Ramblings of a Tainted Mind

Last Monday, we had an informal but I think very nice ritual for Floralia. Rose and her daughter Cheyenne came over and made flower garlands and dressed the altar. I think it's the prettiest one we've had so far:


Click for full size

I read a poem that I found and made some modernizations to. I really liked it, and it seemed to work with the evening:

To Flora.
by Albert Pike (with some modification)


I.

Hear us, lovely Flora, while we sing to thee!
Thou rests now beneath some shady tree,
Near a swift brook, upon a mossy root.
All other winds with deep delight are mute,
While Eurus frolics with thy flowing hair,
A thousand odors floating on the air,
And rippling softly through the dewy green
Of the thick leaves, that murmuringly screen
thy snowy forehead. Struggling through their mass,
the quivering sunlight snows upon the grass
In golden flakes. Round thee a thousand flowers,
Still glittering with the tears of Spring's light showers,
Offer the incense of their glad perfume
To thee, who urges them to bud and bloom,
With thy kind smile and influence divine.
Thine arms around young Zephyr entwine,
And his round thee. With roses garlanded,
On his white shoulder rests thy lovely head;
Thy deep eyes gaze in his,
Radiant with mute, unutterable bliss,
And, happy there,
Oh, lovely, young, enamored pair,
Your rosy lips meet in a long, warm kiss!

II.


The bird her nest with earnest patience weaves,
And sings, delighted, hidden in the leaves;
From their high homes in cavernous old trees,
The busy legions of industrious bees
Drink nectar at each flower's enameled brim,
Breathing in murmured music at their glad hymn;
The Nereids come from their deep ocean-caves,
Deserting for a time the saddened waves;
The Dryads from the dusky solitudes,
Of venerable and majestic woods;
The Naiads from deep beech-embowered lakes;
The Oreads from where hoarse Thunder shakes
The iron mountains; --wandering through cool glades,
And blushing lawns, when first the darkness fades,
Before the crimsoning morn,
And where the young Day's sapphire tints are gone,
Gather the fresh-blown flowers, gemmed with the tears of dawn.


III.

Come, gentle Queen! we spill to thee no blood;
Thine altar stands where the gray ancient wood,
Now green with leaves, and fresh with April rains,
In stately circle sweeping round, contains,
Embowered like a hill-environed dell,
A quiet lawn, whose undulations swell
Green as the sea-waves. Near a bubbling spring,
Whose waters, sparkling downward, lightly ring
On the small pebbles--round whose grassy lip
The birds and bees its crystal waters sip-
Thine altar stands, of shrubs and flowering vines,
Where rose with lily and carnation twines.

We burn to thee no incense. These fresh blooms, Breathe on the air more exquisite perfumes,
than all that press the overladen wind
that seaward floats from sands Arabian.
No priests are here prepared for sacrifice,
But fair young girls with mischievous, bright eyes,
With white flowers garlanded,
And by their young, delighted lovers led,
with frequent kisses,
And fond and innocent caresses,
to honor thee, in place of prayer and sacrifice.

( Behind this cut are pictures of Cheyenne and Rose, and the top of my head covered with flowers )

Last night was the Nemoralia, A.K.A. the Festival of Torches, A.K.A. the Festival of Diana. It is a very popular celebration in ancient Rome, but one that is not on the official state calendar. It is a celebration by and for women, and one that took place out in the country at Lake Nemi. It was said one could see the fiery snake of torches for miles away, as the women walked to the lake and made their prayers. I have always been fascinated with this ritual, because it is so powerful and beautiful. This year we did a lot more than last year, and the prayers we made were heartfelt and unplanned.

First we washed each other's hair in water infused with rosemary and mint. This is something I recommend for anyone in this heat-it will cool you right off, but it is also documented in Ovid that they washed their hair together. Then we let my outside cat, Greyboy join us in the fun and wet his head with a little of the hair rinse. He didn't understand, but didn't run away. In fact he stayed with us for the entire ritual.

Then we placed flower garlands on our heads, which we both enjoyed making earlier. It turns out the hippies knew what they were doing, you simply can't be somber or unhappy with a bunch of pretty flowers on your head! Then we walked down to the shrine area, wearing our chitons. I wanted to walk with candles, but there was a breeze last night, and the candles didn't want to stay lit for us (Note for next year-use lanterns!). We made our normal greeting with incense, and then started the invocation, I to Diana, and Rose to Hecate, and then offered an apple and a head of garlic respectively.

Earlier we had written several prayers on slips of paper, and we placed these in a strand of red wool wrapped three times around the altar, something I read in Virgil's Epodes a long time ago, and that seemed to fit perfectly.

It was a lovely ritual and I have pictures! A couple were really washed out because it was nighttime, so I had some fun with them.

( On to the pictures! )

Okay people, snooze you lose! I hope you will be able to make it next year. I'm going to be posting stuff about it anyway, so I can keep things straight.

Menu:

Hard boiled eggs with pine nut sauce
Tuna pasta salad with basil and peas
Shrimp boil
Figs with cheese and honey

Things for people to bring--bread, fruit, cheeses, antipasto, water, wine.

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To Neptune (modern rhyming reworking of Orphic hymn to Poseidon. By me. ):



Look here, lord of the oceans profound, whose liquid grasp meets the solid ground;
Who, in deep tumultuous seas, dark and fathomless, reclines with ease;
In your grip the brazen trident rests, bending lazy curves to ragged crests:
Whose watery steeds part the soft foam , from your dark curls the salty seas roam;
Whose terrible voice opens the deep, drives starlit waves in a raging heap;
Your fierce heart wrapped in boiling seas, your call the waves will tremble to please.
Earth shaker, ruler of brine and sweet, the liquid plains are your charge to keep
Beneath your cool cerulean gaze, the deep-born bestiary plays.
With a steady breath fill out their sails, and bring ships to port with prosperous gales,
Bring gentle Peace, and good Health beside, pour your blessings in a joyous tide.

.





Hail Diana, She of the shining moon, she who races in the wood, she of the stag and dog, hear this prayer from a humble heart. Let my injuries be silenced, my muscles stay limber, and my dance be fluid and proper. I pray that you will be favorable to my home, family and animals.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Look here, Iupiter.
this altar bears your name,
all-seeing, greatest and highest.
Part the clouds for only a moment and look here,
father of all, much honored, lightning maker,
look here and accept this offering and make sacred this place.
If anything is displeasing to you, accept this wine and remove my fault.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Faunus Lupercus, God of the wild
We honor you,
Delighted by shady groves,
dancer under the stars
you rule the seasons.

Shepherd of goats,
giver of milk, meat and skin,
your horns sprouted
and the world began.

Inspire us
with dance and song.
Protect us from fear.

Faunus Lupercus,
obscure as the deepest cave,
subtle as a snake
wise as a wolf

Protect and care for us.
Dance with us.
Grace us.
Lift us,
come near,
excite us.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Father Neptunus, king of tides
your fist shakes the earth~
Maelstroms your dark hair,
corals your bones fair~
You stir with trident the passionate seas,
And calm the swells to a lover's breeze~

Your stallions flecked with foam
charge the shore with abandon~
Your call sets every storm to ride,
and in your belly demons glide~
Let your cerulean heart turn here,
and blow this raging storm to clear.

I want to see this documentary very much. I'd prefer to rent it from a library or something though. Netflix does not have it. madrun or cucumbereater, is it something you can get a hold of through ILL??

https://www.nationalfilmnetwork.com/store/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductID=182


This morning I got up and started cooking. I'm making northern bean and ham soup, and grilled chicken breasts. Should be pretty good.


I WILL work out today. I wanted to yesterday, but started reading and lost track of time.

This morning a real windstorm has blown into town. I knew it was on its way, but I guess I didn't really think about what that would mean for my plans today. I had intended to do a more traditional Roman ritual, but I decided at the last minute that the gods had made it clear that things were to be different today.

So early this morning I went out into the wind with a round of charcoal and some frankincence, and a poem I had written last year for Neptune, a prayer to ease storms.

Father Neptunus, king of tides
your fist shakes the earth~
Maelstroms your dark hair,
corals your bones fair~
You stir with trident the passionate seas,
And calm the swells to a lover's breeze~

Your stallions flecked with foam
charge the shore with abandon~
Your call sets every storm to ride,
and in your belly demons glide~
Let your cerulean heart turn here,
and blow this raging storm to clear.

I did not even try to wear my chiton or palla, because it would have ended up over my head! As it was, I could not get the charcoal lit at all, and just ended up leaving the incense there unburned. I read the poem and prayed for a moment for a sign. When I looked up, a crow was flying from right to left above me, not the best omen, but then a flock of starlings skated overhead in the opposite direction. They landed in the tree overhead, and the crow seemed to lose momentum and get caught in a few currents of air. He disappeared. The omen as I see it is a little bit worse weather before it gets better. Who needs meteorology?

There are several feast days for Poseidon celebrated in ancient Greece, though the only one I've found that was really a Roman holiday was the Neptunalia in July. Still, I am committed to working on both his Roman and Greek celebrations. I fretted about the feast day, since it just isn't possible to do it this weekend, but some more poking around has shown me that as a Greek celebration, a feast of Poseidon could be held on the 8th as well as the 23rd, and that the Greeks considered half the month of December and November sacred to Poseidon. I am still leaning toward doing the feast at the Saturnalia, but I will have to discuss this with others first.

The day after Halloween is celebrated in Italy with the Ognissanti (All Saint's Day) and the day afterward, Il Giorno dei Morti (Day of the Dead). On this day, it is traditional to go to the graveyard and clean the headstones of your family members, and eat these little cookies or leave them as treats:



Ossa di Morto (Bones of the Dead)or Fava Di Morto (Beans of the Dead)--(it depends how you shape them)

# 2 cups sliced almonds
# 2 cups sugar
# 1 1/4 cups flour
# 4 eggs
# 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
# zest of 1 lemon
# 3 tablespoons butter, at room temperature

Preheat the oven to 350°. In a bowl, combine the almonds with the sugar and 1/4 cup of water and toss. Arrange the coated almonds on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes, or until golden. Remove form the oven, and set aside to cool. Transfer to a food processor, and pulse until finely ground. Add the flour, eggs, cinnamon, lemon zest and butter, and process until smooth. Roll the ball of dough out with your hands on a work surface so as to obtain a snake; cut the snake into half-inch thick slices and shape the bit into bones. Place the “bones” onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake the cookies for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Makes about 30 cookies.

It's close, but I want it to be curlier next time.

mezzanotterose came by for the ritual, with her hair already damp from being washed, mine had just dried. I used some rosemary in the rinse water, which I may do again, I love the smell of rosemary. I haven't found out exactly why the women made such a big deal of washing their hair, maybe it was just a bonding thing to do at the lake, or a symbol of the day being about women. In any case, we went out to the shrine with our burgundy chitons and freshly washed hair.

Next year I hope to make this a larger ritual, with lots of women and actual torches. We could actually wash our hair together if the pond is done by then. I think that would be beautiful.

It was dark, but the candles we carried actually were enough light to see by. I had already placed the bowl on the altar as a symbol of Lake Nemi and had dedicated the altar earlier that day. We placed our candles and started our prayers.

There is something very easy about when we ritual together. We go back and forth like some sort of religious machine. I said my prayer to Diana that I have used for years now, and Rose said a prayer to Hecate, also appropriate on this day for her connection via Trivia. I also asked Diana to look out for a friend of ours that is going in for throat surgery.

It is also the feast day for Pomona and Vertumnus, so we said a prayer for her as well, which was perfect since we were already under the apple tree.

Hail Diana, She of the shining moon, she who races in the wood, she of the stag and dog, hear this prayer from a humble heart. Let my injuries be silenced, my muscles stay limber, and my dance be fluid and proper. I pray that you will be favorable to my home, family and animals.


Nemoralia-Festival of Torches 2006

from friggawomen --nothing shocking here:

You scored as Roman Pantheonic Pagan. You are drawn to the Roman Pantheon. Most names of our planets come from this group, including: Jupiter, Pluto, Neptune, Mars and Venus to name a few. A little less mainstream than your Greek cousins, and often confused for them, you know that there's a difference between the two pantheons and are quick to remind others of those differences. A little more down-to-earth than your Greek cousins, you tend to enjoy fact before fiction, and though no less lusty and romantic, you are more logical about your actions. </td> Roman Pantheonic Pagan 100% Greek Pantheonic Pagan 85% Catholic (Pagan?) 75% Celtic Pantheonic Pagan 20% Egyptian Pantheonic Pagan 20% Ecclectic Pagan 15% Zoroastrian Pagan 10% Shamanic Pagan 5% Eastern Pagan 5% Kabbalistic Pagan 0% Sumerian, Babylonian, and Mesopotamian Pagans 0% Norse Pantheonic Pagan (Asatru) 0% What kind of Pagan are you? created with QuizFarm.com