The Magic of Leap Day

The Magic of Leap Day
(I am posting this today so that people have time to read it and prepare their spells for tomorrow.)

February 29^th is a rare day that only comes around once every 4 years, just ask a Leapling (someone born on Leap Day)! February 29, Leap Day, the rarest of days, is tacked on to the end of Valentines month. It makes some hearts will rise and others sink, confused and disoriented. Perhaps you’ve not seen it coming when out and about away from your calendar and date book. Yesterday was February 28 and tomorrow is March 1, but whats in between? Many electronic calendars and perpetual date books miss it totally. This complicates the issue further.
Although it’s rare, there is some interesting lore for Leap Day that comes from hundreds of years ago.

The Leap Year Proposal:

This tradition was started in fifth century Ireland. The right of every women to propose on 29th February each leap year, goes back many hundreds of years to when the leap year day had no recognition in English law (the day was 'lept over' and ignored, hence the term 'leap year').

It was considered, therefore, that as the day had no legal status, it was reasonable to assume that traditions also had no status.

Consequently, women who were concerned about being 'left on the shelf' took advantage of this anomaly and proposed to the man they wished to marry. 

It was also thought that since the leap year day corrected the discrepancy between the calendar year of 365 days and the time taken for the Earth to complete one orbit of the sun (365 days and 6 hours), it was an opportunity for women to correct a tradition that was one-sided and unjust.

The Tradition didn’t stop in Ireland, In 1288, it’s also said, a law was passed in Scotland to allow women to propose to men on February 29^th; any man who declined had to pay a fine, which could be a kiss, a pair of gloves, or a silk dress.

The longtime custom of celebrating Leap Day as Bachelors Day: It was the only time when a lady could rightfully propose marriage to a gentleman. In earlier times it was considered a very fortunate day to agree to a proposal for singles of either gender. However if a bachelor did want to refuse he had to gift the rejected lady with a new silk dress to get off the hook.

Year And A Day:

Have you ever wondered if your year and a day ritual would be affected by Leap Year? Well that depends on your view point. The Tear and A Day does not necessarily have to be exactly 366 days unless you want it to. Many people follow year and a day traditions according to what Sabbath they start on. For example, if you start your year and a day ritual on Beltane, then it will end the day after the next Beltane. Some People take longer or shorter to finish their year and a day ritual depending only on how long it takes them to finish.

My personal experience with Leap Year and Year and a Day has to do with my and my fiance's Handfasting. Last year we performed a Year and a Day Handfasting ritual on September 16th, and this year we are getting married on September 16^th. I was worried that we would have to perform the Handfasting ceremony on September 15^th so that we could still get married on September 16^th on this year and still have it be a Year and a day. But then I realized that 2012 is a Leap Year, so the ‘and a day’ was already added in. So between September 16^th 2011 and September 16^th 2012 it is 366 days. That satisfied me to know that my fiancé and I could get Handfasted and get married on the same calendar date. The date September 16^th is so important to me because that is the day we shared our first kiss, and our relationship officially started.

If you are interested to read more about the Handfasting, Please go Here

Astrology of Leap Day:

The fixed star Skaat in Pisces is close enough to impact Leap Day astrologically. A 4th magnitude star in the leg of the Water Bearer, its keywords are intuitive, nervous, visionary and illusionary. In the first decanate of Pisces, this shows a double Neptune, a strong water rulership.

The relevant Sabian symbol for Leap Day is an aviator in the clouds, the keyword is observation and brings the gift of superior perspective. An exploratory and otherworldly quality is present. In the Tarot The High Priestess is linked to Leap Day, further indicating depth, mysterious wisdom and hidden messages.

Unlucky Day?:

In Scotland, Leap year is considered to be unlucky, and Leap Day is especially bad. This has to do with the fact that it was the prophet Job’s birthday. Job supposedly cursed the day he was born. So, luckily Leap Day only comes around once every 4 years.

Leap Day Spell:

On February 29th we have a once-in-four-years opportunity to do a different kind of spell, one that is very much focused on the world of men rather than the realms of spirits and angels. A good opportunity to make your will known on that level and create a change for the better.

A well known leap year spell or leap year tradition is that "women can ask men to marry them." This has led some to think that February 29th, the leap day, is somehow about role reversals or some kind of topsy turvy spell.

The Leap Year Spells can give us an excellent opportunity to really think about what's real, and what is just some kind of human weirdness which has been put in place by some human, at some point, and ever since then, all the other humans of that society, sect or religion have been trampling down that path without thought, just accepting it as real when in fact, it's just a delusion.

This Leap Year Spell was taken from This Website and there is an example of the spell on that website. I just took the steps from the website but not the example.

• Think about what kind of thing in your society you would like to change using your Leap Year spell opportunity. Who does your society say you should be? What are the rules for "your kind"? What are the labels that have been stuck onto you by where you were born, or how you were born, or who your parents were, what you look like? What is allowed for you to do or not do depending on your age?
• The first step is always intention - there has to be a reason for your spell, something you feel strongly about, something that is important to you personally. This is what powers your spell above all else.
•  Which higher power/s do you want to engage in this?
• Which words are you going to speak? Words in magic don't have to be clever, but they have to be heartfelt. You need to really mean it. Spend some time writing a letter to your powers-that-be and then you can turn it into a rhyming spell type evocation.
• How are you going to frame the spell? Or in other words, how do we start, what do we do next, and how do we end the spell? (Ex: the Traditional Circle, a Diamond, 4 Corners, etc.)
• Are there any ingredients that need to be found/assembled/made ready? This involves whatever you do before a ritual to get ready, such as taking a bath. Also includes any candles or stones or other ritual tools you want to use.
• Write out the whole leap year spell/ritual step by step, and get ready to preform your spell.

I hope Everyone Has a Happy Leap Day. Enjoy your Extra Day!