A big year for the solstice. Longest night of the
year, first day of winter, last day of the Mayan long count calendar,
filming day for the 'Ice and Fire' bonus chapter of 'The Journeybook',
and time for the Feast of Flames.
The solstice is a minor celebration on my path traditionally more in tune with Poseidon. But there is a sympathetic aspect to it due to the long night.
Hera's Altar Room is never cast into darkness. Three lights remain on at all times, day and night. Two flanking the doors and one directly behind the altar statue itself, casting Hera's shadow on the altar stone.
A forth (brighter) light in the form of a globe sets in the room for when more light is needed at night. I also burn through hundreds of candles every year. They are almost always lit flanking both sides of the altar statue at the base of the stone - casting dancing shadows over the statue, giving the illusion of movement and changes in facial expressions.
On Winter's Night the altar room will be opened to the outside air and allowed to grow cold. After the exchange to room will be sealed again and warmed by as many candles that can be lit safely along with incense, sage, oils, and dried woods.
The altar will be redressed in red and gold, covered in candles, crystals, and new votives will be offered including a homemade bottle of honey wine that I brewed up on the Summer Solstice and have hidden away since. The mead is still not to be opened, only presented before finding its place with the rest of the relics and votives inside the altar room.
The statue of Hera will be cloaked in the golden light of the candles keeping the long dark from ever being able to touch her.
Come daylight, Hera will be honored in the "winter game" of adventuring out into whatever weather might be in a test of weathering endurance that will be filmed and presented as the 'Ice and Fire' chapter of The Journeybook which will also feature scenes from within the altar room during the Feast of Flames.
After all of this comes The Visit. A meal eaten inside the altar room alone with Hera in secret whispers never to be written or recounted. During this meal a votive taken from the days chronicled adventure will be presented before the goddess as a victory gift over the darkness.
After the meal I'll draft out the first notes pertaining to the Spring Equinox and the annual Procession of Hera to the river where the altar statue is to be washed in the river in a ritual blessing cleansing - celebrating Hera's Birthday and the hope that the electric blue halo that appeared in the last chronicled river blessing manifests a second time.
Those first draft notes will be sealed and hidden away with the others that came before it and will not be used for the actual Procession. Which might seem a bit odd. The notes a a simple brainstorm of thoughts, ideas, and poetic lines. The Procession itself is instinctive, not planned or scripted in any way, but always chronicled in photos and video because of the odd events that seem to come with it needing a bit more proof than simple written words.
And that will likely conclude my plans for this Winter Solstice. Simplistic, elemental, and easy. Nothing fancy. Just time well spent.
The solstice is a minor celebration on my path traditionally more in tune with Poseidon. But there is a sympathetic aspect to it due to the long night.
Hera's Altar Room is never cast into darkness. Three lights remain on at all times, day and night. Two flanking the doors and one directly behind the altar statue itself, casting Hera's shadow on the altar stone.
A forth (brighter) light in the form of a globe sets in the room for when more light is needed at night. I also burn through hundreds of candles every year. They are almost always lit flanking both sides of the altar statue at the base of the stone - casting dancing shadows over the statue, giving the illusion of movement and changes in facial expressions.
On Winter's Night the altar room will be opened to the outside air and allowed to grow cold. After the exchange to room will be sealed again and warmed by as many candles that can be lit safely along with incense, sage, oils, and dried woods.
The altar will be redressed in red and gold, covered in candles, crystals, and new votives will be offered including a homemade bottle of honey wine that I brewed up on the Summer Solstice and have hidden away since. The mead is still not to be opened, only presented before finding its place with the rest of the relics and votives inside the altar room.
The statue of Hera will be cloaked in the golden light of the candles keeping the long dark from ever being able to touch her.
Come daylight, Hera will be honored in the "winter game" of adventuring out into whatever weather might be in a test of weathering endurance that will be filmed and presented as the 'Ice and Fire' chapter of The Journeybook which will also feature scenes from within the altar room during the Feast of Flames.
After all of this comes The Visit. A meal eaten inside the altar room alone with Hera in secret whispers never to be written or recounted. During this meal a votive taken from the days chronicled adventure will be presented before the goddess as a victory gift over the darkness.
After the meal I'll draft out the first notes pertaining to the Spring Equinox and the annual Procession of Hera to the river where the altar statue is to be washed in the river in a ritual blessing cleansing - celebrating Hera's Birthday and the hope that the electric blue halo that appeared in the last chronicled river blessing manifests a second time.
Those first draft notes will be sealed and hidden away with the others that came before it and will not be used for the actual Procession. Which might seem a bit odd. The notes a a simple brainstorm of thoughts, ideas, and poetic lines. The Procession itself is instinctive, not planned or scripted in any way, but always chronicled in photos and video because of the odd events that seem to come with it needing a bit more proof than simple written words.
And that will likely conclude my plans for this Winter Solstice. Simplistic, elemental, and easy. Nothing fancy. Just time well spent.
