It's wintertime in the Northern Hemisphere, which means the nights are long and cold... so it's time to celebrate the longest night of the year on Yule. In some Wiccan and Pagan traditions, the turning Wheel of the Year represents the ever-changing nature of the Goddess. It's a time to say goodbye to the old, and welcome the new. As the sun returns to the earth, life begins once more, and that concept can be recognized with a ritual that honors the Goddess. If you're a solitary practitioner, try our Goddess Rite for Solitaries, or if you belong to a group, use the Goddess Rite for Groups.
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Sign up for the Yule Seven Day Sabbat Class, Get Ready for Yule!
Follow Pagan/Wiccan on Twitter or Join Me On Facebook!
As one of the points in the solar cycle, why a Goddess ritual rather than a God ritual ? It would seem to make more sense to do a ritual and celebration of the rebirth of the Sun for the solstice, non ?
The Winter Solstice is the Celebration of the Death of the Green Man and Birth of the Holly King, a very Male orientated Celebration traditionally, reversed on the Summer solstice. Traditionally the Cross Quarters are the Celebrations of the Goddesses.
we find a fine balance with the Holly King and GrandMother Night. seeing it as a time to honor wisdom that comes with years invested. the rebirth part comes the next morning. new day, new deity to honor. everyday a ritual to life!
happy holidaze
I totally agree that the solstice is traditionally a time to celebrate the masculine aspects of the gods, in relation to the sun. However, I have a number of readers whose traditions are based on goddess-worship only, and this ritual is designed as an option for those folks who may choose not to honor the god instead.
patti
Do you have a suggestion for a God-oriented ritual as well ?
And I have to wonder where the balance and reconciliation/union of duality comes from in goddess-worship only traditions. Doesn’t the wheel of the year markers as well as countless other traditions highlight the integrality and integration of both the Goddess and the God as central to the original order of the Universe at its beginning, when in union and prior to the separation that created the duality of our existence ?
As a Goddess worshipper, I can appreciate the male principle, while feeling no need to worship it personally, for several reasons:
1) there’s already PLENTY of male/God worship around…pretty much the rest of the world-the Abrahamic religions (judeo-xian-muslim) put out PLENTY of God energy; even if *all* pagans worshipped only the Goddess, there would still be no balance.
2) Like a mother, a Goddess contains within her the concept of the God, both within her and then, after birthing, as her son or eventually consort, so that is one way that, as I understand it, some women who have strong male energies in their lives make their peace with balancing both (I don’t particularly need to do that), and also as Goddess mother-maiden, (queen), and crone, and as mother-daughter (i.e. Persephone and Demeter). More attention can be paid to the offspring of the Goddess, just as Jesus gets the lion’s share of attention versus Mary, nowadays, versus medieval xianty.
3) Goddess can be viewed as everyone, ungendered, or as both female AND male (or as undifferentiated fetus before testosterone acts on males). So therefore She represents all of us (we all have nipples, even though they are only fully developed in females) just as in much language “man” has stood for everyone…ie: “all men are created equal”.
So 3 different ways you can try and make peace with this inclusive, balanced way of thinking, that may appear to you to be neither.
To me, it does not feel foreign…my life doesn’t revolve around nor even include a lot of men (partly because I grew up in a family of all girls) but even many Goddess women who do work with male partners and/or sons, and focus a lot of attention on men, in this gynophobic culture, find the focusing on the female divine to be empowering and validating.
Patti,
I appreciate that you are very inclusive and offer alternatives even within the alternatives. Love your work. Thanks so much!
Merry Yule! Goddess bless!