t first the Romans called this month Quintilis, but later renamed it Julius after Julius Caesar. The Greek Olympian was held for about a week in July. This festival in honor of Zeuz consisted of competitions in athletics, drama, music, and other activities. During the time of the Olympian, all participants were given safe-conduct to and from the games. Thae constant petty Greek squabbles were put aside. A victory in the Olympian was a great achievement, both for the individual and for their city.

In Japan, the Full Moon of July saw the O-Bon, or Festival of Lanterns. This was a conbination of Buddhist and Shinto beliefs that honored the dead. Homes, tombs, and ancestreal tablets were toroughly cleaned. Altars and shines were decorated. The gardens were hung with lanterns to light the way of the dead so that they could join with their families for the three day ceremony.

The Egyptian New Year fell in July, as did the Opet Festival, which commemorated the marriage of Isis and Osiris. Their sexual union was said to bring good luck to all people. About the same time in Rome, the love of Venus and Adonis was celebrated . The Egyptian year was measured against the Nile and its yearly fertile floods.

Correspondences

Nature Spirits: hobgoblins (small grotesque but friendly brownie-type creatures), faeries of the harvest crops
Herbs: honeysuckle, agrimony, lemon balm, hyssop
Colours: silver, blue-grey
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
Deites: Khepera, Athene, Juno Hel, Holda, Cerridwen, Nephthys, Venus
Power Flow: relaxed energy; preparing; succeding. Dream-work, divination, and meditation on goals and plans, especially spiritual ones
 

Old Sayings & Lore

• If the New Moon is seen for the first time straight ahead, it predicts good fortune until the next New Moon.
• If there are two Moons (two New or two Full) in the same month, the weather will be unfavorable and unsettled until the next New Moon.
• Wood cut at the New Moon is hard to split. If it is cut at the Full Moon it is easy to split.
• Crass crops should be sown at the Full Moon. Then the hay will dry quickly.
• In Wales, fishermen avoid the Moon line, or the moonlight showing on the water, when setting out to sea; they consider crossing this bad luck. However, in other areas they say to make a wish when crossing the Moon line.

ugust, originally called Sextilis by the Romans, was later named Augustus in honor of Augustus Caesar. Gathered harvests were celebrated in many lands during this month.

August 1 is a Celtic feast called Lunasa or Lughnassadh, meaning the celebration of harvest and new grain for bread. In Old English this became Lammas, or "Loaf Mass." At three times during August, the Romans honored the god Vulcan: on August 17 at the Portunalia; on August 27 at the Volturnalia; and again on August 23 at the Volcanalia. This last festival was held outside the city boundaries and was to ward off accidental fires, a real threat in such closely-packed and fire-prone towns. Vulcan was not the only deity honored during these festivals. The goddess Juturna (deity of fountains) and Stata Mater (who puts out fires) were invoked as a counterbalance to Vulcan's fires- Volcanoes or otherwise.

The very early Greeks had a holy day for Hecate the Dark Mother on August 13, and ten days later one for Nemesis, the goddess who balanced the scales of justice with rightful revenge and punishment. In Rome, women who had prayers answered by Diana and Hecate marched by torch light to the temples of these goddesses. There they held a special ceremony for women only and gave thanks.

In India today, the Hindu people still honor the elephant-headed god Ganesha, the deity who removes obstacles and brings good luck. Flowers and dishes of rice were set before his statues. However, it is considered unlucky to look at the Moon during this festival.

Correspondences

Nature Spirits: dryads
Herbs: chamomile, St. Johns wort, bay, angelica, fennel, rue, orange
Colours: yellow, gods
Flowers: sunflower, marigold
Scents: frankincense, heliotrop
Stones: cat's eye, carnelian, jasper, fire agate
Trees: hazel, alder, cedar
Animals: lion, phoenix, sphinx, dragon
Birds: crane, falcon, eagle
Deities: Ganesha, Thoth, Hathor, Diana, Hecate, Nemesis
Power Flow: energy into harvesting; gathering, appreciating. Vitality, health. Friendships.

Old Sayings & Lore

• An old English harvest Moon ritual was to gather a key, a ring, a flower, a sprig of willow, a small piece of cake, a crust of bread, 10 of clubs, 9 of hearts, ace of spades, and ace of diamonds. Wrap these in a handkerchief and place it under your pillow. Saying upon going to bed: "Luna, every woman's friend, To me they goodness condescend. Let me this night in visions see, Emblems of my destiny." If you dream of storms, it means coming trouble; if the storms end, a calm fate after strife. If you dream of a ring or the ace of diamonds, marriage: bread, a good job; cake, prosperity; flowers, joy: willow, treachery in love: spades, death: clubs, living in a foreign land: diamonds, money: keys, great power; birds, many children; and geese, more than one marriage.
• The English had a saying: that if a member of the family died at the time of the New Moon, three deaths would follow.
• Many cultures felt that it was extremely unlucky to point at the Moon, and that curtseys to the Moon would bring a present before the next change of Moon.
• Originally, the term Moon-struck or Moon-touched meant chosen by the goddess. These people were considered to be blessed.
• It was often said that if a person was born at a Full Moon, he or she would have a lucky life.

The Egyptian Ceremony of Lighting the Fire was a general festival of lights for all the gods and goddesses. Lamps of all kinds were set in front of deity statues. They were also placed before the statues of ancestors. The Egyptian deity Thoth was the Lord of Holy Wards and inventor of the Four Laws of Magick. Portrayed as ibis-headed, Thoth was a Moon god. As Supreme Magus, or the Ultimate Magician, he had control over the powers and attributes of the Moon.

In the old Incan Empire, the Citua was held on the New Moon nearest the Autumn Equinox. Everyone performed a ritual cleansing, then smeared their faces with a paste of ground maize (corn). There followed several days of feasting and dancing. This was a Moon festival in honor of Mama Quilla, the Moon goddess.

Correspondences

Nature Spirits: trooping faeries
Herbs: copal, fennel, rye, wheat, valerian, skullcap
Colours: brown, yellow-green, yellow
Flowers: narcissus, lily
Scents: storax, mastic, gardenia, bergamot
Stones: peridot, olivine, chrysolite, citrine
Trees: hazel, larch, bay
Animals: snake, jackal
Birds: ibis, sparrow
Deities: Demeter, Ceres, Isis, Nephthys, Freyja, Ch'ang-O, Thoth
Power Flow: rest after labor; balance of Light and Dark. Organize. Clean and straighten up physical, mental, emotional and spiritual clutter.

Old Sayings & Lore

• A verse: When the Moon is at the full, mushroom you can safely pull. But when the Moon is on the wane, wit ere you think to pluck again.
• Sailors believed that if the Moon, in the first or last quarter, lay in nearly a horizontal position with the horns upward, the weather would be fine. Country people say that the same type of Moon means good weather for twenty eight days.
• Country people said that the weather was more likely to change at the four quarters of the Moon that at any other time.
• Rain is coming when the Moon has a halo around it or when an outline can be seen between the horns of a waxing or waning Moon.
• One old legend says that on the Moon is everything that was wasted on Earth: mis-spent time, squandered wealth, broken vows, unanswered prayers, fruitless tears, unfulfilled desires and intentions, etc.

ctober or Octem, was the eighth month in the oldest Roman calendar. This Moon mother takes its name not from blood sacrifices, but from the old custom of killing and salting down livestock before the Winter months mad it impossible to feed them. Only the choicest stock was kept through the cold season.

Today we subconsciously begin to make preparations for the coming Winter during this time. We chick the antifreeze and tires for the car, gather up garden hoses and make plans to winterize and drafty spots around doors and windows in the house. Some of us do an ambitious fall cleaning.

The Greek festival of Thesmophoria came every year in honor of Demeter and was confined to women only. This was a three day remembrance of Kor's return to the Underworld. At this festival the initiates shared a sacred barley drink and cakes. One feature of the Thesmorphoria was a deterrent to offenders against the sacred laws and temples, especially the temples of Demeter and Artemis. It was believed that anyone so cured would die before the year ended.

In Tibet, the Buddhist Lent occurred along with the Descent from Heaven festival which celebrated the end of the rainy season.

Correspondences

Nature Spirits: frost faeries, plant faeries
Herbs: pennyroyal, thyme, catnip, uva ursi, angelica, burdock
Colors: dark blue-green
Flowers: calendula, marigold, cosmos
Scents: strawberry, apple blossom, cherry
Stones: opal, tourmaline, beryl, turquoise
Trees: yew, cypress, acacia
Animals: stag, jackal, elephant, ram, scorpion
Birds: heron, crow, robin
Deities: Ishtar, Astarte, Demeter, Kore, Lakshmi, Horned God, Belili, Hathor
Power Flow: to let go; inner cleansing. Karma and reincarnation. Justice and balance. Inner harmony.
 

Old Sayings & Lore

• A verse:

O Lady Moon, your horns point toward the east:
Shine, be increased.
O Lady Moon, your horns point toward the west:
Wane, be at rest.

New Moon, true Moon, true and trusty,
Tell me who my true love must be.

New Moon, true Moon, true and bright,
If I have a true love, let me dream of him/her tonight.

New Moon, true Moon, tell unto me
If (name), my true love, he/she will marry me.
If he/she marry me in haste
Let me see his/her bonnie face,
If he/she marry me betide
Let me see his/her bonnie side,
If he/she will not marry me
Turn his/her back and go away.

The Moon and the weather may change together;
But change of the Moon does not change the weather.
If we had no Moon at all, and that would seem strange,
We should still have weather that's subject to change.
 

• The Gaelic word for fortune comes from "that which denotes a Full Moon." The Druids believed that when the circle of the Moon was complete, good fortune was given to those who knew how to ask the gods for it.

ovember was the ninth month in the oldest Roman calendar. In the Celtic tradition this was the beginning of a new year. The Celtic year ended on the eve before Samhain and began again on the day after. They considered it a Moon month of beginnings and endings and many still do.

The Japanese festival honoring the goddess of the kitchen range honored the women who prepared the daily meals in a back handed way. Commonly called Kami (deity), this goddess was important because, through use of the harvested food, she protected and provided for the family.

The goddess Hecate had many celebrations though out the year. November 16 was known as the Night of Hecate, the Three -formed. Hecate is part of the most ancient form of the triple Moon goddess as Crone or Dark Moon: Artemis was the Crescent Moon and Selene the Full moon. Most of Hecate's worship, and especially on this night, was performed in a three way crossroad at night. Food was left there as an offering to her. She was known to rule the passages of life and transformation, birth and death. Her animals were the toad, the owl, the dog and the bat.

In Tibet, they celebrated the Feast of Lanterns, a Winter festival of the shortest days of the Sun. Among the Incas it was a time of the Ayamarca, or Festival of the Dead.
Correspondences

Nature Spirits: subterranean faeries
Herbs: grains of paradise, verbena, betony, borage, cinquefoil, blessed thistle
Colours: gray, sea-green
Flowers: blooming cacti, chrysanthemum
Scents: cedar, cherry blossoms, hyacinth, narcissus, peppermint, lemon
Stones: topaz, hyacinth, lapis lazuli
Trees: alder, cypress
Animals: unicorn, scorpion, scocodile, jackal
Birds: owl, goose, sparrow
Deities: Kali, Black Isis, Nicnevin, Hecate, Bast Osiris, Sarasvati, Lakshme, Skadi, Mawu
Power Flow: take root, prepare. Transformation. Strengthen communication with the god or goddess who seems closest to you.

Old Sayings & Lore

• To cry for the Moon is an old saying that means you are craving or demanding something that you can't have.
• The word moonshine has two meanings. In the U.S., it means "illegally distilled liquor,: also known as "white lightning." An older meaning was "total nonsense."
• A waning Moon was considered an unlucky time for a marriage or birth.
• In English, French, Italian, Latin, and Greek, the Moon is feminine; but in all the Teutonic languages the Moon is masculine. In Sanskrit, the word for the Moon is mas, which is masculine.
• To the Chinese, the Old Man in the Moon was Yue-lao. It was his duty to predestine the marriages of mortals. They said he tied the future husband and wife together with an invisible silk cord that never parted as long as they lived.
• Although the Koran expressly forbids worshipping the Sun or Moon, many Moslems still clasp their hands at the sight of a New Moon and offer a prayer.

ecember was the tenth month on the old Roman calendar, the month containing the care free Saturnalia. The Franks called it Heilagmanoth, or Holy Month, because of its large number of sacred festivals. On the old Tibetan calendar December 1 was the beginning of a new year.

The ancient Mayan goddess Ixchel is still honored in southern Mexico with processions and rituals that bless boats and fields. She was also known as Lady Unique Circular Darkness, Lady Splotch of Blood, Lady of the Night , and Lady All Embracer. Her worship at one time extended trough southern Mexico, the Yucatan Peninsula, and as far as El Salvador.

The Winter Solstice, a time when the Sun turns from its fall into darkness back into gaining light, was and is celebrated around the world. Around the world it is the time when Virgin mothers give birth to sacred sons: Rhiannon to Pryderi: Isis to Horus; Demeter to Persephone. In Japan it was the time when the hiding Sun goddess Amaterasu came out of her cave. The birth of Horus was celebrated about December 23, shortly after Winter Solstice, the time of Osiris's final entombment. At this time of the year, Isis and Nephthys were said to have circled the shrine of Osiris seven times, symbolizing their mourning and search for his scattered body parts. Set was driven away by the shaking of Isis's sistrum.
 

Correspondences

Nature Spirits: snow faeries, storm faeries, winter tree faeries
Herbs: holly, English ivy, fir, mistletoe
Colours: black red, white and black
Flowers: holly, poinsettia, Christmas cactus
Scents: violet, patchouli, rose geranium, frankincense, myrrh, lilac
Stones: serpentine, jacinth, peridot
Trees: pine, fir, holly
Animals: mouse, deer, horse, bear
Birds: rood, robin, snowy owl
Deities: Hathor, Hecate, Neith, Athene, Minerva, Ixchel, Osiris, Norns, Fates
Power Flow: to endure, die, re-born; Earth tides turning. Darkness. Personal alchemy. Spiritual paths. Reach out to friends and family, the lonely and needy.

Old Sayings & Lore

• The Irish say never cut your hair, begin a journey, move into a new house, start a business, or cut out a dress on a Friday in particular, and especially if a New or Full Moon falls on a Friday.
• In Ireland it is said that if you walk nine times around a faery rath or hill at the Full Moon, you will be able to find the entrance.
• The name Mount St. Helens means "Moon Mountain."
• The Word "create" comes from the same word-root as the word "crescent."
• In some legends, The Egyptians said that the Dark Moon and the Full Moon were the two eyes of Horus.
• The horseshoe is a sybol of the Lunar crescent. Certain ancient British coins had the horse and the crescent on them. For the horseshoe, and the Crescent Moon to be lucky and hold the luck, the horns must be turned upwards.
• The natives of Madagascar call their isle the Island of the Moon.
• To aim at the Moon means to be very ambitious, to set your sights extremely high.
• The eastern branches of the Eskimo clans say that their people came from the Moon to Earth.