Paganism is a massive group of religions. Paganism is not just one religion with many overarching beliefs, most practitioners will have their own beliefs or ways of practicing meaning it is best to truly just ask the practitioner themselves what their beliefs are. Some forms of paganism follow beliefs which are polytheistic (believes in more than one God) and possibly believe in different gods depending on their practice. Through this dive into Paganism, I will be finding a few different forms of practice that many practitioners may use though please take it with a grain of salt that between practitioners it may be different or may not even apply. In this specific post I will not cover Gods or entities since there are so many and again different practitioners may follow different gods. What I will be discussing within this post are: divination, moon phases, and some holidays. 

Divination is the practice of using tools to get insight into the future, divination can be done in a variety of different ways such as: with Tarot cards, oracle cards, runes, Pendulum, scrying, tea leaf reading,1 Ching readings, and so many more with different cultures having different practices or some have similar practices under different names. Divination can really vary on the practitioner even within the same form of divination it can have tweaks and changes depending on the practitioner.

Divination according to Britannica “the practice of determining the hidden significance or cause of events, sometimes foretelling the future, by various natural, psychological, and other techniques”. So following along on this definition there are many different types of divination and multiple ways that they can be used. Divination can be used for a variety of reasons large or small, ranging from wanting to know how an event goes or as small as wanting to know how their week will play out. Different divination practices work in different ways and even within the same form of divination it can be done differently for different reasons or within different practitioners’ practices. People can use divination for many reasons, or some practitioners just do not feel connected to divination as a practice.  

The phases of the moon are seen as important to many practitioners from welcoming in different energies to knowing about what can be at play during the day. The moon has multiple phases meaning different things for practitioners and about what kind of working can be more powerful during a time. Following Wisdom of the Spirit for the moon phases and their meanings: 

New moon- A fresh start, set new goals and intentions. 

Waxing Cresent- Setting intentions, act on the new goals and build habits. 

First Quarter- Overcoming challenges, re-evaluate intentions and adjust and face obstacles.

Waxing Gibbious- Refining and adjusting, refine goals and remove non-essential parts that do not serve your goals, be patient, focus on completing tasks. 

Full moon- Manifestation and Celebration, release what is holding you back, celebrate accomplishments, and preform full moon rituals (there are many different things someone can do for their full moon ritual and it can be different depending on the time of year, cleansing crystals and meditation are mentioned in the Wisdom of the Spirit article but others can be releasing negative energy, cleansing your space, and even cleansing yourself, this is not an exhaustive list of course different practitioners have different practices). 

Waning Gibbious- Gratitude and reflection, reflecting on what you have learned and sharing that knowledge with others and practicing gratitude. 

Last Quarter- Releasing and letting go, focus on releasing negativity, practice forgiveness and cleanse the self and home. 

Waning Cresent- Rest and introspection, rest and take care of oneself with self-care and reflect on your journey spiritually and prepare before the next cycle.

I earlier say some holidays since again different practitioners may follow different Gods or other practices which may have them celebrating other holidays. Some Holidays may not be discussed here due to it not being as wide spread or being specific to a specific religion/culture. Some practitioners may practice similar holidays but may have different names for the holiday depending on the origin of their practices. For this post I am using the names that I have seen the most often and will be following the information for holidays from The Pagan Grimoire and the book “Witches’ Sabbats and Esbats” by Sandra Kynes (I have linked a shop for the book). 

Yule: Yule for a majority of traditions celebrates the days starting to get longer and is celebrated by decorating trees and with Yule logs which are burned to protect the home, holly and oak are seen as sacred (depending on the tradition) representing death and rebirth respectively (Kynes, 33). 

Imbolc: Giving thanks to the lengthening days, celebrated with bonfires and candles, Imbolc is a time for purification and getting rid of old things (Kynes, 44-45). 

Ostara: This is also the spring equinox; this is a time to honour balance in life, also celebrates fertility (Kynes, 56-57). 

Beltane: celebrates the thinning of the veil between the spirit world and the living world, celebrates the end of winter and the beginning of summer, celebrated with bonfires and dancing around the Maypole (Kynes,67-68). 

From Pexels by San Fermin Pamplona https://www.pexels.com/photo/people-standing-near-metal-pole-holding-lace-strands-1299092/

Litha: when the days are the longest (the summer solstice) Bonfires using oak is a way that this is celebrated also a strong time for divination (Kynes, 80-81). 

Lughnasadh: marks the beginning of the harvests and the harvest is celebrated (Kynes,92-93). 

Mabon: The fall equinox, this is also a harvest festival, celebrated by spending time in the garden and taking care of what is there either energetically or physically (Kynes,104-105). 

Samhain: Also known as Halloween, this is a time to remember and honour ancestors, a great time to practice divination, hazelnuts are commonly used as they are seen as holding wisdom (Kynes, 118-119). 

The book “Witches’ Sabbats and Esbats” by Sandra Kynes is a great source if interested in the topic along with covering more rituals that can take place during the holidays. 

I have learned while researching the topic of paganism that this was a far larger topic than I was going to be able to cover in a single blog post and I could have probably done my entire Free Inquiry project on just paganism since there are so many other religions that fall under the category of Paganism. I do feel that I did justice for the portions that I did cover though most of these points could almost be their own blog posts in their entirety.

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