Stories of the Earth: 8 Tales of the Wheel of the Year

By Cathy Pagano

Stories of the Earth: 8 Tales of the Wheel of the Year is a collection of sacred stories that describe the seasonal holidays: Winter Solstice, Imbolc, Spring Equinox, Beltane, Summer Solstice, Lammas, Autumn Equinox and All Hallows Eve.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ra Jones
• Release date: Dec 14, 2014
• ISBN: 9781628909449

Cathy Pagano

Cathy is a Jungian-trained psychotherapist, astrologer and Wisdom Coach.  She is also an initiated priestess of the Goddess.  These sacred stories of the seasons can be used for ritual celebrations.

Book preview

Stories of the Earth:

Eight Tales of the Wheel of the Year

––––––––

Writtern by

Cathy Pagano

Illustrations by

Elana Gibeault

Copyright@2013 Cathy Pagano

Ra Jones Publishing

Cathy Pagano is a Jungian-trained Psychotherapist, Astrologer and Wisdom Coach.  You can find out more about Cathy Pagano at:

www.wisdom-of-astrology.com

You can find out more about Elana Gibeault’s art work by writing her at:

[e-mail]

ISBN: 978-1-6289-0944-9 (e-book)

The picture on page 8 are in the commons.

You may share these stories as long as you attribute them to me.

These stories are

Dedicated to

The Children of Earth.

May we remember

Our Mother.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Introduction:  The Wheel of the Year

Winter Solstice: Yule

Candlemas: Imbolc

Spring Equinox: Ostara

The Magic of Spring: Beltane

Summer Solstice: Litha

The First Harvest: Lughnassad/Lammas

Autumn Equinox: Mabon:

All Hallows Eve: Samhain

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I hope that these tales will open your imagination

to the deeper, soulful energies of the seasons.

I know that Elana Gibeault’s illustrations,

full of beautiful details, will help spark your imaginations.

Introduction:  The Wheel of the Year

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Winter, Spring, Summer, Autumn—the cycle and circle of Nature's year.  In an age where most of us have lost touch with the life and rhythms of our Mother, the Earth, the cycle of the year is a sure way back into the Center of Life.  As we struggle to reclaim the lost heritage of our natural life rhythms, it is through the gateways of the Wheel of the Year that we can once again come to understand and accept the cycle of conception, gestation, birth, flowering, fulfillment, harvest, decline, and finally death, which returns to birth once more.  When we reclaim our connection to Mother Earth, we get back in touch with the essential things in Life!

Since our culture developed in the Northern Hemisphere, we name these gateways according to our experience of the absence or presence of the light of the Sun.  Our ancestors depended on the sunlight for food, warmth and life.  We still do, even if our modern society refuses to recognize this connection.  As we become more conscious of our connection to the Earth, we learn to accept both the light within us as well as our inner darkness, since our inner states are so often reflected in our outer lives.  Darkness is not inherently evil, as we’ve been taught by religions that divides the Divine Light from the Divine Darkness.  Darkness can also symbolize the Unknown or the Potential.  Our ancestors knew this and so celebrated the seasons to forge a strong bond with all the Cosmic Laws of Life.

When we look at how the Sun makes its yearly journey North and South of the globe of Mother Earth, we begin to see the imaginal stories that we are participating in.  This big story bonds us with Mother Earth, our solar system and with each other. We all live on this one planet and we are all subject to her Laws.  This is where we can find union with each other, despite our differences.  The Wheel of the Year provides us with a symbolic understanding of the changes we go through as the light waxes and wanes throughout the year.  (The Southern Hemisphere experiences this cycle at opposite times of year.) 

This cycle of the Wheel of the Year contains the archetypal bones of the processes of life.  When we participate in this larger Earth story, we can utilize the cosmic energy available at each season.  And we can have fun doing it!

At each of the eight gateways of the year, we connect to the natural laws governing this world and the cosmos.  Inner and outer become One, and Life's dramas are manifest.

Rituals are living symbols of an inner and spiritual grace.  As we celebrate the seasons, we symbolically participate in the eight stages of life.  Each stage offers us many gifts, and when we learn to live within the story of the season, we receive the grace it bestows and begin to understand and participate in the season around us. 

When I began celebrating rituals back in the 80s, I noticed that while we had many resources describing the structure and tools for rituals and which explained the meaning of the seasons, there weren’t any stories about the gateways.  And during the ritual there were no stories to evoke the feeling, the desires, the imagination of the energies we were invoking.  A story brings everything into focus for me.  And so, I searched for my own

These are the stories Mother Earth told me.  These tales grew out of my experiences.  I needed to yearn for the re-birth of the Light, feel sweet desire and wild abandon, sacrifice myself for others and learn how to let go of what no longer served my life.  Through the seasons, I waited to see what story came to me.  These stories are gifts, and they feel like the archetypal roots, the elemental stories that shape these gateways.  When you begin to celebrate these gateways, with consciousness and imagination, feel free to bring these stories into your circle.  And if you’re a good listener, perhaps Mother Earth will tell you another story. 

Until she does, these are the Stories of the Earth.

Winter Solstice: Yule

The Re-Birth of The Light

The Wheel of the Year begins at Winter Solstice, the birthday of the Sun and of our New Year.  This first gateway is the time when the northern hemisphere experiences more hours of darkness than hours of light in the day.  At the Autumn Equinox, the Sun begins its yearly journey south of the Equator, and at the Winter Solstice has moved as far South as it possibly can.  At Winter Solstice, the Sun seems to stand still for three days before it begins its journey back North. 

The time of greatest darkness!  And yet, it is within this time of great darkness that the sunlight seems to be reborn, because now the hours of daylight will begin to grow and the hours of darkness will lessen.  In the same way, the inner Light of Spirit is once again reborn out of the death and darkness of another year.  The story of the Divine Child’s birth resonates in our hearts because it is in the darkness of unknowing that we hope and pray a deeper Light and fuller life await us in the coming year.

Down through the ages, our ancestors expressed their connection with the Earth by celebrating these markers of the Sun’s journey through the year. 

In all cultures, the Winter Solstice is a time of thanksgiving, a time of rejoicing and a time of hope, when the beauty and truth of the Light is remembered and honored.  We light fires in hearths and in candles, gather together with our loved ones, give and receive presents, and make wishes for the New Year.  For this small space of time, we embrace the ideal of Peace on Earth, Goodwill toward All. 

At each of the eight gateways of the year, we connect to the natural laws governing this world and the cosmos.  Inner and outer become One, and Life's dramas are manifest.  It is at Winter Solstice

Reviews for Stories of the Earth

[Sophia Nielsen Carroll · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The stories are filled with beautiful images and move my soul.