Lewis Stead

The Ravenbook

Our holy lady watches and waits for the blot in her honor. Hail

Sunna!

All: Hail Sunna!

(At this point it would be most appropriate for a song or reading to

be performed. It should obviously be about Sunna or the sun or

something appropriate to the day.)

Invocation

Gythia: Our lady Sunna is the light of knowledge, the warmth of love,

and the heat of our passion. Let us spend a moment in silence,

contemplating those things which she brings us.

Leave a few moments for silent prayers and meditation.

Gothi: Holy Sunna. Lady of the Sun. Light of the heavens. Ever

pursued and ever free. We gather to greet and welcome you and offer

you gifts on this day. We offer to you our prayers and love, our

devotion and strength, our kinship and honor.

All face the sun and form the elhaz posture.

All: Hail to thee Sunna, light of Har newly risen. She whose holy

light shone upon our ancestors of old and she whos light will shine

upon our children. We give you hail and welcome. Fill our hearts on

this Solstice morning with your warm rays that your fires may burn in

our hearts throughout the year. Hail Sunna!

A few moments of silence are appropriate here.

Blot

Gothi: Now it is time to offer sacrifice to our holy lady.

Gythia takes horn and Gothi fills it with mead. Gythia holds horn

above her head, in the direction of the sun.

Gythia: Here is our sacrifice, the essence of our love and spirit. We

offer it to you as a token of our kinship and our love. As you drink

of it, may your power fill this holy hlaut and feed our spirits.

Gythia drinks from the horn and it is then passed around the folk,

each taking a drink, with the horn returning to the Gythia.

Gythia: Hail to thee Sunna!

Gythia pours remainder of horn into the offering bowl. Gythia and

Gothi take the bowl and evergreen sprig and walk around the folk,

sprinkling the mead to the four corners and on the folk. Finally they

return to the center and sprinkle the wheel.

Gothi: Hail the sacred wheel of the sun. Now it is the longest day of

the year and the sun is triumphant, but all changes and the wheel

turns.

Gythia lights candles on the wheel and members of the folk take it up

and parade it around the grounds. A song or chant would be

appropriate at this time. The sun burns, the wheel turns! for

example. Once the procession is done (this decision should be based

on the subjective feelings of those involved and not planned out) the

wheel should be returned to the altar.

Gothi & Gythia assume the invocation position

Gothi: Sacred Lady Sunna, Summer Sun now strongest. We thank you for

your blessings of warmth and light. May you reign long.

All: Hail Sunna! Hail Sunna! Hail Sunna!

Libation

Gothi takes up the hlaut bowl.

Gothi: Now our rite is ended and the sacrifice is made. The wheel

turns. To Sunna, to the Gods, to the Goddesses, and to Earth, mother

of us all, we offer this holy mead, from the Gods to the Earth To us.

From ourselves to the Earth to the Gods. Hail!

Gothi pours contents of the hlaut bowl on the ground, possibly in the

center of the wheel. If this ritual is done indoors, the libation

should be poured outside afterwards. We usually trek outside

immediately even if the ritual is an apartment. The physical action

of pouring the libation is an important psychological trigger to both

Gods and men that the ritual is over.

A DAY IN THE LIFE: A BLOW BY BLOW ACCOUNT OF RUNNING A RITUAL

Our rituals are held on the afternoon of the first Saturday of each

month. We tell people to arrive at 2:00pm, and plan for a ritual at

4:00 followed by a feast. This is a rough timeline, intended to

shepherd people through a complete ritual from when one awakes in the

morning, to when people go home.

At least one week before, get invitations and/or schedules in the

mail. If you give folks some sort of paper to hold onto they will be

much less likely to forget about the ritual.

9:00 Get up. Fritter away time answering e-mail, watching

Scooby-Doo reruns, etc.

10:30 Clean the house. Get personal items such as bills and

checkbooks out of where people might see them. Stash excess books in

bedroom. Sweep and vacuum floor. Clean kitchen, make sure the