The Yoga Bohemian

Hi! 🌙 So on July 31st/August 1st, at the time of Lughnasadh (or Lammas: "loaf mass"), we celebrate the first harvest - the grain harvest - and pause to acknowledge just how important that grain is to our sustenance and nourishment over the coming months. The first grain - the first loaf of bread - these are wonderful and important milestones in the wheel of the year. We are asked to give thanks and express gratitude for the abundance we are fortunate enough to experience. Why Lughnasadh? This Sabbat seems to me to shine a light on the way the individual and community pagan spiritual experience acts as a microcosm to the greater experience of the Earth as a whole entity.  We get a gentle reminder of the cycle of birth and death and rebirth, particularly characterised by the involvement of Lugh, god of light and fire. As the embodiment of the Sun, here the god is beginning to show signs of his waning power. We have passed midsummer where he was at his height and now he is givi

Hi! 🌙 So, Valentine's Day. A favourite celebration for the romantics amongst us. I don't mind admitting that I got a little mushy when a bouquet of flowers and some of my favourite wine and chocolates appeared in front of me this morning, courtesy of my Mr Marren!  But though this special day certainly didn't appear out of nowhere, as with many long-standing traditions, it's not 100% clear exactly how or when this all started. So I did a bit of digging  around and found a few potential scenarios...  "What have the Romans ever done for us...?"   If you've ever asked yourself that question, let me tell you all about the Pagan Roman festival of LUPERCALIA .  This celebration took place in Ancient Rome at the Ides of February (15th February). It was the festival of Faunus, god of agriculture and Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome. It celebrated the coming of spring and contained important fertility rites amongst the Roman people.  Priests of the Luperci