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This file contains 9 seasonal articles by Mike Nichols. They may be freely
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distributed provided that the following conditions are met: (1) No fee is
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charged for their use and distribution and no commercial use is made of them;
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(2) These files are not changed or edited in any way without the author's
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permission; (3) This notice is not removed. An article may be distributed
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as a separate file, provided that this notice is repeated at the beginning of
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each such file.
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These articles are periodically updated by the author; this version is current
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as of 9/28/88. Contact Mike Nichols at the Magick Lantern BBS [(816)531-7265,
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7pm. - 11am., 300 baud ONLY] for more recent updates, or to leave your own
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comments on them.
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===============================
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The Eight Sabbats of Witchcraft
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===============================
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by Mike Nichols
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copyright by MicroMuse Press
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<1> Halloween
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<2> Yule
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<3> Candlemas
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<4> Lady Day
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<5> May Day
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<6> Midsummer
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<7> Lammas
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<8> Harvest Home
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<9> Death of Llew: A Seasonal Interp
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ALL HALLOW'S EVE
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================
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by Mike Nichols
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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Halloween.
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Sly does it. Tiptoe catspaw. Slide and creep.
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But why? What for? How? Who? When! Where did it all begin?
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'You don't know, do you?' asks Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud climbing out
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under the pile of leaves under the Halloween Tree. 'You don't REALLY know!'
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--Ray Bradbury from 'The Halloween Tree'
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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Samhain. All Hallows. All Hallow's Eve. Hallow E'en. Halloween. The
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most magical night of the year. Exactly opposite Beltane on the wheel of the
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year, Halloween is Beltane's dark twin. A night of glowing jack-o-lanterns,
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bobbing for apples, tricks or treats, and dressing in costume. A night of
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ghost stories and seances, tarot card readings and scrying with mirrors. A
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night of power, when the veil that separates our world from the Otherworld is
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at its thinnest. A 'spirit night', as they say in Wales.
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All Hallow's Eve is the eve of All Hallow's Day (November 1st). And for
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once, even popular tradition remembers that the Eve is more important than the
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Day itself, the traditional celebration focusing on October 31st, beginning at
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||
sundown. And this seems only fitting for the great Celtic New Year's festival.
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Not that the holiday was Celtic only. In fact, it is startling how many
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||
ancient and unconnected cultures (the Egyptians and pre-Spanish Mexicans, for
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example) celebrated this as a festival of the dead. But the majority of our
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modern traditions can be traced to the British Isles.
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||
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The Celts called it Samhain, which means 'summer's end', according to
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their ancient two-fold division of the year, when summer ran from Beltane to
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Samhain and winter ran from Samhain to Beltane. (Some modern Covens echo this
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structure by letting the High Priest 'rule' the Coven beginning on Samhain,
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||
with rulership returned to the High Priestess at Beltane.) According to the
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||
later four-fold division of the year, Samhain is seen as 'autumn's end' and the
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beginning of winter. Samhain is pronounced (depending on where you're from) as
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'sow-in' (in Ireland), or 'sow-een' (in Wales), or 'sav-en' (in Scotland), or
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(inevitably) 'sam-hane' (in the U.S., where we don't speak Gaelic).
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Not only is Samhain the end of autumn; it is also, more importantly, the
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||
end of the old year and the beginning of the new. Celtic New Year's Eve, when
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the new year begins with the onset of the dark phase of the year, just as the
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||
new day begins at sundown. There are many representations of Celtic gods with
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two faces, and it surely must have been one of them who held sway over Samhain.
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Like his Greek counterpart Janus, he would straddle the threshold, one face
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turned toward the past in commemoration of those who died during the last year,
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and one face gazing hopefully toward the future, mystic eyes attempting to
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pierce the veil and divine what the coming year holds. These two themes,
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celebrating the dead and divining the future, are inexorably intertwined in
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Samhain, as they are likely to be in any New Year's celebration.
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As a feast of the dead, it was believed the dead could, if they wished,
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return to the land of the living for this one night, to celebrate with their
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family, tribe, or clan. And so the great burial mounds of Ireland (sidh
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||
mounds) were opened up, with lighted torches lining the walls, so the dead
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could find their way. Extra places were set at the table and food set out for
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any who had died that year. And there are many stories that tell of Irish
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heroes making raids on the Underworld while the gates of faery stood open,
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though all must return to their appointed places by cock-crow.
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||
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As a feast of divination, this was the night par excellence for peering
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into the future. The reason for this has to do with the Celtic view of time.
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In a culture that uses a linear concept of time, like our modern one, New
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Year's Eve is simply a milestone on a very long road that stretches in a
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straight line from birth to death. Thus, the New Year's festival is a part of
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||
time. The ancient Celtic view of time, however, is cyclical. And in this
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framework, New Year's Eve represents a point outside of time, when the natural
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order of the universe dissolves back into primordial chaos, preparatory to re-
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establishing itself in a new order. Thus, Samhain is a night that exists
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outside of time and hence it may be used to view any other point in time. At
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no other holiday is a tarot card reading, crystal reading, or tea-leaf reading
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so likely to succeed.
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||
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The Christian religion, with its emphasis on the 'historical' Christ and
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his act of redemption 2000 years ago, is forced into a linear view of time,
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where 'seeing the future' is an illogical proposition. In fact, from the
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||
Christian perspective, any attempt to do so is seen as inherently evil. This
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||
did not keep the medieval Church from co-opting Samhain's other motif,
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||
commemoration of the dead. To the Church, however, it could never be a feast
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for all the dead, but only the blessed dead, all those hallowed (made holy) by
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obedience to God - thus, All Hallow's, or Hallowmas, later All Saints and All
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Souls.
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There are so many types of divination that are traditional to Hallowstide,
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it is possible to mention only a few. Girls were told to place hazel nuts
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along the front of the firegrate, each one to symbolize one of her suitors.
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She could then divine her future husband by chanting, 'If you love me, pop and
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fly; if you hate me, burn and die.' Several methods used the apple, that most
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popular of Halloween fruits. You should slice an apple through the equator (to
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reveal the five-pointed star within) and then eat it by candlelight before a
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mirror. Your future spouse will then appear over your shoulder. Or, peel an
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apple, making sure the peeling comes off in one long strand, reciting, 'I pare
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this apple round and round again; / My sweetheart's name to flourish on the
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plain: / I fling the unbroken paring o'er my head, / My sweetheart's letter on
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the ground to read.' Or, you might set a snail to crawl through the ashes of
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your hearth. The considerate little creature will then spell out the initial
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||
letter as it moves.
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||
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Perhaps the most famous icon of the holiday is the jack-o-lantern.
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Various authorities attribute it to either Scottish or Irish origin. However,
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||
it seems clear that it was used as a lantern by people who traveled the road
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||
this night, the scary face to frighten away spirits or faeries who might
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||
otherwise lead one astray. Set on porches and in windows, they cast the same
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spell of protection over the household. (The American pumpkin seems to have
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forever superseded the European gourd as the jack-o-lantern of choice.)
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||
Bobbing for apples may well represent the remnants of a Pagan 'baptism' rite
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||
called a 'seining', according to some writers. The water-filled tub is a
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||
latter-day Cauldron of Regeneration, into which the novice's head is immersed.
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||
The fact that the participant in this folk game was usually blindfolded with
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hands tied behind the back also puts one in mind of a traditional Craft
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||
initiation ceremony.
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||
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The custom of dressing in costume and 'trick-or-treating' is of Celtic
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||
origin with survivals particularly strong in Scotland. However, there are some
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||
important differences from the modern version. In the first place, the custom
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was not relegated to children, but was actively indulged in by adults as well.
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||
Also, the 'treat' which was required was often one of spirits (the liquid
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||
variety). This has recently been revived by college students who go
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||
'trick-or-drinking'. And in ancient times, the roving bands would sing
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||
seasonal carols from house to house, making the tradition very similar to
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||
Yuletide wassailing. In fact, the custom known as 'caroling', now connected
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||
exclusively with mid-winter, was once practiced at all the major holidays.
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||
Finally, in Scotland at least, the tradition of dressing in costume consisted
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||
almost exclusively of cross-dressing (i.e., men dressing as women, and women as
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men). It seems as though ancient societies provided an opportunity for people
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to 'try on' the role of the opposite gender for one night of the year.
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||
(Although in Scotland, this is admittedly less dramatic - but more confusing -
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||
since men were in the habit of wearing skirt-like kilts anyway. Oh well...)
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||
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To Witches, Halloween is one of the four High Holidays, or Greater
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||
Sabbats, or cross-quarter days. Because it is the most important holiday of
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||
the year, it is sometimes called 'THE Great Sabbat.' It is an ironic fact that
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||
the newer, self-created Covens tend to use the older name of the holiday,
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||
Samhain, which they have discovered through modern research. While the older
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||
hereditary and traditional Covens often use the newer name, Halloween, which
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||
has been handed down through oral tradition within their Coven. (This is often
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||
holds true for the names of the other holidays, as well. One may often get an
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||
indication of a Coven's antiquity by noting what names it uses for the
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holidays.)
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With such an important holiday, Witches often hold two distinct
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||
celebrations. First, a large Halloween party for non-Craft friends, often held
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on the previous weekend. And second, a Coven ritual held on Halloween night
|
||
itself, late enough so as not to be interrupted by trick-or-treaters. If the
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||
rituals are performed properly, there is often the feeling of invisible friends
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||
taking part in the rites. Another date which may be utilized in planning
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||
celebrations is the actual cross-quarter day, or Old Halloween, or Halloween
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||
O.S. (Old Style). This occurs when the sun has reached 15 degrees Scorpio, an
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astrological 'power point' symbolized by the Eagle. This year (1988), the date
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||
is November 6th at 10:55 pm CST, with the celebration beginning at sunset.
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||
Interestingly, this date (Old Halloween) was also appropriated by the Church as
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||
the holiday of Martinmas.
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||
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||
Of all the Witchcraft holidays, Halloween is the only one that still
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||
boasts anything near to popular celebration. Even though it is typically
|
||
relegated to children (and the young-at-heart) and observed as an evening
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||
affair only, many of its traditions are firmly rooted in Paganism.
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Interestingly, some schools have recently attempted to abolish Halloween
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||
parties on the grounds that it violates the separation of state and religion.
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||
Speaking as a Pagan, I would be saddened by the success of this move, but as a
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||
supporter of the concept of religion-free public education, I fear I must
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||
concede the point. Nonetheless, it seems only right that there SHOULD be one
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||
night of the year when our minds are turned toward thoughts of the
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||
supernatural. A night when both Pagans and non-Pagans may ponder the mysteries
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||
of the Otherworld and its inhabitants. And if you are one of them, may all
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your jack-o'lanterns burn bright on this All Hallow's Eve.
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||
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MIDWINTER NIGHT'S EVE: Y U L E
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================================
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||
by Mike Nichols
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||
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Our Christian friends are often quite surprised at how enthusiastically we
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||
Pagans celebrate the 'Christmas' season. Even though we prefer to use the
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word 'Yule', and our celebrations may peak a few days BEFORE the 25th, we
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||
nonetheless follow many of the traditional customs of the season: decorated
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||
trees, carolling, presents, Yule logs, and mistletoe. We might even go so far
|
||
as putting up a 'Nativity set', though for us the three central characters are
|
||
likely to be interpreted as Mother Nature, Father Time, and the Baby Sun-God.
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||
None of this will come as a surprise to anyone who knows the true history of
|
||
the holiday, of course.
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||
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||
In fact, if truth be known, the holiday of Christmas has always been more
|
||
Pagan than Christian, with it's associations of Nordic divination, Celtic
|
||
fertility rites, and Roman Mithraism. That is why both Martin Luther and John
|
||
Calvin abhorred it, why the Puritans refused to acknowledge it, much less
|
||
celebrate it (to them, no day of the year could be more holy than the
|
||
Sabbath), and why it was even made ILLEGAL in Boston! The holiday was already
|
||
too closely associated with the birth of older Pagan gods and heroes. And
|
||
many of them (like Oedipus, Theseus, Hercules, Perseus, Jason, Dionysus,
|
||
Apollo, Mithra, Horus and even Arthur) possessed a narrative of birth, death,
|
||
and resurrection that was uncomfortably close to that of Jesus. And to make
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||
matters worse, many of them pre-dated the Christian Savior.
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||
|
||
Ultimately, of course, the holiday is rooted deeply in the cycle of the
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||
year. It is the Winter Solstice that is being celebrated, seed-time of the
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||
year, the longest night and shortest day. It is the birthday of the new Sun
|
||
King, the Son of God -- by whatever name you choose to call him. On this
|
||
darkest of nights, the Goddess becomes the Great Mother and once again gives
|
||
birth. And it makes perfect poetic sense that on the longest night of the
|
||
winter, 'the dark night of our souls', there springs the new spark of hope,
|
||
the Sacred Fire, the Light of the World, the Coel Coeth.
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||
|
||
That is why Pagans have as much right to claim this holiday as Christians.
|
||
Perhaps even more so, as the Christians were rather late in laying claim to
|
||
it, and tried more than once to reject it. There had been a tradition in the
|
||
West that Mary bore the child Jesus on the twenty-fifth day, but no one could
|
||
seem to decide on the month. Finally, in 320 C.E., the Catholic Fathers in
|
||
Rome decided to make it December, in an effort to co-opt the Mithraic
|
||
celebration of the Romans and the Yule celebrations of the Celts and Saxons.
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||
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||
There was never much pretense that the date they finally chose was
|
||
historically accurate. Shepherds just don't 'tend their flocks by night' in
|
||
the high pastures in the dead of winter! But if one wishes to use the New
|
||
Testament as historical evidence, this reference may point to sometime in the
|
||
spring as the time of Jesus's birth. This is because the lambing season
|
||
occurs in the spring and that is the only time when shepherds are likely to
|
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'watch their flocks by night' -- to make sure the lambing goes well. Knowing
|
||
this, the Eastern half of the Church continued to reject December 25,
|
||
preferring a 'movable date' fixed by their astrologers according to the moon.
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||
|
||
Thus, despite its shaky start (for over three centuries, no one knew when
|
||
Jesus was supposed to have been born!), December 25 finally began to catch on.
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||
By 529, it was a civic holiday, and all work or public business (except that
|
||
of cooks, bakers, or any that contributed to the delight of the holiday) was
|
||
prohibited by the Emperor Justinian. In 563, the Council of Braga forbade
|
||
fasting on Christmas Day, and four years later the Council of Tours proclaimed
|
||
the twelve days from December 25 to Epiphany as a sacred, festive season.
|
||
This last point is perhaps the hardest to impress upon the modern reader, who
|
||
is lucky to get a single day off work. Christmas, in the Middle Ages, was not
|
||
a SINGLE day, but rather a period of TWELVE days, from December 25 to January
|
||
6. The Twelve Days of Christmas, in fact. It is certainly lamentable that
|
||
the modern world has abandoned this approach, along with the popular Twelfth
|
||
Night celebrations.
|
||
|
||
Of course, the Christian version of the holiday spread to many countries
|
||
no faster than Christianity itself, which means that 'Christmas' wasn't
|
||
celebrated in Ireland until the late fifth century; in England, Switzerland,
|
||
and Austria until the seventh; in Germany until the eighth; and in the Slavic
|
||
lands until the ninth and tenth. Not that these countries lacked their own
|
||
mid-winter celebrations of Yuletide. Long before the world had heard of
|
||
Jesus, Pagans had been observing the season by bringing in the Yule log,
|
||
wishing on it, and lighting it from the remains of last year's log. Riddles
|
||
were posed and answered, magic and rituals were practiced, wild boars were
|
||
sacrificed and consumed along with large quantities of liquor, corn dollies
|
||
were carried from house to house while carolling, fertility rites were
|
||
practiced (girls standing under a sprig of mistletoe were subject to a bit
|
||
more than a kiss), and divinations were cast for the coming Spring. Many of
|
||
these Pagan customs, in an appropriately watered-down form, have entered the
|
||
mainstream of Christian celebration, though most celebrants do not realize (or
|
||
do not mention it, if they do) their origins.
|
||
|
||
For modern Witches, Yule (from the Anglo-Saxon 'Yula', meaning 'wheel' of
|
||
the year) is usually celebrated on the actual Winter Solstice, which may vary
|
||
by a few days, though it usually occurs on or around December 21st. It is a
|
||
Lesser Sabbat or Lower Holiday in the modern Pagan calendar, one of the four
|
||
quarter-days of the year, but a very important one. This year (1988) it
|
||
occurs on December 21st at 9:28 am CST. Pagan customs are still
|
||
enthusiastically followed. Once, the Yule log had been the center of the
|
||
celebration. It was lighted on the eve of the solstice (it should light on
|
||
the first try) and must be kept burning for twelve hours, for good luck. It
|
||
should be made of ash. Later, the Yule log was replaced by the Yule tree but,
|
||
instead of burning it, burning candles were placed on it. In Christianity,
|
||
Protestants might claim that Martin Luther invented the custom, and Catholics
|
||
might grant St. Boniface the honor, but the custom can demonstrably be traced
|
||
back through the Roman Saturnalia all the way to ancient Egypt. Needless to
|
||
say, such a tree should be cut down rather than purchased, and should be
|
||
disposed of by burning, the proper way to dispatch any sacred object.
|
||
|
||
Along with the evergreen, the holly and the ivy and the mistletoe were
|
||
important plants of the season, all symbolizing fertility and everlasting
|
||
life. Mistletoe was especially venerated by the Celtic Druids, who cut it
|
||
with a golden sickle on the sixth night of the moon, and believed it to be an
|
||
aphrodisiac. (Magically -- not medicinally! It's highly toxic!) But
|
||
aphrodisiacs must have been the smallest part of the Yuletide menu in ancient
|
||
times, as contemporary reports indicate that the tables fairly creaked under
|
||
the strain of every type of good food. And drink! The most popular of which
|
||
was the 'wassail cup' deriving its name from the Anglo-Saxon term 'waes hael'
|
||
(be whole or hale).
|
||
|
||
Medieval Christmas folklore seems endless: that animals will all kneel
|
||
down as the Holy Night arrives, that bees hum the '100th psalm' on Christmas
|
||
Eve, that a windy Christmas will bring good luck, that a person born on
|
||
Christmas Day can see the Little People, that a cricket on the hearth brings
|
||
good luck, that if one opens all the doors of the house at midnight all the
|
||
evil spirits will depart, that you will have one lucky month for each
|
||
Christmas pudding you sample, that the tree must be taken down by Twelfth
|
||
Night or bad luck is sure to follow, that 'if Christmas on a Sunday be, a
|
||
windy winter we shall see', that 'hours of sun on Christmas Day, so many
|
||
frosts in the month of May', that one can use the Twelve Days of Christmas to
|
||
predict the weather for each of the twelve months of the coming year, and so
|
||
on.
|
||
|
||
Remembering that most Christmas customs are ultimately based upon older
|
||
Pagan customs, it only remains for modern Pagans to reclaim their lost
|
||
traditions. In doing so, we can share many common customs with our Christian
|
||
friends, albeit with a slightly different interpretation. And thus we all
|
||
share in the beauty of this most magical of seasons, when the Mother Goddess
|
||
once again gives birth to the baby Sun-God and sets the wheel in motion again.
|
||
To conclude with a long-overdue paraphrase, 'Goddess bless us, every one!'
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
C A N D L E M A S: The Light Returns
|
||
=====================================
|
||
by Mike Nichols
|
||
|
||
|
||
It seems quite impossible that the holiday of Candlemas should be
|
||
considered the beginning of Spring. Here in the Heartland, February 2nd may
|
||
see a blanket of snow mantling the Mother. Or, if the snows have gone, you may
|
||
be sure the days are filled with drizzle, slush, and steel-grey skies -- the
|
||
dreariest weather of the year. In short, the perfect time for a Pagan Festival
|
||
of Lights. And as for Spring, although this may seem a tenuous beginning, all
|
||
the little buds, flowers and leaves will have arrived on schedule before Spring
|
||
runs its course to Beltane.
|
||
|
||
'Candlemas' is the Christianized name for the holiday, of course. The
|
||
older Pagan names were Imbolc and Oimelc. 'Imbolc' means, literally, 'in the
|
||
belly' (of the Mother). For in the womb of Mother Earth, hidden from our
|
||
mundane sight but sensed by a keener vision, there are stirrings. The seed
|
||
that was planted in her womb at the solstice is quickening and the new year
|
||
grows. 'Oimelc' means 'milk of ewes', for it is also lambing season.
|
||
|
||
The holiday is also called 'Brigit's Day', in honor of the great Irish
|
||
Goddess Brigit. At her shrine, the ancient Irish capitol of Kildare, a group
|
||
of 19 priestesses (no men allowed) kept a perpetual flame burning in her honor.
|
||
She was considered a goddess of fire, patroness of smithcraft, poetry and
|
||
healing (especially the healing touch of midwifery). This tripartite symbolism
|
||
was occasionally expressed by saying that Brigit had two sisters, also named
|
||
Brigit. (Incidentally, another form of the name Brigit is Bride, and it is
|
||
thus She bestows her special patronage on any woman about to be married or
|
||
handfasted, the woman being called 'bride' in her honor.)
|
||
|
||
The Roman Catholic Church could not very easily call the Great Goddess of
|
||
Ireland a demon, so they canonized her instead. Henceforth, she would be
|
||
'Saint' Brigit, patron SAINT of smithcraft, poetry, and healing. They
|
||
'explained' this by telling the Irish peasants that Brigit was 'really' an
|
||
early Christian missionary sent to the Emerald Isle, and that the miracles she
|
||
performed there 'misled' the common people into believing that she was a
|
||
goddess. For some reason, the Irish swallowed this. (There is no limit to
|
||
what the Irish imagination can convince itself of. For example, they also came
|
||
to believe that Brigit was the 'foster-mother' of Jesus, giving no thought to
|
||
the implausibility of Jesus having spent his boyhood in Ireland!)
|
||
|
||
Brigit's holiday was chiefly marked by the kindling of sacred fires, since
|
||
she symbolized the fire of birth and healing, the fire of the forge, and the
|
||
fire of poetic inspiration. Bonfires were lighted on the beacon tors, and
|
||
chandlers celebrated their special holiday. The Roman Church was quick to
|
||
confiscate this symbolism as well, using 'Candlemas' as the day to bless all
|
||
the church candles that would be used for the coming liturgical year.
|
||
(Catholics will be reminded that the following day, St. Blaise's Day, is
|
||
remembered for using the newly-blessed candles to bless the throats of
|
||
parishioners, keeping them from colds, flu, sore throats, etc.)
|
||
|
||
The Catholic Church, never one to refrain from piling holiday upon holiday,
|
||
also called it the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary. (It
|
||
is surprising how many of the old Pagan holidays were converted to Maryan
|
||
Feasts.) The symbol of the Purification may seem a little obscure to modern
|
||
readers, but it has to do with the old custom of 'churching women'. It was
|
||
believed that women were impure for six weeks after giving birth. And since
|
||
Mary gave birth at the winter solstice, she wouldn't be purified until February
|
||
2nd. In Pagan symbolism, this might be re-translated as when the Great Mother
|
||
once again becomes the Young Maiden Goddess.
|
||
|
||
Today, this holiday is chiefly connected to weather lore. Even our
|
||
American folk-calendar keeps the tradition of 'Groundhog's Day', a day to
|
||
predict the coming weather, telling us that if the Groundhog sees his shadow,
|
||
there will be 'six more weeks' of bad weather (i.e., until the next old
|
||
holiday, Lady Day). This custom is ancient. An old British rhyme tells us
|
||
that 'If Candlemas Day be bright and clear, there'll be two winters in the
|
||
year.' Actually, all of the cross-quarter days can be used as 'inverse'
|
||
weather predictors, whereas the quarter-days are used as 'direct' weather
|
||
predictors.
|
||
|
||
Like the other High Holidays or Great Sabbats of the Witches' year,
|
||
Candlemas is sometimes celebrated on it's alternate date, astrologically
|
||
determined by the sun's reaching 15-degrees Aquarius, or Candlemas Old Style
|
||
(in 1988, February 3rd, at 9:03 am CST). Another holiday that gets mixed up in
|
||
this is Valentine's Day. Ozark folklorist Vance Randolf makes this quite clear
|
||
by noting that the old-timers used to celebrate Groundhog's Day on February
|
||
14th. This same displacement is evident in Eastern Orthodox Christianity as
|
||
well. Their habit of celebrating the birth of Jesus on January 6th, with a
|
||
similar post-dated shift in the six-week period that follows it, puts the Feast
|
||
of the Purification of Mary on February 14th. It is amazing to think that the
|
||
same confusion and lateral displacement of one of the old folk holidays can be
|
||
seen from the Russian steppes to the Ozark hills, but such seems to be the
|
||
case!
|
||
|
||
Incidentally, there is speculation among linguistic scholars that the vary
|
||
name of 'Valentine' has Pagan origins. It seems that it was customary for
|
||
French peasants of the Middle Ages to pronounce a 'g' as a 'v'. Consequently,
|
||
the original term may have been the French 'galantine', which yields the
|
||
English word 'gallant'. The word originally refers to a dashing young man
|
||
known for his 'affaires d'amour', a true galaunt. The usual associations of
|
||
V(G)alantine's Day make much more sense in this light than their vague
|
||
connection to a legendary 'St. Valentine' can produce. Indeed, the Church has
|
||
always found it rather difficult to explain this nebulous saint's connection to
|
||
the secular pleasures of flirtation and courtly love.
|
||
|
||
For modern Witches, Candlemas O.S. may then be seen as the Pagan version of
|
||
Valentine's Day, with a de-emphasis of 'hearts and flowers' and an appropriate
|
||
re-emphasis of Pagan carnal frivolity. This also re-aligns the holiday with
|
||
the ancient Roman Lupercalia, a fertility festival held at this time, in which
|
||
the priests of Pan ran through the streets of Rome whacking young women with
|
||
goatskin thongs to make them fertile. The women seemed to enjoy the attention
|
||
and often stripped in order to afford better targets.
|
||
|
||
One of the nicest folk-customs still practiced in many countries, and
|
||
especially by Witches in the British Isles and parts of the U.S., is to place a
|
||
lighted candle in each and every window of the house, beginning at sundown on
|
||
Candlemas Eve (February 1st), allowing them to continue burning until sunrise.
|
||
Make sure that such candles are well seated against tipping and guarded from
|
||
nearby curtains, etc. What a cheery sight it is on this cold, bleak and dreary
|
||
night to see house after house with candle-lit windows! And, of course, if you
|
||
are your Coven's chandler, or if you just happen to like making candles,
|
||
Candlemas Day is THE day for doing it. Some Covens hold candle-making parties
|
||
and try to make and bless all the candles they'll be using for the whole year
|
||
on this day.
|
||
|
||
Other customs of the holiday include weaving 'Brigit's crosses' from straw
|
||
or wheat to hang around the house for protection, performing rites of spiritual
|
||
cleansing and purification, making 'Brigit's beds' to ensure fertility of mind
|
||
and spirit (and body, if desired), and making Crowns of Light (i.e. of candles)
|
||
for the High Priestess to wear for the Candlemas Circle, similar to those worn
|
||
on St. Lucy's Day in Scandinavian countries. All in all, this Pagan Festival
|
||
of Lights, sacred to the young Maiden Goddess, is one of the most beautiful and
|
||
poetic of the year.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
L A D Y D A Y: The Vernal Equinox
|
||
=====================================
|
||
by Mike Nichols
|
||
|
||
|
||
Now comes the Vernal Equinox, and the season of Spring reaches it's apex,
|
||
halfway through its journey from Candlemas to Beltane. Once again, night and
|
||
day stand in perfect balance, with the powers of light on the ascendancy. The
|
||
god of light now wins a victory over his twin, the god of darkness. In the
|
||
Mabinogion myth reconstruction which I have proposed, this is the day on which
|
||
the restored Llew takes his vengeance on Goronwy by piercing him with the
|
||
sunlight spear. For Llew was restored/reborn at the Winter Solstice and is now
|
||
well/old enough to vanquish his rival/twin and mate with his lover/mother. And
|
||
the great Mother Goddess, who has returned to her Virgin aspect at Candlemas,
|
||
welcomes the young sun god's embraces and conceives a child. The child will be
|
||
born nine months from now, at the next Winter Solstice. And so the cycle
|
||
closes at last.
|
||
|
||
We think that the customs surrounding the celebration of the spring equinox
|
||
were imported from Mediterranean lands, although there can be no doubt that the
|
||
first inhabitants of the British Isles observed it, as evidence from megalithic
|
||
sites shows. But it was certainly more popular to the south, where people
|
||
celebrated the holiday as New Year's Day, and claimed it as the first day of
|
||
the first sign of the Zodiac, Aries. However you look at it, it is certainly a
|
||
time of new beginnings, as a simple glance at Nature will prove.
|
||
|
||
In the Roman Catholic Church, there are two holidays which get mixed up
|
||
with the Vernal Equinox. The first, occurring on the fixed calendar day of
|
||
March 25th in the old liturgical calendar, is called the Feast of the
|
||
Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (or B.V.M., as she was typically
|
||
abbreviated in Catholic Missals). 'Annunciation' means an announcement. This
|
||
is the day that the angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she was 'in the family
|
||
way'. Naturally, this had to be announced since Mary, being still a virgin,
|
||
would have no other means of knowing it. (Quit scoffing, O ye of little
|
||
faith!) Why did the Church pick the Vernal Equinox for the commemoration of
|
||
this event? Because it was necessary to have Mary conceive the child Jesus a
|
||
full nine months before his birth at the Winter Solstice (i.e., Christmas,
|
||
celebrated on the fixed calendar date of December 25). Mary's pregnancy would
|
||
take the natural nine months to complete, even if the conception was a bit
|
||
unorthodox.
|
||
|
||
As mentioned before, the older Pagan equivalent of this scene focuses on
|
||
the joyous process of natural conception, when the young virgin Goddess (in
|
||
this case, 'virgin' in the original sense of meaning 'unmarried') mates with
|
||
the young solar God, who has just displaced his rival. This is probably not
|
||
their first mating, however. In the mythical sense, the couple may have been
|
||
lovers since Candlemas, when the young God reached puberty. But the young
|
||
Goddess was recently a mother (at the Winter Solstice) and is probably still
|
||
nursing her new child. Therefore, conception is naturally delayed for six
|
||
weeks or so and, despite earlier matings with the God, She does not conceive
|
||
until (surprise!) the Vernal Equinox. This may also be their Hand-fasting, a
|
||
sacred marriage between God and Goddess called a Hierogamy, the ultimate Great
|
||
Rite. Probably the nicest study of this theme occurs in M. Esther Harding's
|
||
book, 'Woman's Mysteries'. Probably the nicest description of it occurs in M.
|
||
Z. Bradley's 'Mists of Avalon', in the scene where Morgan and Arthur assume the
|
||
sacred roles. (Bradley follows the British custom of transferring the episode
|
||
to Beltane, when the climate is more suited to its outdoor celebration.)
|
||
|
||
The other Christian holiday which gets mixed up in this is Easter. Easter,
|
||
too, celebrates the victory of a god of light (Jesus) over darkness (death), so
|
||
it makes sense to place it at this season. Ironically, the name 'Easter' was
|
||
taken from the name of a Teutonic lunar Goddess, Eostre (from whence we also
|
||
get the name of the female hormone, estrogen). Her chief symbols were the
|
||
bunny (both for fertility and because her worshipers saw a hare in the full
|
||
moon) and the egg (symbolic of the cosmic egg of creation), images which
|
||
Christians have been hard pressed to explain. Her holiday, the Eostara, was
|
||
held on the Vernal Equinox Full Moon. Of course, the Church doesn't celebrate
|
||
full moons, even if they do calculate by them, so they planted their Easter on
|
||
the following Sunday. Thus, Easter is always the first Sunday, after the first
|
||
Full Moon, after the Vernal Equinox. If you've ever wondered why Easter moved
|
||
all around the calendar, now you know. (By the way, the Catholic Church was so
|
||
adamant about NOT incorporating lunar Goddess symbolism that they added a
|
||
further calculation: if Easter Sunday were to fall on the Full Moon itself,
|
||
then Easter was postponed to the following Sunday instead.)
|
||
|
||
Incidentally, this raises another point: recently, some Pagan traditions
|
||
began referring to the Vernal Equinox as Eostara. Historically, this is
|
||
incorrect. Eostara is a lunar holiday, honoring a lunar Goddess, at the Vernal
|
||
Full Moon. Hence, the name 'Eostara' is best reserved to the nearest Esbat,
|
||
rather than the Sabbat itself. How this happened is difficult to say.
|
||
However, it is notable that some of the same groups misappropriated the term
|
||
'Lady Day' for Beltane, which left no good folk name for the Equinox. Thus,
|
||
Eostara was misappropriated for it, completing a chain-reaction of
|
||
displacement. Needless to say, the old and accepted folk name for the Vernal
|
||
Equinox is 'Lady Day'. Christians sometimes insist that the title is in honor
|
||
of Mary and her Annunciation, but Pagans will smile knowingly.
|
||
|
||
Another mythological motif which must surely arrest our attention at this
|
||
time of year is that of the descent of the God or Goddess into the Underworld.
|
||
Perhaps we see this most clearly in the Christian tradition. Beginning with
|
||
his death on the cross on Good Friday, it is said that Jesus 'descended into
|
||
hell' for the three days that his body lay entombed. But on the third day
|
||
(that is, Easter Sunday), his body and soul rejoined, he arose from the dead
|
||
and ascended into heaven. By a strange 'coincidence', most ancient Pagan
|
||
religions speak of the Goddess descending into the Underworld, also for a
|
||
period of three days.
|
||
|
||
Why three days? If we remember that we are here dealing with the lunar
|
||
aspect of the Goddess, the reason should be obvious. As the text of one Book
|
||
of Shadows gives it, '...as the moon waxes and wanes, and walks three nights in
|
||
darkness, so the Goddess once spent three nights in the Kingdom of Death.' In
|
||
our modern world, alienated as it is from nature, we tend to mark the time of
|
||
the New Moon (when no moon is visible) as a single date on a calendar. We tend
|
||
to forget that the moon is also hidden from our view on the day before and the
|
||
day after our calendar date. But this did not go unnoticed by our ancestors,
|
||
who always speak of the Goddess's sojourn into the land of Death as lasting for
|
||
three days. Is it any wonder then, that we celebrate the next Full Moon (the
|
||
Eostara) as the return of the Goddess from chthonic regions?
|
||
|
||
Naturally, this is the season to celebrate the victory of life over death,
|
||
as any nature-lover will affirm. And the Christian religion was not misguided
|
||
by celebrating Christ's victory over death at this same season. Nor is Christ
|
||
the only solar hero to journey into the underworld. King Arthur, for example,
|
||
does the same thing when he sets sail in his magical ship, Prydwen, to bring
|
||
back precious gifts (i.e. the gifts of life) from the Land of the Dead, as we
|
||
are told in the 'Mabinogi'. Welsh triads allude to Gwydion and Amaethon doing
|
||
much the same thing. In fact, this theme is so universal that mythologists
|
||
refer to it by a common phrase, 'the harrowing of hell'.
|
||
|
||
However, one might conjecture that the descent into hell, or the land of
|
||
the dead, was originally accomplished, not by a solar male deity, but by a
|
||
lunar female deity. It is Nature Herself who, in Spring, returns from the
|
||
Underworld with her gift of abundant life. Solar heroes may have laid claim to
|
||
this theme much later. The very fact that we are dealing with a three-day
|
||
period of absence should tell us we are dealing with a lunar, not solar, theme.
|
||
(Although one must make exception for those occasional MALE lunar deities, such
|
||
as the Assyrian god, Sin.) At any rate, one of the nicest modern renditions of
|
||
the harrowing of hell appears in many Books of Shadows as 'The Descent of the
|
||
Goddess'. Lady Day may be especially appropriate for the celebration of this
|
||
theme, whether by storytelling, reading, or dramatic re-enactment.
|
||
|
||
For modern Witches, Lady Day is one of the Lesser Sabbats or Low Holidays
|
||
of the year, one of the four quarter-days. And what date will Witches choose
|
||
to celebrate? They may choose the traditional folk 'fixed' date of March 25th,
|
||
starting on its Eve. Or they may choose the actual equinox point, when the Sun
|
||
crosses the Equator and enters the astrological sign of Aries. This year
|
||
(1988), that will occur at 3:39 am CST on March 20th.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
A Celebration of M A Y D A Y
|
||
================================
|
||
by Mike Nichols
|
||
|
||
|
||
* * * * * * * *
|
||
|
||
'Perhaps its just as well that you
|
||
won't be here...to be offended by the
|
||
sight of our May Day celebrations.'
|
||
|
||
--Lord Summerisle to Sgt. Howie
|
||
from 'The Wicker Man'
|
||
|
||
* * * * * * * *
|
||
|
||
There are four great festivals of the Pagan Celtic year and the modern
|
||
Witch's calendar, as well. The two greatest of these are Halloween (the
|
||
beginning of winter) and May Day (the beginning of summer). Being opposite
|
||
each other on the wheel of the year, they separate the year into halves.
|
||
Halloween (also called Samhain) is the Celtic New Year and is generally
|
||
considered the more important of the two, though May Day runs a close second.
|
||
Indeed, in some areas -- notably Wales -- it is considered the great holiday.
|
||
|
||
May Day ushers in the fifth month of the modern calendar year, the month
|
||
of May. This month is named in honor of the goddess Maia, originally a Greek
|
||
mountain nymph, later identified as the most beautiful of the Seven Sisters,
|
||
the Pleiades. By Zeus, she is also the mother of Hermes, god of magic. Maia's
|
||
parents were Atlas and Pleione, a sea nymph.
|
||
|
||
The old Celtic name for May Day is Beltane (in its most popular Anglicized
|
||
form), which is derived from the Irish Gaelic 'Bealtaine' or the Scottish
|
||
Gaelic 'Bealtuinn', meaning 'Bel-fire', the fire of the Celtic god of light
|
||
(Bel, Beli or Belinus). He, in turn, may be traced to the Middle Eastern god
|
||
Baal.
|
||
|
||
Other names for May Day include: Cetsamhain ('opposite Samhain'),
|
||
Walpurgisnacht (in Germany), and Roodmas (the medieval Church's name). This
|
||
last came from Church Fathers who were hoping to shift the common people's
|
||
allegiance from the Maypole (Pagan lingham - symbol of life) to the Holy Rood
|
||
(the Cross - Roman instrument of death).
|
||
|
||
Incidentally, there is no historical justification for calling May 1st
|
||
'Lady Day'. For hundreds of years, that title has been proper to the Vernal
|
||
Equinox (approx. March 21st), another holiday sacred to the Great Goddess. The
|
||
nontraditional use of 'Lady Day' for May 1st is quite recent (within the last
|
||
15 years), and seems to be confined to America, where it has gained widespread
|
||
acceptance among certain segments of the Craft population. This rather
|
||
startling departure from tradition would seem to indicate an unfamiliarity with
|
||
European calendar customs, as well as a lax attitude toward scholarship among
|
||
too many Pagans. A simple glance at a dictionary ('Webster's 3rd' or O.E.D.),
|
||
encyclopedia ('Benet's'), or standard mythology reference (Jobe's 'Dictionary
|
||
of Mythology, Folklore & Symbols') would confirm the correct date for Lady Day
|
||
as the Vernal Equinox.
|
||
|
||
By Celtic reckoning, the actual Beltane celebration begins on sundown of
|
||
the preceding day, April 30, because the Celts always figured their days from
|
||
sundown to sundown. And sundown was the proper time for Druids to kindle the
|
||
great Bel-fires on the tops of the nearest beacon hill (such as Tara Hill, Co.
|
||
Meath, in Ireland). These 'need-fires' had healing properties, and sky-clad
|
||
Witches would jump through the flames to ensure protection.
|
||
|
||
* * * * * * * *
|
||
|
||
Sgt. Howie (shocked): 'But they are naked!'
|
||
Lord Summerisle: 'Naturally. It's much too dangerous
|
||
to jump through the fire with your clothes on!'
|
||
|
||
* * * * * * * *
|
||
|
||
Frequently, cattle would be driven between two such bon-fires (oak wood
|
||
was the favorite fuel for them) and, on the morrow, they would be taken to
|
||
their summer pastures.
|
||
|
||
Other May Day customs include: walking the circuit of one's property
|
||
('beating the bounds'), repairing fences and boundary markers, processions of
|
||
chimney-sweeps and milk maids, archery tournaments, morris dances, sword
|
||
dances, feasting, music, drinking, and maidens bathing their faces in the dew
|
||
of May morning to retain their youthful beauty.
|
||
|
||
In the words of Witchcraft writers Janet and Stewart Farrar, the Beltane
|
||
celebration was principly a time of '...unashamed human sexuality and
|
||
fertility.' Such associations include the obvious phallic symbolism of the
|
||
Maypole and riding the hobby horse. Even a seemingly innocent children's
|
||
nursery rhyme, 'Ride a cock horse to Banburry Cross...' retains such memories.
|
||
And the next line '...to see a fine Lady on a white horse' is a reference to
|
||
the annual ride of 'Lady Godiva' though Coventry. Every year for nearly three
|
||
centuries, a sky-clad village maiden (elected Queen of the May) enacted this
|
||
Pagan rite, until the Puritans put an end to the custom.
|
||
|
||
The Puritans, in fact, reacted with pious horror to most of the May Day
|
||
rites, even making Maypoles illegal in 1644. They especially attempted to
|
||
suppress the 'greenwood marriages' of young men and women who spent the entire
|
||
night in the forest, staying out to greet the May sunrise, and bringing back
|
||
boughs of flowers and garlands to decorate the village the next morning. One
|
||
angry Puritan wrote that men 'doe use commonly to runne into woodes in the
|
||
night time, amongst maidens, to set bowes, in so muche, as I have hearde of
|
||
tenne maidens whiche went to set May, and nine of them came home with childe.'
|
||
And another Puritan complained that, of the girls who go into the woods, 'not
|
||
the least one of them comes home again a virgin.'
|
||
|
||
Long after the Christian form of marriage (with its insistence on sexual
|
||
monogamy) had replaced the older Pagan handfasting, the rules of strict
|
||
fidelity were always relaxed for the May Eve rites. Names such as Robin Hood,
|
||
Maid Marian, and Little John played an important part in May Day folklore,
|
||
often used as titles for the dramatis personae of the celebrations. And modern
|
||
surnames such as Robinson, Hodson, Johnson, and Godkin may attest to some
|
||
distant May Eve spent in the woods.
|
||
|
||
These wildwood antics have inspired writers such as Kipling:
|
||
|
||
Oh, do not tell the Priest our plight,
|
||
Or he would call it a sin;
|
||
But we have been out in the woods all night,
|
||
A-conjuring Summer in!
|
||
|
||
And Lerner and Lowe:
|
||
|
||
It's May! It's May!
|
||
The lusty month of May!...
|
||
Those dreary vows that ev'ryone takes,
|
||
Ev'ryone breaks.
|
||
Ev'ryone makes divine mistakes!
|
||
The lusty month of May!
|
||
|
||
It is certainly no accident that Queen Guinevere's 'abduction' by
|
||
Meliagrance occurs on May 1st when she and the court have gone a-Maying, or
|
||
that the usually efficient Queen's Guard, on this occasion, rode unarmed.
|
||
|
||
Some of these customs seem virtually identical to the old Roman feast of
|
||
flowers, the Floriala, three days of unrestrained sexuality which began at
|
||
sundown April 28th and reached a crescendo on May 1st.
|
||
|
||
There are other, even older, associations with May 1st in Celtic
|
||
mythology. According to the ancient Irish 'Book of Invasions', the first
|
||
settler of Ireland, Partholan, arrived on May 1st; and it was on May 1st that
|
||
the plague came which destroyed his people. Years later, the Tuatha De Danann
|
||
were conquered by the Milesians on May Day. In Welsh myth, the perennial
|
||
battle between Gwythur and Gwyn for the love of Creudylad took place each May
|
||
Day; and it was on May Eve that Teirnyon lost his colts and found Pryderi. May
|
||
Eve was also the occasion of a fearful scream that was heard each year
|
||
throughout Wales, one of the three curses of the Coranians lifted by the skill
|
||
of Lludd and Llevelys.
|
||
|
||
By the way, due to various calendrical changes down through the centuries,
|
||
the traditional date of Beltane is not the same as its astrological date. This
|
||
date, like all astronomically determined dates, may vary by a day or two
|
||
depending on the year. However, it may be calculated easily enough by
|
||
determining the date on which the sun is at 15 degrees Taurus (usually around
|
||
May 5th). British Witches often refer to this date as Old Beltane, and
|
||
folklorists call it Beltane O.S. ('Old Style'). Some Covens prefer to
|
||
celebrate on the old date and, at the very least, it gives one options. If a
|
||
Coven is operating on 'Pagan Standard Time' and misses May 1st altogether, it
|
||
can still throw a viable Beltane bash as long as it's before May 5th. This may
|
||
also be a consideration for Covens that need to organize activities around the
|
||
week-end.
|
||
|
||
This date has long been considered a 'power point' of the Zodiac, and is
|
||
symbolized by the Bull, one of the 'tetramorph' figures featured on the Tarot
|
||
cards, the World and the Wheel of Fortune. (The other three symbols are the
|
||
Lion, the Eagle, and the Spirit.) Astrologers know these four figures as the
|
||
symbols of the four 'fixed' signs of the Zodiac (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and
|
||
Aquarius), and these naturally align with the four Great Sabbats of Witchcraft.
|
||
Christians have adopted the same iconography to represent the four
|
||
gospel-writers.
|
||
|
||
But for most, it is May 1st that is the great holiday of flowers,
|
||
Maypoles, and greenwood frivolity. It is no wonder that, as recently as 1977,
|
||
Ian Anderson could pen the following lyrics for Jethro Tull:
|
||
|
||
For the May Day is the great day,
|
||
Sung along the old straight track.
|
||
And those who ancient lines did ley
|
||
Will heed this song that calls them back.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
A M I D S U M M E R ' S CELEBRATION
|
||
=======================================
|
||
by Mike Nichols
|
||
|
||
|
||
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
||
|
||
The young maid stole through the cottage door,
|
||
And blushed as she sought the Plant of pow'r;--
|
||
'Thou silver glow-worm, O lend me thy light,
|
||
I must gather the mystic St. John's wort tonight,
|
||
The wonderful herb, whose leaf will decide
|
||
If the coming year shall make me a bride.
|
||
|
||
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
||
|
||
|
||
In addition to the four great festivals of the Pagan Celtic year, there are
|
||
four lesser holidays as well: the two solstices, and the two equinoxes. In
|
||
folklore, these are referred to as the four 'quarter-days' of the year, and
|
||
modern Witches call them the four 'Lesser Sabbats', or the four 'Low Holidays'.
|
||
The Summer Solstice is one of them.
|
||
|
||
Technically, a solstice is an astronomical point and, due to the
|
||
procession to the equinox, the date may vary by a few days depending on the
|
||
year. The summer solstice occurs when the sun reaches the Tropic of Cancer,
|
||
and we experience the longest day and the shortest night of the year.
|
||
Astrologers know this as the date on which the sun enters the sign of Cancer.
|
||
This year (1988) it will occur at 10:57 pm CDT on June 20th.
|
||
|
||
However, since most European peasants were not accomplished at reading an
|
||
ephemeris or did not live close enough to Salisbury Plain to trot over to
|
||
Stonehenge and sight down its main avenue, they celebrated the event on a fixed
|
||
calendar date, June 24th. The slight forward displacement of the traditional
|
||
date is the result of multitudinous calendrical changes down through the ages.
|
||
It is analogous to the winter solstice celebration, which is astronomically on
|
||
or about December 21st, but is celebrated on the traditional date of December
|
||
25th, Yule, later adopted by the Christians.
|
||
|
||
Again, it must be remembered that the Celts reckoned their days from
|
||
sundown to sundown, so the June 24th festivities actually begin on the previous
|
||
sundown (our June 23rd). This was Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Eve. Which
|
||
brings up another point: our modern calendars are quite misguided in
|
||
suggesting that 'summer begins' on the solstice. According to the old folk
|
||
calendar, summer BEGINS on May Day and ends on Lammas (August 1st), with the
|
||
summer solstice, midway between the two, marking MID-summer. This makes more
|
||
logical sense than suggesting that summer begins on the day when the sun's
|
||
power begins to wane and the days grow shorter.
|
||
|
||
Although our Pagan ancestors probably preferred June 24th (and indeed most
|
||
European folk festivals today use this date), the sensibility of modern Witches
|
||
seems to prefer the actual solstice point, beginning the celebration on its
|
||
eve, or the sunset immediately preceding the solstice point. Again, it gives
|
||
modern Pagans a range of dates to choose from with, hopefully, a weekend
|
||
embedded in it.
|
||
|
||
Just as the Pagan mid-winter celebration of Yule was adopted by Christians
|
||
as Christmas (December 25th), so too the Pagan mid-summer celebration was
|
||
adopted by them as the feast of John the Baptist (June 24th). Occurring 180
|
||
degrees apart on the wheel of the year, the mid-winter celebration commemorates
|
||
the birth of Jesus, while the mid-summer celebration commemorates the birth of
|
||
John, the prophet who was born six months before Jesus in order to announce his
|
||
arrival.
|
||
|
||
Although modern Witches often refer to the holiday by the rather generic
|
||
name of Midsummer's Eve, it is more probable that our Pagan ancestors of a few
|
||
hundred years ago actually used the Christian name for the holiday, St. John's
|
||
Eve. This is evident from the wealth of folklore that surrounds the summer
|
||
solstice (i.e. that it is a night especially sacred to the faerie folk) but
|
||
which is inevitably ascribed to 'St. John's Eve', with no mention of the sun's
|
||
position. It could also be argued that a Coven's claim to antiquity might be
|
||
judged by what name it gives the holidays. (Incidentally, the name 'Litha' for
|
||
the holiday is a modern usage, possibly based on a Saxon word that means the
|
||
opposite of Yule. Still, there is little historical justification for its use
|
||
in this context.) But weren't our Pagan ancestors offended by the use of the
|
||
name of a Christian saint for a pre-Christian holiday?
|
||
|
||
Well, to begin with, their theological sensibilities may not have been as
|
||
finely honed as our own. But secondly and more importantly, St. John himself
|
||
was often seen as a rather Pagan figure. He was, after all, called 'the Oak
|
||
King'. His connection to the wilderness (from whence 'the voice cried out')
|
||
was often emphasized by the rustic nature of his shrines. Many statues show
|
||
him as a horned figure (as is also the case with Moses). Christian
|
||
iconographers mumble embarrassed explanations about 'horns of light', while
|
||
modern Pagans giggle and happily refer to such statues as 'Pan the Baptist'.
|
||
And to clench matters, many depictions of John actually show him with the lower
|
||
torso of a satyr, cloven hooves and all! Obviously, this kind of John the
|
||
Baptist is more properly a Jack in the Green! Also obvious is that behind the
|
||
medieval conception of St. John lies a distant, shadowy Pagan deity, perhaps
|
||
the archetypal Wild Man of the Wood, whose face stares down at us through the
|
||
foliate masks that adorn so much church architecture. Thus medieval Pagans may
|
||
have had fewer problems adapting than we might suppose.
|
||
|
||
In England, it was the ancient custom on St. John's Eve to light large
|
||
bonfires after sundown, which served the double purpose of providing light to
|
||
the revelers and warding off evil spirits. This was known as 'setting the
|
||
watch'. People often jumped through the fires for good luck. In addition to
|
||
these fires, the streets were lined with lanterns, and people carried cressets
|
||
(pivoted lanterns atop poles) as they wandered from one bonfire to another.
|
||
These wandering, garland-bedecked bands were called a 'marching watch'. Often
|
||
they were attended by morris dancers, and traditional players dressed as a
|
||
unicorn, a dragon, and six hobby-horse riders. Just as May Day was a time to
|
||
renew the boundary on one's own property, so Midsummer's Eve was a time to ward
|
||
the boundary of the city.
|
||
|
||
Customs surrounding St. John's Eve are many and varied. At the very
|
||
least, most young folk plan to stay up throughout the whole of this shortest
|
||
night. Certain courageous souls might spend the night keeping watch in the
|
||
center of a circle of standing stones. To do so would certainly result in
|
||
either death, madness, or (hopefully) the power of inspiration to become a
|
||
great poet or bard. (This is, by the way, identical to certain incidents in
|
||
the first branch of the 'Mabinogion'.) This was also the night when the
|
||
serpents of the island would roll themselves into a hissing, writhing ball in
|
||
order to engender the 'glain', also called the 'serpent's egg', 'snake stone',
|
||
or 'Druid's egg'. Anyone in possession of this hard glass bubble would wield
|
||
incredible magical powers. Even Merlyn himself (accompanied by his black dog)
|
||
went in search of it, according to one ancient Welsh story.
|
||
|
||
Snakes were not the only creatures active on Midsummer's Eve. According
|
||
to British faery lore, this night was second only to Halloween for its
|
||
importance to the wee folk, who especially enjoyed a ridling on such a fine
|
||
summer's night. In order to see them, you had only to gather fern seed at the
|
||
stroke of midnight and rub it onto your eyelids. But be sure to carry a little
|
||
bit of rue in your pocket, or you might well be 'pixie-led'. Or, failing the
|
||
rue, you might simply turn your jacket inside-out, which should keep you from
|
||
harm's way. But if even this fails, you must seek out one of the 'ley lines',
|
||
the old straight tracks, and stay upon it to your destination. This will keep
|
||
you safe from any malevolent power, as will crossing a stream of 'living'
|
||
(running) water.
|
||
|
||
Other customs included decking the house (especially over the front door)
|
||
with birch, fennel, St. John's wort, orpin, and white lilies. Five plants were
|
||
thought to have special magical properties on this night: rue, roses, St.
|
||
John's wort, vervain and trefoil. Indeed, Midsummer's Eve in Spain is called
|
||
the 'Night of the Verbena (Vervain)'. St. John's wort was especially honored
|
||
by young maidens who picked it in the hopes of divining a future lover.
|
||
|
||
|
||
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
||
|
||
And the glow-worm came
|
||
With its silvery flame,
|
||
And sparkled and shone
|
||
Through the night of St. John,
|
||
And soon has the young maid her love-knot tied.
|
||
|
||
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
||
|
||
There are also many mythical associations with the summer solstice, not
|
||
the least of which concerns the seasonal life of the God of the sun. Inasmuch
|
||
as I believe that I have recently discovered certain associations and
|
||
correspondences not hitherto realized, I have elected to treat this subject in
|
||
some depth in another essay. Suffice it to say here, that I disagree with the
|
||
generally accepted idea that the Sun-God meets his death at the summer
|
||
solstice. I believe there is good reason to see the Sun-God at his zenith --
|
||
his peak of power -- on this day, and that his death at the hands of his rival
|
||
would not occur for another quarter of a year. Material drawn from the Welsh
|
||
mythos seems to support this thesis. In Irish mythology, Midsummer is the
|
||
occasion of the first battle between the Fir Bolgs and the Tuatha De Danaan.
|
||
|
||
Altogether, Midsummer is a favorite holiday for many Witches in that it is
|
||
so hospitable to outdoor celebrations. The warm summer night seems to invite
|
||
it. And if the celebrants are not in fact skyclad, then you may be fairly
|
||
certain that the long ritual robes of winter have yielded place to short,
|
||
tunic-style apparel. As with the longer gowns, tradition dictates that one
|
||
should wear nothing underneath -- the next best thing to skyclad, to be sure.
|
||
(Incidentally, now you know the REAL answer to the old Scottish joke, 'What is
|
||
worn underneath the kilt?')
|
||
|
||
The two chief icons of the holiday are the spear (symbol of the Sun-God in
|
||
his glory) and the summer cauldron (symbol of the Goddess in her bounty). The
|
||
precise meaning of these two symbols, which I believe I have recently
|
||
discovered, will be explored in the essay on the death of Llew. But it is
|
||
interesting to note here that modern Witches often use these same symbols in
|
||
the Midsummer rituals. And one occasionally hears the alternative consecration
|
||
formula, 'As the spear is to the male, so the cauldron is to the female...'
|
||
With these mythic associations, it is no wonder that Midsummer is such a joyous
|
||
and magical occasion!
|
||
|
||
|
||
L A M M A S: The First Harvest
|
||
===============================
|
||
by Mike Nichols
|
||
|
||
|
||
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
||
|
||
Once upon a Lammas Night
|
||
When corn rigs are bonny,
|
||
Beneath the Moon's unclouded light,
|
||
I held awhile to Annie...
|
||
|
||
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
||
|
||
|
||
Although in the heat of a Mid-western summer it might be difficult to
|
||
discern, the festival of Lammas (Aug 1st) marks the end of summer and the
|
||
beginning of fall. The days now grow visibly shorter and by the time we've
|
||
reached autumn's end (Oct 31st), we will have run the gamut of temperature from
|
||
the heat of August to the cold and (sometimes) snow of November. And in the
|
||
midst of it, a perfect Mid-western autumn.
|
||
|
||
The history of Lammas is as convoluted as all the rest of the old folk
|
||
holidays. It is of course a cross-quarter day, one of the four High Holidays
|
||
or Greater Sabbats of Witchcraft, occurring 1/4 of a year after Beltane. It's
|
||
true astrological point is 15 degrees Leo, which occurs at 1:18 am CDT, Aug 6th
|
||
this year (1988), but tradition has set August 1st as the day Lammas is
|
||
typically celebrated. The celebration proper would begin on sundown of the
|
||
previous evening, our July 31st, since the Celts reckon their days from sundown
|
||
to sundown.
|
||
|
||
However, British Witches often refer to the astrological date of Aug 6th as
|
||
Old Lammas, and folklorists call it Lammas O.S. ('Old Style'). This date has
|
||
long been considered a 'power point' of the Zodiac, and is symbolized by the
|
||
Lion, one of the 'tetramorph' figures found on the Tarot cards, the World and
|
||
the Wheel of Fortune (the other three figures being the Bull, the Eagle, and
|
||
the Spirit). Astrologers know these four figures as the symbols of the four
|
||
'fixed' signs of the Zodiac, and these naturally align with the four Great
|
||
Sabbats of Witchcraft. Christians have adopted the same iconography to
|
||
represent the four gospel-writers.
|
||
|
||
'Lammas' was the medieval Christian name for the holiday and it means
|
||
'loaf-mass', for this was the day on which loaves of bread were baked from the
|
||
first grain harvest and laid on the church altars as offerings. It was a day
|
||
representative of 'first fruits' and early harvest.
|
||
|
||
In Irish Gaelic, the feast was referred to as 'Lugnasadh', a feast to
|
||
commemorate the funeral games of the Irish sun-god Lugh. However, there is
|
||
some confusion on this point. Although at first glance, it may seem that we
|
||
are celebrating the death of the Lugh, the god of light does not really die
|
||
(mythically) until the autumnal equinox. And indeed, if we read the Irish
|
||
myths closer, we discover that it is not Lugh's death that is being celebrated,
|
||
but the funeral games which Lugh hosted to commemorate the death of his foster-
|
||
mother, Taillte. That is why the Lugnasadh celebrations in Ireland are often
|
||
called the 'Tailltean Games'.
|
||
|
||
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
||
|
||
The time went by with careless heed
|
||
Between the late and early,
|
||
With small persuasion she agreed
|
||
To see me through the barley...
|
||
|
||
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
||
|
||
One common feature of the Games were the 'Tailltean marriages', a rather
|
||
informal marriage that lasted for only 'a year and a day' or until next
|
||
Lammas. At that time, the couple could decide to continue the arrangement if
|
||
it pleased them, or to stand back to back and walk away from one another, thus
|
||
bringing the Tailltean marriage to a formal close. Such trial marriages
|
||
(obviously related to the Wiccan 'Handfasting') were quite common even into the
|
||
1500's, although it was something one 'didn't bother the parish priest about'.
|
||
Indeed, such ceremonies were usually solemnized by a poet, bard, or shanachie
|
||
(or, it may be guessed, by a priest or priestess of the Old Religion).
|
||
|
||
Lammastide was also the traditional time of year for craft festivals. The
|
||
medieval guilds would create elaborate displays of their wares, decorating
|
||
their shops and themselves in bright colors and ribbons, marching in parades,
|
||
and performing strange, ceremonial plays and dances for the entranced
|
||
onlookers. The atmosphere must have been quite similar to our modern-day
|
||
Renaissance Festivals, such as the one celebrated in near-by Bonner Springs,
|
||
Kansas, each fall.
|
||
|
||
A ceremonial highlight of such festivals was the 'Catherine wheel'.
|
||
Although the Roman Church moved St. Catherine's feast day all around the
|
||
calender with bewildering frequency, it's most popular date was Lammas. (They
|
||
also kept trying to expel this much-loved saint from the ranks of the blessed
|
||
because she was mythical rather than historical, and because her worship gave
|
||
rise to the heretical sect known as the Cathari.) At any rate, a large wagon
|
||
wheel was taken to the top of a near-by hill, covered with tar, set aflame, and
|
||
ceremoniously rolled down the hill. Some mythologists see in this ritual the
|
||
remnants of a Pagan rite symbolizing the end of summer, the flaming disk
|
||
representing the sun-god in his decline. And just as the sun king has now
|
||
reached the autumn of his years, his rival or dark self has just reached
|
||
puberty.
|
||
|
||
Many commentators have bewailed the fact that traditional Gardnerian and
|
||
Alexandrian Books of Shadows say very little about the holiday of Lammas,
|
||
stating only that poles should be ridden and a circle dance performed. This
|
||
seems strange, for Lammas is a holiday of rich mythic and cultural
|
||
associations, providing endless resources for liturgical celebration.
|
||
|
||
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
||
|
||
Corn rigs and barley rigs,
|
||
Corn rigs are bonny!
|
||
I'll not forget that happy night
|
||
Among the rigs with Annie!
|
||
|
||
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
||
|
||
[Verse quotations by Robert Burns, as handed down through several Books of
|
||
Shadows.]
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
H A R V E S T H O M E
|
||
=======================
|
||
by Mike Nichols
|
||
|
||
|
||
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
||
There were three men came out of the West,
|
||
Their fortunes for to try,
|
||
And these three men made a solemn vow,
|
||
John Barleycorn must die...
|
||
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
||
|
||
|
||
Despite the bad publicity generated by Thomas Tryon's novel, Harvest
|
||
Home is the pleasantest of holidays. Admittedly, it does involve the
|
||
concept of sacrifice, but one that is symbolic only. The sacrifice is that
|
||
of the spirit of vegetation, John Barleycorn. Occurring 1/4 of the year
|
||
after Midsummer, Harvest Home represents mid-autumn, autumn's height. It is
|
||
also the Autumnal Equinox, one of the quarter days of the year, a Lesser
|
||
Sabbat and a Low Holiday in modern Witchcraft.
|
||
|
||
Technically, an equinox is an astronomical point and, due to the fact
|
||
that the earth wobbles on its axis slightly (rather like a top that's
|
||
slowing down), the date may vary by a few days depending on the year. The
|
||
autumnal equinox occurs when the sun crosses the equator on it's apparent
|
||
journey southward, and we experience a day and a night that are of equal
|
||
duration. Up until Harvest Home, the hours of daylight have been greater
|
||
than the hours from dusk to dawn. But from now on, the reverse holds true.
|
||
Astrologers know this as the date on which the sun enters the sign of Libra,
|
||
the Balance (an appropriate symbol of a balanced day and night). This year
|
||
(1988) it will occur at 2:29 pm CDT on September 22nd.
|
||
|
||
However, since most European peasants were not accomplished at
|
||
calculating the exact date of the equinox, they celebrated the event on a
|
||
fixed calendar date, September 25th, a holiday the medieval Church
|
||
Christianized under the name of 'Michaelmas', the feast of the Archangel
|
||
Michael. (One wonders if, at some point, the R.C. Church contemplated
|
||
assigning the four quarter days of the year to the four Archangels, just as
|
||
they assigned the four cross-quarter days to the four gospel-writers.
|
||
Further evidence for this may be seen in the fact that there was a brief
|
||
flirtation with calling the Vernal Equinox 'Gabrielmas', ostensibly to
|
||
commemorate the angel Gabriel's announcement to Mary on Lady Day.) Again,
|
||
it must be remembered that the Celts reckoned their days from sundown to
|
||
sundown, so the September 25th festivities actually begin on the previous
|
||
sundown (our September 24th).
|
||
|
||
Although our Pagan ancestors probably celebrated Harvest Home on
|
||
September 25th, modern Witches and Pagans, with their desk-top computers for
|
||
making finer calculations, seem to prefer the actual equinox point,
|
||
beginning the celebration on its eve (this year, sunset on September 21st).
|
||
|
||
Mythically, this is the day of the year when the god of light is defeated
|
||
by his twin and alter-ego, the god of darkness. It is the time of the year
|
||
when night conquers day. And as I have recently shown in my seasonal
|
||
reconstruction of the Welsh myth of Blodeuwedd, the Autumnal Equinox is the
|
||
only day of the whole year when Llew (light) is vulnerable and it is
|
||
possible to defeat him. Llew now stands on the balance (Libra/autumnal
|
||
equinox), with one foot on the cauldron (Cancer/summer solstice) and his
|
||
other foot on the goat (Capricorn/winter solstice). Thus he is betrayed by
|
||
Blodeuwedd, the Virgin (Virgo) and transformed into an Eagle (Scorpio).
|
||
|
||
Two things are now likely to occur mythically, in rapid succession.
|
||
Having defeated Llew, Goronwy (darkness) now takes over Llew's functions,
|
||
both as lover to Blodeuwedd, the Goddess, and as King of our own world.
|
||
Although Goronwy, the Horned King, now sits on Llew's throne and begins his
|
||
rule immediately, his formal coronation will not be for another six weeks,
|
||
occurring at Samhain (Halloween) or the beginning of Winter, when he becomes
|
||
the Winter Lord, the Dark King, Lord of Misrule. Goronwy's other function
|
||
has more immediate results, however. He mates with the virgin goddess, and
|
||
Blodeuwedd conceives, and will give birth -- nine months later (at the
|
||
Summer Solstice) -- to Goronwy's son, who is really another incarnation of
|
||
himself, the Dark Child.
|
||
|
||
Llew's sacrificial death at Harvest Home also identifies him with John
|
||
Barleycorn, spirit of the fields. Thus, Llew represents not only the sun's
|
||
power, but also the sun's life trapped and crystallized in the corn. Often
|
||
this corn spirit was believed to reside most especially in the last sheaf or
|
||
shock harvested, which was dressed in fine clothes, or woven into a
|
||
wicker-like man-shaped form. This effigy was then cut and carried from the
|
||
field, and usually burned, amidst much rejoicing. So one may see Blodeuwedd
|
||
and Goronwy in a new guise, not as conspirators who murder their king, but
|
||
as kindly farmers who harvest the crop which they had planted and so
|
||
lovingly cared for. And yet, anyone who knows the old ballad of John
|
||
Barleycorn knows that we have not heard the last of him.
|
||
|
||
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
||
They let him stand till midsummer's day,
|
||
Till he looked both pale and wan,
|
||
And little Sir John's grown a long, long beard
|
||
And so become a man...
|
||
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
||
|
||
Incidentally, this annual mock sacrifice of a large wicker-work figure
|
||
(representing the vegetation spirit) may have been the origin of the
|
||
misconception that Druids made human sacrifices. This charge was first made
|
||
by Julius Caesar (who may not have had the most unbiased of motives), and
|
||
has been re-stated many times since. However, as has often been pointed
|
||
out, the only historians besides Caesar who make this accusation are those
|
||
who have read Caesar. And in fact, upon reading Caesar's 'Gallic Wars'
|
||
closely, one discovers that Caesar never claims to have actually witnessed
|
||
such a
|
||
sacrifice. Nor does he claim to have talked to anyone else who did. In
|
||
fact, there is not one single eyewitness account of a human sacrifice
|
||
performed by Druids in all of history!
|
||
|
||
Nor is there any archeological evidence to support the charge. If, for
|
||
example, human sacrifices had been performed at the same ritual sites year
|
||
after year, there would be physical traces. Yet there is not a scrap. Nor
|
||
is there any native tradition or history which lends support. In fact,
|
||
insular tradition seems to point in the opposite direction. The Druid's
|
||
reverence for life was so strict that they refused to lift a sword to defend
|
||
themselves when massacred by Roman soldiers on the Isle of Mona. Irish
|
||
brehon laws forbade a Druid to touch a weapon, and any soul rash enough to
|
||
unsheathe a sword in the presence of a Druid would be executed for such an
|
||
outrage!
|
||
|
||
Jesse Weston, in her brilliant study of the Four Hallows of British
|
||
myth, 'From Ritual to Romance', points out that British folk tradition is,
|
||
however, full of MOCK sacrifices. In the case of the wicker-man, such
|
||
figures were referred to in very personified terms, dressed in clothes,
|
||
addressed by name, etc. In such a religious ritual drama, everybody played
|
||
along.
|
||
|
||
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
||
* They've hired men with scythes so sharp,
|
||
To cut him off at the knee,
|
||
They've rolled him and tied him by the waist
|
||
Serving him most barbarously...
|
||
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
||
|
||
In the medieval miracle-play tradition of the 'Rise Up, Jock' variety
|
||
(performed by troupes of mummers at all the village fairs), a young
|
||
harlequin-like king always underwent a mock sacrificial death. But
|
||
invariably, the traditional cast of characters included a mysterious
|
||
'Doctor' who had learned many secrets while 'travelling in foreign lands'.
|
||
The Doctor reaches into his bag of tricks, plies some magical cure, and
|
||
presto! the young king rises up hale and whole again, to the cheers of the
|
||
crowd. As Weston so sensibly points out, if the young king were ACTUALLY
|
||
killed, he couldn't very well rise up again, which is the whole point of the
|
||
ritual drama! It is an enactment of the death and resurrection of the
|
||
vegetation spirit. And what better time to perform it than at the end of
|
||
the harvest season?
|
||
|
||
In the rhythm of the year, Harvest Home marks a time of rest after hard
|
||
work. The crops are gathered in, and winter is still a month and a half
|
||
away! Although the nights are getting cooler, the days are still warm, and
|
||
there is something magical in the sunlight, for it seems silvery and
|
||
indirect. As we pursue our gentle hobbies of making corn dollies (those
|
||
tiny vegetation spirits) and wheat weaving, our attention is suddenly
|
||
arrested by the sound of baying from the skies (the 'Hounds of Annwn'
|
||
passing?), as lines of geese cut silhouettes across a harvest moon. And we
|
||
move closer to the hearth, the longer evening hours giving us time to catch
|
||
up on our reading, munching on popcorn balls and caramel apples and sipping
|
||
home-brewed mead or ale. What a wonderful time Harvest Home is! And how
|
||
lucky we are to live in a part of the country where the season's changes are
|
||
so dramatic and
|
||
majestic!
|
||
|
||
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
||
And little Sir John in the nut-brown bowl--
|
||
And he's brandy in the glass,
|
||
And little Sir John in the nut-brown bowl
|
||
Proved the strongest man at last.
|
||
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
T H E D E A T H O F L L E W
|
||
A Seasonal Interpretation
|
||
=================================
|
||
by Mike Nichols
|
||
|
||
|
||
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
||
|
||
Not of father, nor of mother
|
||
Was my blood, was my body.
|
||
I was spellbound by Gwydion,
|
||
Prime enchanter of the Britons,
|
||
When he formed me from nine blossoms.
|
||
|
||
--'Hanes Blodeuwedd'
|
||
R. Graves, trans.
|
||
|
||
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
||
|
||
In most Pagan cultures, the sun god is seen as split between two rival
|
||
personalities: the god of light and his twin, his 'weird', his 'other self',
|
||
the god of darkness. They are Gawain and the Green Knight, Gwyn and Gwythyr,
|
||
Llew and Goronwy, Lugh and Balor, Balan and Balin, the Holly King and the Oak
|
||
King, etc. Often they are depicted as fighting seasonal battles for the favor
|
||
of their goddess/lover, such as Creiddylad or Blodeuwedd, who represents
|
||
Nature.
|
||
|
||
The god of light is always born at the winter solstice, and his strength
|
||
waxes with the lengthening days, until the moment of his greatest power, the
|
||
summer solstice, the longest day. And, like a look in a mirror, his 'shadow
|
||
self', the lord of darkness, is born at the summer solstice, and his strength
|
||
waxes with the lengthening nights until the moment of his greatest power, the
|
||
winter solstice, the longest night.
|
||
|
||
Indirect evidence supporting this mirror-birth pattern is strongest in the
|
||
Christianized form of the Pagan myth. Many writers, from Robert Graves to
|
||
Stewart Farrar, have repeatedly pointed out that Jesus was identified with the
|
||
Holly King, while John the Baptist was the Oak King. That is why, 'of all the
|
||
trees that are in the wood, the Holly tree bears the crown.' If the birth of
|
||
Jesus, the 'light of the world', is celebrated at mid-winter, Christian folk
|
||
tradition insists that John the Oak King (the 'dark of the world'?) was born
|
||
(rather than died) at mid-summer.
|
||
|
||
It is at this point that I must diverge from the opinion of Robert Graves
|
||
and other writers who have followed him. Graves believes that at midsummer,
|
||
the Sun King is slain by his rival, the God of Darkness; just as the God of
|
||
Darkness is, in turn, slain by the God of Light at midwinter. And yet, in
|
||
Christian folk tradition (derived from the older Pagan strain), it is births,
|
||
not deaths, that are associated with the solstices. For the feast of John the
|
||
Baptist, this is all the more conspicuous, as it breaks the rules regarding
|
||
all other saints.
|
||
|
||
John is the ONLY saint in the entire Catholic hagiography whose feast day
|
||
is a commemoration of his birth, rather than his death. A generation ago,
|
||
Catholic nuns were fond of explaining that a saint is commemorated on the
|
||
anniversary of his or her death because it was really a 'birth' into the
|
||
Kingdom of Heaven. But John the Baptist, the sole exception, is emphatically
|
||
commemorated on the anniversary of his birth into THIS world. Although this
|
||
makes no sense viewed from a Christian perspective, it makes perfect poetic
|
||
sense from the viewpoint of Pagan symbolism. (John's earlier Pagan
|
||
associations are treated in my essay on Midsummer.)
|
||
|
||
So if births are associated with the solstices, when do the symbolic
|
||
deaths occur? When does Goronwy slay Llew and when does Llew, in his turn,
|
||
slay Goronwy? When does darkness conquer light or light conquer darkness?
|
||
Obviously (to me, at least), it must be at the two equinoxes. At the autumnal
|
||
equinox, the hours of light in the day are eclipsed by the hours of darkness.
|
||
At the vernal equinox, the process is reversed. Also, the autumnal equinox,
|
||
called 'Harvest Home', is already associated with sacrifice, principally that
|
||
of the spirit of grain or vegetation. In this case, the god of light would be
|
||
identical.
|
||
|
||
In Welsh mythology in particular, there is a startling vindication of the
|
||
seasonal placement of the sun god's death, the significance of which occurred
|
||
to me in a recent dream, and which I haven't seen elsewhere. Llew is the
|
||
Welsh god of light, and his name means 'lion'. (The lion is often the symbol
|
||
of a sun god.) He is betrayed by his 'virgin' wife Blodeuwedd, into standing
|
||
with one foot on the rim of a cauldron and the other on the back of a goat.
|
||
It is only in this way that Llew can be killed, and Blodeuwedd's lover,
|
||
Goronwy, Llew's dark self, is hiding nearby with a spear at the ready. But as
|
||
Llew is struck with it, he is not killed. He is instead transformed into an
|
||
eagle.
|
||
|
||
Putting this in the form of a Bardic riddle, it would go something like
|
||
this: Who can tell in what season the Lion (Llew), betrayed by the Virgin
|
||
(Blodeuwedd), poised on the Balance, is transformed into an Eagle? My readers
|
||
who are astrologers are probably already gasping
|