HYMNS FOR SUMMER SOLSTICE RITUAL!
Pagan hieratic elements The art of the College of Pontiffs is today the art of Pagan Sorcerers.
by Claudio Simeoni Translation: Manuela Simeoni
The religious sense of the ritual
In Polytheistic Pagan religion, the ritual aims to renew, in a collective way, the relation between the subject and the world in which it lives. The subject that organizes the ritual considers him/herself an actor in life, merged in a whole of actors, that s/he calls GODS, who are bearers of interests and aims in which, and for which, the subject itself has changed.
The ritual characterizes an aspect, a moment, a passage, a condition of the subject's life and inside this aspect the subject manifests its own Aim, imposing to the GODS in the world to walk side by side with its own Aim and strategies that the subject puts in action in order to reach its Aim.
The individual ritual is what the individual completes in his/her own daily life.
The collective ritual must manifest a generic Aim that could be filled up of the Aim of every subject that takes part to the ritual according to its personal vision of the life.
In the collective ritual, since there is a collective Aim, the single person's subjectivity must be able to express without dominating the others' subjectivity.
Therefore, the ritual must be organized with a precise and general Aim, with sure and precise rules and modality of execution of the ritual in the expiration of its various moments; the inside the ritual's various moments spaces must be reserved for the expression of the participating people's subjectivity. It's necessary to absolutely specify the moment in which the ritual ends.
The GODS called to take part to the ritual, take part to it in relation to the emotions expressed from the single individual; they take part for that single individual, for the emotional communication that every single individual succeeds to develop. The ritual is collective, but the relation with the Gods is personal.
It appears obvious that in the execution of the ritual a certain discipline in the modalities and the sequences of execution, but executive obligations cannot be imposed to the participants because such obligations would prevent the manifestation of the participants' emotions and their perception of the emotions from the world.
Go to the page of Summer Solstice rite
WHY REWRITING ANCIENT HYMNS WRITING NEW HYMNS FOR PAGAN RELIGION?
The problems that must be resolved in the compilation of religious Hymns can be reassumed in some fundamental principles.
The hymn must contain the religious principles through which the individual related itself with the world.
In the Hymn the individual recognizes the magical triplicity of life: him/herself as an actor; the world of actors in which s/he acts; the action as an actor who calls to the relations. It must contain, on one side the individual's aims, specific of the Hymn, and on the other the invocation to the deity/deities that must place side by side to those Aims.
The Hymn must be composed conjugating the Ancient Religions with the subjective attempts of the modern culture.
The ancient language must be translated in the modern language, considering the different cultural contexts in which we act.
As an example, the word "to pray", that today has become a synonym of "to supplicate" is practically unusable in the modern Pagan language. "Saint", a word too much used by Christian and monotheist religions, tends to create confusion, so the word “sacred” is preferred.
The Summer Solstice rite is the ritual of the Knowledge, the ritual of the outbreak of life represented from the FIRE!
Wanting to integrate the ritual with the elements of life that Ancient Greeks considered the “arché”, it is necessary to single out the intelligence, “the fire”, that it characterizes that arché in function of the manifestation of Knowledge.
In practical, it is necessary to single out the FIRE of that arché.
Therefore the fire of the water; the fire of the ether; the fire of the earth; the fire of the light!
Always keeping in mind that the elements are such only FOR OUR EYES. That is, for the eyes of a Nature's Being that is bound to the shape of the reason and separated from the world of action and emotions. As Pagans we'll never know if the rewriting of the Hymn is such as to “always” express what we mean. We could say and invoke things that some day will have to be reviewed, but is our duty to make it now, in this moment and this situation.
An example is worth for the Hymns that we want to introduce in the Summer Solstice rite.
The idea is that to introduce some Hymns to the four elements, adding them to those to the fire, but in order to add them from the point of view of the Paganism, is necessary not to invoke the element, but the intelligence and purpose, the aim, that comes from that element and flows in life as we Human Beings mean it.
The Hymn to the Fire is the central Hymn of the Summer Solstice, beacuse it's fire of the transformation and becoming in the present moment. In the other elements we single out their intelligence and their action in the formation of life and of our present, since this present is the basis from which we leave in order to found our future: anything this can be!
The magic of the ritual is expressed in the Hymn.
The words of the Hymn have the task to merge Aim and Emotions of the individual. Through the words, the individual projects in the world its Aim and Emotions, merging them with the Aims and Emotions of the world in which it lives.
HYMNS OF SUMMER SOLSTICE RITE
I introduce the Invocations through Hymns dedicated to the four elements (apart from the Hymn of the Fire that can be found in other webpages) in a double version. The version of the Orphean Hymn as published by Mondadori (Lorenzo Valla foundation) and translated from Gabriella Ricciardelli, and the versions that we use for the ritual. Only the Light is celebrated with two Hymns, one dedicated to the Nature and the other to the various worlds of the Nature in which the Beings construct their life strategies and found the becoming of their Acquaintance: of their fire!
Some difficulty, in interpreting the words of the Hymn, can be represented from the references to which the words allude. Difficulty that can be easily exceeded with one brief research on Internet.
WATER the body Proteus of the numberless shapes!
Orphean Hymn: Scent of Proteus
I call Proteus, that holds the keys of the sea, first-born, that has rendered clear the principles of every nature changing the sacred matter in multiformed figures, honoured by all, of many advice, that knows the things that are and how many were before and how many will be in happening; having in fact all, he transforms, he and no other of the immortals that have their seat on the snowy Olympus and the sea and the earth and fly in the air; the first nature in fact all has consigned in Proteus. But, father, come to the celebrants with sacred purposes, sending fulfillment of a happy life, good in works.
from Orphean Hymns, Mondadori publishing (Lorenzo Valla foundation, edited by Gabriella Ricciardelli)
And so it is modified, changed in a modern hymn functional to the Federazione Pagana's rites:
Proteus, the water of life!
I call Proteus, that holds the keys of waters and seas, first-born, from which the principles of every shape were manifested changing sacred waters according to the infinite shapes of the Beings of Nature. Honoured, of many advice, assist the fire of this work so that it would be part of perennial waters and that gush out in the seas ploughed by the winds Borea and Noto. Proteus: caress our aims, you who know the things that are; caress our aims you who know the things that were; caress our aims and see us to the things that will be. Until the water, life generatrix, will crack the cliff in order to become Nymph under Elios' rays we evoke you Proteus, come to the celebrants with sacred purposes propitiate the works to which we are preparing accompanying our life to fulfillment.
Marghera, 9 june 2006
AIR the breath Zeus, the atmosphere!
Orphean Hymn: scent of Zeus
Zeus much honored, great indestructible Zeus, to you we offer this liberator testimony and this prayer. O king, through your head these divine things appeared, the goddess mother earth and the steep tops of mountains and the sea and everything the sky encloses within . Zeus Chronious, with the sceptre, Kataibates, of strong mind, generator of all, principle of all and of all end, you who shake the earth, you who increase, you who purify, you who all shake, Lightening, Thundering, Flashing, Zeus who make to sprout; of various shapes, listen, grant a perfect health and the goddess Peace and irreprensibile of wealth fame.
from Orphean Hymns, Mondadori publishing (Lorenzo Valla foundation, edited by Gabriella Ricciardelli)
And so it is modified, changed in a modern hymn functional to the Federazione Pagana's rites:
Zeus; the atmosphere, the breath of Nature's living Beings
Zeus much honoured who at the beginning of time, on one young Earth with a fire heart, with the lightning primed the life freeing his siblings from the oblivion in which the time hid them. It was the lightning that transformed the Earth in the mother of the living that you nourished with your air body and powerful clouds. The Earth became mother and took to life the high tops of mounts and the sea, and everything the sky, Yourself, encloses. Through Your breath appeared the Divine Things. Zeus generator of the life; father and son of every living of the Nature; Zeus principle and companion of every travel towards the eternity. Lightening, Thundering, Flashing; Zeus who make germinate the various shapes of life, listen to us: "hold opened the doors of Olympus, we are arriving!"
Marghera, 09 june 2006
EARTH the body Rhea, the Being Earth
Orphean Hymn: Scent of Rhea
Venerable Rhea, daughter of multishapes Protogono, you who put the chariot of the sacred wheels on the killers of bulls, accompanied by the drums, you who love the delirium, resonant of bronzes lady, mother of Zeus shield-bearer lord of Mount Olympus, honoured by all, of shining shapes, glad companion of Chronus, you who take delight of mounts and of the frightful shouts of mortals, Rhea sovereign of all, you who provoke the uproar of war, you of strong mind, deceiver, saviour, liberatrix, first origin, mother of gods and the mortal men; from you in fact the earth and the wide sky derive and the sea and the winds; lover of running, aeriform: come, happy goddess, saviour with benevolent advice bringing peace with rich assets, sending ugly thing and death to the borders of the earth.
from Orphean Hymns, Mondadori publishing (Lorenzo Valla foundation, edited by Gabriella Ricciardelli)
And so it is modified, changed in a modern hymn functional to the Federazione Pagana's rites:
Rhea; the Being Earth the earth, the body!
Venerable Earth, daughter of Starry Uranus Rhea generatrix of life You who gave life to the generating Sky; You who gave life to the fecund Sea; You who gave life to the generating Hades; You who run in the cosmos following Elios in its wandering; You who founded with Chronus the infinite through the transformation offering to the mortals the snowy tops of Olympus; I call you: "Be benign with these travellers who too much often, in their going, they tread on the Earth without rendering honor to you. Through your daughters, Hestia and Demeter, feed the fire in their heart so that every choice they made could be strong and aware!"
Marghera, 10 june 2006
LIGHT The senses Hera, the nature as a crucible of physical life! Hekate as a crucible of cosmic life!
Orphean Hymn: Scent of Nature
O Nature, goddess mother of all, mother of the many resources, industrious, august, demon that much constructs, mistress, tamer of all the world, indomitable, helmslady, all shining, omnipotent, always honored, demon superior to all, imperishable, first-born, celebrated, you who give glory, nocturnal, of the many constellations, carrier of light, difficult to contain, you who with the heels turn without noise the track of the feet, saint, ordinatrix and infinite aim among the gods, common to all, only you don't participate of anybody, father of yourself, without a father, virtue, joyful, greatest, flourishing, interlace, friendship, complex, worth, guide, regolatrix, carrier of life, lady who all nourishes, self-sufficient person, Justice, among the Graces Persuasion of many names, keeper of the ether, of the earth and the sea, bitter to the worthless but sweet to those who obeys to you, sage of all, all giver, you take care, sovereign of all, generous opulent nutrix and dissolutrix of what is matured. You father of all, mother, nutrix and breeder, you who accelerates the births, glad, rich of seeds, impulse of the seasons, you who helps all the arts, plasmatrix, you who much construct, marine demon, eternal, you who produce the movement, expert, much shrewed one, you who turn the fast stream with perennial whirl, totally liquid, circular, you who continuously transform yourself, of the beautiful throne, honored, you who alone do what has been decided, among those who carry the sceptre up most powerful dark thundering, brave, you who all tame, destined fate, breathing fire, eternal life and immortal providence; all the things are yours; only you in fact produce all these things. But, goddess I beg you in happy seasons to bring peace, health, increment of all things.
from Orphean Hymns, Mondadori publishing (Lorenzo Valla foundation, edited by Gabriella Ricciardelli)
And so it is modified, changed in a modern hymn functional to the Federazione Pagana's rites:
Hera, the Nature Light, the life!
O Nature, goddess mother of all, mother of the many resources, industrious, august, awareness, you who much constructs, mistress, tamer of all the world, indomitable, helmslady, all shining, omnipotent, always honored, awareness higher than all your children, imperishable, first-born, celebrated, you who give glory, nocturnal, of the many constellations, carrier of light, difficult to contain, you who with the heels turn without noise the track of the feet, sacred, ordinatrix and infinite aim among the gods, common to all, only you don't participate of anybody, father of yourself, without a father, virtue, joyful, greatest, flourishing, interlace, friendship, complex, worth, guide, regolatrix, carrier of life, lady who all nourishes, self-sufficient, Justice, among the Graces Persuasion of many names, keeper of the ether, of the earth and the sea, bitter to everyone who doesn't feed life tensions but sweet to those who add their intelligence and will to life, sage of all, all giver, you take care, sovereign of all, generous opulent nutrix and dissolutrix of what is matured. You father of all, mother, nutrix and breeder, you who accelerates the births, glad, rich of seeds, impulse of the seasons, you who helps all the arts, plasmatrix, you who much construct, marine awareness, eternal, you who produce the movement, expert, much shrewed one, you who turn the fast stream with perennial whirl, totally liquid, circular, you who continuously transform yourself, of the beautiful throne, honored, you who alone do what has been decided, among those who carry the sceptre up most powerful dark thundering, brave, you who all tame, destined fate, breathing fire, eternal life and immortal providence; all the things come from you; only you in fact produce all these things. But, goddess I beg you in happy seasons to bring peace, health, increment of all things.
Marghera, 12 june 2006
Orphean Hymn: to Ecate!
I celebrate Ecate protectress of roads, of cross-roads, amiable, celestial and terrestrial and marine, crocus coloured mantled, burial, playing bacchic, with the spirits of the dead men, Daughter of Perse, lover of solitude, wonderful of deers, nocturnal, protectress of the dogs, invincible queen, announced by the roar of the wild animals, without belt, of imbattibile aspect, tamer of bulls, mistress who guards all the cosmos, guide, nymph, nutrix of the young people, frequenter of mountains, begging the lady to assist to the devout celebrations benevolent towards the cowherd always with joyful mind.
from Orphean Hymns, Mondadori publishing (Lorenzo Valla foundation, edited by Gabriella Ricciardelli)
And so it is modified, changed in a modern hymn functional to the Federazione Pagana's rites:
Ecate; the cosmos the life as light in the infinite!
I celebrate Ecate protectress of roads, of cross-roads, amiable, celestial and terrestrial and marine, crocus coloured mantled, burial, playing bacchic, with the mortals who became eternal, daughter of Perse, lover of solitude, wonderful of deers, nocturnal, protectress of the dogs, invincible condition, announced by the roar of the wild animals, without belt, of imbattibile aspect, tamer of bulls, mistress who guards all the cosmos, guide, nymph, nutrix of the young people, frequenter of mountains, begging the lady to assist to the pious celebrations benevolent towards the cowherd always with joyful mind. When in the cross roads of life I must choose, guide my mind and don't divert me with the ghosts of the illusions. And when I'll cross the threshold of light hold out to me a benign hand because I am s/he who in his/her own life, at every crossing, has chosen his/her own way.
Marghera, 12 june 2006
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Write only in Italian, please! Claudio Simeoni Mechanic Apprentice Sorcerer Keeper of the Antichrist P.le Parmesan 8 30175 Marghera Venice Italy Tel. 3277862784 E-mail: claudiosimeoni@libero.it
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