Tuesday, September 1, 2015

September


Halegmonath                                                                september

September is the ninth month of the year. The month kept its original name from the Roman calendar in which septem means “seven” in Latin, marking it as the seventh month. September was named during a time when the calendar year began with March, which is why its name no longer corresponds with its placement in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is a time when many students return to school after the summer holiday in the Northern Hemisphere.

It is the Holy month, the time of sacred harvest. Fertility Gods (Vanir) are usually invoked for their blessing upon the fields and the on-going harvest. Many honor Freyr & Freya as well as Nerthus & Njord. As it is a harvest festival, a large feast of local fall crops is appropriate. Its birth flowers are the forget-me-not, morning glory and aster. The birthstone is the sapphire which means clear thinking. The zodiac signs are Virgo (until September 21) and Libra (from September 22 onwards).

Laguz or Laukaz is the name of the l-rune l, water, lake, flow, inner strength.  Used for healing, cleansing, and purification, water element is related to the west, and associated with passion and emotion.  Haglaz or Hagalaz is the name of the h-rune h, meaning hail, precipitation, transformation.  Challenges are occurring in your life, but these are to be embraced rather than feared.  Jera is the name of the j-rune j, meaning harvest, good year, gradual changes.  The Jera rune often indicates a major turning point in your life.

The Ninth Hall is about higher learning. This time also rules religion, college, higher education, brothers and sisters in law, philosophy, prophecy, philanthropy, foreigners, foreign travel, foreign language, intuition, long distance journeys abroad, churches, airlines, vacations, international commerce, visions and teachers. It covers academic subjects, law, religion, publishing, foreign culture, sport and overseas travel. Other keywords include: distant travel, cultural learning, the journey along the path, the Ageless Wisdom and akashic records.


2 Ancestor's Day

We honor all with great respect, love and awe.  In this we also honor, respect and pay homage to our Ancestors going all the way back to the Gods and Goddesses of our Folk themselves, those we are descended from.  We never kneel nor prostrate ourselves like slaves or servants but hold ourselves up proud and strong before our divine ancestors.  Ancestor(s) can be called anytime for help, guidance or just to give thanks.  Tend a cemetery and clean up the graves today.

                              My blood is made from your water

                              my body from your Earth

                              my heart from your fire

                              my breath from your wind.

                              I am made from the women and men who came before me.

                              I call to you ancestors, and give thanks

                              who fought for my existence.

                              I honor their sacrifices and their offerings.

                              I call to the ancestors, in gratitude and thanksgiving

                              For the piece of you that lives within me,

                              Your divine spark will carry on in my body and spirit

                              Along with the gifts of my ancestors

                              To nurture the hearts of the family who will rise from my flame

                              and ashes.  Blessed be.


7 Labor Day

10384900_659.jpgLabor Day is annually held on the first Monday of September. It was originally organized to celebrate various labor associations' strengths of and contributions to the United States economy. It is largely a day of rest in modern times. Many people mark Labor Day as the end of the summer season and a last chance to make trips or hold outdoor events.

Labor Day is a day of rest or the last chance for many people to go on trips before the summer ends. For students, it is the last chance to organize parties before school starts again. In some neighborhoods, people organize fireworks displays, barbecues and public arts or sports events. The football season starts on or around Labor Day and many teams play their first game of the year during Labor Day weekend.


5 Wane Moon

This is a time to break bad habits or bad addictions, to end bad relationships. This is a time of deep intuition and a time for divination.

                              Moon, oh come into us.

                              Let your power dance,

                              waxing, waning, shifting,

                              time and tide enter

                              with Manni by your turning.


10 Carl Weschcke Birthday

Carl Llewellyn Weschcke (Wiccan Priest) is the owner of Llewellyn Worldwide (formerly Llewellyn Publications) since 1961.  He received nationwide media attention when he bought the supposedly haunted Summit Avenue Mansion and claimed to have 'numerous odd experiences' there.  Llewellyn has been the largest and most influential New Age/Pagan publishing house for the last couple of decades, and continues to release important and popular work.


11 Patriot Day

Patriot Day is an annual observance on September 11 to remember those who were injured or died during the terrorist attacks in the United States on September 11, 2001. Many Americans refer Patriot Day as 9/11 or September 11.

The most potent symbol of the events that happened on September 11, 2001 are pictures and videos of planes flying into buildings, of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center engulfed in smoke and later collapsing and of people falling from buildings. Pictures taken of damaged buildings and relatives looking for loved ones in the days and weeks after the attacks are also often shown. The flag of the United States is often displayed around images of the events on September 11, 2001. This is to remind Americans that their country remained strong in the face of massive terrorist attacks.


13 Solar Eclipse

As seen from the Earth, a solar eclipse is a type of eclipse that occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, and the Moon fully or partially blocks the Sun.  In a total eclipse, the disk of the Sun is fully obscured by the Moon.  In partial and annular eclipses only part of the Sun is obscured.

An eclipse is a natural phenomenon.  Nevertheless, in some ancient and modern cultures, solar eclipses have been attributed to supernatural causes or regarded as bad omens.  The Emperor Kang supposedly beheaded two astronomers, Hsi and Ho, who failed to predict an eclipse 4000 years ago.   In Norse mythology, the Gods Odin and Tyr both have attributes of a sky father, and they are doomed to be devoured by wolves at Ragnarok.  Sunna, the Norse Sun Goddess, will be devoured by the wolf Skoll. It is a powerful time for rituals of transformation and release.

                              Goddess of the Sun,

                              Hear my plea.

                              We would all like some glee.

                              So make thy sun out,

                              So may it be.


13 Grandparents' Day

Many families in the United States observe National Grandparents Day on the first Sunday of September after Labor Day. This day honors grandparents. The official song of National Grandparents Day is “A Song for Grandma And Grandpa” by Johnny Prill. The official flower for the day is the “forget-me-not” flower.

Many people honor their grandparents through a range of activities such as gift-giving, card-giving, and for children to invite their grandparents to school for a day where they participate in special lessons or special assembly programs. Many school students take part in story-telling activities that relate to their grandparents, as well as art or poster competitions where children often use a story about their grandparents in their artwork.

Remember, grandparents will always ask about you first and listen intently to everything you have to say. They are never rushed or in a hurry. They are there just for you.


13 New Moon

The new Moon is the perfect time for manifesting what you wish to have in your life, whether it be material objects, qualities or situations such as love, compassion, peace and freedom.

                              Silver tree, in your branches

                              White of snow, stars are dancing

                              Tree of clouds, like thread of silver

                              Time runs through our hands.


17 Von Steuben Day

Von Steuben Day is a holiday traditionally held on a weekend in mid-September, celebrating Baron Friedrich von Steuben (1730 –1794), who arrived in the United States as a volunteer offering his services to General George Washington, and is generally considered the German-American event of the year.

Participants march, dance, wear German costumes and play German music, and the event is attended by millions of people.  The German-American Steuben Parade is held annually in September in New York City.  It is one of the largest parades in the city and is traditionally followed by an Oktoberfest in Central Park as well as celebrations in Yorkville, Manhattan, a German section of New York City.  The German-American Steuben Parade has been taking place since 1958. Chicago also hosts a von Steuben Day parade, which is featured in the American movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off.  Philadelphia hosts to a smaller Steuben Parade in the Northeast section of the city.


19 Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest is the world's largest funfair held annually in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It is a 16-day festival running from late September to the first weekend in October with more than 6 million people from around the world attending the event every year. Locally, it is often simply called Wiesn, after the colloquial name of the fairgrounds (Theresienwiese) themselves. The Oktoberfest is an important part of Bavarian culture, having been held since 1810. Other cities across the world also hold Oktoberfest celebrations, modeled after the original Munich event.

Large quantities of Oktoberfest Beer are consumed, with almost 7 million liters served during the 16 day festival in 2007. Visitors may also enjoy a mixture of attractions, such as amusement rides, sidestalls and games, as well as a wide variety of traditional food such as Hendl (roast chicken), Schweinebraten (roast pork), Schweinshaxe (grilled ham hock), Steckerlfisch (grilled fish on a stick), Würstl (sausages) along with Brezen (pretzel), Knödel (potato or bread dumplings), Käsespätzle (cheese noodles), Reiberdatschi (potato pancakes), Sauerkraut or Rotkohl/Blaukraut (red cabbage) along with such Bavarian delicacies as Obatzda (a spiced cheese-butter spread) and Weisswurst (a white sausage).


21 Wax Moon G

This is a time for new beginnings, to conceptualize ideas, to invoke. At this time the moon represents the God coming into his Warrior aspect.

                              Ancient wise one, wayfarer of the night.

                              Take all that has to end, all that

                              must disappear and die with you,

                              into the darkness.  I welcome your

                              peace, I welcome the stillness.

                              As you disappear into the dawn, so

                              I choose to go within.

                              Blessed be.


23 Autumn Equinox

A day of Veterans and Thanksgiving.  It is the time of the Autumn Equinox or Mabon and the harvest is winding down.  The fields are nearly empty, because the crops have been plucked and stored for the coming winter.  Mabon is the mid-harvest festival and it is when we take a few moments to honor the changing seasons and celebrate the second harvest.  On or around September 21, for many Pagan and Wiccan traditions it is a time of giving thanks for the things we have, whether it is abundant crops or other blessings.

For the Nordic, it is time for a Winter Finding ceremony to bid farewell to the passing summer and to prepare for the rigors of winter. The Norse, like the other pre-industrial societies of Europe, depended heavily on a successful harvest in the fall to make it through the winter and so they took this time to thank the Gods for all that had been given during the harvest and to ask their protection during the cold of winter.  

At a celebration of abundance it seems most appropriate to honor and thank the Vanir, the Gods of the producer function. It is now when the fertility of the earth is most apparent, and now when we make our offerings to the Vanir to insure another good harvest in the coming year.

In some Germanic countries, people worried about the fate of their grain harvest.  If there was a great deal of wind during the harvesting season, it could be because Odin wanted a share of the crop. To keep him happy, a few spare sacks of flour were emptied into the wind.

Count your blessings and harness your strength and confidence for the lean times ahead. A time to deal with personal balance, emotions, honoring the deceased and banishing negative energy.  

                              I honor the Goddess of all things known and unknown

                              She who is made of shadow and light

                              Chaos and order

                              Who provides the balance within my heart and mind

                              And loves me as I am.

                              I honor the God of all things seen and unseen

                              He who is made of strength and passivity

                              Who cradles and sets free

                              Who teaches me the power of speech and silence

                              And loves me as I am.

                              Blessed be.













27 Full Harvest Super Moon M

A super moon is the coincidence of a full Moon or a new Moon with the closest approach the Moon makes to the Earth on its elliptical orbit, resulting in the largest apparent size of the lunar disk as seen from Earth. 

The Harvest Moon provides a good time to be quiet, still the body and let the Spirit take over. At the peak of harvest, farmers can work late into the night by the light of this Moon. Pay attention to the wisdom that lives within you. Nurture it. Fertilize it. Cultivate and harvest it. Then follow wherever it takes you.

                              Abundant father,

                              Moon so bright,

                              hear my plea upon this night.

                              Your fertile power lend this spell;

                              Make it potent, strong and well.


28 Lunar Eclipse

Eclipses can only occur when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are all in a straight line.  Solar eclipses occur at new Moon, when the Moon is between the Sun and Earth.  In contrast, lunar eclipses occur at full Moon, when Earth is between the Sun and Moon. For the Norse, the concern that Hati the wolf had caught up to the God Mani, the end of the world.

                              Moon in my hand

                              Lovely to see,

                              You are mine to hold,

                              Mine to find

                              When no Moon I see.

                              When I wish the Moon's power

                              Indoors with me,

                              Moon in my hand

                              You will abide with me.



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