Calling the Directions

Lover Spirit, intuition in the center of our souls,
In your love we find relation. All connected, we are whole.
Timeless mystery, quiet conscience, deepest values, voice inside.
With the drum and with the cauldron, this we ask you: be our guide.

Father Air your inspiration holds together all that lives.
As we breathe our minds see clearly, leading us to love and give.
Raging whirlwind, whispered breezes, violent gale and gentle cloud.
With the blade as sharp as morning, East we ask you: be here now.

Brother Fire, great transformer, share the passion of the sun.
In our hearths your warmth revives us, cooks our food and heats our homes.
Flaming candle, blood within us, blazing desert, will to grow.
With the wand directing power, South we ask you: be here now.

Sister Water, ever flowing, ocean, river, pond and rain.
Drink we now and quench our thirsting. Cleanse us, we begin again.
Mist and ice, a host of changes: all that courage will allow.
With the cup, the holy chalice, West we ask you: be here now.

Mother Earth, beloved garden, living treasure underfoot,
All our days you ground our being: sage and thistle, grass and root.
Herbs to heal us, plants to feed us, land to till and tend and plow.
With the pendant, deep as midnight, North we ask you: be here now.

Unitarian Universalist hymn

 

Centering Prayer

Let us begin by acknowledging our interconnection to the Divine Presence of All That Is. We enter into a period of silence and waiting.

 “Rise up my fair one and come away with me.”  

Song of Songs, Hebrew Bible

 

Our Journey

Our journey together began with Mary Magdalene. Through her, we recovered our Divine Feminine. Mary Magdalene led us into a study of the Divine Feminine in Christianity and then to the goddess in all spiritualities.   As we embraced the Divine Feminine, we healed as women. Compassion, one of our great attributes, then opened our eyes beyond patriarchy to the Divine Masculine. We recognized that wholeness would come when the two merged within each of us. And, we uncovered Divine Feminine and Divine Masculine archetypes in other spiritual traditions. Now, we invite them all to join us as we continue our journey beyond duality to unity and spiritual transformation.

 

Invocation of Divine Feminine and Divine Masculine from Various Traditions

Holy Wisdom, present at the creation and sustainer of the world in your manifold forms, we invoke your blessing.

Most High, who with Wisdom, orders all things mightily yet tenderly, come and guide us in our journey.

 

Together as One.

 

Shekhina, sacred feminine presence of the Hebraic tradition, and the Holy One Elohim, come and remind us of our divine interconnection.

 

Together as One.

 

Shakti, sacred feminine of the Hindu tradition and your consort, Shiva, transforming life and death in an eternal rite of renewal, come to help us to save and heal the earth.

 

Together as One.

 

Quan Yin, divine feminine of the Buddhist tradition, with your masculine form, Buddha, come to remind us of the vow to save all sentient beings.

 

Together as One.

 

Fatimah, Allah the Infinite, join with Allah the Absolute to shine your Divine love on all the earth that there may be peace.

 

Together as One.

 

Brother Sun, Sister Moon, of the indigenous traditions, turning galaxies of the expanding cosmos, come to light our way in the darkness of the age that we may be of service to the whole of creation.

 

Together as One.

 

Mary Magdalene, sacred feminine of the Christian tradition, and your sacred masculine half, Jesus, come to unite us in your example of wholeness and Divine Love.

 

Together as One.                                            Amen.                                      Adapted, John Powell

 

 

Attributes of the Divine Masculine and the Divine Feminine

If you go through the gospels, you’ll see Jesus operating out of both a masculine and feminine mode. In fact, he’s perfectly balanced. He’s very comfortable with his inner world and can speak about prayer and relationships with great sensitivity. Next, he’ll move into the outer world and you’ll find him traveling to the next place, calling the Pharisees to task, getting involved with people, touching them, healing and challenging. Then, he’ll move back into the desert, back into his interior life. That’s his pattern. He’s back and forth. His approach is both, and as a result, he calls and stretches us…
Catholic theologian, Robert Rohr           

There is a shift occurring in the world…a reconciliation between two great polarities, a union of opposites: a sacred marriage between the long-dominant masculine and the long-suppressed feminine…Our time is struggling to bring forth something fundamentally new in human history: We seem to be witnessing, suffering, the birth labour of a new reality, a new form of human existence a “child” that would be the fruit of the great archetypal marriage as we have seen exemplified in the Christian tradition in both Mary Magdalene and Jesus.

 

Let us honor the holy attributes of our Divine Masculine and Divine Feminine.

In a circle we take turns naming an attribute.

Divine Feminine, We honor the sacred attribute of ____________. (Bow)

Divine Masculine, We honor the sacred attribute of ____________. (Bow)

 

 

Divine Feminine

Being, receiving

Intuition

Feeling

Empathy

The capacity to imagine

Justice

Wisdom

Compassion

Love

The capacity to nurture, protect, cherish

 

Divine Masculine

Doing, acting

Thinking: linear, logical, analytical

The ability to focus on a goal

The ability to bring ideas into manifestation, to ground them

The ability to exercise control

Self-control

Justice

Insight

Discrimination (making the correct choice)

The desire and capacity to protect

 

Readings from different traditions on the Divine Feminine and Masculine.

We honor the Oneness of other Religions and Spiritualities by reading from selected writings on the Divine Masculine and divine Feminine in their individual traditions.

Each of us selects a reading from the basket of readings.  Each reading is followed by silence. We will be led into the next reading by drumming.

(In early religions, the moon typically represented feminine energy and the sun, masculine energy.)

From the Hasidic teachings (Jewish):

When the moon shines as bright as the sun, the Messiah will come.

 

From the Hindu mystic Lalan

 

As the man and the woman in me

United in love,

The brilliant beauty

balanced on the two-petalled lotus

Within me

Dazzles my eyes.

The rays

Outshine the moon

And the jewels

Glowing on the hoods of snakes.

 

From the Christian tradition:

O You who are beyond all names

Yet whom we call Father and Mother,

Help me to balance power and compassion,

A woman’s gentleness with a man’s strength

As I open wide the doors of my heart

For the life of the universe to flow through.

Cornwood Service, Greenspirit.org

 

From Native American Spirituality:

The Native Americans believed the eagle was a messenger of God, and that to wear its feather meant you were most sacred. They believed that the eagle’s feather represented an equal balance between male and female.

From the Taoist tradition:

The Tao is One.

From the One comes yin and yang;

From these two, creative energy,

From energy, ten thousand things,

The forms of all creation.

All life embodies yin

And embraces yang,

Through their union

Achieving harmony.

 

From Tibetan Buddhism:

Perhaps the most important part of Tantric religions, including Tibetan Buddhism, is the belief that male and female energies reside in everyone. ..

Through meditation and other practices, one is led to a uniting of the male and female energies.…a spiritual unification.

 

From Rumi, the Sufi tradition:

 

…The lamps are different,

But the Light is the same.

One matter, one energy, one Light, one Light-mind,

Endlessly emanating all things.

One turning and burning diamond,

One, one, one….

 

From the Zohar, the Jewish tradition:

Come and see:

The blessed Holy One does not place his abode

in any place where male and female are not found together.

Blessings are found only in a place where male and female are found,

A human being is only called Adam

When male and female are as one.

 

 

From the Gospel of Thomas, the Christian tradition:

 

Jesus said to them, “When you make the two one,

and when you make the inside like the outside…

and the above like the below,

and when you make the male and the female one and the same

so that the male not be male and the female female,…

Then you will enter the Kingdom.”

Logion 22

 

 

The Sacred Marriage of the Divine Masculine and Divine Feminine

 We have studied and learned from the great teachers. Now, we are here to celebrate outwardly the marriage bond of the Divine Feminine and Masculine that we have been creating inwardly for many years.   We celebrate the equality of all people as well as the balance of the inner masculine and feminine which each of us is accepting within ourselves.                                                             –Sydney Barbara Metrick-

 

In this stage we experience Divine Love and Spiritual Wisdom – the Divine Marriage, the Mystical Marriage. At this level we fully realize the union of the Divine Masculine and the Divine Feminine with our own essence.

 

We come to understand that our relationships on the human plane are indeed holy relationships. They are the coming together of souls in the Divine Plan.  Joyfully we experience the Beloved embracing the Beloved in a sacred setting where Life is everywhere in evidence. We experience here the joining of Souls by God.

 

In this sacred moment, we realize that the Mystical Marriage occurs first within our own being. Then, from this space of Divine vibration, we experience soul relationships in the outer. Mystical Love attracts Mystical Love is the embrace of hearts and minds, and the holy relationship is built on the foundations of Divine Love.                                                                                 -Unity of Tustin.org-

 

Declarations

 

Sacred Marriage is not a ceremony but an on-going commitment. Each day, for the rest of our lives, we will make choices. In the days and years ahead, we will have to choose, again and again, whether or not to keep love and sacred unity as the most important part of our lives.

–Peg K

 

To each person:

 

Will you make this lifelong commitment to embrace the unity of the Feminine and the Masculine in your own life?

I will.

 

To this gathering of friends:

 

Will you do all in your power to support your Divine Masculine and Feminine and nurture and deepen this commitment within yourself as well as in others?

We will.

 

Declaration Prayer

 

Eternal God, creator and sustainer of us all, give your grace to us, that in the years ahead we may be faithful to the vows we make this day, and that in the strength of your Spirit we may become whole in your love, joy, and peace.

-adapted NZ Prayerbook

 

Invocation

 

God of love, touch us with an awareness of your presence in all the world around us. Awaken in us a sense of wonder that you have created us in love and wholeness.

As we celebrate Divine Marriage, deepen our love for those close to us, and for those who, although strangers, need our concern.

Help us as we commit ourselves to Divine Union.  Amen.    

-adapted NZ Prayerbook-

 

 

Lighting the Candle of Divine Union

 

The flame of the candle represents not only illumination but also spirit, and fire is often said to symbolize inspiration and aspiration, power, and passion.

As we each bring these qualities from within ourselves to our Union of the Divine Masculine and Divine Feminine, may we find the flame burning always brightly in our hearts.

(The candle’s two wicks are lit from the central candle on the altar.)

 

The Sacred Marriage Vows

 

In the presence of God and surrounded by spiritual friends, I pledge to consciously unite the divine feminine and masculine within myself.  

I will honor being and doing, intuition and logical thinking, imagination and concrete manifestation, wisdom and justice, compassion and insight, nurturing and protecting, and receiving and giving.

I will welcome life’s blessings with gladness and thanksgiving.

I will welcome life’s challenges with the ability to think clearly and with the courage to act.

All that I have, I will offer to God and others;

Whatever God offers me, I will gladly receive.

 

The Outward Symbols

From ancient times, the Circle has been the sacred token of oneness, continuity, and completeness, the outward signification of our eternal reality.

Blessed God, charge these circles with your Love, your Light, and Your Joy.

To each person:

Do you accept these circles as a token of your commitment to embrace the Divine Feminine and the Divine Masculine within yourself?  

 I do.

 

(A Circle on a hemp rope is placed around the neck of each person as a reminder of these vows.)

 

These circles are eternal symbols of individual and collective Oneness, Wholeness, and Fullness of Life. Look to them, therefore, each day for your inspiration and our common purpose.

The Blessing

 

All praise and blessing to you, God of Love, creator of the universe,

Maker of male and female in your likeness, source of blessing for abundant life.

All praise to you for you have created love and marriage, joy and gladness, feasting and laughter, pleasure and delight.

May your blessing come in full upon us. May we know your presence in our joys and in our sorrows.

May we reach old age in the company of friends, and end our lives in your wholeness.

-New Zealand Prayerbook-

 

 

Agape Meal

 

Two liquids are poured from separate containers into a single chalice. The chalice is passed to one another, saying

Take this in remembrance of your sacred union of masculine and feminine.