#witchy holiday

[spicylove4ever]

Happy Lughnasadh, ancient festival of Middsummer!

[ivyodessa]

Blessed Lammas/Lughnasadh 🪻🥖🌻

[hearthandheathenry]

All About Imbolc

Imbolc, also known as Imbolg, celebrated on February 1st, marks the halfway point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox in early Ireland and Scotland, and also signified the beginning of the first signs of spring after all the harsh winter days. Originally a pagan holdiay in pre-Christian times, there is little in writing about the historic traditions and customs, although many historians believe it revolved around the Celtic Goddess Brigid, lambing season, and cleansing due to observed ancient poetry.

Brigid is a Goddess and daughter of the father-God of Ireland, Dagda. She is associated with quite a few things depending on the sources, but universally associated with wisdom and poetry. Other associations of hers are blacksmithing, protection, domesticated animals, childbirth, fire, and healing. She was also known as a protector of the home and the family.

Once Christianity arose, it is believed that the Goddess was syncretized with the Irish Saint Brigid by Christian monks due to the many overlapping associations. This caused Imbolc to quickly turn into St. Brigids Day and the next day into Candlemas with the rising Christian popularity, enmeshing the holiday associations together.

Today, many people have mixed the traditions and melded many associations from both religious and cultural history to celebrate their own unique way. Common ways to celebrate are making a Brigid's Cross, welcoming Brigid into the home, having a feast in her honor, cleaning the home and oneself, visiting a holy well, and in some parts of the world they still hold festivals and processions carrying a representation of Brigid. Many pagans nowadays are using associations of hers and their connection with nature to create their own ways to celebrate, however, and you can absolutely celebrate however you feel called to do so.

Imbolc Associations:

Colors - white, gold or yellow, green, and blue

Food - milk, butter, cheese, seeds and grains, breads, herbs, blackberries, oat porridge, wild onion and garlic, honey

Animals - sheep and lambs, swans, cows, burrowing and hibernating animals

Items - candles, corn dolls, Brigid's cross, fires, snowdrops and white flowers, crocuses and daffodils, flower crowns

Crystals - amethyst, garnet, ruby, quartz, bloodstone

Other - lactation, birth, feasting, farm preparation, cleansing and cleaning, the sun, poetry and creative endevours, smithing, water

Ways To Celebrate Imbolc:

make a Brigid's cross

light candles

have a feast

bake bread

plan your spring garden

leave an offering for Brigid

make a corn doll

craft a flower crown

clean your home

take a cleansing bath

make something out of metal

have a bonfire

look for the first signs of spring

make your own butter or cheese

do divination work and seek wisdom

write a poem

[snootyfoxfashion]

Witchy Holiday Cards & Art by DuchessofLore

x / x / x / x / x x / x / x / x / x

[thecutestgrotto]

Witches

Spooky Masterlist

[breelandwalker]

Happy Turning Day!

This is the movable holiday in my personal calendar when the approach of autumn is celebrated. Turning Day marks the day when reddening maple leaves are first observed prior to the autumn solstice. In my area, this typically happens in early September.

Maple trees tend to be the first trees to display seasonal changes. They blossom in late winter/early spring, their seeds begin to drop in early summer, they often show the first signs of color change in early autumn, and their sap runs in winter the minute the weather starts to turn toward spring thaw. Thus I look to them in my practice as harbingers of change and the cycles of life, growth, and harvest.

Other personal holidays in my calendar include:

First Robin Day - the day on which the first wild robin is seen following the winter solstice, heralding the spring

First Flowers Day - the day on which early blooms are first observed in local gardens before the spring solstice

Planting Day - the day on which I plant my first round of seeds for the year

Dandelion Day - the day on which the first yellow dandelion appears in my yard in springtime, heralding the summer

Falling Flowers - the period during which blossoms from cherry or myrtle trees start to come loose and drift on the wind or collect in piles

Spirit Day - the day on which the local Spirit Halloween opens

First Frost - the day on which frost is first observed on windows ahead of the winter solstice

(Due to climate change and my local climate zone being different from the one I was raised in, seasonal changes are a bit off-kilter and solstices and equinoxes don't always directly align with the type of weather I grew up knowing. So watching for these little signs helps me to celebrate those changes and have something to look forward to.)

Note: This is my UPG (Unshared Personal Gnosis) and thus is not subject to peer review or approval, nor do I expect it to fit perfectly into or account for the beliefs of others. That being said, the creation of personal holidays and observances is a practice as old as humanity and I happily encourage others to try out the idea themselves if they feel so inclined.

(If you’re enjoying my content, please feel free to drop a little something in the tip jar or check out my published works on Amazon or in the Willow Wings Witch Shop. You can also check out my show Hex Positive on the Nerd & Tie Podcast Network and wherever fine podcasts are heard. 😊)

[tears-of-amber]

Witchy Ways To Navigate This Holiday Season

(Regardless of what you celebrate, it’s highly likely that you’ll be meeting with or engaging in some sort of holiday sometime during the year, so you might find this helpful. Reconnecting with family and friends can be a joy, but can also be draining for people who are easily overwhelmed by other people’s energies). THESE IDEAS ARE CUSTOMIZABLE BUT ARE INFLUENCED BY MY PERSONAL BELIEFS.

🌲Enchant your perfume or cologne with a specific intention. (Example: Ward off uncomfortable conversation, ward off nerves, energize your social battery).

🌲When choosing what to wear, include a necklace, jewelry item, or accessories (such as a tie) that you consider protective of your energy. For me, I wear a pentacle bracelet, but for you it might be something different. You can even ask spirits or deities you work with to charge it overnight on the night before with protection.

🌲I like to draw the rune Wunjo or the rune Gebo on every present I gift with invisible ink or just trace it with my finger, so it brings joy to the person receiving it! You could draw a symbol that represents joy in a similar fashion!

🌲Knot magic is an easy way to incorporate love into the gift exchanging. Tie your presents you’re giving with decorative ribbons and charge each one with love or chant over it this short chant “With love I tie thee, may all be merry!”

🌲If you’re making a special drink (hot-chocolate, mulled wine, etc) be mindful of the energy you put into it while stirring it. You can invite or banish (you’ve probably heard that stirring clockwise is inviting energy and stirring counterclockwise is banishing). But you can also stir simple sigils of calm and peace into it!

🌲If you’re into using crystals, I recommend these crystals for navigating the holiday season:

-Strawberry quartz (for enjoyment and extra enthusiasm)

-Smoky Quartz (for gentle protection and comfort)

-Howlite (for calming during chaos and being present)

-Opal (both non precious and precious, for inspiring generosity and equal exchange of energy)

[the-fae-can-have-me]

Yule

[sunnys-aesthetic]

doodles i forgot to post whoopsie

[aprincessofthevoid]

Sprayed my Christmas tree down with vinigar as a last ditch effort to make my cat leave it the FUCK ALONE...

She keeps trying to climb it and bends the branches all to hell.

[the-paganwitch]

(Edit added below)

Is there anyone interested in a witchcraft newsletter or something of the like? I'm thinking about maybe starting a once a month newsletter that goes over the moon cycles of said month, correspondences, witchy holidays/days of observation, etc. Maybe even adding a section on crystals or herbs, interviews with other witchy creators. I've got a good amount of spare time on my hands, so it might be pretty fun. I do also want to add beginner friendly sections with tips and tricks for newbies. Let me know if anyone is interested

[hearthandheathenry]

All About Lughnasadh

Lughnasadh, also known as Lughnasa or Lúnasa, is the name given to the Gaelic festival that represents the beginning of the harvest season, which traditionally falls on August 1st in the northern hemisphere. The holiday is about halfway between the summer solstice and autumn equinox, and is one of the 4 Gaelic seasonal festivals. Although it is traditionally Irish, many neopagans celebrate the holiday as well.

Traditionally named after the Irish God Lugh, Lughnasadh has been documented to be celebrated since at least the middle ages and involved great gatherings, ceremonies, athletic games like the Tailteann Games, feasting, horse racing, matchmaking, trading, and more, and were traditionally celebrated on top of hills and mountains. The festival remained widely celebrated until about the 20th century, where it seemed to be replaced by Christian counterparts.

Lugh, the God the festival is named after, is said to have founded the holiday as a funeral feast and funeral games to commemorate the death of an earth goddess. The Irish stories vary throughout regions and times, but it usually involves a woman who is stolen away or held against her will and dies of grief, shame, exhaustion, or unspecified causes. There is notable similarities to the Greek Persephone tale. According to a tale about the Lughnasadh festival site Tailtin, it is said to be a funeral for his foster-mother, Tailtiu, who was said to have died from exhaustion after clearing the plains of Ireland for agriculture. A tale about the Lughnasadh site Naas, says the festival was founded in the memory of his two wives, Nás and Bói. Another theory states it was a mourning for the end of summer.

Máire MacNeill, a folklorist, studied the later lore of the holiday and claims it is about a struggle for the harvest between Lugh and another god, often named Crom Dubh. In some stories Lugh must seize Crom Dubh's treasure of grain to give to all of mankind. In other stories, it's over a woman named Eithne who represents grain. Othertimes, its a battle of Lugh defeating a figure representing blight. There doesn't seem to be one agreed upon legend, other than it's revolving around the God Lugh.

As for ancient customs and traditions, they can vary region to region and have morphed throughout time. However, a big tradition was the gathering at Óenach Tailten, a type of olympic style games and gathering where kings declared truces during the entire festival in order to partake and compete against eachother. It included ritual athletic and sporting competitions, horse racing, music and storytelling, trading, law-making and settling legal disputes, creating contracts, and even matchmaking. A common matchmaking tradition was allowing couples to enter a trial marriage that lasted a year and a day by joining hands through a wooden door, after of which they could make permanent or break without consequences once the trial marriage was up. One gathering, called the Óenach Carmain, also consisted of a food and livestock market along with a market for foreign traders.

Other traditions also included a solemn cutting of the first corn to be offered to the deity by bringing it to a high place and burying it, a meal for everyone consisting of the new food and blueberries, a sacrifice and rituals involving a sacred bull, a ritual dance-play, reenactment of the lore, and closing ceremonies. Climbing hills and mountains were also a popular tradition, but has been rebranded overtime as Christian pilgrimages. At some gatherings, everyone wore flowers and climbed a hill, where they buried said flowers at the top to signify the ending of summer. At other gatherings, the first sheaf of harvest was buried instead.

A popular tradition up until about the 18th century were faction fights where young men fought eachother with sticks. One such game consisted of building towers of sod topped with a flag to defend from the other team's sabotaging. Bull sacrifices were also recorded into the 18th century, being used as offerings to various deities, along with special meals made from the first harvest. A special cake called the lunastain was also recorded. Visiting holy wells was also a very prominent tradition, just like during the other yearly festivals. Although bonfires were associated with Lughnasadh and the other main Celtic festivals, they were considered rare for this holiday, most likely due to the very warm summer temperatures.

Some traditions are still celebrated today in Ireland, with festivals being held in honor of Lughnasadh and re-enactors and historians reviving and teaching new generations old lore. There are still markets, traditional dancing, traditional storytelling, arts and craft workshops, feasting, and much more during these modern gatherings, keeping the traditions alive and well, even if they differ region to region. Some pagans and Wiccans also celebrate Lughnasadh, usually differing in their practices, but still using it as a signifier of the first harvest and summer's ending.

Lughnasadh Associations

Colors - yellow, orange, red, brown, green, gold, bronze

Food - blueberries, blackberries, grains, fruit, vegetables, bread, corn, beef, stews, lamb, wine, beer, cider, fruit drinks

Animals - bulls/cows, roosters, sheep

Items - scythes and harvest tools, grain/corn stalks

Crystals - citrine, aventurine, tigers eye, carnelian, topaz

Other - sporting/athletic competitive games, storytelling, matchmaking, cycle of life, harvest

Ways to celebrate:

gather blueberries or blackberries

enjoy grains or breads

make homemade bread

have a feast

climb a hill/take a pilgrimage

offer food to your deity(ies)

commit or recommit to your partner

harvest fresh food from your garden

visit a farmers market

complete a craft or make art

participate in an athletic competition or game

[snootyfoxfashion]

Wheel of the Year Art Prints by ofcraftsandcurios

Mabon // Lughnasadh // Litha // Beltane // Ostara // Imbolc

[blxkstar]

𝔉𝔞𝔩𝔩 𝔥𝔞𝔰 𝔞𝔯𝔯𝔦𝔳𝔢𝔡

I have made a playlist for all your witchy, spooky, cozy, or crafty fall activities. Hope you like it, please check it out! 🍁🍂🎃

ℑ𝔫 𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯𝔶 𝔩𝔢𝔞𝔣, 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔢'𝔰 𝔞 𝔴𝔥𝔦𝔰𝔭𝔢𝔯 𝔬𝔣 𝔞𝔲𝔱𝔲𝔪𝔫'𝔰 𝔪𝔞𝔤𝔦𝔠

🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁

[ivyodessa]

Blessed Beltane 🏵️🌱🌼

[breelandwalker]

Upcoming Events, December 2024

Nevermore Witch Market Sunday, December 1 2024, 12pm-5pm Diversity Richmond 1407 Sherwood Ave, Richmond VA (USA) Hosted by River City Witch Markets

The Witches Table Discussion Group, Williamsburg Chapter Wednesday, December 4 2024, 6pm-8pm Alewerks Taproom (Williamsburg Outlets) 5715 Richmond Rd, Williamsburg VA (USA) Hosted by The Witches Table

Krampusnacht in the Village Saturday, December 7 2024, 4pm-9pm Historic Hilton Village Warwick & Main, Newport News VA (USA) Hosted by Styx & Stones

Alewerks Yule & Krampus Market Saturday, December 21 2024, 12pm-9pm Alewerks Main Taproom 189 B Ewell Rd, Williamsburg VA (USA) Hosted by Alewerks Brewing

Yule Witch Market Sunday, December 22 2024, 12pm-5pm Diversity Richmond 1407 Sherwood Ave, Richmond VA (USA) Hosted by River City Witch Markets