The Winter Solistice Hearth ritual is one of our series of four order-wide rituals that all AODA members and friends are welcome to participate in. Our rituals include three earth blessings: land (Summer Solstice Land Healing Ceremony), sea (Fall Equinox Telluric Waterway Blessing), and sky (Spring Equinox Air Blessing). For more information about our rituals and to participate in the larger community who is celebrating them, please see the Earth Rituals main page.
Our Winter Solstice ritual, the Hearth ritual, recognizes that in order to do this broader healing work of the other three holidays, we must also take care of ourselves, our homes, families, and communities. We recognize that caring for people also helps us care for the planet, and we cannot do the broader work of healing if we do not also care for ourselves. Thus at the Winter Solstice, we take time to tend our hearths, both outer and inner, to prepare us for the work of the rest of the year.
“Hearth” can be interpreted in many different ways, but it is generally a “center” or “focal point” of one’s home, which may be a stove, kitchen, family area, altar, or some other space centrally located. It may be a corner of a dorm room, the entirety of a tiny house, a bowl with a single candle, or an outdoor fire pit. For those who are transient or travel frequently, hearths may be portable, something that can be carried or taken with you. We also recognize that without being able to create a hearth inside one’s home, one can create a metaphysical “hearth” within.
The etymology of “hearth” offers some additional insight into the ancient ancestral connections of this practice. “Hearth” itself can be traced back to Proto-Indo European *ker, which has connections to modern words in English including hearth, coal, and carbon. Anything that goes back as far as Proto-Indo-European demonstrates a commonality present in very ancient human cultures situated throughout Europe and India, thus, this linguistic evidence demonstrates the concept of hearth has been with us since before recorded history. Hearth is present in Old English as ‘heorð” later moving into our more modern term. The Latin word for hearth is “focis” or “focus”, demonstrating the importance of the hearth as a center point. Thus, value and connection to fire and to a hearth are literally woven into our very language.
Our hearth ritual has three parts: work to do before the ceremony, including discursive meditations and, for those who need it, creating and tending a hearth space; and the ceremony itself, which uses the AODA’s Sphere of Protection to bless the hearth and home. Post-ceremony, some individuals may want to extend the work of care for humans in their broader community.
Before the Ceremony
In the case of the Winter Solstice ceremony, the preliminary “Before the Ceremony” work is a major part of what makes the Hearth ritual itself so effective. The more energy you invest into meditations and cultivating your hearth, the more that you will get out of the ceremony itself. You can do this work in the days or weeks leading up to the ceremony or do everything as part of the ceremony itself. If you plan on doing all of the “before the ceremony” as a set of ceremonial activities on the day you perform the ceremony, consider opening up an AODA sacred grove for the duration of the meditations, tending, and hearth ritual itself.
Meditations on the Hearth
The following questions can be explored through discursive meditation, conversations with family members who may also want to participate in the hearth ritual practices, or other methods as the druid deems appropriate. These framing questions help those performing this ceremony for the first time to explore their understanding of “hearth.” For those who already have a hearth or have done this ceremony or something like it before, the questions offer you an opportunity to reflect on what practices and definitions may have changed, deepened, or been sustained over the last year.
Consider the following questions:
- How do you define the term “hearth”?
- Where is the hearth space in your home? Do you already have a hearth? If so, what have you done with your hearth over the last year? If not, where might you want to create a hearth space?
- Where is your hearth space in yourself? We note here that the Gnostic Celtic Church offers the concept of the “Hermitage of the Heart” which may be beneficial to GCC members. In this tradition, an internal hearth space is maintained to promote inner clarity, connection with nature, and allows the practitioner to hold a spiritual orientation in daily life.
- What do you want the focus of your hearth to be? This may be a simple thing, like bringing your family together or more abstract such as abundance, love, or peace.
- Who does/should the hearth serve? Many options exist here, including the self and practicing self-care, tending to a family (born, adopted, or chosen), or even radiating outward to a broader community.
Once you have taken some time to consider these questions, you are ready to proceed to the next part of the ritual.
Cultivating a Hearth
After the meditations above, you may find it necessary to create a new hearth space, tend a hearth space, or reconnect with an existing hearth space.
Creating a Hearth space
Cultivating a hearth space is the first step, particularly if you don’t have an existing space that you would consider your hearth. There are many options for you–some druids choose to create a temporary hearth or portable hearth, which could be as simple as a bowl with a candle and stones or representations of the seven elements. A hearth may also be created by tending to permanent locations inside or outside of your home, such as in your kitchen, oven, woodstove, mantle, living room or bedroom Some may also see their entire home as their hearth space, particularly in smaller dwellings. Others may recognize that the hearth shifts locations depending on the season, and thus, may maintain an outdoor hearth space, such as an outdoor kitchen or earth oven, and an indoor hearth space for colder months. Finally, you may decide to cultivate an internal hearth space, a space within you that you can tend and carry with you wherever you can go. This list is just some options for you to explore.
Tending the Hearth
If you have an existing hearth space, as part of this preliminary work, spend some time tending your hearth. This can be done before your ceremony as a pre-ritual meditation. This may include cleaning your space, adding fresh flowers, changing the decorations you have, or doing anything else that fits your specific space.
The Winter Solstice Hearth Ritual
The Hearth Ritual is intentionally kept simple as members have found that this ritual requires more customization and adaptation than our other three earth rituals. The basic ritual is to set up your space in any way you see fit and then cast the Sphere of Protection (SOP) at or around your hearth. If your hearth is a specific object such as an altar or oven, you may want to cast it around the object, facing the object and tracing the symbols onto the object in each direction. If the hearth is yourself or a larger space, you can instead do the SOP in a traditional way facing outward. Each druid will decide this based on their specific circumstances.
To cast this SOP, you may want to adapt the language you usually use to be fitting for your hearth blessing. Here is one example of the language that you can use as you cast the SOP:
- AIR: “May the Element of Air bless this Hearth with Joy.”
- WATER: “May the Element of Water bless this Hearth with Peace.”
- FIRE: “May the Element of Fire bless this hearth with Creativity.”
- EARTH: “May the Element of Earth bless this Hearth with Abundance.”
- TELLURIC: “May a ray of the telluric current rise and bless this hearth with Harmony”
- SOLAR: “May a ray of the solar current descend and bless this hearth with Wisdom”
- LUNAR: “May a ray of the lunar current flow and bless this hearth with Connection”
- SOP: “May a Sphere of Protection be established around this Hearth, this home and all within it. May the energies of called forth today radiate from the center of this sacred hearth for blessing, abundance, protection, and prosperity.”
When you complete the SOP, you can imagine the protective sphere surrounding the hearth, but the energies of the hearth radiating outward to bless a larger home or space. After completing your SOP, you can continue other ritual activities, such as prayer, divination, or further meditation.
You are welcome to build in any additional elements to this ritual including opening and closing a sacred grove, performing other ritual work, meditations, divination, a ritual feast around your hearth, and more.
Beyond the Ritual: Continuing to Tend Your Hearth
While our hearth ritual takes place on the Fall Equinox, the hearth space is a place where we can go for healing, support, and rest throughout the year. Thus, it is useful to carry the ritual forward. The following are suggestions for how to carry this ritual beyond the Fall Equinox:
- Continue to cast your SOP around your hearth space on a more regular basis.
- Do something to support your hearth space and those that use it such as: strengthening family and community bonds, offering prayers for peace, leaving thank-you notes for your other family members, or cooking a special dinner regularly for the family to eat together in the hearth space.
- Your hearth practices can also radiate outward to the broader community if this is work you are called to do. This might include engaging in hospitality practices, offering support for your community, or community service.
- Finally, we recognize the importance of the hearth as a place of rest and self-care, so consider meditating on ways to continue to care for yourself as part of your practice.
Acknowledgments: We would like to acknowledge the following AODA members for their contributions to this ritual: all members who attended our June 2022 Summer Solstice ritual call, and our Fall Equinox ritual team. This team developed and tested the ritual: Carla B., Dana O’Driscoll, Amy Hutchinson, Ron Padrón, Victoria S., Leofe G., and Amy Michelle.
