Oak Leaves - Digital Issue 80 - Spring 2018 | Page 4

OAK LEAVES Spring 2018 • Issue 80 Chronicler: Manny Tejeda-Moreno Editor-in-Chief: Rev. G. R. Grove Chief Copy Editor: Brenda Nix Lively Copy Editors: Aleja O'Bryan, Mary Jones, Jay Foulds, Kelly Tucker. Chief Design Editor: Rev. G. R. Grove Music Editor: Dave “Thexalon” Kleinschmidt Advertisement Director: vacant News Director: Chris Wityshyn Proofreaders: Brenda Nix Lively, Adara Fielder, Rev. D. Rowen Grove, and Manny Tejeda-Moreno. Archivist: Victoria Selnes. Oak Leaves is published quarterly by Ár nDraíocht Féin: A Druid Fellowship. Subscription rate is $25 for 4 issues for non-ADF members, $20 for 4 issues for ADF members payable in U.S. funds. Please allow six to eight weeks for new subscriptions to begin. Subscription Service Dept. ADF Office PO Box 669 Amelia, OH 45102-0669 The Fires of Return Imbolc and Lughnasadh are here. Once again, we light the fires, the fires of return. I have spoken before of the related nature of the High Days, of the reflective nature of the Earth Mother. Imbolc and Lughnasadh are further examples of this. Imbolc is a time of first fires: the time of dark- ness which peaked at the Winter Solstice has turned. The days are slowly growing longer and it is about the time of Imbolc that we begin to see this change. We light candles to simulate the full sun that has been less visible in this darkest time of the year. [email protected] Advertisers Oak Leaves accepts advertisements for the sale of products, services, self promotion and events. Please email us at oak- [email protected] to enquire. Advertisement rates can be found on our webpage: ————————————— Front Cover: Olivia Myers ————————— Copyright ©2018 ADF, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any material from this issue in whole or in part is strictly prohibited. 2 • Oak Leaves • Spring • Issue #80 Lughnasadh is the time of the fire of late summer: while the days are slowly getting shorter, summer is in its full glory, coming closely on the heels of the Summer Solstice. The days of summer seem to stretch on forever. We light fires to mirror the bright, burning fires in the sky. If we look to the Fire Festivals, we see that the flame intensifies as the year goes on. Yet, to highlight the balanced nature of things we see that the faint light of Samhain in the Northern Hemisphere is matched with the blazing Beltaine sun of the Southern Hemisphere. The growing —————————————