Tag: Circle dance

Calendar of the Sun for Wednesday, February 5th

Calendar of the Sun

5 Solmonath

Day of the Serpent

Colors: Malachite green, sea-blue, and silver
Element: Water
Altar: Set a cloth of sea-blue embroidered with a great serpent in malachite green and silver, and on it place a figure of the Midgard Serpent with its tail in its mouth. Around the room strew colored ribbons in a great circle. The ritual takes place within the circle.
Offerings: Cords or ribbons knotted into a circle.
Daily Meal: Eel. Fish and seafood. Seaweed. Salad. Cooked greens. Eggs.

Invocation to the Midgard Serpent

Hail Iormundgand
Child of the Trickster
And the Hag of the Iron Wood,
Brother and sister of Death,
Neither male nor female
But complete within yourself,
Neither forward nor backward
But eternally circling,
Neither of the earth
Nor apart from it
But forever surrounding us
In our Middle Land.
Teach us, O Serpent,
Of what it is to see the end
And the beginning as one,
To see all things
In their place on the wheel,
To live with the turning
And not mistake it for a straight line
Even when the horizon
Is too far away
For our weak eyes to find.

Chant: Ior Ior Iormundgand

(All join hands and do a circle dance around the outside of the room, just inside the serpent boundary.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

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Calendar of the Sun for January 22nd

Calendar of the Sun

22 Wolfmonath

Day of the Water Bearer – Beginning of Aquarius

Colors: Purple and electric blue
Element: Air
Altar: Set with cloth of purple and electric blue, with a tall glass vase holding carbonated water, or plain water with dry ice in it, a feather from a large bird, incense, and a Uranus symbol.
Offerings: A joke that no one has heard yet. Do something differently, or in a new way.
Daily Meal: Waterfowl such as duck or goose. Or try an entirely new and preferably foreign sort of cooking or diet for the day.

Invocation to Aquarius

Bearer of the heavenly waters
Of knowledge and inspiration,
The ebb and flow of the Apsu,
Dipped from the Milky Way,
Neither man nor woman,
Looking ahead in time,
Whose gift is Newness,
Bless us with the ability
To be ready for the future
And all it may bring,
And welcome rather than fear changes.
By the power of all inspiration,
You challenge us
To be open to new things,
And never to give in to stagnation.
May we all go forth in wonder.

Chant:
Wearing my long wing feathers as I fly
Wearing my long wing feathers as I fly
I circle around
I circle around
The boundaries of the Earth.

(Let all present hold hands and dance a simple circle dance while chanting, hands raised high between them. One who is chosen to do the work of the ritual should stand with a great fan, and fan air at the dancers as they pass, like a great wind.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

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Calendar of the Moon for October 6

Calendar of the Moon

 

5 Muin/Boedromion

Kharisteria

Colors: Red and Yellow
Elements: Fire and Earth
Altar: Upon cloth of yellow and red place a bow and arrows, three torches, wreaths of twigs, cookies shaped like goats or deer, a flaming brazier, and a chalice of Greek wine.
Offerings: Goat cookies and wine.
Daily Meal: Goat meat or venison, if possible.

Kharisteria Invocation

We hail on this day Artemis Agrotera,
Divine Huntress of the forests.
Lady who roams the high mountains,
Lady who delights in the circle dance,
Light-Bringer, Silver Bow,
Huntress of the deep Arcadian woodlands,
Leader of nymphs, and first among them,
Ever-virgin, enclosed within yourself,
Lady of Munikhia, Harbor Watcher,
You whose bow lies always before Ephesus,
All hail, Goddess, and be gracious to our song!
We sing of Artemis, whose shafts are of gold,
Pure maiden who cheers on the hounds,
Shooter of stags who delights in archery,
The protectress of young suckling creatures,
We call you on this day!
For long ago when they called upon you
For protection, you saw that many were slaughtered,
Too many even to give sacrifice!
So we ask also protection from you,
For us, for our haunts, for the creatures
Under our care, O Divine Huntress,
Whose silver tracks range far and wide.

(One who has been chosen to do the work of the ritual shall pass around first the basket of cookies, and all shall take one, and then the chalice of wine, and all shall toast to Artemis. Then all shall cry out together, “Artemidae!” and snap the heads off of their cookies, and throw them into the brazier as sacrifice. The rest shall be eaten, and the wine poured out as a libation.)

 

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Calendar of the Sun for June 13th

13 Lithemonath

Feast of Epona

Colors: White, black, brown, grey.
Element: Fire
Altar: Set upon a green cloth many figures of horses, iron horseshoes, and a burning candle.
Offerings: A basket of hay and apples.
Daily Meal: Vegetarian. Horse-shaped cookies.

Invocation to Epona

Hail, Mother of horses!
Hail, Lady whose children
Are the embodiment of the wind
And come like fire and thunder
Across field and plain.
Carry us, Lady,
As you carried our ancestors
Across rivers and continents,
As you carry our dreams
And nightmares,
Carry our wishes and hopes,
Bear us to adventure
And safely back home again,
And may we never stop running
Toward the far horizon
Of possibility.

Song: Song for the Horse Goddess

(The ritual for this day consists entirely of a drum circle, which can go on until the end of Sponde. The drums invoke the horses’ hooves. Those who do not wish to drum can circle-dance around the drummers.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Daily OM for April 25th – The Power of the Circle

The Power of the Circle
Uniting in Thought and Action

When we are in circle with others, the energy stays contained within the group giving back to all. 

 

There are many reasons for why a gathering of people in a circle is powerful. A circle is a shape that is found repeatedly throughout the natural world, and it is a symbol of perfection. We recreate this perfect shape when we join others to form a circle. Being in a circle allows us experience each other as equals. Each person is the same distance apart from the next participant, and no one is seated higher than or stands apart from others in a circle. From tribal circles to the mythical round table of King Arthur, the circle has been the shape adopted by gatherings throughout history.

The circle is acknowledged as an archetype of wholeness and integration, with the center of a circle universally understood to symbolize Spirit – the Source. When a group of people come together in a circle, they are united. This unity becomes even more powerful when each person reaches out to touch a neighbor and clasps hands. This physical connection unites thought and action, mind and body, and spirit and form in a circle. Because a circle has no beginning and no end, the agreement to connect in a circle allows energy to circulate from one person to the next, rather than being dissipated into the environment.

Like a candle used to light another candle, the connection with spirit that results when one person joins hands with another is greater than if each person were to stand alone. People who take part in a circle find that their power increases exponentially while with the group. Like a drop of water rippling on the surface of a pond, the waves of energy produced in a circle radiate outward in circular motion. While one person may act like a single beacon that emanates light, a circle of people is like a satellite dish that sends out energy. There is power in numbers, and when the commitment is made by many to face one another, clasp hands, and focus on one intention, their circle emanates ripples of energy that can change the world.

Calendar of the Sun for February 5th

Calendar of the Sun
5 Solmonath

Day of the Serpent

Colors: Malachite green, sea-blue, and silver
Element: Water
Altar: Set a cloth of sea-blue embroidered with a great serpent in malachite green and silver, and on it place a figure of the Midgard Serpent with its tail in its mouth. Around the room strew colored ribbons in a great circle. The ritual takes place within the circle.
Offerings: Cords or ribbons knotted into a circle.
Daily Meal: Eel. Fish and seafood. Seaweed. Salad. Cooked greens. Eggs.

Invocation to the Midgard Serpent

Hail Iormundgand
Child of the Trickster
And the Hag of the Iron Wood,
Brother and sister of Death,
Neither male nor female
But complete within yourself,
Neither forward nor backward
But eternally circling,
Neither of the earth
Nor apart from it
But forever surrounding us
In our Middle Land.
Teach us, O Serpent,
Of what it is to see the end
And the beginning as one,
To see all things
In their place on the wheel,
To live with the turning
And not mistake it for a straight line
Even when the horizon
Is too far away
For our weak eyes to find.

Chant: Ior Ior Iormundgand

(All join hands and do a circle dance around the outside of the room, just inside the serpent boundary.)

Calendar of the Sun for Jan. 22

Calendar of the Sun
22 Wolfmonath

Day of the Water Bearer – Beginning of Aquarius

Colors: Purple and electric blue
Element: Air
Altar: Set with cloth of purple and electric blue, with a tall glass vase holding carbonated water, or plain water with dry ice in it, a feather from a large bird, incense, and a Uranus symbol.
Offerings: A joke that no one has heard yet. Do something differently, or in a new way.
Daily Meal: Waterfowl such as duck or goose. Or try an entirely new and preferably foreign sort of cooking or diet for the day.

Invocation to Aquarius

Bearer of the heavenly waters
Of knowledge and inspiration,
The ebb and flow of the Apsu,
Dipped from the Milky Way,
Neither man nor woman,
Looking ahead in time,
Whose gift is Newness,
Bless us with the ability
To be ready for the future
And all it may bring,
And welcome rather than fear changes.
By the power of all inspiration,
You challenge us
To be open to new things,
And never to give in to stagnation.
May we all go forth in wonder.

Chant:
Wearing my long wing feathers as I fly
Wearing my long wing feathers as I fly
I circle around
I circle around
The boundaries of the Earth.

(Let all present hold hands and dance a simple circle dance while chanting, hands raised high between them. One who is chosen to do the work of the ritual should stand with a great fan, and fan air at the dancers as they pass, like a great wind.)