godsoftheinbetween

[godsoftheinbetween]

I likely will not have posts ready in time for the Welcoming Feast tomorrow either. So I will give you the fastest rundown now.

Opening ritual for the year

Set goals and hopes

Write prayer tag and hang it on your regular line

Feast!

Celebrate as you see fit.

There is also a ritual for beginnings that is done, but I am not able to explain that with my limited energy now.

I hope your years begin beautifully.

[godsoftheinbetween]

It was very busy yesterday and I couldn’t finish them. I will try to do better today.

I apologise in advance if I cannot post all relevant guides for today [Funeral Day]. Our partner got hurt in a crash and we had another person move into our house on short notice after she was kicked out. It’s been a stressful week and I haven’t had a lot of time or strength for writing.

[godsoftheinbetween]

I apologise in advance if I cannot post all relevant guides for today [Funeral Day]. Our partner got hurt in a crash and we had another person move into our house on short notice after she was kicked out. It’s been a stressful week and I haven’t had a lot of time or strength for writing.

[godsoftheinbetween]

The Dying Days: Dec 24-30th, The Days of Unity

The week of heavy reflection and meditation is over, and now it is time to break out the word “celebrate” instead of just “observe”! The Days of Unity are meant to be celebrations of togetherness and the understanding achieved over the year’s time.

There are not strict guidelines on what to do like for some days. Group crafts (usually making decorations), decorating, cooking and baking (particularly bread), and playing games are all traditional, as well as giving gifts as appreciation to each other, usually once per day for a total of seven. However, as the Days of Unity overlap with Christmas, some choose to give all their gifts on the second day if they have Christian families or choose to observe both holidays for their own reasons.

This is one of, if not the most festive event of the holidays associated with The Keeper. Enjoy yourselves! Have fun!

[godsoftheinbetween]

It’s the Day of the Self, which means it’s in line with the theme to post this relief print I made a few years ago as a reminder of the order to remember the holiness of humankind.

This is the first depiction of The Keeper that I ever created as an artist. The print depicts him as he has always appeared to me: with a skeletal body emerging from what seems like a tear in space. He clutches the symbol in his hands. The bones of his hands and arms appear humanoid, while his skull is somewhat avian in appearance with two horn-like protrusions shaped like the end of a femur. The background is a gradient that is black at the top and middle and red at the bottom. There is text in white that reads, “We must not forget that man too, is holy.”

In the spirit of the holiday, I decided to hang this print in my living room today.

[godsoftheinbetween]

The Dying Days: Dec 23rd, Day of the Self

The Day of the Self is a meditation on the holiness of the self, both created and inherent. We are innately holy due to our souls that originate from The Keeper’s blood. We create holiness when we work to understand each other. When we understand each other we experience divinity. The religion holds a very simple order on the topic: We must not forget that man too, is holy.

The self is a crucial part of understanding. If you cannot recognise the holiness in yourself, how can you see it for what it is in another? If you can’t understand yourself, how will you understand someone else? All understanding starts within the self.

The Day of the Self focuses on honouring one’s self and reflecting on what you have learned about yourself in the past year, and how you can derive understanding from that. Spend the day on yourself. Celebrate your accomplishments, dress nicely if that suits you, offer yourself nice food. This day is about you. As usual, do your reflections at the end of the day, write them as prayers, and hang them on your line.

[godsoftheinbetween]

Winter Solstice, the Day of Vigilance (Dec 21st)

It’s easy to overlook due to its overlap with the Dying Days’ Day of the Body, but the Day of Vigilance is also observed on this day. Like its summer counterpart, the Day of Rest, the Day of Vigilance is actually not connected to The Keeper himself so much as it is to the larger pantheon and tradition he is a part of. It is observed to maintain balance between the Active and Passive energy associated with day and night.

The gist: on the winter solstice, the longest night of the year, passive energy outweighs active energy. To counter this, we fill the day with activity. Some choose to stay awake throughout the night, some choose to be particularly physically active, some do both. It is up to the individual to determine what is right for them. Exercise and sports are common choices as the Day of Vigilance overlaps with the Day of the Body of the Dying Days.

[godsoftheinbetween]

I’ve been absurdly tired lately and slept through the nights of the second and third days much to my dismay so I did the observance for them along with the day of the mind last night. So this is a display for the Day of Life and Day of Deaths combined.

[godsoftheinbetween]

The Dying Days: Dec 20, 21, 22 —Day of the Mind, Day of the Body, and Day of the Soul

On the fourth through sixth days, we move on from the Cycle to the modes of the self, changing gears a little in observance. The Day of the Mind is devoted to meditation on the pains of the mind from the the year that have heightened your understanding of others. The Day of the Body is the same but focused on physical pain, and the Day of the Soul on spiritual pain. While this type of meditation is done year-round as part of typical prayer to The Keeper, these days encourage you to connect the lessons learned to each other, and to share your understandings with others and grow collaboratively. In addition, it provides opportunity to meditate on the things that we may have, as humans often do, put off until later.

Your regular candles that you light (typically three tapers or a three-wicked round candle) are all that you would traditionally use for your display on this days. Some choose to light a tea light as a timer for their reflections, but that is up to personal preference.

This kind of meditation and reflection can be taxing. It is important to have a trusted person to help you if you enter a state of mind that is not healthy. Please be safe and know your limits.

Write and hang your prayers at the end of the nights or when you finish.

Other Activities:

For the Day of the Mind, many like to focus on mental enrichment by doing puzzles or playing puzzle games. In fact, some would celebrate the day entirely as a day to focus on pursuits of the mind.

For the Day of the Body, physical activity such as sports or exercise is an option (and commonly a main event due to a co-occurring holiday).

For the Day of the Soul, it is typical to focus on spiritual fulfilment, whatever that might mean for you.

[godsoftheinbetween]

The Dying Days: Dec 19, Day of Deaths

Just as the first day was about beginnings, the Day of Deaths is about commemorating and reflecting upon endings. Its observation is similar to the previous two of the Dying Days.

On this day, when you light your display, you would light a tea light or votive for each notable ending from the year. This could be anything in tone from quitting a bad job to the death of a loved one. The Keeper’s connection to death is more widely regarded that that to life or birth, both because of his appearance and because it is at the end of all things that we offer our memory of them to him to be added to the Archives. Many followers are more observant of this day than the preceding two, but that is out of personal preference.

Like the previous days, take time to discuss and meditate on the day’s topic —endings— and how they’ve affected you as a person. Did you grow? Have they set you back? Discuss, meditate, write out your finding in a prayer to The Keeper, and hang the tag(s) on your line as usual.

Other suggestions: journaling (as a tribute to the Archives), art-making. Feel free to do what feels right to you.

[godsoftheinbetween]

The Dying Days: Dec 18, Day of Life

The second day of the holiday is the Day of Life, which is focused on the processes of the year. It is observed similarly to the first and third of the Dying Days.

For the Day of Life, light a tea light or votive on your display for each of the processes that was notable during the year, be they finished or ongoing (see post on Day of Births for an example of a holiday display). Examples: Long term projects, childrearing, recovery, relationships, etc. The Keeper, as the god of Process, looks over these processes in our lives.

Like the previous day, take time to discuss the things that have been ongoing this year with others that are observing with you, or a supportive friend. Meditate on how these processes have helped you grow and better yourself, and what understanding you can derive from them. Finish by writing and hanging prayer tags that detail your thoughts and conclusions.

Some choose to celebrate the Day of Life with process-heavy activities, such as art, bread-making, and other types of cooking. Feel free to customise your observance to be meaningful to you.

[godsoftheinbetween]

My household’s display for the Day of Births. We realised that we hadn’t had many beginnings this year —something to work on next year I suppose.

[godsoftheinbetween]

The Dying Days: Dec 17, Day of Births

The Dying Days begins on December 17th with the first of the holidays, the Day of Births. Its name need not be literal. A year is full of beginnings, and the Day of Births is meant as a time to commemorate all of them, and reflect on them.

As it is the beginning of the Dying Days, the observation would be started by performing the Opening Ritual, covered in another post.

Observance is usually done by lighting a candle display, with a tea light or small votive lit for each notable beginning that occurred over the year. In addition to your typical main candles lit for rituals, holidays, and prayers, these displays can get quite bright and beautiful. Please practice fire safety.

If celebrating with others, discussion of the year’s beginnings would be done. Talk about them! Reflect on what those beginnings meant for you, and how you grew because of them. Once you’ve done so, write out your conclusions in prayers to The Keeper on prayer tags. Remember that prayers to The Keeper are not like prayers in Christianity, and are a lot more like journaling or writing a letter.

Afterward hang your prayer tags. This can be done on the usual line you use, but some set up a special line to hang holiday prayers on during the Dying Days.

Feel free to do other things you feel fitting, such as eating special foods (for example, eggs or seeds) or creating art.

Below is a picture of what a candle display for any of the first three days of the Dying Days may look like:

[godsoftheinbetween]

The Dying Days Begin!

[godsoftheinbetween]

Rituals: Cleansing Ritual

The cleansing ritual is perhaps the most frequently used ritual in this religion’s practice. It is used to purify one’s religious space and it is done before [most] rituals, after the space has been cleaned, and when beginning to use a new space. I may have forgotten a circumstance it would be used in, feel free to ask. You can also err on the side of caution and perform it whenever you feel necessary.

To perform the cleansing ritual you will need:

A glass dish of some kind (big enough to accommodate the paper)

Card-thickness paper cut to roughly 5x2.5” (I use #5 size Manila shipping tags)

Pen (I use a dip pen and ink, you can use whatever you have or whatever feels right)

Rubbing alcohol or flammable substance of choice (please for the love of god be careful)

Matches

Cleansing Ritual:

This is the simplest ritual, and probably the only one that doesn’t involve your necklace or beads.

First, make sure your space is clean. Then take the card and pen. Write whatever praise you say when you finish your prayers (I personally say “Forever in your glory”), then draw the symbol of the specific deity you cleanse through. As I currently only know The Keeper’s, I’ve used his. Lay out your plate, card, and flammable liquid.

Pour a small amount of rubbing alcohol on the glass. About a spoonful. Then lay your card on top. It should not saturate the entire card, only part. Remove unused alcohol from the area.

Strike a match and drop it on the dish. The flames can get somewhat big, so make sure nothing flammable is directly above it, and make sure the rubbing alcohol is ONLY ON THE DISH. Be careful!

Watch it burn. The card will most likely not burn all the way down. If it doesn’t, break the ash off after it has cooled and save the rest of it to use again. The same card can be reused so long as the writing is visible. Here’s what it might look like after burning:

You’re done! Clean up. If you have a dedicated dish for burning on, you can save cleaning the ash off until right before you perform the ritual again.

[godsoftheinbetween]

Rituals: Opening Ritual For Holidays, Seasons, and Years

With the holiday season upon us, I figure I should first explain how to begin them. If you can’t afford to get everything, or don’t have them around, or can’t make them, don’t worry. It’s okay. Everything can be distilled to base essentials if need be. If you don’t have anything just skip the ritual until you have things.

You will need these things for the opening ritual (important things are starred):

Ritual beads* (Your necklace works. Proper ritual beads for this aren’t sold anywhere; I had to make my own. If you’re interested I can be commissioned to make them for you (and I will eventually give details on how to make them) but it’s too late to have them in time for the upcoming holiday. You can do the ritual without this if you have to.)

Paper* (I prefer 18”x24” newsprint. Use what you prefer.)

Ink (black)*, ink brush, ink dish (I use supplies meant for Japanese calligraphy because I had them from my time in college. Watercolour paint can be used. If you can’t get a brush or dish you can use a marker.)

Supplies for cleansing ritual*

3 candles and/or other small light source*

Opening Ritual:

First, perform the ritual to cleanse the space for your holiday set up. This is the first thing you should do before performing any other ritual. Once the space is cleansed, light your primary candles for light and dim or turn off the lights. If you cannot use candles, or your candlelight is not sufficient, use a lamp or light from another room.

Next, prepare your space. You should be sitting on the floor or another flat surface. In front of you place your paper (put something underneath! Do not stain your surface), with your brush next to it on the side of your dominant hand and your ink dish on the other. Pour a little ink into your dish. You shouldn’t need very much. Beneath the dish, place your beads/necklace.

Now we begin the Opening Ritual. Take the beads/necklace and hang them from your dominant palm. Close your hand around them, then loop the beads around your arm as many times as is necessary for them to be snug. You will be holding the brush with this hand, so you don’t want the beads to get in the way. The Keeper pendant should be at the bottom of the loops on your forearm.

Here is how my arm looks with ritual beads versus a necklace. You may have to make a small loop around a finger for them to be snug.

Now that they are wrapped, it is time for the opening prayer. If you are still wearing a Keeper pendant around your neck, hold it in your dominant hand over your chest. If not, simply pretend to.

Say (aloud or silently) a brief prayer for the ritual. Below is a sample prayer, so that you can get the idea of what you should say. You may use it verbatim if you wish, but feel free to personalise the words to your own way of speaking to The Keeper.

With this prayer to you, I open the doors to [holiday name/the beginning of (name of multi day holiday/season/year)], may it proceed with meaning. By its end, may I emerge with understanding. To you I offer all that I might learn. Forever in your glory, [your name].

After the prayer, use your fingernail to lightly scratch The Keeper’s symbol on the center of your chest over your heart.

Rest your hands on your legs for a moment and clear your mind. Pick up your brush.

Saturate your brush with ink. In a single fluid motion, following the stroke direction on the Symbology post, draw the circle of the symbol. Resaturate the brush if necessary, then draw the triangle in a second fluid motion.

Write the name of the holiday beneath the symbol and the year on the side.

At this point the ritual is finished. Allow the paper to dry while you clean up, then hang it on the wall (this is a temporary hanging; I use masking tape).

Proceed with festivities!

[godsoftheinbetween]

Worship of The Keeper: Winter Holidays

The holiday season is here and The Keeper’s holidays are almost at hand! When adapted for the Gregorian calendar (which it generally must be, it is beyond a reasonable amount of effort for me to reconstruct the the religion’s calendar each year) the religion has major holidays happening in the latter half of December and early January. In a non-adapted calendar, these holidays would lead up to and culminate in the biggest holy day on the calendar, which takes place close to the beginning of spring and marks the end of the the religion’s year. However due to the gift-giving activities present and the trends of surrounding cultures, they have been moved to align to the date of the Gregorian New Year.

So what ARE the holidays of the winter season?

The Dying Days (Dec 17th-31st)

What are they? The Dying Days are a roughly two week (15 days) progression of holidays as the year comes to an end. They consist of seven days centered around seven of the core themes, seven devoted to the eighth, and one marking the end of the year. These days, like many holidays devoted to The Keeper, are largely devoted meditations on understanding —an occasion to reflect on the events of the year and draw final conclusions.

Transition Day and The Welcoming (January 1-2)

After the year ends, there is a one day transition period that symbolises the period that souls spend being cleaned and readied for new life after the previous one. This isn’t a day of celebration, but rather preparation. Then, on the following day, a proper celebration is held to usher in the new year. Many ways exist to celebrate this, a common one being a feast.