Meeting plaice meeting proposal thread.

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Mrs Redeyes
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Post by Mrs Redeyes »

Winter Solstice


In many Celtic-based traditions of Paganism, there is the enduring legend of the battle between the Oak King and the Holly King. These two mighty rulers fight for supremacy as the Wheel of the Year turns each season. At the Winter Solstice, or Yule, the Oak King kills the Holly King, and then reigns until Midsummer, or Litha. Once the Summer Solstice arrives, the Holly King returns to do battle with the old king, and defeats him. The Holly King them rules until Yule.



In some Wiccan traditions, the Oak King and the Holly King are seen as dual aspects of the Horned God. Each of these twin aspects rules for half the year, battles for the favor of the Goddess, and then retires to nurse his wounds for the next six months, until it is time for him to reign once more.



Often, these two entities are portrayed in familiar ways - the Holly King frequently appears as a woodsy version of Santa Claus. He dresses in red, wears a sprig of holly in his tangled hair, and is sometimes depicted driving a team of eight stags. The Oak King is portrayed as a fertility god, and occasionally appears as the Green Man or other lord of the forest.



Ultimately, while these two beings do battle all year long, they are two essential parts of a whole. Despite being enemies, without one, the other would no longer exist.


So, the Wheel turns and the Solstice approaches, we'll be feasting for Yule at Chez Red on Saturday 21st December, if anyone is free to join us to celebrate the return of the light as we mourn the light of JJ passing, then you'd be welcome.




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Count me in! <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://i2.ifrm.com/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo-->
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Post by Mrs Redeyes »

Jez - How do you feel about "The Desolation of Smaug"?




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Post by KindaWobbly »

Sorry, I didn't notice this before.



Well, we did go and see the first one so it makes sense to keep up and it would good to see the dragon this time (even if he doesn't eat roast potatoes and have a coat from Harrods).
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Post by Mrs Redeyes »

Cool, we were thinking about getting tickets to go see if Saturday late afternoon-ish before dinner but weren't sure if you wanted to see it. Shame about the Dragon but something tells me you were always going to be disappointed on that front <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://i2.ifrm.com/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo--> I'll get the tickets on Friday. *excited*




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Post by Mrs Redeyes »

Silli Plaice Moots



It's that time again. We did Imbolc in Oxford with the gang (although that wasn't the main cause of the moot) so the list for the rest of the year (on the nearest Saturday) stands thusly:



Ostara: Saturday 22nd March

Beltane: Saturday 3rd May

Litha: Saturday 21st June

Lughnasadh: Saturday 9th August

Mabon: Saturday 20th September

Samhain: Saturday 1st November

Yule: Saturday 20th December



KW do you think it would be nice to email Naveed and Graham and see if they might like to come for Beltane and/or Yule? I can't remember where Graham is in the country but a train from Oxford is only about ?40 return for the weekend.



We'll be planning to have our usual get togethers for all of the above so let me know what you're available for, a reminder of the reason for each is below in the order of the Wheel of the Year:



SAMHAIN



Samhain, or Halloween, is the death festival, marking the descent of Winter. The leaves are falling from the trees in drifts, and life is drawn away from the surface of the earth, and descends deep into the earth. Life is now in the roots and bulbs of plants which rest over the Winter. The Horned God who was Lord of Life and the Wild Greenwood has now truly taken His throne as Lord of the Underworld, the dread Lord of Shadows, the comforter of souls.



The earth prepares for sleep and draws energy inwards. This is a time for introspection, as we too draw our energy within and prepare for the Winter. The Earth is becoming cold, and barren, and we see Her as the Cailleach, the Crone, the Wise One. She is the Dark Mother who devours the God that She may give birth to Him again. Her womb is also the tomb, and the Underworld, and the Horned God thus resides within Her womb over the Winter months.



Samhain is a time of transformation and inner work. It is also a sombre time of remembrance, when we remember and honour those who have died. The veil is thinnest between the worlds and we call on the spirits of the dead and invite them to feast with us on this, the feast of death. We call upon our ancestors and contact the ancient wisdom. It is a time of endings, but also a time of beginnings, as Samhain is a Celtic New Year's Eve festival. Thus we give up the past and look to the future.



THE WINTER SOLSTICE: YULE



Yule is the time we celebrate the return of the waxing sun. Light and life can be seen to be returning and conquering death. Yule is a turning point, a point of change, where the tides of the year turn and begin to flow in the opposite direction. It is the darkest time of the year, the time of the longest night, but there is the promise of the return of light.



We encourage the sun to rise and to grow in power, and we remember the seasons of plenty. The fir tree represents life amidst death, it is evergreen, representing everlasting life, and lasting friendship. We honour the spirit of the tree, and what it represents.



The tree may be decorated with appropriate offerings, fruit, decorated pine cones, jewellery, symbols of the sun, symbols of fertility, birds, animals, etc. At yule we say goodbye to the dying sun, and wait through the long, cold night for the sun's rebirth. The night belongs to the Goddess, and is a night of waiting, through her pregnancy, for the Child of Promise.



In the morning we greet the new sun and celebrate the waxing year. The rising sun brings the promise of the spring and the gifts that will bring. It is still a long time before the sun will be strong, but we hope and we trust. The sun is now the Child of Promise, the young hero God. It is a time of making wishes and hopes for the coming year, and of setting resolutions. From the darkness comes light.



IMBOLC



The Festival of Imbolc or Bride, is celebrated around 2nd February by Pagans, and by Christians who call it Candlemas. Imbolc is Irish- Gaelic, translated variously as "in the belly" and "ewe's milk", and represents the quickening of Light and Life.



The first stirrings of the coming of Spring can be seen, as the first flowers (snowdrops and winter aconite) begin to appear. Seeds which have lain dormant within the Earth over the cold Winter months begin to stir with life, as yet unseen. At Imbolc we celebrate the Waking Light of the soul. Our spirits begin to quicken as we anticipate the rebirth of Nature. In Wicca it is the traditional time for initiation. Now is the time for the banishing of Winter and the welcoming of Spring. We welcome the Goddess Who is renewed, reborn as the Flower Maiden. She has passed through Her phase as the Hag, Crone or Wise One, and is a Maiden again. Bride or Brigid is a three-fold Celtic Goddess who has been christianized into St. Brigid, whose day is celebrated on 1st February.



In Ireland, St. Brigid's cross is made of rushes and straw, and goes back to pre-Christian times, representing the Sun Wheel or Fire Wheel. It may also be linked to an ancient ceremony connected with the preparation of the grain for sowing in the Spring. It was believed that the Spirit of the Grain, or the Goddess Herself, resided in the last grain harvested, and the last grain from the Harvest Festival was ritually brought into the house at Imbolc, blessed and planted as the first seed of the next harvest.



The grain may also be made into a female figure, the Brideog (little Brighde) and dressed. Bride's bed is made, and She is welcomed in. The Goddess is seen in Her three aspects at Imbolc, as the new-born Flower Maiden; the Mother, or bride of fertility, awaiting the fertilizing Sun God, and the Dark Crone of the dark half of the year. The sun is growing in strength, the Child of Promise, re-born at Yule, is now the Conquering Child.



What was born at the Solstice begins to manifest, and this is the time for individuation, as we each light our own light, and set ourselves tasks and challenges. We nurture and kindle our resolutions and begin to look outwards again, do outer activity, although first we look deep within to discover what potential lies there waiting to be fulfilled.



Through the weeks ahead the days grow gradually longer, but we are still in the dark half of the year..



OSTARA: THE SPRING EQUINOX



This festival is named after the Anglo-Saxon Goddess Eostre or Eastre, also known in Old German as Ostara. Little is known about this Goddess, except that her festival was celebrated at the Spring Equinox, and became Easter, and that She was a Goddess of fertility, and was connected with hares and eggs.



She may also be connected with the Greek Eos and the Roman Aurora, both Dawn Goddesses, and with the Babylonian Ishtar and Phoenician Astarte, both love Goddesses.



The Anglo-Saxon lunar month, which became April, was called Eastermonath. The equinox is a time both of fertility and new life, and of balance and harmony. Light and dark are here in balance, but the light is growing stronger. It is a time of birth, and of manifestation. Daffodils, tulips and crocuses are all in full bloom, blossom appears on trees and catkins can be found on the hazel and willow.



The days grow lighter and the earth grows warmer. As at Imbolc, seeds may be blessed and planted. Seeds of wisdom, understanding, and magickal skills may also be planted. Eggs may be used for the creation of talismans, or ritually eaten. The egg is a symbol of rebirth, and its yolk represents the sun, its white, the Goddess. Egg production in hens is stimulated when the bird's retina is stimulated by more than 12 hours of light, thus more eggs are produced after the equinox.



This is the time of spring's return, the joyful time, the seed time, when life bursts forth from the earth and the chains of winter are broken. It is a time of balance when all the elements within must be brought into new harmony. The Prince of the Sun reaches out His hand, and the Kore, the maiden, returns from the dark underworld. Where they dance, wild flowers appear, sorrow turns to joy, and scarcity turns to abundance.



BELTANE



"This is the time when sweet desire weds wild delight. The Maiden of Spring and the Lord of the Waxing Year meet in the greening fields and rejoice together under the warm Sun. The shaft of life is twined in the spiral web and all of nature is renewed. We meet in the time of flowering, to dance the dance of Life" ?? Starhawk,



The Spiral Dance Beltane (also spelled Bealteinne, Bealtaine and various other ways) is the beginning of the Celtic Summer, the light season of the year. Like Samhain, it is a time when the veil is thin between the worlds, a time to communicate with spirits, particularly at this time nature spirits. In Irish Gaelic, Bealtaine is the name of the month of May.



In Scottish Gaelic Bealtuinn means May Day. The word originally meant "Bel Fire", and Beltane is associated with the Celtic God Bel, also known as Balor or Belenus. Bel is a God of Light and Fire and has been equated with the Greek Apollo, and associated with the Sun, although He is not specifically a Sun God. Fires were traditionally built at Beltane, and people would jump over the fire. Young, unmarried people would leap the bonfire and wish for a husband or wife, young women would leap it to ensure their fertility and couples leap it to strengthen a bond.



Cattle were driven through the ashes or between two Beltane fires to ensure a good milk yield. The maypole, still used in Mayday festivities, represents both the phallus and the Goddess. It is also the World Tree connecting the three Worlds, its root in the Underworld, its branches in the Heavens. The shaman`s spirit may travel between the realms via the World Tree, and the phallus is also connected with life, love and death.



The mating of the Green Man with the Goddess as Queen of May was a magickal act considered necessary for the fertility of the Earth. Beltane is a time of fertility and is also an excellent time for Handfastings, the couple enacting the Heiros??gamos, or sacred marriage. The Hawthorn tree (also called the May tree) blossoms at this time, and we are in the Hawthorn month. The blossoms can be gathered, and a delicious wine made from them, to be drunk the following Beltane. Celebrate Beltane by taking pleasure in life and enjoying the gifts of the Goddess.



LITHA: SUMMER SOLSTICE



At the Summer Solstice the sun is at its highest and brightest and the day is at its longest. The Lord of Light has fought the powers of darkness, and is triumphant, ensuring fertility in the land. But in so doing so, He sows the seeds of His own death. The Wheel turns and the Dark God (the Holly King) begins to wax in power as the Light God (Oak King) wanes.



The Goddess shows Her Death- in-Life aspect, the Earth is fertile, and all is in bloom, the Goddess reaches out to the fertilizing Sun God at the height of His powers. At the same time She presides over the death of the God. The Goddess dances Her dance of Life and Death, the Sun God loves Her, and dies of His love. The Summer Solstice is a time of fulfilment of love.



Flowers are in bloom everywhere, i.e. in sexual maturity, ready for pollination, fertilization, yet once fertilized they die that the seeds and fruits may develop. At the same time, summer fruits appear, for a short but delicious season.



June was considered by some to be the luckiest month to be married in, and is the time of the mead moon, or honey moon. A tradition was for newly weds to drink mead daily for a month after their wedding, hence the post wedding holiday being named the honeymoon. Although the days begin to grow shorter after the Summer Solstice, the time of greatest abundance is still to come. The promises of the Goddess and God are still to be fulfilled.



This is a time of beauty, love, strength, energy, rejoicing in the warmth of the sun, and the promise of the fruitfulness to come. It seems a carefree time, yet in the knowledge of life, is the knowledge of death, and beauty is but transitory. We celebrate life, and the triumph of light, but acknowledge death, and the power of the Dark Lord which now begins to grow stronger.



LUGHNASADH



Lughnasadh or Lammas is celebrated on August eve or August 1st and is the festival of the first of the harvests. Lammas is the Anglo-Saxon name for the festival, meaning Loaf mass. Lughnasadh is the festival of Lugh, a Celtic God of Light and Fire and God of crafts and skills. His Welsh form is Llew Law Gyffes, and in the Mabinogion story of Blodeuwidd and Llew, the theme of Llew as the sacrificed God can be seen (we need of course to consider the pre-Christian origins of the story).



Gronw can be seen as the Dark God of the Waning year, and Llew as the Bright Lord of the Waxing year, Blodeuwidd represents the Goddess in Her Flower Maiden aspect. Lammas or Lughnasadh then has the theme of the sacrificed God of the harvest, but he is sacrificed and transformed, rather than descending into the underworld to become Lord of Death, which comes later in the year.



Lammas is a time of the fullness of Life, and a celebration of the bountiful earth. It is a time of the sacrificial mating of Goddess and God, where the Corn King, given life by the Goddess and tasting of Her love is sacrificed and transformed into bread and ale which feeds us. The main themes of Lammas may therefore be seen as thanksgiving to the Goddess for Her bountiful harvest, stating our hopes for what we wish to harvest (for Lammas is the very beginning of the harvest), sacrifice, transformation, and a sharing of the energy of the Corn King.



MABON: THE AUTUMNAL EQUINOX



The two equinoxes are times of equilibrium. Day and night are equal and the tide of the year flows steadily, but whilst the Spring Equinox manifests the equilibrium before action, the Autumnal Equinox represents the repose after action, the time to take satisfaction in the work of the summer and reap its benefits.



The Autumnal Equinox is the second harvest festival, with the fruit being gathered in. We celebrate the abundance of the earth, and make wine from the excess fruit, to preserve the richness of the fruits of the earth to give us joy throughout the year.



This is the time of the Vine. The God, who was Lord of the Greenwood in the summer and the Corn King at Lughnasadh now dances His last dance upon the earth, as Dionysus, God of wine, music and dance, before making his descent to the underworld to take up his role as Dread Lord of Shadows. The Lord of Light, the Sun King, His power waning, exists briefly in balance with the Dark Lord before giving way to the growing power of darkness, but the power of the sun is encapsulated in the grape and the fruits of the earth.



The wine will remind us of his power throughout the year. The leaves falling from the trees and rotting into the earth are a reflection of the Horned God's journey from the Greenwood to the underworld, deep into the womb of the Mother, where He will reside until He begins to emerge with the new green shoots in the spring. The Autumnal Equinox marks the completion of the harvest, and thanksgiving, with the emphasis on the future return of that abundance.



The Eleusinian mysteries took place at this time, during which the initiate was said to have been shown a single ear of grain with the words "In silence is the seed of wisdom gained". The themes then of the Autumnal Equinox are the completion of the harvest, the balance of light and dark, and of male and female, and an acknowledgement of the waning power of the sun and the waxing power of the Dark Lord.




--------------------


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"Illegitmi non carborundum est!"



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Post by KindaWobbly »

Mrs Redeyes wrote:Ostara: Saturday 22nd March

Beltane: Saturday 3rd May

Litha: Saturday 21st June

Lughnasadh: Saturday 9th August

Mabon: Saturday 20th September

Samhain: Saturday 1st November

Yule: Saturday 20th December



KW do you think it would be nice to email Naveed and Graham and see if they might like to come for Beltane and/or Yule? I can't remember where Graham is in the country but a train from Oxford is only about ?40 return for the weekend.


I would suggest one of the more summery ones instead. I won't be here for Beltane 'cause I'll be on a plane to Addis (or possibly Geneva...) going to see my brother and Yule is pretty close to when we all agreed to meet up in Oxford.
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Post by Mrs Redeyes »

KW, are you doing anything particular next weekend? It'd be really good to see you before you go away and we're celebrating our 3rd anniversary at Chez Red, seems like it would be a good chance to meet up if you're free?




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Post by KindaWobbly »

<!--emo&:D--><img src='http://i2.ifrm.com/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo--> Sounds good!
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Post by Mrs Redeyes »

Brill :-) Waiting to hear what the chicken plans are but will keep you informed, looking forward to it <!--emo&:aha:--><img src='http://i2.ifrm.com/4013/140/emo/aha.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='aha.gif' /><!--endemo-->




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"Illegitmi non carborundum est!"



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Post by Mrs Redeyes »

Chicken escape plan has been foiled <!--emo&:(--><img src='http://i2.ifrm.com/html/emoticons/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif' /><!--endemo--> Got a call today to say that the farmer (curse him) has pulled out. Poor chooks <!--emo&:(--><img src='http://i2.ifrm.com/html/emoticons/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif' /><!--endemo--> So anytime tomorrow afternoon is fine <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://i2.ifrm.com/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo-->



See you then xXxX




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<!--emo&:D--><img src='http://i2.ifrm.com/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo--> Okie dokie. I'll probably be there sometime between 5 & 6.
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See you then <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://i2.ifrm.com/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo-->




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Post by KindaWobbly »

Back now. Thank you very much! <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://i2.ifrm.com/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
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Post by RedeyesUK »

Glad you could make it! <!--emo&:good:--><img src='http://i2.ifrm.com/4013/140/emo/good.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='good.gif' /><!--endemo-->

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