Our Winter goddess and the calm in the storm

Beltane Fire Society

Samhuinn Fire Festival is sometimes seen as a battle between two seasons, but there is a key third aspect of our story that leads the ritual turn from Summer to Winter. We sat down with Kate, who this year will embody the mysterious Cailleach, to learn more about her interpretation of the Crone goddess.

First a bit of background. The Cailleach traditionally manifests as an old woman, part of the triple goddess who changes as the seasons turn. At Beltane Fire Festival She emerges as the May Queen, goddess of the Summer when new plants and animals flourish. In Winter She is older, a Winter goddess associated with the formation of the landscape and fierce storms that batter the land, and She plays a pivotal role in maintaining the balance…

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A Druid’s Guide to Herbalism, Part I:Harvesting by the Sun, Moon, and Stars, and Sacred Intent

The Druid's Garden

Field of Goldenrod in Fall

A field of goldenrod, nettle, and aster greet me on this warm post- Fall Equinox day. As the moon comes up with a sliver in the afternoon sky, I joyfully take my basket and harvest knife into the field for my fall plant preparations. The breeze has change on the air–winter is coming soon, and the sacred medicines I prepare will bring my family nourishment and strength for the coming dark half of the year. As we are well into the harvest season at this lovely Fall Equinox, I thought I’d take the time to talk about harvesting and preparation by the sun and moon and honoring the harvest. Next week, I’ll talk about the most basic plant preparations and we’ll end this series with talking about energetic preparations through the creation of flower and leaf essences. That is, we’ll talk about the medicine of…

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The Dark and Light Faces of Venus at the Libra New Moon

Good Witches Homestead

by Lynn Hayes

The New Moon is the fusion of the Sun and the Moon – the solar light combines with the lunar illumination of the darkness for the beginning of a new lunar cycle. New Moons have long been known at times to begin something new: to plant new seeds, to create, to bring something new into being.

This New Moon is in the sign of Libra. Ruled by the planet Venus, Libra is the sign that teaches equanimity, balance, and the integration of opposites. Under the influence of Libra, we easily see both sides of a question. We are sensitive to disharmony and learn to manipulate our outer surroundings in order to bring our inner world into a more harmonious state. Venus is associated with attraction, including our ability to attract that which we desire as well as the force of attraction that connects individuals and fosters relationship.

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New Moon — What to Look Out For

Dear all,

New Moon will be exact on Monday, September 8th just a few minutes before midnight (EST)! However, we will be feeling its effects throughout the day Monday and Tuesday.

This New Moon is positioned exactly at 15 degrees in Libra. So not only is it in the sign representing balance but it is at the exact fulcrum, –or balancing point — of the scales, a symbol of Libra.

What does that mean?

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Halloween New Moon Ritual

What can Druidry offer in dark times?

The Druid's Garden

Things seem broken right now. These last two weeks have been a very hard week for many people. The national conversation here in the USA grows more difficult by the day, and it seems nearly every nation is facing many kinds of serious issues. These challenges are happening concurrently at many levels—internationally, but also in communities we care about, in our families, in our homes. Things are tough. They seem tougher for many of us today than they were yesterday. Many of us fear that they will likely be even tougher tomorrow. This is the reality of industrial decline, the reality of the climate crisis before us.

The questions that I’ve had for myself, and my fellow druids is a simple one: what can druidry offer us in these dark times?

I’ve been thinking about the role of druidry in all of this, this question a lot, not only over…

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Crystals for Shadow Work

by Kat Michaels

www.katmichaels.net / www.katmichaels.group

Crystals for Shadow Work

It’s been a powerful year – release and regeneration have been the themes of 2018. In the process, many relationships, ways of being, communication styles, and other ingrained situations and habits have been considered, upended, and ultimately reformed or released entirely.

One consistency in all of this is that those things that have buried deep in our psyches have continued to come up in our lives – the stories, traumas, conditioning, worries, doubts, and secrets that we have tried so hard to push down keep rising for our examination. For those souls who haven’t been working continually to resolve lingering wounds, these issues are likely to have risen in an even more dramatic way, forcing heavy review. And as we prepare to head into Scorpio at the end of October, which rules the house of death and rebirth, those things that haven’t yet been addressed are likely to rise again for clearing.

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How to Work with Obsidian

by Krista Mitchell (Original Source)

How To Work With Black Obsidian blog poster.jpg
Obsidian is a powerful crystal that supports shadow self healing, psychic protection from the dark arts, and increases psychic sight. Here’s how to work with it.

Meditate with it:

while working with your shadow self and to engage with your shadow
to overcome limiting beliefs, underlying commitments
to bring old wounds, fears, shame, denial to the surface
to resolve and release old beliefs and conditioning

Use it in crystal therapy:

to understand your shadow self and all the personal power that’s held within your shadow
in addition to working with a coach, therapist etc while making self improvements
to let go of all that no longer serves you
to understand the power of nighttime, altar of Hecate

Wear it daily:

as a protection amulet or to create a psychic shield around you
if you are being hit with witchcraft, dark energy from someone else as it will also repel other’s shadow
to create a shield around you as it is a very powerful self protection crystal often referred to as the witch’s stone
do not sleep with it as it can create disturbing sleeping patterns and keep you engaged with your shadow self and keep bringing up shadow stuff
while in therapeutic situations such as meditation, journaling, or while in rituals

ARIES FULL MOON 2018 CRYSTALS + MY MAGICAL SPIN

By Krista Mitchell

Full moons are always phases of power, and it seems that the cosmos is constantly aligning in favor of us facing things, giving up things, engaging in deep healing, and catalyzing significant change.

Given the state of the world this isn’t surprising. Even yesterday I was teaching in class about Nature’s healing principle – nature’s impulse is always to heal.

And yet, as I was reading through astrology blogs to write this article, about Aries’ impatience and aggression, Chiron’s deep, archetypal wounding, and this moon that is going to engage us in facing our darkness and childhood sore spots, all I could think was “Ugh. I don’t want to write about this”.

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