- As
stewards of the Land and the Folk, it is desirous that our work provide
real benefit to the community we serve. The needs of the Folk and the land
are simple: health of body, wealth of materials, and wisdom/intelligence.
The Core Order of Ritual provides an avenue for the Folk to commune with
the Kindreds and obtain the blessings they hold for us. (Corrigan Intentions)
Our Core Order serves the people through the building and maintaining of
relationships with the Powers. It provides a means for offering our gifts to
the Kindreds and a means for receiving the Blessings they have for us in
return. As Celebrants of the Core Order, it is our duty to channel the gifts
through the gates to the Kindreds, harness the blessings they give in return
and transform them into a usable form for the Folk. This is achieved through
the Return Flow portion of the rite in which we imbibe the waters we have set
aside with the Blessings of the Kindreds. The Blessings are first communicated
to us through the taking of an omen using whatever chosen form of divination
the practitioner sees fit (based merely on preference and/or familiarity). The
questions asked may range anywhere from asking for healing and asking for
information and clarification, when indicated to a simple, open-ended, “what
blessings do you offer to us in return?” This continued reciprocity, over time,
serves to build and maintain relationships between the Kindreds and the Folk.
The reaffirming of shared beliefs may seem vague at first, as ADF is an
orthopraxic faith, based on right action, as opposed to being orthodoxic, right
belief. As ADF does not require the Folk to even believe the Kindreds are real,
sentient beings, the reaffirming of shared belief is far-fetched. However, we
have all agreed that the “right action” is to give to the Spirits, to observe
the Eight Neopagan High Days following our ritual format, and to be open to
receive from them in return. We agree that the universe may be built around a
sacred center consisting of three divisions that tie us to the realms of the
Land, Sea and Sky and whatever beings happen to be in them.
Our Core Order is centered on reestablishing the Cosmic Order. We
have come to agree that the Center is established in a tripartite manner, with
three distinct realms, accessed by three distinct gates, and giving us a direct
connection to three categories of Beings. The Upper gate through the Fire
connects us to the Gods, the Midrealm gate through the Tree connects us to the
Noble kin, and the Lower gate through the Well connects us to the Ancestors,
though there are variations of this section of ritual and Fire is the only
required element. When we reestablish the cosmic order, we further tie
ourselves into the creation myths of the Indo-European peoples whose myth
cycles describe the ordering of the rampant chaos into a concise, cohesive
whole in which life is able to thrive. Feeding this cosmic order provides
stability and order to the lives of the participants.
In his article, “Elements of Ritual
Composition,” Todd Covert equates enthusiasm
to energy. We refer to the “energy of ritual” in many of our publications; it
is the moveable form of our intentions and gifts that we give to the Kindreds
and the gift they give to us in return. However, the term energy, Covert suggests, may be replaced with the “sturdy” word of
Greek origin, enthusiasm. The
original definition was not only the “positive feeling toward something” that
we know it as today, but also embodied the “state of inspiration that has
flowed into a person from the divine realm” (Covert Elements). Thus, to be enthused was to be infused with
the divine. Enthusiasm, then, is achieved by our Core Order during the Return
Flow when the energy gifts given to us by the Kindreds are given to the Folk
through the Waters, infusing the Folk with the powers of the divine. In other words, our Core Order builds
enthusiasm within the folk by providing a means for affecting change within the
participants and penetrating beyond the intellectual plane of their psyches to
the emotional and “uncanny” places (psychic, or magical) where the Folk will
feel as though they have felt the presence of the Kindreds in a memorable and
useful way. (Covert Elements)
Our Core Order has evolved over
these few decades into a format that serves the folk not only through
mechanical means, but also meets their needs of body, mind and spirit. It is
through our practices that we have made and kept connections between the Folk
and the Kindreds, ordered the cosmos to maintain balance, and brought the Elder
Ways into our modern society. These gifts, perhaps less acknowledged than they
should be, are an ongoing part of Our Druidry and the underlying foundation
that will continue to carry ADF into the future.
