badstar

Not bad for less than an hour's work, I think... :-)

The last moments of night pass in stillness,
all is calm in the darkest hour.
The world, asleep, save those who stir
under the star-dotted cloak of Nyx

The moments slip away unnoticed as the brightest star
ascends the heavens:
Eosphoros, herald of the dawn begins to climb
and the grey wolf-light, twilight of morning
breaks on the horizon.

In the morning-star's wake,
a sliver of red light breaks the grey,
reaches higher, red becoming rosy, then golden;
Eos, light-bringer, flies forth,
borne on dawn's wings from the river Okeanos.

The eastern horizon brightens as the dark cloak of night fades;
Stars lay to rest, washed out by the waking day.

Now following the far-reaching fingers of dawn,
four white stallions on fire-wings venture forth
racing acrosss the sky, trailed by a golden chariot.
Purple-clad Helios, eyes flashing, brilliant-crowned
drives his team through the day's hours
bringing light to the Earth.

They fly higher, growing brighter,
now riding at their course's peak,
now slowly beginning the descent as the light fades
sinking to the realm of the Hesperides
in the far western reaches
of the vast river encircling the earth

Nyx begins again to traverse the sky,
star-cloaked woman, night-winged bird
slips silently from the east
as golden light deepends to red and falls from sight

Trailing the edge of darkness, a silver glow takes flight
Moon-crowned Selene, drawn by winged oxen sails silently
amidst the stars, casting pale rays down at the shadowed earth,
pauses in her travels to steal a kiss from sleeping Endymion,
then begins her slow decline
as the last moments of night pass in stillness,
all is calm in the darkest hour.
The world, asleep, save those who stir
under the star-dotted cloak of Nyx

The moments slip away unnoticed as the brightest star
ascends the heavens:
Eosphoros, herald of the dawn begins to climb
and the grey wolf-light, twilight of morning
breaks on the horizon.

So, the solstice ritual that I mentioned yesterday...this is the post that I made elsewhere about it:


On my way to work this morning, I had an idea for a solstice ritual (two actually, to be performed sort of in tandem), and then it occurred to me that the reverse would make for an excellent winter solstice.

On the summer solstice, a ritual to Hyperion at sunrise, with Eos as the gatekeeper to celebrate the dawning of the longest day, and a ritual to Nyx at sunset, Asteria as the gatekeeper in honor of the coming darkness.

On the winter solstice at sunset, a ritual to Nyx again, to celebrate the falling of the longest night, and the next morning at dawn, a ritual to Hyperion to celebrate the returning light.

I've always felt much more in tune with the changing of the sun than with the changing of the earth. The Solstices and Equinoxes have had much more impact on me than the cross-quarter days (and the fact that I am not of Celtic leaning, coupled with the fact that I believe that festivals such as Beltane or Lughnassagh should be celebrated in honor of the gods for which they are named, otherwise a different name should be devised definitely makes for some extra distance between me and those particular festivals.)

I think that I will try to write up these rituals and perform them for myself this year and see how they go, and if it works well, possibly attempting to adapt for a group next year and see if anyone else wants to join me.