Beltane is a Pagan holiday, and one of the eight Sabbats. It falls about halfway between the spring equinox, Ostara, and the coming summer solstice, Litha. The holiday celebrates spring at its peak, and the coming summer. Beltane also sometimes goes by the name May Day. This holiday is associated very strongly with fertility for pagans.
The sacred fire was conceived of quite definitely as the spark or power of fertility. In the north of England, for instance, Candlemas used to be called The Wives Feast Day because it was regarded as a fertility festival. An interesting custom which survived in Scotland till as late as the end of the seventeenth century, bears witness to this fact. On Candlemas Eve a sheaf of oats was dressed in women's clothing. This "woman" was laid in what was called "Brigid's bed," and a wooden club was placed beside her. The women of the village sat up and kept a torch burning in the room all night long. This drama is clearly a fertility rite. For "Brigid" refers to the Celtic goddesses who were known as the Three Brigids representing the three phases of the moon. So on the festival night the moon's fertilizing power, its light, was symbolized and invoked by the torch that was kept burning beside the corn woman in her union with the wooden pole, symbol of the phallus. The custom seems to say that the corn woman could not give rise to a new harvest unless she were energized by a sacred marriage blessed by the fertilizing power of the moon.
-M. Esther Harding, Woman’s Mysteries: Ancient and Modern
Brilliant flames only produced by the likes of Ho-oh. Easily identifiable by the unique hue and intense heat.
Legends states Ho-oh's flames have the ability to rebirth those touched by it. The Pokémon Entei has been the only one to inhale and inherited the flames of the Ho-oh. While it does not have the same potency of a Ho-oh, it said to still contain healing qualities.
However legends also state a vengeful Ho-oh flames have the potential to consume and scorch those it scorns. The burns are everlasting until the Ho-oh deems it fit to remove them.
On December the 21st we celebrate the First Sabbath of the Wheel of the year, we celebrate the Winter Solstice, the longest night, the end of the dark half of the year and the beginning of a new year of light.
We Celebrate Demeter and Dionysus and the Aloa Festival.
We celebrate the birth of the sacred child, the god of light, the sun god.
We celebrate the clash between darkness and light, between life and death, and the victory of light with the rebirth of a new life, the rebirth of the sun.
We feast to celebrate and honour the gods; we light the sacred fire and keep it lit so that its light awakens the sun of a new day.
12 Toj (11th April 2024) is a day to offer payment in return for the sustenance received throughout life. It could be seen as one of the most potent days of gratitude, almost an equivalent of thanksgiving.
The day 12 Toj is a day to offer payment in return for the sustenance received throughout life. It could be seen as one of the most potent days of gratitude, almost an equivalent of thanksgiving.
Making a large and elaborate ceremony can be a wonderful experience. However, sometimes just a thank you for a long-forgotten act is payment enough to redress the balance. Today is a day to seek out…
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3VFD6XKCZQHpv4pY9XToPC?si=pRMV9QbWSYqUH0AOUSo93g Also Available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, and more! The end of Season 5 Open House, the farewell of Jim and Caitlin and welcome the new co-hosts Cabra, Snow, and Emily! Plus we answer some questions about what to do when you feel out of touch with your practice. — Send […]AGF 121 –…