OSTARA
Prima Vera – Le Printemps – Eileithyia – Vesna
Hera to Hebe
The Goddess Speaks of Spring Awakenings
(by Lady Svetlana)
Priestess:
"The night of milky Winter is drawing to a close and with it My Mystic Confinement. The waters have long burst their emwombment and the corridors
of birth contract with serpentine abandon. The Moment of Vernal Awakening is at My Hand! I am the Goddess of Creation known by many names in
many places, in many times… Isat/ Aset of the Egyptians, Danu of the Celts, Inanna of the Sumerians, Rhea of the Greeks, Kuan Yin of the Chinese,
Mokosh of Slavs and Finns, Isumate of the Amerindians --- Ishtar, Anna, Artemis, Cybele, Rhiannon, Amaterasu; and at dawn the line of endlessly
spiralling hallways where Being leaps suddenly to release the chain of Becoming, over and over again.
Everything is in the Beginning – I am in the Beginning – all Existence proceeds from my Essence. From my Wholeness I bring forth Another: He
shall be My Beloved Son and thereafter My Beloved Consort.
A line issues forth from the circle. It probes its perimeter and becomes a square. I allow My intuitive Wisdom to be made known. Sophia releases the Logos.
My illusive and mysterious Being, boundless and eternal, desires temporal definition. Thus the circle is squared; the Incarnation takes place – transcendental
reality is made manifest – the Nominal exudes the Phenomenal and the Numinous bears the Phenomenous!
As a Grande Dame of Carnival with multi-coloured veils, disguising seductively My constantly changing Visages that tantalise all thriving, throbbing creatures,
sit for a portrait now and then, once in a while, from time to time…. Oh, worshippers of Mine, remember that these are but mirages caught for a frame, trapped
in a space; frozen momentarily by the 'camera obscura' of your visions. The wiser amongst you condenses My energetic streamings in stone!!!
For I am Carmelle Belissama, Virgin made fruitful by the spirit of Belen-Ram, God of the Gauls, and I bring forth Gargantua – Son of Pierre Gant of the Giant Stone.
His ithyphallic thrust of fertility forms menhirs, cromlechs, dolmens, and stone-henges; which come round to create a protective encirclement for magical energies
in the process of metamorphosis.
One of the greatest stone monuments was erected at the pinnacle of the Age of Pisces and dedicated to Me as Mother of the Fisher King, at an ancient site, at
one time belonging to the Carnutes – people called ‘Guardians of the Stone’, this Sacred Mount with a Sacred Spring – Paga - under the Earth, on which stands
a cathedral – Pagus – the first Gothic marvel is a focal point where My Telluric Current comes to a head – the Head of a Serpent (The Woivre), a place of Incarnation
and perchance Reincarnation in the West. Inside is a statue of the Black Virgin Under–the–Earth. ‘La Vierge Noire sur la Terre’. Just as there once was a Black
Goddess in the crypt – at one time a dolmenic chamber.
Notre Dame du Chartres, built according to the most ancient Sacred measure, vibrates harmonically to the chant of worshippers as they congregate from distant
lands for the rites of Initiation. I decree that a new locale of Grace be focused at Carmelle in Califia and fatefully named in My Honour; and another Grand Temple
be constructed at the Point where the Sea Wolves or Sea Lions gather to chant the praises of the mighty Pacific Waters of My Divine Sisters – Selene of Lunar
Waves and Amphitrite of Ocean Floors. For the tides are shifting, the cosmic mill turns, the equinoctial point steals forth, world frames warping…. The Star
Cluster of the Water Bearer, Who’s the Sign of Aquaria, carries the Waters of Transformation.
And just as Les Notre Dames des Poissonnes de la Belle Terre Francaise outlined the counter-balanced constellation of Virgo, let your Holy Aquarian edifices
configure on La Bella Califia, the Amphora-Bearer of Kore. But in the land, either westerly across Atlantica, or far easterly – way beyond the waters of Pacifica,
where, long ago, the Great Pyramids arose amidst the Sands of Time in the Age of the Bull or beyond, maybe in the Time of the Lion, you must recreate and
resanctify these titanic structures – these Gargantuan Temples – these monumental Breasts, thrusting upward to the Heavens of Nuit, from My Leonine Body, --
for I am Sekhmet and in this Age, the fiducial point of the zodiac on the Ecliptic shall be marked by Regulus at Khufu in the constellation of Leo in the Valley
of the Nile. For I shall give birth to the Lion, who will protect Kore Soteira, the Sacred Sister, Mystic Maid, Numinous Nymph…
However, the Ladies-in-Waiting, My Mid-Wives beckon – the Graces, the Fates, the Muses; who lead Me on to the Lithoplateia where I shall rupture the Cosmic
Egg, open Pandora’s Box – all giving of wondrous gifts – and resurrect the Manifest Forms of Breath to reveal My Divine Offspring. These Demi-Goddesses-Demi-Mondes
shall bestow gifts, guide and inspire the new born God of Spring, of Ever-Lasting Hope and all strands of renewal.
Here is Ganymede – the Cup-Bearer of the Gods Who flies with Hebe’s Grail, in which the alchemical transmutations and magical transformations occur – from the
Prima Massa Confusa to the Philosopher’s Stone – Lapis Philosophorum!! From the muddy waters of chaos to pure crystalline shape – from embryonic stirrings to
the human form divine –
EVOE KOUROS – TETELEMENOI GANYMEDEI !!!
All hail the Living God!!! In groans of ecstatic labour I give Him to you. Receive the Godling and rejoice for these are the Rites of Spring!!!"
(Play excerpts from ‘Le Sacre du Printemps’ by Igor Strawinsky)
Zodiacal Ages – Spiritual Evolution
(by Lady Svetlana)
Priest, Adelphos or Adelpha:
"While 'Le Sacre du Printemps' by Igor Strawinsky is being played let all those present close their eyes and imagine that the days of the closing Age of Pisces;
the previous Age of Aries, the earlier Age of Taurus and the last quadrant of the Geminian Age; all of which started pollution of Planet Earthona - Gaia, through
patriarchy, be changed; and that a Maiden Age of Aquaria Kai Leah; then Capricornia Kai Canceria, and then the following Age of Sagittaria Kai Gemenia and so
on shall come to pass so that approximately 26,000 years hence, minus a few, the next closing Age of Pisces shall be the glittering shining time of the dolphins
and whales. Together, humanity will have learned how to play with the Cetaceans who will teach this erring race the ways of joyous frolic, the benevolent culture of
psychic awareness, and provide a taste of life of the hereafter as well."
Priestess:
"Before this Paradise can materialise there has to be an equitable redistribution of ‘Les Enfants de la Planete Gaia’ – so please meditate upon the necessity of
great increase in the new-born of animals in the wilds, especially endangered species. Pray for decrease of humanity from excessive population from nearly six
billion to between ten to twenty million as in the Palaeolithic. There should also be control of domestic animals including of course so-called food-animals
because humans aren’t carnivores; cows, pigs, sheep, goats eating grasses everywhere ruin the sod and promote desertification. There are the hallows of the
Divine Children, Hebe and Ganymede.
EVOE.
Grant us then the Blessings of Life Everlasting,
In Paradise All Surrounding,
In Rapture of Love Ever New.
EVOE KORE
EVOE POTNIA.
Also envision the exfoliation of babies to wilder beings and great diminution of domestic animals and especially humans."
Adelpha:
"Envision, see,
The coming of Paradise on Earth!!
Envision, see, look intently – Look!!!
'Silence a trois minutes!!' "
Strawinsky’s music continues with volume and then off.
Priestess:
"Open your eyes and know that the dawn follows soon after the dark night of the soul."
Hebe and Ganymede Hymn
(by Lady Svetlana)
Facing statues of Hebe and Ganymede in Hearthroom. (Another sculpture of Hebe and Ganymede is in Birthing Chamber.)
Priestess: (sings to music)
"Attendez!!!
At the break of day She bears a Babe Divine
With lemon-scented hair and eyes of heavenly blue
The Goddess gives birth to a tender Child
Who is the Vernal God of Procreation!
Ganymede, Fair Ganymede, we praise the God of Spring!
Ganymede, Fair Ganymede, we praise the Lord of Life.
When a fortnight passes and the dawn is rosy pink
She steps into the waters and comes forth a little Girl
With jasmine scented hair and eyes of silvery green
She joins the Holy Boy; She is a Maid Divine
Hebe, Beautiful Hebe, we praise the Maiden of Soul.
We enjoin the Eternal Return.
We praise the Maid of Life
We hail the Girl Divine."
Procession to the Birthing Chamber
(by Lady Svetlana)
The Birthing Chamber is an actual bedroom in house, at other end of long hall. Stationed at door to Sacred Birth Chamber, Adelpha hands wand to each
male celebrant as he enters Birthing Chamber. If possible, Lady and Gentleman alternate as they pass through the door into this Mystery Temple.
Adelpha: (At the door to Birthing Chamber)
"Take these aromatic wands and place them gently wafting on the Omphalos – Navel of the Universe. The Hallows of Birthing are about to begin."
A small, rounded hill of local soil - the Omphalos or Earth Navel, as at ancient Delphi - has been erected East or South of the Sacred Birthing Bed in this
consecrated Chamber. Men insert their wands, which are straight young shoots taken from local trees or bushes for this Rite, and imbued with fragrant oil,
into top of Omphalos, as Assistant Priestess rings bell. Young shoot Wands should be alder for Vearn Month, but other species (birch or willow) are acceptable.
Music: Excerpts from ‘The Children’s Corner’ by Claude Debussy.
Overture to Perennial Mysteries of Birth and Paradisal Rebirth
(by Lady Svetlana)
Priestess:
"We have assembled here for an Aquarian Year of Inception on the Vernal Equinox in the alder-month of Vearn – Paths of Tetone and Chrysippus –
Divine Babes Who shall lead us down the meandering Elfin paths of young chartreuse grasses through citrine deserts in floral bounty of
Early Spring…."
(Next piece influenced by Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem 'The Pleasure Dome of Kublah Khan' about 'The Road to Xanadu'.)
"…Where Alph the Sacred River runs through caverns measureless to us – down, down to a sunlit sea and there to this Savage Place as Holy and
enchanted as ever beneath a waxing moon was blessed by Woman and Her Sacred Lover and from Their deep romantic chasm with ceaseless turmoil
seething – as if the earth in fast, thick pants were breathing – a mighty fountain momently was forced. And it is here the Holy Babes reveal that She
decreed a stately Pleasure Dome with Caves of Ice where one bright dewy morn She lay upon a floral bier and brought forth Chrysippus, the Boy of
Golden Locks to maidenly dulcimer symphony and song of such deep delight that would entice us all to weave a circle round Him thrice and then see His flashing
eyes, His floating hair and close our eyes with Holy Dread for He on honey-dew hath fed and drunk the Milk of Paradise.
Once weaned, He was bequeathed to a covey of Nymphs to be reared in the wilds, and fly free and easy till he matured into a sapling reaching for His Beloved
Holly Damozel Who would crown Him with His Ivy Wreath of whirling, whorling Enchantment.
…Then the Great Lady walked away into the forest ancient as the hills enfolding spots of greenery till midst dancing rocks, She flung Herself into the Sacred
River. Meandering with mazy motion through wood and dale Alph carried Her along till She emerged on fertile ground where there were gardens bright with
sinuous rills, where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree. She ran forth a little girl – the Sprite Divine, Tetone of Silver Tresses to greet the Holy Boy.
Together they exchanged the dainties of childhood while cavorting with lamb and fawn in the bright blue of early day in the early time of year – on the rim of the
New Age, when children are reunite…
IO EVOHE!!!
The Divine Children bid that you listen to the Bird of Paradise – to the laughter of frolicking children, to the twitter of Faeries."
The Divine Rapture of Birthing Waves
(by Lady Svetlana)
All celebrants assembled in bedroom.
Priestess:
"Each Lady shall lie on the bed and imitate labour ecstasies while each gentleman shall throw flower buds on her inflated belly in imitation of the
Goddess about to give birth. With each throw the man exclaims ‘Evoe Thea!’."
Tinkle bell on door of Birthing Chamber (Bedroom).
All:
"Ao… Ao… Ao…
We await the Holy Birth."
Priestess: (Veiled)
"O… O… O…"
Priest:
"The moment has arrived."
Priestess:
"Ow…. Ow…. Ow…."
Priest:
"We will pass over the threshold of Life resurrected… We will sever the umbilicus and an individual will emerge…
We will cradle the quivering Infant and praise the Goddess."
Then Priest returns to sculpture of Divine Girl and Boy stationed in Southeast of this Chamber. This ikon is a simple garden sculpture representing two
children in flowing garments, girl and boy, Kore and Kouros, stepping forward with garlands of interwoven flowers.
Severing the Silver Chord
The Mystery of Divine Singularity in Plurality
(by Lady Svetlana)
Priestess: (In Birthing Chamber)
"…And so the tale unfolds… Once upon a time… Long, long ago…. Far, far away… Right now… Right here!!!
Aaa – Ooo – Uuu – Eee – Iii – Ya!!
We participate in the Holy Pains of Birth, we see that the moment has arrived…"
Chimes.
"We sever the umbilicus in a blaze of light."
Cut a piece of string uniting a wooden egg and a Goddess figurine. For wooden egg, one can use a painted wood, Russian Matryoshka (‘Little Mother’) Doll,
also referred to as ‘Nesting Doll’ in English, series of dolls, diminishing in size, one inside the other. A tiny figure of the Baby Boy is lifted from the interior
of the large Matryoshka. A goodly length of string connects Infant figurine with lower interior of Matryoshka. This string is ceremonially severed in a blaze
of candle light.
"And an independent Being emerges, a perfect Baby Boy!"
Ring bell or gong, soft shimmer.
A basket is produced and a Priestess or Priest places the egg inside. The Priestess stoops and dips her arms in deep water. Later, each Lady celebrant
will imitate the symbolic, Hera – like immersion of the prime Priestess.
Priestess:
"The Goddess is rejuvenated and becomes a little girl. We sing:"
All:
"In torrents of spring, the Moon Maid unfolds to buds unsheathing;
In torrents of Spring, the Sun babe is born to sap arising!"
Priest:
"Go spread the news of Divine Birth and Sacral Rejuvenation!
Ah – Om – Ah – Om."
The Mystery of Divine Rejuvenescence and Metempsychosis
(by Lady Svetlana)
Priestess:
"All ladies go to directed corner and stoop down as if dipping themselves into a spring or river for rejuvenation. They pretend to splash themselves. Now the
Goddess has become a little girl and has joined the small boy as represented in sculpture. Here men shall cast the aromas from vernal wands upon the Divine
Children."
The Mystery of Divine Pairing and Wholeness
(by Lady Svetlana)
The following two evocations are adressed to sculpture of Hebe and Ganymede in Birthing Chamber.
1. Evocation of Hebe
(by Lady Svetlana)
Priestess:
"It is time for magical rejuvenation. The torrents of Spring transform milk-oozing fullness of breasts to rose-budded nipples of Childhood. The Goddess
dips into the Fountain of Timeless Youth and re-emerges a luscious Child – Hebe! Most delicate Maid of shining platinum tresses and luminous apricot flesh….
Hebe! Of whispy frills and feathery extravagance, renew our bond with the pulse of life; let us shout and play with innocent abandon…. Let hope suffuse all
presences as they partake of the sweet nectar You bear from Elysium – the Garden of Eternal Delights –
Eos, effervescent Damozel of Your dawning day – the laughter of the Gods accompanies the Lady of Metamorphosis. Let us whirl, skip and hop to You.
Hemera, Sister of the rising Helios… the airy Sylphides tinkle little finger cymbals as they fly gleefully over hills and dales watching over the Divine Children.
We throw kisses to You, honey-eyed Hebe… pretty One… dainty One…. Lovely Goddess of Spring. We salute You."
2. Evocation of Ganymede
(by Lady Svetlana)
Priestess:
"It is the time for revived life… for life reborn… for bare buds, for unwhorling leaves, for the return of birds… It is the time for the Goddess to bring forth a fair
Child – Ganymede – illustrious Babe of early morn, Who gives breath to all throbbing creatures… All sentient beings. Ganymede! Divine Child Who bears
the dew of Spring to Parnassos…. The infinite abode of Goddesses and Gods. We greet Your Holy Birth. Let all Nature rejoice in Your continual return,
You… of daffodil locks and creamy skin.
Astaeus… of stars merging with the dawn… purify the air, purify the air sullied by inhuman perversities! Let all creation breathe freely once again. Chrysippus,
eternal Youth, revive our hope in our own eventual ceaseless youthfulness among the Isles of the Blest. You, who have arrived from Avalon, help us transform
Earth into an apple-orchard faerieland. Phaeton, Golden Boy of Vernal Dawn, let the day reveal the wonder of new grass, glistening ponds, and clear blue skies.
Antheides, great Fays of the East, are playing scores of high-pitched piccolos that blend with the songs of birds, in honour of Your Nativity they whistle and titter for joy.
All hail, Ganymede, sweet Chrysippus, marvellous Phaeton…
Hail to the newly-born God of Spring."
Alternating woman and man, all Mystai (Mystery celebrants) return to Hearthroom.
An Ancient Chinese Emergence
(by Lady Svetlana)
Priestess:
"Mystai, turn now to the Far East and the Chinese Goddess of Fecundity, Sung-Tzu-Niang Niang – the Lady Who brings little ones into this wonderful world of
ours in its original pristine purity. Sung-Tzu-Niang Niang sits rapt in a large white veil on a lotus and cradles the Cosmic Egg. She is full of the clear bright breeze
of Spring and She is as tall as the gathering clouds. Within Her Cosmic Egg is the blurry white of the Milky River and the Moon – and still deeper within is the
bright yellow orange of the round fiery energised yolk. From a distance rattles and drums approach Niang Niang and suddenly the heat of the Great Archer
sprouts out everywhere. The Solar Prince, Yi, strings His bow and the sparkling arrow rushes forward instantaneously and strikes the Cosmic Egg.
Out of this primordial ovoid substance first come the two Children of Earth…. Hing-O, a Divine Girl bursts forth and after Her comes a Heavenly Boy, Yu.
After Them catapult all these creatures of Earthona – baby animals of all kinds, small plants galore and stones of multitudinous variety. And so the world
becomes part of the Universe in flux. The dyed willow bends over the waters while the perfumed-budded plumtree reaches for the skies. And everyone sings
for they will grow immortal. We are immortal – Lo; we live forever – O!!!
We are immortal – Lo; we live forever – O!!!
We now walk outside chanting… and carry watercups for fertilization of the Cosmic Golden Egg of Eternity from which springs the Tree of Life.
We carry the Silver Egg of Birthing and Growth of Soul and Pneuma midst the Aethers of Time."
Carry Egg to pine tree next to house. Silver and gold come together.
The Silver Egg is placed next to the Golden one. This Golden Egg had been placed at foot of pine tree before ritual began.
Priestess:
"EVOE ARRETOS KOURA
EVOE KORE KAI KOUROS."
Priestess:
"Let us re-enter the Earthly abodes for song and dance in honour of Hebe and Ganymede."
Large Phytala shown and etherially created in air by ritual gestures. Participants all follow prime Priestess.
All: (Return singing)
"In torrents of Spring the Moon Maid unfolds to buds unsheathing
In torrents of Spring the Sun Babe is born to sap arising."
Dance to ‘In Torrents of Spring….’
Phytala lamen.
You can cut it from brass. Brass contains copper from Venus/ Aphrodite.
The lamen is used for rituals and continual blessing of places.
Prelude to Avala
(by Lady Svetlana)
Priestess:
"Antheides, great Eastern Fays of the Dawn, we bid You adieu at this Vernal Awakening. The night and days are now equal but the time of increasing
daylight has come. Return Your magical Presence to the far reaches of space while the Air Spirit of Earth remains clarified by Your Eternal Decrees.
You have blessed us and now we commence to bless You in return. Please go back from whence You came till the next Vernal Awakening during the
present beginning of Age Aquarius."
Flute call is played.
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