|
|
|
|
~ Fall Season ~
|
|||||||||||
|
The Goddess Speaks The Muse
If yes, it is I who rule your heart, I am the Muse. My powers of inspiration are manyfold, not just nine. I appreciate it when a child of mine begins to enrich human culture with originality. I delight in that which is new and entertaining, because I am the greatest artist of all. I am the sculptress of the translucent crystal clusters and the designer of rocks. I painted the malachite green and the pearl silvery. It was my hand that dipped the ruby red and copied turquoise from the color of the sky. I carved the mountains into shapes of pyramids with snowy peaks, my winds made mounds and caves, my waters deepened valleys. Even the flight of birds and the lumbering walk of elephants has been choreographed by me. It was a challenge to make tall giraffes graceful, but I have solved that artistic problem too. I have hidden art in everything. In the act of creating art, you worship me. I will respond to you if you ask for my assistance. I'll come in the middle of the night if you are finishing a play on deadline. I am in the studio if you are sculpting a statue. All art proceeds from me. I am the true occupation of your species. You are all supposed to be creative and fill your hearts with beauty. What nonsense to waste consciousness on war! If there were enough creativity in the world, you would live as artists, and the jobs you hate today would be replaced by better ones. I look at your wars and often cry. It's not good to make your Muse cry. Don't forget; I feed your inner selves after your bodies have been nourished. I am the part of you that goes on to survive and take other forms. I am your invisible humanity, the divine spark you have been given to use, the light with which you shine. I am the truth as you perceive it. I am the teacher of higher goals. Why don't you visit me more often? What are you saving yourself for? Security is an illusion, for nobody is ever secure in the world. Death may come any time, whether it rescues you from your misery or stops you in ecstasy, there is nothing to lose. Free your weary hands and be creative, look at nature all around you, and receive inspiration from me. Now, in the season when I paint the leaves those brilliant autumn yellows and crimsons, don't you long to participate in this ecstasy of beauty?
Full moon aspect: Harvest moon Universal event: Autumn Equinox; nature comes into balance. Communal event: Autumn Equinox, September 21; Mabon (the Sacred Son) Sabbat. In central Europe, three-day revels were held; there was much drinking of wine, mead, and fermented mare's milk. This was a time when priestesses ate the sacred mushroom, Amanita muscaria, which gave such muscular strength that they could dance tirelessly for days. (Note, however, that this mushroom can cause death if the dose is wrong, so don't try it!) Message: To create, to prosper, to appreciate Activity: Arts, crafts, courting future mates Healing properties: Prevention through tonics Appropriate spells: Thanks giving, presenting to the Goddess the most perfect fruits of your harvest this year. These can be intangible things: personal growth, strength, obstacles that have been overcome. To give thanks, present your gift in physical form as a poem, a small statue, a dance, a party in the name of the Goddess, whatever you can think of. Giving thanks for gifts received always multiplies them. Manifestation: The new vine, which stands for inspiration and ecstasy Color: Brown Tree: Hazel Flower: Aster Creature: Snake Gem: Saphire
Anna's Spells, Rituals. & Celebrations for September Spell Thanking The Goddess For Favors Received
Take a little of this and burn it in your fire-resistant incense burner on special charcoal (not the kind you use to barbecue). Burn a little bit in the morning and a little bit at night before you go to sleep. This practice opens your psychic centers at the times when you are most relaxed and makes you more receptive to blessings. Almost any prayer can be sent up on the acacia's fine curling smoke: thanks, or more prayers for good luck, or health, or whatever is needed. You may want to say the following prayer: Diana, lovely goddess who runs in front of the winds, Spell To Drive A Poltergeist From Your Premises There is no need to go through terrors and call an exorcist. If you really think a lost soul is bothering you in your home, try this first. Poltergeists are souls with unfinished business who died in terror and can't find their way over to the other side. This little herbal spell might help them across. There is an herb called bistort (Polygonatum bistorta). Boil a pint of water with just a teaspoonful of this herb in it for half an hour, then strain it; the next time you clean your house, add this water to your floor wash, saying: Out, out, out, restless spirits go, only the good can stay, the rest of you must be gone! If you have wall-to-wall carpeting, sprinkle this water on your carpet with your hands. The poltergeists will be so impressed that you found their very own herb, they will leave you alone henceforth. Spell To Help Angry Couples To Kiss & Make Up Here is a situation all too common in our lives today. How often we take fights to bed with us instead of leaving them behind. When a couple has quarreled, it is very hard to smile in bed and make up. But here is an ancient problem-solving method. Get hold of an herb called black cohosh, otherwise known as Cimicifuga racemosa, and sprinkle a little bit around the bed where the couple sleeps, saying, "Angry soul and painful heart change into white doves and fly!" three times and visualize the couple smiling. It's worth the try! If this doesn't work, tell the couple to get counseling. Spell To Keep A Wandering Lover At Home Oh, I've got your attention now! When you have a lover or husband or wife who doesn't want to spend time with you (and what a fool that person is!), just trust your old herbal charm. This time the herb's name is yerba mate (Paraguay tea). You take one cup of boiling water, put in one teaspoon of the herb, and let it simmer. Add a little pure honey and try to have your mate drink it. If he or she is protesting too much ("What is this concoction anyway?"), get crafty and hide it in wine or coffee. But before you offer it to the wandering beloved, you whisper these words over it (three times, of course): Warm seed, warm heart [name] and [your name] never part. Legend says it will make all his or her desire to wander without you simply stop. If this doesn't help, get a more faithful mate. Skira: Creativity Festival Skira, the ancient Mediterranean festival of creativity, is an attractive addition to the list of women's holidays. On one day in the year, gather art supplies-clay, paints, glitter, gypsum (if you want to go traditional)-and create images of the goddess just by sitting down and giving yourself over to this sacred task. You don't need to be an artist to create a mother goddess figure, and it doesn't even have to depict a goddess. If you've ever tried this, you will know the peace that comes from doing something different yet familiar. Creating images projected from the soul lets us feel the satisfaction of the artist in all of us. What happens when it's all done? The ancients used to parade their works of art through the streets. Skira obviously charmed everybody, and art was created in great numbers by everyone, not just by the few professionals. We in modern times should do the same thing with our Skira images that we do when our children bring home their first ashtrays fashioned in art class: Display them and hold on to them. If a piece is very beautiful, place it in the center of the table, place flowers around it, and use it as the focal point in your meditations. Have Skira parties for your friends.
September 1 Thargelia: Festival of First Fruits (Mediterranean) For northern cultures like our own, the harvest festival would be held in September, but in the early days in southern Europe and Asia Minor, as now, harvest began with festivals in May or June. The first of three such early harvesting festivals was the Thargelia, which is placed here to coincide with the northern growing season. The road on which our feet are set September 1 Radha's Day (Indian) Lakshmi is the Hindu goddess of fertility and prosperity, and Radha was famed as the lover of the God Krishna. Lakshmi brings cheerfulness and health, and in her golden aspect, she brings the wealth of the world. This day celebrates the shared love between couples. September 8 Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Roman Catholic) This celebrates the day on which Mama Anne gave birth to her divine daughter Mary. This is one of Christianity's few concessions to celebration of the female side of God, and it is observed with great pomp and circumstance. Even Pope Innocent IV ordered the faithful to hold an octave, eight days of remembrance. September 13 Banquet of Venus (Roman) This feast day is very good for conception and making merry. Burn pink or red candles and visualize for yourself health, wealth, and wisdom-the divine three. Make love today to have a healthy baby or just to make love. September 13 Ceremony of Lighting the Fire (Egyptian) The people created a festival of lights, with candles and lanterns and lamps of all kinds in front of their gods and goddesses and the statues of ancestors, who were stimulated by the light to journey back to the loved ones for a visit. September 21 Feast of the Divine Trinity: Rites of Eleusis (Greek) This is the beginning of the celebration of life, beauty, death, and rebirth-the Feast of the Divine Trinity-Demeter, Kore, and Iacchos. On this day, the altars are decorated with flowers, golden apples, cider, and seed cakes. Divine life, as experienced by us all, becomes the mystery of the life cycle. We celebrate the essence of life, the abundant outpouring of the spirit of the Goddess who creates and sustains everything. September 23 Sun Enters Libra; Autumn Equinox; Eleusian Mysteries (Greek) The sign of Libra is the scales, signifying balance. Mother Nature establishes, once again, equality between the forces of light and darkness. From now on, the days will shorten and the nights get longer. The Goddess descends into the underworld, the world of darkness, where she tends to her dead souls. This act of going down into the underworld and defeating death is celebrated by the many rituals and processions of the Eleusian mysteries. The Eleusian rites were the most famous goddess festival in all of Europe. Men and women came from all over the continent to participate, because it was believed that those who went through the mysteries gained good luck and insights; they became sanctified by the goddesses. From the time of the Autumn Equinox until the end of the month of September, a different ritual, a different theme of the proceedings, was observed every day. The festival started with processions from Athens to Eleusis. Participants deposited sacred objects at the feet of the Goddess Demeter, then went to bathe in the sea, put on new linen, and poured libations on the Earth. The women and some men gathered together for Torch Day, when processions began to form again, going through the temples and the town in the search for Persephone, Kore. For the celebration, matrons carried baskets filled with the goddess's belongings, such as a comb, a symbol of Aphrodite, a mirror, a snake figure or live snake (for rebirth), wheat, and barley. The women came in oxen-drawn carriages, and they called to each other, using "loose" language. One can just imagine it: "Hey matron Althea! Your ox looks weak as a lamb, and your baskets have holes in them!" September 24 was the second day, the day of the grand purification ritual-a bath in the sea! The initiates washed away ignorance and assumed new grace. On September 25 the people built an altar around a tree. They burned incense and poured libations of wine and juices on the good earth, symbolizing the reverence they felt for our planet. A big procession took place on September 26, celebrating the goddess of the earth, Demeter. Her representative was carried around on a cart, while people shouted enthusiastically, "Hail, Demeter!" Everybody dressed up in their best finery; the day was raucous and filled with dancing. On September 27 people marched day and night, carrying lit torches. This marked the true start of the mysteries. September 28 The Holy Night (Greek) All the people lined up behind the solemn goddesses represented by two veiled, mourning matrons. On the bridge approaching the city, they met another goddess, Baubo, the jester. She tried to make the goddesses laugh and draw them out of their sadness. At this time they drank kykeon, a hallucinogenic brew the women brought with them. The comic old woman lifted her skirts and exposed her sex to make Demeter laugh. It worked, the goddesses rested, and all were bidden to take a refreshing drink. Don't believe it? Here is Orpheus's poem about it: She drew aside Her robes and showed Her body all unveiled. Child Iaccus was there and laughingly plunged his hands below Her breasts. Then smiled the Goddess, in Her heart She smiled and drank the draught from the shining cup. (*Orpheus's poem quoted by Clement of Alexandria, Protrept, 22. 19, in Carl Kerenyi, Eleusu (London: Ron Hedge & Keg an Paul, 1967), 62.) There was a second bridge to cross the salty Rheitoi, and here the Mystai (the purified ones) had to identify themselves with the traditional words. These passwords were required for admission into the sacred place Epoteia: I have fasted, drunk the kykeon, and taken things out of the big basket. After performing certain rites, I put them into the little basket whence I put them back into the big basket. (Jane Ellen Harrison, Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion (New York: Meridian, ig55), 569) The people thronged toward the place where the great fire was built. The hierophant invoked Kore, and her real presence was felt. Painted in dark colors, she was seen enthroned as the Queen of Hell. The Mystai bowed at her feet in the temple. Her image was the vision of the feminine source of life. The corn, which is the eucharist of the Goddess, was silently reaped. Barley and wheat have very close resemblances to female genitals, and their display evokes veneration of the female. Men who went through these rites gained a deep understanding of their part in nature. They were "regenerated" men who received Demeter's life-giving powers. For women to behold the real presence of Kore and to venerate things female reinforced their sense of self and promoted self-esteem, responsibility for the world and her affairs, and a kinship to the deity of life. Holy Night was a most important time; people confronted the idea of death as they watched Kore, the Divine Maiden, turn into the Crone and then turn back into the Young Queen of the underworld. The presence of the Goddess gave people a chance to see their own death as part of their lives and to remove fears about the afterlife. On the seventh day of the mysteries (September 29), there were sports, games, and footraces. The winners were crowned with laurels and measures of grain were given to them. On the eighth day (September 30), initiations were performed again, this time in the deep caves of the sacred temple. One fresco shows us a scene with three women: one dressed in dark colors, one naked, while the third is having her hair cut off. Cutting the hair was often a symbol of spiritual rebirth.
The September Teaching: Rites of Passage
First, there is birth, which is just too involved for a baby to truly appreciate, because there is so much to do. You have to learn how to cope with breathing air, solid foods, being away from mother, sometimes for hours. Next you get to be a toddler; you have to deal with kindergarten, soon going on to school and meeting your peers in a competitive system where you have to fight for good grades. Then you graduate and go on to more school, or take a job and settle into a society you inherited but did not invent. All this time, you get only birthday celebrations to remember the importance of your own existence. As an adult, your only time of celebration is marriage, when you take a mate. This is the first time in your life that your family gathers and takes notice of your adult self. This also may be the last time you see any community celebrating your pleasures. After the marriage ceremony, there are anniversaries to recall the only moment of glory you achieved (never quite the same, of course). Your mate even may forget the date soon, so then the anniversary times become a series of hurts. When you die, there will be a burial ceremony of some sort, but again, you cannot truly enjoy it because you will be busy adjusting to an existence without your body. There will be all your loved ones to visit who passed on before you—and even some heroes and heroines you admired in your lifetime with whom you will now be able to meet and commune. (I know John Lennon must have lots of visitors; Janis Joplin, too.) But your burial is not going to be your high point in dying. What do these kinds of lackluster rites of passage communicate to us? They say, simply: We don't count. There is nothing remarkable about our growth from cradle to grave except when we marry. Even then, all the symbolism points to making babies, so the social message is, in fact, that propagating our own bloodline is the only contribution we have made to the world. We do deserve better. The human psyche undergoes remarkable changes along its path, all of them important in building happier lives. Happy lives are not a dominant value in our culture. Money is. I have nothing against money, but I know too many people who have money and feel miserable. Money does not get us happiness; this is an old and true dictum. I'd like to suggest that you celebrate the following rites of passage, despite the social message that you don't count. Answer back to those old tapes—shout it back to society with your determination to retrain your own mind—and see your own life as a shining miracle. Birth This is a most blessed event, but the attention must be equally on both mother and child. It has been shifted over too much to the celebration of the baby, forgetting the source of life-the new mom. This simple ritual is designed to minister to the new mother's feelings and to banish the deadly postpartum blues mothers are so vulnerable to. Banishment of the Postpartum Blues After the birth, let a couple of days go by until the new mother feels stronger. You can visit her and bring soups and food so she doesn't need to cook. Help bathe and feed her baby; assure her often that all is well. Then on the seventh day, sacred to Artemis, the protector of women in childbirth, perform this ritual. Gather together three gifts: a gown for beauty (or material for it), an herb that heals the tired womb (such as red raspberry leaves), and, finally, invitations to parties or a ticket to a theatrical event—some cultural experience in public. Friends of the new mother come to visit, all dressed up to denote the specialness of the moment. A little sage could be burned to purify the home from the old vibes, from the ordinary. The first friend says:
(If you feel like improvising on this, please do so; let the moment teach you what to say.) Other friends can present her with the herbs, which immediately can be shared as a tea, and, finally, with the tickets to a public event. This is to encourage the new mom to think of herself as an individual, not just as a caretaker of her baby. Then, if you think there is good cause to banish postpartum blues or just to be sure they will not attack your friend, repeat this banishing prayer from ancient Europe. With sage or artemisia burning as incense, encircle the head then the whole body of the new mom. The first friend says:
Now light a snow-white. candle (in a jar) that will burn safely a whole week. The dancing fire will remind the new mother of your' good wishes. Before you leave, let the friends pronounce a blessing on the new mother as they feel inspired to do so, such as:
Blessing of the Newborn Baby This should take place when the baby is ready to be in a public ritual (but always after Mom has already had her own ritual). Gather friends and relatives under the full moon for a lovely supper. After all have eaten to satisfaction, the new baby is brought out, undressed, and held in a snow-white cloth made of silk, cotton, or lace, according to your resources. You need two friends holding two white candles and one friend holding an incense burner with some fine temple incense in it, such as frankincense or myrrh. All step outside, where the moon is fully visible; the candles are lit to the full moon and so is the incense. The mother takes her child in the white cloth and holds it up high, presenting the baby to the moon, saying:
In fairy tales, you remember, on this occasion relatives or good witches pronounce blessings on the child; now is the time to practice family magic, urban shamanism, and bless the little lucky one with all sorts of splendid futures.
If you'd like to substitute something else for any of these lines, feel free to do so. My belief is that prayers live within us; these are just examples. Ritual After Abortion or Miscarriage It is not enough to protect a woman against laws that force her to bear children against her will; it is equally important to take care of her soul after the trauma of abortion or miscarriage. The ancients believed that a fertile woman is constantly accompanied by hundreds of souls, ready to reenter human existence, waiting for a body to slip into. When the woman decides that she is not ready to take on the responsibility of developing and bringing to life and adulthood this fertilized egg with the soul in it, the soul is sent back to wait a little longer. Not all souls get bodies, but being without a body is not a tragedy. There is no pain and there is no aging on the "other side." After an abortion or miscarriage, when you feel stronger, create a small white altar for the little soul who got sent back to wait longer. Put some flowers on it; put pictures of your ancestors on it, people who loved you and were related to you, and who now also abide in the realm of the other side. Ask these ancestors to take in the little soul for safekeeping until you are ready to call on him or her again to enter your egg. Light a snow-white candle and say:
Chances are the little soul will not hang out with your relatives unless she or he is very attached to you but will instead find some nubile young maiden on an off night when she doesn't think she can get pregnant. Puberty Rites When a girl reaches puberty, there is the onset of menses. When a boy reaches puberty, the time is not quite that clear, so we can just set it for boys around age 13. Puberty Rites for Girls: Celebrating the Bloods Young women are entitled to honor for enduring this monthly inconvenience. However, our culture hushes up the importance of menstruation, its holy meaning, and the ancient rituals that used to be remembered along with it. Today the goal is to keep menstruation so secret that people cannot even tell when we bleed. Young girls go through a lot of shame and pain and expense taking care of their bloods. A sensitive parent of a girl in puberty should talk to the youngster long before the menses occur to prepare her psychologically for the event. I know young people don't want to hear about it; they get fidgety when asked to listen. You may have to endure your little girl squeaking in protest, "Mom, that's gross!" But soon after her first period, there should be a rite of passage created for the young girl. (See March for this ritual.) Puberty Rites for Boys When your son is struggling with having his voice break when he talks to a girl; when he breaks out in bright red pimples; when he cannot make up his mind if he wants to be a hermit and live in the jungles alone or have a harem of his fantasies; when you find he is reading girly magazines in his secret, place and you know he is masturbating—it's time to acknowledge the man he is about to become. Give a party for him and his peers and call it something attractive like "In Search of the Lion" party, because if girls are squeamish about impending womanhood, boys are allergic to any overt acknowledgment of manhood. It has to be symbolic. Make sure that the boys play games and eat well. Then propose a game called "In Search of the Lion," which goes like this. All lights are put out; only candles are burning. An image of the lion is hiding in one of the party presents, but the boys have to answer riddles in order to get to the presents. The first riddle is: What is manhood without violence? The boys might want to give quick-fix answers, but that won't do. Allow them to contemplate this by candlelight in the dark for a little while. Chances are there will be no clear-cut answers; the point is not the answers-the point is the search. If the celebrant gives a good answer (any attempt without joking would rank as a good answer), he can open a package. The lion image itself will be hidden somewhere, and he will need his buddies to find it. Let all the boys try to answer the riddle. When the lion image is found, lights go up again, and normal partying resumes. The presents themselves should address his pending manhood, such as books about his interests, about biology, and so on. This occasion is a good time to bring up sex and talk frankly about sexual practices. If you don't think he is ready to listen, just make sure there is at least one book about it among the presents. Finally, before leaving, gather the boys into a friends' circle and bless the lion, your. youngster.
If you find a better verse to express what his passage from childhood into manhood is, please substitute it. Having raised two sons myself, I found they are not very interested in direct ways of dealing with rites of passage ("Booorring!"), but if you make it like a game, they are grateful to tie in with it. Crowning Ritual: Rites of Middle Age This time called middle age is the bulk of our lives. Society despises us in this flower of our lives. Women, especially, suffer from neglect in this age group; we are supposed to have outlived our usefulness and roll over and die. In the old days when women were not part of the work force, we could actually be herded into invisibility, but not anymore. Work is the great common denominator: Women and men—young and old—work side by side. For women, middle age is always more painful. There is a sense of defeat around this time, our beauty fading, our bodies aging, our role as mothers often ended. Crowning Ritual for Middle Age Debbie, who has been best friends with Maggie, wants to do something special for her. Maggie has been promoted to manager of a large software firm and will have a lot more responsibility. Maggie needs some confidence and assurance of support from her friends. So Debbie sends out an invitation to all the people she feels Maggie would be comfortable sharing this step in her life with. The promotion becomes more than just a little thing, a "step" ahead; it becomes a symbol of all the powers that are inherent in ruling; it prompts the occasion for Maggie to accept her role in life as queen. Being a queen means that in the middle years of her life, Maggie will treat herself with respect and use her powers as a mature woman to take care of business. Being a queen means that she will not minimize her own importance, that she will consciously affirm her own role to lead. The archetype of a queen is Hera, the goddess of cities and governments, she who rules civilizations. Hera wears a crown of all the towers and castles and landscapes she rules. n Maggie's case, Debbie has a silver crown designed with a crescent moon in the middle to represent in a tangible way this queen age in Maggie's life. The partygoers know that they will be honoring Maggie as queen today, honoring the power of middle age. The tables are set for a party, and people gather and chat about whatever they like, but at one point, Debbie calls them all together in a circle and says:
Maggie says, "Yes, of course." And Debbie continues:
Debbie places the silver crown on Maggie's head. Her friends applaud. Now, one by one, the friends bestow a blessing on Maggie, sprinkling her with gold (iron pyrite) dust or sparkling confetti.
(I am sure each of the guests will know what to say; I only offer these lines as an example.) Maggie wears her crown all evening long; at the end, she is so used to wearing a crown that it has become part of her. Rites of Passage for Menopause This is a real time of change that hardly anybody celebrates. A little girl is born with a hundred thousand eggs in her body; she sheds quite a few in menses; she gives birth to even fewer as babies; and then at one point in her life, the egg factory wants to rest. At times like this, she feels totally at the mercy of her hormones. If we celebrate this event, it will become a source of strength to us. Taking power over the hormonal changes also means doing a bit of study on it. Don't just swallow pills a male doctor hands you. He doesn't know that, for example, eating a sweet potato a couple of times a week will help balance the hormones in your diet; doctors are not taught common sense or natural medicine. Gather your friends together for a meal. When the mood is high and you and the guests are ready for the ritual, bring out four red candles on a tray or have a friend do it for you. All pay attention to the celebrant. The first friend says:
All toast with glasses filled with juice or wine, saying: "Health! Vitality! Gladness!" The celebrant now lights her first red candle, saying:
The friends toast again, saying: "The bloods ended in glory!" Now, the first friend can play priestess, and she lights a yellow candle and says:
The celebrant replies:
The symbolism of this ritual is very simple. Red candles are symbolic of menstruation and the flow of life. Number q is the number of completion. Yellow is a higher vibration; its color is associated with spiritual growth, skill development, and transcendence. Ritual After Removal of Womb, Breasts, Ovaries Why do we celebrate operations like these? Why not? They save your life, don't they? You would not remove parts of your body unless it was important, and, of course, you obtained many opinions about your decision before you made it. But now you have come home from the hospital, and everything is wonderful; you are healing. Only the psyche is unattended in this matter; that requires a ritual. Create a party where there is a chance to jump over fire. (Candles will work just as well and are easier to jump over.) As you jump over the fire, you may make a wish; since you jump over the fire three times for good luck, that makes three wishes. The first friend calls together the others and explains:
Now you jump over the fire (without getting your gown caught in the flames!), making your wish each time before you leap. Croning Ritual—Entering the Wise Age When the great planet Saturn spins back for the second time in your natal chart, you are fifty-six years old. This is the age we recognize as the doorway into the age of wisdom. This time in a woman's life is really devalued in modern society. A very unkind treatment is allotted to those of us in this age group. Watch out, because soon most of America will be in this age group, and it will be fashionable to be old just wait and see! Gather friends together. The first friend should secure a purple jewel we call the Crone jewel, which will be given to you. The color purple is a high-power color; it also stands for fame and fortune and hard work. She should find a bell, which is used to ring out all those brave years you have been alive! Go ahead with the party, and when the time is right, call your friends in attendance into a circle. The first friend says:
The celebrant crone answers:
After the last ring falls silent, let loose a loud cheering and applause for the woman who achieved such longevity. All members of the party now say:
It is done. Variation for Men When it comes to aging, men around this age also start getting heartless messages from society to step aside and let the young bucks in. The time to be sages is now. The Saturn cycle happens to men as well. It may not be a value for men to focus on their spiritual side at this time, but I'll bet there are growing numbers of men who would welcome not having to be the great providers and "hunters" and instead settle into their spirituality. For men, the symbol of spirituality is a wand. Today you can get little ones, large ones, crystal ones, and plain wooden ones; find one that suits the person the ritual is for. Collect all the man's friends who would contribute to the celebration and not treat it as a joke. Create a party, and when the time is right, the first friend addresses the party:
The celebrant should accept the gift with a little speech, improvised or otherwise, saying, for example:
Now, the first friend will ring out the sage's fifty-six years with the bell, and all listen and appreciate the art of living. When it's over, a great ovation follows; then proceed to feast and celebrate as usual. These are just a few ideas on how to elevate the passages of your life into memorable occasions. For further information read my books and check out some of the other books in the bibliography.
Continue to: |
|
||||||||||
|
Campus Home
| Summer Season
| Fall Season
| Winter Season
| Spring Season |
|||||||||||
Home | Z's
Biography | News and Events | Z's
Blog | Art Gallery | Books
& Merchandise | Psychic Readings | Dianic
University Online
Goddess
Temple | Women's Spirituality Forum | Links
| Contact Z
Introduction