September brings us the Harvest Moon, sometimes referred to as the Wine Moon or the Singing Moon. This is the time of year when the last of the crops are being gathered from the fields and stored for the winter. There's a chill in the air, and the earth is slowly beginning its move towards dormancy as the sun pulls away from us. It's the season when we're celebrating Mabon, the autumn equinox.
Correspondences:
- Colors: Browns and greens, earth tones
- Gemstones: Citrine, chrysolite, peridot, bloodstone
- Trees: Bay, larch, hawthorn
- Gods: Demeter, Brighid, Freyja, Vesta
- Herbs: Wheat, valerian, witch hazel, skullcap
- Element: Earth
This is a month of hearth and home. Spend some time preparing your environment for the upcoming chilly months. If you don't already have one, set up a hearth or kitchen altar for those times when you're cooking, baking and canning. Use this time to clear out clutter -- both physical and emotional -- before you have to spend the long winter days inside.
Also Known As: Wine Moon, Singing Moon
In January, the nights are long and dark, and many of us are trying to stay warm under a blanket of snow as the Cold Moon approaches (in some cultures, the Cold Moon is the name given to December's moon, instead). The native tribes of North America called this time the Wolf Moon, because this was when the wolves were howling, hungry, outside lodges where people stayed warm within. This time of year, we're all feeling a bit slow and "off" as our bodies adjust to chillier temperatures.
Correspondences:
- Colors: Black and white, silver
- Gemstones: Hematite
- Trees: Birch, Hazel
- Gods: Inanna, Freyja
- Herbs: Thistle, nuts and seeds, marjoram
- Element: Air
This is a good time to work on magic related to protection, both physical and spiritual. Use this time to develop your inner self, and advance spiritually, becoming closer to the higher aspects of your deities.
Also Known As: Wolf Moon, Chaste Moon
-The Crafty Witch
December 6 is the day in which parts of Germany and Bavaria celebrate Krampusnacht, which is a throwback to a pre-Christian tradition. The word Krampus means "claw", and apparently certain Alpine villiages have big parties featuring a scary clawed incubus who hangs around with Santa Claus. The Krampus costume also includes sheepskin, horns, and a switch that the incubus uses to swat children and unsuspecting young ladies. The Krampus' job is to punish those who have been bad, while Santa rewards the people on his "nice" list. There's been a resurgence in interest in Krampus over the past century or so, but it seems as though the custom goes back hundreds of years.
While the men parade around dressed as creepy demons, the women get to have some fun too, wearing masks and representing Frau Perchta, who was a Nordic goddess, who may have been an aspect of Freyja, the fertility goddess. Interestingly, in the Pennsylvania Dutch community, there's a character called Pelsnickel or Belznickel who is an awful lot like Krampus, so it appears that the tradition migrated across the water when Germans settled in America.
Krampus.com, which calls itself the official home of "Krampus, the holiday devil," calls Krampus a "dark counterpart of Saint Nicholas, the traditional European gift-bringer who visits on his holy day of December 6th... The bishop-garbed St. Nicholas rewards good kids with gifts and treats; unlike the archetypal Santa, however, St. Nicholas never punishes naughty children, parceling out this task to a ghastly helper from below."
-The Crafty Witch
