Ceremony
By
Mylo Hawk Elderin
Together we follow the flow of the Sunwheel of the year, the cycle of the life of the year and the dates laid out by the Sunwheel Calendar.
The Sunwheel of the year is divided into eight equal parts, highlighting the celebrations of the year, held as the spokes of structure, of our lives and our universal understanding.
We celebrate eight gatherings of Ceremony, honouring the unity, peace and harmony of the cycle of the year.
WINTER SOLSTICE
The ceremony of rebirth
Our ceremonial year starts with the Winter Solstice and the second part of a two part Ceremony. In this second part, the cycle of life and the New Year comes into being with the re-birth and rise of the new born Sun, welcomed and honoured by the joy and celebration of the Ceremony of Rebirth.
As the first rays of the new born Sun pinprick this time of darkness with its virgin glow of naivety and its first short tentative days of warmth and light, we are given the gift of hope and optimism for the growth of the year ahead and the promise of our path before us.
We honour this day, the first of the new year of the new born Sun with the feast of celebration.
IMBOLC
Our Ceremony of Imbolc is a celebration of the first stirrings of life and the awakening of the Goddess energy, the spirit of our Mother Earth.
At this time we honour the occasion with the planting of Snowdrops, one of the earliest of blooms of nature’s stirring, their white flower a symbol of purity, in connection with the child of the Sun in the living cycle of the year.
Mother Nature breaks her fast of slumber as the child of the Sun of the year, begins to bathe the cold sleeping Earth with its loving glow of warming rays.
SPRING EQUINOX
At this time of day and night, light and dark, being of equal length, our Ceremony of Spring Equinox is a celebration of balance and harmony.
As the Child of the Sun of the year begins to take its first tentative, warming steps across the rich fertility of the Earth, we welcome the new buds of Spring and the explosion of life, of flora and fauna.
At this time, the rise of the Oestrum and the feminine energy in all living things, finds its balance with the Ardent male, the masculine fertility that is the Green Man and the masculine energy of the equilibrium within ourselves. The balance that gives us the gift of focus.
Now is the time we sow the seed, the seed of our crops and plants, and the seed of hope, strength and understanding within us, as we warm with the truth and living of life.
Here lies the spark, the power of potential, where we learn to value our intuition, where we learn to trust and to act on our inner wisdom, our connection with the Earth and the peace and harmony of life. With the awakening of union, of Mother Nature bursting into life, new life and the age of innocence and the egg.
BELTANE
Our Ceremony of Beltane is a celebration of the Green Man, the fertility of the Earth and the procreation of nature, in man, in birds and in animals, and the pollination of our crops and in plants and trees.
At this time of the year we honour this occasion with the planting of the Cowslip. The seasonal flower blooming of nature’s freedom, a blossom of the Earth and a life of new life.
We welcome the Green Man, the power of energy and the masculine force in the life cycle of all living things. The male seed of creation to the feminine energy of the fertility of Mother Earth and the egg of balance and harmony.
With this time of conception, with the rise of the awakening, comes the creation of inspiration, the inspiration of creativity. The seed of a notion within, bathed in the inner glow of our spirit with warmth, strength and belief, tended by the love of nurturing and the expansive horizons of thought. Finely moulded and sculpted and shaped, manifesting its chosen form as an extension of our understanding, perception and creation, a gift of loving expression set free.
Offering forth the reality of our creation, we share our understanding of knowledge and wisdom to all in our own unique way and pass on our inner voice of self expression.
SUMMER SOLSTICE
Our Summer Solstice Ceremony is a celebration of the power of The Sun. Our Father Sun is at his highest and in his prime, in perfect balance, dividing the life cycle of the year, a time of balance and harmony with the light half and dark half of the year.
At this time of the year we remember our lives and the lives of those around us, travelling our path throughout the Sunwheel of the year.
We honour this time of the highest Sun with the planting of an Oak Tree, the majestic living tree of knowledge, to breathe in the life force of The Sun and share in its breath of life. We honour all trees, big and small, young and old and share in their energy. As they grow in strength and power, in harmony we share the elements. At its height the Sun bathes the crowns of the trees with its warmth and light and they shelter us with their canopy and the protection of its shade.
LUGHNASADH
Our Ceremony of Lughnasadh is a celebration of the Crop harvest. As the strength and power, the masculinity of Father Sun, bathes the Earth with its seasonal summer heat, we welcome the passion of nature’s bloom.
At this time of the cutting and gathering of our crops, we share in the celebration with the baking and breaking of the Lughnasadh Loaf. As we honour the seed of substance, so we consume the seed of faith and understanding, in unity with the cycle of the living year and the spiral of infinity.
With the cutting of the corn, so we are reminded of the living cycle of life, the inevitability of death and the joy of re-birth in connection with the fertility of the Earth like the seed of our crops.
AUTUMN EQUINOX
Our Autumn Equinox Ceremony is a celebration of Autumn’s seasoned grip and the gift of the final crop harvest of fruit and nut and hedgerow.
We stand at the point of day and night in perfect harmony, a time of the equilibrium of The Sun and The Night Sky. We celebrate the balance of the darkness and light in the dark half of the year.
At this time of year, we gather together and offer a small feast, from tree and hedgerow, fruit and nuts, berries and seeds. Honouring our connection with the spirits of life, the spirits of spirit, we share this gift of Mother Earth and her loving bounty, with the harmony of unity in all living things.
We also take the time to feel the energy of understanding. In contemplation we share in the harmony of nature’s balance and eat the fruit of the Earth, the Apple. The Apple, the womb of nature’s womb and the womb of the Earth.
SAMHAIN
Our Ceremony of Samhain is a celebration of remembrance, of our families, our friends and loved ones, teachers and inspirational guides returning to spirit and the spirit of the Earth, passing from this world to their next in this cycle of the Sunwheel of life.
We honour the loving memory of the spirits of passing, rejoining the kingdom of The Ancestors in this life of lives. We light the flame of remembrance, the fire of the Sun and the light of eternity.
At this time we prepare ourselves for the onset of the longest darkness of the dark half of the year. Sweeping our homes, lives and spirits of the negative energy and the decay of all that has gone before, we begin to prepare ourselves, mind, body and spirit, for the dying of the year and the fresh start of the bright new year with the re-birth of hope and optimism of things to come.
We also give thanks for our blessings, for all that we have lived and learned, the path that we have travelled and the enrichment of experience we have gained, the wisdom and understanding that warm our spirit in love, peace and harmony.
WINTER SOLSTICE
The ceremony of sunset
Our Ceremonial year ends with the first part of our two part Winter Solstice Ceremony, the sunset of the dying of the year.
The cycle of the life of the Sun of the year draws to a close, the once green carpet of Mother Earth now settles down to slumber under her brown veil of winter sleep.
As the last rays of the Sun slowly fade into the glowing embers of Sunset, we share the twilight of memories with The Ancestors. At this time of the longest darkness we feel their closeness and unity, we share understanding and the bond of kinship.
As the Goddess, Mother Nature sleeps deep in her restful peace, we look to Sister Moon and her heart warming, soft and milky glow in reflection. Hand in hand we follow our path and witness the dying of the year.