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Sweetwood Temenos Samhain 2011

10/30/2011

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Sweetwood Temenos Samhain 2011
Envision an altar lite with two candles next to images of the Goddess and God and lite torches lead down to a circle in the woods.  Jack O' Lanterns lite up with candles greet you along the path you as you walk into the woods. There are two torches at the door way into the circle that glow into the evening.
There 10 good folk gathered around a hot oak fire with the setting waxing moon shining through bare limbs of the woods in the west. Ah the moon in the 7th house! There are stars above shining down through the opening in the branches of the glade blessing each and everyone in the circle and ritual. 
All hold hands and intone an “AH” and so welcomed to the Sweetwood Temenos Samhain ritual. The Circle is casted and a libation of whiskey is poured to Eris and her Kin, the mischievous makers to take their due and enjoy the night and all are at peace with one another.
Words of the season are spoken and the remembering of those who have died begins. The priestess hands out dried wild flowering plants gathered from the fields to each in the circle.    The honoring of the dead begins as each remember good folk who have died by casting a dried flowering plant into the flames and takes a turn in speaking about the ancestors.
Several rounds of speaking happen until all are finished. Then the priest goes to a small alter in the west, speaks of the life given for the circle and Sweetwood and pours a water libation to them as a promise kept to remember them also.
Then the Horned God, the consort of the Goddess is drawn down upon the priest by the priestess with the stang, the taming wand. He speaks his words of promise, of the Mystery of Birth, Death and Rebirth and reunion with loved ones in the Summerland. And after his words are spoken and releases his priest by the power of the stang, the priest invokes the Holy Crone. By the power of the stang she is invoked and all who wish may come to her seated upon her common block of wood and ask for an omen. All are asked to meditate upon what they seek in the coming year as this time is the ancient New Year for the peoples of Northwest Europe. All go and seek a symbol of guidance for the coming year and chose a card and return to the fire.
When all finish and received an omen the bread is blessed and shared around the fire in the woods. Coyotes howl and owls hoot. Water then is shared....around the circle from one person to another. A goblet filled with water is passed and saying unto one another as it is passed "water shared, is life shared, is love shared, Thou art Goddess, Thou art God, may you never Thirst. After final water libation and blessing the priestess and priest take down the circle. The priestess speaks the final words “All from Air into Air … the circle is open but never broken and the feast begins all around a hot Samhain fire in the woods... a good time was had by all.  
Never Thirst 

Iacchus
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Pagan Pride Day-Madison Wisconsin 2011

10/3/2011

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Pagan Pride Day-Madison Wisconsin 2011 October 1st. 

Today started out sunny and cool, not a cloud in the sky…It warmed up during the day and everyone was in a good mood. It was just a good early autumn day in Wisconsin.
Sweetwood Temenos had its booth set up with its fliers, nothing fancy but nice. I bought our Sweetwood banner, “Pentacle”, stang and goblet. I explained the pentacle to several folk who asked its meaning. It was a good symbol to discuss the 7 directions and the 5 values. So was the stang as it gave me a chance to explain its significance of a staff/wand that is forked as being a divining rod only used to divine the heavenly waters. Thus the stang is the scepter/wand of the sky-gazing holy ones (clergy) of the ancient pagan religions. 
I also presented a talk to good folk who showed up on Aquarian neo-paganism. I pour in invocation with the Sweetwood goblet, symbolic of the Aquarian waters being poured forth and analogous to the Aquarian water barer pouring forth the Aquarian waters from his/her water jar. 
There were other presentations and the whole of Pagan Pride Day was definitely had a picnic in the park feel. It was a day of friendly faces, conversations and meeting up with old acquaintances and make of new acquaintances. There were venders, all were good. The Pagan Pride folk provided very good music by local pagan musicians! We were next to a fabulous wood worker….his wooden bowls were very nice. We were gift two handmade clay fired plates, which had words written on them … one saying “So mote it be” and the other saying “Merry Meet, Merry Part and Merry Meet Again”. These will be used ritually in our Sweetwood Sabbaths. 
The opening ritual was done by the “Northern Lakes Temple and Earth Traditions and closing ritual by a Norse group, “the Kettlewald Kindred”. In the opening ritual I brought the Sweetwood goblet and water and poured a libation for the gathering using the United States of America motto “From Many One”, invoked the Goddess Columbus (whose statue sits on top of our national capitol) and democracy, which promotes the pagan value of pluralism. The closing ritual was particularly beautiful as I was facing west (thus on the east side of the circle), sun shining in my face, the wind had become clam and the temperature was mild by late afternoon. A basket of apples were passed around and the good folk gave thanks for what they were thankful for and the colors of early autumn blessed us all. It was such an archetypal autumn pagan ritual that goodness of the day filled the hearts of all who attended it. When the Mystery comes to us in the form of the human community and Nature then one sees magic!
Blessed Be and Never Thirst
Iacchus
          
      
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