Festival of the Runes

Day 1 of 9 informal altar

Official altar, showing offerings of bourbon and sausage.

Making up our own festivals is one of my favorite parts of tradition building. In our tradition, we use runes as our system of symbolism. To honor that great gift, I've created a Festival of the Runes.

I began with the old festival of Walpugisnacht:

"The festival of Walpurgis, a night both of revelry and darkness. The nine nights of April 22 (interestingly enough, the modern festival of Earth Day) to April 30 are venerated as rememberance of the AllFather's self-sacrifice upon the World Tree Yggdrasil. It was on the ninth night (April 30, Walpurgisnacht) that he beheld the Runes, grasped them, and ritually died for an instant. At that moment, all the Light in the 9 worlds is extinguished, and utter Chaos reigns. At the final stroke of midnight, the Light returns in dazzling brilliance, and the bale-fires are lit. On Walpurgisnacht, the dead have full sway upon the earth; it is the ending night of the Wild Hunt. May 1 is the festival of Thrimilci; the beginning of Summer. Thrimilci is a festival of joy and fertility, much like Ostara; however, most of the Northern World is finally escaping from the snow at this time."

When I dug a bit deeper, I found that Walberga (or Walpurga) was a Christian saint canonized in CE 860 who was credited with Christianizing many Germanic tribes. This saint's day was used to create a celebration that coincided with the Pagan Beltane celebrations. A classic move by the medieval church - distract people from their nature-based ancestral faith with pageantry.

For our celebration, I wanted to lose the medieval Christian overtones and keep the timing. Nine days of celebration to honor Odin and his discovery of the runes during the Wild Hunt of spring felt right to me. What we do is light a candle in the window to guide Odin to us. We create an altar honoring Odin and the runes. Each night, we make offerings to Odin, like mead and meat. We sing the song of the runes, then read nine passages from the Havamal.

I really enjoyed it. This is a simple celebration, and I really liked focusing on the wisdom of the Havamal. It's pithy and surprisingly relevant in the modern era. We can all learn to take care of business and be a good member of the community! Hail Odin!

Ritual

The Pagan Experience - Wk 2- Apr. 13 – Ritual - What is your definition of the word “ritual”? What are your rituals- mundane and spiritual? How do they inform each other? Is ritual a necessary component to spiritual practice?


Ritual is defined by the dictionary as "a religious or solemn ceremony consisting of a series of actions performed according to a prescribed order." In a broader sense, a ritual can be any series of actions that are performed regularly.

The word ritual also implies a certain level of meaningfulness or reverence, even when used in the broader sense. That suits me down to the roots. My personal brand of shamanistic witchcraft has been heavily influenced by Eastern philosophy. I believe that there is no separation between the mundane and the magical, the everyday and the sacred. This whole Earth is my temple, and every step I take is a prayer. I'm into mindfulness - each moment is important, and truly is all we have.

My life is full of ritual. In fact, with all the transitions and changes in my life in recent years, you might even say that ritual is my anchor point. My daily rituals keep me centered amidst the ebb and flow of life. I have written before about my dinacharya, my daily routine. To summarize, I begin each day with prayer, Yoga, meditation and general self-care. I bless each meal. I end the day with meditation and gratitude.

Since I wrote those posts, my routine has shifted slightly. I'm meditating in the morning more now. I'm also writing more in the morning. My evening practice has all but disappeared, being devoted more to winding down, checking the last emails and spending time with family. Of course, these last few months  have been very transitional, so I'm working to get back on track. Whether I will find equilibrium at my old routine, or something new, I do not yet know. It's gardening season, so all bets are off.

Aside from the daily routine, there are many little things I do at random times that add meaning and a sense of the sacred to my life. I put magic into my cooking, infusing the meals I cook for myself and my family with healing and love. I sing to my plants. I take time every day to connect with my kitties. My partner likes to walk our property with me, taking note of each new bloom. I visit my favorite woods and rivers regularly so that I can watch the progression of the seasons in each place and to recharge my spirit. I make offerings to my favorite tree.

On the spiritual side of things, I mark and celebrate the seasons. I lead my Clan in rituals to honor the Full Moon, the eight great Sabbats and our five patrons and matrons. Because we are an eclectic coven, our rituals range from full-on formal circles to informal events like devotional hikes. This being our first turn of the Wheel together, we are still evolving and settling into a routine. I have so many ideas that I am excited to bring into being.

This question of how my mundane and spiritual rituals inform each other…it is a difficult one. I find myself writing this post and not knowing where to put certain items. Is recharging my crystals under the light of the Full Moon a mundane ritual or a spiritual one? Again, my view is one of unity. My intent is to make my life more and more of a seamless blend each year. I live on a homestead out in the country, and my view truly is to infuse the necessary with the sacred. The mundane WITH the spiritual.

The last question, is ritual a necessary component of spiritual practice…I say that it's a necessary component to MY spiritual practice. Yoga philosophy sums it up well: the things we do each day form scars or grooves (samskara), which itself is ritual whether we like it or not. I choose to do this consciously. To make my habits ones that uplift and support my purpose and path.

I would never dream of dictating another person's journey. Perhaps it includes ritual, perhaps not. Perhaps those rituals are secular rather than religious. It is not for me to say what is right for another. 

That being said, rituals and ceremonies were created out of a universal human need. Artifacts have been found from our earliest times for which no utilitarian function is known, their use being purely ceremonial. Scientists imply that our transition to sentient humanity as we know it today began with our need for meaning, for spirituality, for ritual. 

Rituals take us across the threshold of the stages of our lives. They heal us of trauma. They lift us up and help us to carry on through times both good and bad. They give us a sense of belonging and strengthen community. Rituals punctuate the daily grind with celebration, devotion and a joyous sense of occasion. Rituals are the percussion in the song of our lives. 

“Life is a ritual of love
Life is a ritual of union, and 
Life is a dance of the divine” 
― Vishwas Chavan, SoulBliss: a poetic tale of cosmic love

30 Days of Deity Devotion: Day 11

Festivals, Days and Times Sacred to this Deity

In keeping with my habit of not regurgitating information that is easily found elsewhere, I won't give an exhaustive list of festivals, days and times for Artemis in this post. Instead I'll highlight a few things that I use in my own practice and with my coven, Clan of the Wildlings.

Artemis is associated with the crescent moon, especially in her role as the Maiden aspect of the Goddess. She is also sometimes conflated with Selene, and full moon worship, but I relate to her as the crescent moon. The sixth day of each month is sacred to Artemis, so for me, the sixth day of a new moon is an all-purpose time to work with her. This is a time when I call upon her aid in spellwork or make offerings to her.

My clan honors each of our five patron deities with a festival day. As much as possible and feasible, I'm following traditional dates and celebrations. Luckily, some of our patrons have set dates and some do not. Some have more than one festival. This allows me some flexibility in spacing the festival more evenly throughout the year. An important thing in this busy day and age!

For Artemis, I've chosen Mounykhia, which is held on the full moon in April. The following is excerpted from Unbound: A Devotional Anthology for Artemis by Bibliotheca Alexandrina:

"The modern Mounukhia honors Artemis as Artemis Phosphoros, the Light Bringer, and Potnia Theron, Lady of the Beasts. If you wish to offer Artemis meat since goats were sacrificed in the ancient festival, please do it in an appropriate manner. Try to offer her organic or free-range meat if you do not hunt. The domestic animals at least are treated better than non-organic/free-range farms. The purpose of this festival is to celebrate our femininity and to know that Artemis will always hold a lit torch for us and guide us on our journeys."

This festival is especially appropriate for me as a priestess of Artemis. My purpose is to bring more light into the world, through using the gifts I was given to help others. Hence Tanaria Lightbearer, savvy? 

I'm also a traditional bowhunter, so the other time I feel especially close to Artemis is during deer hunting season. For my local area (central North Carolina, USA), that's mid-September through the end of December. I don't know if others formally celebrate or work with her during hunting season, but then…I've yet to find any other followers of Artemis who hunt at all. If you're out there, please comment on this post, I'd love to meet you!