Esbats: Chaste Moon - March

March’s Moon is called the Chaste Moon. March is a time of purity. The Earth has thawed and has loosened itself from the cold hands of winter. New life will soon emerge and the land will grow green
with fertility. In March, however, the Earth is but a child. What will develop into the ripened fruits of summer is yet young and innocent. It is the newborn babe; the youthful maiden yet untouched by love. 

Hades: The King of The Underworld

Hades was the King of the Underworld, the god of death and the dead. He presided over funeral rites and defended the right of the dead to due burial. Hades was also the god of the hidden wealth of the earth, from the fertile soil with nourished the seed-grain, to the mined wealth of gold, silver and other metals.

Bastet The Devouring Lady

The goddess Bastet was usually represented as a woman with the head of a domesticated cat. However, up until 1000 BC she was portrayed as a lioness. Bastet was the daughter of Re, the sun god. It may have been through him that she acquired her feline characteristics. When Re destroyed his enemy Apep, he was usually depicted as a cat. As portrayed as a cat, she was connected with the moon (her son Khonsu was the god of the moon). When shown as a lioness, she is associated with sunlight.

Lupercalia

In ancient Rome, a Pagan fertility and purification festival called Lupercalia, was celebrated. Lupercalia is uniquely Roman and was named after the fertility god Lupercus, protector of flocks against wolves. In fact, he was often identified with the gods Pan and Faunus.

Esbats: Storm Moon - February

The Storm Moon of February (also known as the Snow, Chaste, Quickening or Hunger Moon) is our wake up call. During this time, all in nature is pure and full of potential. The hibernating creatures are beginning to slowly arouse themselves, quickening their heartbeats, and creeping out or their dormant period. 

Sabbats: Imbolc

Imbolc was one of the pastoral festivals of the ancient Celts. Takes place with the first rays of spring, when the sap rises through the trees and snowdrops poke their heads through the snow.

Sabbats

Most religions mark the year in some way. In Wiccan thought, the different stages of the year are marked by what are called ‘Sabbats.’ These are the holy days of Wicca, the festivals which mark the cycle of the sun as it progresses throughout the year.

Goddess Danu

Danu Means “the Flowing One”. She is shrouded in mystery, she is very popular but little is known of her.  We do know she was considered the most ancient of all the Celtic deities.  She is the great mother of the gods, of Ireland and the divine creator who birthed all things into being. She is also an earth goddess.

The Goddess Hera

Hera - Art by Varges

Hera, the Greek goddess called the Queen of Heaven, was a powerful queen in her own right, long before her marriage to Zeus, the mighty king of the Olympian gods. The goddess Hera ruled over the heavens and the earth, responsible for every aspect of existence, including the seasons and the weather.

Esbats: Wolf Moon - January

Wolf Moon, the moon in deepest of Winter. In earlier times a time when the wolf came close to the villages to seek food. A storm is said to rage most fiercely just before it ends, and the year usually follows suit. It is the Moon of Inception & Beginning.

Esbats

Since today is a full moon day, I wanted to talk to you guys about the importance of the full moon in this month, January. But first I thought I should introduce you to the Esbats general meaning.

Lady Freyja

Freyja, for some people she is just one woman in the Norse Mythology. For Others she is  the Goddess of Love and Wives. And others think she was the lover of Odin and the Goddess of War. What is true and what is not? I think that depends on the mind and heart of each person.