Creating Circles and Ceremonies: Rituals for All ... - reading...

252 Creating Circles & Ceremonies
meant life or death, and food or starvation—we need only go to the supermarket and buy
everything we need. Urban dwellers usually forget about the farmers who provide our food,
and overlook our continued dependency on the cycles of nature. As modern people we
know we don’t actually have to make magick in the darkness to encourage the sunlight to
return, but with that knowledge we have lost the awe and wonder of the darkness. Because
of the pervasive use of electricity, especially in urban areas, we often have to create the
experience of darkness in order to illuminate the light. With such ingrained cultural and
religious emphasis on the light—always the light—we forget to value the dark. Half of the
year moves toward darkness and then rests in it—indeed, “Death belongs to life, half of day
is night,” 3
Midwinter invites us to dream in the dark, to become still and listen to the wise self
within, the Old Wise Hag, present in every woman. Winter is her season, and she lives on the
edge of Spirit, able to access both this world and the next. It is the Old One who is already in
your future looking back into this moment at the choices you made, the values you chose to
follow, the paths you took. Dreaming is her power, and she patiently waits in the dark with
wisdom and guidance. It is often this wise self that we try to avoid in our constant rushing
toward the light, and which we choose not to see with our inner eyes.
The dark season challenges us to surrender to our dreaming, to trust that the strength of the
Earth will support our weight as we sleep. It is out of the darkness that flowers eventually
emerge, babies are born, and inspiration for poetry and ideas are nurtured toward the
page and through our voices. In the deep dark places in ourselves, we find the inner
truth about ourselves. In this winter season of so many people prematurely rushing
toward the light, remember to slow down and do winter’s inner work. Celebrate the
dark, where the inner life is honored and nurtured. Sometime during this season,
take some time for yourself to go inward to find out what your dreams are.
Seasonal Questions and Ideas
• Ask yourself these seasonal questions:
What am I visioning, hoping for?
What dreams do I carry inside?
How do I keep my faith alive?
What can I do to encourage the rebirth of spirit in my life, my family, and my world?
• Light a candle in the dark to honor a dream or long-term vision you have for
the coming year. Remember that the flame is symbolic of your inner spirit
light, representing hope and faith. Pass the flame to others.
• Make or give candles as gifts of spirit, faith, and hope.
• Stay up all night in the darkness and wait for the sunrise.
Grandmother, Give Me Shelter
A Yuletide Mystery Play
By Morning Glory & Oberon Zell, 1975
Props
Enough birthday candles for everyone, with
holed pieces of card to place them
through to catch the melting wax.
Usual altar implements, including several
large chalices filled with apple juice and/
or wassail, and a plate of fancy Yule
cookies.
Yule Log, appropriately decorated with ribbons,
sprigs of holly, and ivy, and set
with three lit candles: red, white, and
green.
“The King” —a beautiful little box containing
a lifesized feathered effigy of a wren
wrapped in red and gold ribbons, with a
gold foil crown on its head, and reposing
in a little mossy nest.