The Ritual Practice
For the Full Moon in Taurus on November 5
If you'd like to connect directly with the magick of our community web established during the first session of The Gathering Path, you're invited to perform A Web of Wonder. For those who have already performed A Web of Wonder, you can spend a few moments connecting to our community web before performing the ritual below by simply visualizing and feeling your personal web-line joining with the community web - but feel free to add as little or as much ritual to this (breathwork, chanting, candle lighting, etc.) as you like.
A Healer’s Bundle for Safe Passage
Creating bundles full of roots, leaves, flowers, berries, and other sacred charms like shells, beads, stones, and other meaningful items are ancient forms of magick. So what better way to incorporate these traditions into our journey along the path of forests than by creating our own healer's bundle. Our herbal bundle will be created with the intention of safe passage in mind - something to carry with us as we journey through the shadows and depths, the unknown places that we find ourselves in as we move along our own path of healing and support others along their paths, too. The act of choosing and gathering supplies for your bundle are part of the ritual, too, and an invitation to finding the sort of magick that you can pick up and hold throughout our gathering path journey together.
You are highly encouraged to work A Web of Wonder ritual from the path of wonder before creating this charm as we'll be drawing on our community web as part of the ritual.
You will need:
A cloth
Thread or ribbon or yarn
Three sacred herbs of your choosing
An item that represents earth
An item that represents sky or air
An item that represent sea or water
An item that represents fire (whether flame, sun or lightning)
A few notes about the items you choose: When you can choose something that feels meaningful and intentional, I encourage you to do just that, and try to avoid trying to choose what you think is the "right" thing or going out and purchasing anything. If you are having trouble finding a particular item, speak aloud your need (i.e. "item of earth, reveal yourself to me"). Consider, too, the size of what you are gathering and whether or not you'll want to keep this bundle small enough to slip into a pocket or bag or if you want something bigger.
Find a spot, whether indoors or outside, to lay out all of your items and then proceed to create sacred space in the way you prefer. I'll use the story of Celina to illustrate the steps to creating your own bundle.
Celina sets out all of the supplies on the little table on her small apartment patio, where they catch the light of the Full Moon. If it was raining she had a backup plan to clear off her side table beside her bed and work her ritual there, but fortunately the weather was in her favor. The cloth, a piece of old quilt she had salvaged from an old family blanket, and a beautiful cotton yarn leftover from a crochet project are laid out side by side. The herbs and other items she arranges around the cloth and yarn.
Begin with the following charm, calling in the healers who have walked the path before you, and are ready to offer their insight and protection as you move along your own. Change around the pronouns to best suit your needs such as replacing "one" with woman or man, etc.:
Forest one, stone one,
river one, sky one,
wrapped in light
lightning one, moss one,
valley one, bone one
wrapped in shadow
mountain one, fire one,
desert one, ice one
wrapped in wisdom
Draw near, draw fast
bless this working
bless this path
Take a few moments to connect with the energy of those gathered.
Celina recites the charm, imagining a community of wise ones gathering around her, whispering wisdom in the dark-bright of the Full Moon, weaving a tight circle of blessing.
Now it's time to start adding your items, one by one, to your bundle. Begin by holding up the cloth and then the thread to the Moon, letting the lunar light infuse them with energy. Then pick up your first herb and speak its name, waking it up, and inviting it to join you in your magick, speaking to why you've chosen them as a guide and ally on your path, before placing them on the cloth.
Celina holds up her first plant - a small bowl of Rose petals - up to the Moon, saying "Rosa, Flower of the Goddess, bring your gifts of wisdom, of secrets revealed, and thorn-fierce protection to my healer's bundle." She then sprinkles the Rose petals onto the cloth.
Once you have named all of your herbs, repeat the same process with each of the items representing earth, sea, sky, and fire.
Celina has chosen a small stone for earth, a small decorative bell for air, a tiny shell for sea, and a piece of leftover candlewax from her altar for fire.
Once all items have been placed in your bundle, take three deep breaths while visualizing our community web and your own webline glowing and connected. Visualize drawing a small thread from that community web and pull it into your bundle. If you feel so inspired, trace a protective sigil or symbol with it, but otherwise trust that this bit of community charged magick will know how to settle in with your own magick.
Next speak the following charm, holding your hands over the bundle:
I walk the path of the healer
in peace and protection
Into the known and unknown
with plants as my guides
By earth, I am protected
By sea, I am protected
By sky, I am protected
By fire, I am protected
By the healers who have gone before me
I am protected
By all this and more,
I walk my path in peace
Once the charm has been spoken, gently breathe over the bundle, infusing it with your energy and bringing it to life with your breath. Then it is time to tie up your bundle - it's up to you if you choose to tie it up like a pouch or a present or in some way unique to you. Let this be meditative and focused, paying attention to the way you fold the cloth and tie the thread, tying up all the energy that has been summoned during this ritual.
Celina finds herself humming songs from her previous path work as she arranges all of the items on her cloth so that she can easily tie the bundle up like a small package she'll be able to slip into her pocket when she wants to.
When the bundle is tied up, hold it up to the Moon, then your forehead, your heart, and finally your belly. If you are outside, place the bundle on the earth for a few moments. If you like, you can spend a few minutes in meditation or practicing some breathwork, connecting to the plant allies you have worked with this night and any ancestors, holy ones, or ancient healers who have gathered for this rite.
Celina ends her rite with nine deep grounding breaths, holding her bundle to her belly, as she imagines a soft protective energy settling in around her.
᠅