Midsummer is, in modern culture, celebrated as the first day of summer. But traditionally it is the middle of the light half of the year, hence the term “Mid Summer”. It is the half-point of the year, and now symbolizes all of the days getting shorter again; a reminder of the upcoming winter. Now we […]
Author: Crystal
High Days: Beltane
The Celtic Beltane is the last of the fertility festivals in my eyes, and the most recognized fertile of the High Days. Most of the fields have been sewn, and now we ask that they be blessed with a good harvest in the fall. Symbolically, Beltane represents the union of the God and Goddess, often […]
High Days: Ostara
The Germanic Ostara is the time when Spring has officially sprung, and is supposed to be a time of equilibrium. The cold death of winter is melting away, revealing a supple and fertile mother earth. During this time I’m ready to shake off the winter ice and peek my head out of the thicket to […]
High Days: Imbolc
Imbolc has always been a very simple holiday for me. When the time comes for Imbolc, I celebrate the return of the sun (or the God) and the beginning of spring, as well as the ending of winter. It is a time when the ewe’s begin lactating, thus milk is very sacred. In my Grove, […]
High Days: Yule
Traditionally, the Nordic Yule (or the “Winter Solstice”) is known by majority as the shortest day of the year and the longest night. When I originally became interested in paganism at the age of 16 (rather, I just called it “witchcraft” back then), I read that this was the time when the Oak King killed […]
Home Shrine
I’ve been taking pictures of my altar for many years now, just out of photographic curiosity. So when it came time to work on the description with photos of my altar portion of the Dedicant’s Program, I was already halfway there. (Keep in mind, I worked at a rock and gem shop for a number […]
Building Mental Discipline
I’m amused as I write this essay, simply for the fact that before I even heard of CedarLight Grove or ADF, I had a teacher when I was 18 that would ask me to meditate daily and record the experiences down in a journal. He would review them once a week to observe my progress, […]
Book Review: Idiot’s Guide to Paganism
I noticed while pushing the book review portion of my dedicant’s program towards the end, that finding time to read in my daily tasks was ridiculously difficult. I finally resolved to reading an hour everyday during my lunch break and randomly during the weekends. Thus it made this task infinitely more difficult. But I found […]
9 Virtues: Fertility
In general, I’m not as smart as most ADF folks. I’m not an intellectual or a philosopher; I’m not even a liturgist. I’ve always thought of myself as a “hands-on” pagan, meaning I like to learn skills and history, rather than theories. It reads in the “Idiots Guide to Paganism” that “some pagans consider the […]
9 Virtues: Moderation
I’ve been sitting here trying to think of any issues I’ve had in my life with moderation. Besides diet (and who doesn’t), there really isn’t anything specific that I’ve dealt with when it comes to moderation. As odd as some people seem to react to it, I’ve never smoked a cigarette or even seen an […]
