Welcome to Shining Lakes Grove, ADF

Lughnasadh 1997 Order of Service

Welcome to our celebration!

Friday Opening Rite (1:00 PM)

Preparing ourselves for our time with the Gods and Spirits

• Blowing of the Horn to call us to begin the rite
• Processional and purification (Come to the Land)
• 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 (Blessed is She)
• Meditation, grounding and centering
• Unity chant (One Voice)
• Statement of purpose: We honor Lugh, the father of our tribe, with this festival. Today we open the ways and invite all the gods and spirits to join our celebration. All we do from now until we close on Sunday, we offer as praise to the gods.

Declaring Center and opening the Portals

• Tree, Well, and Fire
• 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
• The opening of the Ways

Acknowledging and honoring our guests

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

Closing

• We end our opening ceremony and begin our celebration.

Saturday Main Rite (12:30 PM)

Preparation

• Ritual briefing (in the dining hall)

Pilgrimage

(meet at Main Ceremony Circle at 1:15 PM)

We make a ritual journey from the lake to the hill. This is about a twenty-minute walk. Those who choose not to go on the walk join the pilgrimage at the top of the hill for the final part of the journey, the blessing of the ritual areas, a little before 2:00 PM.

• Pilgrimage chant: (Hey Summer, Ho Summer
• Assemble at Main Ceremony Circle at 2:00 PM

Giving and Receiving

• We welcome and honor Lugh, father of our tribe, for whom we hold this festival
• Praise offerings and main sacrifice
  • Group praise:
  • Presentation of the loaf
  • Lughnasadh Dance
  • Blessing of the champions (Power Blessing)
  • Staff blessing and peace-bonding - our champions honor the next generation by blessing staffs made by the children earlier in the day.
• Main sacrifice: Championship Games (on the Games Field, 3:00 PM)

• Return blessing:
  • Feast Blessing (in the dining hall, 6:30 PM) We partake of the second blessed loaf (we ask that our guests please not begin feasting until after this bread has been eaten.)
  • Feast and Talent Fest: Entertainment during our feasting will be provided by those who have signed up for the Talent Fest. Also during the feast, we will announce the new Champion, and the Genealogy of Heroes will be recited.
  • Omen of Return: Runes drawn by each event winner will be used for our divination
• Welcoming new members, officers, and guild members, and bestowing other honors
• Cauldron Blessing

Sunday Closing Rite (3:00 PM)

Unwinding and closing

• Recessional (Walk with Wisdom)

Questions? Comments? Please contact Rob Henderson, SLG Webmaster. All content copyright Shining Lakes Grove, ADF, or the individual author(s), all rights reserved.