Havens in the Storm
As Hurricane Florence bore down on the coasts of North and South Carolina, tens of thousands of people fled vulnerable coastal areas. However, for many the cost of evacuation is prohibitive and the logistics difficult. Can I take my dog? Can I afford two, six, fourteen nights in a hotel? While emergency management and public shelters help many, a new and extremely positive use for social media has arisen that is helping more and more people with each disaster. In the last few years, various media platforms have hosted initiatives by private individuals to help those fleeing storms, wildfires, and even volcanic eruptions. As Florence approached, families and individuals in western North Carolina and Tennessee invited total strangers to seek refuge with them. As one woman in Tennessee said of the twenty-six people her family hosted during Hurricane Irma, “My sister came up from Florida first, then our really good friends who are originally from Venezuela, and we put them up. And then we started getting phone call after phone call from friends and friends of friends that had nowhere to go. One guy came in crying at four in the morning because he had a two–year-old and a very pregnant wife. They were so relieved to be able to finally put their head down in a safe place.” 51 Many people who became hosts had themselves fled hurricanes in the past and understood what the evacuees were going through.
This movement toward people helping others individually rather than as an organized group has also been important in situations of civil disturbance. For example, #RoomforManchester was the tag used by people in the United Kingdom to help those who were unable to get home because of the terrorist bombing at the Ariana Grande concert.52 As various bombings and civil disturbances have occurred, people in Europe and the United States have invited stranded strangers to stay.
This is not a new idea. In the last Crisis era during World War II, more than two million vulnerable children had to be evacuated from London and Southern England because of air raids. People all across the country and in Canada opened their homes for years at a time to these children who needed to be sent out of urban areas for their safety. Tens of thousands of families and individuals welcomed these children, these internal refugees.53 Could we do the same?
Of course we could. And we are likely to need to. Whatever shape the crisis takes—whether war, civil disturbance, natural disaster, or some combination—people will flee. They will try to evacuate if they can. They will try to get their children out. They will try to get their elderly parents out. And they will go—in cars with their dogs and cats, in planes that take off overloaded, or on their own feet like the last evacuees in the recent California wildfires. They will go to wherever offers a safe haven.
Will you be that haven? If you, yourself, do not live in an area of immediate danger, can you open your home to others? Can you plan ahead to be a place of refuge? Even if you feel that you do not have “critical skills” for the coming crisis, creating a haven is something you can do that will be vital, whether you are able to help one person or twenty-six.
Inventorying Your Strengths
The following questions will help you identify your strengths: the things that you already have that contribute to being a haven.
Do you have a guest room? A finished basement? A pull-out sofa that someone could stay on overnight if they were stuck in a city center? Do you have the physical space to host one or more people for one or more days?
What is that space like? How many people can stay there? How long could they stay there? One night? A few days? A few weeks? Longer?
Is the space suitable for pets? Children? Elderly people or those with limited mobility? For example, if you have a fenced yard and a dog, would you welcome someone evacuating with dogs? Is the room a basement family room that is accessible only by steep stairs and is unsuitable for someone with mobility issues?
Is there a way for a person or people to eat? Use the bathroom? Shower?
Do you have skills that would let you assist someone who needed extra help in some way? Experience with the elderly? With disabilities? With children? If, for example, you run a home daycare or have a toddler of your own, could you help a young mother evacuating with a baby? If your home is already childproofed and you have baby gear, you are already there.
Who would you find easy to host? Who would you find too much? Be honest in this assessment. If you have a pull-out couch in a small apartment, you probably mean one or two people for a very short time. If you have an unoccupied mother-in-law suite, you could take many more for a longer period.
Once you have considered your strengths, consider next the character of your haven and the work you wish it to do.
Inside the Haven
Hero stories are full of havens: enchanted castles, hidden valleys, schools for unusual children, secret caves, and more. Havens are the place where heroes break their journeys, are protected in childhood, seek wisdom and guidance, and recover from their physical, mental, and spiritual injuries. Every haven is different, and even within the same story havens may have different purposes. For example, in The Lord of the Rings, Frodo and the Fellowship are restored in two very different havens: Rivendell and Lorien. Rivendell is a place of learning and wise counsel with a magnificent library and a diverse collection of good-hearted people visiting from all over their world. Lorien is almost otherworldly, a spiritual place that seems remote and pristine amid a darkening world and where guidance takes the form of riddles and visions. Rivendell is led by Master Elrond, whose learning and hospitality make his house a home for many travelers. Lorien is ruled by Galadriel and Celeborn, who keep the borders of this hidden land despite great risk while it appears to be untouched and untouchable. Yet both are havens, and both are places where the heroes find rest and replenishment.
Consider these and other fictional havens: Which would you like to live in? Which would you like to rule? Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters or Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children? Rivendell? Lorien? Avalon? Helen Magnus’s Sanctuary?
What would you like your haven to feel like? What would you like people to think when they walk through the door? What values do you want it to support? Learning? Peace? Action? Is it a library? An armory? A temple? A home? Is it hidden to all but a select few? Open to any wanderers in need?
Imagine your ideal haven. Maybe it’s a Victorian house with many rooms full of kind monsters. Maybe it’s a cave hidden high in the mountains with a secret door. Perhaps it’s a lodge overlooking a remote valley where animals mingle with human visitors. Maybe it’s a city brownstone that looks like any other until you discover the secret door to the sublevels. Be creative. Imagine your ideal and walk through it in your mind.
What does a visitor see when they arrive? Where do they sleep? What do they eat? Are there special features—a room with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, an archery range, a waterfall?
What does it smell like? Does it smell like delicious home cooking or like a deep pine forest? Like faint, complex perfume or the sawdust of the workshop?
What does the visitor hear? Faraway flutes? Thumping bass? Running water?
Visualize your ideal haven as completely as you can. Then name it. What is this secret place?
Once you’ve visualized and named your haven, it’s time to consider how your actual physical haven can be more like your ideal. For this part you may need to work together if you have a shared space with a partner, friend, or other family members and incorporate different ideas of what a haven could be. This step may also seem difficult. For example, if your ideal haven is a remote mountain lodge beneath great fir trees and you actually live in a small city apartment, the gulf between ideal and reality may seem huge. However, even if the disparity is great, you can still work toward making your space feel like your ideal, even if it’s as simple a change as a coat of paint.
One way to identify how to make the physical haven more like the ideal is to make a word cloud. On a blank piece of paper, jot down the attributes that come to mind when you think of your ideal. For example, “cozy,” “library,” “comfortable,” “ancient,” “quiet,” “peaceful,” “autumn,” and “wood” might compose a word cloud. How can you make your space feel more like a peaceful, cozy, ancient library? Don’t just think about obvious things like paint or furniture, but also about scent and touch. For example, there are many home scents that remind people of autumn that could make your space feel more like your word cloud.
As you consider the feel of your haven, also consider the practical logistics of someone staying with you. Are there changes you could make that would make it easier and more pleasant for someone to stay, or that would let you accommodate different people? For example, a pack-n-play crib costs less than $50, lets you safely host a young child, and folds up easily to fit in a closet or under a bed. Do those basement steps need repair or a new handrail? Would putting a small refrigerator and a microwave in that basement bedroom turn it into a suite? In a city apartment, a pull-out couch instead of a conventional one would make room for one or two people to sleep.
Also consider things that would make your haven more comfortable for the people who live there all the time. A new light to make the steps to the basement easier to see? A rug on that chilly floor? Fixing the tile in the bathroom that almost nobody ever uses?
Once you have decided upon the feel of your haven and the steps you plan to take to make your physical space more like your ideal, it’s time to dedicate your haven.
Dedicating the Haven
First, you need a name. The Murphy’s Cave. Pinewoods. The Lair. Imladris. Jared and Anna’s Castle. The Green Box. Avalon. Halloween House. It can be formal or silly, descriptive or classic. What matters is that the name fits your ideal.
Second, consider which deity or deities you wish to invoke to protect your home. If you have a patron deity, they are an obvious choice. If not, consider protective deities of hearth and home in a tradition you are comfortable in. For example, Brigid is a good choice if you work in a Celtic tradition, or Bes or Bastet in an Egyptian. If you are not certain or if you prefer a classical tradition, you can use the dedication that follows to invoke Vesta, the Roman goddess of hearth and home.
The main thing most people remember about Vesta is that in Rome she was served by virgin priestesses, but Vesta herself was not described as a young girl. Vesta is usually pictured as a “matron,” meaning a married woman in her thirties or forties, the mistress of a household and the woman responsible for its smooth operation. A matron, therefore, is in the position of domestic responsibility, and is therefore a suitable face for the goddess who protects and preserves the home.
A Rite to Ask Vesta to Hallow the Home
Now we are prepared to actually do the rite to invite Vesta to hallow our homes.
You will need:
a candle (preferably an LED candle so that you may leave it lit and unattended)
a place to put the candle (preferably in the kitchen. A shelf, a windowsill, or a space on the countertop will all do perfectly.)
some kind of sign with the name of your haven (It can be a wooden sign you’ve painted, a framed cross-stitch if you are crafty, or simply a chalkboard with the name written on it.)
a way to hang the sign near your candle
Optional extras:
an image of Vesta or her Greek counterpart, Hestia
The Rite
(In the following rite, the words in italics are there as examples, and you may substitute your own words as necessary.)
Begin by sweeping and vacuuming your house. In Rome, sweeping Vesta’s temple was an important ritual, and while it is not necessary that you make your home’s curb appeal perfect for this rite, sweeping and vacuuming is a way of showing that you have prepared and cleaned your space to welcome Vesta.
Gather everyone in your household together in your kitchen if possible. Light the candle (or turn it on if it’s an LED) and place it in its new permanent spot in your kitchen.
Then speak aloud, “Vesta, guardian of the hearth and home, bright spot in our hearts who illuminates through the work of our hands, be welcome in this space. We wish to welcome you into our home, Pinestead. We are people who prize love, creativity, courage, and hope. We ask that you bring your warmth and protection into our home. We ask that you help us to make Pinestead a refuge of art, joy, tranquility, and learning, for us and for those whom the gods send to us as guests and friends. We welcome you in that spirit, that you may be part of our lives and part of our home, and that your blessings may extend to all who cross our threshold.”
Now hang the sign somewhere in the kitchen where you will see it every day. If your candle is an LED, leave it on a timer so that it will glow every evening and remind you to thank Vesta. If it is a regular candle, remember to light it at least once a week and thank Vesta for her blessings upon your home. Reflect on those qualities that you asked Vesta to bring to your haven.
Once you have dedicated your haven, continue the work by allowing the gods to open your doors to those in need. Words are only words until intentions become actions. In deep Winter, it is your actions that will bring warmth to the world.
Warding Your Home
Sometimes your home needs a little more direct protection, whether from the stresses of the world or from the negativity of others. The Greeks and Romans had permanent protectors of the home at the entry points, doorkeepers whose job was to protect the inhabitants and their welcome guests. The Romans had a shrine called the lararium, dedicated to the lares and penates, that was usually located near the front door. These household deities worked with Vesta to protect the home.54 The Greeks often had a pillar called a herm that stood outside the door, a square pillar with a man’s head at the top and a man’s genitals halfway down. The herm served a protective function as well, and its destruction or harm was seen as an impious attack on the family itself.55
For most of us today, having a shrine by the front door or a large phallic statue in our front yard is not possible. However, it is possible to create a house ward based on these principles.
Consider your space. While some people may be able to place something directly outside their front door, for apartment dwellers and others that may not be possible. Also, things that are on tables or shelves just inside the door may be moved or broken by children or pets. Painting or drawing directly on the doors may also not be possible—either because it will be too obviously Pagan to neighbors to have a big sigil painted on your door, or because you rent and are not allowed to paint. Wreaths or other décor hung on the door are wonderful, but generally need to be changed seasonally. Remember, the house ward needs to be permanent as long as you live in the home, not something temporary.
However, for most people, the one place near the door that will not be disturbed and is ideal for a protective function is the area right above the door on the inside between the doorframe and the ceiling. This is where, in some folk traditions, a horseshoe was hung for luck. You may, in fact, use a horseshoe. You may use some small piece of artwork that will fit, or even a sign painted on wood. A number of Pagan artisans on Etsy and other sites offer ceramic or resin plaques that are replicas of Roman votive plaques. There are also signs that read “Blessed Be” or “Love Lives Here” or other appropriate phrases. For those who practice in a Celtic tradition, there are Irish blessing plaques. If you are artistic, you may make your own, but it is fine to buy one if you prefer. The important thing is that it will fit over your door and seem natural in your home.
Once you have chosen what the physical component of your ward will be, you then need to charge it. (If you have multiple doors, you will want to have one physical component for each door and repeat this ritual for each.)
The Rite
You will need:
the plaque, horseshoe, sign, or other physical component you have chosen
a bowl (if your component is metal or ceramic, you may wish to use a bowl large enough to submerge it. If it is wood, paper, or another material that will be damaged, you will not submerge it, so a small bowl will do.)
water
sea salt
incense, preferably myrrh or sandalwood, and an incense holder
a means to light the incense
Begin at a central location in your house. A kitchen table is perfect, but you may choose to begin in any room. Fill the bowl with water. Add sea salt. Then light the incense. Say, “Pelagia, Sea Lady, Queen of Love, She Who Rules the Oceans of the World, whose saltwater runs through our veins as blood, whose breath touches us as rain, we humbly ask that you guard our home, keeping it safe from all dangers. We ask that you ward it safe so that only good intentions may pass our threshold. We ask that you guard it from injuries both spiritual and mundane. May we and those we welcome within these walls know no harm.”
Place the component within the bowl of saltwater, or, if that is not possible, sprinkle it with the saltwater. Then light the incense. “Lady of the Seas, may your love and power touch every corner of our home.”
Start at the front door, or the door that you are now warding if you have multiple doors. Lift the incense and its burner, letting the smoke touch the door and its area. Then begin walking clockwise around the interior of your home. You will need to go from room to room, but make sure you return each time to the exterior wall and let the smoke touch the exterior wall. What if, like my kitchen, you have cabinets that cover part of the exterior wall? Open each cabinet that backs on the exterior wall and let the smoke touch the back of the cabinets. Do the same with laundry areas, bathrooms, or other places where the exterior wall may be obscured. If your home is more than one story, do the story with the main door first, then work your way up and down. If, for example, you have a second floor and a basement, it does not matter whether you do the second story or the basement first as long as you do both. You want to cover all the space in your home that is lived in. You do not need to cover attics or crawl spaces since nobody is living there.
Once you have covered all the spaces, return to the door. Say, “Lady of the Sea, Venus Victrix, thank you for your protection.”
If you have a second door, do that door next. If you have just covered the entire house, you do not need to take the smoke around again—just repeat your request and thanks to the Lady of the Sea and touch the smoke to that door.
Once you have completed your circuits, return to where your component(s) are at the kitchen table or whatever central place you are using. Say, “Sea Lady, Venus Victrix, let this be a symbol of your protection on our home.” Then hang the component(s) above your door(s).
Allow the incense to burn out naturally.
Pour the saltwater outside in libation.
A Solid Place to Stand
Once your home is as safe and welcoming as it can be, a haven for all who seek it, you have a solid place to stand. Now that you have a refuge, it’s time to think about the work you will do going forth from this place. As the Crisis era deepens, it’s a time for heroes. What kind of hero will you be?
51. Gianluca Mezzofiore, “These People Are Opening Their Homes to Hurricane Florence Evacuees,” CNN, September 11, 2018, https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/11/us/evacuees-hurricane-florence-shelter-trnd/index.html.
52. Helena Horton, “#RoomForManchester: Kind Strangers Open Up Their Homes to Those Affected by Manchester Arena Attack,” The Telegraph, May 23, 2017, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/23/offers-help-pour-social-media-following-manchester-arena-incident/.
53. Julie Summers, “Children of the Wartime Evacuation,” The Guardian, March 11, 2011, https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/mar/12/children-evacuation-london-second-world-war.
54. Bernstein, Classical Living.
55. Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War (New York: Penguin Classics, 1972).