When is the Festival of Easter?

 This might seem a daft question, but for many Pagans and Witches this can be very confusing - and even contentious.

The eight main festivals of the Witches year are spaced roughly every six weeks or so throughout the year. The four main festivals are called the Cross Quarter Days - Samhain, Beltane, Imbolg and Llughnassadh. The four minor festivals are timed by the Sun, so they are the two Solstices at Midsummer and Midwinter and the two Equinoxes at Spring and Autumn.

The Spring Equinox falls around the 21st of March and (surprise, surprise!) celebrates the re-awakening of the Earth and the return of Spring.

The Spring goddess is known as Ostara, Eostre or Easter. So her festival is obviously the Spring Equinox.

But hang on a minute, there is another festival around this time which also bears the name of the Spring goddess. 

Yes, we are talking about the christian festival of Easter, which moves about each year because it is timed, not by the Sun, but by the Moon.

Now this starts to get messy as the christian festival is dealing with the death and resurrection of Jesus. That is: the death and resurrection of a god, but it has been given the name of the Goddess who welcomes the resurrection of the Earth.

So is this a christian festival, timed by the Moon?

Or is it a Pagan festival, originally timed by the Moon, which has been hijacked by the early christians?

Now I must admit, I don't have a problem with there being two festivals of Eostre, because I believe 'The more the merrier!'. That is why my facebook page is dedicated mainly to listing festivals for as many days of the year as I can find something for!

I am all in favour of a party and if the christians want to celebrate Eostre with eggs (ancient Pagan symbol of resurrection) and bunnies (messengers of the Moon Goddess) then I am all for it!

Traditional Witches (and I am one) have always celebrated both Witchy festivals and festivals of other religions too. Largely, I must admit, as a means of self-preservation in times of Witch persecutions - you are less likely to appear to be a Witch if you attend church regularly and participate in christian festivals.

But why limit yourself to four festivals, or eight or even twenty-four, when you can have something to celebrate every day of the year?

Spring is a Season, not a day.

So I reckon our Goddess of the Season is entitled to be celebrated more than once.

Happy Easter!

Happy Winter Celebration of Your Choice!

At this time of year when everyone is wishing each other 'Happy Christmas!' we sometimes get friends and relatives unsure what to say to Graham and me: 'Happy Yule'?, 'Happy Solstice'? or as I am a proud and long-standing player of World of Warcraft, 'Happy Winterveil'?

To be honest I am happy to respond to any of these (and more) because it is the sentiment behind these greetings which is what everyone is trying to express:
'Be Happy!' they are saying, 'Have fun, Enjoy yourself!'.
And that is what every religion has been expressing around this time.

Frankly one of the things I love about being a Pagan and Witch is that I can celebrate EVERYTHING!

Pagans have always been inclusive of all deities and philosophies, and you find this inclusiveness from ancient Rome and Egypt to Scandinavia and to modern Pagans too.

You want to celebrate a festival? That looks like fun, so we'll do it too!
Adding another deity and celebration to the calendar is no hardship what so ever.

And at certain times of the year you will see that many religions all recognise a special time and want to express it in their own way.

This is why our modern 'Christmas' is such a conglomeration of traditions and beliefs. We have influences in there from many different religions, from folklore and legends, and traditions so old and so apparently universal that their origins are lost in the vastness of pre-history.

So don't worry about offending me by wishing me a 'Merry Christmas' - you won't, and I will.

And may the Gods bless us, every one.

Working Weekend

A busy weekend to come.
I have a client visiting for a Tarot Reading this morning; then we have more ninja gardening to do (including the ninja mending of the magic gate in grandma's garden), then tomorrow we shall be visiting a boot sale and then the monthly farmer's market.

Aah yes, the Magic Gate. Grandma Raven has a cat called Lucy. Grandma is so paranoid about Lucy going missing that Lucy is only allowed outside under strict supervision, watched all the time she is outside - in the back garden - and then called back in as soon as possible. The back garden is separated from the front garden by a small gate (the Magic Gate) across the path between the house and the garden shed.
So the Magic Gate keeps Lucy in the back garden where she is safely under Grandma's supervision.
We call it the Magic Gate because Lucy is a cat... If Lucy wished she could be under, over or through the gate whenever she wishes. Also Lucy could simply leave the back garden by walking through the fence or nipping over it. She can also get to the front garden merely by walking around the back of the shed. I can get to the front garden by walking round the back of the shed - and I am a fair bit more substantial than Lucy.
But as long as the Magic Gate is in place Grandma is confident that Lucy is safe, and who are we to put worry in her mind.

Oh another thing I am currently doing is going through back issues of the Raven Newsletter to find interesting articles, spells etc which I shall be putting up from time to time in this Blog. As an example, here is a little piece to whet your appetite:

Visiting a Sacred Site

Part of being a Pagan and/or a Witch is that we honour the land. The Earth is our Mother and as such we should take every care not to disfigure her beauty, we are the guardians of this Land and of its sacred places.

If you visit a sacred site be aware that the site was there long before you were born, honour it, do not damage it.

Be aware also that no Sacred site belongs to YOU, it belongs to everyone who visits it, and everyone is entitled to find the site in as beautiful and harmonious condition as you are.

Take your rubbish home with you, do not drop it, bury it or burn it on the site - if someone else has left rubbish it would be nice if you removed it, but do not damage the site by doing so.

Do not light fires, which burn the turf or woodlands.

Do not break pieces off stones, nor insert crystals or anything else, in or under the site.

Use your common sense.

What should I take away?

Take with you only photos and memories

What should I leave behind?

Nothing but your love.

Introduction to Me and the Life of a Working Witch

As this blog has leapt into being, as an extension of my Facebook page, I suddenly thought that there may well be people who come across it and have no idea who the heck I am and what I do.  So here is a bit of a quick biography, so you know where I come from:

My name is Chris Sempers and I run the Mail Order company Raven with my husband Graham Raven.
Raven is a magical supply company and we have been in business since 1989. Oh and the 'Mike' I refer to often through the blog is our son Michael Raven who is the techno geek of the family and is frequently on the receiving end of my questions such as 'what is a follower?' and 'how do I do this?' and occasionally 'Where has my toolbar gone!?!'
We actually started our business making hand made toiletries and cosmetics: skin creams, lip balm, bath products, skin scrubs, all those sorts of things.  Everything we made was as simple as possible, made from herbs and flowers, beeswax and natural oils wherever possible.
As both of us are practising Pagans, we also had done loads of research into the magical uses of herbs - and made incenses and ritual oils for our own and friends use. So we decided to put a few pieces on our catalogue such as 'Home Protection Sachets' and one or two hand made divination sets, runes etc.
To our astonishment we found that the magical stuff far outsold the cosmetics !
Not having to be hit over the head with a brick to take notice, we decided to try putting out a catalogue which concentrated on the magical items instead, and have not looked back since.
Incidentally if you haven't had one of our catalogues recently/ever you can give me a ring (01482) 632512 or message me through facebook (www.facebook.com/RavenMagical) and I'll be happy to pop one in the post

I called this Blog the 'Blog of a Working Witch' because what I do in my job is based very much on being a practising Witch. A lot of the goods in our catalogues are hand made by us, using magical principles and correspondances. They are also constructed in special magical area, what is most commonly known as a Magic Circle.

I have been putting up daily snippets of magical and other info on our facebook page for well over a year now and felt I needed a bit more elbow room to express myself, so I intend using this blog as a place where I can put up articles on magical subjects - these may well be drawn from past issues of our own Raven Newsletter - and other info which will be of interest (I hope) to Pagans, Occultists, Witches and friends of Raven, such as pieces which may give you more of an insight into our personal lives - such as we love dogs and have two large fluffy ones to prove it.

I am also quite happy to answer questions of a magical nature, and, again, there is more space here for a fuller response to questions.

A Spell to Give Up Smoking

Take a pack of cigarettes you have started, take out all the cigarettes and cut them up. Put them back in the packet with a paper on which you have written the following magic triangle:
A T S D
S W Y
D T
S
Sprinkle some consecrated salt in the packet and keep it in your pocket