Through a providential reconnect with some friends, I was invited to a Mabon ritual for today. I have so missed ritual and missed this group of people. It was a joy to be welcomed back together.
The ritual had three parts - giving thanks for something, releasing something that we didn't want to bear into the next season, and seeking a kind of wisdom to carry us or carry with us into the next season. For this last piece, we each made a talisman of hazelnuts and their shells. (The hazel tree is said to be a tree of wisdom.) I'm seeking the wisdom of my inner mother (not certain what else to call that yet) as I prepare to become a mother.
Before we started, the men took up the Maypole from it's place in the yard and paraded it around before setting it to rest for next spring. Meanwhile the women sang and clapped. While we were gathered into two groups, by gender, it had this junior high school sexual tension to it - the boys cracking jokes about the pole, the girls giggling amongst themselves, an expanse of green lawn between us. It was so silly. I joined right in. (The rest of the ritual was very balanced and neutral. This part was a flirty farewell to the fertility of spring as we enter a season of hibernation, compost, rest.)
The whole ceremony was simple, festive, and playful even while including thoughtful aspects. Afterward we enjoyed a tasty potluck. Everyone got along and found plenty to talk about even though most of us were meeting for the first time. I felt at home.
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