Calendar of the Moon
1 Ruis/Poseideion
Day of the Elder Tree
Color: Russet
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon a russet cloth set a vase of elder twigs, a single rust-colored candle, a pot of soil,
seeds of some medicinal herb, a bowl of water, and a bell.
Offerings: Plant seeds. Care for the elderly.
Daily Meal: Vegan
Invocation to the Green Man of the Elder Tree
Hail, Green Man of the Winter!
Elder tree of the bitter winds,
Your blossoms are healing,
Snowy as the bone-white hair
Of the Grandmother Crone.
Elder tree who is last to fruit,
Your berries are healing,
Deep purple as Her twilight robes
At this the twilight of the year.
Elder tree of the crackling frost,
Your bark is healing,
Russet as the roebuck who speeds
Through the darkening forest.
Raven of the croaking word,
Bird of prophecy and death,
Haunt of dead battles, eater of carrion,
You who are thirteenth and last
Have seen all go before you,
And nothing to you is a surprise.
You wait patiently for rebirth,
Knowing its truth by your very
Proximity to its breathless moment.
We hail you, sacred elder tree,
Green Man of the Winter,
On this your day of your devouring.
Chant: Elder calls her winter song Barrow yawns beneath us
Hold on, hold on to the final morning.
(Each comes forward and plants a seed in the pot of soil, saying, "Hail Green Man of the
Earth!" Water is poured onto the pot, and then the rest is poured out as a libation. Ring bell and
dismiss.)
[Pagan Book of Hours]