The Rite of the Tinley Fire

The Rite of the Tinley Fire
Regeneration and Renewal in the Season of Darkness

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"...The cauldron of the year is boiling down to nothing, returning to the dark emptiness from which the old year was born. The hot disputes and passionate loves of the waning year are ghosts now, memories fading into the darkness. The concerns of the old year are dying, its sounds are vanishing echoes.

Now just the sound of the wind in the trees is left, and dead leaves are filling up the empty spaces on the ground. The night is heavy. I can feel the change in the air, and in the land. The black mother of Hell has breathed her cold breath into my forest. Soon, it will be time to go below.

Do I hear footsteps, or twigs breaking, where I know no living person can be? Is it an animal, watching me though I cannot see? They watch us like the pale people we cannot see. The white geese flying in the sky unseen have called out. The bitter season has begun, and ripe gourds are piled in the corners. I am the scarecrow that grimaces, the owl nailed to the barn-door, the pile of sticks in the unlit pyre. I am becoming weak and strong, a strange power has gripped me in the season of undoing and blackness."

-Robin Artisson

The Year's Death and Rebirth

Eventually, The world that is seen and the worlds unseen will return to nothingness.

Once, these worlds were all born from the Cauldron-Womb, the great dark void of the Veiled or Hidden Mother, the immense dark void of potentialities, the deepest Mystery. The cosmos began moving in a new cosmic cycle, a world-cycle full of countless sentient beings and other powers, and as aeons of time passed, Fate began to reach a culmination and the worlds gradually became overwhelmed by the incipient and lurking chaos that strained at their boundaries and deep within their hearts... and they finally succumbed, and the long aeonial day of the cosmos became the vast night of time, the sleep of the Gods, a return to the great yawning darkness, a return of all manifestation and becoming to the primordial unmanifest potential condition, to await the beginning of a new cosmos-cycle.

This is how the worlds begin; this is how the worlds end.

This very pattern is endlessly repeated, and this great repetition is reflected on all levels, from the most macrocosmic to the most microcosmic- the lives of human beings reflect the very basic "fact" of emergence, life, death, and a return to the potential state to await rebirth and regeneration in some new form.

And so we can see the same pattern embedded in the birth, life, death, and regeneration of the year- from birth in the depths of winter, to life in spring and summer, to waning in autumn, and death in the depths of winter, where the year waits for "rebirth" at the deepest part of winter. It is very meaningful that the actual death of the year is very nearly also the time of the rebirth of the year.

The Holy tides of Samhain or Hallowmass represent for some modern Traditional pagans and witches the season of death and renewal- just as the depths of Yule or the Mother's Nights represent the same time and condition to others.

Both seasons symbolize the death of the Year, and the promise of its renewal. No season is darker or more aligned to the wane and death of the life-powers of summer and light than these dark seasons, and so no season is more dangerous on the spiritual level- and to people who lived closer to raw nature, few seasons were more difficult and dangerous physically as well. Older people tended to die more in the cold; animals that couldn't make the winter had to be slaughtered, and it was a hard time. The Red Men or the giant, dangerous forces in the natural world were at the height of their power, and the uncanny presence of the Otherworld was closest to the human world in this season. This may have endowed the time with much mystical power and potential, but it came with myriad dangers.

The stream of the Dead could flow into the human world on this season, and the hordes of the underworld came with them- the boiled-down cauldron of the year represented the collapse of the cosmic world-order at the end of Time. Chaos reigned, and the lupine powers that represented the underworld freely roamed in the "Wolf-Nights" of the old Germanic lore.

No season is more associated with witches or witchcraft than the Dark season at the year's end.

In the darkest depths, the fires of regeneration must be lit. The Tinley Fire is the Fire that represents the renewal of the world, and all the worlds, and it was traditionally lit during the tide of Hallowmass or November- and one could rightly look at the Yule fires, Yule logs, and other fire-based Yule observances as another reflex of this same idea. The Druids were said to light fires in the depths of darkness on the Hills of Ireland at key times in the year, to signal the beginning of a new phase of yearly existence, no doubt reflecting a perceived cosmic "shift"- Beltane and Samhain being times when hearths were extinguished and community fires were put out, and the "new" fire, representing the new season or order, was ceremonially lit first on Tara hill, or on some other special hill, and then distributed throughout the land.

Either way, the symbolism is clear: in the depths of darkness, when all comes to rest in chaos, the fires of renewal must be lit; the new order must be born in the new light and heat, which will drive forth the winter cold eventually, establishing a new "world order" in the new year. The dark powers of winter will be defeated by the new light, representing the "re-emergence" of the Gods or Spirits who shape and order the primordial, formless world which will be newly emerged from the darkness of the Voor or the great and timeless Void, driving forth the chaotic powers, and creating the order that will last throughout the long "day" of cosmic manifestation. Fate shifts from her dark face to her light face- in the deep of winter, a "child" of flame and promise comes, heralding a new, regenerated world-age. The Goat-Eyed Child and Master of the World undergoes his theophany, along with all powers.

Few people understand the simple and profound power of the ceremonial re-lighting of the "first fires" of the new year, and its symbolic strength- but those who do understand the mystery of regeneration understand one of the deepest mysteries of all: that time itself is reborn in the depths of winter, and when time and the world are regenerated, all that has passed before is, in a sense, truly gone. It belongs to a previous world-cycle, and though all things that have ever occurred, in any universal cycle is held in the unfathomable depths of Fate's memory, the manifest world is still utterly renewed.

This means that every person who directly understands this can begin again- they can become renewed themselves, truly putting behind them the powers and fated entanglements of the previous year, or even their previous lives, and start anew, on the most "real" level. Regeneration is just that- people can allow aspects of their lives or selves to "die" with the old year, and literally become born as a new person into the new cycle. Perhaps others who do not understand or know what you have done will continue to deal with you as they always knew you- and surely other events from your past will exert their effects on you- but in this regeneration and rebirth, what is most essential about your being can spiritually and deeply be renewed and free to be whatever you can dream.

What you dislike about yourself can pass away, and a new self, a new sense of self, a new internal structure, can be born. It only takes awareness. What changes you need to make, what old mental or spiritual orders you entertained and supported, all can be regenerated into a new form, or no form at all. All is possible in the time of Chaos, the time of greatest potential for any and all manifestation to arise. This is why what some call "magic" is so effective in these times. The cunning witch should bear all this in mind- and it should be borne in mind that for pagans, this time represents a needed release and regeneration that all people come to long for after a long year, or years.

This very universal and ancient theme is remembered in the "New Years Resolution" practise, and in the various carols of winter, singing of "Good spirits renewed".

The Rite of the Tinley Fire

1. The Tinley Fire should be lit near the end of the Hallowmass celebration or tide, or during the latest hours of the night on the Winter Solstice.

The Witch or Adherent of the Old Ways should extinguish all lights in their home. Total darkness is needed. If this rite is being done at the hearth of the home, all the better. If it is being done outdoors, it should be done to the east of the home, if possible. Anywhere outside, within walking distance from the home will suffice, however.

Your hearth or a fire-pit outside of your home should be piled with fresh kindling and wood, waiting to be lit. Once your home is in darkness and is quiet, walk to your waiting pile.

2. Now, you must make the final "motion" of the old year (which is symbolically, the final motion of the cosmos): you must make a single slow counterclockwise circle walk around the fire, or in front of the hearth. This is the "Black Sun Road", the path of all things in manifestation turning inward and vanishing utterly into the unknown.

Stop after your walk, and kneel down, and go perfectly still and silent, and close your eyes. This is it: the deepest stillness, the sleep of the world, the night of the Gods. Don't think, just be in silence, stillness, and darkness. This is the fertile void-condition that all things will emerge from; this eternally silent and still reality is the womb of all, and even during cycles of world-activity, this silence and stillness remains at the heart of all things. All the dead return to it; even though it seems silent, still, and dark, it is actually a great fullness, an indescribable fullness. It IS the experience of fullness, to the mortal mind, though most will not or cannot see that.

You must sit like this for a few moments to a few minutes, being and thinking nothing. If images or thoughts arise, think of them as just after-shocks of light fading away from the universe that just ended, and let them vanish. Feel the great dark emptiness, but also sense the great potential waiting to come forth again- its impossible not to feel it, like a dark anticipation.

3. Now, gradually let yourself begin a consideration of the realities that will exist in the new cycle- what things about the former world have to pass away for you? What things will exist for you, in you, in the new world, after the fire is lit and all things are renewed? You have a chance here to put many things behind you, and to be regenerated on a deep personal level. Your "first stirrings" of thought and planning here represent the beginning of the beginning, the strange, deep impulses that move towards generation. Think about what has passed away, and what you want to pass away, and really let it go- and decide, then and there, what must arise through you in the new world-age.

4. Now take a small bowl of water, put a pinch of sea-salt or regular salt into it, and say, over the bowl:

"Here is water, fertile void of life,
Body of bodies that will bring forth
The flesh of the world.
Dark Serpent's coil, Heaven and Sky rise up!
Holy Water, a bridge of passage for every spirit.

From the heights to the depths,
The river of the living and the dead,
The road the Master will walk.
Light from the dark!"

Take this water and anoint with it, and sprinkle it clockwise around your fire or the area around you. You have to ring the fire with it, by sprinkling.

5. Now take a long candle or taper, and light it. Say:

"Fire in the water, come forth:
A milk for the Land and bitter seas
Lady most secret, bless this flame
The hidden flame of the flesh and the world.
Here is the fire, light of what is seen
And unseen, nurturing and illuminating
The vast and dark bower of the queen.
From this, come forth a life and Fate's weave."

6. Now put the candle down, So that it will illuminate the area, and have a Red Meal, to awaken the powers.

Take a cup of dark wine or milk or ale and ring a bell, ringing its sound to the powers you wish to reach. Only begin speaking when you feel that the sound has "penetrated" into the depths and "reached" them. This sound represents the first emergence of the logos or the primordial sound that shattered the silence of the depths, accompanying the first spark of will (your thoughts about the form of the new world) and the first spark of life (the candle).

The first invocation over the cup is to the Great Matriarch herself- Old Fate. You are asking her to send forth the New Worlds, and give birth to all life, all spiritual powers. Say what you wish, or say something to the effect of:

"Ancient Providence, She Who Births, Weaves, and Binds:
Unmovable Queen of What Must Be
Veiled One, who Veils Sunset from Dawn,
I pray thee, no longer conceal What Could Be:
Let not the blindness of the Old Night persist.
In your depths, be not unmerciful.
Bless this cup with the essence of all potential
And let us feast with your blessings
Of Wisdom and Sustenance from the Land
In the new age to come."

Then, ring the bell again and pray over the cup to the Daughter of the Great Witchmother, her "active" manifestation in Nature- the Fire-Spirit, or the Rose Queen. You are asking her to move the worlds and nurse them with sustenance and power. Use your own words or something to the effect of:

"Abundant one, Loving one,
Burning one, deadly one, Awaken!
Bless this Cup.
Seductive and alluring one,
Fire in the hearth, the land, and the body:
Draw all things together with your love
Which neither man nor spirit can resist
Desirous and black, spirit most holy,
Move all things into the great becoming
From dark to light to dark, from spirit to birth to spirit."

7. Now place the Cup down, and take a bowl of bread.

Ring the bell and pray over the bowl first to the Great Father, the White One, the first great conscious being that arises from the deep darkness of primordial awareness represented by Fate, the Father who is broadly horned and who bears light between his horns- the light representing his son, the Master, who will spring forth from him, to shape the world and bestow the cunning fire on mankind. Notice that the great Father has a son which represents the "active" power, just as the Great Matriarch has a daughter representing her activity in Nature.

You are asking the Great Horned Father to awaken and bring forth the worlds and all beings, in intercourse with the Darkness of the Great Matriarch, the fertilization of the fertile void that brings forth the Land-body and the nature-bodies, and all differentiated spirits. Use your own words or something like

"Great One, Stag-Horned, Mighty one of Great knowledge,
White and Hoary, Ancient of Days, Awaken!
Bless this Bread, making it your body.
The light between your horns is your great promise.
Make the Mother of All to be fruitful in your embrace.
Bring forth the light, the Shaper,
Bring forth the great strength of all."

Then, ring the bell again and pray over the bowl to the Master- the Mercurial All-Father of the Pagans, the Divine Word, the Logos, the Goat-like lord of Light, who Shaped all and bestowed the gift of divine imagination upon mankind. You are asking him to awaken and complete the work of the Cosmos, bringing all into form and shape as Fate has decided, and to perfect creation by bestowing the light of imaginal self-awareness and abstraction onto sentient beings, that they may know the boundless glory of the Reality they are a part of, that they may know the workings of the divine and share consciously in these workings.

"Ancient Daimon of Flame and Light, Who endows Earth with Spirit,
Awaken! Bless this bread, making it your body.
Golden Gleaming, Shining with fire in the Night,
Giver of the Fire of the Gods, Firebringer and Light-bringer,
Son of the Great One, Leader of the Hosts of the Immortal Ones,
Teacher of the Craft, Master of the World,
Come and fulfill the work of Fate.
Make all things to come to form and shape and be perfected."

Remember that the Master and all these beings will aid you in "bringing into reality" what you decided would be new aspects of yourself in the Regenerated world-age which is about to break forth.

8. Take a sip of the cup and eat a piece of the bread. Then take the remains, and put it on your unlit fire; pour the cup at the base of the fire and sprinkle some of the liquid over it, and put the bread remains in the unlit fire.

9. Light the fire with the candle you lit before the Red Meal.

Say, as it blazes up:

"The Tinley Fire is A-light!
Here is the end of Old Night."

Watch it blaze. The Universe has been reborn. The awakened powers can hear and perceive you through the fire; it is a two-way communion. Say any other prayers you may wish to say, or make invocations for power and needs in the new world-age that is beginning before you, furiously and brightly.

10. Take other candles and light them from the fire, and carry them once CLOCKWISE around the Fire, or in front of your hearth, and carry them into your dark home, and start lighting other candles and lamps and the like; fill your home with light from the Tinley Fire, before you turn on any other lights. The world, your mind and body, and your home, have all been regenerated into a New cycle of the World. As you walk through your home with the New Fire, you can have others ring bells or beat drums or make other celebratory racket- this was thought to drive forth the dark powers of chaotic winter that still hang on after the renewal; the world is still cold, and it will take a while for the new fire to gain enough strength to be full order and summer, but the Red Men, the dark powers of Time's first dawn, they realize that the fire and light represents what will eventually overcome and defeat them, and they fear it. The new birth of the cosmos always begins with the powers of darkness and chaos, and they resent the light and fire of order- but they must give way... until next winter, when all things collapse back into Old Night, awaiting a new Tinley Fire.

Site last updated: November 2, 2005