Aontacht - Volume 7 Issue 3

y Airabella Eris Altair- For the Northern hemisphere this falls on or around October 31 st and May 1 st for the Southernhemisphere. This is the celebration of the dead, a time for remembering and honouring those that havemade the journey into death. During Samhain is when the veil between the worlds is the thinnest. AllFaeirie, human, animal, and the dead are brought into the most direct contact as the veil thins.During this time Cailleach (the Crone) comes forth and takes the leaves from the trees so that the oldlife of the past year will hasten away and in its place new life may thus come. Though this time of yearharkens the ultimate of all mortal beings it is not without the distant cries of new life being born. Withthe Winter solstice not far away the wheel will turn.- For the Northern hemisphere this falls on or around February 1 st and August 1 st for the Southernhemisphere. Though Winter’s breath still clings to the grass, if you look the shoots of Spring are rising.The Sun’s light rays begin to warm the mornings and life starts to stir within the Earth. Celebration ofImbolc can be on the 1 st or 2 nd of the month, or also when the gentle Snowdrops cover the ground.For the Northern hemisphere this falls on or around May 1 st and November 1 st for the Southernhemisphere. This festival is alive with the fiery heartbeat of life. As the flower blooms open and the Earthis warm and rich with fertility the trees reach forth and new leaves cover the canopies of the forest as theshaking of their bushy heads. It is now that the Lady of the Lake takes the hand of the Horned God andlife is aglow. This festival is often celebrated on the days mentioned, but can also be celebrated with theflowers of the May tree.For the Northern hemisphere this falls on or around August 1 st and February 1 st for theSouthern hemisphere. In the fields John Barleycorn, who laid with the Lady in the woods at Beltane, hasgrown old, and now stands bent and bearded with a crooked cane. He looks to the Sun as he has changedfrom green to gold, and he knows that his time has come. His life will feed the people, and it is this sacrificethat we honour at Lughnasadh.Aontacht • 23