{"id":3649,"date":"2010-05-01T01:10:07","date_gmt":"2010-05-01T06:10:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paganpages.org\/content\/?p=3708"},"modified":"2010-04-30T14:03:25","modified_gmt":"2010-04-30T19:03:25","slug":"rites-and-rituals-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/2010\/05\/01\/rites-and-rituals-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Rites and Rituals"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

Beltaine and the Flower Moon<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

I step into the forest. I slowly and deeply breathe. Standing still beneath the ancient trees, my senses fill with the magick of Beltaine. In every space, in every moment, new life unfolds before my eyes. The soft breeze grows ever more enchanted as the flora whispers sweet seduction to the birds and the bees. Shafts of Sunshine pierce through the great conifers\u2019 boughs glinting off a myriad of insect wings and delivering fuel to the forest floor. I remain quiet, drifting deeper into Nature, and I begin to see and feel how the energies have changed from Ostara. It seems only a few days ago that the birds sounded so excited and frantic. Just yesterday, the river rushed by so wild and untamed, overfilled with the chaos of Spring\u2019s fight against Winter\u2019s hold. Today I noticed the river is steady yet calmer and I slowly realize that once again my mundane understanding of time has blinded me to all but the most noticeable of shifts upon the Wheel. The tumultuous days of early Spring have indeed passed and I can perceive a much clearer, focused purpose begin to emerge. It is a design held sacred at the heart of all things, reflected over and over through large and small alike. Time, place and energy have sown themselves more tightly together weaving the opening act of the tapestry to become Summer and Fall\u2019s bounty. When I hold my place and allow my eyes to adjust, I am rewarded with a more meaningful insight into the energies\u2019 flow. Just as the river gathers its strength from the countless brooks and streams in order to carry energy from the mountain to the ocean, so too does the forest gather from the diminutive toward the grand in ever more visible ambition. It is here, in the midst of Beltaine\u2019s essence, that I am truly able to witness the first tangible evidence of the fruition of Imbolc\u2019s dream and Ostara\u2019s promise. It is here, at this moment, the 1st<\/sup> of May, we choose to sacredly acknowledge the magick of the union between all that is Goddess and all that is God. As I stir from my tranquil state and continue on the path through the forest, I am now keenly aware of all the varied manifestations now physically existing where once was but thought, dreams or desire.\u00a0 They are all aspects of the Goddess, of the God, and of the energies joined, ever present in each season upon the Wheel. They are remembering in the Fall and resting in Winter\u2019s hold. They dream in the Spring and rejoice in Summer\u2019s splendor. Always though, are the magick and the wonder present for each of us to touch, should we be patient enough to look. Such are my thoughts as I make my way to the river\u2019s edge and sit down by the stone fire ring I stacked earlier. I watch the last remnants of day slip into twilight while the swallows sweep over the river chasing down a hatch of caddis flies. Soon the bats will join them before taking over the duty of patrolling the night sky. With the Sun disappearing into the place where the trees and the river fade to become one, I light my Beltaine Fire, turning my thoughts to the Flower Moon. Some full moon names require one to think a little deeper in order to discern relevant meaning. I do not have to look any further though than to my walk through the forest to grasp a connection to this month\u2019s full moon. There were flowers and blossoms everywhere. Even the night air is rich with their fragrance, subtly reminding me of the magick afoot. The last of my fire\u2019s flames fall into embers, and I realize that it is time for me to head back. After extinguishing the embers with sand, I start back up the path through the forest. I can not help but smile as I think about my day celebrating Beltaine and dreaming of the Flower Moon. As I\u00a0 slowly make my way upon the path, breathing deeply and embracing the rich, vibrant energy, I begin to sing,\u2026\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201dFrom Earth, from Water,\u2026by Fire and Air<\/span><\/p>\n

To know, to be silent, to will and to dare<\/span><\/p>\n

To believe, to be secret, to create and to care<\/span><\/p>\n

To teach, to heal, to always be aware\u2026\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Beltaine and the Flower Moon I step into the forest. I slowly and deeply breathe. Standing still beneath the ancient trees, my senses fill with the magick of Beltaine. In every space, in every moment, new life unfolds before my eyes. The soft breeze grows ever more enchanted as the flora whispers sweet seduction to the birds and the bees. Shafts of Sunshine pierce through the great conifers\u2019 boughs glinting off a myriad of insect wings and delivering fuel to the forest floor. I remain quiet, drifting deeper into Nature, and I begin to see and feel how the energies have changed from Ostara. It seems only a few days ago that the birds sounded so excited and frantic. Just yesterday, the river rushed by so wild and untamed, overfilled with the chaos of Spring\u2019s fight against Winter\u2019s hold. Today I noticed the river is steady yet calmer and I slowly realize that once again my mundane understanding of time has blinded me to all but the most noticeable of shifts upon the Wheel. The tumultuous days of early Spring have indeed passed and I can perceive a much clearer, focused purpose begin to emerge. It is a design held sacred at the heart of all things, reflected over and over through large and small alike. Time, place and energy have sown themselves more tightly together weaving the opening act of the tapestry to become Summer and Fall\u2019s bounty. When I hold my place and allow my eyes to adjust, I am rewarded with a more meaningful insight into the energies\u2019 flow. Just as the river gathers its strength from the countless brooks and streams in order to carry energy from the mountain to the ocean, so too does the forest gather from the diminutive toward the grand in ever more visible ambition. It is here, in the midst of Beltaine\u2019s essence, that I am truly able to witness the first tangible evidence of the fruition of Imbolc\u2019s dream and Ostara\u2019s promise. It is here, at this moment, the 1st of May, we choose to sacredly acknowledge the magick of the union between all that is Goddess and all that is God. As I stir from my tranquil state and continue on the path through the forest, I am now keenly aware of all the varied manifestations now physically existing where once was but thought, dreams or desire.\u00a0 They are all aspects of the Goddess, of the God, and of the energies joined, ever present in each season upon the Wheel. They are remembering in the Fall and resting in Winter\u2019s hold. They dream in the Spring and rejoice in Summer\u2019s splendor. Always though, are the magick and the wonder present for each of us to touch, should we be patient enough to look. Such are my thoughts as I make my way to the river\u2019s edge and sit down by the stone fire ring I stacked earlier. I watch the last remnants of day slip into twilight while the swallows sweep over the river chasing down a hatch of caddis flies. Soon the bats will join them before taking over the duty of patrolling the night sky. With the Sun disappearing into the place where the trees and the river fade to become one, I light my Beltaine Fire, turning my thoughts to the Flower Moon. Some full moon names require one to think a little deeper in order to discern relevant meaning. I do not have to look any further though than to my walk through the forest to grasp a connection to this month\u2019s full moon. There were flowers and blossoms everywhere. Even the night air is rich with their fragrance, subtly reminding me of the magick afoot. The last of my fire\u2019s flames fall into embers, and I realize that it is time for me to head back. After extinguishing the embers with sand, I start back up the path through the forest. I can not help but smile as I think about my day celebrating Beltaine and dreaming of the Flower Moon. As I\u00a0 slowly make my way upon the path, breathing deeply and embracing the rich, vibrant energy, I begin to sing,\u2026\u2026 \u201dFrom Earth, from Water,\u2026by Fire and Air To know, to be silent, to will and to dare To believe, to be secret, to create and to care To teach, to heal, to always be aware\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":86,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/86"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3649"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3649\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}