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A Personal Ritual for Midsummer
by
Maria Kay Simms
Midsummer is the beginning of Cancer, the sign of the zodiac most closely
associated with home and motherhood. The Sun is at the height of power and
charged with energy and vitality. This is a perfect time to make and decorate a
Sun Wheel to adorn and protect your home and family, and to charge the health
and vitality of all within. The traditional Sun Wheel design combines the solar
cross with a circle. The solar cross is a vertical line of spirit descending and
intersecting a horizontal line representing the realm of matter.
Materials to prepare before you begin:
A Sun Wheel design is best made at least partially with natural materials,
though bright yellow or gold ribbon streamers are a good addition. You might
also gather symbols of the elements that could be attached-a holey stone or one
that can be tied and held in place for Earth, a feather for Air, a seashell for
Water, perhaps a crystal point for fire. A wreath of vines or flexible stems is
a good base for the circle. Find some sturdy but flexible vine or long and
flexible stems or thin branches outdoors if you can. If you take this from a
live plant, be sure to thank the plant and give it a bit of water or fertilizer
as a gift in return. If you are in a city where vines may not be so easily
available outdoors, it should be easy to obtain a wreath of dried grapevine at a
craft store. You will also need at least two fairly straight sticks to make the
cross within the circle. Bright yellow or orange flowers contribute color,
either fresh or dried. Obtain some protective plants, such as St. John's wort or
mistletoe to add. Though most things will stay by being poked into the base
wreath, you'll need some twine or florists wire to hold the vines into a circle
and attach the cross, and also perhaps to secure some of the other materials.
Set out your materials on a work table that can also be your altar, along with a
bowl of water, salt, censer and incense and a gold or yellow candle for the Sun,
and a green or silver candle for Mother Earth. Bless the salt and water and
combine them to make the elixir that is the womb of the Mother. Bless the
incense and set it to burning. Carry the salt water in a circle around your work
area, sprinkling it to cleanse the space of all energies that do not contribute
to your purpose. Then carry the incense around the circle, charging the space
with energy. Now, at your working altar, lightly sprinkle all your materials,
cleansing them, and then pass the censer in a circle above the table three times
to charge them.
Light the Sun candle in invocation:
Oh, Midsummer Sun so hot and bright,
Charge my work with golden light
For all within my home to see
For beauty, health, security.
Come, be with me in this rite!
Light the Mother Earth candle in invocation:
Mother of the fertile Earth
Guide my hands and help me birth
My Sun Wheel bright with energy
For hearth and home and family,
Be with me in this rite!
Make your Sun Wheel. When you are finished, hold it above the Sun candle
and circle it three times, then above the Mother Earth candle, circling
three times, then three times above them both, as you chant this charm:
By earth and water, air and fire
Hearken onto my desire
My home be charged by magick charm
Safe protected from all harm
Blessed with health, vitality
By Sun and Earth, by three times three
In love and trust, so mote it be!
Thank the Sun and Mother Earth for their assistance in your rite and snuff their
candles.
Hang your Sun Wheel where you can to enjoy seeing it as it works your magick to
protect and energize your home and family.
Copyright © 2006
Maria Kay Simms
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THE CRAFT
Facts about The Craft
What are Wicca and Witchcraft?
The Wiccan Rede
& the Law of Three
The Pentagram
The Elements
Air |
Fire |
Water |
Earth
The Wheel of the Year
The Timing of the Sabbats
Samhain |
Yule |
Imbolc |
Ostara
Beltane |
Litha |
Lughnasad |
Mabon
Magical Moon
Maria Kay Simms' monthly column on
lunar and astrological events to
help you plan your magickal calendar.
Recommended Reading
Moon Tides, Soul Passages,
The Witch's Circle,
A Time for Magick,
Future Signs, and
Your Magical Child
by
Maria Kay Simms
Books on Spellcraft
Books on Wicca & related subjects
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