Consort of the Goddess and symbol of male energy in divine form, The Horned God is born again at every winter solstice. He is the King of the Wood, of the hunt and wild beasts. As an aspect of the Green Man – god of plants and new life – he represents fertility incarnate, and…
Category: holidays
Crown yourself with Candles
This would be a good night to wreath yourself with candles and lights, as it is Saint Lucia’s Day. Celebrated on 13th December in honour of a 3rd-century martyr who took food and aid to the persecuted as they hid in the catacombs, she wore a lighted headdress to leave her hands free to carry…
The Séance
The word “séance” has come to be most associated with a group of people gathering and sitting to attempt to contact spirits, either loved ones who have passed away, or other entities who roam the alternative planes of reality. These entities are generally held to comprise of remnants of the ancient gods and pagan spirits….
Out Of Your Skull
Won’t somebody think of the worms? Time was, a worm in a bottle of tequila was all the rage, everybody loved the tequila worms. They proved it was all natural and made of agave plant, not something brewed up in a lab. Some said they were aphrodisiacs. Some said they were hallucinogenic. Agave farms needed…
Beer – here? A Lagerita for Oktoberfest
Although we generally lean towards arcane cocktails of subtle and complex composition on this site, we admit that there is a time and place for beer. The ideal time and place is Oktoberfest in Germany. Beginning as a celebration for the wedding of Ludwig I of Bavaria in 1810, this has grown into a worldwide…
The Time of the Singing Moon
Like a circle in a spiral, like a wheel within a wheel – Mabon is here again, a time when light and dark balance before the winter draws in. The late harvest festival, it coincides with the Chinese Moon festival or the Time of the Singing Moon. To celebrate Mabon at home, you should gather…
Bread & Salt
Now that the festival of Lammas is here, we can plan a Bread & Salt rite which you can integrate into any picnic or summer social gathering to celebrate the harvest with your friends and family. This is the traditional time to make and eat Lammas Loaves which represent the body of the earth Goddess…
A Midsummer Meal for Mithras
Midsummer celebrations vary a great deal. In the Sakha Republic, they tie a horse to a pole and dance around it, or bet on reindeer races. In Portugal, you can hit your neighbour on the head with a plastic hammer, which amusing habit I think should be much more widely practised generally. In Norway children…
Revels with the devils on Walpurgis Night
Ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight? At Samhain AKA Halloween every October, the boundary between our world and that of the spirits becomes thinner and often breaks, allowing supernatural forces to hold sway for the night. At the exact opposite side of the year, on April 30th, the same is true of…
Throw a Wicker Man Party for Beltane!
Beltane is one of the best festivals of the year in my opinion – a celebration of fire, flowers and creativity! It’s also the backdrop for the 1973 Christopher Lee gem The Wicker Man, the film about a hapless policeman investigating a missing child on the mysterious Scottish island of Summerisle. If you’ve never seen…
The New City Witches Cocktail Coven 