Calendar of the Sun
4 Winterfyllith
Jejunium Cereris: Fast for Demeter
Color: Brown
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon cloth of brown place a clay cup of water, empty bowls, plates, and an empty
cornucopia.
Offerings: Give food to the hungry.
Daily Meal: Fasting today, from the night before until Hesperis.
Jejunium Cereris Invocation
Demeter weeps.
She mourns all losses,
All that passes from our hands
Into the gaping earth of the Mother's womb.
Across the land, there are places
Where the Earth is barren, and no mouths
Shall be fed from Her soil.
The people starve, they cry out, they fall,
But there is no mercy for them
Until the Wheel turns yet again.
So if we cannot feed them all,
If we cannot be Demeter Herself,
For our hands are too few,
Our work is too little,
Our efforts fall like a drop into a wasteland,
Let us still be that drop of hope
And let us, for one day, mourn with them.
For all that we have not, there are others
Who have less, and on this day
We give out some of what we have,
For true wealth is counted only
By how much you can give away.
For today, we shall fast with them
And we shall remember.
Blessed be Demeter in Her weeping,
Blessed be Demeter in Her mourning,
May we be blessed with Her tears.
Chant: By the dust of the Earth we live
By the work of our hands we give
By the work of our hearts we open the world.
[Pagan Book of Hours]