June 29 2013
Temple of the Goddess
Summer Solstice
Celebration & Ritual
Summer Solstice is the longest day of the year. It is sometimes referred to as Midsummer's Night as it is the shortest night of the year. With the Sun's power full and long, this is the time of fertility realized. After Summer Solstice, the circle begins its turn once again toward shorter days and longer nights. We celebrate the growing power of the summer's sun and the inner fires of our own creativity and passions.
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Newcomer's Meeting
6:45
Before the Ritual
If this is your first Temple of the Goddess Ritual or you just have questions, meet with Rev. Xia in the lobby before the ritual. Bring your questions, fears, hopes, and desires. Newcomer's Meeting in Lobby at 6:45pm, before the ritual.
Summer Solstice
Ritual & Celebration
Saturday
June 29, 2013
7:30 PM
Doors Open 7:00
Church of Truth - Center for Awakening Consciousness, Pasadena, CA
NOTE: Families with children, please come early for a seat down front so your children don't miss anything!
 
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Calypso
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The theme for our 2013 ritual productions is New Directions. Following our 2012 Year of Change, NEW DIRECTIONS inevitably follow. With each Turn of the Wheel we embrace the possibility of New Directions.
As Pagans, our teachings are found in nature, the seasons, cycles, and the cosmos . . . all of which are in a constant state of flux. We have no Bible, Torah, or Bhagavad Gita . . . but in nature we find the reflection/lessons for how to grow, live consciously, and create the life we deserve. To that end we don't need to emphasize the need, or desire, for change and the inevitable new beginnings, new directions that follow. For Pagans that's a given. We understand the clarion call of life for continual resurrection and transformation.
What we are bringing to our ritual theatre celebrations in 2013 are mythic lessons about standing at the crossroads of new directions, and discerning through wise, contemplative choices which direction . . . which new path to take. This year we will explore the tools we need to move forward, with courage, in new directions, down paths we have not yet trod . . . consciously choosing the new directions life is offering us.
New Directions is such a fertile subject and we are excited to be opening ourselves, artistically and spiritually, to this mythic theme and the possibilities within it.
This year our mythic guide is Vasilisa The Brave who ushers us through our seasonal rituals and myths in 2013.
Vasilisa The Brave, from the Slavic mythic tradition, is a young heroine who journeys in search of wisdom, knowledge, and a quest for truth and assistance. Before beginning her journey, Vasilisa is given a doll from her mother that represents her intuition. It is the intuition that we each carry that will guide us on our quest throughout the year.
Vasilisa's special doll offers wisdom and encourages her to trust her own intuition, her inner wisdom. She is told to seek the Wise Woman, the Shaman in the woods whose myths and stories will guide her in the search for New Directions.
Like Vasalisa we return every season to hear the stories. We call on the Wise Shaman for support in following our own unique path and process, for she is a guide, a teacher, a teller of tales.
 | Pan by Marisa Lopez
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The Wise Woman's Summer myth is a modern telling of the great God Pan.
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the god Pan was the personification of the male aspect embodying nature. He was protector of nature, both plant and animal, and worshiped as the god of the wild, shepherds and flocks, nature of mountain wilds, hunting and rustic music, and companion of the nymphs.
Pan . . . the Ultimate Bad Boy . . .
Pan could not be tamed or brought under control so the growing church re-made him in their image of evil and he became the mythic Christian Devil or Satan.
Join us for Summer Solstice as we reclaim this powerful male archetype that our world so desperately needs at this time. We will honor Pan in his wild form. By reclaiming the masculine wild in service to nature and community, we give a voice back to both men and women.
Journey with us as we follow Vasilisa The Brave in her mythic quest for bold New Directions, steeped in the teaching of ancient and wise stories. As we witness these powerful myths and stories we remember our own power to create our lives in the directions we choose. 
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Our evening of ritual theatre opens with a song welcoming the Sun, and the power of growth and life that She offers us. As the Sun Goddess enters the sanctuary, we offer prayers of gratitude for the love, light, and joy the Sun Goddess spreads across the land, lighting our paths and the New Directions ahead.
In a contemporary retelling of this ageless story, Pan answers the silent call of coyote . . . the wild and untamed that resides in each of us. Coyote finds herself, voiceless, alone, without a pack to share in the lessons and blessings of life. Coyote, covered in fleas-the annoying self-doubts, the bothersome fears, the bane of nagging disbelief, and the hesitation of uncertainties-has deep misgivings about following Pan and finding her voice and her community.
 | | Pan by Gustave Moreau |
Pan enlists the aid of the water nymph, Calypso, to Shine a light of mirth and truth on Coyote's true divine nature. With encouragement and support, Coyote dares to cross the waters of self-truth and washes away the fleas of illusion and finds her way to the island where she finds her strength, her truth, her voice, and her community.
Temple of the Goddess and The Mythic Players invite you to share an evening of art and ritual theatre for our summer celebration and re-claim the wild, protective male aspect of nature personified by Pan.
Together let's find our voices as we mythically re-claim Pan and find the courage to speak for the Earth and Nature. At this pivotal time in our ecological destruction, our voices are needed.
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Image: Coyote Woman by Susan Seddon-Boulet
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Celebrating the Seasons: Summer Solstice
Saturday, June 29, 2013
Arrival: 6:30-6:45 PM, Doors Open: 7:00 PM, Ritual: 7:30-9:00 PM
PLEASE NOTE: NEW START TIME AND NEW LOCATION
IF PARKING LOT IS FULL, STREET PARKING LOCATED
ON ORANGE GROVE BLVD. & NO. EL MOLINO
Church of Truth, A Center for Awakening Consciousness
690 E. Orange Grove Blvd.
Pasadena, CA 91104
Temple of the Goddess: 626-765-7959 Website: www.TempleoftheGoddess.org Temple of the Goddess offers seasonal celebrations for families and community at the Church of Truth in Pasadena. Multi-media ritual theatre 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 flyer. Click here to download our Summer Solstice program.
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Myth Magic
by Kan'Nal
Myth and magic are one and the same thing
Mixed in life they dance and dream
Off in a hole behind the sunrise
Look into the sun set ruby red fire
Water dragon
Swimming the horizon
Chasing his tail drawing circles
Myth magic - you are the myth
Myth magic - follow your bliss
Myth magic - what is this
That you speak of
I don't think I know this before
Myth magic - you are the myth
Myth magic - follow your bliss
Myth magic - what is this
That you dream of
These are stories never been told
Buried like a treasure waiting for discoverers
Underneath the secrets of every lover
Only the heart can hear that voice
Ain't no "God" gonna burn your soul in damnation
Oh No, but maybe you will
The days of "The One" who's gonna come back and save you are here
inside of you all
inside of us all
Myth magic - you are the myth
Myth magic - follow your bliss
Myth magic - what is this
That you dream of
I don't think I know that one
Myth magic - you are the myth
Myth magic - follow your bliss
Myth magic - what is this
That you speak of
These are stories never been told
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 Come into the fire, come in,
come in, dance in the flames of the festival
of the strongest sun at the mountain top
of the year when the wheel starts down.
Dance through me as I through you.
Here in the heart of fire in the caves
of the ancient body we are aligned.
Our cells are burning
each a little furnace powered by the sun
and the moon pulls the sea of our blood.
This night the sun and moon dance
and you and I dance in the fire of which
we are the logs, the matches and the flames.
Marge Piercy, from
"Shadows of the Burning; The Lunar Cycle" |
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