Call In the Guardians
(For this ritual I always pick a crocus or two or if none are up I buy a hyacinth or some kind of flower to honor Persephone’s return from the underworld)
Invocation:
In the start of time Splendor appeared
Nature
She was all there was.
She divided the sky from the sea, and danced upon the waves.
A wind gathered behind her from her swift dancing.
When she rubbed the wind between her hands it became a great Serpent.
She took the Serpent to her and loved him, and a great egg grew within her and she became a Dove
The Dove brooded over the egg until it was ready – then out of the egg came all life – stars sun, moon, earth, mountains, rivers, deserts, and all living creatures.
The Splendor of Nature flowed through everything.
Our Lady of the Waters poured down her grace through the veins of the Earth. She flowed into every leaf, root, and thorn – into all animals, pomegranates and flowers, into all women and men.
In the beginning there was Nature…
And the visions rose
Out of the darkening voice
Out of the night voice, the secret voice
the rain voice, the root voice,
through the chant she saw her
blood in the veins of trees.
She appeared in the green of her eyes.
She felt the snake that was
Her skin, and the spiral
of her hands; she saw her face
in all the leaves and could recognize
those that were poison and
those who could save…
Welcome to the Spring Equinox
The month of the Seed Moon is upon us
We gather in circles, in open places, by the river’s light and rising waters, or in the cathedral of trees to await Her Coming. Our Lady of the Waters, She who purifies, she who quickens each seed. Our Lady of Light.
We have stripped off our veils one by one in this cyclic journey of descent/ascent living Her truth through the medium of our perfect wounded bodies.
We recall the ancient snake goddess of Knossos whose serpents were rays of the morning sun as well as the dawning of divine wisdom. It is not a contradiction to say that the serpents were celestial light, and simultaneously chthonic symbols of the Earth Mother. In Crete the blooming of spring crocus pleased the Crocus Goddess. The Crocus Saffron Goddess was also identified with Aurora, and both embodied the Goddess of the Dawn. In Greece there are also tales of Hecate who wore a saffron veil to obscure her face. Because the precious spice saffron was gathered by young girls during fall female initiation rites it seems appropriate that Hecate’s face would be hidden behind such a veil because it implies that this goddess of the three way crossroads also had a face so full of light that it couldn’t be unveiled even in the spring…
A little natural history: It is helpful to know that our seasons are caused by the earth’s rotation around her axis and not because the earth orbits the sun. Because of the 23.4 degree tilt of the earth’s axis we receive more direct sun and experience warmer temperatures during the summer months when we are tilted towards the sun beginning around the vernal equinox with the reverse occurring at the fall equinox. In the northern hemisphere the vernal equinox marks the first day of astronomical spring (In the southern hemisphere this day marks the first day of autumn.) At this moment the earth’s axis is neither tilted towards or away from the sun. The exact moment the sun crosses the celestial equator from south to north is when the vernal equinox occurs, and the exact time varies from year to year…
And now remembering that all ritual celebrates the cycles of death and rebirth
We release what is no longer needed to the flowing waters (honoring our Lady of the Waters)
We set our intentions for spring by lighting our candles
(honoring our Lady of Light)
Prayer of Thanksgiving
Guardians
Read Part 1.
Read Meet Mago Contributor Sara Wright.