3/1/2021
March Madness![]() Today is the first day of March, so did you say “Rabbit, rabbit” for good luck? This day has considerable significance, magickally speaking: For fellow Welsh / Cymric people, it is St. David’s Day, or Dydd Dewy Sant. This Catholic feast day honors a Celtic Christian clergyperson and aesthetic, who was said to be able to work miracles, including bringing a dead child back to life. However, the day has become more about pride in Welsh culture and national honor than about religion. There are parades, festivals, and music and dance – usually, for in this year of plague, almost everything is still shut down. However, we’re still wearing our daffodils, the symbol of Cymru (ours are cloth, because here in MI, there is still snow on the ground, and no flowers are showing yet). We’re going to eat Cawl, a stew made of lamb, beef or pork, containing turnips, rutabegas, and other root vegetables, cooked in a cauldron, with dark beer and whiskey added for flavor. We’ll toast our ancestors with shots of whiskey, and listen to Welsh music, and do Beating the Bounds – a video of which will appear on this site, as well as on You Tube. For all practitioners of Witchcraft, magick, and Pagan traditions, March first was the first day of the Salem Witch Trials in 1692 in Massachusetts. The hysteria over witches had actually been going on since the 1100s in Europe, but they got especially bad in the British Isles during the Protestant Reformation and the reign of King James VI. Here in the USA, the craziness took place with the hysterical invectives of some teenage girls seeking attention… which can happen again at any time… for example, the McCarthy era during the 1950s, when accusations of Communism led to trials, people losing their careers and reputations. We see this event mirrored in today’s “cancel culture” where false accusations can ruin people’s lives. Remember the Witch Trials, and the people who were imprisoned, and even died. Bendythion. Weather-wise, March is said to come in like a lion, and leave like a lamb, or vice-versa. This means that if there is snowy, rainy, windy or cold weather on March 1st, then on March 31st, it will be sunny and warm. Or the other way around. Today is chilly and windy, yet the sun is shining in Michigan, so we’ll see where we go. On March 1st is the Roman holiday called Matronalia, which celebrates motherhood. Mater means “mother” in Latin. The Goddess of childbirth, Juno Lucina, was honored in ancient Rome and in the territories which were colonized. Gifts were given to mothers and women who take on a motherly role. This event was later rolled into the Mother’s Day holiday on the second Sunday of May. Hence, today we revere mothers – biological mothers who gave birth, stepmothers, adopting mothers, foster mothers, grandmothers who care for their grandchildren, mothers who take care of neighborhood kids, mothers who work for charities and causes. The Three Matronae were a representation of an actual Triple Goddess, statues of which can be found throughout Europe. So call your mom! |
A.C. Fisher Aldag
Chronicler of Cymric Folklore, Granmother and grouch. Enjoyer of good food. Archives
February 2025
Categories |
Publications
Woman Afraid of Water from City Owl Press
Common Magick from Llewellyn Worldwide Witches & Pagans # 38 & # 39 from BBI Llewellyn's Witches' Companion 2022, 2023 & 2024 from Llewellyn Worldwide Llewellyn's Spell-a-Day Almanac, 2025 from Llewellyn Worldwide |
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