Wiccan

Lammas: The Wiccan Holiday

Lammas is an important Wiccan holiday which is also known as Lughnasadh. It marks the beginning of hot days in August, which is the time of the year when the earth is parched and dry. Moreover, the bright yellows and reds of harvest season are honored during the holiday. It occurs when the apples start to ripen, and all the vegetables of summer have already been picked. A vegetable commonly thought of during the holiday is corn. Corn is known for its green color and tall height. Lammas celebrates the harvesting season. It is when you reap what has been sown. Everyone gathers around the first harvests of oats, wheat, grain, and other vegetables. Lammas is either celebrated for the harvest season or to honor Lugh, who is an important pagan god. 

Celebration of Grain

Since the beginning of civilization, grain has played an essential part in society. The grain is associated with rebirth and death. Tammuz is a Sumerian god that had been slain during this time, and Ishtar was his lover who had grieved so much so that Nature stopped bearing fruit.
According to legend, it is believed that Tammuz had been mounted by Ishtar and brought to the Underworld for rebirth. As for Greek Legend, Adonis is the grain god. Persephone and Aphrodite are the two goddesses that had fought to gain his love. To put an end to the fighting, Zeus had to order Adonis to spend the rest of his life with Aphrodite after he had spent about six months with Persephone. Continue reading

Litha: The Summer Solstice

Litha is a recognition of the Summer Solstice. It is the day of the year that experiences the shortest night and the longest day. Litha is the pinnacle of the power of the sun and is considered to mark the growing season. It is from this day onward that the sun will start to set a little earlier every night until it is Yule. Hence, Litha is celebrated to give thanks for warmth.

Just like the Winter Solstice, the Summer Solstice cannot be precisely determined as the day varies each year. However, generally, Litha is celebrated on the 21st of June. The reason why the exact date is not perceived is because of the misalignment among the actual rate at which the Earth rotates around the sun and the Gregorian calendar. Moreover, Litha is celebrated at different times, depending on where one lives. It is celebrated anywhere in the range of 20th – 22nd of June. Continue reading

Everything You Need To Know About the Wiccan Holiday Beltane

Beltane means fire of Bel, who is considered a Celtic deity. The Wiccan holiday celebrates the arrival of summer. Beltane is a special fire festival celebrated for the coming of fertility in the land. Tied with the community’s needs just like other Celtic festivals, Beltane is a festival that marks spring and welcomes the farming season. Families and followers of the pagan religion come together in hopes of a fruitful year.
Some of the Beltane rituals include courting where the youth collect blossoms and light fires during the evening. The rituals lead to marriages to be conducted in the coming season or even immediately. As the holiday marks fertility, marriage is often encouraged. Fire plays an essential part in the festival as it is thought to increase fertility, purify, and cleanse. Cattles pass between two fires. The smoke from the fire is believed to ensure that fertility.
Beltane is the time when pagans believe that the God achieves maturity and strength to become the lover of the Goddess. Fertility plays an integral role in the holiday, and pagans strive to highlight fertility through different ceremonies and rituals. There are many traditions that associate fire with the celebration. It helps purify and revitalize. By leaping over the fire, it is believed that the fertility of the spirit, body, and mind, as well as happiness and good fortune, can be achieved. Beltane is considered to be the most sexual festival. However, pagans barely have sex during the rituals, even though most of the rituals imply fertility and sex. There is sexual imagery involved in the dancing tradition, and many pagans still follow it. Continue reading

Smudging Your Home

Smudging is a ritual way to raise positivity and drive out negative energies or influences. It is an ancient Native American tradition to cleanse a person or location by the burning of herbs. The practice of smudging our homes, workplace, car, altars, sacred books, crystals, or gemstones has been a blessed ritual that has become more and more popular. 

The method can be as simple, or as complex, as you’d like to keep it. Smudging herbs are primarily used in the methods of a smudge stick, which are made by securing the herbs into a bundle. Although some individuals use only sage, other people believe that burning of two or more herbs at the same time is a powerful way to combine the energy of the different herbs in the ritual, ceremony or celebration. A number of commonly used smudging herbs include sage, sweet grass, cedar, frankincense resin, copal gold resin, myrrh resin, lavender, pine and juniper.

Before you begin, both you and your house should to be ready physically and mentally to start the cleansing. A disarranged and unclean house beckons negative energies. On the other hand, a clean, well- aired house conveys positive feelings to its occupants.

To begin smudging, ignite your smudge stick or bundle until it burns. It will typically burn out and start to smoke. If necessary, you can blow out the flame, but it ought to be smoking. This smoke is what you’ll utilize to smudge.

Using your hand or a feather, smudge yourself by fanning the smoke toward you, getting your entire body and afterwards step within the smoke. If you are smudging another person, make sure that they turn around so you can smudge both their front and back.

Burn the sage bundle cautiously and disperse the smoke with your hand or a feather, all through the house, walking to the different areas in a clockwise direction. Make sure that you do not make the house so exceedingly smoky that it becomes tough to breathe in. A small amount of smoke is sufficient to serve your purpose. On the other hand, give attention to the active areas of your house. 

As you are walking, focus on positive thoughts or speak a prayer. The goal is to call in what you most desire to come into your space. When you are done, gently put out the smoking smudge bundle by pressing it into a fireproof bowl or abalone shell. Make sure that it is no longer smoking and then leave it in the shell or bowl for a period of time.

When finished, discard the remains of the bundle outside the house by burying them or releasing them in moving water.

Creating Your Own Spells Now Available

If you are new to Wicca, the first thing you may want to do is a spell.

You will find that the strongest spells are the ones you write yourself. With this book, you will learn not only how to write spells, but also when. Items that are needed and preparing yourself.

You can also use this for creating your own rituals since they are just more detailed spell.