VARIATIONS

ACT OF POWER '>2
Seed Planting

For this Act of Power you will need a packet of seeds and a number of small individual planting cups filled with potting soil. All of this can be obtained from your local garden center.

Flower seeds would be a good choice for this, although the seeds can be any kind of common garden plant –but whatever you choose you should make sure it is a plant that is easy to take care of, as not everyone is equally good at or inclined to gardening.

Before ritual, open the packet of seeds and fill a small bowl with the contents, then place this on the altar. Fill the planting cups with soil and place them on the altar as well. Make sure you have as many planting cups as you need for the number of people likely to attend. If you are not sure how many people to expect, it is better to have too many planting cups than too few.

When you have cast your Circle, invoked, and spoken a bit about Ostara, take up the bowl of seeds from the altar. Speak about the nature of seeds, and their relevance to the holiday. You might say something along these lines:

“At this time of year we turn our thoughts to new beginnings. The waxing Sun heralds the beginning of the growing season, and new life abounds on all sides. The plants are greening, the animals are becoming more active –all that has slept through Winter is awakening.

“What better symbol of this time of year than the seed? For a seed is all about potential. Planted in the warm and nurturing Earth, gently coaxed by the heat of the Sun, it has every chance to grow and blossom in the garden of life. But left to lie as it is, without care and guidance, it will remain a seed and never know what could have been.

“It is the same with us and our lives. Our hopes and dreams are all about potential –but they must be nurtured and shepherded along if they are ever to move from potential into being. We must set our intent and focus our will, putting our energy behind our goals if we wish to see them blossom. Only then may the seed of hope fulfill its destiny and become the flower of manifestation.

“Therefore at this time of year we honor the return of life to the land, and seek to imitate it in our lives –blooming in our turn and bearing fruit in our season. Consider therefore the seed, for all things begin as a seed –the seed of life: the seed of thought: verily the seed of action. Let us therefore plant our seeds consciously and with care.”

Place the seeds in the center of the circle –set them upon the floor, or have each person put a hand under the bowl and all hold them jointly. Bless the seeds. You might do it like this:

“Behold, in the name of the Goddess and of the God, may these seeds be blessed!”

Imagine the light of Deity coming down upon the seeds, filling them.

Now ask each person to take some seeds.

Pass out the planting cups. Explain what is to be done –you might say:

“Now we are going to plant our seeds, so that new life can grow. Make a little hole with your fingers and put your seeds into the Earth. Then gently cover them over. As we plant these seeds, let us think about the seeds we wish to plant in our lives, to grow in coming months. What do you wish to do in the next few months? Is there anything you wish to accomplish? Anything you’d like to change. Think of these things as you plant your seeds. Focus upon them, so that the seed is imbued with the thought. As the year moves forward the seeds will grow –and as they grow they will help carry our goals forward.”

Plant your own seed along with everyone else, and think about what you wish to accomplish in coming months.

Now place the cups in the center of the circle. Have everyone focus energy into them –see them glowing with light and power. Remind everyone to think about what they want to manifest as the plant grows.

You may wish to chant and dance around the seed cups now, to strengthen the energy you are raising. If so, a good chant might be:

 

“Protected by the Earth
Inspired by the Sun
Blessed Be the seeds that grow
Arise and blossom everyone!”

Now finish the act: focus all of the energy into the seeds and say something to this effect:

“May these seeds be blessed –may they carry our will forward: Even as these seeds grow, so too shall our wishes be made manifest. Goddess and God, we pray You lend Your strength to ours, as we bless these seeds to their purpose! So Mote It Be!”

Explain to people that they will take the seeds home with them after the ritual and should take care of them as described on the seed package, transplanting them to a pot or the Earth when appropriate.


Variation '>1

One variation on this Act of Power is to use a packet of mixed flower seeds, so that not everyone gets the same thing. Then you can do divination by the kind of flower each person gets, although this will be evident only much later when the flowers bloom. The kinds of flower each person has will indicate the success and outcome of their particular manifestation. You can divine the flowers by color, or by type as you desire –but as there are likely to be several types together, you will need to consider their meaning as a whole in order to get a good interpretation from them.


Variation '>2

A second variation on this Act of Power is to have a number of packets of different types of seeds. Place them all in a basket and have each person close their eyes and choose a packet at random. Again you would divine the flower by color or type to shed light upon factors affecting the person’s manifestation. Unlike variation '>1 this allows the flowers to be divined immediately after they are drawn, but requires the purchase of numerous packets of seeds.


Variation '>3

Another variation which you might make in this Act of Power is to use a visualization before or instead of the dancing and chanting to focus the energy. Have everyone place their planting cups in the center of the Circle. Then have them visualize. You might lead them like this:

“Imagine your seed –see it there in the dark Earth within the planting cup. Imagine the seed glowing and shining with light. See the light shining forth like a Sun within your seed. Into that light place strength, and love, and peace. Think now of what you wish to manifest for the coming months. Imagine it strongly –imprint it upon the seed.

“Now imagine the seed beginning to sprout –sending up a tender shoot. See the shoot growing upward, poking tentatively out of the dark Earth. See the Shoot growing upward, growing thicker, stronger, becoming a stem and sending forth leaves. Now a bud appears –a delicate bud of green. The bud unfolds, revealing petals: spreading forth as a flower. So too may our wishes spread out and bloom as the weeks go forward: even as these plants grow, so may we too grow and prosper.”

Variation '>4

A final variation on this Act of Power is to keep the plants at the Temple rather than to have people take them home. This only works of course if you yourself are inclined to gardening. In such a case one or more special pots might be prepared for the purpose and used in the ritual in place of individual planting cups. Or if you are doing ritual outdoors you can plant the seeds directly in the Earth, perhaps around the perimeter of the Circle.

Lady Traci of Holy City Temple did this one year, preparing four special pots; one for each Airt. People were instructed to plant their seeds in the pot whose Airt best corresponded to the nature of the manifestation. The pots then adorned the Temple’s outdoor ritual ground throughout the growing season.

This has the benefit of decorating the Temple and is also good for bonding, because as the year goes forward people will see their plants growing in the Temple precincts each time they come.


ACT OF POWER '>3
Fire Jumping

Our third Act of Power for Ostara is very ancient: it is an act of purification by jumping through the flames. In ancient times people jumped over bonfires at this time of year to leave the energies of Winter behind in the flames –as well as to symbolically leave behind aspects of their lives they wished to change. Jumping over the bonfire was also thought of as encouraging the plants to grow, because of the high leaps of the jumpers, and consequently can also be used for manifestation.

For this Act of Power you will need a fireproof bowl or cauldron. Place this in the middle of the Circle. If you are indoors be very careful and use common sense in where and how you set it up –make sure that the hot bottom of the cauldron is not going to directly touch the floor. A heat resistant tile or board under the cauldron is a good idea.

In its simplest form the fire can be made by placing one or more lighted candles in the cauldron. The number and color of the candles will influence the energy. Four candles in quarter colors will incline to stimulate stability. This is a fairly sedate version of the rite, and is the origin of the old nursery rhyme:

“Jack be nimble, Jack be quick: Jack jump over the candle stick.”

Another way of doing the rite is to put one or more lit incense charcoals in the cauldron and place powdered incense on it –this will give you more smoke than fire, but the idea is the same.

These are both good ways to do the rite if you are indoors and cannot have much of a fire. If you are outdoors of course you can have more of a fire –though you must still be careful. Commercially available paraffin campfire buckets are excellent for this purpose as they are small and self-contained, and are very easy to take care of.

In any event your fire should be small enough to jump over easily –especially if the people present are less than athletic.

To begin, pass out slips of paper and pens to all present. Have everyone think of something they wish to release and leave behind them and write it on the paper. When everyone has written, collect the pens and set them aside. Have the people hold on to their paper.

Begin to dance deosil around the Circle. Instruct the people to focus on the fire and send it energy. You might want to lead them in a chant. A good chant might be:

“O, the Sun comes up at the break of day
And the Equinox breaks old Winter’s sway
May the fires carry my ills away!
As I jump through the flames with the Young God”

As the group continues dancing, each person should take a turn: one at a time, have each person go to the center of the Circle, place their paper into the fire taking a moment to focus on releasing what is written on it, then jump over the fire. Then they should return to the dance.

When everyone has had burned their paper and jumped the fire, lead them in jumping over the fire twice more, or as many times as people wish.

When you feel that people have danced enough, stop the dance and stand in a circle around the cauldron. Have everyone focus energy into the cauldron at once. You might lead them like this:

“Now focus your energy into the fire. See the fire glowing brighter: brighter than its natural light –imagine it glowing with energy, strong and pulsing: Stronger and stronger. Think about what you have released –know that it is gone and will be with you no longer! See the fire glowing brighter and brighter, the energy stronger and stronger, and send it forth into manifestation –NOW!

And release the energy all at once.

A final affirmation to emphasize the full manifestation of the releasing:

“And it is so. We have made our releasing and left that which we have released behind us in the flames to be transformed. So Mote It Be!”

All
“So Mote It Be!”

Now continue with the rest of your ritual.


Variation '>1

Instead of having people write something they wish to release, have them write something they wish to manifest instead. The technique is otherwise the same, but the focus now is on creating rather than releasing.

You might wish to select a different chant, however. Perhaps:

"Jump the fire -leap and go!
Think of what you'd like to grow!
Make a wish and make it so!
Jump the fire -leap and go!"

It should be noted that while Fire Jumping is particularly associated with Ostara and to some extent with Bealteine, it can be and often is used at other Sabbats as well. It is an excellent ritual technique for either releasing or manifesting.