Deborah Castellano
In my circle, we believe that while we may be cycling through the maiden (meaning: being free and in charge of yourself, not a virgin), mother (meaning: someone who has given birth to something be it a person, a business, an artwork and has been changed by it), and crone (meaning: someone who has acquired enough wisdom to guide others and is entering the final stage of her life, not just someone who doesn’t menstruate anymore) and be in different stages of that cycle, the warrior Amazon spirit is our common thread because we are Amazons in all stages of our life. We need that fierceness to guide us through the most traumatic parts of life that we experience. We may not literally ride off to battle, but we fight battles big and small in our everyday life and we need to be able to draw from that strength to move us forward. A few years into attending circle, I started to do an annual Amazon rite so that we could draw strength from our sisters and from ourselves for our tribulations. The rite is always different: one year we made masks, one year we did Thorne Coyle’s Iron Pentacle, one year we wrote letters to ourselves as if we were our own mothers and we wanted to give advice to ourselves as our own daughters, we’ve baked bread together, and we’ve done healing circles. Performing these rites on a yearly basis has helped me to dig down into myself to find the courage to face my own hardships and difficulties.
The feast aspect of this ritual is important. It’s where you start to connect to each other (if you feast first like we do). I cook the feast myself because I offer it up as a fundraising dinner with a sliding scale. I pick a charity that I feel we could make an impact with and that will spend our money wisely. A potluck would also work because that gives you a chance to combine energy by eating each other’s food. Pick a theme that’s cohesive if you’re cooking and try to be aware of your covenmates’ dietary restrictions.
For example, my circle has some vegetarians and some garlic allergies. Last year my menu was:
Drinks: lemon rose spritzer (non-alcoholic)
Appetizer: fresh herb platter (sabzi khordan)
Salad: shepherd’s salad
Dinner: pomegranate chicken (fesenjan) with orange scented rice
Dessert: rose madeleines with Fig Honey Sauce
The next important aspect to consider is who you want as your Amazon guest of honor. Possible choices for this ritual: Diana, Artemis, Kali, Durga, The Morrigan (especially Nemain), Mary Magdalene, Deborah and Jael, White Buffalo Calf Woman, Penthesilea, Otrera, Hippolyta, Antiope, or Melanippe.
Once you’ve settled on who the guest of honor is, if she is not someone you work with already, it’s a good idea to spend some time, weeks or months, getting to know her through making offerings, doing research, and asking for omens from your guest of honor. When setting your altar space for this ritual, include things that she would like. Generally speaking, it’s hard to go wrong with offerings of flowers, perfume, candles, and incense. Be sure to find out what (if anything) your guest of honor would be offended by and to avoid that.
Ostara is when spring is just starting to awaken, but it doesn’t feel much like it when the weather is so gray and dismal. If you live in a place that has four seasons in the Northern Hemisphere, the ground is generally half frozen, but the snow is melted so now you can see wilted grass, cigarette butts, and various animal poop that was previously hidden. It’s not actually warm yet and it’s pretty depressing. It’s not the best backdrop for most rituals. So you need to think deeper. You need to think that even though the trees and plants aren’t really budding yet, their roots are starting to wake up under the earth, so that by Beltane, everything will start to flower again. If you garden, you need to start planting seeds now or there will be nothing to harvest. But it must be done with care and consideration because a late frost could kill all of your efforts. It’s a rather delicate time. It’s also a good time for you and your sisters to contemplate where the root of their power comes from.
The ritual I am going to suggest is from my circle. If you feel you need to change any of the elements, please do! What works for us may not work for you. You are captain of your own ship and you need to be able to do what works for you.
Set up your altar area. Some potential ideas: pictures of women who inspire you, beeswax candles, statues or pictures of your guest of honor, offerings to your guest of honor, balsam fir needles, bay leaves, High John the Conqueror root, orchids, books about strong women, your grandmother’s teacup, a shawl that always makes you feel powerful.
Set up a private area using an indoor tent, a small closet, a bathroom that doesn’t have windows, etc. Make sure there is a mirror and enough room to sit or stand comfortably in front of the mirror. Have low lighting and a basket full of small comforts, such as oil for one’s skin, hand cream, a pot of lip moisturizer, facial spray, cuticle cream, and perhaps a roller ball tube of cosmetic glitter. Have a dark bowl full of water in case scrying is desired and perhaps a deck of tarot cards. Before the ritual, write or type words where one’s power could be rooted. Use good paper, nice fonts, or lovely cursive. Cut the words apart and roll each word toward you in a tiny scroll. Close each scroll with thread, yarn, or ribbon. Put these scrolls on a plate that is sacred to you and put it next to your basket of comforts.
Run through the ritual with your sisters so they know what to expect. Include aspects of your group’s etiquette, an explanation of Ostara, a bit about your guest of honor, and the ritual you will be performing together.
Start your ritual by washing all of the participants’ hands. Use a nice bowl, some good towels, warm water, and some rose water. Float some dried herbs, flower petals, and tumbled stones into the bowl. When washing your sisters’ hands, hold their hands in yours and then dry them. Welcome them to your ritual as your sisters.
Consecrate the area you will be working in. Some suggestions: a pink Himalayan salt circle, sigils drawn in hallowed water, smoke from sage, lavender, and rosemary, chanting “I cast this circle” while catching the hand of your sister standing next to you.
Lead your sisters in a simple meditation to center everyone. Have them grow roots through the foundations of your home and into the earth, and have them draw up energy from those roots through the trunks of their bodies, and have them shoot it out through the branches growing from their heads up to the stars. Have them draw the energy from the stars down through the trunks of their bodies and down into their roots. Cycle this energy three times.
If you invoke the elements, here is a good place to do that. If you don’t, do whatever you do to raise energy to work with: sing, chant, drum, dance, whatever you do together.
Here is where you will invoke the spirit of your fellow Amazon sisters. Think of women who are your ancestors, historical figures, friends, family members, and fictional characters that embody the Amazon spirit through their bravery, strength, and fierceness. Say their names out loud. Let the names overlap as they spill from your sisters mouths’ together. When you feel that everyone has called in their Amazon sisters, welcome them to your ritual.
Now that you are surrounded by your sisters and the spirits of these Amazons, invoke your guest of honor. Use words that come from your heart. Speak as simply or profusely as you feel called to do, but let it come from your spirit and not a piece of paper. Let your guest know what offerings you are giving to her.
Start a chant or a song and let each sister journey into the private area to find her word of power.
After each sister has found her word and has rejoined the group, give them the opportunity to talk about their experience if they want to or to pass if they don’t. Have each sister hold the scrolled word to her heart chakra and seal it into her heart.
If cakes and ale or libations are shared, here is a good place to do that. Thank your sisters, your fellow Amazon spirits, and your guest of honor for joining you for your ritual. If elemental spirits were invoked, thank them too. Release the energy you have generated by smudging the salt circle, opening the circle, or doing whatever you usually do.