My Birthday Altar and Wishes Spell

Today is Valentines Day. But not only that. It's my birthday. and this year i decided to do something that I have never done before. I created a special birthday altar.

As I'd never done one before I had a look around on Google to see what others had done and I found almost nothing except one a mother did for her 5 year olds birthday. So in the end I just used my experience.



My Birthday Altar

The birthday altar will probably be one of your most personal as this altar literally reflects you. Or it should do. After all, this is YOUR day. So firstly I looked at the month I was born. For me violet is the key word in colour, flowers and incense and in crystals Amethyst. And it's also Valentines Day. So I started with:

• A cloth that was violet in colour
• An Amethyst crystal
• And for my incense I chose Lavender. It's the closest in colour to violet. But for my it's a favourite flower and scent. Remember this is a personal altar
• A picture of Brighid as my birthday falls in the month of Imbolc
• A tarot card The Star as is this represents my birth sign Aquarius The Water Barer
• Hearts scattered on my altar and hanging on the wall for Valentines Day
• A lavender candle
• And of course it's my birthday, so a small cake with a candle (for the spell)

After those choices everything is literally personal to me. So this is also what is on my altar.

• A picture of myself as a baby with my Grandad Newton
• A picture of myself with myself. I used this picture because I have a camera in my hand and like Doctor Who, it has been with me all my life, photography not that camera lol I am a creative individual and photography is just one outlet for that creativity. The younger me in the picture is 5 years old
• I wanted flowers on my altar, so I chose yellow tulips. Again a personal favourite.
• A green cloth and a single green ribbon because I love green
• The is a small Buddha, because it was because of Buddhism I found the path to Paganism
• A TARDIS because Doctor Who has been with me all my life and I am still a fan
• A Torchwood ID card with Captain Jack Harkness, This represents two things. I became a fan of Torchwood via Doctor Who and it was because of John Barrowman aka Captain Jack, that I stepped out of the closet.
• A Rainbow googly eyed thing (I have yet yo identify) it's something I was given at the last Gay Pride I attended last year. Because I am gay

So that's my very personal altar. I set it up last night and when I sat and looked I confess to shedding a tear because this was part of who I am. Not all of me, but a part and it's very emotional I think when you see it like that. Especially when it's yourself that has done this.

So remember, when you do your birthday altar it's YOU that you should see there. Some of the things that mirrors the person you see yourself as.

Of course this wouldn't be a birthday altar with out a birthday wish spell!

Birthday Wish Spell

Firstly, i don't claim this spell as my own. I liked it because it's a lovely and in truth, a very old spell as we have been doing this for a very long time. So nobody can claim it as their own on the internet.

So now, nobody wants to be doing too much on their birthday. You want to relax and chill out with those you love, and this lovely and simple spell reflects that. This is all about the wish. now you could do this when you have your party. But for me this was personal moment. So I chose to have a small cake in my room. And an extra one for my party :P

For this spell all you need is:

• A candle. This doesn't need to be a big candle. One you would have on your cake is ideal. This technically should be a colour that represents you, such as your birth colour. In my case that's violet. But it's not always possible. So I chose a white one and has another candle that was the right colour on my altar (to tell the truth I wanted a candle on my cake :) )
• A cake. Well of course! It's your birthday! Mine is a red velvet cake. again reflecting the Valentines Day theme.

As I said, this is all about the wish. So light your candles. I lit all mine on the altar, as well as the one on my cake.

Close your eyes and think about your wish. When you have it, say the following and then blow out the candle.

"A year has come,

A years has passed,

I'll make my birthday wish at last,

Magic powers old and new,

Make my birthday wish come true!"

Blow out your candle!

I then added:

"I cast this spell with harm to non,

so mote it be my spell is done!"

And there we are. One simple spell, that is as old as the hills themselves! Enjoy your birthday! And now I shall join my family and await my sister Raven Moon and her hubby to arrive!

Beannachd

Pagan Hare

Valentine's Day: Pagan or Christian Holiday? Pagan Origins of Valentine's Day by Austin Cline

For me Valentines Days is kind of special for both myself and my parents. Not because I have a cue of suitors every year outside my door, but because I am a Valentine baby. I was, according to my parents, an extra special Valentine present. And your mum and dad are always right? Of course they are, they're your parents. But this Valentine baby is also a pagan baby and I thought it would be nice to either write or post something about the origins of this day and it's connections to both Pagan and Christian beliefs. Unfortunately I haven't had the chance to sit and write something myself. But I did find a good article about this very subject. And believe me, if you Google Valentines Day you will find a myriad of articles dedicated to this very subject. And do remember that this article is just one individuals view point. Like anything, read more.

So enjoy the following article written by Austin Cline and maybe dip your toe into the myriad to learn more.

Beannachd

Pagan Hare

Valentine's Day: Pagan or Christian Holiday? Pagan Origins of Valentine's Day

 by Austin Cline

Valentine’s Day as a Pagan Holiday:

Isn’t Valentine’s Day a Christian day, named after a Christian saint? When we consider the matter more closely, we don’t find a strong relationship between Christian saints and romance. There is a lot of debate and disagreement among scholars about the origins of Valentine’s Day. We’ll never be able to disentangle all of the cultural and religious threads in order to reconstruct a complete and coherent story, but the pagan connections to the date are much stronger than the Christian ones.

February 14th & Juno Fructifier or Juno Februata:

The Romans celebrated a holiday on February 14th to honor Juno Fructifier, Queen of the Roman gods and goddesses as well as goddess of marriage. In one ritual, women would submit their names to a common box and men would each draw one out. These two would be a couple for the duration of the festival (and at times for the entire following year). Both rituals were designed to promote not only fertility, but also life generally.

February 15th & Feast of Lupercalia:

On February 15, Romans celebrated Luperaclia, honoring Faunus, god of fertility. Men would go to a grotto dedicated to Lupercal, the wolf god, located at the foot of Palatine Hill and where Romans believed that the founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus, were suckled by a she-wolf. The men would sacrifice a goat, don its skin, and run around, hitting women with small whips, an act which was supposed to ensure fertility.

St. Valentine, Christian Priest:

According to one story, Roman emperor Claudius II imposed a ban on marriages because too many young men were dodging the draft by getting married (only single men had to enter the army). A Christian priest named Valentinus was caught performing secret marriages and sentenced to death. While awaiting execution, young lovers visited him with notes about how much better love is than war — the first “valentines.” The execution occurred in 269 CE on February 14th.

St. Valentine, Second and Third:

Another Valentinus was a priest jailed for helping Christians. During his stay he fell in love with the jailer’s daughter and sent her notes signed “from your Valentine.” He was eventually beheaded and buried on the Via Flaminia. Reportedly Pope Julius I built a basilica over his grave. A third and final Valentinius was the bishop of Terni and he was also martyred, with his relics being taken back to Terni.

Christianity Takes Over Valentine’s Day:

In 469, emperor Gelasius declared February 14th a holy day in honor of Valentinus instead of the pagan god Lupercus. This allowed Christianity to take over some of the celebrations of love and fertility which had perviously occurred in the context of paganism. Pagan celebrations were reworked to fit the martyr theme — Christianity did not approve of rituals that encouraged sexuality. Instead of pulling girls’ names from boxes, both boys and girls chose the names of martyred saints from a box.

Valentine’s Day Turns to Love:

It wasn’t until the Renaissance of 14th century that customs returned to celebrations of love and life rather than faith and death. People began to break free of some of the bonds imposed upon them by the Church and move towards a humanistic view of nature, society, and the individual. Moving towards more sensual art and literature, there was no shortage of poets and authors connecting the dawning of Spring with love, sexuality, and procreation.

Valentine’s Day & Divination:

As with so many other holidays that have pagan roots, divination came to play an important role in the development of modern Valentine’s Day. People looked to all sorts of things, primarily in nature, in order to find some sign about who might become their mate for life — their One True Love. There were also, of course, things which came to be used to induce love or lust.

Commercialization of Valentine’s Day:

Today, capitalist commercialism is the biggest aspect of Valentine’s Day. Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent on chocolate, candies, flowers, dinners, hotel rooms, jewelry, and other gifts used to celebrate February 14th. There’s a lot of money to be made from people’s desire to commemorate the day. Only Christmas and Halloween come close in the way that modern commercialism has transformed and adopted an ancient pagan celebration.

Valentine’s Day as a Pagan, Commercial Holiday:

Valentine’s Day is no longer part of the official liturgical calendar of any Christian church; it was dropped from the Catholic calendar in 1969. It’s not a feast, a celebration, or a memorial of any martyrs. A return to more pagan-like celebrations of February 14th is not surprising — and neither is the overall commercialization of the day. Millions of people all over the world celebrate Valentine’s Day in one fashion or another, but it’s unlikely that even one of them celebrates it in an even remotely religious manner.

This has resulted in some backlash among reiligious leaders in some societies. Some of the negative reactions are due to the pagan and commercialized elements, but some must be attributed to the long-term Christian character of the day. In India, Hindu nationalists threatened anyone caught observing any Christian holidays, including Valentine’s Day. Some young lovers ccaught in public together on Valentine’s Day were even assaulted. Government officials in Saudi Arabia prohibited Muslims from doing anything at all associated with Valentine’s Day.

A few Christians seem to be interested in restoring some semblance of religion to Valentine’s Day, though not in any traditional sense. They don’t want to use it as a means for memorializing saints, but as a means of evangelization. In Kansas, for example, Christians sent roses to high school girls that were accompanied by Bible verses. It’s not clear whether they were trying to reclaim a lost Christian holiday or merely trying to appropriate a secular, commercial holiday for their own purposes.

The truth, though, is that American culture has so taken over Valentine’s Day that no amount of Bible verses will be able to change things. Commercial interests make so much money from Valentine’s Day that they aren’t going to accept any changes that won’t lead to even more profits. Christians helped make Valentine’s Day a cultural holiday, and now it’s entirely out of their hands.

Article Source: About Religion ~ Valentines Day