A written description of the Lughnasadh ritual . . .
(Taken in part from an IRC conversation, but now with detail filled in and with the other party in the conversation edited out.) Please note: There is far more detail here than in the original conversation, although for the reader's sake I kept the tone intact when I made the additions.
*grin* Anyway . . . we set up all the "stations" so they didn't need anyone there, which was a better plan anyway
->it had started to rain, so we built the Labyrinth through JW's garage and into her screened-in porch (screen, not glass, so still open to the outdoors)
->and put the gate at the garden gate, so that we did the cleansing and invocation in the backyard, and then no one could see into the Labyrinth until after they'd passed Hecate at the Gate
->anyway . . . I only remember bits and pieces of the part at the Gate, precisely because I *did* do a full invocation, but I know it went very well . . . and just to add to the effect, a huge thunderstorm swept in, so that the part beyond the Labyrinth was all crashing thunder and streaks of lightning
->then when everyone else had gone through, I passed the challenge myself and went inside . . . my own challenge, as it turned out, was to "throw off" the invocation and enter the Labyrinth alone--I'd invoked Hecate, but now needed to "invoke" myself and reclaim *me* to continue, if that makes any sense
->the stations we had inside turned out really nice . . .
->the one I designed was the first one, for Yule . . .
->but entering the Labyrinth, the first thing you came to was a kitchen, decorated for Yule . . .
->a mixing bowl full of water, with a dishtowel beside it, as a sink, beside a big bowl of dough, on a table decorated with a lot of pine and pinecones
->there was a white candle unlit on the table, and Tommy was hiding unseen beneath the table playing a simple steady heartbeat on his drum
->I'd originally planned to be there to say what I'd written, but as it was I rewrote it on red and green construction paper, and added that to the "decorations"
->The first page said, "You who descended into the Underworld have passed Hecate's challenge and returned with the Light. You brought with you a new knowledge, from a life lived on a turning wheel. When that wheel turned from Samhain toward Yule, what new knowledge did you bring forth?"
->when the woman at the station had a clear answer to that question, and was satisfied with it herself, she was to light the candle on the table . . .to bring forth literally the light, into the little kitchen I'd set up
->The next couple pieces of paper--which I'd really rather have said aloud, btw-- read . . .
->"You are the Mother, the Life-giver, the Birther and the Midwife, the Serpent swallowing her tail and the ultimate Creatrix who gives birth to Herself" (with an image at the bottom of a serpent swallowing her tail)
->"And that is what you did, last December at Yule. In some way, you rebirthed yourself. And now we are here to celebrate what has come of that, to honor your achievement."
->"Here, I ask you for the first chapter of your story, whose prologue was your journey through the Underworld."
->(instructions there to take a piece of the dough from the bowl)
->"You hold in your hands the raw STUFF of the universe. Last Yule, you gave birth to something new; take this raw STUFF and shape for yourself a form, a corporal body for what you brought forth."
->(time there for making whatever one would of the dough; I'd originally expected something like a small human figure, but for whatever reason virtually everyone who went through chose to make a torus (doughnut-shape), without consultation . . .we talked about that a bit later)
->anyway . . .then the last page, which I *really* wish I could have said . . . what I have in my notebook is what I would have said aloud, which I modified to put on paper . . . but I'll come as close as possible to what was really there
->"*smile* What a beautiful Childe you made! Thank you for sharing with me the story of her birth--of your birth. These words were written for *you* by a priestess of the Lady Rhiannon, a Lady who brought herself by an act of will to this world, a Lady who is herself a mother. And together we bless the Childe that you made and embody, and celebrate your achievement. With this blessing, step forward, and remember the next chapter of your journey toward this harvest-tide."
->anyway . . .then each woman put out the candle so that the next approached it unlit, and moved on to the next station, Imbolc
->JR and JS had designed that one . . .they had also written some words at the station to lead folk through, theirs beautifully decorated . . .and the holiday there celebrates initiation . . . they had several candles, cloth, and a bowl of dye there, arranged to look like a woman's workroom
->the two pages there explained how women had often celebrated their achievements through the decoration of cloth and other household production, and explained how to make Batik cloth . . . take a piece of the cloth, and dribble or paint (with Q-tips, also there) a design on it with wax, to symbolize the personal achievements made at Imbolc . . .then put the cloth in the bowl of dye, to be retrieved after the ritual
->they did a fantastic job with that one
->I was impressed, btw
->but then, we have some amazing women to work with, too!! *grin*
-> on to the third station, set up for Ostara
->Usually Ostara is associated with flowering, especially here, but CB had chosen to go with a Scandinavian association with "sprouting" (far colder climate than TN!) *smile*
->she had explained that what she had been working with personally at that point in time had felt more like the image of gathering strength from the earth to thrust forward, to shake away the dirt and reach for the sunlight . . .and on reflection I had to agree with her
->her station was very simple . . . a small table draped in a white cloth, illuminated by a single white candle, with a very soft wooden brush lying in front of it
->In March, she explained, the dirt had all been brushed away by that little sprout reaching for the light, earning a place above ground, away from the safety of the Earth but still rooted in it
->and the brush was there to brush the body, symbolically remembering that shaking away of "dirt" . . .and the light of the sun was remembered in the candle
->the brush was very, very soft, and she did a good job with making a very sensual station
->(btw, just to keep the image, you could hear Tommy's drummed heartbeat throughout the Labyrinth, which seemed wonderful; it itself took on a new meaning at each station)
->the fourth station was a collection of flower buds, ones that MT (in wonderful MT-style) had chosen because in some way they resembled breasts . . .Beltane, sexual energy, our dance at the Maypole, the fullness of energy returned to the world
->there were several candles there, and photographs of us all at Beltane, and some dried flowers from her own saved Maybasket, which we'd made for one another then . . .the photos showed our games, CC and I holding on to our ties in the three-legged race, Danica decked in flowers triumphant with an egg in a spoon, etc.)
->(one photo caught AH and Bee in a very Beltane-like embrace, and that one took centerpoint in Margaret's arrangement)
->anyway, one of the "breastlike"(*laugh* )flowers was to be taken as a gift from that happy sunshiny day
->The fifth station was Midsummer . . . unfortunately was also to have been MR's responsibility to plan and bring, so MH put something together quickly; our Midsummer rite was held at her house
->But she put a small pot of fire (charcoal) in the center of the table, and surrounded it with bright red flowers, with a small figurine of a cat among them because we'd invoked Bast at Midsummer's fire festival
->There was simply the request to remember who and where we were at Midsummer, and what achievements went along with that time . . . that ritual was one for transformation, for bringing together scattered energies and uniting them
->Then, finally, the station for Lughnasadh, the last in the Labyrinth and the holiday we were celebrating . . .
->JW had done an amazing job with that . . . had herbs and stones and feathers and crystals and such in little dishes on the table, with a handful of little leather pouches, cord, decorations, etc.
->She'd asked everyone to choose things from among those on the table to symbolize each achievement from the year, and to put it into the little "harvest bag" to keep and take home
->The image was one of harvesting a bounty earned, of bringing in the things that would sustain through the rest of the year
->For me both that station and the one for Ostara were especially interesting, because I celebrated Lughnasadh six months ago in NZ, while these women here were celebrating Ostara
->*smile* It was . . . each little item was another small bit of woman-power, of intuition and empathy and all the things that have always been seen as female strengths, even in male-dominated societies
->but that brought us each through the Labyrinth, and back into the warm embrace of our Circle, where when I arrived (last, of course) JW already had a cauldron of hot water ready for us
->we charged the herbs, with CB's chant based on Shakespeare's witches . . ."Fire burn and Cauldron bubble, make our herbal power double" (repeated for a bit)
->then we threw the various herbs into the pot together . . . was mostly mint, which was interesting, because CB had done more reading on Hecate than the rest of us, and mint is sacred to Hecate, although none of the rest of us realized that
->but there was just enough of other things to make it a little spicy, too . . . turned out *really* good when we tasted it later, enough that we laughed about how to write down the recipe!
->anyway . . .
->we then charged the tea itself while it steeped, with the song (printed in the ritual outline), and with the spoons on the Cauldron . . .
->then JW served it to everyone else, and I served JW
->JS had made bread, too, and we broke it and shared it as well as the tea . . .
->I like the way our Circle does that, btw . . .we pass the bread each to the next, with "May you never hunger" . .. and usually the drink with "May you never thirst"
->We thanked the directions a little after that, and opened the circle; CB and I took the remaining bread and tea outside to pour a libation to Hecate
->then we ATE!! LOL roasted corn, JS had brought guacamole and JW had salsa . . . I brought a bottle of wine ('cause usually I bring fruit or baked goods, and I wanted to surprise folk)
->anyway . . . that's pretty much it, I guess . . .Tommy fell asleep in the floor with a half-eaten ear of corn in his hand and a full tummy