Light for the World Ritual

During my drive to work today, Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Bad Moon Rising” came on the radio. I have always loved that song. Originally released in 1969, it encapsulated the civil unrest of that time period and quickly rose to the top of the charts in the U.S. and the U.K.. Today, our news is filled with stories about fleeing migrants, terrorist attacks around the world, riots at political rallies, corrupt government and law enforcement officials, morally bankrupt corporate leaders, public displays of racism and misogyny, mass incarceration, and large protests that sometimes turn violent. As I listened to the song in my car this morning, I was struck by how well the “Bad Moon Rising” lyrics capture the mood across the globe again today.

So I would like to examine the role pagans play in the midst of this chaos. I’m not going to advocate a particular political alignment. My husband and I support opposing political parties and have come to realize that most people on both sides of the discussion care deeply about our country and also about other humans and animals. They just have differing opinions about the best way to make the world a better place. (Don’t get me wrong – we have some spectacular disagreements, but we generally hold ourselves to a set of common sense ground rules for discussions, based on the mutual respect that is the foundation of our marriage. And we’re both in agreement that there are people across the political spectrum who are misguided and only advocate for themselves or their selfish causes.)

What I would like to offer here is a personal ritual we can follow when we feel overwhelmed by the news of the day. As pagans, we often find ourselves living lives and following practices that are somewhat removed from those of our fellow citizens. It can be tempting to think, “I’m not one of them. They’ve made their own bed and they can sleep in it. Their problems don’t affect me.” But the world around us does affect us. And as UU’s, our seven principles call us to live lives of action to promote social justice and to help others. So I feel the best personal ritual to offset ongoing turmoil in the world around us is one that first provides us with healing, protection, perspective, and personal insight as individuals, and then encourages us to return to our communities as a light for good, because we can only reverse the darkness that has grown around us through the application of love, peace, and wisdom. If every pagan was a light for the world, our energy would pool together and we would create a cascade of good, displacing much of the evil around us.

I encourage you to modify this ritual to align it with your own personal beliefs and practices. If you have altar tools that you think will improve your time in the circle, use them. If you worship a particular Goddess or God, invite her or his blessings during this time. You won’t enjoy the full benefit of any practice unless you make it your own. It is best if you have a general idea of what you’re going to do before you begin, and then improvise as you go if you forget any aspect of the ritual or if you feel some other action would be beneficial as you proceed. In other words, you don’t want to be reading through the ritual step by step from a piece of paper because that will distract you from the true work and blessings it can provide.

Materials:

• 4 candles
• Incense stick with an aroma you find soothing or healing
• Lighter or source of fire
• Comfortable mat or pillows to sit on
• Small mirror
• Cup with water (for drinking)
• Something to delineate the boundary of your circle (pebbles, flowers, salt, cord, etc.). This is optional.
• Tarot cards (optional)
• A quiet room or outdoor location

Setup:

1. Identify the center of your circle and set the mat/pillows there.
2. Place the candles (unlit) at the four cardinal directions on the perimeter of the circle.
3. Identify the direction you want to face during the ritual and place the incense, mirror, cup, and tarot cards between the mat/pillows and the candle for that direction. Personally, I consider North to be the direction of wisdom. But the South is also good for love.

Cleanse yourself:

Follow whatever practice you usually use to cleanse yourself of negative thoughts or energy. If you don’t have one, or would like to try something different do the following:

1. Standing outside of the circle beside the east candle, raise your palms to the sky and take a deep breath. Envision drawing in pure energy from the sky above you as you inhale.
2. As you exhale, bring your arms out to your sides, palms still facing outward, and then down to your sides with your palms facing downwards. While doing this, envision negative energy and thoughts flowing from the top of your head down through your feet into the strong, massive earth beneath you.
3. Without moving, take another deep breath and feel the energy of the earth flowing through the bottoms of your feet and up through your body.
4. As you exhale, reverse the movement of your arms and rotate them back up until your palms are once again facing the sky. While doing so, envision any negative energy or thoughts within you flowing from the bottom of your feet through the top of your head out into the vast universe above.
5. Repeat these steps two more times, or until you feel ready to proceed.

Cast a Circle of Peace and Protection:

1. Beginning at the east candle, and walking sunwise (clockwise), slowly mark out the perimeter of your circle with your pebbles, flowers, salt, cord, etc. If you aren’t using anything to physically mark the boundary, walk slowly around the circle three times. Either way, as you create the perimeter, envision a protective wall of energy rising up from the perimeter.
2. Once you have returned to the east candle, step inside the circle.
3. Pick up the east candle while facing east, light it, and lift it with outstretched arms to eye level while chanting “Powers of the East, I ask you to create a circle of peace and protection.”
4. State any qualities you associate with the east (rebirth, renewal, sun, light, motherhood, etc.).
5. Set the candle back at the east perimeter of the circle.
6. Repeat with each of the candles, proceeding sunwise to the south, west, and north.
7. Move to the center of the circle and sit on your mat/pillows, facing the materials you placed in the circle earlier.
8. Raise your hands and face to the sky and say, “Earth, mother of us all, I invite you to protect my circle.”
9. Lower your hands and take three deep breaths while envisioning yourself enclosed in a safe, protective dome of energy.

Find healing:

1. Seated comfortably on the mat/pillows, light the incense stick and allow its aroma to fill the dome.
2. Take three deep breaths as the incense washes over you.
3. Lift the cup and examine the surface of the water within it. Note how smooth and calm it is.
4. Take a drink from the cup and feel the cooling water flowing down into your body. Envision it healing you from the center out as it nourishes and revives your cells, tissues, and organs. Take as many drinks as you need, noting the feel of the water and its restorative power with each sip.
5. Return the cup to the ground in front of you.

Find insight and perspective:

1. Settling into a comfortable position for meditation, close or gently lower your eyes and take three deep breaths.
2. With your hands resting gently in your lap or on your knees, focus on your natural breathing. As physical sensations come and go from your body, take light notice of them and then let them go from your attention. As thoughts enter your mind, take light notice of them and then let them pass along their way. If you find yourself worrying about something, feel the sensation of worry and gently think to yourself “worrying, worrying” and then let it go as it will. If you are sad about something, feel the sadness and the sensations it brings to your body while thinking “sad, sad,” and then let it go as it will. And so on with all emotions. If your thoughts wander, gently bring them back to your breath without scolding yourself. As your breath grows calm, allow your attention to grow softer with it.
3. After ten minutes or so, or once you’ve achieved an acceptable state of mindfulness, focus your mind on the position of your body within the circle. Take a few breaths as you feel yourself at the center of the dome of protection. Then, slowly, imagine the dome growing larger, until it encompasses the house or local area where you are, protecting everything within it. Take a few breaths. Then grow the dome until it encloses your neighborhood. Imagine everyone and everything within it enjoying the peace and safety it provides. Continue this process, expanding to your city, county, state, country, and continent. Deepen the dome into a sphere and grow it to hold the world, solar system, galaxy, and finally universe. Protect every entity and object within the sphere of the circle of peace and protection you have cast.
4. Take a few moments to notice your position at the very small center of it all, and feel the peace and power of the universe flowing through you.
5. Then gradually begin to draw the edges of the sphere back to you, until they once again align with the perimeter of your circle.
6. Sit and breathe for a few more minutes until your energy calms. Place your hands on the floor in front of you if you need to release some of the energy back into the earth.
7. Open or raise your eyes.
8. If you brought tarot cards into your circle, this would be the optimum time to do a reading. You can focus on yourself, on an issue that you have been facing, on a current event that has been troubling you, or on the state of your community, country, or world. Seek personal insight as you take note of the feelings and attitudes the cards illicit from you as you proceed.

Find light and empowerment:

1. Take three deep breaths.
2. While looking at the candle directly in front of you, envision drawing their warmth and energy into your body.
3. Repeat the following chant until you feel calm and empowered:

Fire so bright, make me a light.

Peace, love, wisdom.

4. Lift the mirror and look at your face. Envision yourself being a source of light and good in the world. Imagine helping people through volunteer and social justice opportunities. Think about spreading messages of love and acceptance, and bringing much needed laughter and joy to your community. Imagine being known as a peacemaker and a sage. See in yourself the light.
5. Place the mirror back on the floor.

Close the circle:

1. If you feel that you have an excess of energy, place your palms on the floor and release it back into the earth.
2. Take a few breaths and stretch your arms and legs out a bit.
3. Raise your hands and face to the sky and say, “Earth, mother of us all, please send me from this circle as a light for the world. Go if you must, stay if you will. Blessed be.”
4. Move to the north candle, pick it up, face the north, and lift it with outstretched arms to eye level while chanting, “Powers of the North, please send me from this circle as a light for the world. Go if you must, stay if you will. Blessed be.” Blow the candle out and set it back on the ground.
5. Repeat with each of the candles, proceeding counter-sunwise to the west, south, and finally east.
6. Take three deep breaths before you begin to put away your materials.