by Rev. Jan Avende, originally published on their blog.

This is geared towards the warmer months of the year and I originally wrote it for a Summer Solstice Ritual honoring the Avestan Goddes Ardvi Sura Anahita, though you could easily shift some of the imagery for use in rites in the dark half of the year.  Enjoy!

Now, standing in this Sacred Space, preparing to do the work ahead, let us take a moment to find our center, and attune ourselves to this space, and to each other.  Take a moment to watch your breath, as it flows in and out, deep and regular… As we celebrate today, turn your attention to the sky where the bright sunlight is streaming down through the trees and you’re enveloped by the heat of the day.  Close your eyes now, and allow your attention to be consumed for a moment with the feel of the light and the heat.

Then, notice, streaming down from the heavens, life-giving Waters. Watch with your Vision Eye as droplets fill the air, plunging down through the heat to splash into the Earth.  The Earth, having been warmed by the Sun, takes in the Waters and their nourishment, and as the ground is quenched, arising from the soil, comes a mist.  Watch with your Vision Eye as these mists arise.  These are the Mists of Magic.

As the Mists rise into the air around you, into the heat, feel their cooling vapors caress your skin.  As they continue to rise, notice how the sunlight filters through them.  And as they crest above your eye level, notice how, all at once, the brilliant Sun is refracted, and a multitude of colors pour out to bathe this space in its rainbow light.

Focus your attention now on those colors, born out of the Mists from mixing the Life-Giving Waters, the Deep Coolness of the Earth, and the Bright Fire in the Sky.  Let the colors wash over you, and take their power and magic into yourself.  The reds and pinks that are our life-blood and sexuality.  The oranges and yellows that bring healing and light to our world.  The greens and teals that exemplify nature and magic and art.  The blues and purples that fill us with serenity and harmony, and connect our spirit to the world at large.  Let this riot of colors, this brilliant diverse rainbow, wash over you as the Mists caress your skin, as you breathe in this magic.

And now, as the Mists sink back to the earth, to pool, swirling on the ground below as we prepare for the work ahead, see those colors merge again back into one.  They become a brilliant white light, all colors merging into one unified glow.  Expand your awareness now, and remember the people standing around you.  Know that they too have been bathed in the colored mists, and are filled now with that white glow.  Open your eyes, and see standing about you, your Grovemates.    We are all filled with the Life-Giving Waters, the Cooling Power of the Mists rising from the Earth, and the Bright Sunlight.  We stand, united in diversity, as one Sacred Grove.