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Pagan aspects of belief have presented themselves in many ways and in many different cultures throughout history. This way of life has been around since before Christian times. Paganism is a polythiestic system of belief that focuses on the cycles of the year. This is mainly because, thousands of years ago, almost all people farmed to make a living and these farmers were superstitious, so to speak, and believed that they could effect the their environment. Since most of their daily lives revolved around the crops they planted and their family, rituals year round were developed to celebrate life and to wish upon their community good fortune in their family and farm.
Yule, celebrated on December 21st for Pagans, is the holiday which focuses on Winter Solstice. People would at this time ask the Gods for a prosporous new year to come. They also wished for survival during the harsh winters. Yule is the shortest day of the year, and the longest night. The usage of the colors red and green, the decoration of the Yule tree, and the exchange of gifts, are of original Pagan descent. When the Church of England attempted to convert all of England to Christianity, and the Christian holiday Christmas was decided upon to be made December 25th, most Pagan ways of celebrating Yule were kept in order to make the conversion easier for the people. This is why the word "Yuletide" still exists in the modern Christian world.
Candlemas, also known as Imbolc to the Celts, is celebrated on February 1st. This is midway between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox. The basic idea of this celebration was to banish the winter and bring in light and warmth. This was especially important for farmers because if their crops weren't started early enough due to cold weather, it was possible that they would have a bad year in their fields and not be able to feed their family. On this holiday, candles were lit in order to invite the fertile energy of Mother Earth to awaken. Groundhog Day has replaced Candlemas. Groundhog Day is the old belief that if the Groundhog (or Hedgehog) comes out of his home and sees his shadow, there will be a long winter that year.
Ostara, generally known as Spring Equinox, is celebrated on March 21st. Night and Day are of equal lengths at this time and Spring finally begins to start. The fertility of the land begins to awaken from the winter. The coloring of eggs is from old Egyptian practices, in which the eggs were painted red to symbolize fertility. The Ostara Bunny is a Pagan familiar that survived the conversion to the holiday that is now known as Easter.
Beltane, also known as May Day, is celebrated usually between the 1st and 5th of May, depending on the tradition. This festival prepares the earth for the warm season to come. The Maypole comes from old Pagan festivities when people gathered around a large pole with several ribbons tied from the top. These ribbons were colors of the season; greens, reds, yellows, and blues. People grabbed a ribbon and danced around the pole, weaving in and out of each other in the celebration of fertility and of life. This is still done sometimes outside of Pagan rituals, but during Easter.
Midsummer is celebrated on June 21st. Of course, this is one of the hottest days of the year and the longest day of the year. Wreaths were made from the flowers that had blossomed during the past couple months; red for sexuality and yellow for prosperity, and were given to the maidens. Midsummer is a celebration of the Sun King, since the sun is dominant at this time.
Lammas, also known as Lughnassadh to the Celts, is celebrated on August 1st or 2nd. This is the first of the three Harvest Festivals, where farmers did their first round of harvesting early grains, fruits, and vegetables that were ready to be taken. There is no holiday celebrated in modern days that is a derivitive of the old Pagan beliefs.
Mabon, Autumn Equinox, is celebrated on September 21st. This is the other day of the year when night and day are equal, and is the second harvest Festival. Farmers would harvest their corn and and other grains at this time.
Samhain, pronounced Sauw-wen, is what Witches consider their New Year, representing one full turn of the wheel of the seasons of the year. This is celebrated on October 31st, and is the last of the 3 Harvest Festivals. This is commonly known as Halloween, the night "spooks" come out. Old Pagan beliefs were that on this night, the veil between worlds were extremely thin, and you could practice divination very easily and contact those who have passed on. The practice of cutting faces into pumpkin gourds was done long ago to scare off bad spirits. All of these old Pagan practices are done now, most people unaware of their origins, in good fun.
Although these holidays were still celebrated, just in different forms, the Church accepted them as Christian celebrations. But during a time when there were bad crops, or the Church just wanted to scare people into making sure they were Christian, the Christian Churches put many innocent people to death because of their supposed Witchery.
Out of the estimated 9 million people burned, hung, or tortured to death on the charge of Witchcraft, only a few may have been followers of the Olde Religion, as people called it back in the old days. One of the most famous Witch trials was the Salem, Massachussets trial, in which 2 women were tried and found guilty of Witchcraft. It is speculated that Bridget Biship and Sarah Good actually were followers of the barely surviving Olde Ways. If this was true, then their confession of "serving the Devil" was false information given in order to keep the real secrets of the Craft from being told to the Church.
Many attempts were made to exterminate Witches throughout the years. For centures, anti-Christian campaigns continued throughout England until 1484, when Pope Innocent VIII produced his "Bull Against Witches." Then, in 1486, 2 german Monks, Heinrich Kramer and Jakob Sprenger, produced a book with intructions for prosecuting Witches. It was called Malleous Maleficarum or The Witch Hammer. In 1604, King James I passed his Witchcraft Act, but was repealled and replaced in 1736 with another act which stated that there was no such thing as Witchcraft and all of those who believe it existed were traitors to the Church.br>
In 1951, laws in England against Witchcraft were finally repealed. After the law was repealed, Witches were apprehensive to come out into the open, but a man by the name of Gerald Garnder set the path for others. He was the founder of Gardnerian Witchcraft, which is a tradition still alive today. Since then, hundreds of authors of the craft have helped followers of the Olde Religion gather together and worship by spreading the gospel and teachings of Witchcraft throughout the country.
Witches today can celebrate their festivals in the open with little fear of being put to death, but there is still fear of being discriminated against. Many festivals in America are held every year where Pagans can come together and celebrate the Sabbats and nature. Some of these are Free Spirit Gathering, Sacred Space Gathering, Pagan Spirit Gathering, The Harvest Festival, and a few Pagans can be found wandering around the Celtic Festival. We still live in a Christian-dominated society, and although we do not hate Christianity or any other religion, we have to sometimes keep out religion a secret in order to protect from being harassed or losing our jobs due to religious discrimination. Within the Pagan community, Witches who choose to keep their beliefs a secret from their daily lives are referred to as being "in the broom closet".
Covens and groves of Witches can be found all over the country following many different traditions. As the bumper stickers say, "We are Everywhere!".
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