Honey Wine Part Deux
First, can I just say that there are three absolutely charming 20-somethings sitting at the computers behind me, all dressed in witchy punk goth, chattering excitedly about their boyfriends in thick Irish brogues. I just adore them.
So, last night Molly and Heaven and I went out to Dublin to perform a Coming of Age ritual for two 16 year old girls who shared a Solstice birthday. Their moms wanted them to have a ritual welcome into the circle of womanhood. On the way there in traffic, we were reveling in the sun, in the day, having such a wonderful, giggling conversation punctuated by Molly sharing amazing facts, Heaven telling us funny stories of her day. It was just blissful. I told them all about the honey wine incident at the Liquor Store (yesterday's post) and they just loved it.
We arrived, set up an altar, taught everyone some songs- there were the 2 girls, their moms, an auntie and a grandma. Everyone is very suburban, and none have specific experience with witchcraft- they are mainly muggles who have reverence for the divine in many forms. The adults were enthusiastic about the ritual, and the girls were mortified in the way that only teen-age girls who already know everything about everything get mortified. That was OK- we held space for them to just have the experience without expecting them to fully understand it yet. They will get it in a few years and call their moms in the middle of the night to say thank you for doing this. After the ritual, we all adjourned into the house for birthday cake and a VERY lively conversation about spirituality and politics with the adults. The girls clowned around and snapped photos with camera phones, etc.
As one of the moms was pouring us all lemonade from a bottle that was clearly marked Lemonade, all of a sudden the grandma looks at her glass as though she's never seen one before and asks, "What is this? Honey wine?" Heaven, Molly and I all freeze and just rotate slowly to stare at her. The pouring mother says, "No, Mom, it's lemonade. See the bottle?" The grandma shakes her head and says, "Of course. I don't know why I said that...I've never even had honey wine."
We sit down to the table and the mom has placed a green candle dressed with cinnamon on it.
It was, of course, a wonderful party.
So, last night Molly and Heaven and I went out to Dublin to perform a Coming of Age ritual for two 16 year old girls who shared a Solstice birthday. Their moms wanted them to have a ritual welcome into the circle of womanhood. On the way there in traffic, we were reveling in the sun, in the day, having such a wonderful, giggling conversation punctuated by Molly sharing amazing facts, Heaven telling us funny stories of her day. It was just blissful. I told them all about the honey wine incident at the Liquor Store (yesterday's post) and they just loved it.
We arrived, set up an altar, taught everyone some songs- there were the 2 girls, their moms, an auntie and a grandma. Everyone is very suburban, and none have specific experience with witchcraft- they are mainly muggles who have reverence for the divine in many forms. The adults were enthusiastic about the ritual, and the girls were mortified in the way that only teen-age girls who already know everything about everything get mortified. That was OK- we held space for them to just have the experience without expecting them to fully understand it yet. They will get it in a few years and call their moms in the middle of the night to say thank you for doing this. After the ritual, we all adjourned into the house for birthday cake and a VERY lively conversation about spirituality and politics with the adults. The girls clowned around and snapped photos with camera phones, etc.
As one of the moms was pouring us all lemonade from a bottle that was clearly marked Lemonade, all of a sudden the grandma looks at her glass as though she's never seen one before and asks, "What is this? Honey wine?" Heaven, Molly and I all freeze and just rotate slowly to stare at her. The pouring mother says, "No, Mom, it's lemonade. See the bottle?" The grandma shakes her head and says, "Of course. I don't know why I said that...I've never even had honey wine."
We sit down to the table and the mom has placed a green candle dressed with cinnamon on it.
It was, of course, a wonderful party.