Hazel Rose

Misconceptions about the Witch-Trials

Debunking the So-Called “Dark Ages”

Was Giordano Bruno Really a “Martyr for Science”?

Who Was The First God?

Did Ancient “Pagans” Really Worship Nature?

Was the “Green Man” Really an Ancient Pagan Deity?

Misconceptions about the Library of Alexandria

Modern Stereotypes About Ancient Civilizations

Ancient Greek Misogyny

Why Did The Patriarchal Greeks And Romans Worship Such Powerful Goddesses?

Did the Ancient Greeks Really Believe in Their Myths?

Did the Ancient Greeks Ever Climb Mount Olympos?

What Evidence Is There for Atheism in Ancient Greece?

No, the Romans Did Not Just “Steal” All the Greek Deities

What Was the Conversion of the Roman Empire to Christianity Really Like?

Things That Did Not Cause the Fall of the Roman Empire

No, Transgender People Are Not a Sign of Cultural Collapse

Christian Adaptation of Pagan Iconography

Greek Writers Quoted in the New Testament

No, the Christian Cross Is Not Based on the Egyptian Ankh

Just How Pagan Is Christmas Really?

No, Santa Claus Is Not Inspired by Odin

The Long, Strange, Fascinating History of Santa Claus

The Origins of the Christmas Tree

The Not-So-Pagan Origins of Easter

No, Easter Is Not Named After Ishtar

No, Groundhog Day Is Not of Ancient Pagan Origin

Here’s How We Know the Canonical Gospels Were Originally Anonymous

Lucifer Is Not a Name for Satan!

Was Jesus Copied Off the Egyptian God Horus?

Was Jesus a Communist?

What Does the Genesis Creation Story Mean?

Is Everyone Really Born an Atheist?

No, There Isn’t a Conspiracy to “Hide the Truth” about Ancient History

Who Are The Illuminati Really?

The Ancient Astronaut Hypothesis Is Racist and Harmful

The Truth about Atlantis

What Do Conservatives Really Mean When They Talk about “Western Civilization”?

The "Hero's Journey" is Nonsense

Jordan Peterson Does Not Understand Mythology

Jordan Peterson Does Not Understand Ancient Languages

New bandana, new bandana!!! I call it the summoning scarf (I love an alliteration) it’s now available on my Et*y. And I will have it to debut at Denver Fan X!

The new magic stops working after three days and every spell uses proprietary runes.

apologies for getting to this so late! here’s a compilation of potential arguments that may arise and can be combated with Abrahamic knowledge and information:

 ”Easter is based on Ishtar! The names are pronounced the same!”: here’s a pronunciation of the word “Ishtar”. they do not sound the same, they are not based off one another.

“Ishtar’s symbols are eggs and bunnies, which means they’re based on fertility!” According to Gods, Demons, and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia: An Illustrated Dictionary by Jeremy Black and Anthony Green, her symbols are lions and the eight pointed star. while she is associated with fertility, she is not associated with eggs or bunnies.

“Where do the eggs come from, then? what do they have to do with Christ?” a lot, actually. eggs have multiple meanings. Here is information on the boiled egg on the Passover Seder Plate. Here is the story of Mary and the Red Egg, which gives us information on why those eggs may be painted. Here is another collection of stories that involve eggs regarding the resurrection.

“Where do the bunnies come from, then? what do they have to do with Christ?” the symbol of the Three Hares shows up frequently within Abrahamic religion. each religion has a different interpretation, but Christianity in particular associates the hares with the Virgin Mary, as it was believed hares could produce young without losing their virginity. (click through to “What does this symbol mean?”)

“Easter and Ostara are the same thing!” Easter and Ostara will never be on the same time. Ostara is always on the Spring Equinox, while Easter is always the Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox.

“Why would Easter be based on a Lunar Calendar? That’s not how Christianity works!” However, that is how Judaism works, and the holiday is invariably tied with the timing of Passover.

“Easter HAS to be pagan though! what other holiday could it be based on?” Passover. The time of Jesus’ resurrection took place during the end of Passover. this is shown by virtually all other places in the world having Easter referred to by some variation of the word Pesach, which is Passover. Packsha, Pacshal, Pasqua, and Pasden are all examples of other names of Easter in other countries.

“But here, it’s called Easter, like the Goddess Eostre!” Is is referred to as some variation of Easter in two countries, Germany and America. Eostre was originally the name of the entire month of April in Germany, and the only citation we have of Eostre existing is a monk in the eighth century who wrote that a festival happened during this month in its name. and that is literally all of the information on said “goddess”. it is actually contested whether or not she even existed.

Blessed is the furnace, Little light, strange hearth, Whose hidden flame and metal parts Have kept us warm at night. I waken and protect you now, That you may weather the storm.

Blessed is the stove, Kitchen heart, lifeline, Whose flame and coils Have kept us fed and given us our tea. I waken and protect you now, That you may weather the storm.

Blessed are the doors and windows, Gateways to the outdoors, Whose locks and knobs Have shielded us from dangers natural and human. I waken and protect you now, That you may weather the storm.

Blessed are the house-cracks, Nooks and crannies, house-charm, Whose creaks and pops Are welcome signs of your spirit. I seal and protect you now, That no wind or water may find their way through you And that you may weather the storm.

For all my witches out there, here’s a handy list of the 2026 dates for the solstices, some commonly-referenced holidays, full and new moons, planetary retrogrades, and special celestial events. I’ve listed my sources at the bottom. This year's listings have also been updated to include full moon and seasonal observance dates for the Southern Hemisphere.

Dates and times for all events are calculated for Eastern Daylight Time (GMT -5). Adjust for your location as needed and check the DarkSky Placefinder to see what special events will be visible in your area.

Please Note: This is not meant to be a universal or infallible system of making seasonal or lunar days of import for witches and pagans. Readers should take their own paths and beliefs into account, and are also encouraged to create their own seasonal calendars, holidays, and observances based on your local biome and personal preferences. Enjoy!

Northern Hemisphere Solstices, Equinoxes, & Cross Quarter Days

February 1-2 - Imbolc / Candlemas / High Winter

March 20 - Spring Equinox / Ostara

April 30-May 1 - Beltane / May Day / Walpurgisnacht

June 20-21 - Summer Solstice / Midsummer / Litha

August 1 - Lughnasadh / Lammas / Summer Harvest

September 22-23 - Autumn Equinox / Mabon / Fall Harvest

October 31 - Samhain / Halloween / Final Harvest

December 21 - Winter Solstice / Midwinter / Yule

Northern Hemisphere Full Moons

January 3 - Wolf Moon ♋ (Supermoon)

February 1 - Snow Moon ♌

March 3 - Worm Moon ♍ (Lunar Eclipse/Blood Moon/Micromoon)

April 1 - Pink Moon ♎

May 1 - Flower Moon ♏

May 31 - Blue Moon ♐

June 29 - Strawberry Moon ♑ (Micromoon)

July 29 - Thunder Moon (aka Buck Moon) ♒

August 28 - Sturgeon Moon ♓ (Lunar Eclipse)

September 26 - Harvest Moon ♈

October 26 - Hunter’s Moon ♉

November 24 - Frost Moon (aka Beaver Moon) ♊

December 23 - Cold Moon ♋ (Supermoon)

Southern Hemisphere Solstices, Equinoxes, & Cross Quarter Days

February 1-2 - Lughnasadh / Lammas / Summer Harvest

March 20 - Autumn Equinox / Mabon / Fall Harvest

April 30-May 1 - Samhain / Final Harvest

June 20-21 - Winter Solstice / Midwinter / Yule

August 1-2 - Imbolc / Candlemas / High Winter

September 22-23 - Spring Equinox / Ostara

October 31 - Beltane / Halloween

December 21 - Summer Solstice / Midsummer / Litha

Southern Hemisphere Full Moons

January 3 - Thunder Moon (aka Buck Moon) ♋

February 1 - Sturgeon Moon ♌

March 3 - Harvest Moon ♍

April 1 - Hunter's Moon ♎

May 1 - Frost Moon (aka Beaver Moon) ♏

May 31 - Blue Moon ♐

June 29 - Cold Moon ♑ (Micromoon)

July 29 - Wolf Moon ♒

August 28 - Snow Moon ♓ (Lunar Eclipse)

September 26 - Worm Moon ♈

October 26 - Pink Moon ♉

November 24 - Flower Moon ♊

December 23 - Strawberry Moon ♋ (Supermoon)

*The astrological signs should remain the same for the Southern Hemisphere, it's just the names that are flipped around due to the difference in seasonal cycles.

New Moons

January 18 ♑

February 17 ♒

March 18 ♓

April 17 ♈

May 16 ♉

June 14 ♊

July 14 ♋

August 12 ♌

September 10 ♍

October 10 ♎

November 9 ♏

December 8 ♐

Special Celestial Events

January 3 - Supermoon

March 3 - Lunar Eclipse, Micromoon

June 29 - Micromoon

August 12 - Total Solar Eclipse

August 12-13 - Perseid Meteor Show (coinciding with new moon)

August 28 - Partial Lunar Eclipse

October 21-22 - Orionid Meteor Shower

December 13-14 - Geminid Meteor Shower

December 23 - Supermoon

(Check the DarkSky Placefinder to see what will be visible in your area!)

Planetary Retrogrades

November 11 2025-March 10 2026 - Jupiter ♋

February 26-March 20 - Mercury ♓

May 6-October 15 - Pluto ♒

June 29-July 23 - Mercury ♋

July 7-December 12 - Neptune ♈

July 26-December 10 - Saturn ♈

October 3-25 - Venus ♏

October 25-November 13 - Venus ♎

October 24-November 13 - Mercury ♏

December 12 2026-April 12 2027 - Jupiter ♌

Happy Witching!

SOURCES & FURTHER READING:

Bree’s Lunar Calendar Series

Bree’s Secular Celebrations Series

Witchcraft Exercises for Building Your Craft

Full Moon Calendar 2026, Space.com.

Moon Phases Calendar 2026, MoonInfo.org.

Astronomy Calendar of Celestial Events 2026, SeaSky.org.

The Year in the Sky: 2026’s Most Noteworthy Celestial Events, Scientific American.

Dark Sky Placefinder for Stargazing, DarkSky International.

2026 Wheel of the Year, Patheos.

Astrology Calendar 2026, YourZodiacSign.com.

2026 Retrograde Planets Calendar and Astrology, Astrostyle.

Image Source - How Stuff Works

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One sec.... -claps a festive twinkly wreath onto the Witchstorian hat- OKAY THEN. Buckle up, here we go.

So there are a few Winter Holiday Witches we could look to for this, or at least holiday figures who are Witchy or Witch-Adjacent. (The formalized folklore traditions may not always refer to them as witches, except perhaps in the Generic Word For A Terrifying Hag sense.)

Let's start with the nice one - Italy's La Befana.

This is a story you can whip out for your Christian relatives, if they seem receptive to a good holiday tale. It's definitely Church folklore, but it has a number of parallels to both modern witch aesthetic and Mystical Holiday Gift-Giver lore, and may have its' roots in older rural traditions.

The tale goes something like this:

These are fun, so I wanted to make one.

1. What originally drew you to witchcraft?

2. Do you practice baneful magic? Why or why not?

3. What mundane tasks feels closest to magic to you?

4. How do lunar cycles influence your path, if at all?

5. What herb or plant do you incorporate into your practice the most?

6. What's something you used to believe about magic that you no longer do?

7. How has your practice changed since you first began?

8. What's one form of magic you feel the most confident or skilled in?

9. What's something you're learning or exploring right now?

10. What crystal(s), if any, do you feel most connected to?

11. Do you work with ancestors? If so, what does that look like for you?

12. What's your favorite way to recharge your energy?

13. Which season feels the most magical to you?

14. What advice would you give someone new to witchcraft?

15. Do you practice mostly indoors, outdoors, or both?

16. Does music play a role in your practice? If so, how?

17. How do you handle magical burnout?

18. What's one misconception about witchcraft that annoys you?

19. What witchy habit do you want to start or return to?

20. What was the first spell you ever cast, and how do you feel about it now?

21. What's a part of witchcraft that isn't talked about enough, in your opinion?

22. Are you a planner or a throw something together type when it comes to spells?

23. Do you practice ancestor veneration? What's that look like for you?

24. What is something you wish you knee when starting out?

25. What is your biggest personal rule for spellcasting?

26. How do you feel about sharing your spellwork with others?

27. Do you have a more rigid, by-the-book, or a looser, more intuitive approach to magical correspondences?

28. What's your relationship with astrology, if any?

29. What's something you learned from someone else that you still incorporate into your practice?

30. What's the most comforting part of your craft?

31. What time of day feels most magical to you?

32. What's your personal philosophy around magical timing?

33. What's the most empowering part of being a witch to you?

34. How does gratitude appear in your practice, if at all?

35. How do you differentiate magical signs from coincidence?

36. What non-magical parts of your life have influenced your path the most?

37. Do you feel your path is something you inherited, created, discovered? Some combination or other thing? Why?

38. How do you handle moments when you feel magically stagnant?

39. Do you follow any superstitions because they just feel right?

40. What would your younger self think of where you are spiritually?

I need a spell to get someone "to f*ck off, and when they get there, to f*ck off some more". Ive always been a bit on the fence about hexing etc but I don't think getting someone to go and stay away is necessarily causing harm. Not sure how it plays into the messing with free will thing 🤔

Either way, I need to learn to ward and protect myself from bad consequences, but ultimately I want this person far far away and hopefully never coming back.

Do you have any spells to this affect?

Oh yes. Yes I do. "Fuck right off into the sun" is one of my favorite types of banishing. 😈

And that is the goods news here, and a lesson that I'd like everyone reading to take to heart - while there's nothing wrong with hexing the pants off of someone, that doesn't necessarily have to be the answer if all you want to do is get them out of your life. In such cases, a good binding or banishing can be much more cost-effective in terms of energy and effort.

Additionally, it doesn't really play into free will since it's not really trying to circumvent anything and is more like setting a firm boundary, which is healthy. (And anyone who tells you that it's "harmful" to set boundaries or remove toxic people from your life is probably exactly the type of person who doesn't respect boundaries or the wishes of others.)

In this case, I think a simple onion banishing spell might do the trick. You will need:

One large onion

Pen and paper

Paring knife

A handful of nails (and small hammer if desired)

Normally, I don't bother with the nails, since this spell has been effective for my needs with just the onion and paper, but if you want the added oomph, go with the nails. Oh, and prepare some facial protection if onion fumes irritate your eyes and nose.

Begin by writing the person's name on the slip of paper. Next, use the paring knife to carve a sizeable plug out of the side of the onion. Insert the paper, then replace the plug. Finally (and here's where it gets messy), press the nails into the onion, as many as you like. They don't have to be all the way in, just far enough so that they're not easily dislodged. If it helps logistically, use short thin nails. And don't forget to snap and snarl and repeatedly tell the person to fuck off while preparing the whole thing

Once you're done, chuck the onion in your trash, or in a dumpster somewhere away from your home. You can bag it or wrap it in newspaper if you wish, but just get it out of your home and away from you in a way that it's not going to come back. Again, not harmful, just a very strong, "Get out and don't come back." It also helps to cleanse your space or refresh your protections after casting this spell, just to remove any lingering disruptive energy from the person and get those boundaries firmly in place.

Things That Are Not Likely To Summon Demons And Spirits Into Your Home:

Practicing a pagan religion

Practicing no religion

Skipping religious services

Disobeying your parents

Disobeying oppressive religious rules

Reading books about other religions

Reading books about witchcraft

Casting most types of spells, including hexes

Practicing divination

Reading tarot cards

Owning crystals

Having deity statues

Maintaining an altar

Adopting a black cat

Owning or wearing a pentacle or other pagan symbol

Playing with Ouija or other talking boards

Putting up fantasy or non-Christian artwork

Celebrating pagan holidays

Celebrating Halloween

Watching scary movies and TV shows

Reading horror novels

Playing tabletop RPGs

Playing LARP games

Playing video games

Reading fantasy books

Reading comics and graphic novels

Listening to heavy metal music

Dyeing your hair

Dancing

Swearing

Drinking

Dressing however you please

Having tattoos and piercings

Engaging in premarital sex

Being queer

Being trans

Participating in activism for progressive social causes

Things That Might Summon Demons And Spirits Into Your Home:

Literally summoning demons and spirits into your home

- The hype surrounding “The Exorcist” (1972) is exactly that. The reports of accidents and supernatural happenings on set was part of their ad campaign. The only ritual being performed in the movie is the rite of exorcism. That’s not going to SUMMON anything, I promise you.

- The horror movie rule which states “Never Read Books Of Demon Summoning Aloud” is a good one, but it must also be remembered that most ancient spell tomes mentioned or used in horror media are entirely fictional. Including the fabled Necronomicon.

- It is very important to keep in mind that the facts in many of the so-called landmark cases in paranormal study have been greatly embellished, either by the investigators or by writers and movie producers looking to make a buck. Nearly all the stories of “real” hauntings you see in popular media have been exaggerated to hell and back. If the Warrens had anything to do with it, you can bet good money that the actual happenings bear little resemblance to the stories we associate with those cases now.

- While it is possible for spirits to attach themselves to objects, therefore necessitating some basic caution and cleansing if you’re prone to collecting antiques or yard sale fodder, there is no guarantee that something is going to attach itself to your belongings unless you INVITE IT TO DO SO. (Someone cited the Annabelle case. If we believe the story, the ghost did not come with the doll, it was invited to possess it by the owners. Allegedly. See above note about the Warrens.)

- Swearing does not count as baneful magic. It’s CALLED cursing, sure, but if you stub your toe and yell, “FUCK!” you’re not wishing harm on someone. You’re upset and in pain. (Then again, I do like that meme about a witch cursing a house in this fashion….)

- Most pagan holidays are celebrations for some part of the harvest cycle. Holiday observances are not automatically magic rituals, and neither do they summon spirits unless you are openly calling them to the feast. I am not calling in the ghosties by thanking the earth for this beautiful bucket of tomatoes and watering a tree.