December 2022 – January 2023
December may be marked by Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa, but for Pagans it’s the time to celebrate Yule. The holiday marks the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere (this year Sunday, Dec. 21) and celebrates the rebirth of the sun and beginning of winter. It is one of the oldest winter celebrations known. The winter solstice is the longest night and shortest day of the year. The Earth’s axis tilts the furthest away from the sun at 23-and-a-half degrees, giving all locations north of the equator less than 12 hours of daylight. This moment has been marked by mankind for centuries.
The Society for Sacred Sexuality Winter Solstice Celebration & Sacred Sex Ritual
in the tradition of ancient sacred sex societies
The ancient sacred sex societies celebrated the Winter Solstice as a time of stillness and tranquility, when nature reaches its deepest slumber and the sun descends to its lowest path in the sky. Winter Solstice is the shortest day of the year. Many honored the day with a sacred sex ritual to attune to the deep silent peace of nature.
Sacred sex, like the seasons, moves in cycles. Each season represents a different value of fullness of the wave of sacred sex ecstasy. Winter represents the deep transcendental bliss of sacred sex. It is the time to fully sink into the wave of sacred orgasm, and fathom its depths. In that stillness of Being you rediscover your true Self, and emerge revitalized and rejuvenated to start anew. See http://www.mysticmamma.com/winter-solstice-ritual-ideas-celebrations/
Chanukah: Celebrating A Fight For Freedom
Excerpt from www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/Maccabees.html on the Maccabees and the origin of Chanukah.
The family of Mattathias became known as the Maccabees, from the Hebrew word for “hammer,” because they were said to strike hammer blows against their enemies.
Like other rulers before him, Antiochus underestimated the will and strength of his Jewish adversaries and sent a small force to put down the rebellion. When that was annihilated, he led a more powerful army into battle only to be defeated. In 164 BCE, Jerusalem was recaptured by the Maccabees and the Temple purified, an event that gave birth to the holiday of Chanukah.
Excerpts from the Yule Ritual
You can try this at home!
PRIESTESS stands to PRIEST’s left.
PRIESTESS and PRIEST turn to face each other. PRIESTESS stands with feet together, hands crossed at the wrists on her chest just below her neck as PRIEST says:
“I call upon thee, O mighty mother of us all, bringer of fruitfulness,
by seed and by root,
by flower and by fruit,
by stem and by bud,
by life and by love,
here below as above,
And ask thee to descend into this body of thy priestess (NAME of Priestess).
PRIESTESS then moves her feet apart to shoulder width and reaches her arms out sideways as if to touch the shoulders of anyone next to her were anyone there. PRIEST takes the pentacle and touches it gently to PRIESTESS’s forehead, L foot, R hand, L hand, R foot & head.
PRIEST replaces the pentacle on the altar and says:
“Hear now the words of the great mother who of old was called among men by many names.”
PRIESTESS then reads the Charge of the Goddess.
“I am the eternal goddess,
Ever changing, ever living,
Ever loving, ever giving,
Yet I charge you, if you would,
Be mine and follow my ways.
(pause)
Then shall you gather yourselves once in a month and better it be when the moon is full, and assemble in some secret place. There you shall adore the spirit of me who am queen of all witches. There shall you dance, sing, feast, make music and love, all in my praise, and to those who would learn sorcery, to these I will teach things as yet unknown.
Keep pure your highest ideal; strive ever towards it; let naught stop you or turn you aside, for mine are freedom, knowledge and rejoicing, the ecstasy of the spirit, the earth’s love for her creatures. Mine is the secret door of life and death, and all these I do give freely to the children of wisdom.
I give unimaginable joys on earth, certainty, not faith, while in life; upon death, peace unutterable, rest, ecstasy. Nor do I demand sacrifice, for behold! I am the mother of all living and my love is poured out upon the earth.”
All acts of Love and Pleasure are my Ritual
PRIEST says: “hear ye the words of the star goddess, she in the dust of whose feet are the hosts of heaven, whose body encircleth the universe.”
PRIESTESS continues with the Charge of the Goddess:
“I, who am the beauty of the green earth, and the white moon among the stars and the mystery of the waters and the desire of the heart of man, I call upon thy soul to arise and come unto me, for I am the soul of all nature, who giveth life to the universe.
(pause)
“From me, all things proceed; to me they shall also return. Let my worship be in the heart, rejoice, for all acts of love and pleasure are my ritual. Therefore, let there be beauty and strength, power and compassion, honor and humility, mirth and reverence among you.
And thou who thinkest to seek for me, know thy seeking and yearning shall avail thee not, unless thou knowest the mystery; that if thou seekest and find it not within thyself, nothing is there for thee to find, for behold! I have been with thee since the beginning, and I am that which is attained at the end of desire.”
PRIEST says “WELCOME, LADY.” and kisses PRIESTESS. PRIEST then stands with feet together and hands crossed on his chest, similar to PRIESTESS earlier, as PRIESTESS says:
“I call upon thee, lord of the hunt,
Guardian of the forest and all wild creatures
By seed and by root,
By flower and by fruit,
By stem and by bud,
by life and by love,
here below as above,
Descend now into this body of thy priest NAME.”
PRIESTESS takes the pentacle as PRIEST spreads his feet shoulder width or as far apart as needed so PRIESTESS can reach his head, and raises his arms out to the side like PRIESTESS did.
PRIESTESS touches the pentacle gently to PRIEST’s forehead, LEFT foot, RIGHT hand, LEFT hand, RIGHT foot and forehead, and then puts it back on the altar.
PRIEST then reads the Charge of the God from a scroll.
“I am the stag of seven tines;
I go across dark waters.
I am borne up by the wind–I descend in the tears of the sun;
I fly like a hawk to my nest on the cliff.
I put forth leaves and flowers in the meadow–
I am the oak and the lightning that destroys it.
I am the courage of spearmen; I give wisdom to judges;
I breathe in the words of the poets.`
I rove the hills like a wild boar,
I return again, drawn like the tide.
Who but I may know the secret of the unbuilt temple?”
PRIESTESS says “Welcome, Lord,” and kisses PRIEST.