December

The Goddess Speaks

Lucina

Now you are shivering, bundled up as you walk in snow and ice and fearing the rain because it brings colds and coughs. Oh, you poor souls! How you need me, your Sun Goddess, Lucina. My people in Sweden have not seen me in six months. My festival of rebirth there is awaited eagerly, Little girls dress up in white bridal gowns, wearing evergreen wreaths with candles in them on their heads — my own design. They dispense cookies and spirits on the streets at dawn. Songs are ringing out from my people’s hearts, praising me and my wintry peace. I like December festivities because I too am lonely for my young body and young thoughts. I, too, am longing for the warmth of my people and the lengthening of the days.

There now! I am coming back to you, little bird shivering in the winter. You already sing of me because you know I am faithful and will return soon. Winter Solstice is my birthday. My birthday has been taken away from me, but all my symbols are intact. The Christmas tree was once my Tree of Life, the holly is my symbol of rebirth. It is evergreen, of course, for in death, life still shines forth. How about the angels and star on the top of the tree? Did you enjoy seeing them as a child? It is the star of the fairy queen, she who brings magic into the newly lit world. And mistletoe, need I say, is also my symbol. The Golden Bough, as well as being medicine for the heart, is sacred to love of life as I hold life sacred. Singing and caroling all are ancient pagan customs, practiced long before my shrines were trampled and I was pronounced to be a male, a fallen angel named Lucifer. But there are places in the world where these new stories didn't take root, and my name is still the same, as you can see.

See me in my full regalia. I am wearing an evergreen crown with lighted white candles all around it, eight of them, representing the coming seasons (equinoxes and solstices and the high points in between). I, the Goddess of the Sun, shall bring you rebirth. Flowers are lonely for me within the womb of the earth; fruits are but thoughts of the trees. But I shall come and ripen them to delight again. And I shall feed the hungry people and tan the skins of the pale. I shall throw my magic on lights and make shadows and bless you all as I bless the invisible sleeping grain.

December's Aspects

This month used to be the tenth (decem in Latin) in the old Julian calendar. Now it is the twelfth month, but it is still called by its original number. Some things never change...

Full moon aspect: Moon of long nights

Universal event: The revitalizing of waters. Until Winter Solstice at the end of the month, night continues to increase and dominate. The Goddess of the Night reigns supreme.

Communal event: Winter Solstice Sabbat, December 21st, the celebration of the birth of light, of the birth of the sun goddess Lucina

Message: To endure, to die, to be reborn

Activity: Introspection and renewal

Healing properties: Purification of body and soul

Appropriate spells: Rebirthing, getting rid of depression

Manifestation: The alder tree, which grows by the water and is often used by witches for making rain, and the helicon, the sacred bird traditionally seen only on the two solstices, regarded as the manifestation of the goddess in her life-in-death and death-in-life aspects.

Color: Blood red

Tree: Poinsettia, holly, mistletoe

Flower: Narcissus

Creature: Rook, helicon

Gem: Turquoise, zircon

Winter Solstice Season December 21st

Winter Solstice Practices

If you make room for new things to happen, nature, who cannot stand empty space, fills it up again for you with something new. In your home, put up a wonderful Yule Tree (any evergreen). The tree’s scent is purifying, and it represents the tree of life. Decorate it with symbols of plenty — round balls in many colors and glitter of the fairies. When you drink eggnog, remember it is mother’s milk you are drinking and feel her rejuvenating powers. Don't abuse your body during the winter holidays. Burn lots of candles all around your home all month long. Write in your journal; take time out for reflection. This isn't the time to be totally oriented outward. December is a truly merry month, but it is also a time for contemplation of the soul.

Exercise

Celebrating the Spirit of Earth

If you feel lost and need to focus, this little spell may put the big picture in perspective for you. It's called "A Pledge of Allegiance to the Family of the Earth."

After your purification bath, create a white altar. Use white cloth; place some salt in a small, flat dish; burn the incense of your choice; place a goddess image in the middle of the table; and get two white candles. Put some white flowers on the altar. Light the candles, saying:

Blessed be thou, creature of fire, enlighten me!

Light the incense, saying:

Blessed be thou, messenger of air, carry this prayer to the Goddess.

Take the flowers, and with both hands extended, say:

I pledge allegiance to the green earth, and to her flora, fauna and human life that it supports; one planet, indivisible, with safe air, water, and soil, economic justice, equal rights, and peace for all.*

*Reprinted by permission of the Women's Foreign Policy Council

Put the flowers in front of the goddess image. As you watch the flames, feel your connectedness to all the life around you. repeat the pledge several times, until your soul is filled with courage and gladness.

The December Teaching: The Mystical, Practical Art of Celebration

Once upon a time I was asked to conduct the main circle ritual at a gathering in Wisconsin in 1988 for the Developing Dianic Wicca Conference. For two years, about a hundred and fifty women from all over the country had been gathering in Wisconsin to define and develop the tradition of the women's mysteries. One might imagine that a large number of beautiful women could easily perform a wonderful mystical ritual, but it wasn't so. The priestess came prepared with many ideas and offered opportunities for the group to participate in the circle. But the group was not unified yet; the women had just arrived from all over the United States and were not in a mood to reveal themselves.

What causes circles to die—to limp and bog down? Gone are the times when women circled naturally with each other; we are now ignorant or have acquired bad habits. Rule number 1, I found, was to never plan a ritual for a group without the group being part of the planning. When leading a circle ritual, make time beforehand to involve everybody in creating the experience. This will keep the women interested and will give them specific things to do that will liberate them from being passive bystanders. Till people to gather flowers, bring candles, contribute some of their occult supplies. This will avoid another problem-that of having your own supplies used up, mine often were.

When planning a circle ritual, first find out how big the circle is to be. Everybody should get up and hold hands; then you can see what you have to work with. Make sure the group makes a real circle, if possible, not a potato shape. The difference is that from any point in a real circle, you can see everybody else. This gives people a chance to see themselves for the first time as a group. They need to see who is there; they need to feel it. Does it feel good? Amities must be allowed to come into play, participants allowed to change places with each other.

From your first to your last request to the group, you as ritualist must project that you are accessible, that you are organically part of the whole, not someone set apart as privileged or divinely "chosen" and therefore better than the rest. You must belong to your function as priestess and nothing else. What do I mean by this? A Goddess priestess, for example, would not position herself apart from the group, sitting on a throne in the middle, or elevated above others' heads. She would position herself as part of the group, thus giving her easy access to talk to the group at any time. I use humor often, because women relax if they can laugh. I call it laughter yoga. Just start a good cackle sometimes; that will break the ice.

Now find out who are the air signs in your group, Gemini, Libra, Aquarius. Charge the air sign women to create their own corner of the universe, to make an altar to the east. This will bring them together; having something in common, all being air signs, they will have their own symbols to draw on. Then do this with all the fire signs-Aries, Sagittarius, Leo; they will create the altar to the south. Water signs-Cancer, Pisces, Scorpio-should work on the corner of the west. The north altar should be created by the earth signs-Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn. Suddenly, the whole group is busy and starting to use their intuitive powers by making altars, arranging flowers, pouring water into chalices, making things look beautiful, talking to each other, trusting each other. The middle of the altar for the Goddess herself should be created by all the women after they have created their special corner of the universe. You would be surprised how quickly beautiful altars are built by different women. The experience of creating sacred space together is already trancelike; it is an unusual activity, for centuries forbidden and punished with death. Witches have returned to worship the life force again. Now the women dress up, putting on their ritual finery. Crowns are made of flowers, grasses, and branches. Some don real silver crowns and silver bracelets; others wear beads and gems. Transformation is already taking place.

A circle is like a layered cake. Every layer is followed by the next layer, each higher than the one before. Energy is built the same way; the first layer of energy is forming the circle. It is important that we don't fudge on raising power. Power is what the Goddess is all about. The very energy of life is the goddess's power, and that force must be channeled into the circle in great fluid streams. This invisible energy becomes visible when everyone holds hands and the group starts swaying unconsciously, first just a little, then full waves that involve all participants, bodies moving gently by the power of the flow of the goddess energy.

The next step of raising energy must be even higher, like the next layer of cake. Humming is the traditional Dianic power-raising technique. You vibrate the skull by letting your vocal cords rub together gently. Check the top of your head; is it vibrating? Keep humming for about three to five minutes to balance the electricity in your blood. When the Dianics started attending mixed pagan festivals and attracted priestesses from all traditions, women quickly learned humming and introduced the technique in their own covens.

After the humming has taken the circle into a deeper meditative mode, that is when you call in the corners of the universe, that is when you raise your voice loud and clear and address the forces in nature-the air, the fire, the water, the earth. Calling the powers of the universe can also be done communally. All the women who belong to a particular corner, according to the zodiac, can call it in, using all the imagination they have. They can call individually, they can call communally, they can add to each other's invocations, they can make noises to underscore them. The only thing not allowed is to drop the energy. The energy must keep rising, no matter what happens. If it is allowed to drop, the circle is lost. You have to start all over again. One good way to make sure the energy doesn't drop is to keep humming gently underneath all the other invocations.

Let's say you have done what you needed to do, you called in the appropriate goddesses and elements of air, fire, water, and earth, and the circle has been closed. Here is the center of the magic: What is your purpose, what is this circle for? Magic of the Goddess should not be used just to make you feel good or because it's groovy to be in the magical circle. Power must be used; you called it in, you asked it to be present, now you must send it somewhere. This isn't so hard, since you have already agreed on this before you started, as part of the preparation for the circle work. I offer world peace or an end to child abuse, sexism, and violence as valid goals.

Imagine the Goddess actually floating overhead, composed of all the emanations of the women's bioplasma, our bodies' vibrations. She is now waiting for you to relate to her. Offer the chalice to the Goddess, with the invocation to the Star Goddess (Z. Budapest, The Holy Book of Women's Mysteries (Oakland, Calif.: Wingbow, 1989), 125). This is my favorite prayer. It always evokes the awe of the Goddess, makes us think about immortality, lifts our hopes, and makes us wise. But whatever sacred text you use, this is the moment in the circle when it is good to get reverential. If the group knows this prayer, it is most powerful to recite it in unison. It sends shivers up your spine, it can be so moving.

After a pause, the humming continues, low and steady, to support the energy rising. This is the part when individuals can come to the Goddess, addressing her as they would their own mother, and ask for things in their lives-health, wealth, wisdom, cures, solutions. We usually do this by stepping into the circle and lighting our candle while we speak. Other women hum and pay attention. We usually go around the circle at least once and light all the candles on the altar.

We have now arrived at the high point of the circle. If there was a chill in the air before, now there is none of it left. Our body temperature as well as the room or space around us is sizzling hot with candlelight and energy. Now is the time to chant and sing Goddess songs and, eventually, when the time is right, to dance around the altar at least three times for good luck so that all that has been asked of the Goddess is blessed. My favorite chant is "The Goddess is alive! Magic is afoot!"

Each woman affirms the Goddess: "The Goddess is alive!" And each time the group chants back, "Magic is afoot!" After the affirmation of the goddess, each woman substitutes her own name to affirm her connection to the divine. "Zsuzsanna is alive! Magic is afoot!" This raises even more energy. You must be careful; not just any chant or song will do; it must go with the existing energy level. Don't bring down the group with a slow song now; save it for later when you are grounding the energy. A priestess must have a varied repertoire of songs and chants.

Finally, everyone holds hands and encircles the altar. The lit candles burn low now, the last request has been made, and the dance is in progress. Move gracefully and joyously in the circle dance. When it is finished, it is time to ground the energy. It has been a popular practice to ground the energy by banging on the dusty floor, kissing the ground, or making other ground-oriented gestures. I prefer to only kiss the earth in nature—and I don't mean sidewalks. To ground, the ancients simply settled down to a feast. Food is the most natural way to ground. If food is not available (as it always should be), use breathing to ground. Inhale the energy as if through a straw, store it in your body, and tell yourself that this space will live on inside you—all you have to do is to breathe to get to it. I also use communal applause to ground. We applaud each other and the experience. It is an excellent way to calm down from a ritual. With food itself, there are rituals that continue the good feelings and blessings. We usually feed each other the first bite and first sip of water, saying, "May you never hunger! May you never thirst!" Only after we have fed somebody else, do we ourselves start eating. It reinforces the feeling of being one; to share foods and think of somebody else first is what is done at sacred meals.

Finally, when the energy is about to slip away but just before it does, all should rise again and together thank the power, the Goddess, for having visited us with her presence. Just as we had lots of enthusiastic participation calling in the four corners of the universe, the same energy is now evoked to thank them. I always like to throw a flower in each direction-a daisy or a rose, whatever is available-as a true hail and farewell. It just makes a classy exit. I like to think the Goddess appreciates a fine touch.

I also use closing songs that I compose myself for a good ending after a good gathering. The ending is as important as the beginning, if not more so.

May Artemis protect you
And Hera provide you
And the woman soul within you
Guide your way home.
Merry meet and merry part
And merry meet again!

The women now collect their valuables from the altar, their candles (they can finish burning them on their home altars), jewels, cloths, whatever they contributed to the building of the altars. In this way, the women also gain insight into the magic they have created; they remember putting things up and now taking them down. It was the magic of the goddess, but somehow it was the women the magic was created by. It's a good lesson to ponder. When all is said and done, drive home safely.

A good ritual stays with you for weeks, giving you energy. Little moments pop into your mind from the evening. You remember things that happened, how you felt, and how you feel now. Two women from our last full moon celebration remembered how they saw a white emanation of the Goddess in the middle of the circle all during our prayers. I remembered how smoothly the energy flowed and how I lost the sense of time; it was 1:30 A.M. when we stopped, and it felt as if it were only 10:00 P.M. When you enter the space between the worlds, such as a magic circle, your sense of time goes first. The best remembrance is when the spells come in, one by one, and you can see how what you asked for was granted. Ultimately, that is the proof of a good ritual: Did it work?

Feel what the group needs. Can you channel the communal will? Can you enhance the state of feelings? Can you create a ritual that fits precisely the moment and the people? All I do is feel. It comes in, like a song on the radio. It comes to me exactly what's needed—even in what order. But it is a lot of work. It is a lot of risk, staying open like that, trusting what's to happen. I never think "What if I don't get the next move? What if I don't receive the ritual through my priestessing/channeling?" There was one time when I went blank, when nothing seemed to come in, but then we used this silence. The silence taught us a lot more than we knew before. It rested all of us—total silence.

Rituals, as I have suggested in this book, barely touch the surface of the knowledge and breadth and width that this spiritual endeavor requires. I would like to see women take the skills of managing communal energy more to heart and increase the trust in the unexpected. Theater and skills of improvisation must be blended into ritual work, or we drown ourselves in trivia and boredom. Ritual leaders-dress up more, use your tools, don't just keep them in the house. The psyches of women are hungry for the ancient archetypes; encourage the women who have it in them to lead. Exercise your own self-knowledge, recognize your limits, and recognize your own strengths. This will make you the priestess the Goddess needs you to be; none of us can do it all nor do we need to do it all; that is why we have each other. And that is good.

Homework for December

1. Perform a Good Luck Spell.
   
   Luck: a force that brings good fortune or adversity.
   
   Belief in luck is generally regarded as a form of magical thinking. There is evidence that people who believe they have good luck are more able to take advantage of fortunate chance events in their lives, and to compensate for unfortunate chance events in their lives, than people who believe that they have bad luck. Positive thinking may alter your responses to these chance events.
   
   If "good" and "bad" events occur at random to everyone, believers in good luck will experience a net gain in their fortunes, and vice versa for believers in bad luck.
   
   
2. Perform a prophecy for yourself or a friend using whatever tools you know.
   
   There are as many forms of divination as there are cultures; cards (i.e., Tarot), runes, scrying, tea leaves, I Ching, automatic writing, crystals, smoke, and fire. Use one you know or try learning a new method.
   
   
3. Look up the Holly tree.
   
   Hollies are shrubs and trees of the genus Ilex. Many of them are highly decorative. Some have leaves with widely-spaced, spine-tipped leaves, while others have simple leaves. Find out more about it, investigate what it is used for in magic. Experience it, and share the answers with your sisters.
   

Talk about these assignments.

Blessed Be!
ZB

Continue to:

January

      Aspects

      Holidays

      Exercise

      Teaching

      Homework

    January

    February

Introduction

Summer Season

Fall Season

Spring Season

Circle of Rebirth

Resources

Round Table

Introduction | Summer Season | Fall Season | Winter Season | Spring Season
Circle of Rebirth | Resources | Round Table