Post by starhawk on Nov 25, 2006 12:59:34 GMT 1
The Legend of the wheel of the year.
I descided that I wasn't happy with the wiccan version of the of the year as I first saw it so I wrote it again allowing for recent sesonal changes
Wicca/witchcraft is essentially a Pagan religion, and to the early Pagans fertility was life, it is therefore understandable that their religion was based on fertility. If the crops failed they would starve, if the animals failed to breed there was no meat, milk, or eggs, and if the people failed to reproduce the tribe would die out. In an attempt to explain how the seasons and the Gods were all connected, they created a story which also acted as a calendar for the eight main festivals, this story is known as the wheel of the year.
The story begins at the festival of Samhain (Halloween, or sometimes known as All Hallows eve.) This festival to the Christian church is known as the Witches night, they fear the true significance of the festival.
[i]Samhain.[/i][/color]
The beginning and the end of the year. November eve.
The God is dead, he sacrificed himself for the good of his people, he was cut down so that his people would have food for the winter. The Goddess in her grief and pain as the crone waits for Samhain night when the veil between the world of the living and the world of the dead is thin so that she can enter and find her dead lover. The days before Samhain are a good time to ask the goddess for the benefit of her acquired wisdom, as the crone she is in her wise aspect.
On Samhain night the Goddess enters the veil between the worlds and for a short while it is possible the pagans invite the spirits of their dead to join them at the Samhain feast, the feast will use up what cannot be stored for winter. This is the Celtic new year and the beginning of winter, the Goddess journeys into the underworld to seek the spirit of her lover. She finds the essence of her God and rekindles the seed so that he will be re-born she returns and finds her resting place so that she will be renewed. When the Pagans awake to the new dawn it will be winter, and the first day of the new year, the God is in the underworld and the Goddess who gives fertility and plenty is asleep, and they the Pagan folk are alone in a winter world, leafs are almost all gone from the trees, the nights are cold, the days grey, but they have what they need to survive thanks to the sacrifice of their Gods.
Yule 21 December. Midwinter.
Yule is the winter solstice the longest night of the year, it is believed by some of our community that the birth of Christ on
25 December is a lie created by the Christian Church to take the focus away from the Pagan festival of Yule. If Jesus was born in December in Bethlehem it would have been snowing, it
is more likely that Jesus was born in May.
Yule day is the day of re-birth, the God is represented by the sun and from this day on the nights get shorter. The land is ruled by the holy king, his winter grip on the land at this time unbreakable, but the God is re-born and the Holy king will soon be challenged. There is nothing to be done on the land at this time of year, the people would celebrate the return of their God, they knew that the worst of the winter was still ahead of them but there was the hope of spring in the distance.
Imbolg February Eve.
Imbolg. This celebration takes place on the last night of January, it is a feast of candles. Sometimes known as candle mass, it is a festival of light. The God is a child and the first stirrings of the goddess can be felt within the Earth. The candles are to help the God find his way, through the dark days of the winters end. Buds on the trees are starting to swell and although the weather is still cold the quickening of the year can be felt. the Holly King still rules but he knows that his rule will soon be challenged.
SPRING 21 March.
The year is now beginning to quicken many leaves are back on the trees the nights are getting shorter, the Goddess is beginning her time as maiden. The God now lives in the forest as the green Man, Lord of the green wood, the horned hunter, Food is still scarce most of the winter supplies have been used to help his people to survive he guides the hunt, he is protector of the green wood but he is growing and it will soon be time to Challenge the Holly King for the hand of the Goddess at Beltane.
Beltane May Eve. (The beginning of Summer).
Along with Samhain Beltane is one of the two most important Sabbats of the wheel of the year, This is the night that the God must challenge the Holly king for the hand of the Goddess, If he succeeds he will become the Oak king, but if he fails the land will fall into famine and the people will starve, summer will no come and the holly king will rule for another year. Beltane is the fertility festive of the year. A lot of effort was put into this festival, the May pole being one of survivors to this day. The love chase was another common feature of Beltane, The lord of the wild wood will on this night challenge for the hand of the Goddess. If the God succeeds in defeating the Holly King then he will peruse the Goddess in the love chaise.
The God now the Oak King peruses the Goddess into the forest, although she runs she wants him to catch her, for the land to be fertile he must make her pregnant, if he succeeds in fertilising her it will be a season of plenty. The goddess is now starting her 2nd aspect as the mother.
Mid-summer 21st June.
The oak King has returned to his greenwood kingdom, the goddess is pregnant, realising that she cannot rule her people alone she goes to the greenwood to call to him.
"Beneath the blossoms of Beltane
You came forth from the woods to claim me
And to own your child
And you pledged yourself to me in life and death
Now the power within me which nourishes the land
Turns inward to protect and grow our son
And I can no longer rule alone
Though it was for myself that I loved thee first
My people too have need of thee...
Will you help me now to rule my people
And share with me my kingdoms crown
Will you leave the greenwood of your youth
And bear the burdens of king and man".
The Oak King replies.
"I did not think when first we met
To what end it would lead
But if this is thy will
Then so mote it be
I will take your people as my people
And lay down my greenwood freedom
To wear a kingly crown
And I will be bound to your people
Their servant and their King."
The King leaves his Greenwood Kingdom to rule with his lover the Goddess and at Lammers will receive his crown, but even now he can see his fate as the corn King.
Lammers- Lughnasadh August eve.
The beginning of the harvest, the festival around this time is to celebrate the fertility that has caused the crops to grow and the animals to breed, the trees to be fruitful. It is now time to ask the Gods to give the weather to allow time for the harvest, to wet and many crops become diseased and flattened by winds, to dry and they perish before they can be harvested. This is in some traditions the time for the wicker man, a statue of a man
is constructed from wood barley, and corn, liberation's to the gods are placed within it and it is ceremoniously burned, nothing living is placed inside contrary to popular belief
The King is crowned so that he can serve the people of the Goddess as the Corn King, (John Barleycorn). His fate is already sealed as the crown is placed upon his head he sees his own death and realises his own mortality.
"I fear to take this kingship
For before me I see
Blood upon the corn
The shadow of my death."
These poems are from a book called Wicker the old religion by Vivianne Crowley. This book comes as highly recommended reading, it is published by the Aquarian Press, when I bought my copy it was priced at œ6.99, but that was some time ago.
Autumn. 21 September.
The Oak King is now the corn King, but the corn his reaped and harvested, as the corn is cut the King dies. The people give thanks for his sacrifice. They know because of his sacrifice they will survive the winter once again, they also know that he will be born again such is the cycle of death and re-birth. The King is dead long live the King.
