The Oak Forest

Not far from Mount Franklin is her sister, Mount Alexander. At the base of Mount Alexander, near the township of Harcourt is an oak plantation. It was created in 1900 for the purposes of tannin production and to increase local employment, and today there is a wide variety of well established oaks forming a forest the likes of which is rare outside of Europe.

Of course, a fantastic resource such as this has been enjoyed for more than just picnics for many years now, and you are all encouraged to come and visit Harcourt and see this wonderful place for yourselves. Autumn is an excellent time to make the trek, here are some pictures I took today:

Autumn Equinox

So Autumn Equinox has come and gone. Many people ask what is the significance and inclusion of the Solstices and Equinox's within Witchcraft. Simply speaking,  they are sympathetic magical observances and acknowledgement of the the passage of our Gods, the acknowledging of the astrological phenomena and the passing of the seasons. 
The Autumn Equinox (derived from the latin word aequinoctium which means 'equal night') marks one of the two occasions in the year where the sun crosses the celestial equator or the imaginary line which crosses the sky dividing the northern and southern hemispheres) the other of course being the Spring Equinox. In the wheel of the Year it is considered a lesser Sabbat.

(Altar set up courtesy M. Lancashire)

To Pagans and Witches it is also know as Mabon. The second Harvest  (post Lammas) and the preparatory phase for the coming of Winter and the end of Summer. 
To some, this is a Sabbat of balance and harmony. To others,  of deep preparation both physically and psychically. There are those Traditions which hold that this is a time where Our Lord lays 'in state' and our Lady makes ready for his ascent as the 'conquering hero' to claim her.  Together they will descend to the underworld and we mortals wait in silence, reflection, introspection and readiness, yet travel with our Gods within the inner landscapes. Some Traditions do not observe this Sabbat. Some non Traditions and Traditions only observe the harmony and balance and reflective qualities the Sabbat elicits. We reflect upon what has come to pass, and what is yet to come. 
More practically it turns our attention to the work of our ancestors and farmers who at this time look toward the harvest of apples, pears and the last of the vine harvests in readiness for pressing for cider and wines. This was also common to the ancient Greeks with their harvest Oschophoria and across other cultures similar observances are noted.

The name Mabon is also known as the welsh "Mabon ap Modron" or Mabon vab Modron, Son, son of Mother, a male personified as youth. He is know via his mothers line. Ross (1996) states that he does not appear to have a father  in the traditions which appear in the mabinogi but another Mabon-Mabon vab Mellt is referred to 'in medieval contexts and may have originally been the same deity'. She relates that this may refer to Maponus however son of Matrona. Although no seemingly evidence proves the existence of worship there is suggestion that Maponus was worshipped within the Southern parts of Scotland into Cumbria, known as both the Hunter, concerned with poetry and music,  the wooded lands and Exalted Prisoner snatched and incarcerated as a newborn as featured in the Mabinogion. Although resting in folklore,  Ross suggests certain evidence certainly points toward earlier mythology.

For us Autumn represents the time of the Heroic Quest of the God and his journey toward the Dark Lord resplendent in his authority and assumption of Godhead at Samhain. His Queen sitting beside him within his realm. Our rituals reflect this inner reality which according to Vivianne Crowley was also practised by our ancestors. To use a quote from Vivianne 'the method of portrayal was to use allegories found in Nature; for t was in part through observation of the cycle of birth, death and rebirth in Nature that human beings understood that this too was their fate".
However you celebrated Mabon, we hope you celebrated in keeping in honour of our ancestors, in truth and happiness for yourselves and the future of our children.
Blessed Be

(Courtesy M. Lancashire)
References: Mary Jones "Celtic History"
                   Anne Ross "Pagan Celtic Britain"                   
                  Vivianne Crowley 'Wicca: The Old Religion in a New Millennia'

A Paganesque Moveable Feast - The Marsden Imbolc Fire Festival (MIFF)

A run-down of the pagan gatherings and pagan-like festivals from other parts of the world.

As some of you know, just after our lovely Beltane at Mount Franklin 2011, I left the country to travel to the Uk to work for a year. Seeing I am observing many festivals while I am here, i thought I'd do a report on many of them. There seems to be so many amazingly organised events here in England and I have learned many things at these events that I plan to bring home.

I have had the fortune to live in Marsden since I arrived in the UK. I did not know about it beforehand, indeed it was just another village in west West Yorkshire to me, but since I have come here I have discovered just what village life is all about. There is an amazing sense of community here, a pagan-friendly, open-minded hamlet in the south-west end of the Colne Valley and its festivals are revered and maintained annually. Every year for 20 years now, there has been an Imbolc fire festival held here.

I also had to fortune of participating in this year’s festival – as a fire twirler. I met and have become friends with the original, and still present organiser, Angela Boycott-Garnett, who also runs the local Morris team, the Thieving Magpies, which I have also joined. Angela appears to organise almost all the local festivals here in Marsden – from when I met her, she was organising the Imbolc festival, and the moment that event ended, it was straight into organising Cuckoo Day (April). Angela is a great lover of English folkloric festivals – attending morris and sword dancing events, Mummers’plays, Rush-cart festivals and anything else where the traditions of Merrie England is possible.

The 2012 MIFF event was held on the 4th of February and on that day, perfect snow fell. Nice and crunchy underfoot. The festival starts in the village near the train station by the Railway pub. Drummers and people masked as foxes walk with lanterns heading a procession towards the Imbolc festival location – the Standedge Visitor Centre. All the people follow in the procession – carrying homemade lanterns made of willow and white tissue paper. Along the road are several lanterns hanging from trees, glowing like little moons. When the procession reaches the visitor centre, they see down from the road, the sight of the fire twirlers on their hill, already performing their synchronized routines.

(that's me top left!)

Earlier, all the fire swingers and performers, in their layers of black clothing, had gathered in the Visitor Centre where it was warm with heaters and a variety of hot soups. The Standedge Visitor Centre is on the canal, by a man made tunnel - a canal tunnel that runs through the hills and is the largest and longest in the UK. The performance is held on a slope by the visitor centre. Along with the fire performance is a lot of fireworks and a battle between two giants – Jack Frost and the Green Man – and being Imbolc, you know the outcome – the Green Man always wins.

The school children who participate in an art workshop every year at school in regards to Imbolc commented this year that they were sick of the Green Man winning and were planning to ‘cheer on’ Jack Frost. And indeed they did – from our position after our fire twirling show, we could hear the crowd cheering on Jack, especially the little voices of the children. But the Green Man won in the end, of course, because Spring is on its way and the proof of that was the snowdrops and crocuses that were beginning to grow.

The event was over quicker than it started, and was a huge success – the people loved the snow, they all felt that Jack Frost won this time – it seems he did, after the blizzard finished, which was going on during the entire show, it was a crisp, icy winter wonderland, and the moon was almost
full upon the white landscape.

photos courtesy of Ali Smithie, Gary Stevenson and the Daily Mail

An Introduction to the Summer Solstice

Monet's Garden Giverny France 2008

Three years ago I found myself in France at the height of a European Summer. It was a heady experience for sure. The language and culture so different from my own and a style of living which contrasted significantly from my own. Most significantly for me and that which continues to astound me was the light and colour of a Solstice like nothing I had ever seen before. Of a day that lasts for 24 hours......
You realise how different the shades and hues are in contrast to that of Australian skies. Here our skies are the most brilliant blue, and the sun so strong and energetic blasts across our landscape with great regularity. Our Solstice is not so noticeable physically. We do not have the long winters associated with our Northern Hemisphere cousins. Even in Winter we can enjoy more than the odd day of sunshine and pleasant weather. Our lives are less restricted by the seriousness of sub zero weather conditions. We are insulated from the experiences that tie many of our ancestries to the Northern lands. And our longest day passes by virtually unnoticed, unlike the Midsummer celebrations of the Orkney Isles where Orcadians gather and play a 24 hour round of golf 18 holes drinking whiskey throughout the course...few have made it to the now legendary 18th hole...
But there is still a connection that we feel, and a palpable and visual clue that heralds each season here in Australia. The first stirrings of Spring are seen as the earth begins to stir and awaken from her wintery repose. As Spring progresses the earth begins to warm and the first signs of many of our beautiful summer flowers, natives and fruit and veg begin to blossom. 
How thrilling these moments are to me now, but I think how reassuring and welcomed they would have been to my forefathers in the Highlands and Border regions of Scotland and in Prussia. In many countries it is also called St Johns Day, although pronounced a sacred day in Christianity many of its customs still bear the hallmarks of paganism. In Mexico for example the customs of St Johns Day are associated with bonfires, bathing, water and decoration of wells and rivers with flowers. St John being the nominated patron saint of the Element of Water.

(Kindly reproduced The Sun in summer

Artist: Frey Micklethwait. Source: Museum Victoria)

For those practitioners of the Craft the Summer Solstice marks both an astronomical event and a time which marks the marriage between the God and Goddess. Some traditions also acknowledge this time as a change over between the Oak and Holly Kings. Many countries celebrated Midsummer with bonfires as an act of sympathetic magic to ensure the sun's potency and virility throughout the season. Some Nordic countries decorated trees and women and girls took part in bathing rituals to ensure rain for crops. Celebrations continue in our modern times and here in Australia where we can often feel so far away from the rest of the world we can still see and feel the changing landscape. Our indigenous people like the people of the Northen Hemisphere welcomed this time as a season of new and more abundant  food sources. A time where herbs, barks, roots and flowers could be harvested for medicinal use. Honey could be collected to use as a sweetener and for Mead (this is also the time where the term Honeymoon comes from). It is a season considered magically potent and a time of potential, planting and preparation. This is a simple introductory post with just a handful of the material that can be sourced regarding the customs of people globally at this time of the year, what customs do you observe? Where does it come from?

Behold the sacred union and eternal fires, welcome spirit, celebration and festivity as we herald in Litha /Midsummer!

(Albert France 2008)

However you choose to celebrate Midsummer let it be in joy and festivity-hand to hand and heart to heart B*B.

(Picture courtesy of European Association for  Astronomy Education)

(Image courtesy of http://lucyria.com/cards/solstice-australia)

Summer Solstice (AEDT):

2011 December 22, 4:30pm
2012 December 21, 10:11pm

References: 

Ronald Hutton: The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles

Deborah Lipp: The Elements of Ritual

Anne Ross:  Folklore of the Scottish Highlands

Doreen Valiente: The Rebirth of Witchcraft

Owen Davis: Cunning Folk Popular Magic in English History

John Lindow: A Norse Mythology: A Guide to Gods, Heroes, Rituals & Beliefs

For those that are concerned /interested

Hello everyone,

Recently we received this in our inbox. If you feel so inclined please check the link and make your own decisions. We have reposted out of good faith but neither dismiss nor endorse the request :)

Dear folks,

We're trying to spread the word that there's a magical piece of art by Aaron Pocock up for auction this week, for a very worthy benefit cause:

His auction listing is on this page (scroll down midway): http://magick4terri.livejournal.com/tag/artist%3A%20aaron%20pocock

If you know anyone who might be interested in this opportunity to own a piece of Aaron Popcock's art, would you please pass this info on?

Thank you very much!

Mel Davis
Assistant editor, The Endicott Studio