Fellowship of Isis Festival of Wesak Rite for Beltaine 1 and 2ND of May

Festival of Wesak

Beltaine. 1st - 2nd May

Ritual no. 7

ORACLE OF THE GODDESS MAHADEVI

Priestess: (Invocation) O Great Goddess, Mother of the Trimurti, the Holy Trinity, soul of every being, how can we extol Thee? By Thee even Mahadeva, the Almighty God is put into trance that He may make worlds. Thou art Maha-Sarasvati, Maha-Lakshmi, Maha-Parvati. Triple Goddess, guide us on our path to Enlightenment that we may awaken into eternal bliss.

Oracle: Look within your Self and you will find the Light of Truth, Buddhi, the Jewel within the Heart of the Lotus. Invisible it is and yet shineth in every creature. It is the dewdrop hanging from a blade of grass: it sparkles in the eyes of eagles and fast-flying swallows: it flows in rushing rivers and rests in rocky snow-capped mountains. The bliss of Nirvana is not in the past nor the future: so no vain regrets nor ambitious struggles in religious practices will bring it to you. No strivings for the reputation of saintliness can ensure your awareness. Rather it is in the moment that Eternity rests, awaiting you in a smile, sudden laughter, tears of compassion. If you could experience one second of enlightenment, it would be yours for ever! Time slips by like a passing landscape to the traveller, who appears to journey with it. But in reality the true Self is at rest at the hub of the turning wheel of life. Place yourself at the centre of this hub in total awareness, and you will be in a position of strength to control each of your lives as they revolve in cyclic reincarnations.

True knowledge brings good feeling, thought and activity. Control is essential. Yet how can you control yourself in alignment with your true Self, if you are swayed by passing passions? Free Will is to be earned not by extreme asceticism nor by selfish indulgence. It is attained by continual exercise of conscious choice between good and wrong behaviour. As you develop, you will observe that the choices both become more difficult and more subtle. Rejoice then, for you draw nearer to Self-realisation! if you could live for one minute in a truthful, compassionate manner, you would transform your day and your year and your life! Do not strive for too much: otherwise you will reach for the stars and fall upon your face! Rather combine spiritual practices with an enjoyment of Mother Earth. It is pious to memorise the myriad Names and Attributes of the Gods and Goddesses: it is also good to remember the names of your neighbours and their children, and to respect the attributes of animals, birds and plants! As I am the Universal Mother, these are your brothers and sisters and children. The mind conveys knowledge: intuition and conscience combined with experience produces wisdom.

I am without: I am within: I am the Lover and the Beloved: I am the Knower and the Known: I am the Harmony that reconcileth all things. Know Me.

At the gates, Priestess and Priest in mitres. Women with flower headdresses, men garlanded. All in orange and yellow robes and carry flowers.

Priest: Friends, we are assembled to celebrate Wesak, the attainment of Nirvana by the Buddha Gautama and his wife the Princess Yashodhara. The Buddha found enlightenment in the land of India and taught his disciples that his wife also had attained the great Awakening. He travelled the land preaching adherence to truth, peace, toleration, a caste-free society and compassion for all living things. He practiced vegetarianism and pacifism. He once gave a simple reply to one who asked what he taught: "do good, abstain from evil, speak the truth." May we rejoice in the attainment of bliss by Gautama and Yashodhara and be inspired by their example! Let us make procession to the high Altar for our celebration.

Flute and drum music. Procession. Altar is draped in red and gold, and on it are 8 lighted candles, burning incense and an earthenware bowl of milk. By it is a gong. Table with vegetarian feast.

Priestess: (offers incense) I offer incense to Mahadevi, the Trimurti, Who manifests in triple form as Sarasvati, Goddess of Wisdom, Lakshmi, Goddess of Love and beauty, and Devi Who shows herself as Parvati, Durga and Kali; Gentleness, Energy and Creativity. Mahadevi's divine Daughters are Prajna, Goddess of Wisdom; Kwan-Yin, Goddess of Mercy and the many-coloured Tara of gentleness and power. (faces celebrants) Hear the words of Mahadevi: "I am the Void. I am the Bliss. I am the Knowledge. I am the Unborn, Through Me the Universe came into being. I am below, above, all around." Friends, let us worship the Goddess Mahadevi who shines like a thousand suns. Without Her, the mighty God Mahadeva cannot stir in any of his triple forms. As Sarasvati She inspires Brahma to make the cycles of Time. As Lakshmi She causes Vishnu to dream worlds into Being, and to incarnate within them. As Devi She fires Siva with energy so that He may enact the Dance of Creation.

Priest: (offers incense) I offer incense to Mahadeva, the Trimurti, Who manifests as Brahma, Vishnu and Siva. Mighty are the works of The God Who upholdeth the wide Armaments and lifteth on high the bright and glorious heaven! The Three-Headed One sees as if He were near. If a sinful man thinks he is walking by stealth, the God knows it all. Should he flee far beyond the sky, he would not be rid of the God Who with a thousand eyes overlooketh this earth. O hear this our calling, Mahadeva, be gracious now; longing for bliss, we call upon Thee! Where there is Eternal Light, in that immortal imperishable world place us. Where life is free in the thirty-three heavens, where all worlds are radiant, there make us immortal. Where there are happiness and delight, free us from sin; there make us immortal!

Priestess: In token of our joy in the coming of spring, let us present our flowers!

Maiden: (presents flowers) O Mahadevi, when called to mind in difficulties, you remove fear from us. When we are happy you bestow lovely thoughts. O dispeller of poverty, pain and fear, open your ever-sympathetic heart which bestows love on all! Grant us love and, happiness and abundance for this spring.

Youth: (presents flowers) O Lotus-eyed Goddess, with face as charming as the moon and ever gracious, You are as beautiful as burnt gold and the sun and the moon! Goddess with fire in your eyes, adorned on your brow with the crescent moon, inspire us with the gift of creating beautiful works of art.

Priest: That our souls may be inspired with spiritual understanding, let us witness the Mystery of the Jewel within the Lotus! Gong struck twice.

                                                

MYSTERY OF THE JEWEL WITHIN THE LOTUS

Actors: Gautama in saffron robe, 1 right bare shoulder, holds staff and begging bowl. Yashodhara in black and yellow sari and saffron veil. Maya in jewelled tiara, purple and gold sari and jewellery. Gandharvas in brightly coloured attire, youths garlanded, girls flower crowned. Yashodhara is seated, veiled.

Enter Gautama leaning on staff.

Yashodhara: Venerable monk, I see well that you have travelled far and long. Be you seated and accept refreshment at my hands!

Gautama: Compassion so freely offered without the need of my begging is welcome indeed, both for the substance and the spirit. I have indeed journeyed for forty-five years and have seldom been seated during day-light. (sits cross-legged) What Place is this, so well shaded by trees from the merciless glare of the sun?

Yashodhara: You are in Kusinagara, country of the Mallus. Behold the countryfolk hereabout wonder, because this grove of Sal trees have flowers out of season! They say among themselves that a great miracle is pending.

Gautama: (looks at her closely) If you were not a woman at least forty years younger than myself, I should say that your voice reminds me of my wife, the Princess Yashodhara, long since departed from this illusory world!

Yashodhara: Your failing hearing does not deceive you. (removes her veil) Behold my face! I am Yashodhara. I am she who appeareth to the righteous at the gateway of death. Gautama, you shall depart this life today, when the sun sets behind these trees.

Gautama: In this degenerate age of the Kaliyuga I accept death with tranquillity. But as at the first, give me of your milk.

Yashodhara presents bowl of milk to Gautama, who drinks.

Yashodhara: It is customary for the departing spirit to ask questions of me. What would you know?

Gautama: Why have you been so long silent?

Yashodhara: When intellectual dissertation distracts the mind, I withdraw.

Gautama: Why have you veiled yourself so no man may see you?

Yashodhara: The impurities of the mind causes the veil and not myself.

Gautama: Why do you restrain yourself from helping the sinful, the sick and the soul-weary?

Yashodhara: I answer all who call upon Me from the heart. But few are willing to pay the price for my aid, the surrender of selfishness.

Gautama: I understand. Would you question me?

Yashodhara: Assuredly. Why do you permit devotees to worship you as a God through hundreds of statues they make of you?

Gautama: There are no statues of the Buddha. I forbade it. What you see are toys for the young.

Yashodhara: Why do you teach men to abandon their homes and wives and children to become monks? The water cisterns are dry, the canals are silted up, the fields unploughed. The people are hungry.

Yashodhara: I taught the Middle Way between asceticism and excess. These who neglect the earth are no followers of the Buddha.

Yashodhara: Why have you deserted the Deities, and denied both soul and heaven?

Gautama: I only dispelled delusions, the shadows of Deities, not their Divine Being: the false soul of desires, not the true Soul: fantasies of heaven, not the true Heaven of eternal reality.

Yashodhara: I see your spirit is prepared.

Gautama: Before I leave this earth I would seek a remedy for the misuse of my teachings.

Yashodhara: I myself would find a cure for my rejection of the earth, leaving my children to sin and suffer. We have attained Buddhahood, but this does not make us omniscient. The wider the horizon, the greater the extent of the unknown. What Teacher knows as much as the Mother who bore him? Let us call upon your wise mother, Queen Maya.

Gautama: I call upon the Eternal, the Formless. the form of the Mother of this Universe who took the shape of my mother Maya. Come to us Who art the triumph of spirit over matter, Dispeller of miseries and misfortunes, Bringer of all knowledge, tranquillity and beauty, Mother Supreme, as beautiful as the lotus. Thou Who art the form of the Queen of the Universe, the Protectress, the Benevolent, inspire us to bring good to all.

Yashodhara: Come to us, the One whom Brahma of the lotus-seat praiseth, Who bringeth about Vishnu's super-conscious trance. Thou Who art the soul of everything, come to us who would save mankind from ignorance and evil.

Indian music. Maya reveals Herself. Gautama and Yashodhara stand.

Maya: I am Thy mother, Gautama, and thine, Yashodhara, and I take the form of Maya who weaves the fabric of dreams. I am Mahadevi Who manifesteth with immeasurable Light, of form and activity beyond the ken of thought; the substratum of three Worlds. I am the embodiment of Truth, Consciousness and Bliss and the three powers, Will, Action and knowledge which are beyond birth and death. Whenever evil predominates over good, the Deities descend into incarnation, that free choice may be granted to all souls. After the age of the reign of violence and cruelty brought about by turbulent passions, an age of the Fishes brings with it the virtues of compassion, stillness and a longing for heaven. But in reply to your question, even the virtues may be misused and so weakness may displace compassion; inertia supersede stillness; and a longing for heaven become distorted into religious fanaticism. But the jewel light of Truth which is the Spiritual Self will glow within the hearts of those who truly follow your teaching, Gautama, and they shall attain Nirvana, eternal bliss. It is not for you to ask the number, for would you refrain from helping others because only few may benefit? Your teachings shall prevail for two and a half thousand years. Your influence, Yashodhara, will dawn at the end of the age and the coming of the sign of the Water-carrier. You shall bring harmony with Nature. Your veil will be set aside, and you shall shine like the stars! (Joyful Music.)Do you deny the Deities? This is not possible. (Maya holds up her arms.)Yashodhara and Gautama, know that you are the Ninth Avatars of the Goddess Lakshmi and the God Vishnu! The Gandharvas rejoice at your apotheosis.

Indian music. Dance of the Gandharvas. They garland Gautama and Yashodhara.

Maya: My son, it is time for you to rest, Gautama.

Gautama lies encumbent, head on hand. Yashodhara spreads her veil over him. Gandharvas surround them.

Maya: Gautama and Yashodhara have left this earth and returned to the thirty-third heaven among the stars. They shall return to reap the harvest at the end of the age of Pisces. They will descend with the Twelfth Avatars of Lakshmi and Vishnu of the Aquarian age.

Gandharvas withdraw. Gautama rises. He and Yashodhara stand on either side of Maya, all three with hands outstretched in blessing. Gong is struck once.

End of Mystery

Priestess: Aum Mani Padme Hum. Friends, let us meditate upon the Inner Light of Truth, the Jewel within the Heart of the Lotus.

Meditation

Rays of peace and strength are sent forth. Reports are shared. Priestess and Priest give thanks to the Maha-Devi and Maha-Deva. Feast is enjoyed, 

Sources: “Images of Devi in Pahari Paintings”, Chhote Bharany, foreword by C. Sivaramamurti, Clarion Books, C-36 Connaught Place, New Delhi, 110 001 India, 1984. “Indian Mythology”, Veronica Ions, Paul Hamlyn, London, 1967. “The Vedas”,Frederick Max Muller, Indological Book House, POB 98, Ck 31110 Nepali Khapra, Varanasi, India, 1969. “The Goddesses of India, Tibet, China and Japan”, Lawrence Durdin-Robertson, Cesara Publications, Clonegal Castle, 1976. “Real Tripitaka and Other Pieces”, Arthur Waley, George Allen & Unwin Ltd., London, 1952. “Monkey”,Wu Ch'eng-en, translated by Arthur Waley, George Allen & Unwin Ltd., London, for Penguin Classic Books, 1961.      
                                                                     

As I rest may my lips rejoice in praise of The Great and Holy Mother.

I do look forward to this rite at night and in the morning. The Fellowship asks us to attune in prayer every day from 6-8 am and pm... I try to do this and save these personal prayers to sing before I go to sleep at night. I swear to all of you they are helping my sleep patterns... Attunement and the development of attuning as we say we will .. So Powerful we can attune in dreams as well as lifetimes.. It is the mystic IPHONE...:)
 I offer you this from the Fellowship of Isis Site.
 My dear Linda Iles is the Scribe
All glories to her service...

Evening. Rite of the Five Elements

		Dea, Rites and Mysteries of the Goddess Fellowship of Isis Liturgy by Olivia Robertson Evening: Rite of the Five Elements Ritual no. 3 ORACLE OF THE GODDESS SARASVATI Invocation: Golden-eyed Goddess Sarasvati, Thou Who art crowned with the crescent moon, Who beareth the sweet-toned vina, Who art born aloft by the many-eyed peacock, bestow upon us Thy glorious art at twilight. As the sun sinks to rest, bring us the glories of poetry and art and music, that our bodies may be united with our souls and so we may remember our journeys in the land waking dreams. Oracle of the Goddess Sarasvati It is through the language of Art and through the holy knowledge of symbols that the Deities share their glories with Their children. The beauty of music brings the harmony of the interweaving spheres of creation: poetry draws the soul to noble endeavour: and painting and sculpture breathes forth the divine essence within all things. For all that is real in the Greater is spelled forth through symbols in the lesser. So gold speaks of the sun, and silver of the moon: and Sun tells of Love and Moon of Truth. You do well to invoke My aid when day blends with the shades of night. For in the twilight two worlds join in harmony, and you bring your daily existence in tune with your true eternal being. So in your morning's work create forms of beauty: in the evening animate these forms through the divine imagination. Open your eyes in the day-time. But in the evening close your eyes and see myriad visions of beauty. In the day-time listen with your ears: in the evening sit in silence and you will hear the music of My lyre that flows like a transparent river from star to star and from the throats of nightingales and in the rustle of reeds where glide My swans through pools of lotus flowers. On the altar, let there be a small bell, water in a vessel, incense or 3 incense sticks, a stone, and a phial of oil. Two candles are lighted and the incense. Devotee: May the Goddesses bless us this evening through the Five Elements. We offer this hymn to the Goddess Ratri of Night: "The Night comes near and looks about,  The Goddess with Her many eyes,  She has put on Her glories all.  Immortal, She has filled the space,  Both far and wide, both low and high ...  For Thou art She in whose approach,  We seek to-day for rest, like birds,  Who in the branches seek their nest.  The villages have sought for rest.  And all that walks and all that flies. Black darkness comes, yet bright with stars,  It comes to us, with brilliant hues.  Goddess, I call Thee with this hymn.  Accept it graciously, O Night." Devotee places hands on stone on the altar. Devotee: Thy snowy heights, and Thy forests, O Earth, shall be kind to us. The brown, the black, the red, the multi-coloured, the firm Earth bless us, that we have settled upon. Into Thy middle set us, Oh Earth, into the nourishing strength that has grown from Thy body. The Earth is the Mother and we are the children of the Earth. The fragrance, O Earth, that has risen from Thee, which the planets and the waters hold with that make us fragrant. Earth, hold us safe this night. Devotee dips finger in water and places some in a circle on the brow. Devotee: "Water we worship, the waters in the tree,  The waters in the stream, the waters in the rain.  In the pure stream, the woman bathes, in the pure stream,  Ninlil walks along the bank of the stream Nunbirdu.  The bright-eyed, the lord, the bright-eyed,  Enlil, the bright-eyed saw her."  May we too see with the eye of true vision, this evening and in our dreams. Devotee inhales the scent of incense. Devotee: Isis, the mighty, who took action for Her brother, who sought Him without tiring, Who roved through Egypt as the wailing kite without rest until She found Him,  Who provided shade with Her feathers and created wind with Her wings,  Endow us also with Thy strength in flight, may our minds soar with Thine in heaven,  As our souls leave our bodies this night.   Devotee holds hands over the two candles. Devotee: O Goddess, more subtle than the fibre of the lotus, curled three-and-a-half times round Thyself. Thou who doth uncoil thyself and raiseth Thy head, and doth enter the royal road, riseth, piercing the mystic centres, until Thou doth reach the high place, reveal Thyself gently unto Thy supplants, come not fiercely, with Thy fire; Shine on us, O Devi, Beautiful Kundalini, Shining Devi, come in Thy good will and at our need. As the sun sinks to rest, may You arise in us. Devotee anoints head and heart with oil. Devotee: Holy Demeter, Thou who didst take the child Demophoon in Thy fragrant bosom with Thy divine hands, Thou, rich-crowned Demeter, Who anointed him with Ambrosia, food of the Gods, so that he grew like some immortal being: bless us with this food of the Immortals, so that we like Demophoon may know that we are eternal beings. May our souls awaken in Your darkness of The Mysteries. Devotee rings a bell, and is silent, experiencing communion with the Goddess. When silence is at an end, Devotee sends forth healing to others. Devotee: Ratri, Queen of Night, even as Thou dost cast Thy shadow, Thou dost beckon Thy sister Ushas of the Dawn to return. We give thanks to Thee for this rite, for healing, for the holy elements. Dark Goddess, benevolent Sister of the Day, when Thou drawest near, men and women may rest, birds seek their nests and cattle lie down. Holy Queen of Night, we accept Thy blessing. We accept the Grace of Sarasvati and Goddesses Who bestow the Five Elements of Eternal Life. Sources: "Hymns to Ratri", from the "Rig Veda", from “The Vedas”, Frederick Max Muller's translation, Indological Book House, POB 98, Ck 31110 Nepali Khapra, Varanasi, India, 1969. “Prayers from the Ahuranis”, “The Vendidad”, from “The Zend-Avesta”, Sacred Books of the East series, translation by James Darmesteter, edited by Frederick Max Muller, (in three volumes) Motilal Banarsidass, Bungalow Road, Jawaharnagar, Delhi 7, India, 1975. Sumerian narrative, Samuel Noah Kramer's summary in “Sumerian Mythology: A Study of Spiritual and Literary Achievement in the Third Millenium B.C .”, University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 1972."Hymn to Osiris", XVIII Dynasty from “The Goddesses of Chaldea, Syria and Egypt“,Lawrence Durdin-Robertson, Cesara Publications, Clonegal Castle, Ireland, 1975.“Hesiod, Homeric Hymns, Fragments of the Epic Cycle, Homerica", Hesiod, translated by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Loeb Classical Library series no. 57, Harvard University Press, Cambridge and William Heinemann, London, 1959. Source material from: "The Goddesses of India, Tibet, China and Japan", Lawrence Durdin-Robertson, Cesara Publications, Clonegal Castle, Ireland, 1976. "The Goddesses of Chaldea, Syria and Egypt", Lawrence Durdin-Robertson, Cesara Publications, Clonegal Castle, 1975. "Part I. The Vital Elements", and "Part III. The Occasional Rites", (both from the Manual of the Fellowship of Isis series, Communion with the Goddess) by Lawrence Durdin-Robertson, Cesara Publications, Clonegal Castle, Ireland, 1976.