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Temple of the Goddess
Autumn Equinox Ritual & Celebration
September 24, 2011
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"The seasons and all their changes are in me."
--Henry David Thoreau.
The Wheel of the Year spins and we come together to honor the turning of the seasons and the Earth's never-ending cycles of life. As we, once again, begin our descent into the season of winter and prepare ourselves for the coming dark, we give thanks for the bounty of the Earth's harvest. And it is in this spirit of gratefulness to the Earth that we feel the clarion call to protect the Great Mother, who gives of Her bounty to nurture the children of the Earth.
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September 24, 2011
Temple of the Goddess
Equinox Celebration & Ritual
Autumn Equinox. Fall is the time of Thanksgiving, a time of gifts and blessings worldwide. Day and night are equal and the balance of giving and taking, of light and dark, summer and winter, life and death are the focus of this Sabbat. Though the year is waning and winter approaches, the emphasis is less on death than on the message of rebirth in the harvest seeds and the plenty of the season.
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Newcomer's Meeting
5:45
Before the Ritual
If this is your first Temple of the Goddess Ritual or you just have questions, meet with Kamala in the lobby before the ritual. Bring your questions, fears, hopes, and desires. Newcomer's Meeting in Lobby at 5:45pm, before the ritual.
Autumn Equinox Ritual & Celebration
Saturday
September 24, 2011
6:30 PM
Doors Open 6:00
Neighborhood Unitarian Church, Pasadena
NOTE: Families with children, please come early for a seat down front so your children don't miss anything!
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 Our evening of ritual theatre opens with music and dance evoking Artemis to release the Green Dragon--the fierce manifestation of our own consciousness and connection to the Earth, and the warrior energy needed to protect the Earth and its people. In song, dance and spoken word, we honor Artemis, the fearless, untamed Goddess of the hunt; the first environmentalist, protector of the Earth and guardian for the light of humanity.
Our myth on this Equinox will be given by a storyteller, as of old. In her reading, she will create scenes of the life of Artemis, one of the Great Mother's many daughters and sons, who lived among the people, teaching them to hunt with honor and responsibility; to respect and protect the land, the forests, and the woods.
In vivid story, we see Artemis teaching the people to make bows and arrows and how to use the bows to hunt. She tells them the arrows would help to feed them and that there is great power in the arrow-the power to destroy. She also gifted them with the true wisdom of the hunt . . . to aim for enlightenment, to reach deep within themselves to find courage and the strength to stalk their dreams, their divine destinies. Into each hand she placed one of Her sacred arrowheads to remember the power they carried within, to find their path, their personal truths. In these teachings, Artemis gives humanity the power of creation and destruction. (Click here to read Joanne Elliott's article, Releasing the Green Dragon.) Green Dragon image by: Elfessa.
Creator Destroyer
From the depths of the forest she will find you She will drag you up and call you into being She will lay her naked body on the debris She will howl until her spirit Over runs the city She will rise up through the cracks Between the pavements She will buckle train lines Bridges all collapsing And the towers of the mighty become frail As she opens up her belly to devour Come and take over Creator Destroyer Come and take Come and take over Creator Destroyer Come and take. . .over She will pour her molten core upon the runways She will leave her rusting hulls upon the shoreline She will swallow up the iron that was stolen She will vomit up the plastic and the poison Her oceans will make islands of the mainland Her tendrils will be wrapped around the cables And the buried bones of buildings will be vacant Come and take over Creator Destroyer Come and take Come and take over Creator Destroyer Come and take. . .over (Wendy Rule) Come with us as we honor Artemis, the first environmentalist, and ask her to release the Green Dragon within each of us. We open our hearts and commit to an evolution of our consciousness to protect the Earth, the environment, and evolve into a new way of living in kindness and respect to one another and the Great Mother, Earth. Temple of the Goddess, and The Mythic Players, invite you to join us for an evening of art and ritual theatre in celebration of the Autumn Equinox. |
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 Celebrating the Seasons: Autumn Equinox
Saturday, September 24, 2011, 6:30 PM, Doors Open at 6:00
PLEASE NOTE: NEW START TIME
Neighborhood Unitarian Universalist Church
301 N. Orange Grove Blvd.
Pasadena, CA 91103
Website: www.TempleoftheGoddess.org
Temple of the Goddess offers seasonal celebrations for families and community at the Neighborhood Church in Pasadena. Multi-media ritual theater combining, music, myth, visual art, dance, liturgy, spoken word, and participatory theatre which fuses drum and dance with personal enactment to re-connect us to the seasons and the Earth. Click here to download Program and Flyer.
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When I become the Moon
I remember yesterday, when I become the moon
When all the stars came out to play, we danced away the gloom
Circled 'round the ring of stones before they fell in ruin
I can hear our voices still, when I become the moon
High Diana ruled the wood, traces still remain
Shared the wisdom and the herb, shared the joy and pain
Echoes of life's passion play still haunt the bride and groom
But they'll be wed again someday, when I become the moon
Soldiers of the holy war, holy greed command
Claimed the Earth and all her shores, stole Diana's land
But in my heart there lingers still the dark of her perfume
I drink the earthy wine until I become the moon
All that's left is history, and Diana's blood and bone
Fragments of a mystery, her story is our own
But undercover of the stars her secret is exhumed
I bow before her beauty now, and I. . .become. . .the moon.
(Damh the Bard)
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