Wahya Circle
Tuesday Travels

World Studies 101
Western Europe

Western Europe is considered to be an area quite different these days than what we are studying for Magickal practices. As now known, the European Union has been changing for several years now.

For the Intent of this Lesson we will cover England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland (North and South). Most of these locations are considered to be a part of what is mostly a governmental cooperation called the “European Union” disguised quite well as stakes planted by various Christian Church factions, and crafted to stop the previous wars.

Touch of the Celts

There are dozens and dozens of thoughts, philosophies and practices out of Western Europe as they are the most written about locations on Earth throughout the last 2500 years. It is as they say, “to the victor, go the spoils”. Those victors are the people and the allied who walked along side them who assisted in everything they overtook, slaughtered and assimilated. Millions of Ways of Thought were lost to the tribulations of early conquerors and Time.

The most well known practices of Arcane Arts to have come from Western Europe are Celtic in origin. The Britons (Latin: Pritani), also known as Celtic Britons or Ancient Britons, were the then indigenous Celtic (Gaultach) people who inhabited Great Britain from at least the British Iron Age, about 800 BCE, and into the Middle Ages. It was at this point they diverged into the Welsh, Cornish, Bretons and others. By the third century BCE, the Celts controlled much of the European continent north of the Alps mountain range, including present-day Ireland along with Great Britain.

One of the practices held fast by the Celts are the values they place on “groves”, which happened to be cherished gatherings of oak trees. The derived word then became “druid”. Some believe the word Druid may derive from a Celtic word meaning “knower of the oak”. The Gaelic word for oak is darach and it remains in place names such as Glac Daraich (Oak Hollow/small valley) in Glen Affric.

The word “druid”, pronounced with breathed sounds and trilled r, sounds most like “drooy” when a non native speaker of Gaelic attempts. It comes from a Latin transcription of the Celtic word for a social class of people among the Ancient Celts who concerned themselves with prophecy and ritual. Since Ancient Celts did not use the written word, all of our accounts about the Druids come from outsiders, particularly the Romans. The Romans only wrote of them in conquest and as they mandated the Celts move from a Lunar calendar which they had always used, over to a Solar one as the Romans did.

Another practice they held onto was utilizing their Plant Ally: Mistletoe. This plant is one of the Druids' most potent and magickal plants, frequently found as a symbiote on oak trees. The metaphysical properties that survived with mistletoe are Fertility, Healing, and Protection. (In science, we know mistletoe will kill itself before it kills its host tree. It also releases its own chemicals into the tree’s “blood” that bring nutrients from the soil for both plants.)

Beginning Practicum
Welsh - Mabon

Another practice that is celebrated by many Paths of “neopagan” that is tied to an ancient practice is Mabon.  Mabon is pronounced,
ma (as in father) bon (as in hawk), in Welsh. In Welsh, a vowel is short if it comes in a word with more than one syllable. We are dealing with two syllables.  The time is nigh to give a little piece of a story that some Practitioners follow, we give you this:

A Story of Mabon

As this story goes, Mabon, meaning “child” or “great son” in Welsh, is considered the son of the Great Mother, The Divine Son of Light. (Some speculate that the word “light” alone may be an insertion by the Church.) It can be found as “Mothers”, Modron — plural and in modern translations as the “Mother: — singular. (Isn’t that curious?)

Linguistic evidence may well support the plural interpretation. Although Mabon is unequivocally Welsh, Modron may not be. In Saxon, the singular of Modron becomes Modr — recognizably “mother”.

Recall, Teutonic, or a tribal Germanic people we spoke of in Lessons earlier? The Saxons came from the North Sea coast of Germany, Netherlands, and Denmark. Their name is derived from a small sword the Saxons commonly used, known as a seax. They had no traditional culture or written language. And, they helped the Romans … a lot.

Suddenly we have, not as was believed, corruption in the story from another Church insertion, but also a corruption of the Latin Matrona.

OTHER FINDINGS
You can also find in Welsh tradition, the name known as “the mother of the hero Mabon ap Modron”. The latter part being inserted, but BOTH characters may have been derived from earlier Divine figures in that conquered culture.

In Her case, She may have even been a prototype for Morgan le Fay from the Arthurian legends. If you dig and read what is divinely hidden, there is quite a bit of European history to be found before the last 3000 years even started.

Autumn Celebrations

No matter the root of the story, it is known as one of the Harvest Festivals, the Festival of Mabon. It celebrates the story of Modron (?), the Great Mother Goddess, or an Earth Mother, and the birth of Her son, Mabon.

It was celebrated to give gratitude for a good harvest and that the crop would last through and seed after the Winter. In modern times, there always feasting, fires, and offerings of gratitude.

According to the story, Mabon disappears (or is kidnapped) three days after his birth. Mabon is veiled in the womb of the Earth, personified here as his mother, the Great Protector and Guardian of the Otherworld. (Sound like anyone else?)

”Mother will always Protect us until the sun returns.”

To many, this is the time of impending hibernation for many animals and a time of how they will again wake along with the Plant Allies between Winter Solstice and the Vernal Equinox. This is Her story of reassuring that life will continue. This is showing Her gratitude for what She has freely provided.

The “rebirth”, or awakening, is finally accomplished at Winter Solstice. This is celebrated as Yule by some. A few of the Animal Allies that are seen world wide around this time are Stag, Raven, Owl, Eagle and Salmon.

After Winter Solstice, the Star Sol becomes brighter as the days become longer. One can readily see the connection of this to the natural events occurring during this time on Earth. It speaks to us of the Wiccan Mysteries of Life, Death, and Rebirth, and the sacrificial nature of the God in Christianity, all of which have myths in their own right.

The celebration of Mabon is a conscious acknowledgment of passing time in seasons and the gratitude for that time which remains for you.

#NoTwoPathsAreTheSame

Beginning Practicum
Mabon Knowledge

WHEN
Typically around September 21-24 in the Northern Hemisphere. The Southern Hemisphere celebrates Ostara as season are opposite in each hemisphere as we take turns tilting towards our star on this planet.

Though it is typically celebrated around Sept 22 in the Northern Hemisphere. The exact moment of the Equinox varies from year to year. This is due to a misalignment between the Gregorian (Roman Solar) calendar and the actual rate of the Earth’s rotation around the Sun. Which is more Lunar in nature as the Celts had followed for thousands of years. The Equinox also occurs at differing local times, so that depending on where you live, it may fall the day before or after the date listed on any given calendar. For this reason, a date range of September 21-24 is often cited in sources on the pagan Wheel of the Year.

GLOBAL PRONUNCIATIONS
MAY-bun, MAH-bun, MAY-vhon, or MAH-bawn The Welsh name Mabon (with the proper pronunciation in the previous passage) is derived from the hills and Moors of Wales where a very particular Celtic people, known as the Britons, thrived. This surname is derived from the Welsh personal name Mabon, which means “a child”.

THEMES
Harvest, gratitude, abundance, balance, preparation, welcoming the dark time and an increase in Spiritual connection to the Divine.

TIME OF YEAR
In the rhythm of the year and celestial cycles, Mabon is a time of rest and celebration before the difficulty of Winter and after the hard work of gathering the crops of Summer. 

NAMED AFTER WELSH GOD
The holiday is named after the Welsh God, Mabon, son of Earth Mother goddess Modron(?).

SEASONAL FOODS
Some pagans mark the holiday by enjoying rich feasts with seasonal foods like apples, pomegranates and root vegetables.

OTHER NAMES, PATH DEPENDENT
Autumnal Equinox, Fall Equinox, September Equinox, Harvest Tide, Harvest Home, Harvest Festival, Wine Harvest, Feast of Avalon, Alben Elfed, Meán Fómhair, Gwyl canol Hydref

HARVEST FESTIVAL
Mabon falls on the Autumn Equinox and is the second of the three harvest festivals (Lammas, Mabon, and Samhain). Just like Ostara on the opposite side of the Wheel of the Year, at Mabon the days and nights are of equal length.

Though temperatures may still be warm during the day, summer has truly come to an end. The leaves on deciduous trees have begun to turn colors and fall to the ground, and there is a chill in the evening air. The days were longer than the nights until this moment, and after this the nights will begin their reign.

On many Paths, it is believed that the God is making His exit from the stage of the seasons, heading toward his symbolic “death” at Samhain in just a few short weeks. As with Ostara, the theme of balance is highlighted here, reminding us that everything is temporary, that no season lasts forever, and that neither dark nor light ever overpowers the other for long.

There is balance in all things.

Tuesday W73

General - Journal - Book of Shadows

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