WebThe essential ritual in Celtic Weddings is the handfasting ceremony The handfasting ceremony involves 13 ribbons, each with their own symbolic meaning. It was used to curse or satirise someone and so, was the ritualistic killing of a persons reputation. These places, as well as some urban sites, often had purpose-built temples, shrines, and sanctuaries. Here, druids performed rituals and prayers while votive offerings of precious goods, as well as animal and human sacrifices, were given to the Celtic gods to gain their favour and ensure the continued success of the community. Also during this preparation period it is important all participants develop self-knowledge and awareness, so they may take advantage of the power of their sexuality when they need it. Both serious practitioners and characters in witchy lore are known for their abilities to unleash primal desires. When my older daughter (now sixteen) turned eleven, I started thinking about how we would punctuate her coming of age. Especially if you have children or live T he association of menstruation with sacredness is reinforced in Tantric practices such as Yoni Puja (worship of the female Yoni), wherein a ritual worship is carried out not only of a woman, but also of her Yoni or Vagina, which is perceived to be a symbol of the Cosmic Yoni from which the entire universe has emerged. Celtic Christian spirituality refers to a set of practices and beliefs in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales that developed in the early fifth century during the development of the monastic tradition. Celtic traditions were the guiding forces of a mystical rescue of neo-pagan femininity, which for a few years has influenced the feminization of the neo-Indian and They came to me through the stories I grew up with, whispering through the threads of time. In the month Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by. Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. We were never meant feel separate or cut off from the Mother, Gaia, our earth, and yet many of us may ache from this wound. They were immersed in this poetry and ancient call to see God active in the whole world. LOVE MASTERY Both are required to know the fullness of the divine presence. Celtic religion - Beliefs, practices, and institutions | Britannica I was studying Medieval Irish and Celtic Studies at the time and so, began to recognise that any exposure to the rituals of our pre-Christian, Celtic ancestors were not alive in my body. You may be surprised by what is still living there. He led me through the forest and eventually to a clearing in the land where I saw what resembled the Mound of Hostages, a 5,000 year old Neolithic passage tomb at the Hill of Tara. One of the most important rituals was preparing a drink of immortality made from menstrual blood, which is full of healing stem cells, which can actually activate our cellular capacity to regenerate and transport us to endocrine states of rapture. I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. The ritual itself also has its ceremonial steps in which different rites are performed, such as forming the circle or the symbol they want to use, or placing the participants in strategic energetic points which exist on the ground, natural drinks that relax the mind and body and which expand the senses among others. SPACE TIME ENERGY MATTER Then God spoke all these words: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me. I soon realised I had been practising ritual my entire childhood spent going to mass in a Catholic church. To sing medicine songs or whatever soothes our hearts. He later had another dream in which he heard the Irish people calling out to him to return to the land of his enslavement and help Christianity flourish. As a result, much of Celtic Christianity can be characterized by a strongly incarnational theology: The natural world, in particular, reveals the sacramentality of all creation. Micah 6:8. Now. Weddings are one of the most important of rituals of Celtic life. The essential ritual in Celtic Weddings is the handfasting ceremony The handfasting ceremony involves 13 ribbons, each with their own symbolic meaning. The hand fasting ritual is a physical bond which unites a man and a woman when getting married. You are probably familiar with the lorica prayer above, attributed to St. Patrick. Often we simply need to create an environment for ourselves that feels safe, and then the emotions can move freely and reveal to us their deeper wisdom and power. or to turn back from following you! Samhain The Celtic Origins of AND PLEASE NOTICE It's believed that we form rituals based on our values. Closed down my eyes, connected with my breath and began the journey to my inner-world. For more information on yoni steams,I recommend reading this article. Please enjoy these sacred rituals for honoring your own sacred moon time, share them with your sisters and daughters, and please do share with us in the comments any of your beloved menstruation rituals. Celebrating your daughters first period is a great way to help her internalize positive feelings about her body that will stay with her for a lifetime. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. What tools and strategies had they learned from life? Much of this symbology lives within the stories of the holy grail, an enlightened womb, that only a noble man arriving in true reverence and devotion could access, and there he would drink the elixir of immortality. A dear friend of mine Hannah Dyson of Soul Seed Gathering shared with me once that an indigenous elder of the Kogi tribe of Colombia explained to her how westerners feel ungrounded and uprooted because their placentas were never buried into the earth at the time of their birth. The Celtic Festival Of Samhain Invoked a prayer to my ancestors for guidance and protection. You can also soak your menstrual cloths to gather your blood if you are using those instead. honestly chris you are to me as maya angelou is to Oprah. He has told you, O mortal, what is good; Blood mysteries have been hidden into the very fabric of all of our creation stories, of our westernized religions, and into the fairytales that whisper to us the mysteries of the long forgotten, shamed, and demonized red river of consciousness. By remembering it once again, we not only alleviate ourselves from repeated suffering every single month, we open the doorway to profound connection with our Mother Earth and with the sacred cycles of creation. There was a sense of genuine warmth and intimacy in this relationship and deep respect for the others wisdom as a source of blessing. Three is a sacred number in the Celtic tradition, and often the saints expressed their own desires or commitments in terms of the number three. Keep in mind that depending on how you were raised and where you live, attitudes about womens bodies, reproduction, and sexuality may have changed since you were a girl. ritual Many of these practices have roots in desert spirituality; Celtic monks considered the teachings of the desert mothers and fathers essential wisdom. [1] [2] [3] It employs the same basic theology, rituals and beliefs as most other forms of Wicca. Christ behind me, Christ in me You can use Legend says St. Patrick had a dream in which he was visited by an angel who encouraged him to flee captivity and helped arrange a miraculous escape. This practice is rooted in the precarious sense people often have of our own existence. I used moon cups for many years until one day my yoni said no and I have since honored that through free bleeding and menstrual cloths. Turn off any notifications from your phone or computer and ask others in your house not to disturb you. Among the Celts those in charge of themagical ceremonieswere the Druids; non religious but spiritual/philosophical peoples, elders who had always shown a deep connection with nature and the universe and who were very wise. Everything to Know About the Handfasting Ceremony - Brides On the first day of your menstruation, go into your garden or out into the forest, and bleed directly onto the earth as an offering of that vision from your womb to the great womb of the Mother where it can be made manifest. Some time ago, I had a dream of a hare called Bran (raven in Irish). If youre new to yoni steaming, this is a self care practice dating back to ancient Egypt. When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. How have you been invited to surrender into trust? =20 Words= THANK YOU ALL How do you honor your moon time each month? Sexual Practices of the Druids But others will want to create a more female-focused ceremony that might include more Goddess energy. IMAGINE Then extend this by finding a whole morning or afternoon to go to a nearby retreat center or monastery and listen deeply to the sacred stirrings within. Samhain - Traditions, Halloween, Wicca - HISTORY The enchantment is nothing more than the clear, direct and simple expression of the intention; using words that have great vibratory power,this explains why normally enchantments were cast in native languages such as Celtic Gaulish, Latin, among others. One way to do this is to imagine you are at the end of your life looking back. Recognizing the unity of body, mind, and spirit, she empowers women to trust their inner wisdom, their connection with Source, and their ability to truly flourish. Infuse your visions, dreams, or whatever you wish to release into your blood. As within so without. Giving your blood back to the earth is a powerful way to reaffirm your connection with nature, honoring that you are not separate from her, you come from her, you are her, you are her daughter. And figured Getting a drivers license, being able to vote, or consuming alcoholic beverages legally come too late chronologically to mark puberty, and they are not accompanied by the goodwill and instruction of the entire community. To cook ourselves nourishing foods as an act of self love and self care. This simple ritual can be performed by both men and women, and is designed to honor the feminine aspects of the universe as well as our female ancestors. In August my youngest went off to college, making me an official empty-nester. Choosing to simply be enough, as you are already, is a radical act of feminine empowerment at this time in our herstory. After that, she was recognized as a woman who had demonstrated her capacity for patience and perseverance. Ixcacao herself is a fertility and womb Goddess, connecting us to the roots of life, and through this sustenance and abundance we naturally blossom open our hearts. To Celtic magicians, these types of rituals are ideal when they are done or practiced in a group. What many of us may forget in the busyness of our lives and the normalcy of menstruating monthly, is that each time we bleed it is a birth. EDUCE And so, I decided to take it out of my dreamworld and into my awake time, creating a ritual around it. QUANTUM KEY You may wish to create a ritual for this, along with giving your blood to the earth, journaling intentions, or anything else that connects you to your feminine nature, and either collect some of your blood in a moon cup or receive it directly from your yoni. Blessing and anointing yourself with your menstrual blood is a powerful way to reclaim what has been deemed dirty and impure as exquisitely divine. I found them tedious and long. This is the Irish word for desert and refers to a place of solitude and silence, a retreat for those who long for a more intimate encounter with God and where attention can be cultivated with few distractions. Each time I contemplated stepping on to the grass, strange jurassic creatures would run across my path, teeth chomping and snarling. Traditionally a woman would leave her family and go to sit in the red tent with her sisters on their bleeding cycle, to have privacy and solitude to go inward during this sensitive time. In short, she is preparing to become a more independent member of her family and society. NOVA QUANTUM BEINGS The third fundamental principlelies in the acceptance that one of the most powerful forces in the cosmos is the one generated at the moment of climax; for a brief moment during sexual activity this energy, like the others, can be harnessed for magical purposes. Menstrual Rites and History - jessicaxolewis.co They have a tremendous ability to transform when we allow them to do their business and harness them in healthy productive ways. Maev and the High King by Courtney Davis. It was the only time my mom allowed me and my two sisters to take the day off of school. As women our energy is cyclical and needs to be honored this way. We all walk at our own pace, for me sexuality is something beautiful, sacred (not in the religious sense of the word) and healing; something to be honored while utilizing it (we honor sexuality by our motivation) not something to be hidden, separated from spirit or demeaned. Saining not Smudging- Purification and Lustration in Scottish Folk These rituals celebrated times when the boundary between this world and The Otherworld was thinnest. I seed my intentions into your soil and as I watch you cycle the seasons I blossom through the seasons of my womb. Where have you felt nudges to move forward? If you appreciate what we do, please support us. Then the dream happened again. RITUALS AND FESTIVALS - THE CELTIC RELIGION your people shall be my people, Please use your own discernment when reading the content shared on this website. More on her website camillewillemain.com. Pay particular attention to the signs of the seasonwhat flowers might be in bloom, whether the trees have their leaves, and the height of the sun in the sky. Crane and heron are the same word corr in Gaeilge. There are many stories of Irish monks who lived as hermits for a time, including Sts. To feel your primal wildness in union with your pristine holiness. MATERIALIZE Ecclesiastes 3:12a. A few days after I followed Bran, I got an alert on my phone. This is because the explosive energies of individuation that are released at puberty require some kind of container in which they can be channeled constructively. This is the time when her unique, inborn gifts and talents are ripe for recognition and in-depth development. Find a holy place to walk around. NOW Give thanks to your womb for restoration, healing, and new life. During this time the girl wears a traditional buckskin dress and her hair is braided in a special way. Terms of Use.*. Before Marinas first period arrived, I contacted all the people who cared deeply for her and requested that they write a few sentences about what they wished they had known at her age. And then I will hold you tight and hold you long and together we will stare into silence. Preparing for your flow with a yoni steam during the week before your menstruation will help release stagnation to support a more easeful bleed with less cramping and discomfort. Christ on my right, Christ on my left Womb meditations are also potent during this time, and you may find it very powerful to simply sit with your womb, offer loving presence, and ask for anything that she may be holding to be seen by you. Celtic pre-Christian culture, dating back to 500 B.C.E., permeated the land, and these beliefs also strongly influenced Celtic spiritual practices. This ritual came to me many moons ago while creating our divine feminine mentorship course Whole Woman, and I was delighted to discover it months later in the book Ixchel Wisdom channeled by Shonagh Home. Yet, all ritual in my life had been monoreligious. WebMenstrual blood is perfect for charging sigils and servitors in Chaos Magick. I could not cross the threshold. Again at the edge of the forest. The surest way to disconnect a woman from her own power is to convince her that this power is inherently impure and separate from God. Tools for the Working of Celtic Sex Magic Rituals Attire The Wand The Staff or Stave The Dagger The Chalice Libation Vessels The Ladle The Cauldron The Phallus The Binding Vessel The Working Stone The Convocation Stone Candles and Candleholders Incense and Essential Oil Burners White Cleansing Cloth (s) The Sword Sacrifices - animal and human - were also offered