D is for Drum Circles

I totally wrote this on Tuesday because I was so excited about writing it, and got so busy yesterday that I didn't get around to posting it til today.

 

I totally wrote this on Tuesday because I was so excited about writing it.

Drum Circles, for me, are a wonderful combination of three awesome things:

--Circles

--Drums

--Fire

So, whenever there's an event at Four Quarters, inevitably there is a fire circle pretty much every night of the festival. Sometimes there are even rituals that take place in the fire circle. It's a large ring of sand that surrounds an unenclosed firepit (People here respect the fire deeply and abide by the circle rules, and they are very careful. There have been very few incidents over the years. In fact, I can't even think of any offhand.). You enter from the eastern side of the circle. The drummers sit on the southern side, a stage/platform rests at the western edge, and the Ancestors' shrine is located on the north side of the circle.

This isn't the 4QF bonfire site, btdubs. This is an image from a festival in Brazil. BUT IT'S JUST AS COOL!!

The Order of the Bracers have a fire going every night. They are the people that are authorized by the community to tend fire. Joining their ranks is a great responsibility, but learning the secrets of playing with fire is challenging and exciting. They chop the wood, lay the fire, light the fire, and keep it burning through the night. It really is a ritual of service all in and of itself. Sometimes, particularly during Wickerman, the tenders will put harmless chemicals in the fire so that it burns pretty colours.

Like a-this.

Once the fire is going, drummers filter in, take their seats gradually, and a beat starts. It usually starts out simple and then becomes more complex as more drummers join in. Once the beat starts, the dancers fill into the sand and start dancing in circles around the fire. There really is something about moving to the heat and beat on a cool summer night through a ring of sand and light and the darkness slumbering outside of the circle. The drummers feed the dancers, the dancers feed the fire, the fire feeds the drummers. It's really its own little eco-system of light and spirit. Playing drums is a rhythmic practice (obviously) and the rhythms from the drum help the drummer weave into the rhythmic patterns of the Universe. It's really a celebration of cycle and rhythm and a connection thereto.

Drum/Fire circles can be useful for more than just meditative dancing, universal connection, and general merriment. One of the most powerful festivals at Four Quarters is Fires Rising. This event converts the drum circle into a spiritual-alchemical container, and you work through the night to turn your personal 'lead' into 'gold.' All-night fire circles are amalgamations of creativity, fire, community, spirituality, growing and healing, with song, dance, symbolism, stories, and truth. It's a beautiful, unique experience.

In conclusion: fire circles rock. Find one near you, or organize one. You won't regret it.

Love,

<3 Sapphire Orchid<3

Pagan Blog Project - Dedications, Degree Systems, Initiations (and other concepts I don't subscribe to)

I'm late. Again. I know. I had a hard weekend.

OK so I wanna talk a bit about the relationships between Dedications/Initiations, Degree Systems, etc.

Personally, I shun these concepts. I'm not saying that nobody should use them, because obviously everyone's path is their own.

To me, they feel very limiting. Let's start with a Dedication/Initiation ritual. This is a ritual/event where you declare to yourself/the world that you intend to be a Pagan, practice Wicca, practice "The Craft" (god I have that term), discover the magickal workings of the world. Some people need this as a sort of turning point, waystone, or even sometimes as a cathartic moment where they're escaping something else and travelling this path as a sort of new beginning for themselves. I get that. It's important for some people. Here's why I dislike the idea. I started studying Wicca at age 14. I decided I'd check it out for a few years, having just recently separated myself from Christianity (Seventh Day Adventism) and broken my poor mother's heart by telling her I didn't want to be baptized. I figured I'd do an Initiation/Dedication/Whatever in a fancy, solo ritual in the woods behind my house and it would all be quite magical and meaningful and beautiful and I'd live the rest of my life casting spells and drawing down the moon and whatnot.

Then I hit 16, and the physical aspect of it lost meaning for me. Rituals became kind of silly to me, as if I'm actually drawing energy with this knife and drawing money to myself by rubbing a candle with some oils and saying some words. I became very "Yeah right," as most 16 year olds do, and suddenly I felt kind of Agnostic, like how could I know about the universe, how could I WANT to know, etc.

Eventually I sort of progressed back into a sort of Agnostic Paganism wherein I had beliefs but I noted that I had no truthful, intellectual way of knowing they were actually how the universe worked, and accepted the fact that each person feels the universe/god/the great pumpkin in a different light. I feel nature and the universe, and I know they exist, I believe in higher power as a part of all of us, but I accept that this is not divine "truth" and that what someone else believes, if completely opposite of my beliefs, are just as valid.

So where am I going with this nutshell rant about my spiritual musings throughout my adolescence? I keep changing, even when I'm not changing. This sort of negates the need for any sort of initiation or dedication ritual. Why dedicate myself to exploration of the Universe when really, that's what I'm here for? Can I dedicate myself to be something I already am and have been all along, an explorer? Particularly when I change my mind and add new ideas and alter old ideas to fit better. Seven hells, I'd have to do a new dedication ritual every week or so when I chew, taste, and digest any new idea. Plus, dedications seem too baptismal to me. Just my own distaste.

So anyway. Degrees. My big issue with degrees is that it feels very organized religion-y. Organized religion is like combustion: used properly, it can be useful, practical, and beneficial. When abused and spiraled out of control, it is dangerous and hurts people. Organized religion is what drives a good deal of people away from organized religions, even people who subscribe to those religions. Get the wrong people at the top of an organization, and you see abuse of power, scandal, and all sorts of terrible stuff. Just look at the Catholics. Do I have a problem with Catholicism? Absolutely not; the philosophy behind it is incredibly interesting, poignant, and I find mass to be very enjoyable to go to. I do have a problem with the higher-ups covering up scandals with little boys, and preaching against contraception. These are abuses of power.

Now, I'm not saying that every Pagan system/coven/group/whatever with degrees of initiation are suddenly going to turn into evil, scandalous, money-guzzling cretins, or even that any other group besides Pagans automatically will. I'm just saying, when you throw a hierarchy into a system of people's beliefs, you set up the possibility for abuse. If I am your "superior" in the form of a High Priestess or 5th Degree Druid or whatever, this sets me up for some sort of power over your spiritual practice (to a certain extent) and can lead to a path of issues.

Furthermore, I wholeheartedly believe that every single person in the world has a right to practice and experience spirituality how they wish, given that they don't harm or infringe on the rights of others. Everyone has access to the Universe/God/Spirit/Great Pumpkin, equally and automatically upon their life given to them. Degrees put people on different levels of closeness to the Divine, and thus undermine this basic human spiritual existence.

Degree systems mimic modern religion, in that there are stepping stones to re-connect with the Divine. I am a big proponent of the idea that we don't HAVE to strive to reach the Divine; the Divine is within us all equally. Why make Paganism into a modern religion? Degree systems are the same thing as the race to Heaven or Nirvana, just with a different name and different ideas, different methods.

Spiritual existence isn't a race. That's my personal opinion. It falls under the Pagan umbrella. I'm not here to compete with you or learn degrees or secrets. I'm here to celebrate life. That's all. Hope this makes some sense and doesn't offend too many people.

Love,

<3 Sapphire <3

Late, Late and More Late. Pagan Blog Project Week 6 - C is for Costumes!

Well how can you not expect the theatre major to mention costumes?

"Theatre started in a circle."

At Alvernia, when we would start a new play, the very first rehearsal we would first all stand in a circle, hands held, and just be there, a group of actors, where it all started originally, in a circle. We'd also circle up before each performance. It was grand.

Whether you're by yourself doing the voices and movements for all the parts, or if you're in a group, you can really have some fun with Ritualistic Theatre. The last Stones Rising that I was at involved ritual theatre depicting the Voyage of the Argo. I didn't hear about it until all of the roles were gone, thus I didn't get to act in it. But it was spectacular!

Anyway, we were going to talk about costumes. Which have a lot to do with ritualistic theatre, but aren't limited to ritualistic theatre. Costumes are a very powerful tool in linking you to something else. Actors wear costumes not just for the benefit of the audience, but to help them get into the role. Playing Irina Nikolayevna Arkadina in Anton Chekhov's play Chaika would not have felt the same without the corset, the ornate dresses, the big hats, etc.

So what can you do with costume? There's the obvious, go all-decked-out costume of something, say maybe a God or a Goddess, or a historical figure whose energy you want to connect with or channel for a specific purpose. Maybe you could dress like Cleopatra for a love, beauty, or seductive ritual (or a bathing ritual! Cleopatra was THE bath lady ever, and baths can be made into rituals of beauty, feminineness, and cleansing!). Maybe you'll dress like Queen Elizabeth for a ritual wherein you want to invoke Renaissance energies or to feel more powerful. Maybe you'll dress like Adam Smith for a money and prosperity ritual. (Hey, don't make fun. I like that idea!)

But you don't have to go big. Sometimes costumes aren't about big. Maybe there's a certain color you want to wear to conjure some sort of energy into your circle. Maybe you could do a masked ritual, and make a fancy mask, or even just paint one a simple, solid color from the local craft store. You could do a ritual of simply adorning your body with jewelry, slowly, piece by piece, to symbolize a richer life (that doesn't have to be just financially richer, either). You could paint your face in woad to connect with ancient Celtic energies. You could make a pair of sparkly, gossamer wings that either strap to your back or hang from your arms when you astrally project, to symbolize flying.

There's just something to be said about placing a thing on, near, or around your body. Your energy mingles with it, dances with it, takes a taste of it, and for just that moment in time, you can connect with something you've never connected before, in a safe, highly theatrical manner.

This concludes the second C post. I can't wait to see what interesting, lovely things everyone has to say next week!

Big Love,

<3 Sapphirescent <3

Pagan Blog Project Week... 5? C is for Children!

C is for Cookie, it's good enough for me!

JK it's about children. I'm not a parent yet, but I am getting to that age where I'm starting to think about what it might be like to have kids, what kinds of values I want to instill in them, and how I'd go about doing that. I read pagan parenting resources that I can get my hands on, as well as multicultural websites like incultureparent.com. I like to imagine what it will be like trying to explain what I can about the Universe, spirituality, and how the world in general is set up. I imagine what it would be like taking them to spiritual events and festivals at Four Quarters, and taking them traveling.

There's also the matter of figuring out how to raise children to be Pagan if they want, and not if they don't, especially amongst my Seventh Day Adventist family. I think a very important part of raising a child, to me, from a spiritual perspective, is making sure they have plenty of information available to them. Would I like my children to be Pagan? Sure, it'd be nice. But I'd much rather have them think for themselves. If something about what I believe doesn't make sense to my kids, and I try to push them to think what I think, then the only thing that will foster is resentment and divide.

I never want to have my children face a situation where they are uncomfortable talking about what they believe, or where they feel like someone is guilting or threatening them into switching up their beliefs without truly feeling in their hearts that that's what they want. I've seen this happen with plenty of people. When I first converted away from Christianity, I was terrified to tell my mother, and embarrassed about what her response might be, if she would think it was ridiculous or stupid. At first, she didn't like the idea, but as the years went by, she came to accept it as a part of who I am. I think she was just scared for me, initially, but she never made me feel stupid for believing something different. That's really important to me, but it's also important to me that I accept my children for who they are without resistance, even if society claims they're going through a 'phase.'

Actually, I really hate that word, 'phase.' Seriously, it sounds like you have this idea of who your children are going to be and all they have to do is get past this stupid obstacle phase thing. Did you ever stop to think that it's not a 'phase,' but instead it's just who your child is at this moment, and that it's perfectly valid? I've gone through phases. I went through my Wicca phase, my rebel phase (a few, actually), my no-jeans-just-Tripp-pants phase, my dyeing my hair every color ever phase (which isn't entirely done, but just on hold until I can find a suitable wig for work! haha). I don't consider these phases, though. That's who I was. That's who I wanted to be at the time. Accept it, and move on.

Anyway, so, I suppose my goal is to raise my children around Pagans, in a Pagan environment, and learning all about Paganism and the whole smorgasbord of options and freedom of belief that it offers. But other spiritualities and religions will also play a heavy part. So maybe we'll celebrate Christmas, Chanukah, Chinese New Year, Ganesh Chathuri, etc, etc. in addition to Pagan holidays and festivals. Luckily, my boyfriend is Pagan, and we ultimately do plan on getting married and having children someday, when the time is right. So, luckily, there won't be this clash of the religions in our future family, but nor will there be this sense of "YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE THIS AND BELIEVE NOTHING ELSE!!!" that is so often present in other, more dogmatic spiritual systems.

I'm just really excited about kids, even though I'm not ready for them by a longshot. (Maybe a mediumshot.) I think that by thinking about how I'd raise my kids years before they even exist will really help me prepare for being a mom. At least, on my own. I don't really talk about it very much with Tim, because I think it makes him kind of nervous, but that's ok.

So I guess that's my rant for the day. Happy Friday!
<3 Sapphirescent <3

Pagan Blog Project Week 4 - B is for Burning Man Festivals!

Burning Man Festivals. If you have not been to one, you must get yourself there.

Let me start with a little bit of my own spiritual history. I converted from Seventh Day Adventism when I was about 13 to Wicca. I dabbled in that for a bit. At about 16 or 17, I got a little bored of the practical aspect of it (spellwork, divination, ritual, etc) and declared myself to be a Pagan in philosophy, spiritual but not religious (whatever that actually means), keeping certain Pagan beliefs, and tweaking them as I went along.

And so I remained that way, with this belief but not really putting a whole lot of effort into it, until Baltimore. And I met some other Pagans there. They held a fire circle for the Sabbats and even on some Esbats, and it was a really nice situation. Eventually, I agreed to come to a festival at this Pagan/Wiccan Church/Community/Camping Place they had been trying to get me to ever since I  met them, called Four Quarters. I had always had some kind of excuse not to, but I went for Wickerman.

 A Burning Man, Burning.

Wickerman is a festival held every year in Mid June, in which we construct a huge man of wood, wicker, and other sustainable, burnable things. He is built, people often put burnable art offerings on, in, or with him, and he's ceremoniously BURNED TO THE GROUND, MAN!!! It's based originally on an old Celtic festival, which has a bad rap from Julius Caesar. If you like, you can read all about it on the Wickerman website here: Wicker Man - The Wicker Man.

Seriously though, Burning Man festivals are a celebration of fire, art, music, and all things wonderful. The idea here is that you're creating a burnable, natural offering to the Universe, the Gods, the Goddesses, whatever you believe. While not strictly Pagan, it has Pagan roots, most of the people who attend are Pagan (again, most -- not all. There's no spiritual requirement to attend, it's inclusive of everyone and anyone!), and thus I consider it relevant to the blog project. So there. :P

The BIG GUY is the Burning Man Festival which is held in the Black Rock Desert near Reno, Nevada every year. It's the biggest Burning Man festival, ever. They also have associated smaller burns in other areas of the country, but the Wickerman Burn event that I go to is not associated directly with the Burning Man Festival.

There are a few other things you ought to know. There are ten principles to the Burning Man Festival, paraphrased by yours truly:
1. Radical Inclusion: Anyone can participate. Even strangers. If you don't know anyone, you get to make friends!!
2. Gifting: Unconditional Gifting is the name of the game. Burns are devoted to the act of giving, with no expectation of recompense or exchange. It's all love, baby.
3. Decommodification: Gifting requires no expected exchange, including money. Thus, Commercial Sponsorships, Transactions, Advertising, etc are a big no no. There is no merchanting at Wickerman events. You cannot sell or buy anything while there.
4. Radical Self-Reliance: the event encourages you to discover, explore, and rely on your own  inner resources.
5. Radical Self-Expression: You are the only one who can express yourself. Only the individual or community/collaborative group can determine the content of your expression. It is given as a gift. You give your expression as a gift to others, and the art burn is a gift offering to the Universe. As a gift giver, also please respect the rights and liberties of the recipient.
6. Communal Effort: Creative cooperation and collaboration are values of the burn, and the community must strive to protect and support social networks, art gifts, public spaces, and communication methods to support those values.
7. Civic Responsibility: Community members who organize an event are responsible for the public welfare, and for communicating to the public their civic responsibilities, including keeping in accordance with all state, local and federal law. (As a side note, drugs are bad, mkay?)
8. Leaving no trace: the community is responsible for respecting the environment. When the burn is done, the place should look pristine like nothing ever happened.
9. Participation: transformation occurs through participation. We achieve through work, play, and do. So go out, have fun, and DO IT!!
10. Immediacy: immediate experience is the touchstone of the experience: do it now. Now is the time.

So obviously I paraphrased a lot like I said I would, but you can read the original (and much better written than mine) principles here: Burning Man: What Is Burning Man?: Ten Principles..

Aaaaand there's a few other fun tidbits of information: It's not just the burn. There are Theme Camps, Villages, Art Installations, and other awesomely fun activities. As an example, my wonderful friend Kate holds a Pirate performance art camp at Wickerman Burn, with games and contests and general pillaging awesomeness every year. One year, there was a theme camp where you could mark another person for assassination, and that camp would go 'assassinate' the person with water guns, water balloons, etc. And let me tell you, it's REALLY frikken nice being pelted with cold water in the middle of June. Last year, someone brought a 5-foot-diameter beach ball that was played with and rolled around throughout the festival.

And people think of some of the coolest stuff! It's really a treat to see what they come up with every year.

Find one. If you're not near Nevada, then you can find an official Regional Burn associated with the Burning Man Festival that is hopefully closer to where you are. The search (International, Intercontinental, by the way!!) can be found here: Burning Man: Regional Contacts. Or, if you're in the PA/MD/WV/DC/NY ish area, or can get to central PA, there's always the Wickerman Burn, which won't come up in the Regional list, since it's not officially associated with the Burning Man Festival. Here's the link, if you wanna join us!!: Wickerman Burn.

Or maybe, if you don't go to a festival, have your own little mini Wickerman Burn in your own backyard! Just remember to check with your local Fire Marshall to make sure you're in accordance with fire laws and fun stuff like that.

Happy Burning!

<3 Sapphirescent <3

Pagan Blog Project Week 3 - B is for Beauty

I'm gonna try to make this one kinda short today, since I'm writing two posts today for the past few weeks in order to catch up to 'C' for tomorrow.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. There's a lot of different definitions, opinions, and ideas about beauty, but there has to be some way that we can relate beauty to the spiritual, right?

Beauty is flowers.

Absolutely. Even from a metaphysical perspective, beauty is important. The German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer has done extensive writing supporting his concept of the Will, which he considers to be an underlying existence that moves everything that we do, in cycles of desire and obtainment, desire and obtainment. Aesthetic contemplation, he says, quells the Will for the moment, allows us to be free of desire, and puts us at temporary peace. This is because art is our way of attempting to make pure concepts into a material form of understanding, and thus it soothes us.

 Beauty is simplicity.

We actively seek out beautiful things. We strive to look beautiful ourselves, wear beautiful clothes, make our hair beautiful, fill our homes and altars with beautiful things, treasure beautiful works of art, and listen to beautiful works of music.

 Beauty is an old photograph of siblings.

There are several theories for why we do this. The first is that we wish to give pleasure to ourselves or to others, and beautiful things give us pleasure. That's a simple explanation.

 Beauty is juicy and tasty.

Another reason, and my favorite one so far, is that we may seek out beauty is because beautiful things inspire us to make other beautiful things, in a cycle of creation that makes us feel like we are touching the divine, touching our ancestors, touching the world, touching all of these things that led to our own existence and creation. Beautiful things inspire us to the creativity process. Creativity is divine in and of itself. Creation of beautiful things celebrates the universe, god, goddess, and oneness within ourselves.

 My dog doesn't actually meditate. I just like this picture.

Some modern religions try to quell the beautiful things in life. Muslims (and technically Christians too, with the 2nd Commandment) are forbidden from outright creating art, and so they (cleverly) use their aesthetically-pleasing Arabic script to create beautiful works of art. While they find the way around this, it still is a philosophical advising against attachment to art and beauty.

 Sometimes, beauty is desolate.

Christians are often encouraged to not be too attached to earthly, beautiful things, as they will not last. I find that delicateness, the ability to be destroyed, and the idea that beauty will not last forever is exactly a reason to treasure it while it lasts. Even if you create the most beautiful artwork in all of the world and burn it, then perhaps its purpose was to only be enjoyed by you. Perhaps it is the more beautiful in that you alone have experienced it. (Just -- don't burn or destroy other people's artwork unless you've asked them first, cause that's kind of mean.)

 Most of all, Beauty is Nature.

Enjoy beauty everywhere. Here are some suggestions to add beauty to your circles:
--Artwork Meditation. You can use someone else's artwork or your own as a meditative tool. Stare at the artwork from several distances. What do you see? Are you looking at the whole picture, or zooming into details, or switching back and forth? What can you learn from this artwork, and from its beauty? What does it make you feel?
--Music. Incorporate recorded music into your ritual, if you haven't already. There's a LOT you can do with this.
--Create your own artwork. Who says you can't sculpt, paint, watercolour, sing, play instruments, collage, or even randomly sling paint onto a canvas in circle? Create art with the deity.
--Bodypaints. Naked. It's a lot of fun, and you can put a lot of temporary beautiful things on your beautiful body! Especially fun when done with your partner.
--Physical Objects. Sure, you've used flowers, gemstones, beautiful statues or figurines, foods, beads, feathers, and other such objects ritually before. Why not create a ritual still life with them? Pop out your camera, and take some shots, or just take a mental picture.
--Gingerbread Yule House? That sounds pretty awesome to me. Pretty looking, AND pretty tasting. And, yes, flavors and scents are beautiful too.

I'm sure that there's more things you could think of, or more things you already do, so go do something beauteous today! Celebrate your divineness with beauty. DO IT NAOO!!!

Love,

<3 Sapphirescent <3

Name of the Wind

So, a little bit over a year ago, my coworker lent me her copy of this book to read:

And me being the flitting-around, dabbling reader that I am, I read a few chapters and got distracted by George R. R. Martin's series and several other books.

BUT NOW I am reading Name of the Wind! And you know what the other awesome thing is? It will not only fulfill my books for my To-Do List, but it's got Pagan themes, including spell work and magic, supernatural creatures, etc so it counts for the Reading Challenge!

And you know, now that I've picked it back up, I love it. It's got characters that are fleshy and multi-dimensional, even only a fifth of the way through the way of the book. The language and style the author uses are delightful and at times truly heartwrenching. This is the story of Kvothe, a mysterious man with a wealth of power, as he tells it to a Chronicler who wanders into Kvothe, disguised as an innkeeper. It really is intriguing so far, and I highly recommend it. More to come when I finish it!!

Also, I'm gonna try and do two posts today for the Pagan Blog Project, both 'B' topics. They should be good. It will be awesome. And then I'll be all caught up for Friday, to start on the 'C' topics!

Peace,

<3 Sapphirescent <3

Pagan Blog Project Week 2 - A is for Air

This is my week two for the wonderful Pagan Blog Project, and I have chosen to do a brief rambling on Air, and then suggest some creative ways to celebrate air in ritual, spellwork, circle, or even just everyday life!

So air. It's pretty awesome. The funny thing about air is, it's invisible, you wouldn't know it was there unless you really paid attention, and yet it's the most immediate need we have. When you're underwater about to drown, all you think about is air. If you hold your breath for a few minutes, you'll pass out. Sure, after you get your air, you'll need all of the other things in some order, but air, breath is the first giver of life, the first thing we look for to make sure someone's still alive. (Unless you check the pulse first, shup.)

And you know what's funny? The first thing I think of when I think of air is Libras. You'd think that my first thought would be something romantic like the breeze, or something. Not that Libras aren't romantic, of course. I'm just saying. Air is the Libra's sign, after all, and it generally manifests itself in Libras, Geminis and Aquariuses as a sense of charm, wit, and intelligence, all of which lead to a talkativeness, which kind of makes sense because we use air to talk.

Air is light, air is free, air is constantly moving. You can't hold it down, you can't tie it to anything, and yet it's all around you, cradling your body and warming itself in your lungs, bringing you delicious smells of whatever is cooking near you, providing the basis for your speech and laughter, and playing gently with your hair when it whooshes on by. It's almost got a certain innocence, and a certain playful knowing about it. If your rituals are always too solemn for whatever reason, try incorporating some air symbols into it.

And you know what? Smoke from incense isn't the only way to invite the element of air into your circle or into your life. Try some of these:
--Fans. Flick fans around, maybe even ones that have been dabbed with (hopefully naturally) scented oils to stir up air energy. Use essential oils that were diluted into a carrier oil for best effect. (Synthetic fragrance oils are not as awesome.)
--Blow. Not like that. Literally, blow air out of your mouth. Cleanse your house by blowing in the corners of each room (watch out if it's dusty, lol), or infuse something with your own energy by blowing air on it. (Just don't 'infuse' any*one* with your air energy unless you have permission AND your breath smells awesome.)
--Blow Bubbles! Seriously, who doesn't love bubbles? Blow some bubbles around the circle. Be a kid!
--Balloons! In the same light, balloons are pretty awesome air tools, even just as decorations. Just don't inhale TOO much of the helium, k?
--Silky BellyDance Scarves. Flutter a few of these around in the air; they're so pretty, so much fun, and so... airy!
--An electric fan with Silky Streamers or Ribbons tied onto it. If you have electricity near your circle, you could just set up a few of these with streamers tied onto the cage thingy around the blades. Just be VERY careful that the streamers don't get caught up in the blades, cause that might start a fire. And you're wanting to add air into your circle, not an electrical fire. Seriously.
--Paper planes. I know, we're getting a little corny now, but honestly, it's fun if you've got a few people in a circle and you're just having a massive all-out paper plane war. Giggles galore.
--Singing, speaking, chanting, or even just conscious breathing are all air-oriented and ways to celebrate the existence of air in your life.
--If you're feeling adventurous, you can totally honor air by riding a roller coaster, bungee jumping, or skydiving. Seriously, breeze blowing in your face, free-falling through the air, it's TOTALLY a study in air-full existence. Yeah, it's not in a circle, but screw it, man! Isn't that one of the fun things about being Pagan? Discover the divine and spiritual in everything, even the mundane, supposedly un-spiritual, and 'strictly' recreational. Make your life spiritual, but also make it fun!!
--Use one of those wine aerator machines? Alright, alright, now we're stretching a bit. :P

I hope this has been kind of fun for you to read. Stay airy.

<3 Sapphirescent <3