The July Full Moon...

Well, I had a look out at the Moon tonight as it came up behind the church and it had a beautiful gold aura around it. That was very significant to me at the moment, for two reasons, and has made me quite excited about one thing in particular. Sorry to be so secretive but I can't talk about it, for fear of bad luck striking. lol Brightest Blessings.

Yes, it did... like a glittering diamond in a circular sea of gold. :)

Thats alright. You have a good reason to be secretive. It sounds like the moon looked beautiful though. cheers

Pagan is a very versatile word, creating an umbrella for all the minor religions, including Wicca. Some will call themselves witches, so as not to specify their particular belief, but this also covers quite a wide spectrum. I trained to second degree Wicca, of three degrees, but have recently shifted my path a little to Seax Wicca, which does not use the degrees. This incorporates Saxon beliefs, which I am more comfortable with, and have a great interest in. Nevertheless, I have my Wiccan learnings to second degree which makes me a fully fledged witch, lol. So watch out if you believe the word of the witch-hunters! ha ha ha ha ha On a more serious note though, we learn more by reading and out daily experiences than anything else, so read, read, read. Some online sites will contradict each other a little, because we tailor general beliefs to suit ourselves and until we are comfortable with them, rather than follow others, like sheep. If you wish to learn about the Craft, I can point you to a couple of good sites, which explain from basics... just ask, by PM or something. Or... I am in the throes of building my own site, if you would prefer to take a look at that one.... you can find it on www.freewebs.com/mysticalmoonbeams. I welcome any comments as to what you think of the site too, as it helps me to correct and build where necessary. Brightest Blessings.

Oooooooops, no I feel silly because I put you in America. I knew perfectly well where you were from... my mistake, forgive me! You should go for a walk in the moonlight. I love to do that, and yes, I think both the Sun and Moon affects animals because the eclipse of the Sun set the dogs and geese off here... they went totally nuts until the light came back! Also, as you say wolves... and indeed dogs, howl at the moon, and I'm sure the owl is also affected. I'm not sure what else, but certainly a few of them are. Brightest Blessings.

I was looking at this discussion again and I feel very silly. In Australia, we celebrate Christian holidays . There is no halloween or thanksgiving. To most Australians I think I can safely say religion is all pretty meaningless. For the last week or thereabouts, the moon down here has been amazing as it sometimes is. It is so bright it is almost like daylight and I have an incredible urge to go for a walk. I wonder if animals are affected by this light...Don't wolves bay at the moon...we don't have wolves. I wish I knew more about nature and the seasons...any suggestions as to where I start to look to be informed of such things would be greatly appreciated.

yes that was what I was talking about that started thanksgiving back in the 1400 or 1500 think more now it was the 1400s

Yes, that's right. I looked it up once because a friend in Arkansas was teasing me about Thanksgiving. lol.

The pagan traditions of celebrating harvest and giving thanks to the powers that be, go back a long way before the Christian festivals. I think I read somewhere that the Pilgrims got together with the Native Americans for the first Thanksgivings in the States, and they carried on from there. Don't quote me on it though. lol. It's been very clear here for the last three or four nights and the moon was beautiful when it came up. It had a golden aura around it... that was quite significant to me at this time and I'm quite optimistic. Brightest Blessings. x

Yes, every day is special, and every day the Sun and the Moon come up, which is why we celebrate and give thanks to those bodies also. There are eight main celebrated "sabbats", two solstices, two equinoxes and four cross-quarter days. These in effect, make up the changing of the seasons and the strengthening and weakening of the Sun. Other than that, we have esbats, which celebrate the Moon, and most, if not all days, we give thanks at the end and sometimes the beginning of the day. So, in effect you're right... absolutely... every day IS a special day. You have a great day too, my dear friend. :)

I watched the full Moon rise up over the church, and it was really bright and silvery. I have a sort of "draw" to it as well, but these are things we can't really explain... there are many theories on why the full Moon affects us. On the Lammas night though, I watched the Moon come up again, and it was a most amazing and mystical sight, which held quite a deal of meaning for me. I stood for well over an hour, just watching the moon, as though I was kind of expecting something to happen. The Moon itself was again a silvery colour, but it was veiled by this golden mist around it, which made it slightly less bright, but looked beautiful! A silver moon, shining through a golden haze... wow! That made my celebrations all the more optimistic. I know there's a sign there! :) Brightest Blessings.

Wow... yes, I do thank you, AllSorts. If you don't mind too much, I might just save that to my files so that I can look at it occasionally. Thank you for taking the trouble, my friend.

Thanks for your response. I found this amazing photo, I hope you like it.

Emmmmmmm, if you think I can put details in here without offending anybody, then I will tell you by all means. I tried to skirt it in the discussion, just in case, but I don't mind relating it to those who are interested. I would say though, that your corn dolly should be made afresh each year? What say you about posting details here? :)

Hehe..well if you're hinting you do some kind of ritual to celebrate Lammas skyclad that's definitely something I couldn't do....LOL...I live in an urban environment and if I did that I'd be arrested for indecent exposure...LOL

I don't work skyclad, Pye... for one thing, the weather isn't exactly encouraging in the UK! lol. I think robes are a little more comfortable. :) I also don't want to frighten off the villagers and visitors to the countryside. ha ha ha I just meant that if I post what my rituals are in here, it might possibly offend somebody. I don't know why, because they have a choice of whether they read a particular discussion or not, but although our traditions are accepted more now, there are still people who misunderstand the words witch, and Wicca. There are still a few people who think that we work against their religions, and that we work in cohorts with the big, bad man. I don't even believe in him, let alone worship or work with him. He doesn't exist in my World. But there you go... you can't tell some people... they seem to have some fixation about this. That's the only reason I haven't elaborated on Lammas, and methinks you know really? :) Brightest Blessings my friend.