Blessing the Quarter Days

Quarter days are the mid-point Sabbats between the seasonal festivals in the Wheel of the Year. Quarter days also correspond to the spokes of the wheel that fall on the solstices and equinoxes which mark the progression of the sun throughout the year. In truth, quarter days are my favorite Sabbats to celebrate because they are very tied to a physical event: the longest/shortest days of the year and the days when night and day are close to equal in length. I love the symbolism of these events and I love celebrating them.

Winter Solstice
In December, my family and I had a wonderful Solstice celebration. Unfortunately, not only did we not get pictures, but I also didn't blog about here it! So better late than never, let me tell you about our Solstice observance.

This year we separated all of our Christmas decorations into two categories: decorations that celebrate characteristics of winter (the snow men, evergreen trees, reindeer, etc.) and those that celebrate the birth of Christ. None of the Christ decorations were put out before the Solstice in order to fully respect the history of Yule, as a once pagan then turned Christian holiday.

Our Solstice celebration consisted of turning of the lights in the house off at sun-down, lighting a fire in the fireplace and then lighting candles throughout the house. We gathered together in the living room, snuggled up and discussed what the Solstice meant. We talked about how in many places where it was winter, that people were cold and didn't have enough food. Many people throughout the world feeling sad and discouraged all year but it can be particularly difficult when its the coldest, darkest time of the year. We talked about how at Christmas time, many people think of others who have less than they do and want to help in whatever ways they can. We talked about charitable giving and how we participated in our community and in global aid.

After the lesson, we did a little ritual where we wrote on strips of paper our prayer for ourselves and for the world. My children's wishes were profound in their sensitivity and wisdom. For our family, they prayed for more sustainability in our living arrangements and more time together as a family outside being producers rather than consumers. For the world, they prayed that all the living things on earth would feel safe and have their needs met. We then put our prayers in the fire and asked that the light from the flame would carry our prayers to the places where they were needed.

After reflecting on our observance, I realized that the theme we had touched on was wishing and welcoming light into the world at the winter solstice.

Spring Equinox
When thinking about how to prepare for our upcoming equinox celebration, I thought back on our Solstice observance. If we were wising light to the world then, what would we be wishing into the world now at the start of Spring? The answer I came up with was beauty.

Our plan for the Equinox (this monday/tuesday) instead of burning our wishes in the fire, to plant our wishes into the ground. My son is very excited to sow wildflowers in our garden. At Bountiful Gardens, we found both a butterfly and a hummingbird mix. Since spring is a time of renewed beauty and life (and because life is beauitful), it just seems fitting to wish for an increase of beauty in the world around us. Not superficial or artifical, but that which is lasting and connects people together, that relieves suffering and invites simplicity.

Since a pattern has been established, I thought ahead of what we might wish to manifest at the coming quarter days later in the year. It naturally follows that the Summer Solstice would be a time to manifest abundance to the world (and the equitable distribution of that abundance!) and the Autumnal Equinox as a time to manifest preparedness to the world.

Summer Solstice
Likely our Summer Solstice observance this year will be to celebrate the abundance of our vegetable and flower garden. What we are sowing now at the spring equinox, we hope will yield something to celebrate then. We will then follow the pattern of the previous quarter days and wish blessings of abundance to not only our family but to all the families of the world and discuss how we can be involved in making that happen.

Autumnal Equinox
The autumn equinox is traditionally a time to begin to prepare for winter and for this reason, I would like to focus our equinox observance on the necessity and importance of being prepared and wishing that the collective wisdom of the world will shift to preparation and shift away from short-term self gratification, consumerism and greed that takes from the poor and the needy and is used instead to increase profits and luxury for the wealthy.

These are our plans for this year and I wonder what the next year will bring, and how these themes will develop. It is very nice to have plans ahead of time! So very often, I'm pulling things together at the last minute.

Summer Solstice and the Celebration That Wasn't

x-posted on family blog.

This Solstice was spent the same way Beltane was- sick in bed. This is becoming a trend with me this year, coming down with something the day before the festivities are to take place.

But no matter. The cycle continues whether or not I speak the words or party with my kids. It still sucks, though, because Beltane and Summer Solstice are my two favorites...

I love sunflowers. My husband calls me his sunflower

because I love the sun as much as they do.

The Summer Solstice takes place on the longest day of the year, the zenith of the sun. It's at this time when the imagery of the light of God the Father is the most powerful as it is the most obvious to us. This day we set aside as a family to bask not only in the sun's light but in the Light of God the Father. 

We pray:

"Father, as the wheel turns year by year we are continually renewed by Your eternal vigor and passion. We honor Your wisdom and are blessed in Your teachings; through which we come to understand the cycle of Life and our part in it.” 

(adapted from Fiona Horne's Witch: A Magical Journey)

And we bask in the sun's warming rays.

<insert pictures of my children playing in the water under the sun here>

We eat the yummy fruits and veggies the sun helps provide for us.

my super awesome idea of yumminess that
will have to wait until next year, now...

We light colorful candles of yellow and blue and pink and green and we read the poetry of Valerie Worth:

King of seasons, tower of light, 

Tree of fire, crest of flight,

Eternal flower, crown of flame, 

Golden apex, summer's name,

Sun our ruler, sun our lover, 

Son our father, sun or brother

...

Lo, on the flames of spring have we aspired toward thee,

And on the wings of summer now we rise, 

On thy wings who are the father of all wings:

Thy winged sphere our kingdom,

Wither we ascend,

Where we shall find our immortality 

Beyond time and space:

The fires of they face and the fires of thy name

Shall be our own transfiguration and redemption. 

(snippets from page 134 and 135 of the book linked above)

We thank the sun and we thank the Father for the sun and the Son and for His wisdom and guidance.

And we prepare for the sun to begin his retreat and the dark to grow in it's strength...