Wheel of the Year - Lughnasadh

This time of year in the Southern Hemisphere is known either as Lughnasadh or Lammas. While both refer to the start of the harvest season, Lammas or Loaf Mass Day has more Christian roots and so for myself I think I prefer to refer to it as Lughnasadh. This is because Lughnasadh also references the Celtic God Lugh. Lugh was said to have created the celebrations at this time as a way of honouring his foster mother Tailtiu.

Wheel of the Year (Southern Hemisphere)

While I have not planed any great celebration, or small celebration for that matter, I still take some time to pause and reflect and watch as the seasons slowly change outside my window. So while the days are still quite warm with with Summers sun the nights are slowly beginning to cool a bit, which is a welcome relief from the heat of the days.

As with the previous Solstices I have my decorative Lughnasadh Beads and Lughnasadh oracle card from the Witches Wisdom Oracle deck. If your interest in how I went about making these Solstice beads you can visit  HERE. Pictured above are all eight of my sabbat beads I made for each turn of the Wheel of the Year and below are my Lughnasadh beads and Lughnasadh oracle card together.

Witches' Wisdom oracle cards - Lughnasadh

Wheel of the Year Reading 2023 - Litha

For 2023 I decided to do a Wheel of the Year reading, this means pulling a card for each of the eight sabbats or festivals of the year. The deck I chose to use for this is the Literary Witches Oracle, a 70 card deck comprising of 30 cards of witches/authors and 40 cards of witches materials. Although this is my 2023 reading I am technically starting in 2022 on the Summer Solstice, which for me living in Australia is around December 21st.

Wheel of the Year (Southern Hemisphere)

The main cards for this reading were chosen from the 30 witches cards with a secondary card from the 40 materials cards also chosen for each position. So starting with the Summer Solstice, the cards I have pulled for this sabbat are the witch/author Audre Lorde and the materials card the Snail.

According to the guidebook for this deck the keyword for Audre Lorde is Justice, it is about fighting for yourself, your values, your community. The keywords for the Snail are taking your time, the sacred and fragility. But in order to dive deeper with this deck I am also using the book Literary Witches: A Celebration of Magical Women Writers. This is the book the Literary Witches Oracle is based upon and conjurers more literary insights into these magical women, including creative descriptions and recommended reading lists.

On first glance using the guidebook alone there may seem to be little in common with Audre Lorde and Snails but in reading the book Literary Witches and in exploring the recommended reading list I have quickly discovered that there are connections present with these two cards. Along with the Literary Witches book I have also acquired the book The Black Unicorn, which is a book of poems by Audre Lorde that I intent to explore during this sabbat.

Wheel of the Year - Litha

Australian Christmas' are unique, they are hot and usually outdoors, even when they are indoors we always manage to get outside and into the sunshine. For a lot of us they also involve the beach or a pool or some kind of water activity to bring a bit of relief from the soaring temperatures that usually accompany an Australian Christmas, being so close to the Summer Solstice.

Wheel of the Year (Southern Hemisphere)

So although I am happy to celebrate our unique Australian Christmas I understand that, for me living in the southern hemisphere, Christmas is not the same as Yule. Yule is the midwinter celebration and for me that means June, when the weather is cold and the nights are long.

So as part of my Summer Solstice decorations I include my Litha Beads and Litha oracle card from the Witches Wisdom Oracle deck. If your interest in how I went about making these Litha beads you can visit  HERE. Pictured above all all eight of my sabbat beads I made for each turn of the Wheel of the Year and below are my Litha beads and Litha oracle card together.

Witches' Wisdom oracle cards - Litha

Wheel of the Year - Litha

This is a tricky time of year for those of us in the southern hemisphere who are trying to follow the Wheel of the Year. While the weather is telling us it is most definitely midsummer, most of those around us are celebrating Christmas, a traditionally winter celebration. Although by now here in the southern hemisphere we are used to Christmas being associated with warmer weather and not the wintry Yule as it is based on.

Wheel of the Year (Southern Hemisphere)

Christmas is a big celebration in my family, but more so for the chance to get together rather then anything else. So with the combination of warm weather, feasting and outdoor fun it is not so hard to imagine celebrating the sun, in warmth and joy. So along with some of my other midsummer decorations I display are my Litha beads that sit with my Litha Oracle card. I actually made a set of 8 seasonal beads, one for each turn of the Wheel of the Year, if you want to see how I made these Litha beads you can visit HERE.

This Oracle card for Litha, seen below, is from the Witches' Wisdom Oracle deck. Although I do not tend to use this deck as an oracle, mostly just using the cards for display, I find it an enchanting deck to own. The deck includes 8 cards for the seasonal sabbaths in the Wheel of the Year, as well as directional cards, elemental cards, and many other people, place and object cards related to witches and magic.

Witches' Wisdom oracle cards - Litha

Wheel of the Year - Beltane

As the seasons change, the northern hemisphere is now experiencing Samhain, the gateway to winter, with all the fun of Halloween. However here in the southern hemisphere we are now entering Beltane, the gateway to summer, and summers here in the southern hemisphere get very hot.

Wheel of the Year (Southern Hemisphere)

Already there is a noticeable change in the weather with the days becoming warmer, though thankfully the nights are still cool and comfortable. Summer doesn't really hit here until the nights are about as hot as the days. Which is not a fun experience when you don't have air conditioning.

Above are all eight of my seasonal beads, you can read more about how I made these by visiting HERE. The beads for this season are pictured below with the Beltane card from my Witches' Wisdom Oracle deck. Although I tend not to use this deck for the oracle deck that it is, but more for display purposes, it is still a lovely deck that I enjoy using along with my seasonal beads.

Witches' Wisdom oracle cards - Beltane

Wheel of the Year - Ostara

While most people living in the northern hemisphere are currently experiencing the Autumn Equinox, I am living in the southern hemisphere and here we are now entering the Spring Equinox. And although the weather had been getting warmer, today was very much a cold and wet day, not at all the celebration of Spring I might have hoped for.

Wheel of the Year (Southern Hemisphere)

Despite the colder weather felt today, it is most definitely Ostara, otherwise known as Easter. Although it feels as though I am the only one to acknowledge this as it seems to me most people where I live prefer to follow the seasons marked by the northern hemisphere and not by the actual seasons outside our windows here in the southern hemisphere.

Above are all eight of my seasonal beads, you can read more about how I made these by visiting HERE. The beads for this season are pictured below with the Ostara card from my Witches' Wisdom Oracle deck. Although I tend not to use this deck for the oracle deck that it is, but more for display purposes, it is still a lovely deck that I enjoy using along with my seasonal beads.

Witches' Wisdom oracle cards - Ostara

Wheel of the Year - Imbolc

As I live in the southern hemisphere we are now entering Imbolc and today was a lovely warm day to introduce this new season. It was so nice enjoying a warm day after the cold months we've just been through, those of us in the southern hemisphere that is. I understand that a lot of people will be experiencing a cooler change in the northern hemisphere, but that is how the seasons turn.

Wheel of the Year (Southern Hemisphere)

We sit now halfway between Yule and Ostara, otherwise known as Christmas and Easter, and at the very beginnings of Spring. So for this season of Imbolc I created my seasonal beads. There are eight in total, one for each turn of the Wheel of the Year. Below you can see all eight beads I made, and to see how these are made you can visit HERE.

For this new season of Imbolc I have my Imbolc beads displayed alongside my Imbolc card from the Witches' Wisdom Oracle deck. This is a deck I use manly for displaying the different seasons with its seasonal cards. However it is a lovely deck and I would like to work with it more in the future as more then just cards for display.

Witches' Wisdom oracle cards - Imbolc

Wheel of the Year - Yule

While the northern hemisphere is enjoying the warmth Litha, midsummer, we here in the southern hemisphere are freezing as we experience midwinter, otherwise known as Yule. Because Christmas is celebrated in December no matter what hemisphere you live in, celebrating Yule in the southern hemisphere can be a bit lonely. But as the weather outside it telling me its midwinter that is what I shall celebrate.

Wheel of the Year (Southern Hemisphere)

I haven't honestly done that much to celebrate midwinter, its been so cold that I haven't really done that much in general. One of the few display items I have out for Yule is my Yule beads I made that sit with the Oracle card for Yule. I made a set of 8 seasonal beads, one for each turn of the Wheel of the Year, if you want to see how I made these Yule beads you can visit HERE.

The Yule card used here is from the Witches' Wisdom Oracle deck. I do not really use this deck as an oracle, mostly I just use the cards within this deck as display cards as seen below. Within this deck there are 8 cards for the seasonal sabbaths in the Wheel of the Year, as well as directional cards, elemental cards, and many other people, place and object cards.

Witches' Wisdom oracle cards - Yule

Wheel of the Year - Samhain

If you follow the Wheel of the Year then most likely you will be approaching Beltane, that is if you live in the northern hemisphere. I however live in the southern hemisphere so it is Samhain and the beginning of Winter and the dark half of the year that is being experience here. You wouldn't really know it from the warm days we still experience at this this time of year, it is only because the night start to get colder that you can feel the changing seasons.

Wheel of the Year (Southern Hemisphere)

At this time of year I am drawn to more indoor pursuits like baking, because the summers are too hot to be spent standing around a hot oven and the winters are more of a cosy time to spend in the kitchen. I also tend to spend more time with my crafting project, by which I mean sewing, drawing, paper crafting, etc. Last winter I spent some time creating my seasonal beads, there are 8 in total, one for each turning of the Wheel of the Year.

At each turn of the Wheel I have been displaying my beads alongside the seasonal card, here you can see my beads with the Samhain card from the Witches' Wisdom Oracle. I tend to use the cards from this deck as more of a display for the seasons and less of an actual oracle, but its still a very nice little deck. To see how I made my Samhain beads you can visit HERE.

Witches' Wisdom oracle cards - Samhain

The Problem with Easter

So in the midst of this Easter long weekend I find myself feeling out of touch with with the spirit of the holiday.

Not being a religious person, I do not celebrate this time of year as others may, in remembrance of Jesus and attending church. Instead I believe in following the changing patterns of the seasons in the wheel of the year. However even this is not such an easy thing for me living in Australia.

While the northern hemisphere can easily integrate celebrating Easter as the religious holiday along side Ostara as the seasonal celebration of Spring. We on the other side of the world are often times faced with images of bunnies and eggs at a time when Autumn is the prevailing season. I have even noticed that many Australian witches and pagan celebrate Ostara at Easter with the northern hemisphere. But this just doesn’t feel right to me.

So I am left with the problem of trying to decide if I should listen to what the whole world is telling me and ignore what is happening outside my window, or if I should listen to what I believe to be correct and follow the seasons where I live but feel like and outsider for doing so?

Wheel of the Year (Southern Hemisphere)