Winter Solstice was a beautiful ritual where we welcomed in the returning light and prayed to Poli’ahu for Peace for ourselves and Her sacred mountain, Mauna Kea. Now join us as we come together to sweep in emotional awareness and nourishment in 2020.
Celebrate Devera
Roman Goddess of the Ceremonial Broom
Thursday, January 9th, 2020 ~ 7:30 pm
Full Moon in Cancer, Sun in Capricorn
Concord locale, directions given upon RSVP
$30 per ritual/$15 first time visit
see website for series discount exchange
www.DaughtersoftheGoddess.com
The Roman Goddess, Devera, whose name means to “sweep away” in Latin, is one of the three Goddesses and Gods that protected Womyn in labor and midwives. She cares for new mothers and their babies by clearing the house they were born in of negative spirits. When a baby was about to be born, to ready the home for the child’s arrival, a ceremonial sweep was done to rid the space of anything negative and to sweep in good energy to protect the mother and child.
In the Celtic tradition it is said that the fairies would kidnap babies and replace them with a sick duplicate or a changeling. Devera is also known for helping to warn off these forest spirits from playing tricks on the mother and child. The Cancer Moon is a time for families to come together and join forces to keep our awareness strong and our bodies healthy.
Her symbol is a broom which was used in the Temples to purify it for rituals and celebrations. A broom or besom is the only witches’ tool to have both male (the stick) and female (the bristles) parts so it is said to work in achieving full balance when used as a magickal implement for Witches. When a spirit womyn uses a besom to ready a space, the bristles aren’t to touch the floor. It’s an energetic cleansing, not a physical. Brooms can also be of any size or shape and whether you make one yourself or buy one, it can be used for magickal purposes, especially if you charge it up on a Full Moon. Also, if you choose to make your own, make sure to give thanks to the tree from which you gather your branches.
Come join us as we gather to decorate our own symbols of Devera and purify our Temple for our Annual Dedication ceremony on Friday, January 24th and for the launch of our new Temple retreat in late January. For our lives we will sweep in the nourishment for our bodies to keep us open to our emotions. Let’s use our brooms together to ask Devera to allow all the amazing magick to come through in this new year.
For this ritual please bring a broom you can decorate, it can be a magickal besom or a household one. Also please bring a candle in a glass container and any pictures or symbols of Devera. Please see our participation page for more information on attending our ceremonies.
