,

Blog #14–“Rings” Layered Upon The Circle

Blog #14—“Rings” Layered Upon The Circle

In Blog #13, I offered guidelines for how to set up and use a Ceremonial Circle, from a Tefist perspective.  I also named a number of “rings”, each bearing four or eight themes (aka Correspondences, or “Cors”), rings that can be imaginatively layered upon the Ceremonial Circle.  These rings—each one the same diameter as the Circle—might be thought of as stacked upon the Circle.  Given several of these rings, each of the eight stations thereby comes to have a rich set of themes for ritual celebration: eight Festivals.  I have listed below several rings, and their Cors, that I use.  Note that this information works best with celebrations held at mid-latitudes and in the Northern Hemisphere.

Where does each ring start and end?  Anywhere you want!  This is so because the rings, like the Circle, are (or can be treated as) cycles.  And cycles, like carousels, are ever turning; you can “jump on” a ring at any station.  Even the stages of our human lifetime make a cycle (though we have to imagine how life’s Vanishing could be linked to its re-Emerging—a task made easier if you happen to believe in reincarnation!).  Thus, you may begin the Ceremonial Circle, and the rings stacked upon it, at any station, and thus, at any date.  However, when I describe them, as below, I usually “begin” each ring at North, which corresponds to Winter Solstice, 21 December.

THE FIRST RING (once the Circle’s Center and Circumference have been established) carries the Cardinal Directions—N, E, S, W—and the Intercardinal Directions—NE, SE, SW, NW.  How do you know where these directions lie?  Polaris (the North Star) is always at North, and the sun is always at South at noon, Standard Time.  Of course, the directions can also be determined with a compass or with maps.  (The four Cardinals may appear to form the corners of a square, a “diamond”, and if you add the Intercardinals, you may seem to have an octagon.  But, really, the stations of every ring are best regarded as a succession of stops along the curved, continuous perimeter of the Circle, not as the corners of polygons.)

THE SECOND RING provides names for the eight stations (and for the Festival at each).  It also keys the stations to the Cardinal Directions and associates them with dates on the calendar.  The station names used by Tefistry are a mix of astronomical and Celtic (Gaelic) names.  Note that some of the names preferred by Wiccans and other Neodruids may differ from mine.  Note also that there are many variant spellings and pronunciations of the Gaelic names.  And note further that, in the interest of convenience, I have regularized and standardized all of the dates; some people use dates that differ a little from mine.  My preferred names, directions, and dates are:

“Winter Solstice”, at North, 21 December

“Imbolc”, at Northeast, 3 February

“Vernal Equinox”, at East, 21 March

“Beltane”, at Southeast, 3 May

“Summer Solstice”, at South, 21 June

“Lughnasa”, at Southwest, 3 August

“Autumnal Equinox”, at West, 21 September

“Samhuinn”, at Northwest, 3 November.

ANOTHER RING, augmenting the ring of names, directions, and dates, provides us with ritual colors for the eight stations and for the blocks of weeks that each station initiates.  Note that the entire visible spectrum is used as we move through the seasons.  This specific color scheme is my own creation.  It is not set in stone, but over the years I have found it works pretty well.

Violet, for 1 December to 21 December 

Indigo, or Dark Blue, for Winter Solstice (21 December) to 3 February

Light Blue, for Imbolc (3 February) to 1 March

Blue-Green, or Teal, for 1 March to 21 March

Dark Green, for Vernal Equinox (21 March) to 3 May

Light Green, or Variegated Colors, for Beltane (3 May) to 1 June

Yellow-Green, or Chartreuse, for 1 June to 21 June

Yellow, for Summer Solstice (21 June) to 3 August

Orange-Yellow, for Lughnasa (3 August) to 1 September

Orange-Brown, or Tan, for 1 September to 21 September

Rich Orange, for Autumnal Equinox (21 September) to 3 November

Red, for Samhuinn (3 November) to 1 December

Red-Violet, for Gladness Time, a one-week period, unique to Tefistry, that begins on the American Thanksgiving Day in late November.  This ritual color links the Red and Violet “ends” of the ring.  

Although this scheme somewhat slights the red parts of the spectrum, I find it works well enough.  Note that cool colors go with Winter, green attends Spring, yellow attends Summer, and orange and red mimic the colors of Autumn. 

A RING MARKING the Hours of the Day—actually, four portions of the day—can be next upon the Circle.  Using this ring, we celebrate Deep Night at Winter Solstice; the Hours of Early Day (which includes sunrise) at Vernal Equinox; Mid-day  at Summer Solstice; and the Hours of Late Day (which includes sunset) at Autumnal Equinox.

A RING FOR WHEN TO START the seasons links Winter with North, Spring with East, Summer with South, and Autumn with West.  But the beginning dates of the four seasons need to be, in my opinion, adjusted to fit the place where we live.  So, although in the United States we usually say that Winter begins on Winter Solstice, 21 December, and Spring begins on Vernal Equinox, 21 March—and so on—I have observed that the seasons where I live actually begin to change roughly three weeks prior to these traditional astronomical dates.  Consequently, I  choose to begin Winter on 1 December, Spring on 1 March—and so on.  I am not alone in doing this, and I did not invent it; American meteorologists use this dating routinely.

A RING OF STARS honors Notable Stars that I have selected for each station.  With two exceptions, you can find these stars by looking to the East after darkness has fallen (choose an open viewpoint with a low horizon).  Thus:

Winter Solstice:  The Winter Triangle (Betelgeuse, Sirius, Procyon)

Imbolc:  Regulus

Vernal Equinox:  The Circumpolar Stars (Polaris and others)—to the North

Beltane:  Arcturus

Summer Solstice:  The Summer Triangle (Vega, Deneb, Altair)

Lughnasa:  Antares—to the South

Autumnal Equinox:  Stars of the Great Square

Samhuinn:  Capella, Aldebaran, The Pleiades.

A SIGNS OF THE SEASON RING honors what nature is doing at each Festival.  The Signs will depend on where you live and on what sort of weather you have had in previous weeks or months.  You will need to look around yourself to see what is current and salient in the natural world.  For example, at Vernal Equinox you may find specific birds are migrating, specific flowers are blooming, and specific trees are leafing out.  At Winter Solstice you may have ice, or rain, or snow, or fog, or sunshine.  Each station has its own Signs of the Season, and these signs will vary somewhat in each place from year to year.

A VERY IMPORTANT RING honors the Stages of Human Life.  (Each Stage is linked to many important attributes, but space does not permit listing them here.)  Thus:

Winter Solstice  honors Inception (Conception), followed by Gestation.

Imbolc honors Birth, followed by Infancy and Younger Childhood.

Vernal Equinox honors Older Childhood.

Beltane honors Puberty, followed by Adolescence and Younger Adulthood.

Summer Solstice honors Older Adulthood.

Lughnasa honors Midlife, followed by Younger Elderhood.

Autumnal Equinox honors Older Elderhood.

Samhuinn honors Dying and the Ancestors.

ANOTHER RING upon the Circle serves to acknowledge the Four Classes of Gaian Matter.  In Tefistry, Gaia is a poetic name for the natural ecosystems of planet Earth.  The Gaian Matter we have on planet Earth is:

At North:  Lithos, which is any matter that is solid and therefore offers least freedom to our Action, such as Rock

At West:  Hydros, which is any matter that is liquid and therefore offers moderate freedom to our Action, such as Water

At East:  Atmos, which is any matter that is gaseous and therefore offers greatest freedom to our Action, such as Air

At South:  Bios, which is any matter that is organismic and offers mixed freedoms to our Action, such as our own Bodies.

Note:  These are classes of Gaian matter.  Do not confuse them with the Esoteric Elements of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water—which are really the names of energies and emotions and spiritual qualities, not really the names of matter.  In ritual I do not usually acknowledge the Esoteric Elements, though you may indeed do so; place them on a ring of their own.  

AN ANIMAL AND PLANT RING honors key organisms of your choice.  The Cors I usually acknowledge on this ring are:

The hibernating Bear (keyed to North, Winter, and Lithos)

The soaring Hawk (keyed to East, Spring, and Atmos)

The feeding Elk or Deer (keyed to South, Summer, and Bios)

The leaping Salmon (keyed to West, Autumn, and Hydros).  

These four animals, or similar ones, are commonly honored by Neodruids.  Herbs, blossoms, fruits, or trees can also be Cors on this (or another) ring.

THE FINAL RING on my list is the Agricultural Cycle.  Discussing this ring last is ironic, for the Celtic Festivals were originally tied directly to the annual cycle of the growing season.  Most early Celts were agriculturists (and/or foragers), so their festivals were closely timed to their crops and livestock.  But today, few us are farmers or pastoralists.  We may grow a home garden, or we may visit a pumpkin patch at Halloween, but that’s about it.  However, Tefistry does retain a ring for these traditional agricultural Cors, if only to remember our pre-modern history:

Imbolc and Vernal Equinox:  the time of Preparation for the Growing Season

Beltane:  the time of Planting, more or less

Summer Solstice and Lughnasa and Autumnal Equinox: the time of Growing and Harvesting

Samhuinn:  the time of the Final Harvest

Winter Solstice:  the time of nature’s Dormancy and of our consumption of the Harvest.

So, all the above rings and their Cors are available to us for the eight stations and their Festivals.  We can layer these rings upon the Ceremonial Circle, at least in our hearts and minds.  We can choose to honor some or all of them—one-eighth at each Festival—as we journey around the annual cycle.  You may well want to add other rings that are important to you.  After all, the Ceremonial Circle is an “engine” for your acknowledgement and celebration of Reality.

May Harmony Prevail, throughout Tef!  Love Thy Tef!  

   

,

Blog #13–On Ceremonial Circles

Blog #13—On Ceremonial Circles

Here’s the scoop on Tefist Ceremonial Circles, as I understand them and use them.  Ritual Circles are common among human cultures, so my use of them in Tefistry is not novel.  Over the last 30 years, I have designed and used Circles that have borrowed liberally from the Circle traditions and festivals of Neodruidry (retaining traditional Gaelic names for four of the eight festivals).  But I have also modified and transcended Neodruidry, so as to better reflect Tefistry.  

Each Circle has a place where it occurs: perhaps a forest clearing, a green meadow, a plateau of smooth rock, a backyard lawn, a barn floor, a spacious living room—any place flat enough and large enough for the number of celebrants and guests who will be present.  The Circle is sometimes enclosed by trees and shrubs, other times by four walls, other times by nothing at all.  And of course, the place selected for the Circle needs to be private, quiet, accessible, safe, and legal. 

Wherever it is located, the Circle requires a center point.  When that point has been selected and ritually marked—say, with an altar or a flame or a stone or a vase of flowers—it becomes the Ceremonial Center to which all else relates.  This is the “pivot point” of our Circle and of all the ritual that will occur there.

After the Ceremonial Center has been selected, the Circle’s circumference—the Circle itself—can be appointed.  The Circle’s diameter will depend upon the space available, the number of celebrants and guests involved, and other factors.  (A Circle needs at least four celebrants, though eight is better because there are eight ritual stations around the Circle.  There may also be various helpers and guests as part of, or just outside, the Circle.)  For example, a diameter of 16 feet creates a circumference of about 50 feet.  This size separates each of the eight celebrants by about 6 feet (the “social distance” that was prescribed for participants in gatherings during the Covid pandemic).  The 16-foot diameter is a nice size for many Circle rituals, but of course the diameter can be either larger or smaller.  The appointed circumference can be outlined in various ways: just by the circle of celebrants themselves, by a line scratched into the soil, by strewn branches/flowers/vegetation, by ribbons and flags, and so on.  

Once we have appointed the Ceremonial Center and the Circle, our next step is to mark the four Cardinal Directions: North, East, South, and West.  Markers for these can be the celebrants themselves, or flags, stones, colorful objects, etc.  Each Cardinal can also bear a sign, naming it as N, E, S, or W, though such signs are optional.  Of course, the intermediate directions—NE, SE, SW, and NW—can also be labeled, but I do not usually do so.  Nevertheless, there are eight directions in total, yielding eight stations that are evenly spaced around the Circle.  If possible, a celebrant will stand at each station.

Ritual actions in the Circle follow a convention:  Everyone moves sunwise.  That is, our walking and other actions are performed in a clockwise direction (as viewed from above).  We do this because (in our northern latitude) the sun rises each day in an Easterly direction, moves through the Southerly sky, and sets in a Westerly direction: clockwise motion.  This sunwise rule of the road is a means of honoring the sun, but it also avoids collisions among celebrants and helps everyone to anticipate the flow of the ritual.  Sometimes, however, according to pre-announced plan or by on-the-spot instructions, the sunwise direction is reversed to anti-sunwise (counter-clockwise), especially during the closing part of the ritual.

Once established, our Ceremonial Circle provides a “foundation” upon which we may then add, in the mind’s eye and ritually, many “rings” of topics or themes (aka Correspondences, or “Cors”).  One of the first rings we have imaginatively layered upon the Circle contains the four Cardinal Directions (with or without their four intermediate directions).   Additional rings of ritual Cors include: the Ritual Colors of the Eight Stations; the Names of the Eight Stations; the Hours of the Day; the Seasons of the Year; Notable Stars at each festival; Notable Signs of each Season; the major Stages of Human Life; the kinds of Gaian Matter; Ritual Animals and/or Plants; and the stages of the Agricultural Cycle.  

Other Correspondence rings may include: the group’s choice of Gods/Goddesses; the Esoteric Elements (Earth, Air, Fire, Water) ; the Basic Processes and Sectors of Perception according to Tef Theory; selected annual events and holidays of our culture; and so on.  Any one festival or ritual event cannot dwell upon, and may not even mention, all of the possible Correspondences of all eight stations, for all possible rings.  But, as you can see, we have an abundance of Correspondence rings available, if we wish to celebrate them.  The following Cors have been meaningful for me over the years:

Cors for Winter Solstice:  North, Indigo; “Winter Solstice”; Deep Winter; Deep Night and Least Light; the Winter Circle of Stars; Signs of the Season; Inception and Gestation; Lithos and Least Freedom; and the Bear, hibernating in the dark Earth.

Cors for Imbolc:  Northeast; Blue; “Imbolc”; the star Regulus; Signs of the Season; Preparing for Planting; Creativity; Emergence and Birth; and the Goddess Brighid.

Cors for Vernal Equinox:  East; Green; “Vernal Equinox”; Springtime; the hours of Early Day; balanced Day and Night; Circumpolar Stars; Signs of the Season; Human Childhood and Growth; Exploration and Learning; Atmos and Greatest Freedom; and the Hawk, soaring in fresh morning Air. 

 

Cors for Beltane:  Southeast; Chartreuse; “Beltane”; Arcturus; Signs of the Season; Puberty and Adolescence; Sexuality; the Sensory Channels; Awakening and Individuation; and the Planting of Crops.

Cors for Summer Solstice:  South; Yellow; “Summer Solstice”; High Summer and Greatest Light; the Summer Triangle of Stars; Signs of the Season; Adulthood and Parenting; Harvesting; Bios and Mixed Freedom; and the Elk, feeding in woods and meadows of Life.

Cors for Lughnasa:  Southeast; Yellow-orange; “Lughnasa”; Antares; Signs of the Season; Harvesting; Optimacy and Midlife; Achievement and Excellence; Sport and Humor; Bonding and Community; the God Lugh.

Cors for Autumnal Equinox:  West; Orange; “Autumnal Equinox”; Autumntime; the hours of Late Day; balanced Day and Night; The Great Square of Stars; Harvesting; Elderhood; Wisdom; Hydros and Moderate Freedom; and the Salmon, leaping from deep Waters.

Cors for Samhuinn:  Northwest; Red; “Samhuinn”; the Pleiades and Capella; Signs of the Season; Final Harvest; Completion and Vanishing; Letting go and Sending Away; Dying and Death; our Ancestors; the Ritual New Year.

Thus, the Circle—with its Center, Circumference, Cardinals, and many rings of Cors—acknowledges and honors vast portions of Tef (aka Reality).  The Circle is comprehensive.  It also strives to be integrative and orchestrative, weaving together many, many aspects of Reality.  The Circle thereby becomes an “engine” for honoring the whole of Reality. 

The eight rituals are performed at intervals of every six to seven weeks, around the Great Wheel of the Year, the Great Wheel of Change.  The rituals can thus become a grand cycle, repeated year after year throughout one’s life.  Our rituals remind us of Tef’s fundamental continuity and wholeness, yet also of its diversity and of its constant change and transformation.  Our Circle rituals encourage our Gladness, our Gratitude, our Good Will, and our Good Works.  They help us to optimize the Harmony in our lives. 

May Harmony Prevail, Throughout Tef! Love Thy Tef!