Inspiration

Estival Passage (Beltane) 2017

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On the occasion of the Estival Passage, merry meet!

This sabbat gives us an opportunity to celebrate passion, union, and creativity in all their forms and guises.

As the year enters our liturgical season of summer, the fullness of life animates the flora and fauna around us, while the days become noticeably longer, the sunshine appreciably brighter, the temperatures warmer, and the nights magical and refreshing. May Nature’s exuberance around us at this moment in the turning of the Wheel of the Year impassion our spirits.

The occasion is traditionally also a time for coming together in love, whether as romantic partners, as family, as friends, or simply as fellow persons. As we gather around Beltane bonfires or celebrate in other ways, therefore, may we rekindle all the varieties of love that unite us as human beings.

Finally, we notice that the seeds that germinated and sprouted in the spring are now rapidly growing to replenish the Earth in an abundance of colors, forms, textures, and scents that exceeds the capacities of our wildest imagining. Likewise, may the spiritual seeds we planted in our lives in seasons past now grow into something beautiful and strong—perhaps even unexpected—so we may have fruitful creativity and look forward to a bountiful harvest.

Merry part, and blessed be.

Inspiration

Vernal Equinox (Ostara) 2017

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On the occasion of the Vernal Equinox, merry meet!

This sabbat gives us an opportunity to celebrate beginnings, breakthrough, and regeneration.

As the liturgical season of spring reaches its height, flora and fauna around us come forth from their dormancy into renewed life. Each lengthening day brings new births and new germinations, and all of Nature’s Creation shows how from every death and burial of the fruits of the past grows the seedlings that will yield the harvests of the future. Accordingly, may our efforts in the past half of the year to cast off and away the accumulated hindrances to our spiritual development now sustain the spiritual seeds we have planted and enable our whole selves to undergo regeneration.

Meanwhile, temperatures continue to rise, and for many of us, snow that blanketed the ground in whiteness melts away. May we, therefore, remember that every cold winter leads into the warming fullness of spring so that we might show resilience through periods of difficulty, which are necessary precursors to breakthrough for our selves, our communities, and the whole world.

Finally, at the point in the solar year when the light of day equals, then exceeds, the dark of night, we enter a new and distinct semiannual period. As we cross this threshold, we have a special opportunity to begin in earnest the process of transformation upon which we resolved when liturgical spring began a few short weeks ago.

Merry part, and blessed be.

Inspiration

Vernal Passage (Imbolc) 2017

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On the occasion of the Vernal Passage, merry meet!

This sabbat gives us an opportunity to celebrate openness, purification, and resolve.

As the liturgical season of winter passes, we turn our gaze to the coming liturgical season of spring, in which life will begin anew. After having drawn our attention inward during the winter, may we now look outward once again, watching for the first signs of that renewed life around us, and may we open our hearts and minds to all that is fresh and beautiful in the world.

Meanwhile, the temperatures have reached their annual minima, and for many of us, snow still falls from the heavens to blanket the ground in whiteness. May we contemplate the purity of falling snow, without forgetting the cleansing thaw that is soon to come, and accordingly purify ourselves, our communities, and the whole world.

Finally, as the flora and fauna begin to stir around us with the growing hours of daylight and the rising temperatures, we are reminded that the spring belongs to those who have endured the winter. May we, too, resolve ourselves to continue to persevere and to set our sights on the unending transformation of every spirit and of the whole world.

Merry part, and blessed be.

Inspiration

Hibernal Solstice (Yule) 2016

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On the occasion of the Hibernal Solstice, merry meet!

This sabbat gives us an opportunity to celebrate solidarity, hope, and patience—how fitting are these in our times!

As the year reaches the height of liturgical winter, outdoor temperatures continue falling toward their annual minima, and adverse conditions drive us to spend more time sharing shelter. May our need to come together to face the cold, frost, snow, and ice remind us that, particularly when the conditions of life seem harsh, we must work to strengthen the bonds of human community so that we might all continue to flourish.

Meanwhile, as the shortest day of the year passes, the sun, that brightest luminary that has inspired humankind throughout our history to lift our spirits to gaze upon the divine, begins its annual return. May hope increase in our spirits with the growing daylight.

Finally, many of the flora and fauna around us continue in dormancy, but we know that they will stir again soon. May we, accordingly, have patience through the seasons of life in which signs of spiritual growth are less apparent and more subtle, knowing that these seasons, no less than the others, are necessary for progress unto Perfection.

Merry part, and blessed be.