Sun-Rising Rites Conclude

Sunday was our last night of Sun-Rising. The solstice is upon us in less than a week. I have to say, keeping these six weeks of ‘Sun-rising’ has been an incredible experience, but completely different in every possible way from winter’s Sunwait, possibly because we are dealing with Sunna coming in and with different runes — I’ll explain that part below. The past six weeks of rituals have been very intense but much less intimate in feel than their winter counterpart. We had a great time — the energy and rhythm of each liturgy had a powerful momentum, but the lessons were *hard*. 

During Sunwait, each week we honor Sunna in a different rune, using the first six runes of the first aett of the Elder Futhark (for those who are like what the hell did she just write? lol. the first six runes used in Sunwait, in this order are: Fehu, Uruz, Thurisaz, Ansuz, Raido, Kenaz. They are part of the first of three aettir, or sets of eight that form the Elder Futhark). Each week during Sunwait we have found that Sunna’s grace brings the revelation of mysteries, or we are challenged in some way that makes us better human beings and much better devotees. To some degree, the same thing happened for the six weeks of Sun-Rising but the lessons — and they were many — seemed so much harder than during the winter. The winter’s challenges made us better devotees of our Gods. The summer’s challenges made us a better household (and also better devotees of our Gods). Perhaps because of the runes chosen though, I think it went deeper than that, all the lessons involved highlighting chasms in communication between us all, both personally and religiously. 

For Sun-Rising, we used the third aett: Tiewaz, Berkana, Ehwaz, Mannaz, Laguz, and Inguz. We had a lot of discussions about which aett was appropriate. The first seemed so incredibly linked to the Winter solstice and its mysteries that we didn’t feel it right to use, and the second’s mysteries simply didn’t accord with the Summer solstice. For that reason, we settled on the first six runes of the final aett. Plus, upon completion there were perfectly alternating cycles of birth and rebirth. Watch Mannaz though — those lessons *really* hurt. 

The lessons that Sunna brought were all about the need for absolute clarity of communication, rooted in love and respect. To that end, She highlighted, via Her friends the runes, where we were each falling short, with ourselves, our Gods, and each other. It sucked. It was immensely beneficial, crucial even, but OMG it sucked. I also got the feeling that we should be doing full and new moon rites for Mani throughout the year. It feels as though it would provide a solid, sustaining foundation throughout the year, so I think we may start incorporating those rites in the coming months. 

We’ll definitely be doing Sun-Rising again next year. It was one hell of a rocky ride this past six weeks, but thanks to Sunna, we survived it. It really brought home, how good, gracious, and mighty She is, how much She must have meant to our ancestors, and should mean to us. We will hail Her always, and the House of Mundilfari. 

Image from the Farmers’ Almanac here.