Summer Solstice ~ Kupala
Summer Solstice Ceremony
In Slavic regions, the year was considered
to have 2 seasons, characterised as:
~ season of day, light,
fire, and sun
~ season of night,
dark, water, and moon.
Any rituals or ceremonies (particularly,
though not exclusively, those of release) were performed predominantly with
fire during the season of night/ water/ moon, to bring the necessary strength,
transformation, light, and insight as counterbalance (approximately from Oct
31/Nov 1 to April 30/ May 1… “Approximate”
because, once upon a time, we marked the passage of days and months by lunar
cycles and seasonal changes as opposed a square shaped calendar).
Any rituals or ceremonies (particularly,
though not exclusively, those of release) were performed predominantly with
water during the season of day/ fire/ sun, to bring the necessary cooling,
flow, intuitive wisdom, and emotional insight as counterbalance (approximately
from April 30/May 1 to Oct 31/Nov 1).
Summer Solstice is the height of light and
the solar force, and thus also a time to celebrate the vibrancy and growth
happening within Mati Zemlya (Mother Earth) that is made possible during this
season. In pre-Christian Eastern European/
Slavic earth practices, this was called Kupala, from the root word “kupat”
which means to bathe or pour water. On
the eve before Kupala, it was thought portals opened making it a particularly
potent time to absorb the elements of fire, water, and earth. Thus, dew collected at dawn of the Solstice
was highly potentized and full of earth-magick.
This collected water would be used for divination and also kept through
the year for healing purposes.
As this is a time that flowers, grasses, and leaves are in full growth and beauty, they formed the prime material for weaving vinoky (plural) – woven headpieces. Traditionally containing 1 to 12 different kinds of flowers/ herbs/ plants, I am adapting the tradition to 1-13 plants, to represent the number of lunar cycles in a solar year.
Vinoky are woven and worn for many reasons, some of the more common being seasonal rites of passage as well as significant life transitions.
Plants are collected traditionally. Puck flowers/ plants preferably when it is dry, and when the petals or leaves are fully open. Give an offering to the first one of each variety you are harvesting and refrain from picking this particular plant. Rather, find the next plant of the same variety and ask the plant for permission before cutting/ picking. Respect the "yes" or "no" given and act accordingly. Say a prayer each and every time you pick a plant (ex: "blessings & thank you", or "gratitude & blessings"...). [{(Never take more than 30% of a stand of plants ~ 10-20% is best. Never take a plant that is home to something or someone. Never take a plant that is a single representative of its kind. Never take a rare, endangered, or protected plant, nor something that is sacred to the Indigenous Nation upon whose lands you are living/ harvesting. Never harvest from First Nation reserve land unless you are from that Nation, and/ or unless you have direct permission. If you live on unceded territory, please only pick from roadsides or someone’s backyard, with mindfulness.)}]
The flowers and other plants you choose will have meaning to you. Please choose enough plants with long enough stems that you can weave them together to form a wreath. Please choose 1 -13 varieties, and sense what each means to you.
Weaving, binding, braiding (or any handcraft) is an act of medicine and magick. We weave with intention and prayer, so that the intention and prayer are woven into the Vinok.
When performed with distracted awareness, all that is "floating" through the field of our awareness is woven into the piece we are working on.
Weaving is an act of "creation" ~ creating a fabric, a reality... Bringing full presence, prayer/ intention, connection (to the plants; to what they represent to us; and to that which the Vinok is intended to support/ empower) all amplify, strengthen, and direct the act of creation.
Fire is also an important part of the Kupala ritual. Fire represents the Solar force we are ceremonializing. Having reached its peak, we are turning the wheel of the year and light will gradually decline over the coming 6 months. The Solstice can act as an important doorway in which we can generate and empower an intention in our lives. The intention will be scribed into a candle (which we will anoint), then first lit when we release our Vinok into wild moving water (river, stream {ocean can work though may not be as smooth a release}). Once the Vinok has floated away, you will put the flame out, and continue your candle-work at home.
For the months of May, June, July, Aug, Sept, and Oct you may choose to perform a sacred Prayer Fire (or candle) on each dark/ new moon. The Fires will help empower and support the intentions you set during the solar rites. (Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar and Apr Prayer Fires may be performed on full moons.)
Steps:
1 ~ Consider the intention you would like to work with. Use a journal or paper to clarify and distill your intention into a simple phrase, word, or symbol.
2 ~ One the eve of the Solstice, prepare a bowl, jar, and large enough thin cloth, bedsheet, or pillowcase. Set your alarm for dawn. At dawn, take your cloth, bowl, and jar and find a large patch of grass or low-lying plants. Drag the cloth over the plants/ grass. The cloth will become wet. Wring the water into the bowl. Repeat several times in different areas to collect a small amount of water. When complete, pour any amount of water into the jar. This water can be kept and used for healing. Please contact me for specific instructions for this.
3 ~ Find flowers and plants, and wild-harvest them. Follow protocols explained above for prayerful and ethical harvesting. Keep your intention in your heart as you harvest, and let the plants know this is the intention they will be supporting.
4 ~ Weave your Vinok. It can be braided, or you can follow the demonstration offered in this video. Please put some of your plant material aside to make bundles in step 6.
Examples:
http://euromaidanpress.com/2017/10/06/the-ukrainian-wreath-interweaving-beauty-and-tradition/
5 ~ Place Vinok on your head. Take a few moments to absorb the energy of your creation.
6 ~ Take small handfuls of plant material and make bundles. Ask the plants to act as protectors for your home. Using string or thread, wind the base of each bundle tightly. Imagine, as you wind, that the hand movement traces the movements of the sun from rising to setting, or the movements of the moon… In this way you infuse the cycles of Nature into these bundles. Tie the bundle with three knots, saying “I bind these prayers to these bundles.” Leave long enough so that you can hang the bundles in doorways, windows, and from the roof-edge of your home.
7 ~ While wearing Vinok: refer to the page – candle ritual for sun and moon - for instructions on preparing your candle. Do not light your candle at this time.
8 ~ Once candle is complete, transport yourself to a body of wild moving water. Take time to fully absorb this process. You may want to journal, walk, sit, sing, pull cards from a divination deck, etc... Solstice is a common time to practice round-dance – circular and spiraling dances, called Khorovod! When you feel ready, you will walk to the water's edge, light your candle with intention, remove the Vinok and place/ push it out into the current. Holding the candle, watch as the Vinok is carried away. When you feel complete, snuff (do not blow) the candle out. Return home and complete the rest of the burning instructions.
9 ~ Once you are home, hang your various bundles, with prayer asking they serve as protection. (As the plants dry, you may need to tighten the binding so that the plants do not fall out.) If possible, let the bundles stay hanging until fall equinox. Or, alternatively, always have bundles of plants hanging, and renew the plant material in the bundles as needed. Burn the bundles when they have completed their jobs.
10 ~ The dark/ new moon closest to Solstice will be June 18th. Since most locations will have a fire ban in effect, please follow instructions for a sacred candle to serve as your Prayer Fire. Take this time to make prayers toward your Solstice intention, and any other prayers you may have or want to support at this time...
Face the night sky, cloudy or clear, open your arms and heart, absorb the energy of release that moves to rebirth, and give words/ thoughts of gratitude for the energies of moon, sky, and stars. Bend down, touch the earth, remember the ancestors who have walked these lands, give acknowledgement to your own ancestors, and then give gratitude to Mati Zemlya (Mother Earth). Light your Fire or candle and proceed with prayers… Complete when you are ready.
In earth blessings and with love,
Nikki
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