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Calendar, Aprilis (April, another ancient Roman month) April was formerly the second month in the ancient Roman year, when March began the calendar. The real origin of its name has been lost. The most common theory is that Aprilis is derived from the latin verb Aperire, to open, as the opening, or blossoming, of trees and flowers,...she opens the path to playfullness and the way to personal enrichment. Since the Romans often named months from god/desses, and since April is sacred to it is possible (probable?) that Aprilis was orginally called Aphrilis, a Latin name which comes from Aphrodite, the Greek Goddess of love equated to the Roman Goddess of Venus. Venus, the Roman Goddess of love, her festival was held on the first day of Aprilis. We all know the rhyme "April showers bring May flowers.: So consider what energies you want Aprilis to sprinkle on you this month for personal flowering. Overall, any magickal efforts aimed towards growth, love, pleasure, improvements, and developing one's inner child will benefit from working during this month. |
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Academy of Arts Day (United States) The Gratiae Themes: Arts; Creativity; Honor; Love; Excellence; Beauty Symbols: Sweet Aromas; Arts (all); Wine About the Gartiae: The Gratiae are akin to the Greek Graces, who inspire all arts, from a dancer's elegance, a model's beauty, and a diplomat's words to a terminal romantic's loving presentation. They arrive as earth is blossoming to encourage a flood of creativity that leads to excellence. It is traditional to offer them the first draught of wine at a gathering to invoke their blessing and aid. To Do Today: The Gratiae were present in spirit on this day in 1916 when the American Academy of Arts Charter was signed by Woodrow Wilson to honor excellence in the industry. Toast the occasion with wine or grape juice, giving the first glass to these creative ladies to encourage their energy to visit your home. Wear a sweet-smelling perfume or cologne today as an aromatherapeutic supplication to the Gratiae. Each time you catch that fragance it will motivate beauty in any of your artistic skills. Better still, through the aroma the Gratiae can attract the attention of potential lovers! Consider stopping at an art exhibition today or doing some thing creative yourself (even coloring!). Otherwise, do a little decorating. Hang a new poster, put out some fresh flowers, rearrange your knickknacks in a way that is aesthetically pleasing. These kind of actions appeal to the Gratiae's sense of style and tempt them to join you! |
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Burmese New Year Sipe Gialmo Themes: Cleansing; Luck; Playfulness; Water Symbols: Water; Bowl About Sipe Gialmo: A pre-Lamist mother figure, Sipe Gialmo rules with a gentle, nurturing heart. Art traditionally depics her as having three eyes to keep track of things (as any good mother does) and bearing a sword to protect her children and a bowl of water for refreshing them. To Do Today: Around this time, people in Burma hold a three-day festival of water during which all sacred statues are cleansed, as are all participants, often with a playful flair. I see no reason not to follow suit. Gather any god or goddess images (or other symbolic items) you have in your home and polish, clean, scrub, and pamper them. Indirectly, this pampers the divine persona represented and pleases Sipe Gialmo (all good children remember to clean up after themselves!). The splashing of water chases bad luck away and keeps people blissfully cool during one of the hottest months in Burma. While it's not quite that hot in other areas today, splash a little water (ideally, from a bowl) wherever you go anyway to encourage Sipe Gialmo's presence. Splash it at the work fountain to banish office politics. Splash it on your doorway so only good fortune enters your home. Splash it on your car to keep luck with you when driving, and in your wallet for financial good fortune. |
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Bali Temple Offering Rangda Themes: Thankfulness; Magick; Fertility Symbols: A Pregnant Goddess, Round-shaped Fruits; Hibiscus; Yellow About Rangda: A witch goddess in Bali, Rangda takes on a function many witches have throughout history, that of a woman's helpmate, especially in conception. To men, Rangda offers physical ferility or improved energy for magickal workings. To Do Today: Now that the earth is fertile, Rangda's power is even more abundant. To commermorate this and generate some literal or figurative fertility in your life, do as the Balinese do. Wear saffrondyed (yellow) clothes, and leave Rangda an offering of fruit or flowers somewhere special. As you do, pray for a unborn child's well-being, for pregnancy, or for fruitful productivity in whatever area of your life needs it most. Rangda can fulfill your desire for successful living. To manifest her profuseness, take a round watermelon and cut it in half. Make melon balls, and add any othe round-shaped fruit (especially tropical fruit). Before eating, add this incantation:
Rangda, fulfill me; Rangda, complete me.
As my hunger is filled, let my spirit find satisfaction. Eating the fruit salad internalizes her sweet, helpful energy. Finally, to invoke Rangda's blessing and aid in conception, decorate your bedroom with yellow highlights before making love. Find a yellow bulb, put yellow-toned sheets on your bed, and place yellow flowers (or hibiscus) by the bed.
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Furukawa Matsuri (Japan) The Tennin Themes: Protection; Anti-theft Symbols: Drum; Feathers About the Tennin: These semidivine beings are a kind of angel in Buddhist tradition. They like to make music, and their singing voices are as lovely as their stunning visages. Art renderings show them wearing feathered robes and sprouting wings a bit like oversized sylphs. On this day they join their voices to our celebration and wrap us in wings of safety. TO Do Today: Follow Japanese conventions and go through your home or entire town making as much noise as possible by banging pots, blowing horns, ringing bells. This protects you from the threat of thievery and unwanted ghostly visitations, as will singing, sacred songs that draw the Tennin's attention and aid. A flurry of lantern lighting (or in our case, lamp lighting) often accompanies this activity, to shine a light on the darkness and reclaim the night with divine power. To remember the Tennin specifically and invite their protection energy, put a lightweight item (like a silk scarf, a sheet curtain, or something else with diaphanous qualities) in the region that needs guarding. Put on a tape, record, or CD of vocal music (or singing yourself), and they will come. To protect yourself, carry a feather in your purse or wallet. |
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Taurus Begins (Various Locations) Trauropolos Themes: Work; Patience; Strength; Courage Symbols: Bull About Trauropolos: No Goddess could better represent this date other than Trauropolos, the Cretan Bull Goddess whose name literally means "Bull Lady" (and that's no bull!). Teaching us the virtues of diligence and the rewards o hard work, and the hearth, where food from the fields gets prepared. To Do Today: The Cretans were well known for having bull-leaping festivals that honored this goddess, probably as a fertility rite and test of one's bravery. Oddly enough, this is how we come by the saying "seize the bull by the horn!" So, if there's an area of your life in which you want to really seize the day, try this simple symbolic spell. Find any image of a bull (in a magazine, carved our of stone, or in some other form). Put it on the floor, and put a symbol of your aspiration on the side of the image across from you. Say, Tauropolos, prepare the fields for success; help me now to do my best. Leap over the image and claim victory! If you can't find images, any harvested item may represent Tauropolos instead. If you choose this option, be sure to to consume the food later. This way you can internalize this goddess's tenacity, persistence, and fortitude, then apply them toward successfully achieving your goals. |
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Festival of Ishtar (Babylon) Ishtar Themes: Love; Fertility; Passion; Sexuality; Moon Symbols: Star; Moon; Lion; Dove About Ishtar: In Babylon, Ishtar encompasses the fullness of womanhood, including being a maternal nurturer, an independent companion, an inspired bed patner, and an insightful advisor in matters of the heart. Having descended from Venus (the planet that governs romance), she is the moon, the morning star, and the evening star, which inspire lovers everywhere to stop for a moment, look up, and dare to dream. Saturday, is Ishtar's traditional temple day, and her sacred animals include a lion and a dove. To Do Today: Babylonians gave Ishtar offerings of food and drink on this day. They then joined in ritual acts of lovemaking, which in turn invoked Ishtar's favor on the region and its people to promote continued health and fruitfulness. If you'd like to connnect with the fertile energy but have no bed partner, a magickal alternative is using symbolism. Place a knife (or athame, a ritual dagger often representing masculine divine or the two-edged sword of magick) in a cup filled with water. This represents the union of yin and yang. Leave this in a spot where it will remain undisturbed all day to draw Ishtar's loving warmth to your home and heart. If you have any clothes, jewelry, or towels that have a star, or moon on them, take them out and use them today. Ishtar abides in that symbolism. As you don the item, like wise accept Ishtar's mantle of passion for whatever task you have to undertake all day. |
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First Day of Summer (Iceland) Sif Themes: Summer; Kinship; Arts; Passion; Sun Symbols: Sun; Gold; Hair About Sif: This Scandinavian earth goddess has long golden hair that shines even more brightly now that the sun is reclaiming its dominance in the sky. On warm night, especially in summer. She enjoys making love beneath an open sky in the fields, symbolically giving life and adoration to the earth. To Do Today: People greet the traditional first day of summer exuberantly in Iceland, as winter has been very long and often very difficult. They exchange gifts wrapped in gold to celebrate the sun's return, gather with family and friends, and revel in regional arts, especially dramas. A non-Icelandic version of this might be preforming a ritual drama in which you slowly raise a golden sphere with trailing gold ribbons (representing the sun and Sif). Once the sphere is in full view, high in the room, say, Sif, be welcome; Sif is here. She shines her golden warmth on us and the earth, warming both, nurturing all. Afterward, try this Sif-centered spell for unity and passion at home. Have a small, enclosed fire source burning (this represents the sun's blessing). Each person in your household in your household then takes one strand of hair and give it to the flame. As this burns, add dried lemon peel and basil to emphasize harmony (and offset the scent of the hair). Sprinkle the ashes in the soil around the living space. |
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Peppercorn Ceremony (Bermuda) Erzulie Themes: Prosperity; Abundance; Love Symbol: Blue About Erzulie: This Haitian love goddess extends her beneficent springlike energy whenever we need it, especially when our pockets or hearts are empty. When life get out of kilter, petitioning Erzulie set everything back on track, slowly but surely. Blue is Erzulie's sacred color, and she is sometimes called "the loving one." To Do Today: Use peppercorns somehow, of course! This festival began in 1816 when mayor of Bermuda was given use of the state house for the annual rent of one peppercorn. This rent must be delivered annually, and with all due pageantry, to preservet he island's prosperity beneath Erzulie's watchful gaze. For us this might translate into eating a peppercorn dressing on a green salad (letttuce represents money) to internalize financial abundance, or keeping a peppercorn in your wallet to safeguard your money and its flow. Definitely wear blue today to catch Erzulie's attention, and add blue foods to your diet - blueberries, blue juice drink, or even blue colored water. You can also encourage Erzulie's blessings through selfless actions. Give a friend a hug, pamper your pets, take the kids out for some quality time, and remember to kiss your partner good bye in the morning. You'll feel better and find your heart naturally filling with Erzulie's love. |
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Sechselauten (Switzerland) Lada Themes: Spring; Protection; Overcoming; Kinship; Energy; Joy Symbols: Birch; Bells About Lada: Lada bursts forth from her winter hiding place today in full Slavic constume and dances with joy, grateful for spring's arrival. As Lada moves, her skirts sweep away sickness and usher in the earth's blossoming beauty. She bears a birch tree and flowers to honor the earth's fertility and to begin planting anew. To Do Today: This spring festival is overflowing with Lada's vibrancy and begins with the demolition of a snowman, symbolic of winter's complete overthrow. If you live in a region where there's no snow, take out an ice cube and put a flowering seed atop it. Let it melt, then plant the seed with "winter's" water to welcome Lada back to the earth. Bells rings throughout this day in Switzerland to proclaim spring and ring out any remaining winter maladies and shadows. Adapt this by taking a handheld bell (you can get small ones at craft store) and ringing it in every room of the house, intoning Lada's revitalizing energy. Or, just ring your doorbell, opne the door, and bring in some flowers as a way of offering Lada's spirit hospitality. Finally, wear somthing with a floral print today or enjoy a glass of birch beer. Better still, make a birch beer float so the ice cream (snow) melts amid Lada's warmth, bringing that transformative power into you as you sip. |
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African Fertility Festival Mawu Themes: Creativity; Universal; Law; Passion; Abundance; Birth; Inspiration Symbols: Clay; Moon About Mawu: Mawu arrives on an elephant's back, expectant with spring's creative energy. Hers is a wise passion and a timely birth, being ruled by natural laws and universal order. In Africa, she is a lunar-aligned creatrix who made people from clay. As a mother figure, Mawu inspires the universe's abundance and every dreamer's imagination. To Do Today: Rituals for Mawu rejoice in her life-giving energy, often through lovemaking. In Africa, people take this seed generation literally and sow the fields, knowing that Mawu will make the land fertile. So get yourself a seedling today and bring it into the house to welcome Mawu and her creative powers. Name the sprout after one of Mawu's attributes that you want to cultivate. Each time you water or tend the plant, repeat its name and accept Mawu's germinating energy into your spirit. Alternatively, get some nonhardening clay and begin fashioning a symbol of what you need. Devote yourself to spending time on this over twenty-eight days (a lunar cycle), until it's complete. Each time you work, say, Mother Mawu, make me whole, help me obtain my sacred goal. By the time this is finished, you should see the first signs of manifestation. |
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Landsgemeinden (Switzerland) Mati-Syra-Zemlya Themes: Community; Divination; Promises; Justice; Morality Symbols: Oil; Soil About Mati-Syra-Zemlya: This goddess's name means "moist mother," alluding to her fertile aspects. She attends today's festivities to hear oaths and witness legal decisions that may affect the rest of the year. Any promise or sentence made with one hand on the earth, or in her name, is completely binding. In some areas her motherly nature is expressed through healing qualities, while in others she has prophetic ability. An appropriate gift for her is hemp oil. To Do Today: This is a civic-oriented holiday during which people gather to conduct regional business, including voting, budgets, and tax proposals. It's very old custom adorned with lavish clothing, ceremonial swords, and, I suspect, an eavesdropping goddess (just to keep everyone honest). If you need to tie up some pending business, work on your personal budget, or balance the checkbook, honor Mati-Syra-Zemlya and draw her ethical energies to you by getting busy! Alternatively, if you 've been thinking about getting more involved with your local or magickal community, make a commitment to Mati-Syra-Zemlya to start making efforts in that direction. Simply place a hand on the ground and speak your pledge to her ears. The goddess will respond by giving you the time and energy needed to fulfill that commitment. |
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Floralia (Rome) Flora Themes: Beauty; Sexuality; Love; Spring; Fertility Symbols: All Flowers About Flora: Roman prostitues considered Flora their own goddess, protecting all acts of beauty, especially heartfelt lovemaking. She is also a spring goddess from whom we get the word flora, meaning blossom or plants. Symbolically, this flowering pertains to the human spirit too, one that can appreciate beauty in the body without necessarily making it into a sex object. To Do Today: Wearing bright colors on this day is customary, as is decorating everything with a plethora of flowers, each of which has Flora's presence within. If flowers prove difficult to obtain or to costly, think floral aromas instead. Pull out a blossoming air freshener, light floral incense, or wear a floral perfume. Flora is as much a part of the scent as she is the petals, conveying love and passion on each breeze! Another traditional activity for this day is erotic dancing. If you have someone special in your life, tantalize them a bit with slow, sexy movements. Let Flora's passion fill both of y ou to overflowing, then let nature take her course. Finally, make yourself a Flora charm that incites the interest of those from who you seek it. Take three flower petals and tuck them in your clothing, keeping an image of your partner in mind, and say, One for interest, two for Flora's desire, three to light passion's fire. |
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Tako-Age (Japan) Shina Tsu Hime Themes: Wishes; Freedom; Playfulness; Air Element; Movement Symbols: Wind; Sailing; Ships About Shina Tsu Hime: This Japanese wind goddess disperses the morning fog. She also keeps away evil, distracting winds, winds that threaten to uproot or blur our spiritual focus. Because of this, Shina Tsu Hime has become the patroness of sailors and farmers, the latter of whom pray to her for fertile winds bearing seed and rain. To Do Today: Join our Eastern cousins in kite-flying festivities. Shina Tsu Hime will be glad to meet you in a nearby park and give life to your kite. As it flies, release a wish on the winds. Or cut the kite free and liberate a weight from your shoulders. While you're out, gather up nine leaves that Shina Tsu Hime banters about (one for each remaining month). Turn clockwise in a circle, releasing all but one leaf back into Shina Tsu Hime's care while saying, Come May, bring movement in my goals, come June-playful love makes me whole. Come July, my wishes I will see, come August-hope grows in me. Come September, all distractions you abate; come October, my spirit, you liberate. Come November, my health is assured; come December-in my heart you endure. Keep the last leaf with you, releasing it only when you need one of this goddess's attributes to manifest quickly. |
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Walpurgisnacht (Germany) Gefn Themes: Sun; Winter; Spring; Protection; Health; Love; Divination; Magick; Fertility; Foresight; Growth Symbol: All Green or Growing Things About Gefn: A goddess whose name means simply "giver," Gefn was regarded by the Norse-Germanic people as a frolic-some, fertile figure and seeress who embodies the earth's greenery. Gefn brings this abundance to us today: abundant well-being, abundant companionship, and abundant goddess-centered magick! To Do Today: This holiday originated with a German said (Saint Walburga), who had curative powers and taught people how to banish curses. For our purposes, Gefn stand in, offering to heal the curse of broken heart by filling our lives with love and hope-filled foresight. If someone has completely overlooked or trashed your feelings recently, ask Gefn for help in words that you find comfortable. She's waiting and willing to apply a spiritual salve to that wound. Also try the German custom of ringing bells and banging pots to frighten away any malicious or prankish magick (or the people who make it) before your spring activities really start to rock 'n' roll. Make this as playful as possible to encourage Gefn's participation. Burning rosemary and juniper likewise cleanses the area, and if you can get either of these fresh, Gefn's presence lies within. The burning releases her energy. |
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