On Combining Christmas and Yule, Winter Solstice

How do you combine Christmas and Yule in your family traditions? Do you celebrate both traditions?

In our family I have only been a Pagan for approximately four years. My teenage daughters therefore in regards to Paganism, how can I put it; 'gently support' what they term their Mum's 'hippy ways'! They love what I do and I know a lot of it is rubbing off on them but they in in no way put them selves in my camp it just wouldn't be cool! Perhaps if I had become a Pagan whilst they were toddlers it might have been different. I look wistfully every year at the mothers and their very young children all dressed up with flowers in

their hair at the maypole in Glastonbury for Beltane!

Christmas is therefore a very big event in our house. Although adults really now my girls adore Christmas and get really excited which I love. I have no problem with celebrating Christian holidays alongside Pagan ones and have not let go of a lot of my Catholic upbringing. I believe in religious tolerance for all religions, every religion has something to offer and we can never say one is better than another. Personally I like to draw from many different religions in my personal beliefs. For me Paganism is about worshipping our Mother Earth not about whose religion is the better one.

My Yule Altar

So to celebrate Yule at the Winter Solstice this year I will be lighting candles and having a private mediation, welcoming the return of the sun. I struggle with the long dark days so will be very glad that our sun is returning to light our earth. For that I give gratitude to our wonderful Mother Earth Gaia. I like to bring the outside into the house at this time of year so have made our mantlepiece into an altar to honour our Mother Earth, the Goddess Gaia. This is following ancient Pagan customs of bringing greenery such as holly ivy and mistletoe into homes for good luck, more on ancient customs can be found here

Our Pagan Christmas tree

Although our Christmas tree is festooned with baubles and memories of holidays past I also like to Paganise it a little with ornaments I have made and pentacle charms. Perhaps you can have a go at making your own pentacle charm to go on your Christmas tree this year? Pentacle charms like the one depicted here are still available in the Astarte Moon Shop  as well. 

Yule Pentacle charm-Astarte-Moon Shop

Blessings of love and light for the return of the sun at Yule to you, AstarteAlison

Practising mindfulness during the Leonids meteor shower

Tonight I will be practising mindfulness watching the Leonids meteor shower in my back garden under a warm blanket!

The Leonids meteors can be seen at their peak around the 16^th to the 18^th November. They are one of the most impressive showers to observe, with around 40 meteors per hour at their peak.  This year only a modest 10-15 have been predicted however. The shower itself has a cyclical peak year every 33 years where hundreds of meteors can be seen each year, the last of these was in 2001, lets look forward to 2034 then! Our crescent waning moon is at 25% of her brightness at the moment so that should make for fairly good viewing of this impressive meteor shower.

In order to locate the Leonids, look in the direction of the constellation Leo, the best time is just after midnight. The brightest object in the sky right now, the planet Jupiter is also near the radiant point which should make it easier to locate where the meteors will be originating.

 

earthsky.org

Here are some viewing tips from earthsky.org

“Here’s another tip regarding the radiant point. As darkness falls in mid-November, the radiant point of the shower is below your horizon, as seen from all parts of Earth. As the Earth turns, the constellation Leo the Lion – carrying the meteor shower radiant point – will rise over your eastern horizon. Expect to see the constellation Leo in the east around midnight. That’s why the Leonids begin to pick up steam after the midnight hour!

Just remember, you don’t have to locate a meteor shower radiant to watch the meteor shower.

But if the radiant isn’t in the sky, you won’t see as many meteors. That means you should watch the Leonid shower tonight, from late evening (November 17) until dawn (November 18).

As a general rule, the higher the meteor shower radiant climbs in your sky, the more meteors that you’re likely to see. The radiant for the Leonids is highest up during the dark hour before dawn, offering, perhaps, 10-15 meteors per hour. The moon may marginally interfere with the show, but not enough to worry about. You should see at least a sprinkling meteors, if you watch for an hour or so.

What else can you see on the night of the 2014 Leonids peak? The radiant for the Leonids is near the star Algieba in Leo. This is not Leo the Lion’s brightest star. That distinction goes to Leo’s star Regulus. Watch for both of these stars.

accuweather.com

Both Algieba and Regulus belong to a noticeable pattern on the sky’s dome, in the shape of a backwards question mark. This pattern is called “the Sickle.” The paths of Leonid meteors can be traced backwards to the Sickle pattern, which is a famous asterism – or noticeable star pattern – within the constellation Leo.”

Watching meteors fly through our night sky can be an intensely spiritual experience. The wonder of a shooting star is something that stirs a deep emotion within us. Spending an hour or two watching a shower is a wonderful way of really practicing a meditative mindfulness, try to really concentrate on the night sky and empty your mind of all other thoughts. Become completely absorbed in what is happening in the heavens above you and allow yourself to be almost transported to that other plane as if you yourself were in amongst the shooting stars. As you still your mind you will feel it is just you and the night sky and it is a wonderful feeling. Make sure you wrap up warm though and enjoy your wonderful mindful meteors!

Wishing on a shooting star! Blessings, Alison xxx

Give yourself a gift of five minutes of contemplation in awe of everything you see around you. Wayne Dyer positive inspirational quote

"Give yourself a gift of five minutes of contemplation in awe of everything you see around you.  Go outside and turn your attention to the many miracles around you.  This five minute a day regimen of appreciation and gratitude will help you to focus your life in awe.  Remind yourself that you are just as much a miracle as the lark and the snail."  Wayne Dyer.

We are lucky on this world of ours to be surrounded by miracles. The sun rising in the morning, soft warm rain on your face, frosty blades of grass, these are all wonders that we can experience and savour. You are a miracle too, never forget that.  

Wayne Dyer has some wonderful words to say on the subjects of gratitude, abundance and mindfulness. 

Below is a collection of my favourite Wayne Dyer books, just click on the pictures to find out more about each book.

Mabon/Autumnal Equinox Meditation

Mabon/Autumn Equinox Mediation

The Autumnal Equinox is a time of balance. Day and night are of equal length. Use this Mabon meditation to bring about a sense of balance into your life.

You are walking down a bridal path that is leading to a wooded copse. Ahead of you there are beautiful trees in various shades of gold and orange. It is early morning and there is a gentle mist in the air. You climb over a style and then follow the path that leads into the wood. The path leads you between two tall oak trees, standing as sentinels at the entrance to the wood. You feel like they are guarding this sacred space. The two of them, separate yet part of the whole.

Once you pass by the oak trees it is as if the air changes. There is a complete sense of stillness here. The forest is alive yet calm. You hear the birds calling to each other high above in the branches and you see squirrels nimbly jumping from branch to branch. You feel at one with the wonder of this small wood. You realise that nature is in perfect balance here. It is undisturbed by outside influences and has it’s own perfect way of being.

You continue walking through the wood, marvelling at the rich autumn colours of the trees. Eventually you come to a small clearing. There is a fallen down log in the top right hand corner of the clearing. You walk over to the log and sit down and close you eyes. Breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth you sit a while and absorb the perfect harmony of this sacred space.

You can hear the chatter of the birds and animals in the wood. You may find that one of them comes over to be near you. If it does, then try and listen to what it may be saying to you.  Ask them if they have any particular message they would like to give to you.

When you feel it is time you are ready to leave the sacred area of the clearing and go back down along the path. You re-trace your steps back to the tall oak tress. On the way you spot a couple of acorns lying on the ground. You pick them up as a reminder of the wonderful experience that you have just had. You put them in your pocket so that every time you touch them you may be reminded and transported back to that feeling of complete calm and balance that you have just experienced.

As you pass by the oak trees you touch each of them and feel their incredible energy, energy that will sustain you throughout the winter months ahead of you. You say goodbye to the tress and the wood and continue on your journey home.

AstarteAlison September 2013

The Spiritual Meanings Behind Colours

The Spiritual Meanings Behind Colours

Different colours are very evocative to different people and so it has been throughout the ages. Celtic people, Native Americans and other earth based spiritualities assigned different colours for the different elements. Commonly air is seen as yellow, fire is red, earth is green and water is blue. Traditionally green is seen as associated with earth based or Pagan spiritualities. Diana Paxson and her branch of the Asatru associate colours with deities: Odhinn is black and blue; Thor red; Freya and Freyr green and gold, or sometimes brown.

In some wiccan/pagan paths, colour is combined into the crafting of spells these may be for various reasons: 
for health, peace, love, and personal growth. Colour conveys mood very quickly and can help with healing on a very deep level.

The ancient Egyptians, Chinese, and Indians believed in chromotherapy, or healing with colors. In chromotherapy, red is believed to stimulate physical and mental energies, yellow to stimulate the nerves, orange to stimulate the solar plexus and revitalize the lungs, blue to soothe and heal organic disorders such as colds, hay fever, and liver problems, and indigo to counteract skin problems and fevers. Premature babies with jaundice are cured by a chemical reaction triggered by exposure to blue light for several days.

Colour is very evocative of mood. Different colours can completely change the mood that we are in. Much research has gone into this and is behind a lot of the colour choices that go into our decorating decisions for our own homes.

Colours are also very important as related to the Hindu philosophy of Chakras. I won’t go into a big explanation of the chakras here as I’m sure a lot of you already have that knowledge and that is a whole other post!

Below is a brief summary of the spiritual qualities associated with each colour.

White.

White is perfect for connecting with elemental spirits and angels, your higher self and spiritual guides. It is good for purification and healing. White also corresponds to the Maiden form of the Triple Goddess.

Yellow.

Yellow represents the element of air. Symbolizes vitality, progress, change and communication, willpower, confidence and warmth. Light a yellow candle if you are having relationship problems or need a boost in confidence, it will bring joy and happiness to your life. Yellow corresponds with the Solar plexus chakra.

Chakras from Pranagyoga.com

Gold.

Gold is the symbol of all sun-deities and masculine energy. Excellent for promoting self-confidence, success in business and financial matters, overcoming bad habits. Carry a gold coin to attract success.

Orange.

Associated with deities of good luck and good fortune. Represents charm, kindness, success abundance, prosperity, sexual desire, procreation, change, joy, tolerance. Sacral Chakra. Orange is wonderful for raising your energies, try wearing an orange top or scarf.

Red

Red represents the element of fire in many pagan religions. It is associated with deities of love, passion, sexuality and war. Red brings courage, will-power, determination, speed, assertiveness, aggression, masculinity, self-preservation, grounding and material stability. Red is the color of the Mother Aspect of the Triple Goddess. The ruby, a precious gemstone with a brilliant red color, was worn in China to promote long life. Represents the Root chakra. Wear red to promote self confidence and assertiveness, even if it is a small item of jewellery.

Pink.

Love goddesses, softness and tenderness, romance, caring, nurturing, emotional healing. While red is associated with fiery love and passion, pink corresponds to the gentler aspects of these emotions. Put pink rose quartz by your bed to re-kindle romance.

Green

Green is the element of earth. All earth based spiritualities. Corresponds with Nature and fertility deities, Mother goddesses. Represents: nature, fertility, growth, rejuvenation, recovery, healing, unconditional love, compassion, forgiveness. Represented by the heart chakra. Dirty or muddy green corresponds to envy, hate, and sickness (a "sickly green", so to speak) Green is especially useful in colour magic spells for healing and for wealth drawing. Green has great healing power. It can soothe pain. People who work in green environments have fewer stomachaches. Suicides dropped 34% when London's Blackfriar Bridge was painted green. Green was a sacred color to the Egyptians representing the hope and joy of Spring.

 Turquoise

Turquoise brings intellectual and intuitive insights, inventions and originality, renewal.

Blue

Blue is the element of water. Deities of the sea. Peace and tranquility, calmness, truth, wisdom, justice, prophetic dreams, protection during sleep, astral projection, communication, speech, creative writing. Representative of the throat chakra.

Violet/Purple

Elemental spirits and angels. Psychic abilities, divination. Crown chakra. Deepens personal spiritual awareness, as well as working with  divine power. Use fluorite to aid in deepening psychic abilities.

 

Amethyst rose quartz sun catcher http://www.astarte-moon.co.uk/shop/

Indigo

Indigo corresponds to the Brow (or Pineal, or Third Eye) Chakra. Justice, wisdom, inspiration, intuition, spirituality, psychic powers. It can also be used in colour magic to help reduce phobias and stress.

Brown

Stability, grounding, conservation, protection of household, family and pets, healing animals, finding lost objects.

Grey

Neutralizing negative influences, putting a halt to negative action.

Silver

Moon-goddesses, female energy, cycles, rebirth, reincarnation, healing of hormonal imbalances, emotional stability. It is very useful in divination and meditation

Black

Deities of the Underworld. Repel and banish evil and negativity, protection, deep meditation. Black is the color of the Crone aspect of the Triple Goddess.

You can use these colours in a variety of ways. You can wear the colour of your choice, if for example you wish to particularly connect with nature and be grounded then brown and green clothing would be a perfect combination. Wear yellow or orange to work if you need a self confidence boost.

For spellwork and blessings, coloured candles, altar cloths, talismans and writing in particular colours are very effective. Birthday candles make a very inexpensive way of building up your coloured candle cache or coloured t-lights which are abundant during the summer bar-b-q season.

Red Spell Candle http://www.astarte-moon.co.uk/shop/

When meditating imagining yourself surrounded by a particular colour is very effective. For example for protection you can imagine yourself within a beautiful bubble and then colour that bubble blue for peace and protection whenever you need it. Meditating in front of a coloured candle is a way of concentrating the colour.

What colour resonates with you? Which colours to you shy away from? Try and examine why that is? Is there some imbalance that you need to look at within your life? For me I never wore red. I always justified it in that it clashed with my red hair but I eventually realized that I was imbalanced and needed to allow my masculine side a little more space. So now I do wear red, only a very little, a pair of red flip flops are a favourite and a few red bangles but it does give me a bit more self confidence, I’m a very moon gazy  girl and I do have to learn that the golden energy is there too!

Blessings of colour and sparkles to you, alison xxx

Guided Goddess meditation for Mabon, the Autumn equinox.

This is a guided meditation for you to follow during the time of Mabon on the wheel of the year. It doesn't need to be at Mabon it's just that have I have made it relevant to that point on the wheel of the year. However you could use this Goddess mediation anytime you feel it would be beneficial. You could even take it and adapt it or even write your own meditation. I have given this one a Pagan feel trying to make it feel as though you were perhaps someone waking up on the day of Mabon back in the time of our ancestors and attending a traditional equinox celebration. I hope you enjoy!

Today is the day of Mabon, the second of the three celebrations of the harvest on the Pagan wheel of the year. It is a day to celebrate the wondrous bounty that we have been blessed with. Mabon, is the autumn equinox, it is a time when day and night are in perfect balance.  It is time therefore for balancing all aspects of your life and for reconciling any opposites. You feel totally in balance today, all aspects of your health and happiness are being resolved and feel calm.

We give thanks to our Mother Goddess Gaia for all she provides for us and ask her to bless us that the fertility of our land and projects may continue. 

Mabon is a day of much celebration and you awake today with a flutter of excitement in your heart looking forward to the wonderful day you have ahead of you.

Today you are going to see the sun rise before joining the celebration and you thrill in anticipation of feeling nature’s powerful energy course through your body.

You dress quickly and, carrying your wicker basket of corn and other offerings, set off down the lane to the meadow. Your basket is filled with the  fruits and vegetables from your garden and a lovely Mabon loaf you made yesterday. It is just pre-dawn and the fields are shrouded in a fine purple mist. This wonderful ethereal blanket feels cool on your skin.  As you walk you can hear the birds singing their early morning chorus and the grass tickles your feet and soaks your ankles as you brush past it. A rabbit scampers and hides, camouflaged among the browns and greens.

You pass a field that was planted last spring and remember the beautiful time you had there at Beltane, dancing and singing around the maypole. That field is now full with beautiful corn, ripe and dancing in the soft dawn breeze. The cornstalks are tall, almost as tall as you and truly look like Goddesses dancing to their own private melody. Their scent is sweet and is truly the smell of late summer. You feel a shiver of anticipation for the wonderful ceremony of thanks that will follow later on in the day to give thanks for the wonderful bountiful crop.

As you walk and experience all these wonders of nature you begin to think about all that you are grateful for and silently give thanks to our Mother Goddess, Gaia for all that she provides for us. You give thanks for your family and friends and all that is good in your life.

You continue walking along the lane with it’s beautiful hedgerows brimming with life, lost in thought and immersed in the beauty surrounding you.

Eventually the lane opens up to a wonderful wide open field, the sun is nearing the horizon now. Others have gathered here now in silent anticipation of this wondrous event. You smile at the gathered crowcrowd and then take your place, putting your basket of offerings at your feet. You then turn to face the east, palms outstretched. You feel your feet firmly grounded as though they have grown roots right down into the earth itself. Your palms are outstretched ready to reach towards the rays of the magickal sun and your crown chakra is open and receiving the wonderful celestial energy.

The anticipation of the sun’s rising is nothing compared to the actual event and the whole crowd gives out a silent gasp of wonder as the golden red ball slowly begins to rise. First just a tiny sliver but then very quickly a completely round and absolutely perfect sphere. It truly is a magickal moment. You are at one with nature. Your feet are truly grounded and your whole body is filled with a pure golden light from our magickal sun. You are at one with the God and the Goddess. Listen to any messages you may receive at this time.

You spend some time at one with the God and Goddess, soaking in the powerful sun energy as it rises high in the sky. You then turn to enjoy the rest of the day and join in the happy celebrations. You feel happy and relaxed, you are grateful for all that you have in your life and you are looking forward to an Autumn filled with love and hope. 

Mabon blessings to you, Alison xxx