#l: ostara festival

[kinghandmedown]

WHO: ron & hermione ( @grcngernotes​ ) WHEN:  thursday, march 20, 2003 WHERE: lockhart’s estate, ostara festival

Given he had not spent more than about five minutes thinking about it, Ron knew that it was a dodgy move on his part. Had he done it anyway? Yes. Would he possibly regret it later? Maybe not.

None the less, ‘accidentally’ losing Harry in the festival crowd was not his most shining moment, but at least then he didn’t have to outwardly admit to how much he’d wanted to spend time with Hermione without their best friend piping in.

(He had no doubt he was never going to live this down with the best friend in question).

Casting his eyes around the masses of people near them as they walk (and trying to stop himself from actively staring at his companion in the first place), Ron clears his throat once, and then twice. He casts a short glance sideways before his mouth twists into a grin.

“So...being here is the highlight of your life, isn’t it?” he teases, “Just you and a close proximity to Lockhart’s underwear drawer.”

[assassinscreed-photomode]

∞ V A L H A L L A  🌱 🌷 Ostara Festival/1🌷 ∞

[magaliemagpie]

The Wheel of the Year

The Wheel of the Year is celebrated (usually) by Pagans and looks at the annual cycle of seasonal festivals. It includes the solstices and equinoxes, as well as the midpoints between them. As the festivals are based on British Paganism from the mid-20th century, there are Celtic Fire Festivals (or “Cross-Quarter Days”) which count for 4 of the festivals altogether - if you don’t want to celebrate these, then it’s perfectly alright not to. The Wheel of the Year is cyclical and so follows the idea of life, death and rebirth. Also, just because you practice witchcraft, doesn’t mean that you have to follow the Wheel of the Year - Witchcraft is not a religion, but a practice.

However, I follow the Wheel of the Year and so that’s why I’m putting this out there!

So to start, we’ve got our Solar Festivals;

Yule (Winter Solstice)

Ostara (Spring Equinox)

Litha (Summer Solstice)

Mabon (Autumnal Equinox)

The Solar Festivals celebrate the peak of each season and are decided by where the sun is in relation to the Earth.

And then there’s our Celtic Fire Festivals;

Imbolc/Bride

Beltaine

Lughnasadh/Lammas

Samhain

The Celtic Fire Festivals are the “entry” to the season and are seen to have tons of seasonal energy. This energy is usually released with a bonfire being lit. They’re like the midpoints between the Solstices and the Equinoxes, and can be called “Cross-Quarter Days”.

The Wheel of the Year isn’t the “End-All” or “Complete Collection” of festivals that you can celebrate, but it gives structure to the year and so most witches adapt to it. If there’s a holiday that you have and love, add it in and have some fun!

Samhain

"The end and the beginning of the Celtic Year” - L. Lister

In the Northern Hemisphere, it’s celebrated from October 31st to November 1st

In the Southern Hemisphere, it’s celebrated from April 30th to May 1st

So, I pronounce this like “sow-en” but I am Irish so it’s that Gaeilge accent coming out of me. This is also known as “Halloween” to those that don’t follow the Wheel of the Year, or “All Hallow’s Eve”. When we look at the cyclical nature of the Wheel of the Year, it stands for that in between moment where we stare and anticipate death. During this festival, the veil between the Living and the Dead is thin, and so it’s about remembering those that have passed before us.

Typically, witches will work with the dead and try to communicate with spirits and wandering ghosts.

Yule

“Festival of rebirth, midwinter, the shortest day and longest night of the year” - L. Lister

In the Northern Hemisphere, it’s celebrated from December 20th to the 23rd

In the Southern Hemisphere, it’s celebrated from June 20th to 23rd

Pronounced exactly how it looks, Yule is also called “Midwinter” commonly and “Alban Arthan” within modern Druid traditions. It’s the turning point of the year where we celebrate the fact that the sun is coming back and with it the life of the Earth. Basically we’re sick of winter and want summer back.

Typically, witches celebrate with warm drinks, Yule logs and evergreen trees decorated for the spirits of winter.

Imbolc/Imbolg/Bride

“The Earth’s awakening” - L. Lister

In the Northern Hemisphere, it’s celebrated from January 31st to February 2nd

In the Southern Hemisphere, it’s celebrated from July 31st to August 2nd

This festival has a lot of names, in case you couldn’t tell. Pick whichever you prefer and vibe with it - it honestly doesn’t really matter which you choose because they all mean the same festival in essence. So Bride isn’t pronounced how you think it is, it’s “bri-ja” like the word “bridge” but stretched out. It is not pronounced like a groom and bride!

Imbolg celebrates the return of spring, and is originally a festival that celebrated the goddess Brigid, later turned into Saint Brigid through Christianisation.

Typically, witches will light torches and celebrate using fire in every form, symbolising the light that is coming with Spring.

Ostara

“The first day of Spring, day and night are equal” - L. Lister

In the Northern Hemisphere, it’s celebrated from March 21st to 22nd

In the Southern Hemisphere, it’s celebrated from September 21st to 22nd

This festival is attributed to Eostre (an Old English Goddess/ Anglo-Saxon Goddess). Basically, it’s about how excited everyone is now that spring is here. Ostara is now Easter - hares and eggs are the symbols of Eostre. The Equinox is all about fertility, new life and the idea of harmony and balance. Light and dark are equal, and the light is only growing stronger. Bluntly put, Ostara is the run-up for Beltaine (the prep work kinda?), since it’s all gaining the favour of a fertility goddess which is then put to the test at the next festival .

Typically, witches will paint eggs and basically dedicated the festival to celebrating fertility.

Beltaine

“ Heralding Summer, festival of fertility” - L. Lister

In the Northern Hemisphere, it’s celebrated on the 1st of May

In the Southern Hemisphere, it’s celebrated from October 31st to November 1st

So I’m cheating on this one..... Beltaine (”bell-ten-aah”) can be spelt Bealteinne, Bealtaine and Beltane, but I’m Irish so I use the Irish/Gaeilge spelling and pronunciation.

Beltaine is the first day of summer and was celebrated by people jumping over fires to ensure their fertility - it was symbolic and the idea that if you cleared the fire with no problems, then you’re definitely gonna be fertile and conceive super easily. The veil between the world is thin during this time, and so it’s perfect to communicate with spirits - human and not.

Typically, witches have a lot of sex and go for nature walks.

Litha

“Summer’s height, the longest day and the shortest night” - L. Lister

In the Northern Hemisphere, it’s celebrated from June 20th to the 23rd

In the Southern Hemisphere, it’s celebrated from December 20th to 23rd

At the Summer Solstice, the sun is high and bright in the sky and is at its peak for the year. It can be called “Midsummer” as well, as after it the dark starts to creep back into our days.

Here’s a fun fact, so June is blessed with the Mead Moon or Honey Moon, and as June was considered super lucky, couples would get married during it. Newlyweds would have to drink mead all day for a month after their wedding for tradition and so this period of time was known as their “honeymoon”, and is where we get the term from!

Typically, witches will eat fresh fruits and experience the power of the sun through meditating outdoors, going for a walk, and charging spells, crystals, and herbs. Divination is practised at night during this time!

Lughnasadh/Lammas

“Festivals of gratitude and marriage” - L. Lister

In the Northern Hemisphere, it’s celebrated from July 31st to August 1st

In the Southern Hemisphere, it’s celebrated from February 1st to 2nd

So this is a bit different..... this festival has two names coming from two different origins and this can affect how you celebrate (you can also choose to just not care about that too, either-or really). Lughnasadh is an old way of spelling it, but the modern Irish way is spelt Lúnasa (”loo-na-sah”), if you prefer one way of spelling over the other then choose that one (they’re pronounced the same btw!).  Lammas is the Anglo-Saxon version and translates to loaf mass, whereas Lughnasagh was dedicated to the Celtic god of fire, Lugh.

It’s the festival of the first harvest, so things like baking bread and eating fruits, handfasting and just having a great time on a hill or a mountain (this is something people did for Lugh but I’ll go over that another time).

Typically, witches will bake bread in the shape of a man and eat it, drinking wine (personally, I like rosé) and all around just doing things that relax you.

Mabon

“Festival of harvest, when day and night are equal” - L. Lister

In the Northern Hemisphere, it’s celebrated from September 20th to 23rd

In the Southern Hemisphere, it’s celebrated from March 20th to 23rd

This.... This right here..... This is my favourite festival. It’s also known as Meán Fómhair (”man” - “foh-er”/”fore” - depends on dialect) in Irish/Gaeilge and is about sharing the last of the harvest amongst others. There’s a lot of bread baking for this holiday as well and I am absolutely enthralled about that. It’s got all the vibes of spiced apples, cinnamon sticks and pastry pies rolled up into one.

Typically, witches will bake apple pie and bread, do some autumn house cleaning, and decorate using acorns and corn.

And that’s the Wheel of the Year! I’ll have a more in depth post where I go over each festival to the point of tears, but for now this is the bare bones of it all!

Thanks for coming to my Witch Talk xx

[styx-naiad]

I ordered a cheap flower crown from Claire’s, to wear on Ostara.

I feel like I’m hyperfixating on the upcoming holiday a little, because the snowy weather in front of me is so terrible.

Obviously, Texas has it worse rn. At least I have electricity, y’know? So perhaps I’m silly, for complaining. (Nobody made me move to the Midwest.)

But I’m just like.....Lady Persephone. Your return cannot come fast enough. 🥶

[astrohisteria]

🌾 L u g h n a s a d h 🌾

Es el festival de la primera cosecha, también conocido como Cornucopia (Italia), Harvest Home o Fiesta del Pan. El otro nombre por el cual se conoce a esta celebración es Lammas, el nombre cristiano medieval que significa 'loaf mass', misa de la hogaza. En esa fecha, se horneaba pan con las primeras cosechas y además, se ofrecían en los altares. ��En la antigua tradición celtica, el momento exacto astrológico para celebrarlo era cuando el Sol estaba a 15 grados de Leo, aunque en el Hemisferio Sur es celebrada el 1 o 2 de Febrero. 

🌾Se festeja en Honor a la gran madre y la madre adoptiva de Lugh (de ahí el nombre). Aunque también tiene un nombre más antiguo, Bron Trogain, que hace referencia al trabajo de parto y el dolor que conlleva. Se cree también, que es el antiguo acción de gracias. 🌾En esta época, el Dios va perdiendo sus fuerzas y pronto morirá. La Diosa lo observa y a la vez, el vive dentro de ella como su hijo. Al ser la primera cosecha, caen los frutos y semillas de las plantas de Ostara. Se celebra la abundancia. 

🌾Es momento de reflexión, sobre la importancia del equilibrio en la naturaleza y en nuestro interior. Es tiempo para meditar sobre las ganancias obtenidas y aquello que sembramos. Damos gracias y nos damos cuenta que hemos cosechado, que sacrificamos y si vamos por el camino correcto. 

🌼 Actividades 🌼 🌾Trenzar espigas y hacer muñecas de maíz. 🌾Festejar al aire libre, hacer rituales de buena suerte y abundancia. 🌾Hornear pan o tortas, hacer quemas simbólicas de lo que nos aprisiona.

 🍂Correspondencias🍂 Comidas: cereales, panes, semillas, frutos secos. Colores: Amarillo, dorado, marrón, naranja. Piedras: Ambar, ojo de tigre, de gato y otras amarillas o anaranjadas.

[everything-is-by-design]

Katerina Morningstar’s Deity Guide: Yeshua

(Collage made by myself - original pictures I do not own)

Today’s deity is Yeshua, known in the western world as Jesus. However, Yeshua feels right. It flows better. Anyway, no hate for Christian witches. I resonate with Yeshua and his kind light. He gives me comfort and love and I hope I can shed some light on him in this post.

Representation:

Kindness and appreciation for the earth and all her children

Compassion towards yourself

Encouraging people to embrace their spiritual gifts

Loving others and welcoming them into your home (within reason, Yeshua wants you to help and he doesn’t want you to risk your safety and mental health)

Connection to one’s higher self while staying rooted

Inner balance

Peace

Giving to others (a part of Yeshua is in all people so if you are feeding one person, you are feeding him too)

Helping the environment in any way possible (Yeshua protects our mother earth and appreciates even the smallest bit of help to keep her healthy)

The purist most divine love (Yeshua wants you to experience his love and heaven’s as well towards not only yourself but to your relationships both platonic and romantic)

Unconditional love and forgiveness

Gratitude towards the little things

Type: Human/Divine Celestial Entity Hybrid

Light: Pale pinks and yellows - Yeshua’s light feels warm and fuzzy on my spirit, it is full of love and kindness and hope.

Wings: None that I can perceive

Good or Evil: I really don’t like the good and evil category because all beings have two sides. Yeshua is beyond goodness. He is peace incarnate. When he walks, flowers bloom. Yeshua is not aggressive or violent, however, he will protect you from harm with a golden pink net if you ask. Yeshua is protective of his chosen/flock and you can feel his heat when something attempts to harm one of them.

Offerings:

Bread (homemade is the best - if you can infuse hope into the bread as you bake it then Yeshua will return it to your body as a blessing)

Sparkling wine or any white wine that is sweet (perrier in place of wine if you can’t consume alcohol)

Pomegranates

Mangos

Lemons

Feathers that have fallen out naturally (smaller, more fluffy ones are ideal)

Meditation

Gold

Poetry & art

Honey

Flowers: Cherry Blossom & Magnolia’s

Incense: Citrus, Sugar & Spice, Rose

Colours:

Pale pink

Pale yellow

Ivory (on occasion)

Music: Anything soft or zen-like. You can even use sound apps with rain or thunderstorms or waves.

Animals:

Sparrows

Deer

Lambs

Planet: Jupiter

When To Work With Yeshua:

Early afternoon

Early evening

When it is warm out but not too hot

Season: Spring

Festival: Imbolc & Ostara

Many blessings, love and light.

-Katerina Morningstar

[kinghandmedown]

WHO: ron & harry ( @unchosenlion​ ) WHEN: thursday, march 20, 2003 WHERE: lockhart’s estate, ostara festival

It must be something else to have a bank-account so full of gold, Ron thinks as he looks around the ostentatious set-up that was Gilderoy Lockhart’s gardens. Sure, he expected nothing less from their former professor, given what they had seen of him a decade back, but really...

Shrugging off the thought, Ron turns his attention back to making sure he doesn’t trip and fall on his face, lest he manage to humiliate himself in front of what feels like the entire Wizarding World. Instead, he moves himself off to a less crowded side, nudging Harry’s shoulder as a hint.

"Remind me again why this feels more like the Gilderoy Gala than the actual festival?” 

[assassinscreed-photomode]

∞ V A L H A L L A  🌱 🌷 Ostara Festival/2🌷 ∞

weeping at the beautiful sight of Eivor in a flower crown yall……(though she did have to grow her hair out)