Approaching Beltaine ⋆ Fabienne S. Morgana

TUESDAY 30th OCTOBER, 2018

As a result of spending some time reading blogs, I found these two posts from Frances Billinghurst.

In brief, Frances is the author & editor of Dancing the Sacred Wheel: A Journey through the Southern Sabbats.

Full disclosure: I contributed to an Anthology that Frances edited:

Call of the God: An Anthology Exploring the Divine Masculine within Modern Paganism

Spirits of Place

Cold nights
Warm days
Flowering bottlebrushes
Irises
Snapdragons

Other Festivals:

It interested me that this Festival also spans Intersex Awareness Day, as well as Asexual Awareness Week.

In the same vein, it is also Domestic Violence Awareness Month(US).

I always spend some time considering how best to celebrate / honour the various Sacred Moments.

I have mentioned previously my usual methods:

enjoy food associated with this festival
buy flowers for my shrines
Sunbathe! (I am very pale, and consequently burn easily, However at this time of year, I can enjoy the warmth of the Sun)

This festival is, in part, a celebration of sexuality, and of union, and balance in that arena. I have therefore been considering the #metoo movement. For this reason, donating some money towards a charity like Safe Steps might be appropriate as well.

I am considering my distaste for the commercialization of horse racing that is glorified by the Melbourne Cup. As a result, donation towards racehorse rehabilitation likewise seems fitting.

Other historical events of interest:

26th October, 1985 – Uluru returned to Traditional Custodians (Australia)

27th October, 1992 – Central Coast Massacre (Australia)

28th October, 1834 – Battle of Pinjarra (Australia)

30th October, 1975 – Racial Discrimination Act takes effect (Australia)

30th October, 1938 – The War of the Worlds radio broadcast panicked millions of Americans.

31st October, 1517 – Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of Wittenberg’s palace church. Luther denounced the selling of papal indulgences and questioned various ecclesiastical practices. This marked the beginning of the Protestant Reformation in Germany.

31st October, 1756 – Giacomo Casanova (yes, that Casanova) executed a daring midnight, cross-rooftop escape from “The Leads”, Venice’s prison. He had been jailed in solitary confinement for “public outrages against the holy religion”.

01st November, 1995 – The first all-race local government elections took place in South Africa. This was the end of the apartheid system.

5th November, 1605 – Guy Fawkes Day in Britain.

9 – 10th November, 1938 – Kristallnacht (the night of broken glass) occurred in Germany. Nazi mobs burned synagogues and also vandalized Jewish shops and homes.

9th November, 1989 – The Berlin Wall was finally opened up. This wall stood for 28 years as a symbol of the Cold War. The 44.9 km (27.9 mile) wall had been constructed in 1961.

SOURCES

AUSTRALIAN FESTIVALS: A QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE

In conclusion, it can be difficult find resources that address the Southern Hemisphere (generally) or Australia (specifically).

To this end, here are some starting resources that I myself have:

Australian Druidry: Connecting with the Sacred Landscape by Julie Brett

Dancing the Sacred Wheel: A Journey through the Southern Sabbats by Frances Billinghurst

PaGaian Cosmology by Glenys Livingstone

Seasons of the Goddess by Dr Tricia Szirom & Annette Cutteli

Sunwyse by Roxanne Bodsworth

If you know of others – please pop them in the comments!

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