Tag: Sponde

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]

Calendar of the Sun for Tuesday, May 22nd

Calendar of the Sun

Feralia: Day of Purification

Color: White
Element: Air
Altar: On a white cloth put a lit candle, incense, a cup of water, and a bowl of salt.
Offering: Although this day is not a day of total silence, it is a solemn day and talking should be done only when necessary and in quiet tones. Bodies should be thoroughly cleaned during the bathing hour, and then the altar area should be cleaned and purified with all four elements. Each person, upon entering the altar space at the beginning of Sponde should remove their clothing and be naked, and each body should be purified with the four elements and marked with water and salt, at which point they may enrobe again. Chores of the day should concentrate on cleaning and repair.
Daily Meal: Vegan and extremely simple and plain.

Feralia Invocation

Breathe the air into your body
And breathe out again,
And as you breathe out,
Let all grime and corruption
Depart on that breath
(All breathe together for twelve breaths.)
Feel the blood coursing through your body
And imagine it clean
Of anything but what should be there.
Feel the energy coursing through your body
And wash it clean
Of anything that does not belong.
Feel the Earth beneath you,
Remember that She can absorb all
Remember that all rot is her provenance
Draw her energy up into you
And give it back again.

(After this grounding, all breathe together again in a yogic breathing pattern for the next half an hour, after which all will go with water and salt and incense and fire to all rooms in the house and cleanse them. Great care should be taken for the rest of the day not to disturb the energy of the freshly cleaned house.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Calendar of the Sun for March 25th

Calendar of the Sun

Feralia: Day of Purification

Color: White
Element: Air
Altar: On a white cloth put a lit candle, incense, a cup of water, and a bowl of salt.
Offering: Although this day is not a day of total silence, it is a solemn day and talking should be done only when necessary and in quiet tones. Bodies should be thoroughly cleaned during the bathing hour, and then the altar area should be cleaned and purified with all four elements. Each person, upon entering the altar space at the beginning of Sponde should remove their clothing and be naked, and each body should be purified with the four elements and marked with water and salt, at which point they may enrobe again. Chores of the day should concentrate on cleaning and repair.
Daily Meal: Vegan and extremely simple and plain.

Feralia Invocation

Breathe the air into your body
And breathe out again,
And as you breathe out,
Let all grime and corruption
Depart on that breath
(All breathe together for twelve breaths.)
Feel the blood coursing through your body
And imagine it clean
Of anything but what should be there.
Feel the energy coursing through your body
And wash it clean
Of anything that does not belong.
Feel the Earth beneath you,
Remember that She can absorb all
Remember that all rot is her provenance
Draw her energy up into you
And give it back again.

(After this grounding, all breathe together again in a yogic breathing pattern for the next half an hour, after which all will go with water and salt and incense and fire to all rooms in the house and cleanse them. Great care should be taken for the rest of the day not to disturb the energy of the freshly cleaned house.)

Pagan Book of Hours

The Breviary of the Asphodel Tradition

Calendar of the Sun for Wednesday, March 21

Calendar of the Sun
21 Hrethemonath

Quinquatria Day 3: Music Day

Color: Blue
Element: Air
Altar: Upon a blue cloth lay many musical instruments, blue candles, a clear glass bowl of water, and a fan made from a bird’s wing.
Offerings: Song and music.
Daily Meal: Light vegetarian meal.

Quinquatria Invocation II (to be sung)

Hail Athena, true and bright,
Sharp your blade and keen your sight,
Goddess of a Thousand Works,
Giver of the soul in flight.
Guide our touch as we reach out,
Weaver, crafter, artisan,
Guide our urge to build and make,
Guide the power of our hands.
Mentor, teacher, patient tutor,
Maker of heroes through the years
In the epic glance of history,
Giving sight to blinded seers,
Giving purpose to the wanderer,
Giving courage to the weak,
We beseech you, armored Lady,
By the Word of Power you speak,
Like the wind that blows so cold
And bright and clear through minds of grey,
Stand beside us when we falter,
Sweep our weakness clean away.

(The rest of Sponde should be spent in song, whatsoever has been chosen by the community as the absolute best that they can do, as an offering. Songs can be solo offerings, or as a group. Those who wish to give private offerings can play instrumental music after the main group has left.)

 

Pagan Book Of Hours

Calendar of the Sun for Tuesday, February 21

Calendar of the Sun

Feralia: Day of Purification

Color: White
Element: Air
Altar: On a white cloth put a lit candle, incense, a cup of water, and a bowl of salt.
Offering: Although this day is not a day of total silence, it is a solemn day and talking should be done only when necessary and in quiet tones. Bodies should be thoroughly cleaned during the bathing hour, and then the altar area should be cleaned and purified with all four elements. Each person, upon entering the altar space at the beginning of Sponde should remove their clothing and be naked, and each body should be purified with the four elements and marked with water and salt, at which point they may enrobe again. Chores of the day should concentrate on cleaning and repair.
Daily Meal: Vegan and extremely simple and plain.

Feralia Invocation

Breathe the air into your body
And breathe out again,
And as you breathe out,
Let all grime and corruption
Depart on that breath
(All breathe together for twelve breaths.)
Feel the blood coursing through your body
And imagine it clean
Of anything but what should be there.
Feel the energy coursing through your body
And wash it clean
Of anything that does not belong.
Feel the Earth beneath you,
Remember that She can absorb all
Remember that all rot is her provenance
Draw her energy up into you
And give it back again.

(After this grounding, all breathe together again in a yogic breathing pattern for the next half an hour, after which all will go with water and salt and incense and fire to all rooms in the house and cleanse them. Great care should be taken for the rest of the day not to disturb the energy of the freshly cleaned house.)

Calendar of the Sun for Friday, Jan. 20

Calendar of the Sun

Feralia: Day of Purification

Color: White
Element: Air
Altar: On a white cloth put a lit candle, incense, a cup of water, and a bowl of salt.
Offering: Although this day is not a day of total silence, it is a solemn day and talking should be done only when necessary and in quiet tones. Bodies should be thoroughly cleaned during the bathing hour, and then the altar area should be cleaned and purified with all four elements. Each person, upon entering the altar space at the beginning of Sponde should remove their clothing and be naked, and each body should be purified with the four elements and marked with water and salt, at which point they may enrobe again. Chores of the day should concentrate on cleaning and repair.
Daily Meal: Vegan and extremely simple and plain.

Feralia Invocation

Breathe the air into your body
And breathe out again,
And as you breathe out,
Let all grime and corruption
Depart on that breath
(All breathe together for twelve breaths.)
Feel the blood coursing through your body
And imagine it clean
Of anything but what should be there.
Feel the energy coursing through your body
And wash it clean
Of anything that does not belong.
Feel the Earth beneath you,
Remember that She can absorb all
Remember that all rot is her provenance
Draw her energy up into you
And give it back again.

(After this grounding, all breathe together again in a yogic breathing pattern for the next half an hour, after which all will go with water and salt and incense and fire to all rooms in the house and cleanse them. Great care should be taken for the rest of the day not to disturb the energy of the freshly cleaned house.)

Calendar of the Sun for Jan. 16th

Calendar of the Sun
16 Wolfmonath

Muspellheim Day: Surt’s Blot

Color: Red
Element: Fire
Altar: Upon cloth of red set a great burning brazier of fire, many red candles, and a bottle of high-proof hard liquor.
Offerings: Bring fire to sacred places. The windows should be opened for the hour before Sponde, allowing cold to penetrate into the House. Then at Sponde, the sacred fire should be lit.
Daily Meal: Hot spicy food, of any kind.

Muspellheim Invocation

In the beginning there was Ginnungagap,
The darkness ever-stretching in every direction.
Then came forth two worlds out of that darkness,
And one was the world of Fire, home to Surt the Black.
And the World of Fire touched the World of Ice,
And from that touch came the life of all the Worlds.
Hail, Master of Muspellheim,
Guardian of the Wand of Light,
Eldest of the elders, first upon the World Tree,
Primal Flame that shines in the dark,
Your soul is of the power that births universes,
Your heart is the power of the fire beneath the earth,
Your flesh is the molten stone pouring forth,
Your hands are the flame that leaps forth,
The smoke of your hair is as dark
As your sight is bright and blinding.
Hail, Master of Muspellheim,
Keeper of the Eternal Flame,
Bringer of the first red light
Into the darkness of Ginnungagap,
Bringer of the first red warmth
Into the frozen cold of Niflheim,
Melter of ice, destroyer of worlds,
Spark of hope that begins life again.
Bless us, Surt the Black, Obsidian Lord,
From birthing coals to funeral pyre.

(The liquor is poured into the fire as a libation. All come forth and take candles, and light them from the flame. Then the fire is carried into each room of the house, and the windows are closed, and the heat resumed, and all hearths relit. Fires should be fed well and burn high on this day.)