SLG Fall Equinox Ritual 2004

Welcome to

Shining Lakes Grove, ADF

Order of Service - Fall Equinox 2004

Welcome to Our Celebration!

Before we begin...

Greet each other, get an early start on the potluck if you like, and check out the Raffle items before the Briefing. Words to the songs we will be singing are on the back of this sheet.

Preparing ourselves for our time with the Gods and Spirits

Processional and Purification (We Approach the Sacred Grove)
Bardic Invocation for our eloquence and inspiration
Welcoming the Allies, the spirits of the people and their gods who lived in this land before us
Honoring our Mother Ana
Unity Chant (One Voice)
Statement of Purpose - We honor the Stag God and the power of the wild, and celebrate the harvest.

Declaring Center and Opening the Portals

Tree, Fire, and Well (Standing at the Crossroads)
Acknowledging the Outsiders - the forces of chaos and change
Invocation of Manannan mac Lir, our Lord of the Dead, to guide and protect us in the Otherworld

Acknowledging and Honoring our guests

Ancestors - our beloved dead
Nature Spirits - the spirits of the land and its creatures
Deities: Lugh, Aren, Bríd, Danu, and Bel (feel free to offer a silent welcome to your own gods)
Archetypes - Acknowledging the three societal functions within us
Deity of the Occasion: The Stag God

Giving and Receiving

Passing the basket of corn: Direct your praise and energy to the basket to build a group offering. While you hold it, you may give praise or thanks to the gods silently or in the form of a vocal or physical offering. When you finish, pass the basket to the person next to you.
Group Praise: singing / Stag Dance (Fur and Feather)
Main Sacrifice: Offering the corn
Omen of Return: runes
Return Blessing: cider
Cauldron Blessing
Welcoming new members, officers, and guild members, and bestowing other honors

Unwinding and Closing

Recessional (Now The Rite Is At An End)

And afterwards... Join us for a potluck and socializing, and don't forget to get your Raffle Tickets!

Song Sheet - Fall Equinox 2004

Processional:

We Approach the Sacred Grove

We approach the sacred grove,
With hearts and minds and flesh and bone.
Join us now in ways of old.
We have come home.

Unity:

One Voice

I join my voice to yours, we are one voice
Our words ring out together to call us home.
I join my heart to yours, we are one heart,
One breath, one mind, one Grove, we are one.

Opening the Portals:

Standing at the Crossroads

Come together, gather at the Center
Open we these Portals three.
Start the journey, standing at the Crossroads
The Well, the Fire, and the sacred Tree. (repeat)

Group Praise:

Fur and Feather

© Sable

Fur and feather and scale and skin
Different without but the same within
Many of body but one of soul
Through all creatures are the gods made whole.

Recessional:

Now The Rite Is At An End

And now the rite is at an end, again we're parting ways
May truth and honor be your friend and lucky be your days
I'll hold you dearly in my heart, I'll hold you in my mind
And though our branches grow apart, our roots shall be entwined.

Note to Parents: Children are welcome to stay and attend the ritual with you, but only if they are supervised.