Mabon is the Autumn Equinox and is the second of the third harvest festivals. Day and night are in balance with equal hours of sunlight and darkness. From here, the sunlight hours will continue to shorten as we move towards the Winter Solstice. In the southern hemisphere it usually falls on the 20 or 21st of March. We see the […]
Samhain (pronounced Sow-in) means ‘the end of summer’ and is the last of the three harvest festivals. It is a time of remembering those who have gone before us. In the Southern Hemisphere, traditionally Samhain falls on April 30th – May 1st. Samhain gives us an opportunity to understand that for life to continue, there must be death. As the […]
Lughnasadh (named after the Celtic God of Light, Lugh) represents the beginning of the harvest season. This is the first of three harvest sabbats and in the southern hemisphere it traditionally falls on February 1. Similarly, Lammas (meaning Loaf Mass), one of the older Anglo-Saxon Christian cross quarter days (the others being May Day, CandleMas and All Saint’s Day) is […]
Yule occurs traditionally on June 21 and is also known as the winter solstice. It is the day with the least amount of daylight hours for the year and for pagans it symbolizes the rebirth of the Sun. The Goddess labours through the night birthing the Blessed Child, the Sun King. As Mother, She understands Her struggle through the greatest […]
A short story. On Samhain night, the air was cool and she pulled her shawl over her hair and wrapped it around her shoulders. She went outside, lit the candles and cast the circle, calling on her Ancestors and asking for their guidance and wisdom. As she stared into the flames, she asked of them “Where am I going? What […]
The Summer Solstice, Litha, is upon us. In the Southern Hemisphere, traditionally it falls on December 21st. On this, the day with the longest amount of sunlight, the Sun King has reached His peak and His presence declines with the lessening hours of light. The Goddess is at Her most potent; ripe with the Blessed Child conceived at Beltane and […]
Ostara is the spring equinox, where the hours of light and dark are equal. In the southern hemisphere, the traditional date for Ostara is September 21. It is a time of balance, the tipping point between summer and winter. The light begins to dominate the dark, and the Sun King will grow in strength with the coming summer. The Goddess […]
Imbolc (or Oimelc) heralds the end of winter and the seasonal shift towards spring. It is sacred to the Goddess Brigid and is sometimes confused with Candlemas, the Christian festival celebrated on February 2nd. In the north it is traditionally celebrated on February 1, while here in the southern hemisphere, Imbolc traditionally falls on August 1. This is the Feast […]
Traditionally, Samhain is celebrated by our cousins in the northern hemisphere from the 31st of October to the 1st of November. Down in the southern hemisphere however, our seasons are offset by 6 months, so we do things around the 30th of April to the 1st of May instead, marking the end of the harvest season, and the transition into […]
Lammas in Australia is a bit different to our northern neighbours and so it should be. We are in the opposite Southern Hemisphere after all. We have a vast range of our own fruits, vegetable, animals and our seasons are completely different. I see the same question pop up all the time among the community “what are you doing to […]