Sankta Lucia.. The Winter Solstice .. Northern Hemisphere.

Lucia of Siracusa
Maurizio Formati Photograpies

Saint Lucia's Day is on December 13.  This feast once coincided with the Winter Solstice.  It has become a festival of light.

St. Lucia’s Day is celebrated in Scandinavia with their long dark winters.

A young women is dressed in a beautiful white dress.  Draped around her waist is a red ribbon sash.  The red is symbolic of martyrdom.  The girl carries palm fronds and she precariously wears a wreath circlet with candles attached on her head.

In the countries of Sweden and Norway it is traditional now for a group of young girls to dress as Lucy and carry rolls and biscuits with them in a procession while singing songs.

Celebrating St Lucia's Day is said to bring favor to endure the long winter with enough light.  

In America, the Swedish American Society of West Michigan honours this festival on the first Saturday of the month of December each year.

December 13 is the feast day of Sankta Lucia, the patron saint of Sweden. Until the Pope Gregory XII made the Gregorian calendar official in AD 1582, the winter solstice fell on December 13-Lucia’s feast day. Lucia (Lucy) was actually an Italian, she is celebrated in certain parts of Italy, but she is most associated with the Nordic countries. 

Read More Here : Sankta Lucia: The Survival of a Nordic Sun Goddess 

Modern Traditions have the eldest daughter dressing up and making the coffee and serving rolls dressed in the classic white dress with red ribbon.  

More Images @ Eminpee Fotography

Southern Hemisphere Beltane Celebration

 The tide is a turning and it is now halfway between the Spring Equinox and the Summer Solstice! 

BELTANE

Down here in the Southern Hemisphere in Australia neo-paganistically speaking, on the eternal eight spoke wheel covering the year this be the time of BELTANE and the lighting of the protective fires.

Tis a great thing to do to celebrate and use the special vibratory time.  You can do this with the making of Calendula Oil / Balm / Creme and harness the magic healing powers of this precious herb ready for Summer. 

Calendula gets this name from the Kalends which was the first day of the month in the ancient Roman calendar. It's said Calendulas  bloom at the beginning of the month. 

Prepare a basket by filling it with flowers and goodwill and then give it to someone in need of healing and caring in these next few days.

 

Calendula Recipes

CALENDULA SALVE / BALM
In a clean jar infuse either dried flowers or whole flower heads in a cold pressed vegetable oil, enough to cover all of the flowers and for all the oxygen bubbles to disappear.  Sit this somewhere so the warmth and the light for approximately four weeks to draw out the magic from the flowers into the oil.

Strain this infused oil through a cloth or a coffee filter into another pot and add some beeswax and heat to melt the wax.  Add some rose oil or Lavender Oil for pleasure and extra benefits.  This makes a lovely salve and has a shelf life of three months not using a preservative. If you want a thicker more solid balm you just add more bees wax and a few drops of Preservative 12.

CALENDULA CREME
To make a creme use the strained oil, some beeswax, some spring water and some glycerin and heat gently and then blend until lovely and creamy white.  Add some preservative 12 to stop the creme going rancid and also add a few drops of Rose Oil to give your Calendula creme a pleasant smell.  This will have a shelf life of about twelve months so remember to date your creme.

CALENDULA OIL
You can always use the Calendula Oil  straight as well for all sorts of skin irritations and rashes.  Dryness of the skin can be caused from getting older in age.  It is one of the reasons I use all of the above concoctions on my skin.

Happy Beltane here in Australia folks as we watch Summer arrive for 2017.

Its not easy to understand the truths about  the festivals anymore especially in Australia. You have people running around dressed in Halloween costumes and trick or treating. 

When you see this its a sign there is no real grasp of the understanding. Going along with the crowd who are making a mockery of the wisdom behind understanding of the seasons.  

Images @ Eminpee Fotography

Wheel of the Year

Pink Dawn at Urunga

The Wheel of the Year is an annual cycle of seasonal festivals in contemporary Paganism. It consists primarily of eight festivals based around the solstices and equinoxes, known as the quarter days, and the midpoints between, known as the cross quarter days.

Within Paganism, many festivals are celebrated. They can vary considerably in name and date amongst specific traditions, however the eight festivals of the Wheel comprise the most adhered and important annual celebrations. They are a unifying feature of modern Paganism.

The Wheel has been important to many people, both ancient and modern, and its festivals are based to varying degrees on folk tradition.

The Wheel of the Year is an annual cycle of seasonal festivals in contemporary Paganism. It consists primarily of eight festivals based around the solstices and equinoxes, known as the quarter days, and the midpoints between, known as the cross quarter days.
Within Paganism, many festivals are celebrated. They can vary considerably in name and date amongst specific traditions, however the eight festivals of the Wheel comprise the most adhered and important annual celebrations. They are a unifying feature of modern Paganism. The Wheel has been important to many people, both ancient and modern, and its festivals are based to varying degrees on folk tradition.

Images @ Eminpee Fotography

Massive 'X Class' Solar Flares coming down on Earth

I am a Pagan.
I pay attention to the seasons within myself - of beginnings, growth, fruition, harvest, endings, rest, and beginnings again.
Life is a Circle with many cycles...

Exerpt from "I am a Pagan" by Selena Fox

Things are really heating up...

Last night and the night before I woke up very hot in the middle of the night.  It is winter time here at present.  It isn't hot because our side of the planet is close to the sun, we are hot because of electromagnetically charged particles sailing into the air above us...

EV Lacertae (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A solar flare is an explosion on the Sun that happens when energy stored in twisted magnetic fields (usually above sunspots) is suddenly released. Flares produce a burst of radiation across the electromagnetic spectrum, from radio waves to x-rays and gamma-rays.Flares are also sites where particles (electrons, protons, and heavier particles) are accelerated."

http://infofeeder.info/latest-information/90451-sun-unleashes-two-powerful-x-class-flares-video-disinfo 

VIDEO of SUN unleashing two huge flares

 Classes of Flares:
 CLASS . . . . . . . . .Peak (W/m²) between 1 and 8 Angstroms
X-rays are part of the electromagnetic spectrum (Photo credit: Wikipedia)   B   -                        I < 10^-6
C   -                        10^-6 < = I < 10^-5
M  -                        10^-5 < = I < 10^-4
X   -                        I > = 10<sup>-4


Image by Mezza - Dawn over Urunga 13th July 2012</sup>

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