Strike! Strike the Master Chord!
The Vernal Equinox always brings a sense of fresh challenges and we rise to the occasion by fashioning new weapons to take into battle. This year we performed the Invocation of Horus from The Grimoire of Aleister Crowley* to mark the Thelemic New Year, but with a twist on our previous performances by including it within the Star Club Framework.
Previous performances of this powerful ritual have heralded great changes for participants, not least in 2020 - We performed this ritual on Friday 20th March, and had friends stay with us that night to get up at dawn on the 21st to journey to Stanton Drew stone circle where the Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids were offering an Equinox ritual. The atmosphere was palpably wyrd with the participants unsure when we would next be able to meet in such a large gathering, and already the edict to remain “socially distant” was looming over the proceedings. The parting of “until we meet again, whenever that may be” remained with me.
Star Club had two courses booked for 2020, in Bristol and in London, both of which were shuttered. Over the course of the pandemic we were approached by current and prospective students to offer teaching and so a solo Star Club programme was forged in the fire of necessity. This programme both informed the Teaching Cycles which have taken place since the pandemic, and the individual practices are offered in our Membership Area.
Creating rosaries for the Invocation of Horus
And so this year we were very pleased to welcome the august Druid who had led that same ceremony to our Invocation of Horus, three years and two full cycles later, as we made rosaries (or as one Priestess remarked, “Horus friendship bracelets!”) and prepared for our Invocation.
One of our newly minted Practitioners took on the role of Horus while another acted as Lead Ritualist, and as we progressed through the ritual the God was hailed, identified with, and brought into our brother. We garbed him in mask, crown, turban, stole, wand, and sword; then he took the Thoth tarot deck* and presented one, two, or three cards to each participant as an augury for the year.
Our ritual complete, we had time to celebrate and then head to the pub. You can join us next time at our regular Open Rituals, and make sure to sign up for our newsletter to be the first to hear about forthcoming events and workshops.
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