Mooncoast CUUP’s, Ostara 3/19/99
Statement of Intent
Welcome to our CUUP’s Ostara Ritual. Ostara is a Northern European name for the Goddess Astarte. Astarte also means womb - for the Goddess as the Earth is fully pregnant now with animals being born and vegetation starting to awaken all over the Northern Hemisphere. In the story of Demeter and Persephone this is the time when Persephone reappears on the Earth and Demeter, the Grain Mother, now permits vegetation to grow and virgin grain to sprout. Sun Bear, a sacred teacher of Chippewa descent, was the founder and Medicine Chief of the Bear Tribe, a multiracial educational society. Tonight, we'll be working with the directions as used by the Bear Tribe, founded by the late Sun Bear. They will be a little different than what most people work with. Celebrate Springtime with me by reconnecting to the Web of Life and help to heal our Mother Earth.
Grounding the Participants
Imagine yourself as a tree - a great oak standing in the sunshine, with your blood as the sap. Your head and arms are your branches. Bring the sunlight from above you down through your branches into your limbs, and then down into your trunk. Now flow the energy down into your roots, and from there into the Earth below. Send that light even further into the Earth, all the way down to her core. Feel your light blending with that of Mother Earth. Now bring that energy up through the Earth into your roots, then your trunk, now up your limbs into your branches. Send your light, now mixed with the light of Mother Earth, back up into the sky to reconnect with the Sunshine above to complete the Circle of Life.
Casting the Circle
By the Earth this is her body, By the Air that is her breath, By the Waters of her living womb, By the fire of her bright spirit,
This Circle is cast. We are between the worlds. Beyond the bounds of time where day and night, birth and death, sorrow and joy meet as one.
Calling the Quarters
EAST: Wabun, guardian of the East - place of spring, time of dawn. Come to us on the wings of Eagles. May your breezes bring clarity, wisdom and illumination. Be with us now. So Mote It Be!
SOUTH: Shawnodese - guardian of the South - place of summer, time of midday. Discover with us the stealth and cunning of the coyote. Illuminate us with experience, introspection and strength. Be with us now. So Mote It Be!
WEST: Mudjekeewis - guardian of the West - place of Autumn, time of twilight. Join us with the solid grace of the bear. May your waves wash over us with growth, trust and love. Be with us now. So Mote It Be!
NORTH: Waboose - guardian of the North - place of winter, time of midnight. Come to us on the thundering hooves of the buffalo. Ground us with cleansing, renewal and purity. Be with us now. So Mote It Be!
Invoking the God\Goddess
HPS: Gaia - Our primordial Earth Mother, we ask you to be here this night as we celebrate your rebirth. Blessed Be!
HP: Green Man - primordial Consort of the Earth Mother, Guardian of all plants and trees, be with us now. Blessed Be!
Workings
We need to reconnect ourselves to the Web of Life and remember that everything is inter-connected. I am going to read a poem that may move you in some way, possibly even to the point of tears. Tears are OK in this safe place between the worlds and there is Kleenex on the altar if needed.
Bestiary
Joanna Macy
Short-Tailed Albatross, Whooping Crane, Gray Wolf, Peregrine Falcon, Hawksbill Turtle, Jaguar, Rhinoceros...
In Geneva, the international rally of endangered species, kept up to date in loose-leaf volumes, is becoming too heavy to lift. Where do we now record the passing of life? What funerals or farewells are appropriate?
Reed Warbler, Swallow-Tail Butterfly, Manx Shearwater, Indian Python, Howler Monkey, Sperm Whale, Blue Whale...
Dive me deep, brother whale, in this time we have left. Deep in our Mother ocean where once I swam, gilled and finned. The salt from those early seas still runs in my tears. Tear are too meager now. Give me a song…a song for a sadness too vast for my heart, for a rage too wild for my throat.
Anteater, Antelope, Grizzly Bear, Bactrian Camel, Nile Crocodile, American Alligator...
Ooze me, alligator, in the mud whence I came. Belly me slow in the rich primordial soup, cradle of our molecules. Let me wallow again, before we drain your swamp, before we pave it over and blast it to ash.
Gray Bat, Ocelot, Marsh Mouse, Blue Pike, Red Kangaroo, Aleutian Goose, Audouin’s Seagull...
Quick, lift off, sweep me high over the coast and out, farther out. Don’t land here. Oil spills coat the beach, rocks, sea. I cannot spread my wings glued with tar. Fly me from what we have done, fly me far.
Golden Parakeet, African Ostrich, Florida Panther, Galapagos Penguin, Imperial Pheasant, Leopard, Utah Prairie Dog...
Hide me in a hedgerow, Badger. Can’t you find one? Dig me a tunnel through leaf mold and roots, under the trees that once defined our fields. My heart is bulldozed and plowed over. Burrow me a labyrinth deeper than longing.
Thick-Billed Parrot, Zone-Tailed Pigeon, Desert Bandicoot, Southern Bald Eagle, California Condor, Lotus Blue Butterfly...
Crawl me out of here, Caterpillar. Spin me a cocoon. Wind me to sleep in a shroud of silk, where in patience my bones will dissolve. I’ll wait as long as all creation if only it will come again - and I take wing.
Atlantic Ridley turtle, Pearly Mussel, Helmeted Hornbill, Sea Otter, Humpback Whale, Monk Seal, Harp Seal...
Swim me out beyond the ice floes, Mama. Where are you? Boots squeeze my ribs, clubs drum my fur, the white world goes black with the taste of my blood.
Gorilla, Gibbon, Sand Gazelle, Swamp Deer, Musk Deer, Cheetah, Chinchilla, Asian Elephant, African Elephant...
Sway me slowly through the jungle. There still must be jungle somewhere, my heart drips with green secrets. Hose me down by the waterhole, there is buckshot in my hide. Tell me old stories while you can remember.
Fan-Tailed Flycatcher, Flapshell Tortoise, Crested Ibis, Hook-Billed Kite, Bobcat, Frigate Bird...
In the time when his world, like ours, was ending, Noah had a list of the animals, too. We picture him standing by the gangplank, calling their names, checking them off on his scroll. Now we also are checking them off.
Ivory-Billed Woodpecker, Brown Pelican, Florida Manatee, Canada Goose...
We reenact Noah’s ancient drama, but in reverse, like a film running backwards, the animals exiting.
Ferret, Curlew, Cougar, Wolf...
Your tracks are growing fainter. Wait. Wait. This is a hard time. Don’t leave us alone in a world we have wrecked.
(HPS Count each person in the circle, 1 2 3, 12 3)
HP: Now is the time to take that sadness you might be feeling and direct it into healing our Mother Earth. I need everyone to make two circles. All the ones will create the inner circle, and the two’s and three’s will create the outer. The inner circle will move widdershins, to your right, with your right hand extended out. The outer circle with move doesil, to your left, with your right hand extended in to meet the hands of those in the inner circle, and your left hand extended out and up to send the energy directly out into the universe to be used where ever Mother Earth might need it.
HPS: Now that our dance is done, as you return to your places in the circle, you will each receive a shell from the Earth to remind you of your connection to all things on this planet.
Blessing of the Cakes & Wine
HPS: Gaia, Bless this wine and infuse it with Your love.
May we never thirst.
HP: GreenMan, Bless these cakes and infuse them with Your love.
May we never hunger
Announcements
Releasing the Quarters
NORTH: Wabun - we thank you for bringing your clarity, wisdom and illumination to us. Leave us if you must, walk beside us if you will, know that you are always welcome in our lives. Hail and farewell.
WEST: Mudjekeewis - our appreciation for sharing your experience, introspection and strength with us. Leave us if you must, walk beside us if you will, know that you are always welcome in our lives. Hail and farewell.
SOUTH: Shawnodese - we thank you for bringing your lessons of growth, trust and love. Leave us if you must, walk beside us if you will, know that you are always welcome in our lives. Hail and farewell.
EAST: Waboose - our appreciation for grounding us with cleansing, renewal and purity. Leave us if you must, walk beside us if you will, know that you are always welcome in our lives. Hail and farewell.
Releasing the Circle
Gaia, we thank you for being here with us this night. Stay if you will, leave if you must. Hail and farewell.
Green Man, we thank you for being here with us this night. Stay if you will, leave if you must. Hail and farewell.
Tonight as we open this circle we will each in our turn touch our right hands to our hearts and then touch the shoulder of the person next to you. “May the love I feel in my heart travel to my hand and into your heart.”
May this Circle be open but never broken. Merry Meet and Merry Part and Merry Meet again. Blessed Be!
Go Mbeannaigh
(Gaelic, Ireland - Blessed Be)
Sonqongi Apukuna Wak'aychasunkiku
(Quechua, Peru - May the Heart of the Mountain bless you)
Xut Kala Xetl
(Tlingit, Alaska - Blessed Be)
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