Category: The Sabbats

House Blessing Infusion

House Blessing Infusion

 
1/2 ounce each of:
Lavender flower
Angelica
basil

 

Make an infusion by steeping the herbs in 2 cups of freshly boiled water for 10 minutes.
While your infusion is steeping you may chant: “Herbs of perfection bless my home with love and protection.”

 

You may used this to “wash” your floors to wipe surfaces in your home especially the doors into your home both back and front.

 

To use for washing your floor use a clean mop [never used] 1/2 cup of the infusion added to water in a clean mop bucket. Wash your floors with the solution and let it dry. To use for other purposes place 1/4 cup of the infusion in a clean spray bottle and use it to wipe surfaces such as doors and door handles, and surfaces in rooms where your family gather.

 

 

Source:

Ravenhawks’ Magazine

Deities of the Ostara/Spring Equinox

Deities of the Ostara/Spring Equinox

Spring is a time of great celebration in many cultures. It’s the time of year when the planting begins, people begin to once more enjoy the fresh air, and we can reconnect with the earth again after the long, cold winter. A number of different gods and goddesses from different pantheons are connected with the themes of Spring and Ostara. Lets take a look at some of the many deities associated with spring, rebirth, and new life each year.

Asase Yaa (Ashanti)

This earth goddess prepares to bring forth new life in the spring, and the Ashanti people of Ghana honor her at the festival of Durbar, alongside her husband Nyame, the sky god who brings rain to the fields. As a fertility goddess, she is often associated with the planting of early crops during the rainy season. In some parts of Africa, she is honored during an annual (or often bi-annual) festival called the Awuru Odo.

This is a large gathering of extended family and kinship groups, and a great deal of food and feasting seems to be involved.

In some Ghanaian folktales, Asase Yaa appears as the mother of Anansi, the trickster god, whose legends followed many West Africans to the New World during the centuries of the slave trade.

Interestingly, there do not appear to be any formalized temples to Asase Yaa – instead, she is honored in the fields where the crops grown, and in the homes where she is celebrated as a goddess of fertility and the womb. Farmers may opt to ask her permission before they begin working the soil. Even though she is associated with the hard labor of tilling the fields and planting seeds, her followers take a day off on Thursday, which is her sacred day.

Cybele (Roman)

This mother goddess of Rome was at the center of a rather bloody Phrygian cult, in which eunuch priests performed mysterious rites in her honor. Her lover was Attis (he was also her grandson, but that’s another story), and her jealousy caused him to castrate and kill himself. His blood was the source of the first violets, and divine intervention allowed Attis to be resurrected by Cybele, with some help from Zeus.

In some areas, there is still an annual three-day celebration of Attis’ rebirth and Cybele’s power.
Like Attis, it is said that Cybele’s followers would work themselves into orgiastic frenzies and then ritually castrate themselves. After this, these priests donned women’s clothing, and assumed female identities. They became known as the Gallai. In some regions, female priestesses led Cybele’s dedicants in rituals involving ecstatic music, drumming and dancing. Under the leadership of Augustus Caesar, Cybele became extremely popular. Augustus erected a giant temple in her honor on the Palatine Hill, and the statue of Cybele that is in the temple bears the face of Augustus’ wife, Livia.

Today, many people still honor Cybele, although not in quite the same context as she once was. Groups like the Maetreum of Cybele honor her as a mother goddess and protector of women.

Eostre (Western Germanic)

Little is known about the worship of this Teutonic spring goddess, but she is mentioned by the Venerable Bede, who said that Eostre’s following had died out by the time he compiled his writings in the eighth century. Jacob Grimm referred to her by the High German equivalent, Ostara, in his 1835 manuscript, Deutsche Mythologie.

According to the stories, she is a goddess associated with flowers and springtime, and her name gives us the word “Easter,” as well as the name of Ostara itself.

However, if you start to dig around for information on Eostre, you’ll find that much of it is the same. In fact, nearly all of it is Wiccan and Pagan authors who describe Eostre in a similar fashion. Very little is available on an academic level.

Interestingly, Eostre doesn’t appear anywhere in Germanic mythology, and despite assertions that she might be a Norse deity, she doesn’t show up in the poetic or prose Eddas either. However, she could certainly have belonged to some tribal group in the Germanic areas, and her stories may have just been passed along through oral tradition.

So, did Eostre exist or not? No one knows. Some scholars dispute it, others point to etymological evidence to say that she did in fact have a festival honoring her.

Freya (Norse)

This fertility goddess abandons the earth during the cold months, but returns in the spring to restore nature’s beauty. She wears a magnificent necklace called Brisingamen, which represents the fire of the sun. Freyja was similar to Frigg, the chief goddess of the Aesir, which was the Norse race of sky deities. Both were connected with childrearing, and could take on the aspect of a bird. Freyja owned a magical cloak of hawk’s feathers, which allowed her to transform at will.

This cloak is given to Frigg in some of the Eddas.

As the wife of Odin, the All Father, Freyja was often called upon for assistance in marriage or childbirth, as well as to aid women struggling with infertility.

Osiris (Egyptian)

Osiris is known as the king of Egyptian gods. This lover of Isis dies and is reborn in a resurrection story. The resurrection theme is popular among spring deities, and is also found in the stories of Adonis, Mithras and Attis as well.

Born the son of Geb (the earth) and Nut (the sky), Osiris was the twin brother of Isis and became the first pharoah. He taught mankind the secrets of farming and agriculture, and according to Egyptian myth and legend, brought civilization itself to the world.

Ultimately, the reign of Osiris was brought about by his death at the hands of his brother Set (or Seth).

The death of Osiris is a major event in Egyptian legend.

Saraswati (Hindu)

This Hindu goddess of the arts, wisdom and learning has her own festival each spring in India, called Saraswati Puja. She is honored with prayers and music, and is usually depicted holding lotus blossoms and the sacred Vedas.
 

Source

Patti Wigington, Paganism/Wicca Expert
Article published on & owned by About.com

Prayer for The Resurrection of the Earth

Prayer for The Resurrection of the Earth

 

The death sleep of winter has slowly faded,
the rigor of the ground loosens,
and the earth is once more reborn.
Like Mithras and Osiris,
reborn from death,
life returns again to the land,
springing up as the snow melts away.
As the soil warms and the days grow longer,
dew forms along new sprouts of grass,
bringing life back.
Awaken! Awaken! Awaken!
And rise!
Let the earth come to life again,
and welcome the light of spring!

Author: Patti Wigington, Paganism/Wicca Expert
Article published on & owned by About.com

What A Glorious Ostara Day The Goddess Has Blessed Us With! Wishing A Happy & Blessed Ostara To All The WOTC!

When ice melts on the hilly slopes,
The rivers will swell, and begin to grope,
Their winding journey to the sea,
Past open fields where winter’s been.

Past tall trees now bearing leaves,
Past soft grass of vivid green,
Over rocks where snow has been,
The watery convoy heads downstream.

Animals wake from winter sleep,
And from their beds they stiffly creep,
Into the golden springtime sun,
Once more to walk, once more to run.

The sky above, no longer grey,
The sun God sends his golden rays,
As winter retreats and disappears,
And in the woods, the Green Man cheers.

All that live upon this land,

Rejoice to see that winter’s hand,
Has been returned into the past,
For Spring is here, again, at last.

—Alan Faraway, Pagan Ways

Hold a Spring Rebirth Ritual for Ostara

Hold a Spring Rebirth Ritual for Ostara

Spring is the time of year when the cycle of life, death, and rebirth is complete. As plants bloom and new life returns, the theme of resurrection is ever present. As Ostara, the spring equinox, arrives, it’s the season for that which has gone dormant to become revitalized, alive, and reborn. This ritual includes a symbolic rebirthing — you can perform this rite either as a solitary, or as a part of a group ceremony.

In addition to setting up your Ostara altar, you’ll need the following supplies: a black sheet for each participant, a bowl of dirt, water, a white candle, and incense. For this rite, the High Priestess (HPs) or High Priest (HP) should be the only person at the altar. Other participants should wait in another room until called. If you’re doing the rite outside, the group can wait some distance away from the altar. If your tradition calls for you to cast a circle, do this now.

The first person in the group waits outside the circle, covered from head to toe in the black sheet.

If your group is comfortable with skyclad rituals, you can be nude under the sheet — otherwise, wear your ritual robe. Once the HPs is ready to begin, she calls the first participant into the altar area, cutting an opening in the circle as the person enters and then closing it behind them.

The participant, still covered in the black sheet, kneels on the floor before the altar.

The HPs greets the participant, and says:

Today is the time of the Spring equinox.
Ostara is a time of equal parts light and dark.
Spring has arrived, and it is a time of rebirth.
The planting season will soon begin, and
life will form once more within the earth.
As the earth welcomes new life and new beginnings,
so can we be reborn in the light and love of the gods*.
Do you, (name), wish to experience the rebirth of spring, and
step out of the darkness into the light?

The participant replies with an affirmative answer. The HPs takes the salt from the altar, and sprinkles it over the sheet-clad participant, saying:

With the blessings of the earth, and the life within the soil,
you are reborn in the eyes of the gods.

Next, the HPs takes the lit incense and passes it over the participant, saying:

With the blessings of air, may knowledge and wisdom
be brought to you upon the winds.

The HPs takes the burning candle and (carefully!) passes it over the participant, saying:

May the fire of the spring sun bring growth and harmony
into your life.

Finally, the HPs sprinkles water around the participant, and says:

With the blessings of water, may the chill and darkness of winter,
be swept away by the warm spring rains.

Rise! Step forth out of the darkness, and climb into the light.
Awaken once more in the arms of the gods.

At this point, the participant slowly emerges from the black sheet. Remember, this is a symbolic rebirth. Take your time if you feel you need to. As you pull the sheet back away from you, remember that you are not only stepping into the light, but putting behind you the darkness of the past six months. Winter is over, and spring has arrived, so take a few moments, as you emerge, to think about the magic of this time of year.

The High Priestess then welcomes the participant, saying:

You have stepped once more into the light,
and the gods welcome you.

Repeat the ceremony until all members of the group have been “reborn”. If you are performing this rite as a solitary, obviously you would speak the lines of the HPs yourself, and bless the area around yourself with the dirt, incense, candle and water. Once everyone in the group has gone through the rebirthing, take some time to meditate on the balancing energy of Ostara. Light and dark are equal, as are positive and negative. Consider, for a while, the polarity of this season. Think about the balance you wish to find in your life, and consider how you may work harder to find harmony within yourself.

When you are ready, end the ritual, or move on to a Cakes and Ale ceremony, spellwork or other healing magic.

Tips:

  • Feel free to substitute the name of your tradition’s deity here.
  • If you’ve ever thought about rededicating yourself to the gods of your tradition, Ostara is an excellent time to do this.

 

Paganism/Wicca Expert
Article published on & owned by About.com