Yule finds me in two places this year it would seem. On the 18th the purple witch lead our intrepid tribe in a eclectic wiccan ritual. Though she's been a witch for some time, this was the first time she's lead a ritual for any one else. The ritual was uniquely her, and for being her first one, very well done. So my critiques of the ritual, well the alter, though a fabulous representation of the woman leading the ritual didn't work for me. Much much to cluttered with things. It reminded me more of a place one set their "nick knacks" rather then an alter. This also caused some delay. There was no pattern or rhyme or reason I could see to the alter lay out. There was no welcome speech or declaration of why we had gathered before the ceremony started. One thing the purple witch did right, was to talk to the quarter callers and explain to them, even demonstrate, what it was exactly she wanted them to do. During the portion that was a guided meditation, the purple witch, due to nerves I think, read through the meditation way to fast. Speaking of reading, she read the entire ritual, however, she did a very good job of that. She didn't speak with a monotone voice, and put life into what she was saying, especially at the end. One thing that caught me off guard and surprised me a little was that there must have been a miscommunication, as the purple witch dropped doing what I thought was an important part of the ritual due to being indoors. Again I think that can be explained by her nervousness, which was great. As part of the yule/solstice ritual each year we do a Sumbol to each other. It's a chance once a year when we get to brag on another's achievments within the group. It was great last year and this year was no different. There were happy tears shed, perhaps the most moving was when two young ladies expressed to their father just how much they loved him and how happy they were he had found love. The purple witch handed out new paganized lyrics to old Christmas songs, and we sang. By the Gods we were awful! But everyone had smiles. The closing was a bit scattered, but in the end the purple witch managed to tie it up and close the ritual with a high.
The festivities started at 2:00pm with wreath making. This was fun. we got the greens for free from the Christmas tree lots. We had more then enough to make all the wreaths people wanted to make, and to outline the circle. As it turned out for the first time in three years I was going to be forced to do a ritual indoors due to rain. That's really nothing to complain about considering where I come from and how much it rains there. Once the wreath making was done, everyone helped to get the room ready for the ritual. As I said the ritual was pretty good and I think folks enjoyed it. After ritual we had potluck and feasting as we always do at the sabbots. It was a smaller group then usual, but the food was good. We had made plans for everyone to go to a light show at the local animal park, but that was canceled due to the heavy rains. I guess there's always next year.
The following day I got in my car and drove 11 1/2 hours to spend this week with my children. It has been a fantastic week and we are having a lot of fun. Anywho, on the 21st, I stood in the back yard next to the mighty river that I grew up on, and performed a simple, short ritual honoring the rebirth of Bel, the celtic sun god. I didn't do a full ritual as I did not have all my materials. I had my crane bag and in it just the baisics. I did not ask for blessings or any of the like. I also gave thanks for bring me to my old home safely.
No comments:
Post a Comment