Well, I'd been thinking about it for months - having my boyfriend of a year-and-a-half participate in a ritual with me. He knew I was Pagan before I'd even gotten to know him. We've been living together since April, along with a roommate who's also a ware and certainly very tolerant, and it's been impractical, waiting for everyone to be gone. I do my workings in the living room, since it's a more open space and it's always much tidier than my bedroom. (I know, I know...)
I'm about to spend my second holiday season with Chris, and bring him to my family's Christmas Dinner for a second year. Besides loving him, I really think we work well together, complement each other and share similar goals for the future. I can't imagine having a family with him and feeling awkward about doing ritual or meditating with him around. I'd like to raise my children as Pagans, at least, as long as they wanted it.
So, with this all in mind, I decided that I would ask Chris to join me in my Samhain ritual. I knew he would be able to understand it's purpose - though he doesn't have any close family that's passed away yet (lucky him), I'm sure that in the future, he could even enjoy it. It went quite well, and lasted three hours. I was glad to have had him with me - we even did Tarot readings for each other.
My most successful Samhain ritual was two years ago - very emotional. Last year, I remember feeling like I did a lazy ritual. This year was better, but not as "connected" to the ancestors as I would have liked. I need to focus on more better energy-raising techniques. The long poem I read was lovely, but not quite right.
In the end, it was my own nervousness that hindered me. I went to fast while speaking. I didn't have enough time, or feel at ease enough, to meditate and get into the ritual mindset. This was my own doing, and I'll work on doing it more often around others to become more accustomed. (It's sad, I can meditate after a workout at the gym, why not when I'm alone with someone?)
This is important - I want to start practicing - Druidism or something resembling my own ecclectic Craft - with others. In most other things I'm quite confident, so I find my shyness during magical or ritual matters uncharacteristic of me, and uncomfortable. A challenge for me to overcome!
The next day I went to my cousin Allen's - visited with him, his wife Caroline, and his wee three-year-old daughter Julianne. We went trick-or-treating! Caroline's pregnant, and I'm so happy for them. I love stopping by there. So many people don't have relationships with their cousins. When my grandparents immigrated to Canada with their children, they only had each other. My mum was the youngest, and her eldest sister was 15 years older than her.
Now, we're a pretty close family. Allen's probably ten or eleven years younger than my mom. He's around eighteen years older than I am, the same age difference between myself and his daughter. I was sitting there, talking to him, and he said "You're so much like [your mother]!". It used to be him, going over to my parents house and watching the hockey game, keeping me - a baby - awake as a good luck charm.
I think I'll make visiting family 'round Samhain a tradition. What a way to honour ones ancestors, by loving their children.
Short book reviews on at least: 1 Indo-European studies title, 1 preferred ethnic study title and 1 modern Paganism title. (325 words min. each)
Comparitive Mythology. Jaan Puhvel.
An Introduction to Roman Religion. John Scheid.
The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft. Ronald Hutton.
A brief description, with photos if possible, of the Dedicant's home shrine and plans for future improvements. (150 words min.)
An essay focusing on the Dedicants understanding of the meaning of the "Two Powers" meditation or other form of ‘grounding and centering', as used in meditation and ritual. This account should include impressions and insights that the Dedicant gained from practical experience. (300 words min.)
An journal covering the Dedicant's personal experience of building mental discipline, through the use of meditation, trance, or other systematic techniques on a regular basis over at least a 5 month period.
An account of the Dedicant's efforts to work with nature, honor the Earth, and understand the impacts and effects of the Dedicant's lifestyle choices on the environment and/or the local ecosystem and how she or he could make a difference to the environment on a local level. (500 words min.)
A brief account of each High Day ritual attended or performed by the Dedicant in a twelve month period. High Days attended/performed might be celebrated with a local grove, privately, or with another Neopagan group. At least 4 of the rituals attended/performed during the training period must be ADF-style. (100 words min. each)
ONE essay describing the Dedicants understanding of and relationship to EACH of the Three Kindred: the Spirits of Nature, the Ancestors and the Gods. (300 words min. for each Kindred and 1000 words total)
A brief account of the efforts of the Dedicant to develop and explore a personal (or Grovecentered) spiritual practice, drawn from a specific culture or combination of cultures. (600 words min.)
The text of the Dedicant's Oath Rite and a self-evaluation of the Dedicant's performance of the rite. (500 words min.)
Well, I officially participated in my first druidic ritual in a group. So many interesting people were involved, and I've made a good few new connections. I look forward to, at the very latest, seeing them all again at Yule, but due intend to join some in the ADF Dedicant Studies and others in studying some other areas of personal interest, right now being Kabbalah and Chakra theory.
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We all drove to a suburb just off island - one of the members let us use her backyard. Her suburb was tolerant of small campfires and she had a large tree for us to enjoy the presence of. We began around 8:00pm and finished around 10:00 pm on the 31st of October. Mel and Sarah served as Senser and Asperger. Other members there included Jamie and Selina. I think we were about 8 all in all, 9 if you consider Jamie's little son who kept coming and going.
We made an offering of meat to The Morrigan, and oats to Donn (whom I know very little about.) I especially liked the major working, in which we made an offering to a chosen ancestor with the drop of a stone rune ("Gebo") into the Sacred Well. I wonder if, in the future, we could bring an additional offering. I should have been louder in speaking my dedication to my ancestor, to include everyone in my act. As a Grove. I know for next time.
For the Omen, Rob drew 3 runes ; "Fehu", "Aurochs", "rune of Death" - so I'm assuming that's Fehu, Uruz and Eiwaz? Hagalaz? I'd like to double check that one. I know enough about runes to usually understand their symbolism. Rob interpreted it as positive, that our offerings had been accepted.
Rob gave us a great "cheat sheet with the chants, which I've saved. I didn't quite catch most of the tunes, so I'll have to look them up. I noticed that they areavailable at the ADF website.
Apparently we're carrying on the SilverFox tradition of Toast, Boast or Oath at the end of rituals - to make one of the above and take a drink from the horn. I think it's supposed to help everyone unwind and enjoy each other's company. Enjoyable,but difficult when it's so chilly!
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Last night, upon returning home, I requested membership to ADF. I'd forgotten how inexpensive it was, only twenty-dollars, and with the Canadian Dollar being so I there's virtually no change in price. Maybe an additional 40 cents.
It was a good ritual, made me feel sort of new again. The uncertainty, the reading from the page, not knowing the tunes to the chants... It's humbling. It could have been better - we were working outside, it was quite cool and damp which hampered our fire. We're all new, and even Rob, our Druid Clergyman, is much less familiar with Celtic Ritual (being a proud Norseman.) It will be nice when we all get organised, start meeting regularly, start becoming more spontaneous.
The feeling is so different too, though. This reminds me of why I began turning away from Druidism in my personal practice. Now, while I don't consider myself Wiccan, I do use alot of Wiccan ritual structure, simply because I find it effective. The feel of the circle, the cone of power, the ebb and flow of the energy - I missed them during the Druidic rit. Yet the basis of Druidism is very different - there is no spell working, no use of will. Rob described it as more "mellow", but that doesn't seem quite right to me.
I think I'll go as far as to say that ADF Druidism is simpler, is more basic. We honour the land, we honour the Ancestors, we honour the Gods and Goddesses. It is a path that worships nature.
I do need to work on understanding the sacred well and the sacred fire. I am also curious about how the group dynamic and energy will change, and how it will come to feel when we get in the swing of things.
There has been quite some talk on the forums about 'Daily Practice', lately. It's a hard topic for me, because while I do through and through consider myself a witch at all times, I rarely have a reason for spell work (I'm a big fan of just doing what I need to do instead of using a spell) and often don't celebrate Sabbats that I have trouble connecting to. Heck, I'm often tired and have trouble pushing myself to do ritual.
The thing is, I love ritual. I feel good afterwards, and it's always a good experience. Why don't I do it more often? Sure, I give prayer on a regular enough basis. That was the biggest suggestion by members of WF as a way of observing their path on a daily basis. Part of me really feels that prayer isn't good enough - it's too passive. The profound experiences we have in ritual can only continue and become all the greater by doing [i]regular[/i] rituals.
In his article 'The Importance of Daily Magical Practice', Taylor Ellwood reminds us that magic is a process, not the end result. Diane Sylvan, in her blog, has written that it is our regular practice that allows us to truly appreciate and move forward, instead of just thinking "Wow!", being on a high for a few days, and then degenerating back to our usual habits.
Lately, I've been likening magic to exercise, both require practice. Since the early/mid summer I actually [i]have[/i] been exercising, I'm actually proud to say. My goal was to find a way to actually enjoy myself while doing it, and find a way to make it a regular part of my life. I'm in a situation where yes, it's hard to drag my butt to the gym after work for Tae Box, but punching and kicking is just [b]so satisfying[/b] after my lousy customer service job. It's also good for me! Yay!
And so, while daily prayer is nice, I do think it's important for me to do ritual more often than just the Sabbats. I mean ritual without spellwork - I think most will agree. Ritual to commune with our guides, with the land, with ancestors, with the Lord and Lady. It is important for us to nurture our relationship with them.
For the future, I'm giving my two week's notice for work. I'd like to have more time for my schoolwork and some volunteer opportunities that will be beneficial for my CV. I think I will resume meditating - it has been a long time - in a short ritual. I've been working on some ideas for 'motivation and focus' rituals. We'll see how it goes.
Elwood, Taylor. [i]The Importance of Magical Practice.[/i] Witchvox. 15 April 2007. http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usor&c=words&id=11687
[u]Dancing Down the Moon[/u]. Diane Sylvan. http://diannesylvan.typepad.com/dancing_down_the_moon/
The Cleveland Museum of Art has provided the ARTstor image database with reproductions of a beautiful Etruscan statue that was created around the 3rd or 2nd Century BCE. Entitled Patera Support: Lasa, this bronze sculpture of a winged woman, about 21.6 centimeters high, represents a mysterious figure in Etruscan mythology.
Her delicate, feminine wings, detailed with small feathers, are spread and a decorative tray rests upon them and the figure’s head. The detailing of the shelf makes it appear as though it has been separated into four quarters. The curved lines of the top and bottom mirror each other and emerge diagonally from a line the runs horizontally across it. This gives the appearance of two leaves perfectly positioned opposite of each other. Emerging from both sides of the tray are protruding, open blossoms. It appears the leaves that make up the shelf are suspended between these floral rods.
The figure’s hair is loosely attached at the back of her head, which we can see from the way her head is positioned at three-quarters. Her dark eyes are focused intently, but otherwise her turned head shows only an unremarkable, expressionless face. Her gaze is directed to a mirror she holds up in her left hand.
The woman’s shoulders lean to the left, from where we see folds of drapery extend to the right side of her waist. She wears two necklaces; one is a plain band and the other is decorated by pointed triangles, which may indicate leaves. We see a series of bands decorating the upper right arm. She is otherwise nude, her shapely legs twisted so that her right toe is gently set behind her left foot. Sandals that strap at the ankles cover her feet. They rest upon an almost equilateral triangular base, with vertical flutes decorating the frontal side edge.
From behind, however, we see the statue may not have been created to be seen in the round. While certain elements remain detailed, others appear to be smooth and done only well enough to be presentable. The uppermost part is the most elaborate and would have attached to the damaged and missing parts of the sculpture. The underside of the jagged ridge we saw from the front is here a beautiful flower with thin petals curling inward. It rests on two clearly represented leaves
The waves of the figure’s hair are held by a band that runs across the base of the skull, as wel as a knot in the shape of a knob at the back of her neck. A few loose tresses cascade onto her upper back. The wings maintain the outer shape as seen from the front, but in the back have no feather detailing whatsoever. They connect smoothly to the figure’s shoulder blades.
We may have some indication of drapery moving from her waist at the left, or that could be a line created from her hair. There are a series of shapes and lines that show prominently on her left buttock, down her right leg, and behind her right knee. The limitations of analyzing an art piece from a photograph are now a hindrance, for these could be flaws in the bronze, writings explaining the use of this sculpture, or different kinds of jewelry along with draping robes but we cannot tell without closer observation of the sculpture.
We do clearly see how her right sandal is fastened to her ankle with straps. We also see that this edge of the triangular base of the statue is not fluted as the one on front side, looking instead like it is decorated with indentations.
Sculptures from the Italic Archaic Period were often made of terracotta, like the Sarcophagus with reclining couple from Cerveteri. While their faces seem like caricatures with their slanted eyes and de-emphasized legs, their open and expressive faces along with the interaction between them show that the Etruscans were skilled sculptors very early on. Patera Support: Lasa shows how their style evolved after having been taken over by Greece. They began using bronze during this period, and the figures show the idealized form of the Greeks. Her twisted, spiral-like posture resembles Myron’s Discus Thrower. Both poses show off the figures’ lovely bodies in exaggerated use of contrapposto, but would naturally be uncomfortable and impractical.
Other elements of this sculpture, however, are clearly Etruscan and lead us to the debated issue of the definition of ‘lasa’. While sometimes considered a goddess of fate, more than one are often portrayed and are sometimes in the service of another Goddess. Defining a lasa as an attendant to more powerful gods and goddesses seems fitting, considering that the described sculpture is the base of a patera, a cup used to offer libations in ritual. The priests and priestesses would appropriately be making offerings with an image of an attendant, symbols of their own roles.
There are no absolute defining attributes for lasa, though they are often portrayed with wings and defined footwear. In Patera Support she holds a mirror which may also correctly identify her as a lasa, considering many of these winged women were carved into the back of a number of Etruscan bronze mirrors. In Mirror Engraved with Flute-Player we see many familiar elements: the winged lasa wearing sandals, flowers with thin petals. She is wearing bands on wrists instead of around her upper arms.
Close to the handle of the mirror we see a woman’s face whose hair is decorated with triangular shapes. Both she and the Patera lasa wear these simple wreaths, another possible symbol for these mysterious and debated-upon beings.
Bibliography
Bonfante, Larissa. “Book Reviews: ‘Lasa. Iconografia e esegesi.’ Antonia Rallo.” American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 81, No. 1. (Winter, 1977): 125. http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0002-9114(197724)81:1<125:LIEE>2.0.CO;2-8 (accessed October 24, 2006).
