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Shining Lakes Grove, ADF

Water Sharing Ritual

MAP Picnic, June 30th, 2001

Preparing ourselves for our time with the Gods and Spirits

• Processional and purification - Come We Now As a People(by Ian Corrigan)
  Come we now as a people
  Together, to gather at the sacred well.
  Come we now as a people
  To gather in the warmth and the light of the flame.
• 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
• Unity chant - 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.
• Statement of purpose: We come together from far and wide, bringing the waters of our local regions and personal spaces, to share them in the spirit of community.

Declaring Center and opening the Portals

• Tree, Fire, and Well - Standing at the Crossroads (by Pandora)
  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.
• 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, Bel, Danu,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: Ana, goddess of the Huron River, she who brings the life to the land.

Giving and Receiving

• Pouring the water: We take turns, each pouring the water from our own location.
• Group praise - The Way to the Well
  We will never, never lose our way to the well of her memory.
  And the power of her living flame, it will rise, it will rise again.
• Main Sacrifice: Giving offerings to the river.
• Omen of return: Reading the runes.
• Return blessing: Sharing the waters with each other.
• Cauldron blessing: The newest mother holds the cauldron so we may receive its healing energy.

Unwinding and closing

• Recessional - Now the Rite is At an End (by Paul Kershaw and Marae Price)
  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.
  

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