SLG Fall Equinox Ritual, 1997

Welcome to

Shining Lakes Grove, ADF

Fall Equinox 1997 Order of Service

Welcome to Our Celebration!

Before we begin...

Enjoy the antics of the Fool and other entertainments, greet each other, 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

Bardic Invocation for our eloquence and inspiration
Processional and Purification (Come to the Land)
Welcoming the Allies, the spirits of the people and their gods who lived in this land before us
Honoring our Mother Ana (Blessed Is She)
Meditation, grounding and centering
Unity Chant (We Are One with the Mother)
Statement of Purpose - We celebrate our harvest and the wild spirit of the life of the land.

Declaring Center and Opening the Portals

Tree, Fire, and Well
The opening of the Ways
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, Brid, Aren, 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, the spirit of the life of the land whom we seek in our spring and fall hunts. In this ritual, we dance for the Stag to call him to us.

Giving and Receiving

Praise offerings and main sacrifice

Group Praise: Horn Dance, based on the traditional English horn dances such as that danced at Abbots Bromley
Main sacrifice - basket of corn
Omen of Return - fire scrying

Return blessing - Cornbread and apple cider
Welcoming new members, officers, and guild members, and bestowing other honors
Cauldron Blessing

Unwinding and Closing

Recessional (Walk with Wisdom)

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

Fall Equinox Songs 1997

Special pre-ritual song:

Hail to the Goddess*

Hail to the Goddess Ana
Hail to the God Manannan
Hail, hail to Aren, Danu,
Bríd, Lugh and Bel

Hail to the Goddess Ana
Hail to the God Manannan
Hail and be welcome here
By fire, tree, and well

Processional:

Come to the Land**

Come to the land, the holy land,
The land that has welcomed our people,
Come to the land, the beautiful land,
May we root in her ever deeper.

Ana Honoring:

Blessed is She

Blesses is She who brings the life to the land
Blessed is She
Flow out from your sources, sacred river
Blessed is She.

Children's Praise Offering:

Children's Mabon Song***

It's harvest time
It's harvest time
The air is sweet
The day sublime
We'll bring in your crops
Bring in mine
And thank the gods
Our lives entwine.

Unity:

We Are One with the Mother

We are one with the Mother,
We are one with the earth,
We are one with each other,
By our lives, by our birth.

Recessional:

Walk with Wisdom

Walk with wisdom
From the hallowed place
Walk not in sorrow
Our roots shall e'er embrace

May truth be your brother
And honor be your friend
And luck be your lover,
Until we meet again.