Goddess Centered Practice
In the woods behind my house rest a collection of nine large flat rocks. Daily, I walk down to these “priestess rocks” for some sacred time alone to pray, meditate, consider, and be. Often, while in this space, I open my mouth and poetry comes out. I’ve come to see this experience as "theapoetics"—experiencing the Goddess through direct “revelation,” framed in language. As Stanley Hopper originally described in the 1970’s, it is possible to “…replace theology, the rationalistic interpretation of belief, with theopoetics, finding God[dess] through poetry and fiction, which neither wither before modern science nor conflict with the complexity of what we know now to be the self.” Theapoetics might also be described, “as a means of engaging language and perception in such a way that one enters into a radical relation with the divine, the other, and the creation in which all occurs.”
Solstice Prayer Wheel
We are circling
circling together
joining hands and singing our heartsongs
this is family
this is unity
this is celebration
this is sacred...
(We are Circling)
The first candle on the Solstice Wreath is lit. The element of Air. Breath. Life. Hope. Clean air for everyone. Clear communication. Family harmony.
We chose a family theme (harmony) and intention to carry us through the next four Sundays leading up to Solstice: "our family works in harmony to meet each member's needs." Each week, we will reaffirm this intention as well as reflect on the element and quality of the week. The first week is Air and Hope so we each shared a hope for the week and then spent time breathing together and feeling how Air lives within us.
Our family Solstice Prayer Wreath practice is based on the one described in this post.
These are the themes/topics for each candle:
- Candle 1: hope (air)
- Candle 2: peace (fire)
- Candle 3: joy (water)
- Candle 4: love (earth)
- Candle 5: center (spirit, solstice night)
For our first night, we first joined hands and affirmed our shared intention. We lit the Air candle. We talked about Air and Hope and then each offered a hope in turn that we have for the coming week. We then sang We Are Circling together and ended by joining hands again and repeating our shared intention. We will repeat this process, adjusting for theme of the week, for the next four Sundays.
I've been thinking a lot about our Winter Solstice celebration plans for this year. We are offering a Worldwide Solstice Circle event online this year. Companion resources, journal prompts, a detailed free ritual packet as well as a collection of digital gifts will also be available in our new Creative Spirit Circle companion classroom. Sometimes, it feels like it gets "too late" to do all of the magical things I'd like to do and have planned, so I'm typing up outlines, gathering my ritual outlines, ordering some supplies online, and printing resources off right now to think about, so that I don't feel rushed and scattered trying to pull it all together closer to the day.
Here is a past outline, upon which this year's ritual kit will also be based. If you scroll down the post, there is a collection of resource links at the bottom with lots of good things too!
What are your favorite Yuletide practices?
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