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Paganism and the Winter Solstice.
Winter Solstice Worship Service at the Boone UU Fellowship
A brief overview of Paganism, followed by a short introduction to the Wheel of the Year (Pagan yearly holidays) in general and Yule (Winter Solstice) in particular. We will go on a guided meditation, then celebrate the season and holiday with traditional cakes and ale.
I will be the guest presenter (with the help of several in the community).
Welcome and Introduction of visitors
Announcements
Music for centering: “What Child is This?”
Chalice Lighting and Covenant
Hymn: #73 “Chant for the Seasons”
Joys and Concerns
Hymn: #55 “Dark of Winter”
Offertory
Reading together while facing each Direction: #446 “To the Directions”
As each Direction is welcomed, the following light the candles on the Directional altar:
Alyse: East
F: South
P: West
C: North
Wendy:
Look! No horns!
I have been involved in many different groups through the years and am familiar with many different Pagan Paths. There are as many different Pagan Paths as there are Christian denominations. I am an eclectic—nice way of saying a scavenger. I take what I like from Wicca, Celtic, Druid, African and Native American sources, keep what resonates with me and discard the rest.
I do not worship satan. Since I have no belief in an entity whose sole reason for existence is to make people do bad things, I can’t very well worship it. I have never sacrificed the life of a living being, cast spells to injure others or ridden a broom (I like the magic carpet idea much better). I hold the belief held by most Pagans; the energy you send out comes back to you; times three. If you send out positive thoughts, that is what will come back to you. If you send out vengeful, negative energies, expect to be bitten in the butt. We have a rede which most of us live by; “An it harm none, do as you will.” It is very similar to the Golden rule; “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Most Pagans live our lives as gently as we can and with as much harmony with others as we are allowed to have.
We do not need to make everyone else believe as we do. I can’t say what Path is right for you; that is your choice. Christianity may be what you need and that’s fine with me. Despite the fact that we do not seek converts and you'll never see a Pagan missionary or have them knock on your door to give you pamphlets, many have sought us out.
The web site for the City University of New York shows the results of two surveys of religion in the US. They completed the first survey in 1990. In 2001 they again performed the survey, this time to over 50 thousand Americans. Christians showed about a 0.05% growth in numbers, but a 9% decrease in percentage of the total population. Muslims showed an impressive 109% growth during that time. However, the survey showed that between 1990 and 2001 there was a 1675% growth in Paganism. (Here's a link to the study: http://www.gc.cuny.edu/studies/key_findings.htm)
So why the increase in interest? Maybe because of our way of worship. In my practice I have… Jumped a bonfire. Played drums. Howled at the moon. Danced in the night. Prayed. Meditated. Worked spells. Prayed more. Sang and chanted. Burned candles and incense. Wrote poetry. Worn clothes that are black and white and red and blue and most any other color you can imagine. Prayed even more. Felt the joy and acceptance of being a part of the sacred web… a part of all there is. The 7th UU Principal states almost exactly the way most Pagans view the world: to affirm and promote respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.
Some times I have been asked where I get my information; what I use as my bible, where is the word of my god. I finally found an elegant answer to this.
S: Poem
“Catechism for a witch’s child”
By J. L. Stanley
When they ask to see your gods,
Your book of prayers.
Show them the lines drawn delicately with veins
On the underside of a bird’s wing.
Tell them you believe in giant sycamores mottled
And stark against a winter sky in nights so frozen
Stars crack open spilling streams of molten ice to earth.
Tell them how you drank the holy wine of honeysuckle on a
Warm spring day and of the softness of your mother who
Never taught you death was life’s reward but who believed
In the earth and the sun and a million, million light years
Of being.
Wendy:
Most Pagans recognize and celebrate the new and full moon as the feminine Esbats. We also celebrate eight major Sabots through the year. Since these revolve around the sun, they are related to the masculine energies.
Pagans are very earth-centered, and we tend to allow our lives to cycle with the Earth. Agriculturally, plant life follows a cycle – the harvest of crops in the fall, the fields going fallow in the winter when corn is husked, then spring field preparation and planting, growth and harvest again. Animal life cycles move from breeding, and birthing, to rearing young then the death of some & breeding of others.
Spiritually, the god is seen as living an entire life each year, from birth to death. Each of the solar holidays is a significant time of that life. This is referred to as the Wheel of the Year.
C: Wheel of the Year Reading #1
"In love, the Horned God, changing form and changing face, ever seeks the Goddess. In this world, the search and the seeking appear in the Wheel of the Year. "She is the Great Mother who gives birth to Him as the Divine Child Sun at the Winter Solstice. In spring, He is sower and seed who grows with the growing light, green as the new shoots. She is the Initiatrix who teaches Him the mysteries. He is the young bull; She the nymph, seductress. In summer, when light is longest, they meet in union, and the strength of their passion sustains the world. But the God's face darkens as the sun grows weaker, until at last, when the grain is cut for harvest, He too sacrifices Himself to Self that all may be nourished. She is the reaper, the grave of earth to which all must return. Throughout the long nights and darkening days, He sleeps in her womb; in dreams, He is Lord of Death who rules the Land of Youth beyond the gates of night and day. His dark tomb becomes the womb of rebirth, for at Midwinter She again gives birth to Him. The cycle ends and begins again, and the Wheel of the Year turns, on and on."
Starhawk, The Spiral Dance, 2 ed, p 43.
Wendy:
This is the time of year many Pagans celebrate Yule.
L: Winter Solstice, Yule, Midwinter
"This is the night of Solstice, the longest night of the year. Now darkness triumphs; and yet, gives way and changes into light. The breath of nature is suspended: all wait while within the Cauldron, the Dark King is transformed into the Infant Light. We watch for the coming of dawn, when the Great Mother again gives birth to the Divine Child Sun, who is bringer of hope and the promise of summer. This is the stillness behind motion, when time itself stops; the center which is also the circumference of all. We are awake in the night. We turn the Wheel to bring the light. We call the sun from the womb of night. Blessed be."
--Starhawk, The Spiral Dance, 2 ed, p 182.
Wendy:
One of the tools many Pagans use to grow spiritually is guided meditation. You get to sit back and relax and I will take you on a journey in your mind.
Yule Journey: Present and Future
Close your eyes and relax; sit comfortably. Take a deep breath, counting slowly to 4 and release it, feeling all the tension leave your body. Take another breath, counting to 4, release slowly and still your mind as you breath out. Take a third breath, deep, again, counting to 4. Ease your spirit as you release your breath slowly. (pause)
Go to your special place in your mind. A real or imaginary place where you are completely safe and can go back to instantly. (Pause)
Come with me now, to downtown Boone. It's dark; one of the last shopping evenings before Christmas. The streets are crowded, people looking desperately for that last perfect present, picking up the last minute food. Santas on every corner ringing their bells...But feel the excitement in the air! (pause) People are coming here from all over. They're coming home. This time of year like no other brings us all together to share a very special time.
Churches have their garlands and wreaths up. Look at the soft golden glow from that church's window. It is a glow from candles, but it is something more as well. Draw near to this church. You can not quite hear the words, but open your heart...your spirit...to the feelings that spread through you as the warm golden light infuses you. They are welcoming the birth of the Son. A symbol of the love of their God. At this time, we welcome the rebirth of the solar sun and feel the love of our Gods as the sun gets stronger.
Two legends, different religions, but open yourself, the feelings of love, acceptance and oneness are the same. Let it wash over you. At this time of the year we are all celebrating the birth of the Sun, celebrating the love of the Gods for us and feeling the deep, deep connection of us all. (pause) Hold this feeling of oneness to your heart. Hold it fast as you close your eyes and the scene shifts to a much more somber place.
In your mind, open your eyes. You are in a dark cave...damp...chill...there is a light very far away and the sound...very distantly...of a child...crying. Move towards the light...it gets brighter and the child's cry is louder...more desperate. Walk to the light... Finally you are in a chamber lighted by a fire in a ring of stones...the fire casts flickering light on a fur swaddled baby. The heart rending sobs are coming from the child.
Go to it, lift it in your arms, hold it against your chest... It stops crying. As you wipe the tears from its face, it begins gurgling... You know what this child is already...it is you. That spark of Divinity that has always been a part of you. It is also the potential for your future, the beginning of your path from here on. Immature now, but with the will...and strength...and nurturing you give it, it will grow strong...and true...and good...
The child in your arms turns to a warm, glowing mist and you breath it in deeply, closing your eyes, letting it touch every part of you. (pause)
When you are ready, open your eyes, come back to this place, among the people in this fellowship, your brothers and sisters gathered to celebrate the birth of the Sun...
Choir:
“Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful"
Oh, come, all ye faithful
Gather round the Yule Fire
Oh, come ye, oh, come ye
To call the Sun!
Fires with in us
Call the Fire above us
O, come, let us invoke Him!
O, come, let us invoke Him!
O, come, let us invoke Him!
Our Lord, the Sun!
Yea Lord, we greet Thee!
Born again at Yuletide!
Yule fires and candle flames
Are lighted for you!
Come to Thy children
Calling for Thy blessing!
O, come, let us invoke Him! (x3)
Our Lord, the Sun!
Wendy:
Let’s welcome the Great Goddess and the returning Sun God.
Closing Blessing:
Male Youth:
I light this fire in Your honor, Mother Goddess.
You have created life from death; warmth from cold;
The Sun lives once again; the time of light is
Waxing. Welcome, ever-returning God of the Sun!
Hail Mother of All!
Female Youth:
Great God of the Sun,
We welcome your return.
May you shine brightly on the Goddess;
May you shine brightly on the Earth,
Scattering seeds and fertilizing the land.
All blessings upon You,
Reborn One of the Sun!
All:
Blessed be.
SW: Wheel of the Year Reading #2 And so, the Wheel of the Year turns -
The Sun Child is born at the Winter Solstice, when, after the triumph of darkness throughout the year's longest night, the sun rises again. At the Winter Solstice, he is born as the embodiment of innocence and joy, of a childlike delight in all things. His is the triumph of the returning light. At Brigid his growth is celebrated, as the days grow visibly longer. At the Spring Equinox, he is the green, florishing youth who dances with the Goddess in her Maiden aspect. On Beltane, their marriage is celebrated with maypoles and bonfires, and on the Summer Solstice it is consummated, in a union so complete it becomes a death. He is named Summer-Crowned King instead of Winter-Born, and the crown is of roses: The bloom of culmination coupled with the stab of the thorn. He is morned at Lughnasad, and at the Fall Equinox He sleeps in the womb of the Goddess, sailing over the sunless sea that is her womb. At Samhain, He arrives at the Land of Youth, the Shining Land in which the souls of the dead grow young again, as they wait to be reborn. He opens the gates that they may return and visit their loved ones, and rules in the Dreamworld as He too grows young, until at the Winter Solstice He is again reborn.
--Starhawk, The Spiral Dance, 2 ed, p 114.
Wendy:
Pagans respect both the Male and Female aspects of divinity. But the divinity is not separated beings, looking down from afar. Divinity is within each of us and all things. When we look in the mirror, we look at divinity. When we look at the clouds, earth, trees, rivers, fire, we look at divinity. And when we look at each other, we behold divinity.
Aherah:
Wolfstone:
(backs to each other, walking away from each other, looking into out into space and at audience)
Nameless One
of many names
Eternal
and ever-changing one
Who is found nowhere
but appears everywhere
Beyond
and within all
Timeless
circle of seasons
Unknowable mystery
known by all
(Turn to each other, speak to each other)
Lord of the dance,
Mother of all life
(walk to each other, hands held out)
Be radiant within us,
Engulf us with your love,
(touch each part as it is spoken)
See with our eyes,
Hear with our ears,
Breathe with our nostrils,
Touch with our hands,
Kiss with our lips
Open our hearts!
Together:
That we may live free at last
Joyful in the single song
Of all that is, was, or ever shall be!
Wendy:
Pagans also often have what is called “Cakes and Ale.” This is simply the sharing of food and drink. Please share in the cakes and juice we have brought. To keep from taking a long time and making a mess, both the juice and the cakes are in the back of the room and you can grab some as you go out.
Cakes and Ale: blessing
(both hold chalice)
Asherah: “Bless this juice with your gracious spirit, Great Goddess. (to Wolfstone) May you never thirst.”
Wolfstone: “Blessed be. May you never thirst.”
(both hold plate)
Wolfstone: “Bless this cake with your gracious spirit, Great God. (to Asherah) May you never hunger.”
Asherah: “Blessed be. May you never hunger.”
Wolfstone: Blessed be.
Wendy:
The third principle of Unitarian Universalism states that we should affirm and promote the acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations. Many churches say they welcome all. But they then place qualifiers. Unitarian Universalist is the only place I have been that really does not only accept Pagans, but celebrates our diversity. Although most UUs are not Pagans, they do, very strongly, believe that we have a right to worship in our own way. I, and many other Pagans, have come home to Unitarian Universalism. The living tradition which UUs share (according to the National website) draws from many sources, among them spiritual teachings of earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature. Pagans can find our sacred hearth here.
Al Thurston: Closing Reading:
I sorrow not, though the world is wrapped in sleep.
I sorrow not, though the icy winds blast.
I sorrow not, though the snow falls hard and deep.
I sorrow not; this too shall soon be past.
Wendy:
This is the traditional closing for many Rituals. If you know the words, please join in.
By the Earth that is Her body,
By the Waters of Her living womb,
By the Fire of Her bright Spirit,
And by the Air that is Her breath.
This circle is open, but never broken.
May the peace of the Lord and Lady go in our hearts.
We merry meet and merry part and merry meet again!
Blessed be.
And now I believe it is time for Talkback.
