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Thanks to all who came and made Mabon a terrific event! This past Saturday, September 22, 2012, UUPS met under the shade of pines to give honor and celebration to the passing of the light to the dark and the aging deities.

Starting the ritual right after sunset, President Daniel Cureton got things rolling with the calling the elements and deities and giving praise and honor to the aging Gods and Goddesses in the Wiccan Celtic pantheon. With a beautiful altar, all those present danced and sang while  beating drums, shaking rattles and ringing bells!

About then, the Hermit showed up carrying a lantern! It was the aged God! He divided the light from the dark and allowed Apollo to speak to us and to pass the lantern of light to the Shadow side of himself, the Lord of Shadow Cerununnos. The Lord of Shadow allowed everyone to banish something into the Mabon fire that they wish to work on before the light was dimmed. A meditation on the darkness followed for a few minutes before the Lord departed. Now all are on the path as the dark times move forward!

Ganesh showed up in time for his birthday celebration! Lots of dancing and singing took place as Ganesh channeled himself into everyone present.

The closing of Mabon brought a memorial service for one of the members cats, Ms. Big Kitty. She passed on to the big castle in the sky with the Goddess at the age of 16. Condolences and words of comfort were offered before cakes and ale and the closing before the feast!

Feasting brought stuffed chickens, garlic mashed potatoes, sauteed mushrooms and more! With wine flowing, Baccus was making his rounds! All had a wonderful and safe time at this year’s Mabon. Till next we meet under magic and moon at Samhain!

After such a wonderful Mabon celebration and feast, the members need to charge up again and get rested. No tea today for the pagan society. See you all next week!

Mabon 2012 Celebration and Feast!

The fall is coming! The dark times are near! Come join in the celebration and witness the passing of the light times of the year from Apollo to the dark times of the year to Hades. This is an auspicious time when light and dark are equal again. The increasing darkness tells us to turn inward, walk the path and seek the light within. We will also be celebrating Ganesh’s birthday! Feast as usual will be after the ritual!

(Flyer by Lunar Oak Spirit)

The fall is coming! The dark times are near! Come join in the celebration and witness the passing of the light times of the year from Apollo to the dark times of the year to Hades. This is an auspicious time when light and dark are equal again. The increasing darkness tells us to turn inward, walk the path and seek the light within. We will also be celebrating Ganesh’s birthday! Feast as usual will be after the ritual!

(Flyer by Sergey Khrushchev)

 

Sickness

Due to President Cureton being sick with Tonsillitis…All activities will be cancelled till further notice. Please send him healing energy, prayers and candles of healing so he may recover quickly!

 

What a wonderful opportunity the U of U Pagan Society had this past Sunday, September 9, 2012 to table and have a booth at the 11th annual Salt Lake Pagan Pride Day in Murray Park. After getting lost a few times and finding the access to pavilions 1,2, and 3, everything was set up by 9:45, just in time for everyone to get there new UUPS t-shirts on and for the festival to start at 10am.

The opening ritual of the festival included a simple dancing ritual by the members of Earth Haven Coven and Crone’s Hollow. Shortly after the ritual, flocks of people came to the booth to to receive free tarot readings as well as to see the big joint altar set up by UUPS and one of the sister groups of UUPS The Iseum of the Divine Feminine-Fellowship of Isis. Thinking statues were for sale, several members had to be one watch to make sure none of the gods and goddess tried to leave with curious patrons. At noon, a thelemic ritual was performed by two members of Horus Oasis O.T.O. right next to the booth…  it was quite interesting trying to read the tarot with all the “hail Horus and AGLA”s!! A few people did utilize the opportunity and gave a few hails of their own at the joint altar and cleansed some items in the holy water representing the Goddesses.

As the day rolled on, the lines didn’t let up for the people wanting free ten card spread tarot readings.  Luckily, UUPS and ISD had several readers on hand to switch off with so everyone got a break, ate lunch and rested under the cool shade of maples and the tent while listening to traditional gypsy violin

Near the end of the festival about 4pm, Lei Loni Tilley, a mermaid of the great salt lake, made an appearance and one of Salt Lake’s finest didgeridoo players was blowing his way to fame at pavilion one. Even so, the line for tarot was so long, the sign had to be taken down to ensure the booth could be packed up by the closing time at 6pm!

All in all, it was a wonderful event. UUPS and IDF met and talked with hundreds of people as well as giving advice, news, comfort and solace to hundreds through the tarot.

Over the last several months, the U of U Pagan Society has been helping a local group called “The Iseum of the Divine Feminine-Fellowship of Isis” get rolling and get the word out that there is a group for those seeking the Goddess! This group isn’t all about the goddess or being pagan, but is there for those seeking to discover the divine feminine and to honor the sacred masculine as well.

They meet the first sunday of each month, check out the facebook and the meetup site!

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/groups/505408252819663/

Blue Moon Ritual

Thanks to all who came and made this “once in a blue moon” occasion extra special! On Saturday, Sept 1, 2012 at 8pm, with a crowd of nine, some UUPS members and a few guests gathered. The ritual started out with the usual calling in of deity and elementals to join our work. President Daniel Cureton performed the druid grove open ceremony by proclaiming peace in the quarters and invoking Awen.

Next, those who needed to performed cleansing and charging magic before a welcoming of the new deities to the humble abode of the president. With drums, rattles, sistrums and other percussion instruments, the members and guests hailed and welcomed new gods and goddesses to the circle such as Apollo and Medusa! They certainly showed up, as everyone reported feeling the shivers up and down there spine the power the gods and goddesses bring.

A cleansing by the blue moon came after the welcoming. Everyone was consecrated with smoke from thurber by president Cureton, then they washed their bodies ritually in a basin of water with sweet grass oil representing blood and spirit. President Cureton lit a smokeless fire where he pulled in the Gods and Goddesses and nwyfre, the fire of life and the Earth.  The fire represented the fire within and the burning fire of blue moon. Hands were passed through the fire to give a sealing to the washings and consecrations. President invoked a blessing of Cerriwden, Arianrhod to empower the soul, Shiva to transform, Medusa to see past the physical, Justice to find wisdom, Apollo to see the light within, Ganesh to overcome and Isis to heal the body, mind and spirit of all. The end of the blue moon magic brought an anointing with a special blue moon lunar oil.

Cakes, ale and gratitude offerings were presented to the Goddesses and Gods before closing and dismissing the energy and the grove. The traditional Merry Meet and Merry Part chant finished the magic on this very special blue moon! President Cureton gave everyone tarot readings for the coming month with his special Deviant Moon Tarot to ad an extra punch to the blue moon magic!

Goddess Isis statue

These past weeks were awesome! Many students stopped by UUPS table at Welcome Week on Wednesday, August 22, 2012 from 10am-2pm on the U of U Student Union West Lawn for free tarot readings. Ganesh watched over the table as president Daniel Cureton and UUPS adviser April Love gave free readings to almost fifty people in the four hours available to students to table at the student union. There were even a few people interested in joining the Pagan Society! All in all, things went well and we got the word out that there is a safe and inclusive space for all persons to come and explore alternative spirituality! 

Everyone should come pull down the power of the Blue Moon. The “once in a blue moon” is a special time to empower your soul, cleanse your mind and really add power to the spells, emotions, goals and dreams your working on. Come experience the power of the moon Goddess in her Blue form this September 1, 2012 at 8pm!

(Flyer by Amber Hafen)