quiet - a mutual sort of I'll remember and honor you, and you'll gift your blessings to my home, and that was it. But during the working, I felt she gave me two messages... First, that it's going to be hard work. Change is coming, and it's going to be hard, it might be a painful process, and to remember that I asked for it when that time comes. Not that unexpected of a message, really, it made sense. The second message, though, was that it was all going to be alright. That if I put my faith in my foundation (my deities and core/daily practices), I would get through the change, and that she is taking an active role in this, but likely in an unexpected way, and she will burn through my obstacles as long as I am willing to put the work in. The other deities I work with will be there to, but that in this I should look to her first.

 Honestly, for such a small ritual, I couldn't have asked for more, and I was not expecting anything like that. Simple rituals can still have big impacts.

Samhain and the Thinning of the Veil

There's one phrase that is commonly used to describe Samhain, and that is "the time of year when the veil is thinnest."

Let's start with the basics here - what exactly is the veil? In this context, the veil is what 'separates' this world from the unseen world. Many traditional witches will use the term hedge instead of veil, which might help paint the picture. A hedge is a boundary between one thing and another - such as the tame land of the yard and home, and the wild land of the forest... or, the seen world, and the unseen world. The veil is that boundary, that separation between the two.

This is not a hard boundary. As an example, think of a typical bridal veil. It's there, you can see it, touch it... but it's often thin, gauzy... you can see through it, air passes through it easily, water would too. If the veil is a few layers thick, it might take some time for water to pass through, but it would - if it were just one thin layer, the water would pass through quickly and without issue.

Of course, calling it a boundary may bring about the wrong impression. The unseen world is not just a separate location - as a backyard might be from the woods - but it is interwoven throughout the seen world, as well. We're just not usually aware of it. The veil, the boundary, is not really an actual block between the two, but more of the limit of our own perception.

So why is the veil said to be thinnest at Samhain? One reason often given is that Samhain is the peak of the dying season, and it's that transition that causes the veil to thin. I like this imagery myself, but I don't think that's the complete answer.

There are other times of the year when the veil is said to be thin - many associate Beltaine with another thin spot, as it is the peak of the "birthing" season. It's not just death that thins the veil, after all. Beltaine, along with Litha/Midsummer in some cultures, are classically times when the spirits are quite active - although they became more associated with fae and other such spirits as opposed to the dead that are associated with Samhain. Of course, the dead are not only associated with Samhain, because we see things like the Wild Hunt of Yule/winter in many European cultures. The Greeks thought the restless dead wandered with Hekate on the last day of every month (what we would now call the new moon). Other cultures have their own, different views.

So what is it really that causes the veil to thin? I don't know that it is really anything external, like the changing of seasons, at least not in itself. I think a big part of it rests within the human mind. These symbols, these expectations and ideas of a society, they stick right into our subconscious and they change our perception. If you're in a culture where the dead wander every new moon, that will influence your perception of the veil accordingly.

Likewise, if you're in a culture where Halloween is that spooky time, where horror movies and ghost hunting shows take over the TV, where people start sharing their stories, going to haunted houses, putting on costumes, putting out decorations, etc. that cultural belief is, again, going to influence your views and perception.

Ostara

Welcome to spring, welcome to the light half of the year, and welcome to the foot of fresh snow that came in along with it.

A lot of people seem surprised at the snow we got, but it's pretty normal to get a storm right around this time each year. Last year was actually the odd year out, with Ostara temperatures hot enough for a trip to the beach and a bonfire! The year before? Snow, just like this year.

Still, the signs of spring are getting harder to ignore - even under all this snow. The days are becoming longer than the nights, and temperatures are rising... if slowly. Not much longer now.

Equinox

We see two equinoxes in a year, one in March, and the other in September. It is a time when the tilt of the Earth's axis is not inclined either away from or towards the sun. A time when the sun crosses the plane of the Earth's equator, which causes the night and day to be (nearly) equal in length. The exact length of the day and night on the equinox varies with where you live, but in many locations it will be close to an even split.That's essentially what equinox means - equal night - as in equal amounts of night and day.

In the southern hemisphere, the March equinox is the first day of autumn, and here in the north, we'll be celebrating the coming of spring. Both equinoxes are quite important in my personal path - they are where I split the year into the light and dark halves. From the spring equinox forward the days are longer than the nights, the light half, and when we get to the autumn equinox the nights become longer than the days, the dark half. They are the sunrise and sunset of the year.

At the spring equinox, we get ready for the planting and growing season (literally or metaphorically), and at the autumn equinox we're bringing in the harvest, giving thanks to the land that sustains us, reaping the rewards of our hard work, and getting ready for the colder winter months.

In New Hampshire, it's usually still cold and somewhat snowy at the time of the March equinox. It can be hard to really feel that spring has begun, even though some of the early signs are there. It's not yet time to get the garden ready for planting, it's still too cold for that. However, there's still some preparation that can be done - the seeds can be blessed, and some seeds do better when they've been given a head-start indoors. Getting those seeds started at the equinox will have them ready for transfer after the last threats of frost have passed.

It's become a bit of a tradition for me to get up a before sunrise on the morning of the spring equinox to go out and welcome the sun, the spring, the light half of the year. To make offerings to my Gods and the land spirits. It's very informal, just some offered incense and a shared meal, yet it's become one of the points of the year I look forward to the most. It's cold, it's quiet... but it just feels so rich with potential. I can sit out under the big maple tree and perfectly picture the coming summer. The growth everywhere, the leaves and the shade they provide from the hot sun, the flowers, the noisy insects that have been gone for so long. Part of it still feels so distant at the equinox, but even so you just know it won't be much longer.

The Full Bough-shedding Moon

In the fall there are the harvest festivals, the traditional time where crops are brought in from the fields, and when animal herds are culled. While this is literal for some, it also has a more symbolic meaning. It's a time to give thanks, a time for us to take stock of what we have, and to cull what we don't need. A time to prepare for the winter months - the months of turning inward.

In the spring we see a similar theme. At Imbolc there is purification, preparations, starting to get ready for the summer months where we turn our focus more outward again. In the early spring, it's the time for spring cleaning - literally and spiritually. Organize, get rid of the clutter, tidy up. Get ready for the light half of the year.

When I think of this moon cycle as the Bough-shedding moon, that's the symbolism that comes to mind. Literally, this is a description of the branches that break from the strong winds and heavy snows. Sometimes this isn't good for the trees, but sometimes it also helps the trees to lose the weaker branches, the sick branches, the dead branches that still hold on.

So for this full moon, I sat in front of the window that faces the moon - it was cloudy, but it was good to see the outdoors - and I prepared a small ritual space in Artemis' honor. I made an offering of  honey liqueur and grapes, and spent some thinking about what I no longer needed, and what I needed more of, what I needed to grow this year. I let her guide me in this - a clarity of vision, a strong focus, as well as patience. (Seems like there could always be more patience.) Get rid of the things which keep me from my goals. Don't procrastinate. Don't push important things to the back of my mind. Stay focused.

It's like hunting. Have patience, have a clear view of your target, have a strong and steady aim.

Winter Wednesday and a General Update

I know I just posted earlier this afternoon, but it's Wednesday, and I figure it's best if I get off the rant train for a while...

It's my understanding that the Abenaki, one of the tribes local to my region, called this moon cycle the Bough Shedding Moon. Or, as another translation puts it, the 'makes branches fall in pieces' moon. That is, of course, the reason why I've chosen this particular photo to share today - it is a very accurate name.

Usually, this is the cycle I refer to as the Wolf Moon, but recently that name has not felt quite right. I think, perhaps, Bough Shedding Moon might replace it. It's something I'll have to consider. Even if it is not a permanent addition, it will be the symbolism I choose to work with for this cycle, at least.

That's one of the things I really love about my path - it's flexible, adaptable. Something no longer works? No problem, replace it with something that does. It might sound flippant, and I don't mean it to - it's not a process that I tend to take lightly. I give a lot of thought as to what I include, so of course I must give a good amount of thought when I feel something should be removed or changed. Still, if something does need to be changed? It can be. I really appreciate that.