The April Full Moon, Eostre & Christ

Tomorrow (Fri) marks 3 specific events. In the lunar calendar it is the day of the April full Moon. In the Pagan calendar it is the festival of Eostre or Ostara, Saxon Goddess of the dawn & new beginnings and in the Christian calendar it is Good Friday, the time when Christians remember the crucifixion of Christ. Despite however the unliklihood of the former two having anything to do with the latter, they are all inextricably linked.

The festival of Eostre was always a moveable lunar festival and was calculated as falling on the day of the first full moon following the Spring Equinox. When Christianity came to these islands & the powers that held sway were trying to convert the peasants to the new religion, they decided to replace the festival of Eostre with that of Easter and made a slight alteration to the date so that it was celebrated on the Christian holy day - that of Sunday.

Thus Easter is always calculated as being the Sunday following the first full moon following the Spring Equinox.

Whether you choose to honour the full Moon, Eostre or Christ tomorrow may the day bring you peace & solace.

For more information read 'Mrs Darley's Pagan Whispers' or 'Mrs Darley's Moon Mysteries'

The legend of the Violet

Today in the woods I saw the first violet of spring, truely a gift from the Gods.

This fragile flower comes into our awareness via the Roman God, Attis, a story with a familiar Christian theme, albeit it predates Christianity by several hundred years.

Attis was born of a human virgin called Nana and sacrificed his own life to save mankind. He was crucified on a pine tree and, where his blood fell to earth the first violets were said to have sprung.

These flowers are often seen as a symbol of both sacrifice and regeneration. They are said to protect against evil spirits, calm frayed nerves and encourage peaceful sleep. It is worth remembering however that they are a protected species in the UK and therefore best admired and left in the wild.

From 'Mrs Darley's Pagan Whispers' by Carole Carlton.

A Pagan take on Lent

Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent for those who follow the Christian faith and is probably one of the most depressing occasions in the church calender. It was a day upon which the 'Rite of Ashing' took place, where burned ashes (usually obtained from last year's palm crosses) were sprinkled onto the head or forehead in the form of a cross, whilst the body was covered with sack cloth. It was supposed to remind man that from dust he came and to dust he will return.

The custom of ashing however, predates Christian times for an occasion of ashing is described in the Old Testament where Job covers himself in ashes and says, 'I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes.'

In 1548 Edward V1 decided to abolish the ritual, but replaced it with what could be described as an even more depressing church ceremony, where the priest would read sentences from the book of Deuteronomy, especially the bit where God curses sinners and states that he will take revenge upon obstinate sinners, such as the unmerciful fornicators, idolators, slanderers, drunkards etc. Following this tirade of abuse everyone was expected to kneel and repeat the psalm, 'Lord have mercy upon me O God.'

It is little wonder that we have trouble loving ourselves if we have been brought up within this regime of self hatred. I jokingly asked my husband what he intended to give up for Lent and his answer was that he intended to give up denying himself pleasure! Now there's a good Pagan soul!

The Daughters of Fire

Upon the arrival of Christianity, the much loved Goddess, Bride became St Bridget, who took over the jurisdiction of Bride's shrine at Kildare by becoming the Abbess of the newly formed christian convent.

The original shrine was tended by 'the daughters of fire', who ensured that the flames, which burned in Bride's honour would never go out, a custom that was tranferred into christian tradition. The abbey's fire burned for a thousand years; it never died and never increased in ashes, a fact that was witnessed by Gerald of Wales in the twelfth century who described it in his writings.

Each night for 19 nights, a nun would stoke and watch the fire through the night, whilst on the 20th night the nun would leave logs beside it and say, 'Bridget, guard your fire, this is your night,' she would then leave the room and in the morning the logs would be gone and the fire would be burning brightly.

In the 13th century the papal envoy ordered that the fire be extinguished, but so enraged was the public that it was reinstated and continued to burn until the reformation under Henry v111.

Who was the Goddess Bride?

As previously mentioned, the Goddess Bride has become synonymous with the midwinter festivals of Imbolc. We know she was the daughter of the Divine being Daghda and that she was the patron of healers, smiths and poets, but in order to have an affinity with her it becomes important to discover who she really was.

Some say Bride was brought up as a wizard and acquired the enviable skills of multiplying both food and drink and having the ability to turn her bath water into wine (a familiar story?). She was revered as the Goddess of light and her domain in the house was the hearth, where many an altarwas set up in her honour. She also presided over the harvest, livestock and was often depicted with a bird of prey.

Bride, rather appropriately, looked after brides on their wedding day and was often called upon to assist those in child birth as well as being the guardian of children.

It comes as little surprise then that when christianity came to these islands, the Goddess who was held so dear in the hearts of the Celts should be embraced and christianised by the early church. More later about her christianised role and her association with fire.