This particular ritual was written by Diana Rajchel and is from Llewellyn's 2016 Sabbats Almanac.
I thought it a good fit to coincide with the "Self Love" post as it continues on the self discovery journey.
This ritual invokes Beltane passion, but not of the sexual variety. This gives you a chance to let the sun-represented by the fire-burn away your negative thoughts, and the circumstantial energies that also hold you back from enjoying life. Once you have burned away the stagnant energies, you rebuild on what you removed with the positive energy raised. The purpose of this is to kindle your passion for life itself. The intent is to rewire your attitude so that you take not a loving, indulgent attitude toward yourself, but a loving, passionate, energetic attitude toward yourself.
While this ritual calls for a small fire, and for you to dance around the fire, it may not be possible. Charcoal incense in a heatproof container can substitute for a fire-just be sure to use it in a well-ventilated area! If you suffer severe asthma and allergies, you can instead microwave vodka, whiskey, or rubbing alcohol in a coffee mug for 30 seconds and float herbs on top of the liquid. If unable to walk around your ritual area because of space or physical limitation, you can instead circle your arms above the fire (or symbolic version) in the prescribed direction.
For this ritual, in addition to the fire/method of producing incense, you will need the following:
Libations: white wine, red wine, and olive oil; if you cannot use alcohol, red and white grape juice also works.
Banishing Herbs: rosemary, Solomon's seal, lilac flowers, angelica, peppermint, and onion skin.
Invoking Herbs: St. John's wort, hibiscus, rose petals (any color), lemon peel, a dried avocado pit, almonds, and oak bark.
Before the ritual, kindle your fire or start your incense.
Circle Casting
The Beltane fires flicker bright
as I feel the warmth of spring sunlight.
God and Goddess joined again;
Seen in lovers, seen in friends.
Kindle in me hope afresh
to buoy my strained heart afresh.
So mote it be!
Quarter Calls
East:
Gentle powers of air in gentle grace
Bless this ritual in time and space.
South:
Gentle powers of fire, born in the sun's furnace
Transform me beyond my surface
West:
Gentle powers of water, raise high the tide
Take me to mingle far and wide
North:
Gentle powers of the land
Help me cultivate what I must understand!
Invocation
Hail Athena! Hail Artemis! Hail Vesta!
Virgin Goddesses,
open my mind, show me your paths,
lead me to contentment.
Pursuing passions of the mind,
tending well my lands, my hope,
cultivating neighbors and compatriots-
let me be well as you are well
complete as you are complete.
So mote it be!
Pour out a libation for each Goddess: Olive oil for Athena, white wine for Artemis, and red wine for Vesta.
Hold your hands above the fire and say:
The fire, the furnace, the sun, the seed,
let me give you dried things for your feed-
and as they burn, I am freed.
Throw rosemary into the blaze and say:
With rosemary, I am freed from bitter memories that hold me back.
Walk counterclockwise around the fire, and then pick up the next herb: Solomon's Seal.
Throw the root into the fire, and say:
With Solomon's seal I banish lingering energies that work against my highest good.
Do another counterclockwise circumambulation, toss in the lilac flowers, and say:
With lilac, I banish the wounds I might dig up from my own memory.
On the next time around, throw in the angelica root and say:
Angelica calls to my ancestors and to the divine teachers that protect me-let me get out of my own way, and keep harm from crossing my path!
At the next round, throw in peppermint, saying:
Mint protects, cleanses, and elevates. My wounds are clean and sterilized, and as it burns, I become pure!
On the last counterclockwise round, throw in the onion skin and say:
My old self has peeled away like this onion skin. I find the fresh soul, clean, strong, protected, purified. So mote it be!
Come to stand facing west and spread out your arms and legs so that your posture imitates Da Vinci's "Virtual Man." Visualize the old energy as a gray fog that the fire consumes, making invisible. Starting at your feet, send in specific aches, pains, and hidden emotions that you stored in your muscles and bones. Move up to your legs, your hips, your belly, your chest, your neck, and your head. Once you reach the crown of your head, start the process again at your head, and go back to your feet. Pay attention to your body's response to sending that energy into the fire. You may feel lighter, more relaxed, and even relieved. Hold this visual as long as you can.
Pause for a few moments and breathe, appreciating the sense of relief. Since magic and nature both abhor a vacuum, you must now complete the process of intentional replacement.
This time, throw some St. John's Wort into the flames and walk clockwise around the fire and say:
St. John's Wort kindles the light within; I see bright blessings everywhere I go.
On the next round, throw in hibiscus and say:
Hibiscus connects me to my passions within: reveal, oh divinatory herb, my hidden talents.
On the next ambulation, throw in rose petals and say:
I am allowed to love myself, as I am, unconditionally. I offer this love in turn to the earth and sky, to the goddesses present, and to the ancestors that have loved me through each step of life.
On the next round, throw in lemon peel and say:
Lemon, by the grace of the Mother Goddess, kindle in me passions to create. By your power let me create peace, let me create art, let me create good in the world.
Next, throw a dried avocado pit into the fire and say:
Lust stirs in more than the body-it stirs in the spirit. Invoke in me a lust for knowledge, a passionate curiosity, a desire for mastery paired with purified humility.
On the next time round, throw a handful of almonds on the fire and say:
Almonds, make me whole in myself-anima and animus together, fused with the creative passion that comes from divine inner union.
On the next round, throw white sage into the fire and say:
Sage, bring me together in wisdom. Help the herbal energies now burning within me acclimate gently to my body, mind, and spirit. Let me open my soul to new opportunities, new ways of thinking and let me relish the joy of the Beltane season. So mote it be!
After this, sit and gaze into the fire. After a few breaths to acclimate to stillness and say:
Hail Athena, I begin with this meditation on you!
As you envision Athena, pay attention to her specific qualities. Note that she is a balance of martial arts and education. Athena has qualities of war in her, yes, but she also pursued necessary domestic skills: she could weave, she could write, and she embodied the perfect balance between domestic and martial discipline. She concerned herself with the big issues of the world, what we would now call matters of the state.
Pause, and listen for what Athena might say to you.
Pour out a libation to her as thanks.
Next, envision Artemis. As the virgin goddess of the moon, she also appreciated solitary pursuits such as hunting-but she did not always choose isolation. she had her friends, male and female, some of whom hunted alongside her. She also served friends, protecting women all the way up to childbirth and looking after her animal companions as well.
Pause, and listen for what Artemis might say to you.
Pour out a libation to her as thanks.
Next, envision Vesta. This may be more difficult as she had very few tales spoken of her. She embodied the pleasures of the home life, and helped those who honored her maintain happy, prosperous homes. Think of how your home might feel with her in it.
Pause, and listen for what Vesta might say to you.
Pour out a libation to her as thanks.
Ritual Closing
Farewell to Athena, to Artemis, to Vesta
Virgin queens, show me the way
to the richness of life, independent and free.
Blessed Be!
(Pour an additional libation to each Goddess.)
Quarter Releases
North:
Gentle powers of the north and earth,
I give you sweet release! Blessed Be!
West:
Gentle powers of the west and water,
I give you sweet release! Blessed Be!
South:
Gentle powers of the south and fire,
I give you sweet release! Blessed Be!
East:
Gentle powers of the east and air,
I give you sweet release! Blessed Be!
Circle Closing
(Walking Counterclockwise)
The fire on the ground may fade,
yet more powerful are the longer days.
My heart fed by heat and sun-
Bring on the summer, bring on the curiosities,
bring on the fun!
Remember to just let loose and enjoy yourself! Also, if there is any part of this ritual that doesn't quite fit for you, then feel free to change it. That's always the best part. You get to follow your own path and do what works best for you!
And don't be a dick!
Love and light to you. )O(
~Luminessa
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