Winter Solstice 2023

As the sun pauses in the sky, let your heart be filled with light and happiness. Happy Winter Solstice! Thank you all for your support this past year. I will be taking a break until after the New Year. So I wish you Bright Blessings through the New Year.

Winter Solstice 2023

Happy Halloween and a Blessed Samhain

Halloween

Hopes Last Longer than Their Disappointments

Hopes last longer than their disappointments.
An abandoned hope can haunt its house for years,
Longing to breathe life into its spirit,
Longing for the salience of its youth.
O phantom hopes, do not despair! For someone
Will soon take up the gauntlet of your dreams,
Embrace you as the child of their passion,
Embody you in the flesh of their desire.
Nor will a kind and just hope ever die.

Copyright by Nicholas Gordon

Lughnasadh

Lughnasadh Handfasting Traditions

Lughnasadh Handfasting Traditions

One of the customs that was practiced at Lughnasadh was handfasting, a form of trial marriage that lasted for a year and a day. Couples would join hands and exchange vows in front of witnesses, usually at a sacred site or a hilltop. They would then live together as husband and wife for the duration of the contract. If they were happy with each other, they could formalize their union with a permanent marriage. If they were not, they could part ways without any stigma or penalty.

Handfasting was a way of testing the compatibility and commitment of the partners before making a lifelong decision. It was also a way of honoring the fertility and abundance of the land and the harvest. Some couples would exchange gifts of grain, bread, or fruit as symbols of their bond.

Handfasting is still practiced today by some modern pagans and Wiccans who follow the Celtic traditions. They may use ribbons or cords to tie their hands together and choose colors that represent their intentions or elements. They may also incorporate other rituals, such as jumping over a broomstick or a fire to seal their vows.

Handfasting is a beautiful and meaningful way to celebrate Lughnasadh and the harvest season. It is a way of honoring the past, the present, and the future of love and life.

Beltane Blessings

Beltane Blessings

One of the animals associated with Beltane is the swan. The magical meaning of the swan is love, union, and partnership: swans mate for life. Just as the Goddess and God join in union on Beltane, swans reflect this eternal commitment in their own union. Swans also represent loyalty, fidelity, and faithfulness, reflecting the joining of Mother Earth and Father Sun when the sun is released from its bondage of winter and able to rule over summer and life once again. Swan symbolism includes grace, power, inner beauty, elegance, purity and balance.

Ostara/Spring Equinox


Ostara/Spring Equinox

We celebrate the renewal of life as seen by the newly emerging life in many forms all around us. A resurrection from all that looks dead is seen as the Earth regenerates and renews itself. This is symbolized in resurrection myths in many cultures and traditions. There are many myths about the “Year Gods” ( Attis, Adonis, Osiris, and Dionysus) – who, like Christ, die and are reborn. He is symbolic of the vegetation, dying each year (at harvest) to be reborn in the spring.