Every good reference book is both a product and a reflection of its time. The Dictionary of Magic & Mystery is not just another compendium or dictionary of occultism: it is a jumping-off point for further research. Here, the reader will find the ancient and modern interpretation for magical and mystical terms, together with explanations for the differences between the varied (and often conflicting) approaches to magic. You will also find both the common, the regional, and the obscure, because even popular usage can often distill the true essence from original meaning. There are historical and archeological references that are essential in helping to put the past into perspective, whether we are talking about witchcraft, ritual magic, or the different paths and traditions from the East. Added to all this information are some of the sacred sites that are associated with our pagan past; together with thumbnail sketches of the well-known (and sometimes dubious) personalities who have been associated with the pursuit of magical knowledge throughout the centuries.  This is an example of one of the mini-essays that complement the entries:
 
Lammas and the Harvest Home
During the autumn of 1621 the settlers at Plymouth Colony gathered to give thanks for the harvest after their first year in the New World. That was America’s first Thanksgiving, but it has grown into probably the most important family occasion of the year, where everyone gathers to enjoy a meal of roast turkey, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie. Its roots, however, have their origin in the traditional Harvest Supper – or Harvest Home – of the English farming community.
In truth, the practice of holding a Harvest Festival service was only established in the 19th century in an attempt to control the Harvest Home celebrations, which the Church of the time considered too raucously pagan!
 
Harvest celebrations were some of the holiest of the pagan year. Traditionally, the harvest continued for most of August from Lammas, when bread was made from the first corn to be cut; right through to the last fruits being gathered in early September. Any housewife worth her salt would be bottling fruit, making pickles and jams, drying herbs and preparing potions from the natural harvest in the hedgerows for the months ahead when the fresh ingredients would not be available.
 
There has always been a spiritual quality surrounding harvest time: a celebration of the good things that have happened during the year. A perfect time to gather friends and family together for a celebratory supper in a spirit of thanksgiving, whether we are urban or rural dwellers, market trader or stockmarket trader. And although the American celebration is held on the fourth
Thursday in November, a Harvest Home should be around the Harvest Moon, or Autumn Equinox.
 
A typical 17th century Harvest Supper would have consisted of ‘… puddings, bacon or boiled beef, flesh or apple pies, and then cream brought in platters… hot cakes and ale…’ A Witch’s Treasury for Hearth & Garden brought the menu up to date with home-made soup, honey-glazed ham, apple pie with cream and a selection of cheeses, served with celery, accompanied by good beer, cider or robust red wine. To set the atmosphere, display any freshly prepared produce for decoration as this will be your own harvest festival. If you’ve made jams or pickles, give each guest a jar as a gesture of sharing.
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Should your talents lean more towards the arty, give each guest a corn dolly to take home. Corn has long been regarded as the embodiment of productivity and fruitfulness; a simple plait of corn straw tied with ribbon can be hung in the kitchen to insure a productive year to come. It would also be nice to think that the modern ‘wheel of the year’ isn’t always driven by the need to use the festivals for spellcasting. Before the end of the meal, make sure everyone has a full glass and propose a toast to your own equivalent of the ‘bounty of the harvest’, and ask your guests to join you in pouring a libation on the ground outside. Even in financially-troubled times, we still have something to be grateful for and if we can reintroduce the spirit of thanksgiving at the turning of the year, we will be reconnecting with the simple faith of our forebears.
 
‘Thanksgiving’ isn’t about preserving ye olde pagan ways with copious amounts of cider swilling, accompanied by endless verses of John Barleycorn, it’s about bringing together family and close friends for the purpose of celebration. An annual pilgrimage back to our pagan roots, or to wherever our pagan roots have been transplanted. We can gather around the simple kitchen table, or set the dining room glistening with starched linen, crystal and silver. There is no preset formula of observance… just the willingness to enjoy each other’s company, count our blessings and reflect on our good fortune.
 
The Dictionary of Magic & Mystery compiled by Melusine Draco is published by Moon Books : ISBN 978 1 84694 462 8 : 3333 entries 370 pages : Price UK£12.99/IUS$22.95
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​JULY was [OE] Æftera Līþa ‘After Midsummer’ or ‘Second Summer’. [OHG] Hewi-mānod ‘hay(making) month. In some years a “leap month” was added to the calendar at the height of the summer, which was Thriliða, or the ‘third-mild.’ In the 14th century misericord calendar, it was shown as the time for baking the loaves for Lammas from the first flour to celebrate the start of the harvest. The tree representing July is the Birch, known as the ‘Lady of the Woods’ and used in the making of the besom.
 
Birch Magic: At night, when its silvery bark glimmers in the moonlight, the birch creates a majestic yet ethereal image. The tree’s loose, paper-like bark was held sacred by early man and excavations of Neolithic and Mesolithic grave-mounds reveal that rolls of birch bark were interred alongside the corpse, although their exact significance remains a mystery.
 
2nd The annual Boston Charter Fair has been held in the town since at least 1125 and has been a part of local life since the 12th century when Henry I granted the charter to the people of Boston. Today: If you live in the area take the family out for the day and enjoy this link with the past.
 
Weather-lore: ‘Dog Days (3rd) bright and clear, indicate a happy year.’
 
2nd Feast Day of St Swithun of Winchester. St Cewydd is the Welsh ‘rain saint’, like Medard in France, Gildas in Brittany and St Swithun in England he was associated with a pre-Christian rain superstition in July, when, if it rained on that day, it was believed rain would continue for 40 days. The feast day was originally 2nd July (later moved to 15th after the calendar change). Today: Why not visit Winchester and acquaint yourself with this ancient capital.
 
3rd Dog Days. The Romans called the six to eight hottest weeks of the summer caniculárȇs diȇs because the dog-star, Sirius, rising with the sun added to its heat; the dog-days bore the combined heat of the dog-star and the sun between 3rd July and 11th August. Today: In reality the British summer has often been described as three fine days and a thunderstorm!
 
4th The traditional festival of the Whalton Baal [Northumberland] that was held each year on ‘Old Midsummer’s Eve’, the alteration of the calendar in 1752 resulted in the date being moved by eleven days but country folk round about, however, went on celebrating the festival at the old time. Today: Hold a mini-fire festival of your own on Old Midsummer’s Eve (5th) to celebrate the Old Ways.
 
6th Old Midsummer’s Day: Time of Grace. The lawful season for venery, which began at Midsummer and lasted until Holyrood Day. The fox and wolf might be hunted from the Nativity to the Annunciation; the roebuck from Easter to Michaelmas; the roe from Michaelmas to Candlemas; the hare from Michaelmas to Midsummer; and the boar from the Nativity to the Purification.
 
7th Nones Caprotinae was generally known as a Roman picnic day, when celebrations dedicated to the goddess Juno Caprotina were held al fresco in parks or outside the city in the fields. Tents and temporary shelters made from branches would be set up so that the revels could continue all night and into the following day. Today: An excellent day for a picnic.
 
14th Mercanus began six days of markets and fairs when Rome would have been full of colour. Today: Make a point of visiting a local market and drink in the atmosphere.
 
Weather-lore: ‘St Swithin’s Day (15th  July), if thou dost rain, for forty days it will remain’.
 
19th Honiton Fair in Devon goes back to the 13th century and is a three-day event held on the first Tuesday after the 19th July. Today: Make an effort to visit this famous fair.
 
23th Neptunalia: Honouring the Roman Neptune on this day would encourage ample rainfall for the crops and prevent drought. Neptune was an old Italian sea god and, as his festival falls at the height of summer, booths of foliage were erected to protect worshippers from the Sun. Today: A perfect opportunity for a picnic by the sea.
 
25th Furrinalia was a Roman celebration of feasting and drinking in honour of an early-Italian earth-goddess. Roman scholar and writer, Varro noted that the festival was a public holiday (feriae publicae dies). Both the festival and the goddess had become obscure even to the Romans of the Late Republic (mid-1st century BC) and that few people in his day even knew her name. Today: A perfect opportunity for a family summer picnic.
 
28th The Celtic festival of Domhnach Crom Dubh was held on the last Sunday of July. Known also as Crom Cruach or Cenn Cruach, at this time of year the ‘Dark, Crooked One’ rises from the underworld to abduct Eithne, the corn maiden, and carry her away on his stooped back. See 7th August. Today: Pay homage to this ancient Lord or the Harvest and God of the Underworld by pouring a libation at the edge of the cornfield.
 
 
Old Year, Old Calendar, Old Ways, compiled by Melusine Draco is published by Ignotus Press UK  ISBN 978 1 78876 205 2 in paperback and e-book format.  Available direct fro the printer at a discounted price.
https://www.feedaread.com/books/Old-Year-Old-Calendar-Old-Ways-9781788762052.aspx
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Generally speaking, today’s paganism falls into four different elements, which in turn separate the different approaches and levels of magical practice. A considerable amount of magical writing can be incomprehensible to those who have not been schooled in that particular path or tradition – so we begin at the beginning and work ourselves up through the spheres of Knowledge, Wisdom and Understanding. And we start by accepting that there is a divide between the various approaches to paganism and magical practice. Such as:
 
● Animistic: The belief that everything animate and inanimate has its own life-force, such as that which forms the basis of shamanism and Old Craft;
 
● Eclectic: Selecting or borrowing from a variety of styles, systems, theories, beliefs, etc., as commonly found in modern paganism and Wicca;
 
● Syncretic: The attempt to reconcile different systems of belief; the fusion or blending of religions, as by identification of gods, taking over of observances, or selection of whatever seems best in each; often producing a seemingly illogical compromise in belief. Found in many aspects of Western Ritual Magic, and the initiatory branches of traditional witchcraft;
 
● Synergetic: Combined or co-ordinated action; increased effect of two elements obtained by using them together. The combining of ancient wisdom with modern magical applications, as in the case of the contemporary approaches of Old Craft, Norse (Heathen) and Druidry.
 
As I observed in Coven of the Scales: The Collected Writings of A R Clay-Egerton, it should be understood that although Bob and Meriem Clay-Egerton firmly held the philosophy and opinion that all faiths were one, and that all paths led to the same goal, they did not advocate what is now referred to as ‘eclectic’ paganism. What they did teach was the desire for knowledge and experience, regardless of source. Each new experience was studied within the confines of that particular religion, path or tradition. Each discipline was kept completely separate from another. Only when a student had a thorough understanding of the tenets of each discipline were they encouraged to formulate them into their own individual system.
 
These sentiments were echoed by Dion Fortune in The Mystical Qabalah: ‘No student will ever make any progress in spiritual development who flits from system to system; first using some New Thought affirmations, then some Yoga breathing-exercises and meditation-postures, and following these by an attempt at the mystical methods of prayer. Each of these systems has its value, but that value can only be realised if the system is carried out in its entirety … the student who sets out to be an eclectic before he has made himself an expert will never be anything more than a dabbler.
 
Traditional Witchcraft and the Pagan Revival invites the reader to take the opportunity to step back in time and discover – through the gateways of intuition and instinct – where their own individual roots can be found.
 
Traditional Witchcraft and the Pagan Revival: A Magical Anthropology by Melusine Draco is published by Moon Books in paperback and e-book format. ISBN: 978 1 78279 156 0 UK£11.99/US$19.95 : 180p www.moon-books.net

JUNE and JULY were together known as Liða, an Old English word meaning ‘mild’ or ‘gentle’, which referred to the period of warm, seasonable weather either side of Midsummer. To differentiate between the two, JUNE was sometimes known as [OE]sÆrra Līþa ‘Before Midsummer’, or ‘First Summer’. [OHG] Brāh-mānod Brachmonat ‘fallow month’.   In the 14th century misericord calendar, it was shown as the time for hawking and leisure before the start of the harvest. The tree representing June is the Oak, symbol of the god in his guise as Oak King or the Green Man.
 
Oak Magic: The old saying: ‘two hundred years growing, two hundred years staying, and two hundred years dying’, reflects the great age, which oaks can achieve. Much of European folklore is based upon an inherent reverence for the oak, whose human qualities included a voice that screamed and groaned in agony if the tree was felled – as if it were the genius of the oake lamenting. Touching wood for luck is an expression of these ancient beliefs, reflecting the respect given to the guardian spirits of the tree. The close grain of oak means that the wood burns slowly and gives off a lot of heat; although magical need-fires should not be fuelled with oak timber, the fire can be lit with a brand of burning oak.
 
9th Vestalia honours Vesta, Roman goddess of hearth and home, who was worshipped in every household, while the sacred Fire of State was kept ever burning (except on the first day of the  new year when it was ceremonially renewed). Domestic and family life in general was represented by the festival of the goddess of the house and of the spirits of the store-chamber – Vesta and the Penates – on Vestalia. Today: Use the following poem to carry out a magical cleansing or banishing for the family home.
 
11th St Barnabas’ Day. Named because this is the time of the hay-harvest and as the saint’s symbol is the rake, he fitted nicely into the Church calendar. A cartload of hay would seem to be too common a sight in rural areas to excite much notice, but an odd set of beliefs held it to be unlucky, which could be averted by spitting for good luck. Today: Celebrate hay-making if only to enjoy the scent of the freshly cut grass.
 
11th Matralia was the annual matron’s festival at Rome. The festival was only for single women or women in their first marriage, who offered prayers for their nieces and nephews. Today: A good time to treat your favourite family members to a special day out.
 
Weather-lore: ‘Summer doesn’t start until the elder is in flower.’
 
13th Feast of Epona. Epona is the Gallo-Roman horse goddess often linked with similar deities such as the Welsh Goddess Rhiannon and the Irish Macha. In statues she is shown seated between two foals, holding a sheaf of wheat or a cornucopia and her worship was introduced to Britain by the Roman Legions. Today: Make it a special day for your equine companion.
 
15th Anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta in 1215 at Runnymede. Magna Carta is one of the world’s most influential documents – an agreement granted by King John in 1215 as a practical solution to a political crisis, which in the centuries since has become a potent symbol of liberty and the rule of law. Like other medieval royal charters, the original Magna Carta documents which were drawn up for distribution across the kingdom were authenticated with the Great Seal, not by the signature of the king. The original Magna Carta manuscripts were dispatched over a period of a few weeks in late June and early July 1215. It isn’t known exactly how many copies were drawn up in 1215, but of the original Magna Carta manuscripts, only four survive. Today: Make a point of visiting one of the copies of this famous document if you or any of your family haven’t seen it before.
 
19th St Edmund’s Day Fair at Abingdon. Traditionally this was celebrated with an ox roast and the meat given to the poor. Dancing the Morris is an integral part of the festivities. Today: If there’s a fair or market in your vicinity, make it a family day out.
 
21st The Summer Solstice is the pivotal day that heralds the long slide into winter and is a highly significant date in the pagan magical calendar since it is the true Mid-Summer Day at the half-way mark between the Venal and the Autumnal Equinoxes. Check with the Internet for the correct alignment and organise a summer party.
 
23rd St Audrey’s Fair. At the annual fair in the Isle of Ely, showy lace called St Audrey’s lace was sold, and gave foundation to the word ‘tawdry’, which means anything gaudy, in bad taste, and of little value. Shakespeare makes an allusion to this lace in the Winter’s Tale and possibly the later post-Reformation calendar on 17th October: “Come you promised me a tawdry lace, and a pair of sweet gloves.” Today: Beware of buying anything that isn’t what it seems, i.e, dishonesty.
 
23rd The Carn Brea Midsummer Bonfire [Cornwall] ceremony was a pagan festival before it was hallowed by the Church to celebrate the Eve of St John. Today: Light the patio fire for Mid-Summer Eve and enjoy a simple meal outdoors with friends or family.
 
Midsummer: In Britain from the 13th century, Midsummer was celebrated on Midsummer Eve (St. John’s Eve and St. Peter’s Eve (28th June) with the lighting of bonfires, feasting and merrymaking. In late 14th century England, John Mirk of Lilleshall Abbey, Shropshire, gives the following description: “At first, men and women came to church with candles and other lights and prayed all night long. In the process of time, however, men left such devotion and used songs and dances and fell into lechery and gluttony turning the good, holy devotion into sin.” The church fathers decided to put a stop to these practices and ordained that people should fast on the evening before, and thus turned waking into fasting. 
 
24th Mid-Summer Day was merged with St John’s Day in the Church calendar, and is considered in ancient folklore one of the great ‘charmed’ festivals of the year. Hidden treasures are said to lie open in lonely places, waiting for the lucky finder. Divining rods should be cut on this day. Herbs are given unusual powers of healing, which they retain if they are plucked during the night of the feast; rose, St John’s wort, vervain, trefoil and rue, all of which were supposed to have magical properties. Today: Make sure to stock up with any wild herbs and plants and throw the old stock away by burning them on the bonfire.
 
24th Mid-Summer Night. Circles that form naturally in the grass were regarded as having magical properties and were termed ‘fairy rings’. In Sussex these are called ‘hag tracks’ and believed, as the names implies, to be caused by witches dancing in the round.
 
26th Death of the Emperor Julian, the first pagan martyr (d.363). He was a man of unusually complex character, being ‘the military commander, the theosophist, the social reformer, and the man of letters’. He was the last non-Christian ruler of the Roman Empire, and it was his desire to bring the Empire back to its ancient pagan values in order to, as he saw it, save it from dissolution. Today: Light candles in remembrance.
 
29th St Peter’s Day Hay Strewing. New-mown hay is spread over the floor of Wingrave church [Buckinghamshire] replacing the ancient practice of rush-spreading, when the earthen floor of churches were covered with fresh rushes once a year. Tradition tells that a local woman lost her way one winter’s night and nearly dying from exposure was led to safety by the sound of the church bells. The hay is cut from a nearby field she bequeathed to the church. Today: Bring fragrant herbs and cut grasses into your home in a gesture of ritual cleansing.
 
29th St Peter’s Day and the annual Yarnton Meadow Lottery when the mowing rights of certain meadows in Yarnton [Oxfordshire] are allocated yearly in a ceremony which has remained unchanged for nearly 1000 years. The distribution of the plots is allocated by the drawing of lots. Thirteen ancient wooden balls – known as Mead Balls – possibly made from holly wood and each marked with a name, thought to be that of the original tenant-farmer who held the mowing rights in the 11th century. Today: Take the dog for a long walk and enjoy the day.
 
Weather-lore:  ‘Rain on Peter and Paul (29th June) will rot the roots of the rye.’
 
Taken from Old Year, Old Calendar, Old Ways compiled by Melusine Draco. ISBN: 9781788762052 : Type: Paperback : Pages: 210 : Published: 25 January 2018 :: Price: €7.95 from
https://www.feedaread.com/books/Old-Year-Old-Calendar-Old-Ways-9781788762052.aspx

All magical energy should be looked upon as dangerous, if the magician fails to understand what it is that he is calling upon. ‘God’-power can be equally as destructive as demonic-energy if we haven’t bothered to find out exactly what it is that we’re channeling for magical purposes. Any problems stemming from this lack of recognition are the result of sheer arrogance on the part of the magician, who believes he can control something that he isn’t even on nodding acquaintance with.
 
For the reasons of self-protection, we must be fully conversant with the nature of the energies we encounter on the astral levels. We need to differentiate between the individual god-power represented by Aphrodite (Greek), Venus (Roman), Hathor (Egyptian), Ishtar (Babylonian) or Astarte (Phoenician). In eclectic paganism, all these energies would be identified as having one source, i.e. the Goddess — which is why much of what passes for modern magic is often sterile.
 
To understand the true god-power emanating from each source, we have to understand what the indigenous peoples who worshipped them called upon, not what we read in dumbed-down, quasi-magical books. If we read genuine magical material from the Golden Dawn or Aleister Crowley, for example, we are instantly struck by the wealth of classical references in the texts. These were not scattered through the text at random; they were carefully controlled and contrived in order to produce the maximum effect in a particular working.
 
It may also come as a surprise to learn that myth, folklore and legend are now recognized as a vital part of the development of the human race, rather than just a confused jumble of ancient cultural stories. Myths that might, at first glance, seem merely products of fancy are very far from being merely fanciful, and are the means by which ancient peoples expressed their fundamental notions of life and nature. These enduring myths are the actual methods by which they expressed certain ways of viewing the ‘rules’ of life, and which were brought into existence by the manner in which life was regulated in their society. The myths reflect the morality according to the lights of their time.
 
When we talk about the ‘mythology of Egypt’ for example, we are referring to the whole body of Egypt divine, heroic and cosmogonic legends, together with the various attempts that have been made to explain these ancient narratives for the benefit of modern thinking. The real function of these myths, however, was to strengthen the existing tradition and endow it with a greater value and prestige by tracing it back to a higher, more ‘supernatural’ reality of ancient events. What men have thought throughout history about the supernatural is important not only for what it may tell us about the Mysteries of life and death as the ancients viewed it, but for what it tells us about human beings today. If nothing else, it shows what we have lost!
 
Very early in the history of conscious thought, the priesthood awoke to the reality that their religious stories (i.e. those that concealed the Mysteries) were much in need of public explanation. As a result, popular versions took over and the esoteric became exoteric. The myths of civilized peoples: the Aryans of India, the Celts, the Egyptians and the Greeks thus contained two elements: the rational and what to modern minds sees the irrational. The rational myths were those that represented the gods as beautiful and wise; but the real difficulties presented by mythology spring from the irrational elements, which to modern minds appear unnatural, senseless or even, at times, repellent.
 
It is to these irrational elements that the magician must turn if he wishes to reconnect with the ancient Mysteries, which still lie at the very heart of the Great Work. For the true seeker, the great classic myths remain ‘true’ stories; not because we think they really happened but because they contain certain ‘universal truths’ about humanity and life. Truths which cannot be translated
into plain statement.
 
Extract from The Dictionary of Magic & Mystery, complied by Melusine Draco and published by Moon Books.  ISBN 978 1 84694 462 8 : 370pp : UK£12.99/US$11.95 on in e-book format. www.moon-books.net
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MAY: [OE] Þrimilce-mōnaþ ‘Thrimilce ‘Month of Three Milkings’ when livestock were often so well fed on fresh spring grass that they could be milked three times a day. [OHG] Winni-mánód ‘pasture month’. In the 14th century misericord calendar, it was shown as the time for blessing the crops since farmers needed all the help they could get. The tree representing May is the White-thorn or Hawthorne; also known as the May Tree because of its associations with May Day. Since this is a sacred tree it was considered unlucky to take branches of flowers into the house; if used as decorations outside it was a symbol of good luck.
 
1st Beltaine is the anglicised  Gaelic name for the May Day festival, most commonly held on 1st May, and marks the end of the winter half of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, and is traditionally a day of celebration and revelry in many cultures around the world, but this holiday has surprisingly deep roots that tap into ancient pre-Christian customs relating to fertility, agriculture, and the Spring Equinox. May Day was once the premier summer holiday in many ancient European pagan cultures, where the beginning of February marked the beginning of spring, May 1st marked the beginning of summer – the season of growth and life for crops, animals, and people. Today: Be out first thing in the morning to bathe your face in the morning dew.
 
1st Calan Mai or ‘Calend (first day) of May’ or Calan Haf  ‘Calend of Summer’ is a May Day holiday of Wales. Celebrations started on the evening before, known as May Eve, with bonfires ; as with Calan Gaeaf on November 1st, the night before (Welsh: Nos Galan Haf) is considered an Ysbrydnos or ‘spirit night’ when spirits are out and about divination is possible. The tradition of lighting bonfires celebrating this occasion happened annually in South Wales until the middle of the 19th century. Today: Light the patio fire and celebrate.
 
1st May Day or Garland Day. In Britain, as in most parts of Western Europe, May Day marked the end of the harsh winter months. For our ancestors it was a major annual festival and was celebrated throughout the country with music, dancing and games. Traditional May Day celebrations included dancing around the maypole, the appearance of the ‘hobby horses’ and characters such as Robin Hood and Jack-in-the-Green. Today: Join in the May Day celebrations in your part of the country.
 
Weather-lore: ‘Hoar frost on May 1st indicates a good harvest.’
 
1st May Day. According to the entry in Brewer’s The Dictionary of Phrase & Fable: ‘Polydore Vigil says that the Roman youths would go into the fields and sped the calens of May in dancing and singing in Honour of Flora, goddess of fruits and flowers. The early English consecrated May-day to Robin Hood and the Maid Marian, because the favourite English outlaw is said to have died on that day. Stow says the villagers used to set up May-poles, and spend the day in archery, morris-dancing and other amusements.’
 
1st Mother Goose Day. Since its inauguration in1987, many schools and libraries have celebrated Mother Goose Day as a time to remember and enjoy the fairy tales and nursery rhymes of childhood that date back to the 17th century. Many of these rhymes were cited by Robin Skelton and Margaret Blackwood in Earth, Air, Fire, Water – a 1990 compilation of pre-Christian and pagan elements in British songs, rhymes and ballads.
 
3rd Roodmas the English name for Beltaine, as in keeping with Candlemas (Imbolc), Lammas (Lughnasad), and Hallowmas (Samhain), should be celebrated as near 1st May as possible. Today: Use the following poem and conduct a magical cleansing and protection rite for your home.
 
3rd Roodmas planting. From very early times, beans were the staple diet of country folk; they were thought to contain spirits, and their flowers were associated with death. In Yorkshire it was said that broad bean flowers contained the souls of the departed, while in Devonshire it was believed that if in a row of beans one should come up with white instead of green, there would be a death in the family within the year. To plant kidney beans on any day other than 3rd May was tempting fate. Today: Plant your beans according to tradition and guarantee a good harvest.
 
8th The Festival of the Helston Furry Dance is held annually in Cornwall and is said to be one of the oldest examples of a communal spring festival dance. Together with the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance in September, it is one of the oldest British customs still practiced today. A celebration of the passing of winter and the arrival of spring, the modern variant of the dance holds few similarities with the proposed original having been revived long after the event had died out. Today: An ideal time to formally welcome in the summer.
 
9-11th Lemuria were these odd-numbered days when Roman domestic ceremonies were performed in honour of the ancestors. Acknowledge the passing of family members who have died during the preceding winter and for those who are still sorely missed. Today: Leave a lighted candle on the doorstep to guide home any restless spirits and honour them with an offering of bread and milk.
 
11th Blessing Sea and Fisheries [Kent] is an annual event and claims to be one of the oldest marine rituals still surviving. One of these occurs in the ancient fishing town of Folkestone, being associated with the chapel of St. Peter, dedicated to the town’s fisher folk and with fine views of the harbour. Today: If you have friends or relations at sea offer up a prayer and libation to keep them safe in the coming year.
 
12th Old Beltane. Even more traditionally, the festival fell about halfway between the Vernal Equinox and the Summer Solstice and was widely observed throughout Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. In Irish the name for the festival day is Lá Bealtaine – and is similar to the Welsh Calan Mai. Beltane is mentioned in some of the earliest Irish literature and it is associated with important events in Irish mythology. Historically, it marked the beginning of summer and was when cattle were driven out to the summer pastures. Rituals were performed to protect the cattle, crops and people, and to encourage growth. Special bonfires were kindled, and their flames, smoke and ashes were deemed to have protective powers. The people and their cattle would walk around the bonfire or between two bonfires, and sometimes leap over the flames or embers. All household fires would be doused and then re-lit from the Beltaine bonfire. These gatherings would be accompanied by a feast, and some of the food and drink would be offered to the Aos Sí. Today: Draw on the energies of Old Beltaine and celebrate as our ancestors celebrated with feasting and merriment in time honoured tradition.
 
17th Feast day of St Madern (Maden, Madron) of Cornwall (6th century). It has been suggested that he was a Christianisation of the mythical Celtic Modron, the mother goddess, since some aspects of the veneration at Madron’s Well do appear to derive from pagan origins. Today: Offer up food and wine to honour the Triple Goddess.
 
22nd Feast Day of St Helene (Elen, Helen) of Carnarvon. Her story is told in the tales associated with the Mabinogion. Welsh mythology remembers her as the daughter of a chieftain who lived somewhere near Caernarfon and for encouraging the building of roads across her country so that the soldiers could more easily defend it from attackers, thus earning her the name Elen Luyddog (Elen of the Hosts). Since many characters in these tales are thought to be Christianised reflections of older deities, it has been suggested that Elen reflects (along with Rhiannon, etc.,) customs of the Old Ways. Today: Walk out in the woods and appreciate the wonders of the natural world.
 
Weather-lore: ‘A swarm of bees in May is worth a load of hay’.
 
23rd The Tubilustria of May was dedicated to Volcanus, an early Roman deity of fire and the smithy, which identifies with the later connections in traditional witchcraft and many other northern European Traditions. Today: Light the patio fire in homage.
 
29th Ambarvalia was a solemn annual Roman purification of the fields, when each farmer led his household and one of his animals in a procession around the boundaries of his land. The name ‘ambarvalia’ appears, however, to be predominantly an urban designation as Roman farmers’ almanacs (menologia rustica) describe this only as segetes lustrantur (‘crops are purified’). Joseph Justus Scaliger, a classics scholar maintained the ambarvalia to be the same as amburbium, an ancient Roman festival for purifying the city. Numerous other communities of the Italian peninsula enacted similar rites with different names such as Old Beltaine. Today: Observe as one of the pastoral festivals with a simple lunch in the open air.
 
30th Death of King Arthur in 542AD and one recurrent aspect of Arthurian literature is the notion that he will one day return to save his people. According to the Welsh Triads, Brân’s head was buried in London where the White Tower now stands. As long as it remained there, Britain would be safe from invasion but King Arthur dug up the head, declaring the country would be protected only by his great strength – which did not prevent either the Roman or Norman Conquests! Today: Light a candle in memory.
 
Whitsuntide takes place during the week following Whitsunday, and was one of three vacation weeks for the medieval villein; on most manors he was free from service on the lord’s demesne this week, which marked a pause in the agricultural year. It equates with the important Church festival of Pentecost and in early medieval England it took on some characteristics of Beltaine, which originated from the pagan celebration of Mid Summer’s Day, the beginning of the summer half-year, in Europe. As the first holiday of the summer, Whitsun was one of the favourite times in the traditional calendar and Whit Sunday, or the following week, was a time for celebration. This took the form of fêtes, fairs, pageants and parades with Whitsun ales and Morris dancing in the south of England and Whit walks and wakes in the north.
 
Ascensiontide often coincides with well-dressing in parts of the Midlands and provides an important link with pagan well-worship. Well-lore has survived in every part of Britain in the form of ‘holy’, ie. saints, or wishing wells. See 2nd March. Today: Put in an appearance at your local well.