Rolling on the grass

Tonight is a special super alignment of stars and energies in the Universe...Not every day you see a Summer Solstice, New Moon and Eclipse within hours...

In my case I don't see them at all, because, remember, I am around the Arctic in Summer, meaning there is no night, any night, ever.

Rites are a very personal thing. Ever since I remember I was creating some kind of rudimentary rite for whatever reason: to pass an exam, to stay calm, or to face fear. I gathered objects, feathers, coins, soil, a piece of cloth...anything I provided with meaning for my purposes.

The most important thing for a rite is being genuine, gather the elements that resonate with you and give them a voice: stones, incense, a personal object, elements, drawings...

New Moons are new beginnings, so tonight, I used the beautiful strangeness of the day-night, and wrote two lists: one with everything I want to release from my life, and the other one, with everything I welcome in my life from now on.

In most of my rites, I tend to use the elements, fire, water, air and earth, together with something that symbolises spirit for me. Happy to embrace the local culture, I knew there was an Icelandic tradition (and pay attention to the past tense here) to roll naked on a hill over the dew to attract luck.

I have created a blend of Mediterranean, Icelandic and Otilian rites and I have done them under the clear sky of the Icelandic day-night.

The Mediterranean part consists in burning the list of things you want out of your life, and jump over them while still burning (I advise doing this not wearing long fluffy dresses if you don't want to be self-burning for overdressed witchcraft). This is a deep rooted practise in the Mediterranean area, and it comes of course from Pagan rites that looked to give more power to Sun, since from this day on, the Sun would shine on the sky less time.

I have used some stones I feel specially connected to, salt, water, and rosemary, incense and Tibetan bowl. First you center yourself by writing the lists, then set the objects in place following how you feel about them. I place the list of things I want to welcome in my life under the bowl of water, and the other list on an empty bowl, arranged the stones and rosemary around the bowl with water, and after setting the list on the empty bowl on fire, I jumped over it, leaving all this behind.

The Icelandic ingredient comes from a tradition someone mentioned to me: on the Summer solstice night, you need to roll naked on the dew of the grass tp receive good luck.

And that I have done.

Luckily enough (more for the neighbours than for me) there is a little hill at the Viking's garden, concealed by trees and bushes... the perfect spot for me to frolic freely not franticly. It is strange when we suddenly do things that are right in front of our eyes but would never think of. Something as simple as rolling naked in your garden becomes a little adventure full of subtle new sensations.

I don't know if it will bring me good luck, I trust it will, it has given me joy, though, a free and playful sense of freedom.

Jumping and rolling on the grass...not a bad way to welcome these new beginnings.