Sacred Well Yule
Silent Night, Solstice Night
I arrived a little early to this evenings ritual, hugging and talking with people from the moment I got into the store. I got assigned to read the Gathering of the People at the beginning of the ritual (i.e. calling the element of Air, in a completely different form/fashion for a different path). It was a brand new experience in many ways.
One, the back room is wonderful in spring and fall, but hot in summer and apparently incredibly cold in winter. I ended up dragging the sleeping bag in my camp gear (always stored in my trunk) inside to wrap up in. The best new thing though was realizing it was my first circle being run by Joe.
Joe who's known me since I was a child, and taught me through my Reiki Master. We've been in circles together before, but I'd never been in one he'd run. And I would learn afterwards it was the first one he'd run himself in that time. A beautiful gift to be a participant at and performer in.
It started with being let in single-file so that we could be handed gift bags and carol music. We sang adorably wonderful Christmas songs that had been found or edited into fitting the season. Silent Night, Solstice Night, Hark the Neo-Pagan's Sing, We Three Crones, Walking in a Wiccan Wonderland, and a few others.
We sang the first two songs and then broke for sitting. The elements, which were called very different things, and then we sat down for tales. They called in the season, talking about how the winter was and what it was that brought all of us together. The Lord and the Lady, as they were in each place this season.
Each piece they said was in the dark, and as each finished they lit candles with added light to the darkened room. Then we were bade to open our little gift bags. To dig in and find first our tiny ornaments (which mine was a tiny Santa, dressed like our own Father Christmas Joe was robed like) and then asked to pull out our tiny play dough.
[They contained a candy cane tootsie pops, candy cane, Christmas pencil, sparkly words (cheer and holiday), and play dough.]
Hilariously enough, the girl doing Earth next to me had earlier giggled that she had brown play dough, matching her element. And when I pulled mine back out from under my chair, my play dough couldn't not play along apparently. There I was calling Air/Gathering of the People and my play dough was yellow.
But we were asked to pull it out and play with it. To get in touch with our child self, the self that knows this season and the brightness in the dark best. And it was really great because instantly people starting giggling. Sniffing it in the canisters or their hands after rolling it around. Smiling silly, giddy little smiles.
There were two different times going around the whole circle, too. One during the beginning to let the Lord presiding anoint everyone, and one at the end when his Lady where she passed about the wine cup full of cider. And the rest of the singing of the songs was full of laughter.
Afterward there were announcements about everything (including my possibly signing up for teaching a class on jar candle spells in the future for Sacred Well) and then there was the eating of a small, awesome gathering. There are even pictures somewhere on Joe's lap, looking tiny and cute, and him in his amazing red and white cloak.
There were so many people at this one, again, like the RCG one the night before. Though Sacred Well has always had a more solid following through the holidays this years for one reason or another. And I finally was able to catch up with two dear people I'd bonded with at the Sacred Well Convention.