General Information
Winifred Hodge Rose
Introduction
You may wish to perform soul initiation ceremonies as you pursue your soul lore studies; if so, here is more information. The first or Opening Ceremony is an initiation into your overall soul lore journey, followed by a ceremony for each of your individual souls, and finally a graduation ceremony or celebration. All the ceremonies follow the same format: standard opening and closing sections, with the initiation meditation in the middle, which changes for each soul.
These ceremonies are intended for use with the Basic Soul Lore Study Program, but they are optional; there is no requirement to perform any of them. Also, you are welcome to change any parts of them that you wish, to better fit your own preferences and needs. In particular, skim over the initiatory meditation section in each ceremony before performing it and decide whether it is right for you or not. If any of them are not right for you, skip that step of the ceremony and move on to the next part. Better yet, replace the initiation / meditation section with something suitable of your own.
Soul-Tokens
(For detailed information about Soul-Tokens, here is the link: https://heathensoullore.net/soul-tokens-for-working-with-heathen-soul-lore/ )
If you are using soul-tokens they will form an important part of your ceremonies, since they are being ‘initiated’ / blessed / hallowed / empowered / perhaps named, during the ceremonies, depending on how you want to approach it. Think about the timing of making and using your tokens. Do you want to hallow the materials for your token in the ceremony before you make it, and finish making it afterwards? Do you want to make or finish the token during the ceremony, as part of the initiation process? Do you want to make the token beforehand, and initiate it into full use during the ceremony? All of these are good choices; it is up to you. You can add your own specific elements to the ceremonies to do what you want with your tokens. Just decide in advance how you want to handle the inclusion of your soul-token in the ceremony.
If you are making multiple soul-tokens, one for each soul, then each time you have a ceremony bring all the tokens you’ve already made with you to the ceremony, and have them all with you when you do the exercises. This will help with the interactions and integration in your soul-household. If you have multiple tokens which will ultimately be assembled together, such as a braided cord or a tally-string, you will have the opportunity to assemble all of them together during your graduation ceremony.
While your soul tokens and materials for making them are not in use, have a suitable container to store them in: a cloth bag or wrapper, a small bowl, jar, or box. Keep the container on your altar or other safe and meaningful place.
When should you perform the ceremonies?
My suggestion is to perform them about half-way through your study and exercises for each soul. You’ll want to have enough knowledge of that soul to make sense of the initiatory meditations and make good use of them. Doing the reading from Book I or the articles listed under “Soul Lore” on my website should provide that for you. So my suggested order of work for each soul / step is:
- Read the assignment for Book I.
- Prepare your soul token or materials to make it, if desired.
- Perform the initiation ceremony with or without the soul token, if desired.
- Read the assignment for Book II or the online Study Guide and complete the exercises. Keep your soul-tokens with you as you work on the exercises and any meditations or thinking sessions you might do.
Alternatively, you can wait until you’ve done everything, all the exercises, before you perform the ceremony, so that you have a fuller awareness of the soul you’re initiating during the ceremony. Either approach works; it depends on your preference.
Preparation and Ending
Here is a list of items and preparation you will need for each of the ceremonies. For some ceremonies, additional preparations are needed. Instructions for preparation are repeated on each of the ceremony pages, but here is the general list for reference.
Here are the items you will need.
– Soul-token(s) or materials for making soul-token(s), if you are planning to use this.
– Your altar.
– Candle in a candlestick that you can hold. If it is a votive or tea-light, place it on a dish so you can carry it without burning yourself. Matches or lighter.
– Thor’s Hammer, or other item that you use for Hallowing.
– ‘Needfire’: incense or aromatic herbs or twigs that will provide a wisp of smoke when burned, along with a suitable container (fire-pot) and charcoal if needed. I like to use a small, burning twig or stalk; if you use loose leaves, then you will need charcoal for burning them. Only a small amount is needed, for a brief time. If you don’t want to use any of these, you can use your candle, or simply imagine a Needfire in front of you. If you are using a little fire-pot with twigs or dried herbs, have a cup of water handy to put it out when you are ready.
– Whatever kind of ceremonial drink you wish to use, and your drinking horn, goblet, or other vessel. This is referred to as the ‘horn’ in the ceremony guidelines.
– A bowl with a little water in it for the blessing-bowl, and a leafy twig for sprinkling. You can use your fingers to sprinkle with, if you don’t have a twig.
– Have your Daybook handy to write any notes, questions, experiences, ideas that occur to you during your meditation and at the end of the ceremony.
When you are done with each ceremony, if possible pour the remaining liquid in the blessing-bowl out in a suitable place outside. If that’s not possible, you could pour it into the pot of a house-plant, or drink it all. If you must pour it down the drain, first say a prayer to the Earth-mother, asking her to accept this offering however it reaches her, and saying that you mean no disrespect to her by pouring it down the drain.
Note: This article is included in the Heathen Soul Lore Workbook.