Part of the “Christmas in January” Series
Category: Koliada 🌞
Purification and Sacrifice
Today we’re going to talk about something different. Something I am not sure I have ever talked about. Sacrifice and purification through fasting. So first we need to define each thing. People often believe that sacrifice in old religions is about killing an animal.
I refuse to kill any creature. I’m even attempting to go vegan. I’m not criticising anyone’s traditions. But to me killing a creature as an offering is all about spilling someone else’s life in order to get cheap and easy power. Or to get a favor done.
To me sacrifice is actually sacrificing your time and your energy to a divine being. Be that being a God/Goddess or spirit. Because spirit guides and helping spirits in general require our sacrifices too. Not only our Deities. Of course I will accompany my sacrifice with sacrifical offerings.
Like food, candles, incense etc..and I’m not going to be a hypocrite. There are rare times when the Gods ask me for meat. But instead of killing an animal, I bring them specially prepared food from my favorite restaurant and I leave them that. Yes, an animal is still being killed. But unlike animal sacrifices where blood is spilled and the meat is left behind to rot, I bring an animal already dead and cooked.
“But M! The point of the sacrifice is the life energy!”
That animal’s Ashe or life force is not mine to take. Instead I infuse the food with spiritual energy to feed the Gods on both sides of the veil. I also offer up the soul of that dead animal. And ask that he/she and all the dead companions this animal is with to offer their own Ashe up to the Gods by going into the light. That way the full energy goes to the Gods and that poor creature, who no doubt lived a wretched existence on Earth, can find peace.
I only do this when what I am asking for is so strong that the Gods ask for the meat of an animal. And since I still eat meat because I am making the transition, I do this with all my food. In fact I do it also for the plants I consume as an offering. They’re alive too after all. But I digress.
I offer myself up in meditation to the Gods and their spirits. I do the proper rituals and prayers. I even make my own rituals and prayers to better suit my practice. Sometimes I give an offering before a ritual to initiate it. And sometimes after to seal it.
I better characterise a sacrifice by the way of the Nords. A Blot can be any kind of sacrifice. An animal, libations of mead, or fruit and bread. My sacrifices are incense, candles, milk, alcohol, fruit and candies, breads of many sorts, holy water, and prayer. So what is a Fast? A Fast is not always starving yourself.
A fast is a denial of pleasure. That’s what my Medicine Woman taught me. Native Americans often fasted either by going hungry for a certain period of time, or by eating only small portions. “Eat only to be full,” she once told me. “To be satisfied. Don’t over eat, don’t over indulge,”.
That also means not eating your favorite food. Just regular food. It doesn’t have to he super bland but nothing that has too many spices and flavors. I’m not very fond of either concept truth be told. I’m chubby and I eat like a starving man.
So instead, when I do fast I give up another pleasure : Sex. No, I’m not happy about that it sucks. Not even masturbation. It’s not easy. At first it feels like I’m in withdrawl. But by the third day a peace comes over me.
A spiritual peace. It sounds corny but it’s true. Still a pain, but it helps me focus my energies towards other endeavors. In this case the spiritual. I did this this last week for two holidays I was celebrating at once.
The first one was Maslenitsa. The ancient Slavic Pagan feast of Volos, God of the Underworld and Nature. This is a spring time feast which involves the worship of sun and winter Deities and the veneration of the spirits they command. It’s also when an effigy known as “Lady Maslenitsa” is set up first with beautiful clothing. Then later it is stripped little by little of all it possesses.
Finally, the lady is burned and the ashes of the effigy are mixed with the crops for a good agricultural year. It’s become a Christian holiday in modern times. But me being a Christo Pagan, that doesn’t bother me at all. I worship Volos first and foremost, asking all underworld energies of winter to be drained back into the darkness. Afterwords, I honor Koliada the God of the Sun along with Jesus Christ.
I ask them both to bring back the sun and spring. I make a small effigy from red mulch. And instead of burning Lady Maslenitsa, I tear her apart and throw her parts into a barren place where even weeds aren’t growing. Then I ask for the plants to be replenished and for the animals of the land to be well feed. I also ask for prosperity and abundance in all good things.
I also celebrating Omizu-Okuri (Japanese) where I fed holy water to the altars outside. This was to replenish the nature temple I have built in my whole apartment complex. I poured libations of cool water on my indoor altars. So that being done, when I asked for all good energies and sealed the rituals, I did my Road Opener Rituals to open the roads for all good luck. And with Papa Legba and the other gatekeepers and road spirits with me, I began to analyze the IFA calander I mentioned in my last post.
I also worked on a few paranormal cases. And spent time with family. Lol that doesn’t sound like it matches. But to me that’s just what I do every other day. When I did my divinations I noticed something though.
As part of my Soothsaying I do a lot of Land Divinations. That’s where I just observe the land and animals or general behaviour of the people on it. A lot of dead animals, specifically birds are appearing. Not in massive numbers. But I noticed enough of them that it caught my attention.
I interpreted this as meaning that the Reaping of this year is continuing even un to spring. But not an intense reaping either. This shows the dual nature of this year. Other than that, these two holidays were relaxing and good. I learned a lot about myself and the world around me.
How do you give sacrifice to the Gods or spiritual guides?
- M
Spiritual alignment of the Winter Solstice
Hello everyone, I’m sorry I’ve been gone for so long. The real world was calling. But now I’m back to tell you about the Christmas Full Moon on none other than the Winter Solstice. Not to mention some other things I have noticed. For starters let’s look at the holidays on December 21st.
We have the Divalia/Angernalia, Korochun, the Rites of Soyal, and the various “Return of the Sun” holidays across traditions. The Divalia or Angernalia was sacred to Angerona, a Roman Goddess who removed suffering from people. She is worshipped on this day because the Winter is at the height of it’s power during this time. Sacrifices were made to her in the Temple of Voluptia (Sacellum Volupiae) to alleviate the people’s burdens. Other sources state it was at *Curia Acculeia.
While I have not yet found the actual offerings given to her, I can guess based on what she stood for. I will give libations of honey on my Roman God altar. Korochun is a Slavic holiday where Czernobog (The Black God) the malevolent God of Darkness and Winter and all his dark spirits are at their strongest. But as usual, there’s another side to the story. Many of his modern followers claim he was not really malevolent but simply the embodiment of the dark side of nature.
On the 23rd of December, the Sun is reborn. Or is it the Goddess Koliada? Simbolic of Winter reaching the height of it’s power, only for the Sun to return. Korochun is also seen as a time to honor the ancestral dead. Fires are lit at cemeteries and a log is set ablaze on the crossroads to keep the dead warm.
And as usual, feasts are made. The Rites of Soyal are rituals of the Hopi Nation. It is about Creation and commemorate both the Hawk Maidan (who represents the Sun) and the Spider Woman (who created the Universe and represents Winter). Now, I have heard some contradictory dates. Some people have said they are done on December 16th and others state they are done on the Winter Solstice.
After doing a personal divination and asking them for guidance, they and my spirits told me to do it on the Solstice. It’s also possible that it’s a week long ritual from the 16th to the 21st. Though that’s just my guess. First Nations magic and religion is often limited only to the initiated as shamans. Or to natives themselves.
So my understanding of it is limited.
To me it makes the most sense to do it on the Solstice. But the 16th and the rest of the days could be in preparation for the actual day. One theory anyway. But what makes it extra interesting this year, is that the Full Moon falling on the Winter Solstice. Making it a true Christmas Full Moon.
The Solstice begins at the 21st and continues on the 22 of December. But the moon begins it’s appearence starting, Friday. You can already begin to see Full Moon a day in advance. And the power of the moon is felt a day before and after it. This year’s final full moon is called “The Cold Moon” or “Long Night Moon” as well as Oak, Winter, or Wolf Moon.
I particularly appreciate calling it the “Long Night Moon” because the Solstice is the longest night. It will be in the sign of Cancer in 0°. Heathens believe the Solstice ends on New Year’s Day. But I personally follow the Nordic-Scottish tradition of celebrating it until Up Hella Aa which is the last Tuesday of January. Lots of Bonfires and drinking, just like Hogmanay on New Year’s Day!
Although I follow a mostly European pattern for the Solstice, I give offerings to all the Gods and spirits on all my altars. I give offerings to the Spider Woman in thanks for reaping the negative, and creating the Universe. And I beg Hawk Maidan to return to warm the lands. Though usually I only beg for that in other states in the US because Florida is hotter than Satan’s nutsack. I beg Apollon and Helios to return.
As well as Kolayda and Koliada. On my Vodoun and Santeria altar, where I practice an assortment of African magics, I beg Mawu to restore the heat to places plagued by the cold.
I beg Amateratsu to leave her cave and return to warm the world. I beg Sol Invictus to show his children that no winter can conquer the sun. I of course feed the ancestors and other spirits including the Nisse which are Nordic elves.
I ask them to give us bounty. Offerings also to Odin, Thor, and Hold Nickar. I also do rites to the Roman Goddess Vesta for she is the protectress of us all during Winter. I feed the Native American spirits as well. I basically leave offerings and libations everywhere.
So, my outside altars have bits and pieces of food I can spare as well as libations of eggnog. I started feeding them Eggnog when I didn’t have anything else to offer due to issues with money. To my surprise, not just the nature entities but my ancestors and roaming dead as well as the Gods enjoyed it. So normally I have to stock up on eggnog to have enough. I use non alcoholic Eggnog outside so that the animals who act as conduits for the spirits and Gods don’t get harmed.
I always do everything possible for my offerings to be animal friendly. Even when leaving bread, I make sure to tear them to tiny pieces so that they are easy to eat and digest.
My ancestors had to point that out to me one day. I was going to write about how I celebrate Yule the Nordic way, but I think this is better. It shows you an overall view of how I do it.
Next year I will write in detail how I celebrate Yule with Odin and the others. What I will mention is that my favorite part of Yule is midnight December 25th. This is Mōdraniht (Mother’s Night) when the Dísir (female spirits and Goddesses) come to visit. I make a dumb supper, which is leave a plate of food for a spirit as a supper, and I do spiritualist sessions welcoming the spirits into my home. I get to especially enjoy conversations with my deceased grandmother and great grandmother as well as Freya and other Goddesses.
I do Divinations about what needs to happen in my life and plan the new year ahead from there. Because the time of the dead is from 12am-2am, I celebrate it since midnight and I stay awake doing whatever rituals or offerings are needed to appease them. I continue doing the rituals later on around Sunset of the same day all through the night until it’s over. It’s a time for me to really talk with some of my kin and become enthralled in the wisdom of the Goddesses and the women of the other side. Although this is usually for Nordic spirits, I have non Nordic Goddesses and spirits who participate.
This is usually my alone time when I zen out. So anyways, that’s what we have to look forward to!
Happy Holidays everyone,
– M
P.S.
Be sure to enjoy this wonderful Solstice post.
* Curia refers to classes of Roman citizens. So it’s possible this was a local meeting house of the Citizenry.
Adventures of A Mage In Miami 