Hello Once Again--
My comments regarding the Lesson:
1)I find that the Esbats are more of a time of reflection and that Sabbats are more of celebration and honor of life itself.
2)One thing that I learned from my family regarding the moon is that you plant by the moon. Above ground plants are always to be planted on the waxing moon or Full and root or below ground plants should be planted during the waning or New Moon. I personally try to pay attention to what phase the moon is in if I am going to plant anything. Besides that I bless the Garden every year with a Garden Blessing Ritual, I also plant by the phase of the moon. To this end, it has always been effective and my garden flourishes.
4)I also find that when I am in balance, my female cycles are also in rhthym with the moon. At the waning moon, I begin to menstruate until that time of my cycle is completed. When I am out of balance, I notice that my cycles are off and usually I do not feel up to par.
5)Some additional notes/names of the Full Moon's are as follows:
January: Moon of Vanities, Old Moon, Ice Moon
February: Moon of Renewal
March: Harmony Moon, Wishing Moon, Crust Moon, Death Moon
April: Moon of Reinvention, Pink Moon, Awakening Moon, Egg Moon
May: Shadows, Milk, Grass
June: Purple, Rose, Dyan, Strawberry, Flower
July: Venture, Buck, Rose, Hay, Thunder (boy have we had some of this, "Hail Thunor"!)
August: Spirit, Sturgeon, Lightening, Grain, Dog Days
September: Nothing to add new
October: Artful Moon
November: Futures, Beaver, Tree
December: Sage, Cold (duh!) Moon
6)As far as esbats and sabbats, we need both to maintain balance. Esbasts are associated with the feminine, the moon, dark, night; Sabbats are associated with the masculine, the sun, light, day. We cannot have one without the other.
1)I find that the Esbats are more of a time of reflection and that Sabbats are more of celebration and honor of life itself.
2)One thing that I learned from my family regarding the moon is that you plant by the moon. Above ground plants are always to be planted on the waxing moon or Full and root or below ground plants should be planted during the waning or New Moon. I personally try to pay attention to what phase the moon is in if I am going to plant anything. Besides that I bless the Garden every year with a Garden Blessing Ritual, I also plant by the phase of the moon. To this end, it has always been effective and my garden flourishes.
4)I also find that when I am in balance, my female cycles are also in rhthym with the moon. At the waning moon, I begin to menstruate until that time of my cycle is completed. When I am out of balance, I notice that my cycles are off and usually I do not feel up to par.
5)Some additional notes/names of the Full Moon's are as follows:
January: Moon of Vanities, Old Moon, Ice Moon
February: Moon of Renewal
March: Harmony Moon, Wishing Moon, Crust Moon, Death Moon
April: Moon of Reinvention, Pink Moon, Awakening Moon, Egg Moon
May: Shadows, Milk, Grass
June: Purple, Rose, Dyan, Strawberry, Flower
July: Venture, Buck, Rose, Hay, Thunder (boy have we had some of this, "Hail Thunor"!)
August: Spirit, Sturgeon, Lightening, Grain, Dog Days
September: Nothing to add new
October: Artful Moon
November: Futures, Beaver, Tree
December: Sage, Cold (duh!) Moon
6)As far as esbats and sabbats, we need both to maintain balance. Esbasts are associated with the feminine, the moon, dark, night; Sabbats are associated with the masculine, the sun, light, day. We cannot have one without the other.
7)How I celebrate the Sabbats:
a)Samhain-This is the most sacred time of the year. This is my time of celebration and I relish in all the festiveness by dressing up for parties and for our ritual(s). We host a ritual/Samhain (Halloween) party and dress up, play games, honor our dead. We take time to prepare for the upcoming winter. This year, our Coven is hosting a Samhain Celebration at a lodge and opening it to the public. We will have chili with all the fixins and seasonal pies; have a ritual to honor our ancestors; raffle/fundraiser to raise items/funds for Operation Circle Care for our pagan soldiers. I personally love to decorate my home in those amazing fall colors and use those delicious fall scents of autumn leaves, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie.
b)Yule-I usually participate or host a ritual in which we recognize that Winter is upon us and that it is a time of inward reflections of what we have accomplished over the past year and to take the time to rest.
c)Imbolg-We start thinking about spring and renewal. We may host a celebration or meetup for this time of year. Usually fairly low key.
d)Ostara-Usually see the first stirrings of spring and perform rituals that celebrate and prepare us for fertilizing our hopes and dreams.
e)Beltaine-This is the second public sabbat we do every year. It includes working with another pagan group and focuses on the action of fertilizing our hopes and dreams. Last year there was the Maypole dance, the ritual with a May King and May Queen, a raffle to raise funds for school supplies for needy children, and tarot readings to raise funds for the charity as well. The year before we camped in addition to the celebration.
f)Litha--This past year we held ritual to honor the masculine aspect of Divinity and maleness in general. In Wicca, we often place so much focus on the Goddess, that we do not honor our Consorts. A good time was had by all! We also recognized that this is the time of strength in masculinity and the Power of the Sun (Sol); the apex, the warmest time of the year; and time for all those outside activities.
g)Lughnassadh--Pretty much the first harvest; also a time to display and sell crafts. For some other interesting information go to http://twopagans.com/holiday/Lughnasadh.html. We typically go to the Dublin Irish Festival where there is a Druid Rite which is one of several religious services going on for the Sunday morning services. We view all the harvest and craft items and select some to make our very own.
h)Mabon--This year we will celebrate by completing a two-part ritual that was begun at Ostara. At Ostara, we had a ritual to prepare and begin to bring to fruition what we wanted to see in our lives over the next few months. Mabon this year, will be the completion of that ritual to see if we have reaped the fruits of those seeds planted.
As far the Esbats, our celebrations are based on what I see as HPS of the Coven is needed so that each person grows spiritually with the Gods and Goddesses.
Until the next lesson,
Blessed Be,
Rev. Candy S. Lacey-Partlow (HPS RavenMoon)
Rose Oak Interfaith Ministries/
Coven of The Three-Fold Path
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