Eight Sabbat oils to celebrate each of the Spokes of the Wheel of the Year in one tidy package! Each is a 1/8th ounce vial (1 dram size): Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Litha, Lammas, Mabon, and Samhain. This would be a perfect gift for a High Priestess.
SABBAT OILS from NATURAL MAGICK SHOP
Yule
Yule, the Winter Solstice, is usually on the 21st or 22nd of December, the shortest day and longest night. Yule oil was the first of the eight Sabbat oils from Natural Magick Shop. It has Frankincense, Gold and Myrrh, evergreen trees, and holiday spices. Enjoy as a ritual anointing oil for this or in concentrated form for aromatherapy diffusers.
Many Pagans celebrate this occasion as the birth of the Divine Child, also known as the New Year and Baby Jesus. This might be why we use this holiday to honor children by giving them presents. What I think might also be happening with this holiday, from a sociological point of year, is a ritualized re-distribution of wealth. During the cold winter months, back in simpler times it would become clearer who has plenty and who faces hunger as the shelves get bare. (The traditional lump of coal for bad children might be a needed source of heat for a poor family.) So it makes sense for adults to give gifts, and we still play out this in our own families and in charity. If you are a starving college student, you give your uncle a hand-woven potholder or such, and he cuts you a check for a C-note or two.
For Pagans, it is difficult to separate the Winter Solstice, which marks the beginning of the solar year, with New Year’s Eve, which marks the beginning of the calendar year. Perhaps the minor separation is just because of the Julian calendar not working so good all the time. anybody needing charity, it can be a humiliating thing to receive directly from wealthy people. So perhaps the “invention” of Father Christmas a.k.a. Santa Claus makes this more graceful for both parties. The gifts were delivered at night, through the chimney, by Santa, and nobody need know who was giving and who was getting charity.
Other traditional pagan motifs involve tree worship of some sort. What else would you call the decoration of the Christmas tree? There is also the burning of the Yule log, which according to some, should burn all night long as sympathetic magick to bring about the return of the Sun. According to others, the Yule log was supposed to be a whole tree that burned all YEAR long. The burning of the Yule log, among other things, is to mark the change of the year-king from the Holly King, who rules from the Summer Solstice to the Winter Solstice, over to his brother/rival/alter ego, the Oak King. So if we sacrifice an evergreen tree, it represents the peak and fall of the power of the Holly King. We burn the
Then, a few days after New Year’s you have the Annunciation, which in European countries is the end of the Twelve Days of Christmas. In Italy, there is the tradition of La Befana, a faery-witch-crone-goddess who gives candy and gifts to good children and a lump of coal to bad ones. Now they make a black hard candy that looks like coal, and all the kids get it, because they have all been at least a little bad! Again, different name, but the same idea of anonymous giving by a proxy deity, and the honoring of children.
However you choose to celebrate the Solstice, I hope it brings joy, friends, family, and prosperity to you. The great thin about being Pagan is that we can celebrate all the holidays for this time of year! So Happy Hanukkah, Joyous Yule, Kwanzaa Blessings, Serene Solstice, and Merry Christmas, y’all!
Imbolc
Imbolc, Imbolg, or Brigid is the pagan Sabbat on or about February 2nd. Use this oil for ritual anointing to accentuate any ceremony or candle observance to honor this day, and to celebrate the growing light. My Imbolc oil smells bright and fresh for the newness of the Sun and the growing light.
I also wanted it to have just a touch of the smell of burning candles, since this is a Candle holiday. This holiday is also known as Brigid, dedicated to the Goddess Brigid, and in other places, we call this holiday Candelaria or Candlemas, or Ground Hog's Day. This holiday is often observed with blessings, consecrations and initiations, so Imbolc oil could be used for any of these purposes no matter what time of year.
At this time of year, the rate of change of daylight is at a peak…you will be noticing it! Imbolc means “in the belly” and refers to the sheep who begin to give birth to lambs at this time of year. So the colors of the holiday are whites for the wool and the milk, and the snow.
In Celtic lands, this holiday is associated with the goddess Brigid, and observances include the procession of little corn dollies in miniature beds by young women and girls. Married women and heads of households received these representatives of the Goddess with great respect, and often treats.
A relative of mine from Puerto Rico told me they celebrate the holiday as Candelaria, and the custom is to burn your Christmas tree and light candles on this night. Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria is an avatar of the Virgin Mary who came to south and central America from the Canary Islands, and one of her feast days is February 2nd.
A great way to celebrate this Sabbat might be to make your ritual candles for the rest of the Wheel of the Year. Since Brigid also keeps a Sacred Well, blessing of holy water, or other water healing and cleansing rituals would be appropriate.
Ostara
Ostara is the holiday of the Vernal Equinox, usually on or around March 21st.
Most modern neo-Pagans call the Spring Equinox either Eostar or Ostara. Natural Magick Shop Ostara oil celebrates the Spring with a very green,fresh scent that has a hint of the wildflowers soon to come. Use it for candles dedicated to any ritual for this season, or to anoint celebrants.
Eostar is obviously a cognate with the words Easter and East. Many of the “Christian” motifs for Easter are the Pagan interpretations of this time of year: pastel colored eggs, chicks, and of course bunnies. We almost always have an “Eostar” egg hunt for the kiddos, and maybe we paint cascarones and have a confetti battle. Ostara is the name of a German goddess of the spring who often appeared at this time in the form of a white rabbit. So there you have it, the Easter Bunny, usually thought of as being a boy, is actually a goddess.
Once I hired a friend who was from the Czech Republic to help with packaging. She overheard me talking about Ostara to a Wicca 101 class I was teaching. At the end of the class, she came out and told us that in Czechoslovakia they have a custom for this time of year. The men would go out and cut little switches of new growth from trees, then they would swat the women “about the thighs and buttocks” until the women gave them an egg! Do we really need Mr. Freud to explain that one to us???
The main other Pagan cycle for this season is another fertility myth. Anyone familiar with high-school mythology will know the basic story of Demeter, goddess of agriculture and Persephone: Persephone goes missing, haven been kidnapped by Hades, god of the UnderWorld, and Persephone’s mother, Demeter grieves, causing famine and the first winter on Earth. Finally Persephone is reunited with her mother, and the joy of their reunion brings about spring. This drama is enacted as sacred theater in many Pagan traditions of Greco-Roman orientation.
Beltane
Beltane is one of the "cross-quarter days," a time in between the Spring Equinox and Summer Solstice, usually celebrated on May 1st or May Day. Beltane oil is a sweet, sensuous smell to celebrate the lush eroticism of the season, as well as to greet the waking Faery folk with a fragrance worth a merry dance or two. No more than three. Okay, we're dancing all night!
On or about May 1st, Beltane is one sexy holiday, a celebration of the erotic awakening of the Goddess and God, sometimes portrayed by participants as a Sacred Marriage between the May Queen and May King. We dance around the May Pole with ribbons, adorning a phallic symbol with our wishes and desires. This tradition was originally NOT a children’s game! Then there was the balefire jumping, where it was alleged that the flame that got up under the maidens’ skirts was what caused the pregnancy (obviously it was NOT what happened in the bushes around the bonfire after the rituals). In general, as we watch Wild Nature in the raptures of rutting, growing, and blooming, we are invited to celebrate with equally lusty and wild abandon. Music, often very bawdy songs, dancing, costuming, and oh, the mead!
Beltane is also the biggest worldwide celebration of human labor, and it is only in the U.S. that “Labor Day” is not celebrated on May 1st. All over Europe and South America, May Day is about workers marching in parades and socializing at picnics in solidarity with unions, organized labor, and the working class in general all over the globe. It is tempting to wonder if there are any historical connections between the Pagan holiday and the labor holiday.
The holidays of Beltane and Samhain are also connected to the stars, to wit, our most beloved Pleiadean cluster. The Pleiades are in the area of the Heavens ruled by Taurus, and we go into Taurus at Beltane. By some accounting, and according to most Celtic traditions, it is not the exact date May 1st or October 31st which determined the dates of Beltane and Samhain, but the dates where the Pleiades rise at dawn and sundown, respectively. So depending on which latitude you were in, the date would change accordingly. This helped link the Pleiades and Beltane to the agricultural cycle, and in MesoAmerican traditions the Pleiades strictly ruled the planting season as well.
The final Pagan association with Beltane that I will leave you with may also be related to Pleiadean myth. It is often said that the “bad Faeries” go underground at Beltane while the “good Faeries” come out to the surface of Earth to live. Then at Samhain they change places. So this is why the “Veil Between the Worlds” is said to be very thin at these two times of year, good for spirit contact, divinations, and journeys into the UnderWorld or OtherWorld. I have always found that these two holidays are very much linked across the Wheel of the Year. There is always something of Halloween in Beltane, something scary and death-dealing that contrasts with all the flesh and flowers, and conversely, there is always something of May Day in Samhain, a sexy sub theme to all of the death, ghosts, and monsters. So we could celebrate Beltane by welcoming the Bright Faeries who have awakened, and send the Dark Fae back to sleep with one last hoo-haw.
If you don’t have any Pagan kinsmen to celebrate Beltane with, just look to the secular celebrations that crowd the Events section of the local newspapers at this time of year. Because of the (hopefully) mild weather this time of year, there are all sorts of festivals and fundraisers planned for the weekends around May Day. You can probably find a delightfully Pagan theme within any of them, or create one by joining in the planning committee. I bet they’d love it if you offered to set up a May Pole “for the children,” hee hee.
One way to connect the celebration of Earth Day with Beltane would to be to ally ourselves with the Faery races for the Re-Greening of the world. The Earth Spirits would probably love to see humans joining together to heal the planet as opposed to our current endeavor to drive ourselves and everything else extinct. Perhaps we could listen well during this time that the Veil is thin, for messages and suggestions on how we can make our footsteps fall more lightly on Earth, and live in a more balanced reciprocating way. Then all we would need is the courage to do it.
Litha
The big holiday event for this lunation is June 21st, the Summer Solstice, referred to as Litha or Midsummer’s Day by Pagans, and the Feast of Saint John by Christians. Especially in the more northern latitudes, this time of year is easily noted for the long day length, a blessing to be celebrated since ancient times. Litha oil by Natural Magick Shop is full of fiery Sun energy to bless ritual participants or add Midsummer energy to ritual candles.
Much of what is practiced by modern neo Pagans for our Litha celebrations is inferred and collected in bits and pieces from many different sources. For example, St. Eligius in the 7th century warned Flander’s newly Christianized citizens against solesticia, rites of “leaping and diabolical chanting. That sounds like Pagan fun to me!
Wicca and related neo Pagan traditions emphasize the peak power of Sun and the element of fire in this holiday. Herbs, especially herbs known for their magickal protection properties, are at their most potent if gathered on Midsummers’ Eve or Midsummer’s Day. This makes sense since herbs are naturally at their most productive during this season. I’ve read in different places that nine herbs should be gathered to throw onto the Midsummer’s fire, depending on the source: rosemary, thyme, marjoram, hyssop, sage, St. John's wort, violets, vervain, carnations, mugwort, mistletoe, and fennel. In particular, I have heard that mistletoe would have been gathered by the Druids for protection charms. All sorts of herbal arts and crafts can be incorporated for your Litha spellworking. My big project for this time of year is to make the Dragon’s Blood oil to ensure that it is as fiery as it possibly can be.
Like the herbs, trees are in their finest form and most rampant growth by Midsummer’s. This is the Green Man’s wildest and most fertile time. Likewise, the Oak King reaches the zenith of his reign on this day, only to be bested on the next by the Holly King, who will then rule the rest of the year as days grow shorter. With this cycle in mind, it would make sense to go out and harvest Oak wood, picking out one nice log to keep for your Yule fire. (The rest could be your magickal barbeque wood!) If you saved your old Christmas tree, you could also use it to start your Midsummer’s bonfire to create a continuous cycle. The ashes of the Midsummer’s bonfire had uses in many protection charms, and livestock would be forced to walk through the ashes or smoke to protect them from disease.
Bonfires were also an ancient observance of this longest day/shortest night. The fires below reflected the fires above. Naturally, whenever fires are a part of a Pagan celebration there is likely to be the attendant dancing, drinking, music making, and telling of tall tales.
Speaking of tall tales, my favorite Midsummer’s stories is Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I always rent this one for viewing as a part of my very neo Pagan ritual. Try to find the old black and white one where child star Mickey Rooney plays Puck.
Shakespeare was definitely reflecting popular beliefs that the Faeries also celebrated this holiday in a major way, and especially it was time for the trooping fae of the Seelie court to make wild rides through the sky. Drink some mead around the bonfire and look up to see if you can catch the parade.
If this is not enough to choose from for your Midsummer observances, here is an entirely new one, originating in Japan and South Korea. It is called Candle Night, and on June 24th, many municipal lights will be turned off, and candlelight performances, dinners, story tellings, etc. will proceed. It is a meditation on world peace and energy consumption, and I think extremely appropriate for the fire/energy focus of the Litha holiday.
Lammas
Lammas, or Lughnasadh, is the pagan Sabbat on or about August 1st. It is most often celebrated as a first harvest holiday, focusing on harvest of grains. This is a “Cross-Quarter Day” midway between a Soltice and and Equinox. Lammas oil is created to be both celebratory and offeratory. I have tried to give it the smell of fresh bread and roasting grains along with the brightness of the waning sun, since this is the first holiday after High Summer, the Summer Solstice. Use this oil for any ritual or celebration for this time of year, and to honor the Celtic solar god Lugh, who rules the weather and harvest of this time of year.
Lammas is also a time of races, contests and games of physical skill. The landscape is a village harvest of the grain fields. This is a time of celebration (at least, if the harvest is successful and bountiful) and all the village is at work to get the harvest in. It is said that the contests begin with who can harvest the most grain. Then it was said that the laborers would leave the last sheaf of grain standing and the contestants would try to be the first to cut it down by throwing their harvesting sickles at it.
The fields are now clear, and there is all this open space which is available. Footraces, horse races, team sports, all have an open arena. This becomes a sort of Pagan Olympics, and celebration of the vigor and strength of young adulthood.
Beer is brewed from grain, so it is easy to imagine a brewfest of some sorts becoming part of the festivities.
Another fascinating motif for this Sabbat is a confessional and attonement ritual. The aforementioned last sheaf, or a Corn Dollies, or a Corn Man (the first loaf baked from the freshly harvested grain) represented John Barleycorn, a god or hero who represented the sacrifice that the Grain God made for the community’s survival. He will be mourned and buried (sometimes burned/cremated) but there is an opportunity before he is committed to the final resting place. You have the opportunity to whisper a confession, or some secret you want John Barleycorn to take to the grave with him. You can in this way be absolved of your guilt, and no other living being need know your crime.
Mabon
Mabon is the recent pagan appellation for the Autumnal Equinox, usually September 21st or 22nd. This oil honors the elder Celtic king, Mabon, and includes herbs and resins suitable for offeratory purposes and for any celebration of this time of year. Mabon oil smells like Autumn, with Oaks and mosses, and a hint of apple.
Since Mabon is the time when day and night are equal, Mabon oil could be used not only for this holiday, but for any time that balance or clear and fair judgment is needed.
Mabon is an Elder King, so I use this holiday and this oil to honor the wisdom and contributions of our living mature and elder community leaders.
The main legend of Mabon leaves one wondering why the name of this god was chosen, evidently in recent times, to this holiday and time of year. Mabon, son of the goddess Modrone, was kidnapped when he was only three days old. Nobody knew where he was taken or if he was still alive. The hero Cullwch was given an impossible number of quests to win the hand of his beloved, Olwen, and the rescue of Mabon (now an elder king in a dungeon for his whole life!) was part of the epic. The adventure included the aid of King Arthur’s court, and five Spirit Guide animals, Crow, Stag, Owl, Eagle, and Salmon.
Autumn is a favored time for outdoor activity, from camping to hunting, and perhaps we could extrapolate from this legend to include Animal Magick, and the seeking of Animal guides. Mabon oil would certainly harmonize well with campfire aroma and other Autumnal nature scents.
Samhain
Samhain is the pagan Cross Quarter Day Sabbat otherwise known as Halloween, All Saints Day, Dia de Los Muertos, celebrated on October 31st to November 11th, depending on the tradition. This oil is to honor the dearly departed as well as to protect the incarnate living from any bogies or phookas may have made it across while the Veil Between the Worlds is thin. Samhain oil by Natural Magick Shop is sweet, sultry, and mysterious.
Samhain oil is attractive to spirits; discarnate and noncarnate forms of beings, but its nature is to feed and propitiate these entities, thus preserving a bond and a boundary between the worlds. Samhain oil is powerfully activating to the Third eye, so it can be used to make us more sensitive to messages and communications from the Beyond. Most people find its smell to be comforting and fascinating, as Death is Itself. For this reason, Samhain oil is helpful to resolve and honor the grief process, no matter what time of year it may come to visit.
If popular culture understands anything about Pagans, the Halloween observance may be the reason! The iconic images of the Crone Witch, the Black Cat, the Scull, the Spider, and the grimacing Jack O’Lantern are the perfect mix of attraction/repulsion for the morbid curiosity of the human condition! Samhain is a celebration of Death, and preparation for the Winter that is coming.
Like its opposite holiday on the Wheel of the Year, Samhain is a time when the Veil Between the Worlds is thin. The realms of the Dead, the lands of the Faeries, and the Human world are said to be close. Additionally, this is a time of movement…all the dead who passed earlier in the year now have their last feast with their surviving family and loved ones before passing into the realm of the Dead. So places are set for the dearly departed, portions of the meal are served to their plates, and toasts are made to say goodbye. The Pleiades now come to be visible in the night sky, and this is where the Seelie Courts migrate, while the Unseelies (bad Faeries) are now free to haunt the darkening landscape. This is also the season of the Apple harvest, but we leave one Apple on the tree for the Apple Tree Man. Any apples left on the trees in the orchard after Samhain night were property of the Spirits, Faeries, and/or Dead, and it was tabu to harvest, much less eat these apples
Children act out this seasonal change with their scary costumes, and we offer them candy, money, and food, propitiation against the pranks of the Goblins and other malevolent spirits, and the Dead who can find no rest. Our customary Jack O’Lantern is carved, and his protective powers are activated with the lit candle. A fit champion against these mischief makers.
This was a time of revenge, and with all the Spirits, Goblins, and costumed revelers going about, it was expected that calamities of any sort might take place. So any laborer might have cover, to take his revenge against a feudal lord who had cheated the sharecropper out of his share of the harvest. This harsher aspect of the holiday still persists as Devil’s Night or Hell Night where pranks advanced to arson and other forms of property crimes in urban cities, particularly Detroit.
One other widespread Samhain observance is divination and prediction of the future. When the Veil is thin, we are more likely to be receptive to messages from the spirit worlds, dead relatives, or other informants. So here we are back at the cottage of the Crone Witch, where she stirs her cauldron of visionary herbs, to have our fortune told. Bring out the Tarot cards, the inadvisable Ouija board, crystal ball, or swallow the seeds of the apple are in order to have a dream of our future spouse. Samhain oil would be an appropriate enhancement for these or any Samhain observances.
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SABBAT OILS from NATURAL MAGICK SHOP
Yule
Yule, the Winter Solstice, is usually on the 21st or 22nd of December, the shortest day and longest night. Yule oil was the first of the eight Sabbat oils from Natural Magick Shop. It has Frankincense, Gold and Myrrh, evergreen trees, and holiday spices. Enjoy as a ritual anointing oil for this or in concentrated form for aromatherapy diffusers.
Many Pagans celebrate this occasion as the birth of the Divine Child, also known as the New Year and Baby Jesus. This might be why we use this holiday to honor children by giving them presents. What I think might also be happening with this holiday, from a sociological point of year, is a ritualized re-distribution of wealth. During the cold winter months, back in simpler times it would become clearer who has plenty and who faces hunger as the shelves get bare. (The traditional lump of coal for bad children might be a needed source of heat for a poor family.) So it makes sense for adults to give gifts, and we still play out this in our own families and in charity. If you are a starving college student, you give your uncle a hand-woven potholder or such, and he cuts you a check for a C-note or two.
For Pagans, it is difficult to separate the Winter Solstice, which marks the beginning of the solar year, with New Year’s Eve, which marks the beginning of the calendar year. Perhaps the minor separation is just because of the Julian calendar not working so good all the time. anybody needing charity, it can be a humiliating thing to receive directly from wealthy people. So perhaps the “invention” of Father Christmas a.k.a. Santa Claus makes this more graceful for both parties. The gifts were delivered at night, through the chimney, by Santa, and nobody need know who was giving and who was getting charity.
Other traditional pagan motifs involve tree worship of some sort. What else would you call the decoration of the Christmas tree? There is also the burning of the Yule log, which according to some, should burn all night long as sympathetic magick to bring about the return of the Sun. According to others, the Yule log was supposed to be a whole tree that burned all YEAR long. The burning of the Yule log, among other things, is to mark the change of the year-king from the Holly King, who rules from the Summer Solstice to the Winter Solstice, over to his brother/rival/alter ego, the Oak King. So if we sacrifice an evergreen tree, it represents the peak and fall of the power of the Holly King. We burn the
Then, a few days after New Year’s you have the Annunciation, which in European countries is the end of the Twelve Days of Christmas. In Italy, there is the tradition of La Befana, a faery-witch-crone-goddess who gives candy and gifts to good children and a lump of coal to bad ones. Now they make a black hard candy that looks like coal, and all the kids get it, because they have all been at least a little bad! Again, different name, but the same idea of anonymous giving by a proxy deity, and the honoring of children.
However you choose to celebrate the Solstice, I hope it brings joy, friends, family, and prosperity to you. The great thin about being Pagan is that we can celebrate all the holidays for this time of year! So Happy Hanukkah, Joyous Yule, Kwanzaa Blessings, Serene Solstice, and Merry Christmas, y’all!
Imbolc
Imbolc, Imbolg, or Brigid is the pagan Sabbat on or about February 2nd. Use this oil for ritual anointing to accentuate any ceremony or candle observance to honor this day, and to celebrate the growing light. My Imbolc oil smells bright and fresh for the newness of the Sun and the growing light.
I also wanted it to have just a touch of the smell of burning candles, since this is a Candle holiday. This holiday is also known as Brigid, dedicated to the Goddess Brigid, and in other places, we call this holiday Candelaria or Candlemas, or Ground Hog's Day. This holiday is often observed with blessings, consecrations and initiations, so Imbolc oil could be used for any of these purposes no matter what time of year.
At this time of year, the rate of change of daylight is at a peak…you will be noticing it! Imbolc means “in the belly” and refers to the sheep who begin to give birth to lambs at this time of year. So the colors of the holiday are whites for the wool and the milk, and the snow.
In Celtic lands, this holiday is associated with the goddess Brigid, and observances include the procession of little corn dollies in miniature beds by young women and girls. Married women and heads of households received these representatives of the Goddess with great respect, and often treats.
A relative of mine from Puerto Rico told me they celebrate the holiday as Candelaria, and the custom is to burn your Christmas tree and light candles on this night. Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria is an avatar of the Virgin Mary who came to south and central America from the Canary Islands, and one of her feast days is February 2nd.
A great way to celebrate this Sabbat might be to make your ritual candles for the rest of the Wheel of the Year. Since Brigid also keeps a Sacred Well, blessing of holy water, or other water healing and cleansing rituals would be appropriate.
Ostara
Ostara is the holiday of the Vernal Equinox, usually on or around March 21st.
Most modern neo-Pagans call the Spring Equinox either Eostar or Ostara. Natural Magick Shop Ostara oil celebrates the Spring with a very green,fresh scent that has a hint of the wildflowers soon to come. Use it for candles dedicated to any ritual for this season, or to anoint celebrants.
Eostar is obviously a cognate with the words Easter and East. Many of the “Christian” motifs for Easter are the Pagan interpretations of this time of year: pastel colored eggs, chicks, and of course bunnies. We almost always have an “Eostar” egg hunt for the kiddos, and maybe we paint cascarones and have a confetti battle. Ostara is the name of a German goddess of the spring who often appeared at this time in the form of a white rabbit. So there you have it, the Easter Bunny, usually thought of as being a boy, is actually a goddess.
Once I hired a friend who was from the Czech Republic to help with packaging. She overheard me talking about Ostara to a Wicca 101 class I was teaching. At the end of the class, she came out and told us that in Czechoslovakia they have a custom for this time of year. The men would go out and cut little switches of new growth from trees, then they would swat the women “about the thighs and buttocks” until the women gave them an egg! Do we really need Mr. Freud to explain that one to us???
The main other Pagan cycle for this season is another fertility myth. Anyone familiar with high-school mythology will know the basic story of Demeter, goddess of agriculture and Persephone: Persephone goes missing, haven been kidnapped by Hades, god of the UnderWorld, and Persephone’s mother, Demeter grieves, causing famine and the first winter on Earth. Finally Persephone is reunited with her mother, and the joy of their reunion brings about spring. This drama is enacted as sacred theater in many Pagan traditions of Greco-Roman orientation.
Beltane
Beltane is one of the "cross-quarter days," a time in between the Spring Equinox and Summer Solstice, usually celebrated on May 1st or May Day. Beltane oil is a sweet, sensuous smell to celebrate the lush eroticism of the season, as well as to greet the waking Faery folk with a fragrance worth a merry dance or two. No more than three. Okay, we're dancing all night!
On or about May 1st, Beltane is one sexy holiday, a celebration of the erotic awakening of the Goddess and God, sometimes portrayed by participants as a Sacred Marriage between the May Queen and May King. We dance around the May Pole with ribbons, adorning a phallic symbol with our wishes and desires. This tradition was originally NOT a children’s game! Then there was the balefire jumping, where it was alleged that the flame that got up under the maidens’ skirts was what caused the pregnancy (obviously it was NOT what happened in the bushes around the bonfire after the rituals). In general, as we watch Wild Nature in the raptures of rutting, growing, and blooming, we are invited to celebrate with equally lusty and wild abandon. Music, often very bawdy songs, dancing, costuming, and oh, the mead!
Beltane is also the biggest worldwide celebration of human labor, and it is only in the U.S. that “Labor Day” is not celebrated on May 1st. All over Europe and South America, May Day is about workers marching in parades and socializing at picnics in solidarity with unions, organized labor, and the working class in general all over the globe. It is tempting to wonder if there are any historical connections between the Pagan holiday and the labor holiday.
The holidays of Beltane and Samhain are also connected to the stars, to wit, our most beloved Pleiadean cluster. The Pleiades are in the area of the Heavens ruled by Taurus, and we go into Taurus at Beltane. By some accounting, and according to most Celtic traditions, it is not the exact date May 1st or October 31st which determined the dates of Beltane and Samhain, but the dates where the Pleiades rise at dawn and sundown, respectively. So depending on which latitude you were in, the date would change accordingly. This helped link the Pleiades and Beltane to the agricultural cycle, and in MesoAmerican traditions the Pleiades strictly ruled the planting season as well.
The final Pagan association with Beltane that I will leave you with may also be related to Pleiadean myth. It is often said that the “bad Faeries” go underground at Beltane while the “good Faeries” come out to the surface of Earth to live. Then at Samhain they change places. So this is why the “Veil Between the Worlds” is said to be very thin at these two times of year, good for spirit contact, divinations, and journeys into the UnderWorld or OtherWorld. I have always found that these two holidays are very much linked across the Wheel of the Year. There is always something of Halloween in Beltane, something scary and death-dealing that contrasts with all the flesh and flowers, and conversely, there is always something of May Day in Samhain, a sexy sub theme to all of the death, ghosts, and monsters. So we could celebrate Beltane by welcoming the Bright Faeries who have awakened, and send the Dark Fae back to sleep with one last hoo-haw.
If you don’t have any Pagan kinsmen to celebrate Beltane with, just look to the secular celebrations that crowd the Events section of the local newspapers at this time of year. Because of the (hopefully) mild weather this time of year, there are all sorts of festivals and fundraisers planned for the weekends around May Day. You can probably find a delightfully Pagan theme within any of them, or create one by joining in the planning committee. I bet they’d love it if you offered to set up a May Pole “for the children,” hee hee.
One way to connect the celebration of Earth Day with Beltane would to be to ally ourselves with the Faery races for the Re-Greening of the world. The Earth Spirits would probably love to see humans joining together to heal the planet as opposed to our current endeavor to drive ourselves and everything else extinct. Perhaps we could listen well during this time that the Veil is thin, for messages and suggestions on how we can make our footsteps fall more lightly on Earth, and live in a more balanced reciprocating way. Then all we would need is the courage to do it.
Litha
The big holiday event for this lunation is June 21st, the Summer Solstice, referred to as Litha or Midsummer’s Day by Pagans, and the Feast of Saint John by Christians. Especially in the more northern latitudes, this time of year is easily noted for the long day length, a blessing to be celebrated since ancient times. Litha oil by Natural Magick Shop is full of fiery Sun energy to bless ritual participants or add Midsummer energy to ritual candles.
Much of what is practiced by modern neo Pagans for our Litha celebrations is inferred and collected in bits and pieces from many different sources. For example, St. Eligius in the 7th century warned Flander’s newly Christianized citizens against solesticia, rites of “leaping and diabolical chanting. That sounds like Pagan fun to me!
Wicca and related neo Pagan traditions emphasize the peak power of Sun and the element of fire in this holiday. Herbs, especially herbs known for their magickal protection properties, are at their most potent if gathered on Midsummers’ Eve or Midsummer’s Day. This makes sense since herbs are naturally at their most productive during this season. I’ve read in different places that nine herbs should be gathered to throw onto the Midsummer’s fire, depending on the source: rosemary, thyme, marjoram, hyssop, sage, St. John's wort, violets, vervain, carnations, mugwort, mistletoe, and fennel. In particular, I have heard that mistletoe would have been gathered by the Druids for protection charms. All sorts of herbal arts and crafts can be incorporated for your Litha spellworking. My big project for this time of year is to make the Dragon’s Blood oil to ensure that it is as fiery as it possibly can be.
Like the herbs, trees are in their finest form and most rampant growth by Midsummer’s. This is the Green Man’s wildest and most fertile time. Likewise, the Oak King reaches the zenith of his reign on this day, only to be bested on the next by the Holly King, who will then rule the rest of the year as days grow shorter. With this cycle in mind, it would make sense to go out and harvest Oak wood, picking out one nice log to keep for your Yule fire. (The rest could be your magickal barbeque wood!) If you saved your old Christmas tree, you could also use it to start your Midsummer’s bonfire to create a continuous cycle. The ashes of the Midsummer’s bonfire had uses in many protection charms, and livestock would be forced to walk through the ashes or smoke to protect them from disease.
Bonfires were also an ancient observance of this longest day/shortest night. The fires below reflected the fires above. Naturally, whenever fires are a part of a Pagan celebration there is likely to be the attendant dancing, drinking, music making, and telling of tall tales.
Speaking of tall tales, my favorite Midsummer’s stories is Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I always rent this one for viewing as a part of my very neo Pagan ritual. Try to find the old black and white one where child star Mickey Rooney plays Puck.
Shakespeare was definitely reflecting popular beliefs that the Faeries also celebrated this holiday in a major way, and especially it was time for the trooping fae of the Seelie court to make wild rides through the sky. Drink some mead around the bonfire and look up to see if you can catch the parade.
If this is not enough to choose from for your Midsummer observances, here is an entirely new one, originating in Japan and South Korea. It is called Candle Night, and on June 24th, many municipal lights will be turned off, and candlelight performances, dinners, story tellings, etc. will proceed. It is a meditation on world peace and energy consumption, and I think extremely appropriate for the fire/energy focus of the Litha holiday.
Lammas
Lammas, or Lughnasadh, is the pagan Sabbat on or about August 1st. It is most often celebrated as a first harvest holiday, focusing on harvest of grains. This is a “Cross-Quarter Day” midway between a Soltice and and Equinox. Lammas oil is created to be both celebratory and offeratory. I have tried to give it the smell of fresh bread and roasting grains along with the brightness of the waning sun, since this is the first holiday after High Summer, the Summer Solstice. Use this oil for any ritual or celebration for this time of year, and to honor the Celtic solar god Lugh, who rules the weather and harvest of this time of year.
Lammas is also a time of races, contests and games of physical skill. The landscape is a village harvest of the grain fields. This is a time of celebration (at least, if the harvest is successful and bountiful) and all the village is at work to get the harvest in. It is said that the contests begin with who can harvest the most grain. Then it was said that the laborers would leave the last sheaf of grain standing and the contestants would try to be the first to cut it down by throwing their harvesting sickles at it.
The fields are now clear, and there is all this open space which is available. Footraces, horse races, team sports, all have an open arena. This becomes a sort of Pagan Olympics, and celebration of the vigor and strength of young adulthood.
Beer is brewed from grain, so it is easy to imagine a brewfest of some sorts becoming part of the festivities.
Another fascinating motif for this Sabbat is a confessional and attonement ritual. The aforementioned last sheaf, or a Corn Dollies, or a Corn Man (the first loaf baked from the freshly harvested grain) represented John Barleycorn, a god or hero who represented the sacrifice that the Grain God made for the community’s survival. He will be mourned and buried (sometimes burned/cremated) but there is an opportunity before he is committed to the final resting place. You have the opportunity to whisper a confession, or some secret you want John Barleycorn to take to the grave with him. You can in this way be absolved of your guilt, and no other living being need know your crime.
Mabon
Mabon is the recent pagan appellation for the Autumnal Equinox, usually September 21st or 22nd. This oil honors the elder Celtic king, Mabon, and includes herbs and resins suitable for offeratory purposes and for any celebration of this time of year. Mabon oil smells like Autumn, with Oaks and mosses, and a hint of apple.
Since Mabon is the time when day and night are equal, Mabon oil could be used not only for this holiday, but for any time that balance or clear and fair judgment is needed.
Mabon is an Elder King, so I use this holiday and this oil to honor the wisdom and contributions of our living mature and elder community leaders.
The main legend of Mabon leaves one wondering why the name of this god was chosen, evidently in recent times, to this holiday and time of year. Mabon, son of the goddess Modrone, was kidnapped when he was only three days old. Nobody knew where he was taken or if he was still alive. The hero Cullwch was given an impossible number of quests to win the hand of his beloved, Olwen, and the rescue of Mabon (now an elder king in a dungeon for his whole life!) was part of the epic. The adventure included the aid of King Arthur’s court, and five Spirit Guide animals, Crow, Stag, Owl, Eagle, and Salmon.
Autumn is a favored time for outdoor activity, from camping to hunting, and perhaps we could extrapolate from this legend to include Animal Magick, and the seeking of Animal guides. Mabon oil would certainly harmonize well with campfire aroma and other Autumnal nature scents.
Samhain
Samhain is the pagan Cross Quarter Day Sabbat otherwise known as Halloween, All Saints Day, Dia de Los Muertos, celebrated on October 31st to November 11th, depending on the tradition. This oil is to honor the dearly departed as well as to protect the incarnate living from any bogies or phookas may have made it across while the Veil Between the Worlds is thin. Samhain oil by Natural Magick Shop is sweet, sultry, and mysterious.
Samhain oil is attractive to spirits; discarnate and noncarnate forms of beings, but its nature is to feed and propitiate these entities, thus preserving a bond and a boundary between the worlds. Samhain oil is powerfully activating to the Third eye, so it can be used to make us more sensitive to messages and communications from the Beyond. Most people find its smell to be comforting and fascinating, as Death is Itself. For this reason, Samhain oil is helpful to resolve and honor the grief process, no matter what time of year it may come to visit.
If popular culture understands anything about Pagans, the Halloween observance may be the reason! The iconic images of the Crone Witch, the Black Cat, the Scull, the Spider, and the grimacing Jack O’Lantern are the perfect mix of attraction/repulsion for the morbid curiosity of the human condition! Samhain is a celebration of Death, and preparation for the Winter that is coming.
Like its opposite holiday on the Wheel of the Year, Samhain is a time when the Veil Between the Worlds is thin. The realms of the Dead, the lands of the Faeries, and the Human world are said to be close. Additionally, this is a time of movement…all the dead who passed earlier in the year now have their last feast with their surviving family and loved ones before passing into the realm of the Dead. So places are set for the dearly departed, portions of the meal are served to their plates, and toasts are made to say goodbye. The Pleiades now come to be visible in the night sky, and this is where the Seelie Courts migrate, while the Unseelies (bad Faeries) are now free to haunt the darkening landscape. This is also the season of the Apple harvest, but we leave one Apple on the tree for the Apple Tree Man. Any apples left on the trees in the orchard after Samhain night were property of the Spirits, Faeries, and/or Dead, and it was tabu to harvest, much less eat these apples
Children act out this seasonal change with their scary costumes, and we offer them candy, money, and food, propitiation against the pranks of the Goblins and other malevolent spirits, and the Dead who can find no rest. Our customary Jack O’Lantern is carved, and his protective powers are activated with the lit candle. A fit champion against these mischief makers.
This was a time of revenge, and with all the Spirits, Goblins, and costumed revelers going about, it was expected that calamities of any sort might take place. So any laborer might have cover, to take his revenge against a feudal lord who had cheated the sharecropper out of his share of the harvest. This harsher aspect of the holiday still persists as Devil’s Night or Hell Night where pranks advanced to arson and other forms of property crimes in urban cities, particularly Detroit.
One other widespread Samhain observance is divination and prediction of the future. When the Veil is thin, we are more likely to be receptive to messages from the spirit worlds, dead relatives, or other informants. So here we are back at the cottage of the Crone Witch, where she stirs her cauldron of visionary herbs, to have our fortune told. Bring out the Tarot cards, the inadvisable Ouija board, crystal ball, or swallow the seeds of the apple are in order to have a dream of our future spouse. Samhain oil would be an appropriate enhancement for these or any Samhain observances.
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