Can Ancient Ritual Heal Modern Separation Anxiety?

Two hours after sunset in the mountains outside of Ojai on the Winter Solstice, the longest, darkest night of the year, I lost signal on my GPS. Even though I am a country girl at heart, I still felt disconcerted blindly navigating a landscape without streetlamps, without gas stations, even without other drivers on the road. Why when I’m lost do I feel like a superstitious medieval sailor who might drive off the end of the Earth to never be heard from again? I took a few deep breaths and put on an old Mose Allison album to steady my nerves.


 

The Wheel Of The Year

On this Wheel of the Year called Nature’s Calendar, the outermost circle represents the days, and is marked by the phases of the Moon. The next circle in represents months, and charts the Sun’s path through the twelve Zodiac signs. The innermost circle represents the Seasons where you see eight symbols to represent the Sabbats: the Solstices, Equinoxes, and Cross-quarter days.

After driving up and down various back roads for nearly an hour, searching for the address where a ritual to honor the Winter Solstice was being held by Venice midwife Aleks Evanguelidi on the land of Eric and Nina Baumgartner, I passed a group of cars clustered around a dark driveway. An intuitive hunch told me to pull over. As I got out of my car I felt a surge of relief to hear drums and laughter. Overhead, a spray of stars winked like sequins on some divine magician’s cape. Inhaling pine, wet earth, campfire smoke and sweet sage, I felt immediately renewed.

I am no stranger to ritual, having been introduced to the Lakota Sioux traditions of prayer by a Native American teacher in my teens. Raised a Christian Scientist in Southern California, my concepts of God disintegrated during my first inipi (sweat lodge). I did not understand a word that was spoken or sung in the Lakota language, but I found my church there, barefoot in the dirt beside the glowing stones. I’ve been a closet pagan ever since.

My Winter Solstice ritual in Ojai began with the women singing as we walked to a fire the men had prepared. A sliver of golden moon reclined against the western hills behind a young mother nursing her baby beside the fire. After we settled in, Eric called in the four directions (North, South East and West), plus the Earth and Sky, each time blowing a conch shell. Then we made individual offerings to the fire as the children roasted marshmallows and broke the sacred silences with welcome peels of laughter. I instantly felt happier than I had in a long time.

Living in the city it’s common to feel disconnected from the continuum of life. Most people have no knowledge of the moon’s phases, when or why they occur. More dramatically, here in Los Angeles many people living beneath the poverty line have never even left their own neighborhoods. To address this, Fulcrum Adventures, a group of outdoor facilitators in Santa Monica, takes underprivileged kids out in nature. For many of them it is the first time they have ever seen the beach or trees not imbedded in concrete.

What is this disconnection doing to us as a species? People are animals, after all, as much as any crow, dolphin or ladybug. How deeply are we affected by not spending time in nature? We seem to gain a whole world of happiness and freedom with our lifestyles of artificial lights, cell phones, automobiles and planes to shuttle us around, but how happy and free do we feel? According to an article in the USA Today there were 27 million Americans on antidepressants in 2005, roughly ten percent of the population and this number is on the rise. It is notable that the only times we see wild animals become depressed or anxious for an extended length of time are when they are captured and placed in an artificial environment. Richard Louv, award-winning author of the book The Last Child in the Woods calls our disconnection with the environment “nature-deficit disorder” indicating that our children suffer to not be exposed to the outdoors. Could our mass depression indeed be a type of separation anxiety from the very planet who gave us birth? Even the idea of “sustainability” or “going green” cannot fulfill our need for deep personal kinship with the Earth. In the words of ecological architect Bill McDonough, “If your wife called your relationship with her ‘sustainable’ would that really be good enough for you?”

In my early twenties I struggled with a deep and haunting sense of confusion about my place in the world, longing for a deeper kinship with the Earth. I was less interested in how I fit into human society than how I fit into the whole of life. I wanted to know why the Moon changed shape in the sky, why the light varied with the seasons and who I was in relation to these natural rhythms. When I moved to the island of Maui for several years I found the perfect laboratory. Day after day, night after night, I examined the natural world. Through observation I came to understand and track the Moon’s phases, as well as the ocean winds and currents and how they shifted from season to season. I designed a model I called “Nature’s Calendar” placing the seasons, Moon phases and Sun’s journey through the zodiac signs in concentric circles on a plate on which I could move a marble to track where we are in the course of a year. Through this observation, something remarkable happened. I became still inside. A constant anxiety and sense of disconnection from life was replaced by a deep sense of belonging, of understanding, of peace. I continue to use this tool daily.

I did not know it at the time, but my sidereal invention echoes the shape of an ancient calendar known in modern vernacular as “The Wheel of the Year,” a circle with a time-keeping function similar to Stonehenge. It is composed of eight sacred days that mark the passing seasons. These are known in pagan circles by the Hebrew term Sabbats, or in Latin, the Kairosmundi, meaning “world time out of time.” These eight include both the Winter and Summer Solstices (known as Yule and Midsummer), the Spring and Vernal Equinoxes (Ostara and Mabon) and the four cross-quarter days that mark the exact mid-point of the season: mid-spring (Beltane), mid-summer (Lughnasad), mid-autumn (Samhain) and mid-winter (Imbolc). Three of these days are integrated into modern culture, without most people knowing their origin: Halloween on October 31st (Samhain), May Day on May 1st (Beltane), and Groundhog’s Day on February 2nd (Imbolc).


The Word Spell Means “To Speak.” Other Words In The Same Etymology Are: Spill, Tell And Talk. At Its Root Then, A Spell Speaks Your Intentions Into Being, Releasing Them Into The Universe To Be Fulfilled.


Evidence of ancient interest in the Wheel of the Year and the practice of observing the cycles of the shifting sun appears all over the planet: an altar stone aligned to the equinoxes at Machu Picchu indicates the Inca used the site as an astronomical observatory; on the island of Tenerife off the coast of Africa the seven Guimar pyramids are aligned to the solstices (scholars argue that they were merely random stones the natives piled up to clear the fields for grazing sheep); on Malta in the Mediterranean an altar stone in one of the Goddess temples is illuminated only on the Winter Solstice sunrise; Stonehenge is famous for its sidereal alignment to the Summer and Winter Solstices; in Ireland, a mound at Newgrange (Bru na Boinne) lights up at the Winter Solstice; at Chichen Itza in Mexico, the corners of the pyramids are aligned to the rising sun on the Summer Solstice and the setting sun on the Winter Solstice; in America there are several such sacred sites including Chaco Canyon in the southwest, Tripod Rock in New Jersey and the Toltec Mounds in Arkansas.

Still, in spite of abundant indications that ancient cultures recognized the solstices and equinoxes, astute scholars of many universities widely dispute the evidence like that at the pyramids of Guimar. This creates two camps of thought: one, that ancient people understood enough astronomy to intentionally create structures that aligned to the Sabbats for reasons religious or otherwise, or two, that any alignment to solstices and equinoxes at sacred sites is purely coincidence.

While the debate continues regarding the knowledge and intent of ancient people, modern pagans around the world have embraced the practice of honoring the Wheel of the Year and the cycles of nature. Today, thanks to the accuracy of computers in modern astronomy, we have more knowledge of the sky and the seasons than our ancestors could have dreamed, so planning the timing of ceremonies is much easier now than centuries ago. Most people today celebrate the Sabbats with ceremonies based on sparse remnants of ancient ritual, but more often than not, they invent their own.

You see, sacred sites may stand the test of time, but ceremonies do not. Since many Earth-based religions were either eradicated or converted to Christianity beginning in the fourth century AD, there is virtually no evidence remaining of ceremonies at sacred sites. We are left then, perhaps, with questions more interesting than their answers: Did people long ago use ritual to mark the turning of the seasons? Why did dozens of ancient cultures spend centuries creating pyramids and stone circles that align to moon phases and the seasons? How did they calculate the solstices and equinoxes perfectly without instrumentation? Did our ancestors feel more connected to the Earth and to the continuum of life than we do today? In my own life, I have come to find that ritual on the Sabbats always brings me an immense sense of connectedness, but how to define what aspect of ritual truly heals or re-connects is a mystery worthy of discussion.

Several nights before the Winter Solstice I sat with Barnet Bain, the producer of the film The Celestine Prophesy, a truly great thinker
and metaphysician. He had just returned from a trip to Northern California where he had visited Maverick’s Beach, on a day just after a big storm. “I climbed up to the headland overlooking the waves, and there were about fifty people all watching the surfers on these swells the size of four-story buildings. We’ve seen so many special effects in movies that we’re anesthetized to spectacle for the most part, but here, everyone was so moved we all spoke in a whisper. This was sacred ground. No one had to say the word God, or Mystery. We were all completely absorbed. That is ritual…when your sense of communion overlaps with someone else’s.”


This Was Sacred Ground. No One Had To Say The Word God Or Mystery, We Were All Completely Absorbed. That Is Ritual… When Your Sense Of Communion Overlaps With Someone Else’s.


Stonehenge

Ritual is a way of creating alignment from our hearts to nature, the Earth, and even the Moon, Sun and stars. Many Native Americans feel that if we lose our connection to nature, we lose our connection to God. Not surprisingly, in most ancient rituals, plants figure prominently. From the sacred tobacco of the Lakota and the ayahuasca of South America to the peyote of the Huichol Indians, plants are recognized for their medicinal and transformative powers. After thousands of years of pagan practice, not much has changed. Plants figure as prominently now in pagan ritual, even in big modern cities, as they did centuries ago.

I mentioned this to my friend singer/songwriter Elizabeth Egane, once a back-up vocalist with The Cure, who lives in Topanga and practices various forms of plant medicine, a woman who certainly looks the part of a pagan priestess: elegant waist-length black hair streaking dramatically across her luminous white skin. She said, “We’re all like biological computers walking around. We get cluttered and bogged down with old programming so we must intermittently upgrade our systems, uninstall the old software. That’s ritual. Ritual is like taking a psychic bath. It opens you up. The plants are meant to help us.”

In ancient circles, plant-based rituals often involved incantations or spells. The word spell means “to speak.” Other words in the same etymology are: spill, tell and talk. At its root then, a spell speaks your intentions into being, releasing them into the Universe to be fulfilled. A common misconception people have of a spell is that it is a way of manipulating what you want out of life. We imagine
witches in fairy tales, Shakespeare’s plays and Disney films whispering over a cauldron where a brew bubbles that will poison or enchant the hero. This is a low-vibration concept of a spell. At its higher vibration, a spell’s purpose is to create an intention. For instance, you might intend to manifest success in your life or to attract a romantic partner. A true intention, however, leaves room for the Universe to bring you the form of your fulfillment. You would not intend for a certain company to hire you or for a certain person in particular to return your affections.

Having created many intentions over the years, I have seen that the Universe always sends lessons that help to manifest them, but often in unexpected ways. For example, with the intention of “receiving love,”an awareness might come revealing where you are not open to love. With the intention of “claiming your power,”you might encounter a series of uncomfortable experiences showing you where you still struggle to assert yourself. Of course, you can create intentions anytime, not just on the Sabbats. As a teacher and practitioner of Yoga, I always create an intention before I practice. The act of taking off my shoes, resting my forehead on the ground, is a ritual of homecoming, a reconnection to myself and an alignment on a vast cosmic scale far greater than just the physical.

Did our ancestors feel more connected to the Earth and to the continuum of life than we do today? We may never know. At midnight when the Winter Solstice ritual in Ojai was complete, I experienced a rare but not unfamiliar sense of jubilation. I, for one, would be returning to the city with the intention to spend more time in nature, preferably barefoot, howling with joy at the Moon.


New Moon Intention Ritual

Working with an intention every month is a powerful way to advance your spiritual practice while aligning to the cycles of nature. The new moon is the time of planting seeds, so intentions created on the new moon are like seeds planted in consciousness, offered
to the greater Universe to be fulfilled. This ritual can be practiced alone or in a circle. Be creative with this template and make the ritual your own.

Ritual Supplies:

  • Candle
  • Salt
  • Favorite essential oil(s)
  • Optional herbs (such as sage, rosemary, or lavender) or rose petals

This is a two-part ritual. The first part releases residual negative energy. The second part calls in new positive energy.

On the night of the new moon, light a candle. Place two handfuls of salt in a bowl (if you are in a circle, everyone combines their salt). Take a few minutes to meditate on your breath, clearing your mind. You might invoke the four directions (North, South, East and West), Earth and Sky. Then speak, dance or sing what you are releasing in your life. When you feel complete, ask your heart to whisper an intention to you for the coming month. Take the first word that comes. It might be something like grace, peace, love, inspiration, wisdom or truth. Then open your eyes, approach the bowl of salt and sprinkle over it the essential oil and any herbs or flower petals. Stir. You might speak your intention aloud, asking for what you want to receive (in a circle, take turns). Then bless the salt and set it outside to absorb the light of the Moon. If in a circle, everyone will mix the salts and take home a jar. On the full moon, take a bath with the salts, reconnecting yourself to your intention.


L.A. native Kaia Van Zandt is a historical novelist who teaches at YogaWorks in Santa Monica on Main Street at 2:30 P.M. Tuesdays and Thursdays. She is now working on her second novel in a series about the events that led up to the burning of the Great Library of Alexandria in 5th century Egypt. Download her free ebook on unblocking your creativity at:KaiaVanZandt.com or email KaiaHVZ@yahoo.com.

By Kaia Van Zandt

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