Autumn Equinox
Yesterday, Renee and I celebrated the Autumn Equinox together. Admittedly, it could have gone a little better but we had both spaced on the date dealing with too much stress both from online and offline stuff, realizing only a few days in advance that the ritual date was actually here. There was some brief talk about skipping it, but we decided that we couldn't pass this up for two reasons: one it was a festival of Hermes that happened to be falling on this day and there was something he had asked me to do that the energies of the day would be perfect for, and two with just leaving the grove it was important for us to start working on our own traditions as a way of moving forward (especially for Renee).
With minimal planning, all went pretty well (a few hitches here and there, nothing we didn't recover from). We ended up with quite a lot that we could build a Equinox celebration of our own from. The date has always been important to Renee, and for me it is both a liminal time of the year and the official start of one of my better seasons (I am a fall and spring kind of girl, though summer isn't as hard on me as winter is). We honored our various gods, honored Dionysos as I've been feeling a need to spend some time with him lately, Renee honored the Shiny Stuff In The Sky as she likes to call is (she's been feeling a call to pay more attention to the celestial bodies). I burned a stick of incense for Persephone in honor of her return to the Underworld; I've always been attracted to that story though a relationship with Persephone never actually developed (that I do not perceive dead things probably contributes to that), but I suppose that doesn't mean a stick of incense can't be lit even if its not a full festival day.
The main part of the ritual was something we both did to hopefully help us begin to accept the massive changes in our lives, to stop struggling against them and do what we need to do to get to the place we need to be. We've both had big set backs in our spiritual lives because of things like this and its time that's all over now. We both have a lot more work to do, and probably some hard decisions to make, but I think we're both at a place now where we are ready to do so.
As some of you may have noticed, I've been scaling back my internet involvement and shortening my friend's list. As I've said before I, like many other people at the present date and time (it really is spreading around) have been finding time spent in the online Pagan community less satisfactory and more of a distraction, even where there is not drama breaking out left and right (and frankly there aren't too many places that aren't like that right now) I'm finding that there just isn't much I have in common with the people around me barring a very few most of whom are already on my LJ (and frankly many of whom are leaving the lists and forums as well, for the same reasons I am). Though I've made some slow progress there, I'm not done by any means, still a few more places I need to think over, weigh the pros and cons.
I was going to end with a picture of a necklace I made for Dioysos yesterday, but the picture didn't come out too wonderful and so we're waiting for day light to try again. But pictures are forthcoming. :-)
Hope everyone else had a great day as well.
With minimal planning, all went pretty well (a few hitches here and there, nothing we didn't recover from). We ended up with quite a lot that we could build a Equinox celebration of our own from. The date has always been important to Renee, and for me it is both a liminal time of the year and the official start of one of my better seasons (I am a fall and spring kind of girl, though summer isn't as hard on me as winter is). We honored our various gods, honored Dionysos as I've been feeling a need to spend some time with him lately, Renee honored the Shiny Stuff In The Sky as she likes to call is (she's been feeling a call to pay more attention to the celestial bodies). I burned a stick of incense for Persephone in honor of her return to the Underworld; I've always been attracted to that story though a relationship with Persephone never actually developed (that I do not perceive dead things probably contributes to that), but I suppose that doesn't mean a stick of incense can't be lit even if its not a full festival day.
The main part of the ritual was something we both did to hopefully help us begin to accept the massive changes in our lives, to stop struggling against them and do what we need to do to get to the place we need to be. We've both had big set backs in our spiritual lives because of things like this and its time that's all over now. We both have a lot more work to do, and probably some hard decisions to make, but I think we're both at a place now where we are ready to do so.
As some of you may have noticed, I've been scaling back my internet involvement and shortening my friend's list. As I've said before I, like many other people at the present date and time (it really is spreading around) have been finding time spent in the online Pagan community less satisfactory and more of a distraction, even where there is not drama breaking out left and right (and frankly there aren't too many places that aren't like that right now) I'm finding that there just isn't much I have in common with the people around me barring a very few most of whom are already on my LJ (and frankly many of whom are leaving the lists and forums as well, for the same reasons I am). Though I've made some slow progress there, I'm not done by any means, still a few more places I need to think over, weigh the pros and cons.
I was going to end with a picture of a necklace I made for Dioysos yesterday, but the picture didn't come out too wonderful and so we're waiting for day light to try again. But pictures are forthcoming. :-)
Hope everyone else had a great day as well.