Pagan Lion - Open Ritual Past

Past Open Rituals & Ritual Events that you may have Missed

Lammas Open Ritual - We gathered around Tiggy's house on Saturday the 1st of August, for a brilliant ritual run by Paganlion regular Paul! I wouldn't say that there were loads there - but there were more than enough to have a good time and the hospitality was amazing! Our thanks go out to Tiggy for being our wonderful host! Click here to see Tiggy's rather nice flyer (a whole lot prettier than this little bit of text!!) .

Litha, Summer Solstice Open Ritual - I went down to Chalkwell beach to see the sun set & very beautiful it was too! There were SO MANY people down there though (OK - no where near as many as at Stonehenge) and what with fisher men, holiday makers and kids getting drunk, it kind of spoilt it for me! So, I went home again. Sometime later - close to dawn, I headed back up there and WOW what a change, the whole place was deserted and magical again. Me and Paul sat and chatted and watched the sky light up again - it was rather nice to say the least, though we couldn't see the sun itself rise as there are buildings in the way :-( Paul did say that the downs are a better place to see the dawn! So maybe that's the venue for next year folks?

Beltane Open Ritual - The Thurrock Circle, was good enough to invite members of the Lion to their gathering at two tree hill. A few of us went up there and a small handful of us joined the Thurrock group in there circle - it was a great little event and we enjoyed it loads. My thanks to Laura, Glyn and Caz for being such wonder hosts - I truly hope that we see you all again soon!!!

Ostara, Vernal (Spring) Equinox, Open Ritual - Saturday 21st March 2009 - Denny was good enough to open her doors to the Paganlion tonight to host our Ostara celebration. Thanks Denny it was beautiful & the bunny raffle was an interesting touch :-) Our thanks to Chrissie and Denny for conducting the evenings celebration.

Imbolc 2008 - 07/02/2000 - Paganlion's Imbolc ritual was held at Cliff & Jayne's place - thanks for the party guys! There wasn't a huge number of people there, but that's ok as the ritual conducted by Chrissie in Jayne's front room could have been rather a fire hazard otherwise. Twas a friendly gathering and we managed to sort a good few things out and get through rather a lot of booze! Bright Ones to all who dared the night.

Yule (Winter Equinox) Ritual & Yule Bash - Saturday 20th December - The bash was once again held in Rochford (at the now re-named Coach & Horses) The Yule ritual by Tracey went off in it's own unique fashion, Tracey conducts a good ritual (though I'm sure she doesn't believe me) and they are always both entertaining and respectful at the same time. I'm not sure what went round in the chalice, but if Tracey will let me know, I'll publish it up here as it was marvellous stuff (it was non-alcoholic too & I still liked it, so trust me, it was Gooood). The Bash went of well, with the usual good sounds, happy atmosphere and the raffle (not the usual raffle you understand - the good one that we sort out specially for the Yule bash). Big thanks to Syd for organising the event!!!

Samhain Ritual - Saturday 01st November 2008 - Tiggy was going to open her house once more to the Paganlion (thanks Tiggy) but at the last moment, she was seriously unwell and we had to cancel the ritual. So we never go to take part in the Ritual that Daniel had offered to conduct for us. A few members of the Lion gathered together around Cliff & Jayne's house and I'm pleased to report that Chrissie led a blessing for the day. As a postscript I'd like to report that Tiggy is now up and around and much better!!

Mabon Ritual (Autumn Equinox) 20th September 2008 - Right then, I know that Mark led a ritual down on Chalkwell beach and I'd love to write a word or 50 here about it!! However, the spirits (not the ones in the bottle - before anyone accuses me) led me elsewhere that night and I regret that I could not attend! I hope that I didn't let anyone down? No one tried to contact me I hear, so hope you all got along ok without me? If someone has a telling of the evening, would they email it to me & I'll post it here!

Lammas Ritual - 2nd August 2008 - Tiggy was good enough to open the doors of her house to the Lion & others so that we could hold a Lammas celebration. Hope we all behaved & didn't put you off having us back? Tracey led the ritual in here own inimitable style (your rituals are rapidly becoming somewhat of a talking point mate - that's a good thing - trust me) out in the garden and I think that we may have amused the neighbours. Still, hope they learned a thing or two :-) We then partied until a civilized hour and departed into the night - a great time I believe was had by all - my thanks to our hostess (and her Mum) and to the old druid in the valley :-)

Litha Ritual (Summer Solstice) 21/06/2008 - Mark and the gang we good enough to run the ritual for the Paganlion - honest, this year it's starting to become a Mark & Co fest ritual wise for the Lion! You're a star mate! I'm told that other than a little bit of trouble with a wandering soul who was far to festive & aggressive - it all went down very well and the people who went even got a practice run of the Leigh Mummer's latest artistic renderings for the delectation! Thanks to all that came along & made it a great day - many tellings' off to those (myself included) who couldn't make it.

Beltane Ritual - Sunday 04th May 2008 - we had to cancel our Beltane celebration this year :-( It's not that we're fair weather Pagans or anything - but Round Farm is a working place & we didn't want to have umpteen cars tearing up the field! That's not a good way to get invited back. Sorry to anyone that we let down - with luck we will be back at Round Farm again next year!

Ostara (Vernal Equinox) Ritual - Saturday 22nd March 2008 - We gathered on the beach on a quiet Saturday night, it had looked like it was going to snow, but it held off till the next day - I'm pleased to report. However, it was true blue, brass monkeys weather. Mark conducted a great ritual for the 15 or so brave souls that attended, thanks Mark - I came out of the ritual feeling a lot warmer that when it commenced! It always amazes me the "buzz" that comes for open ritual! We gathered around a small fire for an hour & a half or so then all decided that it was freezing - so we left the spirits of beach in peace to enjoy it's icy solitude!

Imbolc 2008 - 02/02/2008 - Paganlion's Imbolc ritual was held at Cliff & Jayne's place - thanks for the party guys! The ritual itself was run by me & as usual I departed from the norm - but I hope that I didn't freak anyone out too much. I try to explain what's more normal practice and what's just the way I prefer to do things! Possibly I'm just weird :-) We partied till the early hours - chatting & drinking - personally, I had a great time, I hope everyone else did too?

Yule (Winter Solstice) 2007 - The Paganlion's Yule Ritual (& it's associated party) was held on Saturday 15/12/2007, 8:00 pm, Blanchfields pub, Rochford - Tracey, after running last years Yule ritual volunteered to run our 2007 Yule ritual! The ritual went off very well. with Tracey's own inimitable style in charge of the evenings events. The party went off well also. It was great to see so many of the Paganlion regulars at a social! Thanks to Syd & Karen for going the hero's share of the organising & thanks to Julia for the Mead & mead like substances!!

Samhain Ritual 2007 - Saturday 27/10/2007, 7:30 pm, Highwater Farm - Karen & Paul were good enough to run/organise this years Samhein ritual for the Paganlion. They ran a ritual using twin circles as we done a couple of years ago (see below) - the lights all behaved for us this time & no one had to set their hair on fire at any point (as far as I know). It was great to see such a good turn out (especially at this time of the year). There were old faces & new faces - I like to think they all had a good time & felt welcome! It's also worth saying that even on what was a very cloudy night we were lucky enough to have a break in the clouds during the ritual & be able to see the light of the moon at the height of the event.

Mabon (Autumn Equinox) 2007, Saturday 22/09/2007, 7:30 pm, Chalkwell beach - Mark & Paul ran this year's Mabon ritual for the Paganlion. I'm pleased to report that other than a few annoying voices from up on the bridge it went without incident! The weather was good and the turn out (though light) was a lot better than some we have had at this end of the year! You know what it's like - people see an open ritual in September & think "oh, it's on the beach, it will be cold, wet & windy - I won't bother" - well, I'm pleased to say that there was a good turn out & I think that everyone (well I hope that everyone) had a good time & I'd like to thank both Paul & Mark for being the hero's of the hour & stepping forward to run the ritual.

Lammas 2007- Saturday 04/08/2007, 7:30 pm, Highwater farm. I must make an admission my friends! I was not able to attend the ritual which Tracey valiantly volunteered to run for the Lion when previous plans proved to be the fruits of more than a little misunderstanding. So, what I have to tell you is by way of a 2nd hand report & not my usual & faithful rendition of the evenings happenings. If I've got it all wrong & you were there & would like to correct me - feel free!!! I'm told that only 15 or so turned up - which is a low turn out for our Lammas do, but such are the ways & wills of the wilds! Anyway - apparently Tracey's ritual went off well & was received with much praise by those who managed to get there. There was I'm told something about plants were rather mobile - I wonder what all that was about - mayhap someone will step forward with a more complete review! Isn't it a pain when you hear nothing but good things about something, but know only little!!

Litha (Summer Solstice) 2007 - Saturday 23/06/2007, - 8:00 pm, Chalkwell beach, Lynda & Domini volunteered to run our Summer Solstice ritual for us. A select few braved the night air down on the beach, with a little trepidation we gathered together to form a circle in praise of the god & the goddess and to celebrate the turning of the wheel. After the last ritual down on the beach, I had some notion that there would be trouble. I'm pleased to report that other than the sporadic rain & the absolutely wonderful skies there was no bother at all. we had our resident crowd control experts to had - but their services were not required in any serious manner. Lynda & Domini conducted a lovely ritual for us & we all bent or will to honouring the spirits of place - in the hope that they would aid & protect all future workings on this site! Not to mention that we hope that the take heed that we are really grateful for their indulgence of of presence on their ground! We then had a great gathering round the fire - there weren't many there & even less when the monsoon started :-) But I had a great time even though I was feeling less than 100% when I turned up. Frankly I'd only intended to stay for an hour or so (cos I felt that rough) - in the end I was there till getting on towards midnight!

Beltane 2007 - Sunday 06/05/2007, Round Farm, Goatsmoor lane, Billericay, 1:00 pm to 6:00 pm. Clare had volunteered to run our Beltane Celebration at Goatsmoor, but owing to the death of her father, she couldn't manage it! Our thoughts are with you Clare!!! On the day, Tracey & Paul were good enough to run the ritual for the Lion. I'd like to thank them both!! If you hadn't have told me that the ritual was only written the night before, I'd never have known! We had 20 plus people on the farm & I think that a great time was had by all. Our thanks (as ever) go to Dan & Meryl for their permission to use the farm for yet another year! I swear that the woods up at round farm are more beautiful every time that I visit them.

Ostara (Spring Solstice) 2007 - Saturday 24/03/2007 - We met on Chalkwell beach at 8:00. Well, everyone else did! I was late & missed the beginning of Mark's groups ritual. I don't know - you can't get the staff! You organise these events, someone volunteers to run the ritual for you & you miss the start! Sorry Mark - I don't know how you all put up with me :-( Anyway, It made a change to sit & watch the ritual from the outside. It was really quiet on the beach while the ritual was taking place. Even the yobs on the station didn't seem close by or even as annoying as the usually are. The Leigh Mummers then gave us a special advanced preview of their "Ishtar's decent into the underworld" - lords & ladies, it was great & believe you me, it was even better at Leaping Hare!

Imbolc 2007 - Saturday 03/02/2007 - We met at Jayne's house, thanks for once again opening your doors to the Lion Jayne! Yet another beer that we owe you. A select bunch was present & was brave enough to take part in a small ritual run my me! I'm pleased to report that all present survived & we able to party in a perfectly normal manner! So obviously I'm loosing my touch :-) Thanks to all that came & made it a special evening!

Yule (Winter Equinox) 2006 - Saturday 16th December - 8:00 pm - We met at Blanchfields Pub in Rochford for a a seasonal ritual & a right good party! As usual - we charged about �7 a head for the pleasure of the evening - to cover the expense of the food & the entertainment. Tracey ran a great ritual for us - inspired by the Druidic path. The music was great & the venue - though a little snug, was great! The raffle went a well as it usually does at our Yule events, cos the prizes are actually good ;-) So then you might ask - we paid to get in, we paid our raffle tickets! What did the Lion do with our money? Well, it's like this - after covering our expenses, the Lion made some �111 pounds & that money has been donated to a British Diabetic charity! The Diabetic cause is a worthy one & close to the Lions heart! Thanks to all (Karen, Syd, Julia, & Tracey) who helped to set things up & ensured that the whole thing ran as well as it did!!!

Samhain 2006 - Saturday 28th October - 8:00 pm - Highwater Farm - Thanks to Karen, Tracey, Paul, Tony & Crissey for running the pagan lions Samhein ritual. I'm sorry that I couldn't be there. Only ill heath kept me away lords & ladies - rest assured that I was with you all in spirit. Thank to those that were able to attend. I understand that it all went well & there was a circle of about 20 or so people & that it was quite a moving ritual!

Mabon (Autumn Equinox) 2006 - Saturday September 23rd - We gathered on Chalkwell beach (as is our want :-) ) & we're lucky enough to be joined by a great many people - old friends & new! Mark was good enough to carry out an open ritual to celebrate the festival of Mabon! It was a friendly & I felt moving ritual that I've had some very good feedback about! There then followed a special repeat performance (I don't know doesn't matter what channel you turn to these days - it's always a repeat :-)) of the 1st ever play the the Leigh Mummers ever performed! It was great fun & I hope that the Mummers know how much their performance was appreciated. Celebrations continued for a while, then most people drifted off. However, there was an extremely generous amount of wood donated to the event & a couple of our faithful regulars had great fun into the early hours nursing the fire & enjoying the beach - I'm told that they were joined by quite a few merry makers who were out celebrating the night for completely un-pagan reasons!

Lammas, Lughnasadh 2006 - Saturday 29th July, we gathered a Highwater farm for an open ritual. It wasn't a huge turn out - but most of those that came for the ritual had decided to camp over - so the atmosphere was one of fun, of celebration & community! The ritual was an eye opening mixture of high Magik & Wiccan practice. Many thanks go out to Tony & Tasha for a find ritual one that I know left more than a few of us buzzing! We then proceeded to party till the early house (it was still going strong when we let at 1:15 am). I hope all that can enjoyed themselves & I'm sorry for my "little outburst" - that's kids for you!

Litha (Summer Solstice) 2006 - Saturday 24th June - 8.00 pm - Chalkwell Beach. - my thanks to all that turned up to make it such a kool evening. The Leigh Mummers put on a wonderful show for us & I hope that we served as a well behaved (ok well behaved ain't the best choice of words - but you know what I mean) pack of guinea pigs? It was great to host an open ritual with such a large circle - it can be a bit draining, but again thanks to all, it's you not me that makes it work! I think I only made 3 mistakes but the spirits seemed forgiving that night - I wonder how many spotted them?

Beltane 2006 - Sunday 7th May - A good few of us gathered down at Round Farm to celebrate (if a little late) the turning of the wheel & the meeting of the Lord & lady! Tony & Tasha were good enough for run an open ritual for the Pagan Lion! The weather was great & it rained for just 5 minutes or so! The sun was bright & the ritual was uplifting & VERY child friendly - Thanks Seri - you made us all smile & Steve, where do you get those little "when ever, where ever" guitars - we may have to get a few of those for the Giant Raffle at Yule!!!

Ostara 2006 - Saturday 18th March - 8.00 pm - Chalkwell Beach - Mark & Mark - There was a good sized gathering on the beach for this ritual which Mark & Mark were good enough to run for us! The ritual was spot on for the night & I got a real good buzz out of it (yeah - I know technical term :-) The Leigh Mummers then put on a play for us to conclude the story they started at Mabon 2005! An enjoyable play good ladies & good gentlemen - but do you have make me laugh so much when I'm sitting on cold sand? Accidents can happen you know ;-)

Imbolc 2006 - Saturday 4th February - 8:00 pm - Jayne was good enough to let us use her home for this year's Imbolc celebration! It was a great night & the lady was in attendance for our ritual! Crissie was in charge of the ritual & done a great job of putting on the ritual with precious little time to prepare! The alter was truly beautiful Criss! <with luck I'll get some pictures to put up here to show you what I mean - but nothing to report yet! The turn out was small & select! I like to thing that everyone had a goodtime & that we turned the wheel in style - I certainly felt that I'd had a goodtime, haven't a clue what time I got home the following day :-)

Samhain 2005: Saturday 29th October 8:00 pm, The wind was high & not a candle would stay lit! But still we gathered at high water farm & celebrated the thin veil & the closeness of the dead! Karen was good enough to lead us in a ritual of two circles. This was based on a ritual found in the "Roebuck in the Ticket" & was a complicated & less than straightforward beast to conduct. Having said that, it was a most effective & to me at least - felt like a very powerful ritual. Kev had made some wonderful masks for us - but due to the wind & the rain it wasn't possible to use them the way we wanted to. Thanks for the masks Kev - you never cease to amaze me - they were fantastic. The Mask of the Horned King was quite frankly out of this world & way too good for us! The wind was a harsh mistress that night & I'd hate to have to count the number of candles I had to light & re-light & light again! I think I must have run my lighter dry & burned off a good handful of hair! Thanks to all the people that warned me I was setting myself on fire - most appreciated! Afterwards we gathered round the fire & grounded ourselves with much food & more than a little drink (just to keep us warm you understand) - thanks to all for attending & to those that came from far away - it was great to see you all, hope we'll see you again somewhere soon.

Mabon 2005 (Autumn Equinox): Saturday 24th September 8:00 pm, We gathered down on Chalkwell beach & an open ritual was held to celebrate the Equinox. I was (for some reason) a little in the dark about who was doing what! I think it was the two Mark's that run the ritual & I'm told that it was very good! I must admit that I was in a TERRIBLE mood on the day & didn't take part - indeed I went as far as disappearing off to Old Leigh & having a pint of 5 instead of enjoying the do on the beach! My bad boys & girls! But I really didn't want to inflict myself on anyone! By all accounts, I missed a great evening! There was even a Mummers play put on to tell the story of the Equinox! It was (I'm told) a great performance & the guys & gals that done it seem to have formed themselves into the "Old Leigh Mummers" & will (fingers crossed) be throwing another performance at Spring Equinox.

Lammas 2005: On Saturday the 30th of July, we gathered at Highwater farm on what threatened to be a VERY wet night. Speaking personally, that lady that had be nice enough (brave enough ?) to give me a lift had to drive through torrential rain to get to the site. However, once we were there the weather seemed to come out in sympathy with the spirit of the evening & the rain was kind enough to stay away! Tony was kind enough to run the ritual for the brave souls that braved the potentially nasty night. The ritual was an interesting blend of low & high magic that seemed to be very effective & certainly had many buzzing!! It was again great to see such a wonderful group of people around the fire and I can only hope that others had such as good a time as I did. You missed a good one Lydia, same you were on "holiday" :-)

Summer Solstice 2005: On Saturday 18th of June, we gathered at the beach on a lovely night, with the moon bright in the sky & the tide at high. Lynda was once again good enough to conduct a simple open ritual for those that wanted to take part. We drummed and laughed & partied into the wee hours. Another great time at Chalkwell beach! Many thanks to all those people (old faces & new ones) that joined us to make for such a pleasant evening. Special thanks go out to the mystery didge playing photographer - it was great that he was so understanding! It's a public place down on the beach & obviously, we can't stop (& wouldn't want to) people taking candied photos of the event - I'd just remind that it's simply polite to ask first! After all, we don't want to ruin the spirit of the event by someone getting annoyed about something as daft as a bunch of photos! (I've seen it happen at other events & I don't want it in Southend - It all ends in the Police & breach of the peace & such things - aggro we don't need or want!) We're nice people & we're more than likely to say yes to people that want to take pics (especially if you're going to join in the spirit of the event) - It's an open ritual after all boys & girls - there's nothing illegal or hidden about what we're doing! It's just that we're not the most pretty bunch (well, I'm not !) of people & it continues to amaze that people want to take picture of the events!

Beltane 2005: Dan and Merill were kind enough to let us use Round Farm in Stock for our Beltane picnic & open ritual on Saturday 1st May. I can't speak for every one, but I had a wonderful time!!!! The whole place is wonderful & I'm pleased to say that my son left the tractor a lot cleaner than he found it :-) Seriously though, a wonderful time was had by all and I'd like to extend a thank you to all that were good enough to join me in the circle. If you missed the picnic, kick yourself, you missed a kool event :-)

Ostara 2005 (Spring Solstice): Saturday 19th March at Chalkwell Beach. Just after the high tide, we slowly gathered on the beach and Lynda was good enough to conduct an open ritual heavily inspired by the northern tradition. It was great to see so many new faces on the beach and such a collection of new ones (not to mention younger!). I was very impressed by the turn out. The ritual was followed by a very impressive set of drum sessions, ire swinging (I'm sure that's not the right way of describing it but hey!) & belly dancing. Many thanks to all that turned up and made it such a special night! PS - Lynda tells me that some strange orbs of light have turned up on her photos - more on that when I've had a chance to talk to her - watch this space :-)

Imbolc 2005: Jayne was good enough to open her house to the "select" few who attended this years Imbolc celebration. An open ritual was organised & run by Karen & fire damage was thankfully avoided (only joking Karen!) - a good evening was had by all & I'm sure that my hang over will go away eventually :-)

Yule 2004 (Winter Solstice): This years Yule Open Ritual was held at the Nelson Pub in Southend! Under the cover of their - well I think you'd call it a tent! But I think that's not doing it justice - it had one wall open to let the elements in for us & it was (to be frank) bloody huge! Mike again done us the honor of conducting the Open Ritual. A wonderful little ritual, with Mike & a very young youngster taking the parts of the two kings. The party afterwards was very good & I thing we all had a good time - many thanks to the proprietors of the Nelson for standing host to the Lion!!

Samhain 2004: We gathered on Saturday the 30th of October at Highwater Farm to celebrate Samhain in unique style. The going was hard, but eventually we got all the cars pushed out of the mud & gathered around the fire. The Moon was high & the mists were gathering close. Pete Jennings was good enough to conduct a Northern Tradition ritual to mark the occasion. A first for most of those in attendance & very educational! The turn out was amazing & the Lion's thanks go out to all those that attended.

Mabon 2004 (Autumn Equinox): We gathered in September (my memory fails me - I'm a bad man - but I can't remember the date) on Chalkwell Beach. Mike was good enough to conduct the Open Ritual for us. It was a wonderful one. The mirror to his Mabon ritual last year. This year Mike pained the story of the festival through the medium of the Charge of the God - last year he used the charge of the Goddess as his medium. I'd like to thank Mike for both Rituals - A magical time was (I know) had by all.

Lammas 2004 (Lughnasadh): Saturday 31st July, we will be gathered at Highwater Farm, East Hanningfield Essex. Many thanks to Jackie for conducting the Ritual for us. This was the Pagan Lion's first time at Highwater farm & I'm pleased to report that the evening was a great success. Many thanks to Jackie's family for making the location available to us. There was a "smallish" turn out - but that's only to be expected - you can't exactly walk to East Hanningfield from Southend :-)

Summer Solstice 2004: Saturday 19th June we met up on the beach at Chalkwell. It was a lovely night & there were at least 50 people in attendance. Lynda from Elixir was kind enough to conduct a most "interesting" open ritual for the group. We had a Kool evening just sitting around the fire & enjoying the night & the company. It's a worthwhile point to note that if you want to take photos at these events - please ask! One young lady did ask & there was no problem at all. However, a couple of guys that were wandering around taking pictures without asking! That's just not playing the game! They were asked <in not uncertain terms I'm afraid> to leave - Sorry to inject this note of negativity, but when in doubt ASK! - there are often children at these rituals!

Beltane Picnic 2004 : On Sunday the 2nd of May, we met up at The Round Farm, Goatsmoor Lane, Stock - Dan & Merril Gibbon were kind enough to give us the use of their farm/orchard again this year. An open ritual was planned by Tony & Tasha. However, Tasha's coming up on her due date & the jokes about the Priestess giving birth at the height of the Beltane Ritual weren't far from the truth. They couldn't make the ritual having spent the early hours of the morning in hospital, on what turned out to be a false alarm. We were therefore left without HP & HPS! Karen D was kind enough to fill in as HPS at VERY short notice & yours truly filled in as HP on even SHORTER notice! Things were suitably improvised - but I think that a good time was had by all. The rain was good enough to hold off until we were all leaving & the food & the company were very good.

Ostara 2004 (Spring Equinox Celebration): On Saturday 20th of March we were supposed to be gathering down on Chalkwell beach. However, the wind was very high that night & such things as lighting a bonfire were out of the question! Not only that but the sand was flying and stinging the eyes. Whilst we don't like to think of ourselves as "fair weather" Pagans, we had to call the evenings festivities off! It just wasn't practical or safe to hold the event. Again, Kev & Jane were kind enough to let us use there place to warm up & consume a can or two! - No Open Ritual, but at least we got together to celebrate the turning of the wheel in a more "mundane" fashion.

Imbolc 2004: Kev & Jane were kind enough to host the Pagan Lion's Imbolc celebration.