Isis Yule Prayer

Isis Yule Prayer

 

Yule Tide returns

As the candle slowly burns

Sending out Blessings Bright

Guided by the might of Isis light.

 

Throughout the darkness she’ll shine

Showering her glory Divine

To all of those who have learned

They're Her children - returned.

 

Giving back as we are blessed

Gifts to others who have less

Her joy then is spread

We see no-one goes unfed.

 

The light of Isis reaches out

Erasing negativity and doubt

That Her Will be done

Restoring balance where their were none.

 

Her warm invigorating light shines beyond the dark

Calling to all through a tiny spark Yule Tide Returns

Come warm beside Her flames

Merge with Isis of 10'000 names.

 

 

Rosie Weaver

Ostara, chocolate eggs and Mother Goose

During our childhood, my sister 'Julie' and I celebrated every Easter time together by seeing which one of us could consume the most chocolate eggs in the shortest amount of time, (hopefully before my parents awoke).
I can still see my younger sister now, surrounded by shiny wrappers with her face covered in chocolate holding her tummy; and me having to call my mum because she was about to be sick everywhere.
Our family, friends & neighbours all gave eggs to us. Throughout the neighbourhood it was a pretty standard practise, most families to indulged their offspring by purchasing a wide array of Easter eggs.
The eggs were proudly displayed upon the shelf like glittering jewels; until that special sunday when the chocolate fest commenced.
On reflection, I can’t think why we were allowed to just munch our ways through mounds of choccy, but I remember how excited we got as children at the prospect of which eggs we were going to unwrap & eat first.
We talked about it for weeks beforehand, and got up as early as we had on xmas morning with the same level of anticipation to be the first to get our hands on those brightly coloured boxes of our hearts desire.
One of the other peculiar practices foisted upon us as children at school consisted of the annual ‘Grande Easter Bonnet parade/competition’.The lucky contestants were lined up like embarrassed Carmen Miranda’s’ along the length of the playground all wearing the offending home made articles that had taken many of the more competitive mothers weeks to construct; prior to the event.
The winning prize (normally an Easter egg) usually went to some child whose father was a set designer for ‘Crossroads’ or of similar ilk.
Later on in life I learned that the word ‘Easter’ derives from Germanic Goddess of Spring called Ostara or Eastre she also has connections with the Greek Goddess of Dawn/Springtime named ‘Eos’. The word for the direction ‘East’ also stems from Eos.
The ancient word for the springtime was thought to be named ‘Eastre’.
Christianity campaigned to win over Pagan holidays through fostering the celebrations themselves and pilfering our more ancient symbolism, finally staking claim to its truer meanings & origins.
Ancient Egyptians held a widespread belief that the universe itself was egg shaped.The womb of the Great Goddess was seen to be an egg.
Creation stories of Gods and Goddesses being born form eggs were well known, Hathor the great goddess of nature shape shifted into a Nile goose called ‘The Great Cackler’ and gave birth to the sun.
Today’s remnants of the old creation stories linger with us still in the form of the pantomime character ‘Mother Goose’ the goose that laid the golden egg.
A common practice which greatly predates Christianity was the painting of eggs by the Anglo Saxon folk who buried the brightly coloured eggs as offerings to Mother Earth buried in the hope that prayers be answered.
The Christian resurrection of Jesus Christ takes also stems from more ancient stories of the birth, death & resurrection of the Isis’s husband Osiris, God of renewal.
Many similar creation stories have been adapted by various cultures/Pantheons throughout the ages with an element of spiritual truth running through each.
The Spring-time symbolism of eggs/ Easter egg hunts/egg decorating/hares/rabbitsand rebirth filter through the ages globally and in time honoured fashion continue to do so from a more ancient nature based religion.
This year when I hand over Easter eggs to my children I shall be pointing out that theirs more to the humble choccy egg than meets the eye.
Hopefully before the ‘choccy fest’ commences they may be interested enough to take some time and learn a little more

NAVIGIUM ISIDIS

On March 5th & 6th an ancient festival took place in Egypt and ancient Rome known as ‘Navigium Isidis’.
It was a great community event, accounts tell of some fabulous processions perhaps our equivalent now would be Notting Hill Carnival held in London or Mardi Gras in New Orleans.

In honour Isis and in remembrance of ‘Navigium Isidis’ I take a little wooden boat to the sea and launch it with my own personal prayers.
Luckily I live very close to a fishing quarter here in Hastings and so it is the ideal place to do this. My little Isis ship will set sail from the fisherman’s beach. The following poem I wrote with these thoughts ….



NAVIGIUM ISIDIS

Many moons ago in the Black lands far away
People joined the procession of Navigium Isidis
Celebrated upon this day.

All our current carnivals with floats derived from this
A mosaic of musical merriment; masks & costumes headed towards the port,
Where the boat of Isis waits; laden with offerings of every sort.

Before She sets sail
She is purified and Blessed
The boat represents Isis
Honoured throughout Her Fest.

She is patroness of sailors
The river Nile and all the seas,
She steers humanity on a journey
Bringing worldly sufferings to ease.

The Mast is raised, as the gentle spring breeze blows
The procession lets out a cheer as the ship of Isis departs,
Off across the waters or maybe to the stars above
Isis is Mistress of All Magick keeper of human hearts.

Out across the distance the Ship of Isis diminishes from sight
The procession continues to celebrate; as daytime turns to night,
Navigium Isidis was celebrated back through the mists of time
Yet still little boats are launched honouring Isis, the Great Mother Divine.




Rosie Weaver. March 09




.

The Magic of Computers and Ritual.

One of my new friends and I have been working with some of the Fellowship of Isis
Rituals and Mystery Drama’s recently.
I read a brilliant article by the Priestess Caroline Wise this week saying just how deep and meaningful these rites are for her and I have to agree 100%.

Even some of the rituals that I have done several times over the years always bring fresh & often profound personal insights.
I’ve been a member of the fellowship of Isis since 1976, and am delighted to see now that all of the rituals and mystery dramas are freely available online for members of the fellowship of Isis to download.
It is such a good idea to have access to the beautiful rites written by one of the co- founders of the F.O.I ‘Lady Olivia Robertson’ whom wrote these works of art whilst in a trance state; it is thanks to her that we may all benefit from these Goddess given gifts.
Over the years I have been privileged to share & celebrate some of the rituals with fellow Isians (as Isis followers often are called).
Other times it has not been possible to link up with other devotee’s and so I perform the Rites solo here at home, from my personal shrine to Isis.
I’m always able to adapt the rituals to suit one person and have found creative ways of performing the Mystery Drama’s solo too!
In a group situation the members would be ‘playing’ the roles themselves; during the rite.
For solo practitioners however I would begin by looking at the various roles included of a specific drama from the Fellowship of Isis Liturgy, next I ‘Google’ images on the internet to find nice pictures that resonates with me for the given roles and characters involved.
It might be for example; of a God or Goddess or any number of characters from various Pantheons, but I always manage to find nice images to use for a ritual/mystery play.
For more creative folk I recommend making your own images through painting/drawing/collage.
Often background music is also recommended to play during the Rite.
Thanks again to the magic of the internet we may also find sites that allow us free access to the required sounds.



For the rite itself I am fortunate enough to have my computer next to my Shrine, which enables me to light my candles & incense, then I will be able to bring the character images up on my computer & also play the required background music as I continue solo with the rite.
The entire effect of being to use evocative images to accompany the rite reminds me of a modern day Victorian puppet theatre.
I can narrate the story of the Mystery Drama myself as I go along and use the characters on screen to add more meaning to the ritual itself.
It’s great fun to try the various role playing of the characters as you read out each of the individual characters ‘lines’ and the beauty of it is that you may keep it as simple or elaborate as you wish.
You may for example like to include images of scenery and further images of the ritual regalia which may be called for in the play. All of these items may be pasted onto one document which you may scroll down to, as required during the play/ritual.



If you’d like to try this for yourself the Rites & Drama’s may be found at:

http://lotuspharia.freeyellow.com/thecircleofisis/id4.html

May I suggest to begin with you try the Rites from the Liturgy booklets of ‘Dea’ and ‘Panthea’.

For those that would like to follow a structured study course please contact me here at:
The Iseum of the Solar Goddess
Blessings
Rosie Weaver
Prs.H. Prs. A