{"id":10126,"date":"2015-12-24T13:42:17","date_gmt":"2015-12-24T18:42:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/allergicpagan\/?p=10126"},"modified":"2015-12-24T14:05:30","modified_gmt":"2015-12-24T19:05:30","slug":"my-eclectic-yuletide-ritual","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/allergicpagan\/2015\/12\/24\/my-eclectic-yuletide-ritual\/","title":{"rendered":"My Eclectic Yuletide Ritual"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"winter-sunrise-behind-the-trees-nature-hd-wallpaper-1920x1200-9534edit\"<\/a>My Yuletide ritual this year began on the winter solstice and will culminate with the dawn of the sun on New Year\u2019s day. \u00a0This ritual has evolved over several years of trial and error and I have worked to integrate the\u00a0Neo-Pagan winter solstice, Christian Christmas, and secular New Year celebration. (And it will do doubt continue to evolve.) Most of the words used in the ritual are drawn from sources that are not traditionally \u201cpagan\u201d \u2014 a folk song, a fantasy novel, a famous poem, the Bible, a Gnostic text \u2014 they are numinous words that resonated with me when I first read or heard them. This is my private ritual. I also do a winter solstice celebration with my wife and kids that you can find here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Modranacht (Mother Night)<\/h2>\n

The first stage is the kenosis<\/em>\u00a0or \u201cemptying\u201d. On the winter solstice, I clean off altar, removing all the statues and images of deities and all the other sacred foci.<\/p>\n

I then place one black candle in the center of the empty space on the altar.<\/p>\n

Every night until the New Year\u2019s Eve, I perform this meditation on the darkness, preferably at midnight (but sometimes just before retiring):<\/p>\n

I light the black candle. \u00a0I rest my hands, palms up, on the altar and recite:<\/p>\n

You weary nations,
\nI am like some new being you\u2019ve never encountered before.
\nYet there is nothing about me you can\u2019t recognize.
\nI live in the place where you perceive nothing.
\nLook again!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I then extinguish the black candle and recite:<\/p>\n

There is warmth \u2026 in the darkness.
\nThere is unity \u2026 in the darkness.
\nThere is wholeness \u2026 in the darkness.
\nThere is silence \u2026 in the darkness.
\nThere is peace \u2026 in the darkness.
\nThere is rest \u2026 in the darkness.<\/p>\n

May the darkness embrace me.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I repeat this last line three times. I then recite:<\/p>\n

The end of all my exploring will be to arrive where I started
\nAnd know the pace for the first time.<\/p>\n

In the womb of the world,<\/em>
\n Life and death are one.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I repeat the last two lines three times. \u00a0I then recite:<\/p>\n

And all will come right, I swear it.
\nWe will meet where the forest is deepest,
\nwhere the night is blank and there are no stars,
\nfor I am your annihilation come to make peace.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I repeat the last line three times.<\/p>\n

Sol Invictus (Unconquered Sun)<\/h2>\n

On the eve of the New Year, I will keep vigil until dawn.<\/p>\n

At dawn, I will greet the rising sun, standing with my arms outstretched facing east, with these words:<\/p>\n

And there appeared a great wonder in heaven:
\nA woman clothed with the Sun
\nAnd the moon under her feet,
\nAnd upon her head was a crown of twelve stars,
\nAnd she, being with child, travailed in birth.<\/p>\n

The daughter of heaven descended
\nCarrying the oil of labor.<\/p>\n

She touched the oil to the head of the laboring woman:
\n\u201cI anoint your head \u2014 the holy self.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I\u00a0pour a libation of olive oil on the earth.<\/p>\n

She touched the oil to the belly of the laboring woman:
\n\u201cI anoint your belly \u2014 the holy tabernacle.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I\u00a0pour a second libation of olive oil on the earth.<\/p>\n

She touched the oil to the vulva of the laboring woman:
\n\u201cI anoint your vulva \u2014 the holy portal.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I\u00a0pour a third libation of olive oil on the earth.<\/p>\n

\u201cCome through the oiled gates, child,
\nAnd be anointed like the kings of long ago.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I then anoint the crown of my head with the remaining olive oil:<\/p>\n

Crops rushing forth from the deep;
\nA babe rushing forth from the womb.<\/p>\n

And all the goddesses raised a cry:
\n\u201cIo Evohe!<\/em>
\n Io Evohe!<\/em>
\n Io Evohe!\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This last part I shout. \u00a0I then recite:<\/p>\n

I saw the sun shining at midnight.
\nGods of above and gods of below
\nI saw face to face.
\nI approached the frontiers of death,
\nAnd having walked on the threshold of Proserpine,
\nI returned.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I then return to my altar and replace the statues and other sacred foci on my altar.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My Yuletide ritual this year began on the winter solstice and will culminate with the dawn of the sun on New Year\u2019s day. This ritual has evolved over several years of trial and error and I have worked to integrate the Neo-Pagan winter solstice, Christian Christmas, and secular New Year celebration. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1538,"featured_media":10130,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1623,26,322,324,1622],"class_list":["post-10126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-eclectic","tag-ritual","tag-solstice","tag-winter-solstice","tag-yuletide"],"yoast_head":"\nMy Eclectic Yuletide Ritual<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"My Yuletide ritual this year began on the winter solstice and will culminate with the dawn of the sun on New Year\u2019s day. 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