It is Beltane, the Celtic festival of fire and light marking either the midpoint of spring or the beginning of summer! Well known as a time of revelry, Beltane is also a celebration of fertility: both of the kind good for planting crops and the kind good for sowing seeds of another kind. Beltane also corresponds to the Germanic festivals Walpurgisnacht as well as International Workers’ Day (aka May Day). And, of course, if you’re on the bottom side of the world it’s the opposite day: Samhain!
As always we’ve gathered all of our related posts as well as those we found across the internet that we thought you might enjoy. Have a great time celebrating!
Today is the Spring or Vernal Equinox, also known to ancient Anglo-Saxons Pagans as Ostara, from which the word Easter is derived. For many, today marks the beginning of spring. For others, it is its midpoint. Either way however, everyone is in agreement that winter is over and summer not too far off. It is a time of change, renewal, and fertility as the natural world awakens from its cold slumber in the temperate parts of the northern hemisphere.
As always we’ve gathered all of our related posts as well as those we found across the internet that we thought you might enjoy . We hope you have a great time this spring!
It seems like winter juster arrived, but already it’s on its way out. Today is Imbolc, the Celtic festival celebrating the end of winter and the beginning of spring (though most of us don’t regard that to happen until the Equinox). It’s also approximated by St Brighid’s Day, Candlemas, Groundhog Day, Setsubun in Japan, and the Spring Festival in China (better known in the West as the Chinese New Year’s). Basically, a time to celebrate impending the return of warmth and the sun after months of cold and snow.
As usual we’ve gathered all of our related stories as well as those we found across the web that we thought were interesting. We hope you enjoy and have an enjoyable month and a half on the way to the equinox!
It’s that time of year once again. The merriest, cheeriest time, or so we’re led to believe. It’s the Winter Holidays: Christmas, Hanukkah, Solstice, Yule, New Year’s, Kwanzaa, and so many more. As always we’ve gathered our very best stories on the subject from PaganSquare as well as any other bits from around the web we thought you might enjoy.
We hope you enjoy the rest of the winter season! And have a Happy New Year’s!
It’s that time of year again! Samhain, also known by its Christian/English name Halloween, one of the most widely celebrated holidays in the world and a long time favorite of Pagans. Traditionally, Samhain has been regarded as the start of winter and a time when the veil between the worlds of life and death weakens. Morbid stuff, you’d think, but despite these dark themes Samhain has also been a time of great revelry and celebration. After all, who doesn’t love a good ghost story?
In honor of this most hallowed of seasons, we’ve collected all of our posts on Samhain and related themes for your easy perusing. We’ve also brought together links to other websites we thought you might found interesting. And with that, happy hauntings :D !
Happy Lammas/Lughnasadh! Known variously as Lammas (English) or Lughnasadh (Gaelic), the 1st of August is widely recognized in Western culture and the Anglosphere in particular as the ceremonial day of the first harvest as well as the high point of summer (and in some cultures the first day of autumn). Celebrated by both Pagans and Christians, Lammas is a day to break and commemorate the end of the growing season and the beginning of the harvest.
Here at PaganSquare, we’ve collected as many posts relating to Lammas and Lughnasadh as we can, both from our own website and others. We wish you a merry and bountiful harvest!
It’s Midsummer, also known as the Summer Solstice or Litha! Alternatively viewed as either the midpoint or the start of summer, Midsummer is the time when one hemisphere of the Earth (the Northern Hemisphere in this case) is at its maximum tilt towards the Sun, resulting in the longest day and an increase in temperature. Of course, for our southern kindred, it’s Midwinter.
Here at PaganSquare we’ve gathered a large number of posts both from our own website and others to celebrate this day. We hope you enjoy today’s festivities and have a wonderful summer (or winter if that’s where you are)!
Jamie
Mr. Posch,Prime Minister Trudeau's blackface indiscretions of yesteryear notwithstanding, I think the Canadian people are lucky to have him as a leade...
Jamie
Mr. Posch,That may be satire, but I'll bet solid money that plenty of letters got sent by angry, pro-slavery, Christian white folks. Those letters wer...
Anthony Gresham
Kroger used to have a super foods salad made of chopped kale, blueberries and cashews. I think they had something else in there as well besides the d...
