At summer solstice, the earth is fully alive in a riot of abundant growth as the sun’s fires peak. At the solstices, both summer and winter, the sun seems to stand still for several days rising and setting at about the same place in the sky. In his book, To the Summer Solstice, John Matthews […]
Get ready to celebrate the bright half of the year. This is the time to make merry! Beltane is a Celtic festival celebrating the abundance and fertility of life and the imagination. It is a glorious time when everything bursts into life, and we celebrate the joining of male and female energies. Maypoles and bonfires […]
After a winter that has been especially difficult for most of us in the northern hemisphere, the coming of the vernal equinox brings welcome relief and renewed hope. Equinox times, when light and dark are in balance, are ideal for reflection on the balance in your own life. Find a quiet place and time and […]
Once again it is the time of year of Imbolc, the Old Irish name for the halfway point between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox, usually celebrated around February 2. In some Christian cultures, this day is celebrated as Candlemas, and in America it is known as Groundhog Day. Imbolc is an ideal time to look […]
Whatever holidays you celebrate at this turning of the year, we wish you peace, joy, hope, and love. For those of us in the northern hemisphere, this is a time of growing darkness and the beginning of winter. Traditions invite us to fill our homes with light to hold back the darkness and affirm the […]
Enter the mystery of Samhain, when the veil between the worlds is thin. Samhain, October 31, is the cross quarter day between the fall equinox and the winter solstice. It ushers in the darkest period of the year in the northern hemisphere. November 1 marked the new year in the twelve month Celtic calendar which […]
The 2013 September equinox comes on September 22, at 4:44 p.m. EDT. It is a time of nearly equal day and night and for the moment nature is in balance. In the Northern Hemisphere, the sun is rising later now, and nightfall comes sooner. This is our autumn equinox, when we enjoy the cooler days […]
Lammas, or Lughnasad, is the cross-quarter holyday which celebrates the first harvest of the grain. The first is the greatest harvest, and is significant to our physical, emotional and spiritual selves. It is a time to honor not only what we harvest, but what is still on the vine and what we intend to do […]
Summer Solstice blessings to you! Also known as midsummer’s eve, this solstice marks the longest day and thus shortest night of the year, when the tilt of the Earth’s axis is most inclined towards the Sun, our source of light. It is a time of passion, bounty and life. Let the ideas below inspire your […]
Welcome to the merry, merry month of May! Here’s a special May Day message and poem (The Masque of May, below) from Melody Lee: May is a season for lovers and also for remembering the loves and passions of one’s youth. The second stanza of the poem is in the past tense. I like that […]
 |
 |
 |