becomingkate (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
becomingkate) wrote2013-09-19 11:52 am
becomingkate) wrote2013-09-19 11:52 am
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Some people have expressed interest in my study of Wicca. I mentioned I have a display, which is on top of my dresser in my room. I don't use it for rituals or anything but just as a display, a representation of the symbols of the season. It was kind of what I had going in the display in our living room before I even started studying Wicca, except this is a little more personal and I hope to keep up with it better.
The first display I did was the celebration of the dark mother. I read about it in one of my about.com e mails and I googled a little bit and got some ideas for the display. I have red and yellow flowers, a black sprig of something and wheat, an empty basket and a red candle for Demeter and a black one for Persephone. The flowers are not real, I wish they were, but where would one find black flowers, and also I planned on leaving this up so long that the real flowers would be dead soon anyway, not sure if this would really be a good idea.
This display symbolizes the Greek myth of Demeter, the goddess of grains and fertility and Persephone, her daughter. Basically Zeus, Persephone's father, promised Persephone to Hades, god of the underworld, behind Demeter's back (that's another story). Demeter was so distraught, she tried to get Persephone back, but Persephone had already been tricked into eating pomegranate seeds in the underworld, which meant she could never permanently leave. She was allowed to come back for a few months each year. Demeter, in her grief, doesn't let anything grow when Persephone lives in the underworld. Hence, winter.
The black candle and black leaves represent Persephone and the colored items represent Demeter.
So, long story short, the celebration of the dark mother is a celebration of darkness, of the end of the life cycle.
Today I changed it to a Mabon display. Mabon is a holiday in celebration of the harvest. I filled the basket with pumpkins and gourds and swapped out the red candle for a white one. Mabon is about balance, darkness and light because of the day and night becoming the same length on that day.
Sorry if the images are too big. I'm going to keep playing with it if it is. Also sorry the second one is a bit blurry.
The first display I did was the celebration of the dark mother. I read about it in one of my about.com e mails and I googled a little bit and got some ideas for the display. I have red and yellow flowers, a black sprig of something and wheat, an empty basket and a red candle for Demeter and a black one for Persephone. The flowers are not real, I wish they were, but where would one find black flowers, and also I planned on leaving this up so long that the real flowers would be dead soon anyway, not sure if this would really be a good idea.
This display symbolizes the Greek myth of Demeter, the goddess of grains and fertility and Persephone, her daughter. Basically Zeus, Persephone's father, promised Persephone to Hades, god of the underworld, behind Demeter's back (that's another story). Demeter was so distraught, she tried to get Persephone back, but Persephone had already been tricked into eating pomegranate seeds in the underworld, which meant she could never permanently leave. She was allowed to come back for a few months each year. Demeter, in her grief, doesn't let anything grow when Persephone lives in the underworld. Hence, winter.
The black candle and black leaves represent Persephone and the colored items represent Demeter.
So, long story short, the celebration of the dark mother is a celebration of darkness, of the end of the life cycle.
Today I changed it to a Mabon display. Mabon is a holiday in celebration of the harvest. I filled the basket with pumpkins and gourds and swapped out the red candle for a white one. Mabon is about balance, darkness and light because of the day and night becoming the same length on that day.
Sorry if the images are too big. I'm going to keep playing with it if it is. Also sorry the second one is a bit blurry.