Unique among books about the Wiccan Sabbats, Celebrating the Seasons of Life: Samhain to Ostara takes a different approach to explaining the holidays by taking an in-depth look at half of the Wheel of the Year. Rather than dissecting each holiday, Ashleen's goal is to take a broader look at them, explaining how and why we celebrate each, along with how the celebration of one leads to the next. The first of two new titles from Ashleen offers a vision of the holidays we celebrate from October to March. This book covers each holiday by first giving us its history and original customs, then explaining its place in modern life. Stories are shared for each Sabbat to reconnect us with our lore and bring new meaning to current practice. Ashleen includes ideas for rituals that are ideal for practicing solitaries, covens, or Wiccan families, with special sections on what children of various ages are ready to learn about these holidays.
With decorating projects, menu suggestions, and group activities for each festival, this book is a Wiccan guide to eight celebrations in tune with the natural rhythm of the year and its changing seasons. Illustrations.
A thanksgiving celebration for the second harvest Mabon—also known as the Autumn Equinox—is a time to honor the spiritual significance of harvest, sacrifice, and survival. This guide shows you how to perform rituals and work magic that incorporates the shifting balance between light and dark that reaches its pinnacle during the equinox. Rituals Recipes Lore Spells Divination Crafts Correspondences Invocations Prayers Meditations Llewellyn's Sabbat Essentials explore the old and new ways of celebrating the seasonal rites that are the cornerstones of the witch's year.
Celebrate the season of returning sunlight and the bursting forth of the birds, bees, and trees Ostara—also known as the Spring Equinox—is a time of renewal, a time to plant seeds as the earth once again comes to life. This guide to the history and modern celebrations of Ostara shows you how to perform rituals and work magic to renew your power and passion for living and growing. Rituals Recipes Lore Spells Divination Crafts Correspondences Invocations Prayers Meditations Llewellyn's Sabbat Essentials explore the old and new ways of celebrating the seasonal rites that are the cornerstones of the witch's year.
PaGaian Cosmology brings together a religious practice of seasonal ritual based in a contemporary scientific sense of the cosmos and female imagery for the Sacred. The author situates this original synthesis in her context of being female and white European transplanted to the Southern Hemisphere. Her sense of alienation from her place, which is personal, cultural and cosmic, fires a cosmology that re-stories Goddess metaphor of Virgin-Mother-Crone as a pattern of Creativity, which unfolds the cosmos, manifests in Earth's life, and may be known intimately. PaGaian Cosmology is an ecospirituality grounded in indigenous Western religious celebration of the Earth-Sun annual cycle. By linking to story of the unfolding universe this practice can be deepened, and a sense of the Triple Goddess-central to the cycle and known in ancient cultures-developed as a dynamic innate to all being. The ritual scripts and the process of ritual events presented here, may be a journey into self-knowledge through personal, communal and ecological story: the self to be known is one that is integral with place. PaGaian Cosmology may be used as a resource for individuals or groups seeking new forms of devotional expression and an Earth-based pathway to wisdom within.
Imbolc—also known as Brigid's Day—is a time to awaken from our months of introspection and start making plans for the future. This guide to the history and modern celebration of Imbolc shows you how to perform rituals and magic to celebrate and work with the energy of the re-awakening earth. Rituals Recipes Lore Spells Divination Crafts Correspondences Invocations Prayers Meditations Llewellyn's Sabbat Essentials explore the old and new ways of celebrating the seasonal rites that are the cornerstones of the witch's year.
“In her much-needed and brilliant Year of the Witch, Temperance Alden guides readers to observe their own land, celestial cycles, seasonal cycles, and even their own biological cycles to inform their magickal year.”-- Mat Auryn, author of Psychic Witch: A Metaphysical Guide to Meditation, Magick, and Manifestation When we think of the wheel of the year, the Wiccan wheel with its celebrations of the Yule, Beltane, Mabon, and Samhain come to mind. But what about a wheel of the year for the rest of us pagans and witches? As a witch living in sunny South Florida, longtime hereditary witch Temperance Alden has often felt at odds gearing up to celebrate Yule, for example, when it is 76 degrees and sunny outside. Year of the Witch will help readers create their own intuitive practices in harmony with the climate, culture, and local spirits where they live. It’s of interest to witches coming off the Wiccan path and looking for a more personal approach to celebrating the rhythms of nature. Year of the Witch covers all aspects of this new, seasonal practice: The origins of the neo-pagan wheel of the year and why it is still so relevant today Culture, historical facts, and traditions associated with the major ceremonies Basic principles of land-based magick How to intuitively connect to the nature below your feet and the local gods Being a custodian to the land and its impact on our spiritual practice
Is there life after death? It depends on who you ask...It happens to all of us, yet...what happens when we die? Are we reincarnated? Do we go to heaven? Is death the end of everything? Or do our souls pass on to another life? Do we even have souls? These are the questions humans have wrestled with since the dawn of mankind. We've heard answers from philosophers and theologians. Now, for the first time collected in a single volume, people from every faith and calling share their thoughts on this most fundamental problem. Ordinary folk from all walks of life offer their ideas about what happens after our life has run its course. Sooner or later everyone makes that final journey. Now readers can find inspiration from a wide range of enlightening opinions as they form their own thoughts about the afterlife.
This three-volume collection of essays reveals the widespread existence of queer men and women in American popular culture, and showcases their important yet little-known role in shaping our society over the last 120 years. The virtually unknown existence of gay, bisexual, and queer men and women in American popular culture from the late 1800s through the present day is a fascinating topic for many readers, regardless of their own orientation. Whether it's the father of bodybuilding, famous closeted entertainers or sports stars, or the leading characters in current television shows and films, queer men and women have changed the face of American popular culture and society for over a century. Ironically, most of the fascinating information, anecdotes, and revealing facts about well-known figures in American culture are virtually unknown to the typical U.S. citizen. Elledge's Queers in American Popular Culture covers a wide variety of historical and current topics that documents how the queer community has been—and continues to be—one of the most significant shapers of American popular culture. Currently, no other book covers queer topics in American popular culture as broadly as this text.
Weave a web of tarot magic, and celebrate the days and nights of power with the magic of tarot and ritual. Perfect for both solitary and group practitioners, Tarot for All Seasons is the only book that combines the ancient wisdom of the tarot with the solar and lunar celebrations of the pagan Wheel of the Year. Discover how to work with seasonal energies throughout the year to improve all areas of your life--relationships, health, finances, and career. The twelve original tarot layouts capture the spirit of the full moon Esbats, waxing and waning moons, and the eight solar Sabbats. Several three-card spreads are also included for further advice and clarification to help you hone your tarot reading skills. Sample readings offer a way to weave a story with the cards, showing how the cards relate to one another and how the same cards can describe diverse situations in various layouts. Ritual creates a sacred space between the worlds, an ideal environment for powerful and magical tarot readings. A list of corresponding scents, magical brews, and candles are included to help you design a personal tarot ritual. The special chapter "A Year and a Day" concludes your journey with suggestions for self-dedication to the magical study of tarot. The seventy-eight cards of the tarot form a unique system for divination, self-discovery, and magic. From the growing darkness of Samhain to the fertility and flowers of Beltane, weave a web of tarot magic as you celebrate the ever-changing world around you and within you. In the following excerpt, author Christine Jette describes the Lady of the Hunt spread. This spread is intended to be used near the time of the waxing moon. Lady of the Hunt In this spread, "project" means any creative endeavor or career/study plan. "Relationship" can be new love, coworkers, family, or friendships. You are the Lady of the Hunt and your question becomes your quest. If you have something specific in mind, ask your question while shuffling the cards. For example, "Tell me what I need to know about my new (love, work situation, etc.)." Breathe deeply and shuffle your tarot deck. When you are ready, lay the cards out in the shape of a waxing crescent moon. Position 1 - This begins your project or relationship: Your life experience, what you bring from the past into the new situation. What brought you to this moment? Position 2 - This shapes your project or relationship: Outside influences, significant events, other people that shape the situation. Position 3 - This is at the center of your project or relationship: The main theme, lesson, opportunity or challenge of the situation. The focus card; all other cards revolve around the center and it carries the most weight in the reading. Position 4 - What your project or relationship needs to succeed: The effort you will make, the "elbow grease" required for your goals and ambitions to be realized, the follow-up too your magical workings on the physical plane. Position 5 - The direction or path of your project or relationship: Where you are headed, the future outlook. Position 6 - Advice card: What is the best course of action to take with this new project or relationship? What do you need to know now? To complete the Maiden reading, you can meditate with the cards, write a journal entry, keep the cards on the altar until the next waxing moon, or simple close. Carry a card or two with you during the day to strengthen the connection between you and your Maiden Spirit's desire. Affirm your personal power to create your destiny: "I awaken to my own creative powers. This, or something better, is manifesting for me now, for the good of all, harming no one, according to free will. So must it be."
