A Little Reiki Story ...

Back in December of 2001, I received my certification as a Reiki I practitioner. I took a 2-day, 8-hour course taught by Frances M. Ferlazzo-Moise, Certified Reiki Master, which was held in her home.

Before the start of the first day of class, we were all told to remove our watches and any other electrical object we may have on our person. For some reason, I was running very late that morning and I had stuck my watch inside of my pants pocket and therefore had been wearing it the entire day.

Throughout the course of our busy day, we had received the usual reiki training – meditations, attunements and, of course, we performed the “laying on of hands” along with our fellow classmates.

On the way home that night, I glanced at my watch to check the time (it was then I remembered that I had placed my watch in my pants pocket in the first place). When I looked at my watch, it read, “2:16.” I thought to myself, “What? I know that isn’t right!” So I asked my brother-in-law, who was driving the car at the time and who also took the reiki course along with me, what time he had on his watch. He replied, “6:30.” I then suddenly realized what had happened. During our second attunement, my watch had actually stopped – drained of all its’ juice!

What did I learn from this little experience? I learned NEVER to underestimate the power of reiki energy! I also remember Fran telling me the next day about how she, herself, blew out a couple of small appliances in her home when she first began practicing reiki. It takes a lot of time and experience to learn “how” to control your personal energy, but once mastered, it is such an awesome ability. To be able to help others, including animals, is a really great feeling! By the way, animals respond very well to reiki energy. As with people, it calms and relaxes them – my cats simply love it!

How to make a Bridget's Cross

I learned how to make a Bridgit’s Cross a few years ago at Lady Sabrina Rhiannon’s Imbolc, when we all made our own during the ritual. They are really easy to make, but since it is somewhat difficult to explain how to make Bridgit’s Crosses without benefit of visual aid, I borrowed this video clip from The Zen Witch’s blog. (Thank you, April!)

Thank You!

The other day, I received a very nice e-mail from a Wiccan gentleman with a family who told me that he loved my blog and my Solitary Sabbat Rituals. He had liked them so much that he asked me if I had ever published them (aside from my blog) and if so, where could he obtain a copy?

Even though I am a solitary practitioner at heart, I have been celebrating the Wiccan sabbats for the past several years with my close group of solitary friends. The sabbats which I post on my blog are slightly converted versions of the ritual ceremonies that we use every year. Of course, I may make a few minor alterations depending upon whether or not we have small children joining us, etc., but basically, they are the same rituals I always use.

I would just like to say a humble, “Thank you!” to this kind man for his thoughtfulness in taking the time to write me. It is very much appreciated!

Solitary Ostara Ritual

Items needed:

1 Gold God candle

1 Silver Goddess candle

4 corner candles

A basket of eggs (real or artificial)

Yellow, Green & Pink ritual candles

Rose or Strawberry incense

Spring flowers

Cauldron & Sage (to purify circle)

A bowl of salt

A cup of water

Chalice of wine or juice

Athame (for The Great Rite) and wand

                                                                   

Cast circle and call the corners. Light the incense and sage.  Invoke God & Goddess.  (DO NOT light the green, yellow and pink ritual candles just yet) -

INVOCATION OF THE GOD:

 “I now do call upon the eternal God in the ancient way, as Lord of Day and Horned One of the Forests. You who are known by many names – Green Man, Cernunnos, Dionysus. Come join me! Bring me your light, energy and protection as I celebrate the Spring Equinox, that magicak time when light and dark are in balance. Send Thy spirit forth so that I, your child, may feel your light within me. As it is willed, so mote it be!”

INVOCATION OF THE GODDESS:

“I now do call upon the eternal Goddess in the ancient way, as Earth Mother and Lady Eostre. You who are Maiden, Mother and Crone – The Triple Goddess be. Come join me! Bring me your love, knowledge and understanding as I celebrate the Spring Equinox, when the land is just beginning to show that which was promised at Imbolg. Send thy spirit forth so that I, your child, may feel your life within me. As it is willed, so mote it be!”

(Eostre is the Teutonic Lunar Goddess of Fertility and Renewal, She symbolizes the rebirth of nature and Her sacred animal is the hare. During Her festival, it was the Pagan custom to exchange colored eggs as a way of celebrating the season of Spring and the anticipation of new life to come.)

“Blessed be this season of Ostara,

  Night of the Spring Equinox,

  Night of balance.

 Tonight all things stand as equals; Goddess and God,

 Life and death, Dark and light,

 All come together as equals as do our young deities.

 But the wheel of the Year turns on

 and after tonight, the light will conquer the darkness –

 Blessed be the darkness,  

 Blessed be the light!”

Take the Goddess & God candles from the altar and light the surrounding ritual candles. When finished, place the Goddess candle back on the altar and say:

“Behold the Goddess who turns the wheel,

 Blessed be life renewed!”

Then, while placing the God candle back on the altar, say:

“Behold the Light of the God,

 Blessed be light renewed!”

Take the eggs from the basket, saving one for yourself, and set them around the perimeter of the circle, clockwise. If anyone else happens to be joining you or if there are others in addition to yourself in the circle, give one egg to each person present.

“Tonight  I celebrate the renewal of my Mother Earth and the renewal of my own life as well, for we are all Her creatures and Her children of Nature.”

Holding the egg in your hand upward, toward the Sun, say:

“The egg which I hold in my hand has long been a symbol of life renewed for as many millennia as our human ancestors have walked the Earth and our Father God, the Horned One of the Forests, has protected that life.”

(The following rite symbolizes the union between the Goddess & God - without which there would not be life. Pick up the chalice of wine or juice and your athame. While slowing dipping your athame into the chalice, repeat the following:

THE GREAT RITE- (symbolic):

“Chalice to athame as Goddess is to God,

 Father is to Mother as man is to woman;

Behold the sacred union of The One!”

When finished, make a toast to the Goddess & God – drinking from the consecrated chalice.

“I am a child of deity,

 I am part of the creative life force which moves the universe;

 I am part of all that is.

 Though we are apart, we are always together,

 For we are one in the spirit of our Goddess and God –

Merry Meet, merry part and merry meet again –

Blessed be!”

Close ritual and open circle, remembering to give back to the Earth afterwards.

Eostre - An Ostara Poem

Eostre

The snow has all melted
And winter has gone,
Now Nature is singing
Springs’ most beautiful song;
As we honor the Goddess -
The Devine Eostre,
While she breathes her life
Into the birds and the bees;
She's fertile and loving
Ancient Mother is she
From the youngest child
To the oldest tree

Lady Caer Morganna

Lupercalia: St. Valentine's Days' Pagan Origin

St. Valentine’s Day, as with so many of the contemporary holidays which we, as Americans, celebrate today, has its’ beginnings in Paganism. In ancient Rome, a Pagan fertility and purification festival called Lupercalia, was celebrated. Lupercalia is uniquely Roman and was named after the fertility god Lupercus, protector of flocks against wolves. In fact, he was often identified with the gods Pan and Faunus.

Lupercalia was an important festival as records indicate that Mark Antony was Master of the Luperci College of Priests. In the year 44BC, he chose the Lupercalia festival as the proper time to offer the crown to Julius Caesar. Since February occurred later on the ancient calendar than it does today, Lupercalia was held in the spring. Each year on February 15, the Luperci priests gathered on Palatine Hill at the cave of Lupercal. Young men wore their loincloths and led the priests around the pomerium, the sacred boundary of the ancient city, and around the base of the hills of Rome.

Long after Palatine became the center of the powerful city, state and empire of Rome, the Lupercalia festival lived on. Roman armies took the Lupercalia customs with them as they invaded France and Britain. One of these customs was a lottery where the names of available maidens were placed in a box and then drawn by the young men. Each man accepted the girl whose name he drew as his love for the duration of the festival, which lasted from February 13^th to the 15^th, sometimes longer.

Somewhere around 197AD, Christianity began to slowly do away with the Pagan pantheons. It frequently replaced the festivals of the Pagan gods with its’ own modern celebrations to fit the life and teachings of Christ. Lupercalia, with its’ lover lottery, had no place in the new order. In the year 496AD, Pope Gelasius did away with the festival of Lupercalia, citing it as Pagan and immoral. He chose Valentine as the Patron Saint of lovers who would be honored at the new festival on February 14^th.

Circa 289AD, a Christian named Valentine of Rome was martyred under the Emperor Claudius. Valentine was a bishop in the city who was arrested for giving aid to prisoners. While in prison, he was said to have converted his jailer by healing the man’s blind daughters’ sight. He then fell in love with her and from his death row cell, he wrote her a note signed, “From Your Valentine.”

It is believed that the very first valentine cards were the slips of paper bearing the names of maidens the early Romans first drew. Or , perhaps the note which Valentine passed to his sweetheart from his prison cell. By the 17^th century; however, handmade cards became quite elaborate and pre-fabricated ones were only for the wealthy. In 1797, a British publisher issued, “The Young Man’s Valentine Writer,” which contained suggested sentimental literature for the young lover.

Today, the St. Valentine’s Day traditions continue with the giving of chocolates, jewelry and flowers. An estimated 1 billion St. Valentine’s Day cards are sent worldwide, making it the second most celebrated holiday after Christmas.

Imbolc Candles

Imbolc Candles

We light the candles on Imbolc

Weave our crosses end to end

We light the candles on Imbolc

To urge the Sun to come again

We light the candles on Imbolc

To honor the Goddess Bridgit

We light the candles on Imbolc

To plow the field and sow the seed

Lady Caer Morganna