Anyway, I intended originally to have this be my last full-out Sabbat, but then I decided I would simplify this one too. I simplified it less than I expected I would, though. For instance, for my circle, I still set up all the elementals and had the altar and representations and stuff. I cut out some of the non-essential parts, planning to do those if I wanted to at other times when I could give them their deserved time and care, without worrying that the candles are going to melt down and go out, I'm going to run out of incense, or my food is getting warm/cold and will be yucky by the time I eat it, et cetera. I also cut out the feast for this one. That is something I have to change a bit; I do need something to eat to help ground me after the invoking of the new season (which I, of course, kept), I felt very woozy afterwards. I cut out the wish tree, to be done later, and just kept the ritual core and added a longer meditation. That's what it's all about anyway.
So I cast a circle, meditated for a moment, engraved a rune on a candle and put it in the cauldron, put on Pagan music, and lay down to drift. I think I may have fallen asleep a couple times, which would definitely be a first for me if it did happen. Anyway, when I got up I banished the Litha season and invoked the Lughnasadh, and finger-knitted and broke the circle. Also I used my new written elemental invites for the circle cast. Yay.
Now something weird did happen; actually a couple things. One, when I lit my new candle, it had a very, very long wick that doubled back on itself, and the fire on it ended up in three places. One fire was close to the candle while two others were farther up the wick, and they ended up basically burning part of the wick off, and it fell into the cauldron. I watched it burn from both ends until it was consumed. It was very weird, ouroborous-like, very much like the God, who always gives rise to Himself. Cool symbolism, and completely unprecedented and unplanned.
The other odd thing was, when I got up from the meditation I looked at the candles and they had this *unearthly glow* around them. All three of them (the God candle, the Goddess candle, and the rune-engraved God candle in the cauldron). I thought maybe my eyes were slimy from being closed a while and my blurred vision enhanced the effect, but I could still see it afterwards. It was very odd. I could not see the same effect around the fire candle. It faded a bit later on, but came back near the end of the ritual. FREAKY. It might have been some kind of visual effect caused by the relative darkness behind the candles.
I had baked bread (two kinds) earlier and I think perhaps from now on I'll bring some kind of bread product or cookie into a circle, since that's good to sort of wake you up. It's good stuff. :)
Notes:
That was really awesome to read. I tried to imagine a lot of the things you did, it to mind's eye, it looked *magical*. Yay for you! I'm going to visit your Pagan/Witch/Wicca Resource page after this and read some of the stuff I've printed out on the subject. Something to expand knowledge, cultural if that's the word. [katqueen]