By Land, Sky & Sea (19 page)
Read By Land, Sky & Sea Online
Authors: Gede Parma
Tags: #witchcraft, #shamanic witchcraft, #shamanism, #shaman, #celtic, #spirituality, #paganism, #earth-based spirituality, #wicca, #gede parma, #ancient traditions
She sung the spell, and the cosmos began to quake—all came undone in that moment underlying time.
Persephone spoke:
I am the grey of the storm on the horizon—the moment before lightning cleaves the shaking air. I am the wild mistress of shadows forming, swimming, and ceaselessly morphing one to the next. I am the serpent-mother who coils in each shadow as scale and bows in deepest gratitude to the silver-blessed sea. I am she who has risen and she who has descended the labyrinthine-way to meet with and court the prince of death, whose name is aflame upon the crest of my heart. I am the key and I am the mystery, and I am forever written in the Book of Truth as she whose sword of light shall bring illumination to the troubled mind and peace to those whose hearts are yoked to fear’s oppression. I am freedom! I am the Kore! I am unashamed in wisdom! I am beauteous and terrible! I am in awe and overflowing—and yet with stony silence, I am the exacter of justice at the end of days. Come unto me and let the secret spill forth from my blood-stained lips—thou art free! I shall give thee return to the bright world above when the heart despairs in forgotten prayer, for I am she who knows Lethe and memory, and intoxicates one with the other. I am illusion, and I am truth. I am priestess of the way in between, and I am the lover of being. I am Hagnes, the holy one, and the Megala Thea, the great one. I am Soteira, the saviour, and Daeira, the knowing one. Abide within me, and I shall whisper the All into the shimmering silence that you may drink deep from the abyss. I am Persephone.
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Especially those traditions influenced by the Mediterranean and Aegean cultures.
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There are far too many striking parallels between Wicca and ancient Mediterranean/Aegean practices to ignore. The most poignant, I feel, are the “hidden” names of the Triple Goddess and the Horned God in the early Wiccan traditions (Aradia and Cernunnos, respectively). Both were Italian/Etruscan god-forms. The Celtic and Italic cultures were not unknown to each other, and indeed there are several historical instances in which religious syncretism occurred (one strong example is the adoption of the Gaulish horse goddess Epona by the Roman cavalry).
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Starhawk,
The Spiral Dance
, 173.
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I say Pagan friend because a knowledge of the theory and practice of Pagan ritual is necessary for the dynamic flow of the initiatory experience.
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For a good grounding on the technicalities and spirituality of fasting, please see Raven Digitalis’s
Shadow Magick Compendium
(Llewellyn, 2008).
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The Eleusinian Mysteries were the ancient Greek ceremonial celebrations that centred around the mythos of Demeter the grain mother and her rising and descending daughter Persephone, queen of the underworld and lady of spring. The mysteries were broken into “lesser” and “greater,” the former being celebrated in the spring and the latter in the autumn.
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One who has consciously and fruitfully become keenly aware of the holy communion that is kinship and oneness with the Divine that is. As my friend and fellow WildWood priest Awen would say, “An initiate is a witness to wonder.”
This ritual can be celebrated either as a solitary or with a group. It is a Neopagan ritual with Celtic, Wiccan, and Witchcraft influences.
You will need:
- One white taper candle
- Incense made up of 3 drops rosemary essential oil, 1 part rose petals, 2 parts Celtic sea salt
- Brazier and charcoal disc
- White cotton veil
- Low seat or cushion
- One large chalice (filled with spring water or rain water)
The sea ritual will work best if it is carried out beneath a tree. You can choose to set up an altar, but in this case, simplicity is key.
Ground and Centre
Ground and centre using the tree of life alignment meditation. Now, in this calm and centred state, verbally acknowledge the indigenous guardians and spirits of the place, and ask for their blessings on the ritual. Now it is time to form the space (to cast the circle).
Cast the Circle
The circle will be cast by passing a chalice of blessed water around the circle from person to person, each drinking and beginning and ending in the east. As the chalice is passed and each person sips from it, the following is said:
As I drink from the womb of the Mother,
so do I take in the essence of the circle of rebirth.
May my lips speak this circle into being.
If you are conducting the rite in solitude, walk deosil, pouring the water from the chalice in a circle until one full circumambulation has been made, and then drink from the chalice deeply. Complete the casting by reciting the words above.
At the right time, the circle should be affirmed:
The circle is cast. I/We are now between the worlds, in all the worlds. So mote it be.
Acknowledge Land, Sky & Sea
If alone, make all three gestures independently while mentally or verbally acknowledging the corresponding realm. In a group situation, appoint three different people to a respective realm (one for land, one for sky, and one for sea). The gestures and words for each realm are as follows:
Land: Place both hands on the ground—
“By the land…”
Sky: Hold hands open and up to the sky—
“By the sky…”
Sea: Cup both hands together in front of the navel—
“And by the sea…”
All together, say,
“By the ancient trinity, so mote it be!”
To seal the blessing, trace a triquetra (2) in the air with the first two fingers of your power/dominant hand.
The candle (which is placed at the foot of the tree) is lit to represent the fire of the Divine, where the three realms are one.
Blessing of the Sea
Now is the time to pour personal libations of water under the tree. As you do this, understand that you are nourishing the mighty roots of the world tree that sustains us all.
If you are celebrating this ritual with a group, you may stand (or appoint someone else) as challenger, and recite the following charge to inspire everyone before the libations are poured:
My sisters and brothers in the sea, I bless you in the name of the ancient Mother’s womb, which brings us into dreaming and sustains us to our core. We are each a wave upon the ocean, yearning to reach the shore once more. The salty sea yearns always to fulfil its charge of love to all. The lands are divided and united by the seas of our ancestors. In honour of their memory, the wisdom of their hearts, and the power of the placid calm of the sea and the mighty terror of the ocean, do we pour these libations in offering.
Guided Sea Meditation
A boat, washed ashore on timeless waves made white by the soft glow of the full moon sailing in the sky. There, in the placid sea, in the ravaged ocean, in the terrifying, vast, and forever womb from whence we came, whisper secrets long forgotten. The salt-sea air sends this ancient wisdom into the beating hearts of all those who wonder and yearn: I am wonder…to be yearned for, to be known intimately in the centre, at the very edge and beyond…I am death, come unto me, she whispers.
The sea is for the journeyer who has travelled across the majesty of the broad earth. Its cool, pure embrace receives the dreamer whose eyes alight with the ember-glow of the stars as they blaze throughout the black sea that holds the lustre of the heavens. I am the sea, come unto me…in death’s black, cold embrace, I give you rest and eternity…in the forever-time, the mysteries are made ever sweeter, she whispers.
Just as I am the ocean, which is the matrix of life, I am also the cauldron to which all return, and the journey across the sunless sea into the great beyond. I am feared and despised, just as I am dreamed of in love and adoration, and the Old Ones chant Mari, Maria, Mariana, Miriam, Mor, Morgana…these luminous names are many, and the blood that pulses in the veins of these blessed ones is the divine water that nourishes the soul and quenches the thirst of the wandering wonderer—the seeker, the fool. It is time; come unto me, she whispers.
I am the great divider between lands, but without me they are disparate and discrete; with me they are united and joined within the Mother, who is wholeness and connection. These gifts are the greatest magick the mystery can be. Look into my depths, my shallows, my effervescent sheen by lightfall, and know that, in seeking, we pierce the veil and grow instead to wear it. One who is initiated by the sea will inherit all that comes into being and all that leaves it as well…I am the Goddess, who can never be hidden; all is within my watery embrace.
Atop the highest mountain and cradled within the luscious, evergreen valleys, I am known and revered. The ocean is in all, and it runs through all. The rivers, the streams, the tributaries, and the bubbling brooks are my dancing daughters, my spiralling arms as I delve further and further into the presence that becomes life when it is given soil to seed. I am the mother of all life, and I pour my love out upon the earth. I am the sea…come unto me, I whisper.
Calling Upon the Oracle
If in a group situation, only one must be appointed to take on the mantle of oracle for the remainder of the ritual, though for practical and spiritual purposes the choice should be made prior to the beginning of the ritual, if not at least a few hours beforehand. If the ritual is to be conducted in solitude, consider bringing a tape recorder or pen and paper into the circle so that you may read/listen to the words later on, once you are grounded and in a receptive, calm state.
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The oracle is to don the white veil and enter or induce a light trance. The incense is to be waved back and forth in front of the oracle and all around the body. Once the oracle is settled into an altered state, questions may be put forward for the oracle to respond to while channeling the wisdom of the gods/universe/spirits/etc. This is not to be a drawing down or trance possession; rather, the oracle becomes a conduit for cosmic information to flow through for the benefit of spiritual reflection and tribal/communal understanding.
Once the session is over, the oracle is to slowly and gradually return to the former state of consciousness. Light food and drink is to be provided to aid in the oracle’s grounding. Leave a few moments here for reflection.
Open the Space
Snuff out the candle flame and acknowledge the blessings of the three realms, the world tree that joins them, and the indigenous guardians and spirits of place. Open the circle by moving widdershins and visualising the sphere of light dispersing into the air and the earth. Do this in silence, as this can help to ground the excess energy that your body may retain after magickally intensive work. Eat and drink something to further ground the body.
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The solitary can hold internal questions in the forefront of their mind as the channeling begins. The answers will then be recorded and played back later.
