I invoke first:
Ophelia, God of Rivers and Waters and Time.
I invoke second:
Abel Blake.
Temper your ancestral father’s flame.
I invoke again:
Ophelia,
God of Waters
of Duty
of, in darkest night, forgiveness.
I invoke now
Aster Aira
flame of flames
fire of fires
unholy child of Laethic conflagration.
Upon this, the night of your birth,
I honor you appropriately
in word and no more.
Eternal the incandescence of your body.
Endless the exclamation of your soul.
I honor this,
you,
your sacrifice.
Aster Aira is one of the children of the Laethic Firebird – the actual giant bird of flame that may be understood as the ‘purest’ (and also most foreign/alien/fairy) form of the Laetha. Althea Altair is one of the other children of the Laethic Firebird, but she has more positive aspects than Aster. Though they are both born from the same ‘father’ they are not, and do not consider themselves, siblings.
He may be called simply ‘Aster’; as with many Laethic spirits, he has a secondary name that clarifies him in prayer but may not be necessary during spiritual journeys.
Aster is the older brother to the snow spirit Neve Winter (a child of the Ophelia). Both he and Neve share their birth on the Winter Solstice, though they are said to be separated ‘by a year’ according to the Western fairy spirits. Neve may also be invoked or summoned or worked with in relation to Aster. Invoked together they can balance out each other’s intense energies (fire and ice, for Aster and Neve respectively). These siblings encompass every spectrum of sibling relations, from extreme dysfunction to peaceful relation. The Winter Solstice is a good point to work with their more beneficent (to humans) aspects.
(I tend to focus more upon Aster, as I am closer to him in energy and as I am an older sibling.)
Fire has a variety of meanings and interpretations among the spirits of the Other People. Aster tends to embody and represent the more negative and overwhelming aspects. He is effective at burning away and destroying. For this reason, he is best invoked with aids or ‘leashes’ to rein in him. He can, if left unchecked, become malevolent. I would not say he is inherently malevolent, nor does he seek to harm human practitioners, but he is very much a trickster. He will force practitioners and devotees to encounter their own shadows and faults, often in abrupt fashion. He has no tolerance for self-deception.
He can be incredibly useful for burning away lies and deception of all kinds. Any prayer, magic, or ritual requiring less-than-positive fire spirits can call upon him.
Though he is, technically, the ancestor to some of the Otherfaith spirits (Abel Blake, the Repudiated Blake, some Witch and sun spirits), he is not very effective when summoned as an ancestral or paternal spirit. Using his paternal bonds can help in calling him forth, but his rejections of familial bonds means he will not aid well in resolving family issues. Practitioners may find utility in his relation with his own parents – he is ultimately rejected by the Laetha (his birth parent) and adopted by the Ophelia.
Aster Aira, Neve Winter, and Casimir make up the ‘Verszou Triad’ (such as I call them), but Casimir is not best called upon during the Winter Solstice or month of December generally.
In my own personal practice, Aster has been with me for over a decade. He is one of my oldest spirit ‘friends’, along with Neve and Casimir. One would think that as I grew older and advanced in not only my (polytheist) devotional and magical practice that I would move on from them, but…I have not.
My recommendations above come from working with Aster for so long. But that does not mean that other practitioners should hold them as gospel. As I try to note at the end of every post here, you should adjust and tinker and alter the content I post to suit your own practice and experience. The spirits will be interacting with you, after all, and in posting these thoughts I simply hope to illuminate my own pitfalls and encounters.
Aster has, consistently, been an overwhelming entity in my life. Even at his most positive – and for a ‘destructive’ fire spirit, he can certainly be beneficial! – he is A Lot to deal with. In one of my most recent journeys that he helped chaperone I ended up with a dagger in my gut and emotions spewing out of me like vomit.
As best I can describe, the energetic feeling of him is like a warm mist around the shoulders. He hangs just behind your back; not threatening or scary, but there always, like a little whispering, niggling voice that bounces between being overly critical and tossing out horrendously ill-conceived ideas.
This overbearing aspect of him is why I suggest tempering him with the Ophelia, or Abel Blake (who, in the stories I have seen between them, is a very effective collar to Aster’s less-great impulses), or Neve. I would advise more toward the first two. Neve can be just as destructive and wily, just in a ‘cold’ form. When Aster and Neve get going together it can be absolute havoc.
Casimir, a spirit I associate with earth, mountains, and the stability of humanity (in a broad sense – think beyond generations and on a larger ‘human species’ level), can also be invoked to neutralize Aster’s energies. Aster will tend to become scarce for a while after invoking Casimir, though, so doing so should be a last resort if one desires to work with Aster.
the Ophelia, the Otherfaith God of Rivers and Time, is likely the best bet to temper Aster’s fire. She is his adoptive parent, both gentle yet firm with him, and Her watery aspects balance out his flame. That said, the Ophelia also has little tolerance for self-deception, hypocrisy, and lies; if you are working through such things with Aster I suspect She will be of little help.
Below are some other prayers for Aster Aira that I have written this year. Please use them, and the one above, as you see fit.
To Aster Aira, upon the date of his birth:
I call to Aster Aira,
son of the Firebird
embodiment of flame,
accursed one.
I call to Aster Aira
upon the day of your birth,
the mournful night
of light’s return.
I call to you:
Misfortune, to be burned away
our misfortunes bled into your blood
burned away within your body.
Consuming all poisons
all despairs
all injuries of man
until the sun is all that remains.
To Neve, to temper Aster, her brother of flame, unholy one:
Neve of the cold and ice,
daughter of Ophelia,
clad in snowfall.
Most remarkable among
the Western’s winter,
born properly a year following
your flaming brother.
Your castles of ice
and illusion
mark the worlds.
Bring blue fingers
to bear upon your brother
guiding him to redemption.
[All information above is in-process, as the Otherfaith is always under development. It should not be taken as solid canon or ‘law’. Please use the information to explore and experiment as feels appropriate.]