First Reader:

The cool darkness surrounds you
Still and silent, the deep Night wraps you in Her arms
In this moment, there is nothing that you need to do – except breathe

Breathe in the embracing darkness
Breathe in the utter stillness where all is at peace
Breathe in the silence – The deep resounding silence,
In which you can finally feel the infinite space of the Universe.
For on this night, the world itself remembers and honours its own birth.

Still and silent, yet shimmering in anticipation.
On the longest and deepest of breaths in,
Waiting to become to take the journey out into existence:
To name itself, Universe, the Great Grandmother,
To become a womb Itself to dancing stars and living planets.
Cradled in a profound moment of eternal potentia
All that is and will ever be
Enfolded in the Tomb/Womb beyond all existence.

Breathe deep, and deeper still
As your soul floods over your Self to embrace the Soul of All;
As your spirit readies Itself to be sparked by the Spirit of all;
As your body re-claims the Life of all within Mother Gaia,
And She Herself re-members Her own ancestry -
Whirling Solar system, Spiraling Galaxy, and gently Embracing Universe -
In this pregnant moment of transformation held (w)holy.

On this dark still night, the Divine Soul of the Universe
Can be heard in Its own voice.

(turn on the music - Kitaro's 'Silk Road' - second section)

Voice of the Soul of the Universe:

Air-

Beyond space and time, I dream on a single breath in -
Infinite dimensions infusing symmetry within one another.
My imagination wanders like winds
Through an atmosphere that defies definitions.
Faith shimmers like secreted stars within my infinite depths of darkness.

My soul samples Its wealth of harmonies;
Memories shifted and sifted and re-leased in fragile traces of curiosity:
Hope stirs the pot of potentia beckoning to an awaiting cradle of creation:
Echoes of joy - of being, of becoming, of beginning yet again….
Whisper, then soar on tingling vibrations.

The intoxicating perfume of promise saturates my senses
And draws me to the inspiring curve of consciousness.
My first child is choice, and the first choice is the differentiating dawn.
I know… and I am willing.

I drift through the vanishing veil to waking
And breath out in a welcomed sigh - AHHHHHH!
(light air candle)
(silence)

Fire

And breathe back into myself.

Such unexpected elation!
Dancing, whirling, spinning,
Every part stroking every other part into such exquisite heat.
Possibility sparking possibility
Lightening serpents striking, thought triggers yet another thought,
Like wildfire flaming out in every conceivable direction.

Such profound passion! Such pregnant purpose!
Patterns thread weft and warp then wail in a longing beyond mere desire.
Visions of creation crystallizing in alluring fine-pointed arrows,
Impelling my spirit to act.

I see myself for what I am, for what I can be,
For what I can choose to become
In the clarifying light of day.
Do I dare?
Or within this fathomless fertile fever, has the choice already been made?

I explode in an orgasmic bloom of brilliant beauty
And breathe out in a compelling cry - OOEEEE!
(light fire candle)
(silence)

Water

And breathe back into myself.

Cool, calming ocean of space -
Surrounding time as it separates into tides of moments.
Forgiving the necessary negation of the first paired possibilities -
Yet, integrating their polarized children, two by two,
One grounding the core, the other circling its partner for eternity -
Balanced against those who will forever swim the silent womb in solitude,
Yet, lent themselves to the compassionate curve of all
Within the evolving Universe.

Gently flooding out beyond all boundaries,
Harmonizing centre to the unknown circumference.
Intuiting, first in simple streams,
The ever more complex experience of self.
Nurturing the eddies of infant stars
As gauze-like galaxies swirl and sequester themselves
In their twilight Home;
Guiding and guarding as harmony dis-covers and yields to itself.

I re-member this feeling - this resounding joy
And the wisdom that has always anchored its wealth.
Emptiness - no-thing - is always the riverbed of transformation,
So a vast evocative emptiness I will leave within this world-bearing womb.

I sing to the gestating generations yet to come
And breathe out in an over-flowing release of contentment - OOOOO!
(light water candle)
(silence)

Earth

And breathe back into myself.

You kick, and I smile in the surety that you are really real!

Matter moulded into wondrous webs of inherent nature,
Firm upon its fortuitous path.
Seasons of birth, growth, death and transformation
Recycling the strength, renewing the stability.
Star-dust tethered into tapestries, grounding the future leap to life.

I grieve my granddaughter, Tiamat – the huge, heavy star;
Exhausted and spent amidst her milky mother.
She collapsed in a fatal blaze,
In a final song sent out to every sibling in the galaxy.
And I honour her, for Her transformation left behind
Iridescent atoms that were entirely new and unknown before.
In death, my dear one,
You forged and sculptured the very substances of life
And gave birth to your own dreaming daughter, a living planet, Gaia.

I rest, knowing I am restored by my children’s children
Until I must myself return to the silent still night of Nothingness;
And breath out with the depths of manifest dignity - EEEEEE!
(light water candle)

First Reader:
Although the four sacred elements themselves
Did not yet exist in the very beginning,
The same qualities that later gave rise to them
Also gave birth to this wondrous Universe we live in.

It is they who weave every re-creation, every new light,
And make it sacred:
It is they who in gathering and grounding themselves together,
Gave birth to the Spirit of all Life.
It is they who make manifest
The Soul of the Universe’s living great granddaughter, Gaia
And renew Her year after year, on this the darkest night of the year.

We bless the essence of air, fire, water, and earth
As we return our awareness of them within ourselves
Rhythmic breath, beating heart, coursing blood, and firm flesh.

Take a moment to know that you are the four sacred elements,
Gathered into Life’s Spirit, out-picturing the Soul of Gaia,
Sacred in your own right..

And then, when you are ready, open your eyes once more
To this moment, this circle, and those who share it with you.

(music continues as each participant visits each of the elemental altars)

Author: Pashta MaryMoon