Meanwhile, on the way to the vigil . . .

Last night was supposed to have been a relatively simple, if not easy, beginning to my first-ever observance of the Vigil for the Bulls.  Simple because I had a clear understanding of what I was intending to do, but not easy because it required me to be awake at two in the morning.  Sometimes, one discovers on the way to a task that other tasks must be completed first.

Temenos of Poseidon. (The cloth is not supposed to be wrinkled, but I was tired when I took the picture and didn’t notice.)

In my case, I had to build a temple.  I have a personal shrine to Poseidon — that’s been around for six or seven years, at least — that I thought I’d be using for these observances, but it didn’t work out that way.  I’d also intended on having a nap and then rising for the vigil proper, but nope.

What happened is that I got home close to midnight and was thinking of catching a few winks when suddenly I remembered that I am overdue with some of my assignments regarding my priesthood training.  Most important among these is hte creation of a temenos, because it’s tough to be a priest in Hellenic tradition without a temple.  Instead of going to sleep, I found myself emptying, sweeping, scrubbing, purifying, assembling, and then performing the entire ritual for sanctifying the temple space in my home.

Then I showered and made ready for the vigil.

As for my humble little temple space, some commentary.

• No cult image of Poseidon is visible because I fashioned a khoanoas that may only be revealed during ritual.
• The space is quite small — perhaps two feet by three — and definitely is not going to be hosting others for ritual.  I’ll have to find larger spaces for that sort of thing.
• Those columns are full of win.

Regarding the Vigil for the Bulls:

• The bulls in question are the ones being run in Pamplona, as representative of all bulls who participate in these runs.  What is made out to be a dangerous situation for humans is guaranteed death for the bulls; at the end of the run is a bull fight.  The vigil is in recognition of the holy grief of Poseidon Taureos over this practice.
• In the night I found a blending of my paths.  In the light of a candle lit for Hestia I poured a libation to Poseidon Taureos and read to him hymns and prayers.  Then I opened myself to share his grief, and because I sat with the khoanoas in which he can choose to reside, we could do so together.  In effect, I settled into Quaker silent worship with my god.  This was a comfortable behavior in an entirely new context; I’d never merged the two to this extent before.  It was thus easy, but I could tell that the burden was not upon me fully, and it could have been much harder.
• While I’m not fasting, I am avoiding the flesh of four-leggeds during the courtse of the vigil, as well as sexual activity.
• Covering my head with a red bandana is also comfortable; I’ve been covering almost daily for a year or more without a specific purpose.  This is the first ritual reason I’ve done so, and the practice has been well worth it.
• Naptime is definitely a priority today.