Sunrise - what to do?

[celticmodes]

Sunrise has always been a powerful time for me. I am starting the habit of getting up to see it.

Does anyone have suggestions for a short meditation/ritual that could be done on a daily basis to greet the sun?

[DJ Droood]

About the only druidy ritual I do daily is, every day when I first spot the sun, or become conscious of it for the first time...it might be sunrise, it might be the sun poking through the clouds in the afternoon, or sunset..whenever it first catches my eye and "clicks" in my brain....I do three awens...maybe big, lusty "alone on a beach" awens, or quiet, under my breath "don't want to freak out the in-laws" awens...my only rules are they must be at least somewhat audable, there has to be three, and I usually try to do a "thumb against index finger" type hand posture...been doing this for years...it is sort of an obsessive-compulsive thing now.

After that, I figure me and the sun are on good terms for another day.


btw, by"celticmodes", do you mean a music mode like "dorian" ?

[celticmodes]

btw, by"celticmodes", do you mean a music mode like "dorian" ?

Primarily yes (Dorian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, etc) since I'm a musician but also celtic modes of thought and being. I thought it would take care of a lot of aspects of my personality in one made-up word. Did it work?

PS - Here's some of my stuff http://www.youtube.com/user/celticmodes

PPSS - Oh now you've got me going! Don't bring up someone's obsession without wanting to hear about it

Here is a set in the Dorian mode http://www.youtube.com/user/stringequinox#p/u/3/ZlFHPSej41c

[DJ Droood]

btw, by"celticmodes", do you mean a music mode like "dorian" ?

Primarily yes (Dorian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, etc) since I'm a musician but also celtic modes of thought and being. I thought it would take care of a lot of aspects of my personality in one made-up word. Did it work?

very evocative, yes

[ravenfolk]

This may be overly simple but the sunrise always invokes in me the desire to remember what light contributes to life. Like warmth, energy, illumination, life and so on. Thanksgiving to Awen, the Divne for the physical and spiritual aspects of the sun.

ravenfolk

[Argenta]

Well, I guess you'll be eventually making up what you want to do, but this is what I do (I too love the sunrise, and am up and about before that on most days):

Before any other lights or machines are on in the house, I kindle a white tea-light for Brighid, say a prayer I've composed, and just stay calm and quiet for a minute or so to enjoy the time of the day. If it's warm enough, I open the doors and windows, to let the first sunlight into the house and listen to the birds' announcing the new day with their chirping. If I am especially "into" it, after the shower I stand in full light of the rising sun, and greet it with raised hands, welcoming the life it brings.

In some Hindu traditions they use this as the first of three times in the day to say the gayatri mantra (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gayatri_Mantra) which you might like to check as an inspiration for the morning prayer.

[celticmodes]

Thanks all for the ideas. I don't know how to say an Awen since I'm new to this tradition.

I did, though, most of the other stuff by intuition. As the sun was rising I opened the windows to feel/smell the breeze and I heard the birds talking talking talking. I also just sat silent with the huge oak in my back yard which comes right up to my window and wondered what the first rays of the sun felt like to it as it started it's daytime processes. Mostly I kept my mind quiet and just paid attention to everything. Very nice...

[Lailoken]

I live in a west-facing apartment, so I don't get to see the rising sun, but nevertheless, I try to do 4 daily devotions to the sun (sunrise, noon, sunset, midnight) which includes a quiet minute of reflection and a short chant of the qualities of the sun appropriate to which time of day it is.

[DJ Droood]

would it be fair to say that "sun reverence" in some form or another seems to be pervasive amongst druids..perhaps even the central theme of druidry?

[Lily]

I usually say this:

Greeting to you, sun of the seasons, as you travel the skies on high, with your strong steps on the wing of the heights; you are the happy mother of the stars.

You sink down in the perilous ocean without harm and without hurt, you rise up on the quiet wave like a young queen in flower.

From the Carmina Gadelica.

[Argenta]

would it be fair to say that "sun reverence" in some form or another seems to be pervasive amongst druids..perhaps even the central theme of druidry

I have no idea, but it was (among other things) what attracted me to druidry... The focus on the sun felt more natural for me, since I could never quite grasp the Wiccan preference for night and the Moon (although I can see what their appeal is). I'm simply a day person: I like going to sleep early and getting up early, so I figured it would be better to find a tradition that does not go contrary to my personal "clock". Druidry definitely seemed to accomodate that.

Edit: Lily, I love the quote!

[Nightfalls]

my back porch faces the sunset here, so every night i grab a beer and sit on the porch and watch the sunset. Maybe i should add a few Awens in before i finish my beverage

[DJ Droood]

would it be fair to say that "sun reverence" in some form or another seems to be pervasive amongst druids..perhaps even the central theme of druidry

I have no idea, but it was (among other things) what attracted me to druidry... The focus on the sun felt more natural for me, since I could never quite grasp the Wiccan preference for night and the Moon (although I can see what their appeal is). I'm simply a day person: I like going to sleep early and getting up early, so I figured it would be better to find a tradition that does not go contrary to my personal "clock". Druidry definitely seemed to accomodate that.

very much the same..in fact, I think I am more inspired by neolithic expressions of sun observance, like megaliths and menhirs and vaults and arrays than I am by anything specifically "druid" or "celtic"....perhaps I am really a neo-neolithic.

[Nicholaas]

I work 3 12-hour night shifts a week, and depending on the time of year, I can catch the sun just as it's rising on my drive home. Because of this, I tend to associate the rising sun with bed time. =P Even though I tend to be tired and worn, in need of a shower and a glass of wine, and just wanting to roll into bed with a book and fall asleep, when I see that sun rising over the horizon, casting a blanket of vibrant reds and yellows over the water and buildings of my coastal home of Portland, I can't help but feel rejuvenated.

Now, I'm not theistic or spiritual; I don't perform rituals per se or invoke any prayers. I see the sun and I'm taken aback not only by the physical beauty of that rising ball of light, but of how important it is to our survival. If I'm feeling particularly philosophical, I might reflect on how the rising sun may represent a brand new day full of opportunity and experience. Or I just may enjoy the feeling of the warm sun on my face.

[Donata]

I face the dawn sun (or as near to dawn as possible) and visualize a beam of sunlight entering my heart center enlivening the fire within for the day. Some sources see this center as a cauldron, so you could enliven the fire under it. I bank the fire for the night as I go to sleep.

Another simple ceremony is one an Ojibwe friend gave me. Step outdoors, facing East, hold up blessed tobacco (or other herb/incense) to the sky and say, Thank you Father Sun. Hold it down to the earth and say, Thank you Mother Earth.
Then place the tobacco or other on the earth as a thank offering.

BB
Donata

[Suzanne Tumnus]

Do what you feel, when you see the sun! it may be different everyday, and therein lies the beauty of Druidry, true Druidry, do what you feel respond to your instincts as a Human with a Spirit

[morgane_snowy_owl]

Hi guys!

Two comments:

Personally, I don't see druidry as more or less sun-based than other pagan traditions. True, Wicca might have focused more on the moon. But at the same, time, the sacred feminine is very present in druidry through other symbols (the cauldron, for example). Druids in the OBOD tradition have 8 Sabbats... 4 are Fire Sun festivals, and 4 are Moon festivals... pretty 50-50 to me!

What is particularly central to druidry, and this is what I really love about it, is that it constantly reminds you of the cyclic aspect of all existence. It is present in other traditions, but I find it particularly salient with druidry. Whether it's the sun cycle or the moon cycle doesn't really have that much importance, because the basic principle is the same.

As long as you're conscious of the cycles in your life, small and big, fast and slow, and as long as you remain sensitive to the energies that are present around you (moon/sun, feminine/masculine, electric/magnetic) and use them for the greater good, I think you're on the right track. Pagan or not!

My second comment is about ritualising the day and/or night. My altar is quite central for this. Right now, I am still establishing a routine that suits me. But ideally, I would like to begin and end each day in front of my altar. Take a few minutes to meditate and center, maybe connect with my Sacred Grove. Light incense as an offering, and my bardic candle, which represents me. Connect with the ritual tools that are meaningful to me and remind me of my link with the druidic path, the Universe, my seedgroup, and so on. The big windows in my ritual room allow me to connect with nature, listen to it, smell it, look at it, feel it. To me, doing this while involving my altar is a way to begin and end each day through my spirituality, which is central to me. AND, given that Peace is also very central to the druidic path, doing those two small rituals allow me to begin and end each day without rush or negative emotions.

My two cents!

Morgane

[Spirit Bear]

There's a yoga asana that you can do by sunrise. It's called Surya Namaskara or Sun Salutation. ( Surya = sun, namaskar = greeting). It origins lies in the worship of Surya, the Hindu solar deity.There are numerous references to praising the Sun to enhance good health and prosperity, in the Vedas. Some of these Vedic hymns were incorporated into Nitya Vidhi (Daily mandatory routine for a Hindu). These daily procedures were termed Surya Namaskara. Physical prostration to Sun, showing complete surrender of oneself to God/Spirit, is the main aspect of these procedures.

In Hindu mythology, the sun god is worshipped as a symbol of health and immortal life. The Sun Salutation gives reverence to the internal sun as well as to the external sun, the creative life force of the universe that the yogis believe to radiate inside as well as outside the body.The Rig Veda declares that "Surya is the Soul, both of the moving and unmoving beings". The Sun Salutation originated as a series of 12 prostrations to the sun. Traditionally, it is performed at dawn, facing the rising sun. In time, each of the twelve positions came to have its own mantra, celebrating aspects of the sun's divinity. The series of 12 postures are performed in a single, graceful flow. It has also multiple mental and physical benefits (see books Deepak Chopra).

There are a lot of videos, instructrions etc. about how to do it here on the web. Google Sun Salutation and you will get thousands.

As this exercise is not very Druidic, you can adapt it and give it a Druid touch (by visualitations/ as some say Mantras with it, you can invent your own Druidic prayer to say with the postures/ Inner grove etc).

[celticmodes]

So many answers. Thanks all. I do find that the content of my greeting changes as I'm feeling out what is appropriate for me but without fail, every time I do it, I feel energized and "simplified". My mind stops and I feel alive. Good stuff.