Synopsis

Celebrate the ancient and powerful magic held within the Wheel of the Year with this clear and well-ordered guide. This book is much more than a guidebook; it offers everything needed to mark the changing of the seasons in a meaningful and fulfilling way. Within these pages are suggestions for activities, spells, guided meditations and lists of correspondences for each of the eight Sacred Festivals. Learn something of the role of the Goddess and her Consort and gain an understanding of the important role the Festivals played for our ancestors. Also included are guidance on Casting a Circle and collecting and cleansing the basic tools used for Craft work. Although aimed at those new to the Craft it will give the more knowledgeable tried and tested ways to celebrate these ancient and beloved Festivals.

Excerpt

Prepare for meditation in the usual way. When you are ready enter your forest. Take the time to feel the earth beneath you and the breeze on your skin. Smell the trees and plants that surround you. A path is before you. You follow it to a clearing. In the centre is a large boulder draped with ivy. Go to the boulder and look around you. It has been a long hot day but now the sun is beginning to go down and the light slants through the trees making bars of sunlight beneath them. As you look through the bars of light and shadow an animal comes into view. It stands and watches you for a while and then turns back into the forest as if asking you to follow. You do so and it leads you through the trees until you come to the foot of a steep hill. At the top of the hill you see a huge fire sending sparks and coils of smoke high into the air. Your animal guide leads you up the hill toward the fire and then waits for you at a safe distance from the flames. From the top of the hill you can look out over the forest. There are other fires scattered as far as you can see. It seems as though every hill has its fire, all glowing red and orange all except for one. This one is the tallest of them all and the furthest away. It glows piercingly white.

Sit in the warmth from the fire and find the things you no longer wish to carry around with you; old hurts, old disappointments, old quarrels. If they make you feel restless and uncomfortable look to your animal guide for support. It is standing in the shadows waiting for you. You know the time has come to part with all those things that are holding you back from reaching your full potential. Visualise taking each of those troubling thoughts one by one and dropping them into the fire. Do it with love. They were originally there for a reason, now they have simply overstayed their welcome. Watch as the flames convert them into light releasing them and carrying them up into the air to be swept away in the powerful outgoing tide of Litha. Sit for a while. Watch the last of the midsummer sun’s rays fade. From tomorrow the days will begin to grow shorter but there is much life and growth left in the year. Now you are free from the burdens allow yourself to look forward to taking part in it.

When it is quite dark stand and re-join your animal guide who will lead you safely back to the ivy covered boulder. Enjoy the walk in the woods; know you are safe with your guide. Hear the night noises and smell the damp earth as it breaths out after the long hot day. When you arrive at the boulder thank your animal guide and know you will see it again. Prepare to return to the room you are sitting in. Take it slowly.

When you are ready ground yourself by having a drink or something to eat or both. If you feel really spaced out go into the garden and do a little gardening but whatever you do be sure