Ky'Kora - Blog Posts
Aelles Ky'Kora!
Blessings to all on this first of Ky'Kora. Blessings to all. May the abundance, joy and frivolity of this holiday find you and fill you all with happiness and may you find the child within.
Indeed, today is the first day of the Bowynn holiday of Ky'Kora. That is to say Mid-Autumn. So, legends and holy Books say: Hern, our great god journeyed to the great western mountains and spoke to Bia, the great creator, after seeing mankind's neglect of harvesting the gifts the gods gave them. Saddened, Hern realized what he had to do to help man survive. On the eve of Kykora (Samhain), Hern proclaimed one finally great hunt to the mortal hunters. During the hunt, Hern turned himself into a mighty stag and gave himself to humanity so they may survive. This is why we celebrate. We celebrate also this time of year as the second to last harvest; By now 90% of what was planted in spring and late February is gathered.
The first day of Ky'Kora (October 30) is used to clean and cleanse the house, temple, altar, and oneself. It is a mellow day. Soft harvest music is played, soft sad hymns are sung, for we are mourning the loss of Hern. Little food is eaten, in respect for our ancestors, and what is ate this day is bland, abstaining from herbs, spice, salts, sugars and sweets. And no meat is eaten at all this day, not even fish nor poultry. Usually, unsalted soups and slices of bread are the meal of the day.
Homes are purged of all ills and negativity: a procession of candlelight, incense, holy water and sound (drink or chime) is marched along inside the house, room to room banishing all of the ill's that may linger. Then decorations for the holiday are hung and displayed: Garlands, Wreathes, Carved gourds, Draperies of the harvest seasonal colors. On home alters and shrines, an icon of Hern or a deer is placed, in memory of Hern's blessed gift to us.
Some of use will use the day for long walks and self-review as to what we are grateful for, taking in the beauty of what nature looks like right now all around us. absorbing the beauty and color of the day and autumn. And in this time, we also give thanks to the goddess Kora, the goddess of the season and who's name the holiday it is named after, and to her beautiful consort Ryan, the god of the West Wind, who fans the colors of change into the leaves and cools down the earth.
At late night we come together as a family and friends and hold ceremony and private vigils at temple and home altars, often led with an icon of Hern beings carried to the altar. Candles in gourds are lit and the spirits we call Jakk's are invoked to spend the night at home, keeping the home in its family safe. Hymns are hummed and sung to Hern and his beloved Morrighynn this night. For we remember that the goddess of the moon has lost he beautiful and divine husband.
So, as you see, while there may be a few scatterings of similarity to the Wiccan/Keltic Samhain, there is little connection otherwise. It is not a time of honoring our own dead, (we do that another time of the year) it is about the death and the giving of our lord Hern so that humanity survives.
QUESTION & ANSWER: SAMHAIN
QUESTION: Can you explain more about the Samhain Ceremonies Bowynn celebrate?
ANSWER: Again, we do not celebrate Samhain. Samhain is an Irish Keltic and Wiccan holiday. We celebrated the 3 day holiday of Ky'Kora. And "Yes," I will be describing in parts the celebration of the holiday in a few days. Though there are parts I need to leave out for the purpose of preserving Bowynn traditions and culture
QUESTION & ANSWER: Samhain/Halloween
QUESTION: Do Bowynn Celebrate Halloween and Samhain?
ANSWER: No, we do not celebrate the Keltic/Wiccan Samhain. We do celebrate Ky'Kora, which is a rather loose equivalent to Samahain. A three-day holiday from October 30 to November 1st. But that is about all Ky'Kora has in common with Samhain.
We do celebrate Halloween as a total separate holiday. But we celebrate it on November 1st, as the 31st is a most divine and holy day, set aside for spiritual worship.