(^200) A Wiccan Bible
So how many book on Wicca have you read that talk about a person’s birthday?
How about a wedding anniversary? The anniversary of the first time a couple had sex?
How often do you hear about Wiccan Rites conducted to celebrate a child’s graduation
from high school? One might think these matters would be marked as sacred days to
the members of a fertility religion, especially considering the frequency in which we
call our religion a ‘family religion.’
The answer is that the folk who decided there would be eight major Holidays in
Wicca did just that, they decided. Read that. They made it up. They did not receive it
from any ancient source, and they could have just as easily chosen the number 4 (one
for each of the modern seasons) or 12 (one for each of the modern months). So while
we continue to mark those eight holidays because they have become the traditional
way for modern Wiccans to mark the Wheel of the Year, what is important to the
Wiccan soul is not so much the marking of those days, but the many days that come in
between those days.
In looking at those eight Sabbats alongside these examples of ancient Pagan holi-
days, what we see eight seasons of celebration, not eight single days or evenings. We
see that the ancients found reason to celebrate on just about a daily basis, and so should
we. You see, if every day is sacred, then we see that every day we live is sacred, and we
are reminded that Life itself is, indeed, sacred.
A Morning Prayer
Hail the hoof and hail the horn
Hail the day and praise the dawn
Bless this day with holy light
Bless this time, my holy rite
There is a great deal more to the ancient Pagan cultures than modern Pagan books
let on. There is soulful insight to the nature of humanity and the cycles of the world.
But chances are you will not find much of that information in fanciful books. I invite
you to rediscover the ancient Pagans in modern academic references rather than popular
Pagan pulp fiction. There is a whole world out there to discover.
Recommended reading list for this chapter
On the Greek Calendar and Holidays:
Chronology of the Ancient World, by E. Bickerman. (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University
Press).
Encyclopedia of Greece and the Hellenic Tradition, by Graham Speake. London: Fitzroy
Dearborn Publishers, 2000.
Festivals of the Athenians, by H. Parke. (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1986).
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barré
(Barré)
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