Addressing ritual
Addressing is a ritual which opens the
four directions of the Living Earth: North, South,
East and West. It is a way of orienting yourself and
your beloved so that each of you draw into yourself
the imaginings and powers from around the world. Addressing
is a bit like logging-on to the World-Wide-Web. It
can be performed alone, in expectation of your beloved, or together.
It is a ritual which can be used at any time, but most especially at
morning, noon and night.
Facing East. Stretch your body. Image
the sun in its power of rising. Breathe deeply, inhaling
its power. Let it fill you and stimulate your fire. Let it blow firestorm
into your morning and race up your spine to whack your cobwebs and shake
out the shadowy dusts of dreaming. Praise all who share this sun power.
Praise the communal mind and heart surges. Praise your own searching
intellect. Praise the awareness which fills all eyes with the light
you are beholding.
Remember those for whom this morning
light is their first ever—of new birth—and
feel your flesh stretch through the presence of their new infant life.
Remember them and receive their smiles. Remember your first moment of
Flash! For those at their mid-day, sometimes
too busy to even raise their heads to notice the sun, silently call
all around to halt and to gaze with you. Feel them in your body, that
vigorous work-a-day body. Ready yourself to take on all challenges.
To burst into strength of purpose and intent. Then stretch to feel the
aches, those limits of your bones and muscles. Touch your toes and give
praise to all who are bent, never to stand upright
again. Then right-up and bend backwards and let the sun settle or float
by or drain. For those for whom this is their last-day,
open wide to let them enfold you in their nurturing embrace as they
pass into the Forever-Family.
Turn to the South. Here, remember
all around the world who are lying down as you rise
up. Or, who are sleeping as you lunch. Or, who are squirming near the
shore of wakefulness as you settle into twilight. These are all Forever-Family.
Feel them in yourself as proper to the moment. Stretch astride your
legs and bend from your waist so that you touch the ground (or so visualize).
Image yourself as the Living Earth nestling all—and as Mother-Father
parent leading each Child by the hand. Rejoice that all are part of
the cycle and the flow. That each, as you are, is both seed
and flower.
Continue—Addressing
