Dea, Rites and Mysteries of the Goddess
Fellowship of Isis Liturgy by Olivia Robertson
Winter: Star Rite
Ritual no. 7
ORACLE OF THE GODDESS RHEA
Invocation: I invoke the Mother of the Stars, Rhea of the Diktaean Cave, Who gave birth to the Deities of our Galaxy.
Oracle of the Goddess Rhea
through her Priestess
If you would find Me, look within yourself. Within you is space and time and all the stars that are. There is no star within My being that echoes not some hope, some dream, within each creature held within My Self. There is no distance in Me, no separation: am I not the Void of Space? All moves with perfect accord within My blackness: and in My manifestation is there Light.
Feel no fear. My life is eternal and so therefore all that have been that are, that shall be, are My children. When you think - you reflect My thoughts; and when you feel, you know the beating of My heart. The breath of Life is Mine and through this you live. Yet each of you is unique: if you were not so, you would not exist. Not one flower is like another. For in Me is perfect Origin. Show forth My grace in your ideas and work, in individual particularity. For why should I hold in My embrace so many stars, if only one would do. Laugh! I am too great for solemnity: too mighty for analysis - yet none of My children may be belittled. In My laughter is heard the happy music of the constellations.
Let there be placed upon the altar eight unlighted candles. Let there be added extra candles if there be more than eight Participants. Devotees may share in the ritual of invocations and the offering of incense, and invoke a chosen star deity for inspiration. Let burning incense and a cup of water be on the altar.
Devotee: Hail to the Divine Lady of the River of Heaven. Thou who art Rhea to the Greeks, Juno to the Romans and Nuit to the Egyptians, Whose starry body forms the Rainbow Bridge, the Milky Way, Thee I invoke. All creatures adore Thee, Thou Self-Created Being, Who gave birth to Nature, and Whom Light and Darkness, and the whole train of globes, encircle with eternal music.
Devotee lights first candle and offers incense to the Goddess of the Milky Way Galaxy, home of our Earth.
Devotee: I invoke Kallisto, Nymph of the Great Bear, and Her happy children the Arcadians.
"Jove snatched them through the air
In whirlwinds up to heaven and fixed them there;
Where the new constellations nightly rise,
And add a lustre to the Northern skies."
Devotee lights second candle and offers incense to Kallisto.
Devotee: I invoke Queen Cassiopeia, She of the Throne and the Key. In the North is a place where Cassiopeia sits within inferior light for Her daughter's sake, yet holds the Laconian Key. Even as a folding door, fitted within with key, is thrown back when the bolts are drawn, so is Her enigmatic sign.
Devotee lights third candle and offers incense to Cassiopeia.
Devotee: I invoke Ariadne of the Corona Borealis. Still Her Sign is seen in Heaven, and midst the glittering symbols of the sky, the starry crown of Ariadne glides.
Devotee lights fourth candle and offers incense to Ariadne.
Devotee: I invoke the Seven Sisters, the Pleiades, Doves of Heaven. It is the hour when the Pleiades appear in the firmament like the folds of a silken sash variously decked with gems. The ground is as if strewn with pieces of enamel, and rows of Pleiades seem to hang on the branches of trees. Hail to Alcyone, Maia, Electra, Taygeta, Celaeno, Asterope. Hail to the Hidden Sister of Mystery, Merope.
Devotee lights fifth candle and offers incense to the Pleiades.
Devotee: I invoke Astraea, Goddess of Libra. Astraea's scales have weighed the minutes out, poised on the Zodiac. Last of the celestials to leave the earth, Justice, She soared up to Heaven, selecting this abode, whence yet at night She shows Herself to men. At the end of the age, Astraea shall return to us.
Devotee lights sixth candle and offers incense to Astraea.
Devotee: I invoke Sothis, Goddess of the star Sirius. And even when the Star of Kneph has brought the summer round, and the Nile rises fast and full along the thirsty ground, You bless us. Yet are You two stars, Twin Beings. When Zulamith the Bold and Salami the Fair were building the Milky Way, they were separated for a thousand years as they toiled. When the road was finished, they were united:
"Straight rushed into each other's arms
And melted into one:
So they become the brightest star
In heavens high arch that dwelt
Great Sirius, the mighty Sun
Beneath Orion's belt."
Devotee lights seventh candle and offers incense to Sothis.
Devotee: All reverence to the Kore, Princess Andromeda, Maiden of our sister Galaxy.
"On the starry plain of Heaven,
On the air-marge sat the Maiden.
There it was she rocked the fire,
In a golden cradle rocked it.
With a silver cord she rocked it.
And the dreamy Maiden dropped it,
Dropped the Flame the dreamy Maiden.
Then the sky was cleft asunder,
All the air was filled with windows,
Burst asunder by the fire-sparks,
As the red drop quick descended
And a gap gleamed forth in Heaven;
Through Nine Heavens the drop descended,
Through six spangled vaults of Heaven."
Devotee lights eighth candle and offers incense to Andromeda. Meditation on the star deity chosen for inspiration. When inspiration has been received, dedication to aid the cosmic purpose is offered in silence.
Devotee: Thanks are given to the Star Deities for Inspiration.
Devotee drinks water that inspiration may continue in daily life. The candles are put out as earthly awareness fully returns.
Sources: "Star Names, Their Lore and Meaning", Richard Hinckley Allen, first published G. S. Stechert, 1899, Dover Publications reprint, 1963. “Baccanals of Euripides Rendered into English in the Original Metres", translated by Margaret Kinmont Tennant, Methuen & Co. Ltd., London, 1926. “A New Translation of Ovid’s Metamorphoses into English Prose”, translated by Joseph Davidson, London, 1748, re-printed 1754, published by J. Robinson, London, 1759. Zakris (Zacharias) Topelius (a famous Finnish author of the nineteenth century). His writing covered a range of topics, often incorporating allegories of an esoteric nature into his work, employing themes of ancient mysteries, alchemy and Rosicrucianism. Other selections from his literary output examined effects of industrialisation on Finnish society, the folklore of his native region, even stories of Christmas elves. His children's stories were especially loved, and translated into English editions. One example of the latter is “Where Stories Grow: A Topelius Collection from Finland”, translated and adapted by Margaret Sperry, Russak & Co., New York, 1977 still readily available used. “The Phenomena”, Aratus a third century poet, wrote an astronomically based poem paraphrasing the “Phenomena“ of Eudoxus. Apollonius Rhodius, “The Argonautica” (The Quest of Jason for the Golden Fleece), translation by Edward P. Coleridge, preface by Moses Hadas, illustrations by A. Tassos, Limited Editions Club, Athens, 1957. “Hesiod, Homeric Hymns and Fragments of the Epic Cycle, Homerica”, Hugh G. Evelyn-White translator, Loeb Classical Library no. 57, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, and William Heinemann, London, 1959. “Nonni paraphrasis Evangelii Ioannis, Graece”, (Greek Paraphrase of the Gospel of St. John by Nonnus) Nonnus of Panoplis, Estienne, Renouard (second edition), 1578. “A Selection from the Poetry of Elizabeth Barrett Browning", in two volumes, Smith, Elder & Co., London, 1884. "Tales from the Gulistan, or Rose Garden of the Sheik Sadi of Shiraz“, Amru al Kais author, translated by Sir Richard F. Burton, Phillip Alan & Co., London, 1928. From "Kalevala, The Land of Heroes" - "Rune XLVII", trans. W. F. Kirby, J. M. Dent & Co., Everyman’s Library, in two volumes, 1961-1962, London.
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