The "Devouring and Peace" Emotional Transmutation Ritual
Setup:
This ritual is designed to get us to fully allow our feral expression and then return to a state of balanced equanimity. It is perfect for those interested in lycanthropy or chaos, natural, and animal magics. This should be done alone, where one can act and exist entirely unhindered by judgment.
Items Needed:
An Orange or other fruit with a rind you can eat happily
A Knife
Toothpicks
Comfortable Clothing
A Shower or bathing tub with low lighting
Incense or wild fragrance of any sort
Whole Cloves
A Tea Candle
Journal (optional)
Ritual:
For this ritual, make sure you have an extended period of time where you can remain undisturbed. It is important to see this through to the end as we are accessing wild energy within ourselves, then centering around calm energy afterward. Accessing the wild energy and then being interrupted halfway through defeats the purpose!
To start, cut your orange in half and bring it with you into your place of bathing. Give a moment of thanks for the food you have. Remove all your clothing, get the lights as low as possible, light an incense or fragrance, and clear your mind of any residual thoughts you brought into the ritual. If you have personal ways that help you clear your mind or go into trance, you can do them now, but stay within the room.
Start your shower or bath. With a clear mind, let feral energy overtake you, bring forth your animal self, and fully embody it. Do not force action, but do not withhold it. Grunts, growls, quadrupedal stances, and the like are not required but help release that blocked animal energy that many people suppress.
For this next segment, keeping the two halves of the rind as intact as possible is important.
When you have released your animal energy, grab half of the orange and devour it in the shower or tub. Do not think about yourself, only the food you are consuming. Scrape the flesh of the orange from the rind with your teeth, and eat the flesh in its entirety. Truly release yourself to your animal instincts. When you finish the first half, move to the second and do not hold back. Let yourself go and fully devour the food you have.
You will inevitably damage the rind, but try not to tear it unnecessarily. Again, we are trying to keep the rind intact as much as possible. It is okay if it splits in half, but preferably, it is not torn into several pieces.
When you have fully consumed the orange, put the rind to the side or in a safe place, and slow your breath. Return to a centered state of being, allow the feral animal energy to decrease, and lower your heart rate. Once you feel yourself begin to calm, wash yourself fully to finalize your state of centered, aware equanimity.
Bring your orange rind with you out of the shower or tub, extinguish the incense, dry yourself, and put on your clothes. Relocate to a space where you feel safe and can remain undisturbed.
Use a few toothpicks to repair the damaged rind by stabbing them together like wooden stitches. It does not have to look pretty. We are hoping for two halves of a globe, almost as if we have reassembled the orange, which is now empty inside. Decide which half is more stable and make that the base; the other will be the top. Place a tea candle in the base and tear a hole in the top. Again, it does not have to look pretty. Push whole cloves into the rind close to the edge of the hole in the top.
Take a moment of silence before you light the tea candle. Allow any chaotic, heightened, or non-peaceful energies to leave you before you light the candle.
Light the candle and place the top rind over the base, adjusting it to ensure the flame does not burn any edges. As with all open-flame rituals, remain by the candle until the ritual is done, and never leave a burning flame unattended for extended periods. The tea candle's wick can sometimes drift when the wax is fully liquified, so check on the rind often to ensure it does not burn. If it does burn, simply rotate the top to accommodate.
As the candle burns, do something you enjoy that brings you peace. You can meditate, journal, create art, or do anything that brings you joy and tranquility that centers your being. Remain in the presence of the candle while you do this. Remind yourself of the visceral energy you hold, but maintain inner focus and peace with whatever you do. Give thanks and honor both sides of yourself: the feral and the calm.
When you are done with whatever activity brings you peace, blow out the candle and keep the orange out as a reminder until you sleep. If the candle goes out, give thanks and end the ritual promptly.
Use the rind in other rituals if you wish, or discard it respectfully the following day.
