Wheel of the Year

In the mundane sense, Wiccans acknowledge December 25th as a holiday, just like the Jews, Hindus or Buddhists do in Canadian culture which is primarily Christian based. Our equivalent to Christmas is called "Yule". In fact, Yule is the Pagan holiday that the Christians renamed Christmas when the "new religion" became the governing power in society. Wiccans celebrate eight (8) "holy" days (hence the name "holiday") a year. They are:

YULE:December 20th/21st. The rebirth of the sun. The Winter Solstice.

IMBOLC: February 2. Candlemas/Festival of Light. First stirrings of Spring.

OSTARA: March 20th/21st. The Vernal/Spring Equinox. Egg Festival.

BELTANE: May 1st. May Day. Fertility Festival.

LITHA: June 20th/21st. Midsummer Night. The Summer Solstice.

LAMMAS: August 1st. The First Harvest. The first breads from new crops are baked.

MABON: September 20th/21st. The Autumnal Equinox. The Second Harvest.

SAMHAIN: October 31st. End of the Year. Summer's End. The Final Harvest.

The ancient people believed that by acknowledging the turning of the wheel and honouring the earth, the sun and the moon, the cycle of life would continue.

Our Honeymoon

Since we have asked you for your assistance with our honeymoon, we thought that it would be nice to share our itinerary with you. We are cruising Northern Europe and the northern Atlantic. Our cruise is actually back-to-back 10 and 15 day cruises on a brand new Holland America ship called the ms Eurodam. We have added a link to her blog earlier in our blog. She is still being built and they add to her blog on a daily basis. It is really interesting to watch how they build a cruise ship (did you know that all of the cabins are pre-formed and installed as individual units)? Our cruise will be her second sailing. The journey is aptly called: 25-DAY VIKING WORLDS (following in the "footsteps" of the Vikings as they crossed the Atlantic).

On the evening of August 3 we will be flying (Air France) to Copenhagen, Denmark where we will board our ship on the 4th of August and start our adventure.

Our Itinerary:

0 Copenhagen, Denmark
1 At Sea
2 Tallinn, Estonia
3 St. Petersburg, Russia
4 St. Petersburg, Russia
5 Helsinki, Finland
6 Stockholm, Sweden
7 At Sea
8 Waarnemunde (Berlin), Germany
9 Arhus, Denmark
1 Copenhagen, Denmark
11 Oslo, Norway
12 Stavanger, Norway
13 Bergen, Norway
14 Torshavn, Faroe Islands
15 At Sea
16 Reykjavik, Iceland
17 At Sea
18 At Sea
19 At Sea
20 St. John's, Newfoundland
21 St. Pierre, France
22 Sydney, Nova Scotia
23 Halifax, Nova Scotia
24 At Sea
25 New York, New York


We are currently studying the shore excursions that are available. For those of you who have been to any of these cities, please feel free to add comments about what we should see - there is so m

What is Wicca ??????? Part 2

Wiccans have no deity that is associated with the Judeo-Christian concept of the "devil". For one to believe in the "devil" or "Satan" one must be a believer of the Christian faith. Wiccans cannot go to Hell because we do NOT believe in Hell. If we don't believe in the devil we certainly do not believe in its "home". Wiccans have a strong belief in PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY and the LAW OF KARMA - a natural law. Wiccans believe that whatever one does will return to them three times (good or bad) and not necessarily after one dies but possibly in this life.

What you send forth comes back to thee,
So ever mind the rule of three.
Follow this with mind and heart,
Merry ye meet, and merry ye part.

The Wiccan Rede is the "law" that we live by:

Bide the Wiccan Law you must,
In perfect love and perfect trust.
Eight words the Wiccan Rede fulfill,
If you harm none do what you will.

What is Wicca????????

Wicca is a spiritual system that fosters the free thought and will of the individual, encourages learning and an understanding of the earth and nature thereby affirming the divinity in all living things. It teaches responsibility - we accept responsibility for our actions and deeds as clearly a result of the choices we make. We do not blame an exterior entity or being for our shortcomings, weaknesses or mistakes.

Wiccans believe in a "Supreme Being", not as a single entity but as a God and Goddess. All living things are produced by the union of the male and female energies and every living thing contains a balance of these energies, hence the female is just as important as the male and the God and Goddess are EQUAL.

Wicca is an Earth-centred religion that works closely with the elements of nature and recognizes the "divine" in all living things.
Universally, Wiccans honour the Earth and all of Her creations, celebrate the changing of the seasons as they are our holidays, worship the Goddess and God and conduct our rites in "circle" which is sacred space that can be anywhere.

Wishing Well

Most of all, we want you to share our special day. If you were thinking of a gift, we would really appreciate a donation to our Wishing Well to help us pay for our honeymoon, but should you want to give a traditional item, we would love that also. But, again, we want you with us at our handfasting more than anything else.