Wild Onion Yule 2012

This year due to scheduling conflicts, we had Yule at Chris and Jack's house. (No worries though we will be back at Life Force Arts Center in it's new location for Imbolc!)

For the ritual we did the same thing we did last year, we assigned each step of the ritual with a rune (after a bit of re-writing as some runes weren't really in the right places) and then had the participants place the corresponding rune ornament on the tree at the appropriate time. The tree this year was my sparkly one and I also added an excessive amount of tinsel so it looked much nicer than it did last year.

Amazingly Chris' Odin plaque survived the Great Flood of 2011 with minimal damage so it graced the altar and we now have the Heimdallr Bifrost prayer beads to use as a symbol of Heimdallr (our Gatekeeper for Norse style rites) as well.

Overall the rite went very well. I did my Norse Well Tree and Fire, everyone shared their Odin stories, we sang the Snows of Valhalla and the sacrifice was made (beer, lots of beer!) and the Omens were good. We shared more beer for the return flow and for the take-aways Jack made Rune cards for each person to randomly select as a personal omen for the year.

The only major fail was my Wild Onion Wassail song. I usually am not a huge fan of filked Christmas carols but this one seemed sort of appropriate for a reinterpretation and the whole wassailing thing is pretty Pagan anyway. We sort of ran through it at the beginning but then sort of forgot about it. I had intended it to be sung during the return flow as we passed the wassail cup around, but that was vetoed and it was decided it would be sung at the end but by then I think everyone just wanted to go feast and we never sang it. Oh well there is always next year I suppose.

 After the rite we stuffed ourselves silly with lasagna and garlic bread, a vegetable platter, a cheese plate, chips and dip, juice, beer, wine, eggnog, cookies, and homemade gingerbread,  as well as stockings filled with treats and presents courtesy of Jack and Chris!

Imbolc is the next High Day and we will be honoring Brighid and making butter! We will also be resuming our work with the Forest Preserve in February so keep watching this space!

Autumn Equinox 2011

Autumn Equinox Altar

The day of the Autumn Equinox rite dawned rather cold and rainy but the Grove was determined not to let the weather mess up yet another rite this year and we went ahead to Evans Field in Thatcher Woods Jerome Huppert Woods (someone changed the woods on me, no wonder people were getting lost!) as planned. We figured (correctly) that no one would be using the shelter, and we brought a spare gazebo tent in case it was. So even though the heavens opened up on us pretty much the whole time, we were dry and (almost) toasty! And even though we have been to this place many times, it seemed  more numinous and glowing in the rain (and later sun), it must be something about this time of year....

Jack invokes Heimdallr

As a new tradition at Wild Onion, Autumn Equinox is the time we honor the Gatekeeper Deities we invoke as part of the Core Order of Ritual throughout the year. We feel this is a very appropriate time of year to think about liminal spaces and times as well as a time to reflect on where we came from and where we are going. This year it was Heimdallr's turn as not only do we ask him to be Gatekeeper for our Norse rites, he is also Jack's Patron Deity. We asked Ægir to step in as Gatekeeper which he seemed happy to do (he also got lots of beer which I am sure helped.) We wanted the Invocation to be a journey across Bifröst and we hit on the idea to incorporate the colors of the rainbow, Runes and ADF's Nine Virtues for each step of the journey. Of course there are only seven colors in the rainbow and nine virtues so we added black and white to symbolize the darkness as we started the journey and the light at the end after acquiring the wisdom of each Rune.

Bifröst prayer bead take-aways

So Jack wrote the Invocation and as he performed the it, he lit the corresponding candle until we had a sparkling Bifröst across the Altar. Chris then offered the Sacrifice (a homemade white cake with apricot confit filling and cooked icing that Jack made) and of course beer! Lots of beer. I then took the Omens and they were good! So with the sacrifice accepted, Chris asked for return Blessings and we shared shortbread cookies (a gift from our guests!) and handed out the take-aways. I made sets of polymer clay prayer beads in the 9 colors and painted the corresponding Runes on each one and separated them with AB crystal beads and small gold seed beads, reminiscent of Heimdallr's gold teeth. I then sculpted small Gjallarhorn charms to finish them off.

Chris makes the Sacrifice

As you can see I made twenty of them. I am always paranoid we won't have enough for everyone, even though I always make way too many. We only had five people show up, well two including me Jack and Chris. Colleen was home with a sick cat (better now thankfully) and we had assumed the rain kept everyone else away. We did find out later that a couple were waiting for us in the wrong part of Thatcher Woods (and no wonder, since Evans Field is apparently in a different Woods altogether) and they were without phones! So two will go to them when we see them later in the month and Colleen got hers when I got home and we are sending some to Grovies that moved out of state and some to friends and after all that we only have a few left, so not a total disaster. In fact the rite went very well, the day was beautiful in it's own way, and as Chris says the measure of a good ritual is if the Kindreds show up when invited, the Sacrifice is accepted and the people have a good time. So I think we passed on all counts and we met new people to boot! So until next time, have a blessed Autumn time and see you at Samhain!

P.S. I just found this out about Evans Field: "Evans Field -- site of Indian Village and chipping station. There were several Indian burial places and temporary villages along their main trail following the Des Plaines River. Just east of Evans Field, there were five mounds built by prehistoric Indians." Neat!

Spring Equinox 2011

Freyja tile by Thalia Took

So we tried something new this year and had two Deities of the Occasion, Freyja and Frigg. Both are associated with fertility and spring and even though some think they are the same Goddess we don't think so, so we honored both as distinct entities. I felt I really dropped the ball on this one, starting with high expectations of painting paintings and writing litugy  but failing to even procure my praise offering of amber from the Occult Bookstore and really feeling like I phoned it in. Jack on the other hand, wrote new Triads for the Kindreds, the Invocation to Freyja and Frigg, and researched and found the kit we used to make the seed paper for the takeaway! I did make a Geis (or Oath) that I will get Them their praise offering and (I added this later) will be writing the main invocation for Beltaine regardless of the Deity. If I fail to do these things I have to wear all pink for a week! (The Grove decided my penalty, bless them. /sarcasm) Chris also took an Oath that he would get a similar tile for Frigg from Thalia Took (apparently she takes requests) because we felt bad that we had no image for Her. (We improvised with a pic from the Internet but it's not the same)

Frigg

Anyway we set up the altar, did the ritual run through for new people and began. We had Bragi as the Bardic Deity and of course Heimdall as the Gatekeeper. The Triads went down a treat and the Invocation went well and everything was going tickety boo until we got to the Sacrifice. Now, Colleen had found some lovely strawberries to offer but didn't realize that the Lambic Chris brought was also supposed to be part of the Sacrifice as well as the Return Flow. So when it came time for me to pull the Sacrifice Omen  we got Hagalaz. oops. So we did what almost always works when we get a less than ideal Omen and started pouring Peche and Framboise Lambic over the strawberries! I pulled the Omen again and got Fehu. Whew! Bullet dodged and important lesson learned (again): always share the nice beer with your guests! ;)

I pulled the Grove Omen and which was really positive from the Ancestors and Nature Spirits although the Gods seem to be expecting more from us (or some of us.) We then shared the blessing through the Return Flow and had some Lambic and a delicious strawberry and kiwi tart that Jack also made for us. We asked for blessing for those who were not in attendance and for Japan, Libya etc and Chris asked for blessings on the seed papers and we wrote our wishes on them. We then closed the ritual out thanking the Deities and Kindreds as we went and ended with hugs all around.

All in all it was a good ritual, the seed papers and new Triads are probably the parts that stand out for me. Freyja and Frigg seemed to be content with being invoked in the same rite and I for one would be happy to try multiple Deities again. Anyway, hope everyone had a safe and happy Spring Equinox and we'll see you at Beltaine! :)

A Merry Wild Onion Yule!

Yule is our first indoor rite of the year and as we do for all our indoor rites we headed to Life Force Arts Center and arrived as it just started to get dark. It has been a particularly chilly December and this evening was no exception. Chris and Colleen went in to start setting up and Jack and I hurried in the cold to Starbucks to get a box of coffee for the post rite socializing. When we returned we helped finish setting up, greeted the people that had shown up while we were gone, and then Chris gave his (not so) brief ritual explanation and we began.

The deity of the occasion was Odin, same as last Yule and so we focused on the Runes and integrated them into the rite. Each part of the core order of ritual got it's own Rune that corresponded to what was taking place (Gebo for the sacrifice and Eihwaz for the Ancestors for example.) As each part was spoken the participant would place the correct rune on the World Tree Yggdrasil. Heimdall was the Gatekeeper and Bragi was the Bardic Deity. I did the Norse Well, Tree and Fire again this year, Colleen baked Julekake for the offering and the return flow, Chris read a poem for Odin that was written by a member of ADF and Jack wrote a carol called the Snows of Valhalla which made me think we need to write more Yule carols, or he does anyway. If he keeps this up we will have an entire song book by next Samhain! We had some guests as well and even though this was their first ADF rite they helped us with the invocations which is always nice, you want people to feel included. (They also brought vegetarian lasagna for the potluck which made it even nicer!) :)

The Julekake and Stella were then offered to Odin (apparently we have it on good authority that Odin favors Stella Artois, who knew?) and the Omen was taken. we got Elhaz (Protection) as the answer to "was the sacrifice accepted" (our sacrifice Omen) and Ingwaz (fertility , creativity, new beginnings) as our Grove Omen. A very positive Omen all around although we had a moment of concern when neither Jack nor I could figure out what Ingwaz was! It was Joan (our host with the most at LFAC who joined us for the rite) who realized that I used the Anglo Saxon version instead of the Elder Futhark when I made my Runes! Whoops! But I rather like the Anglo Saxon version so I figure as long as I know what it means, then it's okay.

We then shared the return blessing and passed around the horn with beer in it and the Julekake with butter and Gjetost which is a caramelized goat cheese and is traditionally served with the Julekake. As always we then asked for blessings for all who couldn't be there, and for our families and friends. The Ansuz Runes that Jack had wood-burned for everyone were also passed out, a tangible reminder of Odin's blessings. Then we wound the rite down and went and feasted on homemade gingerbread, the above mentioned lasagna, Bûche de Noël, coffee, juice, wine, and some other things and socialized and told stories and explained a little about ADF and enjoyed the warmth and companionship that this time of year invokes so perfectly.:)

Hope everyone had a blessed and joyous Yule/Solstice as well! :)