Beltaine 2003
Pagan Family Connection Welcomes Spring!
Gifts of the Goddess, Gifts of the God
SEF Ostara Circle in Worcester
Seeds for Change:
Rites of Passage
The following clergy are available through the Society of Elder Faiths:
SEF Messenger: The Community Newsletter of the Society of Elder Faiths
by Cerridwyn
Our Family Spring Equinox Celebration was held on March 30th and 24 people attended.
The children decorated eggs with glitter, feathers, stickers and markers. We held a ritual during which we blessed the eggs and some sunflower seeds. We planted the seeds and then acted out Persephone's return to the Earth with the children playing the parts themselves, and I must say we have some very talented children! As usual, snacks and juice were provided.
The children got to take home their eggs and seeds. My son's sunflowers have sprouted and are already looking like they need to be transplanted outside, so if anyone can put a word in with the weather Gods to have no more killing frosts we would all be grateful! We had a great time and I am excited that we are already forming strong connections within the PFC.
We have yet to finalize a date for our Beltane celebration. Please watch the Web site for an announcement. We are also looking for a venue, as the Barn is now being used for Community Harvest activities and we probably won't be able to get back in there until our Fall Equinox celebration.
If anyone has any ideas for a location, please contact me at:
by Gwydion
Beltane is often used to provide a story for the interactions of the Goddess and the God at the time when the plant world is flowering and fertilizing itself. As humans, our biological fertility cycles are different from those of the plant world, but we can use Beltane as a time to consider our own inner polarity.
Inner polarity is not limited to the variety of ideas about the relationship between the outer gender and inner spirit, such as the animus and anima. The principles of male and female, dark and light, strong and yielding, creative and receptive, exist independently of gender in everyone.
A term that is often brought up to describe sexual polarity, Tantra, really has a broader meaning. It refers to the "union of opposites". This can refer to all the typical words that describe male and female differences, but also includes more cosmic differences such as existence and non-existence. A tantric integration brings both the sides of gender polarity together as equal partners from which a combined power emerges. We can certainly start by looking at the gender qualities that we are familiar with from our experience as humans, but those patterns are just the beginning. Ultimately, those apparent differences are replaced with an integrated and unified expression of our human capacities that might be considered "male" or "female" at any given moment. The affectation is temporary and unbinding because of sensitivity to the current moment rather than some limited self-identification.
We are all culturally trained to associate with a set of behaviors and attitudes that reinforce our gender, but our inner life transcends such cultural patterns and completes us psychologically and energetically. In order to be fulfilled as humans, cultural patterns need to be balanced with an inner freedom to experience life in all its variety.
One of the primary limitations acquired by our acculturation process is the creation of negative associations with thoughts and feelings that are considered inappropriate for our gender. The pagan subculture is far more accepting of this than the society at large, but the cultural influences that constantly surround us can be difficult to ignore. Accepting our gender and expressing ourselves emotionally can get complicated when a constant stream of inner and outer judgments about our behavior and feelings influences us.
This brings us back to using the interaction of the Goddess and the God as a metaphor for our inner world. Although gender is essential to physical fertility, it is limiting to align one's inner self with a stereotype of one gender. Few mythologies and pantheons have strong deities of only one gender. The time of Beltane can express an innocent yet powerful exchange of male and female energies, free from overtones of domination or supremacy.
This inner clarity and purity is what allows us to use our mind and emotions to become creative in each passing moment, transcending the limits of stereotypes about how we are supposed to feel and act. Having a gender identity is somewhat unavoidable in terms of the culture at large, but it can constitute a small part of our inner life and not be limiting.
The free exchange of inner polarity energies can create a rapture of feeling where there is no sense of isolated gender identification. Each side of polarity contains the seed of the other side, not as a static dualism, but as a dynamic cross-invocation. This can be seen as a road towards a true expression of balanced gender attributes, because the inner female ultimately invokes the inner male, as the inner male invokes the inner female. Firm boundaries between such inner gender energies do not really exist,
but tend to flow in and out of each other. They are "zones" of expression, and we can make use of both of them to integrate feelings and experiences.
Inner fertility is really the capacity to grow and evolve without barriers. Becoming a mature person implies that both "male" and "female" have come together in their fullest expression to create an integrated being, regardless of the gender we find ourselves a member of. The Goddess and God energies of Beltane support and exalt each other in the variety and interrelations of the natural world, which is forever changing and evolving. Spiritual fulfillment often occurs when our inner male and female energies unite like a seed and the earth, intertwining together to create a new energy and form.
Beltane is a good time to consider the ways that you might be able to grow inwardly by increasing your capacity to express both your inner "male" and "female" aspects. Also remember that maiden, mother, and crone, and brother, lover, son have a wide range of positive qualities that we can express at any time. Even the dreaded "father" archetype has positive aspects that are part of us as well. Personal magical workings that freely invoke both the Goddess and the God from within can help support those meditations and melt away inner gender stereotype barriers.
Happy Beltane, and may you be blessed with the sublime laughter of the Goddess and the God, united within you!
Beltaine Welcomes Summer
By Morwynna
All rejoice as Summer approaches! This was especially so in earlier times when most homes had only one room, and the only privacy available was in the Greenwood.
The Celts were predominantly pastoral people; Beltaine was the day when the cattle were put out to their summer grazing on the higher slopes. The cattle were driven through the sacred fires for purification. The sacred fire would also, it was believed, bring protection, good fortune and fertility to the people.
Beltaine is the doorway between winter and summer, dating back to cultures where only two seasons defined the cycles of human lives. We encourage and enjoy human desire, and procreation of all kinds: animal, plant, human, and (especially in modern times) the creative fertility of the mind.
From another pastoral tradition we invoke the Goat-God of the Arcadian shepherds: Pan. He represents male desire and virility in this season of consummation.
Photo © Joel Mulkern
joelmulkern@attbi.com
by Jennifer
On March 16, an SEF-sponsored open ritual was held at Taproot Bookstore in Worcester, led by Ruuana of NFFP and Seth of Grove of the Mists.
To welcome Persephone upon her return to the awakening Earth, the celebrants placed fresh flowers around the entire perimeter of the Circle.
The Sun was also invoked to continue the growth of the light, which at equinox is in balance with the dark but will soon overtake and surpass it.
The dates for the remaining Open Sabbat Circles at Taproot for 2003 are: Beltaine: Friday April 25, 7:30 PM; Midsummer: Friday June 13, 7:30 PM; Lammas: Friday July 25, 7:30 PM; Autumn: Sunday September 14, 2:00 PM; Samhain: Friday October 24, 7:30 PM; and Yule: Friday December 12, 7:30 PM.
Connect with the Earth While Giving to Others
SEF is excited to announce an opportunity for Pagan-minded folk to make a more physical connection with the Earth and our Sabbat cycles. By volunteering our time and labor for one day near each of the Sabbats in the growing season to the Community Harvest Project in Grafton, we can experience a more personal interaction with the agrarian cultures that were the source of our seasonal customs.
The Community Harvest Project grows produce to be distributed through hunger relief organizations throughout Central Massachusetts, including the Worcester County Food Bank. By working with them SEF members will be creating bonds of fellowship while helping others, and expressing our spirituality by showing compassion for those in need.
The first date scheduled for this project will be Sunday, May 4, a date for attuning ourselves with Beltaine. We know this is short notice - but this is a brand new project, and because of the yearlong focus of the project we'd rather start now than wait for Midsummer! The other dates for this year have not been scheduled yet; those who are committed to participating will be consulted about which dates will work best for them over the summer. If you are interested in participating, please email
On December 28, Maeve was initiated to First Degree by Phoenix Rising Coven.
On March 2, Orion was initiated to First Degree by Phoenix Rising Coven.
On March 13, as part of a Waxing Moon Rite, Eve was dedicated to Grove of the Mists Coven. Officiating were Morwynna, Gwydion, Thea, and Meg.
On March 20, as part of the coven's Rite of Magickal Equinox, Barbara was dedicated to Grove of the Mists Coven. Officiating were Morwynna, Gwydion, Thea, Seth, Meg, and Eve.
A licensed Wiccan Elder, with ministerial credentials from the Covenant of the Goddess and the Society of Elder Faiths (SEF), authorized to perform legal weddings and handfastings. Also available for other religious services and Rites of Passage. Debbie Fields-Berry P.O. Box 335, B.U. Station Boston MA 02215 dberry@bu.edu 508 839-3457
I hold legal credentials through the Covenant of the Goddess and am ordained though the Society of Elder Faiths. I am willing to travel within New England and will work with people of any Neo-Pagan tradition or non-Pagans with an earth centered focus. I require an initial face to face meeting with a couple at least 2 months before a wedding. I have also performed Wiccanings and am available for other rites of passage. Peg P.O. Box 485 Upton, MA 01568-0485 meagan@control.com 508 839-3457
Beltaine 2003
Editor: Jennifer
Staff: Morwynna
© 2003 Society of Elder Faiths
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