Comments | ysabetwordsmith: Lunar Eclipse Ritual

ysabetwordsmith

Lunar Eclipse Ritual

Feb 20, 2008 22:08

Tonight there was a lunar eclipse. My coven held an esbat then. The weather was perfect: a cold, clear night with little wind. A light dusting of snow glowed on the frozen ground. As the eclipse progressed, the sky turned to a flawless black, and all the stars came out, burning with a far blue fire. The Milky Way trailed across the sky. The ( Read more... )

science, magic, paganism

Comments 10

lizamanynames February 21 2008, 04:27:20 UTC

Blessed eclipse to you. (Odly, this is my only non-sarcastic faith icon).

Thank you! ysabetwordsmith February 21 2008, 04:30:35 UTC

I enjoy giving people little glimpses of what I do.

tabard February 21 2008, 04:48:57 UTC

Beautiful recollection of the event. Unfortunately there was fairly heavy cloud cover here, so we could only catch glimpses of the lovely Lady in her veils.

Eclipse anonymous February 21 2008, 06:06:58 UTC

The weather here was lovely too. The view was perfect. There is some empty land with a lake behind where I live right now. I went back there for a while to watch, and I lit a candle to the dark Goddess when I came back in. I connect with the darker ones (Morrigan, Hecate, the Crone, etc) a lot better than the brighter ones. I don't know much about eclipses from the pagan point of view; it's not something that seems to get covered much. But a lunar eclipse seems like it would be her sort of thing.

I'm glad you had a good Esbat. It sounds beautiful.

Bri

Re: Eclipse ysabetwordsmith February 21 2008, 06:16:49 UTC

I also work well with dark goddesses. In addition to the Morrigan, I'm especially fond of Erishkegal.

Re: Eclipse ivy_broom February 21 2008, 17:44:27 UTC

I relate on a very personal level to the descent of Inanna as explored in the book _Uncursing The Dark: Treasures From The Underworld_ ed. by Betty DeShong Meador. It's made up of various contributions from different female authors exploring the dark side of female experience and spirituality.

As an interesting aside, there is a piece in the book written by Judy Grahn who is a famous butch writer. Her piece is entitled "Descent to the Butch Realm". In it Erishkegal is a butch who plays a the role of sadistic top to Inanna's bottom.

Re: Eclipse ysabetwordsmith February 21 2008, 17:56:28 UTC

Fascinating!

Sumeria had a very rich altersex tradition. The two "sexless beings" sent to Erishkegal, the galatur and kurgarra, are sometimes interpreted as a hermaphrodite and a neuter, or as a transsexual and a crossdresser. Inanna had a whole class of cross-dressing priests. And, rather obviously from some of the myths, these folks were no strangers to kink.

alwaysoctober February 21 2008, 10:48:26 UTC

That sounded like a beautiful ritual. "The Charge of the Star Goddess," is a gorgeous piece.

silverdust_wolf February 23 2008, 05:03:58 UTC

I don't do so well on eclipse's, because the moon is all covered and that's my basic power core there. In short they make me a bit sleepy and less motivated to do anything. I'm still looking into how to be motivated during these times, especially with new moons, any suggestions?

ysabetwordsmith February 23 2008, 05:10:48 UTC

One option is simply to let yourself cycle with the moon. If it's that strong an influence, you may do more harm than good trying to be fully motivated all the time. However, if the cycling energy causes problems ...

Try storing lunar energy during the waxing or full moon. A silver coin, a moonstone, and water are all good for absorbing lunar energy. Leave your chosen vessel where it will get as much moonlight as possible overnight. You can draw on that when the moon is new.