Solstice Ceremony Pictures
2013-06-25
This Solstice, inspired by the twig sculpture of Quetzalcoatl, a twig figure of the Horned God of the Forest was created. This draws on the Celtic tradition of burning a wicker or stick figure of the Sun God, who is at the height of power on the Solstice, the longest day.
Thirty years ago, Starhawk who is a Wiccan Priestess, wrote what would become a milestone in Pagan celebration and ways of thinking. This book is called The Spiral Dance, and we owe her the seed idea of decorating the Horned God with flowers. It took me about an hour to make the figure, and he just danced with energy.
We had allyu mates from Ottawa and from London, Ontario, so the province was well represented. Sonya gifted a large piece of copal incense, and Linda brought a dried ear of corn and a cigar for the work.
The Despatcho was a gold and silver theme, welcoming Inti Taitai with all the ayni and respect due to Father Sun. You can see the track of the sunlight across the Despatcho, which is fitting. The focus was to call in our highest destinies. Golden pineapple for the Sun Road and silver coloured almonds for the Moon Road were laid down. Interestingly, the kintus...yellow ginko leaves...wound up in the star layer, instead of the Pachamama layer where they usually go in an Ayni Despatcho. The ear of corn was included here along with the copal.
Once the Despatcho was made, we decorated the Horned God with yellow and white daisies, and red, orange and yellow roses. The cigar made a home down the spine of the figure.
The Horned God was laid onto the fire first, then we fed our Mesas and our energy centres. The Despatcho went on next, to feed Pachamama, then we all went indoors to a wonderful potluck feast, to feed our bellies. The next day the ashes looked like a hummingbird with a white egg in its beak. There are also many faces to be seen in the fire.
Thank you to all who participated, the beauty wouldn't have happened without you!
