Stovetop Hearth Rites

October 2, 2011 at 6:59 am (Arts & Crafts, Food, spirituality)
Tags: , , , , , , ,

Quite a few years ago I came across the idea of having a hearth goddess shrine in the kitchen. I think it was in a book about house magic. The shrine it described was to the Greek hearth goddess Hestia. I liked the idea but didn’t see at the time how I would implement it and I didn’t feel a strong connection to Hestia. I saw a variation on the theme in an article I’ve mentioned before; “Takin’ It All Home” by Kami Landy. I suppose the idea incubated in the back of my mind for a bit, but then it finally occurred to me what form my kitchen shrine would take and the ritual actions that would form around it.

Though I think of her as much more than a hearth goddess, Bríd, as goddess of fire, is my obvious choice of deity to honor at a kitchen shrine. I would decide on a symbol or image to use for her and where to put it. It would need to be small, and something I could place away from splattering oil and steam, but still be right in front of me when I went to cook. I decided against having a lamp or candle to light every time I set out to cook. It would be an extra step that I know I wouldn’t keep doing. I felt that just the imagery should be enough and some simple brief actions surrounding it.

It would be one small object (home-made, of course) to focus on and remind me of Bríd. I’ve collected Pagan and Celtic coloring pages for years, so I searched through my collection to find something I could color in and decoupage. I found a Bríd’s cross superimposed over a sun. I really like the imagery though in the future when this one is worn out, I might go with a depiction of the goddess instead.

So this is how I made it… I cut out three circles from a pizza box lid and glued them together to create a strong disk. I taped the cut edges with small tears of masking tape then painted the entire disk black with craft paint. After this dried, I glued on the picture with a thin layer of white glue and let it dry, then put on a couple layers of Modge Podge. Then I painted the image with craft paints. Originally I was going to put this on the wall above the stove, squeezed in between my spices and cooking utensils. But then it occurred to me that I could stick a magnet strip on the back and place it on the stove’s hood. So that is what I did. It keeps it safer from steam and splatters and easier to reach. I slide it further up onto the stove hood when not being used for my cooking blessing, so it won’t get knocked down.

And this is how I use it in ritual… when I’m about to start cooking, I say a short blessing and rub a pinch of the dry ingredients I’m using in my cooking  (usually salt, spices) around the edge of the image as offering. That’s all there is to it. Not hard to keep up a ritual such as that. The brief words of my cooking blessing was inspired from a couple of Bríd prayers I learned years ago:

~~~
“Gentle red-cheeked Bríd
Of flame and honeycomb,
Bless this cooking, bless this home.”
~~~

Leave a Comment

Celtic Pagan Daily Spirituality – when there’s no time for ritual

September 4, 2011 at 6:10 am (Day in the Life, spirituality)
Tags: , , , , ,

As part of my Dedicant Program studies for ADF, I’m supposed to keep a journal documenting things like my daily ritual and meditative practices. As time wears on, I find that not only can it be difficult to keep up the practice of journaling, it is especially difficult at times to maintain the routine of a daily ritual. This got me to thinking about an article I read years ago on the Imbas website; “Takin’ It All Home: Translating Our Ritual Structure to Personal Space” by Kami Landy. So I went back and read the article again to remind myself of how Celtic spirituality can be woven into my daily life, even when it seems I don’t have time. Infused with thankfulness, connection, and meditative awareness, the mundane activities of daily life take on new meaning. Life is the ritual.

Here are some of my ideas for daily Celtic spirituality inspired by Landy’s article:

Water
Just as so many modern Hindu worshipers do today, so too did the ancient druids start their day with ritual bathing. For Hindus, the sacred river is the Ganges. For the druids, there were many sacred rivers. The founding goddess of the Celts is Danu, Ancestral Mother and river goddess. Not all of us can bathe in a river every morning, but most of us shower daily. Why not consider the water coming from the shower as sacred? All the water that is on the planet has always been here, it just keeps circulating around the globe. That water was once a part of the sacred Danube river (and the Ganges, for that matter). The daily shower is the perfect time to connect to and worship Danu (and/or other water-related deities).  I begin by cupping my hands under the stream of water and saying something like this: “Danu, mo bandia, Ancient Mother, Ancient River, Waters of Life… may your flowing waters cleanse my body and soul for the ritual of life…”
Another way of viewing sacred water in a Celtic context is the concept of the Sacred Well. (Put in a drain strainer so that you can occasionally place a piece of silver in the drain as offering without it getting lost or causing a clog.)

Tree: the Sacred Center
For Celtic Pagans, the Bilé, or world tree, is symbolic of our connection between the upper and lower realms; the center of sacred space. Symbolically, it holds our worlds together. (I also consider the imagery of the tree as representative of a Curnunnos-type deity, but your mileage may vary.) Landy recommends touching a representation of the Bilé (a chimney or center wall of the house) as a meditative reconnection. I would also add that a tree figurine or other representation on your personal shrine would also work, and on the go, a tree pendant necklace. In your daily rounds, do you walk by a tree? Simply reaching out and briefly touching a tree can be very grounding; a physical trigger as well as an acknowledgement of the sacredness of the tree itself. You could also rub a pinch of red ochre or ground grains on the tree as offering, when you have time.

Fire
Landy speaks of the pilot light of the water heater, stove burner, etc. being representative of the home’s sacred flame. But what if you live in a home that is all-electric, and no fireplace to smoor? I like her idea of lighting a small candle while cooking, and putting some kind of symbol like a sun-face or Brigit’s cross above it. This gave me the idea of considering the stove-top itself an altar to Brigit and putting a symbol of her on the wall above it. But I don’t light a candle when I cook; I consider electricity her Divine Spark in modern form. When beginning cooking, I touch her image in reverence and smudge on a little ground grain or red ochre.

Earth Mother
Landy’s paragraph about the Earth Mother is spot on. Everywhere is Her altar and our worship of Her is in our actions; our sustainable lifestyles of recycling, conserving resources, non-consumerism. To this I would add that simply bending down to touch the Earth in reverence can be one of your most powerful spiritual acts of the day.

The Three Kindreds
The Three Kindreds are: Deities, Nature Spirits, and Ancestors. Worship of certain deities is included in the above water (well), tree, and fire reverence ideas. I also like Landy’s idea of using pictures to remind one of the Kindreds. These could be anointed with red ochre or some other sacred substance in a way similar to Hindu worship.
For honoring the Nature Spirits, I think that her idea of using a bird feeder as offering receptacle for them is pure genius. In many cases, even an apartment dweller could do this. To what she has suggested on this, I have nothing more to add. Her ideas on Ancestor reverence is well put also. My Ancestor shrine is in the dining area where I eat everyday, so it is easy to remember to honor them, but Landy’s article gives me ideas on how to enhance that shrine through use of scent and items held dear to the Beloved Dead. Little things like this serve to help one remember and revere the Ancestors.

Many of these ideas can even be adapted to use when traveling. I especially like the idea of using pictures (not neccesarily as part of a shrine) to worship the Kindreds; this idea too, could be portable in the form of homemade picture prayer cards kept in a wallet or purse, or one could use charms on a bracelet. A lot of what Landy’s article is about is setting up a home environment in which spiritual practice becomes second nature. We do have time for “ritual” when it’s many little things woven into our lives.

Leave a Comment

Dagda and Curnunnos Wall Plaques

August 21, 2011 at 6:46 am (Arts & Crafts)
Tags: ,

As part of the ADF Dedicant Program, I’ve been working on making improvements to my home shrine. One of the things I wanted to do was make more deity images, preferably ones I could hang on the wall and coordinate with the ones I already have. I’ve seen what beautiful statues and plaques they have at Sacred Source, but the expense is just too great (and probably wouldn‘t “go with” what I have anyway).

I knew from the beginning that this was going to be a do-it-yourself project. My first thoughts were to make something out of plasticized clay (since I don’t have the kiln that would be necessary to fire natural clay), but after seeing the price tag on a large block of the stuff, I just couldn’t bring myself to buy it. So I decided to use a special recipe for salt dough that dries a bit harder than regular salt dough. (See my post “Crafting with Salt Dough“.) I figured it wouldn’t have the near-permanence that other materials would have, but that is probably a good thing; it would be bio-degradable.

I wanted these to be the same size and shape as my other shrine plaques, so I rolled out the dough, measured and cut to shape. I actually let the tile shapes dry a day or so before adding anything else, so pressing on the other items wouldn’t distort the shape of the plaque. For the most part, I used the coiling method to shape the forms, and used white school glue to make them stick to the partially dried dough tile.

For the Curnunnos plaque, I had a coloring book page of the Gundestrup cauldron that I used as a model I coiled the dough and placed it directly onto the page, let it dry, then transferred it to the dough tile.

For the Dagda plaque, I was stumped. I didn’t have a historic picture that I wanted to model it from. I looked at several modern renditions of Dagda in a Google image search. I was most inspired by a picture of Dagda painted on a longboard. For the face, I used a homemade mold I had taken of my Greenman plaque with strong salt dough. I trimmed away the leaves and added curled coils for mustache and beard. After I had filled in the picture with his three symbols; his club, harp, and cauldron. The picture was complete.

After air drying about a week, I used acrylic paints from my old craft supply stash to finish them up. Curnunnos got a layer of black, then silver. Dagda got a layer of brown, then gold, both drying thoroughly between layers.

3 Comments

Three Kindreds Shrine/Altar Dedication

December 3, 2010 at 2:52 pm (spirituality, Uncategorized)
Tags: , , ,

This is a short rite I came up with to hallow/bless/consecrate a home altar space.  I think it’s a good one to use whether setting up an altar/shrine for the first time or re-establishing one after a move.  Or perhaps your altar /shrine has been dishoveled or disturbed- that would be another reason to do a new altar dedication.
(Note: I usually consider the “shrine” to be the part where the Spirits (Three Kindreds) are depicted in art or statuary and adorned.  I consider the altar to be the part of the shrine, the flat surface area, where offerings and other ritual items are placed.)
Set up: Clean the surfaces where the shrine & altar will be set up.  Dust and clean all shrine figures and altar pieces and set up in the designated location.  Make sure candles are placed where the flames will not catch anything on fire.  Have ready incense for offerings.

Purification: Smudge altar with Juniper smoke, encircling with the smoke three to nine times.

Three Realms Blessing
“As it was, as it is, as it evermore shall be — I stand at the Center of Earth, Sky and Sea.”

Purpose
“I establish this shrine and altar to keep the old ways and honor the Kindreds Three;
the Ancestors, Nature Spirits, and Deities.”

Fire Lighting
“I kindle the sacred flames of my hearth and home in honor of the Kindred Three.” 
(light the 3 altar candles) 

Offering & Request for Blessing
“May this shrine be recognized by the Three Kindreds.
Nature Spirits, I offer you incense, peace, and welcome.”  (light incense)
“May these rites and this shrine honor you, and may you bless me and mine.
Ancestors, I offer you incense, rememberence, and welcome.”  (light incense)
“May these rites and this shrine honor you, and may you bless me and mine.
I call to my Deities; (speak the names of your deities)–
Shining Ones All, hear my prayer to you- I offer you incense and worship.”  (light incense)
“May this shrine and the rites of this household honor you.  I ask that you guide my path and bless me and mine.”

At this time, add more prayers, praise songs, or just meditate and be in the presence of the Spirits.
When ready, extinguish candles and say:

“As it was, as it is, as it evermore shall be.”

Leave a Comment

preparing for an indoor family ritual

January 23, 2010 at 6:51 am (Holidays, spirituality)
Tags: , , , ,

Setting Up an ADF Home Shrine
In Ár nDraíocht Féin, rituals center around what are called the triple center; the three hallows of fire, well, and tree.    These are considered our connection to the Otherworld.  They are also a conduit by which we make our offerings to the Three Kindreds; the ancestors, nature spirits, and deities.  You may also want to have representations of the Three Kindred on your shrine, though it is not absolutely necessary.

A Hearth Shrine
Ideally, the family shrine would be on a fireplace mantle and the hallowed fire kindled in the fireplace.  The fireplace is a threshold of magic.  The fire lit inside the fireplace becomes one of the three hallows for ritual.  A bowl or cauldron of water  may be used to represent the well hallow and placed in front of the fireplace or on the mantle.  The tree hallow may be represented by a stick, some kind of artistic representation, or even by a real miniature tree, and placed in the center of the fireplace mantle.
An advantage to having a fireplace shrine, is that you can toss offerings directly into the flames.  You will want to have an offering bowl on your mantle as well, to hold offerings that you’ll want to take outside later.
A Table Shrine
Not all of us are fortunate enough to have a fireplace, but setting up a shrine on a table or shelf is much the same as for a fireplace mantle.  The main difference is that you’ll need to add a candle or oil lamp to represent your fire hallow.  I use three candles, representing the Three Kindreds.  When using candles, you won’t be able to toss offerings directly into the flames, so you will need to have an incense burner as well.

Offerings
You will notice that the rituals I post here emphasize making offerings.  If you have read some of the articles on adf.org, you will notice that they call offerings “sacrifice”.  They mean the same thing I mean and vice versa.  Before you begin ritual, you need to decide what kinds of offerings you are going to use, how much of it you will need, and have it all ready and close to your shrine/altar.  For offering to the Earth Mother, I like to use a little grain, cornmeal, or seeds.  The hallows are offered to as well.  Usually its silver (like a silver coin) to the well, incense to the fire, and the tree is sprinkled with water from the well and censed with incense.  Offerings to the Three Kindred can be food (a portion of the feast to follow), grains, beverages of many sorts, and in addition to this- songs, poetry, or any other talents you can perform in honor of the Kindreds can also be given as an offering.
Omen
The purpose of the omen is to determine what sort of blessing the Spirits offer in return for our offerings.  Use whatever form of divination you are most comfortable with.  Some within ADF believe that the omen is also to determine whether or not the Spirits have even accepted our offerings- personally, I disagree.  Also, I feel that taking an omen isn’t necessary for all rituals, but I usually include it in the seasonal rituals that I write.
Blessing Cup
After a prayer for blessing, all drink in the blessing in the form of the ‘waters of life’.  This can be water, juice, mead… whatever is appropriate for the occasion and ritual attendees.  If you are concerned about getting germs from all sharing the same cup, you can have individual blessing cups for everyone and dip out the waters of life with a ladle from a large punch bowl or cauldron.   In the rituals I have written, I have left blanks in the “prayer of blessing”, so that it can be customized/ personalized. So you may want to think ahead about what to ask for.
Other Notes
~Read through the ritual carefully before you start to make sure you have all supplies ready- don’t forget the matches.  You may also want a bell to signify the beginning and end of the ritual.
~Divide up speaking/action parts among participants.  You may want to choose the youngest member of the household to be official bell ringer- if s/he has the restraint to ring only before and after the ritual!
~Learn chants ahead of time.
~Don’t forget the food!  Celtic rites are generally followed by feasting.

Leave a Comment

Altered Art for the Altar…

August 19, 2009 at 8:18 am (Arts & Crafts)
Tags: ,

Anna…actually it’s altered art for a shrine- I just liked the play on words.  (Really though, don’t you think it’s annoying when someone types ‘alter’ when they mean so say ‘altar’?)
This picture is of a statue/ wall plaque that was originally an angel from Hobby Lobby.  It has been the main focus of my household shrine for nearly a decade now.  When I first got her, I broke off her wings, patched up the sides with plaster, and placed clay braids in her hair.  Then I painted the altered areas beige to match the rest of her.  She represents Anna, by the way (my family’s interpretation of the Irish goddess Danu/ Anu).  When I was pregnant I painted her red to represent the life-blood of motherhood.  Recently she’s had another makeover, as you can see.  Most of her dress is green to represent the green world.  The bowl of her skirt has more blue tones for she is also goddess of the waters.  And because she is a primordial goddess, I think of her as encompassing the universe (though this may or may not be a historically accurate depiction of Danu/Anu), so her face is the silver of the moon, her hair the blackness of space, and she wears a golden crown representing the sun.
She is my best attempt at altered art.  In my eyes she looks serene and regal.  I have tried altering another figurine that I found at a thrift store, so I could have a goddess statue that rests on a flat surface to bring to rituals, but the results were less than pleasing.  [The branch arched above her represents Green Jack (our interpretation of Bilé, the Irish tree god).]

1 Comment

Altars and Shrines

August 14, 2009 at 10:45 am (spirituality)
Tags: ,

A shrine is a sacred place dedicated to a specific entity, at which s/he is venerated or worshipped.  The area of a shrine in which votive offerings are placed is considered an altar.  This may be quite different from how many Neopagans define ’altar’- a sacred area where symbolic objects and ’working tools’ are kept during ritual.  (Not a place for offerings- making offerings isn’t a Wiccan thing to do.)  I never got much into using magical tools (athame, chalice, wand, pentacle) when I was Wiccan.  I had fun collecting them, but ended up not using them much.  For magic, I’ve always used just whatever items are needed.  So I guess I have always thought of an altar along the lines of it’s ‘official’ definition- as part of a shrine.  I’ve seen many Wiccan altars that I didn’t recognize as such- they seemed random, without the central focus that a shrine would have.  Once I went to a ritual where there was a potlatch (stuff swap) afterward, and it seemed that a couple of people almost mistook the altar for the potlatch table!  I guess my point is, I have a specific idea of what an altar/shrine should look like- and I don’t see the likes of one very often.  I don’t think an altar should be a blanket on the ground with a bunch of mismatched stuff on it (including matches/aim & flame!).  I don’t think shrines are always necessary nor practical for all rituals- Nature is often my only ‘shrine’.  And in my opinion, altars are only necessary in ritual if there is going to be some kind of offering made.  
A few years ago I went to a ritual at the Orpheum, where there was a shrine put together by all the people there.  Oh yes, you could tell that was a shrine- all the various deity images lit by only candlelight- it was inspiring.  Inspiring- that is the word.  That is what we should aim for in creating shrines.  In Hinduism, ‘darshan‘ means to see a sacred image of deity and receive the deity’s blessing.  Have you ever seen a shrine or image of a deity that moved you to the point that you felt you received blessing just by the sight of it?

2 Comments

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.