Calendar of the Moon
8 Gort/Puanepsion
Theseia
Colors: Red
Element: Fire
Altar: Upon cloth of red place crossed swords and spears, two torches, and a labyrinth.
Offerings: Give up something you love for the sake of duty. Gymnastika should, on this day,
have competitive games and running.
Daily Meal: Meat and bread and wheat/milk porridge, the food that was given to the departing
children by their parents.
Theseia Invocation
Long ago, when the world was younger,
Great Athens gave forth tribute to Crete,
Under Minos, father of the Bull.
The tax was their finest children, to be given
As bull-dancers to the Minotaur,
And Theseus, son of King Aigeus,
Son also of great Poseidon Earth-Shaker,
Traveled there in the tribute-band. He slew
The Minotaur in the center of his labyrinth,
Rescued his companions, and set the city afire
Before Poseidon shattered it with an earthquake.
He took with him also Ariadne, she of the Labyrinth,
Without whom he would not have succeeded,
With whom he planned to be husband and wife.
Yet she was claimed by Dionysos, and he
Was seized by Athena, patroness of heroes,
Patroness of his city, and weeping he forsook
His Cretan love, and weeping fled to Athens.
In his sorrow he did not change the sails
From black to white, as was the code agreed-upon,
And his father, seeing the black sails, killed himself.
So bereft of love and parent, he assumed the throne.
Theseus says to us: There will be times when Duty
Must come before any kind of love, and the Gods know this,
And will guide you away, even if in tears.
Do not be so ashamed to weep, O hero,
Even if no mourning stays your hand.
(All walk the labyrinth in the garden - every House should have one - chanting "Eleleu! Iou!
Iou!" the cry of the sacrificing parents.)
[Pagan Book of Hours]