Solitary Winter Solstice for the Home Shrine

Prepare your ritual space to include a fire or fire representation, a well representation such as a bowl of water, a tree representation such as a stick collected from outside, your chosen divination system, and several rounds of offerings. The offerings listed below are typically common and are named simply to give you ideas. Please revise this to fit your needs and the supplies you have on hand. After you have arranged your items as you would like them, begin by finding your center…

Grounding and Centering

For a guided Two Powers meditation, ADF Members please click here: https://www.adf.org/system/files/members/orders/bardic-alchemy/oba-two-powers.mp3

Lighting the Fire

As you speak the following, light your flame or imagine your fire representation coming to life and connecting to all fires.

As I light this sacred flame, kindled from the Great Flame that lies in all fires, I connect my shrine to all shrines, my flame to all flames, my fire to THE Fire to light my way in this work.

Purification and Opening Prayer

Light a stick of incense from the flame or dip your fingers in a small bowl of water. Wave the smoke around you from feet to head or mark your third eye, heart, and palms with water. Place the incense into an incense burner when done.

“May I be pure that I may pass through the Sacred.

May I pass through the Sacred that I may attain the Holy.

May I attain the Holy that I be blessed in all things.” –Ceiswir Serith

House Spirit Offering

Prepare an offering for your house spirits. Common offerings include clean, fresh water, small snacks, and shiny objects.

Spirits of place who share my home,

Be welcome at my table,

Share in the hospitality I offer to you,

And add your energy to this work.

I invite you to celebrate this Solstice with me.

House Spirits, accept my offerings and invitation.

Inspiration

Light incense or offer a few drops of a spirit or scented oil.

Spirits of Inspiration, join me, on this, the longest eve of winter.

Bring warmth to my words that they may warm the hearts of those who hear.

Bring eloquence to my speech that my words be laced with beauty.

Guide my words that they be gifts to the Kindreds.

Inspiration, accept my offering.

Earth Mother

Offer grains or bread.

Gentle guardian of the Earth, Mother to us all,

Support and strength, foundation and hope,

Great Earth Mother, Hear my call.

I see you in the flowers, now asleep below the land.

I see you in the trees, the streams, and the prairies.

I see you in each of us, for we are all made from you and to you we shall return.

Earth Mother, I honor you.

Earth Mother, accept my offering.

Statement of Purpose

Through the sunset of the year, I have come to the time of the Winter Solstice,

in remembrance of the blessings I have received throughout the year.

On this longest night, as the sun sinks down into the Underworld,

I name this flame the beacon of hope to stand against the darkness

until the sun is born again in a bright dawn of joyful celebration.

Recreating the Cosmos

Prepare an offering for each of the hallows to bless them and prepare them to be the Gates.

Burning bright, the Flame before me,

Lighting paths the night would hide,

Shine your light upon my shrine.

Sacred Fire, show the way to worlds unseen,

Sacred Fire, burn within me.

Offer incense or a drop of oil to the Flame.

Flowing deep, the Well before me,

Washing clean to purify,

Reflect the light upon my shrine.

Sacred Waters, show the way to worlds unseen,

Sacred Waters, flow within me.

Offer silver to the Well.

Standing tall, the Tree before me,

Lifting high the Fires light.

Deeply rooted on my shrine.

Sacred Tree, show the way to worlds unseen,

Sacred Tree, grow within me.

Cense and/or asperge the Tree.

Gatekeeper Offering and Opening the Gates

Prepare an offering for the Gatekeepers.

A child of the Earth is calling,

To the Keepers of the Ways Between,

To those who guide and guard the ways,

Gatekeepers, All, hear my words!

To you, Keepers of Keys who opens the ways,

To you, Guardians of Liminal Spaces,

To you, Guides outside of time and space,

Gatekeepers, All, hear my words!

Come to my Fire, and stand beside me!

Openers of Ways, Masters of Time,

Liminal Beings, Allies in travel,

Gatekeepers, accept my offering!

Make offering and prepare to open the Gates:

Gatekeepers, join your magic with mine…

As you speak the words to open each gate, trace a counterclockwise circle above each in turn.

May the Well sink deep into the bosom of the Earth, down below the Chaos of Potential, and open as a Gate to the Underworld.

May the Fire rise high into the heavens, far above the Chaos of Order, and open as a Gate to the Upper Realms.

May the Tree hold fast the ways between and open as a Gate to the world behind ours in the Middle Realm.

Bring your hands together in front of you and part them wide as you speak the following:

By our words and by our deeds, Gatekeepers, let the Gates be opened!

Pause for a moment and feel the opening of the Gates, stepping you outside of time, and meet the Kindreds with joy and purity of intention in your heart.

Invitation to the Ancestors

Offer coins to the Well.

You who have gone before me

Those of blood and bone,

Those of heart and honor,

Those of hearth and spirit,

Be warmed and welcomed by my fire.

Bring the wisdom of your journeys

To brighten the spirit of hope

On this, the longest night.

Ancestors, accept my offering.

Invitation to the Nature Kin

Offer grains, seeds, or clean water.

You of the middle realm

Standing side by side with me,

Sharing in the bounty of the Earth Mother,

Guiding my feet along her paths,

Be warmed and welcomed by my fire.

Bring the purity of your hearts

To brighten the spirit of hope

On this, the longest night.

Nature Kin, accept my offering.

Invitation to the Shining Ones

Offer incense, oil, or spirits.

You who dwell on high

Granters of Vision’s Truth

Bestowers of Wisdom’s Grace

Gilded Guardians of Inspiration’s Muse

Be warmed and welcomed by my fire.

Bring the powers of your healing

To brighten the spirit of hope

On this, the longest night.

Shining Ones, accept my offering.

Key Offerings to the Sun

Offer incense, oil, or spirits.

As the darkness descends upon the land and all is blanketed in white and cold,

I speak of the promise of new beginnings that shine down from the Sun.

Bright, shining Flame of Hope, I honor you this day.

Your rays kiss the Earth to bring forth new life,

Life which sustains and nourishes Earth’s Children.

Where your Fires touch the Waters,

The Waters are set to dancing,

Rising into the Sky to join the Court in shimmering splendor,

And falling back to the Earth to bring the blessings of the Sky to her people.

Sacred Sun, I honor your role in sustaining the Earth, bringing light and life to the land.

Sacred Sun, accept my offering.

Final Offering

Offer oil or spirits.

Offerings made, freely given by head, heart, and hand.

I offer freely of my words, of my love, and of my stores.

May my words rise high through the Fire.

May my words drop into the Well.

May my words echo through the Tree.

May they carry my offerings throughout the Realms.

Kindreds, All, accept my offerings!

Omen

Prepare to take an omen using your preferred method.

May the true sight be upon me.

May the true words be mine.

May the Kindreds grant me the wisdom and wit

To understand their blessings.

Take and interpret your omen.

Waters of Life

Prepare a cup of water or your preferred beverage.

During this time of the year when the waters of the sky come down in soft, icy stillness, I reflect on the magic that lies within them:

All waters are, by their very nature, sacred

Welling up from the Underworld carrying the wisdom of the Ancestors

To pool where it will in the middle realm

Where it is kissed by the Sun and rises

High into the sky to pool among the heavens

And rain down upon the Earth

To be drawn back into the land and prepare to repeat the dance,

The Dance of the Waters.

For a time, I set these Waters apart,

Water that quenched the thirst of beggars and kings alike,

That they may hold the blessings offered to me by the Kindreds, Three.

Just as I place my offerings into the Fire that they may be transformed into a form that is useful to the Kindreds,

So, too, do I ask that their gifts be transformed into a form that I may receive.

Ancestors, send your blessings up and fill this cup from the Well of Wisdom.

Ancestors, grant me your blessings in the Waters.

Noble Kin, fill this cup from the Spring of Renewal.

Noble Kin, grant me your blessings in the Waters.

Shining Ones, send your blessings down and fill this cup from the Cup of Inspiration.

Shining Ones, grant me your blessings in the Waters.

Raise the cup as you speak the following:

Blessings, flow through me, sustain me, renew me!

Behold! The Waters of Life!

Drink from your cup, spending a moment of quiet reflection on the omens you have received and how these may be made manifest in your life.

Thanking the Beings

Ancestors who’ve gone before,

Noble kin and Spirits of Nature,

Shining Gods, Goddesses, and Deities,

For all your aid and guidance,

I give you full honor and thanks.

Kindreds, All, I thank you.

Thanking the Gatekeeper and Closing the Gates

Gatekeepers, All, for all your aid,

You have my full honor and thanks.

Gatekeepers, I thank you.

As you speak each of the following, trace a clockwise spiral above each Gate to close it.

May the Well be but water once more.

May the Fire be but flame upon my shrine.

May the Tree be but wood, and

May all be as it was before,

Save for the blessings our work has made manifest before me.

Gatekeepers, let the Gates be closed.

Thanking the Earth Mother

Earth Mother, All Mother, Our Mother,

For all you have given to me,

For upholding and supporting me,

Earth Mother, I thank you.

Thanking Inspiration

For honeying my words and silvering my tongue.

Spirits of Inspiration, I thank you.

Closing the Rite

After closing the rite, extinguish the flame or leave it to burn safely, as desired.

May the work done here today be the seeds of blessings to blossom in the year to come. This rite is ended.

Daily Shrine Devotional

To those who stand beside me, Sharing from my table and warmed by my fire;
To those who’ve gone before me,
Providing wisdom from below;To those who shine upon me,Allies granting vision;And to the Earth MotherWhose gifts of plenty feed and nourish us,Whose strength supports us,And whose love surrounds us,I honor you.Accept these gifts of incense and devotionAs I uphold the oaths I have spokenTo love the land, honor the Gods, and serve the folk.May you be blessed by my good works and offerings.So say we all.

A prayer for those far away on Thanksgiving

For those who yearn for the presence of loved ones
far away on this day of celebration,
To smell their hair when you hug them,
To feel their smile warm the room,
To hear their laughter like a chorus of bells,
To sit beside them, even in silence, just knowing they are near,
I see you.
I see the depths of your sadness
Hidden behind the smile you wear for the sake of the other guests.
I see the darkness creep across your face every once in a while,
lingering for just a moment
as a memory of some ghost of the past sweeps through your mind.
I see you.
May a genuine smile find you,
May you be reminded you are loved,
May you find peace in your heart,
even if for a moment.
So say we all.

(Re)Creating the Cosmos: A Ritual Excerpt

The following is a small piece of liturgy for the (Re)creating the Cosmos portion of an ADF script. This piece is typically performed via song, and spelling out the words reminds us of the magic and sacrality that exist in this moment during our celebrations.

(Re)Creating the Cosmos

As the world was once a swirling void, Chaos of Potential pooling and flowing throughout the land, it was through sacrifice that order found its way into the world.

The Waters below are given a sacrifice of silvered work, destroyed now and removed from use, cast into the Well that the mouth of the Earth may open as a gate into the womb of the Mother and those who dwell in her chthonic Waterworld.

The Fires are fed with oil, sacrificed and transformed to smoke that rises up to the fires in the sky, consuming and feeding our sacrifices to the Gods.

The Tree is marked with incense, burned and transformed, that it may reach into the Heavens, and marked with Blessed Waters drawn from the Well of the Earth, that the roots may sink down to draw deep from the Waters below. The Tree, grown tall and rooted deep, stands firm as the pillar of the World, holding the Chaos in order with its roots and upholding the Fires in the highest heavens where dwell the Gods themselves. The Tree, the axis mundi, the static point around which the realms pivot on their path through space, opens wide to reveal the world behind our world, where Noble kin dwell in shadow and mist.

Thus, do we recreate the Sacred Center through our sacrifice in this rite.

Working: Talisman for Protection

Image: Book of Nine Moons, Rev. Ian Corrigan

Light three tealights and place on each of the sigils in the image above.
Place a bowl capable of holding a burning object in the center of the image.
Place a smaller bowl of water to the side of the image.

Place the ring inside the water. Place something small of yours inside the bowl as well.
Let sit for five minutes.

Light the lavender and place into the center bowl.

Place the ring on your finger.

Do the following while speaking the words below:

Wave your hand over the smoke three times, and then turn the ring on your finger toward your pinky (clockwise) three times. Repeat two more times.

I make this shield to turn aside all ill,

From east or south, or west or north,

From above or below, by word or by will,

By Fire and Shadow bring warding forth!

By spear and cloak, by sun and water bright,

Let strength and light and darkness join as one.

By Sun and Moon and by the Fire’s might,

Make now my shield, my warding be done.

Service Oriented Field Experience Reflection: Next Steps

Growing up in a diverse area, I always thought of myself as tolerant and inclusive. I thought I understood the emotions of those around me, because we were dealing with many of the same issues. When I first heard the phrase, unconscious bias, I thought I understood what this meant. Unconscious referred to those things that we are not cognitively aware exist, and biases are beliefs and attitudes we possess that lead to preferences in terms of what we designate as “normal.” However, an unconscious bias was not something that I had. Looking back, the irony of that statement is not lost on me.
            When I first began walking this path toward reconciling the normative behaviors and characteristics dictated to me during my enculturation to the dominant culture with reality, I was shocked. I expressed disbelief that I was possessed of any bias, and when the disbelief was replaced by anger and subsequently by grief, my heart laid low. I was at a loss for what to do. The journey forward moved methodically slow with no clear end to the work in sight, but as Jeff B. Evans, the guide who took a blind man to the top of Mt. Everest said: Life happens on the side of the mountain, not the top. The Service Oriented Field Experience taught me the importance of combatting stereotypes to improve access to wealth and advocating for social change through changes in policy.      

The Service Oriented Field Experience (SOFE) presented me with continuous opportunities to build upon the internal work I have been doing to reconcile my biases and work toward that place of inclusion. Every step of the journey led me back to the themes of stereotypes, the stigmas they cause, and the stories of the individual people we serve. Stereotypes are borne out of our enculturation and make up the bulk of our unconscious biases. Some stereotypes are helpful and serve to protect us from harm, but most of them result in the judgment of someone’s character. Words that arise when we see someone who is food or housing insecure include lazy, weak, or dumb. They are diminished, and we pride ourselves on our ability to swoop in and save them from their situations.

As if the stereotypes were not enough, we create stigmas based on other, subtler identifiers. We create stigmas around mental health issues, disabilities, and social identifiers at the very core of our fellow citizens to keep them down, to keep them in their place as less than us, the normative majority of the dominant over-culture. We have created a dominance-based society over the course of many generations, and we feed societal dominance by tearing down those who are different until they are nothing.

We began the SOFE with sessions designed for us to learn more about ourselves through discussions of privilege, styles of conflict resolution, and social justice. Framing our experience in this way provided an entry point to deepening our awareness of the bigger picture—something many of our nonprofit organizations fail to do. When each institution is focused on a singular, insulated issue, the failures in the systems lie hidden and thus fall silently into disrepair. Through the lens of a faith practice, Dr. Dena Samuels described how social justice ensures diverse people have instead of have not. The Jewish practice of Tikkun Olam, repairing the world, has evolved to refer to social action and the liberal pursuit of equity and social justice, and Dr. Samuels’ discussion of this concept became a constant companion in my journal entries (personal communication, July 16, 2017).

As we turned our minds to Robert Reich’s discussion of the distribution of income and wealth in Inequality for All (Chaiken & Kornbluth, 2013), my journal entries incorporated the disparities in our current society that result in underutilized financial capacity, creating market and economic stagnation. The true center of the economic universe is the middle class, and as the income disparities grow, the middle class shrinks. The economy needs the middle class, the center of the proverbial bell curve of society, to be strong in order for the economy itself to be strong. All of these realizations lead to a greater awareness of the imbalances of power and the inequity inherent in our financial systems. We are not creating a world that is better than we found it.

Carol Hedges from the Colorado Fiscal Institute reminded us of the power of fiscal policy. Our fiscal rules dictate where the wealth goes based on a system of taxation and exemption. Taxes are imposed on behaviors we wish to discourage or diminish, whereas exemptions are given to encourage behaviors we wish to see expand. Much as Reich discussed, Hedges explained that the lack of resources for purchasing anything beyond the basic needs of housing, food, and healthcare creates a drag on the economy. Her discussion drew back to social inequity in her discussion of institutional racism. Institutional racism requires a societal bias that people of color are genetically inferior and unable to perform at the same level as Caucasians. These stereotypes keep families of color in poverty.

The cycle of poverty feeds itself through the effect it has on the youth of America. Children who spend a single year living in poverty have significant stress levels that can result in less successful education and career endeavors. According to the US Department of Education, these children are seven times more likely to drop out of school. This leads to lower wages, decreased access to higher education, and lack of skills training—resulting in another household living in poverty.  As Sarah Hughes explained, families and individuals who are underpaid often find themselves living in a “redlined” area, meaning an area that is “not worth investment” (Colorado Children’s Campaign, 2017, p.17). Redlined neighborhoods developed as a result of housing discrimination. Beginning in the 1930’s, banks awarded long-term, low-interest loans to white families while limiting the ability of families of color to borrow money. Over time, the white families had wealth amassed in property ownership that they could then pass down to their children, creating generational wealth, but families of color, who were denied the access to purchase, had no wealth to pass down. Thus, families of color have to start over every generation (Williams, 2017, p. 49).

These communities are not without worth. As Paul Schmitz (2012) reminds us, all communities have assets, and an asset-based path to identify those assets, connect them, and help them contribute to the improvement of the community will create a major shift in power from people as clients of the nonprofits who serve them to “people as producers” of their own solutions (p. 139). This happens when we begin by listening to their stories and allowing them to tell us what their strengths and opportunities for improvement are.

Carol Hedges said, “If you are interested in the notion of power, follow the money” (personal communication, July 18, 2017). In light of this reality, we as consumers have more power than we realize. Every item we purchase is a vote for what we want to encourage. Every sale we pass by is a vote for what we want to discourage. As we make our food choices, we can change what crops the government will subsidize. As we purchase homes and vehicles and donate to political agendas, we can improve access for others to do the same. Mike Green quoted for us, “We are the ones we have been waiting for,” because we have the power to make change (personal communication, July 17, 2017). Our inequity is not the result of a lack of supply compared to demand. Our inequity is the result of a lack of access to the supply. Poverty and hunger continue to be two of our biggest issues, yet we filled up four large garbage cans with spoiled food in the single afternoon we were volunteering at Metro Caring. We have an enviable abundance—and we throw it all away.

Stereotypes and stigmas feed the systems, and the systems must change. Change MUST happen in order to create a world where, as Dr. Carroll Watkins Ali says, we encourage others to walk in their freedom—but first we have to help them find it. Finding our freedom lies in owning our stories, and through story, we will change the world. Stories bring perspective to those in power, because they make the issues real. Invisible biases that bring judgment and shame can be moved to freedom when we lend power to the narratives of the people we serve. System and Institutions, Dr. Carolyn Love’s words in my head, are the keys to moving from a place of charity to a place of justice. Stories help to bring education and perspective to those in power. Stories make them hear our words and stop believing that throwing food or housing vouchers or healthcare credits at people equates to justice for the “least” among us.

The power of story is the first step in building a culture of activism within our organizations. My personal action plan includes creating space for the stories of those with less power to be heard. As we educate the people, they will see the reality of what is hidden behind the stereotypes. Understanding leads to compassion, and it is from a place of compassion that most of us are compelled to act. This will not be an easy path, because I have a strong tendency to compromise in conflict situations. I will also create alliances with 9to5, a community organization that advocates for social change, to get involved with at least two different campaigns for social change within the next year. As my involvement solidifies and grows, I will strive to form an alliance with our church to add more hands and voices to the cause. Social change is scary. The fear response is high. As a member of the privileged class of society, there exists a fear that what I have will be lost. As an Elder of mine once told me, there is no way to practice courage without fear. In closing, I offer my courage to those who are afraid, that we may be courageous together and work not only to be the change we want to see in the world, but to make it.

References

Chaiken, J. (Producer), & Kornbluth, J. (Director). (2013). Inequality for all (Documentary).

USA: 72 Productions.

Colorado Children’s Campaign. (2017). Kids count in Colorado: Evaluating equity. Denver, CO:

Colorado Children’s Campaign.

Schmitz, P. (2012). Everyone leads: Building leadership from the community up. San Francisco,

CA: Jossey-Bass.

Williams, R.B. (2017). The privileges of wealth: Rising inequality and the growing racial divide.

New York, NY: Routledge.

A Post-Internship Reflection

I am tired. This week brings day after day after day of knowledge, heavy knowledge of the broken parts of our world. Information and stimuli from every corner and crevice of the nonprofit sector fills my head as I attempt to capture my thoughts with this pen.

During this week, I have learned many things.

I have learned that I am not as extroverted as I once was. In my maturity, I am content to listen more than I speak.

I have learned the importance of separating “leadership” from the “traits of a leader.”

I have learned that I compromise more often than I compete, and that all modes of conflict resolution have their place. There is no bad mode, just a mode that is mismatched to the situation.

I have learned that social justice is deeply related to social policy, ensures diverse people “have” instead of “have not,” and necessitates that we elevate the “social” in “social justice.”

I have learned of the beauty of feeling a strong black woman take up space and invite us to share in her black self.

I have learned that there is no such thing as a “free” market. The government sets the rules for this market, and through advocacy, we can change the rules.

We have been waiting for things to change, but we are the ones we have been waiting for to make those changes.

I have learned that the middle class is the center of the economic universe, and a strong middle class dictates a strong economy.

I have learned that I am not too old to climb into the Harry Potter Tree.

I have learned that fiscal policy fascinates me in the simplicity of the way it dictates behaviors: taxing those habits it wishes to discourage and providing exemptions to encourage a better way.

I have learned that over 50 million people in the United States don’t know where their next meal is coming from, and despite the volume of studies and evidence for this, the people don’t want to hear that we need more. As a society, we still think the cost of hunger is limited to what we pay in food stamps and can't understand why it isn't enough.

I have learned that transient communities have amplified and differently-defined issues, but a community of pooled resources can make a monumental impact.

I have learned that one of the first things we can do in the sector is stop creating clients out of our employees.

And underlying all of this are the three S’s: Stereotypes, Stigmas, and Storytelling.

Stereotypes are borne out of our enculturation and make up the bulk of our unconscious biases. Some stereotypes are helpful and serve to protect us from harm, but most of them result in the judgment of someone’s character. Words that arise when we see someone who is food or housing insecure include lazy, weak, dumb. They are less than us, and we can save them!

As if those harmful words aren’t enough, we create stigmas based on other, more subtle identifiers. We create stigmas around mental health issues, disabilities, and social identifiers at the very core of our fellow citizens to keep them down, to keep them in their place as less than us, the normative majority the dominant over-culture. We have created a dominance-based society over the course of many generations, and we feed society dominance by tearing down those who are different until they are nothing.

But…

Change can happen. Change MUST happen in order to create a world where, as Dr. Carroll Watkins Ali says, we encourage others to walk in their freedom—but first we have to help them find it.

Finding our freedom lies in owning our stories, and through story, we will change the world. Stories bring perspective to those in power, because they make the issues real. Invisible biases that bring judgment and shame can be moved to freedom when we lend power to the narratives of the people we serve.

System and Institutions, Carolyn’s words in my head, are the key to moving from a place of charity to a place of justice. Stories help to bring education and perspective to those in power. Stories make them hear our words and stop believing that throwing food and housing vouchers and healthcare credits at people equates to justice for the “least” among us. This isn’t a food fight. This is, these are, people’s lives.

Charity in our society has a collection of band-aids we put on our broken systems. Charity monitors data outputs. How much food did we give, weighed in pounds? How many housing vouchers, counted in families serves? How much healthcare relief, measured in dollar amounts? Tangible outputs of the charity industry.

Justice is intangible, and justice is measured in outcomes. How many families are off welfare because they are earning a living wage? How many individuals have left the prison industrial complex and found work that keeps them from reentering the system? How many women are being paid the wage they deserve based on their skill and experience while holding leadership positions in major organizations? How many of the people we serve have crossed the threshold to successful?

Before these can happen on a large scale, we need to create policy changes that amend the systems to increase opportunities in poor communities and communities of color, to increase access to those opportunities, and to provide equity in areas of disparity through living wages and wealth equality. Without these intangible outcomes, we cannot know justice.

The first step is to listen to their stories. Once we create space for these narratives to be heard, to really be heard, the power dynamic will shift, and our world will begin to change. Listening is, after all, a radical act.