A Summerland Ritual– Honoring the Dead

Posted on June 23, 2014 by Amythyst Raine

The Pagan has a very different view of the afterlife than the Christian; and even within the Pagan community, you will find diverse beliefs about what happens to us when our bodies die. However you choose to look at death and what comes afterwards, the event itself will be marked, as all major events in a life generally are– with a ritual.

Items Needed:
1. A white pillar candle representing the deceased
2. A photo of the individual

Besides the regular ritual tools, you will choose a white pillar candle to represent the deceased. You may want to carve the individual’s name into it. This candle could also be adorned and decorated with herbs, sparkles, seashells, stones, ribbons, etc., or whatever else that resonates with the energy of the deceased– buttons from their clothing, beads from one of their necklaces.

The altar could also be decorated with flowers that were special to this individual, as well as personal items such as mementos from milestone occasions, old toys, things the individual may have collected, or items connected to an interest they pursued in life.

This ritual does not have to be conducted in a cast circle. However, the perimeter of the area could be set with white candles, white stones, bouquets of flowers, or bunches of herbs, and a purifying incense such as sandalwood.

1. When family and friends are gathered, the Priestess will stand before the altar, saying:

“As we all come from the Goddess to experience life; in death so shall we return to Her to experience peace.”

2. The Priestess will then light the altar candles, including the white pillar candle. Holding aloft the special white pillar candle, she will say:

“(name of deceased),
By the element of Earth, you were grounded in the physical world.
By the element of Air, you were open to knowledge and communication.
By the element of Fire, you were inspired with passion.
By the element of Water, you could dream your dreams.
So now, by Earth, by Air, by Fire, by Water…shall you pass to the next stage of your existence.”

3. The Priestess will then return the white candle to the altar. At this point, she may give a short eulogy on the deceased and his/her life; or family members and friends can be invited to come forward and relate memories and stories.

4. A ‘cakes & wine’ ritual can be incorporated into the ceremony at this point, if the family members wish.
*Note: You’ll find a “Cakes & Wine” ritual Here

5. When these aspects of the ritual are complete, the Priestess will take her place at the altar, raise the white pillar candle before the assembled group and say:

“(name of deceased),
Merry we meet,
And merry we part,
Until we merry meet again.”

6. The Priestess will then extinguish the flame of the white pillar candle. She may step forward and present this candle to the deceased’s closest relative, spouse, or partner.

____________________

The source for these rituals: The Gray Witch’s Grimoire

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The Witch’s Desk: Women Learning to Trust Women

Posted on June 4, 2014 by Amythyst Raine

I watched a wonderful DVD series this week highlighting the birth of feminine spirituality. It was full of all the inspiring women of the time– Starhawk, Jean Bolyn, Merlin Stone, Shekinah Mountainwater, as well as a score of other eloquent and beautiful Ladies (authors, activists, film producers, artists, etc.). The main concept that struck me was the idea that the emergence of the patriarchal system, along with the fall of the goddess, all contributed to the erosion of feminine spirituality, the end of matriarchy, and its biggest impact was on women’s relationships with other women. We lost the “Sisterhood”. We became suspicious of each other. Something was stolen from us, something almost intangible, something undefinable. The unity was gone, the respect was gone, the connection was warped and broken.

With the advent of the snake and the apple story, the whole women-are-responsible-for-the-downfall-of-civilization phenomena, respect and power, camaraderie and trust, were all lost for the women of the world. The new patriarchal culture threw a dark shadow on womanhood, and it was contagious, contagious even to us, to women. My mother and I talked about this once, how women behave towards other women, the back-stabbing, the bitchiness, the suspicion. It was an accurate observation, and it left us to ponder.

Can it be repaired? And if so, what can be done to fix it?

1. We come towards each other already suspicious, suspicious of motives, intentions, sincerity…

and this crap involves all aspects of life– beginning with men (husbands, boyfriends, significant others). Why? Why don’t we trust other women in our lives with our partners, even when we have no legitimate reason not to? Is it just a hormonal mating Neanderthal thing? I hope not. I’d like to think that we’ve evolved past this. Maybe it’s our own insecurity– Are we attractive enough, are we too fat, are we too thin, are we satisfying sexual partners, are we successful enough, are we accomplished enough? Is this other woman prettier, is she younger, is she more accomplished, more successful, more desirable?

We have to work at building and maintaining a healthy ego. We have to learn to appreciate ourselves, to meet our full potential, to find the joy in life. We have to learn to be all that we were meant to be; and we have to learn to be proud of this. We have to learn to relish pride in ourselves. This isn’t being egotistical; it’s being healthy, it’s being honest, it’s being strong.

2. We’ve got backstabbing down to a fine art…

There is nothing worse than a hen-party that takes on a very dark energy when the hens start pecking at a missing sister. Why do we do this? And it gains momentum, it really does, as each woman in turn comes up with a negative observation, a piece of gossip, something that they would never dream of saying to the victim’s face. Why?…enjoyment, in some weird and twisted way?…a primeval instinct to travel in packs, and to gang up on a member who doesn’t fit into all the correct forms, all the politically/socially correct boxes and niches? Or is it a power play, since we still obviously possess pack mentality, and there has to be an Alpha female, so we’ll spar and battle until only one is left standing?

3. There is no sense of “Sisterhood”, no sense of loyalty, real loyalty, the old-fashioned kind..

“I’ll be your friend till the end.”…what a beautiful sentiment, but I don’t believe a word of it. It’s more like…”I’ll be your friend until you don’t conform to my idea of what you should be; I’ll be your friend until someone else comes along that I’m more infatuated with, I’m more in-tune with; until someone else comes along that satisfies me emotionally in the friend department, someone who agrees with me, someone who will follow me. I’ll be your friend, until I don’t feel like it anymore.

I wrote a blog post a few years ago, in which I describe my idea of a friend and ‘sister’…

“A Sister, should be a Sister, should be a Sister…*Forever*. It’s not a ‘when-I-feel-like-it’ thing; it should not rely on the conditions of outside influences, human frailties, insecurities, or pettiness. A Sister is someone you grow old with; and on your way to this destination, you pass all the other stages of life– bumpy, smooth, unpleasant, and joyous– and you know, without a crumb of a doubt, that your Sister will travel this road with you, shoulder to shoulder, to the end and beyond.”

4. There is no common spiritual ground (the goddess) in today’s culture, patriarchy dominates the scene…

I know that I’ve personally lost friends because of my spiritual path– from Jehovah’s Witnesses, to Christian Fundamentalist, to just plain Christians in the mainstream. If we don’t travel the same spiritual path, apparently, we cannot travel together at all. Why? It’s joyous to share a friendship with someone who views life and spirituality in the same way, but that doesn’t mean we can’t embrace friends who forge different trails. There can always be a general meeting place in the center of the forest, a sunny clearing where we can all lay aside our differences to gather together and share life’s experiences, and plans, and disappointments, and victories.

This is the hard part of this essay. I feel that the reader will expect me to end with some magickal solution to this problem, some instant fix, and I don’t think this is possible. In that case, it makes this blog post more of an observation, which leaves more questions here, at the end, than it did to start with. But I believe we have to look back, far into the past, when the Goddess ruled the earth and woman’s power was respected. We have to look back, far into the past, when society viewed woman, in all stages of her life, with reverence and awe. We have to look back, far into the past, to an ancient time, when women had respect for themselves…and respect for their sisters.

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This is Magick

Posted on April 23, 2010 by Amythyst Raine

Most people only know and expect from magick what they have seen on television and movies, or what they have read in fictional stories. They expect lots of special effects, both visually astounding and sometimes noisy. They expect instantaneous reactions from magickal incantations and would be satisfied with no less. To most people, if magick does not meet the above criteria, it is not magick.

They would be wrong.

Real magick works in its own way and in its own time…no special effects, no drum rolls, no flashes of light, and most of the time no melodrama. It works quietly, pervasively, discreetly, with sometimes surprising and unexpected results.

As an example…

There is a streetlight located in the neighbor’s backyard, far back in the southwest corner. I have hated this light with a passion for years. I like to go outside at night and bask in the moonlight or swim in the darkness of night, feeling the full effects of this magickal time. My children like to take their telescope out on a dark summer’s eve and visit the stars.

All of this is very hard to do when you are under the spotlight of an obnoxious mega watt lightbulb. We have cursed it many a time under our breath.

Last summer I decided to take matters into my own magickal hands and banish this light. The spell was cast, the curse of banishment spoken, the wand and finger pointed, the feet stamped, the candle set alight, the spell burned, the herbs spread, the Goddess invoked.

I felt within me a quiet sense of satisfaction.

The next night…

There was the light in all its inglorious obnoxiousness. I could almost hear it laughing in triumph, ‘Thought you’d get me, did you!’ And it continued to shine upon us and our entire yard for the rest of the summer, into autumn. I began to ponder the situation, wondering what I may have done wrong, or what I may have overlooked in the magickal texts.

Winter came and spring finally broke through and transformed the world.

I stepped out into the backyard one cool spring night, bracing for the bright light to hit my face…but it didn’t. Our yard was full of deep blue darkness and black shadows and puddles of silver moonlight.

Surprised, I turned in the direction of the streetlight to discover that over the winter the old tree in the neighbor’s yard had experienced a transformation. Its branches had grown incredibly during the winter months and were now lush and full of thick green foliage.

The old storm battered tree had, in fact, grown so much that it overshadowed and hid the streetlight.

This is magick.