YODE 2010 AT STONEHENGE
This year, for the first time, the non-ancient and entirely invented festival of Yode was celebrated in community and on two continents, with small gatherings at Stonehenge in the UK and in the Mojave Desert in California.
The following is an account from one of the participants at the former of these two gatherings. It is written for both pagan and atheist readers.
Yode was invented by me in 1995, before I called myself a pagan and initially as part of an April fool. As time went on I came to see it as actually quite a good festival, as it requires NO beliefs of any kind and focuses purely on praxis. In other worlds on doing rather than believing. The date upon which it is celebrated (April 18th- 17th in a Leap Year) was chosen entirely at random, as were the two consonants in the word ‘Yode’, with appropriately chosen vowels filling in the rest of the name.
To celebrate Yode all one need do is the following:
1. Carry a stone all day.
2. Immerse oneself completely in water at least once.
3. Feast around a fire or flame, preferably in the company of others.
Four of us attended the gathering at Stonehenge: Myself, White Horse, Morgan and her son. All of us are members of the Caer Abred forum of the Druidic Order of Naturalists, an internet-based Druidic Order that caters for sceptical spirituality. There was a good mixture of viewpoints among us, myself an atheist, White Horse broadly agnostic and Morgan what I call a “pure atheist”. That is to say someone who lacks belief in actual gods, but does not extend that disbelief to spirit(s) and other supernatural phenomena.
We rolled up at the very lovely Cholderton Youth Hostel on Saturday afternoon and myself, Morgan and her son went to scout out the section on the River Avon that we intended to use for the total immersion element of Yode. It was just as well we did, as the place where we had intended to do this, at the point where the stones of Stonehenge were probably off-loaded at a site called ‘Bluehenge’, was completely inaccessible. This is a river that has minimal public access and where even canoeists are banned by the fishing clubs that own large stretches of it.
Undeterred, we scouted out for a more accessible spot and found a perfect place about a mile down-river, with a path down to the river bank, good parking and a shallow pool of the most clear water just off the main river.
When we got back to Cholerton White Horse had arrived and we headed out into Amesbury for a meal. Although it was not Yode yet, I still brought a small candle in case wherever we chose did not have any. We settled on an honest-to-goodness traditional British curry-house. They were perfectly happy with the candle and a bloody good meal ensued.
Back at the hostel we sat around the same candle and enjoyed a bottle of wine and deeply intellectual chatter until late into the evening.
The next day was Yode, so on waking I slipped my chosen Yode-stone into my pocket and we all headed off to Stonehenge for our 8 am access appointment. As well as us, there were a few other people who were there for access just to get close to the stones. We robed up and the security guards came out to brief us one the new access rules, which are ridiculous. Basically our intended ritual intended to use a flame in a lantern, water and some bread, all of which were not allowed. One of the guards said he did not understand the water rule, as the stones are rained on all year.
Undaunted we walked to the Heel Stone, that roughly marks the direction of the summer solstice sunrise, and processed along the sun-path into the Stones themselves. Stonehenge is a truly inspiring place from the inside and one that I have visited many times. For some reason I didn’t feel so inspired this time. This is probably to do with my personal circumstances at the time of writing, and observing my reaction was a useful reminder of this. To wax anthropomorphic for a moment, one could say the Stones still had a message for me. Which is to say, of course, that I had a message for me.
We set up for ritual, which was to use a naturalist version of a standard druid ritual. Each of us made opening declarations then Morgan gave peace to the quarters. There was no need to declare (not ‘cast’) a ritual circle, as we were already in one. The blessing of the four elements was difficult with no incense, flame or water, but we made do. We recognised the four quarters. Morgan, as part of her path, also welcoming the spirits of her direction into the circle, and spoke the words of the Druid Prayer/Declaration, each of us using the alternative to mention of gods of our choice. Then came the Druidic Awen chant. For druids the Awen is an expression of flowing inspiration that is called in from outside of oneself, a concept that I find quite easy to think of in my own terms as an atheist.
Having opened ritual we sneakily shared a morsel of bread each. It didn’t occur to me that if I had used my lighter at the same time, that would have counted as symbolic Yode meal under such adverse circumstances.
Then Morgan led us in a ten minute drum meditation on the theme of contemplating the Stones at an atomic level. For pagans this is about vivid visualisation, with some belief that one actually journeys to other realms. I stick with the use of imagination. It was a lovely experience sitting on the ground of Stonehenge, eyes closed, listening to a steady drum-beat, and more than made up for the restrictions we were under.
Then it was time to close ritual. We spoke the Druid Oath three times, intoned the Awen again, which was much stronger at the end, as seems often to be the case, and recognised the quarters again. Each of us made closing declarations and we finished JUST on time, as we only had one hour.
The other people with access had not stayed for the full hour, so we had had the place to ourselves for most of the time. Possibly this had something to do with the company of the robed ones?
We spent the rest of the morning walking the all too neglected sacred landscape to the north of Stonehenge. First the accessible section of the Avenue that leads to the river, then the New King and Old King Barrows that sit along the local western horizon, where I demonstrated the noble art of Atheist tree-hugging.
Finally we walked the 2 mile long Cursus that was the inspiration for the pagan name I have used for more than a decade now. I love this landscape, among others, and seeing how it interacts with the Stones. Here we are at the western end, having walked its length.
Walking experiencing such monuments is a way of honouring the Ancestors and the beliefs that they held, as those beliefs were usually a case of doing the best they could with the limited information about the nature of the world around them. Even without the benefit of our knowledge, they were tough as hell and are still the giants upon whose shoulders we stand.
Arriving back at the car-park we saw Arthur Pendragon, the veteran Druid road and environment-protestor, campaigning as a candidate for the UK parliament. They TOTALLY deserve him to win. We chatted for quite a while about his current campaigns and he was as interesting as always and looked really well.
So the time had come to leave Stonehenge and head to the river. The weather was as beautiful as the day before and after the short drive there we set up our picnic on the bank and prepared to meet the waters of the Avon.
White Horse went in first and his face told me that this was definitely NOT a heated river. Then it was my turn. The experience was….refreshing and my gonads have just about re-settled into their normal position.
In all seriousness, this aspect of Yode is the one that feels right to involve an element of endurance. And it was in such a beautiful setting. Last to go in were Morgan, followed by her son. And then it was on with the picnic, with a lit candle in the midst of the food of course.
Afterwards we parted company with White Horse, who headed home to Wales. I think it is safe to say that we will be repeating this celebration next year. As an atheist I have not found ritual to become less significant once shorn of its supernatural associations. In fact its relevance becomes more focussed when one knows that it is just about the mental states that arise in ritual, rather than calling to external entities.
I hope you all had a good Yode/April 18th as well!
