Tag Archive | sun

Everyone Loves A Love Story

Mar13
Respectful Love

Everyone Needs Love

Insights Behind Love

Back on May 15, 2012 I wrote an article about Soul Mates, Twin Souls & Karmic Relationships. It became the most popular post here on Springwolf Reflections. Until, I wrote about my research concerning The Legend Of The Sun and The Moon in June 2014.

“Celebrate the love of your soul mate” and variations of that always pop up around February 14th and Valentines Day. But it’s also a sentiment that people are drawn to when they want to celebrate their love with the one who is most dear to them. The idea however is one that has evolved over time and thanks to the greeting card companies has taken on a different meaning than its spiritual definition.

“Tell me the story about how the Sun loved the Moon so much he died every night to let her breathe.” It’s a beautiful line that pulls at the hearts of many to want to learn more. Storytellers and romantics alike want to know the origins of that line and where it comes from. They want to hear or read the whole story and share it with the ones they love. Continue reading →

Lughnasadh / Imbolg And The Blue Moon

Jul31
Lammas Blue Moon

Lammas Blue Moon

The Celtic Holiday Of Lugh Under The Blue Moon

Tonight in the Northern Hemisphere many Pagans will be celebrating the 1st harvest festival of the season, Lughnasadh, also known as Lammas. In the Southern Hemisphere Pagans are celebrating Imbog.

This is an exciting time for Pagans. As the sun sets on July 31st Northern Pagans will honor the Sun and his blessings upon the gardens and fields.  Lughnasadh is known as a Fire Festival and celebrates the Celtic hero Lugh as the Sun God who saved Ireland from its oppressors. Freeing the people from slavery and ensuring the land would always be fertile and abundant.

In the Southern Hemisphere, Imbolg can be seen as a celebration of the return of the Sun or “the return of the light from the dark of winter”. It is also associated with the slow return of spring (in this case early spring), when new life is formed. This makes the holiday one of the Fertility festivals for the new season.

But tonight we complement these observances under a special event, the arrival of a Blue Moon!

A Blue Moon occurs when a full moon falls within a single month twice. For July 2015, the first full moon fell on July 1st. Today on July 31st, we’ll once again see the full moon in the evening sky. Technically the Moon hit its full phase at 6:46am eastern U.S. time. In the world of energy, the moon’s effects can be felt 3 days prior to its official phase and 3 days after. And of course the closer you are to the ‘official’ phase time, the stronger the energy will be.

Keep in mind however, that the ancients who lived by the moon didn’t have the luxury of Naval Observatory and precision clocks the way we do today. For them, the official time was sunset when Grandmother Moon bathed Mother Earth with her loving glow.

In some pagan traditions the phases of the moon represent the transition of knowledge within the Triple Goddess. The quarter moons representing the Maiden Goddess, the New Moon the Mother Goddess, the Full Moon the Grand Mother Goddess (which maybe one reason we refer to the moon as “Grandmother Moon”). The Blue Moon then is seen as the transition of the Grandmother or Crone to the Divine level of existence. She becomes an expression of the evolution of wisdom, as well as an example of the circle of life. She moves from a tangible wise old Crone to a spiritual energy within the Divine force of the universe. Continue reading →

The Legend Of The Sun and The Moon

Jun9

sun-n-moonThe History Of How The Sun Loved The Moon

“Tell me the story about how the Sun loved the Moon so much he died every night to let her breathe.”

Oh and yes, it’s breathe. You take in a breath that allows your lungs to breathe. Seems there has been some debate about that too.

The quote itself has captured the imagination of people world-wide. But what is the story and where did it come from? What’s the history or origin of the phrase? Who said it? And what’s the whole story?

I’ve spent a good deal of time searching and delving into the history of this phrase. And continue to search, for the original source. My initial assessment hasn’t changed. No one actually knows where it originated. So far…

Some believe it’s a spin on a much earlier folktale “Why the Sun Chases the Moon”. But there’s no real factual evidence linking these two together. Mostly supposition and that doesn’t make the link clear. It makes it a theory based on opinion. Not good enough for me.

Whither it’s a claim that the story was inspired from the Bible, the Australian Aborigines, Indo-European Pagans, the Norse, the Mayans, various Native American Nations or any other variety of cultures, people want to be “the originators” of this grand phrase and subsequent story. It’s such a great line, everyone simply wants the quote to come from “their” cultural origin and their history.  Continue reading →

Mother Nature’s Waters

Oct2

snowwolfCollecting & Using Water For Rituals

Practitioners of pagan paths have long been associated with and connected to nature and all its elements. Using natures energy to empower workings and promote their connection to spirit, can be found on every continent throughout history.

When the world relied heavily on the swing of Nature’s spirit, rain and snow were honored components of every day life. Crops needed the right amount of rain to flourish. Winter needed the right amount of snow to maintain water supply. That hasn’t changed over the ages. But as societies became more urban, the focus on Nature’s energy and our connection to it has faded.

Today people notice the extremes of weather and pay little attention to its every day impacts. Unless you’re a farmer, or have your own garden in your backyard, you may not give the rain a second thought. But if you’re pagan and look for the energy in Nature’s movements through our world, you know it can be both an omen and a blessing. Continue reading →

The Pagan Sabbats

Apr16
Image from: Megan Granata

Image from: Megan Granata

What Are They?

Sabbat {Greek – Sabatu – to rest}
The Pagan holidays, called Sabbats, are seasonal celebrations representing birth, life, death and rebirth, the cycle of life itself. These celebrations are a means to attune the physical human mind, body and spirit with the flow of natures’ energy and the essence of the Divine Spirit in one’s life. For Pagans that can be a God, Goddess, or a collective Divine consciousness or spirit, such as the Great Spirit or to some The GreatSpirits, with an emphasis on the plural.

It is a bonding time, a time to recognize the aspects of the season within the self. “To become one with nature” is a common metaphor for the overall purpose and intent of these holidays. They are almost always reverent, link the individual to the Divine force in their life, and reconnect to the Divine Universal energy around us that we are all part of.

You might think of it this way;
I am not the Goddess, you are not the God. But You and I And All things seen and unseen make up the Divine force in the Multi-verse of existence. We are connected and intertwined together to create the whole of the Divine Spirit.

Most Pagans believe that by joining forces with the Divine in our lives, we bring harmony, balance and order to our physical existence. These are necessary aspects of life for positive change and to create an atmosphere for spiritual learning and growth that lead toward enlightenment. Living in harmony and balance creates a daily connection to the Divine within an individual. It’s a connection that’s persistent, instead of only occurring during meditation or ritual. Continue reading →

Today’s Tarot Meditation Drawing: The Sun

Aug6

Mystic Faery Tarot by Linda Ravenscroft

Allow your compassion and nurturing to shine through your actions. Success comes when you give of yourself in support of others. Be a team player and work for the greater good of all; not the selfish indulgence of ego and self. Winning at any cost brings only momentary satisfaction. Those who work in harmony with the world around them in peace and with love receive the greatest rewards. Many of which are beyond measure.

Additional Insight:

No one is an island working completely alone. There is always someone there to help and open a door to opportunities. When you remember you’re part of a bigger world, or even just a bigger group you can begin to unite the Divine creative energies of all for the success of the common good.

Coming together brings with it the strength in numbers, the empowerment of inspiration and creation of ideas and solutions. But it also brings a sense of united compassion, caring, tolerance, acceptance and yes, even love. Working together can also bring a sense of confidence in self, a satisfaction of accomplishment and an inner knowledge that success can be acquired again. Let the snowball of success fill your life for today, this week, this month and this year.

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History Of Lughnasadh

Aug1

The Fire Festival Of The Summer Sun
By Springwolf, D.D., Ph.D.  🐾

Arctic Wolf Fire

“Arctic Wolf Fire”
© Tom-in-Silence

This is the first of the Pagan Harvest Festivals. This is a time where we celebrate the Sun God Lugh, honor the rain and thank the magikal folk of the Tuatha Dé Danann for their help in our own gardens.

As local clans migrated, they took with them their religious and spiritual traditions. Many people believe that during these migrations, names of holidays also changed and Lughnasadh became Lammas. That’s not quite accurate however.

Lammas comes from the Old English word hlafmæsse, which  literally means “loaf mass,”. It was first used in the 15th and 17th centuries by the early Catholic Churches to celebrate the grain provided by the first harvest. In other words, it was another attempt by the early church to co-opt a pagan holiday, make it their own, in order to convert pagans.

Many Anglo-Saxon pagan clans, adopted the name, but still observed the original celebrations of Lugh and the original intent of the holiday. Must pagan purests prefer to ignore the Christianized version of the festival and stick with the early Celtic name of Lughnasadh. As with most things in the world of spirituality, your preferred name should ring true with you. It’s your festival to honor the Sun, the warmth of the summer and their blessings upon the fields. Call it what you feel most connected to, Lughnasadh or Lammas.
 Continue reading →