This week, we reach the time of Imbolc in the Northern Hemisphere.
Imbolc is a Celtic celebration that falls halfway between winter solstice and spring equinox.
There is a Celtic legend about the Cailleach, an ancient crone goddess who is associated with this time of seasonal transition (see above). This legend predates Groundhog Day by thousands of years.
Spring is on its way.
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#Imbolc
#cycles
#seasons
#cailleach
#naturegoddess
#celebrate
“The sun is now holding its place in the sky. Daylight is neither diminishing nor growing. Things are at a stand-still, as though the world were poised for the change that is coming.
For the ancients, this was a tremendously sacred time. The planet continues its annual rotation; day continues to follow night. But something deep is occurring to our planet. It has reached a significant pivot point in the annual cycle. Opposite to its parallel summer location, the earth now holds still.
The soul holds still like this, just before great change occurs. It is a silence so profound that it seems as though time has stopped. In this magical moment, we have the chance to set in motion great changes, great happenings. This is the moment when the seeds of new life, new growth, must be planted.”
~ Patricia Monaghan,
The Goddess Companion
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#solstice
#stillpoint
#magic
#cycles
#seasons
Photographer Unknown
Samhain Blessings to you and all those you love.
As we enter the dark half of the year, Mother Nature reminds us that death is a sacred part of her endless cycles of life, death and rebirth. We let go and honor what is dead and dying, knowing Spring will return.
May today bring you the blessings of the ancestors. Take time to honor them in some way.
#Samhain
#CelticHolyDay
#wisdomofthedark
#cycles
#seasons
“No spring nor summer beauty hath such grace as I have seen in one autumnal face.”
~John Donne
Equinox is upon us.
00:50 AM Mountain time Sept 23, 2023
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Gwyl canol Hydref
Harvest Home
Harvest Tide
Mabon
Fall Equinox
Autumn Equinox
Mea’n Fo’mhair
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#dayequalsnight
#harvestseason
#wheeloftheyear
#equinox
#balance
Art by Wendy Andrew
“Bless the earth underfoot
the breeze on my neck
the still dawn the open sky
the feather fall
the beetle climb
the crow call
the swift fly
the cloud drift
the rising sun
the barley field
the river run
the grass seed
the ripe plum.
Bless the toad leap
the thunderclap
the kingfisher and dragonfly
the sunlight dancing on the water
the wildflowers growing in the summer
the meadowsweet
the honey bee
the blackberry moon
the gliding swan
the eyes to see
the ears to hear
are all part of the river’s song.
Bless the seed
on fertile ground
the skylark trill
the morning mist
the hazy heat
the twilight glow
the meteor shower
the midnight kiss
the fields and stones
the Lammas bread
the wheel that turns
that all are fed.
Bless Us,
Grain Mother
Harvest Queen
Demeter and Persephone
Sun God
and John Barleycorn
All that dies shall be reborn
Bless this body
this breath
this Good Earth
this new day
May our dreams of days
and years to come
be blessed by the
radiant golden sun.
May abundance be a constant friend
by our hearths ’til winter’s end.
A Blessed Lammas to all”
~Caroline Mellor
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#grateful
#harvest
#lammas
#lughnasadh
#cyclesandseasons
#wheeloftheyear
Image: Bern@t/Creative
Commons via flickr
“The edge of the solstice, the barren darkness, the wheel.
Nature knows
That every cycle must return
to stillness and silence.
That every inhale has an exhale.
That every ending births a beginning.
That the light always returns to a future
beyond imagination”
~Victoria Erickson
☀️
#light
#dark
#cycles
#seasons
Solstice
Sacred Sun Time
Turn your face to the Sun
And let the shadows fall away…
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#summer
#longestday
#cycles
#seasons
#grateful
☀️
Photo by Michael Probst/AP
Beltane Blessings to you on this beautiful spring day.
My Celtic ancestors celebrated Beltane in early May with bonfires, dancing, maypoles and plentiful food and drink. Ritual sex was also part of the celebrations.
The Celts were honoring the sacred union of the masculine and feminine which creates new life. The merging of masculine and feminine energies allows something new to magically be born.
This Beltane, make time to celebrate life.
#mayday
#beltane
#sacredunion
#sacredmasculine
#sacredfeminine
#creation
#life
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Image: Spring Green
by Nancy Lankston
It’s spring equinox!
The lands of the northern hemisphere are now warming and coming back to life after the long dark winter. Light and darkness are coming back into balance now.
The Germanic Goddess Ostara (aka Eostre) is associated with spring and the return of the light. She is said to withdraw to the Underworld throughout the cold, dark winter. The land slumbers quietly awaiting her return. Then at Spring Equinox, Ostara returns to the surface of the Earth and life begins to stir anew.
Take a few moments to pause and celebrate sunlight, new life, rebirth, and growth.
#springequinox
#goddess
#ostara #eostre
#awakening
#mamearth
#rebirth
#returnofthelight
#wheeloftheyear
#happyspring
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