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thecatsandthecrone · 4 months

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Wheel of the Year: Yule

Photo by Ksenia Yakovleva on Unsplash ☽🔮☾🕯🃏🌕🕸✨🍃🍄🧿🌙✩ 🪄📚

Yuletide, Yule, Christmas… one of the biggest festivals in the wheel of the year and definitely one of the most popular ones, as it got adapted into Christianity and popularized as the "day of the birth of Christ". It is now known, observed and celebrated all over the world, be the country Christian or not. Even if Christmas is celebrated the 25th of December, Yule os more commonly celebrated between the 21st and the 23rd December on the North Hemisphere and between the 21st and the 23rd of June in the Southern Hemiphere.

Yule comes right after Samhain and before Imbolc. While pagan in origin, Christianity took from it, adapted it and turned into the majour festival of this religion.This is also one of the easiest to celebrate big time without needing to come out of the broom closet: a lot of the imagery of Christmas actually mirrors that from Yule, in fact.

Yule is the celebration of the winter solstice. Yule celebrates midwinter, and the longest night of the year. What this signifies is that the reign of darkness is over, the tipping point has been passed, and the reign of light is coming back. From now on, days are becoming warmer and warmer, sunnier and sunnier and life will start to come back to Earth, as winter winds down.

We don't know exactly where the origin of the word "yule" comes from, but it is suspected it might come from Old Norse, the word “jól", which meant a celebratory feast. The festival also has ties to Germanic and Scandinavian gods such as Odin, and it also played a part on their folklore.

Yule is a time for rejoicing. It mainly celebrates letting go of the old, accounting for the past year, cleaning house and making room for the new, shiny coming things. It's a time for rebirth, new beginnings and hope. It is also a time for reflection and introspection, to make sure not to repeat the same mistakes of the past year, and to try to steer ourselves in the good direction. It is also a time to chase away the darkness through joy and merriment: ignoring that the harvests have ended and our reserves are almost empty, let's celebrate and make merry for the good times are coming soon!

It doesn't matter where you live: Christmas, and therefore Yule, has become so popularized and commercialized that you probably can celebrate it inside your home and outside the house for the entire month of December. In most countries of the world illuminations, jingles, people dressed up as something or other and all sorts of shiny decorations will help you get in the holiday spirit. This is also one of the strong suits of Yule: you can still celebrate as much as you want, deck the halls and get into the holiday spirit… while still being extremely subtle about the fact that you practice witchcraft !

If you'd like to celebrate Yule, here you have a short list of options available to you. Some might be more adecuate to solitary practice, others might be best if you are part of a coven.Some allow you to get all materialistic about it, while others will help you keep in touch with the more traditional, raw side of the festival. Whichever you choose, make sure to enjoy yourself and look forward to the hope and hapiness this event brings us !

-Candles: Ever wondered why candles feature so prominently in Christmas decor ? Well, it's part of an old tradition where candles and fires were lit for Yule, both to light up the longest, darkest night of the year and to honour the Sun and call it home. Both candles and fire are incredibly popular motifs for Yule and many traditions include them, so if you can, light some: battery candles will do as well !

-Decorate: It's pretty evident that decorating is also a big theme in Yule. Christmas has become extremely commercial and big, lavish, expensive decorations have become the go-to; but just like with all the other festivals you don't need to break the bank to bring that holiday spirit home. Buying commercial decorations is not the only way to deck the halls: crafting your own, or collecting seasonal items such as pinecones, holly or mistletoe from nature are all fantastic options. Just make sure you are not damaging any plants or taking any protected species (holly is endangered in many countries) and you are golden !

-Crafting: Yule celebrates the longest night of the year, which means up until then the hours of night, of dark and of cold have been too long to go outside. This makes Yule a great festival to sit by the bonfire (or by candlelight) crafting decorations. Sew, crochet, felt, draw or create in any way that pleases you both to decorate your house and to offer gifts to your loved ones. I would recommend creating an evergreen wreath: they are so simple to make and so elegant !

-Bake: Like I mentioned just before, the days before Yule are too dark and cold to be out of the house much. The harvest season has also ended, so fresh ingredients are lacking: baking with dry ingredients such as flour served a double purpose back in the day (cleaning up the pantry from non-perishables that would sustain you through winter and starting the oven that would light up the entire house). Cookies and biscuits are traditional, but so are breads, pies, cakes, pizza… highly caloric, sugary food is favoured as well: you need to put on some weight to be able to deal with the freezing winter temperatures!

-Feast: "Feast", "festival"… close enough. You can't have a festival without feasting, and what are you going to do, not eat all those delicious cookies you just baked ? To really honour the season and bring some good luck and prosperity your way, make sure to share that feast with your loved ones or to do some charity !

-Share: While Christianity and Christmas might have popularized the "charity" aspect of Yule, it was always important to share during this season: those neighbours that weren't as fortunate in the past year might be running low on supplies and ingredients. Therefore, sharing is extremely important during Yule if you have extra, no matter what shape it takes: share your abundance by inviting your loved ones to a feast, give lovely gifts to those around you, share your time and joy by volunteering at a soup kitchen…

-Divination: Yule is close enough to the end of the year that you might be wondering what it has in store for you. Using a pendulum, scrying, tarot, tasseomancy… any way is good to discover what the future might hold and to look forward to it.

-Deep cleansing: Yule is a moment of saying goodbye to the past and honouring rebirth and new beginnings, so it is a particularly auspicious moment to make inventory, clean house and make room for the new and coming. This might be more metaphorical (looking back in the past year and letting go of what didn't serve you) or more physical, like really cleaning your house. Cleanse yourself and your house and don't forget to protect yourself to keep the wacky energies at bay.

-Shadow work: Yule is a particularly good moment for self reflection, for looking into the past and for being honest with ourselves. Shadow work will help you come to terms with the most painful parts of your past and of yourself, make a clean break with them and, if you can't let them go, make strides to integrate them into yourself and to start the healing process.

-Honouring: Yule marks the day where the Sun, the brightness and the warmth start to return to us. It would be a good moment to honour the Sun, honour your deities, honour yourself and everything and all that have allowed you to come to this place. Meditation, self reflection, gratefulness, offerings to your deities… all things that help you feel connected to yourself and the world, and everything that makes you feel grateful and hopeful for the future, works here.

-Decorate your altar: We can't have a festival without decorating your altar ! Add colours, motifs and themes that remind you of the season to your altar. It's also a good option to add offerings to any deities you might work with.

Colours associated with Yule: White, black, red, green, silver, gold Crystals associated with Yule: Black obsidian, red jasper, carnelian, calcite, sunstone Food associated with Yule: Apples, spices, wine and alcoholic beverages, baked items, meat, berries, sweets

I hope you have enjoyed this post. If you would like me to continue making posts like this please support me so I can continue making them: you can support me by donating here https://ko-fi.com/bunnymatchamochi or by visiting my Etsy store here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/LovenestAtelier?ref=profile_header Reblogs and likes also help ! Thank you so much for reading me !

#witch #witchcraft #witchcraft 101 #wheel of the year #baby witch #1st of the month #wicca #witchling

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mo2k · 2 years

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hello! today, 20th of april, was the first day i started this blog and take up the writing hobby for the first time. i still can't get over how precious the year have went and how i've come across with such amazing people such as my moots. i can't fully express how grateful i am, thank you very much everyone, really. to celebrate this special day, as well as for my 400 milestone, i decided to host up a mini event! <3

" have you ever wonder of who your fictional s/o would be? let's find out! "

notice first!

- anons can join, but you must leave at least an emoji or a certain name

- due to me still having schools, your requests might take awhile. please be patient!

send me via ask :

- 3 words best describe you / a little about yourself

- fandom (haikyuu, mha, kny, aot, jjk, tokyo rev, knb; please choose only one!)

- feel free specify the gender of your match if you have, if not, i'd automatically leave it to my thoughts

- brief description of your ideal date

- your favourite colour

slots : 15 / 15 | closed!

thank you for joining, hope to see you again soon!

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lilahisntsadanymore · 2 years

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One summer Harry and his friends wander to the attic of Harry's aunt, Y/n Evans, house and find her old diary. It contains interesting things about her old life and relationship.

Part 2

Pairing(s): Sirius Black x evans!reader, Jily

The reader pronouns: she/her

Words count: 3.5k

Tw: none, the beginning is boring, it gets more interesting though

(y/n/f/l) - your name's first letter

A small part of this fanfic is inspired by Paper rings by the one and only miss Taylor Swift

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Secrets of the diary

Y/n, as the good godmother she was, really wanted to throw a party for Harry's thirteenth birthday. Of course, she firstly discussed it with Harry, who turned out to not want any 'big' party. It was the same each year and each year Y/n hoped the boy will say yes, but she wouldn't do anything against his will.

"Maybe you want to invite Neville?" Y/n asked. "I knew his parents... I suppose he's a good friend."

Y/n paused after the word parents, remembering what happened to them and where they're now. Everyday Y/n missed Lily and James, but she was glad they didn't end up like Alice and Frank. Maybe it was a mean thought, maybe it was egoistic, but Y/n wouldn't know how to act if her sister lost her mind and didn't recognize her. Well, it was almost like that with Petunia, whose only form of communication were Merry Christmas cards.

"I'm not really that close to him." Harry said. "But I wouldn't mind inviting him."

"Okay, good! So it's gonna be the Weasleys, Hermione and Neville. Are you sure you don't want anyone else?"

"Positive. They're enough."

And so it was settled. Around 4pm on the 31st of July the first guests were only four of the Weasley kids with Molly and Arthur, then Hermione and eventually Neville.

After Harry blew out the candles, opened his presents and everyone ate the birthday cake, the kids were free to do their stuff while the adults talked.

"Feel free to do whatever you want. I have some quidditch equipment in the cupboard under the stairs." Y/n announced.

The children ran outside to play quidditch. Y/n had enough brooms for them all, although Hermione and Neville preferred to stay on the ground.

Ron threw the quaffle to Harry, but the boy didn't catch it. Thankfully, the window on the top floor was open, because otherwise it would be broken.

"What? I'm a seeker, not a chaser." Harry laughed but then added. "I'll go get it."

Harry quickly went to the attic of the house. He hasn't been there before. There wasn't a need to. It was a typical attic. Not furnished with a little mess of unnecessary things threw around.

The boy found the quaffle, it wasn't difficult. But something else caught his attention. The quaffle landed nearby an old coffe table, but it wasn't the interesting thing. What really caught Harry's attention was a brown notebook on the table.

Harry took the notebook in his hand and examined it. He decided to open it.

September 1st, 1975

Dear diary

So it was a diary. Whose could it be? Well, most likely aunt Y/n's. She wouldn't keep someone's diary in her attic.

I'm so excited for my 4th year at Hogwarts. The welcoming feast was as boring as always, but James and Sirius kept mocking Dumbledore so we didn't die of boredom.

James was Harry's dad. But who was Sirius? Harry kept reading, hoping to find out.

I don't understand why Lily doesn't want to go out with James. He's so funny! If they don't date after this year, I'm playing matchmaker the next year.

Seems like it worked, Harry thought, good job aunt Y/n. Harry felt interested by the diary, but not in a nosy way. In a way of reading a good book and needing to know how it ends.

If I was in Lily's place, I'd go out with James. Not like I fancy him, I don't. I still like Sirius like that but I don't think he likes me back. Oh, someone's coming. Bye bye, diary.

And just like that, the door of the attic opened. Harry shut the diary closed and hid it behind his back.

"What's taking you so long, Harry?" Ron asked, Hermione walked in with him.

"Just... no- nothing." Harry stuttered.

"What's that?" Hermione pointed at the notebook.

"It's Y/n's diary from Hogwarts."

"I want to read it!" Ron exclaimed, grabbing the diary and opening it.

"It's her private memories, we can't read it, Ronald!" The girl scolded him.

"Then don't, I'm not telling you to."

Hermione opened her mouth, watching her friends sit down on the wooden floor. Harry and Ron's eyes were fixated on the page Harry opened the diary on before.

"A Sirius?" Ron asked. "But your aunt has been single, hasn't she?"

"She wrote he doesn't feel the same."

"Bloody hell, do you think she still hasn't moved on since then? It's been eighteen years."

"You really shouldn't read it." Hermione chimed in.

Ron ignored the girl, flipping a few pages. There was a picture sticked to this page. It was a photograph of young Y/n and a boy her age, both of them beaming. The boy had long, dark hair and well defined face features. Unlike every magical photograph, this one wasn't moving.

December 26th, 1975

Dear diary

I gave Sirius a muggle camera for Christmas and he was so surprised! Me and the boys took a few pictures and I got to keep one. Neither me or Sirius knew how to pose, so Remus took the picture when James told us a joke and we burst out with laugher.

On the Christmas day we talked about muggle traditions and how they/we kiss under the mistletoe. Sirius jokingly tried to kiss me, but I laughed it off. I really want it, but as I mentioned earlier he doesn't like me like that.

"So this is Sirius." Ron stated, taking one more look at the picture. "Y/n barely looks any different, she almost didn't age."

"Sirius looks so familiar." Harry said.

"I suppose he had kids, so his son might be at Hogwarts with us."

Hermione's curiosity conquered the will to protect Y/n's privacy. The girl sat next to her friends and peeked into the diary.

"He's Sirius Black!" Hermione gasped almost immediately. "The wizard who broke out of Azkaban recently."

"Bloody hell! Harry, your aunt fancied a criminal, can you believe it?"

"Maybe he wasn't so evil back in the Hogwarts years... he could be a nice friend, he looks... nice, I guess."

"Can you imagine a nice friend ending up in Azkaban? People don't go there for being too nice."

"Turn it to another page." Harry broke the small argue his friends were having.

The few next pages had some muggle camera photographs. Some pictures of Harry's parents, some of James and his friends, some of Lily and her friends, a few of just Lily and Y/n. And one more of Y/n and Sirius on the page of another entry.

February 15th, 1975 1976

Hey there, diary!

First of all, happy New Year! I haven't written in a while, but I've been so busy with school. I finally got some time to relax this weekend. Well, kind of... me and Sirius went on a date yesterday! Can you believe it? We went to Hogsmeade, the Three Broomsticks. James, Remus and Peter kind of crashed our date by peeking at us through the window, but it was quite funny.

I'm so happy, it feels like I'm dreaming. Maybe Sirius likes me like that after all... I couldn't be happier if he did. I wish I could read his mind through those beautiful grey eyes. His eyes always make me forget what I was about to say, there's something about his stare, it gives me weak knees and blanks my thoughts.

Later on when we were back in our common room, we were all chattering by the fireplace. I was tired and fell asleep on Sirius' chest. He fell asleep with his head leaning on mine. Remus took a picture of us! Embarrassing, but I couldn't throw it away.

And there it was - the photograph of Y/n and Sirius asleep together. Despite the fact that they were sleeping, they looked happy.

"They look good with each other." Hermione said in a dreamy tone of voice, gaining a nod from boys. "Skip to the next page."

"Skip to the next page?" Ron was scoffed. "Okay, miss It's-Her-Private-Memories."

The next entry's page was covered in drawings of many little hearts. In one that was bigger there was '(y/n/f/l)+S'.

February 20th, 1976

Oh Godric,

I can't believe I'm writing it, I can't believe it's happening. Me and Sirius are in a relationship!!! I am so happy. He asked me on a walk around the castle and then asked me out. I swear I'll always walk everywhere holding hands with him, I'll never let go of him (except for during classes). Now that we're dating I wanna kiss him all the time and keep complimenting his pretty eyes.

This entry isn't so long because nothing else happened, bye bye!

"Seems like Y/n was really into Sirius." Hermione laughed.

"Now I know why she kept this diary in a place nobody ever walks into." Harry added, also laughing.

"Let's see the next entry!"

And so they kept reading entry after entry, like the most interesting book. Each one of the trio quietly told themself internally to treat it just like a real book. Maybe they needed an explanation for being so nosy so they didn't feel guilty.

November 1st, 1977

Hello diary,

Yesterday's Halloween party was totally fun! We secretly threw it in our common room. Me and Sirius dressed up as Morticia and Gomez Addams from my favorite sitcom.

[a picture of people at the Halloween party, Y/n and Sirius on the first plan]

Lily had such a great costume too! [an arrow pointing at Lily] She was a vampire. Looks so realistic, doesn't she? Oh, I almost forgot! She and James are FINALLY dating, it took a while. They went through some ups and downs during their talking stage, but I'm happy for them [a doodle of a heart]. Parents wrote me that Petunia and Vernon got married recently, but me and Lily weren't invited.

"Morticia? What kind of a name is that?" Ron scoffed.

"It was made up for the show." Hermione explained. "The Addams Family is about a grotesque family with weird parents and even weirder kids."

Harry, Ron and Hermione skipped a few pages. Some had more pictures taken from a muggle camera, some had quotes from songs and poems.

On one page there was a magical photograph of Y/n and Sirius. They were somewhere that seemed like a meadow. The photograph was showing a short moment of the couple putting rings made of paper on each other's fingers.

Under it there was a little note.

I like shiny things, but I'd marry you with paper rings, that's right. Darling, you're the one I want, and I hate accidents except when we went from friends to this.

Under this none, there was another one, in a different handwriting. The trio assumed Sirius wrote it.

Pour toi, femme chérie, je crois. Que j'offrirais ma vie. Cent fois. Mais, satisfait de suivre ta loi, j'aime cent fois mieux vivre pour toi. Je n'aime rien au monde sans toi. Tout me plaît à la ronde. Par toi. Ma richesse et ma gloire, c'est toi. J'ai chanté... je vais boire. Pour toi.

(a/n: Pour toi ma chérie - Armand Gouffé)

"So... they were married?" Harry was confused.

"Of course not, the rings are paper." Hermione laughed. "I think it was a kind of a promise. Like when people give a promise ring when things get serious, but not serious enough for an engagement ring."

"Mione, do you speak French by any chance?" Ron asked. Hermione was smart, so it wouldn't be a surprise if she learned French out of boredom.

"No, but I recognize the poem. The translation went like 'For you, beloved wife, I believe. I would offer my life. A hundred times over. But, satisfied to follow your law. I like a hundred times better to live for you. I love nothing in the world without you. I like everything around. By you. My wealth and my glory, it is you. I sang... I will drink. For you'."

"They must've loved each other... why would they break up?" Harry wondered.

"Because he committed a crime." Ron reminded him. "The question is why would he commit a crime when he had such a happy relationship..."

So they kept reading in the order to find out. Things were getting more interesting with each page.

January 6th, 1980

Dear diary

I'm so excited, my sister is pregnant! The baby will be born in July. We don't even know yet if it's a boy or a girl, but Lily and James promised me and Sirius to make us the godparents. We will be the best godparents in the whole world!

Sometimes I think I'm getting too old to write a diary, that's why I've been writing less frequently. Life changed a lot after Hogwarts, obviously. Me and Sirius plan on getting married, but just not yet. We live together though and it's been great. We bought a house in Godrics Hollow near James and Lily. The amount of time we spend with them is even bigger compared to back in Hogwarts, not like I mind.

We talked about what jobs do we want and before Lily could say anything, James made sure to mention that they're too rich to work hahaha when his parents died, they left him a big fortune, but I'm sure James would rather have them back than their money. I honestly have no idea how I would deal with such loss. I'm lucky to have Lily, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter, so if a sad time comes, they're here for me. But that's just how we are - always supporting each other. I couldn't be more grateful for having these people in my life.

Everything seemed to be going alright, so the kids' curiosity wasn't cooled down. They wanted to read more, they needed to read more. Y/n's life really was like a book.

August 1st, 1980

Harry is born! His name is Harry and he is my nephew and my godson! He was born yesterday, on July 31st. We couldn't wait to see him, me, Sirius and James were waiting the whole time until the nurse said we can go in and see him. I'm not a baby-obsessed person, but I love him!

This entry was short. Well, you don't have much time for writing diaries when there's a baby around. Under the entry there was a moving picture of Y/n and Sirius holding a baby Harry and smiling at the camera.

P.S. Lily said we look good with a baby, but we don't really know if we want kids of our own! We would be happy to be the rich aunt and uncle, who buy the kid everything his parents don't allow him to have.

"You look so tiny on this picture!" Hermione pointed at the photograph.

"Obviously, he was a day old." Ron scoffed.

"I know, Ronald. Just, flip the page."

September 3rd, 1980

Hey there,

An entry after a month, amazing. We've been so busy with little Harry! He's so cute. If the sweetest sweet was a human, it would be him! I can't wait until he starts walking or says his first word. I wonder what will be his first word. Typically for most babies it's mama or dada, but what if it'll be auntie or uncle? Or Moony, or Wormy. Hahah I really can't wait to find out.

Seeing Harry growing up is a part of the reason why I hesitated when I wrote Dumbledore asking for a job interview. I would love to be back at Hogwarts and teach next generations, but it'd mean I would barely see Harry and my friends and my fiance. Fiance. Me and Sirius still haven't decided for a wedding date. We want to wait until Harry is at least one year old so that he could be there with us.

"Moony? Wormy?" Ron asked confusedly. "Who or what are these? I don't think they were mentioned earlier."

"I don't know either." Hermione said. "Maybe it were Harry's toys. Harry, do you remember any names of your toys?"

"Yeah sure, because everyone's remembers the names of their toys 13 years later." Harry laughed. "What are you waiting for? Let's read the next page!"

Next pages had many, many, photos. Some were taken from a muggle camera, some were magical. Y/n really liked this form of keeping memories.

August 4th, 1980

Hi diary

A few days ago was Harry's first birthday!!! Me and Sirius got him an amazing present...A TOY BROOMSTICK!!! Harry was so happy and James said he's a natural-born Quidditch player. I think so. After all, he has Quidditch in his blood, James was the best chaser back in our Hogwarts days.

Among other things that happened, well, I decided to take working easy. We are rich, so it's okay if I apply for a job at Hogwarts in a few years. Maybe when Harry turns 5? That's when he will go to a muggle primary school. Oh and I almost forgot to mention - me and Sirius finally picked the date for our wedding! December 18th. It's perfect, because it's right before Christmas and it'll be so snowy. We've always wanted to get married during winter.

There was a muggle picture of a 1 year old Harry with James and Sirius. The note under it said 'Harry with his dad and the best dogfather' written in Sirius' handwriting.

In this moment the kids heard footsteps coming to the attic. They put the diary on the coffe table right when Y/n walked in.

"What are you doing here?" She asked "Why aren't you with others?"

"We were uhhh..." Harry tried to think of an explanation, but before he said anything, Y/n continued.

"Is this my old diary?" The woman's eyes landed on the opened notebook.

"I'm so sorry, Y/n. We didn't mean to read it. It somehow happened. Even though Hermione tried to stop us."

"Hermione, Ron, could you join the others downstairs? I want to talk to Harry."

Hermione and Ron nodded and left the attic without a word. Before leaving, the boy gave Harry an 'I'm sorry' look.

Y/n sat on the floor next to Harry. The woman sighed, trying to keep a straight face. She wasn't angry with them reading her diary, but she didn't know how to react. For the past 12 years of Harry living with her, he hasn't done anything like this before.

"Harry," Y/n said quietly, "I want you to know, that I'm not angry, but it's not nice to touch people's private things."

"I'm so sorry, I just went here to find the quaffle after Ron threw it and I didn't catch it. The diary was lying here and-" The boy began explaining, but he was interrupted.

"I know, I know. Look, it's okay. You deserve to know about what happened in the past, but there are things you shouldn't find out about just yet, okay? Ask me the next time."

"Yes. I'm sorry."

The woman hugged her nephew as silence fell between them. How could she be angry with him? She couldn't, she knew he didn't go to the attic knowing from the beginning that there's this diary and he didn't mean to read it. 'It just happened'.

"Y/n?" Harry broke the silence. "Is this Sirius from your diary Sirius Black, the wizard who broke from Azkaban?"

Y/n stayed quiet for a little longer. What was she supposed to say? She didn't want to talk about it with anyone. Surely not with her thirteen years old nephew.

"These are the things you shouldn't find out about yet." The woman laughed it off, getting up from the floor. "You should go join your friends, Harry. You're the birthday boy today after all, aren't you?"

Harry ran downstairs with the quaffle in his hand to continue playing with his friends. Y/n stayed in the attic. She took the opened diary in her hands and read the page. Y/n remembered the day well. But it was the last entry.

After it, there was a letter written on a ripped out piece of paper. Y/n was supposed to send it, but she never did.

Sirius,

It's been a month, but I still can't comprehend what happened. Me and Remus are devastated. I don't believe you are the traitor, you would never betray any of us, especially not your best friend and his wife. Remus has a different opinion, we had an argue and now we barely talk.

Why can't they just check your wand? They'd see it wasn't you who killed Pete and those muggles. Or why can't they give you Veritaserum? They're so incompetent. But they will let you go, they wouldn't keep an innocent man in Azkaban.

Forever yours, Y/n

Y/n ripped the letter to pieces and hid her face in her hands. Her eyes teared up. She sat there, crying. They didn't let him go. He had to spend 12 years in Azkaban for a crime he didn't comitt. But he was free now. When was he going to come to Y/n? Was he going to want to see Harry?

#Sirius Black x reader #marauders x reader #Sirius Black one shot #Sirius Black #Marauders #Golden trio era #hp fanfic #hp one shot #hogwarts

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thecatsandthecrone · 1 year

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The Wheel of the Year: Beltane

Photo de CHUTTERSNAP sur Unsplash

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May 1st marks Beltane on the wheel of the year (at least, in the northern hemisphere. In the southern one, it is celebrated in the 1st November). This celebration comes right after Ostara and before Litha. Beltane is one of the less well known festivities because other religions, because even if Christianity integrated it into their story they didn't link it to any "religious events" so Beltane stayed a minor festival, known as "May Day" and celebrated in areas of celtic or christian tradition.

Beltane celebrates life, fullness and lushness. What this festival highlights is spring at its peak, right in ists middle, and the impending return of summer. In Ireland and other countries of Celtic tradition this festival celebrates the first of summer ! As such, this festival is a time to make merry, to let loose and enjoy nature's beauty in its fullest and at its most charming ! As it is to be expected the main theme of this festival is exhuberance, excess and fertility. In antiquity, it was customary to partake in different fertility rituals, such as lighting two fires and having your cattle pass through, dances and the traditional May Pole (where girls would hold a ribbon attached to a massive pole in the middle of the field, and then dance around it, braiding the ribbons in different patterns). While most of this traditions are long gone, lighting fires, dancing and merrymaking are still important parts of this festival ! In its origin, Beltane celebrated the day where cattle could be again be brought to pastures, as well as the Earth's natural rythms. In certain traditions such as wicca, this festival is also used to celebrate fertility gods (such as Cernnunos or Belenus) or the moment where the feminine and masculine energies of nature are at its strongest, and at their most attractive ! The name Beltane might come from Celtic, meaning "bright fire", or "the fires of Bel", referring to Belenus. This is a good moment to rejoice and be grateful for the blessings bestowed upon us, to ask nature or any deities we worship to bless us, to enjoy being ourselves, alive in this crazy world and to partake and share joy with our loved ones. Beltane is a moment of excess, of celebration and of sensual pleasures: eating and drinking well, spending a good time with friend and enjoying the wealth of gifts that nature has in store for us ! This festival honours is associated with the maiden aspect of the Goddess (in the shape of a sensual maiden that will soon become a mother). It celebrates different Gods, mostly those related to exhuberance, energy (specially virile energy), fertility and lust: Cernunnos, Belenus, Father Nature, Apollo, Baal... but plenty of feminine godesses linked to fertility, sensuality or motherhood: Mother Nature, Venus, Ceres... Likewise, this day brings up lush, exhuberant and lively associations: plenty of phallic or yonic imagery,the Sun, fires, holy wells or springs, the maypole, flowers, greenery, merrymaking... It is for this reason that handfasting and marriages were traditionally celebrated during this festival as well ! There are plenty of traditions associated with Beltane, but not all of them might be reasonable for the modern witch living in a metropolitan city. For example, you could join a maypole dance if you were so lucky as to find one. You could also light a bonfire if you had the room and the permission of your local council. If you have cattle, definitely take them out to graze. If you have a partner or partners, by all means practice fertility or sensuality rituals as long as you have their consent. Here are some other ways to celebrate that might be more doable to witches that do not live in an Irish cottage in the XVIIth century:

-Feast: While Ostara was a good time for fasting Beltane is a good time for feasting. Today is not the time to count calories ! Enjoy plentiful, good food by yourself or in the company of your loved ones. A picnic under the Sun, next to a river or a barbeque would be particularly fitting ! Some foods particularly associated with Beltane might be any sort of animal products, fruits (particularly those associated with sexuality and sensuality), grains such as oats, wheat or barley, spices (specially hot spices, as they are associated with fire and the Sun) and of course, alcoholic drinks (or their non-alcoholic version if you don't drink). -Dance: Dance has always been associated with sensuality and merrymaking, to the point that certain cultures used to frown upon it. If you want to enjoy Beltane to the max let loose and dance: outside or inside, by yourself or with others, to any kind of music... just dance your heart out and take this moment to truly connect with yourself, your body and enjoy being alive as much as you can ! -"Bonfire": No big bonfire in your area ? No room to make your own ? No problem. Microdose bonfires with a barbeque, or light candles if you can. The fire will still represent and honour the Sun just as much as with a big bonfire ! -Gather flowers: In Celtic tradition it was popular to collect and decorate with yellow flowers, as they were used to represent the Sun. Sunflowers are particularly fitting, but dandelions and narcissus are also very good. You could even make dandelion wine, dandelion lemonade or syrup with the flowers you pick up !

-Wear flower crowns: As Beltane is heavily associated with lushness and fertility flowers are another good image that they link to. Wear flowers in your dress, gather flowers or wear flower crowns to celebrate your own body, sensuality and sexuality. -Fertility or sensuality rituals: Performing rituals is a good way to celebrate this festivity, as it was traditional in antiquity. Of course, fertility, sensuality and sexuality rituals are the most fitting for this season but you can also do rituals honouring nature or honouring the deities related to this festival. -May pole: No maypole where you live ? Not an issue: Create your own with a twig or a lollipop stick, ribbons and perhaps a crystal to top in off. You probably won't be able to dance while braiding it, but you can still jam to some tunes as you do so ! -Prepare a May basket: In antiquity people would often prepare little baskets full of flowers or different goodies for their loved ones and friends. Share the joy and merrymaking by making a little basket filled with flowers and treats, be it for yourself or for your friends. -Decorate your altar: As with every festivity now would be a great time to deck your altar in the colours of the season and include some fitting decorations. If you aren't shy about sexuality, images of the God and Goddess might be good options, and so would be phallic or yonic symbols. Other options might be flowers, crystals, ribbons or objects that represent the Sun.

Colours associated with Beltane: Red, yellow, orange, white, green, gold Crystals associated with Beltane: Garnet, carnelian, tiger's eye Food associated with Beltane: Meat, dairy, eggs, honey, grains, fruits, alcoholic drinks.

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