Due to the recommendations around social distancing & the coronavirus, we have canceled the Spring Equinox ritual. Thank you to all who contributed input to this decision.
The community candle was lit Sunday morning (March 15) and will remain lit for the foreseeable future, for individuals who need healing or support, for the wellness of the Baltimore Reclaiming community as a whole, for the healing of people around the world who have caught coronavirus, and for the health of those who have not yet caught it.
This past week has involved a lot of changes in people’s lives. We have seen our work lives disrupted, our chances for social interaction curtailed, our in-person rituals canceled. We have been confronted with a spreading virus and have faced a steep learning curve about how to protect ourselves from it. Chances are, we're all feeling somewhat stressed and/or anxious. At times like these, daily practice can offer a sense of calm, inspiration, and healing, and can help us stay effective as witches. For this reason, the Ritual Planning Cell has decided to periodically send out notes about how to pursue a daily practice. We'd like to get everyone to contribute their ideas, so we'll copy these notes into a Google Doc so that people can respond. You will be able to edit or add comments; please don't erase anything someone else has written.
The idea that a daily practice has to be "daily" can make it hard to get started. So let's expand our understandings of daily practice. It doesn't have to be daily, though regularly is good because it gives a sense of ritual. If you spend 10 minutes every Saturday morning weeding, that's a regular practice. And, if you regularly ground as you walk through your day, that counts, too. Our first post about daily/regular practice is about about Grounding:
Daily Practice: Grounding
One great grounding practice is the Tree of Life. As you probably know from our group rituals, the Tree of Life is a common way to ground, involving sending roots down and branches up. As we send our roots down, we draw up energy from the earth; then, we draw energy down from the heavens through our branches or our crown chakra, sending any excess energy into the earth. This not only grounds us but centers us between the earth and the heavens.
We encourage you to run this grounding early and often. The more you do it, the easier it will become. You may find that you can do it really fast, which is great. Many witches do a fast grounding multiple times per day. But don’t forget to also give yourself the luxury of a slow grounding when you have the time.
Some tweaks:
Try different types of roots. You could envision a big taproot extended from your root chakra or feet directly into the earth and right into the molten core. Or, you could envision many, hairy roots that lodge in the soil of Baltimore and entwine with those of the spirits of the land and of our community. You could focus on feeling the spring in the earth, the flowing of cold waters, the awakening of the cherry trees and daffodils.
Focus on your own energy first. Rather than going directly to drawing earth & sky energy, focus on your own energy: where is it? what is it like? Then, see how your energy mixes with the other energies as you draw them in.
Try different sky energies. You can draw down energy from the sun (even at night) or you can draw down the vaster energy of the Star Goddess. Try both.
Work on grounding as needed. Sometimes we need to ground when we’re lying down, walking, in a car, or cooking dinner. Especially at trying or busy times, it’s important to be able to ground even when we’re not in circle and in a perfectly comfortable position. Try developing your grounding skills where and when you need them.
Some alternatives:
Starhawk describes a slightly different version of the Tree of Life. This version does not pull energy down from the heavens. It allows earth energy to burst forth from the head to form branches, which then fall to the earth to re-ground the energy, forming a circuit. (The Spiral Dance, 1979, p.44, Harper & Row).
Orion Foxwood has a wonderful way to ground that is similar but different. He combines heaven/earth envisioning with breathing. On an inhale, pull up blue energy from the ground. Let it rise up through your body (through your chakras), taking tension and alienation with it, until it bursts forth from your crown. Then, see the tension and alienation, now above your head, meet the white or golden energy descending from the heavens and let them be washed or burned away. On the exhale, allow the heavens energy to flow into the body. (The Flame in the Cauldron, 2015, p. 60, WeiserBooks). In this grounding, the blue earth energy can be seen as Feri energy and the white/golden energy as Star Goddess energy. Like the Tree of Life, feel free to tweak this grounding, for instance, leaving out parts if it seems too complicated or changing colors to suit your needs.
Blessed be,
Baltimore Reclaiming RPC
~~~
Our cycle through the Baltimore Wheel of the Year continues, and we have come to the time of Spring Equinox. Daylight has been lengthening for one quarter of a year. Our centers have shifted and continue to shift. Equinox--equal day and night, is a fleeting point of equilibrium. One might be tempted to call it “balanced”--but the truth is, we are gaining daylight quicker at this time than any other on our calendar. Mental health and wellness professionals ask us to “achieve balance” to live a healthier life, although it’s hard to keep up with how to do that when everything is changing, and changing so fast.
Ritual intention: We water our roots, nurture ourselves, and unfurl.
The co-evolution of mental health concepts, addiction, and spiritual beliefs have been intimately connected.Our history shows us that often what we pathologize later turns out to be essential to making our society a better place. Women who sought independence or sexual satisfaction during the Victorian era were considered “hysterical” and subject to invasive, abusive “treatments.” People of color have frequently been underdiagnosed, excessively pathologized, or offered care that doesn’t align with their cultures or values. It was only in the last 40 years that homosexuality was acknowledged as a valid orientation rather than a disorder, and people who do not fit with western gender norms still must fight to receive appropriate medical and mental health care. We have new understandings today that show us the value of these people on their own terms. Still, we pathologize others.
Look at the plant world again. As the air warms and days lengthen, the buds on trees and bushes are responding--keeping time, shifting the metabolic processes in plants to wake them up. Respiration quickens. Sap rises. Water and air mix and glisten over roots, and the plants and fungi take it in. Buds break open with the energy, seeds burst and unfurl cotyledons, and new shoots erupt from the land. The plants are thriving, and their cycles are driving the growth of flying insects and birds. They nurture their communities in many ways. Who gets to decide when a plant is a flower and when it is a weed?
With this ritual we are focused on Air, and the energies of the East-- the rising sun, mental health and wellness; thinking, intuition, and communication all dwell within this quarter. These energies are transformative. They are controversial. Considering the psychological barriers and literal threats to safety so many communities face in our current society, it is important now more than ever to connect to what will sustain us. It might be that the only way to keep balancing mental, physical, and emotional health includes not only therapy and medication, but also deep, sustaining community connections.
We water our roots, nurture ourselves, and unfurl.
Please bring items for an Air altar, and seeds/plants/cut flowers/garden harvests for a pre-ritual plant swap. We will have some extras so no one will be left out for lack of flora!
Who is Baltimore Reclaiming?
We are a group of witches, artists, pagans, healers, activists, queers, priestesses, anarchists, theater geeks, feminists, and other good humans. We see our work as teaching and making magic: the art of empowering ourselves and each other. In our classes, workshops, and public rituals, we train our voices, bodies, energy, intuition, and minds. We use the skills we learn to deepen our strength, both as individuals and as community, to voice our concerns about the world in which we live, and bring to birth a vision of a new culture. We gather, mostly on the Sabbats, to work magic, often for personal healing and also for the healing of our society and planet. We believe that the work we do together in our sacred circles really can change the world.
What is the Spring Equinox?
The Spring Equinox is the official start of Spring. It is an astronomical event, marked by the instant of time when the plane of the Earth's equator passes through the center of the Sun. On the day of an equinox, daytime and nighttime are of approximately equal duration all over the planet. It is a moment of balance Following the spring equinox, the days will lengthen until we reach the longest day of the year at the Summer Solstice. Some witches call the Spring Equinox "Ostara", which was a name given to the Spring Equinox in 1974 by neo-Pagan Aidan Kelly. Modern Pagans mark Spring Equinox/Ostara as a celebration of balance (due to the day and night being of same length) and of life and fertility. This is a time when the world is usually waking up. The first blossoms and buds are breaking forth from the ground and the world is springing back to life. It is a time to witness the beauty of the world and recognize the preciousness of the living web.
Time: Please arrive beginning at 6:30 for a 7:00 start. No Admission after 7.
Cost: Baltimore Reclaiming does not charge for our events, but we do have considerable expenses which include renting the hall and buying supplies for the ritual! We recommend a $10-$20 donation per person. You can bring cash or send money ahead of time via PayPal to ritual@baltimorereclaiming.org or via venmo to 910-988-5760. No one is turned away for lack of funds. You are fully welcome regardless of your ability to financially donate.
Drugs & Alcohol: All Baltimore Reclaiming events are drug and alcohol free. We respectfully request that you do not use drugs or alcohol before or while attending our events.
Scent Policy: We strive to accommodate people who have chemical and scent sensitivities. Please keep these people in mind as you make choices about wearing scented personal hygiene products.
Shoes: Our ritual hall is shoe free. Please bring socks or slippers if you are worried about your feet getting cold.
What to Expect: New to Baltimore Reclaiming? Visit this page on our website to learn more about what to expect at an event: https://www.baltimorereclaiming.org/rituals
Dress Code: Wear whatever you like! You are welcome to wear everything from jeans and a t-shirt to a tuxedo. Often, people like to wear something special for ritual which might mean a favorite dress, a special shawl, a flower crown, or something else. We encourage you to wear whatever you feel most comfortable in.