Calendar of the Sun for November 7th

Calendar of the Sun

7 Blutmonath

Tiamat’s Day

Color: Sea green
Element: Water
Altar: On a sea green cloth place a large chalice of salt water, strings of pearls and beads in a spiral pattern like a whirlpool, and figures of dragons and sea serpents.
Offerings: Pour water on yourself. Allow yourself to experience conflicting and turbulent emotions that you would otherwise avoid.
Daily Meal`: Fish. Seafood. Seaweed. Soft food with sauce whirled in a whirlpool pattern.

Invocation to Tiamat

Mother of Dragons
Mother of Serpents
Sea of Aether that swirls
Deep within our minds
From the waters we came
From the waters we are born
To the waters we shall return
For our rebirths.
You whose body is the world
Who is all around us
Sacrificed in order to become
Omniscient
Mother of Dragons
Mother of Serpents
Lead us onward through the tides
Of our uncertain lives.

Chant: Aiyu Tiamat Tiamat Tiamat
Your body all around

(Each person stands forth and speaks of themselves as an emotion, saying, “I am happiness” or I am sorrow”. Then one person who has been chosen to do the work of the ritual takes a sword and walks around the circle, miming slaying each person, who falls to the ground, saying, “Die, and become one with the earth.”. All lay on their backs with hands joined, heads facing inward, and each visualizes themself as part of the earth, and they speak out what part of the earth they and their emotion have become – “I who was joy am now rivers!” “I who was anger am now desert.” “I who was wonder am now mountain ranges!” and so on. End in a choral OM.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Calendar of the Moon for November 6th

Calendar of the Moon

Reed Month

Color: Blue-green
Element: Water
Altar: Upon cloth of blue-green place a vase of reeds, a single blue-green candle, a great bowl of water floating with wetlands plant leaves, and a knife.
Offering: Recycle something useless into something useful.
Daily Meal: Vegetarian soup and sandwiches. Only water or herbal tea to drink.

Ngetal Invocation

Call: Now is the time of the bleak cold.
Response: Now the reeds whisper in the swamp.
Call: Now is the time when we see the growing dark.
Response: Now is the time when we begin to shiver.
Call: Now is the time of bare trees.
Response: Now is the time of rain and wind.
Call: Now the rain fills the wetlands to overflowing.
Response: Now the swamp overflows into our lives.
Call: We feel our feet dragged down into the cold waters.
Response: Yet the wetland is the source of greatest life!
Call: We feel ourselves pulled into the unfamiliar.
Response: Unfamiliar to us, but no less of value.
Call: The damp cold begins to reach our bones.
Response: We must welcome its touch.
Call: We must keep it far away with fire’s warmth!
Response: We must welcome its touch.
Call: Why should we not ban it from our lives?
Response: For this, too, is a Mystery of water.
Call: Not the deep mystery of the Ocean…
Response: Not the running flow of the river…
Call: Not the crystal of snow and ice…
Response: But the secrets of the still waters.
Call: From the still waters springs the greatest number of lives!
Response: And it is this that we must honor.
Call: Welcome into ourselves the song of the whispering reeds!
Response: Welcome into ourselves the oncoming winter.

Chant: Cold as stone
Marshes heart
We will own
What is apart

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Calendar of the Sun for November 6th

Calendar of the Sun

6 Blutmonath

Herne’s Day II: Predator

Colors: Black and red
Element: Earth
Altar: On a black cloth lay the skulls and bones of animals, spearheads and flint arrowheads, arrows, and knives. The room should be dark, lit by a single red candle.
Offerings: Make an end to something that needs to die. Cull out things in your life.
Daily Meal: Meat.

Invocation to Herne II

All Hail the Mighty Hunter!
Leader of the Wild Hunt,
Hounds leaping and baying
At his command,
Alpha of the pack,
With teeth that close on the throat
Of the largest, strongest prey,
Predator against whom none can stand.
You who understand the cycle,
Who accepts the sacrifice,
Who takes the offering of your prey,
Wolf who runs with his brothers and sisters,
Great panther who hunts alone,
Bear huge and fierce of claw
Weasel and marten, dark and sly,
Faithful dog that runs to the kill,
Teach us that when Fate comes for us,
It is our place to surrender.
Teach us that when we are overrun,
It is our place to weed out.
Teach us to understand Death
From the side of your implacable eyes.

Chant:
Cernunnos Cernunnos
The Hunt is On

(Ritual ends in a great howl, after which the single candle is snuffed out and all leave the room silently.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Calendar of the Moon for November 5th

Calendar of the Moon

Reed Month

Color: Blue-green
Element: Water
Altar: Upon cloth of blue-green place a vase of reeds, a single blue-green candle, a great bowl of water floating with wetlands plant leaves, and a knife.
Offering: Recycle something useless into something useful.
Daily Meal: Vegetarian soup and sandwiches. Only water or herbal tea to drink.

Ngetal Invocation

Call: Now is the time of the bleak cold.
Response: Now the reeds whisper in the swamp.
Call: Now is the time when we see the growing dark.
Response: Now is the time when we begin to shiver.
Call: Now is the time of bare trees.
Response: Now is the time of rain and wind.
Call: Now the rain fills the wetlands to overflowing.
Response: Now the swamp overflows into our lives.
Call: We feel our feet dragged down into the cold waters.
Response: Yet the wetland is the source of greatest life!
Call: We feel ourselves pulled into the unfamiliar.
Response: Unfamiliar to us, but no less of value.
Call: The damp cold begins to reach our bones.
Response: We must welcome its touch.
Call: We must keep it far away with fire’s warmth!
Response: We must welcome its touch.
Call: Why should we not ban it from our lives?
Response: For this, too, is a Mystery of water.
Call: Not the deep mystery of the Ocean…
Response: Not the running flow of the river…
Call: Not the crystal of snow and ice…
Response: But the secrets of the still waters.
Call: From the still waters springs the greatest number of lives!
Response: And it is this that we must honor.
Call: Welcome into ourselves the song of the whispering reeds!
Response: Welcome into ourselves the oncoming winter.

Chant: Cold as stone
Marshes heart
We will own
What is apart

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Calendar of the Sun for November 5th

Calendar of the Sun

5 Blutmonath
Herne’s Day I: Prey

Color: Brown and green
Element: Earth
Altar: On a cloth of brown and green lay dried leaves, pine incense, a vase of dead branches with dry leaves attached, antlers, and figures of deer. The room is dark, lit with a single green candle.
Offerings: Cobs of corn. Willingness to face a fear that is pursuing you.
Daily Meal: Vegetarian.

Invocation to Herne I

Hail, Lord of the Forest!
The deer are gathering
In these your deepest woods,
Great stag with antlers wide and proud,
Soft-eyed doe for whom
The warriors clash their horns,
Delicate fawn mottled as the underbrush.
The hares are finding
Their winter burrows,
The squirrels collecting
Their hoards of fodder,
The pheasant and quail
Readying themselves for the season
Of death on many sides.
You who understands
The desperate chase,
Heart pounding, feet pounding,
Knowing well that death
Is your destiny,
Help us to make peace
With the oncoming challenge
And to know that it is only
One of our many moments
In the cycle of life.

Chant:
Horned One, Lover, Son,
Leaper in the corn
Deep in the Mother
Die and be reborn.

(As the last sound of the chant dies away, all bow to the altar and leave room in silence.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Calendar of the Moon for November 3

Calendar of the Moon

Reed Month

Color: Blue-green
Element: Water
Altar: Upon cloth of blue-green place a vase of reeds, a single blue-green candle, a great bowl of water floating with wetlands plant leaves, and a knife.
Offering: Recycle something useless into something useful.
Daily Meal: Vegetarian soup and sandwiches. Only water or herbal tea to drink.

Ngetal Invocation

Call: Now is the time of the bleak cold.
Response: Now the reeds whisper in the swamp.
Call: Now is the time when we see the growing dark.
Response: Now is the time when we begin to shiver.
Call: Now is the time of bare trees.
Response: Now is the time of rain and wind.
Call: Now the rain fills the wetlands to overflowing.
Response: Now the swamp overflows into our lives.
Call: We feel our feet dragged down into the cold waters.
Response: Yet the wetland is the source of greatest life!
Call: We feel ourselves pulled into the unfamiliar.
Response: Unfamiliar to us, but no less of value.
Call: The damp cold begins to reach our bones.
Response: We must welcome its touch.
Call: We must keep it far away with fire’s warmth!
Response: We must welcome its touch.
Call: Why should we not ban it from our lives?
Response: For this, too, is a Mystery of water.
Call: Not the deep mystery of the Ocean…
Response: Not the running flow of the river…
Call: Not the crystal of snow and ice…
Response: But the secrets of the still waters.
Call: From the still waters springs the greatest number of lives!
Response: And it is this that we must honor.
Call: Welcome into ourselves the song of the whispering reeds!
Response: Welcome into ourselves the oncoming winter.

Chant: Cold as stone
Marshes heart
We will own
What is apart

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Calendar of the Sun for November 2

Calendar of the Sun

2 Blutmonath

Day VI of the Mysteries of Isis and Osiris

Colors: Green and black
Elements: Earth and Air
Altar: Upon cloth of green and black set a figure of Isis, a figure of Osiris, a box carved like a sarcophagus, and two large ivory candles.
Offerings: Undertake a project that may fail.
Daily Meal: Beer. Barley. Figs. Dates. Nuts. Flatbread.

Invocation to Isis II

Praise be unto thee, O lady, mightier than the gods,
The living souls who are in their hidden places
Praise the mystery of thee.
O thou who art their mother,
Thou source from which they sprang
Who makest for them a place in the hidden Underworld,
Who makest sound their bones
And preservest them from terror,
Who makes them strong in the abode of everlastingness.
For Isis searched three days in the swamps of the Nile,
Tirelessly she searched, unceasingly she searched,
Between her tears she waded in water
Thick with the crocodiles of doom
Sixteen pieces of her husband’s body
She recovered, but found to her eternal sorrow
The organ of fertility had been eaten by a crab,
The life force of Osiris was forever gone,
And all the magic in the world
Could not bring him back to life.
Yet she was not entirely undone,
For she brought him back for one night only,
One night enough to conceive his child
By all the means of her goodly magics.
And so was the sacred child Horus conceived
On a night of sorcery and secrecy,
And thus was born also his father’s vengeance.
Raise your voices for the power of Isis!

(All cheer, but then the cheers are silenced, and all exit quietly.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Calendar of the Sun for November 1

Calendar of the Sun

1 Blutmonath

Rite of Hela: All Souls’ Day

Colors: Black and White
Elements: Earth and Air
Altar: Upon black cloth to the right place four black candles, a skull, bones, a pot of earth, a pile of withered leaves, and a gravestone. Upon white cloth to the left place four white candles, incense, an ivory chalice of mead, a crystal sphere, and a plate of food. Veil the windows.
Offerings: Food, drink, and music given to the Dead.
Daily Meal: Today’s ritual starts at the beginning of Mousika, and continues through until the end of Sponde. Elete and Akte are spent in silent meditation before the altar. No food will be eaten nor work nor washing done until the Dead have their entertainment. Fasting until Dysis.

Invocation to Hela

Hail to Hel
Queen of Helheim
Wisest of Wights
Keeper of Secrets
Keeper of the hopes for tomorrow
Guardian of Souls
Implacable one of the frozen realm
Half the face of beauty
Half the face of Death
You who feed the dead
At your meager table
Where everyone gets their fair share,
Lady who takes away
Yet holds always promise,
Teach us to praise loss and death
And the passing of all things,
For from this flux
We know your blessings flow.

Song/Chant: Rite to Open the Door of Helheim

(Singing then commences, throughout the next several hours. Group singing and soloing alternate. It is acceptable to bring in guest performers from outside, so long as they understand that they are performing for the Dead and not the living, and that they must join the fasting. There will be no applause. Water may be provided. At the end of Sponde, the Dead are thanked and their food put to the side; Hesperis continues as usual, although there will be no food until afterwards.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Calendar of the Sun for October 30

Calendar of the Sun

30 Winterfyllith

Day III of the Mysteries of Isis and Osiris

Colors: Green and black
Elements: Earth and Air
Altar: Upon cloth of green and black set a figure of Isis, a figure of Osiris, a box carved like a sarcophagus, and two large ivory candles.
Offerings: Continue with the long-term difficult project.
Daily Meal: Beer. Barley. Figs. Dates. Nuts. Flatbread.

Osiris Invocation II

Hail O Osiris
Wake O Osiris
Arise O Osiris
Thy Mother Nuit gives thee birth
The great company of gods would converse with thee
Take thy seat, Osiris,
For none shall offend thee,
Thine enemies are beneath thee,
All honor is given
To Osiris, Lord of the Dead.
For Osiris was feasting at his table
And walking in the peace of his garden
When Set, his brother adversary,
Armed with many henchmen,
Lay upon him with weapons
And they slew the good Osiris,
Lord of the Earth beneath us.
So that his Queen might not revive him
With all her goodly magics,
Set cut his brother’s body
Into seventeen different pieces
And flung them into the swamps of the Nile.
So died the good Osiris
For the second time,
And the sun was dimmed,
And the West ran red as with blood.
And Isis searched for him for three days,
And in three days we will find her.
Weep for him, once King of the Gods!

(All weep and wail. The lights are put out, and the wailing continues as all exit.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Calendar of the Moon for October 28th

Calendar of the Moon

28 Muin/Boedromion

Lakshmi’s Day

Colors: Blue and Purple
Element: Air
Altar: Upon cloth of blue and purple set a figure of Lakshmi, surrounded by many flowers and gold coins.
Offerings: Saffron rice, cow’s milk, sesame.
Daily Meal: Indian food.

Invocation to Lakshmi

Hail to Lakshmi, Wife of Vishnu!
Divine Princess of the sky
Whose stars lie like spray
Of scattered drops of milk
Wrung from the sacred cow,
Around whom flowers bloom eternally,
Your divine presence ensuring their life,
Whose lotus opens trustingly
To sun and rain and hail and sun again,
Teach us to trust that fortune can be kind,
And even when it is not,
All things will come around
To goodness again in their time.
For a wise man adapts himself to circumstances,
As water shapes itself to the vessel that contains it.
So it is that we pray to Lakshmi,
Wife of the Preserver of Life,
Whose hands bring forth riches and blessings.
Bless us now, Lakshmi, with all that we need,
And let us live trusting that we shall get
Everything that we may need,
As a child trusts that the rain
Will fall everlastingly from the sky.

Chant: Lakshmi Mahadevi

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Calendar of the Moon for October 27th

Calendar of the Moon

27 Gort/Puanepsion

Khalkeia: Weaving Athena’s Cloak

Color: Blue and white
Element: Air
Altar: Upon cloth of white set up a table loom which will be used over the next nine months to weave Athena’s cloak. The warp should be strung, and the shuttles loaded.
Offerings: Weave a line or two.
Daily Meal: Anything served with olives.

Khalkeia Invocation:

Call: Hail Athena, Weaver and Craftswoman!
Response: Hail Athena, Giver of Civilization!
Call: On this day we begin to weave our gift to you.
Response: On this day we begin to weave our worship.
Call: We weave into it the high flight of birds.
Response: We weave into it the firm earth beneath us.
Call: We weave into it clear-eyed vision.
Response: We weave into it skillful hands.
Call: We weave into it the grim struggle of battle.
Response: We weave into it the focus of strategy.
Call: We weave into it the spiral twirl of the spindle.
Response: We weave into it the clashing of swords.
Call: We weave into it the beating of owl’s wings.
Response: We weave into it the glare of the Gorgon.
Call: We weave into it the soft counsel of wisdom.
Response: We weave into it the draught that cools hot heads.
Call: We weave into it the ancient knowledge.
Response: We weave into it the new discovery.
Call: We weave into it study and seeking.
Response: We weave into it manifestation.
Call: We weave into it our hopes and fears.
Response: We weave into it the cry to heaven.
Call: Hail Athena, Weaver and Craftswoman! May you bless the work of our hands.
Response: Hail Athena, Giver of Civilization! May you bless all that we do.

(The one who is the House weaver should weave the first three lines with the shuttle, saying “Hail Athena!” each time the reed swings back and forth. All should come forth and weave a line or two, also saying, “Hail Athena!” Then the loom is carried to its place of honor for the rest of the year, where the cloak for her statue will be woven with pictures and symbols in her honor, to be presented to her at the Panathenaea.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Calendar of the Sun for October 27th

Calendar of the Sun

27 Winterfyllith

Nekhebet’s Day

Colors: Red, Blue and Gold
Element: Fire
Altar: Upon cloth of red, blue and gold, place two red candles on either side of a figure of Nekhebet, along with a bowl of chopped meat and grain.
Offerings: Beer, barley, millet.
Daily Meal: Beer, barley, millet, lentils, flatbread.

Ancient Lady of Upper Egypt,
Wearer of the White Crown,
Great White Cow of Nekhb,
Wife of the rolling Nile river,
Vulture Goddess whose outstretched wings
Hover over the royal child,
Protecting him from harm, seeing him safe to adulthood,
Help us to know what it is to eat rot
And turn it again into nourishment,
Cleaning and purifying the earth
With the transmuting power of our bodies.
Lady who protects the rulers, the crowned ones,
Protect those of us
Who must take on responsibility
And whose hands work for the lives of many.
Nourish them with your attention
That they may not burn out like a candle.
Guide them with your wisdom
That they may always remember
The nourishment of their people,
Of the body, the mind, the soul.
Protect the sleeping infant child of our hopes
And goals, and future,
And see it safely to fruition.
Spread your wings over us, O Nekhebet,
And may your watch keep us ever safe.

Chant:
Nekhebet Shen
Nekhebet Shen
Nebty Mamissi Shen

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Calendar of the Moon for October 26th

Calendar of the Moon

26 Muin/Boedromion

Lakshmi’s Day

Colors: Blue and Purple
Element: Air
Altar: Upon cloth of blue and purple set a figure of Lakshmi, surrounded by many flowers and gold coins.
Offerings: Saffron rice, cow’s milk, sesame.
Daily Meal: Indian food.

Invocation to Lakshmi

Hail to Lakshmi, Wife of Vishnu!
Divine Princess of the sky
Whose stars lie like spray
Of scattered drops of milk
Wrung from the sacred cow,
Around whom flowers bloom eternally,
Your divine presence ensuring their life,
Whose lotus opens trustingly
To sun and rain and hail and sun again,
Teach us to trust that fortune can be kind,
And even when it is not,
All things will come around
To goodness again in their time.
For a wise man adapts himself to circumstances,
As water shapes itself to the vessel that contains it.
So it is that we pray to Lakshmi,
Wife of the Preserver of Life,
Whose hands bring forth riches and blessings.
Bless us now, Lakshmi, with all that we need,
And let us live trusting that we shall get
Everything that we may need,
As a child trusts that the rain
Will fall everlastingly from the sky.

Chant: Lakshmi Mahadevi

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Calendar of the Sun for October 26th

Calendar of the Sun

26 Winterfyllith

Lilith’s Day

Colors: Tan, brown, orange, the colors of the desert.
Element: Air
Altar: Upon cloth in desert colors set a figure of Lilith, a curved sword, a cup of wine, and a bullroarer.
Offerings: Face a truth you are uncomfortable with.
Daily Meal: Toasted flatbread and beans.

Lilith Invocation

Hail to the Goddess of the Scirocco!
Hail Lilith, who once lived in the huluppu tree
Between the dragon and the eagle,
Between earth and air, male and female,
Hairy Goddess of the dancing sandstorm,
Dark Maiden of the desert.
Hail Lilith who was also once the first wife of Adam,
Who refused submission and demanded independence,
And so it was granted; that you would be complete in yourself.
Hail to Her who refused to lie beneath,
Mother of incubi and succubi, mother of lusts,
Barren one who brings barrenness,
Even as the desert is barren.
You are come again like the scirocco,
Truth stripped of frippery, Sphinx of the cliffs,
Dancing in a dervish whirl,
Shapechanger who is sometimes part goat
And sometimes ass or taloned owl.
You are the bridge between the theories of the mind
And the truth of the body.
Challenge us, Lilith, with your harsh words
And your unforgiving truth.
We will dance with you
On the cutting edge of answers.

Chant:
Lilitu Lilitu
We kneel for Lilitu

(The bullroarer is taken up and swung about, and while this is done all chant. At the end, the wine is poured out as a libation.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Calendar of the Moon for October 25th

Calendar of the Moon

Ivy Month

Colors: Light blue and dark green
Element: Air
Altar: Upon cloth of dark green lay pots of ivy twined up around posts of gold with suns, three blue candles, a vine-painted chalice of water, and a feather fan.
Offerings: Pray for enlightenment, and to be lifted up.
Daily Meal: Sheep, goat, or vegetarian using the fruits of the local harvests.

Gort Invocation

Call: Hail the month of the Ivy!
Response: Hail the month of twining for the sky!
Call: Where the vine yielded forth the blood of the earth…
Response: The ivy yields up the winds of the sky!
Call: Where the vine dulls the mind with happiness…
Response: The ivy opens the mind with terror and light!
Call: Hail to the chains of the Maenads!
Response: Hail to Dionysos and his torrent of madness!
Call: Hail to the Lady that mates with the Oak!
Response: She has entwined him, she has wrapped her limbs about him!
Call: Even his great strength is not enough to stay her!
Response: She shows that not all strength is standing tall!
Call: Hail to she who is supported by others….
Response: Yet reaches as high as they themselves!
Call: Show us, sacred Ivy, what it is to rise with the aid of the strong.
Response: Show us what it is to be borne up by branches.
Call: Show us what it is to be borne up by hopes.
Response: Show us what it is to be borne up by the Gods.
Call: We cannot reach the sky without aid…
Response: So we entreat you, Ivy, beg for aid for our earthbound hands.
Call: Teach us that the sky can be gained not only by the straight path…
Response: But also by the path of the spiral!
Call: Dance that spiral for us, Ivy, and we shall follow you!
Response: We shall follow you toward the blessed realms of the Gods.

Chant:
Turn turn turn again
Turn wind turn leaf
Twine o’er the last sheaf
Turn turn turn again

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Calendar of the Moon for October 18

Calendar of the Moon

Ivy Month

Colors: Light blue and dark green
Element: Air
Altar: Upon cloth of dark green lay pots of ivy twined up around posts of gold with suns, three blue candles, a vine-painted chalice of water, and a feather fan.
Offerings: Pray for enlightenment, and to be lifted up.
Daily Meal: Sheep, goat, or vegetarian using the fruits of the local harvests.

Gort Invocation

Call: Hail the month of the Ivy!
Response: Hail the month of twining for the sky!
Call: Where the vine yielded forth the blood of the earth…
Response: The ivy yields up the winds of the sky!
Call: Where the vine dulls the mind with happiness…
Response: The ivy opens the mind with terror and light!
Call: Hail to the chains of the Maenads!
Response: Hail to Dionysos and his torrent of madness!
Call: Hail to the Lady that mates with the Oak!
Response: She has entwined him, she has wrapped her limbs about him!
Call: Even his great strength is not enough to stay her!
Response: She shows that not all strength is standing tall!
Call: Hail to she who is supported by others….
Response: Yet reaches as high as they themselves!
Call: Show us, sacred Ivy, what it is to rise with the aid of the strong.
Response: Show us what it is to be borne up by branches.
Call: Show us what it is to be borne up by hopes.
Response: Show us what it is to be borne up by the Gods.
Call: We cannot reach the sky without aid…
Response: So we entreat you, Ivy, beg for aid for our earthbound hands.
Call: Teach us that the sky can be gained not only by the straight path…
Response: But also by the path of the spiral!
Call: Dance that spiral for us, Ivy, and we shall follow you!
Response: We shall follow you toward the blessed realms of the Gods.

Chant:
Turn turn turn again
Turn wind turn leaf
Twine o’er the last sheaf
Turn turn turn again

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Calendar of the Sun for October 18

Calendar of the Sun

Aequinoctium Autumnale

Colors: Brown and Orange
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon cloth of brown and orange, patterned with autumn leaves, place a basket of fallen leaves, barrels of straw, shovels, spades, a bowl of rainwater, and seeds for cover crops.
Offerings: Turn under and mulch the used land.
Daily Meal: Vegetarian.

Aequinoctium Autumnale Invocation

Earth, we have eaten of your bounty!
You have fed us, and we are content.
We have worked you hard, and you have responded
With generosity and fruitfulness.
Now, as the year draws on, and the Sun
Shortens its days and counts the moons
Until its chilly death and incandescent rebirth,
We gift you as you have gifted us,
We care for you as you have cared for us,
We give back that we may continue to take,
Year after year, cycle after cycle.
Do not think, O Mother, that we are merely selfish,
And would only rape you of your bounty.
Our hands shall toil that you may have,
If only in this one small place,
Richness to take back for yourself.
For we know the hard secrets of the cycle,
And we will someday give ourselves
Back to your quiet embrace.

Chant:
Leaves falling
To our hands
Autumn calling
Cover all the land

(All take up the buckets of leaves and straw, and the spades, and go out to the garden. Some will turn over the soil, and others shall follow with cover crop seeds and rainwater, or with mulch to cover the ground. This shall be done throughout the Aequinoctium Autumnale days until all the ground from this year’s crops are covered.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Calendar of the Moon for October 17

Calendar of the Moon

Ivy Month

Colors: Light blue and dark green
Element: Air
Altar: Upon cloth of dark green lay pots of ivy twined up around posts of gold with suns, three blue candles, a vine-painted chalice of water, and a feather fan.
Offerings: Pray for enlightenment, and to be lifted up.
Daily Meal: Sheep, goat, or vegetarian using the fruits of the local harvests.

Gort Invocation

Call: Hail the month of the Ivy!
Response: Hail the month of twining for the sky!
Call: Where the vine yielded forth the blood of the earth…
Response: The ivy yields up the winds of the sky!
Call: Where the vine dulls the mind with happiness…
Response: The ivy opens the mind with terror and light!
Call: Hail to the chains of the Maenads!
Response: Hail to Dionysos and his torrent of madness!
Call: Hail to the Lady that mates with the Oak!
Response: She has entwined him, she has wrapped her limbs about him!
Call: Even his great strength is not enough to stay her!
Response: She shows that not all strength is standing tall!
Call: Hail to she who is supported by others….
Response: Yet reaches as high as they themselves!
Call: Show us, sacred Ivy, what it is to rise with the aid of the strong.
Response: Show us what it is to be borne up by branches.
Call: Show us what it is to be borne up by hopes.
Response: Show us what it is to be borne up by the Gods.
Call: We cannot reach the sky without aid…
Response: So we entreat you, Ivy, beg for aid for our earthbound hands.
Call: Teach us that the sky can be gained not only by the straight path…
Response: But also by the path of the spiral!
Call: Dance that spiral for us, Ivy, and we shall follow you!
Response: We shall follow you toward the blessed realms of the Gods.

Chant:
Turn turn turn again
Turn wind turn leaf
Twine o’er the last sheaf
Turn turn turn again

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Calendar of the Sun for October 17

Calendar of the Sun

Aequinoctium Autumnale

Colors:

Brown and Orange
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon cloth of brown and orange, patterned with autumn leaves, place a basket of fallen leaves, barrels of straw, shovels, spades, a bowl of rainwater, and seeds for cover crops.
Offerings: Turn under and mulch the used land.
Daily Meal: Vegetarian.

Aequinoctium Autumnale Invocation

Earth, we have eaten of your bounty!
You have fed us, and we are content.
We have worked you hard, and you have responded
With generosity and fruitfulness.
Now, as the year draws on, and the Sun
Shortens its days and counts the moons
Until its chilly death and incandescent rebirth,
We gift you as you have gifted us,
We care for you as you have cared for us,
We give back that we may continue to take,
Year after year, cycle after cycle.
Do not think, O Mother, that we are merely selfish,
And would only rape you of your bounty.
Our hands shall toil that you may have,
If only in this one small place,
Richness to take back for yourself.
For we know the hard secrets of the cycle,
And we will someday give ourselves
Back to your quiet embrace.

Chant:

Leaves falling
To our hands
Autumn calling
Cover all the land

(All take up the buckets of leaves and straw, and the spades, and go out to the garden. Some will turn over the soil, and others shall follow with cover crop seeds and rainwater, or with mulch to cover the ground. This shall be done throughout the Aequinoctium Autumnale days until all the ground from this year’s crops are covered.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Calendar of the Moon for October 15

Calendar of the Moon

Ivy Month

Colors: Light blue and dark green
Element: Air
Altar: Upon cloth of dark green lay pots of ivy twined up around posts of gold with suns, three blue candles, a vine-painted chalice of water, and a feather fan.
Offerings: Pray for enlightenment, and to be lifted up.
Daily Meal: Sheep, goat, or vegetarian using the fruits of the local harvests.

Gort Invocation

Call: Hail the month of the Ivy!
Response: Hail the month of twining for the sky!
Call: Where the vine yielded forth the blood of the earth…
Response: The ivy yields up the winds of the sky!
Call: Where the vine dulls the mind with happiness…
Response: The ivy opens the mind with terror and light!
Call: Hail to the chains of the Maenads!
Response: Hail to Dionysos and his torrent of madness!
Call: Hail to the Lady that mates with the Oak!
Response: She has entwined him, she has wrapped her limbs about him!
Call: Even his great strength is not enough to stay her!
Response: She shows that not all strength is standing tall!
Call: Hail to she who is supported by others….
Response: Yet reaches as high as they themselves!
Call: Show us, sacred Ivy, what it is to rise with the aid of the strong.
Response: Show us what it is to be borne up by branches.
Call: Show us what it is to be borne up by hopes.
Response: Show us what it is to be borne up by the Gods.
Call: We cannot reach the sky without aid…
Response: So we entreat you, Ivy, beg for aid for our earthbound hands.
Call: Teach us that the sky can be gained not only by the straight path…
Response: But also by the path of the spiral!
Call: Dance that spiral for us, Ivy, and we shall follow you!
Response: We shall follow you toward the blessed realms of the Gods.

Chant:
Turn turn turn again
Turn wind turn leaf
Twine o’er the last sheaf
Turn turn turn again

[Pagan Book of Hours]