by Michael Standingwolf - Kyklos Apollon Ritual

kyklos apollon ritual

my altar has a central image, which is flanked on either side by a small votive candle, and then on either side of that are two much larger, “framing” candles.

preparation

ablutions:  wash your hands, feet, and face, saying:

my feet/hands/face i purify in honour of the god.

set up a cult image of apollo.

have some bay leaves and/or frankincense nearby.

light the two outer candles.

1.  opening

be seated before the altar and take 3 deep breaths.

i come before this altar

to honour the blessed gods who hold wide olympos,

the shining and magnificent gods who are for ever.

not one of you, gods, is small, not one a little child;

all of you are truly great.

therefore you are worthy of praise and sacrifice, you olympian deities,

the gods of humankind, the holy ones.

2.  invocation of hestia

light the first votive candle, saying:

with this flame, i call upon her who is first among the immortal gods.

may she come and bless these holy rites.

holding it in both hands like an offering, circle it clockwise before the altar 3x.

         homeric hymn to hestia (24)

light the second votive candle.

3.  dedication

already this radiant four-horse chariot, the sun, flames over the earth,

and at this fire of heaven the stars flee into the sacred night;

the untrod parnassian cliffs, shining, receive the wheel of day for mortals.

the smoke of dry myrtle flies to phoebus’ roof.

the woman of delphi sits on the sacred tripod,

and sings out to the hellenes whatever apollo cries to her.

but you delphian servants of phoebus, go to the silver whirlpools of castalia;

come to the temple when you have bathed in its pure waters;

it is good to keep your mouth holy in speech

and give good words from your lips to those who wish to consult the oracle.

but i will labor with laurel boughs and sacred wreaths making pure the entrance to phoebus’ temple,

and the ground moist with drops of water.

o paian, o paian, may you be fortunate, child of leto!

lovely is the labor, o phoebus, i carry out for you before your house,

honoring your prophetic shrine;

glorious my labor, to be a slave for gods, not mortal but immortal;

i do not tire of laboring over my auspicious work.

phoebus is a father to me;  i praise the one who feeds me;

the name of father, beneficial to me, i give to phoebus who rules this temple.

o paian, o paian, may you be fortunate, child of leto!

4.  offering of incense

light the bay leaves or the frankincense and cense the image of apollo clockwise.

hear me, pythian apollo, apollo loxias, apollo mousagetes,

phoibos apollo, apollo akesios, apollo smintheos,

or by whichever name you wish to be called.

i offer this incense in honour of you.

5.  invocation of apollo

visualize the altar as looking out over delphi, where you can see the sun rising.  cyclical invocations:

         orphic hymn to apollo (34)

         kriosa lysia’s invocation of apollo, or

o holy child of great leto, golden-haired phoebus,

come from afar to be near us

as the son of hyperion rises over the navel of the world.

as daylight dawns at sacred delphi

we who adore you turn our thoughts there,

scattered as we are across the whole earth,

and each in our own way salute you,

remembering the one we shall never forget.

where your golden foot steps is hallowed ground;

may you come to each one of us.

and with your coming the light grows warm,

and soft harmonies cleanse the air.

your presence purifies us,

for only what is pure can approach apollo.

where you are is sweet delphi,

and we who are yours unite in this sacred place

to greet and to praise you,

to smell the fragrance of your hair,

and to remember, to always remember,

apollo who shoots afar.

6.  readings to apollo

o lord of delos whose very heart is song,

what better offering can i lay before you

than the glorious songs of those who loved you of old?

accept this sacrifice of words which i pour out in your honour.

cyclical readings:
         homeric hymn to delian apollo
         homeric hymn to pythian apollo I  (3.179-299, 375-387)
         homeric hymn to pythian apollo II  (3.388-546)
         euripides' hymn to apollo in iphigenia among the taurians  (c. 1235-83)

         kallimakhos’ hymn to apollo

         kallimakhos’ hymn to delos  (in parts)

         apollo in the library of apollodoros  (1.4.1-2, 2.6.2)

         pausanias on delphi  (10.5.5-13, 10.24.1-7)

pause to contemplate or meditate on apollo, and then pause to remember the members of kyklos apollo who are also performing a ritual to the god at the same time.

7.  purification  (the python verses)

i come now before apollo paian for purification,

for he among all the gods is renowned for cleansing and clearing away whatever ails us.

they say that near the temple at delphi there was a fair-flowing spring, where the lord,

son of zeus, with his mighty bow, killed a dragon,

a great, glutted and fierce monster, which inflicted

many evils on the people of the land—many on them

and many on their slender-shanked sheep;  for it was bloodthirsty.

o kind phoebus, there are monsters here too.

please listen while i tell you everything.

speak freely now to apollo about circumstances in your life with which you would like his help, about qualities within yourself which you would like to improve or overcome, and about any errors and wrongs you may have committed in the past week.

         when you have detailed all your concerns, imagine all negativity emerging from your body in the form of a great dragon-like serpent.  as you read the following verses, visualize apollo the archer standing before you and just to the side.  when you reach the appropriate place in the hymn, see him fire his arrows into the python coming out of you until it is completely torn out of your body and lies thrashing on the ground.  as you continue reading the hymn, see it rot & disintegrate until there is no trace of it left.

the python brought their day of doom to those who met it,

until the lord far-shooting apollon shot it

with a mighty arrow;  rent with insufferable pains,

it lay panting fiercely and writhing on the ground.

the din was ineffably awesome, and throughout the forest

it was rapidly thrusting its coils hither and thither;  with a gasp

it breathed out its gory soul, while phoibos apollon boasted:

“rot now right here on the nourishing earth;

you shall not ever again be an evil bane for human beings

who eat the fruit of the earth that nurtures many

and will bring to this place unblemished offerings,

nor shall typhoeus or ill-famed chimaira

ward off woeful death for you, but right here

the black earth and the flaming sun will make you rot.”

thus he spoke boasting, and darkness covered its eyes.

and the holy fury of helios made it rot away;

hence the place is now called pytho, and people

call the lord by the name of pytheios, because on that spot

the fury of piercing helios made the monster rot away.

now visualize apollo bathing your body in his magnificent golden light, burning away any last traces of negativity, and then healing and regenerating every part of your body from your head to your toes.  say:

ij paian, i am healed!

ij paian, i am cleansed!

ij paian, i am purified!

8.  offering of libation

9.  invocation of leto & artemis

the delian maidens,

followers of the lord who shoots from afar,

first praise apollon with a hymn

and now again leto and arrow-pouring artemis.

and so i too will praise the stately mother of the god who suffered much for his sake,

and also his formidable, arrow-pouring sister who stands always at his side,

for those who are dear to luminous apollo

are dear as well to those who love him.

         orphic hymn to leto (35)

         homeric hymn to artemis (9)

10.closing invocation of apollo

o holy archer whose broad shoulders gleam,

to you i give thanks for the purification you bring,

the healing you have given me at this time of delphi dawn.

stand by me, o radiant one, as my sanctuary and support,

both today and every day,

until revered persephone calls me near.

your ways are my ways, o treasured son of the noble daughter of koios,

so lead me on that path which you of all the olympians show forth:

that illustrious way which heals and honours the body;

which harmonizes and ennobles the heart;

which elevates and inspires the intellect;

and which purifies and enlightens the soul.

ij paian, o lyre-bearing god!

it is through you that mortals attain perfection.

lord apollo, founder of laws and cities, who sent forth the ships to new shores,

and inspired the deep-souled to heights of philosophy,

may our prayers be pleasing to you.

as we pray to you for purification, may you indeed purify us,

dissolving the effect of our faults as we mundanely strive to dissolve the faults ourselves.

may we belong to the inmost whorl of the restoration of your worship, and your honors,

and may these, which were once dimmed,

never be dimmed again.

take 3 deep breaths.

extinguish the candles.

        

sources

1.      rg-veda 8.30.1-2.  verses 1-2a: trans. wendy doniger o’flaherty;  verse 2b: trans. ralph t.h. griffith, with edits

3.      euripides, ion c. 80-155 (selections)

4.      incense recommended by orphic hymn 34.

         words after gitana, “ritual honoring athena,” 11 june 2005, at http://persephones.250free.com/Athena-ritual.html

7.      homeric hymn 3.300-4, 356-74

9.      homeric hymn 3.157-9

10.           todd jackson, kyklos apollon, 16 feb 2005 (with edits)