Tay's
Response
To
Ambrose Ajax's
SAMHAIN
October 31
Also known as All Hollows Eve
All Hallows Eve, not all Hollows!
or Halloween or Feast Of The Dead. This is the time to bid the God farewell as he prepares to be reborn of the Goddess at Yule.
NOPE, it is not. It is the time for contracts and law, this is when folks were sacrificed for their crimes in Gaul. It is a time to honor the ancestors passed on and try to placate the mischievous spirits that would play tricks to the peril of the people on this night. The veil on this day and Bealtine are at their thinnest making interaction with the spirits of the otherworld and underworld less demanding and easier to accomplish. People in the Celtic lands would set a place at their tables for the ancestors, host great fires in the common fire pits, travel door to door with gifts and one would carry around a barrel of burning sod from their own fires, offering it in gift to others (this was seen as a great honor, to give from your fire to another's, as fire was sacred and a hearth fire in a household was never supposed to be allowed to burn out, it was kept stoked day and night or else great harm would befall the residences whose fires extinguished) only on this high day were the hearth fires of homes extinguished and then relit from the common fire in the center of the tribal grounds. This festival was also seen as a harvest festival and people would come to the center of the tribal lands to participate in trading of goods. Bannock bread was baked in old Gaul, each piece had 9 knots or lobes on the bread, the bread was placed in a bag with one charred portion and all of the tribal people would pick a piece of the bannock from the bag, the person who received the burned portion would be sacrificed at this event for the good of the people in the next coming year (as this is the celebration of the Celtic New Year also). The rest of the pieces were used as a sort of prayer, the tribes people would stand with backs to the fire, breaking off the nine lobes one at a time and throwing them into the fire over their shoulder while asking for certain favors from animals and natural forces alike. In later times, the person who received the burned portion of bannock, had to jump the fires and return home running all the way, and not participate in the festivities, this was seen as a symbolic sacrifice and herbal and corn dolls were offered in lieu of humans during these times. These are just some of the ancient and more common practices of Samhain, as well as the old God taking his rightful place as God of the Dead, over the young God or God of love in this season, the list goes on. Samhain defined, simply means �November' in the Gaelic. You can find any of this in the resources listed above as well as a few good Gaelic/ Gaeilge dictionaries.
It is a time of reflection of the past year, and the coming of our greatest change in life-Death. Wiccans remember their ancestors and loved ones past on.
How do you remember them?
It is traditional to leave a plate of food outside at night for the souls of the dead.
No, it is traditional to leave a plate of food and set a special place at one's feast for the ancestors. The food left outside is for the �Gentry' which is what the Fairies are called in Ireland. You assume much and know little.
A candle placed in the window guides them to the lands eternal summer.
A candle placed in the window is to guide them to their earthly home you dipstick! To let them know that they are wanted and welcomed!
Apples are buried in the earth to feed those passed ones in their journey. Meat dishes are eaten, as well as beets, apples, corn and nuts. Late autumn fruits are placed on the altar. This is also a perfect time for spells to rid ones self of bad habits.
No doubt this is taken from �A Druid's Herbal' and is for the most part off base. Did you happen to try and find out what nuts were sacred to the Celts? Hazelnuts my friend, and why? Because they contained the wisdom of the universe and the tree that they would fall from stood over the well of wisdom in which the Salmon of wisdom swam, and he would eat the nuts and consume the wisdom contained therein as they fell, and anyone that ate of the flesh of the �Salmon of wisdom' would gain all the wisdom of the universe, as was the case of Finn MacCumhaill (or for the uninitiated Finn Mac Cool). What meat dishes are eaten and why? Could it be the sacred bull? Perhaps if it is a king making time that is occurring at Samhain it could be the meat of the Mare? Or could it be the wild Boar since this animal was sacred amongst the Celts, and the natives of Scotland before it was Scotland (the Picts), had their religion deemed �The Religion of the Boar'???? Do a think?
Why is it a time to rid oneself of bad habits Ambrose? Do you think that perhaps it was due to the fact that this is the Celtic New Year? That's a later practice though I can assure you, the Celts had an Honor Code and enforced Honor Price for anyone with so called �Bad Habits'.
YULE
December 21
Celebrating the rebirth of the Sun. Also known as the Winter Solstice.
ORIGINALLY known as Mirthras!
Actually, the mistletoe is originally a Pagan tradition and not a Christian Christamas decoration.
What Pagan tradition? Do go on.... The plant is known as all heal and that is why it was sacred to the Celts. It was said to heal any and every ailment known to man. The fact that it only grew on the oak is fallacy. It grows only on the oak in Gaul, in Ireland it is actually a shrub plant, so throw out your silly Pliny which directs that a white robed druid would cut the oak with his right arm placed through the left sleeve of his robe, while cutting the plant with a golden sickle!!! Get real, for one, gold is too soft to cut the epiphyte mistletoe, and two, they didn't wear white robes! Too many sources speak as to brahts (cloaks) of colors, fur and feathers, would someone please get a grip!
The tradition stems from the Druids, when the Chief Druid cut the mistletoe from the sacred oak during the Winter Solstice festival.
See above!
The word, Yule, is derived from an old Norse word, Iul, meaning wheel.
Yule is Germanic in origin. The old Norse word for it was ylir, meaning month beginning on the second day of the week falling within November 10-17th,
Long ago, the symbol of a wheel was used to mark Yuletide with the idea that the year turns continuous with the spokes marking the seasonal holidays and occasions. In celebration, the altar is adorned with evergreens such as pine, rosemary, bay, juniper and cedar.
Why is it that you suppose the Germanic peoples used these things and what was the significance of the Yule tree and in later times, how was that Yule tree reused? The evergreens were used to decorate the Yule log and the Yule log was decorated by all and used to start the communal fires . The Yule tree was carried through the streets after the celebration and was left to one individual to tend to until Bealtine, when it was used as the base for the maypole. The original wheel's spokes did not mark the seasonal holidays but rather the cycles of the year, and the original spoked wheel was generally used to represent the calendrical year and the seasons . There were thirteen months to the year in those times with several days left over at the end of the cycle to give extra time to those who created the calendars. This was �not' a Celtic festival but a Germanic one, celebrated throughout Europe in more modern times due to the mixing of Cultures.
Decorations such as cinnamon sticks and quartz crystals(icicles), and fruits
like apples, oranges, and lemons are hung from boughs of the Yule tree.
Lemons? Oranges??? Wrong temperate zone I'm afraid, try again. Cinnamon would have had to come from exotic locales so it is doubtful and quartz! Where? What is your research for this? The truth of the matter is that there would have been local fruits and nuts, evergreen boughs, corn sheaths and silks, herbs, sticks, stones and so forth, rather than your pretty , little mysterious fruits and stones!
IMBOLIC
February 2
Also known as Candlemas, this marks the midpoint between the Winter
Solstice
Also known as Candlemas to the �CATHOLICS'.... are you Catholic?
and the Vernal Equinox. It also marks the recovery of the Goddess after giving birth to the God during Yule.
Again this is a theft of a Celtic holiday and you are completely off base as to it's reasoning. It is the festival of Brighid (Breed), Brigit (the Sainted), Bride etc... This is a time that sheep are being brought forth from the winter pastures, ewes are lactating, the first, fertile buds of spring are bursting forth through a snow covered land with the promise of fertility and plentiful share. The festival of the Goddess Brighid whose name translates from the Gaelic to mean �Fiery Arrow' goes on at this time also, to celebrate her as the Goddess of Healing, Smithcraft and Poetic Inspiration.. In her version of the �sainted', the Catholics lovingly celebrate her as a great healer, a wise and compassionate woman that served her people and others without regret. Her flame is kept burning in her sanctuary at Kildare throughout the year, and each year the well is dressed and trees are balmed in the hopes that she will grant healing and understanding to those who ask these things of her with their sacrifices. She is a much revered Goddess by all, and the Catholics still celebrate some of the Pagan traditions associated with her. The holy well of Brighid is to this day a sacred venue and is well protected by all in Ireland.
It is tradition, after sunset, to light every lamp or candle in the house to honor the Suns' rebirth. This is the time for spring cleaning.
It is a tradition to go outside and sing Grianne (the sun) up, in praise for the gift of light. Spring cleaning is a later association which came about to remove and placate the spirits of the snow/winter season and offer welcome and sacrifice to the feminine spirit of the spring. Gifts of Cheese and bread were said to be offered under the Hawthorne trees which would have resided on either side of the doorstep of any good and faithful dwelling, to placate the �Gentry' and bid them welcome.
OSTARA
March 21
This true first day of spring is the Vernal Equinox. The days of light begin to
grow longer than the nights. A time of renewed life. Traditional activities include
planting seeds, tending gardens, and working with herbs for all purposes.
Flowers should be placed on the altar and worn as well. Foods made of seeds,
nuts, and leafy vegetables are eaten. Interesting dishes made with flowers are
also made.
This is �not' Celtic but in truth, this was a celebration of fertility. Fertility rites would have taken place in all the pastures and farmlands to ensure a fertile season. Eggs which are now known as �Easter eggs' as well as the bunny rabbits (hares; another symbol of Brighid), were both symbolic of fertility and rebirth. In some sectors the sun was seen as masculine at this time, rendering his fertile heat to the mother's skin (soil), bones (stones) and blood (waters) in order to stir her to creation by his act of heat(fertility)
BELTANE
May 1
Bealtine (BEE al Tinn Uh)
This holiday celebrates the merging of the Goddess and the God, and the passing of the Young God into manhood.
Uhmmm, it celebrates the God of Love Oengus and the Queen of the May (the maiden) as she comes into womanhood speared on so to speak, by the God! It is an ancient, Celtic, Fertility rite.
The symbol of Her fertility is celebrated as well. This is the time of May Poles, representing the phallus of the God, while flowers and greenery represent the Goddess. Beltane is usually celebrated in a forest, or near a living tree. Weaving is popular at this time to join two separate things into one.
Only the males did the original weaving of the may pole to insinuate their power as fertile creatures. The mother comes from rest, reborn into her maiden aspect to give birth to a new generation and new possibilities. This was a time for marriage contracts and fertility rites. People would run through their fields naked and then make love in the fields to ensure bountiful harvest. Cattle and other livestock were driven between two bonefires to cleanse and ensure their fertility. Boys would jump the bonefire to ensure the fertility of their seed, and couples would join hands and jump the bonefires to ensure their fertility, marital bliss and success. A wreath consisting of a ring of flowers and a golden and silver ball were said to be hung from the top of the phallic symbol of the maypole in order to illustrate the sexual joining of the male and female aspects of all life in connection with the life force that is the mother. Contracts were heard at this time and in older societies it is rumored that virgins were sacrificed to ensure fertility. It is also rumored that these sacrifices were burned in woven baskets after being well treated, ritually bathed and cared for as if they were kings and queens for the entire year prior (hence the old wicker man theory). Although this sounds quite feasible, there is truly no evidence of this other than some ancient writings. In the Welsh tradition it is said that �Bloeduwedd' was hailed at this time due to her conception as �flower face' and that �Little Blatant', was venerated in the Irish as Queen of the May due to the meaning of her name �Little Flower'. Although this is an unproven theory on both parts and I suspect that it is of modern invention probably begun in the romantic period in the 1800's.
SUMMER SOLSTICE
June 21
This season is the perfect time for all kinds of magick and spells. The powers of
nature reach their highest point. Bonfires were built to promote fertility, health
and love. This is the time of the longest daylight hours, Midsummer being the
longest day of the year. Herbs for Midsummer are vervain, chamomile, rose,
lavender, daisy, carnation and lily.
Actually this was a sun observance due to it's being the longest day of the year. To think that it was a time to promote fertility is most likely erroneous, as there have already been two festivals in prior months that ensured this, and people had faith that the gods would honor their sacrifices at those times. Why would they need a third? Most likely you arrive at your herbs for this time through a Druid's Herbal once again and there are some questions to be asked as to the choices, lily is a much later bloomer and there are very few about in this period, they are more prolific towards August and September, as is blue vervain (Verbena hastata). Daisy on the other hand is a long blooming plant, blooming throughout the summer and into the fall, lavender is an earlier bloomer beginning blooms in spring as does Chamomile and rose. Did you not question any of this as to the �why' these plants should be related to this particular seasonal observance???
LUGHNASADH
August 1
Lughnassadh/Lunasa (Llew nas sah)
This is the time for the first harvest of the year. The Goddess sees the God lose his strength as the days grow shorter, yet she knows she is with Child from the union at Beltane. The holiday was not originally celebrated on this day. It was observed on the day of the first reaping. We are reminded at this time that nothing in nature remains constant. The fruits of the Earth are cut and stored for the long winter months. The altar is adorned with wheat, oats, fruit and bread. It is also custom to plant the seeds from the fruit eaten during the celebration.
This is the festival of the God Lugh/Llew as the God of the Sun. The purveyor of all crafts, the many skilled one, Lugh of the Long hand. Little known to most neo Pagans, Llew asked that this time of celebration be dedicated to his foster mother Tailitu,
MABON
September 23
This is the Autumn Equinox.
More correctly the Autumnal Equinox.
This is the time of the completion of the harvest stored at Lughnasadh. Day and night are equal once more as the God prepares to travel toward renewal and rebirth from the Goddess.
Note this happens over Lughnassadh and is completed on Samhain as the God is reborn to his winter power as the God of Death and the God of Love retires until the next, fertile season. This is a time of the Goddesses resting, her deep sleep (symbolic death) to prepare her for the next creation season. It is �not' a Celtic festival although it is lately attributed to a God know as Mabon/Maponus (The young son of Light, son of the sun, the Celtic Christ figure as his birth was supposedly another �divine' conception birth). This was simply an observance to the ancient Celts, not a major festival.
Nature prepares for winter and the time of rest. It is traditional to walk wild places gathering dried plants to be used for decorating or future herbal magick.
Do expound upon where this �tradition' took place....
The altar holds acorns, pine cones, corn stalks and various colored leaves.
Why the need for such redundancy in your reverence/observances? Did you ever seek to question this? Do you think that you have to keep reminding the Gods of what you need from them? Are they supposed to be divine and yet too ignorant to understand your needs? 4 festivals for 4 distinct seasons makes much more sense don't you think? Surely astrological observances went on throughout the year, but to think that they celebrated with the entire tribe on every single occasion is ridiculous, these were a pastoral people with much work to do, they didn't have the time nor the resources available to carry on in the festive manner that you would have us to believe. They relied on the learned ones (druids more properly Draoi, since Druid in the Gaeilge means �to close or draw nigh or a starling' and Draoi or Draoicht more properly, means magician), to keep them abreast of harvest seasons, times for planting and reaping and so forth, by the observances that they would carry out in keeping the calendar for their people. But , you can't expect that the people by in large, observed every, single, astrological event themselves, much less had understanding of them. They relied on their professional caste to understand these phenomenon and keep track of them.
As for your enlightenment that led you to believe that you had found something that would put your Wiccan and our Pagan beliefs to shame, that is of course �your opinion', and don't expect to garner too much support from the Wiccan and Pagan communities alike by making the grandiose and megalomaniacal statement, that �yours' is a better or more true path.... remember, you are the one preaching the virtues of �no, one, true way' and �religious equality' without persecution. In truth my dear child, I think you know �not' what it is you truly hold in esteem to be �truth', but I do hope that you find it for your own well being and happiness. May your search be fruitful and may you find that which sets you apart as a free and equal human.
Tay
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