Welcome to Shining Lakes Grove, ADF

Order of Service - Summer Solstice 2002

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

• 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 - We Are One With the Mother
• Statement of purpose: We celebrate the apex of the Sun during the Solstice and honor the first father Bel and first mother Danu.

Declaring Center and opening the Portals

• Tree, Fire, and Well - Portal Song
• 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, Aren, and Bríd (feel free to offer a silent welcome to your own gods)
• Archetypes - acknowledging the three societal functions within us
• Deity of the Occasion: Bel and Danu

Giving and Receiving

• Passing the sun wheel: Direct your praise and energy to the sun wheel 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 sun wheel to the person next to you.
• Group praise - Bel and Danu's Dance
• Main Sacrifice - sun praise, offering the sun wheel to the fire
• Omen of return - runes
• Return blessing - lemonade
• 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 - Summer Solstice 2002

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:
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.

Opening the Ways:
Portal Song
© Ian Corrigan

By Fire and by Water
Between the Earth and Sky
We stand like the Worldtree
Rooted deep, crowned high.

Come we now to the well....
...The eye and the mouth of Earth
...And silver we bring
...The waters of rebirth
...Together we sing:
CHORUS

We will kindle a fire
...Bless all and with harm to none
...And offerings pour
...A light 'neath the Moon and Sun
...Our spirits will soar.
CHORUS

Gather we at the tree
...The root and the crown of all
...Below and above,
...Together we make our call
...In wisdom and love.
CHORUS

Group praise:
Bel and Danu's Dance*

All the year we live by Bel
And Danu's sacred dance as well
Bless us as we sing your praise
Dancing in your golden rays

Closing:
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.

* ©2002 Rodney Cox
** ©1996 Paul Kershaw and Marae Price

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

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