Dark Moon Observances

[qos]

Every so often I've fretted that I don't do enough in the way of regular, "official" observances in my spiritual life. That is: I don't have a sacred calendar that I follow. Most of the celebrations of the Wheel of the Year really don't resonate with me, and despite lots of thinking about it I've never actually put together an official sacred calendar. Every time I read posts by friends who *do* have such structure in their paths I sigh in a mixture of wistfulness and admiration and continue on my own unstructured way. (I don't put my daily practices in the same category as observances.)

I have two rites which I do on a regular basis: a Tuesday night ritual with Tiwaz at my household altar, and a twice-a-day cup ritual with LM.

Over the weekend, Ereshkigal let me know that She wants me to start doing 'something' for her at each dark moon. She's not being specific about the details right now (although I did get an image of one possible activity involving Lucius as a fellow participant), and I get the sense that the specifics of the observances are going to be fluid, in response to what's going on in my life -- or simply what She is in the mood for or wants me to experience.

This feels far better to me than creating an observance "because I should." I hate "make work" -- which is essentially what such an observance would have been if it had not been in response to the call of a deity, or to a feeling of need or devotion rising from within myself.

Comments

[labelleizzy.livejournal.com]

thank you for the reminder for my own upcoming ritual-building. I was in the car Friday night thinking about how grateful I am to Hermes lately; I'm putting 200 miles on the car every weekend, and this week it's been about 120 miles every day (and for the next two weeks also)... Also the messenger-doorkeeper-transitional nature of Hermes Psychopomp, and my own transitions and fluid growth of the last couple years have been much on my mind... the opening words of a call-response chant for a Hermetic ritual started moving in me (luckily as I was at a red light with paper and pencil handy)

It's an unusual God-Goddess pairing, Hermes and Hestia, but it is working for me... Inside and Outside, Center and Periphery...

Thank you for sharing your Path, I do love hearing what is in your heart.

[wyldlingspirit.livejournal.com]

Most of the celebrations of the Wheel of the Year really don't resonate with me...

Of course they don't, anam cara! You've said it yourself, you're not an outdoorsy person. These are natural/agricultural rhythms and in fact have little to nothing to do with Inanna and Ereshkigal. And while the Descent has been compared to the abduction of Perseophone, the later is tied to agricultural cycles and (as far as I understand) the former isn't at all.

I suggest delving into your lore, celebrating the festivals of your path that resonate with you. Listen to your gods. Mark special events in your own life.

As they say, "Don't follow me, I'm following my bliss." Follow your own. :P

[shadowandstar.livejournal.com]

The Descent of Inanna actually does have seasonal roots, but they aren't as obvious as those of the Persephone story; they're very specific to the agricultural cycles of the Ancient Near East and the use of a storehouse (Inanna's actual origin).

I've tried to create a sacred calendar based on my own dates, but even that doesn't resonate much. So I'm going to be content with what I've got, and listen to what my gods want from me.

[sekhmetkare.livejournal.com]

I totally agree... nothing is more likely NOT to work or be continued than observances done "because I should". The two rituals per day that I've started doing are working because it FEELS RIGHT for me to do them. And while I also have wanted to do something special on Dark Moons for awhile, I haven't yet because I haven't found the right thing to do.

I really do enjoy reading about your progress on your Path. :-)