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The Blue Moon

Blue Moon

The Blue Moon – The Science

A blue moon occurs as a result of two specific astronomical dances.  As is the case with our full moon on 31st May, when a calendar month hosts two full moons; the second full moon is a blue moon.  Another cosmic arrangement to create a blue moon is the occurrence of four full moons in a three month period; in this scenario, the third full moon is a blue moon.  So now we have learned the science bit, let’s take a look at the significance of a blue moon. 

The Blue Moon – The Magic & Spirituality 

Time spent under a blue moon is time for capturing the magic of this rare celestial event. Many who work with the cycles of the moon believe this magical boost enhances the energy of the full moon and imbues our magic with something extra special.

This, then, is the perfect time to put those crystals out to charge, to make your moon water, to meditate, drum, or lie on the grass, the sand or the heather, and bathe in the light of the moon. \

Sit in your garden and chant your intentions, write your poetry and sing your songs. Light a (safe) fire or burn a favourite candle under this moon and burn your spells, letting this boost of magic sprinkle your words into the waiting ears of the Ether, the Fates, Kama and the Luna Goddess. 

Let this full moon remind you that you are complete, you are whole and you are a being of stardust, energy and magic with endless capacity for sculpting the intent of your spells into the reality of your world.  Use this energy to listen carefully to your inner voice and intuition, that bone deep knowing you brush off as “nothing”, let that voice guide your magic and focus your energy into its most powerful form.

A blue moon raises the number of full moons in a calendar year from 12 to 13, a number many associate with bad luck and superstition, but which to others symbolises the Divine Feminine, intuition and mystery.  This is also the perfect time to commit to long term goals whether they are spiritual, personal or practical; maybe you want to begin monthly rituals at the full or new moon, maybe you want to change up your routine or diet on a long term basis, or maybe you want to set the intention for something more practical, like learning a new skill or saving for a big purchase.

As we touched on above, this is a time to listen to that inner voice and focus on your own path and your own voice; filtering out extraneous noise and voices (unless there is another you specifically want to listen to). Let your guide be yourself, you are not only your most brutal critic but your most devoted disciple. 

You know what is best for you, you know what it is that you need, and you know what it is your soul is seeking, even if you do not know that you know.  Listen carefully and you will hear that which you have been deaf to; the ancient knowledge swimming with the blood running through your veins has the answers you need.  Open yourself up to your own voice and let the blue moon amplify your song.

The Devine Feminine

Tied intrinsically to this is the Divine Feminine, who is alive in all of us.  I speak not only to the females amongst us; I believe in balance and with all of my being I believe that the Divine Feminine has a place in everyone, whether they be female, male, or neither. The Divine Feminine, the Goddess, is within us, guiding us and reminding us that we all come from the Feminine, that we embody and honour her when we embrace our intuition, when we nurture life, foster growth and love deeply and unconditionally.  

She reminds us that we are both vulnerable and resilient, often at the same time, that we have a depth of knowledge that cannot be found in books or taught in lecture halls but rather is found in listening to the earth, hearing the songs of our ancestors, and witnessing the passing of life, the sensation of the ground beneath our bare feet and the cleansing of the rain on our exposed skin. 

The Divine Feminine offers balance and a shield against the rigidity of Patriarchal institutions that seek to repress and diminish the necessary counter weight of the Feminine, that would dim the female flame and have her silent and meek in the shadows. 

The Divine Feminine does not allow this; she is soft and pliant yet fierce and strong, gathering community and whispering tales of legends in the darkest hours of the night, encouraging and supportive, passing down wisdom and love but poised to stand firm when she or her kin are under threat. And make no mistake, kin does not end at bloodlines, if you are her family by choice her wrath will know no bounds if she must stand in defence.

So with so much magic and possibility wrapped around us with the blue moon, don’t miss this rare and beautiful opportunity to heighten your magic and bathe in the ethereal charm of this Spring night. Take time to honour the moon, honour the Divine Feminine, and most importantly, honour yourself.

To Read more about the moon, head to The Moon.

So, witches, dust off your brooms, and make crooked your hat.  We fly at moonrise.

Darkest Ginger Blessings & Blessed Be.

Ginger Witch in Northumberland 

31st May 2026.

The beautuful images in this blog come from:

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Aradia: 26.08.20

This morning I chose to pull a Dark Goddess oracle card and was graced with Aradia who brings us Defence. 

Aradia, Goddess of Witches

The Card

Drawing this card I know that Aradia has come to warm against taking a defensive stance against things said today. Aradia reminds us that whilst we may have built up a natural defensive wall against unkindness and attack in response to our life experiences, it is only ourselves we make to suffer in the end by diminishing our own energy and spirit with negativity and doubt. 

Aradia teaches us that we need to embrace who we are and live our lives true to our authentic selves, the self that lies hidden safe and cosy underneath the layers of acceptability we have established as the “us” twe present to the world. We need to shed those layers or risk being lost in their false shadows, hidden in the darkness of our own repression’s and restrictions. 

We must defend the self that resides in our wild and primal senses, the natural, child of the Earth self that has been passed down through a long line of wise men and woman, the self that we feel in the very marrow of our bones. 

We must howl our truths into the night becoming one with how they make us feel, bringing them into rhythm with the beat of the heart within our breast that can never be denied. With every breath we take through the day we must protect their validity and tune them into the ancient magic we draw from the Earth and the from the Ether. 

Aradia tells us to stand tall, defend who we are, and to shine as brightly as the full moon as she smiles down upon us.

Aradia, Goddess of Witches

The Goddess

The origins of Aradia are difficult to pin down as there are many varying accounts of who she was. Some depict her as a Goddess of Ancient Rome, the daughter of Diana and Apollo. Others tell that she is the Daughter of Diana and Lucifer (a name pre-dating Christianity, meaning light bringer; this is not a reference to the Christian figure Satan). There are then those who believe she was a powerful mortal witch who’s magic and knowledge was gifted to her by Diana, and which brought her great renown and recognition.

The stunningly beautiful work of @ladytor
www.etsy.com/shop/artbyladyviktoria

The one common thread through most of the tales of Aradia is that she is the daughter of Diana, a Goddess widely worshipped in Ancient Rome. In these tales, Diana sent Aradia to Earth to spend time with the oppressed, the poor, and the disadvantaged. Her task, to teach them the ways of witchcraft and magic. The focus of Aradia’s magical teachings was helping witches to rise above their disadvantage, to seek retribution against their oppressors and to find the means to lift themselves out of poverty. Spells, hexes, enchantments and curses where at the forefront of Aradia’s lessons, along with imparting the knowledge, ways and recipes of earth based medicines and remedies. 

Perhaps it was this deep and unquestionable source of knowledge, this most respected and omnipotent source that led to the title of witch; an old and weathered word meaning wise woman. Because those women were, and witches both male and female in modern times, are blessed with an innate knowledge and understanding of the earth and the wonders it has to offer us medicinally, nutritionally and spiritually.

Aradia, Goddess of Witches

The Hashtags

#witch #witchcraft #spellcasting #spells #elementalmagic #wildwoman #wildwomen #darkmagic #lightmagic #gingerwitch_in_northumberland #pagan #pagans #druid #druidry #druids #darkgoddess #aradia #goddess #diana #deity #oraclecard #tarotcard #divination #spirituality #protection #defense #truth #authenticity #romangoddess #ancientrome #apollo

The stunningly beautiful work of @ladytor
www.etsy.com/shop/artbyladyviktoria

The Credits

This beautiful Dark Goddess Oracle Deck is by @flavia_kate_peters / www.flaviakatepeters.com

AND 

@barbarameiklejohnfree / www.barbarameiklejohnfree.com

Aradia, Goddess of Witches

Stay Wild & Blessed Be

Ginger Witch

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Ereshkigal: 21.08.20

Dark Goddess Oracle Card - Ereshkigal

Today’s card is Ereshkigal with “coercion” from the beautiful Dark Goddess oracle deck by Flavia Kate Peters and Barbara Meikle John Free.

www.flaviakatepeters.com and www.barbarameiklejohnfree.com

They also have a Familiars deck that is most definitely on my wish list but for now I will be sharing my daily cards from this beautiful deck or a rune drawn from the set very kindly made for me by a friend I made last year.

The Card
This card tells me that today is a day to make sure boundaries are in place that I make sure people don’t cross those boundaries. It also tells me to make sure I know my priorities and that I put them first, not letting others hold those priorities against me. I need to be mindful today that others don’t coerce me into putting my own needs on the back burner. A warning against neglecting self care and allowing others to walk all over me.

The Goddess
Ereshkigal is the ancient Mesopotamian Goddess of the underworld and the sister of Inanna who was one of the most popular Sumerian Goddesses of ancient Mesopotamia, and the Goddess who murdered Inanna before her rise from the Underworld.

I do a lot of work with Ereshkigal and Inanna and will most definitely be doing a feature blog on these Goddesses in due course.

The links
www.gingerwitchinnorthumberland.com
Facebook: GingerWitch_in_Northumberland
Instagram: @gingerwitch_in_northumberland

Stay Wild & Blessed Be

Ginger Witch

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Lammas 2020 …

… is celebrated on 1st August every year. Lammas is an ancient Gaelic festival, with festivities on this day stretching as far back as the first Anglo Saxon settlements in the 6th Century AD, and is known as Lunghnasadh in the Gaelic tongue. Literally translated it means Lugh’s Gathering and Loaf Mass and is the time of year when we see the first harvests of fruits and grains and give thanks to our life gifting May Queen, now our Mother Earth Goddess, for blessing us with the crops to make enough food to last us around the next spin of the wheel of the year.

Crops are abundant and ready for harvest
Crops are abundant and ready for harvest

Whilst many consider this to be a Christian festival, the honouring and celebrating of the earth and the fruits of nature in all it’s colourful and cyclical glory is very much reminiscent of the practices of pagan earth based religions rather than the omnipotent patriarchy of Christianity. The Lammas festival is incorporated into the pagan wheel of the year for this very reason; the honouring of the earth and the bountiful sustenance’s she provides to us year in and year out.

Grounding amongst and offering respect to the crops gifted to u by the Earth Goddess, our matured May Queen.
Grounding amongst and offering respect to the crops gifted to u by the Earth Goddess, our matured May Queen.

This day is also called High Summer by many; granted the days have started to noticeably shorten by 1st August, the sky is darker on a night showing us more of his stars for us to wish upon, but the days and nights remain warm and we are only at the half way point between the beginning of summer on 21st June and the beginning of autumn on 21st September.

So, as Pagans, how do we celebrate this day and give thanks an honour to our mother earth, our goddess? It is customary to bake (or buy if you don’t have the time or inclination) beautiful breads from grains and fruits. Communal celebrations see pagans from all paths forming friendships in magical circles, sharing breads and other earthy foods with each other. Songs are sung, drums beat in time with the heartbeat of the goddess and folks dance and tell stories amidst their own. There is laughter, merriment and happiness, this is a time to spend outdoors with a heart filled with joy, gratitude and community.

A beautiful image of a witch collecting apples by Lady Viktoria, who you can find at https://www.etsy.com/shop/artbyladyviktoria and @ladytor
A beautiful image of a witch collecting apples by Lady Viktoria, who you can find at https://www.etsy.com/shop/artbyladyviktoria and @ladytor

I celebrated exactly like this last year in the most wonderful surroundings of the Spirit of Awen Camp in Gloucestershire. This week long pagan camp is one of the most wonderful places I have ever had the privilege to spend time. The community welcomed me with open arms, I made deep and profound lifelong friends and everything in my life changed for the better from the moment I set foot on the camp site. The Lammas picnic was a wonderful day filled with everything I hold dear about being a pagan; honouring the earth, forming friendships based with genuinely good people, spending time in and with nature, singing with the Goddess, dancing to the beating of drums and drinking good cider and mead round a roaring camp fire.

Making a Lammas Corn Doll
Making a Lammas Corn Doll

This years celebrations were very different but equally as wonderful. COVID-19 meant it was not safe for the Spirit of Awen Camp to go ahead but that didn’t mean we couldn’t come together as a family at home to give our offerings of thanks to the Mother Earth Goddess.

In another of the most widely practised customs of Litha, we, as a family, made corn dolls to throw into our ritual fire along with our wishes or intentions for the future. We made a fun game of this for the children and hid them around the garden for them to find, before putting magic fire packets on fire to make beautifully colourful flames and throwing our corn dolls into the fire to ask who or whatever we personally believe in or work with to guide us down the right path to see our wishes, hopes and dreams come to pass.

Beautifully Colourful Flames to burn our Lammas Corn Dolls in
Beautifully Colourful Flames to burn our Lammas Corn Dolls in

Of course, we can’t tell what our wishes are, as to speak a wish made is to ensure it will evade us. But keep reading the unravelling ramblings, rituals, practices and adventured of Ginger Witch to see more of this pagan path and more of the unrivalled stunning diversity of Northumberland.

A basket of Lammas Corn Dolls made for our family wish making time around our fire pit.
A basket of Lammas Corn Dolls made for our family wish making time around our fire pit.

Stay Wild & Blessed Be

Ginger Witch.