Every ritual has an intention, a focus. In order for a ritual to be successful in achieving its intention, it needs to have a clear focus and a way of energizing that focused intention.

In this particular ritual with the Sun, the intention works best if it is a clear, single focus. This means working with only one intention at each point in the cycle. The more specific this intention is, the more effective it seems to be.

There are at least two ways of formulating an intention or focus for this ritual. If you think of more, please let me know them too.

The first method is to simply choose something we already know we want to do. We may especially want to do this when we think it is something challenging and we would like help with it. This is a choice that is made by using reasoning and logic.

The other method is to select an intention on an intuitive level rather than by reasoning. To do this, we simply ask ourself what our primary focus for the day (especially the next few hours) needs to be. Then we allow our minds sift over the answers that come up until a clear focus arises. Again, the intention should be something that you will actively be doing.

One of the problems I had with this when I first began doing it was that I kept making my intention something that I "ought" to do, but didn't really want to. It became a way of trying to use that energy to force myself. Naturally, I resisted the force and made quite a mess of things until I finally realized how silly I was being. I learned that another important criteria for the intention in a ritual was that it needed to be something one actually wanted, not a means of trying to bully oneself into something.

I realized later that this was a projection of an inner attitude of mine about "fathers" and male energy in general—and just another thing that I needed to heal. For me, it became important to choose intentions that were in harmony with my wishes and desires rather than trying to sneakily beat myself up with them. Keep an eye on what you do lest you create resistance in yourself. This can be a wonderful and joyful way of keeping our lives going in the directions we truly want and need to go.

The Core of It

Once a statement of intention has been formulated quite clearly, make an image of the intention as something solid, perhaps as a symbolic or literal object, and image the power of the sun (or perhaps a sunGod) pouring into it, lighting it up, energizing it.

Yes, it's that simple. However, the point of the ritual is to charge the intention with energy, and to help you do that most effectively, you may want to get a bit creative. You may even want to experiment a bit until you find whatever makes the most sense and feels most effective to you.

In this ritual, I do this by holding up both hands toward the sun, as if to cup something in them, and then imagine what ever best symbolizes my intention inside a sphere, a bubble of energy resting on my hands. Then I invite the Sunfather to help me fill that bubble with sun energy, yang energy, doing energy. Then I just stay receptive, channelling the energy into the sphere. Two or three minutes of this is usually enough—often even less time feels right.

Then, I consciously release the energized intention to be free to work in my life. As I do that, the bubble bursts in an explosion of light. I've noticed that sometimes I feel the energy rush through me, lighting me up, and I know that this will help me to stay focused on what I'm doing. However, other times, it seems like a lot of the energy goes out into the world, and the next thing I know, people are phoning or coming around with information I need to carry out my intention or to volunteer to help with it. It's quite amazing at times to see how effective this simple few minutes of focusing energy can be.

Possible Additions to the Ritual

First of all, these are just suggestions, possibilities. They work for me. What is important though is for you to find what works best for you—what resonates best with your heart and mind and soul. Feel free to be creative and to experiment.

Help from the Fae

One of the things I do fairly often is to draw one of the Faeries' Oracle cards as a part of setting my intention. I may know what I want my intention to be and just want any comments they might have to help me refine it, or I may be less clear about an appropriate intention and want suggestions from them.

For example, this morning, I was not at all clear about what I "should" do—it's a holiday here for most people, but I always feel like I have such a huge pile of undone work that it's hard to just take time off. In my usual dilemma about this, I asked the fae (via the cards) what was appropriate for me today. The card I drew was the Master Maker (22) reversed. He said very clearly, don't do much—but whatever you do do, do it well!

This seemed excellent advice. Unfortunately, the first thing I did was to fall into confusion about how to image this. As I stood there in a muddle an image popped into my mind's eye of the master maker himself in the energy sphere, tapping his bare toes impatiently and muttering to himself. "Come on, I do have other things to do too, you know! Doesn't she realize I'm an aspect of the Sunfather too? Sheesh, what's holding us up?"

I reached up quickly so I was holding the bubble in my hands, and he winked at me. Immediately his lazer spear/cutting torch/welding rod began blazing, filling the sphere with sparks of sunfire. As it did, I saw with astonishment the image of the Master Maker turning into an image of me with his gleeful grin, and then the energy ball was so full of light that I couldn't see anything. And it burst silently, the energy rushing out. Most of it flowed through me but some went rushing out into the world, though I couldn't tell where. Time will tell me, probably.

I'm getting the impression this moment that I've worked hard enough for right now, writing this, and it's time for a break. So I'll go do that for a bit, and probably be back in a while with some more for this page or another.

Slow Dancing with the Sun

This is something I sometimes add to my Sun rituals. It's a simple, but powerful little exercise/dance you can do with the sun (or moon) to energize and strengthen your own energy field.

The basic process is that you stand in direct sunlight, facing the sun (except for the midnight one). Take four slow, deep breaths.

Now, take a quarter turn to the right so you have the sun directly on your left side.Take another four slow, deep breaths.

Take a quarter turn right again so that the sun is directly on you back. You can use your shadow to be sure you are directly aligned. Once more, take four deep, slow breaths.

Another quarter turn right brings you around so the sun is on your right side. Four slow, deep breaths.

And another quarter turn right brings you back facing the sun, where you take another four deep, slow breaths.

Here you reverse the cycle again, but this time turning LEFT each quarter turn, and taking four slow, deep breaths.

When you once again face the sun, say 'thank you' in whatever way suits you best. And then, you're done. Maybe...

There are various things you can add to this process. For example, turning to the right is stimulating and strengthening while turning to the left is calming and relaxing. It's a good idea to keep the two into balance, but what if you're out of balance to start with? Let's say you're feeling hyper and need to calm down. One way to enhance the calming process would be to take fewer breaths when turning to the right and more in each position when you are turning to your left. Or do an extra set of turns to the left.

One warning here: do not use the stimulating right turns to enable you to keep going when you are overstretched, overworked, over-tired, exhausted. The energy this provides is subtle energy, not physical energy. If you allow the energy to be gradually absorbed by the physical body it will help heal and strengthen you. BUT if you grab the feeling of energy and run out to keep on keeping on, you will in fact be draining physical strength while feeling energized. Not a good idea. I know this one because I've been there and done that with long term bad consequences. You have been warned!

Another kind of sundance is the yoga "Salute to the Sun" which is a great way to start the morning. Here is a good description (with drawings!) that I found on the web: Salute to the Sun. Please note: when practicing a yoga exercise, do so to the gentle edge of your ability. You want to be fully stretched, but not stretched to where it hurts. If you practice it often, you will find that both your flexibility and strength improve—as does your sense of well being and energy.

Journey to Meet the Sun

This is kind of a long process, and I usually only do it as a part of my special Sun Fire celebrations—the things I do at the solstices and equinoxes and the cross quarter days of Imbolc, Beltane, Lammas, and Samhain. I also do it when I think I need to.

If you already know how to do inner journeys, I recommend doing one to talk with the lord of the sun, whatever you name him. If you don't know how to do them, I wrote this book called Sun Over Mountain, which I recommend highly, that explains the whole process. You can see three of the chapters here. Or you can look for it on Amazon.com at Sun over Mountain. Unfortunately, Amazon keeps losing the information and all the reviews, but you may find a copy there.

Alternatively, there is an inner journey to Faery in these pages, which you could adapt to talk to the Lord of the Sun. It is Meeting Your Guide to Faery.

Sunlight...

Sunlight
dances down,
Earth warm
beneath our feet.
We stand,
rooted
in her Love,
illumined
by his Grace.

Sunrise &, Spring Equinox
Sunhigh & Summer Solstice
Sunset & Autumn Equinox
Midnight & Winter Solstice

Faery Wisdom

Moon Ritual
Dark Lady, Dark Moon
The Maiden, First Night Waxing
The Maiden, Last Night Waxing
Bright Mother, Full Moon
The Crone, First Night Waning
The Crone, Last Night Waning

Sun Magic, Moon Magic

References & Links

Back to Faery Wisdom

© Copyright 1986, 2005 by Jessica Macbeth. All rights reserved.
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First Edition 1986, First printed by An lios na bean bhochd 1993
Reprinted 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993