Summer Solstice

An interesting week... originally we were thinking of going to the Sunwheel at UMass Amherst again, but ended up tonight deciding not to, or at least not tomorrow. Everything seems for us seems to be centered here, right around home... although it wouldn't surprise me if Lyle takes a little time on Saturday to go up on the hill if he gets a break. I'll be with some folks wandering through the garden at Sturbridge Village that day.

We did the Summer Solstice/Alban Heruin ceremony starting at sunset today. I made a few small adaptations to what's in the Druidry Handbook, like using lavendar instead of vervain. Lavendar I have, and quite a bit of it. Vervain will take some looking for at different garden centers, and I haven't had the time for going shopping. Lavendar as an herb has some antiseptic and astringent properties, and also helps to keep moths away. It's also used to help with headaches, and aid in relaxation (good for stress and for meditation!). The other variant is the book suggests red and gold for the altar colors. I had a yellow napkin I could place as a diamond across the white foundation cloth, but no red readily to hand -- esp. with all the rearranging and packing I've been doing. But I have a ceramic bowl that I usually put on the altar... beautiful sort of peacock blue, mottling out to green and gold near the rim, into a warm brown on the rim itself. Usually I have another small bowl inside that, with crystalline glass gobs in it that are clear/white, blue, green, and amber. So I took the small bowl out, filled it half full of water, and put some red roses in it from our flourishing rose bush.

I gathered both the lavendar and the roses during a light rain, the solstice waters infusing them with their blessings. I prayed over the lavendar in particular, as I was gathering some for later use as well as for the ceremony. It's my hope and intent to work on making something that will be a protection of our spirits and bodies, that can go into our crane bags. Like most things, the true protection is always a more immaterial matter, but I think the energy and scent of such an item can be a reminder to the carrier to maintain a open, balanced, and alert state of being.

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We performed the rituals together, as is our wont. I did most of the speaking, with Carw Gwynt doing most of the actions, but there were times when we both did some of them. It's probably a good thing we work well together, since there isn't a lot of space where we work. Plus the cats sometimes like to contribute their efforts.

It was wonderful welcoming in and feeling the presence of Beli. A light presence, not weighty or oppressive, warm, open, like a brother or comrade.

After the ceremony we were both very relaxed, and in fact it took some effort to stir ourselves to come upstairs.

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We chatted about the ceremony a bit before coming up, and discussed spending even more time looking over the next ceremony than we did this time. Both of us read through it a number of times, and although we both really like the text for opening and closing a grove, for the ceremonies themselves I think we're both more comfortable with using our own words, and using the text as a framework to build on. And we may experiment with other ways to do the words and actions, too. Like maybe we could open and close the grove alternating who's at each quarter, e.g, I could do East then he does South, then I do West, then he does North... kind of like an interwoven circle. I'm sure we'll come up with other things as time goes on!