Some questions for you to think about:
Have you attended a Celtic festival in the past? If so, what did you think of it?
I have never attended Celtic Festival of any kind.
Choose a festival and think about what it means to you, and the ways in which you might try and celebrate it.
Think about whether you prefer to celebrate festivals by yourself or with other people. Do the changing seasons affect your moods ~ perhaps you feel more sociable at some times of the year than others, or more inclined to certain activities than others etc.
Through out the years, my favorite time has always been that first sunny warm day of the year. I guess this would mean my favorite festival as it’s my favorite solstice will be Spring Solstice or Ostara. I love the spring with everything new and green. The early flowers coming out and the buds on the trees. Who wouldn’t love it.
Ostara in the Christian home is celebrated as Easter… and this is typoically how it looks in most homes. Easter eggs, hunts, pretty pastel dresses, baskets of goodies. Bunnies. It’s a spring thing. Other traditions inspired but the Ostara celebration of new is spring cleaning, picnics in the park, planting of seeds and the blooming of the early spring bulbs, warmer weather activities in general.
I have never had an Ostara altar, I was not this far along last year. I plan to have pastels, fresh flowers, and remembrances of things like baby animals, and our earth so green and fresh. I will ask for blessings for a prosperous summer and year at this time as I have a lot of plans for this summer to help us and others, bringing us all closer to nature. We are building Hobbit Houses.
Our food will consist of deviled eggs, spinach salad with pecans and blue cheese, eggnog, baked salmon, and asparagus. Early spring foods.
We will have happy music, and enjoy the out doors as much as the weather allows (it can still be somewhat cold here and there is always the chance of rain at which point most of our same festivities will just move in doors).
Practical exercise:
Create a new seasonal festival to celebrate by yourself or with friends. Consider what is important to you or the place where you live. If you live by the coast, you could create a festival to mark an important event in the fishing world. If you have a favourite animal, you could mark some event in their life cycle (such as the breeding season, the time when their young are born, etc). If you are an avid gardener or brewer, you could mark an event connected to your favourite flower, the grape vines or so forth.
In creating your festival, think about what this seasonal event means to you, where best to hold the event (somewhere directly connected to the event being marked), any associated deities, what sort of things you could do during the ritual to express how important this event is etc.
Keep notes as to what you did and why (and the outcome), so that you can refer back to it in future.
Ostara in the Christian home is celebrated as Easter… and this is typoically how it looks in most homes. Easter eggs, hunts, pretty pastel dresses, baskets of goodies. Bunnies. It’s a spring thing. Other traditions inspired but the Ostara celebration of new is spring cleaning, picnics in the park, planting of seeds and the blooming of the early spring bulbs, warmer weather activities in general.
I have never had an Ostara altar, I was not this far along last year. I plan to have pastels, fresh flowers, and remembrances of things like baby animals, and our earth so green and fresh. I will ask for blessings for a prosperous summer and year at this time as I have a lot of plans for this summer to help us and others, bringing us all closer to nature. We are building Hobbit Houses.
Our food will consist of deviled eggs, spinach salad with pecans and blue cheese, eggnog, baked salmon, and asparagus. Early spring foods.
We will have happy music, and enjoy the out doors as much as the weather allows (it can still be somewhat cold here and there is always the chance of rain at which point most of our same festivities will just move in doors).
Practical exercise:
Create a new seasonal festival to celebrate by yourself or with friends. Consider what is important to you or the place where you live. If you live by the coast, you could create a festival to mark an important event in the fishing world. If you have a favourite animal, you could mark some event in their life cycle (such as the breeding season, the time when their young are born, etc). If you are an avid gardener or brewer, you could mark an event connected to your favourite flower, the grape vines or so forth.
In creating your festival, think about what this seasonal event means to you, where best to hold the event (somewhere directly connected to the event being marked), any associated deities, what sort of things you could do during the ritual to express how important this event is etc.
Keep notes as to what you did and why (and the outcome), so that you can refer back to it in future.
The event that I am going to have and have thought about numerous times over the years is the first warm day celebration. I am not talking Indian summer 55 degree warm and then everyone ends up sick. I am talking about that first day of warmth in the spring when you walk out into the sun and feel it warm on your skin. That first day when you walk away from the buildings without shivering. 75 degree warm when you know that summer is truly on it’s way.
This will most likely be a personal celebration though of there was someone to celebrate with, that would be great also. It would start, after that first few moments in the sun, with a graceful and excited thank you to the goddess for helping me make it through another cold winter. It will include a picnic outside, near a river or lake if possible. Foods like fruit, breads, salads. Cold meats if you’re a meat eater. Bringing bread pieces to feed the birds. I would find a tree, a tall beautiful old tree and sit beneath it to connect again to the outside world, nature, the beautiful spring life. Planting little flowers below the tree that I chose to sit beneath to bring it even more beautiful then it already is. Giving to the earth to bring even more life to it.
The day would end with green and brown candles being lit, lavender or rose incense, and flowers and grassed picked that day on the altar. I would thank the lady and lord for my beautiful day, for the beauty of winter and the total beautifulness of spring, and ask for a happy and abundant spring and summer. Later I would give all part of my ritual back to the earth… the candles, and eventually the flowers when it was time to lay them to rest giving them back to her.
Have you attended a Celtic festival in the past? If so, what did you think of it?
I have never attended Celtic Festival of any kind.
Choose a festival and think about what it means to you, and the ways in which you might try and celebrate it.
Think about whether you prefer to celebrate festivals by yourself or with other people. Do the changing seasons affect your moods ~ perhaps you feel more sociable at some times of the year than others, or more inclined to certain activities than others etc.
Through out the years, my favorite time has always been that first sunny warm day of the year. I guess this would mean my favorite festival as it’s my favorite solstice will be Spring Solstice or Ostara. I love the spring with everything new and green. The early flowers coming out and the buds on the trees. Who wouldn’t love it.
Ostara in the Christian home is celebrated as Easter… and this is typoically how it looks in most homes. Easter eggs, hunts, pretty pastel dresses, baskets of goodies. Bunnies. It’s a spring thing. Other traditions inspired but the Ostara celebration of new is spring cleaning, picnics in the park, planting of seeds and the blooming of the early spring bulbs, warmer weather activities in general.
I have never had an Ostara altar, I was not this far along last year. I plan to have pastels, fresh flowers, and remembrances of things like baby animals, and our earth so green and fresh. I will ask for blessings for a prosperous summer and year at this time as I have a lot of plans for this summer to help us and others, bringing us all closer to nature. We are building Hobbit Houses.
Our food will consist of deviled eggs, spinach salad with pecans and blue cheese, eggnog, baked salmon, and asparagus. Early spring foods.
We will have happy music, and enjoy the out doors as much as the weather allows (it can still be somewhat cold here and there is always the chance of rain at which point most of our same festivities will just move in doors).
Practical exercise:
Create a new seasonal festival to celebrate by yourself or with friends. Consider what is important to you or the place where you live. If you live by the coast, you could create a festival to mark an important event in the fishing world. If you have a favourite animal, you could mark some event in their life cycle (such as the breeding season, the time when their young are born, etc). If you are an avid gardener or brewer, you could mark an event connected to your favourite flower, the grape vines or so forth.
In creating your festival, think about what this seasonal event means to you, where best to hold the event (somewhere directly connected to the event being marked), any associated deities, what sort of things you could do during the ritual to express how important this event is etc.
Keep notes as to what you did and why (and the outcome), so that you can refer back to it in future.
Ostara in the Christian home is celebrated as Easter… and this is typoically how it looks in most homes. Easter eggs, hunts, pretty pastel dresses, baskets of goodies. Bunnies. It’s a spring thing. Other traditions inspired but the Ostara celebration of new is spring cleaning, picnics in the park, planting of seeds and the blooming of the early spring bulbs, warmer weather activities in general.
I have never had an Ostara altar, I was not this far along last year. I plan to have pastels, fresh flowers, and remembrances of things like baby animals, and our earth so green and fresh. I will ask for blessings for a prosperous summer and year at this time as I have a lot of plans for this summer to help us and others, bringing us all closer to nature. We are building Hobbit Houses.
Our food will consist of deviled eggs, spinach salad with pecans and blue cheese, eggnog, baked salmon, and asparagus. Early spring foods.
We will have happy music, and enjoy the out doors as much as the weather allows (it can still be somewhat cold here and there is always the chance of rain at which point most of our same festivities will just move in doors).
Practical exercise:
Create a new seasonal festival to celebrate by yourself or with friends. Consider what is important to you or the place where you live. If you live by the coast, you could create a festival to mark an important event in the fishing world. If you have a favourite animal, you could mark some event in their life cycle (such as the breeding season, the time when their young are born, etc). If you are an avid gardener or brewer, you could mark an event connected to your favourite flower, the grape vines or so forth.
In creating your festival, think about what this seasonal event means to you, where best to hold the event (somewhere directly connected to the event being marked), any associated deities, what sort of things you could do during the ritual to express how important this event is etc.
Keep notes as to what you did and why (and the outcome), so that you can refer back to it in future.
The event that I am going to have and have thought about numerous times over the years is the first warm day celebration. I am not talking Indian summer 55 degree warm and then everyone ends up sick. I am talking about that first day of warmth in the spring when you walk out into the sun and feel it warm on your skin. That first day when you walk away from the buildings without shivering. 75 degree warm when you know that summer is truly on it’s way.
This will most likely be a personal celebration though of there was someone to celebrate with, that would be great also. It would start, after that first few moments in the sun, with a graceful and excited thank you to the goddess for helping me make it through another cold winter. It will include a picnic outside, near a river or lake if possible. Foods like fruit, breads, salads. Cold meats if you’re a meat eater. Bringing bread pieces to feed the birds. I would find a tree, a tall beautiful old tree and sit beneath it to connect again to the outside world, nature, the beautiful spring life. Planting little flowers below the tree that I chose to sit beneath to bring it even more beautiful then it already is. Giving to the earth to bring even more life to it.
The day would end with green and brown candles being lit, lavender or rose incense, and flowers and grassed picked that day on the altar. I would thank the lady and lord for my beautiful day, for the beauty of winter and the total beautifulness of spring, and ask for a happy and abundant spring and summer. Later I would give all part of my ritual back to the earth… the candles, and eventually the flowers when it was time to lay them to rest giving them back to her.
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