Blog Entry - June 18/07

Summer Solstice Ritual Tide Walk '07

At summer and winter solstices, the ocean's tides are at their lowest ebb of the year.

This seasonal occurrence has inspired my Moon Circle to take a low tide walk to celebrate Summer Solstice.

There's a tiny island nearby which can be reached on foot only at this time . . . though not without getting your feet wet!

But it's worth it, because it exposes sea creatures never seen at higher tides...

Sun stars running with half their legs lifted high

Slippery sea cucumbers

Dark twisting eels

Jet-propelled swimming scallops, and more.

On the island itself are ancient petroglyphs, carved by the indigenous people of this land. Women, people with goggles, owls, mysterious forms. . . gently being erased by time.

That which is normally hidden by the depths of ocean and the distance of time, becomes visible to us at this turning of the Wheel.

So this year we chose to do a Summer Solstice Ritual Walk.

Summer Solstice Ritual Walk

Casting the Circle, we invoke the divine within each of us. Our intention: to take the Divine on a walk.

The Divine Within is a feminine deity: Spirit Made Manifest In Matter.

In yoga, She is the Kundalini
In many religions, She is Divine Mother

Whatever you call it, and however you identify with it, the Divine does live in each of us.

And the Divine lives through each of us. Seeing with our eyes, hearing with our ears, and feeling with our skins what it is like to be consciousness intensely focused in a moment of time-and-space.

The Divine also expresses Herself through us . . . . Through our hands and bodies and voices, we send forth expressions of Her Intention into the world.

So we wrap a piece of the Circle around each of us, a separate bubble of the same energy field. And we walk. We see what we can see. We hear what we can hear. We feel what we can feel. We smell and taste life in this moment at the seashore.

With all senses awake to what was around us, we allow ourselves to be conduits for the Divine to experience this glorious world She has created.

Divine Mother loves this!

Whenever She is so present, She brings laughter and joy to the most mundane circumstances.

So in our service to Her, the offering of our bodies to Her purpose, we find heights and depths of pleasure not easily reached in other ways. Our selfless gift brings the most precious rewards.

It can be a challenge to open up a Circle in this way. We may slip into mundane consciousness and speech.

However, this is the essence of spiritual practice . . . to live with this divine awareness in everyday situations.

For a good part of the day, we are able to practice this consciousness with the support of others, in a fun and thrilling mini-adventure.

Summer Solstice Ritual Outline

Ground. Cast the Circle, and welcome the Elements. Give special attention to the Elements as they manifest in a human body/mind.
Invoke the Divine Within. A visualization similar to this one may help:

If you can, close your eyes. Become aware of your breath.
As you inhale, become aware that every breath you take in comes to you from the body of the Goddess: it is Her breath that you breathe.
This Goddess is the Divine Mother whose body is the Earth and the Stars and all Creatures. This is the loving Mother who gave you life, as a special gift.
As you exhale, become aware that every breath you give out, is a gift given back to the Goddess. She breathes it in.
You are breathing Goddess, and She is breathing you.
Imagine the Goddess standing in front of you, however She appears to you. If She is in anything other than a benevolent, loving form, ask to see beyond Her to the Prime Mother - the essence of Compassion.
See the Goddess standing facing you, and She is the exact same size as you.
Invite Her to join with you. With your breath, you can breathe Her in. As She merges with you, She settles into your body as if it were Her own: Her arms, Her feet, Her eyes, Her heart. . . .
When you open your eyes, notice that She is looking out through them. She is experiencing everything you experience, through your own senses.
When you move, notice that She is moving you, from within.
Keep this awareness of Her experiencing life through your body, as much as you can.
If sometimes you find that it has slipped away, gently recall your awareness of the Divine within you, moving through you.
Now everyone can take a piece of the Circle, and wrap it around themselves like a bubble. Visualize this, using as many senses as you can.
Within this bubble, which moves as you move, begin exploring whatever setting you are in.
It's truly all fascinating to the Goddess!
When it is complete, come back together as a group. You may choose to open your personal bubbles, and rejoin them to rebuild the original Circle. Thank the Divine and the Elements. Open the Circle(s).
While Feasting, the group may enjoy sharing what this experience was like for you.