Night of Hekate

November 16 is the Night of Hekate which begins at sunset. This is the night of the Three-formed Goddess. Hekate (also spelled Hecate) is part of the most ancient form of the triple Moon goddess as Crone or Dark Moon. This is also one of the nights of Hekate’s supper at the Crossroads. People who worshiped Hekate honoured Her by preforming Sympathetic Magick and holding a supper at a Crossroads; in addition, in ancient times animals were sacrificed in Her honour.

If you are looking for a way to honor the Goddess, or celebrate this night, here is a listing of spells, invocations, and information that might be helpful:

About Hekate:

• Hecate Queen of the Night
• The Triple Goddess
• Goddess of the Crossways
• About Hekate

Rituals and Spells:

• Night of the Crossroads
• Hecate's Suppers
• Hecate's Living Altar Spell
• Summoning Hecate
• Summoning Hecate - an enhancement
• Crossroads and Choices
• At A Crossroads?
• Spell for Unlocking and Opening Up

Invocations:

• Charge of the Dark Goddess - 1
• Charge of the Dark Goddess - 2
• Hekate Speaks
• Song for Hecate
• Petition to Hekate
• Invocation of Hekate
• Invocation to the Dark Mother
• Prayer to Hekate

Quotes:

• Invocation to Hekate
• Ode to Hekate

Festival of the Lares Compitales

Lares are the Roman guardian spirits of house and fields, ancient Roman deities protecting the house and the family — household gods. The Lares were worshiped in small sanctuaries or shrines, called Lararium, which could be found in every Roman house. They were placed in the atrium (the main room) or in the peristylium (a small open court) of the house. Here people sacrificed food to the Lares on holidays.

Presumed to be sons of Mercury and Lara, Lares are beneficent and friendly spirits, and deeply venerated by ancient Romans. In every house there was at least one little statue, and through these small statues, the Lare was presumed to take part in all that happened inside the house....

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Saturnalia Practices and Rituals

Saturnalia falls at the time when non-Romans are celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, Solstice and/or Kwanzaa. In Nova Roma, individual Citizens have chosen different approaches to the challenge of celebrating in the spirit of Rome without cutting themselves off from the culture in which they live....

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Ritual for the Festival of Carmenta

Color: Red
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon a red cloth place seven red candles and the figure of a pregnant woman. If possible, a woman who is with child should be present and honored on this day.
Offerings: Give gifts to pregnant women in need.
Daily Meal: Eggs.

Carmentalia Invocation

All things grow in the dark place

Safe within the womb of the Mother,

Safe within the dream of the Mother.

The Earth lies now asleep

Full with big belly,

Each seed pregnant with hopes

Waiting for the return of the Sun....

... I am so sorry, but this post has been combined with another and moved to my new website, The Pagan Calendar. You can find it here:The Carmentalia

Compitalia

The Compitalia, a festival thought to be older than Rome itself, was held in mid January (January 12th) to honor the guardian spirits of local communities or neighborhoods. Sacrifices and offerings of honey cakes were made to the Lares Compitales at any place where two roads met.

In the countryside the ritual started at nightfall. Each family placed the statue of the underworld goddess Mania at the door of their house.They also made and hung woolen dolls representing men and women, along with strands of garlic and poppies...

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Ritual for the Festival of Janus

Color: Dark Blue and Black
Element: Air
Altar: Upon cloth of dark blue and black place a ruler, and on one side things of the past, and on the other side things for the future, including a goblet of wine.
Offerings: Measure something accurately. Any work requiring measuring is honored today.
Daily Meal: Any old-fashioned recipe.

Invocation to Janus

Hail, Lord Who Looks Both Ways!

Hail, face of the past

Turned towards memory!

You see all that has been,

Not only our beginnings...

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The Agonalia

During this festival the Romans gave dates, figs, and honey sealed in white jars to the god Janus. Such gifts, and also money, would be given to family members as well.

Note: Not much is known about this festival....

I am so sorry to do this to you, but this post has been moved to my new website The Pagan Calendar (hosted at shirleytwofeathers.com) and can be found in its entirety here: The Agonalia

Festival of Kore

Themes: Luck, Cycles, Youthful Energy

Symbols: Coins, Corn, the number 7, Flower Buds, Pomegranate

About Kore: An aspect of Persephone before her marriage to Hades, this youthful goddess motivates good fortune, zeal, and a closer affinity to earth's cycles during the coming months.

Kore, whose name means "maiden," is the youngest aspect of the triune goddess....

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Spiritual Spring Cleaning

From May 19-28 is the time of the Greek festival of Kallyntaria and Plynteria, a time that is also known as a time for "spring cleaning". Most of us have already started our spring cleaning in various forms, but this particular time of the Sacred Year is dedicated to spiritual cleaning - the cleaning and nurturance of the sacred places.

The Greeks were good at that, and they called this festival Kallyntaria and Plynteria, by which they meant making a special effort to clean the sacred statues of the goddess and god. With all that incense burning and dust gathering, the sacred images get pretty dirty...

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The Festival of Mens

According to many pagan calendars, May 8th is listed as "the festival of Mens , the Roman goddess of mind and consciousness." I did not, however, find any information on Mens or on a festival of Mens - what I did find was this small excerpt at Wikipedia:

By a process of folk etymology, the Romans could have confused the phones of her foreign name with those of the root men- in Latin words such as mens meaning "mind", perhaps because one of her aspects as goddess pertained to the intellectual....

... I am so sorry to do this to you, but this post has been moved to my new website, The Pagan Calendar, and can be found in its entirety here: The Festival of Mens

The Tubilustrium

"The last day of the five exhorts us to purify The tuneful trumpets, 

and sacrifice to the mighty god. 

Now you can turn your face to the Sun and say: 

`He touched the fleece of the Phrixian Ram yesterday'. 

The month of March was the traditional start of the campaign season, and the Tubilustrium was a ceremony to make the army fit for war. It was held on March 23, the last day of the Greater Quinquatrus (the festival of Mars and Minerva), and it occurred again on May 23. The sacred trumpets (tubae) were originally war trumpets, but later they were used for ...

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Navigium Isidis

When Egypt became part of the Roman Empire, Greek merchants brought the worship of Isis from Alexandria to Rome and invoked Her as inventor of the sail, patron of navigation, and ruler of the waves.

Possibly the most well known Isiac festival of the Roman world was the Navigium Isidis, celebrated on the 5th of March. As part of the festivities, a a festive carnival procession was performed in honor of Isis, and the Vessel of Isis, laden with offerings of precious spices and milk libations, is launched.

Here is a colorful and detailed eye-witness account of the procession and the ceremony:

Soon the sun of gold arose and sent the clouds of thick night flying; and lo, a crowd of people replenished the streets, filing in triumphal religious procession. It seemed to me that the whole world, independent of my own high spirits, was happy. The dusky clouds were routed; and the heavens shone with clear sheer splendor of their native light. ...

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A Simple Terminalia Celebration

Themes: Earth; Home
Symbols: Owl; Geranium
Presiding Goddess: Minerva

About Minerva: This Etruscan/Italic goddess blended the odd attributes of being a patroness of household tasks, including arts and crafts, and also being the patroness of protection and war. Today she joins in pre-spring festivities by helping people prepare their lands for sowing and embracing the figurative lands of our hearts, homes, and spirits with her positive energy....

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Festival to Janus

In ancient Rome, January 9th was the Agonalia or Festival to Janus, god of gates and doorways. There seem to be many different legends about the history of Janus. One has him the son of Uranus and Hecate. Another says he had a son named Tiberinus whose accidental drowning named Roma's river. According to another he was a son of Apollo and the first king of Latium. His colony near the Tiber is supposed to have given the name to the Janiculum Hill. Another story says that Janus welcomed Saturn to earth after the latter was driven out of Olympia by Zeus.

Janus was very important in Rome because the weakest point in any building or municipality is its doorway. Anything from human enemies to evil spirits could enter via that route. So strong was this feeling that Romans always carried corpses out of buildings feet first so that the departed spirits would be less likely to find their way back in....

I am so sorry to do this to you, but this post has been moved to my new website, The Pagan Calendar (hosted at shirleytwofeathers.com) and can be found in it's entirety here: The Agonalia

The Kalends of January

The Kalends of January was a significant part of the Roman Midwinter celebrations, and has lent its name to Midwinter festivals all over the Western world. For example, in Provence in France the festival is known as Calendas, in Poland it is called Kolenda, and in Russia, Kolyada. In the Czech Republic it is called Koteda, in Lithuania, Kalledos, and in Wales and Scotland, Calenig and Calluinn respectively - all these names derived from the Latin Kalendae, and all referring to the festival of midwinter.

Initially the Kalends followed Saturnalia, beginning a few days of rest to allow aching heads and stomachs to recover! At this time new consuls were inducted into office, and for at least three days a high festival took place...

I am so sorry to do this to you, but this post has been moved to my new website The Pagan Calendar (hosted at shirleytwofeathers.com) and can be viewed in its entirety here: The Kalends of January

The Opiconsivia

August 25th is the Opconsivia, the harvest festival of Ops, the Roman goddess of wealth.

• Themes: Opportunity; Wealth; Fertility; Growth
• Symbols: Bread; Seeds; Soil

About Ops: This Italian goddess of fertile earth provides us with numerous "op-portunities" to make every day more productive. In stories, Ops motivates fruit bearing, not just in plants but also in our spirits. She also controls the wealth of the gods, making her a goddess of opulence! Works of art depict Ops with a loaf of bread in one hand, and the other outstretched, offering aid.

To Do Today:

On this day, Ops was evoked by sitting on the earth itself, where she lives in body and spirit. So, weather permitting...

I am so sorry to do this to you, but this post has been moved to my new website The Pagan Calendar (hosted at shirleytwofeathers.com) it can be found in its entirety here: The Festival of Ops

Festival of Consus

On August 21, the ancient Romans celebrated the Consualia, a festival, with games, in honour of Consus, the god of secret deliberations.

It was solemnised every year in the circus, by the symbolical ceremony of uncovering an altar dedicated to the god, which was buried in the earth. This was because Romulus, who was considered the founder of the festival, was said to have discovered an altar in the earth on that spot.

I'm so sorry to do this to you, but this post has been moved to my new website, The Pagan Calendar (hosted at shirleytwofeathers.com) and can be seen in its entirety here: Festival of Consus

The Furrinalia

On this date (July 25) in ancient Rome, the annual Furinalia (also spelled Furrinalia) took place in honor of the Goddess of springs, Furrina. This was the time when a drought might begin to "bite," and the value of springs is appreciated....

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The Festival of Fata

In ancient Rome, this day (June 24) was known as the Festival of Fata, the Goddess of Fate and Chance. She was more commonly called Fortuna, and this day was also known as the Festival of Fortuna. The Temple of Fortuna stood on the banks of the Tiber and on this day many Romans would make a pilgrimage on foot or by boats decorated with garlands of flowers....

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Ludi Piscatari

On this day, (June 17) the Romans celebrated the festival of Ludi Piscatari, festival of fishermen. Ludi Piscatari became sacred in England as a Christian Saint, renamed St. Botolph. Botolph guarded the gates of ancient English walled cities...

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