AUTUMN EQUINOX

Rite Recap: Solitary Autumn Equinox Rite, 9/23/07
Location: Home Shrine

I was out of town for Spiral Spirit's rite; I was camping, which seems like the ideal location for a druid to celebrate a ritual. I was seated in front of my campfire with a cup of water, an oak tree and some sacrifices, and I'd just gotten halfway through doing the Two Powers meditation when I was re-joined by one of my (Jewish, not druish) camping companions, who wanted company. So in the end I just waited until I got home and could rely on the privacy of my home shrine to observe the Equinox.

The ritual I used was the Simple Rite of Offering from the DP handbook, augmented with particular recognitions of the Festival. I poured an offering of whisky to the Outdwellers out the living room window before I went in to my shrine. For the Earth Mother invocation, I followed the form we'd used at Spiral Spirit's midsummer rite and offered old-world oats and new-world cornmeal with the RDNA Earth Mother prayer. Silver was given to the well, oil to the fire, and I asperged and smudged myself and the shrine before offering to Cernunnos as Gatekeeper. I opened the gates and began the offerings.

I used Talisker whisky, most of the last of the bottle that was given to us at our wedding (we don't drink whisky much; I'll need to buy another bottle of whisky just for my rites -- it adds an extra-punchy dimension of feeling to the words "the blessing flows and shines in me" after you swallow it at the blessing!) I offered to Belenos and Damona as primary patrons of the rite; as they are a solar/lunar pair it seemed fitting at the Equinox.

The omen was as follows:

Ancestors: hagalaz

Spirits: elhaz

Gods: wunjo

Hagalaz and elhaz are both protection runes; wunjo is harmony, joy and fellowship. Hagalaz and elhaz also share a certain aspect of harmony; hagalaz symbolizes harmony within oneself, and elhaz harmony with the Kindreds. With wunjo as harmony with one's fellow humans, this is a bright and welcome omen.

I made a final offering and sent as much gratitude and love through the gate as I could along with the offering, and then accepted the return flow and drank the whisky. It burned within me, all right. I then said my thanks to the Kindreds and the Gatekeeper, and closed the gates with his help. I thanked the Mother again and ended the rite.

I would like to find ways to make my solitary Festival rites more representative of the Festivals themselves; while I am hoping to more regularly be able to attend Grove rites there will doubtless be occasions when I have to observe them alone and it would be beneficial to be prepared with more ways to differentiate these rites from my standard devotions.

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