May: The Dyad Moon The Dyad Moon is important because it honors the Lord and the Lady's marriage and its consummation upon the Earth. They dance across the land in the joy that comes from being in love. And the ectasy and passion of Their mating dance is reflected in every step that They take. Flowers burst into full bloom; trees grow heavy with green leaves; the winds and rain of spring subside, giving way to blue skies and the warmth of the Sun. Everything is right with the Earth and her inhabitants.
On the mundane level, the energy of this Moon provides a good time to finish projects. Productivity levels run high. Goals - even the ones that are difficult-are suddenly within our grasp. And because the Lord and the Lady also touch our hearts in Their dancing, love and romance also comes into play. Undoubtedly, this is one of the most powerful Moons of the year for the Witch. It's the time when the impossible is likely. ~Dress in bright colors and adorn yourself with the flowers of the season. ~Use gold and silver candles and decorate the altar with fresh flowers and wedding paraphernalia. Burn Full Moon Incense. Alternately, burn jasmine incense.
~Cast the Circle with a bouquet of flowers tied with colored ribbons. (If your a solitary Witch, leave the bouquet outdoors on top of the libation area after Circle. If you practice within a group, use it for a wedding bouquet toss instead.) ~Serve cake and champagne or flavored sparkling water for libation. ~ Bless fertilizer sticks and garden fertilizer during this Full Moon. Charge them by chanting something like: O Maid and Lord of Moon and Sun
I call you, Ancients. Quickly run
And fertilize these items, please,
So that our plant-life grows with ease. ~Bless money for fertile growth at this time, too. Charge everyone's change by saying something like:
Money multiply and grow
Fertile Maiden, make it so
Let money multiply with ease
With the help of Blessed Be's
~Ask the Lord and Lady to lend Their passion to other area's of your life, too. It's a good time to enlist Their aid in widening your circle of friends, opportunities, strengthening your capacity for love and compassion, and opening your heart to romance. ~taken from Dorthy Morrison ~ The Craft A Witches Book of Shadows~ May
The Hare Moon
Also called: Merry or Dyad Moon, Bright Moon, Flower Moon, Frogs Return Moon, Thrimilcmonath (Thrice Milk Month), Sproutkale, Winnemanoth(Joy Month), Planting Moon, Moon When the Ponies Shed.
Fifth day of the New Moon is the Mugwort Festival in China.
Full Moon is also known as the Pestilent Moon in China; Chung K'uei, the great spiritual chaser of demons, is honored. May 1: Rowan Witch Day for the Finnish goddess Rauni.
Rauni was associated with the mountain ash or rowan. Twigs and branches of the rowan tree were, and still are, used as protection against evil in this part of the world. Some sources list Rauni as a god.
The Slavonic-Russian cultures had a similar, but longer, festival celebrating merriment, rivers, and well-being. This occured between May 25 and June 25. Originally, it honored the goddess Lada, who was later changed to the god Lado.
May 2 and 3: Bon Dea, the Roman Good Goddess, had her festival on the night between May 2 and 3. No men were allowed to attend.
May 4: Sacred Thorn (Moon) Tree Day in Ireland; the Hawthorn Month begins.
The Sheila Na Gig is still seen carved in the decorations of many Irish churches. This goddess is a grotesque figure, that is often emaciated, a woman that is shown squatting and holding wide her private parts. Many Irish still know her as the protector of the poor and hang clothes on hawthorn bushes on May 4; this is believed to avert poverty. It is possible that the Australian term "Shelia," used as a name for any woman, refers to this ancient deity and her carvings.
May 5: Feast of the Dragon in China.
Mugwort was a sacred herb in China and Europe. As part of the celebration the Chinese made dolls out of the leaves. They hung these dolls above the gates and doors to repel negative influences and entities.
May 8: In Tibet, an old Nature festival for the beginning of Summer and the rain deities became a celebration of Buddha's death and his attainment of Buddha-hood. The attainment festival occurred on this day, while celebration of Buddha's death was on May 15. Deceased relatives were prayed for at this time.
May 9: Feast of Artemis in Greece.
May 9, 11, and 13: The Lemuria in Rome, when wandering spirits of family members were acknowledged.
The Roman festival of Lemuria was to placate and remember the Lemures, or the wandering spirits of the dead. Each family performed its own private ceremonies, which ended with taking gifts to the graves. For those who had died and had no graves, the head of the household wlked barefoot through the house, casting black beans behind him.
May 12: Festival of Shashti in India; Aranya Shashti is a Forest god similar to Pan.
May 15: Day of Maia, a Full Moon Goddess in Greece.
The Greek Goddess Maia, who is the most important of the Seven Sisters (the Pleiades) is said to be the mother of Hermes, and the name of this month is taken from her name. Some form of this goddess's name was known to people from Ireland to India. She was called Maius by the Romans, the goddess of Summer and was honored by them at the Ambarvalia, a family festival for purification and protection of farm land.
In the Celtic cultures, May was called Mai or Maj, a month of sexual freedom. Green was worn during this month to honor the Earth Mother. May 1 was the Celtic festival of Beltane, a festival celebrating fertility of all things. Cattle were driven through the Beltane bonfires for purification and fertility. In Wales, Creiddylad was connected to this festival and often called the May Queen. The maypole and its dance is a remnant of these old festivals.
May: 16: The Savitu-Vrata in India, honoring Sarasvati, Queen of Heaven.
May 19 - 28: The Kallyntaria and Plynteria: a festival of Spring Cleaning and purification in Greece and Rome.
This festival was devoted to the cleaning and freshening of sacred statues and temples. The statues, small enough to be moved, were taken to a nearby river or lake and washed until clean. This was serious business with no singing or merry-making.
May 23: The Rosalia in Rome, the Rose Festival of Flora and Venus.
May 24: Birth of Artemis/Diana; called the Thargelia; usually on the New Crescent Moon. An older Greek celebration on this day was to honor the Horae. Also the celebration of the Three Mothers of the Celtic countries, who brought prosperity and a good harvest.
May 26: The day of Chin-hua-fu-jen in China, an Amazon goddess silmilar to Diana.
May 26-31: Festival of Diana as goddess of the wildwood in Rome.
May 30-31: Festival of the Queen of the Underworld in Rome.
A Roman celebration honoring the Underworld Queen Prosperina and her consort Pluto. Proseroina ruled over the resting place of the shades (souls), but her kingdom was connected with more than death. Pluto was also known as the deity of hidden wealth.
Correspondences:
Nature Spirits: faeries, elves
Herbs: dittany of Crete, elder, mint, rose, mugwort, thyme, yarrow
Colors: green, brown, pink
Flowers: lily of the valley, foxglove, rose, broom
Scents: rose, sandalwood
Stones: emerald, malachite, amber, carnelian
Trees: hawthorn
Animals: cats,lynx, leopard
Birds: swallow, dove, swan
Dieties: Bast, Venus, Aphrodite, Maia, Diana, Artemis, Pan, Horned God
Power Flow: full creating energy; propagation. Intuition, contact with faeries and other supernatural beings. Strengthen connection with supernatural protectors and beings around you. Power flowing from the Greenwood Gods and trees. Old Sayings and Lore: ~To dream of a future husband, go out into the light of the first Full Moon of the new year. Say:
Moon, Moon, tell unto me
When my true love I shall see.
What fine clothes am I to wear?
How many children will I bear?
For if my love comes not to me
Dark and dismal my life will be.
~The Irish say that to see the future, for good or ill, take a mirror outside. Let the light of the Moon fall on the surface and stare into it. Any face that appears will be connected to your future. ~In some parts of Ireland, upon seeing the New Moon, people bowed or knealt, saying:
O Moon, leave us as well as you found us.
~Some farmers still believe that crops sown near a Full Moon will be ready for harvest a month earlier than crops sown on during a waxing Moon. ~Cornish tin miners had some very interesting ideas about the Moon. One of these said that if you put a piece of tin in an ant hill near a certain phase of the Moon (unspecified), it would turn into silver. ~Upon seeing the New Moon, bow to her and turn over the silver or coins in your pocket. This will bring you luck in all your affairs. Myths: Maia and the Pleiades Maia for whom the month of May was named, was one of the Seven Sisters of Roman-Greek mythology; these sisters were later called the Pleiades. They were born in Arcadia to the giant Atlas and an unnamed mother. Their names are given as Alcyone, Calaeno, Electra, Maia, Merope, Asterope, and Taygete. Although these sisters originally accompanied Artemis, they later were involved with men. Electra had a son, Dardanus, who was said to have founded the city of Troy.
The giant Orion saw them once as they danced in an Arcadian meadow and decided he wanted all seven of the sisters. They refused and he gave chase. They cried out to Zeus who changed them into a constellation; he also placed Orion and his dog Sirus in the heavens. Legend says that only six of the sister-stars are visible because Electra hid to aviod seeing the destruction of Troy. Later, Electra was transformed into a comet, ranging the heavens in her grief.
Rituals:
Feast of the Dragon In China, the Feast of the Dragon was held during this month. To the Chinese, the dragons were not evil creatures, but helpful ones. They were said to bring rain and prosperity, rule all water, be healing, and chase away evil. Most people are familiar with the dragon images paraded during the Chinese New Year celebrations, but few understand that China had many other dragon festivals. Dragons are fascinating, but wily creatures who have great power and magickal knowledge.
Boats decorated as dragons were sailed on rivers and lakes in the moonlight to entice the dragon-energies to come into the community. The people floated flowers on the waters to carry their messages to the dragons.
Dragons are wonderful supernatural beings. They have had bad experiences with human adults, though, and tend to be wary about making themselves known. If you are patient and persistent, you can entice dragons to be friends. The easiest to encounter are the guardian dragons, the "baby" of the species.
Personal guardian dragons come in various shapes and sizes, and are usually quite small in compairson with the adults. They come in all colors, pastel, or light shades with bely scales of a multitude of hues. The little guardian dragons are almost always supervised by one of the more adult dragons, which you may or may not see.
The little dragons are not as powerful as the larger ones, but they can help with protection, friendship, love, divination (such as tarot, runes, crystal reading), the development of psychic abilities, dancing, music, and general rituals. Their most important task, however, is protection of you, your family, and your home. They are more or less astral watch-dogs.
These little personal dragons are the most friendly of their species and the most fun-loving. They enjoy impromptu rituals that include dancing, singing, and fun in general. They like ginger and sweet smelling or spicy incenses. They are likely to hang over your shoulder while you read cards or look into a crystal. If you have trouble visualizing your dragons, try putting a piece of crystal to your third eye on your forehead.
If you want to make friends with your guardian dragons, and let them know you are aware of their existance, do this simple welcoming ritual. Burn a candle, any color except black; this color is predominatly that of the huge Chaos Dragons. Burn a spicy or sweet incense. Set out a few
crystals to draw their attention. Then chant: Little dragons, rainbow bright,
Good friends of this family,
Send good wishes to us all.
Join our rituals merrily.
Protect us through each day and night,
While awake or while asleep.
Through your love and vigilance
Do this family safely keep. If interested in dragons, you can find further infromation on them and for using their help in rituals, one book you can check out is Dancing with Dragons, by D.J. Conway. Mugwort Festival Mugwort is a very magickal herb, especially when gathered at the Summer Solstice or Full Moon. It was sacred to the Druids and many other ancient cultures for ritual workings. The Chinese considered it so important that they gave mugwort its own festival.
Mugwort can be rubbed on crystal balls and magick mirrors to increase their strength. To create a clairvoyant drink, soak 1/4 ounce of mugwort in a bottle of light wine for nine days (a Moon number), beginning on the New Moon. At the end of that time strain out the mugwort. Use several layers of fine cloth as mugwort has a lot of fuzz. Replace the wine in the bottle and cap tightly. Drink a small amount to aid clairvoyance, divination, and crystal reading.
This ritual is for use with a crystal ball, magick mirror, or a piece of crystal. Even a cup of water can act as a scrying device. A fancy, expensive crystal ball is not a prerequiste to reading the future. Whatever you decide to use, whether it be crystal ball, mirror, or a sliver of crystal, keep it covered when not in use. People are fascinated by such things and like to handle them. This overlays your vibrations with those of someone else, thus making it more difficult to use the device. Some cats can become absolutely engrossed in looking at crystal balls, but they don't leave vibrations though.
Scrying requires a tremendous amount of patience. Seldom do the pictures, in the ball or within the mind, come at once. Relax; don't strain to get something. You don't have to stare at the crystal until you get eye strain or a headache either. Let your vision go slightly out of focus and try to be a spectator. Watch and listen within your mind to what may surface. Some people actually see pictures within the crystal. Place your scrying aid on your pentacle and circle it five times with your wand while saying:
One for the Maiden shining bright.
One for the Lady of the night.
One for the Old One, all-knowing and wise.
One for the God of the Sun-washed skies.
One for the gift of prophecy.
I ask you now, show the future to me.
Proceed with your scrying.
Moon Rituals
Inanna, Lady of Prosperity
~Full Moon~ This goddess was called by the name Inanna in Sumeria, but was known as Ishtar in Babylon. She was a deity of light, life,love, death, and the evening star. She had great power over the destinies of cities and lovers. She personally overcame great adversity and helps her worshippers do the same.
If you are faced with difficult decisions or adversaries that you can't seem to solve, call upon Inanna. You must have done everything you can do before this goddess will work with you. She has no time for those who won't take responsibility, try to shift the blame, won't make decisions, or want everything in their lap.
This ritual can be performed with or without casting a circle. Decorate an altar space with flowers. Also have a new indoor or outdoor plant as an offering to the goddesss. Burn cinnamon incense. A pink candle is also needed. Stand at the altar and say: Lady of the fullness of life,
Show me the best of all your ways
That I may know the joy of all,
And praise and bless you all my days. Go to the East; say:
Inanna, goddess of flowers and vegetation,
I call to you for you aid.
Bless me with your presence. Move to the South; say: Inanna, goddess of all the joys of love,
I ask for love and happiness to fill my life.
Bless me with your presence. Go to the West; say Inanna, goddes of creativity and spiritual growth,
I ask for wisdom and guidance to do my best.
Bless me with your presence. Finish by going to the North; say: Inanna, goddess who descended into the Underworld and came
forth again in glory,
Let the old that is useless in my life drop away, the new come in.
Bless me with your presence. Light the pink candle. Meditate or lay our tarot cards, or do both. When you are finished, stand again at the altar. Great Mother of deep caverns and tall pines,
I await your wisdom.
Lady of the Full Moon and wild beasts,
I seek your guidance.
Your silver orb is in the sky.
I salute you, Mother of Birth and Rebirth. Be alert to dreams and things that happen around you until the next Moon phase. The goddess often brings her wisdom through others or books. Ishtar of Battles
~Dark Moon~ For two days at the end of May, the Romans held the Feast of the Queen of the Underworld, a celebrations honoring Underworld goddesses such as Hecate, Cybele, and in later times Black Isis.
Although Ishtar of the Middle East was known as the goddess of love, she was also known for her ferocity in battle and protection of her worshippers. In this aspect, Ishtar rode in a chariot drawn by seven lions, or sat on a lion throne, holding a double serpent scepter with dragons by her side. She was called Possessor of the Tablets of Life's Records, Guardian of Law and Order, and Lady of Battles and Victory. Her symbols were the eight-pointed star, pentagram, dove, serpents, and the labyrs. She was the goddess of the postive and negative sides of all she ruled, a patroness of priestesses. She could be stern, cruel, and bad tempered. Her powers extended over many areas, including the overcoming of obstacles. This ritual of banishing and release is best done during the Dark Moon or waning Moon. It can be done for a specific person or problem that is troubling you. It is also good when you know you need to break off a relationship.
You will need a banishing incense, a small piece of paper, pencil, patchouli or camphor oil, a sword or dagger, a bowl of small amounts of crushed laurel and powdered frankincense, and a metal cauldron.
Burn the banishing incense. Write the name of the problem or person on the small piece of paper, and place it in the altar along with the patchouli or camphor oil. In a small bowl have ready the bay laurel or frankincense.
Hold your sword or ritual dagger straight out before you, resting the edge of it on the cauldron. Stamp your foot and say: Hear me, O mighty Ishtar.
This is a time of releasing, of sending away.
I sever all ties with (name of person or problem).
Send your great powers to sweep it (him/her) out of my life. Continue holding the sword (or dagger) outstreatched while mentally visualizing the person or problem quickly moving away from the tip of the sword (or dagger). See it (him/her) fall into the cauldron to disappear. Try to see it (him/her) vanish completely. Don't specify how you want this to occur, just that the problem will no longer be in your life.
Take the paper and impale it on the tip of the blade saying: All ties between us are severed.
Nothing binds me to thee.
You are blown away on the winds of the Lady of Battles. Remove the paper from the blade. Dot it with patchouli or camphor oil on all four corners and in the center. Burn it in the cauldron. Queen of Heaven, Moon Goddess,
Cast your powerful rays upon my enemies.
Let them be thrown down in defeat.
Defend me, Lady of Battles and Victory! Sprinkle some of the crushed herbs onto the burning paper, or if the paper is out, make a little pile of the herbs and set them on fire. Say: Renewal comes from the cauldron of the Underworld.
As Ishtar ascended victorious from her journey to that land,
So am I renewed through her love and wisdom. Dispose of the burned paper and herbs by flushing them down the toilet, an apt symbol of getting rid of the trouble. ~taken from Moon Magick by D.J. Conway~ |
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