A Full Moon By Any Other Name

Many of our full moon names come from medieval books of hours and also from North American Native Americana. Here are other, rarer names from these two traditions that you may want to use in your lunar rituals.

January: Old Moon, Chaste Moon

February: Hunger Moon

March: Crust Moon, Sugar Moon, Sap Moon, or Worm Moon 

April: Sprouting Grass Moon, Egg Moon, Fish Moon

May: Milk Moon, Corn Planting Moon, Dyad Moon

June: Hot Moon, Rose Moon

July: Buck Moon, Hay Moon

August: Barley Moon, Wyrt Moon, Sturgeon Moon

September: Green Corn Moon, Wine Moon

October: Dying Grass Moon, Travel Moon, Blood Moon, Moon of Changing Seasons

November: Frost Moon, Snow Moon 

December: Cold Moon, Oak Moon 

Days, Planets, Colors, and Goals

Day: Sunday
Planet: Sun
Correspondence: Exorcism, healing, prosperity
Color: Orange, white, yellow
Incense: Lemon, frankincense

Day: Monday
Planet: Moon
Correspondence: Agriculture, animals, female fertility, messages, reconciliation, voyages
Color: Silver, white, gray
Incense: African violet, honeysuckle, myrtle, willow, wormwood

Day: Tuesday
Planet: Mars
Correspondence: Courage, physical strength, revenge, military honors, surgery, breaking negative spells
Color: Red, orange
Incense: Dragon’s blood, patchouli

Day: Wednesday
Planet: Mercury
Correspondence: Knowledge, communication, divination, writing, business transactions
Color: Yellow, gray, violet, all opalescent hues
Incense: Jasmine, lavender, sweet pea

Day: Thursday
Planet: Jupiter
Correspondence: Luck, health, happiness, legal matters, male fertility, treasure, wealth, employment
Color: Purple, indigo
Incense: Cinnamon, musk, nutmeg, sage

Day: Friday
Planet: Venus
Correspondence: Love, romance, marriage, sexual matters, physical beauty, friendships, partnerships
Color: Pink, green, aqua, chartreuse
Incense: Strawberry, rose, sandalwood, saffron, vanilla

Day: Saturday
Planet: Saturn
Correspondence: Spirit, communication, meditation, psychic attack or defense, locating lost or missing persons
Color: Black, gray, indigo
Incense: Poppy seeds, myrrh 

Lucky and Unlucky Dates

Month: January
Lucky Dates: 3, 10, 27, 31
Unlucky Dates: 12, 23

Month: February
Lucky Dates: 7, 8, 18
Unlucky Dates: 2, 10, 17, 22

Month: March
Lucky Dates: 3, 9, 12, 14, 16
Unlucky Dates: 13, 19, 23, 28

Month: April
Lucky Dates: 5, 17
Unlucky Dates: 18, 20, 29, 30

Month: May
Lucky Dates: 1, 2, 4, 6, 9, 14
Unlucky Dates: 10, 17, 20

Month: June
Lucky Dates: 3, 5, 7, 9, 13, 23
Unlucky Dates: 4, 20

Month: July
Lucky Dates: 2, 6, 10, 23, 30
Unlucky Dates: 5, 13, 27

Month: August
Lucky Dates: 5, 7, 10, 14
Unlucky Dates: 2, 13, 27, 31

Month: September
Lucky Dates: 6, 10, 13, 18, 30
Unlucky Dates: 13, 16, 18

Month: October
Lucky Dates: 13, 16, 25, 31
Unlucky Dates: 3, 9, 27

Month: November
Lucky Dates: 1, 13, 23, 30
Unlucky Dates: 6, 25

Month: December
Lucky Dates: 10, 20, 29
Unlucky Dates: 15, 26 

Winter Solstice Ritual, December 21

Winter solstice rituals traditionally celebrate the rebirth of the sun. In a safe place outdoors, build a bonfire and create a solstice altar to the east of it. Place a small cauldron with a candle in it on the altar, and surround it with mistletoe, ivy, and holly. Participants should also wear crowns woven from these evergreens. If it is too cold or snowy where you live, you can gather indoors and form a semicircle around the fireplace, or around the altar.

Begin the ritual by holding hands around the fire. Hum softly, gradually building the hum to a shout. This shout represents the cries of the Goddess giving birth once again to the sun, and to the new year. The ritual leader says:

All bow to the East! Hail to the newborn Sun, and to the Great Goddess who has brought him forth!

Everyone bows to honor the Sun God and the Mother Goddess. The ritual leader chants: 

Brigid,

Diana,

Morgan,

Cerridwen,

Heaven’s Queen,

By the light of this moon In this dark night,

Teach us the mystery of rebirth.

The ritual leader lights the candle in the cauldron while everyone else remains perfectly still. Now is the time when the Goddess will reveal herself privately to each participant. If you are outdoors, listen and look carefully for a sign. Traditional omens are a sudden wind, shooting stars, the screeching of
an owl, and the appearance of a deer. Even if you are indoors by the fire, the Goddess will still make herself known in your heart. When the time feels right, the ritual leader says:

Queen of the Stars, 

Queen of the Moon, 

Queen of the Earth, 

Bringer of Fire,

The Great Mother gives birth to this new year 

And we are her witnesses.

Everyone shouts: 

Blessed be!

Pass the lit cauldron to each participant so they can speak a blessing for the new year and the new sun. Place the cauldron with the candle back on the altar. The ritual leader closes the ritual with this final expression of gratitude to the Goddess: 

Blessed be to the Mother Goddess 

Thank you for the sun that gives us life 

Without beginning and without end 

Everlasting in Eternity.

This ritual is now done!

A toast to the new sun should take place with hot cider or mead, and warm festive foods. 

Kwanzaa: December 26th

In 1966, a Black Studies professor at California State University in Long Beach, Maulana Ron Karenga, conceived Kwanzaa, which means “first fruit” in Swahili. Kwanzaa (December 26 to January 1) is very much a community ritual and begins with a gathering before an altar covered with the symbols of the season: corn; a woven mat; a unity cup; and an African flag of red, black, and green. Also on the altar are gifts made by the hand and a special Kwanzaa candleholder holding seven taper candles. The colors of the candles are red, for the blood of the people; black, for the people themselves; and green, for the land. Each night of the festival, a candle is lit commemorating and honoring the Seven Principles, Nguzo Saba, of Kwanzaa:

1. Umoja for unity

2. Kujichaguliaforself-determination

3. Ujima for shared works

4. Ujamaa for shared monies

5. Nia for life purpose

6. Kuumbaforcreativity

7. Imani for faith 

Chanukah: the Festival of Lights

Here we have another moveable feast, which is one of the most beloved of all Jewish holidays. As we know from the Roman historian, Tacitus, in the second century BCE Antiochus IV, the Seleucidian king, blocked all Jews from visiting their own temple on Mount Zion and tried to force them to sacrifice swine and eat the meat, which is against their religion. He also placed an edict commanding Jews, under penalty of death, to leave their sons uncircumcised. The stubborn and cruel Antiochus also invaded the Jewish temple on Mount Zion and installed a statue of Zeus therein. Many lives were lost in the struggle, but the Jewish resistance, led by Judah Maccabee, the “Jewish Hammer,” overcame the Greek forces and reconsecrated the temple on the twenty-fifth day of the Hebrew month of Kislev in 165 BCE The triumphant Jews declared that this event should be remembered each year with a festival. Judah then lit the candelabra, or menorah, in the temple. The miracle of the menorah is that there was only enough lamp oil for one night but it lasted eight nights, thus the tradition of lighting a candle each day during Chanukah’s eight nights. Feasting is also an important part of the ritual, with the customary latkes (fried potato pancakes) often topped with applesauce and sour cream.

December Festivals, Ceremonies, and Rituals

December 1, Festival of Pallas Athene (Ancient Greece) 

December 2, Festival of Shiva (Hindu)

December 3, St. Xavier’s Feast Day

December 4, International Hug Day

December 5, International Volunteers Day 

December 6, St. Nicholas Day, precursor to St. Nick

December 7, Burning the Devil Night in Guatemala, La Quema Del Diablo

December 8, Festival of Ix Chel, Mayan lunar goddess 

December 9, Virgin of Guadalupe first appears (1591) 

December 10, International Human Rights Day 

December 11, Pilgrimages at Tortuga, New Mexico

December 12, Pilgrimages at Guadalupe in Mexico, Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe

December 13, Saint Lucia Day in Sweden

December 14, Feast of St. John of the Cross

December 15, Consualia in Rome

December 16, Las Posadas in Mexico, procession commemorating the Holy Family’s search for lodging

December 17, Saturnalia begins

December 18, Virgin of Solitude Day in Oaxaca, Mexico

December 19, Feast of Saint Boniface, the apostle of Germany

December 20, Commerce God Festival in Japan

December 21, Winter solstice

December 22, Saint Chaeremon Day

December 23, Laurentalia, Roman festival of hallowing the home

December 24, Mother Night (Anglo-Saxon) 

December 25, Christmas Day

December 26, First day of Kwanzaa (Afro-American)

December 27, Freya’s Day (Teutonic)

December 28, Holy Innocents Day (Mexico) 

December 29, Saint Thomas of Canterbury’s Day

December 30, Nia, or Purpose Night during the celebration of Kwanzaa

December 31, Hogmanay (Scotland)

Nearly every solar god is celebrated in December—Baal, Attis, Adonis, Apollo, Ra, Baldur, and Mithra, to name a few. Scots celebrate Hogmanay, a secular holiday with roots in the worship of the ancient solar god, Hogmagog. Yule is one of the pagan sabaats, or the eight holidays of the wheel of the year, and is celebrated on December 21, the shortest day of the year. The word Yule comes from the Germanic jol, and means midwinter. The old tradition was to have a vigil and a bonfire from dusk to dawn to make sure the sun does indeed rise again on this longest night of the entire year. 

Diwali in India: The Cluster of Lights Festival

Diwali, one of the most beloved holidays in all of India, is another moveable feast that generally takes place around mid-November. People will circumnavigate the globe to return home to be with their family during this special time. The Hindus treasure this late-autumn festival week and dress up their homes and themselves. All the streets and windows are brightly lit with special diwali lamps, small ceramic affairs filled with oil and cotton wicks that twinkle like stars, in every home and even on fences, garden walks, and porches.

Diwali is like a New Year, when everyone can start again, forgiving quarrels, wearing new clothes, and starting life anew with a fresh attitude and bright hopes. In the village and mountainous regions of India, bonfires are going strong, warming up the landscape along with fireworks that light up the night skies.

Diwali honors the victory of Rama, an avatar aspect of Vishnu who battled a ten-headed demon that stole Rama’s wife, Sita, with devotional music, lamp-lighting rituals, feasting, games, gambling, gift giving, and special foods, such as sweets, fruits, candies, and pastries that are constructed into temple- like towers.

November Ceremonies, Festivals, and Rituals

November 1, All Saints Day

November 2, All Souls Day, Dia de los Muertos

November 3, St. Hubert’s Day, celebrated with a hunter’s Mass

November 4, Mischief Night in England with bonfires and firecrackers, a “festival of chaos”

November 5, Guy Fawkes Day in England since 1605, also known as Bonfire Night

November 6, Leonhardi-ritt in Bavaria, for St. Leonard, patron saint of cattle

November 7, Mayan ghost banquet

November 8, Fuigo Matsuri, festival honoring Hettsui no Kami, Japanese goddess of the kitchen hearth

November 9, Dia de Camana (Peru)

November 10, Martin Luther’s birthday (1483)

November 11, Remembrance Day, Armistice Day

November 12, Tesuque Feast Day for Pueblo Indians

November 13, Roman festival of Jupiter

November 14, South America’s Little Carnival before Advent

November 15, Recycling Day (United States)

November 16, Festival of Bast (Ancient Egypt)

November 17, The Leonid meteor shower is visible on this day

November 18, Saint Plato’s Day 

November 19, Pilgrimage Day for Islam

November 20, Ebisu-ko, Japanese ceremony to the prophet god

November 21, Presentation of the Virgin Mary

November 22, St. Cecelia’s Day, patron saint of musicians 

November 23, St. Clement’s Day, saint of blacksmiths

November 24, Feast of Burning Lamps for Isis and Osiris (Ancient Egypt)

November 25, Mange Yam, harvest festival (Haiti)

November 26, Thanksgiving if a Thursday and St. Peter of Alexandria Day

November 27, St. Maximus’ Day in Provence 

November 28, Baha’i Ascension of Abdul-Baha in 1892

November 29, St. Andrew’s Eve, a night of fortune-telling in Europe

November 30, Saint Andrew’s Day 

Halloween Altar

On October 31, the veil is thinnest between the two worlds of the living and the dead. It is of vital importance to honor the dead. One way to do this is to create a special altar for this day, a tradition that comes down to us from the Celts among others. Create a new shrine just for this occasion with a chest or table in your home where people will see it and acknowledge your ancestors. On the altar, place photos, letters, and any mementos that will bring the energy of your late loved ones close.

Place candles on the altar and light them during twilight. While it may seem uncomfortable at first, talk to your ancestors and tell them about what is going on in your life. Share memories and speak about whatever you feel inspired to speak of—grief, hopes for the future, troubles, all you need to share. Take as much time as you need with this. Place the bowl of water with white flowers—gardenias are an excellent choice—on the altar and leave it overnight.

In the morning, say good morning and goodbye until next year. Then take the water and pour it in your front yard or outside near the front door of your home. You have communed with your beloved dead, and they are now free to leave and return to you next year. The water contains all the blessings and love from your ancestors whom you have honored and with the special altar, and you will receive their blessings and love every time you walk through your front door. 

Chinese Harvest Mooncake

In China, the full or Harvest Moon in October is celebrated with mooncakes, which are offered to the Goddess Chang-O, the Lady in the Moon. This is the time when wheat and rice are harvested, making it an important time of thanksgiving for food to have on hand through the winter season.

The rice and the wheat are baked into cakes that look like the big round moon up in the sky and are used as offerings, along with melons and pomegranates, to the goddess. The women making the mooncakes put their intentions into them by whispering secret wishes into the batter. The unifying action of blending and mixing the tasty cakes represents family harmony. One sweet aspect of this ritual is the selection of a young girl to enter the “heavenly garden.” At the ritual feast for the goddess of the Harvest Moon, this young lady becomes the prophet of her family and community, and she is urged to share her visions about the coming year and the prosperity of the village or the land. Feasting on mooncakes and other ritual foods is followed by games and singing under the bright light of Chang-O’s moon.

October Celebrations, Festivals, & Rituals

 October 1, Beginning of Shinto “Godless” Month in Japan with pilgrimages to shrines temporarily abandoned by the gods and spirits

October 2, Old Man’s Day in Hertfordshire, England, a day of charity and prayer

October 3, Zhong Oiu Jie is a moveable Chinese Moon festival celebrated around this time

October 4, Saint Francis Day, when pets are blessed

October 5, Pilgrimage to Zapopan in Jalisco, Mexico, celebrating the Virgin

October 6, Festival of Vishnu begins (Hindu)

October 7, United Nations Children’s Day

October 8, Okunchi in Japan with a lucky lion dance parade 

October 9, Han’Gul, Alphabet Day (Korea)

October 10, Shuangshi Jie, National Day in Taiwan, also called “Double Tenth Day,” a festival of folk dancing, sword fighting, and martial arts

October 11, Medrinalia in Rome, the celebration of new wine 

October 12, Fiesta de Nuestra Senora del Pilar in Spain

October 13, Fontinalia, Roman Festival in honor of Fons, son of Jupiter

October 14, Japanese Battle Festival, Mega-kenka Matsuri, celebrated with battle rites and reenactments since 201 CE

October 15, Festival of Mars (Ancient Rome) 

October 16, World Food Day

October 17, Family Day (South Africa) 

October 18, Heroes Day (Jamaica)

October 19, Our Lord of Miracles procession in Peru since 1687

October 20, Guru Har Rai Day for Sihks

October 21, Festival of the Black Christ in Panama, El Jesus Nazareno

October 22, Cheung Yeung (Hong Kong)

October 23, Swallows depart from Capistrano (and arrive back on March 19, St. Joseph’s Day)

October 24, United Nations Day celebrated globally with school fairs, concerts, exhibitions, and banquets

October 25, Saint Crispin’ Day (1415), immortalized in Shakespeare’s Henry V

October 26, Quit Rent Day in Europe, celebrated with ceremonies, feasts, and presentations and token payment of rent with horseshoes

October 27, Feast of the Holy Souls

October 28, Meiji Festival in Tokyo featuring five days of performances, classical court dances, concerts and horseback-archery contests

October 29, Ringing of “Lost in the Dark” Church Bells in England

October 30, Angels’ Night, also known as Devil’s Night (United States)

October 31, Halloween, Samhain

Although October is the tenth month of the year, it comes from the Latin word for eight, as it was the eighth month in the Roman calendar. The Romans designated the month of October to honor Astraea, daughter of Zeus and Themis. Astraea lived on earth, but when mankind became too evil, she departed to the stars. The chilly air and biting winds of October symbolize her departure from earth. The Celts call October Deireadh Fomhair, and the Anglo-Saxons called it Winterfelleth, which translates to “winter is coming.” The Franks linked October to the grape harvest and the pressing of new wine, calling it Vintage Month or Windurmanoth, Farmers in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in America called the October full moon the Hunter’s Moon, and Native Americans refer to October as Second Summer, which is why we sometimes call it Indian Summer. 

Autumn Equinox

Here is a wonderfully creative variation on this seasonal rite designed by Robin Heerens Lysne, the author of Living a Sacred Life. It is based on the Native American Muskogee Creek tribal story about the spider who weaves her web sack to catch the sun and bring it back to earth. Lysne suggests holding a potluck dinner followed by a story-telling session as the light begins to wane. While people tell their equinox or fall season stories and feelings, they should hold the end of a ball of yarn or string and toss the ball to the next person to signal that it is their turn. As people hold the yarn, they should wrap it once around their wrists. When the talking is done, you will have a web of people woven together. Make the web of life with the yarn, symbolizing the weaving of night, day, relationships, and the time of autumn. When you are finished, let yourselves be in the web and contemplate the meaning of your connections.

The Orishas of Santeria

On September 22, 1862, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. This is an excellent opportunity to celebrate freedom from oppression for the hardy and deeply spiritual Africans who kept their own religions alive despite the incredible odds against them.

African slaves brought their native religion with them wherever they went. African spirituality is based on nature—water, rivers, plants, seashells, and all the elements of the world around them. When the Africans came to the Catholic lands in Central and South America, their African deities were blended with Catholic saints to make an interesting new religion called Santeria. It was their way of keeping their African religion alive, and it has worked well. These orishas are spirit guardians, similar to those honored in Candomble. All of life is believed to come from one great creative force, Oloddumare. Practitioners of Santeria believe that everyone has one orisha as a guardian throughout his or her life.

• Aganyu corresponds to Saint Christopher. This volcano god is the father of Chango and whose mother is Yemmu. He can protect you from harm but only if you make your appeal through Chango.
• Babalu-Aye is associated with Saint Lazarus and is the deity to turn to for healing. He is one of the most beloved and needed of all the orishas. Babalu-Aye travels about with a bag of corn and offers healing and prosperity.
• Chango is a male god who corresponds to Saint Barbara. Chango holds major power. Red-coated and covered with cowry shells, Chango loves the good life—women, food, drink, dance, fire, lightning. He is the hot orisha. Call on Chango when you need passion in love.
• Eleggua corresponds to Saint Anthony, but he is a trickster who creates bewilderment in his wake. He is “all-knowing” and wants to be acknowledged first before any other orisha. Because order comes from chaos, it is believed that Eleggua brings us into wholeness.
• Obatala is a deity of both genders who corresponds to
  Our Lady of Mercy. He is a bringer of peace and purity, as evidenced by his white robes. Obatala teaches temperance and can help us control obsessive thoughts, anger, worry, and fear.
• Our Lady of Mercy. He is a bringer of peace and purity, as evidenced by his white robes. Obatala teaches temperance and can help us control obsessive thoughts, anger, worry, and fear.
• Ochosi corresponds to Saint Norbert and is the hunter god who lives in the woods. He protects and helps hunters, is a healer, and helps with legal issues. Ochosi is the orisha to turn to if you need to relocate.
• Oggun corresponds to Saint Peter and is the warrior orisha, holding all metals under his domain. Call on Oggun when you need a job or if you need a protector.
• Orunmila corresponds to Saint Francis of Assisi and is the orisha of fate. He is “one who lives both in heaven and on earth.” Since he holds all our fates in his hands, he can help us improve our destiny.
• Oshun corresponds to Our Lady of Charity and is a river goddess. She is the Santerian Venus and looks after affairs of the heart—love, marriage, and money. She gives us joy and abundance.
• Oya corresponds to Saint Teresa and is a deity of the dead. She is also a goddess of the winds and boundaries. Oya is a warrior and offers protection against death and is quite aggressive. She is married to Chango. 
• Yemaya corresponds to Our Lady of Regla and is a goddess of the moon and of the ocean and the patroness of pregnancy. She is always depicted as a gorgeous goddess who helps girls make the passage to womanhood. Yemaya is one of the most popular orishas. 

Mexican Independence Day

September 16 is celebrated throughout Mexico as the day the Mexican Revolution began and it is actually now a bigger cause for celebration than Cinco de Mayo. As the legend goes, one day Father Hidalgo, an ordinary priest, began shouting from his pulpit, “Viva la Virgin de Guadalupe!” To the Mexican people of that era, this was an incitement to fight for freedom and be rid of Spanish rule. This cry spread across all of Mexico and stirred the people to great power. Unfortunately for the priest who initiated the movement in the name of Guadalupe, it resulted in his execution for treason against the Spanish government. While this was intended to shut the revolution down, it served only to infuriate the Mexican people who revolted and won their independence. This is a day to honor Father Hidalgo and revere Guadalupe with shrines, prayers, invocations, and candle burning.

Fall Equinox Ritual

Establish one room in your house as the temple. Ideally, it is the room in which you normally keep an altar or sacred shrine. In any case, you should create an altar in the center of the space. Place four small tables in the four corners of the directions and place four evenly spaced candlesticks between the tables. Place a loaf of freshly baked bread (bread you have made with your own hands is best) in the east, a bowl of apples in the south, a bottle of wine in the west, and a sheaf of wheat or a bundle of dried corn in the north. Upon the main altar, place a candle, a plate of sweet cakes and a goblet. Light incense and place it in front of the cakes. Before your ritual, take some time for contemplation. Think about what you have achieved during this busy year:

What have you done?

What do you need?

What remains to be done? 

What are your aspirations?

Write down your thoughts and feelings and the answers to those questions. Read what you have written and ponder it. Look for continuing ideas or themes and make notes of these on a piece of paper. Next, take a calming and cleansing quiet bath, and snip a lock of your freshly washed hair and place it on the paper where you wrote your notes. Dress yourself in a robe and enter your temple space. Light the candle on the altar and use this candle to light all the other candles in the temple. Speak the traditional Hebrew words of self-blessing: 

Ateh, Malkuth, Ve Geburah, Ve Gedulah, Le Olahm, Amen: Through the symbol of the pentagram in the name of Adonai.

Repeat this facing each corner, and then face your altar and say: 

In the east, Raphael; in the south, Michael; in the west, Gabriel; in the north, Uriel. Welcome to this place in the name of Melchisedek, the High Priest of the Godhead.

Then go to the east and raise the loaf of bread as offering and say: 

Raphael, Lord of the Winds of Heaven, bless this bounty born of sun and air and earth. Let us feed the hungry and bless the hand that gives it. Place the bread back into the bowl and go to the southern corner. Raise an apple as offering and state:

Michael, protector of the weak and the oppressed,

bless this sun-ripened fruit and let it be not the fruit of temptation but the fruit of our knowledge so we know how to make our choices and understand the measure of both good and evil.

Place the apple back into the bowl and go to the western corner. Lift up the bottle of wine and say:

Gabriel, bringer of the word of God, bless this wine that we may take into our body the wine of life shed by all saviors since time began.

Place the bottle back on the western table. Turn to the north and raise the corn or wheat as an offering and say: 

Uriel, Lord of the Earth and all its bounty, bless this crop that it may be plentiful all over the earth, that this may be a year when all mankind will know the comfort of food and hearth.

Now return to the altar in the center of the temple. Light the incense and place some bread and the chalice of wine on the altar. Dip a piece of bread into the blessing wine. Proclaim:

Melchisedeck, priest of the most high God, in the desert after the battle with the kings of Edom you brought bread and wine to Abraham. In this communion shared between man and priest of the most high God, a covenant was made. I pray that this coming harvest makes bread for the world. In token of the ancient custom, I take this bread and wine into my body.

Now in this sacred place, guide and teach me, show me how to pursue knowledge for the power of good. Help me to grow in wisdom. Bless me. Bless those who share my life. Bless all of those with whom I work. Bless this earth and sweet, green world that gives us all the blessings we enjoy—all the water and wine, all the corn and wheat, all the joys of life in this body. Bless my home.

Take a lock of hair and light it from the candle and burn it in the bowl of incense and say: 

This is the offering of myself.

In the east—blessings to Raphael. 

In the south—blessings to Michael. 

In the west—blessings to Gabriel. 

In the north—blessings to Uriel. 

Blessed be to all.

Now go around your temple space in reverse order and extinguish all candles. Then declare your temple closed. The common wisdom is that you should place the apples, bread, and wine in your garden as an offering the next day, as a blessing to all of nature. 

Rosh Hashanah: The Jewish New Year

This Jewish holiday is a moveable feast and occurs in September (sometimes in very early October). Rosh means “head” and Hashanah means “New Year.” It is a rather somber holiday when participants pray for forgiveness and undertake ten days of penitence, ending in Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. During Rosh Hashanah, Jews begin their new year with a new outlook and hope of good health, a good year, and a long and happy life.

One ritual aspect of Rosh Hashanah is the sounding of the shofar, the ram’s horn, by the rabbi. This custom is the signal for Jews to repent and think about their people and the current state of affairs with all Jews. Perhaps the most important aspect of this holiday is the three sets of prayers that are recited during the ten days that remind people of God’s omnipotence, his response to the shofar, and that God always remembers good works and kindness.

You can use these Jewish themes of meditating on your current state of affairs, your family, and the blessings of the gods and angels in a fall equinox ritual. 

September

September 1, Greek New Year September 2, St. Mama’s Day in Cypress

September 3, Sukkot, Feast of the Tabernacles, a Jewish moveable feast celebrated around this time

September 4, Founders day of Los Angeles (1835), the “City of Angels,” celebrated with processions, dance, rodeo, and Mass

September 5, Mother Teresa died in 1997

September 6, First day of the Hebrew calendar since 3761 BCE

September 7, Rificolne in Florence and Siena celebrating Cosimo de Medici’s 1260 victory: a celebration with picnics, lantern processions, folk singing, and street dancing.

September 8, Water Festival honoring springs (Tibet) 

September 9, Chrysanthemum Festival in Japan, Choyo no Sekku, Kiky bo Seku

September 10, St. Salvi Day, French bishop who died and came back to life in 574 BCE still celebrated with parades, feasts, and Mass

September 11, Coptic New Year in Egypt

September 12, National Grandparent’s Day (United States) 

September 13, Epulum Jova, The Great Banquet in Rome 

September 14, First day of Greek Eleusinian Mysteries 

September 15, Day to Respect the Aged (Japan)

September 16, Mexican Independence Day in Mexico (1810) 

September 17, Feast of Hildegard of Bingen

September 18, Feast of Demeter (Ancient Rome) 

September 19, International Talk Like a Pirate

September 20, International Day of Peace

September 21, Autumn equinox (on or around this day)

September 22, Birthdays of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings

September 23, Shubun no Hi, grave visiting day in Japan 

September 24, Schwenkenfelder, German Thanksgiving

September 25, Rosh Hashanah, the movable Jewish feast of the New Year, occurs around this date

September 26, Saint Cyprian and Saint Justina’s Day

September 27, Saints Cosmos and Damian’s feast day, Arabian doctors

September 28, Birthday of Confucius, the great Chinese scholar (551–479 BCE)

September 29, Day of Saint Michael and All Angels (also known as Michaelmas)

September 30, the first book is printed with movable type, The Gutenberg Bible, 1452

The autumnal winds bring change as we begin harvesting and preparing for the future. We unpack the warm clothes and woolens, and start to winter-proof our homes, offices and cars. In our modern world, we go back to school and college. Vacations are over, and we go off to work with renewed spirits and goals. We now reap what we have sown throughout the year. Winter is also coming, the “scouring storm.” To survive and thrive in the coldest times, we need to prepare by doing our inner work. 

August

August 1, Fiesta Day (Nicaragua)

August 2, Our Lady of the Angels Day (Costa Rica)

August 3, Drimes Day in Greece with offerings to the dead, all-night parties and bonfires in vineyards and orchards

August 4, Dom Perignon invents champagne in 1693— celebrate!

August 5, Grasmere Rush Bearing Festival in Cumbria, England, dating back to the medieval custom of weaving flooring for cathedrals

August 6, Peace Ceremony for World War II bombing of Hiroshima

August 7, Feast of Hathor (Ancient Egypt)

August 8, Dog Days in Japan, or Doyo

August 9, Nagasaki Peace Ceremony in Japan

August 10, Celebration of the Goddess of Reason, established 1793 in France

August 11, Puck Fair in Killarney, Ireland 

August 12, International Youth Day

August 13, Feast of Vertumnus, god of seasons, gardens, and trees, in Rome

August 14, Ferragosto, Italy’s traditional mid-August holiday 

August 15, Feast Day of the Assumption of Mary

August 16, Saint Roch’s Procession in France and Italy 

August 17, Potunis in Italy; Marcus Garvey Day for Rastafarians

August 18, St. Helen’s Day Pilgrimage

August 19, Roman Vinalia Rustica in honor of Venus since 293 BCE

August 20, Szent Isvan Napja, Day of St. Stephen, in Hungary

August 21, Consualia in honor of Consus, god of seeds, grain, and harvest

August 22, Feast of the Queenship of Mary, Star of the Sea, since 1954

August 23, Paper Costume Parade and Holy Bath Day in Portugal

August 24, St. Bartholomew’s Day

August 25, Opiconsivia, festival to the goddess Ops

August 26, Feast day of Luonnatar, Finnish goddess of fertility

August 27, Birth of Isis

August 28, St. Augustine’s Day to honor Augustine of Hippo (354-430), leading Christian theologian and Father of the Church

August 29, Festival of St. John, commemorating his death 

August 30, Santa Rosa (Mexico); Saint Rose of Lima (Peru)

August 31, Anant Chaturdasi, a women’s purification festival (Hindu)

The Romans honored Demeter, the grain mother and overseer of the harvest, during August. The Celts celebrated Lughnassadh in honor of Lugh, their god of many skills. Lughnassadh was adopted and adapted by the Christian church as Lammas (“Loaf-mass”) and is still celebrated. The custom is that when the first grain is harvest, it must be baked into a loaf and offered to Lugh as thanks for healthy crops. Native Americans called August the Corn Moon, and the Franks referred to this time of year as Aranmanoth, The Corn Ears Month. 

July

July 1, Climbing Mount Fuji Day in Japan

July 2, Palio de Siena, the legendary festival for the Italian horse race with feasts, blessings, and betting, founded in the Renaissance

July 3, Festival of Sothis (Ancient Egypt)

July 4, Festival honoring Pax, Roman goddess of peace

July 5, Tynwald Fair Day on the Isle of Man since 1079

July 6, Jan Hus Day in the Czech Republic

July 7, Tanabata, Japanese Weavers Festival; China’s Chi Nu Feast for Milky Way

July 8, First actual Thanksgiving, Massachusetts’s Bay Colony (1630)

July 9, Pilgrimage for Sempachfeier, retracing and re- enacting the 1386 battle between the Swiss and Austrians. Defend an issue about which you feel strongly, as the peaceful Swiss did.

July 10, Silence Day in India

July 11, Feast Day of Saint Olga, the first Russian Saint

July 12, Nadaam festival of horses, in Mongolia

July 13, Commemoration of the Departed (Japanese Buddhist) 

July 14, Bastille Day (1789) in France

July 15, Chang Yuan, Festival of the Dead (China)

July 16, Feast for Our Lady of Carmel

July 17, Festival of Amaterasu, Japanese Sun Goddess

July 18, Saint Marina Day in Cyprus

July 19, Martyr’s Day in Myanmar

July 20, National Moon Day (United States)

July 21, Horse’s holiday in Rome, part of the Festival of Consualia

July 22, Saint Mary Magdalene’s Feast Day

July 23, Rastafarian Celebration honoring Haile Selassie

July 24, Simon Bolivar Festival Day in South America

July 25, Incan holiday for Illyap, god of thunder and lightning

July 26, Birthday of Carl Jung and Robert Graves

July 27, Birthday of Osiris (Ancient Egypt)

July 28, Peruvian Independence Day (1821)

July 29, St. Martha Day in France, first celebrated in 48 CE

July 30, International Bog Day, celebrating the protection of wetlands

July 31, St. Ignatius’s Day

The most appropriate rituals you can perform in the month of July are those in celebration of the sun.

Sirius, the Dog Star, rises in early July. The Egyptians knew this star as Sothis. In Egyptian mythology, Isis is Queen of Heaven, and Osiris, ruler of the underworld, is her husband and her brother. While these deities ruled, Egyptian culture thrived, advanced in the arts and science, and also grew in magic and religion. The Egyptians built great cities and became very powerful and renowned for the beauty of their civilization.

Isis is typically depicted as a beautiful winged woman. On her noble head is a crown with the disc of the sun gleaming golden. Veneration of Isis spread from Egypt to the Greeks, the Romans, and throughout the Hellenic world until her last temple was destroyed in the fourth century.

The palm tree is sacred to Isis and can be used in ritual. You can lay the palm leaves in your path and walk in procession. The palm has been used in various ways throughout the world in ritual. The following are some suggestions you can build upon in your own ritual design:

• In Cuba, folks sweep each other with palm branches that have been blessed with holy water in order to keep safe from evil spirits.
• Puerto Ricans weave palm leaves into crosses and use them as protective amulets. They also hang the palm crosses in their homes for abundance and to keep the home sacred.
• In Belgium, sections of palms are kept in the fields to ensure a copious harvest.
• The French decorate the graves of their beloved relatives with palm leaves that have been especially blessed for that purpose.
• In New Orleans, the residents plant palmetto palms beside a water fountain or pond on their property to bring money, love, luck, and good health.