Shells

Ostara

~Magickal Graphics~
We are nearly finished with March now.  It is going out with a storm moon tonight. We are finally saying goodbye to our long, long winter but we still have to watch out for some very strong winds and stormy conditions.  I am always tempted to put on lighter clothes on the first warm day in March, but have to tell myself to wait. It is wiser to wear layers at this time of year because it is possible to go through several changes of clothes before the day is out.
March is all about change and it certainly affects our pysche. Do you feel like a change? Perhaps you are feeling that you should be moving house or changing your job or your car?  Maybe you want to start a family or try out a new adventure.
We all need change in our lives in order to grow.  We don't grow if we stand still.
In the Wiccan calendar we have just passed Ostara.  This ancient pagan festival was overlaid by the Christians who changed its name to Easter.  They have adopted several pagan ideas, like the Easter Bunny to add to their own celebrations.  To Wiccans it is more about hares.  Hares are magical creatures and make wonderful familiars, if you can get to use one.  They have a very knowing look in their eyes, not at all like the cute Easter Bunnies we have got so used to seeing at this time of year.

Imbolg

Imbolg is a winter cross quarter festival. It is the time when the earth begins to wake up. Bulbs are beginning to shoot and the first snowdrops appear.

It is the time when we celebrate the maiden aspect of the Goddess.

At this time of the year people start to become restless, thinking about ways they can change their lives for the better and grow within themselves. We are all affected by the shift in the earth energy.

A good way to celebrate is with candles, lots of them. I choose white and red candles to put on the altar. You can do it too. Light the candles (mind the cat!) and meditate on new beginnings, both by clearing out old negative thoughts and by planning to try new adventures.

The celebration of Imbolg, which literally means 'in the belly' is sacred to Brigid, goddess of smithcraft, poetry and healing. Think about Brigid in her forge, welcoming you in with a wonderful smile and helping you to plant new seeds of positivity in your life today.

You may have noticed that the days have just begun to lengthen, so you could turn your mind to setting a few seeds in a pot. Nurture the seeds as they grow and at the same time, nurture positive thoughts in your head as you do it.

Have a great Imbolg.

Hecate

This is Hecate – Queen of the Night

Hecate is the Greek goddess known as Queen of the Night. She is the daughter of Zeus and Hera. Her name means ‘the distant one’.

At this time of the year, all things become dark. The nights are dark and long and the mornings too are dark. It is as if we are going down a tunnel: down and down we go like a bulb buried deep in the earth. Hecate comes with us for it is her time of the year.

Every woman has three important phases of her life - the maiden phase, the mother phase and the crone phase. I am now in the crone phase. I wish I was still in the maiden phase. I would like to go back with the wisdom I have now and do it all again: but with age comes wisdom and that is where I am. I need Hecate beside me to meet the challenges of this part of my life.

Hecate is often depicted as having three heads, each head looking in a different direction. It follows that she is known as the goddess of the crossroads. The heads are usually shown as a snake, a horse and a boar. With the wisdom of age comes the ability to look at a problem from three perspectives.

She carries a torch, a rope and a knife and is accompanied on her journeys by an owl. The torch is needed because she is the goddess of the dark. She has a luminous quality like a ghost or a willo-the-wisp. She walks in graveyards in the dark phase of the moon.

The rope and the knife are symbols of her willingness to help women in childbirth. The rope is symbolic of the umbilical cord and the knife would be used to cut through the cord allowing the child to take on a life of its own. She, herself, was not inclined to take a husband. The knife also severs the link between the spirit and the body at the time of death.

She is probably the most mysterious goddess, known as the Crone to Wiccans. She is the spirit of black magic with an ability to see into the underworld. She is the ultimate ‘wise woman’ and people call upon her to use her influence over ghosts and spirits who travel the earth, to keep the spirits out of their homes. It was customary to leave food for her at the crossroads where three roads meet. Ancient cultures revered the aged. I'm not sure it is like that these days.

Hecate takes care of the homeless and the destitute and is a protector of women, particularly during childbirth.

She is the protector of entrances. Barking dogs announce her arrival.

Her sacred trees are the yew, cypress, hazel, black poplar and willow. The leaves of the black poplar are dark on one side and light on the other, symbolizing the boundary between the worlds.

Sacred herbs associated with Hecate and at this time of the year are garlic, almonds, lavender, myrrh, cardamom, mint, dandelion, hellebore and lesser celandine. She is sometimes seen holding a pomegranate, the fruit of the underworld, eaten by Persephone.

Samhain - 31st October

Samhain – pronounced sow-een, or Halloween

Samhain, also known as Halloween is the end of summer and the beginning of winter. It is the time of Hecate, of the Crone and the powers of the dark feminine principle. It is the most important festival Sabbat of the witches’ year.

It is also the Celtic New Year. Traditionally the Celts wore white to welcome the first day of winter and increasing darkness.

Three times a year, the Goddess changes herself. In the spring she is the Maiden, a symbol of new life. In the summer she is the Mother, a mature woman with a family to take care of. Samhain is the end of the season of the Grain Mother as she becomes the Crone and the Sun King is sacrificed back into the land. He becomes a death God and a shaman, able to travel to the inner realms. With the darker nights and longer periods of time spent indoors, it is a time of learning and re-evaluation.

Practically speaking, it is a good time to buy a new broom and sweep your house clean. As well as being good for the house, it is also therapeutic for the mind, clearing the mind of unwanted thoughts and negativity and allowing room in the thoughts for new learning.

Do you like this time of the year? Does it make you want to draw up your chair to the fire and study something new? Do you spent time staring into the embers of your fire and dreaming of the past or maybe the future?

I will be returning to this subject during this period of time.

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