Calendar of the Sun
10 Wolfmonath
Ilithyia's Day of the Midwives
Color: Red
Element: Earth
Altar: The altar shall be the same as Sponde the previous day.
Offerings: Give aid to a midwife.
Daily Meal: Center around milk and dairy products.
Ilithyia Invocation
Slim maiden with quick hands
That bring forth the life of others,
Daughter of Hera, child of marriage,
Daughter of Zeus, child of kingship,
Your hands reach forth
To every matron's opening womb,
Bringing the new bride into the world of family,
Bringing the maiden into the time of mothering,
Bringing the tribe a new life.
Let us learn from you, maiden midwife!
For though we do sometimes find ourselves
Bringing new life into the world,
More often we kneel in your place,
As you kneel between the laboring woman's thighs,
Watching the opening of the sacred door,
Kneeling in honor of the power of birth,
We find ourselves assisting in the birth
Of the others who struggle,
Who writhe and twist and despair of being done,
Who need out skilled hands, our urgent voices,
Our love and care and attention
That what must be birthed shall come to be.
Teach us, Ilithyia, of how to better hold the labor of another
In our waiting hands.
Chant:
From the dark of the womb we bring forth life
From the dark of the mind we bring forth light
From the dark of the dream we bring forth sight
From the dark of the Wheel we bring forth fate
From the dark of the night we bring forth day
From the dark of the heart we seek the way.
[Pagan Book of Hours]