Even if you know little or nothing about this Feast, come along anyway and join in. You'll be in for a new wonderful Pagan experience with a great group of friendly people. These events are organised to foster the Pagan community no matter which path/tradition you follow and just might add to your own awareness of this divine and beautiful world in which we live.
Event:
Day of Gabija, Guardian Goddess of Fire and the home hearth. Gabija is also considered to be a Goddess of corn and other grains.
Description:
Day to honour Gabija and bread. Gathering will start with the Fire Rite where the Godddess,Gabija, is honoured and bread is shared. It is during this feast that several magical rituals are traditionally performed using blessed bread with the aim of protection.
-Protection from illness and death for people as well as for Livestock.
-Protection from the evil eye and bewitching.
-Protection from lightning strike and house fire.
-Blessed bread was also ploughed into fields with the hope of a good crop.
-Blessed bread was also placed in the beehive to increase honey production and to protect the bees from death.
We will perform some of the rituals on the day and finish with a feast of food with bread as the theme.
Location: Steve’s house - Charmhaven
Date: Saturday, 7th August, 2010.
Time: meeting 4pm.
Duration: No fixed time.
What to bring:
-Happiness and joy in your heart with a willingness to participate.
-A bread dish( some examples could be something crumbed, rissoles ,bread and butter pudding, homous or tabouli with leb Bread) Use your imagination have some fun, bread is very versatile.
Date: Saturday, 7th August, 2010.
Time: meeting 4pm.
Duration: No fixed time.
What to bring:
-Happiness and joy in your heart with a willingness to participate.
-A bread dish( some examples could be something crumbed, rissoles ,bread and butter pudding, homous or tabouli with leb Bread) Use your imagination have some fun, bread is very versatile.
-Flowers for the offering.
-Black bread cider will be available****
· Everyone who enters the venue is greeted with a jug of blessed water which is poured into your hands; with this blessed water you then wash your hands and face. Moving along you will find another person with a towel with which to dry yourself. The two-fold meaning of this ritual is similar to Wiccan smudging. One meaning is to cleanse or purify oneself before ceremony and also, that those who partake of this ritual agree that they are willing participants in this celebration. In the Baltic tradition most, if not all, gatherings begin this way.
· Participants then split into two groups. One group walks clockwise in a circle through the gate and the other group walks anti clockwise in a circle through the gate greeting each other as you pass. This continues three times or until all participants have greeted each other. Everyone then enters the building or festive area where the celebration is to take place.
· A greeting is given by the host who briefly explains why we have gathered.
· The Fire Rite is performed where an elder or volunteer fire woman or fire man lights the fire on the altar. Meanwhile, a hymn is sung. Everyone is encouraged to join in on the refrain as you watch as the fire grows strong. In the ancient Baltic faith, fire was not from this earth but from the heavens in the sky and through fire we may communicate with our Gods and Goddesses. Most of us know the mesmerising effect of fire, this is surely a great aid to meditation and connection to the Divine, which can be found in the leaping flames.
· When the fire is strong an elder or a volunteer help mate approaches the altar and sprinkles salt into the fire three times each time saying “Hearth Goddess be satiated”.
· The same person or another volunteer then makes an offering of water to Gabija, the Goddess of Fire, saying,
· The same person or another volunteer then addresses Gabija, the Goddess of Fire, saying,”we make a bed for you here, please do not wander about this house (area)”.
Bread is then offered to Gabija and then shared amongst all the participants who then make their own offering to Gabija. A prayer is said to Zemepatis, brother of the Goddess of Earth and Guardian of the homestea, bread is offered. Every member of the gathering, placing a piece of bread on the floor, prayed: "Zemepatis (God of the homestead), we thank you for the good bread you give us. Help us work the fields in our lives, while blessing you, that Zemynele (Dear Mother Earth Goddess, sister of Zemepatis ) would continue to give us your good gifts." Then everyone, raising the bread to the sky, concluded with:
· Each participant is given a piece of bread with which to bless by Fire, the bead is passed to the next person with a blessing. This is repeated until everyone has a turn. This bread will be used later for the magical rituals.
· The elder or another volunteer then addresses Zemyna (Mother Earth); after kissing the earth, offerings to Zemyna, Mother Earth are then poured/placed into the fire. All participants then are free to make their own offerings to Mother Earth by placing flowers, bread, beer or whatever each participant chooses.
· A ritual called “Strengthening by Fire” is carried out; where, one at a time, each person draws the heat from the fire to their face (like splashing water on the face).
· The Ancestors are honoured and also the Gods/Goddesses who represent the cause for our gathering, are also honoured; one by one each person makes an offering of grain to the fire altar.
· Everyone walks around the altar 3 times while chanting/singing the hymn,
· The Fire Rite is concluded and all participants move onto the feast. No one may put out the fire during the gathering and care must taken to treat it with honour e.g. no spitting or urinating on the Fire (not that anyone would).
· Once everyone gathers at the feast table, before sitting, an elder (man or woman) says a traditional invocation and breaks the Kucia bread, which everybody gives to each other.
* Various simple rituals are carried out throughout the feast e.g. Offering food to the ancestors on a separate plate such as at the Autumn feast for the Dead, toastings (blessings) are commonly exchanged, various divinations are also conducted.
· After the activities around the feast table have concluded, people may continue to socialize, dance or sing. Telling of folk stories are also encouraged at this time. Anyone and everyone is encouraged to lead a song, perform a song or just join in. Joy of community is the main focus of these gatherings.
· The fire is extinguished at the end of the Feast.
-Black bread cider will be available****
Gathering program outline:
· Everyone who enters the venue is greeted with a jug of blessed water which is poured into your hands; with this blessed water you then wash your hands and face. Moving along you will find another person with a towel with which to dry yourself. The two-fold meaning of this ritual is similar to Wiccan smudging. One meaning is to cleanse or purify oneself before ceremony and also, that those who partake of this ritual agree that they are willing participants in this celebration. In the Baltic tradition most, if not all, gatherings begin this way.
· Participants then split into two groups. One group walks clockwise in a circle through the gate and the other group walks anti clockwise in a circle through the gate greeting each other as you pass. This continues three times or until all participants have greeted each other. Everyone then enters the building or festive area where the celebration is to take place.
· A greeting is given by the host who briefly explains why we have gathered.
· The Fire Rite is performed where an elder or volunteer fire woman or fire man lights the fire on the altar. Meanwhile, a hymn is sung. Everyone is encouraged to join in on the refrain as you watch as the fire grows strong. In the ancient Baltic faith, fire was not from this earth but from the heavens in the sky and through fire we may communicate with our Gods and Goddesses. Most of us know the mesmerising effect of fire, this is surely a great aid to meditation and connection to the Divine, which can be found in the leaping flames.
· When the fire is strong an elder or a volunteer help mate approaches the altar and sprinkles salt into the fire three times each time saying “Hearth Goddess be satiated”.
· The same person or another volunteer then makes an offering of water to Gabija, the Goddess of Fire, saying,
“here is some water for you to cleanse yourself, if needed”.
· The same person or another volunteer then addresses Gabija, the Goddess of Fire, saying,”we make a bed for you here, please do not wander about this house (area)”.
Bread is then offered to Gabija and then shared amongst all the participants who then make their own offering to Gabija. A prayer is said to Zemepatis, brother of the Goddess of Earth and Guardian of the homestea, bread is offered. Every member of the gathering, placing a piece of bread on the floor, prayed: "Zemepatis (God of the homestead), we thank you for the good bread you give us. Help us work the fields in our lives, while blessing you, that Zemynele (Dear Mother Earth Goddess, sister of Zemepatis ) would continue to give us your good gifts." Then everyone, raising the bread to the sky, concluded with:
"Nourish us".
· Each participant is given a piece of bread with which to bless by Fire, the bead is passed to the next person with a blessing. This is repeated until everyone has a turn. This bread will be used later for the magical rituals.
· The elder or another volunteer then addresses Zemyna (Mother Earth); after kissing the earth, offerings to Zemyna, Mother Earth are then poured/placed into the fire. All participants then are free to make their own offerings to Mother Earth by placing flowers, bread, beer or whatever each participant chooses.
· A ritual called “Strengthening by Fire” is carried out; where, one at a time, each person draws the heat from the fire to their face (like splashing water on the face).
· The Ancestors are honoured and also the Gods/Goddesses who represent the cause for our gathering, are also honoured; one by one each person makes an offering of grain to the fire altar.
· Everyone walks around the altar 3 times while chanting/singing the hymn,
Gabija is burning, Tuta, Tuta.
· The Fire Rite is concluded and all participants move onto the feast. No one may put out the fire during the gathering and care must taken to treat it with honour e.g. no spitting or urinating on the Fire (not that anyone would).
· Once everyone gathers at the feast table, before sitting, an elder (man or woman) says a traditional invocation and breaks the Kucia bread, which everybody gives to each other.
* Various simple rituals are carried out throughout the feast e.g. Offering food to the ancestors on a separate plate such as at the Autumn feast for the Dead, toastings (blessings) are commonly exchanged, various divinations are also conducted.
· After the activities around the feast table have concluded, people may continue to socialize, dance or sing. Telling of folk stories are also encouraged at this time. Anyone and everyone is encouraged to lead a song, perform a song or just join in. Joy of community is the main focus of these gatherings.
· The fire is extinguished at the end of the Feast.
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