Setup
- Altar and circle are decorated with roses and other summer flowers.
- At each direction’s altar is a bowl of petals: yellow, red, blue, green.
- A God figure made of woven sticks is placed upon the altar
- A fire is set.
- Conveners and guests also wear flowers.
- Drum(s)
- Large pitcher of water or 1 gallon jug
- Once all have gathered, do a Tree of Life meditation to both ground and cleanse all who have gathered:
- Fire-keeper: lights the re quietly during the Tree of Life meditation.
Meditation Leader:
Softly close your eyes. Exhale completely. Draw in a deep, long breath, and as you do so imagine you are a tree. Roots from your feet and legs reach down, touching the Earth. As you exhale, feel these roots sinking deeper into the Earth. Your roots will go down past the topsoil, teaming with life. Inhale, bringing some of this biological energy up for yourself. Exhale again, sinking your roots past the subsoil, and deep into the fresh, clear, cool groundwater. Breathe in, pulling up some of that refreshing coolness for yourself. Then, with an exhalation, sink still deeper, past the groundwater and buried stone that holds it, finding a crack, sink still deeper through the layers of Earth. Finally, when your exhalation is complete, touch that molten hot core of the living Earth. Inhale, weaving all your troubles into a ball. Exhale. Inhale, weaving all the city’s troubles into the ball. Exhale. Inhale, weaving in all our state’s troubles into the ball. Exhale. Inhale, weaving our nations troubles into a ball. Exhale. Inhale, weaving the world’s troubles into the ball. Now exhaling, give this ball of worries to the molten core of the Earth. She knows what to do with them. She transforms them into pure, life-giving energy that you can pull up, through the substrata, through the stone, through the groundwater, through the subsoil and top soil, into your body. As you continue to inhale feel that wonderful energy coursing up through your body, until finally, with an exhale, it bursts out the crown of your head, out the tree limbs, out to the tips of your leaves, until the seasons change and the leaves oat down to the earth to feed your roots once again. Inhale again, feeling earth’s molten energy rise and ow through you again. As it bursts out the crown chakra of your skull let your inhale turn to an exhale, and the limbs weighted with summer fruits drop down to the earth to feed your roots once again. Let’s stand in this space and take 3 breaths on our own. Inhaling….Exhaling…..Inhaling…… Exhaling…..Inhaling…..Exhaling. Feel yourself to be standing more firmly and anchored securely on the earth, this is your grounding. Feel your heart lighter, more buoyant, this is the purification. Open your eyes! Now we are ready to work magic!
High Priestess:
This is the time of the rose, blossom, and thorn, fragrance and blood. Now on this longest day, light triumphs, and yet begins the decline into dark. The Sun King grown embraces the Queen of Summer in love that is death because it is so complete that all dissolves into the single song of ecstasy that moves the worlds. So the Lord of Light dies to Himself, and sets sail across the dark seas of time, searching for the isle of light that is rebirth. We turn the Wheel and share his fate, for we have planted the seeds of our own changes. To grow we must accept even the passing of the Sun.
Water-Bearer: As each direction is acknowledged by the High Priestess, pour water into that directions bowl.
Fire-keeper: As the water-bearer casts the circle with owing water in each bowl of petals, the fire—keeper lights each candle in turn
High Priestess: On this the longest day of the year, we create our magic circle, a place of love and joy and truth. With flower petals of yellow, we open the doorway to the realm of the Gods and Goddesses.(Light candle to the East) With flower petals of red, we create a space where mortals may tread. (Light candle to the South) With flower petals of blue, we open the entryway to the realm of the spirit. (Light candle to the West) With flower petals of green, we welcome those unseen who come to us in good faith. (Light candle to the North) In the names of the sun and the sky and the earth and the moon, we bless and consecrate this space. The circle is cast. So mote it be!
Have those gathered count off 1 and 2. Coveners simultaneously chant and decorate the God with flowers until the figure is covered.
High Priestess: Tonight we are not afraid of the dark. We are not afraid to stare deeply into El Mundo Malo, the Bad Reality. For our side of the planet is tilting towards that magni cent
source of light in the sky, The Sun. And while it is as close as it will get to the Sun, it prepares to turn its face away, back to the night. So while we see the troubles of our world and its people, while hate, greed, and war triumph in the headlines, we know that the dark can embrace us like cottony velvet. We know we stayed among many who are doing the work to stay in El Mundo Bueno, the Good Reality. For this Good Reality to become your own, you may silently place a working in each flower you put on the God figure. This may be done by focusing on the working as you hold the flower. Let the working come into your mouth, and release it over the flower with an exhalation. The tie the flower to the God figure.
All Ones, accompanied by drummers, repeat 3 times:
She is luminous
She is white
She is shining
Crowned with light!
He is radiant
He is bright
He is rising
He takes flight!
All Twos, repeat 3 times:
SHE who is at CENter, SHE WHO BLOOMS!
The LEAFy One The GREEN One The LEAFy One the GREEN One…
She who is CROWNED, She who EmBRACes!
As the energy from these chants builds, the High Priestess and High Priest dance around the fire. The High Priest is holding the God figure. When the energy reaches a crescendo the High Priestess shouts over the chanting and drumming: “To me! To me!” In response the High Priest casts the God figure into the fire. Coveners watch the flames devour the God, and the workings held by the flowers wither and turn to ash.
All fall silent.
Fire-keeper shakes the popcorn.
High Priestess: (upon hearing the popcorn popping)
Hark, the God lives on !
All: He has not abandoned us!
High Priestess: Behold, the God has gone into the corn!
All: He will feed us!
High Priestess: The sun is on the water!
All: He will quench our thirst!
High Priestess: The God is in the corn!
All: It will grow high!
High Priestess: The God is on tree and vine!
All: He will ripen in season!
High Priestess: The sun is not lost!
All: It will rise again!
High Priestess: The sun is within us!
All: See how we shine!
Fire-keeper prepares the popcorn for the Simple Feast. The Simple Feast is served.
Drummer:
After the Simple Feast, the drummer passes a speak stick, so that we may share from the heart. Once sharing dies down, the High Priest and High Priestess remove the corn from the re and remove the husk and threads, preparing it to be eaten.
High Priestess release the directions.
The circle is opened.
This ritual is an amalgam of rituals for the Summer Solstice taken from Starhawk’s Spiral Dance, Jason Monkey’s Witches Wheel of the Year, and the teachings of the late Christy Grey.