Category: pagans

Friday Links

Karen

1. It’s Easter weekend; I love me some religious syncretism, so reading about the ancient origins of Ukranian easter eggs (pysanky) was right up my alley:

In ancient beliefs, the cosmic egg, from which everything emerged, was born from and divided by a serpent–god of the earth, of the underworld, and of fire. Thus, an egg, the symbol of the serpent, the male deity of the earth, who was considered, along with the original goddess mother, to be the creator of everything alive on earth–was one of the main elements of a pagan spring holiday dedicated to the spirit of rebirth.

(I also love me an obsessive single-topic site; this one has many cool images of regional differences between pysanky.)
“The pysanky on this page are all from the western part of Podillia (see map here), and many display a berehynia (goddess) or serpent motif.”

 

2. My Lutheran ancestors want me to balance all these pagan snake gods with some “real” Easter stuff. Today’s the day for listening to the St Matthew Passion.

 

3. The more I scrolled down, the more I learned!

Halfway

Karen

Not only is January FINALLY over, it’s Imbolc today, or the midpoint between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. And, apparently, the ten darkest weeks of the year are also over:

 

 

Even better? Trader Joe’s has their $2.99 daffodils, another sign of almost-spring:

Happy Winter Solstice

Karen


(image source)

 

Providing we survive today (I mean, let’s not jinx it), we’ve made it through the darkest time and tomorrow we start inching our way back to more light.

From The Moon Studio newsletter, here’s an idea to mark the day–pick a bell, a candle, or all of it:

At the Winter Solstice, we voice our regrets, speak our losses out loud, and throw them to the wind.
We ring a bell for loved ones who have crossed over this year.
This includes aspects of ourselves.
We light candles to honor the treasures found and the lessons learned—we let the darkness envelop the wishes of this next season and this next year.

Or you could just watch this (lol).

Witches New Year

Karen

(collage from Moon Studio)

Happy Samhain, everyone. Today marks the beginning of the darker half of the year, and–in Neopaganism, at least–the start of a new one.

In a dramatic example of a new beginning, the agency I just left ceased all operations yesterday and declared bankruptcy (!), and if that’s not a lesson from the universe to move on to new things then I don’t know what is.

So happy new year, witches, and happy dark times. Embrace the slowing down of this season, light a candle, and feast on the harvest of your efforts.

Almost

Karen

The beginning of February marks Imbolc, one of the cross-quarter days between the solstice and the equinox. That means we’re halfway through the winter and if you, like me, have been having a low-key tantrum about the cold and dark lately, there’s hope. We’ve also made it through the “Persephone days” and have more than 10 hours of daylight now.

We went to Red Butte Garden yesterday and sure enough, bulbs were starting to come up in the most sheltered areas. It’s almost over. We can do this.

Halfway Through

Karen

Today is Imbolc, the Celtic cross quarter day halfway between the Winter Solstice and the Vernal Equinox. Light a candle and celebrate the days getting just a little longer. From the BBC:

Like many Celtic festivals, the Imbolc celebrations centred around the lighting of fires. Fire was perhaps more important for this festival than others as it was also the holy day of Brigid (also known as Bride, Brigit, Brid), the Goddess of fire, healing and fertility. The lighting of fires celebrated the increasing power of the Sun over the coming months. For the Christian calendar, this holiday was reformed and renamed ‘Candlemas’ when candles are lit to remember the purification of the Virgin Mary.

 

First Of August

Karen

The first weekend in August is also Lughnasa, halfway between the summer solstice and the autumnal equinox. I’m not really a Neo-Pagan but we did our own version of  “visiting holy wells” to celebrate–i.e., we went back to hang around Millcreek for a couple hours, where it was hot enough even at altitude that the river felt really good (and kept the beer cold).

Six More Weeks

Karen

It is Imbolc today, the “cross-quarter” day between Solstice and Equinox. Granted, we’ve had a worryingly mild winter, but yesterday I saw bulbs coming up on the south side of a building downtown, and this morning–no joke–I heard a robin.

We’re nearly out of the darkness. We got this.

Friday Unrelated Information

Karen

1. It’s February 1st, known as Imbolc to ancient Celts and modern pagans, Candlemas to Catholics, and Groundhog Day (or thereabouts) to the US. In any case, the date marks just six weeks until the Vernal Equinox. Six weeks! We can do this!

2. If you want to get all hippie about it, you could celebrate more than spring coming, too:

For many, Imbolc is simply a time to recognize the coming spring, but I say that Imbolc is also a time to acknowledge the challenges which winter has placed before you. It is a time to reckon…the fullness of  [your] life, the fullness of [your] personhood,  and the great abilities and the necessary limitations in [your] humanness.