Calendar of the Moon
1 Gort/Puanepsion
Day of the Ivy
Color: Sky blue
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon a sky-blue cloth set a pot of ivy, a single sky-blue candle, a pot of soil, seeds of
some rare medicinal herb, a bowl of water, and a bell.
Offerings: Plant seeds. Do a spiral walking meditation.
Daily Meal: Vegan
Invocation to the Green Man of the Ivy
Hail, Green Man of the Autumn!
Ivy that twines up stone walls,
Who can hold up a house or tear it down,
Spiral dancer whose twisting
Echoes the material we are made of,
Wreath of the Maenads,
Kin to the red-caps in the faery rings,
You remind us that there is a price
For your twining sister's intoxication.
Mute swan who outstretched wings
Are your elegant speech to the sky,
Ivy-girl of the final harvest,
You bind the last sheaf of wheat,
As mute testament to the failure
Of those whose work has not
Matched the speed of the turning year.
We bow our heads in supplication
Before you, ivy that winds us
And our dead in their sleeping places.
We hail you, sacred ivy,
Green Man of the Autumn,
On this the day of your binding.
(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. Then all join
hands and move in a silent spiral dance to the sound of slow drumming. Ring bell and dismiss.)
[Pagan Book of Hours]