Equinox Rites?
Sep. 20th, 2010 02:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
herlander_refugee posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
dreamwidth_pagansA sort of "herding cats" entry here, lol. Everyone isn't Wiccan, or even Wiccanesque, so I can't say "Merry Mabon" and expect to get everyone, can I?
I thought a discussion of what various traditions do at the Autumnal Equinox might be enlightening and engaging, so let me plunge in and then I hope others will share as well!
Neither Equinox is celebrated by our family as a big fire-in-the-pit affair. Both are what we call "working sabbats" and are largely concerned with seasonal turn preparations. At fall, I am finishing any seasonal jam making of the year, and sometimes fruit canning. And I am putting the various gardens to rights for the winter all through September and into October.
On the day itself, the only ritual event is the "Feeding of the Stones." My property is marked by a circle of stones, each named for a family deity. The feedings occur at both vernal and autumnal equinox, but one is a more brief peremptory affair---a splash of libation and handful of grain.
The other, most often the fall sabbat is more involved. On Thursday, I will not go round the circle in a simple circuit, but will instead break it up by pantheons. Some are Nordic, some Welsh, some Hellenic and a couple are Amerindian. Each grouping will get individual food and drink selected by culture. I will sit by the stones in turn, meditating at each for 5 to 10 minutes---the idea being to "hear" a critique of my ending year and advice for the year that begins (for me) at Samhain.
The family will have a simple supper in the evening...a bit more than ordinary, but not the full scale blow-out of Samhain or Yule.
And finally, at either Autumnal Equinox or Samhain (the choice is weather based) a Harvest Lady is posted on the porch as guardian through the dark of the year, she will be endowed with hand-made ornaments on the Equinox Eve.
Our herbal lady this year is over 6 feet tall, she is made of lavender, St. John's wort, oregano, lemon balm, hops, wormwood, mugwort, and bracken. Here she is:
And here are her ornaments, ready for Wednesday evening:
So tell me, those of you who are not restrained by oaths, what are your plans for taking note of the Equinox?
I thought a discussion of what various traditions do at the Autumnal Equinox might be enlightening and engaging, so let me plunge in and then I hope others will share as well!
Neither Equinox is celebrated by our family as a big fire-in-the-pit affair. Both are what we call "working sabbats" and are largely concerned with seasonal turn preparations. At fall, I am finishing any seasonal jam making of the year, and sometimes fruit canning. And I am putting the various gardens to rights for the winter all through September and into October.
On the day itself, the only ritual event is the "Feeding of the Stones." My property is marked by a circle of stones, each named for a family deity. The feedings occur at both vernal and autumnal equinox, but one is a more brief peremptory affair---a splash of libation and handful of grain.
The other, most often the fall sabbat is more involved. On Thursday, I will not go round the circle in a simple circuit, but will instead break it up by pantheons. Some are Nordic, some Welsh, some Hellenic and a couple are Amerindian. Each grouping will get individual food and drink selected by culture. I will sit by the stones in turn, meditating at each for 5 to 10 minutes---the idea being to "hear" a critique of my ending year and advice for the year that begins (for me) at Samhain.
The family will have a simple supper in the evening...a bit more than ordinary, but not the full scale blow-out of Samhain or Yule.
And finally, at either Autumnal Equinox or Samhain (the choice is weather based) a Harvest Lady is posted on the porch as guardian through the dark of the year, she will be endowed with hand-made ornaments on the Equinox Eve.
Our herbal lady this year is over 6 feet tall, she is made of lavender, St. John's wort, oregano, lemon balm, hops, wormwood, mugwort, and bracken. Here she is:
And here are her ornaments, ready for Wednesday evening:
So tell me, those of you who are not restrained by oaths, what are your plans for taking note of the Equinox?
(no subject)
Date: 2010-09-21 02:05 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-09-21 02:34 am (UTC)