Calling the Circle

Lighting the altar candles

 

White candle in the center:

Mother of all life, soul of our being, center of all our longing,

who shines for all and flows through all,

Be with us, guide us, now and always.

Candles representing the four directions:

As we light the candle of the east, we remember that it represents the element of air, morning, spring, and birth.

As we light the candle of the south, we remember that it represents the element of fire, noon time, summer and adulthood.

As we light the candle of the west, we remember that it represents the element of water, evening, autumn, and maturity.

As we light the candle of the north, we remember that it represents the element of Earth, night time, winter, and old age.

The circle is open, where night and day, birth and death, joy and sorrow, meet as one.

 

 

Spring Equinox reading

Spring returns, the sun warms the soil.  Seeds awaken, pushing roots into dark earth.  Shoots push up into the light, and sap rises as trees break into leaf.

Eostar was the ancient, Germanic Goddess of the spring.  Her colorful eggs are the symbols of renewed life.  The magical, fertile hare, that leaps up from the fields just as the life force leaps up within us, was her sacred animal.

Day and night are balanced now.  Justice means balance—balancing one set of needs against another, balancing what we take with what we give.  May justice arise, cracking through the deadening systems of oppression like grass breaking through pavement.

Plant a seed this springtime.  Hold it in your hand, and envision a world in which we live in balance with nature, at peace with one another, where creativity and love can flourish.  Place your seed in the earth.  Water and tend it as you tend those qualities and take those actions which can bring that world to birth.        — Starhawk

 

Centering Time  (20 minutes)

Invocation for the silence:

We ask for the presence of  Spirit and pray that the breath of life

Continues to caress this planet home.

May we grow into true understanding –

A deep understanding that inspires us to protect the tree on which we bloom,

May we turn inwards and stumble upon our true roots.

In the intertwining life forms of this exquisite planet.

Awaken is us a sense of who we truly are;

Tiny ephemeral blossoms on the Tree of Life.

Fill each of us with love for our true Self,

Which includes all the creatures and plants and landscapes of the world.

O stars, give us your burning passion.

O Silence, give weight to our voice.  Amen

Adapted, John Seed                     

 

Checking In Time

1-2 minutes check-in on where we are with respect to our spiritual journeys

Discussing the  Seeds of New Life

 

Reading: 

Jesus said, “To what can the Reign of God be compared?

What parable can we use for it?

It is like a mustard seed; when sown in the soil,

it is the tiniest of all the seeds.

However, once it is planted

it grows into the largest shrub of all

and stretches out long branches

so that birds can dwell in its shade.”

Discussion

We pass a small plate of mustard seeds slowly from one person to another.  Take one seed and place it in the palm of your hand.  As you consider the small seed, ask yourself what new life you are yearning for– that is, what within you is “waiting to be born.”  When you are ready, and if you feel comfortable, share briefly your desire, your yearning, that which is waiting to be born within you. 

 

We repeat passing the seeds.  Let us consider what new life for our spiritual community you are yearning for.  Share you thoughts if you feel comfortable. 

 

Prayer

Gracious God,

may our deepest yearning

meet the ardent impulse

of your love and your will.

Loving God,

nourish the seed of hope

that is dormant within us.

I eagerly await the fullness of life

that only your Spirit can give.

Come, Spirit of Life.  Amen

(From Seeds of New Life    Taste & See Bergan and Schwan,  page29)

 

 

Agape Meal

 

We pass the chalice of spring water and bowl of jelly beans and chocolate eggs to one another with these words:

 

Take these eggs and beans in remembrance of Spring’s new life.

 

Drink this water as symbolic of the flowing love that sustains growth.

 

 

Dismissal

 

We remember the words of Hildegard of Bingen

 

We are greening, greening with life.

We bear our fruits for all of creation.

We are greening, greening with life.

We bear our fruits for all of creation.

Limitless love from the depths to the stars

Flooding all, loving all.

            (Hildegard of Bingen)