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Showing posts from June, 2016

Summer Solstice

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Hello Everyone, I hope you enjoyed my last post. This post we will be looking at the Summer Solstice, folk lore, traditions and new concepts of this midsummer pagan festival. Solstice, or Litha means a stopping or standing still of the sun. It is the longest day of the year and the time when the sun is at its maximum elevation. Sumer Solstice lands on the 21st/22nd and sometimes 23rd of June, gracing us with the shortest day of the year. Many Neo Pagans celebrate this time of year with various rituals, camps and public ceremonies. The Earliest Midsummer festivals were that of the Celts who worshipped the sun god Belinos. They would light fires to add energy to Belinos and honour him. The Norse also celebrated midsummer when the goddess Sol is at the height of her power. Again the lighting of fire was the main focus of this time of year for the Norse. Also using the runes and honouring the god Tyr and goddess Sol. In the 1900's, Druids have been welcoming th...

Who Put Bella in the Wych Elm Tree?

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Hello Everyone, So since I last wrote in my blog, the weather has been amazingly warm and we have had some amazing storms also. On my day off, myself and my partner Raven went walking and found somewhere close to where we live in the West Midlands steeped in mystery, murder and lore. This place is Hagley Wood and the famous graffiti obelisk of Wychbury hill. On the 17th century obelisk in white graffiti is the sentence ' Who put Bella in the Wych Elm Tree?' After seeing this for myself I knew I had to research this to find out. The story starts in wartime Britain, four teenagers were passing through Hagley Woods and came across the body hidden in the hollow of a tree. Stories of Witchcraft, black magic, espionage and murder mystery ensued on the back foot of this horrific find.  Many Scholars on the craft including Owen Davies and Prof. Ronald Hutton have quashed the claims it was ritualistic or anything to do with 'The Nazi Cone' - a series of ritu...