A pagan full moon ritual is a sacred ceremony that celebrates and honors the energy and power of the full moon. Pagans, who follow earth-centered spiritual practices, believe that the moon's energy affects both the natural world and human consciousness. The full moon is seen as a time of heightened energy, a time when intentions and desires can be amplified. During a pagan full moon ritual, participants gather in a natural outdoor setting, such as a forest or meadow, to connect with the moon and the Earth. The ceremony often begins with a grounding exercise, where participants focus on their breath and visualize themselves rooted to the Earth. Next, participants may cast a circle, creating a sacred space for the ritual.

Byu mascot dancing

Penned in 1932 by Clyde D. Sandgren, The Cougar Song is the anthem of BYU sports. Sung after each touchdown and field goal at football games, its words can frequently be heard ringing out across Utah Valley on Saturday afternoons in the fall. Traditionally, fans remain seated through the first verse and then stand, chant and shout through the chorus. Carried by 65,000 voices, The Cougar Song can be an intimidating musical number to an opposing team.

Although written and composed in 1932, the song was not copyrighted and presented to the University until 1947. In addition to The Cougar Song, Sandgren wrote and composed The Old 'Y' Bell, which was sung at the dedication of the upper-campus bell tower. The bell tower housed the Victory Bell before it was moved to its current location outside the Marriott Center.

A 1937 graduate of BYU, Sandgren went on to obtain a law degree from St. John's University. He then became a partner of the New York law firm Burroughs and Brown until 1947, when he decided to return to Provo to establish his own law practice. Sandgren later served as general counsel and vice president of BYU. Although he passed away in 1989, Sandgren's memory lives on through the voices of Cougar fans across the nation.

The Cougar Song
Brigham Young University
By Clyde D. Sandgren, 1932

Rise all loyal Cougars and hurl your challenge to the foe.
You will fight, day or night, rain or snow.
Loyal, strong, and true
Wear the white and blue.
While we sing, get set to spring.
Come on Cougars it's up to you. Oh!

Chorus:
Rise and shout, the Cougars are out
along the trail to fame and glory.
Rise and shout, our cheers will ring out
As you unfold your victr'y story.

On you go to vanquish the foe for Alma Mater's sons and daughters.
As we join in song, in praise of you, our faith is strong.
We'll raise our colors high in the blue
And cheer our Cougars of BYU.

BYU’s dancing Cougar mascot enjoying newfound fame but maintaining anonymity after viral video

Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune BYU fans and school mascot Cosmo look on as Utah holds a 35-0 lead over BYU in the Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl, NCAA football at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, Saturday December 19, 2015.

Provo • There are two questions the BYU dancers keep getting.

No. 1: Can you do that in Provo?

BYU’s Football Team is 1-5, but the Dance team is undefeated pic.twitter.com/Y9DdB7wS4U

— Daniel Dudley (@DDisBORED) October 9, 2017

The latter, most often, is followed by a series of demands: Unmask him! We want his name!

More than one reporter has come around campus asking questions since Shaye Edwards and her Cougarette teammates went viral with a game-night routine that rocked LaVell Edwards Stadium on Friday.

The first is easy enough to answer. Yes, you can dance in Utah County, and there’s no better proof of that than the 16-time national champion Cougarettes.

But the mystery man who was front and center of their sensational performance will stay hidden in his Cosmo mascot costume for now.

“We’d have to kill you,” said Jodi Maxfield, the dance team’s coach.

Here’s what the Cougarettes will share about the man behind the mask: He is male, and a senior at the university.

He is not a member of the dance team and, in fact, has no formal dance training in his background.

But he’s a longtime supporter of the Cougarettes. He watches their routines and picks up moves here and there. A few years ago, he drove to Florida to watch them compete in the national tournament.

The Cougarettes are hard to keep up with — the team has won 16 national dance championships, most recently in 2016, and has had plenty of success with hip-hop performances at competitions.

In Maxfield’s 28 years at BYU, there have been maybe two or three Cosmos who have been asked to learn some choreography for Cougarette performances. This is the only one who has been ever asked to learn a full routine.

The Cougarettes called on him last year, and knew they wanted to include him again this season.

Edwards and her fellow captains, junior Nicole Thorley and sophomore Emry Wride, hashed out this routine a little over a week ago.

“We want to make sure the crowd was going to be into it,” Thorley said. “We wanted to put in some tricks that people would like. But it was more of a relaxed routine for us that we could just have fun with.”

When Cosmo arrived for the first rehearsal, Thorley said, “he was on point.”

And by the time the last note of Ayo & Teo’s “Rolex” had played, the 18 members of the Cougarettes had flipped onto the turf, and Cosmo had pointed his finger into the air, Maxfield knew they’d struck gold.

“The crowd just went crazy,” she said. “Even during the game, I had a lot of people texting me, saying, ‘That was insane. Lit.’”

And just like that, a viral sensation was born.

Since Friday night, the Cougarettes’ routine has been been featured on CBS and have been interviewed by Inside Edition and the Washington Post. They’ve been contacted by the song’s creators asking to collaborate on some future project. And the shared and retweeted tens of thousands of times on Twitter and Facebook, with many expressing shock that this cougar, with those moves, is from BYU.

“Do they really think that we don’t dance at BYU?” Edwards wondered with a laugh. “We have such a huge dancer department. It’s crazy that they think we’re not allowed to do this kind of stuff.”

“He was incredible,” Wride said with a smile. “What other school has a mascot that can do that?”

He sends text messages to the dancers whenever a celebrity retweets the routine.

“The hardest thing for us is him not getting recognition for the person that he is,” Maxfield said. “He gets it, as the mascot.”

But “it’s frustrating,” Thorley added.

“Someday everyone will know,” Maxfield said.

Mascot's Country Swing Dance Routine Goes Viral - Staff Picks

At the start of the video, the cougar mascot pulls a woman onto the middle of the basketball court right as the music starts. The song that is playing is ‘Simple’ by Florida Georgia Line.

“The way your fingers fit in mine
It's five plus five, not rocket science
This day in time, that's hard to find
It's true
The road we're on ain't a traffic jam
It's a Sunday drive on a piece of land
It's paradise as long as I'm with you”

The pair start dancing together around the floor as the music plays and the crowd starts to cheer. Then, right as the lyrics say, ‘It's like one, two, three, just as easy as can be,’ the cougar mascot does an impressive flip and lift combo with the woman. The crowd goes wild! That move is anything but easy and shows just how talented these two are!

During these stunning moves, the mascot is holding up the woman high above his head with just one arm. That requires so much strength! Then, he flips her down and tosses her back up again into another impressive move where he is holding her up in a new pose, but still is just using one hand.

While this is happening, the crowd cannot get enough! They are yelling, cheering, and clapping, all to show how impressed they are with the show that is being put on before them. Talk about entertainment!

The talented duo then ends their dance with an epic move. The grand finale of the show consists of the woman running toward the mascot, flipping right in front of him, and then the mascot lifts her high into the air just like that iconic scene in the movie Dirty Dancing. They even used the same music from that scene, with ‘(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life’ by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes playing in the background.

These two sure know how to put on a show, and it is clear to see why this impressive performance went viral online!

BYU Mascot Blows Minds By Doing Backflips Over Flaming Jump Ropes After Hanging With Jimmer Fredette

Very few, if any, collegiate mascots are athletic as BYU’s Cosmo Cougar. He is a legend.

First seen on October 15, 1953, Cosmo has blossomed into a nationwide sensation over the last 70 years. It is no easy task to become the official mascot of Brigham Young University.

Applicants are put through a rigorous physical test that involves maxing out in push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups. Everything that can be tested is tested.

That includes break-dancing, choreography, the ability to do a flip and other aerial stunts, as well as competence on a trampoline. No matter whether it is a basketball game, soccer match, or football game, Cosmo is among the most athletic people in attendance — if not the most athletic person.

Perhaps his most famous moment came in 2017. Cosmo joined the Cougarettes dance team for a routine that has accrued more than 12 million views on YouTube.

Dancing is only a small part of Cosmo’s greatness. He routinely goes viral for wild in-game stunts.

Whether Cosmo is dunking from the free-throw line after being launched into space, or jumping over two cars through a ring of fire, his performances never fail to amaze.

Cosmo’s strength is remarkable.

His push-up challenge last December might have been the most impressive display of strength and balance of his career. Cosmo is built different.

When he’s not cutting a rug or blowing minds with strenuous challenges, Cosmo is skydiving into LaVell Edwards Stadium as if it’s a completely normal thing for a mascot to jump out of a plane.

On Friday, as BYU football beat Cincinnati by eight, Cosmo was joined by an old friend. Jimmer Fredette, one of the greatest shooters in college basketball history, was on the sideline.

The man they call ‘Jimmy Buckets’ also got to witness a remarkable display of athleticism and danger. Cosmo jumped some rope during a stoppage in play.

Jumping rope is easy for Cosmo, so he took it up a notch by doing backflips over the rope. If that wasn’t impressive enough, he took a flamethrower to the ropes beforehand.

The jump ropes were literally on fire as Cosmo completed 13 backflips over them.

It was no big deal for Cosmo. Just an average Friday night in Provo!

Senior Editor at BroBible covering all five major sports and every niche sport imaginable, found primarily in the college space. I don't drink coffee, I wake up jacked.

Next, participants may cast a circle, creating a sacred space for the ritual. This can be done by physically marking a circle on the ground or using symbolic items, such as candles or stones. The circle serves as a boundary between the mundane world and the world of the sacred.

Once the circle is cast, participants may invoke deities or spirits associated with the moon, such as Artemis or Selene. They may offer prayers or make offerings, such as herbs, flowers, or food, to these deities as a sign of respect and gratitude. The main focus of a pagan full moon ritual is often on setting intentions or working magic. Participants may write down their desires or goals on a piece of paper and visualize them manifesting under the light of the moon. They may then burn the paper as a symbolic release, trusting that their intentions have been sent out into the universe. During the ritual, there may be singing, chanting, drumming, or dancing to raise energy and create a sacred atmosphere. Participants may also share stories, poems, or personal experiences related to the moon and its symbolism. After the main part of the ritual, participants may take time for reflection and meditation. This is a time to integrate the energy of the ritual and connect with one's inner self. Finally, the ritual is closed by thanking the deities or spirits and releasing the sacred circle. Participants may share a meal or drink together, symbolizing a sense of community and connection. In summary, a pagan full moon ritual is a ceremony that celebrates and harnesses the energy of the full moon. It is a time for reflection, intention-setting, and connecting with nature and the divine..

Reviews for "Celebrating the Wheel of the Year: Pagan Full Moon Rituals for Each Season"

1. John - 2 stars

I attended the Pagan full moon ritual expecting an enlightening and spiritual experience. However, I was sorely disappointed. The ritual felt disorganized and lacked any clear structure or purpose. The leader seemed more interested in performing theatrics than guiding the participants through a meaningful ceremony. Overall, it felt like a superficial and empty experience, and I left feeling dissatisfied and disillusioned.

2. Mary - 1 star

I have attended several Pagan rituals in the past and have always left feeling connected and empowered. Unfortunately, the Pagan full moon ritual I attended fell far short of my expectations. The leader seemed unprepared and unsure of what they were doing, leading to a meandering and unfulfilling ceremony. There was no sense of community or shared purpose, and I left feeling like I had wasted my time. I would not recommend this particular ritual to anyone seeking a meaningful and authentic Pagan experience.

3. David - 2 stars

I went to the Pagan full moon ritual with an open mind, hoping to explore and connect with the spiritual beliefs of others. However, the ritual felt forced and inauthentic. The leader seemed more interested in enforcing their own ideas and beliefs rather than creating a space for everyone to explore their own spirituality. Additionally, there was a lack of guidance and structure, leaving me feeling confused and disconnected throughout the ceremony. Overall, it was a disappointing experience that did not live up to my expectations.

4. Sarah - 2 stars

As someone who is new to Paganism, I was excited to attend the full moon ritual and learn more about this spiritual path. However, I left feeling more confused than ever. The ritual lacked clear explanations or introductions to the different elements and symbols used, leaving me feeling like an outsider. Additionally, the leader did not provide any guidance or support for those who were unfamiliar with Pagan practices, making it difficult for me to fully engage in the experience. I left the ritual feeling lost and discouraged about exploring Paganism further.

Dancing under the Moonlight: Ritualistic Movement in Pagan Full Moon Celebrations