(Fell on the 15th of October and on the Full Moon in 2008. For information on the Wuruma Wheel of the Year, click label at end of post.)
(I am pronouncing Wuruma as WUH-ruh-muh.)
The Wuruma Wheel applies to the seasons occurring on the NSW Central Coast (just above Sydney).
It is not the same as the Southern Wheel. (For Southern Wheel click label at end of article.)
In 2008 I celebrated my first Beltane on this Wheel, which I am calling Wuruma Beltane for convenience. I made the desired connection with the land, and have begun to understand it a little bit. Greater understanding will take some time.
I have no idea how accurate my copy of the Wuruma Wheel is and I have no idea how the Aboriginal people of the Central Coast celebrated it. The exact timing and nature of the Aboriginal celebrations may be secret business or initiate lore and I have no desire to encroach on such things.
I am sticking to recording the observable seasons and the changes they bring in the native flora and fauna.
I have named some of the Wuruma Wheel festivals after their British/European counterparts. Again, merely for convenience.
I have not thrown out the Southern Wheel and have no desire to do so. The Southern Wheel connects me to my British and European ancestors, and to the community standard of Australian Neopaganism.
As this year's (2008's) is the first Wuruma Beltane I have celebrated I did so within the familiar structure of a Neopagan ritual. Later celebrations of the Wuruma Beltane may differ.
If you wish to use the words on my website, acknowledge them as mine. If you wish to post them on your website or anywhere on the internet, include the address of this website (http://wurumaandsouthern.blogspot.com/). To do otherwise is to violate my copyright.
My intention:
To celebrate the Wuruma Beltane,
To mark the natural seasons of the local climate
To connect with the natural world, the embodiment of the gods, in the country that is my home
To learn by doing
To celebrate the Wuruma Beltane in a way meaningful to a white Neopagan without violating Aboriginal secret business or otherwise causing offence
The quarter calls I wrote for the Wuruma Beltane:
(Quarter directions correspond with the landscape of Sydney and the NSW Central Coast.)
Element of Water, guardian of the East.
Bless me with your gifts of undiscovered depths, bush creeks and rain
Come down from the clouds so the seeds of Wuruma Beltane may grow
Protect me, watch over me and teach me your wisdom
Hail and welcome
Element of Fire, guardian of the North.
Bless me with your gifts of heat, beauty and fierce energy
Bring your fire to benefit the bush and humanity
Protect me, watch over me and teach me your wisdom
Hail and welcome
Element of Earth, guardian of the South.
Bless me with your gifts of quiet rest, golden stone and fruitfulness
Nurture the seeds of Wuruma Beltane that they may grow
Protect me, watch over me and teach me your wisdom
Hail and welcome
Element of Air, guardian of the West.
Bless me with your gifts of cleansing wind, coolness & rain-filled cloud
Bring rain clouds to water the seeds of Wuruma Beltane
Protect me, watch over me and teach me your wisdom
Hail and welcome
Calling the Gods:
(I called the European gods of Australian Neopagans as I know nothing of the the gods or spirits of the area.)
Mother Earth
Wombat, earth and water
Glorious full moon
Wise crone and Maiden
Goddess of my ancestors
Hail and welcome
Father Sky
Bird and wind and fire
Song in the trees
Seeds in the earth
Horned god of my ancestors
Hail and welcome
Path-Working:
To learn more about the Wuruma Beltane, I meditated on the natural landscape around me, using the flight of a native bird over it to explore it.
Energy-Raising:
Knowing nothing about the local spirits and gods, I decided to use a familiar chant (origin unknown to me) to tap into the essense of the gods worldwide.
“Isis, Astarte, Diana … Hecate, Demeter, Kali, Innana
Odin, Cernunnos, Merddyn … Mannanan, Helios, Shiva, Horned One.”
Great Rite in Symbol:
Instead of the BHK (athame) and chalice of European lore, I used a gum stick (stick from a gum tree) and a piece of white clay formed in the shape of a female animal pelvis, and these words:
As I make the Great Rite in symbol I released the energy raised into the seeds in the earth and the animals in the womb in order that bush tucker may be increased for communal good.
Lugh, god of Neopagans, I ask that You bring Your rain to this land so the seeds of Wuruma Beltane may grow.
Cerridwen, goddess of Neopagans, I ask that You nurture the seeds of Wuruma Beltane in Your womb.
(Bush tucker is food from native plants.)
The next festival on the Wuruma Wheel is Wuruma Lughnasadh, on or about the 21st of February.
The next festival on the Southern Wheel is Beltane, on or about the 31st of October.
(If you too are celebrating the Wuruma Wheel and wish to share your information, my email can be found here. Relevant contributions will be posted on this website and acknowledged so include your Pagan name.)
