Okay, with permission, I'm going to post all of the photos that V's husband J took. If I can later I'll post the snippets of film that he took as well. To follow along, here is a link to the main ritual that we did ( Read more... )

Here are the last two rituals that were done. The first is the fourth ritual, or third on Day 2. The final one is the fifth ritual, done on Day 3. The fourth ritual is VERY short, but apparently effective.

( Fourth ritual, third on Day 2 )

Here's the full main ritual, done in the evening on the second Day. Again, I've put it under a cut for those not interested.

As I said, there were a couple of holes, but this went remarkably well. It went especially well if you consider that we had not practiced this previously. It's worth noting that fala_ten did ritually sweep the area with a besom ( Read more... )

Here are the actual rituals that we used. I've put them under a cut to save folks who aren't interested, but those who wish may peruse at their leasure. The two here are the first one (evening of Day 1) and the second (morning of Day 2, or first of Day 2).

( The First Ritual, Day 1 )

After doing the main ritual, it was near 9:00 and we were waiting for the food to get cooked. Everyone was happy but tired. The third ritual of the day was going to be short, and I didn't have an exact time planned for it. I figured I would know the right time when it appeared. As it was, before the food was even done, we decided to do the ( Read more... )

After a pause from the morning ritual and meal, we began working towards the main ritual. As so often happens, things didn't go perfectly according to plan. But, as also often happens, it turned out to be pretty neat.

When I first did this ritual I sent it to all of the participants for comment. webspinner1 had some really great feedback that helped me to ( Read more... )

Day 2 of the festival promised to be the biggest, with three rituals and meals scheduled during the day. Sleep was in order for Friday night, but we stayed up and had conversation until after 1:00 AM. Furthermore, I slept on the couch in the family room to keep an eye on the candle at the hearth. Consequently, I didn't sleep as well as I should ( Read more... )

I forgot to describe how the first ritual meal went. All of the days are becoming a blur, so I want to write this down before I lose it ( Read more... )

I've been thinking since last night about how to write this up. I'm swollen, dog-tired, and kind of dazed. But I wouldn't trade the experience for anything. It was truly wonderful. Having worked on this for well over a year, and having done a much shorter version of it last year, to see it come to fruition was extraordinarily gratifying. ( Read more... )

From Indo-European Poetry and Myth by M.L. West, Oxford University Press, paperback edition 2008, at page 329:

I have mentioned the element of repetition, which is a means of insisting on what is being said or done and validating it as magically efficacious. Sometimes the repetition is formalized numerically, as when words have to be uttered or ( Read more... )