Affirmations as Armor

Beltane greetings!! We’re halfway to summer and the world has come to life. It’s a time of celebration. Morris dancing. Maypoles. Bonfires. May Games. (We played a floral coin toss and a mini-ring toss to crown our May Monarchs).

And in Blue Star, it’s the time of the Path of Power of Love.

In Haven Song, we celebrate and honor the cycles of the Wheel of the Year, but we’re also cognizant of the current needs of the community. In a world filled with doubt, we decided to focus on self-love. More specifically, self-love as a way to protect ourselves from that creeping doubt.

To that end, all attendees were asked in advance to consider something positive about themselves—about their being—that they know to be absolute truth, and bring that thought with them into circle. For the work, everyone received a piece of chain mail with a small tag on it. They were asked to think about how they perceive themselves, and on one side of the tag write their initials, or a personal symbol or sigil that represents them. For the other side of the tag, they were told to think about the affirmation they brought with them into Circle and draw a heart.

For each ritual, we also give consideration to the deities we call, and for this particular work whom better to call than the married pair of Aphrodite, goddess of Love, and Hephaestus, god of the forge, from the Greek pantheon. For the blessing of our Affirmation Armor, everyone was asked to hold their chain mail in a closed fist over their heart. We asked Hephaestus to bless our Affirmation Armor so we can use it as a source of strength against times filled with doubt. We then asked Aphrodite to bless our Affirmation Armor so we can use it as a means of protecting our hearts from those who would try to make us doubt ourselves.

So mote it be!