As promised, here is my Beltane 2012 Ritual. I'm not going to post the entire ritual, but the break down looked like this:
Invoke The Deities With Prayer: I was working with my Mother, Brighid and An Dagda, Boann, Aengus Og, Caer Ibormeith, Aine, Manannan Mac Lir, and Fand, who are the Deities I honor on the Irish side of my spirituality.
State Goals for This Year's Ritual: New growth, one goal of which involves finding a full-time job doing what I love: writing/editing.
Now, the spell I used for this ritual involved apple seeds, as apples are often equated with Female Divinity and what better way to invoke new growth into my life than by using fruit? I also used a magickally charged green candle for money and prosperity that I bought in Salem from the store Hex Old World Witchcraft and Witchery to represent the power of fire and of prosperity and new growth.
I anointed the seeds with my magickal oils (Protection, Bergamot for luck, etc) and then charged them after my Invocation to my Gods and Goddesses. So they'd be charged for things like finding a new job doing what I love, good health, things like that.
Then I held the seeds over the fire and recited the spell, visualizing a positive outcome for each goal and asking my Gods to bring it forth as the Wheel of the Year turned. Once that was finished, I thanked my Gods for Their help in this endeavor and for all of the good things in my life and ended the ritual.
Also note that I offered my dinner in thanks for all of the positive things in my life and in honor of Beltane to my Gods. It was one of my favorite dishes from Fuel if anyone is curious, and it seemed to be a hit.
I'm going to leave the seeds outside in my backyard garden to help them grow to fruition; there's a nice purple flower in one part and aside from being one of my favorite colors, purple is also a power color as well, which will give the spell a boost (magickally speaking).
All in all, it was a great Beltane and I'm looking forward to celebrating the Solstice in June!
Sounds like a great ritual! I love how you weaved the theme of prosperity and finding that new job (which I really hope you find!) throughout. I particularly love the symbolism of the apple seeds; definitely a great symbol of new growth and bringing things to fruition! I didn't get to do a formal ritual for Beltane this year (I find that once finals come around, the full moon and whatever holiday falls around that time kind of falls by the wayside lol), so I'm glad that I got to read about yours. :D
ReplyDeleteSide note: I have a very similar seashell on my altar for Beltane because of its association with Aphrodite.
Thanks! I came up with the apple seed idea on a whim, honestly. I was eating an apple for lunch and just got hit with inspiration like a bolt of lighting, haha. Honestly, my biggest celebrations are more for Wep Ronpet, Samhain, and Imbolc. I just adore Samhain, the energy ironically makes me feel so alive. Must be a Jackal Kid thing or a by-product of talking to dead people a lot. ;)
ReplyDeleteOoo, that's interesting about the seashell and Aphrodite! I found this conch shell years ago, I think in Florida? I always use it to represent water and I've used it in a few rituals to Manannan Mac Lir and Fand.
I really like the idea of making your meal an offering. There are plenty of modern ways to make offerings and sacrifices to our deities (volunteer work, charitable donations, creative work), but offering a portion of our food is probably one of the most primal.
ReplyDeleteLove the use of apple seeds, and especially that you held them over the flame. Like warming them to quicken the potential life within them...so cool! It's the perfect way to symbolize growth and progress. And you actually had a place to put them on your own property, unlike we poor apartment-dwellers. Ilyssa and I (and my husband) took part in a ritual that used apple seeds once--I think it was for Mabon--but my husband and I had no place to sow them so they just hung around in a little baggie on my desk until I eventually got rid of them. :/
And I love the shell! When I used to maintain a Water element altar, a blue and white shell (I think it's a whelk shell, but I'm not sure) that I found at Rockaway Beach when I was a kid was my goddess figure. The god figure was a carved wooden seahorse statue I named Llyr.
Thanks! Food offerings are a huge part of Kemetic Paganism and while I'm not part of HoN, some of their style does infuse my own personal practice, and that's a big one.
ReplyDeleteI didn't even think of warming them to awaken the potential life in them aspect, haha. I used the flame as an extra power boost in the ritual, but I like that interpretation too. ;)
Llyr? Awesome, love the name! I think I found this shell when I was a wee one in Florida..maybe when we went to Disney? I can't remember a time where I didn't have that shell, in all honesty. It was a great find, it really was. I love going to the beach and collecting sea shells and rocks for my alter to use as decorations, especially since I naturally ground to water.
Heh, I "ground to Water," too. I've never really found the classic "you're a tree, roots grow from your feet and extend into the Earth, etc." grounding exercise so beloved of modern Pagans very helpful, so I often use ocean waves instead. Especially counting up to the ninth wave. And after ritual/magic, I usually stick my hands and wrists under cold running water to ground the excess energy.
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