The festival of the spring equinox speaks of freshness and youth, of excitement and endless possibilities. Nature begins to quicken and early flowers open to the warmth of the strengthening sun, bringing the colours of lemon and yellow into our lives on the wings of a March wind.
Carole CarltonTag: pagans paganism samhain beltane carole-carlton mrs-darley pagan-whispers moon-magic mrs-darley-s-pagan-whispers mrs-darley-series-of-books pagan-book pagan-festivals imbolc irish-celts lughnasadh spring-equinox
I nodded, appreciating the wisdom of her words.‘Yellow is the colour of early spring,’ she said, ‘just look at your garden!’ She gestured towards the borders, which were full of primulas, crocuses and daffodils. ‘The most cheerful of colours,’ she continued, ‘almost reflective in its nature and it is of course the colour of the mind.’
‘That’s why we surround ourselves with it!’ laughed Phyllis, ‘in the hope that its properties will rub off.’‘Nonsense dear,’ said Mrs Darley dismissively, ‘Yellow light simply encourages us to think more positively. It lifts our spirits and raises our self-esteem in time for summer.’I immediately made a mental note to surround myself with the colour of the season and, like Phyllis, hoped that some of its properties would rub off on me.
Tag: pagans paganism samhain beltane carole-carlton mrs-darley pagan-whispers moon-magic mrs-darley-s-pagan-whispers mrs-darley-series-of-books pagan-book pagan-festivals imbolc irish-celts lughnasadh
The word ‘equinox’ simply means ‘of equal length’ and refers to the twelve hours of daylight and twelve hours of darkness at this point in the year. It was originally thought to stem from two Latin words aequus meaning equal and nox meaning night. The word ‘Vernal’, as this equinox is often called, is derived from the Latin word vernus meaning ‘of spring’.
Carole CarltonTag: pagans paganism equinox samhain beltane carole-carlton mrs-darley pagan-whispers moon-magic mrs-darley-s-pagan-whispers mrs-darley-series-of-books pagan-book pagan-festivals imbolc irish-celts lughnasadh spring-equinox
Legend has it that during the festival of Eostre, all fires had to be extinguished in the Goddess’ honour and could only be relit from a sacred flame in the centre of the village. The new fire was seen as a symbol of sacredness and purity, something which everyone wanted to bring into their homes at such a lovely time of year when everything was fresh and new.
Carole CarltonTag: pagans paganism samhain beltane carole-carlton mrs-darley pagan-whispers moon-magic mrs-darley-s-pagan-whispers mrs-darley-series-of-books pagan-book pagan-festivals imbolc irish-celts lughnasadh festival-of-eostre
Legend tells us that the High King of Tara, who ruled supreme over all the Kings of Ireland, looked out from his castle one day during the festival of Eostre and saw a fire blazing away on a far hillside. Furious with this obvious disregard for the law, for which the penalty was death, he sent out soldiers to arrest the guilty party. When the soldiers arrived at the hillside they found St Patrick, the patron Saint of Ireland, piling wood onto his fire and immediately seized him. Standing before the King he was asked why he disobeyed the law, and he explained that his fire was a sign that Christ had risen from the dead and was the light of the world. The King so admired Patrick’s courage that he forgave him and became a convert to Christianity!
Carole CarltonTag: christianity pagans paganism christ samhain beltane carole-carlton mrs-darley pagan-whispers moon-magic mrs-darley-s-pagan-whispers mrs-darley-series-of-books pagan-book pagan-festivals imbolc irish-celts lughnasadh festival-of-eostre high-king-of-tara king-of-tara kings-of-ireland patron-saint-of-ireland st-patrick
Strange as it may seem, the association of eggs and bunnies at Easter time are actually connected and, to discover more, we must once again turn our attention to the Saxon fertility Goddess, Eostre.
Carole CarltonTag: pagans paganism samhain beltane carole-carlton mrs-darley pagan-whispers easter-bunny moon-magic mrs-darley-s-pagan-whispers mrs-darley-series-of-books pagan-book pagan-festivals imbolc irish-celts lughnasadh easter-time eggs-and-bunnies fertility-goddess-eostre goddess-eostre
There is a delightful story which tells of Eostre finding an injured bird on the ground and, in order to save its life, she transformed it into a hare. The transformation however was incomplete and, although the bird looked like a hare, it still retained the ability to lay eggs. Regardless of this slight mishap, the hare was so grateful for the goddess saving her life that on Eostre’s festival the hare would lay eggs, decorate them and leave them as a token of thanks. In Germany today, many young children still believe that their Easter eggs are laid and delivered by the Easter hare.
Carole CarltonTag: pagans paganism samhain beltane carole-carlton mrs-darley pagan-whispers moon-magic mrs-darley-s-pagan-whispers mrs-darley-series-of-books pagan-book pagan-festivals imbolc irish-celts lughnasadh easter-eggs easter-festival easter-hare eostres-festival german-esotre-festival
The Green Man has also become synonymous with Cernunnos, the Celtic horned God, often portrayed in Celtic art as part man, part stag, who roams the greenwood wild and free. He is a character of strength and power, but often sadly mistaken for the devil by the Christian fraternity due to his horned appearance.
Carole CarltonTag: pagans paganism samhain beltane carole-carlton mrs-darley pagan-whispers moon-magic mrs-darley-s-pagan-whispers mrs-darley-series-of-books pagan-book pagan-festivals imbolc irish-celts lughnasadh celtic-hroned-good cernunnos the-green-man
Horned humans are not unknown to medical science as there is a rare skin disease, which goes by the name of ‘Cornu Cutaneum’, a cutaneous growth, which resembles a horn and grows from the scalp.
Carole CarltonTag: pagans paganism samhain beltane carole-carlton mrs-darley pagan-whispers moon-magic mrs-darley-s-pagan-whispers mrs-darley-series-of-books pagan-book pagan-festivals imbolc irish-celts lughnasadh cornu-cutaneum horned-humans horns-from-the-scalp
The spring equinox celebration included a dawn trip to the nearby Rillaton Barrow, a Bronze Age burial mound high up on the Cheesewring Moor, with its entrance facing directly east.
‘A great archaeological find, dear,’ Mrs Darley informed me, rather breathlessly, as we climbed up to the entrance. ‘A skeleton, dagger and gold cup were all found here. However, the gold cup ended up in the royal bathroom for some considerable time until the death of George V and now stands in the British Museum, although you can see a copy of it in Truro if you wish. Come,’ she said, patting the top of the lintel, ‘we’ll sit here a while and wait for the sun.’
The sun duly arrived in all its spring glory over the eastern horizon, bringing a golden glow to the swathes of mist, which hung in the fields between Dartmoor and Bodmin.
Tag: pagans paganism samhain beltane carole-carlton mrs-darley pagan-whispers moon-magic mrs-darley-s-pagan-whispers mrs-darley-series-of-books pagan-book pagan-festivals imbolc irish-celts lughnasadh bodmin bronze-age-burial-mound cheesewring-moor dartmoor pagan-spring rillaton-barrow spring-equinox-celebration
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