Great things going on during this Full Moon! Mercury went direct a few days ago, Uranus went retrograde in Aries on July 17th, the Grand Trine perfected on July 16th- 17th (click here and here), and of course our Full Moon in Aquarius.
The Farmer’s Almanac tells us that July is normally the month when the new antlers of buck deer push out of their foreheads in coatings of velvety fur. It was also often called the Full Thunder Moon, for the reason that thunderstorms are most frequent during this time. Another name for this month’s Moon was the Full Hay Moon.
According to the Wise Witches Society, this Moon is referred to the Wort Moon, for “when the sun was in Leo, the worts (from the Anglo-Saxon wyrt plant) were gathered to be dried and stored.”
“July’s Moon is also known as Hay Moon, Wort Moon, and Mead Moon. Pagans celebrate the summer with dancing, drinking, and song. The mead is now made for the coming harvest celebration. Relax and enjoy the warmth of the days and nights. The zodiac association is Cancer.” [1]
Sorry this is late guys – it’s been a jam packed busy week concluding with an amazing Summer Solstice celebration yesterday afternoon that lasted into the night….Hope you are all enjoying your Solstice celebrations and the Super Moon! Here are some additional links for this year’s Full Moon:
The Farmer’s Almanac tells us that June’s full moon is known as the Strawberry Moon. This name was universal to every Algonquin tribe. However, in Europe they called it the Rose Moon. Also because the relatively short season for harvesting strawberries comes each year during the month of June . . . so the full Moon that occurs during that month was christened for the strawberry!
According to the Wise Witches Society, this moon is known as the Mead Moon. During late June and most of July the meadows were mowed for hay.
“June’s moon is also known as Mead Moon, Strawberry Moon, Honey Moon and Flower Moon. This moon is the moon of summer, and we can start looking forward to the warm nights to come. This is also the time for lovers. Before the height of summer use this time to strengthen your weaknesses. The zodiac association is Gemini
“Henwen’s themes are peace, prosperity, fertility and the harvest. Her symbols are sows, grain, honey, eagles and wolves. This fertile British Goddess appears in the form of a pregnant sow who births abundance in our lives. In mythology She wandered the countryside mothering grains, bees, cats, eagles, and wolves as She travelled. Henwen also presides over all physical and magical agricultural efforts.
In Devon village, England, there lies an old stone called Devil’s Boulder. Legend says that during a battle, Satan flung this stone into the village. To keep peace and prosperity in the town and ensure continued good harvests, the stone must be turned annually. For us, this might translate into an annual furniture rearrangement, leaving one piece of grain in each piece to invoke Henwen’s ongoing providence for your home.
To partake of Henwen’s abundance and encourage your own nurturing nature, try eating a whole-grain toast for breakfast with honey (which comes from the Goddess’ bees!). Or enjoy a BLT for lunch and pork roast for dinner. Since the sow in Henwen’s sacred animal, eating its meat symbolically allows you to ‘take in’ this Goddess’ essence.
If you have indoor plants, ask Henwen to keep them green and growing by putting a piece of grain or small dab of honey in each pot. This will become part of the soil, nourishing the plant with Henwen’s power.”
(Patricia Telesco, “365 Goddess: a daily guide to the magic and inspiration of the goddess”.)
“Ceridwen” by =wintersmagic
“Henwen, pronounced [HEN-oon] was a sow Goddess much like Her Welsh counterpart Cerridwen.” [1]
“In British mythology, this magical sow Goddess came forth early in creation to give life to the world. As She roamed the hilly countryside, She gave birth to litter after litter. But instead of piglets, Henwen produced a grain of wheat and a bee; a grain of barley and a bee; a wolf cub, an eaglet, and a kitten, each strange litter in a different part of the country” (Monaghan, p. 150).
“Mala Laith’s themes are justice, community, peace, wisdom, knowledge, forgiveness, maturity and unity. Her symbols are the color gray, pigs, deer, the horse and birds. Known often simply by the designation ‘Gray One’, Mala Laith is the ancient Celtic crone Goddess. Mala Laith is said to have made the mountains and formed many stone circles, alluding to Her age and power. She travels in the company of birds, pigs, deer or a gray horse, carrying wisdom, knowledge, understanding, sensibility and preparation to us as gifts that come with maturity.
On this day, people on Mann honor Tynwald, the old Norse assembly system instituted over one thousand years ago, by gathering to discuss legal matters and end internal bickering. As they do, Mala Laith stands by, offering good counsel and sagacity. For us this means taking a moment out to make sure things in our life are in order and being properly attended to. Review your checking account, follow up on legal matters, make peace with someone from whom you’ve been estranged and generally spend the day focusing on sound action, wise words and sensible thinking. This invokes Mala Laith’s energy.
Wear something gray today to honor the Goddess and watch to see if any of Her sacred animals show up (in logos, on billboards, anywhere) during your day. If they do, pay close attention to their movements and actions. They’re bringing a message to you from Mala Laith, and it’s well worth heeding!”
(Patricia Telesco, “365 Goddess: a daily guide to the magic and inspiration of the goddess”.)
“‘Grey eyebrows’ was the name given to the Cailleach in Ross and Cromarty in Scotland,” Patricia Monaghan tells us. “She was said to tend a herd of pigs, which included the wild boar of Glen Glass” (p. 205). As to be expected, Mala Laith “(pronounced MAH-lah LEE-ah) She is often equated with Cerridwen.” [1]
About Cailleach
“Cailleach” by Mairin-Taj Caya
“‘Cailleach’ (pronounced KAL-y-ach) derives from the old Irish caillech, or ‘the veiled one’. The modern word cailleach means ‘old woman’ or ‘hag’ in Gaelic. The Cailleach is a widespread form of Celtic hag-Goddess tied to the land and the weather who has many variants in the British Isles.
The Caillagh ny Groamagh (‘Gloomy Old Woman’, also called the Caillagh ny Gueshag, ‘Old Woman of the Spells’) of the Isle of Man is a winter and storm spirit whose actions on the 1st of February are said to foretell the year’s weather–if it is a nice day, She will come out into the sun, which brings bad luck for the year. The Cailleach Uragaig, of the Isle of Colonsay in Scotland, is also a winter spirit who holds a young woman captive, away from her lover.
The theme of winter holding spring captive is also seen in the tale that the Cailleach imprisons the beautiful young goddess Brideinside of a mountain over the winter. At Bride’s release, spring comes to the world.
“Cailleach Bhéara” by Max Dashu
The Cailleach Bheur (‘genteel old lady’) of Scotland is a blue-faced hag of winter, who ages in reverse–from old and ugly (symbolizing winter) to young and lovely (spring). The Cailleach Bhéirre of Ireland represents sovereignty over the land and is ancestress of many peoples. Like Dame Ragnell of the Arthurian legends, She appears to the hero as an hideous old woman seeking love; if She gets it, She becomes a beautiful young woman. In legends dating from Christian times, She is sometimes said to be a nun, perhaps linked to the meaning of Her name.
Alternate names: Cailleach Bheur, Cailleach Uragaig, Cailleach Beinne Bric (‘Old Woman of the Speckled Mountain’), Cailleach Mor (‘Great Old Woman’) (Scotland); Cailleach Bheirre, Cailleach Bolus, Cailleach Corca Duibhe (Ireland); Caillagh ny Groamagh, Caillagh ny Gueshag (Isle of Man).” [2]
“Cerridwen’s themes are fertility, creativity, harvest, inspiration, knowledge and luck. Her symbols are the cauldron, pigs and grain. The Welsh mother Goddess, Cerridwin also embodies all lunar attributes and the energy of the harvest, specifically grains. In Celtic mythology, Cerriwin owned a cauldron of inexhaustible elixir that endowed creativity and knowledge. At the halfway point of the year, Her inspiration comes along as motivation to ‘keep on keepin’ on.’ Her symbol is a pig, an animal that often represents good fortune and riches, including spiritual enrichment.
Since most folks don’t have a cauldron sitting around, get creative! Use a special cup, bowl or vase set in a special spot to represent Cerridwin’s creativity being welcome in your home. Fill the receptacle with any grain-based product (like breakfast cereal) as an offering. Whisper your desire to the grain each time you see it or walk by. At the end of the day, pour the entire bowl outside for the animals. They will bear your wishes back to the Goddess.
For meat eaters, today is definitely a time to consider having bacon for breakfast, a ham sandwich for lunch or pork roast for dinner to internalize Cerridwin’s positive aspects. Vegetarians? Fill up your piggy bank with odd change you find around your house and apply the funds to something productive to inspire Cerridwin’s blessing.”
(Patricia Telesco, “365 Goddess: a daily guide to the magic and inspiration of the goddess”.)
Thalia Took tells us that “Cerridwen [pronounced (KARE-id-ooín or KARE-id-win)](‘White Sow’, or ‘White Crafty One’) is the Welsh grain and sow-Goddess, keeper of the cauldron of inspiration and Goddess of transformation. Her son Afagddu was so horribly ugly She set to making a brew of wisdom for him, to give him a quality that could perhaps overcome his ugliness. Every day for a year and a day She added herbs at the precise astrological times, but on the day it was ready the three magical drops fell instead on the servant boy, Gwion Bach, who was set to watch the fire. Instantly becoming a great magician, the boy fled from Her wrath, and as She pursued him they each changed shape–a hound following a rabbit, an otter chasing a salmon, a hawk flying after a sparrow–until finally the boy changed to a kernel of wheat, settling into a pile of grain on a threshing-floor. Cerridwen, becoming a black hen, found him out and swallowed him down.
Nine months later She gave birth to Taliesin, who would be the greatest of all bards.
“Shapeshifter” by Lisa Hunt
Called ‘the White Lady of Inspiration and Death’, Cerridwen’s ritual pursuit of Gwion Bach symbolizes the changing seasons. Her cauldron contains awen, meaning the divine spirit, or poetic or prophetic inspiration. Her link as the Mother of Poetry is seen in Her reborn son Taliesin, and in the Welsh word that makes up part of Her name, cerdd, which also means poetry.
Cerridwen signifies inspiration from an unexpected corner. Plans may go awry; projects may change. Do not be too quick to hold a project to its course–instead let it take its shape as it will.
The Farmer’s Almanac tells us that July is normally the month when the new antlers of buck deer push out of their foreheads in coatings of velvety fur. It was also often called the Full Thunder Moon, for the reason that thunderstorms are most frequent during this time. Another name for this month’s Moon was the Full Hay Moon.
According to the Wise Witches Society, this Moon is referred to the Wort Moon, for “when the sun was in Leo, the worts (from the Anglo-Saxon wyrt plant) were gathered to be dried and stored.”
“July’s Moon is also known as Hay Moon, Wort Moon, and Mead Moon. Pagans celebrate the summer with dancing, drinking, and song. The mead is now made for the coming harvest celebration. Relax and enjoy the warmth of the days and nights. The zodiac association is Cancer.” [1]
JULY: Hay Moon (July) Also known as: Wort Moon, Moon of Claiming, Moon of Blood (because of mosquitoes), Blessing Moon, Maedmonat (Meadow Month), Hewimanoth (Hay Month), Fallow Moon, Buck Moon, Thunder Moon Nature Spirits: hobgoblins (small, grotesque but friendly brownie-type creatures), faeries of harvested crops Herbs: honeysuckle, agrimony, lemon balm, hyssop Colors: silver, blue-gray Flowers: lotus, water lily, jasmine Scents: orris, frankincense Stones: pearl, moonstone, white agate Trees: oak, acacia, ash Animals: crab, turtle, dolphin, whale Birds: starling, ibis, swallow Deities:Khepera, Athene, Juno, Hel, Holda, Cerridwen, Nephthys, Venus Power Flow: relaxed energy; preparing; succeeding. Dream-work, divination, and meditation on goals and plans, especially spiritual ones.
The Farmer’s Almanac tells us that June’s full moon is known as the Strawberry Moon. This name was universal to every Algonquin tribe. However, in Europe they called it the Rose Moon. Also because the relatively short season for harvesting strawberries comes each year during the month of June . . . so the full Moon that occurs during that month was christened for the strawberry!
According to the Wise Witches Society, this moon is known as the Mead Moon. During late June and most of July the meadows were mowed for hay.
“June’s moon is also known as Mead Moon, Strawberry Moon, Honey Moon and Flower Moon. This moon is the moon of summer, and we can start looking forward to the warm nights to come. This is also the time for lovers. Before the height of summer use this time to strengthen your weaknesses. The zodiac association is Gemini.” [1]
JUNE: Mead Moon (June) Also known as: Moon of Horses, Lovers’s; Moon, Strong Sun Moon, Honey Moon, Aerra Litha (Before Lithia), Brachmanoth (Break Month), Strawberry Moon, Rose Moon, Moon of Making Fat Nature Spirits: sylphs, zephyrs Herbs: skullcap, meadowsweet, vervain, tansy, dog grass, parsley, mosses Colors: orange, golden-green Flowers: lavender, orchid, yarrow Scents: lily of the valley, lavender Stones: topaz, agate, alexandrite, fluorite Trees: oak Animals: monkey, butterfly, frog, toad Birds: wren, peacock Deities:Aine of Knockaine, Isis, Neith, Green Man, Cerridwen, Bendis, Ishtar Power Flow: full but restful energy; protect, strengthen, and prevent. A time of Light; Earth tides are turning. Decision-making, taking responsibility for present happenings. Work on personal inconsistencies. Strengthen and reward yourself for your positive traits. [2]
* Check out Mooncircles.com every month, or better yet, subscribe to their monthly newsletter to get the scoop on each month’s Full and New Moons, find out more about Moon Astrology and read blogs. They even have a different 3-Minute Moon Ritual for each Full Moon!
Healing is in the air during the Celtic Month of Willow, inviting you to open your heart and express your emotions.
During this time of April showers, the watery month of the Willow Moon teaches you to release pent-up emotions and experience your grief. Tears are linked to healing, and as you express difficult and painful feelings, you are able to purge yourself of subconscious fears. The Willow Moon offered a healing month to the Celts, who literally spring-cleaned themselves in steamy saunas, known as sweat lodges, in readiness for the Beltane festival at the start of May.
Watery Tree
This month is the perfect time to perform lunar magic and to let go of the past. Cast spells to restore and nurture during the waxing Moon and to release problems during the waning Moon. Drinking more water will help you attune to the Willow Moon and so enable you to connect to the tree’s water magic.
HEALING AND BLESSING
The willow is imbued with the power of the Moon, and so it has always been particularly linked with witchcraft. The traditional witches’ broom is bound with a willow branch, and lunar wands used specifically for Moon magic are made of willow wood.
A lovely handmade willow wand that can be purchased from the Eire Crescent shop on Etsy.
Broken Hearts
The willow’s close ties to the Moon and tides also connect it to affairs of the heart. An old English tradition involved jilted lovers wearing a sprig of willow in their hats, which originated from an ancient willow charm to heal a broken heart.
Lucky Tree
It was also believed that knocking on willow wood would help to banish bad luck, and that the tree’s leaves and bark could be added to healing incense and sachets to further promote health.
Focus on bringing someone round to your way of thinking. Attract love or a new job, or aim to make a good first impression.
WILLOW MOON MAGIC
The Willow Moon provides the perfect time to harness lunar power and energy for wishing spells, divination, healing and protection.
Willow Divination
Willow is a good tree for boosting your intuition because of its watery association with the Moon. Try these traditional “willow ways” of using your extrasensory perception!
Throw your shoe into a willow tree on the new Moon. If it gets stuck you will be married in the next 12 months, but if it falls you will remain single. you can try this eight times, if you do not get the desired result the first time!
Sleep with willow leaves under your pillow on the night of the full Moon to have a psychic dream.
Burning the bark and leaves of willow with sandalwood, outside during the waning Moon, will help you see spirits.
Protection Spell
Planting a willow tree in your yard will banish bad luck from your home.
You Will Need:
Willow branch
Spring water
A clear quartz crystal
A lock of your hair
1. On the new Moon, dig a hole and place the quartz crystal inside it.
2. Call upon the blessing of the Earth Mother with the following incantation: “Earth to earth, in power and love grow.”
3. Add the lock of your hair, to bring your own energies to the spell, and say, “I welcome you.”
4. Place the willow branch in the hold and refill the earth around it.
5. Shower the covered earth with the spring water while saying this chant: “Water to water, in power and love grow.”
6. Water the buried branch each day until it is strong.
Moon Water Spell
This willow tree ritual should be performed outside and can be used to make a wish, or heart’s desire, some true.
1. At the time of the full Moon go to a shallow river or stream where willow trees grow.
2. Stand with your feet in the water and hold your arms up to the Moon.
3. Visualize moonlight flooding your aura, filling your body with each breath.
4. Recite this incantation: “Lady Moon of wax and wane, bring my wish and take my pain.”
5. Perform an act of ritual purification by washing your hands in the water by the roots of the tree.
6. Focus on your wish and tie a knot with a string around a willow branch to seal it. When your wish comes true, untie the knot.
“Esbat” by NinfeAde
Healing Sachet
Use this charm during the Willow Moon to support your recovery from past bereavement or heartbreak.
You Will Need:
White spell bag
Willow leaves
Willow bark
Moonstone crystal
1. Harvest the bark and the leaves on the full Moon, leaving a strand of hair as an offering of thanks.
2. Hold up the moonstone and say “Mother Moon, Fair thou art, may your radiance heal my heart.”
3. Place all the ingredients in the bag, tying three knots to seal it, saying, “By the power of three so let it be.”
Source:
“Enhancing Your Body, Mind and Spirit”, 21 Nature Magic, CARD 9.
“Blodeuwedd’s themes are beauty, relationships, charity, and hope. Her symbols are flowers and owls. This intensely beautiful Welsh Goddess’ name means ‘flower face’, because magicians fashioned Her visage from oak, meadowsweet, and broom flowers. Folktales say that Blodeuwedd was unfaithful to Her husband. As punishment for Her crime, the same magicians who gave Her a flower face chose to be merciful and transformed Blodeuwedd into an owl rather than inflicting some other punishment. She has forever remained in this form, mourning the loss of love and reminding people of two important lessons: relationships are fragile, and beauty is indeed only skin deep.
The English sell geraniums today to collect funds for charities, specifically those that support services for the blind, who cannot see Blodeuwedd’s radiance as we do. In the language of flowers, geraniums represent solace – which is what any act of charity stimulates today. It provides hope to those in need and inspires Blodeuwedd’s beauty within your soul. Even if your pocket is empty, extend assistance to someone or something in need. Offer to help an elderly friend with chores, give some returnable bottles to a homeless person, act as big brother or sister to orphans, give water to a stray cat. Benevolence had many forms, and it makes the world a much nicer place in which to live!”
(Patricia Telesco, “365 Goddess: a daily guide to the magic and inspiration of the goddess”.)
“Blodeuwedd in Bloom” by Selina Fenech
“Blodeuwedd (pronunciation: bluh DIE weth [“th” as in “weather”]) is the Welsh Goddess of spring created from flowers, and the wife of Lleu Llaw Gyffes, son of Arianrhod and is a central figure in the fourth branch of the Mabinogi. In the late Christianized myth, She was created by the great magicians Math and Gwydion to be Lleu’s mate, in response to a curse pronounced by his Mother that he would never have a wife from any race then on the Earth. They fashioned Blodeuwedd from nine types of blossom–oak, meadowsweet, broom, cockle, bean, nettle, chestnut, primrose, and hawthorn–and breathed life into Her. She proved treacherous to Lleu, and She and Her lover Gronw Pebyr plotted against him, killing the invulnerable Lleu by tricking him into the only pose in which he could be harmed. Blodeuwedd was punished for this by being transformed into the night-bird, the owl, though She kept Her name–in Welsh, blodeuwedd, meaning “Flower-face”, is a name for the owl.
She is the white Goddess of Death and Life in Her May-aspect, and part of a triad consisting of Arianrhod (virgin), Blodeuwedd (lover), and Cerridwen (crone).
She represents temporary beauty and the bright blooming that must come full circle through death: She is the promise of autumn visible in spring.
“Many researchers and historians see Blodeuwedd as the symbol of betrayal (Amy Sophia Marashinsky in the “The Goddess Oracle”) or a representative of the May Queen, who was wedded ritually to the king who would be sacrificed to Her (Robert Graves in “The White Goddess”), but I believe that Her story can be interpreted in a different way.
Blodeuwedd was the Flower Maiden, made by men, for a man, in ‘the image of their own desires, feelings and ideas about what a Lover should be.’ Blodeuwedd married Llew and became the perfect wife and mate. When She meets Gronw, something deep within Blodeuwedd came alive. She embraces and declares Her feelings of love and makes a choice to be with Gronw. Blodeuwedd takes Her power back and in this act, becomes the Mother aspect of the Goddess– a woman who is strong in who She is and who embraces Her power; the power to nurture, to heal, and to love with abandon.
“Blodeuwedd” by Hrana Janto
After Llew is killed, She is pursued and as a punishment, turned into an owl. Owls are associated with wisdom. Blodeuwedd has become the Crone. She has learned what happens when She accepts Herself and turns against what others want Her to be. Blodeuwedd was ‘transformed into the diametrical opposite of her previous self. From a meek, gentle, smiling, benign, beautiful and perfect Mate, She became a solitary night predator, maw gaping in silent flight, screech cutting through the forest. In a positive sense, we may say that She became assertive, independent, self-realized – and wise.’ For me, the lesson of Blodeuwedd is that we must leave behind our youth and innocence and claim the Feminine Divine in order to transform and become wise.” [2]
Associations: Nine flower blossoms of primrose, bean, broom, meadowsweet, cockle (burdock), nettle, oak, hawthorn and chestnut
Aspects: Goddess as Lover, Goddess as Sexual Love, Goddess as Virgin complete unto Herself
Names: Flower Goddess; Lady of Flowers; Lady of the Nine Buds of Plant and Tree; Lily Maid of Celtic initiation ceremonies. Also known as the Ninefold Goddess of the Western Isles of Paradise.
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A personal journal to share my artistic works, to write about Norse shamanism and traditional paganism, European History, Archaeology, Runes, Working with the Gods and my personal experiences in Norse shamanic practices.
Journeying to the Goddess 