Archive for the ‘Divination’ Category

Today I pulled the ten of swords card. The imagery is quite graphic. We see a man, face down, with swords stabbing him in his back. There is water in the background and the sky is pitch black.

I looked at this card to see what advice I can gleen from it. What has been going on in my life that really needs work on. Am I really seeing the whole picture or am I just focusing on my own issues.

The Ten of Swords is telling me to be aware of what is going on around me. Presently, I am dealing with some emotional issues that I need to work through. Is this card telling me that someone will hurt me, or am I just “playing the victim” role. Always remember-there are always to sides to every card of the tarot. I must admit, that this card really hit home to me today. It may be a lesson in ego for me.

Really look at this card. How come there are so many swords stabbing this person? Does it really take soo many swords to the damage, or can just one sword do the deed. The point here may be what I call “overkill”. Is your ego getting the best of you? Is it time to let things go? If this has to do with a person in your life-did someone hurt you? Be careful not to delve into that “Victim” role. Do you feel that someone, or that certain people may be “stabbing you in the back”?  What would this mean to you?

Remember-the Ten of Swords is a “Minor” Arcana card. This means that this is something that is most likely related to everyday situations. If the issue is about a person-do you see this person around you everyday? The presence of this card may signify the need to settle this. Where you hurt by someone? Was it taken a bit too far?

Keep your eyes open. Don’t over do anything or become paranoid. Make sure to keep a level head and not let your ego control you. Things will get better if you handle yourself with dignity and grace. There lessons to be learned from this card AND situation.

What is your take on the Ten of Swords! What would be your take on this card if you pulled this for yourself?

What is intuition? How can I develop my own intuition and how can it help me with reading the tarot?

I wanted to start this article on something that might surprise you! YOU can learn to read the tarot, both for yourself and for others! If you learn to open up your 3rd eye/Brow chakra and learn to trust your own intuition, then YOU will be a good tarot reader! It’s a matter of learning how to pay attention to your feelings and how to interpret the symbols that are in the cards!
 

Let’s take a look at this particular card.  It’s the Temperance card from the Rider-Waite Tarot deck. This might be the most known tarot deck that there is out there.  The imagery is clean and easy to interpret.  Here we see and Angel pouring water from one cup to the other.  Both the cups and water represent emotions.  Think of this, when we are emotional, we tend to cry, whether or not we are happy or sad.

Temperance is almost invariably depicted as a person pouring liquid from one receptacle into another. Historically, this was a standard symbol of the virtue temperance, one of the cardinal virtues, representing the dilution of wine with water. In many decks, the person is a winged person/angel, usually female or androgynous, and stands with one foot on water and one foot on land.

I look at this card and the advice that I see that is this:  Everything in moderation.  The angel that is depicted here is pouring wine into a cup or chalice of water, thereby diluting it.  Learn to temper your emotions.  Maybe you have a tendency to overdue things.  If there is an emotional issue here, learn to cool it!  Take a step back and think before you react.  Notice that the angel has one foot on land and the other foot on the water.  This indicates a need for balance.  Maybe there is a need for you to ground yourself. Take notice of other aspects of this card.  There are a lot of “opposites” to be seen here.  We already mentioned that there is one foot on the water and the other on land, but look deeper and you will see more.  There is a Sun in the background which represents life, but there are also lilies which represent death.  The symbol of an Angel is of a being/deity that can transcend death, rise above death.

Take a peek at the colors of this card.  Do the colors excite you or do they seem to calm you down?  What about the imagery?  Does the angel seem to comfort you or does the angel seem intimidating to you?   This where intuition comes in. One way to describe intuition is “the knowing without a particular reason why.”  Every like or dislike someone right away?   Trust any feelings that you get when you look at this card.  Jot everything down in a journal that you have set aside for just your tarot readings.  Do not second guess anything!  When you have done this, come up with your own description of this card.  There are NO wrong answers for this exercise!

I would LOVE to see what you have come up with!  Contact me here at Sacred Mists and let me know what your results are!

With all the recent attention focused on Iceland and the eruption of the volcano Eyjafjalljökull, it seems fitting to devote an article to this beautiful but dangerous island nation’s pagan past.

Iceland was once a bastion of the Norse, often better known in pop culture (like the recent film How to Train Your Dragon), as the Vikings. The Norse were a culture of warriors and farmers, who controlled much of Northern Europe from approximately the 8th century to the 11th century AD. Much of what we know about these ancient people is from later medieval Icelandic texts which escaped the rising tide of Christianity that destroyed similar manuscripts on mainland Europe.

Of these, the Prose and Poetic Eddas, preserved primarily by historian and poet Snorri Sturluson or in compendium texts like the Codex Regius, reveal the most about ancient Norse religious beliefs, mythology, and ethics than any other historical sources. Whole tomes could be, and have been, written on these lovely Icelandic texts, but I would like to draw your attention here to the Hàvamàl, my particular favorite section of the Poetic Edda and one of the most understated but important ancient texts from around the world in terms of learning to live a spiritually fulfilling and magickal life.

Hàvamàl means “words of the wise one,” and given some of the text’s content is devoted to Odin and it is located within the Poetic Edda surrounded by further tales of Odin, is it assumed that this ‘wise one’ is the great god of the Norse pantheon, Odin. Within the Hàvamàl are two particularly magickal sections devoted exclusively to Odin. The first of these, comprising the 138th to 146th stanzas is entitled the Rúnatal and features, among other tales of Odin, a first person narrative of Odin’s blót (sacrifice) on the world tree Yggsdrasil, which earned him the secrets of the runes.

“I know that I hung on the windy tree
Nine whole nights, wounded with the spear,
Given to Odin, myself to myself,
On the tree that sprang from roots
No man knows of.

They gave me neither bread, nor drink from the horn.
I peered down.
I took up runes, howling I took them,
And then fell back.

Nine monstrous songs I learnt from the glorious
Son of Bolthor, Bestla’s father.
And one draught I took of the glorious mead
Poured from Odrerir.

Then I began to quicken, to become fertile,
To grow tall and to thrive.
From a word, one word led to another.
From a deed, one deed let to another.”

It is one of the most mysterious and evocative passages among Norse manuscripts. The esoteric ritual it represents may or may not have been a dramatization of an actual ritual used to initiate students into the secrets of runology, which therefore would have most likely featured more modest elements: perhaps a nine day fast while meditating beneath a sacred tree which culminated in the singing of certain songs, the drinking of mead, and an introductory first throwing of the rune stones accompanied by a howl of passion. The story and the potential ritual elements it features are both anthropologically conceivable for Norse culture but at the same time strikingly reminiscent of other religious elements, particularly the figure of the god crucified on the tree, pierced by a spear; which smacks a bit of Christian influence and may have been added to the story at a later date.

The second portion of the Hàvamàl relating to Odin, and the conclusion of the Regius Codex version of the Hàvamàl, the Ljóđatal (stanzas 147-163-5), is often referred to as “a catalogue of chants.” However it is not so much a compendium of magickal spells as it is Odin boasting of the eighteen magickal powers only he knows the spell-chants for (or only sixteen, depending on which manuscript one consults). The concluding of these is one of the most amusing bits of religious texts:

“This eighteenth I know, I shall never tell
To maid, to man’s wife-
Better it is if only one knows;
It is the last of my chants –
Except perhaps for she who holds me in her arms,
Or perchance my sister.”

Odin keeps the purpose of the eighteenth charm a secret, one he says he will only share with his own wife or his sister. However Frigg, Odin’s wife, is also an adept at divine magick like Odin so will presumably not need to be told this final secret. And Odin has no sister. So when he promises he will tell the secret only to her or his wife, he is cunningly saying he will tell no one.

It is, however, the opening two sections of the Hàvamàl, which I find particularly appealing and useful in the day to day art of living. The latter, the Loddfáfnismál (stanzas 111-137) is directed to the “stray singer,” perhaps a wandering bard type figure; and gives him a series of moral and ethical advice as to how he specifically should react in rather specialized circumstances. The former section, that which in fact opens the Hàvamàl is the Gestapáttr or “Guest’s section” (stanzas 1-79). It too offers moral advice to the reader. What is important to realize is that the ancient Norse religion was not a dogmatic one. It did not have organized priesthoods watching over the people, dictating how they should live. It was a more personal experience than that. Each man, was, to a certain extent, his own priest. And as such believed not only in a shared knowledge of the stories of the gods, but in a way of living: a way of conducting their daily lives and their interactions with their fellow man.

As a collection of proverbs, these sections advocate both the need to live well and wise in order to be fulfilled and the need for conducting oneself using common sense. It emphasizes a spiritual awareness of one’s own practical wisdom in order to succeed in the world. It also uniquely stresses the notion that man is ultimately a social creature, and in order to achieve fulfillment within one’s culture, one must acknowledge that and be aware of the rules of engagement between friends, enemies, and strangers. It specifically offers sage words of wisdom on how to treat guests, how to be a guest (hence the section’s title as ‘the guest’s section’), how to treat friends and enemies, and contains admittedly outdated advice on how to interact with members of the opposite sex. It advises its Vikings not to overeat and get fat, to gain as much wisdom as possible in all matters of the world, and to appreciate what you have rather than lust after what you don’t. The moral codes emphasized in the Hàvamàl went on to form the basis of Icelandic law, a system which included the first parliamentary system and has been a model for most other democratic nations in the world.

Just as it is still referenced in modern Iceland on a day to day basis, many of its creeds are still applicable today in your personal life.

The first example from this section I am offering up to you is my personal favorite. I actually have it written on a card I keep tucked away in my passport case:

“He is truly wise
Who’s travelled far
And knows the ways of the
World.
He who has travelled
Can tell the spirit which
Governs the men he meets.“

This next exemplifies the good natured but battle hardened warriors Norse culture is often represented as.

“A King’s son should be
Thoughtful
Thorough and silent
Brave in battle.
A man should be happy
And in good humor
To his dying day.“

And here is a bit of ancient psychoanalysis which very much holds true today.

“He is unhappy
And ill-tempered
Who meets all with mockery.
What he doesn’t know,
But needs to,
Are his own familiar faults.”

Almost Hallmark in its message, copy this next antique platitude into cards to your friends to let them know you care: trod the proverbial postal “road” to them. Nothing says you love them like a pretty bit of stationary with a heartfelt message. And I’m very serious about that. I absolutely adore getting cards in the post.

“A bad friend
Is far away
Though his cottage is close.
To a true friend
Lies a trodden road
Though his farm lies far away.“

And finally, some rather harsh ancient dieting advice:

“The glutton does not
Guard himself
Eats till he’s ill.
Wiser men
Only mock
A fool’s fat belly.“

Although seemingly a collection of platitudes and maxims, it is actually much more, in that it reveals the deep running moral and spiritual mode of conduct and ethos of the Norse people, a facet of philosophical and anthropological study not often available for ancient cultures. Analysis of the moral philosophy represented in these two sections of the Hàvamàl has revealed that it was not borrowed from afar, but was rather a home grown moral common sense developed on the farms, forests, and battlefields of the North. Despite the indigenous origin of the code, it is not, however, exclusive to the Norse. Several components of the philosophies of the Hàvamàl, such as its emphasis on the need for understanding human nature and living life to your own moral compass rather than an easier path lesser company might accept from you, are quite similar to the ideas put forth by the Greek philosopher Aristotle, and to some extent his predecessors, Socrates and Plato. What was philosophy to the Greeks was applied common sense to the Norse. It is indicative of earlier men’s spot-on understanding of themselves, their fellow men, and how best to live a spiritually fulfilling and happy life.

Sources:
Johnson, B., (1992). Hàvamàl: The Sayings of the Vikings. Oslo: Gudrun. (translations featured above)
Johnson, S., (1938). Old Norse and Ancient Greek Ideals. Ethics 49(1) 18-36. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Jones, G., (1998). The Vikings. London: The Folio Society.
Page, R.I., (2000). Chronicles of the Vikings: Records, Memorials, Myths. London: The British Museum Press. (translations featured above)

I wanted to touch on the subject of Intuition today.

If a person really wants to be good at the art of reading the Tarot, then they must learn how to trust their intuition. Learn how to really listen to your “inner” voice. Everyone has the capacity to read the tarot, but you must let your intuition come through.

What I mean by this is:  let your first impressions come through. One exercise that helped me greatly was to keep a pen and paper with me whenever I did a reading for someone. Whenever a thought or a picture came to my mind, I would write it down or draw a picture of it, even if it didn’t make sense to the person I was reading for. When the reading was done, I would then tell the client what came to mind. This is then a great time to discuss the reading and what you felt came to you. In my experiences in doing this type of work, I have found that the client loves this type of feedback and actually relates to what images came to me. This is very similar to keeping a “Dream Journal”. If you keep up with this exercise you will then find that the images that you “see/feel” become clearer and actually more accurate.

What is Intuition?
“Intuition is receiving input and ideas without knowing exactly how and where you got them from. You simply know it is not from yourself. Like creativity, intuitive inspiration often happens when someone virtually «fuses» in an activity, when one is highly focused on the respective activity in a state of joy and fulfillment. Intuition can be trained and in its highest level leads into a conscious contact with non-incarnated beings, a process usually called channeling.”

With this reasoning, if you continue with the exercise listed above, one can say that you are “training” your intuition. I feel that learning how to use the Tarot, is actually one of the ways a person can use to “sharpen” their intuition.

Carl Jung states that Intuition is “The knowing without knowing”. What does this mean to you? When you look at the symbols in the cards, what do they mean to you? No cheating now…put that little white booklet away!

Want to see intuition in action? Take a look at children! They tend to act upon impulse and intuition. They see what they see and feel what they perceive is real to them. It is only when we grow up, that we unlearn how to use these skills! We are taught that logic is the only way.

I would love to hear about your experiences with the tarot and of course-intuition. How did your “inner” voice help you, and how it has helped you in the course of reading the tarot.

Blessings all!
Bernadette

Greetings and Salutations everyone!

I am new to the writing team of the Sacred Mists Blog and wanted to give everyone a little bit of information on who I am and what I will be doing here.

My name is Bernadette aka Duchess. I have a Metaphysical shop in Cornwall NY, I am a 3rd Degree Alexandrian Priestess, Tarot reader, mom of 3 wonderful sons, married and a total metal head!

Tarot is a love of mine. I first picked up the cards, back in the ’80′s (yes, I am dating myself), and have been passionate about it ever since. I started reading the tarot professionally around 1990 at various stores all around Orange County, New York. During this time, I also started to teach the tarot at stores and festivals around the Northeast.

I will be posting here to talk about the tarot, and currently working on tarot certification courses for Sacred Mists. My approach to the tarot may be a little different then most. Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell have really influenced my thoughts in regards to the tarot. I look at the tarot as advice. Kind of like the ink blot test (the Rorschach test). What do you see, what do the symbols mean to you?

Another aspect of the tarot that is very important to me is ethics. There have been many times over the years where I kind of had to pick up the pieces for people. What I mean by this is: There have been people who have come to me who were too scared or upset to come to me. That they were literally shaking or crying with fear. They wanted a reading but their experiences with tarot readers was so negative that they were afraid of me, or what might come up in the cards. Because of this, I was inspired to teach aspiring readers about the importance of tarot ethics. Talk about making lemonade out of lemons! I would love to hear about your own individual experiences with the tarot, both good and bad. Share with me here through your comments!

The lovely people of Sacred Mists have asked me to write both casual reader and professional certification courses in tarot and I am now deep in the process of putting my years of experience to paper in a systematic way so that I can present the courses to all of you. Please feel free to contact me here. I would love to hear about your own Tarot experiences, your thoughts and your ideas!  I would love to respond questions and concepts you’d like to share or ask about here and of course I will be discussing all things Tarot in my blog posts. Be sure to follow and check back often!

Within Wicca, the Celtic Tradition is a facet of this pagan religion that honors the Celtic/Druidic pantheon of deities and the ancient Celts’ way of interacting with their world on a physical, magickal, and spiritual level. Wiccans of the Celtic Trad have a strong affinity towards Nature, the Elements, Healing, and the Fae. Today we will be taking a brief glimpse at the history of the Celts and their religion, a look at four prominent deities, and some specifics regarding Celtic magick as it relates to the Celtic calendar, the Ogham alphabet, sacred tree lore, and animal magick.

To understand the Celtic Tradition we must first understand and acknowledge its roots. While today most people think of Ireland when they think of Celts, the Celts actually were originally spread out over a large part of Europe in addition to the British Isles. They occupied vast areas of western and central Europe during the last half of the first millennium BC. Although the early Celts were comprised of a number of different races and tribes, they were all linked by common origins and language, common religious traditions, and a close similarity of laws.

Our knowledge of the religion and mythologies of the Celtic people comes from three
different areas in Europe. From Gaul, which is modern day France, Britain (most specifically Wales), and Ireland. The Celts themselves did not commit their traditions to writings, but handed them down orally. Thus our knowledge of the Celts is dependent largely on fragmentary texts transcribed during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries by Christian monks, which provide us with ancient legends and heroic tales, but not many hard facts. Archaeological evidence has provided us with clues as well, however, so we are able to piece together a fairly accurate picture of the Celtic world. It appears that the Celts of Ireland maintained their cultural integrity until close to 500 AD, and it is there that the pagan Celtic mythology has been best preserved. For this reason, what follows primarily focuses on Irish Celtic lore, with a smattering, here and there, of Welsh.

Trying to piece together the origins and details of the Celtic religion that the Wiccan Celtic Tradition is based on is no easy feat. As mentioned earlier, the Druids did not keep written records, and what information we have is pieced together and transcribed by Christian monks and colored, undoubtedly, but their viewpoints. However, we do have details of some rituals and festivals, as well as lore regarding the important Irish pantheon of the Tuatha de Danaan.

The Tuatha de Danaan was an Irish pantheon of various gods and goddesses, both specialized to specific crafts, and generalized (like the paternal Dagda). Some of these gods correspond to the continental Celtic ones, some don’t, and some Celtic gods have no counterpart in Ireland. It has been suggested that the Tuatha de Danaan may actually be an artificial composite of deities stitched together by later storytellers. However, the story of the Tuatha de Danaan is an interesting tale, regardless of its origins, and many Tuatha de Danaan deities are called upon today by Celtic Wiccans.

In brief, the Tuatha de Danaan, who originated from Greece, were a highly skilled band of faery-folk, with great knowledge and skill in the arts of magick, music, poetry, and weaponry. They came to Ireland from four cities situated on the corners of the wind, Findias (South), Gorias (East), Murias (West) and Falias (North). The Tuatha de Danaan quickly conquered the Fir Bolg, who had colonized Ireland under a treaty with the Fomorians. Soon after, the Tuatha King, Lugh, defeated Balor -the Fomorian’s greatest warrior, and the Fomorians were driven from the island.

Each city held a master of wisdom who gave a treasure (or Hallow) to ensure the Tuatha De Danaan flourished. Uscias gifted the sword, Esras gifted a spear, Semias gifted the cauldron and Morfessa gifted a stone, each representing the cities respectively. The Danaan ruled Ireland for a hundred years, when, on the First of May, the Milesians attacked the island. Despite the great magick and prowess of the Tuatha, the Milesians triumphed. One of the Danaan’s great gods, The Dagda, led them underground and found retreats for them in hollow hills encompassed by hidden walls, to live undisturbed by mortals.

Present-day Celtic pagans have brought this ancient Irish pantheon back to prominence and now once again, requests for aid and guidance are being asked of such deities as Brigid, Dana, Oghma, and Lugh, just to name a few. The enduring success of this group of deities is due, in part, to the richness of this pantheon andthese goddesses and gods give the Celtic Wiccan a wonderful foundation to base their faith upon.

The Celts honored a wealth of deities. For the most part, Ireland, Wales and Gaul worshiped different localized deities, but some gods were known across all the pantheons, even if their names differed slightly from country to country. Here we will be focusing on two prominent female deities (Brigid and Rhiannon) and two prominent male deities (The Dagda and Cernunnos).

Brigid is probably the most famous of the Irish deities, as her worship endured into Christian times. Even to this day she is worshiped as her eternal flame has been re-lit at her convent in Kildare. In earliest times, she was a member of the Tuatha de Danann (the daughter of the Dagda and Boann and the wife of Bress). Later, she was made a saint in the Catholic pantheon, and earned the nickname “Mary of the Gael”. Even within the Christian pantheon, however, Brigid kept most of her pagan attributes, chiefly her association with fire.

Today we know Brigid best as the goddess we honor during the Celtic festival of Imbolc, celebrating the birth of spring. In addition to the importance Brigid holds for us during Imbolc, she is also believed to aid healing and fertility, as well as help assist women in labor. She is the Goddess of poetry, feminine crafts, the hearth, martial arts, healing and inspiration.

In today’s magick and ritual, Brigid can be called upon to aid you in virtually any endeavor you wish to undertake. She may be called upon for assistance in fire magick, crafting, inspiration, animal magick, fertility, healing and childbirth. Brigid is truly a powerful and prominent goddess.

Rhiannon is a Welsh goddess. Her original name is thought to be Rigatona (Gaulish), meaning “great queen”, which indicates that she once held a much higher status in the Celtic pantheon than she enjoys today. Rhiannon is a potent symbol of fertility, yet she is also an Otherworld and death Goddess, a bringer of dreams, and a moon deity who is symbolized by a white horse. Her father was Heveydd the Old, and she was married to both Pwyll and Manann. The story of her marriage to Pwyll, and the subsequent accusation of the murder of her child, is well documented and most people are familiar with Rhiannon from this tale.

In her guise as a death Goddess, Rhiannon could sing sweetly enough to lure all those in hearing to their deaths, and therefore she may be related to Germanic stories of lake and river faeries who sing seductively to lure sailors and fishermen to their doom. Her white horse images also link her to Epona, and many scholars feel they are one and the same, or at least are derived from the same archetypal roots.

In today’s magick and ritual, Rhiannon can be called upon to aid you in overcoming enemies, exercising patience, working magick, moon rituals, and enhancing dream work. My personal affinity to this goddess is strong, which turns out not to be too surprising, as though my journey over the years I found that my love of horses, moonstones, and dream work all correspond to her. I have talked to other witches who also are drawn to her, and am reassured that Rhiannon is enjoying a resurgence in importance to the Celtic pagan.

Dagda, the Good God, is the Irish Lord of the Land and the husband of Boann, the goddess of the river Boyne. Druids see him as a God of wisdom with extreme power, abundance and the ability to restore life, a belief sacred to the Celts. Portrayed as ancient man with hair of gray, he is grounded and simple in every way. He possesses a cauldron known as “the Undry”, which came from Murias, one of the Tuatha de Danann’s four mythical cities. This cauldron gave food to all, according to the individual’s merits. No one ever left it unsatisfied.

As Lord of the Land, he was a valiant defender of it, and performed great deeds in the battle between his family, the Tuatha de Danann, and the Fomors. In peace-time the Dagda played his living harp, which has two names – “Oak of the Two Cries”, and “Hand of Fourfold Music”. As he played upon it, the music causes the seasons to change – spring to summer, summer to autumn, autumn to winter, and winter again to spring. The Dagda’s final resting place is said to be a small barrow near the river Boyne, known as the Tomb of the Dagda, which has never been excavated.

In today’s magick and ritual, you can call on Dagda’s energies for almost any purpose you might need. He may be called upon for wisdom, animal magick, warrior skills, fertility, protection, assist in faery contact, elemental magick, or to increase mental prowess. Like Brigid, he is an extremely powerful and prominent deity.

Cernunnos was known to all Celtic areas in one form or another. He was called The Horned God; God of Nature; and the Great Father. The Druids knew him as Hu Gadarn, the Horned God of Fertility. He is usually portrayed sitting in a lotus position with horns or antlers on his head, long curling hair, a beard, naked except for a neck torque, and sometimes holding a spear and shield. His symbols were the stag, ram, bull, and horned serpent. He represented virility, fertility, animals, physical love, Nature, woodlands, reincarnation, crossroads, wealth, commerce, and warriors. Born on Alban Arthuan (Yule) he is often seen holding or wearing a golden torc signifying his connection as a solar deity and the wealth he may share with others.

In today’s magick and ritual, you can call upon Cernunnos for aid in fertility, magick and animals. Cernunnos is perhaps the most prominent and well-known of all Celtic deities, and many pagans of all paths honor him as the god that shares life’s journey with the Triple Goddess.

Wiccans following the Celtic Tradition usually employ various aspects of Celtic lore when creating and performing their spells and rituals that goes beyond simply calling on the various Celtic deities. Some aspects include following the Celtic Calendar, using the Celtic Ogham alphabet in divination or writing spells, utilizing specific sacred trees for spells and healing, and calling on totemic animals for aid and guidance.

The Celts based their calendar on the cycles of the moon instead of the sun. The Celtic year consisted of 13 months, 12 of which were roughly the same as our modern months, and one extra three day ‘make up’ month leading into the new year. Each month was governed by a moon, and had a sacred Ogham tree associated with it.

The Celtic Calendar included two primary fire festivals; Samhain (the beginning of winter,) and Beltane (the beginning of summer,) marking the movement from the dark into the light time of the year. Two other seasonal fire festivals were also celebrated: Imbolc (February 1), and Lughnasadh (August 1). Dates and seasonal associations noted here are that of the Northern hemisphere. For those who reside in the Southern hemisphere, the exact opposite dates and seasonal associations apply.

The onset of each season was observed at the Albans (Solstices and Equinoxes,) although the central point of each season was celebrated and recognized by a Fire Festival. These four Albans were Alban Arthuan (winter solstice or Yule), Alban Eiler (vernal equinox or Ostara), Alban Heruin (summer solstice or Litha), and Alban Elved (autumnal equinox or Mabon).

This Wheel of the Year is widely used among Traditions and pagans worldwide; not just Celtic Wiccans. This celebration of the turning of the seasons is an important part of how we view the world and is a cornerstone for our faith.

Ogham is a form of writing originally used by the Celtic people of the British Isles prior to the introduction of the Roman alphabet and Christianity. Each letter of the Ogham alphabet has the name of a tree or other plant, and each of these trees had a meaning in the Celtic religion.

The alphabet consists of twenty letters. Each letter consists of one to five strokes extending from or crossing a horizontal line. Ancient Ogham inscriptions are generally found cut into the edge of hewn stone, with the edge representing the horizontal line. When the edge is actually horizontal, the letters read from left to right. Vertical edges
were usually written from top to bottom, and in the case of a three-edge structure, such as a dolmen arch, the writing began at the lower left, ran up the left side, across the top, and down the right side.

Today, modern Celtic witches use Ogham for divination and spell work. For divination, the letters can either be carved on sticks and cast, or painted on cards and read like tarot. In other uses, the letters can be carved into candles to assist in spells or used to write out requests that are presented to the gods during rituals.

The culture of the ancient Celts was influenced by a great unity with nature, which we continue today. Reverence is given to all aspects of nature, but perhaps nothing was as sacred to the ancient Celts as the tree. The Druids actually created a calendar from the trees to personify the spirit of the Esbat, and today many people wonder why the tree played such a significant role in the Celtic life. Perhaps one reason is so many cultures modeled the universe and spiritual progression after a “Tree of Life” or a “World Tree”. Trees were a physical representation of unity with all things because of their visible upper parts which reached into the heavens, and the unseen bottom parts, or roots, which reached far into the ground. These bottom parts were virtually identical to the upper parts and perhaps reflected to many the ancient adage “As above, So below”. Trees physically unite the heaven and earth making the Earth Goddess and the Sky God one, united two halves of the whole and making them a powerful source of creative magick

Today the counting of the Celtic tree calendar begins with the full moon nearest Yule.
Once this is pinpointed, count off the thirteen moons of the lunar year and mark them
with their Tree. The Trees’ order is as follows: Birch, Rowan, Ash, Alder, Willow, Hawthorn, Oak, Holly, Hazel, Vine, Ivy, Reed and Elder. Each Tree has its own power, polarity, and magickal significance which we can call upon to strengthen our spells. The Trees also can be used for herbal magick spells, as various parts of these Trees have healing properties. Trees can be an invaluable aid in many of our magickal endeavors, and should be honored with the same respect given them by our Celtic ancestors.

Everywhere one looks in the ancient Celtic myths there are animals. They are the allies of heroes, the helpers of those who travel in search of wisdom, and the companions of shamans and witches. Animal symbolism found in Celtic myths include boars, birds, serpents, fish, horse and cattle, just to name a few. Boars symbolize courage and strong warriors. Fish, especially salmon, are associated with knowledge and secrets. Snakes and dragons are portents of trouble, strife and infertility. Birds also may presage bad luck or bloodshed. Horse and cattle represent fertility, as do many occurrences of animals in Celtic legend.

These legends have helped shape how we, today, relate to these animals in our own mediations and magick. Many following the Celtic path have strong relationships with their animal familiars, both physical and astral, and feel comfortable calling upon the strengths of other animals that are not their familiars. Animals hold a wealth of
knowledge and wisdom (as the ancient Celts well knew) and following the Celtic path allows us to reap the benefits of these close ties with our animal brethren.

As you can see, there is an incredible amount of knowledge a Wiccan of the Celtic Tradition should learn in order to honor their chosen Trad properly. Entire books have been written on Celtic lore and magick alone, and this essay has only been able to touch the tip of the iceberg. However, it is important to remember that following a Celtic Path requires not only knowledge of deities, plants, trees, animals, seasons, rituals, healing, history, etc., but also the appropriate attitude of reverence and celebration of spirit that ties us with Nature and our past. Celtic Wiccans should have both a strong sense of personal responsibility and a code of personal and social ethics that binds us all “in perfect love and perfect trust”.

References:

Conway, D.J. Celtic Magic. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 1990
Conway, D.J. By Oak, Ash, & Thorn – Modern Celtic Shamanism. St. Paul, MN:
Llewellyn Publications, 1995
Cotterell, Arthur and Storm, Rachel. The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Mythology. New
York; Hermes House, 1999
Hutton, Ronald. The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles – Their Nature and
Legacy. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishers, 1991
McCoy, Edain. Celtic Myth & Magic. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 1995
Matthews, John. Celtic Totem Animals. London, England: Red Wheel, 2002.