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                   PERSONAL & CULTURAL EMPOWERMENT WORKING

                           FOCUS: THE AIDS CRISIS
   
    Link-up date and time:  LAMMAS  (Saturday, August 1, '87)  7-10 PM EDT
  
        *note--major steps in ritual outline are in caps for easier 
        reference--(yes, i know it sounds like shouting but apparently 
        subtlties like underlining & italics don't translate well 
        electronically*
           
 PLEASE PHOTOCOPY AND DISTRIBUTE THIS INFORMATION SHEET.  This is a networking 
 effort to include as many people/groups as possible.  Also inform those whose  
 lives are directly affected by AIDS, so they may participate if they choose, 
 on whatever level they desire.  If you can't make the link-up time, please do
 this working when you can, as close to the link-up time as possible. 
    
     As Lammas approaches and the wheel of the year turns towards harvest time,
 we as Witches feel a desperate need to use our power *together* to recognize
 the teachings of this disease on a personal and cultural level.  It is only 
 through opening to the teachings which lie beneath the horror of AIDS that we 
 can begin to heal ourselves, each other, and our culture of this monster we've
 collectively created. (we know this is hard. please keep reading.)  AIDS is 
 transmitted through intimate contact, but often leads to painful isolation.
 The work of confronting AIDS is a cultural task and should *not* have to be 
 faced alone.  Because of this, we are suggesting a link-up time and we ask 
 that people do this ritual with *at least* one other person.  It is only 
 through compassion and the connection of the open heart that we can heal our-
 selves and our culture, and stop the spread of the virus.  
     Twentieth Century culture denies death as well as the sacredness of sex-
 uality, which are the domain of the Dark Goddess.  As the Dark Goddess is re-
 pressed, our resources are poured into making tools of destruction and 
 selling sex as a commodity.  As we further alienate ourselves from each other 
 and the Earth, the Dark Goddess we've repressed becomes terrifying to us.  
 The longer we deny our mortality and the sacredness of our sexuality, the 
 more severe Her teachings become.  Let's start *now* to reverse this trend, to 
 embrace the life-force in its fullness, which necessarily includes death.  
            
                 LAMMAS RITUAL FOR THE HEALING OF AIDS
     Since this is a challenging task which demands a lot of trust, we suggest 
 that people plan extra time before the ritual for discussion and trust build-
 ing.  In casting the circle, invoke whatever spirits and deities will provide
 the most support for you in this working.  Be prepared to communicate your 
 own needs and feelings, and to be receptive and supportive to the needs and 
 feelings of others throughout the working.  As you ground into the Earth's 
 Center, feel the power of all of us as we link up and turn our energy toward
 this common purpose.         
 
 1) FACING THE TRUTH:  Whether or not we believe we have been personally 
 exposed to the virus, it is a threat to all of us and to those we love.  Since
 no effective healing can be done while we remain in a state of denial and 
 fear, it's time to take stock of ourselves and our experience in full honesty 
 so that we may all learn the lessons of this disease.  Hopefully, if we open
 fully to these teachings, we will not have to learn through manifesting  phys-
 ical symptoms;  and if we already have physical symptoms we can arrest them 
 here, and not pass them on, nor be consumed by them.  
     Take time to EXPLORE AND SHARE our feelings and concerns about AIDS with 
 each other.  Acknowledge how we have all been touched by this.  Our fears 
 have kept us separate; it is through accepting our own fears and sharing 
 about them with others we're close to that isolation ends.  Mourn our losses 
 and accept the sacrifice; honor the teachings given to us and our culture by 
 those who are suffering now and those who have died of AIDS.  People should 
 take as much time as they need to grieve, to feel their fear, to feel their 
 sorrow, to name and accept all of these, whether these things appear to be 
 rational or not.  
     INVOKE THE DARK MOTHER as comforter and guide in this process.  Ask Her
 to show each of us what our personal work is to restore balance in ourselves 
 and in our culture.  Allow time for all to MEDITATE and be with the Dark God-
 dess.  When that is done, the group should SHARE with each other any images,
 realizations, feelings, and insights gained.   

 2) OPENING TO CONNECTION: Building on the realizations gained, FIND AND NAME 
 ways to integrate these teachings into our daily lives, to carry out this work
 on the Earth plane.  RAISE POWER for healing and compassion, to empower and
 root our visions and promises for action.  AFFIRM our openness to connection 
 and healing.  ENTRUST the AIDS virus itself to the care of the Dark Mother,
 affirm that as we open personally and culturally to these teachings, the virus
 will become obsolete.  Visualize the mutations of the AIDS virus slowing down
 and stopping, so that a medical cure can be found  as soon as possible. 
  
 3) GROUNDING THE WORK:  When the power has peaked and all feel complete with
 this process, release all excess energy and begin to ground.  As you dismiss 
 the circle, see the spirits and powers you've invoked carrying the healing and
 wisdom out into the world in each direction.  As you do the final grounding
 into the Center, send the power that has been raised into the center of the
 Earth, and through the Center, out through the entire planet.  Hugs all around
 for having the courage to have faced such a challenging issue.  Blessed Be.    
  
     This ritual written and originally distributed by Flaming Crones Coven
                    P.O. Box 1200, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
