Today, I unpacked the last few things before I started the ritual. I wore my new garments, new jewelry; used my new veil. Lit the lamp, and gazed at the flame through the fabric covering my head. I’m beginning to really feel the outline of my deeper ritual format, and it’s just in time – this is the last Bright Moon before the Epagomenal Days and Wep Ronpet. It’s a leap year so I recalculated the rising time this year, and have adjusted to August 9th, but for the past four years I’ve used the August 7th date for Washington, DC. Look to the Tumblr Shrine for updates and details, as I’ll be posting my follow-along celebration there, as I have in years past.
Here is this month’s message from Bast and Sekmet:
Fire burns but also cleanses, and releases your prayers into the air as smoke. You can find joy in sensual pleasures while everything is burning, while you light it all on fire. Don’t restrict your emotional range. Our festivals in the old days resembled Bacchanalia: drunkenness, blood, sex, frenzy. Bursting into the streets, not unlike today’s block parties. Celebrate living. You are fighting, but don’t forget to live, too. Don’t forget to play, too. You can fight longer without losing stamina if you have time to play, too. You can be strong for longer if you also have a time and a place to blow off steam. Take time during the Epagomenal Days to revel in your life and the full spectrum of human experience.
The next full moon is August 3rd, the day before the first of the Epagomenal Days, so there will probably not be an omen until the New Year omen on Wep Ronpet, August 9th. If you have any questions, or if you would like to request a personal message or heka for August, please email the shrine here. And if you are interested in supporting the shrine, I have a tip jar set up here. Thanks!