This anonymous and untitled article was printed on page 19 of the Elfin Diary for many years, filling a blank page before the start of the calendar pages. I’ve no idea who wrote it or where it was from; if anybody has any information, please let me know!

In the universe there simply exists power to be tapped, and certain entities to aid you in your aims, what these beings ultimately are, whether man created them himself or whether they predate man, we cannot tell.

We can call them Gods, spirits, watchers, angels; or depersonalize them as powers or forces, however once their help has been enlisted they are as dependant on us as we are on them, so you must realise this and be courteous, always remembering that you are in charge. The elemental power tides of the universe are marked by the movements of the stars, the sun, and the moon, but mainly the latter two. Though these bodies are not the actual sources of power, they are the main indicators of its ebb and flow in our universe.

The moon and sun are the two great hands of our cosmic clock, the hour hand of the sun governs the seasons of the year, the moon or minute hand rules the sea tides and the hidden workings of the deep mind. In European mythology the sun has always been a symbol of a male divinity, the moon a female one. However worship of the moon as a supreme deity evolved much earlier. It is said that in England the cult of the moon goddess predated the Druidic, solar religion and it is from this early Prytanic religion that four of the great annual festivals are derived. These are the nights of October 31st. (Halloween); February 2nd, (Candlemas); April 30th, (Beltane), and August 1st, (Lammas).

The four solar festivals of the Druids are midwinter, spring, midsummer, and autumn as marked by the solstices and equinoxes, making eight festivals in the year. Halloween, Candlemas, Beltane, and Lammas mark each quarter of the solar tide cycle. First the tide of destruction, winter is initiated with Halloween, the feast of the dead, then the dark tide of destruction reaches its high point at the winter solstice. Midwinter. Candlemas marks the end of winter and the first stirrings of the bright tide of summer. At the time of the vernal equinox, the bright and dark tides are equally balanced, with the bright tide on the increase; Beltane marks the beginning of its fullest spate, which reaches its high point in the midsummer solstice. It then begins to wane, and the first stirrings of the dark tide are then felt at Lammas, the time of fruition and harvest. At the autumnal equinox, the two tides again stand equally opposed, the bright tide waning, the dark increasing; at Halloween the tide of darkness again enters its full spate and so the cycle recommences. The ebb and flow of the solar tide influences the entire life cycle of all that grows upon the earth.