Weekend Happenings

Blessed Sunday all! It has been yet another BUSY weekend here! Yesterday, I spent the afternoon with my sister, Aurora Skye doing a bit of long overdue shopping for Small Business Saturday ...

Among our favorite places which we frequent was "Celtic Myth & Moonlight" ...

Greenman sconces on sale of Winter Solstice, Summer Solstice, and Autumn Equinox ...

At "The Mint Leaf", I found these cool pieces of jewelry ...

And, at TJ  Maxx, I found these items ...

 

Also this Saturday, we had some much needed work done at our home. A very excellent and reasonable certified arborist trimmed two of our trees VERY close to our house, and the road, as well as a dead maple tree in the back of our house ...

 

That same day, we also had to have an electrician come out to fix and replace both our switch and box in our garage. 

Have a good week everyone!

The Green Man: The Magnificent God of the Forest

Of all the many forms in which our Lord God takes, I must say that I love His Green Man aspect the most! He is both lover and consort to our Lady Goddess, the Earth Mother, and our Father always -The Oak King and Holly King respectively.

Historically speaking, the Green Man goes all the way back to pre-Christian Europe, Ireland, Scotland and Russia. He represents our kinship with the trees and the woods and the cycle of renewal and rebirth. He is known by many different names as He is recognized in almost every tradition. For example, he is heavily associated with Cernunnos (Celtic god of the forest), Dionysus (Greek god of Wine) and Bacchus (Roman god of wine), to name a few.

Our former Wiccan group, "Old Path Enlightener’s Circle", used to honor The Green Man or “The Oak King” at our Beltane celebrations. This is the time when our Lord God and Lady Goddess unite in the “sacred rite of holy marriage.” We re-enact this sacred marriage ceremony during the symbolic Great Rite. This is one of the many reasons why I love Beltane so much and why it is amongst my favorite of our Wiccan celebrations. Lady Sabrina Rhiannon’s group, The Coven of the Silver Moon Circle, chooses a May King and Queen during their Beltane ritual. Everyone inside the circle walks in between two balefire cauldrons for a total of 9 times while making one wish each. Typically, the Celtic Fire god Bel or Belinus is honored at this particular sabbat, as the word Beltane literally means, “Bel-Fire,” but we much prefer to honor The Green Man.

Draco & Rhiannon lighting the Spirit candle during the symbolic Great Rite - Beltane 2008.

“I GIVE TO THEE MY GREATEST GIFT,

A LOVE THAT’S PURE AND TRUE

ACCEPT IT WITH OPEN ARMS,

AS I HAVE DONE FOR YOU.”  ~  Sal Ranieri

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The Great Rite: Symbolic vs. Actual

So what is the difference between the "Actual" Great Rite and the "Symbolic" version? Well to start with, the Actual Great Rite is exactly that - the "actual" act of the sacred joining of the Goddess and God through a coven's Wiccan High Priestess and High Priest. This can either be enacted inside the sacred circle in front of the rest of the coven members or it can be performed in a more private setting.

The Symbolic Great Rite holds much the same meaning as the Actual in that it still symbolizes the sacred union of the Goddess and God, but it is done through the use of a consecrated athame (representing the "phallas of the God") and the chalice of wine or juice (which represents the "womb of the Mother").  

As a Solitary practitioner, I naturally incorporate the Symbolic version into my rituals and I much prefer it to the Actual with regards to my Wiccan group as well. Although it usually depends upon an individual's comfortability, I, myself, hesitate to participate in an Actual Great Rite (sacred or otherwise) with anyone other than my spouse and only if he were a member of the Pagan clergy (a High Priest or the like) albeit not in the company of others.

The Great Rite in itself is a very sacred act and I can tell you from my own personal experience that, sometimes even when only performed Symbolically with another individual, the sexual energy raised during this particular act can be quite intense and overwhelming! It is certainly nothing to fool around with and most especially not in the hands of anyone who does not understand its' true purpose in ritual.

Of course, depending upon the persons who are performing the Symbolic Great Rite, the energy may not necessarily be the same every time for everyone. For example, if both individuals happen to be female (or male) and have no natural attraction to the same sex, the experience may not tend to be as intimate as perhaps a male and female bonding in this way.

Personally speaking, I view The Great Rite as a very beautiful, sacred gift from the Goddess and God which should always be respected and thought through thoroughly before using in any ritual ceremony.

(A pic from my hubby and my Legal Handfasting ~ 2001)

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Throwback Thursday

My treasured Green Man collection from over the years which adorn my home and my Beltane altar each and every year ...

My newest addition ...

Two of my set of four season Green Man plaques which I have hung on my living room wall ...

An old pic of my friends Deb and Dave on their wedding day circa 2002. They got married on the beach at the shore in Virginia.

And now ...

Greenman by XTC

Upon the first of April,

I saw the Holy Fool

He was a merry prankster

The Lord of all Misrule!

He looked at me and winked an eye

And danced and sang and then

He sang, “Blessed Be and Blessed Be

And Blessed Be again!”

 
"... and it harm none, do what you will."

Never a dull moment ...

A wise woman named Edna Buchanan once said:

 "Friends are the family we choose for ourselves."

I very much agree with her. I wish to thank you all, my friends, for your very caring a supportive comments on my last post about the upcoming handfasting. It means so very much to me to have you as part of my Blogger family! Much love and big hugs!

My apologies for my absence these past couple of days. Friday night, our cat Tabby found her way into our attic and in my attempt to retrieve her, she ran back into the insulated crawl space where the fiber glass is and I could not get to her. When she finally came out, I grabbed her and took her back downstairs. She was full of dust and dirt and I inadvertently got something in my left eye. While rubbing it, I developed a corneal abrasion. OUCH! Let me tell you all, it hurts like nothing I've ever experienced before. Hubby and I spent four hours in the Emergency Room on Saturday morning. They put a few drops of bright yellow dye in my eye in order to examine it. Gave me a tetanus shot and sent me home with an RX for Tylenol with Codeine and a small bottle of Tobrex eye drops. I had to wear hubby's dark work glasses all weekend as any sort of light just made the jabbing pain in my eye worsen ...

How do you all like my Ray Charles look? ;)  Anyway, I am starting to feel a bit better as the meds seem to be taking effect rather quickly. I will most likely take tomorrow off of work for good measure. My only concern now is that I am well enough by next weekend to perform the Handfasting. Keeping my fingers crossed!

On the brighter side, the other two plaques to my "Seasons of Greeman" set came in and the merchant was kind enough to drop them off at my home for me ...

Fall and Winter plaques

 

 

I just love them!! Hope everyone's having a great weekend and Brightest Blessings!

My Main Man, the Green Man

For as long as I can remember, I have always loved the Green Man. Of all the god deities, He has always held the most fascination for me and a special place in my heart.

So naturally, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to take these beautiful pieces home from our local Pagan supplies shoppe, "Celtic Myth & Moonlight" where they are currently gracing our living room.

Heart-shaped "The Green Lady/Earth Mother" decorative box

"The Green Man" decorative gift box

Little Green Man votive candle holder

A Message for "Earth Day"

Our remote ancestors said to their Mother Earth: 'We are yours.'

Modern humanity has said to Nature: 'You are mine' -

The Green Man has returned as the living face of the whole Earth so that through His mouth we may say to the Universe: 'We are one.'  ~  William Anderson

Wishing everyone a joyous Earth Day and may all humanity learn to treat our Mother Earth as good as She has treated us!

Blessed Be ~ Lady Caer Morganna