Your Birth Tree

Many witches like to choose what their wand is made of by their birth tree, or have seeds/the actual tree nearby for strength/guidance. So here you go 

Apple Tree | Love | of slight build, lots of charm, appeal, and attraction, pleasant aura, flirtatious, adventurous, sensitive, always in love, wants to love and be loved, faithful and tender partner, very generous, scientific talents, lives for today, a carefree philosopher with imagination.

Ash Tree | Ambition | uncommonly attractive, vivacious, impulsive, demanding, does not care for criticism, ambitious, intelligent, talented, likes to play with fate, can be egotistic, very reliable and trustworthy, faithful and prudent lover, sometimes brains rule over the heart, but takes partnership very seriously.

Beech Tree | Creative | has good taste, concerned about its looks, materialistic, good organization of life and career, economical, good leader, takes no unnecessary risks, reasonable, splendid lifetime companion, keen on keeping fit (diets, sports, etc.)

Birch Tree | Inspiration | vivacious, attractive, elegant, friendly, unpretentious, modest, does not like anything in excess, abhors the vulgar, loves life in nature and in calm, not very passionate, full of imagination, little ambition, creates a calm and content atmosphere.

Cedar Tree | Confidence | of rare beauty, knows how to adapt, likes luxury, of good health, not in the least shy, tends to look down on others, self-confident, determined, impatient, likes to impress others, many talents, industrious, healthy optimism, waiting for the one true love, able to make quick decisions.

Chestnut Tree | Honesty | of unusual beauty, does not want to impress, well-developed sense of justice, vivacious, interested, a born diplomat, but irritates easily and sensitive in company, often due to a lack of self confidence, acts sometimes superior, feels not understood loves only once, has difficulties in finding a partner.

Cypress Tree | Faithfulness | strong, muscular, adaptable, takes what life has to give, content, optimistic, craves money and acknowledgment, hates loneliness, passionate lover which cannot be satisfied, faithful, quick-tempered, unruly, pedantic, and careless.

Elm Tree | Noble-mindedness | pleasant shape, tasteful clothes, modest demands, tends not to forgive mistakes, cheerful, likes to lead but not to obey, honest and faithful partner, likes making decisions for others, noble-minded, generous, good sense of humor, practical.

Fig Tree | Sensibility | very strong, a bit self-willed, independent, does not allow contradiction or arguments, loves life, its family, children and animals, a bit of a social butterfly, good sense of humor, likes idleness and laziness, of practical talent and intelligence.

Fir Tree | Mysterious | extraordinary taste, dignity, sophisticated, loves anything beautiful, moody, stubborn, tends to egoism but cares for those close to them, rather modest, very ambitious, talented, industrious, un-contented lover, many friends, many foes, very reliable.

Hazelnut Tree | Extraordinary | charming, undemanding, very understanding, knows how to make an impression, active fighter for social cause, popular, moody, and capricious lover, honest, and tolerant partner, precise sense of judgment.

Hornbeam Tree | Good Taste | of cool beauty, cares for its looks and condition, good taste, is not egoistic, makes life as comfortable as possible, leads a reasonable and disciplined life, looks for kindness and acknowledgement in an emotional partner, dreams of unusual lovers, is seldom happy with its feelings, mistrusts most people, is never sure of its decisions, very conscientious.

Lime Tree | Doubt | accepts what life dishes out in a composed way, hates fighting, stress, and labor, dislikes laziness and idleness, soft and relenting, makes sacrifices for friends, many talents but not tenacious enough to make them blossom, often wailing and complaining, very jealous but loyal.

Maple Tree | Independence of Mind | no ordinary person, full of imagination and originality, shy and reserved, ambitious, proud, self-confident, hungers for new experiences, sometimes nervous, has many complexities, good memory, learns easily, complicated love life, wants to impress.

Oak Tree | Brave | robust nature, courageous, strong, unrelenting, independent, sensible, does not like change, keeps its feet on the ground, person of action.

Olive Tree | Wisdom | loves sun, warmth and kind feelings, reasonable, balanced, avoids aggression and violence, tolerant, cheerful, calm, well-developed sense of justice, sensitive, empathetic, free of jealousy, loves to read and the company of sophisticated people.

Pine Tree | Particular | loves agreeable company, very robust, knows how to make life comfortable, very active, natural, good companion, but seldom friendly, falls easily in love but its passion burns out quickly, gives up easily, everything disappointments until it finds its ideal, trustworthy, practical.

Poplar Tree | Uncertainty | looks very decorative, not very self-confident, only courageous if necessary, needs goodwill and pleasant surroundings, very choosy, often lonely, great animosity, artistic nature, good organizer, tends to lean toward philosophy, reliable in any situation, takes partnership seriously.

Rowan Tree | Sensitivity | full of charm, cheerful, gifted without egoism, likes to draw attention, loves life, motion, unrest, and even complications, is both dependent and independent, good taste, artistic, passionate, emotional, good company, does not forgive.

Walnut Tree | Passion | unrelenting, strange and full of contrasts, often egotistic, aggressive, noble, broad horizon, unexpected reactions, spontaneous, unlimited ambition, no flexibility, difficult and uncommon partner, not always liked but often admired, ingenious strategist, very jealous and passionate, no compromise.

Weeping Willow | Melancholy | beautiful but full of melancholy, attractive, very empathetic, loves anything beautiful and tasteful, loves to travel, dreamer, restless, capricious, honest, can be influenced but is not easy to live with, demanding, good intuition, suffers in love but finds sometimes an anchoring partner.

Poem for Sabbats

Samhain begins the witches’ new year, and now Winter soon is here; the leaves fall, the harvest is done, so call your ancestors and let’s have some fun. 

Yule is the longest night, and signals the return of light. Everything is newly remade, and we wait for darkness to fade.

Imbolc we clean, cleanse and prepare for what the Spring may come to bear. Light the candles, light the fire, and build in yourself what does inspire. 

Ostara comes and Spring growth arrives, and all the Earth is truly alive. Winter is over and in it’s stead we bless our homes and our covensteads. 

Beltane, the fine May eve, we thank our gods for fertility. Bless the growing harvest and romance as we eat, drink, sing, and dance.

Litha is the longest day, the sun at it’s brightest but soon will fade. The Earth’s bounty is at it’s top, and abundance aids our spells nonstop. 

Lughnasadh, Lammas, both names are fine, herald the advent of harvest time. When fear and uncertainty are about, we ward our homes and both in and out. 

Mabon is a balance of seasons, where darkness and light remain within reason. The last harvest is called and the Summer is done, we give our thanks and farewell the sun. 

As every cycle begins once again, the wheel spins ‘round and we greet grandly Samhain.

Requested by @fish-egs. Thank you! :)

Astrology in the Seasons

The quadrants initially described the four seasons. The modalities described the change within those seasons. Understanding what they initially showed in nature allows a much deeper and rawer understanding of their intrinsic nature, even in our modern day.

1st Quadrant (Aries, Taurus, Gemini): Spring. The days get longer, the nights shorter. Life starts to sprout after the cold winter months and seeds get sowed. Animals start to awaken, to build their nests and breed new life, lively energy returns. The weather gets warmer.

2nd Quadrant (Cancer, Leo, Virgo): Summer. The days are long, the nights short. Everything is in bright bloom and what‘s been sowed is harvested. Young animal life is abundant. Life is exuberant and it is here that nature has modt to offer to us for use. The weather is warm.

3rd Quadrant (Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius): Autumn. The days get shorter, the nights longer. Plant life changes and eventually “dies”, animals and humans alike start to prepare for the winter months while some others leave. The weather gets colder.

4th Quadrant (Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces): Winter. The days are short, the nights long. Close to nothing is in bloom and many animals either left to warmer places or fell into hibernation. The weather is cold and any snow that falls makes the world a little quieter.

Cardinal (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn): The on-set of the seasons. Each season starts with a cardinal sign, allowing a strong and willful beginning of it. This is where the season starts to unfurl, actions are taken, the new cycle is introduced and brought into movement.

Fixed (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius): The fixation of the seasonal change. The second month of each season is crowned by a fixed sign. They describe the settling in of the seasons, where changes start to slow down and the working of the season just continues on, steady and strong.

Mutable (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces): The transitional time. The last month of each season is taken care of by the mutable signs. It is here where we are already aware of the coming end and it is thus a time of preparation for transition. The stead-fast flow starts to dissipate, the world gets flexible to ensure a smooth transition. Here we finish the tasks of the season and progressively look to the next cycle.

Transitions between the Wheel (For the four seasons)

This is from my personal practice with observing the wheel of the year and my focus on each transition between the sabbats. I honor the current seasons in between. Each transition has it’s importance to self care and managing the home and garden. I will probably add to this later cause some paragraphs I wrote I feel like are a bit vague. Some of these transitions are not meant to be 100% literal and static but I feel like they are good areas to focus on for that moment in the year.

Yule->Imbolc Resting

Imbolc -> Ostara Cleansing

Ostara -> Beltane Sowing

Beltane -> Litha Growing

Litha -> Lughnasadh Thriving

Lughnasadh -> Mabon Reaping

Mabon -> Samhain Harvesting/Gathering

Samhain -> Yule Preparation

I don’t get if this is part of a fiction or religion or what but this is really cool

lol it's spirituality. The wheel of the year is a neopagan cultural practice that pagans, Wiccans, druids, and some other more secular people practice for their spiritual interests. You can look up the wheel of the year it consists of 8 holidays that mark seasonal change like the equinoxes and solstices and some of our more modern holidays come from the ancient traditions the wheel was revived from like Halloween for example.

This transitional wheel focuses on what aspects of your life you can work on in between the holidays. Each holiday has it's symbolic and spiritual meaning that seamlessly evolves into the next as it's a cycle of life death and rebirth so this wheel suggest how people can use that symbolism in their daily lives as the seasons transition.

I'm on mobile but I have a tag for seasonal magic. If you go to my tumblr I have a menu. Click sabbaths and seasonal magic and if you scroll on that page you'll find a link to each sabbat with more information on each one and some might look very familiar to you.

the new astrology is the french revolutionary calendar 

reblog w whatever agricultural thing corresponds to your birthday

potato

Rye

This is so wonderful I love this so much especially the month names and their etymology!!

Autumn

Vendémiaire Sep 22-oct 21 The Wine harvest month

Brumaire Oct 22 - Nov 20 The Foggy month

Frimaire Nov 21 - Dec 20 The Frosty month

Winter

Nivôse Dec 21 - Jan 19 The Snowy month

Pluviôse Jan 20 - Feb 18 The Rainy month

Ventôse Feb 19 - Mar 20 The Windy month

Spring

Germinal Mar 21 - Apr 19 The Budding month

Floréal Apr 20 - May 21 The Flowering month

Prairial May 20 - Jun 18 The Meadow month

Summer

Messidor Jun 19 - Jul 18 The harvest month

Thermidor 19 Jul - 17 Aug The hot month (the etymology comes from thermos which is heat)

Fructidor 18 Aug - 16 Sep The fruit harvest month

This could make a super cute French wheel based off of their agrarian cycle to celebrate the seasons!

Wheel of the Year

This is beautiful!

@who-am-i-these-days

Full moon meanings by month

January: The Old Moon – Amid the cold and deep snows of midwinter, the wolf packs howled hungrily outside of villages. Thus, the name for January’s full Moon. Most commonly know as Full Wolf Moon, or the Moon After Yule. February: The Storm Moon –  Since the heaviest snow usually falls during this month, native tribes of the north and east most often called February’s full moon the Full Snow Moon. Some tribes also referred to this moon as the Full Hunger Moon, since harsh weather conditions in their areas made hunting very difficult. March: The Sugar Moon – As the temperature begins to warm and the ground begins to thaw, earthworm casts appear, heralding the return of the robins. It marks the time of tapping maple trees. To the settlers, it was also known as the Lenten Moon, and was considered to be the last full moon of winter. April: The Growing Moon – This name came from the herb moss pink, or wild ground phlox, which is one of the earliest widespread flowers of the spring. It’s a time when things begin to grow. May: The Flower Moon – Flowers spring forth in abundance this month. Some Algonquin tribes knew this full moon as the Corn Planting Moon or the Milk Moon. June: The Honey Moon – The Algonquin tribes knew this moon as a time to gather ripening strawberries. July: The Mead Moon – July is normally the month when the new antlers of buck deer push out of their foreheads in coatings of velvety fur. August: The Lighting Moon – The sturgeon of the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain were most readily caught during this full Moon. Others called it the Green Corn Moon or the Grain Moon. September: The Fruit Moon – This full moon corresponds with the time of harvesting corn. It is also called the Barley Moon, because it is the time to harvest and thresh the ripened barley. The Harvest Moon is the full moon nearest the autumnal equinox, which can occur in September or October and is bright enough to allow finishing all the harvest chores. October: The Travel Moon – This is the month when the leaves are falling and the game is fattened. Now is the time for hunting and laying in a store of provisions for the long winter ahead. November: The Frost Moon full moon in November, also know as the Full Beaver Moon, and was known as the time to set beaver traps before the swamps froze, to ensure a supply of warm winter furs. December: The Winter Moon – This is the month when the winter cold fastens its grip and the nights become long and dark. This full moon is also called the Long Nights Moon by some Native American tribes.

Moons have a lot of different names so just adding to this March’s moon is also called Worm Moon for the reason you’ve mentioned of the worms surfacing! June’s moon is known as Strawberry moon to some because of the ripening strawberries. (This year people dubbed Summer Solstice, Strawberry Solstice because the full moon fell on the solstice). 

October’s moon is also known as Hunter’s Moon also for the reason you mentioned about the animals getting ready to hibernate and building up fat, and it being a great time to hunt. 

Wheel of the year Thanks for the help, dear satanuwka

I made this Desert Wheel in honor of @witchery-ditchery-doc and @bitchybrujo to hopefully inspire an alternative way to get in touch with the seasons. What I love about the wheel of the year and nature/seasonal based practices is how adaptable they are and personally how they make me feel connected to the local nature around me. Once you are familiar with your environment and you understand the cycles of life, death, sowing, growing, harvesting and resting in your seasonal changes then basically you can create your own practices.

I’ve never leaved in the South West US desert so I might be very off with my suggestions, so just a disclaimer. I researched a lot on it, specifically on the Sonoran seasons and found this wonderful blog post about a witch that lives there and their struggles with the ‘traditional’ Celtic wheel of the year.  I would hope to maybe do a collaboration with you guys to make a new wheel if you are interested! 

Here’s some suggestions I have:

Keep reading

I'd like to add to this

I think maybe different regions should maybe come up with different names for their sabbats because though their practices can be similar, it will not be exactly the same. It's like how Beltane also has May Day, Walpurgisnacht and Samhain there is La Dias de los Muertos but they are not all the same thing and all come from different cultures.. Just saying how there are different seasons in different places, the wheel of the year can be reconstructed and celebrated in many ways and in place of traditional celebrations hailing from western Europe there should be celebrations that mirror that to fit other places on the same solstice/equinox/crossquarter but maybe under a different name since even the etymology of the sabbats have something to do with their practices. (Just a suggestion). Anyway I did refer to all of these by their seasonal equinox, solstices and crossquarters to make it more applicable. 

Also I realized the wheel here in the Sonoran Desert feels reversed seasonally as opposed to the northern temperate coastal weather. Summer is incredibly hot and so unbearable the land feels unable to bear life, much like midwinter in a temperate zone is unable to bear life, though the reason for our winter is that it's too unbearably cold. Also where as the Sonoran Desert autumn begins to grow life, the temperate zone’s autumn begins to die, and the Desert’s spring is a great time for harvesting where the Temperate spring is a great time to sow seeds. And winter is still cold there but it's chilly and allows for life to grow a little and be nurtured in the cool dark resting phase before returning to the hotter weather. It doesn't mean practicing pagans in the desert should flip their sabbats like the southern hemisphere does, especially because their sunlight patterns are that of the northern hemisphere, but take into account what happens locally and how they should apply it to their celebrations. Some sabbat practices I noticed when I was first suggesting them were completely flipped such as Imbolc and Lammas, where as Imbolc is a time of cleansing and preparing for spring, and Lammas is a time to reap what you sow, in the Sonoran desert, Feb 1st is a time for reaping what was sown in autumn and August 1st is around the time the summer thunderstorms come to cleanse in preparation for the sowing season. I do think however the rest of the sabbats could be celebrated similarly to how it's celebrated in a temperate four seasonal climate but the 'reverseness' of the seasons to the temperate seasons should be acknowledged as well.

However some practices I want to add to my original suggestions are:

Summer CrossQuarter:

As the rains return to nurture the earth, celebrate this sabbat by nurturing yourself. Take a cooling shower, collect rain water for spells, honor this day as a point of rebirth for the showers bring on enough sustenance after the overbearing dry heat to allow life to grow again. (I'm unsure if rainsticks is exclusive to one culture, but if not) celebrate musically with rainsticks and drums for thunder. Clean the house, wash the floors, make some floating storm clouds for decoration if you are feeling crafty. Enchant a bowl of water with wishes and good intentions for how you would like yourself to grow and progress and cast the spell by drinking it and feeling it fill and cool your body. 

Samhain/Nov 1st:

Like how the author in the witchvox article that I have linked has said: 'One day I was planning my Samhain ritual and was thinking deeply about harvest. I was clearing out the straggling weeds from my garden getting ready to plant my Winter crops. Although I was getting ready to plant, I was still trying to ‘make it fit’ the classic harvest-festival mold by trying to generate some pseudo-harvest activity in my life to celebrate according to the Eurocentric calendar.'

I realized how another holiday local to the desert area though further south, in Mexico, La Dias de los Muertos is also about honoring the dead and ancestors but plants such as freshly grown flowers are used as decoration in this holiday. From what I've researched in this area of the desert, things begin to grow so their Autumn cross quarter is a lot like our Spring cross quarter. When celebrating Samhain in the sonoran desert one could honor their dead by planting new seeds and decorating their altar, home, and shrines dedicated to their past loved ones with seasonal blooms and flowers to represent life after death and also how the decay of the physical form returns to the earth and becomes flowers/ takes on new life. Also you could decorate with butterflies such as The Painted Lady which could be seen in this time of year. I noticed with images from La Dias de los Muertos they decorate with seasonal flowers that are in season during my local (temperate northeast) mid spring (Beltane) celebration such as Roses and Peonies (which just goes back to my theory/feeling that seasonally everything in this area of the desert feels reversed from my local temperate area). Also it is custom in many cultures with holidays that honor their dead loved ones to visit the cemetery and leave offerings so it would be a nice practice to leave seasonal blooms on your loved ones graves.

Winter Solstice:

Just adding to the growth and growing crystals part. I originally said how growing crystals for this day could be super festive. Crystals are formed when minerals in a solution in high heat begin to cool slowly. One thing I noticed about this desert area is that a lot of things are able to grow in the winter since the earth has cooled down from the unbearable heat. Growing crystals can represent the growth of nature and of course food that happens in winter. It can even represent the growth of the self much like in a way if we have a lot going on and overwork (overheat) ourselves and the moment we get to cool down and take a break we can self reflect and understand how to grow and progress from there. Also crystals sometimes can look cool and icy and I know it does not snow so much over there but it can give a christmas-like feel without representing iciness/frost that might not always be native to this area, but instead something that can apply more to the local nature in a metaphorical way. 

Winter CrossQuarter:

Just adding that desert mistletoe is blooming and it smells sweet and is the welcomer of spring in the desert. It would be great to decorate the altar and home with. It also attracts bees and when the berries form, it brings the birds. Imbolc is a sabbat that honors the budding of the earth so this can apply here where the budding of mistletoe attracts spring-like creatures.

Spring CrossQuarter/Beltane:

This sabbat marks the end of Spring and looks towards the midsummer drought. It's much like how samhain in a temperate climate is a season where plants begin to change color and die and everything is dying and becoming colder yet here everything is getting hotter and dryer. Beltane is also a fire festival so here fire can be applied that the sun is heating up the earth. Light a bonfire, if you like flamethrowing or know people who can do it, fire dancing is cool. Decorate or wear faded colors. This can represent the ghostly spirits that will be closer to our world now the veil is thin or the intensity of the sun due to the foresummer drought bleaching and drying the earth.

I found this Almanac that’s organized by the seasonal moons of the Tohono O’odham months, it's old but informational.

The Sabbats, The Seasons, And the Wheel

I noticed that something that typically gets glossed over when talking about Paganism is how the Wheel of the Year works differently in different places.

How can one be expected to celebrate the harvest when the flowers just started sprouting seeds? Or imagine celebrating the cold slumber of the Earth when it’s 110f outside.

The Wheel of the Year at it’s core, is a celebration of the seasons as they change. Which is why the Wheel is different in each hemisphere. The holidays below are celebrated on the same dates, but each holiday is adjusted to the season that hemisphere is currently at.

North Hemisphere/South Hemisphere

Yule/Midsummer Imbolc/Lughnasadh Ostara/Mabon Beltane/Samhain Lithia/Yule Lughnasadh/Imbolc Mabon/Ostara Samhain/Beltane Yule/Midsummer

Yes the wheel and Sabbats are meant to be flexible! Even if you do live in the northern hemisphere but not in a temperate zone you can recreate your own practices and ways you celebrate the seasonal transitions according to your local area. They’re just agrarian cycles and reflect the nature around you. So for example in a temperate zone in the northern Hemisphere it might be late spring looking forward to summer but in the desert it could be early summer looking forward to the midsummer drought. Spring on May 1st does not look the same in Florida, in Arizona, in southern California, in Georgia as it does in Pennsylvania and New York and its ok, actually should be encouraged to make your own special way of celebrating it and your own correspondences!  (And even your own holidays if you want)

How do I celebrate Beltane if its autumn where I live? Does it work that way? It feels wrong

Do you live in the southern hemisphere? If so today is not Beltane for you, it’s Samhain. The Southern Hemisphere celebrates the Sabbats opposite of when the Northern Hemisphere does because of the season reversal. For example, when America celebrates Lithia (summer) Australia would be celebrating Yule (winter).

The Sabbats are meant to celebrate the seasons so they can be adjusted according the time and place your at.