Enacting the Myth, a portion of the Pagan ceremony featuring The Sun (WQ)
TEMPLE OF THE GODDESS, Los Angeles -- This Solstice celebration is a free annual rite welcoming the Sun on the longest day of the year (light wise). Pagans, New Age seekers, Earthlings (seen and unseen), Wiccans, and Buddhists all gathered in the foothill community of La Crescenta. College student Kathryn exuded, "My mom's in the Goddess choir!" Mallisa, a member of the Forest Service, wondered about the deer in the area. Lee, an Apple employee who didn't know there were Pagans in the City of Angels, explained that he hadn't seen a ritual gathering like this since Tennessee. Here in the woodsy northern reaches of Los Angeles County all walks of life gathered to recite these poignant lines:
Closing the circle, Wiccan song sealing the ceremony followed by food and fun (WQ)
Guiding Principles
We believe every person is the living embodiment of the Divine.
Guiding Principles
We believe every person is the living embodiment of the Divine.
We respect that every person is their own spiritual authority and no one can define the Sacred and Divine for any one else.
We recognize that there are many paths to the Divine, symbolized by the many "goddesses" and "gods" of all cultures and all lands.
We support an ideology and spirituality of partnership of relations based on equality, reciprocity, and caring.
Though we recognize the Divine in many forms, the focus of that which we call the Divine is manifested in the feminine as "Goddess."
We respect and love Mother Earth, Gaia, as a sacred entity who is part of nature, life, and the cycles of life.
TOG choir singing Gaelic hymns, and traditional European and modern songs (WQ)
We believe the loss of the feminine consciousness and ideologies have caused near irreparable damage to humanity and the planet; we believe that emergence of the feminine consciousness, in balance with the masculine, is the greatest hope for humanity and the planet.
The feminine consciousness is the ability to create, nurture, and enhance life.
We accept the abundant goodness of creation which purports that all beings are meant to live in joy, love, and harmony.
We believe in a morality and ethics in which the primary imperative is to harm none.
"The world of humanity is possessed of two wings: the male and the female.
So long as these two wings are not equivalent in strength, the bird will not fly."
So long as these two wings are not equivalent in strength, the bird will not fly."
(Abdul Baha)
Another version of The Sun struts during recitation as stories weave into stories (WQ)
Group: We rejoice in all life.
We live in all things.
All things live in us.
We rejoice in all life.
We live by the Sun.
We move with the stars.
We rejoice in all life.
We eat from the Earth.
We eat from the Earth.
We drink from the rain.
We breathe from the air.
Group: We are full of the grace of creation.
We are graceful.
We are graceful.
We are grateful.
We rejoice in all life.
Group: We join with the Earth and with each other
To bring new life to the land
To bring new life to the land
To restore the waters
To refresh the air
We join with the Earth and with each other
To renew the forests
To renew the forests
To care for the plants
To protect the creatures
We join with the earth and with each other
To celebrate the seas
To rejoice [in] the sunlight
To sing the song of the stars
To celebrate the seas
To rejoice [in] the sunlight
To sing the song of the stars
We join with the Earth and with each other
To recall our destiny
To recall our destiny
To renew our spirits
To reinvigorate our bodies
To remember our children
ALL: We join together as many and diverse expressions of one loving mystery: for the healing of the Earth and the renewal of all life. The next Temple of the Goddess public ritual is scheduled for what the non-Pagan world calls Halloween. templeofthegoddess.org
- Sri Lanka's role in the spread of Buddhism in Southeast Asia
The 2600th celebration anniversary falls on Vesak Day, 2011. To commemorate this key event a...has been established and a Steering Committee appointed. The program now being implemented aims to create a new awakening, not only in Sri Lanka, but also among the world Buddhist community. - SRINAGAR, India — Tears flowed as thousands of Hindus who fled a Muslim insurgency in Indian Kashmir Saturday prayed at a revered shrine many had not visited for decades, as troops kept a tight vigil.
