Chelsea- 1*

On April 7, we initiated Chelsea into the Twilight Wicca Tradition and the Coven of the Twilight Moon. I know we posted this on our FB page, but wanted to make sure, it got here, in the 'official' blog, as well. We are so excited to have her as part of our inner court. Blessed be!

Update March 2012

I haven't posted in more than a month. Yikes! Here's a bit of an update on what's going on with us!

Ostara was lovely... we planted our spiritual and physical seeds for the year. Aislin's priestess training is beginning to come to a close. She is centering her first open ritual at Litha. We will celebrate our hiving at Lughnasadh. We are getting ready to initiate a new sister, and will most likely take on a new dedicant class in July or August. We've got lots going on, though between now and Lughnasadh.

As always, our aspirant petition is on this site, in the links at right, as well as on our Facebook page- http://www.facebook.com/twilightmooncoven

February Esbat 2012

Our February esbat was led by Aislin, and we centered around the theme of self-love. With V-day coming up, it seems as though everyone is focused on love, but many times we like to focus on self-love, one of the keys to personal growth. Blessed be!

Imbolc 2012

Our Imbolc celebration was last night. Between Imbolc being one of my favorite sabbats, and my resolution to make sabbats feel more like holidays, I had a lot of fun preparing for yesterday evening's festivities! I made each sister a small bottle of holy water to take with them- as Imbolc is a time of spring cleaning and cleansing, a bit of holy water can't hurt. We had a healing shrine set up, as Brighid is a goddess of healing, as well as creativity and inspiration. Our ritual altar featured our creative offerings, a small brick hearth, a brighid's cross, and white lilies in a red vase. It was a beautiful ritual, and we were lucky to have three of our Shadow Sisters join us, for a lovely circle of seven. Like our page on facebook, for seasonal crafts, as well as updates that come more often than this blog- our blog feeds through to our facebook page.

BIG change for the Coven of the Twilight Moon

Coven of the Twilight Moon, a coven crafting the Twilight Wicca tradition, will be splitting into two covens, effective Lughnasadh 2012. This is an organic change, as part of the Coven of the Twilight Moon is based in Orange County, and the other part in North Hollywood. Both covens will circle together at least four times and will meet together at least four times in 2013.

This change alleviates the burden of unpredictable traffic, while enabling those of the Twilight Wicca tradition to continue to honor the gods, grow a close-knit community of practicing women witches, and continue on the journey of personal spiritual growth. Those in our Shadow Sister congregational group will be split as well, assigned to the coven that is geographically closest to their home.

The North Hollywood coven, tentatively named Coven of Midnight's Flame, will be led by Aislin Lumina, the current maiden of the Coven of the Twilight Moon. This coven will include sisters Beth, and Rayne, and any dedicants and Shadow Sisters living west of the 710.

The coven in Orange County, tentatively named Twilight Spiral, will be led by Lady Ivy Artemisia, the high priestess of Coven of the Twilight Moon. This coven will include Shadow Sisters and any dedicants east of the 710.

Shadow sisters and aspirants that live in the 710 corridor, along with Pasadena and Long Beach areas, will be encouraged to check out both covens and may choose whether to join Coven of Midnight's Flame or Twilight Spiral Coven at the discretion of the high priestesses.

Two open rituals will still be offered each year, one summer ritual, and Yule. If you have any questions about this, please contact Ivy Artemisia at barefootwitch@gmail.com. For more information about the Twilight Wicca tradition, please visit twilightwicca.com.

Yule (Lore from our 2011 Open Ritual)

by Aislin

Yule, or the Winter Solstice, is traditionally celebrated around the 21st or 22nd of December. The wheel of the year brings us to Yule and the God (who died at Samhain) is reborn. Winter Solstice marks a point of dramatic natural change at most places on Earth. One of the most common themes that is played out during this part of the year is the Celtic battle between the aging Holly King (who represents the darkness of the old year) and the young Oak King (who symbolizes the light of the new year). Winter Solstice marks the longest night and the shortest day of the year. From now until Litha, the days will begin to grow longer as we welcome back the returning Sun. On Yule, we honor the Goddess, Mother Earth, for giving birth once more to the Sun.


People around the world celebrate this time of year with varying traditional festivals such as Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Yule. For this reason, Yule is one of the most widely celebrated of all of the sabbats. The customs and lore have deeply invaded popular cultures and mainstream religions and virtually every culture in the Northern Hemisphere acknowledges this time of year as special in one way or another. It is widely believed that many of the traditional symbols marking this part of the year are actually taken from ancient pagan traditions. For example, the traditional Christmas tree is believed to originate all the way back to the Greeks and Romans of the 8th century. Santa Clause, or Kris Kringle, may actually have his origins in the Aryan God Odin, Lord of the Winds. Wassail comes to us from the Anglo-Saxons and means to hail or salute. Trees were sprinkled with a mixture of eggs, apples, wine, and ale and this was believed to increase fertility and good fortune for the coming year.


Many gods and goddesses were celebrated and hailed during this time of year. Among the gods were Apollo, Balder, Father Sun, Father Winter, Jesus, Saturn, Mithra, Oak King, Odin, Ra, Thor, Woden, and Zeus. Among the goddesses were Demeter, Frigg, Freya, Isis, Mary, Sophia, Mother Night, and Lucina. This year, we have chosen to celebrate Frigg and Baldur. Frigg was a Norse Goddess who had the power of prophesy but she did not always reveal all that she knew. Her name means “love” or “beloved one.” She was the goddess associated with the end of the year, as she sat at her spindle and wove the destiny of both the gods and man. Frigg was also the mother of Baldur, whose father was Odin. Frigg saw the destiny of her son as well as his coming death. She set about to change his destiny and she extracted a promise from all living things that they would play no part in his death. However, she overlooked the Mistletoe plant, which she believed was insignificant. Loki, the Trickster, saw her error, and he made a dart from this poisonous plant, which eventually found it’s way into Baldur’s heart. Hermod, Baldur’s brother and messenger of the Norse gods, felt the pain of his mother over the passing of Baldur and travelled to the underworld to appeal to Hel. She told him that she would only release his brother if all things in the world, living and dead, wept for him as well. All things took pity on her and wept, except for Loki who refused to mourn. Therefore, Frigg and Hermod were ultimately unable to rescue Baldur. However, Frigg is worshiped as a great mother who tried to save her son and she protects all women who are pregnant and giving birth. Tonight, we honor both Frigg and her son Baldur.

Yule by Any Other Name

by Ivy

Webster’s Dictionary defines Yule as: the feast of the nativity of Jesus Christ. Many other dictionary sources cite similar definitions. So, at first glance, Yule doesn’t seem like it would be a holiday for Pagans to celebrate. After all, think of all the Christmas carols that speak of celebrating yuletide, and bringing Yule cheer!

However, Yule wasn’t always associated with Christmas, and the birth of Christ. Prior to the birth of Christ and the development of the Christian religion, many native people celebrated a winter holiday that occurred on or near the winter solstice. The winter solstice happens on or around December 21 (20-22) each year. The winter solstice marks the longest night of the year. Most ancient European people celebrated this holiday with festivals, each similar to one another, but very different.

The most well-known Pagan winter festival is the festival of Saturnalia- the birthday of the Unconquered Sun. The Romans celebrated this festival with friends and family in homes decked with laurel and holly. Evergreen boughs were brought into the home and decorated temples as a sign of the cycle of life. No criminals were executed during this time, and schools were closed, and the people rested. Good luck gifts were exchanged with friends and family, and the season was a time of goodwill. Parades and processions through the street were very common during Saturnalia. In the area of Scandinavia, it would be dark for days during the winter months. During this darkness, scouts would be sent to the mountain tops to watch for any sign of the rising sun. Many people would light candles in their windows to help encourage the sun to return. Once the sun returned, the scouts would return to the villages with the good news. A great festival would be held. This festival would be called Yuletide and people would celebrate with bonfires and feast around the Yule log.

The people in the Mesopotamian area celebrated a new year’s festival around the Winter Solstice called Zagmuk. The people of Mesopotamia believed in many gods, but above all, they wor- shipped a chief god, Marduk. They believed that Marduk would do battle with the demons of chaos. During Zagmuk, the people planned to assist Marduk. According to tradition, during this 12 day festival, the King is sup- posed to die as a sacrifice, and return to fight alongside Marduk. However, instead of the king actually dying, the people would dress up a criminal and treat him as royalty for a day. Then, the criminal was slain, sparing the king, but yet aiding Marduk in his fight.

The Persians and the Babylonians celebrated their festival of Sacaea. Their festival was very similar to Zagmuk. One interesting highlight of Sacaea is that during the festival, masters and slaves would change places. Also celebrating a similar holiday were the Greeks, who made sacrifices to aid the God Kronos, who would be gearing up for battle against Zeus and his Titans. For many years, Christmas was celebrated on various dates from December to April. In 350 CE, Pope Julius I decreed that the official date of Christ’s birth was December 25. Many scholars disagree, but since 350 CE, Christmas has been celebrated on that date. Even though most people no longer practice the ancient Pagan festivals, the winter traditions of olde are still evident and practiced each holiday season. Next time you see a Christmas tree, a pile of presents, or lit candles in a window, know that these traditions transcend centuries of celebrations.