Winter Holidays

Foundation Day-Winter Solstice (Yule), December 21 - The day the Domain was founded in the Winter of 2001. It is a day to celebrate the beginning of our work in making sure wonder never dies from the world, and to bring it back to where it once was in the world. It is also a day to celebrate coming together on common ground to help make the world a little better: even if it's one day and one person at a time.

Christmas Eve and Day, December 24 and 25 - The Christian celebration of the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, this holiday can't really be excluded, as there are many Domani who celebrate it. For us Domani who do, it is a symbol of a new covenant between God and mortalkind: a Gift that He made to all in His Son, Jesus. A Gift that soon became a Sacrifice for the sake of all. For most, it means decorating an evergreen tree with beautiful ornaments, and buying presents for one another, or waiting up on the Eve, to see if Santa Claus still roams the world bringing presents. For the rest, Christmas is to remember the greatest Gift of all which was given for all.

New Year's Eve and Day, December 31 and January 1 - The beginning of a new year. You cannae' have holidays without a New Year's celebration. Many people of different faiths and beliefs see New Year's Eve as a time of retrospect and reflection on days gone by. Thinking on choices made, paths taken, relationships made and broken, lives changes, hopes and dreams either realized or dashed. And New Year's Day is seen as a day of being farsighted: of making new hopes and dreaming new dreams for the days of future yet to come. All in all, it is a time of celebration for a life lived, and a life that's yet to be lived.

The Day of Honor, January 5 - Created by former Domani and Astorian ruler: Lady Athene Airheart, the Day of Honor is a day on which, in Athene's words, "one gathers with friends, feasts, and tells stories of glorious deeds - both done by oneself, others, and in legend. It is a day to concentrate on individual greatness and to honor the warrior storyteller. This is not celebrated by everyone but holds a strong calling for a few. The best place to celebrate the Day of Honor is around a fire, either a campfire or a hearth." Because of the nature of this holiday, the Day of Honor is the Domani version of Veterans' Day, to remember those warriors - ancient and modern-day - who fought for honor and for truth.

Imbolc (Midwinter's Night), February 2 - Imbolc is a day for celebrating the balefire of imagination and creativity and its replenishment after the long darkness of winter. Also known as Bard's Day, Imbolc honors the creative spirit. It is a day to celebrate what it means to dream, to imagine, and to be alive. It is also a day to re-affirm one's personal convictions to always do their best to keep dreams, understanding, wisdom, and magick a part of their lives.

Valentine's Day, February 14th - Named for the legendary saint of the same name, the history of Valentine's Day - and its patron saint - is shrouded in mystery. But we do know that February has long been a month of romance. St. Valentine's Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition.

The Greening, from March 1 through to April 15 - Here to commemorate the end of the slumber of Winter and the awakening of Spring, the Greening was instituted to enjoy the celebration of life anew. The opening of a new leaf. The growing of grass and wildflowers. The thriving of trees and shrubs. And the awakening of all of Nature. It's counterpart being the Changing of the Colors, the Greening is an informal celebration of the magick of Nature, just like the Changing. So it's a good excuse to get out and enjoy Nature itself.

Saint Patrick's Day, March 17 - One can't have a list of holidays without mentioning Saint Patrick's Day. The person who was to become St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, was born in Wales about AD 385. His given name was Maewyn, and he almost didn't get the job of bishop of Ireland because he lacked the required scholarship. Far from being a saint, until he was 16, he considered himself a pagan. At that age, he was sold into slavery by a group of Irish marauders that raided his village. During his captivity, he became closer to God. He escaped from slavery after six years and went to Gaul where he studied in the monastery under St. Germain, bishop of Auxerre for a period of twelve years. During his training he became aware that his calling was to convert the pagans to Christianity.

Ostara-Spring/Vernal Equinox (Lady Day/Alban Eiler [Druidic]), March 21 - As Spring reaches its midpoint, night and day stand in perfect balance, with light on the increase. The young Sun God now celebrates a hierogamy (sacred marriage) with the young Maiden Goddess, who conceives. In nine months, she will again become the Great Mother. It is a time of great fertility, new growth, and newborn animals. The next full moon (a time of increased births) is called the Ostara and is sacred to Eostre the Saxon Lunar Goddess of fertility (from whence we get the word estrogen, whose two symbols were the egg and the rabbit.

Easter, the first Sunday in April - Also known among Christian Domani as Resurrection Sunday, Easter commemorates the starting anew of life for all, as shown in nature. For Christian Domani, it commemorates the Ultimate Sacrifice made by Jesus Christ, as he stretched His arms out - Once and for All - on the Cross, to purchase the fate of mortalkind with His Blood, and leave open a way to Heaven for all: regardless of their paths. A sacrifice that even reached the ears of the fae in the New World, causing them to mourn His death, and leading to the existence of the natural talismans known as fairystones: which can only be found in the Realm of FairyStone itself. Easter is thought of as death-affirming by some. But it is actually life-affirming, in that Jesus gave His Life as a gift to all mortalkind. It is for that reason that Easter is celebrated - not mourned - among Christian Domani.

The Cleansing, from April 15th to June 1 - Set during the wettest time of the year, the Cleansing was created as a time to celebrate the cleansing and spirituality of rain. Water and rain are symbolic of washing away dirt and filth and making things clean again, as well as refreshing the world with the life-gift of water. The Cleansing was created as a season set aside for Domani of all faiths and beliefs to 'wash themselves': inside and out. Whatever crowds or clogs up one's self - spiritually, mentally, physically, or emotionally - the Cleansing was made for the purpose of an annual 'cleaning house': a cleaning house of the self. A time to re-balance yourself, as it were. And since the rains of the season are symbolic of the Cleansing, a walk through a spring rain is a perfect way to start out your 'Spring cleaning'.

Beltane (Roodmas or May Day), April 30 - Beltane has long been celebrated with feasts and rituals. Beltane means fire of Bel; Belinos being one name for the Sun God, whose coronation feast we now celebrate. As summer begins, weather becomes warmer, and the plant world blossoms, an exuberant mood prevails. In old Celtic traditions it was a time of unabashed sexuality and promiscuity where marriages of a year and a day could be undertaken but it is rarely observed in that manner in modern times. In the old Celtic times, young people would spend the entire night in the woods "A-Maying," and then dance around the phallic Maypole the next morning. Older married couples were allowed to remove their wedding rings (and the restrictions they imply) for this one night. May morning is a magickal time for wild water (dew, flowing streams, and springs) which is collected and used to bathe in for beauty, or to drink for health.

World Tarot Day, May 25 - World Tarot Day is the successful idea of DenElder, a friend of some of the citizens of the Domain. It is an idea that so impressed the ur-Lord, that he put the inclusion of the holiday into the calendar to a vote, which was unanimous. According to DenElder, World Tarot Day is meant to "promote the use of the Tarot tool across all human made borders, be they political boundaries, misunderstandings of the mind, or ignorance of the tool itself, for the benefit and growth of the Spiritual Self."

Renewal of the Soul, June 1 - Marking the end of the Cleansing season, the Renewal of the Soul is a holiday dedicated to the re-dedication of Domani their faiths/beliefs. Straightforwardly enough, it is a renewal of the soul: a renewal to one's chosen path, chosen belief, and/or chosen deity.

Litha-Summer Solstice (Alban Heruin [Druidic]), June 21 - Although the name Litha is not well attested, it may come from Saxon tradition -- the opposite of Yule. On this longest day of the year, light and life are abundant. At mid-summer, the Sun God has reached the moment of his greatest strength. Seated on his greenwood throne, he is also lord of the forests, and his face is seen in church architecture peering from countless foliate masks. The Christian Catholic religion converted this day of Jack-in-the-Green to the Feast of St. John the Baptist, often portraying him in rustic attire, sometimes with horns and cloven feet (like the Greek Demi-God Pan). Midsummer Night's Eve is also special for adherents of the Faerie faith. The alternative fixed calendar date of June 25 (Old Litha) is sometimes employed by Covens. The name Beltane is sometimes incorrectly assigned to this holiday by some modern traditions of Wicca, even though Beltane is the Gaelic word for May.

Fairy Day, June 24 - Fairy Day was founded by famous fairy artist Jessica Galbreth, whose art is known the world over. This holiday was brought to the attention of the Domain at the same time as World Tarot Day, and was put to vote along with that day. And like World Tarot Day, it passed unanimously. According to Jessica, "Fairy Day is a holiday sprung from the imagination of a fairy artist and believer, and brought to life with the help of many of her talented friends and fellow fairy lovers. With the world enjoying a surge of interest in all things fairy, we feel that now is the perfect time to introduce a yearly holiday to celebrate the fae. This holiday is for everyone who believes in the magic of fairytales. It is for those imaginative souls who dare to dream impossible dreams. It is for the children of the world, wide eyed and open to the magic that surrounds them. It is for adults too, who long to capture a bit of that magic they remember from thier own childhood."

Lughnasadh-Lammas, July 31st - Lughnasadh means the funeral games of Lugh (pronounced Loo), referring to Lugh, the Irish sun god. However, the funeral is not his own, but the funeral games he hosts in honor of his foster-mother Tailte. For that reason, the traditional Tailtean craft fairs and Tailtean marriages (which last for a year and a day) are celebrated at this time.

This day originally coincided with the first reapings of the harvest. It was known as the time when the plants of spring wither and drop their fruits or seeds for our use as well as to ensure future crops. As autumn begins, the Sun God enters his old age, but is not yet dead. The God symbolically loses some of his strength as the Sun rises farther in the South each day and the nights grow longer.

Ban Aingeal, first Full Moon in September - Created by the Imperium on September 9, 2003: just two days before that month's first Full Moon, Ban Aingeal(Irish Gaelic for "bale fire" or "white fire"), was created for just that event - the first Full Moon of September. According to some stories - real and otherwise - balefires used to be set in the old times to keep magick alive throughout the lands, and to guard against the dark of the long nights that Winter holds. So, in light of this, Ban Aingeal was made, as a special day on the calendar for focusing on the magick coursing through the whole of the world, and to light the way for those still searching for it within themselves. Whether the fire lit be as small as a candle, or as large as a bonfire, makes no difference: so long as a fire is lighted on that day, so that others can find their way.

Autumn Equinox-Mabon (2nd Harvest), September 21st - Mabon, (pronounced MAY-bun, MAY-bone, MAH-boon, or MAH-bawn) is the Autumn Equinox. The Autumn Equinox divides the day and night equally, and we all take a moment to pay our respects to the impending dark. We also give thanks to the waning sunlight, as we store our harvest of this year's crops. The Druids call this celebration, Mea'n Fo'mhair, and honor the The Green Man, the God of the Forest, by offering libations to trees. Offerings of ciders, wines, herbs and fertilizer are appropriate at this time. Wiccans celebrate the aging Goddess as she passes from Mother to Crone, and her consort the God as he prepares for death and re-birth.

Changing of the Colors, from October 1st to November 15th - An informal holiday, the Changing of the Colors is meant as a way to celebrate the gift of nature at it's most colorful: which starts around the beginning of October(when the leaves on the trees start turning colors), to the middle of November(when the colors start fading). It's always encouraged for Domani to get out and celebrate nature's beauty at this colorful time, when nearly all the colors of the rainbow are on display and seem to blanket the ground. Especially at their most colorful: about a week before Halloween(Samhain). Whatever festivals occur during the Changing depends completely on the Domani who wish to celebrate them. Outright and formal celebrations aren't necessary, really. The simple act of going out for a walk or drive through a wood or field to enjoy a beautiful Autumn day is celebration enough. Though festivals are always nice.

Samhain (Halloween), October 31st - Samhain, (pronounced SOW-in, SAH-vin, or SAM-hayne) means "End of Summer", and is the third and final Harvest. The dark winter half of the year commences on this Sabbat. It is generally celebrated on October 31st, but some traditions prefer November 1st. It is one of the two "spirit-nights" each year, the other being Beltane. It is a magical interval when the mundane laws of time and space are temporarily suspended, and the Thin Veil between the worlds is lifted.