As the glorious summer days fade and the harvest is in, the wheel of the year turns bringing autumn days. Mornings become chilly and the nights draw in, blankets come out of storage ready to be snuggled under and my thoughts turn, as they always do at this time of year, to death.
Outside the leaves on the trees turn from greens to golden browns and deep russet reds before they fall. Falling away is the etymology of the word Apoptosis – “apo” (from) and “toisis” (falling). The word pops into my head, sparking a new ritual idea for me to take to CYN. One in my ongoing series of rites rooted in the stories science tells us.
Apoptosis is the planned normal and controlled death of cells which occur as part of every organism’s growth and development. It is controlled by the Caspaces.
During this process Caspace-9 is initiated by intrinsic factors such as DNA damage, oxidative stress or other stressors. Alternatively Caspace-8 is released in response to external stimuli such as TNF (tumour necrosis factor) binding to the outside of the cell. Both trigger a proteolytic cascade that cause morphological changes like cell shrinkage, chromatin condensation (pyknosis), and membrane blebbing which in turn lead to the formation of membrane-bound apoptotic bodies which can be easily engulfed by phagocytes, ensuring the orderly removal of cellular debris without causing inflammation or damage to the organism.
As below, so above. So it is to the spirit of the Caspaces that I will call during my ritual. The idea is to allow people to let go of those things that no longer serve them. A bit of magical pruning to allow space for new growth. To ensure that no damage occurs the participants will represent the phagocytes that clear away the debris. Phagocytosis “phagein” (to eat) and “kytos” (cell), plus the suffix “-osis” The mantra is obviously “Om nom nom”
In preparation I collect, wash and dry some autumn leaves. Participants sigilise the things they wish to release and draw the sigils onto the leaves.
We repeat the statement of intent: A gentle death for all that does not serve me.
I evoke the Caspaces while the other participants repeat the mantra “Om nom nom”
Evocation:
Now in the silence before the fall,
In the stillness of the cell’s last breath,
We call, Caspase, Harbinger of the Final Threshold, Death
You who stand at the signals gate, opener of the sacred path,
Sentinel who decides in balance without wrath
What may abide and what must pass.
Awaken now from zymogen slumber,
Sharpen blades wrought from cysteine’s edge,
Caspase-9, flame-keeper of the cell’s core shrine
Come Caspase 8, called Death’s receptor,
Send forth the signals, summon up your kin,
Let the dance that we call death now begin.
Come executioners Caspase-3 and 6 and 7
Unbind the ties that hold the cell together
Bonds break and DNA unwinds
The cell collapses in upon itself
With endless care old fragments are swept away
Into the Apoptosome, the wheel that turns the end.
Deliberate death, methodical and clean
Free from the fires of inflammation and from strife
In peace into the Phagocyte’s embrace
A sacred passage making way for life
Thus ends the song the cell must sing alone,
That others may arise, and life go on
Closing:
Thank the spirits for their help and end with an IAO banishing.
The leaves are taken outside and released on the wind.