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sh1njuk1Coming to this a bit late, but wanted to get the blog post in.
All three of the Eightfold Path holidays I have celebrated have been pretty different from each other. I had hoped I would be with a Druid community again, like the solstice, but due to COVID, that got cancelled. So instead, I decided on Tuesday night (I accidentally did it a day early), in our apartment's main living space, and unlike Lugnasadh, did not perform it alone - my husband accompanied me! He told me a week ago that he would like to try walking along the same spiritual path as me and see how he liked it. I have... a lot of feelings about this! First, joy - I've been doing this alone since I started, with only a few brief moments of community, and I would love to have someone to share it with! Second, exhaustion - I've been struggling to restart my own spiritual practices after the move and the miscarriage, and adding the responsibility to guide someone else on top of it has been... a lot. So I guess those two feelings pretty much summarize the evening.
My husband read the Druidry Handbook's section on this holiday and tried to set up the ritual area himself before I got back from work - he made a valiant effort, but it didn't quite work for the requirements of the ceremony and I had to rearrange everything. Also, he had a really stressful work call right at the end of the day. Finally, we had nowhere to put our toddler, so we had to play videos in his bedroom the whole time, which we could hear in the background. Oog, just writing this, I am feeling the exhaustion all over again.
But... I did manage to create a space that felt appropriate for the ritual, by moving the dining table aside, commandeering our son's little play table and setting up the bowls for the four directions, using real incense this time for the East, the fruit from the farmer's market and some local cider as the offering, opening the door to our balcony garden so that it felt at least a little associated with Nature, and turning off most of the harsher lights. I also wore my Druid robe and put up my hair, and asked my husband to wear a dress shirt. (He wanted to wear his panda pajama costume from Halloween because it was "a costume, right?" which... no.)
I haven't yet had time to memorize the ceremony, so I read it out of the book again. My husband read a few parts along with me - the main Druid invocation mostly - but mostly sat next to me and listened. I am happy to report that I managed to do all of the movements and read all of the text, and that my husband and I drank the cider from the cup together. I did invoke the god Esus, but overhearing lots of loud train whistles from my son's videos and trying to read a book and adjust to my husband's presence didn't allow me to fully concentrate. I got an image of large hands made out of oak leaves changing color on either side of the altar, an image I had to dispel by returning energy to the 'earth' at the end of the ceremony - but no other visualizations.
Afterwards my husband thought it had gone pretty well - I did too, given the circumstances, But... I bet we can do better for Samhuin. I think the biggest issue is, now that my husband also wants to participate, what are we going to do with the kid? We can't leave him alone too long, but he's not of an age where he can sit through a ritual. More thought is required on that one.
Other thoughts, looking forward to the next holiday: I think the next seasonal alcohol should be absinthe - green wormwood seems about right for the Halloween-ish spirit. And a local state distillery makes some!
Also, I would really like to do it outside... weather may not allow that though (not to mention childcare). More thought is, again, required.
I might end up doing the ceremony on Halloween night of all nights - maybe my husband's panda costume might become appropriate, lol! (No.)
That's the end of my recollections, and my energy. If I have the time I will try to make one more post this weekend, marking my progress in getting back on the wagon after recent events. We shall see.
All three of the Eightfold Path holidays I have celebrated have been pretty different from each other. I had hoped I would be with a Druid community again, like the solstice, but due to COVID, that got cancelled. So instead, I decided on Tuesday night (I accidentally did it a day early), in our apartment's main living space, and unlike Lugnasadh, did not perform it alone - my husband accompanied me! He told me a week ago that he would like to try walking along the same spiritual path as me and see how he liked it. I have... a lot of feelings about this! First, joy - I've been doing this alone since I started, with only a few brief moments of community, and I would love to have someone to share it with! Second, exhaustion - I've been struggling to restart my own spiritual practices after the move and the miscarriage, and adding the responsibility to guide someone else on top of it has been... a lot. So I guess those two feelings pretty much summarize the evening.
My husband read the Druidry Handbook's section on this holiday and tried to set up the ritual area himself before I got back from work - he made a valiant effort, but it didn't quite work for the requirements of the ceremony and I had to rearrange everything. Also, he had a really stressful work call right at the end of the day. Finally, we had nowhere to put our toddler, so we had to play videos in his bedroom the whole time, which we could hear in the background. Oog, just writing this, I am feeling the exhaustion all over again.
But... I did manage to create a space that felt appropriate for the ritual, by moving the dining table aside, commandeering our son's little play table and setting up the bowls for the four directions, using real incense this time for the East, the fruit from the farmer's market and some local cider as the offering, opening the door to our balcony garden so that it felt at least a little associated with Nature, and turning off most of the harsher lights. I also wore my Druid robe and put up my hair, and asked my husband to wear a dress shirt. (He wanted to wear his panda pajama costume from Halloween because it was "a costume, right?" which... no.)
I haven't yet had time to memorize the ceremony, so I read it out of the book again. My husband read a few parts along with me - the main Druid invocation mostly - but mostly sat next to me and listened. I am happy to report that I managed to do all of the movements and read all of the text, and that my husband and I drank the cider from the cup together. I did invoke the god Esus, but overhearing lots of loud train whistles from my son's videos and trying to read a book and adjust to my husband's presence didn't allow me to fully concentrate. I got an image of large hands made out of oak leaves changing color on either side of the altar, an image I had to dispel by returning energy to the 'earth' at the end of the ceremony - but no other visualizations.
Afterwards my husband thought it had gone pretty well - I did too, given the circumstances, But... I bet we can do better for Samhuin. I think the biggest issue is, now that my husband also wants to participate, what are we going to do with the kid? We can't leave him alone too long, but he's not of an age where he can sit through a ritual. More thought is required on that one.
Other thoughts, looking forward to the next holiday: I think the next seasonal alcohol should be absinthe - green wormwood seems about right for the Halloween-ish spirit. And a local state distillery makes some!
Also, I would really like to do it outside... weather may not allow that though (not to mention childcare). More thought is, again, required.
I might end up doing the ceremony on Halloween night of all nights - maybe my husband's panda costume might become appropriate, lol! (No.)
That's the end of my recollections, and my energy. If I have the time I will try to make one more post this weekend, marking my progress in getting back on the wagon after recent events. We shall see.