Tag: Hesperis

Calendar of the Sun for March 31

Calendar of the Sun
31 Wolfmonath

Imbolc Eve: Day of the Bean Sidhe

Color: Black
Element: Air
Altar: Upon cloth of black place a cup of blood, kept from the last slaughtering. Before it lay bloodstained rags and a flute, and many small unlit votive candles. Block the windows and shut out all sunlight.
Offering: Give aid to a child who has lost their mother.
Daily Meal: Red meat and milk.

Imbolc Eve Invocation

Go, my children, to the riverbank,
In the dark of the night when the wind is howling,
And you shall hear the wails of one who mourns,
And you shall see her kneeling by the water,
Washing the bloody clothes of those
Who did not survive the giving forth of life.
She weeps for the mothers lost,
She weeps for the children lost,
She weeps for the life cut short,
What should have been a joyous day
Become a night of mourning.
She weeps above all for those
Who have no one else to weep for them.
So we shall light a candle, on this night
Before the morn of Candlemas,
For all those who have no one to weep for them,
And we shall shed the tears
And we shall be the voice,
And we shall do the work
Of the lonely Bean Sidhe.

(The cup of blood is poured as a libation. Each comes forward and lights a small votive candle, and then all wail in a great torrent of sound together, with one playing the flute wildly over the cacophony. Those who can shed tears should do so. This should go on until all are exhausted from wailing, and then all should go quietly to their other tasks in silence until Hesperis.

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Calendar of the Moon for March 29th

Calendar of the Moon

Dark Moon Night

Color: Black
Element: Air
Altar: Upon a black cloth set a single black candle, incense, an iron sickle laid to mimic the direction of the waning moon, a cup of water, a lock of silver hair, and a white bone.
Offerings: Bones. Stones. Menstrual blood. Give something up.
Daily Meal: Soup of some sort, cooked in a cauldron, eaten in silence.

Dark Moon Invocation

At this time, in the dark of the moon,
When the Silver Lady ages
To an old woman in the dark,
Haunting crossroads, working magic,
Stirring her cauldron
Of poison that heals,
Grandmother Moon of sorcery
And wisdom, who sees all
And reveals little to our searching eyes.
Moon of Death, Moon of mystery,
Moon of silence who hides her face,
Let us learn silence from your averted gaze
Let us learn patience from your aging face
Let us feel for the dark places within us
And find our way down your path in the darkness
Which is utter and complete
But not impenetrable.
As darkness wraps us,
So silence heals us.
As darkness finds us,
So silence guides us.
As darkness speaks,
So silence falls.

(The candle is blown out, and all leave in silence. From the beginning of this rite at Hesperis until the dawn, silence will rule in the house. Talking must be done only in whispers, and between no more than two people, and only for that which is necessary. Long meditation is encouraged, and all work must be done quietly if possible. The evening meal should be eaten by candlelight, and only candles may light the house, except for the sake of certain important work.)

Pagan Book of Hours

Calendar of the Sun for February 20th

Calendar of the Sun
20 Solmonath

Day of Tacita

Color: White
Element: Earth
Altar: On a white cloth lay a single lit white candle and a bell.
Offering: From the moment of Auge until Hesperis, there is to be a rule of silence in the building. The sole exception is the reading of the invocation. After the Hesperis ritual, silence resumes until the following morning.
Daily Meal: Soft food that does not make crunching noise, such as soups or cooked grains.

Tacita Invocation

Goddess of Silence,
You whose stop the tongue
Before it can speak harm,
Before it can speak lies,
Before it can gossip,
And finally
Before it can say anything
That is not necessary,
Teach us about the still spaces
Between ourselves and each other
Between ourselves and our path
Between ourselves and the Gods.

(The person doing the invocation then rings the bell, and from that moment on, silence reigns again. All sit in meditation about the altar for a time, and each may leave quietly when it seems right.)

Calendar of the Sun for Jan. 31

Calendar of the Sun
31 Wolfmonath

Imbolc Eve: Day of the Bean Sidhe

Color: Black
Element: Air
Altar: Upon cloth of black place a cup of blood, kept from the last slaughtering. Before it lay bloodstained rags and a flute, and many small unlit votive candles. Block the windows and shut out all sunlight.
Offering: Give aid to a child who has lost their mother.
Daily Meal: Red meat and milk.

Imbolc Eve Invocation

Go, my children, to the riverbank,
In the dark of the night when the wind is howling,
And you shall hear the wails of one who mourns,
And you shall see her kneeling by the water,
Washing the bloody clothes of those
Who did not survive the giving forth of life.
She weeps for the mothers lost,
She weeps for the children lost,
She weeps for the life cut short,
What should have been a joyous day
Become a night of mourning.
She weeps above all for those
Who have no one else to weep for them.
So we shall light a candle, on this night
Before the morn of Candlemas,
For all those who have no one to weep for them,
And we shall shed the tears
And we shall be the voice,
And we shall do the work
Of the lonely Bean Sidhe.

(The cup of blood is poured as a libation. Each comes forward and lights a small votive candle, and then all wail in a great torrent of sound together, with one playing the flute wildly over the cacophony. Those who can shed tears should do so. This should go on until all are exhausted from wailing, and then all should go quietly to their other tasks in silence until Hesperis.

Calendar of the Moon for January 29th

Calendar of the Moon

Dark Moon Night

Color: Black
Element: Air
Altar: Upon a black cloth set a single black candle, incense, an iron sickle laid to mimic the direction of the waning moon, a cup of water, a lock of silver hair, and a white bone.
Offerings: Bones. Stones. Menstrual blood. Give something up.
Daily Meal: Soup of some sort, cooked in a cauldron, eaten in silence.

Dark Moon Invocation

At this time, in the dark of the moon,
When the Silver Lady ages
To an old woman in the dark,
Haunting crossroads, working magic,
Stirring her cauldron
Of poison that heals,
Grandmother Moon of sorcery
And wisdom, who sees all
And reveals little to our searching eyes.
Moon of Death, Moon of mystery,
Moon of silence who hides her face,
Let us learn silence from your averted gaze
Let us learn patience from your aging face
Let us feel for the dark places within us
And find our way down your path in the darkness
Which is utter and complete
But not impenetrable.
As darkness wraps us,
So silence heals us.
As darkness finds us,
So silence guides us.
As darkness speaks,
So silence falls.

(The candle is blown out, and all leave in silence. From the beginning of this rite at Hesperis until the dawn, silence will rule in the house. Talking must be done only in whispers, and between no more than two people, and only for that which is necessary. Long meditation is encouraged, and all work must be done quietly if possible. The evening meal should be eaten by candlelight, and only candles may light the house, except for the sake of certain important work.)

Calendar of the Sun for Jan. 12th

Calendar of the Sun
12 Wolfmonath

Niflheim Day

Colors: White and Grey
Element: Air
Altar: Upon cloth of white and grey place a crystal goblet of melted snow, crystal ornaments that mimic ice, snowflakes, white fur, figures of white bears, and a large white bowl of snow.
Offerings: Help someone to keep warm in the winter, such as paying their fuel bill, bringing them wood to burn, or bringing them warmer clothing. There should be no heat in the House today from Auge to Hesperis, save what is necessary for the plumbing. All should bear with the cold, and think on their ancestors, for whom heat was vital.
Daily Meal: Cold meats and fish.

Niflheim Invocation

In the beginning, there was Ginnungagap,
The darkness ever-stretching in every direction.
Then came forth two worlds into the darkness,
And one was made of Ice over Stone.
Earth and Water, yet frozen and unmoving,
Waiting for the touch of Fire to wake them.
Yet when that Fire came and melted the Ice,
Forth was born Ymir the Giant,
Huge as a mountain chain, vast and blind
As the Earth from whence he came.
Ancestor of all the frost-giants,
The storm-giants, the creatures of wind and mist,
From from Ice and Stone came Breath,
Air that rushes and batters, great blizzards of the North.
Hail the Land of Ice, Winter’s glory,
Home of the Lords of Wind and Cold!
Hail to the Land of Water, lakes and islands,
Fjords that touch the icy water.
Hail to the Chieftains of Niflheim,
Great Kari the North Wind, son of Mistblindi,
Brother to Fire and Ocean,
Frosti, Snaer, Thorri, Fon, Drifa,
Mjol the wind-rider, the sorceress.
Hail to the Land of Mists, from whence the Giants came,
One of the Two from which all the Worlds began.

(One who has been chosen to do the work of the ritual carries around the goblet of melted snow, and all drink from it. The rest is poured out as libation.)