Tools for the Ritual:

• Soft yellow and orange altar cloths
• Litha incense – a warm, sun-filled scent such as copal or vanilla
• Golden God candle
• Silver Goddess candle
• White altar candle
• Quarter candles and corresponding stones
• Matches, taper and snuffer
• Vase of summer flowers and flowering herbs
• Simple feast – almond biscuits and mead
• A piece of newly completed creative work
• A yellow candle with a candleholder and bergamot essential oil for the sun spell.

Preparation:

At the beginning of the ritual mentally cleanse and sweep the area moving deosil. Set up the quarter candles and stones symbolising the elements of the quarters. Decorate the altar with its cloths, and then the candles. Place the golden God candle to the right back of the altar and the silver Goddess candle to the left back. The vase of flowering herbs and summer flowers is placed before the God candle; the yellow candle, holder and

bergamot oil are placed before the Goddess candle. The white altar candle goes at the centre back of the altar between the Goddess and God candles. The creative work is placed at the front of the altar. Place the items for the simple feast to one side.

Take a shower or splash your face with water for purification. Sit quietly and meditate for a while, then ground and centre.

Wait, feel the Sun’s kiss on your skin.

The Ritual:

The ritual is begun. Moving deosil, light the Goddess, God, altar and quarter candles and incense. Cast the circle in glowing yellow light. Call the quarters and spirit centre. Invoke the Goddess and God. Bid them all Hail and Welcome.

Wait, feel the Sun’s kiss on your skin. Say:

The time of the Sun’s greatness, strength and the zenith of the year has come as the wheel turns onwards into this joy-filled moment of warmth and as we feel the warmth of his rays he softly kisses the Earth’s skin with the warm ardour of self-knowledge. She has busied herself in her growing and fertile strength and now lies before him in all her mature splendour. Still and secure in the beauty of fulfilment she offers life grown from her body and his warmth back to that same life which is part of her as he shines golden light on all who partake of the wealth. I raise my voice with the teeming, giving and receiving life all around me and sing back to his kissing rays:

Light, oh golden light
I feel your coming and know your going.
The time of your great shining is here
And in the fire of my spirit I nurture your flame.
I lie long and rest under the kisses of your rays
And know the fulfilment of
Fertility brought to fruition.
With the Earth I recline in joyful bounty and rejoice
To feel your light on my skin as she does.
Now to the life of all I offer all the life I have,
One to the other given and received
In a constant cycle of the wheel
Whose turning never ceases.

Wait, feel the Sun’s kiss on your skin. Say:

Green Lady, Gaia, you are the Goddess of fulfilment and bounteous fertility. Your giving and taking stays true and constant in its cycle of life. You bless all your creatures with the fertile fire of life that burns in their souls. You bless them with the soft certainty of a steady death and the sure chance of nurturing new life from their old one, emptied anew into your cauldron of change. We all live and feed on those who have lived before us, and feed those who will come after us in our turn. You are the one to whom creation and destruction are one.

I come before you now in this time of your great fertility and bring my newly completed work as a symbol of my own. This work of my hand and mind is created in love and joy as your creatures are by you. I offer its beauty and completeness to you as a gift of life to life. May my fertile creativity be as constant as your own.

Wait, feel the Sun’s kiss on your skin.

Sun Spell:

Taking the yellow candle, fix it into its holder and place them both before you on the altar.
Taking the bergamot oil, pour a little onto the tip of the middle finger of your projective hand.
With the oil, anoint the candle from the top to the middle and from the bottom to the middle. The whole of the candle should be anointed with no areas being missed or done twice.
Excess oil may be used to anoint your breastbone with a symbol that has meaning to you.

Bless and charge the candle with golden sun energy. This may be done by first holding your hands above it and visualising a shining sphere of white light passing into it to drive out any negativity. When all the negativity is gone visualise a shining sphere of yellow sunlight streaming into the candle bringing with it the life-giving rays of sun energy. Fill the candle to the brim with the light of the sun. Say: Behold, I bless and purify this candle, charging it to be an agent of the light that lights life.

Lift the candle high into the air and then replace it on the altar. Say:

I fill this place with the life-giving rays of the Sun. As this candle burns all darkness of spirit is banished The cleansing heat of the sun chases it out and away.

Light the candle.
Visualise the cleansing heat of yellow sunlight filling the whole of your space.
Warmth and creativity are filling the air and the scent of summer flowers wafts through bringing life and the spacious of peace in its wake.
Explore the feelings this evokes in you.

Visualise tying a knot around the candle to bind the spell. Say:

I bind this spell by power of the three, May it harm none and bring good to me.

After the ritual is ended the lit candle should be placed in a central part of your home and allowed to burn down without being extinguished.

Proceed with the simple feast to ground yourself.

The End of the Ritual:

Address the Goddess with thanks, love and dedication. Say:

May I listen for and hear you,
May I look for and see you,
May I reach for and touch you,
May I wait for and find you.

Teach me what I need to know, and what I am now ready to know.
Your blessings are abundant, bless me abundantly.

Thank the spirits of the quarters and centre, and also the Goddess and God. Ask them to go if they must but stay if they will. Bid them all Hail and Farewell. Open the circle. The circle is open but never broken.

The ritual is ended.

and each time i pass by
i see the valley and the sun
hoping and longing
for my only one

a dream, a wish
of laughter and of grace
smiling down on me
with love’s warm embrace

sweet musings of sunny light
filtered through the boughs
sheltering me all through the night
as i walk in the shadows

and when the wind blows
whispering in the leaves
i know without a doubt
he loves only me.

02.25.2010 by Raynefire

I will follow the raven for he is a teacher, a symbol of renewal and growth. He represents transformation and transition. Much like the phoenix who rises from his own ashes, so is the raven a symbol of this renewal, born again and made stronger by challenge.

The raven is an enigmatic character, often considered mischievous – a trickster. And in the Middle Ages, people believed the raven’s caw meant death was coming. But in many mythological stories, the raven signifies protection, initiation and healing. He is considered intelligent and wise and often a symbol for creation as well as the sun.

It is said that most people have around 9 animal totems over the course of their lives. This period of my life seems to be drawn towards the raven. My intention and the feeling I receive from this totem, is that the raven is a protector and a healer.

And I am comforted to be in the company of such a great and powerful source of energy.

1.30.2010 by raynefire

With every thought and every idea, I am becoming.

For every word I write and every answer I seek, I am becoming.

It is a fascinating road I travel. To reach out, to learn, to soak up knowledge and share with those around me. It is why I am here. It is why I am ever changing, ever seeking, ever evolving.

And since today is my 37th birthday, I feel that I am being given a second wind. It’s a feeling that has been building since the beginning of the New Year. A feeling of renewal and strength. A feeling of compassion and understanding. A feeling of transformation.

Because I can finally accept who I AM.

Within my heart of hears, I know me. I know I am.

The wind whispers the encouraging words that escape from my lips. The sun shines on the nurturing and healing touch that emanates from my fingertips. With every breath and every footstep, I am here to lead. Through every smile and every heartfelt laugh, I am here to guide and to teach. In every kind word and every insight shared, I am here to embrace peace and strive for equality.

Today and every day, I will learn. I will ask. I will find. I will know. I will love.

And I am becoming. Always.

When I first started reading, I only got a few pages in for the few days in between other things and it was frustrating! Then by the 3rd day, I began reading it at bedtime and thought, “well, I’ll read until I get tired.”

Next thing I know, I’m finished with the book and it’s 4:30 in the morning. LOL

And I had a few revelations while reading that book. If you’ve read the book, you may know it’s as much about transformation as it is about the Lost Symbol. Maybe not necessarily the type of transformation you want for yourself but there’s still a lesson there. A thought provoking process about knowledge and becoming.

See, one of the characters feels alienated by his father, whom he doesn’t understand. He is a bitter young man and leaves town once he turns 18. As the story continues, we see him (though we don’t know it’s him at the time) change and transform into a new being. Though this new being he becomes is rather twisted, it shows us that we are not bound by what society believes we should be. We can, ultimately, become whomever we choose.

As it is still the New Year, I encourage you to look within yourself and decide whom YOU truly want to be. What do you want your life to be like? Where do you want your path to lead? Whom do you wish to become?

Take some time to think about it. Now is the time to become who you are.

The name just rang out to me from out of nowhere. Or so, I thought. At the time, I had no idea why or where it came from. But as I know now, it was then the Old Ways found me. And I didn’t fully accept it until I was in my 20′s.

Back then, I had no idea there was another path aside from Christianity and although I didn’t mind going to church with my parents, the majority of the teachings I learned there didn’t resonate within me. Something felt empty.

I remember when it was, actually. For both of them – I remember when I heard the name raynefire and I remember when I first accepted this path as my own True Way.

The first time occurred on the school bus in 7th grade. There was a new girl named Raven who quickly became one of those people everyone knows. She was outgoing, confident and just a little sassy. One day on the way to school, ‘raynefire’ suddenly popped into my head. At first, I thought it had to do with Raven. But as quickly as she’d become one of our neighbors and friends, she was gone, having moved elsewhere. It wasn’t until a long time later I realized raynefire was meant for me.

And the second realization came when I was about 23. I read a book about meditation and zen enlightenment. Suddenly, pieces of the puzzle I’d been seeking began to fall into place. At that point, I read everything even remotely mystical I could get my hands on.

Since then, it’s been a long and winding road. At almost 40 (I’ll be 37 in a few days), I feel a renewal, like the need to be born into this path again. I can’t explain it, really. But I feel like I am coming alive again – a phoenix one more time.

Different and yet the same.

Great things are coming.

Words have impact. They can hurt. They can heal. They can empower and destroy. Cause chaos or joy. Spread hate or radiate love. Lord Tennyson was right – every word we speak is a prayer coming into reality.

As a witch, this concept is particularly important to me. Being a witch isn’t just about “going to church on Sunday,” as it were (which it seems is all too common a practice in most religions). This is because, following the Old Ways is about life itself. It’s about bringing the magical into everyday living as well as into the spiritual realm.

I believe – nay, I know – it is all connected. There is no separation between the mundane things of life and spiritual fulfillment. Thus, my way of life IS my walk. My daily living is a testament to what I believe. For me, all of these things must be in alignment. Otherwise, I am not living my truth.

And so, it is imperative to use good words. At all times and in all things.

Why?

Because, remember “every word we speak . . .”

Not just some words. Not just words that are specifically uttered in prayer or seeking. But ALLL words. All words are magic. All words are prayers. All words set into motion the laws of the Universe and the Source itself on a mission to fulfill your request.

Words are power. Use them wisely.

So much stuff has happened in the past . . . . um, really long time . . . that I couldn’t even begin to explore it all in this one post. But I do want to let you know I’m reviving this blog and I sure do hope you’ll come along for the ride — er, probably I mean . . . walk. Because you know, this blog is about Walking the Old Ways.

And I’m silly like that.

Anyway, speak again soon!

Be blessed.

Well, busy!

With kids, work, stuff. You know, that thing called “life” – sometimes it gets in the way.

Here I am, though. And I’ll be posting much more often again.

Thanks for not giving up one me!