Merry meet! On September 10th we held our first Pagan Friendship Circle! It was an Esbat to celebrate the Barley Moon, which is this year’s Harvest Moon, being the closest full moon to the autumnal equinox. The weather was fantastic, and we held the circle outside around the fire. The moon rose beautifully in the East to greet us as we recited the Charge of the Goddess. After the circle we gathered around the fire to discuss the next ritual, and to share ritual mead. The participants were very supportive of our efforts to provide ongoing Pagan events here @ UU, and I left that evening energized with the kindness, encouragement and enthusiasm of the group!
Our next Pagan event was held on September 24th, and it was our second harvest celebration, Mabon, the autumnal equinox. This time we had an entire evening of fun planned. First we held a harvest-themed potluck meal, and those zucchini muffins and apple pie were delicious! While we shared our meal, we visited with old friends and introduced ourselves to new ones. After the meal, we sat together and learned how to make corn dollies from corn husks and yarn. It’s an easy and fun project, and we had children as well as adults creating beautiful corn dollies for the ritual, and to keep. While we were crafting our dollies, we listened to a retelling of the story of Mabon, the Welsh sun king who was kidnapped as an infant and rescued years later by King Arthur. This story tells how Mabon (the sun) disappeared, only to return to replenish the earth with his light once again. This is one of many autumnal equinox stories that have been told and retold through the ages as a way to understand and honor the dying sun.
After the dollies and stories were complete, we went outside to the fire ring and had a beautiful ritual under the stars. We spoke to the mother Goddess and sun God, and bid them farewell as they slumber through til Yule. In our circle we experienced transformations. We allowed our pain to be transformed into comfort, our poverty into abundance, our sorrow into joy, our fear into calm, our stagnation into action, our anger into peace, our illness into health and our confusion into understanding. We sang “We Are a Circle” and the quintessential Wiccan song of death and rebirth, “Corn and Grain”: Corn and grain, corn and grain, all that falls shall rise again. Hoof and horn, hoof and horn, all that dies shall be reborn.
See you at the next event!
Love and bright blessings,
Deirdre