CUSP: Climbing Up the Spiral Pathway

I have been fortunate enough to have walked a magical path for more than two decades now and as a result, I have had some incredible experiences and wonderful memories. I have had the honor of leading three fantastic circles: Desert Song Circle, which was a hive off from TreeSong Circle. Clan of The Shadow Walkers, which was a wonderful circle in Idaho, of all Godforsaken places. Lastly was my beloved final circle, The Whiches. It was through my decade of work with The Whiches that CUSP evolved. It started forming almost instantly with some kind of wild, synergistic growth-hormone development explosion. Within the first year, the basic foundation was formed and after that, the finishing touches came naturally.

Now, 11 years after The Whiches core group first formed, it is going strong and is a highly functional spiritual path that is practiced the world over. We are often getting messages from groups excitedly telling us about their own CUSP practices and how they have put the basic premises to work in their own life. Now that our Whiches have grown up into big kids and are out there in the world doing their own thing, we get t be Magical Grandparents and sit back and enjoy watching CUSP at work in the world and in the lives of those who follow this dynamic and magical path.

As the energy of Beltane still warms my blood and my heart, so many memories come flooding back to me. I hold them close to my heart and their presence keeps me close to the loved ones who are no longer in my life. Dear Jennifer is the only one of our Whiches left in our area and even she commutes an hour and a half to see us. She is, herself, a 3rd level priestess in her own right and is our precious magical family. Most of our Whiches are still in contact, although some have drifted away. Many of our Desert Song members are still in contact some 17 years after the circle disbanded due to everyone moving away at once. I recently had the honor of finding all but one of the Shadow Walkers on MySpace, which is lovely as well. Here are some of the Beltane thoughts that spring to mind:

In 1996, I wrote this for a group I was working with in Texas called “Clan of the Broken Sword,” led by my friend, Two Moons. Each verse was about a man in our circle at that time:

Celtic Woman’s Beltane Lament

I met a man from Glaston Town
He said, “They call me Bill.
I really dasn’t likes it ‘cause
Me name is really Will.”

He sparked me spark, he lit me fire,
He tol’ me pretty lies.
But then I couldn’t find ‘im
‘Cause the smoke got in me eyes.

CHORUS:
Aye, Aye, Aye, Aye
All on a Beltane night.
A randy Celtic woman waits
And not a man in sight.

I met a man from Glaston Town
His name was Brother Sun.
A bonny lad with flashin’ eyes,
I thought we’d have some fun.

I set me sights to have ‘im,
So I plied the lad with rum.
But I knew we were in trouble when
He slipped and called me ‘Mum’.

CHORUS

I met a man from Glaston Town
And Straw Dog was his name,
With fingers long and body hard,
Could elsewhere be the same?

I said, “If all’s proportional
I’ve found me man for life.”
He laughed and said, “That’s sweet, my child
You’ll ‘ave to ask me wife.”

CHORUS

I met a man from Glaston Town
A blacksmith would he be,
An ‘andsome man just me type,
But a love that could not be.

It warn’t not social classin’ thing
That kept me far from him.
He war the man o’ my best friend
She’s tear me limb from limb.

CHORUS

I met a man from Glaston Town
Who beat upon a drum.
I asked ‘im for a lock o’ hair.
He gladly gave me one.

I thought at last I’d found him,
That me Beltane Lord had come.
But the only skin he touched all night
Was the skin upon his drum.

CHORUS

I met a man from Glaston Town
A tankard in his hand.
They said he made the finest brew
You’d find in all the land.

He smiled and said, “I’ve whatcha need.
It’s warm and stiff and strong.”
He thrust his tankard in me ‘and
And sent me on along.

CHORUS

I met a man from Glaston Town
Called Dr. John the Wise,
A strappin’ lad so fair of face
It brought tears to me eyes.

I sauntered up and said “‘ello”
In a sultry voice so low
But a naked elf ran past us
And off ‘e did a’go.

CHORUS

So here I sits alone again
With Beltane come and gone.
I guess you’re good at guessin’
That me song is nearly done.

A broken pride and itchy bits
A lukewarm cup o’ beer
Are all I’ve gleened this Beltane night…
But there always is next year.

CHORUS

In December of some damned year, I don’t quite remember which, The Whiches Ladies found themselves in a peculiar and unenviable predicament of all (meaning BOTH, there weren’t that many) of our menfolk deciding to take a sabbatical from the group at once. Eric (my sweet baboo) wanted to spend a year and a day focusing on the studies of the Self-Realization Foundation and the work of Paramahansa Yogananda. Erick (our other guyfolk) was starting an aggressive study of Akido and wanted to spend time exclusively with the spirituality of that practice. That left a number of lovely women sitting around saying, “Well, SHIT.” We all quite like male energy, especially in our circle work and here we all sat sadly without penis amongst us. Harrumph. We weren’t ones to delve into Wimmin’s Mysteries and annoint ourselves with menstrual blood and weep together, so we were at a loss of what else to do. It finally dawned on us that we could be just whatever the hell we wanted to be, all being empowered, gorgeous, haughty women as we were, so we created The Hut, named for The Hut at the Edge of the Village where women of old would go and hang out while they were menstruating and could be magical and be themselves and vision and learn and not have to impress a damned soul. It was a faboo year and we were left wondering if we even wanted the guys back again by the end of it. We had a moment of consternation at Beltane, however, wondering if we were all really into the idea of dancing around a Maypole and basically glorifying a giant dick when we, ourselves, were spending a year honoring the feminine cool. Although we LIKE to dance around Maypole and LIKE honoring giant dick, we decided that as with nature, in all things there must be balance. Leave it to Georgia, our resident guardian, who suggested that in addition to our traditional Maypole, that we also have a Mayhole. It made perfect sense that before you celebrated the consummation between the maiden and the creator to produce the harvest, you would spend a little time sweetening the pot. As a result, it became a time honored Whiches tradition to have the cauldron burning hot and heavy at Beltane and the ladies in the group would come forward and throw herbs onto the coals that had specific properties that we wished to use to bless the harvest (lavender for peace, roses for love, patchouli for lust, etc). This process was the “getting her wet” part. The men would then erect the Maypole and we would do our little dance around it and this was the “getting him hard” part. Then would come an elaborate great rite ceremony between the High Priest and High Priestess where an appropriate musical selection would be played. The Creator would pursue the Maiden and as the song climaxed, they would ultimately culminate in a simulated Great Rite. We used a number of songs over the years for this ceremony: O Fortuna (of course), The Might of Rome (from Gladiator), Mummer’s Dance (Lorena McKinnett) and once, just slow drumming building to a mad drumming frenzy.

Eric has a shaped antler that was a gift from Other Erick that, well, looks very appropriate for the job as you can see:

I used whatever special goblet moved me at the time for my part.

One particular Beltane… this had to be 2003 because it was right before we moved up the mountain, we were having a public Beltane in Rusch Park and wanted to give everyone, including our other Whiches who were not in on the surprise, a little smile. In our tradition, the only time in the process of the spiral of the year that the Great Rite is performed is at Beltane to conceive the Harvest. As I mentioned, the Creator deflowers the Maiden after a heated pursuit and she then becomes the Mother (who is now carrying the Harvest that will come for in the Fall) and he becomes the Protector (who takes care of Mother and Baby Harvest until it is safely delivered). When we were thinking about what perfect song would delightfully illustrate the intensity of young lust and the excitement that it brings, one immediately came to mind for us and that is how The Whiches and their guests saw the Great Rite performed to “You’re The One That I Want” from “Grease.” It had been raining that morning, but Eric took it like a man and as we went through the entire choreographed sequence from the movie, he whipped off his black robe and flung it to the side, ala John Travolta, then went right down into the mud for the “It’s electrifying!!” moment just before the Maiden started telling the Creator that he’d better shape up. It was tremendous fun and well enjoyed by all.

One thing that, in addition to the practicality of the path, that appeals to me about CUSP is that you can have FUN with your magic and use the energy generated by that to fuel your purpose. CUSP is the very essence of saying, “Hey, come on in. The water’s fine!” Too often, magical workings are treated as something dangerous that must be micro-managed and treated with kid gloves. To my mind, that is such an incredible insult to the magic itself. We are such an infantile, tiny part of the magical process that it is the height of ego to need to believe that we have the responsibility for controlling something that is so much bigger and badder and cooler than we can ever be. It’s the equivalent of a kitten leading around a dinosaur and telling it were to sit and how to behave. Sure, we’re a part of that process and sure, we can control and direct parts of the energy, but c’mon. Are we really going to tell an Arch Angel where to stand and what to do? Give me a break! We’re going to walk into a concert of magic that was going on long before we ever drew a breath and will continue long after we are again dust in our graves. We step in and contribute and further the magical evolution of mankind and nature, but we are not even close to bossing it around like a little kid wearing their parent’s shoes trying to be authoritarian. Magic loves fun and frivolity and as long as your intent is pure and your energy is not scattered and wasted, fun magic will be just as effective as the constipated, rigid ritual magic of the purists. Trust me. I’ve done both and it’s the same. One is just a lot more enjoyable.

I hope you have a magnificent Beltane and that your Harvest is well conceived. (Pun intended)