This special Sabbat is about coming into fullness, fertility, and fruition. The climax. On the Wheel of Time it represents maturity, the stage of the mother. Flowers should be in full bloom, and fruit dropping from the vine. The element associated here is fire, the sun has just entered the sign of Cancer, and the moon is in the sign of Pisces.
Creating Sacred Space
Cleanse Space
Ground and Center
Call Elements
Call the element s
Chant
"We honor the energy of the elements within us. We are the Earth. We are the dark, we are heavy, we are substantial. We are grounded. We are water. We are fluid, we are clear, we are vital. We are renewed. We are fire. We are bright, we are hot, we are intense. We are passionate. We are air. We are light, we are movement, we are open. We are changed."
Cast Circle
Calling And Honoring the Divine
To call the Goddess (Aspect Mother)
"I have slumbered for thousands and thousands of years.
Now I stretch my limbs and waken.
They are calling, calling me, and my heart leaps to greet them my loving embrace.
All forests are my hair, the grasses my heavy eyelashes.
They call me, and I waken
My body bedecked with millions of flowers, perfumed and colorful.
I every aspect that is woman, beautiful, bountiful and fertile.
I long to nurture my children and I hear they are calling and each shall know me!
I want to hold all the sad and lost, dry the tears of falling rain in my rays of incandescent light.
All the wrongs that have been done, to me and to my children, shall be gone-
My hands shall doom them to death, and make them right.
I am the defender of every mother, as I am the defender of my holy self;
Earth, Mother am I, the only one; all life springs from me, all life is returned to me.
I carry the seed of creation and the shroud of death.
And I am now awake!"
Together We Chant: "Earth Mother, Carry Us Home!"
To call the God (aspect Father)
"Since the coldest winter I have grown
sunken in roots beneath her flesh-
and reached my branches to the sky.
Each year I leave my seed
weaving myself into her eternal cycle.
I am the that which grows
because of her.
I am that which fertilizes her.
I mark time by my life, and death.
Tonight as I have done so before, I will fall.
The outstretched arms of the sun
will lessen, and night
will take over my reign.
Just as my strength
shall wane.
But as each fruit
and grain is gathered
seek out the seed
and the knowledge
that I will
be born midwinter
again."
Goddess Myth: Saule (read to group what is in bold)
Saule, my amber weeping Goddess
creating light like thread.
As "Saules Mat" my mother sun, daily blessing
your thankful world with light.
Known variously as Saule, Saulé Motule, Saules Mate is the 'Sun' and 'Mother Sun' worshipped by the Baltic peoples. She presides over childbirth and cares for orphans, and is associated with spinning, weaving, laundering, and music. And is often depicted pouring light from a jug, for it is her golden sunrays that enabled all life on earth. Saule is often portrayed as a golden-haired woman, richly dressed in golden silk raiment with a golden shawl and crown. She drives her chariot across the heavens, pulled by two white, golden-maned steeds. Saule is connected to the wheel. In Lithuanian, She is sometimes referred to as 'Ridolele', the rolling sun. In Latvian, there are solar songs with the refrain 'ligo', ('Ligot" means to sway), and 'rota' from 'rotat', to roll or hop.
Shepherds in Lithuania consider Saule to be their only guardian and have many devotional prayers dedicated to Her. Lithuanians address Her in the morning, as She sets and at the end of harvest with other songs and rites. All spheres of traditional women's work are under Her guardianship, as are earthly fecundity and healing; and it is She who plays the kankles (a traditional, ritual, stringed instrument).
In Baltic religion Saule is the sun goddess who determines the well-being of all life on earth. As the full light of the sun, she is also represented by a daisy, a wheel, or a rosette. The Balts, the connection between the sun and spinning is very old, and the sun-stone, amber, forms the link. Spindles of amber have been found in the most ancient burial mounds. Amber was considered a magical substance for a spinner; as the light never tangles in the sky, so an amber spindle protected the new thread from snarls caused by unhappy or malicious spirits.
One of her symbols is the wheel, which is an ancient European sun-symbol. The wheel represents not only the sun as it travels across the sky, but also its eight spokes symbolizes the eight sunrays. These 8 spokes can also perhaps be linked to the 8 holidays on the sacred wheel. Eggs and golden apples were also her accouterments, symbolizing her fertility powers, other symbols include golden apples, and flax. Saule is said to live in her castle (or farmstead) atop dausos, the 'heavenly mountain' ('dome of heaven') somewhere far to the east.
From her palace Saule begins her daily ride across the day in her chariot. At the end of her daily journey she is met in the Baltic Sea at sunset by her sun-maiden daughter Vakar.. At night she (some say Perkunele, though she and Vakar are probably synonymous) guides the boat across the world sea, arriving back at the east at each dawn. The next morning Saule is back in her palace in the east refreshed and shining for another day's journey. There her daughter Ausrine, the rising Venus, readies her for another day's journey.
Saule is normally considered the consort of the moon-god Meness. He is depicted as a young god with a coat of silver, gray, or similar color, or else one covered in stars. His crown is a wreath made of stars, and he carries a sword that evidences his role as a war-god. His chariot is pulled by a gray horse. As the illuminator of the night he protects of travelers and soldiers. By him she was mother of the Saules meitas ('sun-maidens') who were identified with the planets, the oldest being the Earth.
Different myths give conflict between Menness and Saules to explain their opposition in the sky. One story had Meness lusting for and abducting Auseklis, the dawn-goddess personified by the rising Venus. The thunder-god Perkunas, being the keeper of moral order that he was, broke Meness' face with a thunderbolt. This explains the phases of the moon.
An alternate theory says that Perkunas and Saule had a tryst from which she bore Auseklis. Since then, the broken-hearted Meness has hidden his face in shame from Saule. Saule's major festival is Kaledos, held at the winter solstice. At this time she is honored and propitiated in anticipation of her return in the spring and summer. Her other major festival is Ligo at the summer solstice. Saule also had a presence in the house where she was sometimes thought of as being represented in the family hearth.
Pathwork
Meaning of the Pentagram
"The pentacle is one of the Mother Goddess’s emblems. The 5 points indicate the qualities that bring about manifestation. Within the tarot the pentacle represents the earth element: the material plane, the body, money, practical matters.. Ways of expressing these points or stages are: birth, initiation, consummation, repose, and death ; spirit, air, fire, earth water; new moon, waxing moon, full moon, waning moon, dark moon ; Aura, mind, action, body emotion; sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell, the five points of the human form, the five fingers of your hand."
Meditation-
Can be adapted for private use, just record yourself and play back when you feel you require it.
Sit comfortably with you eyes closed. Feel at home in the comfort of your inner darkness, as if you are in the womb of your self. Focus on the sound of your breath, to the count of four in and four out- rythmic. With every inhalation sit taller filling your body with oxygen, and with every exhalation feel your muscles relax and your lungs empty. As you relax focus on your body. Fell the five points of your body: your head, your hands and feet warming with the power that they contain and exude.
The feeling is warm, and comforting, you feel safe and protected. Consider what each point represents to you and contemplate your manifestation of the pentagram. (the reader pauses)
While you have focused on your body you have not noticed that you have been transported. Instead of sitting in circle, you are now in an open field. No matter which way you turn you see thick green grass dotted with wild flowers. The day is long, the sun has peaked and is just now starting it’s slow descent into the south. You decide to follow the sun. As you walk you realize that the meadow is really not as expansive as you thought. It ends suddenly at a cliff. You feel safe here, at this edge.
The sun is still high in the sky, warming the top of your head, your hands and your bare feet are still kept cool by the ground and wet grass. Without straining your head you can see for miles. What interests you is the sky. There are birds soaring and large white clouds sliding across the expansive blue. Focus on a cloud, or several clouds. Watch the shapes that they make, and how they slide into each other and then break apart. Notice the symbols, the numbers of them. Appreciate their abstract or extremely literal nature. (the reader pauses)
The sun is now sinking, and it is time to return home. Turn to the east fully remembering what the clouds have taught you, or what emotion they have left you with. As you walk back feel the sun on your head and hands and on your feet. Concentrate on the warmth that they hold, and they exude. Take comfort in that feeling. When you are ready, open your eyes.
Record anything special or that stood out for you in your journals.
Spellwork
Standing in center circle: Continue to feel the power within the 5 points of your body. Stand up. Moving clockwise start to walk, or dance around the circle. Think about the wisdom emparted to you upon your journey. Think about what manifestations are taking place in your life…. Now think of nothing but motion… think of nothing but energy:
All Chant
"She is luminous
She is the Moon
She is white
She is shining
Crowned with light
He is bright
He is the Sun
He is rising
He takes flight"
Continue the chant until energy peaks. As it peaks leap over the candles at the east and shout out where you would want the energy to go. Direct it to the ill, direct it to the earth direct it towards progression.
Giving Thanks
Share in food and story.
When the circle is complete, we go around the circle and tell our stories about last year's summer while we eat and drink some of last year's summer harvest.
Thank the god/dess
Thank the elements
Break the space
Litha Incense
1 part each
Dried and Grated Lemon Rind
Dried and Grated Orange Peel
Dried Patchouli Leaves
Myrrh or Pine (powdered)
A few sunflower seeds
2 parts each
Dried Rose Petals
Lavender petals
Honeysuckle flowers
or
Equal parts:
St. John's Wort, meadowsweet, heartsease, parsley, mugwort, rosemary, lavender, vervain, and thyme
