Purification and Spring.

Now is the time of Spring cleaning and purification for many who follow Dea. For some, herbs such as Wolfsbane (pictured to the right) are components in washes that they use through out their homes. Herbs of purification are added to water that is used to mop and clean in one's home to lend some of their magical essence into the cleaning. Some herbs, like Wolfsbane, are used to deter malevolent entities from causing problems. Other herbs, such as Sage and Rosemary, are burned and used as incense to evoke positive energy into a space.

For many Christian folks, this is the time of year where preparations are made for Easter. In the Catholic tradition, today is Shrove Tuesday. It is the last day of the season before Lent and often marked with an indulgence into luxuries that are to be given up during the 40 days of Lent. Within the Filianic traditions, something similar is observed.

The Filianic calendar is a solar based calendar. The thirteenth month and fifth season of the Filianic calendar is known as Moura. It is reckoned to begin on February 20th and is considered to be a time of purification and preparation. During this twenty eight day month, the people of the Filianic traditions will clean their homes and make inward preparations (at times including fasting or abstaining from luxury activities) to purify themselves. This act of purification is not mortification of the flesh or abstinence for the sake of appearances of piety.

The acts of purification of the month and season of Moura serves to focus oneself upon the Daughter and the aspects of the mythos that describe her descent into the Underworld, her death, and her resurrection. The month and season of Moura concludes on the eve of the Equinox. The Equinox observed as the time of the death and rising of the Daughter. It is considered a day apart from the calendar and something that stands outside of time.

This is not only the time of year where I make ready for the renewal of all things with the arising of the Daughter but also when I make preparations for the return of renewed life in the world by way of plants springing up green from the previously barren seeming ground. In this, I see the revivification of Freyr. Freyr, who is slain in the time of the autumnal harvest for the sake of the fertility of the land returns to life again. The long, cold winter, is the time where he journeys to Hela's hall and then back. When he awakens from the sleep of death, it is my understanding that Gerda embraces him and the world becomes flush with life's vigor.

Part of my efforts to clean and purify, to summarize, are for the sake of the Daughter and as meditation upon the sacred drama that unfolds around her. Part of my efforts to clean and purify are to prepare for the coming spring and the vigorous presence of the God of the Grain.