Pagan Blog Project - L is for Lunar sabbats

I was posting in one of my Facebook groups about the upcoming sabbat Samhain. A member said that she celebrates the lunar sabbat, in this case on the new moon closest to the solar sabbat. The term lunar sabbat seems to be an oxymoron. Sabbats refer to the days that divide the year (solar) into 8 equal parts and esbats are the divisions of the month (lunar) also known as the lunar phases. I suppose a lunar sabbat technically occurs when there is a lunar phase on the same night. I'm not sure how often that occurs.

Perhaps the sabbat can be celebrated on the closest corresponding esbat. With new moon = Yule, waxing crescent = Imbolc, etc., one can add sabbat themes to the lunar celebrations. By my calculations, lunar Samhain is Oct 30th and (solar) Samhain is Nov 6.

Blessed Beltane

1st Day of (Pagan) Spring

Better known as Groundhog Day, Imbolc (Celtic) or as I like to call it Risshun or Hara Matsuri (Japanese) is the 1st day of spring. The sun is at 315 deg on the ecliptic which is 15 deg tropical Aquarius. Days are definitely getting longer. Time to say goodbye to my SAD.

13 Days of Yuletide

On the 13th day of Yuletide my true love gave to me
13 witches dancing
12 Buddhas chanting
11 planets turning
10 candles burning
9 spells for casting
8 sabbats passing
7 Books of Shadow
6 decks of Tarot
5 golden ankhs
4 Elementals
3 Goddess pins
2 altar cloths
and a wand from a willow tree.

Feel free to use, repost (with credit), and/or change with your own lyrics.

Pagan Blog Project - S is for Sabbat

As the Wheel of the Year turns, some Neopagans keep track by celebrating the sabbats. Sabbats divide the year into eighths and are sun holidays (mark the path of sun in the sky) as opposed to esbats which are moon holidays (mark the phases of the moon). It is not mandatory to celebrate sabbats but I encourage you to keep track for at least a year and watch the seasons change.

My path does not require a myth to go with the WotY. Therefore, I won't be providing any. The dates are not fixed due to the fact that the earth's orbit is not round. Sabbats are from a northern hemisphere perspective and I'm referencing the traditional (tropical) zodiac.

Dark half
Yule, winter solstice - 12/21
AKA: Christmas
0 deg Capricorn
Moon phase: new
Colors: red, green

Imbolc - 2/3
AKA: Groundhog Day
15 deg Aquarius
Moon phase: waxing crescent
Colors: ?

Ostara, spring equinox - 3/20
AKA: Easter
0 deg Aries
Moon phase: 1st quarter
Colors: all pastels

Beltane - 5/4
AKA: May Day
15 deg Taurus
Moon phase: waxing gibbous
Colors: all jewel tones

Light half
Litha, summer solstice - 6/20
AKA: St. John's Day
0 deg Cancer
Moon phase: full
Colors: bright reds, oranges, and yellows; green

Lammas - 8/6
AKA: Lammas, St. Peter in Chains
15 deg Leo
Moon phase: waxing gibbous
Colors: tan

Mabon, fall equinox - 9/22
AKA:
0 deg Libra
Moon phase: 3rd quarter
Colors: dark reds, dark oranges, gold, brown

Samhain - 11/6
AKA: Halloween
15 deg Scorpio
Moon phase: waxing crescent
Colors: orange, black

The last 3 sabbats are sometimes known as harvest holidays. Since I'm an urban witch and not a farmer, it's hard for me to make that connect. Lammas is back-to-school time and Mabon is near my birthday. For Samhain and Yule, my family celebrates a secular version and a spiritual version on different days.

Pagan Blog Project - L is for Litha

Sekmet's Day
LuniSol - Moonth 7, Day 9
Metonic - Year 17, Lunation 204, Day 27
Dreamspell - White Overtone Mirror (5 Etznab) - Kin 18
Mayan Tzolk'in - 10 Chuen (Blue Planetary Monkey) - Kin 231
Mayan Ha'ab - 14 Zotz

Litha or summer solstice will occur June 20th, 7:08 PM EDT for North Hemispherians. Not sure where the name Litha came from but it may be an old name for the month corresponding to June and July in the old days. Litha is also known as midsummer. Why midsummer and not the secular 1st day of summer? When I was a kid, it made no sense to me for the 1st day of summer to be the longest day of the year followed by days progressively getting shorter. Back in the old days, the equinoxes and solstices marked the the middle of the season, not the beginning. The 1st day of summer was Beltane or May Day which would make Litha midsummer.

Colors for this sabbat are fiery colors like reds, oranges, and yellows. I'm not sure about the other correspondences since mine aren't the traditional ones. Ancient Egyptians marked the summer solstice with the annual flooding of the Nile. Tropical astrology has the sun at 0 deg Cancer.

I don't know about you but I get a little sad around this time. Knowing that the days are going to get progressively shorter depresses me. I'm trying to combat this feeling. Having a pagan outlook on things helps me to look forward to the different spokes of the Wheel of the Year. Each spoke has a purpose. Meanwhile, it's time to plan for the Litha cookout next week.

Circle Casting at Ostara

Finally wrote and performed my Ostara fertility ritual last night. When hubs came home from work, we dyed eggs. The experience was meh; we'll be better prepared next year. One thing about being a witch is practice makes perfect. In the triangle of my path (faith, study, practice), I am sorely lacking in the practice department. The ritual last night was an elaborate one, well, elaborate for me. Hubs has always been supportive of my path and since this was a fertility rite, I couldn't have done it without him. I explained to him the idea of casting the circle. I believe that this is what created a different atmosphere than when I cast alone.

I cannot describe the feeling inside the circle. It was different than regular space, that's for sure. No feelings of  elation but a subtle change in the energies. Was it my imagination? Don't think so unless hubs shared my delusions. Final thoughts: intent is way more important than the placement of various items.

Blessed Ostara

Ra's Day
Galactic 28
Dreamspell - White Galactic Dog (8 Oc)- Kin 190
Mayan Tzolk'in - 13 Akbal (Blue Cosmic Night) - Kin 143
Mayan Ha'ab - 11 Kumku


Well, the plan was to dye eggs and then perform a fertility ritual. However, things did not work out that way. There's always tomorrow. Meanwhile, I'm working on the correspondences for what I hope will be the beginning of a family tradition.

Blessed (astronomical) Imbolc / Brigit

Sekmet's Day
Waxing Gibbous occurs 2/4 12:41 am EST in sidereal Gemini (Mercenary's Moon). Maiden is maturing into Mother.
Dreamspell - White Electric Worldbridger (3 Cimi) - Kin 146
Mayan - 7 Etznab (White Resonant Mirror) - Kin 98
Sun in Capricorn





 Magickal Graphics


Since the weather is nice, I opened up all the windows and burned cinnamon. I couldn't find a definitive scent so I hope Brigit won't be upset. Astronomical Imbolc occurs when the sun is at 315 degrees on the ecliptic which is 15 deg tropical Aquarius or 20 deg 5 min sidereal Capricorn. This will happen 2/4 5:22 am EST.

Bridget is the Goddess of poetry. Here is one of my favorite poems, kinda how I feel right now:

The Tunnel by Mark Strand

A man has been standing
in front of my house
for days. I peek at him
from the living room
window and at night,
unable to sleep,
I shine my flashlight
down on the lawn.
He is always there.

After a while
I open the front door
just a crack and order
him out of my yard.
He narrows his eyes
and moans. I slam
the door and dash back
to the kitchen, then up
to the bedroom, then down.

I weep like a schoolgirl
and make obscene gestures
through the window. I
write large suicide notes
and place them so he
can read them easily.
I destroy the living
room furniture to prove
I own nothing of value.
When he seems unmoved
I decide to dig a tunnel
to a neighboring yard.
I seal the basement off
from the upstairs with
a brick wall. I dig hard
and in no time the tunnel
is done. Leaving my pick
and shovel below,

I come out in front of a house
and stand there too tired to
move or even speak, hoping
someone will help me.
I feel I’m being watched
and sometimes I hear
a man’s voice,
but nothing is done
and I have been waiting for days.

Merry Festivus! Yule day 2

Ra's Day
Dreamspell - White Spectral Wind (11 Ik) - Kin 102
I dissolve in order to communicate
Releasing breath
I seal the input of spirit
With the spectral tone of liberation
I am guided by my own power of spirit doubled.


Mayan - 2 Ix (White Lunar Wizard) - Kin 54
Sun in sidereal Sagittarius






~Magickal Graphics~






~Magickal Graphics~




Part of being non-traditional is that you get to have your holidays when you want. The exact time of the winter solstice is 12:30 am EST 12/22. I will perform my Yule ritual this evening. Our secular holiday of Festivus will be held 12/25-26. Next year, I will try to have a theme for each of the 13 days of Yuletide. Why 13? It's the time period between my pagan new year (winter solstice) and the Gregorian new year (Jan 1).


This year was the first year that we decorated with lights outside. We wanted blue and white lights but the blue lights were more greenish. I was happy with the snowflake pathway lights.

Blessed (astronomical) Samhain

Dreamspell - White Rhythmic Mirror (6 Etznab) - Kin 58
Mayan - 10 Oc (White Planetary Dog) - Kin 10
Sun in Libra

I went to visit my father's grave today for the first time since he died. There is no headstone. The graveyard was peaceful. I have so many questions that I want to ask him now.




~Magickal Graphics~

Magical Week

This year like previous years I took my vacation from work. I went to Vegas with hubs. I really meant to do some rituals. Mabon passes without me doing anything special because out of 7 days, 4 of them are magical, thus my magical week. My birthday, wedding anniversary, an esbat, and a sabbat are all in the same week. Whew!! If I didn't go out of town, I would have done something (more) special. The fact that I spent time with hubs counts. We barely have time to ourselves with kids and work and school and home maintenance. I'll be better prepared next year. I couldn't find any quarter moon rituals so I will have to construct one. Hubs will gladly participate in an anniversary ritual *wiggles eyebrows*.

Do you have a magical week where your important dates fall close to each other?

Mechanics of Circle Casting

Merry Meet! I hope you had a wonderful Solstice whether winter or summer. I performed ritual outside for the first time. I admit, I was a bit nervous as I was worried that the neighbors were going to say something. Fortunately, if they were even watching, they didn't interrupt. As with anything that's planned, nothing went according to plan. But my family willingly participated including my 15 yr old son. I made the ritual "audience participation" so I wouldn't be the only doing stuff and everyone is just watching me. After I cast the circle with my wand (leftover wooden staff from my sorority), I had hubs circle with the salt water and my son circle with the incense censer, which by the way, kept going out.

Since my son is left-handed, he naturally circled counterclockwise or widdershins while hubs and I circled clockwise, sunwise, or deiseal (I purposely did not use the Wiccan spelling). Did I hear a collective gasp? No, the magic did not seep from my sacred space and my ritual was not less special. Let me tell you why. Being a parent of a lefthander has given me new perspective on the world. Did you know that it is actually dangerous for a lefty to use some equipment (think: chainsaw). We live in a right-hand biased world. Magically speaking, it's the same way (the lefthand path vs the righthand path). I was reading a visualization where the reader was encouraged to make a ball of energy in her dominant hand. Dominant hand, not right hand. If he decides to follow paganism, I'm sure the Spirit won't mind if he does things "backwards".

As far as whether circle casting is necessary, I think it gets the mind in the proper focus for the ritual. My sabbat rituals are by no means solemn but they are respectful. The circle casting signals the beginning so that there is no last minute checking email or running to the bathroom. When I went to the Kingdom Hall, the meeting started with a song and prayer. It would seem kind of weird if the meeting was called to attention and then the first sermon started. Likewise the ritual ends with the circle being open.

Do you think it matters whether a circle is cast clock- or anticlockwise? Is circle casting even necessary? When is it mandatory or optional? Does this vary with a specific Pagan path?