Post Holiday Write Up – My Fall Equinox

I apologize for the out-of-orderness. Trying to get caught up with my dedicant requirements after a writing hiatus. Expect to see Samhain and Yule up soon as well =)

Autumnal Equinox 

My third ADF rite with Stone Creed Grove

Senior Druid Klaus, trying to make sure Freya got ALL of her honey offering.

It was a soft, grey, rushed kinda day. Trying to take care of the domestic side of things before I left for Tredara was frustrating…but I did get to steal a few minutes of happiness and serenity before I showed up for ritual. Much needed and appreciated, and I arrived in a happy mood.

It was a very subdued crowd. Many had been there all weekend for ‘Aftershock’…a sort of Post-Starwood VIP party (as it was described to me), and everyone seemed to be feeling the effects of a long and happy weekend! 🙂

I continued my ‘tradition’ of crashing the nemeton set up and talking to (annoying) Klaus and Thex. But I did save the day with a well packed wine key (corkscrew) in my backpack. Yay for having open Kindred offerings! And yay for the Girl Scout motto that I repeated countless times as a child…”Be Prepared!” 🙂 I also got the chance to talk with Liafal a bit, which was really great. I will confess, strong women kinda intimidate me, and the first couple times I attended rites at Stone Creed, I was not brave enough to go talk to her…yeah I’m a shy wuss sometimes…

In the pre-ritual briefing, Ian confirmed what I’d already assumed about the holiday, that it was essentially made up – but it fit nicely in the Wheel of the Year and was a good excuse to have a get together 😉

Honoring Freya

Honoring Frey

  Stone Creed Grove celebrates the ‘Minor High Days’ in the Norse tradition. The Deities of the occasion were the Vanir brother and sister, Frey and Freya.

The Earth Mother invocation honored Nerthus, a Vanir earth goddess who is entreated: “…Showering about us this day, raining sweet flowers and fruitation musky… look kindly on our work.” We also asked “Berchta, beldame of the wheel, spin us good Wyrd this day.” Berchta is said to be ‘a guardian of the beasts’ and is associated with spinning wheels and spinning.

Odin was invoked as our spirit of bardic inspiration. We asked the one eyed rune lord of wisdom to Honor our working, Waken our word skill, Quicken our magic…

Proper offering was made to the south of the grove to the Outdwellers, the unhallowed wights, etins, trolls, all of the out-garth and enemies of Asguard. A gift freely given, and a request to leave our rite untroubled, for our “hall will be well warded by red beard’s might hammer.”

The gatekeeper was Heimdall, who opened his rainbow bridge to carry our calling to all the Aesir. It was raining while we progressed to the nemeton, but the clouds cleared and the sun came out right after we opened the gates…Thank You Kindreds! 😉  After the company opened the gates, we gave offerings to the three kindreds: the Landvettir, Alfar and Disar, and Deities. Once all had received their due, we moved on to the dieties of the occasion, Frey and Freya.

Mmmm Libations

The praise offerings were fewer than last rite, but very nice none the less. My favorite was a poem Talesin had written to honor Freya. I overheard Ian asking him after ritual about turning it into a song, I really hope they do! Anyway, Elizabeth also offered a really nice poem about the enveloping mists, which seemed very appropriate on that rainy day. Thexalon, Ian and Liafal also had great contributions, as always! 🙂

The pretty omen!

Perthro, Laguz, Uruz

The Omen

Perthro: Dice cup, Merriment

Laguz: Lake, Water

Uruz: Bull, Strength

Post Holiday Write Up – My Imbolc

I have been wanting to explore a relationship with Brigid for awhile now, and Imbolc seemed the perfect time to do that. I’ve been reading up on Brigid lore and Imbolc customs for weeks, I made a bunch of candles to use specifically for Imbolc, I’ve been including her in my meditations and doing her morning devotion from the dedicant manual…. but the Stone Creed Grove First Friday rite really seemed to open a door…or a gate. In place of our normal blessing rite, they decided to do a special Brigid healing rite in honor of Imbolc. It is such a treat to get to participate in a Brigid ritual run by Ian Corrigan and Liafal, given all their work with the Court of Brigid. The ritual was very heavy on guided meditation, I felt extremely connected to Brigid, and I still can’t get a particular vision out of my head. It was a beautiful rite that really helped set the tone for the holiday.

The Omen:

Alder – support, kingship

Birch – beginnings, new growth

Apple – otherworld, nourishment

On Saturday, my daughter and I made Brigid’s Crosses out of pipe cleaners. It was a lot of fun and they turned out much better than I expected! So well in fact, I wasn’t embarrassed to share a few with some grove members. I also made a couple Brat Brigid for myself and a friend to put onto the altar during Imbolc ritual. Such a fun crafty day!

The Sunday Imbolc rite was so wonderful! Before the rite, we made Brigid’s crosses out of reeds – a bit more authentic than pipe cleaners… 🙂 I was thinking that I actually wanted a part in this ritual, and miraculously I was asked to silver the well and help claim and sain the grove. It wasn’t a speaking part-but it was my first actual ritual participation, and a lot of fun to fling water all over everything 😉 I touched the Brideog (corn dolly) and her mantle to ask for her blessings, stepped through Brigid’s Girdle to obtain Brigid’s blessing and be reborn to good health for the coming year, and lit a candle with a flame that was CLOSE to being from Kildare. 🙂

The Omen:

Gorse – wheel, smooth going

Vine – binding together, ecstacy

Hawthorn – cleansing, purity, and delight.

When I got home, I decided to perform a solitary Celtic themed rite that was recently posted on the ADF lists by Rev. Carrion Mann. I had prepared for it on Saturday and was in such a great Imbolc mood I figured it’d be a good night to try it out. It was such a beautiful rite. I lit all my candles, sang songs-some familiar and some new to me, and did some meditation and vision work.

The Omen:

 Heather – earth, land, ancestors

Spindle – tradition, family

Willow – water, goddesses and women

I took this to mean that I have some pleased female ancestors (and hopefully a pleased goddess) – that I am reviving old family traditions. I imagine many of them honored Brigid and participated in Imbolc customs.

I have really enjoyed learning about and celebrating the holidays, but I think this Imbolc weekend was my favorite so far. I feel very connected, profoundly cheery, yet peaceful.

Happy Imbolc! The spring and light and warmth is on its way!

Imbolc!!! ADF High Days

The February Feast: Imbolc (i-molk)

• One of the four cross quarter days referred to in Irish mythology (Ulster Cycle)
• The festival was observed in Gaelic Ireland, the Scottish Highlands and the Isle of Mann during the middle ages. It was revived by the neo-pagan community in the 20^th century.
• The word derives from the Old Irish i molog “in the belly” having to do with the pregnancy and onset of lactation of ewes (and other farm animals), soon to give birth to spring lambs.
• Honors the Goddess Brighid.

Not a lot is recorded about how the ancient Celts celebrated Imbolc, but there are clues to how important it was. The Mound of Hostages at the Hill of Tara is one such example. At this site in County Meath, the inner chamber of the passage tomb is aligned with the rising sun on the dates of Imbolc and Samhain.

We can also look at medieval Irish texts, and folklore that was recorded during the 19^th and 20^th century in rural Ireland and Scotland. Unfortunately they only give us clues as to how it was traditionally celebrated, this information having been watered down by time and Christian influence.

In medieval times, Imbolc was traditionally a time of weather divination, and I came across many regional variations. One legend says that Cailleach (the hag of Gaelic tradition) uses Imbolc to gather her firewood for the rest of the winter. If it is a bright and sunny day, she will gather lots of firewood, preparing for winter to last a good while longer. If the day is cold and stormy, it means Cailleach is asleep and winter is almost over. On the Isle of Mann, she is said to be seen on Imbolc in the form of a gigantic bird, carrying sticks in her beak.

In some areas, it was believed that if hedgehogs were seen up and about, spring was just around the corner. If the hedgehog came out but then returned to its burrow, it was thought wintry conditions would continue for a while longer. Sound familiar? According to Isaac Bonewits, the modern Groundhog Day is “a holiday so-called because American groundhogs were the local counterpart to the Irish hare that was sacred to Bride. Celtic belief is that good weather on Oimelc means winter will continue, and bad weather means winter is on the way out-hence the importance of the presence or absence of a sacred animal’s shadow.” (Bonewits’s Essential Guide to Druidism, pg. 185)

A Scottish Gaelic proverb about the day is:

“The Serpent will come from the hole.

On the brown day of Bride.

Though there be three feet of snow

On the flat surface of the ground.”

I think this refers to the Celtic view that snakes represent a link between our world and the underworld, and therefore the snake is a symbol of the renewal of the earth in spring. It is hopeful and reassuring after the bitter winter to know that warmer days are on their way.

Even in Christian times, this tradition was preserved. It was said that the serpent is supposed to emerge from its hollow in the hills on St. Bride’s Day, and a hymn sung to it.

“Early on Bride’s morn

The serpent shall come from the hole,

I will not molest the serpent,

Nor will the serpent molest me.”

I find this one less hopeful, but at least it shows a mutual respect between humans and nature.

Imbolc is traditionally, and still today, a festival of hearth and home. Brigid was a large part of this festival, which is apparent by the correlating Christian holiday, Saint Brigid’s Day. It is said in Ireland that “On St. Brigid’s Day you can put away the candlestick and half the candle.”

Most of the customs and rituals are focused on the goddess Brigid, and center on her visits to each home of her followers the night before Imbolc to acknowledge the offerings left for her. Brigid’s primary symbol is fire, for her very name means “bright arrow” or simply “the bright one” and so seems appropriate to honor her as we celebrate the increasing warmth and light, the frozen earth becoming fertile again, birth and new life.

It was customary to do a spring cleaning of your home, in preparation for Brigid’s visit. Making a figure of Brigid and placing her by the smoored and smoothed hearth on the eve of Imbolc, they would examine the ashes the next day for a sign that Brigid had been there.  If there were no marks, the family assumed Brigid had been offended, and steps were taken to appease her.

Food offering and feasts were also customary. Many left soda bread, cakes, butter or porridge on the windowsill for Brigid, and feed for her favorite white sow, to enjoy as she passed by.  As a gift calls for a gift, families would also leave a bit of cloth, called a Brat Brid, or a shawl, Bratach Bree, outdoors for Brigid to bless when she stopped by. A Brat Brid was distributed to women and children of the household to give them protection throughout the year. Often they were sewn into the children’s clothes or jackets to ensure they won’t be lost. A Bratach Bree is treated as a sacred relic, and continuously charged each year on Imbolc. It was once a standard midwife’s tool in Ireland, being used to insure safe childbirth and cure sterility. Over time, a Bratach Bree is said to become quite powerful.

Family feasting was the central part of rituals in the home. A place may be set for Brigid, and rushes used to later create Brigid’s Cross were put under the table while the feast took place. The rushes not used for crosses were used to make a bed for the Brideog (a corn dolly fashioned to represent Brigid), or woven into Brigid’s Girdles. Specific traditions varied with the regions, some involved parades, going from home to home to bless and bring good fortune, collecting alms for the poor, and visiting holy wells and streams.

The one common, and most basic ritual in all regions, was the lighting of candles and fires to represent the return of the warmth and the increasing power of the sun over the coming months.