Samhain, Blood Moon and Moot

The next Carlford Coven Sabbat is Samhain on Wednesday 31st October and is the fourth open Ritual of the year to be held at Martlesham Creek.

If you are planning to join us please park in the usual car-park at the end of Church Lane and we will be gathering in the large building near the entrance to the Creek grounds. After a toast in mulled wine we will proceed down to our dark grove where we will gather around our Samhain fire to be joined by Will o' the wisp and the Antlered God and our ancestors , remember the Antlered God has come to collect the dead and lead them to the Otherworld..........don't get snatched yourself.

The next full moon will be on Friday 26th October. This is a time of sacrifice and preparation for the winter to come, time to turn inward and commune with the unseen world of Spirit through dream and vision wrapped in the regenerative darkness.

The second meeting of our Moot will be on Tuesday 30th October at the Three Mariners pub, High Rd, Trimley.Come and meet the Officers of the Coven, put your ideas forward for future meetings or just 'come out' as a pagan, they can't hang you for it these days.

Moot Master Ray can be contacted on: 01394 286492

Modron for Mabon ritual

Our next Sabbat will be MODRON, written by the Coven Maid and to be held at the Covenstead in Martlesham on Sunday 23rd September.

This is a closed Ritual for Coven Members and will celebrate the beginning of the dark season by retelling the myth of the Great Grain Mother and her daughter who travels to the Underworld to meet Keridwen, the Dark Mother, Crone Goddess at her Cauldron of Regeneration and Inspiration.

For the following Sabbat SAMHAIN on Wednesday 31st October we will be joined by guests from Australia. It is likely that we will hold this at Martlesham Creek and hire the buildings for our Feast.
New Moot

Officers of Carlford Coven can be contacted in person at the Felixstowe moot, the first meeting of which will be Tuesday 25th September at The Three Mariners pub, High Rd, Trimley.
Newsletter

Our next Issue 'An Gaoth Aniar' is out at the Equinox, copies can be obtained at the Moot or by writing to John Wragg, 28 Morgan Drive, Ipswich, IP1 5QG.

n Welsh mythology, Modron (divine mother) was a daughter of Avalloc, derived from the goddess known in Gaul as Dea Matrona. She may have led to Morgan le Fay of Arthurian legend. She was the mother of Mabon, who bears her name as Mabon ap Modron (Mabon, Son of Modron) and who was stolen away from her when he was three days old and later rescued by King Arthur

In the Welsh Triads, Modron becomes impregnated by Urien and gives birth to Owain and Morvydd.

Often blended with the Roman Matrona, she is the Tutelary of the Marne in Gaul. In Britain, she appears as a washerwoman, and thus there would seem to be a connection with the Morrigan.

She is one of the most potent of the Celtic mother Goddess figures and is a fertility and harvest deity often linked to Greece's Demeter or Ireland's Danu.

These associations show how deep-rooted paganism is within all the communities of Europe. It's lights may have been dimmed as it's been overshadowed but it cannot be removed from the psyche of people.

Litha 2007

Carlford Coven Midsummer Solstice Ritual will be another open gathering at Martlesham Creek on the evening of Thursday 21st June, 7.30pm start.

We will be having a large Solstice fire and a feast and music to follow.
Robes, cloaks, head dresses, garlands and facepaint are all encouraged as are well behaved friends, kids and animals.

This is a really beautiful site in a private woodland overlooking the Creek and only a crows flight from The Sutton Hoo burial site.

We have access to a large car-park, toilets and lots of firewood.

If you are coming to join us please bring some food and drink to share.

There will be a Coven Newsletter 'An Gaoth Aneas' (The wind from the South) - Quarterly, and Issue 1 will available at this Ritual.

Other news; a Coven Moot will be starting in the Autumn at a venue in Felixstowe.

The next full moon Esbat will be on Saturday 30th June (the Blue Moon) which will be held at Martlesham Creek and we will be making Thunder Water, please bring your own small / medium bottle to take yours home.

Phone 01473 626954 for an invite.

Newsletter for Carlford Coven

It is a 12 page booklet containing colour photos, articles, quizzes, reviews and more and future editions will rely on YOU to make your contributions. The aim is to produce a quarterly Newsletter to coincide with the Solstice and Equinox festivals,

A contribution towards production costs would be appreciated, anything from 20p upwards would help cover the cost of paper etc.

The first issue of the Carlford Coven Newsletter 'An Gaoth Aneas' is out now ! It will be available at the Summer Solstice Ritual at Martlesham Creek or otherwise from John Wragg at 28 Morgan Drive, Ipswich, IP1 5QG on receipt of a SAE A5 size OR from the Covenstead.

Beltaine Moon Esbat

The Esbat Group met on 2nd May for a discussion about the successful Beltaine Sabbat at Martlesham Creek. It was decided to hold Litha at the same spot. More on that later.

We went into the woods to listen to the Nightingales and saw Pipistrelle and Noctule bats.
Back at the Covenstead we did a spot of Tasseomancy (divination by tea leaves). Most of us remember our Grandmothers indulging in the same ritual!

TASSEOMANCY

Divination through reading tea leaves was popular in 19th century Europe but is hardly practised now because almost everyone uses teabags instead of tea leaves so no leaves are left to view, after drinking. You need one teaspoon of leaves for each cup and one extra for the pot, make sure the tea-pot has holes large enough for the leaves to pass through. Use white cups with saucers that show up the dark leaves and of course don’t use a strainer! After drinking the cup of tea you should leave a little liquid in the bottom. Swirl the dregs around three times, deosil, then turn the cup over onto the saucer and turn it three times widdershins. The tea leaves stick on the inside & bottom of the cup. Turn the cup the right way up with the handle towards you. Read the cup clockwise round from the handle to give some indication of time, directly opposite the handle would mean ‘in six months time’.
Concentrate on the tea leaves and try to find pictures and symbols; below are some traditional interpretations. Experience will enable you to interpret more easily.

• Anchor: A journey, at the end of that trip happiness.
• Arrow: Luck in love affair(s).
• Axe: difficulties which lie in your path
• Balloon: you are going up in the world, unexpected promotion or inheritance.
• Bell: evil spirits are banished
• Birds: in flight – good news is on the way
• Book: Ask advice before going further on with whatever you are involved with.
• Bottle: Your social activities will increase.
• Bow: There will come a meeting or a date that is important for your further life.
• Bridge: act fearlessly
• Broom: a change of residence.
• Butterfly: Your partner/spouse takes your affair not as seriously as you believe is essential.
• Cat: false friends
• Chair: return of an old friend
• Chain: In a certain activities in your professions you should give more and better efforts.
• Church: A marriage (also a Bride & Groom)
• Clock or watch: An important meeting will happen.
• Crown: Promotion, honour

May Esbat and Beltaine

Following the success of the April Hare Moon Esbat where we discussed Familiar Spirits and pathworked to meet Spirit Animals our next Esbat will be on 2nd May when we will be trying some traditional divination techniques for this Magical Beltaine Moon.

Beltaine
Our Beltaine Circle is an open Ritual for the Ipswich Pagan Council. This will be held on Sunday 29th April, approx 6.30pm. We will be able to have a fire at our site which is on private land. Friends and family / newcomers are welcome. 01473 626954 or e-mail for details.

Spring Equinox Sabbat

The next Sabbat at Carlford Coven with be the Spring Equinox on Wednesday 21st March 2007.

We will be gathering for this Lesser Sabbat at the Covenstead with a ritual celebrating the return of Spring when we will be calling upon Andred, a Romano-Celtic / British warrior Goddess. She was venerated in Southern Britain, by the Iceni tribe (Suffolk/Norfolk) and particularly in Sussex where many placenames preserve her memory. One of her sacred groves was thought to be in Epping Forest. As a lunar Mother Goddess she was associated with fertility, the Hare is her animal, used for divination and reportedly released as an act of propitiation by Queen Boudicca before her battle with the Roman army.

All over the world the Hare is linked with the Moon in mythology. It is associated with Spring because this is when it becomes very active; it is a symbol of growth, reproduction, fertility, lust, abandonment, madness, shapeshifting...sounds like our Coven...

The Hare was once thought to lay eggs: because it does not burrow but squats low on the earth, it's form was hard to find and plovers eggs were mistakenly identified as belonging to the Hare. We will be releasing our Hare who will distribute its Eggs to all

A local artist who creates wonderful sculptures, especially of hares is Carl Newman

Joyce Dore has written an intriguing (fictional) account of the life of Boudica, see http://www.joycedore.co.uk/. Common myth suggests that the Romans handed her over to the Druids, who forced her to drink hemlock - that's very unlikely as the Druids believed that blood should flow back to mother earth, and had little use for drugs, such as hemlock, during sacrifice.

Esbats begin with Raven Moon

The Carlford Coven is proud to re-start full moon meetings with its fifth year of Esbats on Saturday March 3rd 2007.

On this nght there will be a total lunar eclipse. The Raven Moon will first be dimmed in the partial eclipse phase by the earth's outer shadow (penumbra); then at 22.43GMT will turn a deep copper colour as it enters the earth's inner shadow (umbra).

Our esbat group will meet to focus on the magical and pagan associations of the Crow family.

We will be sharing some magical inspiration and 'charging our psychic batteries'.'

Carbon Footprints

In the 'Supermarkets are Hell' post a link to the RSA Carbon Footprint project was given. The full URL is http://www.rsacarbonlimited.org/default.aspa

So have another go!

Sabat Dates for 2007

At Carlford Coven we shall celebrate the sabats on the following days:

IMBOLC Friday February 2nd (also the Full Moon)

OSTARA Wednesday March 21st

BELTAINE Sunday April 29th

LITHA Thursday June 21st

LAMMAS Tuesday July 31st

MABON Sunday September 23rd

SAMHAIN Wednesday October 31st

YULE Saturday December 22nd

How the year will fly!

Are Supermarkets the new Hell?

Life is full of contrasts, and at Christmas we seem to have lost our sense of spirituality, and now worship at the altars of consumerism.

Yesterday evening I represented the Holly King in the Yuletide ritual, we had a jolly time, ate good food, enjoyed a glass of mulled wine made from bullaces (small plums) and exchanged hand-made presents, poems were read, songs were sung, a happy band of people joined together to enjoy each other's company.

And afterwards, realising too late that I'd not really prepared for Xmas I went to the Tesco supermarket in Martlesham, near Ipswich, Suffolk (and you all know where that is by now). It was 11pm - the place was packed!

As young east-european men stacked the shelves, working with industry, the fat English waddled through the aisles, loading trolleys with garishly coloured cardboard boxes, believing them to contain food.

It could be described as a scene from Hell. Not Dante's Inferno, except most of the English could be described as Opportunists, for many had done little to deserve their riches. Perhaps they should have been in the fourth circle of the Inferno for their greed had overtaken all other passions. I was left wondering how to label the world we have created.

Tesco at midnight is about as bad as I want it to get.

Just tested my carbon footprint - look at www.thersa.org/carbon and found I've use about 2.3 tonnes - below the 4 tonne limit suggested. Try it yourself.

We must start respecting our planet. In the last 60 years the population has grown from 2 billion to over 6 billion, and will soon rise to 9 billion. That cannot continue. In the past famine, pestilence and war have kept the population at reasonable levels. Now we are in real danger.

The two snakes, one red, one white, continue to grow, using more of our precious mineral wealth, polluting the air we breath as they weave their way around all the lands. Stop using your car. Get a bike. Walk whenever you can. Use local shops. Try to avoid supermarkets.

Consumerism puts a price on everything, but it's a failing economic system. Americans pollute more than any other group. Their economy relies upon growth and to keep growing they just keep building up the debt they owe the rest of the world. It is crass stupidity.

A few more degrees warmer and the permafrost of Russia will begin to melt. There are peat bogs that are bigger than France and Germany combined which contain methane, at present locked up in the ice. Methane is worse that carbon dioxide at increasing the global temperature. There's a time bomb waiting we will not be able to control.

Gaia will survive. It is homo sapiens who will be destroyed.

Think about that before you jump on a plane: a third of the population of Ireland flew to New York to do their Xmas shopping this year. Isn't that mad?

Cars, planes, heating badly insulated houses, carrying goods from one side of the globe to the other, all burn fossil fuels - precious, irreplaceable materials that have taken millions of years to be produced.

The results will be catastrophic.

Think of your grandchildren's children. They may never exist because of your negligence.

The light is coming, we have moved from the darkness, there's a bright future ahead. Let's work hard to make it happen.

King Holly & King Oak

The Holly King and the Oak King are part of Celtic mythology, representing two sides of the Green Man or Horned God.

During our Yuletide ritual this year they will, once again do battle. This happens twice a year. At Yule the Oak King will win the fight, and rule until Litha at midsummer, when the Holly King will again hold sway.

The battle is symbolic, these two are always present, with one coming to the forefront with greater influence at each half of the year.

These kings represent different ideas. The time of the Oak King is for growth, development, healing, and starting new projects while the Holly King gives us time for rest, reflection, and learning.

The Queen of Midwinter, the Goddess of the winter moon, will be represented by our crone, meeting the Ivy Queen as she presents King Holly and then King Oak. Sides will be taken, as supporters cheer on their champion but the result is well known. King Holly will succumb, with good grace, to allow King Oak to bring in the growing strength of the sun.

Here we are in the middle of winter. With this ceremony we can glimpse the exciting new future. The world has turned, and its face will slowly gather more from the strength of the sun.

Hunter's Moon

The Hunter's Moon and Harvest Moon are not brighter, bigger, or yellower than during other times of the year. But all full moons have their own special characteristics, based primarily on the whereabouts of the ecliptic in the sky at the time of year that these moons are visible. And the full moons of September, October and November as seen from the northern hemisphere often seem larger and brighter

In general, the moon rises about 50 minutes later each day, as it moves in orbit around Earth. All full moons rise around the time of sunset. The Harvest Moon and Hunter's Moon are special because the time of moonrise on successive evenings is shorter than usual. In other words, the moon rises more like 30 minutes later, from one night to the next, as seen from about 40 degrees N. latitude, for several evenings around the full Hunter's or Harvest Moons.

The sky remains brighter, for longer and was used by hunters to track their preyn.

The reason for the shorter-than-usual rising time between successive moonrises around the time of the Harvest and Hunter's Moon is that the ecliptic - or plane of Earth's orbit around the sun - makes a narrow angle with respect to the horizon in the evening in autumn.

History of Samhain

Samhain is one of the eight annual Sabbats. It is usually observed on 31 st October 3 or 1^st November in the northern hemisphere.

According to Garderian, Alexandrian, and traditional lore Samhain is a time when the Veil that separates the world of the living and the world of the dead becomes thinner, allowing spirits and other supernatural entities to pass between the worlds to socialize with humans. It is also the time of the year when Ancestors and other departed souls are honoured and entreated for luck and prosperity.

In parts of western Brittany, Samhain is still heralded by the baking of kornigou; cakes baked in the shape of antlers to commemorate the god of winter shedding his cuckold horns as he returns to his kingdom in the Otherworld. The Romans identified Samhain with their own feast of the dead, the Feast of the Lemures or Lemuria. This was observed in the days leading up to May 13. With the coming of the Christians the festival in November (not the Roman festival in May) became All Saints' Day or All Hallows' Day on 1^st November followed by All Souls Day or All Souls' Day on 2^nd November. The night of 31^st October came to be called All Hallow's Eve and the remnants festival dedicated to the dead became known as Halloween.

The Gaulish calendar may have divided the year into two halves, the 'dark' half, beginning with the month Samonios (the October/November lunation), and the 'light half', beginning with the Giamonios (the April/May lunation). The entire year appears to have been considered as beginning with the dark half, so that the beginning of Samonios may be considered the Celtic New Year's day. All months began at full moon, and the celebration of New Year took place during the 'three nights of Samonios' or trinux, the full moon of nearest the midpoint between the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice.

The full moons marking the middle of each half-year may also have been specific festivals, the Coligny calendar marks the mid-summer one, as Lughnasadh, but omits the mid-winter one, Imboc.

The seasons are not directly linked to the solar year, the solstice and equinox but the midsummer festival was considerably later than the summer solstice, around 1st August. It appears that the calendar was designed to align the lunations with the agricultural cycle of vegetation, and that the actual movements of the Sun were less important.

In medieval Ireland, ''samain'' remained the principal festival, celebrated with a great assembly at the royal court in the Hill of Tara, lasting for three days, consistent with the Gaulish testimony.

The popular literature over the last century or so has given birth to the near universal assumption that Samhain, now associated with Halloween, was the Celtic New Year. This is now being disputed.

In Stations of the Sun' (Oxford University Press, 1996), the historian Ronald Hutton points out that there are no references earlier than the 18th century in either church or civic records that suggest this was true. It is generally correct to say that Samhain is Summers End. With the end comes a new beginning.

The etymology of the word is complex: Samhain' is from the Old Irish samain, samuin, samfuin, referring to lathe na samna', samhain day, on 1^st November, and the festival and royal assembly at that date in medieval Ireland ('oenaig na samna, samhain night). It is often known as summers end, and spelt with an 'f'' that suggests 'sam' summer and 'fuin' sunset or end. The Old Irish 'sam' is summer, in Welsh it may be 'haf' in Breton' 'hañv', in Old Norse 'sumar' all meaning "summer", and finally in Sanskrit there is 'sáma' for season.

Another links is in Prot-Celtic which has 'samani' meaning an assembly, in Sanskrit there's sámana', in Gothic samana (and incidentally in Catalan semana, but that's an aside).

So Samhain may not refer to summer at all but to an assembly, although the word is derived from words meaning summer – confused, so are we. If you need more look at Wikipedia

Summer Esbats

We intend to hold beach Esbats on the next two moons, the Barley Moon on the shores of the Deben and the Harvest Moon on the Stour. We will continue to experiment with Fire Scrying. Pyromancy, as this is known, can be used in the same manner as other divinatory tools such as the Crystal Ball and the black mirror, one has something to focus upon, rather than de-focusing the mind. It is important to use local and natural driftwood to enhance the scrying. A light ,trance-like and relaxed state of mind works best and makes it easier to see the fire-shapes which give images for interpretation.
Let these impressions flow and remember to keep records of all you see. A useful activity to build confidence in the art of clairvoyance. In 'The Sea Priestess' Dion Fortune mentions the Fire of Azrael using Cedar wood, Sandalwood and Juniper used in a sea-shore ritual to invoke the overlap between two aspects of the Goddess as The Moon and the Sea.

As these exotic woods are not easily available these days and not environmentally ethical to use we have found that an Incense of these together with the salty driftwood that lays on our shores and has the essence of the locale already in it, an adequate substitute. Add in the sounds of Sea birds and the rustlings of shore creatures in the dark and this makes for a very powerful Esbat.

Heathen Practices

These useful links have been supplied by Carol, of the Ipswich Pagan Council, to whom we are very grateful. They show Heathen Practices

Wyrd - http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wyrd

Symbel - http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Symbel

Bragarful -http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bragarfull

Blot - http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bl%C3%B3t

Seid - http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Seid

Online Resources -

http://omacl.org/ (online classics library - you can read the
original source materials here for free)

www.thetroth.org

www.thorshof.org
www.odinic-rite.org
http://www.gippeswic.demon.co.uk/odinshof.html

http://www.tha-engliscan-gesithas.org.uk/ The English Companions - a
more academic resource.

A suggested booklist: the links will take you to the page at Amazon.co.uk, and from there you will find other links to similar books.

Edda, translated by Anthony Faulkes.

The Poetic Edda, translated by Carolyne Larrington.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1419121707/1684

True Hearth by James Chisolm - a guide to everyday heathen practise

Nine Worlds of Seid-Magic: Ecstasy and Neo-Shamanism in North
European Paganism - Jenny Blain, and by the same author Wights and Ancestors: Heathenism in a Living Landscape (Understanding Heathenism S.)

The book of Seidr -The Native English and Northern European Shamanic
Tradition - Runic John

Our Troth - Kveldulf Gundarsson - the working practise and research
of The Troth

Teutonic Religion: Folk Beliefs & Practices of the Northern
Tradition - Kveldulf Gundarsson

Way of The Runes - Bernard King

The Norse Myths: Gods of the Vikings. - Kevin Crossley Holland -Modern
Beowulf - There are loads of translations out there.

Gods and Myths of the Viking Age - H.R. Ellis Davidson, A good
introduction to the academic perspective on Norse religion.

Chronicles of the Vikings: R I Page - An anthology of Viking-Age
writings

An Introduction to English Runes - R.I.Page - Comprehensive academic
study of the anglo-saxons use of the runes

The Agricola and the Germania - P. Corneliu Tacitus - the main primary source for
the beliefs of the early Germanic tribes.

She also recommends pretty much everything from Anglo-Saxon books

There's a book list from thetroth that looks very
comprehensive -
http://www.thetroth.org/memsvc/stewards/flyers/benw/flyer8.pdf

Lughnasadh Sabbat

The Summer progresses apace and our next Sabbat will be Lughnasadh on 2nd August, this is the festival of First Fruits and the start of the grain harvest. The Spirit of the Corn will be captured in Corn Dollies where the seeds of regeneration will be kept for the following year to manifest in the Harvest once again. This year we will honour Lugh, Balor and Tailiu and so it will be a good time for our Witches to brush up on their Gaelic ! Deideil mar thriallas a 'ghrian..... Gu fior chare na h-airde deas.

July Full Moon

The Full Moon of July we know as the Wort Moon, 'wyrt' being the Anglo-Saxon word for herb, and we shall continue to gather our magical herbs and flowers. When they are harvested and hung up to dry we give thanks to the Spirits who dwell in our Herb Garden on the East side of our Circle, and we'll leave them an offering. As we place this offering in our moonlit garden the Spirits whisper secrets of herb lore to us. Soon we will be gathering grain to be used in our Lughnasadh Ritual with the Sabbat group.

Summer Solstice

The next Sabbat will be on Thursday 22nd June, Mid Summers Day. The longest day of the year when we celebrate the vital energy of Fire and salute the Sun at the height of its powers. Now the turning Wheel of the Year briefly stands still and we begin a new phase, the descent into darkness. The Sun's power begins to wane as it starts the long journey into Winter. At this time the Oak King must depart and give way to his twin the Holly King, Lord of the Shadows, who will hold sway over the Earth til Midwinter.

At Stonehenge the sun is seen to rise at the end of the Avenue in line with the Heel stone and cast a shadow to the Altar.
Midsummer is traditionally a 'Spirit Night' when one may be visited by ancestors, spirits or the Fey. Due to our location amongst the Tumuli of Martlesham we are ideally situated to commune with previous dwellers of this land.Blessed be.

June Esbat

The full-moon of June 11th we refer to as the Mead Moon, traditionally the time when the Meads or meadows were mown for hay. This is the ideal time to gather herbs as the concentration of active constituents in a plant varies during its life cycle; it is best to collect leafy herbs just at the stage of first flowering before the plant begins to put all its energies into the developing seeds.
During May the countryside has been filled with spectacular blossoms and the bees have been gathering the nectar to fill their hives with honey. Honey is then used by witches to brew Mead, the favoured drink of the ancients. Mead is considered to have magical and restorative properties and much is consumed by the Coven at this time.
This is also the time when, as we sip this drink of the Gods, we ourselves will be ready to receive the inspiration of the higher realms.
Over the week-end of the full moon the witches of Carlford Coven will be involved in the Ipswich Riverside Folk and Maritime Festival www.irfmf.org.uk
held at the Steamboat Tavern, Ipswich.