The Goddess blesses us in many ways, bestowing Magic and Spirit as we construct ritual, ceremony, song and craft through our various devotions.
So we end up with a cauldron full of Magical “stuff”- herbal packets, tokens crafted from collage, straw figures, copies of spells and invocations. There are a great many lovely and meaningful objects we make during our Pagan ceremonies, and they accumulate.
Decisions – What To Do?
Realizing that I could not continue to honor all these numerous remembrances of gorgeous magical times, I recently embarked on a deep purge and reorganization of my crowded Spiritual life! Cabinets have been cleared! Drawers have been emptied! File folders have been evacuated! I created more efficient space and found some things I had forgotten that I had ~ and in the process, I gathered a basket full of wonderful, magical and important items that I knew I no longer needed to keep.
Solution – A Magical Transformation
So, what to do with these precious tokens? Some I could give away to my Sister Crows, while some paper copies could be recycled. But what remained was worthy of a respectful conclusion.
I decided to create a Ritual of Respectful Disposal, consigning them to the sacred fire with deep intent. I gathered a collection of these spiritual creations from the past 30 plus years with my Wiccan Sisterhood, the Crowwomen. Here is a description of my process.
Photo by Tamilinian Ramachandran
Creating the fire in the fire pit in my yard, I built the flames up to a moderate burn. After casting a circle and calling the directions, especially South, I began with the song, In The Fire (Cynthia Crossen, on our album, Crow Goddess), asking for the burden of ownership to be released into Her sacred flame. Crossen’s lyrics reflect the intent of my ritual.
In the fire, in the fire
Gonna burn my burdens in the fire
In the fire, in the fire
Gonna burn my burdens in the fire
Give it up to Kali, give it up to Kali
Give it up to Kali, give it up
Give it up to Kali, give it up to Kali
Give it up to Kali, give it up
Purify me in your holy flame
Purify me in your holy flame
In the Fire music & lyrics © Cynthia Crossen, performed by Crow Women on the album Crow Goddess
Attention to the Background and Meaning of Each Item
With my Athame, I cut the attachment that existed between these magical objects and me. I spoke words of acknowledgement that in creating, receiving and keeping these objects, I had built my spiritual foundation as a Wiccan and a Crowwoman. As each object was presented to the fire, I reflected on when, where and how they came to my life. This was a journey through the past and a retrospective of my spiritual path.
Into the fire went my many fabric bundles of magical herbs and plants, created for healing, prosperity and love. Into the fire went my corn dollies and straw brooms from years past, with grateful thanks for their creative energy. Into the fire went all those extra copies of song lyrics, ritual casts, duplicate descriptions of Goddesses and Elements – each having served a purpose, each having given me grace, and each now bidding farewell.
I sang the song I wrote for spinning Fire, which has a more general application in acknowledging the power of this element, through lyrics like “Fill the night with the light, Ancient and Free” and “As above, so below, so Mote It Be.”
Fire burn (fire burn), fire spin (fire spin),
Take us out of time.
Fire burn (fire burn), fire spin (fire spin)
See the firelight shine.Flames are dancing
Fill the night with the light, Ancient and Free
Flames are dancing
As above So below, so mote it be.
Fire Spinning Song music & lyrics by Marilyn Leftwich, performed by Crow Women on the album Pantheon: Honoring the Pagan Divine
Transforming the Energy to Fill the World
I asked for their energies to be transformed by the Fire, which is all about transformation! Like the Phoenix, these objects lived again in their energy being released! Their essence was to rise up to the higher realms and spread their power throughout my location, the region, our nation and the world. I prayed for the peaceful reallocation of Spiritual Power to penetrate in only positive ways, as these items released their essence and only ash remained. A perfect song to add to this ritual is Pele, by Kellianna (from her album, Elemental), which states:
Goddess of Transformation
inspire my inner passion
with courage
I’m taking action
to waken the fire within
Lyrics from “Pele” by Kellianna
This ritual took some time, as each item was recognized and released. The ash was left to cool, and at a later time, they were scattered around the periphery of my yard, to bring closure to the ritual and blessings to my home.
Illustration by Matt Foster
Benefits Achieved
Feeling more clear and spacious now, the objects and treasured belongings I kept seem even more meaningful and dear. I have an intention to make sure that in creating additional magical items I carefully evaluate their significance for my future.
Here are a few other Crowwommen songs that might suit a future ritual of cleansing.
Candle Flame is a song I wrote that you can find on our album Seasons: A Pagan Journey Around the Wheel,, (https://pagansong.com/seasons/candle-flame/) might be appropriate if a ring of candles or a sole candle is present in your ritual.
A song by Crowwoman Alane, I Am Flame, from Crow Magic, might accompany your ritual if you combine your ceremony with a celebration of the energy of Fire.
I Am Flame by Alane Brown, from the Crow Women album Crow Magic
Are you ready to give up some of your accumulated magical paraphernalia to the cleansing, transforming fire? If so, I encourage you to create such a ritual for yourself or your circle, with respect and discernment, to examine each possession in light of making space for Spirit to more freely enter your sphere of magical energy.
If you and your coven find this ritual useful, I send you many blessings for your choices and organization!
For more information about the Crow Women pagan choir, and access to all the blog posts by Marilyn and the other 9 crowsingers who have written for Pagan Song, you can visit the Crow Women author page here on Pagan Song.
Featured Photo by Alina Vilchenko
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