Calendar of the Sun
7 Lithemonath
Vestalia: Vesta's Day
Color: Red
Element: Fire
Altar: Today the altar is set up in the kitchen, in front of the stove or fireplace, at the point which
is most "hearth". Before setting it up, everyone pitches in to clean the kitchen thoroughly, and
purify it. All halls leading into the kitchen are swept as well, and everyone enters barefoot with
cleanly washed feet. Upon a red cloth set a bowl of water, one large red candle, bread baked the
night before, and kitchen implements.
Offerings: Promote domestic harmony.
Daily Meal: Breads and baked goods.
Invocation to Vesta
Hail Vesta, Lady of the Central Fire,
Flame of the Hearth
Keeper of the Inner Circle
Faceless One
Eldest of the Olympians
Lady of the Pantry
Whose open hands dispense hospitality
Chimney and cooking fire
Lady of routine and dailiness
To miss your quiet strength
In the rush of our sudden lives
Would be as great a disservice
As forgetting the air we breathe.
Teach us to take our time, Lady.
Teach us of the holiness of step after step
Chore after chore, moving in small circles
Around the hearth of our own beings.
Chant (spoken, not sung):
I circle my hearth from without
And I focus the work of my hands;
I circle my hearth from within
And I focus the work of my heart;
Every work of my hands
Is a victory won;
Every thing that I do
Is another thing done.
(All share bread, and pitch in together to make more, which can be saved or given away.)
[Pagan Book of Hours]