2nd day of Isidis Nauigium, Πανπροσδεξια's monthly festa, and Regilla, Ἀθηναΐς, and Ελπινικη

Weekday:
dies Ueneris
Śukra vāsara
Haeney
Sweetmorn

Date:
Chaos 66, 3180 YOLD
Ud Duru 7
Dog Moon 7
ante diem VIII Kalendae Martii MMDCCLXVII A.U.C.
Anno IVxxi æræ legis: ☉ in 17° ♓, ☾ in 9° ♊
Eyi-Cipactli Ce-Quiahuitl Ome-Tochtli
Elaphebolion/Xanthikos 6 of the 1st year of the 698th Olumpiad
Parmouthi 16, 1412 years after the last Pharoah
Meṣa 7 of Vijaya, 5123 years since Śrī Kṛṣṇa returned to his eternal abode
5 Jumādā al-Ūlā, year 6763 in the Yezidi calendar

Last night was a long pilgrimage for a tiny ritual (and an even longer pilgrimage to the social event afterwards where I celebrated the other two festivals I had yesterday).


The long pilgrimage was a trek I made out to the Welcoming Angel at the Albany Bulb to finish my celebration of the Isidis Nauigium.  I chose her rather than, say, the Berkeley Marina or the Port of Oakland (both of which are more attached to sailing and shipping), because she is one of my favorite places in the East Bay, one which vibrates with holiness even in a normal state of consciousness, and needs the strength in the face of recent (and continuous) efforts to "clean up" the Bulb.  She's a shockingly long walk from the 72R stop in Albany, though.(about a mile and a third; not a strain by any means, but definitely A WALK: Google says it takes about 25 minutes and it probably took me closer to like 40).  One of the things a lot of people don't seem to talk about is the value of walking a significant distance to get to ritual.  I found that it gave me real space to sink into energy, brought me into a nice altered state of consciousness that was both calm and powerful.  Is it strange that I associate Aset (and perhaps, especially Isis Romana) with a calm, quiet sort of power that might come off as haughty if it had a bare iota more passion to it?  She's a worker goddess, much like some of my experience of Tlazolteotl, only Aset is less janitorial staff and more modern-day witchy, not white-lighty but close.


Anyway, by the time I arrived at the Welcoming Angel, I was floating quite nicely in this state, a rush of power coming over me as I realized suddenly that I was finally doing the life that I had dreamt of for so long.  The first site of her arm caught my soul and my breath.  I offered some of the milk I brought at her feet, in thanks for allowing me to come to her and for strength to resist the threats against her.  I then went down to the water and poured the rest of the milk into the bay while making a quick prayer to Aset for the prosperity and safety of the cargo ships.  I felt the clash between the magick of the festa and the location, but there was also a thread that said that this was right for feeding the Angel.

It was a maybe 45 second ritual and prayer after that long trek, but -- and -- I felt no lack or loss or imbalance of effort and reward.  In fact, I am beyond grateful for the experience, as it has cemented in me that my power lies here.  Gratias multas tibi ago, Isis!  On the walk back to the bus stop, I did call my love and romantic friend Season, hoping to talk to my own, personal Isis (hey, does someone wanna record that filk with me as a gift to her?)  I left a message on her voicemail instead.  Hopefully, she gets at least a smile out of it.

Your own personal Isis

Someone who'll find them all

Who'll pick'em up when you fall

Your own personal Isis

Who'll put your pieces back

Get you back on track

(OK, so it needs work; guess I'm not terribly inspired right now >.< )

My trip thereafter, once I returned to the bus stop was a befuddled mess that took me almost two hours to get where I was going via buses (thank the gods that my bus pass from the job I lost is working through the end of this week!)  It did allow me time to read more of Taylor Ellwood and Lupa's Kink Magic, which was good and useful and gave me lots of ideas for celebrating the Kottutia with my sir (if he's interested).  My guesses as to why my trip became so befuddled are varied, from someone (Kotys, maybe?) wanting me to read more of that book to not grounding fully back into the bus world after offering to Aset to someone wanting me to talk to that nice old lady I talked to at the bus stop to being so over-the-moon about my sir that I instinctually got on the bus to go see him to something needing to occur at the gatherette without me.

Regardless, I did finally get there.  It was very low-key, missing most of the young children who are normally running around and several of the other qweens who keep the conversation boisterous and fun.  Eventually, they allowed me to invoke the Obelisk, call the three way-openers, and read a few prayers for the other two festae of the day. I read Ἡρῴδης ὁ Ἀττικός's grave-prayer for Regilla to bring her in, offering her a drink my friend Barry made of cinnamon whiskey and coffee liqueur, followed by the three stanzas in Book III of All-Soul All-Body All-Love All-Power (All-Strife All-Acceptance) that contained Regilla, Ἀθηναΐς, and Ελπινικη's blessings on the Tetrad++.  With that, I offered a sandwich cookie to the three of them.  We then read, round-robin style, Book XIV (the origin-story of Πανπροσδεξια).  A little post-magick sacred bullshit and then we devoked and went on with our gatherette, though I spent some time fading and in some kind of hypnogogic altered state of consciousness for the latter portion of the gathering.  I was travelling somewhere and I'm not certain where.  I only came out of it when we got outside to leave, when suddenly and quite surprisingly I was fully awake and present.

I really need to get my priest/ess skills up to snuff, is what this tells me.