#holy days

[maeviuslynn]

Happy Greater Feast to Aleister Crowley!

A "greater feast" is Thelema refers to the celebration of one's death. A "lesser feast" refers to one's birth. To quote the Book of the Law, "…a feast for life and a greater feast for death!" AL II:41.

This modern holiday is not one of the official ones called for in the Book of the Law, but people still like to celebrate it with food and reading some of Crowley's poetry.

Aleister Crowley asked for his friends in England to get together a year after he died and celebrate with a curry dinner. And they did that. Gerald York, Frieda Lady Harris, and others got together at Gerald York's place and had a curry feast. Many Thelemites in the modern day choose to carry on this tradition. I know my household will be having curry tonight!

[mcjhay]

You might be going through hell right now, feeling like the weight of the world is on your shoulders, and every step forward takes all the strength you have left. Maybe it feels like life keeps knocking you down, testing you in ways you never thought you could handle. But even in this dark place, remember: everything will be okay. These storms you're facing, no matter how fierce, will pass, and one day soon, you'll look back and see how much stronger they made you.

Life doesn't always make sense when you're in the middle of the struggle. It's easy to feel lost, defeated, and question why things happen the way they do. But trust that there's purpose in your pain, lessons in your hardships, and growth in your struggles. Every challenge is shaping you, building resilience you didn't know you had. One day, this pain will be a part of your story, not the defining chapter, but the one that proved your strength, your courage, and your ability to rise.

Hold on a little longer, even when it feels impossible. Give yourself grace on the hard days, and remember that even though it may not seem like it now, brighter days are ahead. Life has a way of surprising us, of bringing unexpected blessings and healing in time. Believe that you are meant for something beyond this moment, and that everything you're enduring now is setting you up for a future filled with peace, joy, and a deep appreciation for the journey.

Trust that everything you're going through right now is preparing you for something greater. It may be hard to see it from where you stand, but life has a way of working out in ways we couldn't have planned. So hang in there. Keep going. You are not alone, and you are stronger than you know. Hold on to hope, because everything truly will be okay. Time will tell and may we all be great✌🏾

[maisartcraft-blog]

sketch and final drawing

holyday dell :3 my grandad always use to wear thouse hawaii shirts and I feeld like drawing dell wearing it , I like to belive he would had liked the engineer too as he reminds me aloth of him in many ways .

[babsphomet]

666 𝚰𝐨 𝐒𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐚 666

[gladstones-corner]

On Holy Days

The topic of holy days is a varied and sometimes contentious one. There are certain days that tend to be more common than others in the magical community, but that makes them far from ubiquitous.

The aim of this post isn’t to name every holy day—nor is it to suggest that the holy days named in this post are the correct ones. Instead, I’ll use the Thelemic calendar as my base, then name a couple ways you can introduce custom holy days to your calendar.

Let’s get started.

The Thelemic Calendar at a Glance

The Thelemic calendar is a complicated one, especially for newcomers. Let’s forgo the dating mechanic for a moment and just focus on the explanations of the holidays:

“36. There are rituals of the elements and feasts of the times. 37. A feast for the first night of the Prophet and his Bride! 38. A feast for the three days of the writing of the Book of the Law. 39. A feast for Tahuti and the child of the Prophet—secret, O Prophet! 40. A feast for the Supreme Ritual, and a feast for the Equinox of the Gods. 41. A feast for fire and a feast for water; a feast for life and a greater feast for death! 42. A feast every day in your hearts in the joy of my rapture! 43. A feast every night unto Nu, and the pleasure of uttermost delight!” —Aleister Crowley, Liber AL vel Legis

Let’s generalize and demystify this a little bit:

36. The Solstices and Equinoxes 37. August 12th 38. April 8th–10th 39. August 6th 40. March 20th and the Vernal Equinox 41. Puberty Rites, Birth Rites, Death Rites 42. Daily Gratitude 43. Nightly Gratitude

Of this list, several of these are distinct to Thelema. However, the Solstices, Equinoxes, Puberty Rites, Birth Rites, and Death Rites are all common to mystical and magical traditions. I’d like to add a couple more, leading to a full list of holy days as such:

Birth Rites, done once but creating an Anniversary of Birth Holy Day

Puberty Rites, done once

Initiation, thus leading to an Anniversary of Initiation Holy Day (this date either changes with each subsequent initiation, or stays the same as your very first initiation)

Vernal Equinox, done yearly

Summer Solstice, done yearly

Autumnal Equinox, done yearly

Winter Solstice, done yearly

Handfasting (Optional), creating an Anniversary of Love Holy Day

Death Rites, done once

From my perspective, this is the minimum number of Holy Days required (except Handfasting) for a full-fledged tradition. However, in doing the research for this post, I had colleagues disagree. One provided their own Holy Days list:

Initiation

Vernal Equinox

Beltane

Summer Solstice

Lughnasadh

Autumnal Equinox

Samhain

Winter Solstice

Imbolc

Handfasting (Optional)

Death Rites

Still another sent me a dizzying calendar of saints’ days, saying that they tend to pick the saints’ days that they need during that month to celebrate—but they always celebrate at least once a month. In addition, they celebrate the following:

Advent

Christmas

Ash Wednesday

Lent

Good Friday

Easter

Much less structured; no less valid.

Generating Your Own Holy Days

Okay, so we’ve gone over the general gloss of Holy Days, but how do we identify new ones for our own traditions?

The answer is highly subjective. Generally, you want to look for milestones in your life and in the cycles of nature around you. If you’re not keen on the traditional Wheel of the Year (in either its four- or eight-spoked forms), there are several other ways to track the seasons across the year.

For example, you could add the Lunar New Year as part of your Holy Days. You could also add the day you first achieved Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel, or some similar milestone in which your life was irrevocably changed. Even secular days, like Groundhog Day, can be added.

Let’s add some extra days just for completion’s sake. Let’s say you also celebrate the Blue Moon and various other astrological phenomena, like eclipses. You can note those down as special days of power—though they’re not yearly, they’re no less Holy Days.

Conclusion

Overall, creating a calendar becomes a mixture of Holy Days in your tradition, seasonal or natural observances, and milestone celebrations. Putting it together is fairly easy—adhering to it is another matter entirely. That’s why I recommend a small calendar first, based in your chosen tradition. That gets you used to cyclical Holy Days from a magical perspective. Then, you can expand naturally as events arise and become important to your practice.

Thank you for reading. As always, stay safe and stay tuned. Blessings~

[anti-zionist-jew]

which jewish holiday is your favourite

Sukkot- the harvest festival. It is also immediately followed by the Simchat which marks the end of the Torah cycle. There’s something so full circle and beautiful about the bounty marking the end of a “year” in a sense.

[innervoiceartblog]

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

AND IT WAS THE FEAST OF THE PASSOVER

He stayed in his walk to watch a typesetter neatly distributing type. Reads it backwards first. Quickly he does it. Must require some practice that. mangiD kcirtaP. Poor papa with his hagadah book, reading backwards with his finger to me. Pessach. Next year in Jerusalem. Dear, O dear! All that long business about that brought us out of the land of Egypt and into the house of bondage alleluia. Shema Israel Adonai Elohenu. No, that’s the other. Then the twelve brothers, Jacob’s sons. And then the lamb and the cat and the dog and the stick and the water and the butcher. And then the angel of death kills the butcher and he kills the ox and the dog kills the cat. Sounds a bit silly till you come to look into it well. Justice it means but it’s everybody eating everyone else. That’s what life is after all. How quickly he does that job. Practice makes perfect. Seems to see with his fingers.

~James Joyce

(Ori Hanan Weisberg)

[optimalmastery]

Beyond Samhain: Global Traditions to Honor the Dead

Samhain, celebrated at the end of October in the Northern Hemisphere, is a sacred festival for many Pagans and witches. It marks the end of the harvest season and the beginning of the dark half of the year. It’s considered a time when the veil between the world of the living and the world of the dead is at its thinnest. Therefore, this Sabbat provides the opportunity to honor ancestors, remember…

[lailoken]

Which is the Day of the Salmon? I'm trying to map out the celestial compass for myself but I can't figure out what would be between Halloween and the Winter Solstice. Is it Thanksgiving?

Darkening Day is the Salmon's day, and that aligns with the Winter Solstice. Between Hallowmas and Darkening Day, there are no other Cardinal Holy Days.

I'm not sure if/how you're trying to use the outline of my tradition's seasonal sabbaths, but given that these Holy Days are bioregional and initiatory in nature, I'm not sure how trying to mimic them without that context would really serve you in the end.

[yummytiger]

Easter, Valentine's Day and Halloween ;P

[lettersfromgod]

Man's Holidays vs. God's Holy Days (comparison): https://answersonlygodcangive.com/Regarding_the_Holidays_of_Men#Man.27s_Holidays_vs.God.27s_Holy_Days.28comparison.29

Thus Says The Lord Regarding the Holidays of Men: https://answersonlygodcangive.com/Regarding_the_Holidays_of_Men

Contents: 1 The Holidays of Men Desecrate the Name of The Lord 1.1 Christmas 1.2 Easter 1.3 Man's Holidays vs. God's Holy Days (comparison) 2 Halloween 3 Thanksgiving 4 The 4th of July - Independence Day (U.S.A.) 5 Related Topics 6 Videos 7 Navigation

[mcjhay]

Embrace the beauty of new beginnings by giving yourself the chance to meet someone new. In the vast landscape of life, each encounter holds the potential to blossom into a cherished connection.

So, open your heart to the serendipity of the universe, for in the dance of chance and destiny, lies the magic of forging meaningful relationships that enrich the tapestry of our existence.

[many-sparrows]

Burn, burn, burn Zach Bryan

Scarlet hedgehog cactus

Sermon notes

La Carita (Charity) Carlo Dolci

John 1:5

"God's preference is to be heard and God's preference is to be understood."

Blessed Pentecost! God is a God who wants to speak to you and They don't prefer one language. They are so, so much bigger than a pulpit or the church or Sunday mornings. God will speak in whatever ways you can hear; let yourself listen to the tiny whispers and the little gestures and the tongues that sound foreign to those around you. Hear Them in everything, no matter where They're speaking from.

It's so special to me that Pentecost was the last Sunday before pride month this year. God called me back through the exploration of my own queerness; He spoke to me through the radical, transgressive love I saw. Letting that part of myself out taught me how to embrace God's creation, including myself, just as it is. My religion taught me how to love recklessly and without hesitation, my queerness taught me how to love even the people I am told not to.

The Holy Spirit is reaching for you, desperate to anoint you with Their light. Let yourself reach back.

[superaquelle]

[papeldelbano]

30 years ago today the world was blessed with one of the greatest ten track records the world has ever seen.

since then the world had turned and left me here