Llewellyn's 2023 Witches' Calendar

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Suggested Celebration Timing: Observe early that day between 2:36 am when the moon enters Leo until exact conjunction at 1:55 pm. Dec 21 – YULE / Winter Solstice: The real reason that this time of year was celebrated .. before christianity existed. We are halfway through the dark part of the year. The darkness is at its peak…moving forward the light begins to grow stronger and days become longer. You can see why the newly formed cult of christianity, which is what it was at the time, choose this time of year for the birth of christ…the light grows strong and brighter…the Sun is reborn. Yule traditions include burning a Yule log, kissing under mistletoe, and placing an evergreen tree in your home to represent the sustaining of life during the winter. Ritual Function: Balance elemental earth energy, and shadow work for the virtues and vices of Taurus. Samhain, or best known as Halloween, is Celtic New Year’s Eve and the final harvest. It’s when the veil between the world of the living and the dead is the thinnest and when pagans believe spirits easiest roam the earth and when it is easiest to communicate with them. Samhain is a time to honor all those who have come before, for all that was gifted to us during the year, to ask for guidance, and to set intentions as the turning of the wheel begins again.

Suggested Celebration Planning: Observe anytime that Wednesday until 11:08 pm, or anytime the night before after the moon enters Gemini 3:49 pm Tuesday. Suggested Celebration Planning: Observe the exact day, or move to the Sunday before November 6, for group celebrations and combine with Mourning Full Moon rites. The Equinoxes are the balancing points in the cycle of the seasons, when the day and night are of equal length, reminding us of the harmony of the whole. Buds of flowers and leaf, all manner of eggs and just-born life are celebrated in decorations and imagery as Pagans rejoice in the Earth’s reawakening. The urge of spring is to do, create and bring in the new. Here light overcomes darkness with lengthening days bringing the magic of new growth. Ostara is associated with childhood and new life, and the God and Goddess are perceived as children, personifying youth and innocence before their entry into adulthood. The Goddess, as the Maiden, covers the earth with flowers and love while the God grows to maturity. This is a time to honour the masculine and to celebrate everything that is great about being alive. Many Pagans and Witches are not Wiccan and do not celebrate The Wheel of the Year. However, they may celebrate the seasonal holidays Gerald Gardner pulled from Celtic and Middle East holidays, among many others, when creating the Wiccan religion.Early on, Saturnalia began with farmers who undertook gift-giving customs and offerings to the gods during the Wintersowing season. These activities were thought to gain favor with the gods, enablingfarmers to reap a bountiful harvest. Pagan holidays consist of celebrating and honoring the seasons of Nature wherever we live. It can be as easy or complicated as you choose to make it, just like any other holiday. The holiday was first observed on a single day, but due to its popularity, it grew andexpanded. Due to popular demand, a seven-day festival was established, and Saturnalia was observed from December 17th to December 23rd. In 2022 we also have two lunar eclipses and two solar eclipses to tap for spells exploring both sides of the Taurus earth/Scorpio water elemental pairing. Solar eclipses occur at dark moons, when the sun and moon are conjunct in the same sign. The first solar eclipse occurs at Dark Moon in Taurus ♉︎ on April 30. The second one occurs at Dark moon in Scorpio ♏︎ on October 25. Suggested Celebration Planning: For weekend observance, celebrate beforehand on November 3-5, 2023.

Suggested Celebration Timing: Observe the Sunday night before, May 29, after the moon enters Gemini at 1:23 pm, until 7:30 am the next morning with conjunction. Suggested Celebration Planning: Celebrate Night before, Sat. August 21 while moon is still in Aquarius for the second time. Even though full moon technically falls same day the sun enters Virgo, moon peaks prior to this shift by 9 hours (at 5:35 pm.) It is a BLUE MOON because it is the second full moon with Leo/Aquarius opposition, and the 3rd out of four full moons in Summer Season. Linear Lunar Cycle within Seasons – Summer Autumn detail- Hand-drawn by Heron Michelle Corn Full Moon, Summer Fixed The Pagan Wheel of the Year turns through many significant dates and festivals. The highlights are the eight seasonal Sabbats, and the thirteen Esbats which we celebrate each Full Moon.The Wheel of the Year term and concept was adopted and used by Gerald Gardner from Jacob Grimm ( yes, as in Grimms’ Fairy Tales) when creating Wicca, along with other coven members during the early 1950s. They were attempting to modernize ancient Pagan traditions and pulled from Celtic and Middle East celebrations, among many others. Ritual Function: Balance elemental earth energy, and shadow work for the virtues and vices of Capricorn.