Candlemas/Imbolc

Imagine my delight and surprise when I realized that February 2nd is Candlemas! What a wonderful time time to usher in my new-found path with light to guide my way!

Candlemas marks the midpoint of winter - halfway between the shortest day at the Winter Solstice (December 21st) and Spring Equinox (March 20th). Also on this day is celebrated Imbolc, a festival marking the Goddess' cyclical change from Crone to Maiden. It's a time to celebrate the increased strength of the sun as winter is giving way to spring. It's time to pull out the seed catalogs and gardening journals and start dreaming about bountiful gardens and blooming flowers.

Candlemas commemorates the presentation, by Mary, of Jesus in the Temple, forty days after giving birth to him. Jesus, quite literally was and is, the light guiding us out of the darkness. It's a time to buy your candles for the coming year and do a blessing over them (I buy black and orange Samhain candles in the fall for the following year as it's hard to find them now). Here's a simple candle blessing ritual . . .

Candlemas
Candle Blessing Ritual
Items Needed - candles, annointing oil (I like Frankincense, Myrhh, Sandalwood, Cypress, Elemi, and Lavender in a blend)

Hold the candle in the centre with the wick towards you and rub the anointing oil into the wax starting at the middle of the candle, turning the candle deosil (clockwise) and work your way up to the top as you say:

Lord Jesus,
You are the Light of the world.
I praise You and ask You to guide my steps each day.
Help me to love You and serve You faithfully,
and to carry my daily cross with You.
Now turn the candle so that the base is towards you, holding it in the centre, rub the anointing oil into the wax starting again in the middle, turn the candle deosil (clockwise) and work your way up to the top as you say:

Bless this candle,
and let it always remind me
that You are my Light in the darkness,
my protector in danger,
and my saving Lord at all times.
Hold the candle between your hands and say:

Lord Jesus,
I praise You and give You glory,
for You are Lord for ever and ever.
Amen.
And so this Candlemas I'm going to begin the day with pancakes (representing the sun), I'm going to a Vision Board Party (how serendipitous is that?), and I'm going to clean out the fireplace and enjoy a fire with my hubby contemplating our hopes for the year. And when I lay my head down to go to sleep, I'm going to offer a prayer to the God and Goddess, Jesus and Mary, thanking them for all the blessings in my life and for all the things I'm grateful for . . .

Happy Mabon!

I'm off to Canada this coming Wednesday and will be gone through to the 25th so I wanted to wish everyone a Happy and Blessed Mabon and if you're looking for a simple, yet meaningful, Mabon Ritual visit the 'Sabbats and Esbats Ritual Pages'.

I leave you with pictures of my Mabon altar . . .

Once in a Blue Moon

Can you believe it's almost the end of summer? I sure can't. It seems not that long ago that I was looking out my window at the snow wishing and wanting summer to arrive. Then we got summer in March and a heat wave during the following months. Not much fun to spend time outside in. The last few weeks have been wonderful and I've been trying to spend as much time outside as possible . . . and it's still not enough . . . sigh . . .

At any rate, since it's almost the end of August and there's a Blue Moon coming up on the 31st, I thought I'd like to do some kind of ritual that celebrated the energies of the Blue Moon. However, I couldn't find a ritual per se . . . so I wrote one. I'm especially proud of this passage . . .

“Gracious lady bring to me the changes that I seek
And grant to me upon this night your feminine mystique
Give me the strength to follow through in everything I do
And in my heart place upon joyful devotion to you
Guide my steps and where I walk with pride and humbleness
To speak my truth from my heart where boundless love abides
And at the end of the day when I lay down my head
May I be blessed by the things that I have said
Help me to serve in all the tasks that I am led to do
With verve and loving kindness so that I may honor you
Gracious lady this I ask in all sincerity
By doing this may I stand tall, upright and carefree”
I hope that you might also find it useful and that you have a wonderful Blue Moon Esbat! Click here be taken to the ritual . . .

Elemental Altar

Hello and Merry Meet everyone! I hope you're all finding your way over here to my new blog from 'I Heart the Goddess'. I had an URL from Godaddy that unfortunately has lapsed because I didn't want to renew it and so it's not available to view online anymore. Ah well, out with the old, in with the new!

I've been struggling spiritually for about the last six weeks and have been attending mass with my friend hoping to find what I seemingly lost. I even went so far as to think of joining the Catholic church. Chalk it up to menopause, the realization of a past life experience and the fact that I really haven't been acting upon my faith as a Wiccan. Realizing that I have not been following through with Sabbatt and Esbat rituals and it's no wonder I feel empty and lost.

So, with this newfound realization, I am, so to speak, back in the saddle. I am planning a Blue Moon ritual for August 31st (the second moon of this month) and am also planning for Mabon. My altar will begin it's transformation towards the end of this month and I'm planning on making a Mabon thanksgiving upon my return from Canada at the end of September. A few days late, but still celebrating the Sabbatt.

I'm also connecting with the elements. I'm spending more time outside and today I'm even going to the pool to hang out in the sun and water. My spirit is saying (actually it's yelling) YES! I've also created an elemental altar in my kitchen window. I've put some stones there that I gathered from Sedona, creating a cairn. I have a crystal quartz cluster that I received in my Reiki class. I also have an angel that a new friend gave me at the end of our time together in Sedona. And, I'm having a new Elemental Rosary made (more on that in another post).

I'm feeling better than I have in weeks and all because I've reconnected to my true path. I had wound myself up so tightly thinking that going back to church and becoming something I'm not would feed my soul. I was wrong. What feeds my soul is what I've been doing for the last two years. Only now I realize that the Goddess has called me to action. No more laying around thinking about doing ritual or saying prayers. It's time to break out the candles, incense and athame and put myself to rights . . . and for this I am truly blessed!

Goddess Mary Altar

In addition to the large altar I have in my living room that I set up according to the Sabbats and special Mary days, I set up this smaller altar on the dresser in my bedroom. It offers me a place of quiet and solitude where I can pray and be at peace knowing that Mary is with me.

I use Rose incense in my burner as an offering to Mary and as a reminder of her ever faithful presence.

This beautiful blue crystal is 'Celestite' used for spiritual advancement as part of one's personal journey. It is used for making contact with the angels and in particular with the angel who is one's guardian throughout life.

Spirit Quartz ~ carries the vibration of Universal love; aides in spiritual growth and in moving to the next dimension.
Candle Quartz ~ a spiritual stone inviting abundance; focus on one's true path and purpose; radiates love.

The little silver box has roses embossed on it ~ The red rose is a symbol of Mary. White roses in Paradise are said to have blushed red when she kissed them. The Rosary is also related to Mary and her roses.

A bowl of sea shells to represent Mary as the 'Star of the Sea'.