I can smell the smell.
You know the one I mean
The one that speaks of life growing through the veil of death.
Of babies being born. Of the growing heat of the sun
My heart quickens to a new more urgent beat.
Life wants OUT!!
In DragonOak we celebrate this time of year by honouring the Maiden Bride.
During our ritual we use a poem This is a very old poem found in its Christianised form in he Carmina Gadelica by Alexander Carmicheal[1900]. This is available on Sacred Texts if you want to see it.
We use this version.
The genealogy of the Holy Maiden Bride
Radiant flame of gold
Bride, daughter of Dougall the Brown
son of Aodh
son of Art
son of Conn
son of Crearar
son of Cis
son of Cormac
son of Carruin
Every day and every night
that I say the Genealogy of Bride,
I shall not be slain,
I shall not be sworded,
I shall not be put in cell,
I shall not be wounded,
I shall not be ravaged,
I shall not be blinded,
I shall not be made naked,
I shall not be left bare,
Nor will the Ancestors
Leave me forgotten.
No fire, no sun, no moon shall burn me.
No loch, no water, no sea shall drown me.
No seed of fairy host shall lift me,
No seed of airy host shall lift me,
Nor earthly being destroy me.
I am under the shielding
of good Bride each day.
I am under the shielding
of good Bride each night.
I am under the keeping of the Triple Bride,
Each early and late
Every dark, every light.
Bride is my comrade-woman,
Bride is my maker of song,
Bride is my helping-woman,
My choicest of women, my guide.
At this time of year we purify ourselves and our temple. We melt down all of last years beeswax candles and make new ones.
We Bless our candles and we also have a special bee blessing which we use to honour the source of our sacred candles.
We spend the day together, making crosses. making candles eating and just spending time together.
Then when all the candles are made we do ritual to honour Bride.
This ritual first purifies the body and soul and then honours all of the growing things including the growing things within ourselves.
Its a time to set Goals, to unleash our own creativity. To stoke the fires of study and to start to feel driven again.
The dark of the sleep is driven away by the light of the candles.
I hope that your own celebrations are wonderful, full of laughter and light and the blessings of company.
May the Light grow both within yourself and within the sky.
I can smell the Smell
That lightness in the air
That driving driven need to rise
From deep within the earth
The maiden Bride rises
Lighting the flame of the spring
She drives forward the lives of the creatures of earth
Singing her song of their birth
Her green girded body, her crown shining bright
The red of her hair flowing free in the night
The song of the birds rises
The trees split the bud
and within me the light emerges
strong and unfettered, my soul taking flight
