NMR ISSUE 31

Abhisheka
An Urban Wicca
Astrological Forecast 31
Caterpiller, Bobcat, Emu & Camel
Charge of the God
Editorial 31
Esoteric Symbology of the Tarot
History is a Lie
Home Schooling
Imagination or Mystical Experience
Letters 31
Magical Flute III The Materials
Orion
Primordial Tones:
The Colors of the Aura
The Dreamer from Lemuria
Where Do the Sacred Fires Burn?

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An Urban Wicca:

Midsummer

By Alex Miller-Mignone

Midsummer is the Pagan festival commemorating the Summer Solstice, which usually falls about the 21st of June. The days are long and the heat has begun to wax toward its August swelter, but the nights are still pleasant and cool.

The urban garden is in full swing, with the pansies and ranunculus of Spring retreating before the advancing heat, giving way to impatiens and caladiums, hosta and begonia. Spikes of balloonflower begin to sport their first tentative buds and the herbs are growing thick and furiously. Lemon balm has ranged far and wide and vies with mint and mother-of-thyme for the choicest spots of earth; the mint runners always seem to win. Sage and basil grow bushy while lemon verbena, rosemary and bay laurel stretch delicate new arms towards the sun's embrace.

The garden that has become a birch grove has never seemed more sacred as we set the scene for the Midsummer ritual. Long gone from the altar table are the Yule greens and birdseed husks of winter; it serves now as the nursery for new pots of mint or other herb cuttings which we are propagating. And several potted lantana which we have wintered for years adorn the stone lion figurehead with their solar bursts of orange and yellow blossoms. Large glass-sleeved yellow candles mark the four directions, while smaller green glass votive candles mark the Cross-Quarter Sabbats. Green glass and wire sconces are hung along the wooden wall beneath the birch, where they illumine statues representing the Oak King, Dionysos, Pan, the Christ.

As the Sun waxes to Midday we retrieve some carefully stored trophies from the freezer. Summer Solstice is the time when the Oak King replaces the Holly King as the Consort of the Goddess. In preparing to honor this sacrifice we clipped small cuttings from the garden's male holly last Imbolc, complete with frozen snow and icicles, and stored them in ziploc freezer bags, along with one perfect, large snowball. At noon we place these tokens of the transfer on the altar and at the base of our new two-foot pin oak sapling. The snowball we leave atop the lion's head to give itself in sacrifice to the sun.

By dusk the revelers have gathered, and the glow of candlelight seems to have captured the last rays of the setting sun. The ritual is a simple one, evoking the power of the sun and the fragile victory of the light over the darkness. It may be the shortest night of the year, but when next the sun rises it will be on a day that witnesses its waning, which will culminate in six months at Yule.

Following is the Feast: a cold buffet of traditional summer favorites such as deviled eggs with tarragon or dill and rosemary potato salad, both spiced with the herbs from the garden. Asian sesame noodles and cabbage slaw are balanced with American staples such as chilled barbecued chicken wings and baked beans. Dessert features the many berries of the season, mixed in a rich nougat tart or nestled beneath the crispy crust pastry cobbler. Some of the blackberries and strawberries are from our own plants, supplemented with raspberries and loganberries from the local Farmer's Market.

The day has been one of rest and revelry, but the season to follow is one of the busiest of the year. There is the garden to water and tend, herbs to harvest, dry and propagate, and flowering plants to pick over to encourage new growth and bloom. We pick special herbs and flowers now and in the Lammas octave. The herbs for amulets and charms. The cloth bags which will soon hold them we carefully sewed or crocheted during the long nights of Imbolc and Yule—it seems with Wicca there is always something to prepare!

Now is the time also to pluck the new corn from the cobs and string it on thread to dry in time for the Lammas necklaces in six weeks. Rune sticks rough-hewn from evergreen branches at Yule have weathered sufficiently now that we can strip them of their needles and bark, and trim or carve them to more perfect shapes. Soon we will paint or etch them in preparation for their use in the divinatory rituals of Mabon.

As the days grow hotter, one can hear cicadas and locusts high in the birches. We need to firmly remind grasshoppers that there is an entire field of weeds they could be eating just a few blocks away, instead of devouring the herbs. And mosquitoes make the warm summer evenings just slightly less inviting. Before long the days are noticeably shorter, as the Wheel which is never ending continues to turn through time.

Alex Miller-Mignone, Urban Wicca at large, is a professional writer and astrologer, and past president of Philadelphia Astrological Society. His specialty is Galactic Astrology, which uses Deep Space points in addition to the planets and asteroids of our own solar system. His work appears frequently in The Mountain Astrologer and Welcome To Planet Earth, and he publishes a newsletter, The Galactic Calendar, eight times yearly. He can be reached for information or consultation at 627 S. 26th Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19146 or (215) 735-1872.