By Fire Well and Tree

A wide purple clover path through lightly wooded area Whether you call it Ostara or not, the vernal equinox has come (a few days ago. And I'm sorry this is late, but thank Covid.) Again, I am blessed to be living where all four seasons tend to correspond to the calendar, more or less, so the 8 Sabbats match up pretty well.  Being a part of the local pagan community means that I have two rites planned, one of which I'm leading (pending  negative Covid test, of course).   Equinoxes have the theme of balance for me, always. Light and dark are mostly even, or as close as one can get.  Per timeanddate.com, we got 12 hours and 8 minutes of daylight on the equinox itself (March 20).  We had EXACTLY 12 hours on March 17.   Why is three days early? I originally thought it was the imperfections of our modern calendar.  But I also had to look it up too. Stepping back a little bit, many of you probably already know the word “equinox” comes from “aequus” ...

 I remembered to do this! And now I've remembered to share it! I used the Druid Oracle.  These are TWO sets of cards designed to work together.  The Druid Animal Oracle I am more familiar with. The Druid Plant Oracle complements it, and I'm less familiar with it. Normally, I take pictures, but as there are likely copywrite issues there, I will kindly request that you Internet search.  They also have a phone app, but I did use the physical cards.  I drew 9 cards from each deck.  There is one for each high day to reveal the energies (animal) and insights (plants) at play starting on that high day through to the next.  The ninth cards are sort of a keynote or theme of the whole year. (I do this type of thing often. Sometimes it's interesting to compare the Samhain card themes with the Yule Rune spread for the year, and then my own Tarot horoscope thread... but that's kind of crazy obsessive too, so I don't know if I can recommend it. So, with out further ...

This last day, we ask for blessings for the season to c ome. In the  north , we will be honoring the deities or spirits that symbolize the rest and reflection of the winter, and the blessings of renewal it can bring.   I honored Skadhi and Ullr with whiskey (we were out of vodka), bison jerky, and dried berries, sharing our preparation of food for the coming winter with them. For the  southern  hemisphere, we will be asking for the blessings of the coming season of planting, growth, and eventual harvest.     The black netting will be removed from the winter altar and placed over the summer altar (after candles are extinguised).  The white candles are lit and a moment of quiet meditation in preparation for the wheel turning.  The old corn dolly is disposed of in a sacred manner, usually by fire either tonight or at a later time. The new corn dolly will be wrapped in incubation, as the spirit of my land rests a...

There are usually many predictions of what the weather will be like for the coming season, be it hurricanes or blizzards.  Thanking the spirit/god one sees as protecting either humanity in general or your own residence is appropriate. I usually thank Thor for seeing me through the  Summer (and Winter) and asking for his blessings and protection for the coming Winter (or Summer), with ale and porridge for an offering.   But first, the actual equinox arrived around here bright and early...er, actually DARK and early at 3:50 a.m. I had set my alarm for 3:45 a.m. When it went off, I changed my mind about this, but then had to get up to answer "nature's call."  By then it was 3:47, and I figured I may as well do it anyway.  I lit the candles, and meditated (as much as possible at that hour) on the season to come, and then broke the stick when the alarm sounded at 3:50.  Then I went back to bed :)   (   http://thebookofsassafras.blogspot.co...

In the  nort h, we would light a green and a yellow candle (or whatever you feel is appropriate) representing the fertility of the summer that is passing and for the harvest that is being brought in.  Offerings of produce, bread, and mead could be appropriate here,  especially the last of the harvest . I usually honor Freyja and  Freyr , as the Vanir, and gods of fertility and harvest (simplistically speaking), but I wanted to research any Celtic (specifically Irish-Gaelic) deities that would work. Unfortunately I am still looking. In the  south , honoring those of the winter months who are yielding the cold season of rest and renewal.  Offerings of vodka (because of association with northern lands), jerky, and other preserved items, representing the storage of food over the winter, are suggested in the  bl ó ts  that inspired this.  I would honor Ullr and  Ska dh i .   This year we offered green beans, rosemary,...

In the spirit of the Solstice-a-Longs, I present a three-night (or day) devotional for the coming Equinox. As with the Solstices, I am presenting information for both the Northern and Southern hemisphere.  Once again, I am inspired by rites that were included in the Troth’s  Book of Blots . The two rites are designed for larger groups; I have edited them for the candle-lighting theme that I used with the Solstice-a-longs.  As there is no tradition for multi-day celebrations for the equinoxes as there is with Yule (at least that I can find), that simplifies things greatly.   The first step is, obviously, to find what day the equinox is in your hemisphere. Keep in mind time zones may move the date, if the actual time of solstice falls near midnight.  This year, in my time zone, the Equinox is  Monday, September 23,  2019 at  3:50   a m EDT.  Thus, the devotional begins on  Sun day,  September 22 , and ends on T ue s...

In the spirit of the Solstice-a-Longs, I present a three-night (or day) devotional for the coming Equinox. As with the Solstices, I am presenting information for both the Northern and Southern hemisphere.   Once again, I am inspired by rites that were included in the Troth’s Book of Blots . The two rites are designed for larger groups; I have edited them for the candle-lighting theme that I used with the Solstice-a-longs.   As there is no tradition for multi-day celebrations for the equinoxes as there is with Yule (at least that I can find), that simplifies things greatly. The first step is, obviously, to find what day the equinox is in your hemisphere. Keep in mind time zones may move the date, if the actual time of solstice falls near midnight.   This year, in my time zone, the Equinox is Wednesday, March 20, 2019 at 5:58 pm EDT.   Thus, the devotional begins on Tuesday, March 19, and ends on Thursday, March 22.   A good site is http://www.timeanddat...