Calendar of the Moon
14 Nion/Anthesterion
Day of the Gorse Plant
Color: Tan or dun.
Element: Earth.
Altar: Upon a cloth of tan or dun set a bundle of dried gorse twigs and leaves, a single tan
candle, a pot of soil, seeds, a bowl of water, and a bell.
Offerings: Plant seeds. Make an effort to subdue a troublesome habit.
Daily Meal: Vegan.
Invocation to the Green Man of the Gorse Plant
Hail, Green Man of the Spring!
Gorse plant with its prickles,
Furze who waves its indignant head
At our trampling ankles,
Belligerent as the strongest spring gale,
You remind us that nature
Is not always helpless,
And has a right to its territory.
You remind us that there are places
We have no right to walk
Unaware and thoughtless
Treading all that comes into our path
With no thought for smaller lives.
We bless your prickles, guardian
Of small pathways and hedges,
Protector of tiny beasts
And the untrodden ways,
Shrieking cormorant who drives off
All who are disrespectful of her nest.
We hail you, sacred gorse plant,
Green Man of the Spring,
On this your eve of awakening.
Chant:
I guard the paths of sunlight,
I guard the little mysteries,
I guard those joys of daily life
That come not into histories.
(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]