Feast of Ovens
~~This simple yet beautiful ritual may be used at any time of the year, to remind us that the wheel is ever turning, although we tend to perform it around Imbolc or Mabon.~~
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~~Tools Needed: a stick of incense, a bowl of salt, bread, Chalice filled with juice or wine, black or dark blues candles.
~Light a stick of incense and proceed to EAST~
East is the place of age and wisdom and death. The final point in the Spiraling path. But it is also the beginning of the Spiral upward in New Life.
~Proceed to SOUTH~
South is the place of Fertility and Passion, the Gateway to Responsibility.
~Proceed to WEST~
West is the place of Birth, the door to New Life.
~Proceed to NORTH~
North is the place of Growth and Ripening, the bringing forth of New Life. As well as a place of Nurturing and Love.
~~Place the incense on the altar and take the bread, thinking of the cycle of life: Seed to wheat to bread. Birth, growth, death and rebirth in the cycle of life.~~
The Maiden Goddess and the Youth God plant the Seed of Life. They are the planters, as the farmers planted the wheat that was the beginning. The Lady and the Lord of the Greenwood bring the life into existence, forming it into its required shape. At the proper time when the life seed is ripened the Dark Lord and Lady cut it down. But the seed is not destroyed. Like the farmer who gathers the wheat seeds for the next planting, the Dark Lord and Lady gather the lifeseeds within their hands and prepare them for the next planting~ the next life.
~~Dip the bread in the salt and say~~
The salt represents the Earth. All life must have food and water to grow and survive. My body was first nurtured in the womb of the Dark Mother and watered with Her Spiritual Love. I thank the Goddess and the God for their care.
~~Eat the salted bread and raise the Chalice and say~~
As the fruit must be harvested and crushed before it can become a refreshing drink, so must each life be tempered by trials and experiences.. Our life essences are changed into new forms, flavored with the old, yet sweetened by the new. May the Lord and Lady give me the courage to undergo the process with dignity and grant me the understanding and guidance to make my journeys with ease.
~~Drink from the Chalice. You may also use this time for divination about the general future. When finished say~~
As I am part of the grain of wheat, so am I also part of the Lord and Lady. All creations and cycles of life are intertwined in an eternal cosmic dance. The doors to all mysteries lie within me. Grant me the wisdom to open them at the proper time.
