Elemental Wards
To help hold the sacred space all weekend, even while we slept, we created elemental Wards to be added to the consecrated tiki torches that burned in the quarters. Our coven sister, Joy Leaf, is both a talented artist and skilled hedgewitch and she first constructed and empowered them, weaving together the plant allies of birch, hawthorn, rose and blackberry, and the animal allies of fox, snake, mockingbird…hagstones and spiderwebs and other special bits. The full description of how she created them can be found on her blog, Ivy and Wine, at Something Wicked This Way Comes.
Together, we charged the wards with a familiar elemental chant, adding the protection of sylph, undine, dragon and gnome, and then divided into four groups, led by our Priest/esses of each Element. Some people in the groups consecrated with salt, waters, or smudging; some bore the grand tools of besom, cauldron, sword and staff; some rang bells, or banged drums. Each gatekeeper lit a torch from the balefire and directed their group out to their elemental gate at the far reaches of the property, while each group sang out a chant….one HUGE lap we all made, and in one huge, swoop, we consecrated, charged, raise energy to charge the circle, and opened the gates and set the wards.
Then we met back at the balefires to welcome our Goddess of Spring, Horned God of the Greenwood, and the ancestors of Land, Blood and Spirit. We set the intentions, for our group and the event, so that every subsequent rite we held over three days, we didn’t have to drag everyone through the tedium of recreating that wheel over and over again. From there, we organically ebbed and flowed with various ceremonies and theatrics, reverence and mirth.
Sisters of the Cauldron
Another new tradition we created within our coven are the women’s mysteries group, Sisters of the Cauldron, and the men’s mysteries group, Sons of Herne. On Saturday morning, we each divided into two groups, and all those who were female identifying, and in one case, a male friend who is working with his inner Divine Feminine, gathered in our temple to the Goddess.
Here we discussed the Goddess mysteries of Beltane, of Sovereignty, the right to rule, the important choice of our partners and consent. With our daughters among us, we had the beneficial conversations about healthy sexuality and taking sacred responsibility of our procreative power.
While I can’t reveal all the mysterious goings on, it was here that we welcomed and honored our ancestral mothers, (which was by happy coincidence Mother’s Day weekend.) Then we purified, consecrated, and empowered our Queen, and her attendants from Water and Earth, and crowned them as the Sovereign representatives of the anima, the Goddess within us all.
That afternoon, with the help of our May Queen, The Sisters of the Cauldron performed our first Maidenhood Rites of passage, empowering my daughter within our community of women on her 14th birthday. (More on that later.) We intend to offer these rites to our daughters each Beltane, and Cronings at Samhain, with Motherhood rites to be offered to our pregnant mothers in their third trimesters.
The Sons of Herne
Meanwhile, those who are male identifying, met in the Temple of the God with with the Sons of Herne, where they discussed the mysteries of sacred Kingship, responsibility to Rule our own lives, and the marriage of anima and animus within. Then they prepared the Maypole as the phallus, the ribbons for weaving and their own crowns.
Later, after the Queen had chosen her King, they met once more in their temple to prepare him and his attendants, crowning them as representatives of the animus, the God within us all. In the future, they also intend to offer Rites of Passage among the men.
Main Rites: The Sacred Marriage
After all celebrants were purified by incense and anointing in their own smaller groups, we each accompanied our Queen and King, like the Bride and Groom in the wedding procession, to the main Altars, fires and Maypole. The young maidens scattered flower petals and blow bubbles in the wake of the MayQueen. The young boys trumpeted the May King’s arrival with kazoos. We circled around each other and the maypole, until the two groups merged, then drew near enough that all could hear.
After the sacred marriage was made through the hand-fasting of the Land and Sovereign, by “tying the knot” between our Mayking and Queen, merging the Lord and Lady, the anima and animus within each of us, we charged their union with the dance of the Maypole.
The traditional power-raising of this dance is symbolic of the consummation between a bride and groom. I’ve written about our symbolism on my previous blog: Beltane Lovers. Because the intention of this magick is to tap into the procreative power of Nature all around us, and thus awaken our own sexual centers, we only invited those people who are 15 and older to take a ribbon. This is a point on which I know I differ with a great many other pagan practitioners. I’ve never felt that this magick was an appropriate thing for small children to be doing.
In magick we understand that in order for a physical vessel to channel Divine powers, it should be both an appropriate choice and properly prepared. Our bodies, as much as the pole and earth in which it is planted, become the conduits through which the Goddess and God merge within us. To invite sexual energy to flow through a human vessel that isn’t even sexually mature yet, is not only wildly inappropriate, but potentially damaging. So, our younger people blew bubbles, played drums and chanted while skipping deosil, around the outside of the dance.
They then blessed the cup and cakes, shared that with each other, and then we all migrated with applause and excitment to our courtly hall, (set up in the chapel that is on-site) where we laid out a feast. The Queen poured the blessed chalice into a larger container of wine and juices, blessing it all, and they both offered both wine and cakes to everyone in attendance with a group blessing of the meal, “You are all Gods and Goddesses, May you never Thirst, May you never hunger.” This way everyone could partake in their own time, according to their own needs, and no one got bored. From there it was a party…drumming, dining, singing, poetry, communing with those buried in the chapel graveyard, and making offering of blessings to our Queen and King, and they offered back divination and well-wishes.
Sunday, just before we packed up to leave, we offered thanks, and deconstructed our temple.
While I know that we have many ideas on how we will improve and deepen our Beltane rites next year, for now I am exceedingly proud of the beauty, strength and service that each one of my beloved Sojo Tribesmen brought to this event. Never have I been so spiritually fulfilled by a Sabbat gathering of this kind, nor more proud to be counted as a member within this coven. I can hardly wait until I’m back at those crossroads again!
Beltane Blessings,
~Heron
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In