Rosewicket Wicca Coven

Samhain

Samhain, (pronounced sowen) means "End of Summer". It is the final harvest of the year. Samhain is the Wiccan new year.

 Usually Samhain is celebrated on October 31st, but some traditions prefer November 1st. It is one of the two each year, when the veil between worlds is thinner, the other being Beltane This makes it easier for ancestors to visit, which is why it is traditional to leave out offerings to honour the dead, along with holding a silent meal (known as the dumb supper) with an extra place set. 

Imbolic

 Imbolc is derived from the Gaelic word "oimelc" which means "ewes milk". Herd animals have either given birth to the first offspring of the year or their wombs are swollen. It is a time to celebrate life.Imbolic is the festival of the Maiden, it is the time she to prepares for growth and renewal.

Beltane

Beltane has long been celebrated with feasts and rituals. Beltane means fire of Bel. Belinos is one name for the Sun God, who we celebrate the coronation of. As summer begins, weather becomes warmer, and plants begin to thrive.

Lugasnagdh

Lughnasadh means the funeral games of Lugh (pronounced Loo), referring to Lugh, the Irish sun god. However, the funeral is not his own, but the funeral games he hosts in honor of his foster-mother Tailte.

Yule

Yule, (pronounced EWE-elle) is when the dark half of the year relinquishes to the light half. Starting the next morning at sunrise, the sun climbs just a little higher and stays a little longer in the sky each day. Known as Solstice Night, or the longest night of the year, much celebration was to be had as the ancestors awaited the rebirth of the Oak King, the Sun King, the Giver of Life that warmed the frozen Earth and made her to bear forth from seeds protected through the fall and winter in her womb. Bonfires were lit in the fields, and crops and trees were "wassailed" with toasts of spiced cider.

Ostara

As Spring reaches its midpoint, night and day stand in perfect balance, with light on the increase. The young Sun God now celebrates a hierogamy (sacred marriage) with the young Maiden Goddess, who conceives. In nine months, she will again become the Great Mother. It is a time of great fertility, new growth, and newborn animals.

Litha

On this longest day of the year, light and life are abundant. At mid-summer, the Sun God has reached the moment of his greatest strength. Seated on his greenwood throne, he is also lord of the forests, and his face is seen in church architecture peering from countless foliate masks.

Mabon

Mabon, (pronounced mah-bon, ) is the Autumn Equinox. The Autumn Equinox divides the day and night equally, and we pay our respects to the past season and the approaching new one. Wiccans celebrate the aging Goddess as she passes from Mother to Crone, and her consort the God as he prepares for death and re-birth.