Devotions for May | Polytheism Without Borders

Haloveir
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Posts: 36

Devotions for May May 10, 2014 15:43:29 GMT -8 marybeth likes this

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Post by Haloveir on May 10, 2014 15:43:29 GMT -8

The month has already started (and I imagine many of you already celebrated Beltane or something similar), but I was curious to know what you all were planning this month.

On a few of the pagan blogs that get passed around I've read the suggestion to make your practice a local, personal one, and incorporate celebrations that you feel are appropriate to you. For me this is especially important, as I've never been fond of the idea of celebrating a wheel of the year based on European cycles of agriculture. They come close, but they just don't line up here in America (where I'm from). I think it's still worth celebrating larger, more national or world-wide celebrations as we live in a world economy these days, but it always pays to be mindful of where you're from.

* May 28th: I'll be celebrating the Deipnon in honor of Hecate. I will clean my altars and take the sweepings and the remains to the edge of a field, as I don't want to attract animals down by the busy road where I live. I will also purify myself and my house and make a sacrifice to Hecate.

* May 29th: I'll be celebrating the Noumenia. In honor of Hecate and Hestia, Hermes and Apollo, I'll give to charity and any money I find will be put into a donation box at one of the stores I frequent. I'll also lay out fresh offerings on my shrines and make out my "to do" list for the coming month.

* May 30th: This one is a first for me...I intend to honor and construct a shrine to my Agathos Daimon.

Deleted

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Devotions for May May 11, 2014 0:36:38 GMT -8 marybeth likes this

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Post by Deleted on May 11, 2014 0:36:38 GMT -8

May's a little empty for me. I had the mysteries of Wesir throughout the first week, but I didn't really have the mental space to really honour that properly this year. Apart from that, I just have Hekate's Rite of Her Sacred Fires this Wed for the full moon, and I'll do rites for Her at noumenia as well. Along with my daily devotions for Sobek and Heru-sa-Aset, and some land spirit offerings tomorrow, that's about it for the month.

I've spent a long time trying to figure out a seasonal calendar I can follow, too. I went through Kemetic calendars, and Wheels, and other assorted things, until I finally settled on a mix of Kemetic and druidic festivals that I think works best for my part of the world. Living in Australia means you kind of have to switch pretty much every calendar you find, because they're invariably tailored to the northern hemisphere, and that just doesn't work for me. That, and I'm just not that much of a ritualist, so eight big festivals a year is easier for me to handle than +elebenty smaller ones.

Last Edit: May 11, 2014 0:37:01 GMT -8 by Deleted

Haloveir
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Posts: 36

Devotions for May May 15, 2014 4:23:19 GMT -8

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Post by Haloveir on May 15, 2014 4:23:19 GMT -8

I feel compelled to add another event to the list.

May 26th in the United States marks our Memorial Day, a day to honor the men and women who have died in our military. Personally, I plan to expand on it, and use it as a day to honor all those who have died in a war (not just United States soldiers).

I'm scheduled to work from open to close that day (yes, the bank I work at stays open on holidays...and Sundays...), but I intend to go to visit the grave of my husband's father. He served in the military, and ultimately contracted a cancer the government believed to have originated from or been linked to Agent Orange. I will also make prayers to Ares and Sekhmet, offer a sacrifice on behalf of the departed, and (this is probably mixing traditions a bit, but it feels right) leave a lit candle in the window as would have been done for the soldiers when their family was waiting for them to return home, as a symbol of remembering the time they had to spend away from us.

turningtides
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Devotions for May May 29, 2014 23:06:12 GMT -8 marybeth likes this

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Post by turningtides on May 29, 2014 23:06:12 GMT -8

Hi Haloveir! For Natib Qadish (Canaanite Reconstructionism), the new moon yesterday (May 28) means the beginning of the lunar month, culminating in a festival called 'Ashuru Zabri (Festival of Pruning) or 'Ashuru Qahzu (Summer Festival). This particular festival is meant to 'prune back' the god of death with symbolic pruning/burning of grape vines. I'm not tackling that right now, because it feels like a ritual I shouldn't do unless I'm absolutely ready to do so. (You don't just prune a god of death...)

I'm still working on making regular offerings as a layperson Qadish, so I will continue to craft/make/find votives: olive oils for blessing, cleansing, and individual scents for the different 'Iluma (gods).