“Eating the first corn, cutting the first ripe tomato, grilling fresh fish in the open air: if done consciously, these can become rituals of love and thanksgiving to the earth that sustains us.”
–Patricia Monaghan, The Goddess Companion
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Blog posts tagged in Ceremony
“The ears of this language do not often hear the songs of the white egrets, the rain falling into stone bowls. So we make our own songs to contain these things, make ceremonies and poems, searching for a new way to speak, to say we want a new way to live in the world, to say that wilderness and water, blue herons and orange newts are invaluable not just to us, but in themselves…”
--Linda Hogan in Sisters of the Earth
You may wish to place one hand on your heart, one hand on your belly and hum gently to center yourself in this time and in space. Call yourself in, feeling yourself present in your body, on this earth, breathing in and out, in and out.
This past weekend I priestessed an overnight Red Tent Retreat. As part of the retreat experience, we went on a pilgrimage through the woods to a nearby spring on my parents' property. For our Creative Spirit Circle mini ritual this week, I made an audio recording describing the experience of this pilgrimage as an everyday heroine's journey, an Inanna's descent into the underworld and her return, bearing lessons for her people. The recording is available here.
In the recording, I also explore the cards I chose for the week ahead and also share a poem, a quote, and some additional reflections on being an “everyday Inanna.”
Our card for the week from Womanrunes, was The Circle, rune of self, beginnings, and potential. How are you tending to yourself? What is beginning for you? What potential feels like it is ready for you to tap into? This card reminds us to pay attention to the everyday miracles around us, including our own breaths. Pause and witness the miracle. 
From the Goddess Guidance Oracle, we received Abundantia, the goddess of prosperity. This card 
reminds us to be open to receiving. And, she reminds us of the power of visualizing and affirming our own capacity for abundance, remembering that abundance may come in many ways including time, support, and ideas. Where have you experienced abundance lately? To what abundance are you open? What types of prosperity are you experiencing? There are many ways to prosper!
Take a deep breath and smile. Feel yourself expand into spacious possibility and the energy of creation. Reach down and touch the earth. Open your arms to the sky. Bring your hands back to your heart and belly, centered right here on this beautiful Earth. Feel aware of the cycle of life into which we are all woven.
May you make ceremonies and poems, witness many miracles, and receive abundantly. 
Affirmation for the week: I welcome new beginnings and I prosper.
- Additional reading: Everyday Inanna essay at Feminism and Religion
“Blessed Brighid burning bright
Lead us from the darkest night
Triple Goddess of new life
Shine your flame on us tonight
Perpetual flame of love and light…”
–Kellianna, Brigid’s Flame
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One of the ways we can figure out how the ancient Minoans practiced their religion is by looking at their art. Much of their art - frescoes, seal stones and rings, carved vases - contains ritual scenes that give us a glimpse into their spiritual life. And some of the most famous frescoes are from the Minoan town of Akrotiri on the island of Santorini (it was called Thera in the ancient world).
One of the buildings in Akrotiri, called Xeste 3, appears to have been a ritual building where puberty rites were held for girls and boys. How do we know that's what happened there? The frescoes show us!
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Thank you! I'm doing my best to bring the world of the ancient Minoans to life for modern people. :-) -
Fascinating. I really enjoyed this piece.
I find a rock with sun on it 
and a stream where the water runs gentle
and the trees which one by one give me company
so I must stay for a long time.
Until I have grown from the rock
and the stream is running through me
and I cannot tell myself from one tall tree…
–Nancy Wood, in Sisters of the Earth
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"Imagine that at every moment we each embraced the world as the gift it is: an apple is a gift; the color pink is a gift; the blue sky is a gift, the scent of honeysuckle is a gift."
--Rabbi Marcia Prager
...“Awakening doesn’t happen all at once. It is a thread that once pulled it unravels a little at a time.
Slowly tug by tug the holes appear. Nothing fits you the same in this threadbare world.
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