| While some people head to the bars and others watch the fireworks, there are a select few who take advantage of warm summer nights to celebrate their spirituality with moonlight rituals. This group includes everyone from bus drivers to corporate headhunters, and although most are happy to discuss their religion, few are willing to go on record for fear of losing their jobs due to stereotypes surrounding it.
Thanks to fairy tales, witches are often associated with things like ruby-encrusted footwear, triangular headgear and gingerbread abodes. However, Wicca and the people who practice it are part of a tolerant, peaceful and accepting faith that celebrates the cycles of nature.
Wiccans believe that everything is connected to the great Divine and that its spirit lives in everything around us. They have no dogma or one spiritual leader, and those who follow its teachings have a deep respect for all life and the Earth.
"(Wicca) gives me a feeling of a connectedness to Deity, to the Earth and to other people. It gives me a deeper appreciation of life and a better sense of self," says Steve Hergest, who’s been practicing Wicca for 14 years.
Wiccans practice the Law of Three, which states that everything they do, good or bad, comes back to them threefold. This principle encourages them to live ethically and in balance with the Earth as well as to use caution when casting spells and performing rituals.
A ritual is a way to acknowledge nature and the changing of the seasons. They are as individual as the Wiccans and Pagans who practice them, and are an expression of a personalized wish or projection.
Because of the sensitivity and sacredness of the craft, many Wiccans are secretive, fearing ridicule and persecution. Those who were interviewed refused to go into detail, but simply put, a ritual is about collectively raising energy, which can be done by chanting, singing, dancing, meditating, praying, drumming and feasting. It is a way to offer thanks and call out to ancestors, gods, goddesses and the Divine.
Hergest celebrates both the summer (June 21) and winter solstice (December 21, referred to as Yule) by performing a ritual.
"We celebrate the summer solstice as the time of year when the sun is at the height of its influence," he explains. "It is, of course, the longest day and the shortest night. It’s a little sad, though. Even though the hottest part of summer is ahead of us, the days are getting shorter from here on in."
He usually goes out at night, picks a spot that has special meaning and then waits for the sun to come up.
"Daybreak has a magic that’s all its own – the sights and sounds of the world coming awake, with light vanquishing the darkness," he says. "Many of us begin by creating a sacred space, to separate us from the everyday world and where we believe the impossible may become possible."
Hergest begins his particular ritual by banishing the negative influences and purifying the space with objects representing the elements of Earth, Air, Fire and Water.
Even though the solstice has passed, a ritual can be performed at any time of the year. Hergest suggests that people celebrate the summer by staying up all night and spending that time outdoors. He also encourages parents to get their children involved.
"If you have children in school, this is a good time for them to make a personal time capsule symbolizing the past school year, with perhaps a letter written to their future selves. Then this time next year, they can open the capsule and start a new one," he offers.
A person doesn’t have to be Wiccan in order to appreciate the summer months, the period of growth preceding the harvest.
Tannis has been a practicing Pagan since she was 13 years old.
"I was raised to respect the Earth above all things and actively practising paganism seemed the next logical step," she explains. "I grew up outside a very small town and that meant a great deal of my time was spent outdoors and in nature. I always felt a deep connection with the world around me, a connection that I didn’t find in church."
Pagan is an umbrella term encompassing all non-traditional religions – including Wicca. Although she doesn’t follow the Wicca teachings, Tannis does do small rituals to acknowledge the season.
She explains that a ritual can be a formal event like creating an altar and casting a circle (which defines the boundaries of a sacred space) or having a casual gathering with friends, offering thanks and libations. She stresses that people should do what makes them comfortable.
"It’s important to celebrate, but it doesn’t have to be through ritual," she says. "What’s important is to celebrate the sun being at the height of power before his decline to Yule."
For Hergest, ritual is important because it is a physical and mental connection to the Divine spirit that he believes exists in all of us.
"No matter how much else may change in our lives, how much uncertainty we may face, summer will follow spring, and be followed in turn by autumn," he says. "We may not be able to rely on the weather here, but the seasons continue to turn."
To learn more about how to create your own ritual, group ritual etiquette or to find information on local covens, go to www.wiccanweb.ca and www.witchvox.com. |
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