|
| |
|
You have
arrived at our Archive Site. We have recently remodeled
and if you click the Home button you will be transported to our
new word press site. If you are on a product page, all the
BUY NOW buttons have been updated to go directly to the new word
press product page. Please update your bookmarks to https://www.celticattic.com
Feasts and Celebrations
|
- Samhain (pronounced "Souw-wee,"
or in Scots-Gaelic, "Sha- vin") After the last
apples are picked the year begins again with its dark winter
half when the Earth rests and fertility is renewed. Also
called Samhiunn or Hallowe'en, this festival is sometimes
called Trinoux Samonia or "Three Nights of the End of
Summer." Originally a Druidic festival, it is
celebrated on the eve of November 1 (October 31).
Technically, either date is appropriate as the Celts
measured the day from sunset to sunset. In the Celtic
tale "The Wasting Sickness of Cuchulainn," it is
celebrated for a total of seven days three days before,
the day of, and three days after.
- Samhain is a time when spirits can mix
freely with humans, when the veil of the Otherworld, or
the Sídh, is thin. The Sídh, also called Faerie Hills,
are the special dwelling places of the Otherworld
spirits, such as the mound at Brugh na Bóinne in
Newgrange, Ireland. This suspension of Time extends to
the laws of society, so that all kinds of boisterous
behavior can be indulged in. At the end of the festival,
several beasts are sacrificed who's life-energy goes to
replenish the dormant soil. In origin, Samhain was a
pastoral festival, held to assist the tribe's fertility,
to placate the dead and evil forces, to please the gods
(and later the Saints who replaced them) and as a clear
distinction between the joys of Harvest and the
hardships of the approaching Winter.
- The assemblies of the five Irish
provinces at Tara Hill, the seat of the Irish king, took
place at Samhain, marked by horse races, fairs, markets,
pastoral assembly rites, political discussions and
ritual mourning for the passage of Summer. In the
Christian tradition, these two dates are celebrated as
All Souls' Day and All Saints Day.
- In the Scottish Highlands, many crofts
had their own bonfire, or samhnag, but one house was
usually a popular gathering place. In early Celtic
tradition, Samhain was closely associated with burial
mounds, or cairns, which were believed to be entrances
to the Otherworld.
- In an example in Fortingall (in
Perthshire), a samhnag was built on a mound known as
Carn nam Marbh, "The Mound of the Dead." Local
lore has it that the mound contained the bodies of
plague victims and is, in fact, a Bronze Age tumulus. A
stone, known as the Clach a' Phaigh, "the Plague
Stone," crowned the mound. Once the bonfire was
lit, the participants would join hands and dance around
it, both Sun-wise and anti-Sun-wise. As the blaze waned,
the younger attendants would take part in leaping games
over the flame. No guisers appeared in this particular
tradition, the bonfire was the sole center of attention.
In the Highlands, after Sunset many of the youth
carried a blazing torch and circuited the boundaries of
their farms in order to protect the family from the
Faeries and malevolent forces. New fire, kindled from
the sacred communal blaze, was then brought into each
house. Like the Beltain fire, the Samhain bonfire was
most likely made from tein-eigin, fire made from the
friction of two pieces of wood.
- The Winter Solstice, or Alban Arthuan
("The Light of Arthur"), also is referred to as
Yule, Jul, Saturnalia, or even Christmas. This feast takes
place on or about December 21 and marks the longest,
darkest night of the year. This is a festival of peace and a
celebration of waxing solar light. Many honor the new Sun
child by burning an oaken Yule log, and honor the Goddess in
her many Mother aspects. The Father God also can be honored
as Santa Claus in his Old Sky God, Father Time, and Holly
King forms. Winter symbolizes the time in the womb a deep
rejuvinative sleep, rather than nature's death. It also
points to how the ancients looked upon human death as a
necessary pathway to rebirth.
- Because the exact date of the birth for
Jesus Christ is unknown, some believe the Church
assigned it to this time, a date already sacred to the
Ancients. Christians celebrate His birth on December 25.
- Imbolic Celebrated on or around February
1, Imbolc is also known as Oimelc, Brigid, Candlemas, or
even in America as Groundhog Day. This mid-Winter feast day
symbolizes the first stirring of the Earth from its icy
sleep and was the time for caring of the sheep in ancient
Britain. In the Mother- Goddess tradition, this day is the
festival of the goddess Brigidm or Brigantia, patroness of
poetry, healing and metalsmithing, rekindles the fire in the
Earth, preparing it for new life. During this time Brigid
personifies the bride, virgin or Maiden. Brigid also is the
protectress of women in childbirth. In the Christian
tradition, this day is celebrated, as St. Brigid's Day.
- This stirring of new life is manifested
by the first milk of the ewes, a few weeks before the
lambing season. As the foundation for the American
Groundhog Day, Brigid's snake comes of its mound in
which it hibernates and its behavior is said to
determine the length of the remaining Winter. The
Brythonic Celts came to associate Brigantia with the
Virgin Mary, leading to such names for the feast as Gwyl
Mair Dechrau'r, "The Feast of Mary of the Beginning
of Spring."
- An ancient Irish story tells of how on
the eve of this day, the Cailleach, or White Lady,
drinks from the ancient Well of Youth at dawn. In that
instant, she is transformed into her Maiden aspect, the
young goddess called Brigid. Wells were considered to be
sacred because they arose from oimbelc (literally
"in the belly") or womb of Mother Earth.
- Vernal Equinox Also called Alban Eiler,
which means "Light of the Earth," the Vernal, or
Spring, Equinox takes place on or about March 21. An
"equinox" refers to the time of the year when the
sun crosses the plane of the Earth's Equator, making night
and day equal length all over the planet. Crops were
typically sown at this time, a time of transition. This rare
balance in nature represented a powerful time of magick to
the ancients.
- Ostara Also known as Lady Day or Eostre,
Ostara takes place on the first full moon after the Vernal
Equinox and marks the fullness of the Earth and the triumph
of the Sun over Winter. In the Celtic tradition, it
signified the period when the Sun and the Earth mate to
produce crops.
- It is thought that the Church's feast
of Easter, when Jesus Christ rose from the dead, is
named after this feast. Prior to Easter, the Church
prepares with the Lenten season, a time of meditation
and sacrifice.
- Beltane (pronounced Bee-YAWL-tinnuh)
Beltane, one of two Celtic fire festivals, is a celebration
of the return of life and fertility to the world which takes
place on April 30. It is sometimes referred to as
Cetsamhain which means "opposite Samhain." In the
Celtic countries the festival was known by other names, such
as Beltaine in Ireland (which means in Irish Gaelic
"May"), Bealtunn (which means in Scots-Gaelic
"May Day") in Scotland, Shenn do Boaldyn on the
Isle of Man and Galan Mae in Wales. The Saxons called this
day Walpurgisnacht, the night of Walpurga, goddess of May.
Like Brigid, the Church changed this goddess into St.
Walpurga and attached a similar legend to her origin. Also
known as May Eve (likewise May 1 is referred to as May Day),
this festival marks the beginning of Summer the growing
season.
- The word "Beltaine" literally
means "bright" or "brilliant fire,"
and refers to the bonfire lit by a presiding Druid in
honor of the proto-Celtic god variously known as Bel,
Beli, Balar, Balor or Belenus. Bel, the god of light,
fire and healing, had Sun-like qualities, but was not
purely a Sun god as the Celts were not specifically Sun
worshippers.
- It has been suggested that Bel is the
Brythonic Celt equivalent to the Goidelic Celt god
Cernunnos. Both Bel and Cernunnos represent the belief
that the Great Father impregnates the Great Mother. Some
also believe that the mythological king in the story of
Lludd and Llefelys in The Mabinogion, Beli Mawr is a
folk memory of this god.
- At Beltane, the Horned One, the God,
dies or is taken by the Goddess, only to be reborn as
her son. He then reclaims his role as consort and
impregnates the Goddess, sparking his own rebirth. It is
important to remember the mindset of the ancients:
nothing can live without death; the ancients understood
and accepted the taking powers in life in order to
obtain the benefit of the giving powers. Through this
rite, the Goddess also is transformed from the taking
Crone to the virginal Maiden or Sister, and again to
Mother, a giving goddess.
- Other beliefs tell of the Summer God
being released from captivity, or the Summer Maiden
wooed away from her Earth-giant father. The Hawthorne
tree represents the giant and sometimes this wood is
used for the Maypole (see below).
- In Irish mythology, the great
undertakings of theTuatha Dé Danann and the Milesians
the original supernatural inhabitants of Eiru and
their human conquerors, respectively began at
Beltane. The Milesians were led by Amairgen, son of Mil,
in folklore reputed to be the first Druid.
- Rituals: Two bonfires were
kindled by a presiding Druid most likely from
tein-eigin, fire made from the friction of two pieces of
sacred wood, most likely an Oak-plank. This fire
originally symbolized the sacrifice of the Oak-god. Oak
is the tree of the God of the Waxing Year and Hawthorne
is the tree of the White Goddess. In ancient Ireland, no
one could light a Bel-fire until the Ard Ri, High King,
had lit the first on Tara Hill. In 433 A.D., St. Patrick
showed his deep understanding of this festival's
symbolism when he lit a fire on Slane Hill, ten miles
from Tara, before the High King Laoghaire lit his. He
could not have made a stronger usurpation of the
people's faith. St. David made a similar gesture in
Wales in the following century. The Druids, the powerful
Pagan Celtic priests, would drive the cattle between
these two fires to protect them from disease ensuring a
high milk yield, and the powers of darkness. Sometimes,
a procession was made around the fields with a burning
torch of wood in order to obtain a blessing on the corn.
On this day, all hearth-fires were extinguished to be
rekindled from this sacred fire.
- May Eve: a flowery fest. From the Middle
Ages through the 19th century the last day of April was
celebrated as May Eve, or Beltane, a fertility festival
that honored the flowering of spring. IN England,
people decorated thier homes with hawthorn blossoms and
brewed a punch flavored with sweet woodruff. In the
Irish Gaelic tradition of Beltane, rowan (mountain ash)
twigs were carried around a sacred bonfire and then hung
over the hearth to bless the home. In many European
countries, a tree was planted or set up in the center of
the village and decked with violets and daises, symbols of
spring's renewal.
- A May Pole fertility dance also took
place. A pole, a phallic symbol for the God, was made
usually from a Yule tree, its branches stripped and then
planted into the Earth. Red and white ribbons were
attached to its top. In the Goddess tradition, the white
ribbons stood for the Goddess, red for the God. Men and
women danced around the pole, holding onto the ribbons
and interweaving them as they went round. The King &
Queen of May were also elected stand-ins for the God
and Goddess and led the festival. One telling
explains that the Queen would ride in on a white horse
and the King on a black one. The Goddess on a white
horse has a powerful association in Celtic mythology.
When Niamh of the Golden Hair came to take Oissin away
to the Land of Promise, it is upon a white steed that
she rode. Rhian Gabhra, or Rhiannon of the Gaels, rides
a white mare in the Otherworldly realms. In both Welsh
and Irish traditions the white mare is representative of
the Goddess in the Otherworld. The ancients would also
then go and make love on the ground considered a form
of magic, prompting the crops to be fertile. Another,
similar rite that took place at Beltane is called the
"bringing in the May." The youth would go out
into the fields and collect flowers. They would often
spend the night in the wood, which resulted in many
"greenwood marriages," or
"handfastings." In the village, they would
stop at each home and exchange the flowers for food and
drink. Thus, they became the harbingers of the renewal
of the Earth. This rite also represented the need of the
tribe to share their belongings, sustaining the entire
population as a result.
- On May Eve people would tear branches
from a Hawthorn tree and decorate the outside of their
homes. The Hawthorn, or Whitethorn, is the tree of hope,
pleasure and protection. The strong taboo on breaking
Hawthorne branches or bringing them into the home was
traditionally lifted on May Eve. Another
custom would be to jump over the fire. Young people
jumped the fire for luck in finding a spouse, sojourners
jumped the fire to ensure a safe journey, and pregnant
women jumped the fire to assure an easy delivery. On May
1, the entire tribe, village or clan would lead the
cattle to the Summer buailte (pronounced
"booa-ltuh") or pastures until Samhain.
- Summer Soltice Alban Heruin, or "The
Light of the Shore," also is referred to as Midsummer's
Day. This feast takes place on June 21 and marks the
shortest, brightest night of the year. The Summer Solstice
marks the Earth's full-flowering. Midsummer's Day was
traditionally celebrated out in the forest and involved
masquerades, picnics, games, and, at night, a bonfire to cut
the chill.
- Lammas Traditionally called Lammas from the
Saxon word Hlaf-mass, the Feast of Bread, this festival is
also known as Lughnasadh, Lughnasa (pronounced
"Loo-nahs-ah"), or First Fruits, and is the feast
of the god Lugh. Celebrated on August 1, it coincides
with the beginning of the harvest and signifies the death of
Bel, or the Corn King. The Corn King dies, to be later
reborn, so that the tribe may go into the winter months with
sustenance plenty. Another myth tells of the greedy Fomorian
Earth-spirits that must be persuaded to relinquish the
fruits of the soil to humans.
- In the Scottish Highlands, this feast
was sometimes referred to as the nasad, or games, of
Lugh, son of Ethle. An early Irish tradition has it that
Lugh established the festival in honor of his
foster-mother Tailtiu, a close relationship in the
Celtic custom. In Ireland, Lugh also is referred to as
Lugh of the Long Hand, son of the Sun.
- Rituals: Farmers cut down the
first stalks of corn with sickles and called these
stalks John Barleycorn. This first grain is used to
produce the first beer of the season, for consumption at
the Autumnal Equinox six weeks later. In the British
Isles, the Horned One was thought to be the consort of
the Earth Goddess. (see Beltane explanation) Harvest
festivals usually included a Stag Dance in which men
wore antlers on their heads.
- Autumnal Equinox Alban Elued, "The
Light of the Water," also is called Harvesthome. This
feast takes place on September 21 and marks the last
harvest before Winter claims the Earth. As with the Vernal
Equinox, day and night are of equal length across the
planet. This balance in nature presents a powerful time for
magick.
- To the ancients, this was a sacred
time. The Irish saw this time of year as the Waning of
the Goddess. From the Summer to the Winter Solstice they
would hold festivals for the God who was seen as a
dark, threatening being. To the Goidelic Celts, the
spring was the time of joy in the rebirth of the
Goddess. To Brythonic Celts, however, this was the time
of the death of the God (the Sun or the Grain God).
|
|
|
