New moon in earthy Virgo, sign of the earth priestess.
Virgo is all about honoring the rhythms and cycles and seasons of this beautiful planet.
As Summer is drawing to a close in the northern hemisphere, this is the perfect time to perform a simple ritual in honor of the seasons.
Light a candle, say a prayer or make an offering to Mama Earth. Express your gratitude for our beautiful, sacred planet and its seasons.
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“It’s high summer – time to celebrate the old Celtic festival known as Lughnasadh in Ireland and Lammas in Britain – the traditional time of pilgrimage in the northern Celtic lands where for centuries people have rejoiced in the endless light-filled days by climbing sacred hills, drinking at holy wells, or voyaging to green islands set like jewels in a sunlit sea.
As we pause in our labours, celebrate the warm weather and enjoy the fruits of our daily work, we have an opportunity to take stock of what the seasons so far have yielded: to reflect upon our hopes and dreams that were sown in the dawn of the year, came to life in the springtime, and are now maybe ready to bear fruit. On the spiritual level, we can ask ourselves what wisdom we have garnered so far this year:
What will be the harvest of our souls?
For as the wheel turns, the life-giving triumph of the harvest must give way to death, reminding us that nothing stands still, and that on the human level, for whatever is gained in our lives, there must be an equal giving-away, a sacrifice, so that cosmic balance and order can be maintained.”
~Mara Freeman
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Lammas or Lughnassadh (pronounced Loo-nuh-suh) is usually celebrated at the cross quarter in early August. The precise zodiacal cross-quarter is when the Sun reaches 15 Leo in our sky.
#wheeloftheyear
#seasons
#cycles
#harvest
#bounty
#grateful
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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
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
shhh, listen
seeds are stirring
in the belly
of the mother.
the sacred wheel
turns toward spring
life is awakening
in the body of her.
~Nancy Lankston
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Can you hear it?? Magic is afoot, running just beneath the surface. The seeds are stirring!
For months, Mama Earth has held the seeds of spring safe within her soil body. Then, as the wheel of the year slowly turns towards spring in early February, the seeds begin to stir and reawaken. Imbolc* has quietly arrived.
Celtic tales speak of the Cailleach — the divine hag Goddess who rules over winter and death. The Cailleach is the anncient Earth Mother Goddess in her bare winter crone form. She is is also known as the Bone Mother who is said to collect the bones of the animals that die in the winter. Bone Mother sings and prays over the bones of the animals all winter long. She does this out of love, so that the animals will cross over and return as new life in the spring.
On Imbolc, the Cailleach gathers firewood for the rest of the winter. If the Cailleach wishes to make winter last a lot longer, she will make sure that the weather on Imbolc is bright and sunny, so she can gather plenty of firewood. But, if Imbolc is a day of foul weather, it means that the Cailleach is asleep and winter is almost over.
Spring is on its way.
Offer up a prayer of gratitude
in honor of
the dance of Earth and Sun.
🌱🌱🌱
*Imbolc is an old Irish word that means “in the belly”. It honors the pregnant ewes carrying new life in their wombs at this time of year. Imbolc is traditionally celebrated at the halfway point between winter solstice and spring equinox.
Image by Nancy Lankston
“Lammas, or “Loaf Mass,” is the Feast of the First Harvest, the Feast of Bread. This Holy Day honors the women who created agriculture and bred the crops we cultivate, especially the grains, or corn. In the British Isles, celebrants make corn dollies from the last of the newly-harvested wheat. The corn dolly holds the energy of the grain Goddess and, when placed above the door or the mantle, will bring good luck to the household all year.
When we think of corn, we think of succulent cobs of crisp, sweet, buttery yellow or white kernels: immature Zea mays, Indian corn. You know, corn. As in sweet corn, popcorn, blue corn, decorative corn, corn bread and corn chowder. Corn!
But, did you ever wonder why it’s corn? “Korn” is an old Greek word for “grain.” Wheat and oats, barley and even rice, are korn. This usage is preserved in the song “John Barleycorn must die.” When Europeans crossed the Atlantic and were introduced to the beautiful grain the Native Americans grew, they, of course, called it “corn.” And nowadays we think of corn as only that, but corn is Kore (pronounced “core-a”), the Great Mother of us all.
Her name, in its many forms — Ker, Car, Q’re, Kher, Kirn, Kern, Ceres, Core, Kore, Kaur, Kauri, Kali — is the oldest of all Goddess names. From it we derive the English words corn, kernel, carnal, core, and cardiac. “Kern” is Ancient Greek for “sacred womb-vase in which grain is reborn.”
The Goddess of Grain is the mother of civilization, of cultivation, of endless fertility and fecundity. To the Romans she was Ceres, whose name becomes “cereal.” To the Greeks, she was Kore, the daughter, and Demeter (de/dea/goddess/meter/mater/mother) as well. To the peoples of the Americas, she is Corn Mother, she-who-gave-herself-that-the-People-may-live. She is one of the three sister crops: corn, beans and squash. In the British Isles she was celebrated almost to the present day as “Cerealia, the source of all food.”
Honoring grain as the staff of our life dates at least as far back as Ancient Greece. Nearly four thousand years ago, the Eleusinian mysteries, which were regarded as ancient mysteries even then, centered on the sacred corn and the story of Demeter and her daughter Kore or Persephone. Initiates, after many days of ceremony, were at last shown the great mystery: an ear of Korn. Korn dies and is reborn, traditionally after being buried for three days. Corn and grain are magic. The one becomes many. That which dies is reborn.
Many Native American stories repeat this theme of death and rebirth, but with a special twist. In some origin of corn stories a woman is brutally murdered, in others she demands to be killed. No matter. Once she is dead, she is cut into pieces and planted. From her dismembered body, corn grows. Again and again, everywhere around the world, the story of grain is the story of humanity. The sacred symbolism of grain speaks loudly to the human psyche. To the Ancients, the light in our lights is the Kore, the core, the soul, the seed, of each being.
… The green blessings of the grains are special blessings indeed.”
~Susun Weed
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#Harvest
#Lammas
#Lughnasadh
#CyclesandSeasons
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A One-Day Virtual Immersion Event with Shamanism Without Borders Community Leaders!
This year’s theme of Tending to the Animals is so close to all of our hearts and we look forward to sharing this in community. Join our Shamanism Without Borders Community Leaders as they guide you through a day of tending to our animal allies, guides, companions and friends.
What shamanic tools can we use to support our animal friends? How can we help them? What techniques can we use to heal them? What kind of support do they need from us? How can we connect more fully with our animal allies? How do we honor the sacred relationship that we humans have with animal beings of all kinds on Earth?
Join Shamanism Without Borders in this One-Day Virtual Immersion Event to explore these questions and how shamanic practices and principles can be applied to creating a better world for the benefit of all beings and our Mother Earth.
The equinox today signals the start of spring in the northern hemisphere.
An equinox is a point of balance in the seasonal cycle. Day and night are roughly equal in length at this turning point. And this year, an almost full moon in Libra is amplifying the shift.
In the chaos of these uncertain times, it is easy to become ungrounded, anxious and afraid. A connection to Mama Earth helps restore balance and calm.
So, take a few moments today to honor this seasonal shift toward life and new growth. Go outside. Breathe in and out. And express your gratitude to Mama Earth for the many gifts of spring.
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#spring
#equinox
#findbalance
#cyclesandseasons
#wheeloftheyear
#newgrowth
Originally published November 1, 2017
Certain times in our lives are filled with potency and magic. Twilight is such a time, as is dawn. These are magical moments when it is neither day nor night. Birth is another potent in-between time, along with death. These special times mark borders and transition zones. The in-between is a sacred time when magic is afoot.
Here in the northern hemisphere, we find ourselves on the boundary between autumn and winter. The light is slowly fading away as our Sun drops lower and lower in the sky and our nights grow longer. This is another potent in-between time. The ancient Celtic people would celebrate Samhain (Sow-in) at this time. Some tribes chose to celebrate at the 1st new moon after late harvest. Other tribes celebrated at the 1st full moon after harvest. The celebration of Samhain was a beautiful way to honor the seasonal transition out of the light and into the dark.
The veils between the worlds grow very thin during this sacred in-between time. Loved ones who have departed this Earth are believed to be nearby. Many people in Mexico honor this by celebrating Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) at this time.
Samhain is the perfect time to acknowledge and celebrate the sacred cycles of birth – growth – death – rebirth that are an integral part of Nature.
♾
Some suggestions for acknowledging and honoring the magical in-between time of Samhain:
Take a few moments to honor everything you have “harvested” this year.
Bow to your ancestors and thank them for giving you this life.
Offer love and prayers to loved ones who have transitioned.
Thank the brilliant light of summer and embrace the deep dark of winter.
Listen for spiritual guidance to help you in the coming year.
♾
Split Boulder Photo by Nancy Lankston