Denton CUUPS Beltane 2008

Theme: A Celebration of Summer

Purpose: to experience a Pagan celebration of Summer, and to honor the Sacred Marriage of the Goddess and God


Almanac

Saturday, May 3, 2008

gathering: 7:00 PM, start time: 7:30 PM

sunset: 8:13 PM, end civil twilight: 8:40 PM

moon: waning crescent, rises at 5:04 AM, sets at 6:28 PM


Roles:

Direction Callers: Ted (E), Adryna (S), Michi (W), Cynthia (N)

Dragon (fire tender): Ted

Music Director (CD Player tender): Ted

Maypole Dancers(8): Geoff, Cassie, Livvy, Michi,

Queen of Summer: Cassie

God of Summer: Geoff

Simple Feast Servers:


Setup

set up chairs in a wide circle around clearing

simple altar in the South, (against RE wing wall) with candles and offerings

basket of blossoms / petals

table with bread and juice for simple feast (covered)

row of torches between the fence and circle area

Maypole in field, Circle in front of RE wing

set a few chairs near the Maypole


Let’s be partying in the Maypole field when the guests arrive – playing festive music, dancing, making merry. As guests arrive, we will all invite them to join us in the festivities.


Stop the CD Player:


Informal Introduction (Bonnie)


As Bonnie is finishing announcements, Livvy should step into main view to recite:


Interlude 1 (Livvy): “The Flowers” by Robert Louis Stevenson


All the names I know from verse:

Gardener’s garters, Shepherd’s purse,

Bachelor’s buttons, Lady’s smock,

And the Lady Hollyhock.


Fairy places, fairy things,

Fairy woods where the wild bee stings,

Tiny trees for tiny dames--

These must all be fairy names!


Tiny woods below whose boughs

Shady fairies weave a house;

Tiny tree-tops, rose or thyme,

Where the braver fairies climb!


Fair are grown-up people’s trees,

But the fairest woods are these;

Where if I were not so tall,

I should live for good and all.


Once Livvy is done, she can “flit” away into the crowd


Educational Readings

Beltane (Cynthia): “Beltane is the last of the three Spring fertility festivals, and it is celebrated approximately halfway between the Spring Equinox and the Summer Solstice. On the Wheel of the Year, Beltane is 180 degrees opposite Samhain. Together they divide the year into its two primary seasons, Winter (the dark half) and Summer (the light half). Thus, Beltane traditionally marked the beginning of Summer in ancient times.


Beltane literally means “fire of Bel” or “bright fire.” Bel is known as the bright and shinning one, a Celtic Sun God. He is father and protector, and the consort of the Mother Goddess.


Like Samhain, Beltane is a time when the veil between the Ordinary World and the Otherworld is at its thinnest. On the night before Beltane, folks would place rowan branches at their windows and doors for protection from mischievous faeries. In Ireland it was believed that food left over from May Eve must not be eaten, but rather buried or left as an offering to the faeries. “


Maypole (Jaime): “The Maypole is an important element to Beltane festivities. It is a tall pole decorated with long brightly colored ribbons, leaves, flowers and wreaths. Young men and women each hold the end of a ribbon, and dance revolving around the base of the pole, interweaving the ribbons. It is said that the pattern will indicate the abundance of the harvest later in the year.


The Maypole is an obvious symbol of fertility, but it also has origins in the Norse “World Tree” and the Celtic “Bile.” Rooted in the ground, it rises up into the air, linking the underworld, the middle world, and the upper world.”


The Sacred Marriage (Adryna): “As Beltane marks the handfasting of the Goddess and God, it also marks the reawakening of the earth’s fertility in its fullest. The spiritual union between the Maiden Goddess and her Young Consort mirrors the physical union of the Earth and Sun to bring about the fruitfulness of the growing season. Our circle tonight celebrates this Sacred Marriage.”


Interlude 2 (Bonnie): Reading #524

“Earth mother, star mother,

You who are called by a thousand names,

May all remember we are cells in your body

And dance together.

You are the grain and the loaf

That sustains us each day,

And as you are patient with our struggles to learn

So shall we be patient with ourselves and each other.

We are radiant light and sacred dark

– the balance –

You are the embrace that heartens

And the freedom beyond fear.

Within you we are born,

We grow, live and die –

You bring us around the circle to rebirth,

Within us you dance

Forever.”


Partway through the poem, the Maypole dancers should take their places at the maypole and get ready to begin once the poem is done.


As we get to the last line of the poem “Within us you dance forever” the Music Director should start the CD Player and the Maypole Dance will begin.


Maypole Dance

Geoff and M2 take green ribbon, M3 and M4 take red ribbons, Cassie and Cynthia take blue ribbons. Michi and Livvy take yellow ribbons.

There are an equal number of male and female dancers, arranged alternately. Male dancers should be facing clockwise; female dancers face counterclockwise. When the drumming begins, they each move in the direction that they are facing. At the first “pass,” men go outside and women go inside, then they weave in and out. Those passing on the inside will have to duck, those passing on the outside raise their ribbons to slide over. As the dancers revolve around the pole the ribbons will weave, creating a pattern. When the dance is finished, one dancer ties a cord around the base of the pole to hold the pattern in place.


After the end of the Maypole Dance, the Dragon (Ted) slips away (taking the CD Player with him) and lights the torches. He monitors them all until the end of the circle.



Interlude 3 (Ashley): From “A Tree Song” by Rudyard Kipling

“Oh, do not tell the Priest our plight,

For he would call it a sin;

But we’ve been out in the woods all night,

A-conjuring Summer in!

And we bring you news by word of mouth—

Good news for cattle and corn—

Now is the Sun come up from the South,

By Oak, and Ash, and Thorn!”


At the end of the poem, the Music Director watches for the Procession to begin and cues the next song on the CD Player.



Procession Between the Fires (Ashley):

“In times of old, women, men, and children; cattle and other beasts would all pass between the fires of Beltane, for cleansing, for protection, and to receive the blessings of the God of the Sun, to whom the fires were sacred. We will now honor that tradition and pass between the fires ourselves. Please form a single line and follow me between the fires. As we pass, open your senses and meditate on the messages the Goddess and God have for you.”


On the signal from Ashley, the Drum Chorus drums a slow, powerful heartbeat. Livvy should be in the lead sprinkling flower petals along the path and around the assembled circle. Ashley will lead a slow procession from the Maypole, through the row of torches, and around the Circle to sit. Cassie should be directly behind Ashley


When all are settled:


Interlude 5 (Ted): excerpt from “Cup of Wonder” by Jethro Tull, from the 1977 album Songs From the Wood


“May I make my fond excuses for the lateness of the hour,

but we accept your invitation, and we bring you Beltane’s flower.

For the May Day is the great day, sung along the old straight track.

And those who ancient lines did lay will heed the song that calls them back.

Ask the Green Man where he comes from, ask the cup that fills with red.

Ask the old grey standing stones that show the sun its way to bed.

Question all as to their ways, and learn the secrets that they hold.

Walk the lines of nature’s palm, crossed with silver and with gold.

Pass the word and pass the lady, pass the plate to all who hunger.

Pass the wit of ancient wisdom, pass the cup of crimson wonder.”


Opening Bell

Bonnie: rings bell three times, then lights altar candles


Ashley: “We build our fires here, claiming this place as our own. May the Goddess and God bless us and all our endeavors. (Pause) Now let us ground our beings, center our minds, and attune our spirits to each other and to the world around Us.”


Meditation Leader (Bonnie):

“Get comfortable in your chair, with both feet on the floor. Relax. Take several deep breaths, letting each one out slowly. Allow yourself to relax more and more with each breath. Keep breathing and as you breathe, imagine you are standing in a field. It is early morning.

You see the sun coming up on the horizon. The sky is clear except for a few long slender clouds that stretch out along the skyline. The colors are brilliant. There are oranges, pinks and blues. You hear birds singing, calling out to each other. The air smells fresh and clean. A cool, gentle breeze blows over you. Your bare feet are moist from the morning dew as you feel the cushion of grass under your feet. As you stand there, you can feel the Earth thrumming with the energy of life. You are surrounded with the pure golden light of the Sun. Its rays penetrate your crown chakra, and flow down through your chakras, filling your body with its Light. Now… send that Light down your legs and ankles, then out of the bottoms of your feet into the Earth. The Light continues down into Gaia, Mother Earth - down through her mantle into her fiery core. Feel her divine fire, her divine love and bring that energy back up through the Earth into your body. It rises up through your toes, through your ankles. Feel the life force feeding into your legs and into your pelvis. As the energy surges through your torso and up your spine, continue to pull the energy from the earth all the way through your body, into your heart. Feel the energy filling you completely until it flows down your arms, out through your fingers and out of your head. See the energy flowing from you and imagine that energy surrounding you. The Light and energy flows from us all into the center of the circle. It fountains up, filling our sacred space and circling back down to envelop the circle and you, connecting you to all those within the circle. You are pulsing and humming with the energy of all living things. You are aware of life, life in the earth and life inside you as your cells regenerate. We are connected to the Earth, to all living things and to each other. We are one. Bring yourself back into your body, move your fingers and toes and be here now.


Blessed Be”


Declared Opening and Stated Purpose (Bonnie)

“We are gathered here today to celebrate the Rites of Beltane, the beginning of Summer. We honor the Goddess as Maiden, the Earth in its promise and fertility. And we honor the God as Consort, the Sun in its strength and potency. Beltane is a time for feasting, rejoicing, frivolity and celebration. No solemnity is permitted. It is a time to look outward and forward, a yearly reenactment of the primal joy all creatures and plants of the earth feel at reawakening after a long cold winter’s rest.


Let us now call the Spirits of the Four Elements and Directions to join us in our celebration. Please stand as you are able.”


Ted: “Hail, Spirits of the East,

Powers of Air!

We ask you to join us in our circle tonight.

Come into our temple and bring it the breath of life.

By the air that is Her breath,

Send forth your light, Be here now!”


Adryna: “Hail, Spirits of the South,

Powers of Fire!

We ask you to join us in our circle tonight.

Come into our temple and bring it the spark of life.

By the fire that is Her spirit,

Send forth your flame, Be here now!”


Michi: “Hail, Spirits of the West,

Powers of Water!

We ask you to join us in our circle tonight.

Come into our temple and wash it clean.

By the waters of Her living womb,

Send forth your flow, Be here now!”


Cynthia: “Hail, Spirits of the North,

Powers of Earth! Cornerstone of all Power.

We ask you to join us in our circle tonight.

Come into our temple and bring it strength.

By the earth that is Her body,

Send forth your strength, Be here now!”


Invocation and Offerings to the Spirits of the Land

Ashley, Bonnie, Ted and Adryna move to stand behind altar.


Adryna: “In keeping with the traditions of our ancestors, who left food for the faeries, let us now make offering to the Spirits of the Land.”


Ashley: “Spirits of this Land, you who were here long before the first humans walked across the great land bridge of the northwest, you who were here long before our ancestors sailed here across the great sea, we invite you to come into our circle here tonight. Join us, we ask, in our celebration of the Rites of Beltane, and accept this offering of food and drink.”


Adryna: Crumbles cake and pours wine/juice on the ground.


Ashley: “Welcome! Blessed be!”


Invocation and Offering to the God

Adryna: “Let us now honor the Young God, the consort of the Maiden Goddess”


Ted: “Powerful God of the Growing Sun, we welcome you to our circle here tonight. Throughout the world you have been known by many names: Ra, Helios, Apollo, Freyr, Inti, and Lugh. As you join with the Goddess to create life, so does your light and warmth give life to us, your people. We honor you and we celebrate your virility. Join us, we ask, in our celebration of the Rites of Beltane, and accept this offering of food and drink.”


Adryna: Crumbles cake and pours wine/juice on the ground.


Ted: “Welcome! Blessed be!”


Invocation and Offering to the Goddess

Adryna: “Let us now honor the Maiden Goddess, whose Sacred Marriage we celebrate tonight.”


Bonnie: “Beautiful Goddess of the Budding Leaf, we welcome you to our circle here tonight. Throughout the world you have been known by many names: Isis, Persephone, Freya, Blodewedd, Cerridwen, and Brigid. As you join with the God to create life, so do your fruits and bounty give life to us, your people. We honor you and we celebrate your fertility. Join us, we ask, in our celebration of the Rites of Beltane, and accept this offering of food and drink.”


Adryna: Crumbles cake and pours wine/juice on the ground.


Bonnie: “Welcome! Blessed be! Please be seated.”


Intro to the Great Rite:

(all movements should be slow and deliberate, and one movement should completely finish before the next begins)


John: “All creatures of the Earth know lust. Through its instincts and drives and pleasures, the continuity of the species is maintained.”


Bonnie: “But the Goddess and God have blessed some creatures with a greater gift, the gift of love. Not only can we achieve the pleasures of physical union, we can also achieve the joys of spiritual union. The joining of two halves makes more than one whole; and in this primitive act we obtain a glimpse of the most sublime mysteries. Not just the creation of new life, but reunion with The All, from whence we came.”


John: (said strongly) “All acts of love and pleasure are the rituals of the Goddess and God. Let us now celebrate the Great Rite.”


Geoff and Cassie step into the circle facing each other but two strides apart. Bonnie and John move to stand behind them and to the side.


Invocations

Bonnie: steps forward to face Priestess


Bonnie: “Cassie, are you a priestess and servant of the Goddess?”


Cassie: “I am.”


Bonnie: “Cassie, will you open yourself to the Goddess and allow her to be manifest in you?”


Cassie: “I will.”


Bonnie: “Oh mighty Goddess, Lady of the Moon and Stars, Mother of the Earth, we welcome you to our circle on this sacred night. From you all things proceed, and unto you they must return.”


Bonnie draws Goddess sigil on forehead of Cassie with anointing oil


“Oh, Goddess, though you are in all and we are all in you, we ask you to show your Divine Feminine aspect to us tonight. We call on you to be manifest in Cassie, your priestess and servant. Be flesh in her, speak through her, let us see you in her.”


Bonnie pauses for a count of three, then bows slightly to Cassie


“Lady, we welcome you to our circle, and to this Great Rite.”


Bonnie returns to position behind Priestess and to her side.



John steps forward to face Priest


John: “Geoff, are you a priest and servant of the God?”


Geoff: “I am.”


John: “Geoff, will you open yourself to the God and allow him to be manifest in you?”


Geoff: “I will.”


John: “Oh mighty God, Lord of the Animals and green growing things, Father of the Sun, we welcome you to our circle on this sacred night. By you all things proceed, and unto you they must return.”


John draws God sigil on forehead of Geoff with anointing oil


“Oh, God, though you are in all and we are all in you, we ask you to show your Divine Masculine aspect to us tonight. We call on you to be manifest in Geoff, your priest and servant. Be flesh in him, speak through him, let us see you in him.”


John pauses for a count of three, then bows slightly to Geoff


“Lord, we welcome you to our circle, and to this Great Rite.”


John returns to position behind Geoff and to his side



Invitation to Union

Geoff and Cassie take one step toward each other and exchange a smile of recognition – the recognition of one lover to another


Geoff:

“In the time before time, we were one.

All matter, all energy, all potential.

All was one.


From love began our Great Creation

and in our Great Creation we became individual,

each going our separate way.

From unity we came,

and to unity we will return.


The Great Creation has just begun

and we each must play our part

in the Great Work of love.


But I still crave unity,

and I crave you.


My Lady,

Let us join together in love,

on this holy night

and for every night to come.

Let us remake the sacred union,

if only for a few blessed moments.


What once was will be again.”


Cassie:

“Since we first parted in love

I who was All have become even more.


My great singularity has become

stars and planets and galaxies.

From me has come life:

simple at first, then expanding into the great dance

of birth and death and birth again.


There is much I have done

and much I have left to do.


But I still crave unity,

and I crave you.


My Lord,

let us join together in love.

Let us once again enter into sacred union;

let two become one

if only for a short time.


Let us remind ourselves and all who are with us

of what once was,

and what will be again.”



Act of Union

Cassie and Geoff hand books to Assistants, take another step toward each other, embrace and kiss.


Bonnie hands chalice to priestess.


John hands athame to priest.


Cassie: holds chalice in both hands, raises it up as in offering, then lowers it to her waist.


Geoff: holds athame in both hands, raises it as in invocation, point up. Pause, then shift athame to point down, still holding it over his head.


Geoff moves the athame down and Cassie moves chalice up. When the athame is plunged into the chalice, hold union for a count of three, then separate.


Geoff hands athame to John.


Geoff places both his hands around those of Cassie as she holds the chalice. He kisses her, and she sips the wine.


Cassie kisses Geoff, then he sips the wine. Both of them keep their hands around the chalice while they do this.


Cassie hands chalice to Bonnie.


Geoff and Cassie rejoin hands and kiss, pause, then drop hands and take one step back, still looking at each other.



Parting Words

Assistants hand books to Cassie and Geoff, then sit.


Geoff: “In these fleeting moments of pleasure

we remember the bliss of the time before time.

The love we have shared

will strengthen and sustain us,

until we come together again.”


Cassie: “In love we parted,

in love we joined,

in love we will be One again.”


Geoff and Cassie exchange a smile of anticipation, turn to face away from each other, then sit.



Conclusion

Ashley: “In the beginning, the Goddess and God abandoned the bliss of unity for the love of Creation, and for the creation of Love. Our world and our lives are a product of that act of Divine love. Through our own acts of love and pleasure, we experience the joys of union, we remember the bliss of unity, and we participate in the mystery of creation.”


John: “The Great Rite is ended, but the Great Work goes on. Thanks be to the Goddess and God. Blessed be!”


All: “Blessed be!”


Interlude 4 (Bonnie): “Piper’s Fire” by Paul Haynie, posted on WitchVox.com 4/30/01


“The bale fire writhes beneath the sky;

The oak logs burn; the fire leaps high;

The shadows dance, and pool, and spill

In cascades down the fire crowned hill.

It matters not what brought you here, pious choice or random chance;

You’ll hear the Master Piper play, and when you do, you, too, will dance.

Tonight there is no foe, nor feud; we’ll leave such things for other days.

Tonight we are the human clan; we dance because the music plays.

So dance for love and dance for life;

Clear your mind of daily strife;

Take a lover; make a friend;

All too soon the dance will end.

There is no prize for holding back when Bacchus calls the Piper’s tune;

It’s madness not to join the dance while bale fire burns beneath the moon.

For while we dance the world is young, and so, my friend, are you and I:

From set of sun ‘til break of day while bale fire burns beneath the sky.

And with the dawn the fire will die,

And saner light will fill the sky...

But we have heard the Pan pipes play

From set of sun ‘til break of day. “


Circle Dance

Ashley: “Now, let’s celebrate the Sacred Marriage of the Goddess and God with a circle dance. It’s very simple: no skill is required, just enthusiasm.

Please form a circle. If you’re unable to join in the dance, then we invite you to take a seat by the fire, in the center of the circle.”


Ted sets chairs for those unable to dance. When finished:


Ashley: “Hold your left palm up and your right palm down. Now join hands with the person on each side of you. Now let’s begin.”


Music Director starts the CD Player. The dance begins slowly and gradually gets faster and faster until the circle is almost running. When the circle begins to break apart, end the dance


Blessing from the Queen of Summer

Bonnie: “As the fires warm our bodies, and the drums stir our hearts, so does the Goddess inspire our souls. Hear these words from the Queen of Summer:”


Queen of Summer (Cassie) steps forward, raises her hands in blessing, and pronounces:


“May all who keep the Old Ways be blessed.

May your health and wisdom ever increase.

May your families and your households be safe and prosperous.

May the crops of your fields and the crops of your lives be bountiful.

May our community and all the communities of the world be in peace.

Blessed be!”







The Simple Feast

Ted: holds up juice


Adryna: “Gracious Goddess of Abundance,

Bless this juice and infuse it with Your love.

In Your names, Mother Goddess and Father God,

I bless this juice.”


Adryna: holds up pre-cut bread.


Ted: “Powerful God of the Harvest,

Bless this bread and infuse it with Your love.

In Your names, Mother Goddess and Father God,

I bless this bread.”


Servers: (Adryna and Ted) distribute bread

(Jaime and Livvy) distribute juice to the assembly.


Closing Words (Cassie): #682

“Beauty is before me, and Beauty behind me,

Above me and below me hovers the beautiful.

I am surrounded by it,

I am immersed in it.

In my youth, I am aware of it

And in old age, I shall walk quietly the beautiful trail.

In beauty it is begun, in beauty it is ended.”


Reversing the Ground, Center, and Merge Meditation

Ashley: “Now let us again find our center, as we prepare to open the circle and return to the ordinary world.”

Meditation Leader (Bonnie):

“Once again, make yourself comfortable. Close your eyes and breathe deep. Find your center, that spot deep inside where the essence of you resides. Take a moment to feel the currents of Light and Energy running through you, connecting you to the Earth and to all living things.

Start pulling your energy back into your center. The energy is slowing, diminishing as you disconnect.

Now send whatever excess energy you have, back into Mother Earth. Remember that while the connection fades, the vision and energies of our rite are always there for you to use and carry with you into our common world.



Thanking the Goddess, God, and Spirits

Bonnie: “O Mighty Goddess of the Earth, we thank you for your life-bearing gifts and love; and we thank you for your presence here tonight. Farewell, and blessed be!”


Ted: “O Powerful God of the Sun, we thank you for your life-giving light and love; and we thank you for your presence here tonight. Farewell, and blessed be!”


Ashley: “Spirits of the Land, we thank you for your presence here tonight. Farewell, and blessed be!”


Adryna: “Spirits of the East, South, West, North;

Powers of Air, Fire, Water, Earth;

We thank you for your presence here tonight. Farewell, and blessed be!”


Bonnie: “The circle is open, but unbroken,

May the peace of the Goddess and God

Go in our hearts.

Merry meet, and merry part.

And merry meet again. Blessed be.”


All: “Blessed be.”


Bonnie: Rings bell three times.


Ashley: “Children of the Earth, go in peace and love. May Bright Blessings be yours year round. The rite is ended!”



Informal Closing (John)


Cleanup

All

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