Winter Solstice falls on December 22 this year. Bring back the sun! So here’s Jethro Tull with a rare animated promo for their “Ring Out The Solstice Bells” single. (1976)
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Filed under: Friday Video, Wheel of the Year, Yule
Forget the Grinch. Everybody this year seems to be talking Krampus. Apparently he is the Alpine–Swiss/Austrian–version of the Dutch Black Peter or Knecht Ruprecht (Ruprecht being a nickname for the Devil in Germany), who accompanied St Nicholas and left birch switches or lumps of coal for bad children. According to this weekend’s story on NPR [...]
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Filed under: Wheel of the Year, Yule
Samhain is just around the corner. The Veil between the worlds is at its thinnest, and we can interact with the Spirits and the Ancestors. For this week’s Friday Video, I offer Nina Simone singing “Dambala.” According to Catherine Beyer, Alternate Religious Guide at About.com: Damballah-Wedo is associated with creation and is viewed as a [...]
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Filed under: Friday Video, Halloween, Wheel of the Year
Here we are at the Fall Equinox. The second of our harvest festivals, Mabon or Harvest Home, is often considered our Pagan Thanksgiving. I could not find a suitable video for Mabon, but I did find this colorful Inca celebration, Hawkay Pacha. Of course, in South America, the Fall Equinox comes in March, but that’s [...]
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Filed under: Friday Video, Halloween, Wheel of the Year
Lughnasadh or Lammas is the grain harvest, the first of three Pagan harvest festivals. The Ancient Celts began the new day at sunset, so Lammas is sunset on July 31 thru August 1. The second one, commonly called Mabon, is the fruit harvest at the Fall Equinox, and the third one is the meat harvest [...]
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Filed under: Halloween, Wheel of the Year
Another Sabbat Video from animator CelestialElf: “The Lammas Wickerman.” Lammas, or Lughnasadh (Loo-Nah-Sah), is the harvest festival that falls on August 1st. The Druid’s long, opening speech is in Welsh. The translation, if you would like it, and a description of Lammas are here.
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Filed under: Friday Video, Wheel of the Year
Another interesting animated video from Celestial Elf. Enjoy!
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Filed under: Friday Video, Wheel of the Year
Welcome, May! It’s Beltane, one of the major sabbats in the Wheel of the Year. The Ancient Celts did not celebrate the solstices and the equinoxes; they held their fire festivals at the cross-quarter days. Beltane (May 1) and Samhain (October 31) marked the bright half and the dark half of the year. At Highway [...]
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Filed under: Wheel of the Year
It’s finally here: Ostara, the first day of Spring! It’s time to find balance in my life.
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Filed under: Ostara, Wheel of the Year
Good King Wenceslas looked out On the feast of Stephen When the snow lay round about Deep and crisp and even. Brightly shone the moon that night Though the frost was cruel When a poor man came in sight Gath’ring winter fuel. The feast of Stephen: that’s December 26th. Today… The Christmas season is almost [...]
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Filed under: Christians, Christmas, Wheel of the Year, Yule