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There are special times when it is said that the veil between the worlds is thinner than usual. These three “spirit nights” are Beltane, Midsummer and Samhain. Beltane and Samhain are Celtic festivals that celebrate the start of the summer and winter seasons, as the ancient Celts only had two seasons instead of four. The whole shift occurring in nature at these times was reflected in the lives of those who lived by the seasons. At Beltane, the cattle would be taken to their summer pastures, and driven between two large bonfires, we assume for purification, blessings, and possibly to make any nasty ticks and other bugs drop off either by the smoke or the heat. At Samhain, the cattle returned to their winter fold, and those that couldn’t be kept over winter were slaughtered. Huge feasts celebrated the ancestors and the mighty dead, and care was taken to avert the restless dead or the Sluagh na marbh. At any rate, the lives of those who lived with their cattle were very much changed and shifted during these times of the year.

The summer solstice marks the time of the greatest light, when all nature seems to be reaching its peak. As such, this too was seen as a liminal time, and very much connected to the Fair Folk, or faeries. Not just in Celtic lands, but especially in Germanic and Scandinavian countries Midsummer was a huge festival and celebration. As summer arrives later in these countries, it has a similar feel to the Celtic Beltane. Like at Beltane, here a large pole similar to the Maypole was erected and danced around. Plants were at their highest powers, and so collecting the herbs that you needed was especially important at this time. Midsummer is still one of the biggest celebrations in countries like Sweden, where there is lots of food, singing and games. Though it has been overlaid with Christian mythology the nativity of St John the Baptist, it is still more a giant party than anything else. And why not?

By why are these especially liminal times? Well, when one season switches over to the next, we can often feel like we are in an in-between time.

Silence about one’s magic is a long-standing witch—and Druid— tradition.

Buddha would not discuss theory or cosmology because doing so wouldn’t leave enough time for spiritual practices. I feel somewhat similarly about magical spells I do. 

Talking about them more than needed drains the energy out of them and distracts me from the focus, inner growth, and realizations that help me do an effective, safe spell. 

The summer is a busy time for White Mountain Druid Sanctuary.  Covid 19 has cancelled most of the Trout Lake Abbey events (which includes the Mt. Adams Zen Temple), but Kirk Thomas has still been working hard on adding to the grounds.  Much of the work only requires one person, so he has been doing a lot himself. Let’s look at the Shrines to the Dagda and the Morrigan.  They have mostly been complete for years, but there have been some finishing touches added.  About a year ago, signs were added so people could read about who these deities are.

Title: Of Kindred and Stardust

The bay of Petra tou Rhomiou, where the Goddess Aphrodite was born of the foam of the sea.

 April 14, 2019

Series: Eve Williams

Last month I began to write about the relationship between the moon and the witch. Let's continue the discussion here. 

There are many different names for the various moons throughout the yearly cycle, and perhaps the most famous of all is the Coligny Calendar, a Gallic lunar calendar dating back to the 2^nd century. Indeed, we derive the word “month” from the word “moon”, and so to follow a lunar calendar in our Craft makes perfect sense. In the Coligny calendar, the moons start from the sixth night of the waxing moon, and are described as thus: