Prepare your ritual
space to include a fire or fire representation, a well representation such as a
bowl of water, a tree representation such as a stick collected from outside, your
chosen divination system, and several rounds of offerings. The offerings listed
below are typically common and are named simply to give you ideas. Please
revise this to fit your needs and the supplies you have on hand. After you have
arranged your items as you would like them, begin by finding your center…
Grounding and
Centering
For a guided Two
Powers meditation, ADF Members please click here: https://www.adf.org/system/files/members/orders/bardic-alchemy/oba-two-powers.mp3
Lighting the Fire
As you speak the
following, light your flame or imagine your fire representation coming to life
and connecting to all fires.
As I light this sacred flame,
kindled from the Great Flame that lies in all fires, I connect my shrine to all
shrines, my flame to all flames, my fire to THE Fire to light my way in this
work.
Purification and
Opening Prayer
Light a stick of
incense from the flame or dip your fingers in a small bowl of water. Wave the
smoke around you from feet to head or mark your third eye, heart, and palms
with water. Place the incense into an incense burner when done.
“May I be pure that I may pass
through the Sacred.
May I pass through the Sacred that
I may attain the Holy.
May I attain the Holy that I be
blessed in all things.” –Ceiswir Serith
House Spirit Offering
Prepare an offering
for your house spirits. Common offerings include clean, fresh water, small
snacks, and shiny objects.
Spirits of place who share my home,
Be welcome at my table,
Share in the hospitality I offer to
you,
And add your energy to this work.
I invite you to celebrate this
Solstice with me.
House Spirits, accept my offerings
and invitation.
Inspiration
Light incense or offer
a few drops of a spirit or scented oil.
Spirits of Inspiration, join me, on
this, the longest eve of winter.
Bring warmth to my words that they
may warm the hearts of those who hear.
Bring eloquence to my speech that
my words be laced with beauty.
Guide my words that they be gifts
to the Kindreds.
Inspiration, accept my offering.
Earth Mother
Offer grains or bread.
Gentle guardian of the Earth,
Mother to us all,
Support and strength, foundation
and hope,
Great Earth Mother, Hear my call.
I see you in the flowers, now
asleep below the land.
I see you in the trees, the
streams, and the prairies.
I see you in each of us, for we are
all made from you and to you we shall return.
Earth Mother, I honor you.
Earth Mother, accept my offering.
Statement of Purpose
Through the sunset of the year, I
have come to the time of the Winter Solstice,
in remembrance of the blessings I
have received throughout the year.
On this longest night, as the sun
sinks down into the Underworld,
I name this flame the beacon of
hope to stand against the darkness
until the sun is born again in a
bright dawn of joyful celebration.
Recreating the Cosmos
Prepare an offering
for each of the hallows to bless them and prepare them to be the Gates.
Burning bright, the Flame before
me,
Lighting paths the night would
hide,
Shine your light upon my shrine.
Sacred Fire, show the way to worlds
unseen,
Sacred Fire, burn within me.
Offer incense or a
drop of oil to the Flame.
Flowing deep, the Well before me,
Washing clean to purify,
Reflect the light upon my shrine.
Sacred Waters, show the way to
worlds unseen,
Sacred Waters, flow within me.
Offer silver to the
Well.
Standing tall, the Tree before me,
Lifting high the Fires light.
Deeply rooted on my shrine.
Sacred Tree, show the way to worlds
unseen,
Sacred Tree, grow within me.
Cense and/or asperge
the Tree.
Gatekeeper Offering
and Opening the Gates
Prepare an offering
for the Gatekeepers.
A child of the Earth is calling,
To the Keepers of the Ways Between,
To those who guide and guard the
ways,
Gatekeepers, All, hear my words!
To you, Keepers of Keys who opens
the ways,
To you, Guardians of Liminal
Spaces,
To you, Guides outside of time and
space,
Gatekeepers, All, hear my words!
Come to my Fire, and stand beside
me!
Openers of Ways, Masters of Time,
Liminal Beings, Allies in travel,
Gatekeepers, accept my offering!
Make offering and
prepare to open the Gates:
Gatekeepers, join your magic with
mine…
As you speak the words
to open each gate, trace a counterclockwise circle above each in turn.
May the Well sink deep into the
bosom of the Earth, down below the Chaos of Potential, and open as a Gate to
the Underworld.
May the Fire rise high into the
heavens, far above the Chaos of Order, and open as a Gate to the Upper Realms.
May the Tree hold fast the ways
between and open as a Gate to the world behind ours in the Middle Realm.
Bring your hands
together in front of you and part them wide as you speak the following:
By our words and by our deeds,
Gatekeepers, let the Gates be opened!
Pause for a moment and
feel the opening of the Gates, stepping you outside of time, and meet the
Kindreds with joy and purity of intention in your heart.
Invitation to the
Ancestors
Offer coins to the
Well.
You who have gone before me
Those of blood and bone,
Those of heart and honor,
Those of hearth and spirit,
Be warmed and welcomed by my fire.
Bring the wisdom of your journeys
To brighten the spirit of hope
On this, the longest night.
Ancestors, accept my offering.
Invitation to the
Nature Kin
Offer grains, seeds,
or clean water.
You of the middle realm
Standing side by side with me,
Sharing in the bounty of the Earth
Mother,
Guiding my feet along her paths,
Be warmed and welcomed by my fire.
Bring the purity of your hearts
To brighten the spirit of hope
On this, the longest night.
Nature Kin, accept my offering.
Invitation to the
Shining Ones
Offer incense, oil, or
spirits.
You who dwell on high
Granters of Vision’s Truth
Bestowers of Wisdom’s Grace
Gilded Guardians of Inspiration’s
Muse
Be warmed and welcomed by my fire.
Bring the powers of your healing
To brighten the spirit of hope
On this, the longest night.
Shining Ones, accept my offering.
Key Offerings to the
Sun
Offer incense, oil, or
spirits.
As the darkness descends upon the land
and all is blanketed in white and cold,
I speak of the promise of new
beginnings that shine down from the Sun.
Bright, shining Flame of Hope, I
honor you this day.
Your rays kiss the Earth to bring
forth new life,
Life which sustains and nourishes
Earth’s Children.
Where your Fires touch the Waters,
The Waters are set to dancing,
Rising into the Sky to join the
Court in shimmering splendor,
And falling back to the Earth to
bring the blessings of the Sky to her people.
Sacred Sun, I honor your role in sustaining
the Earth, bringing light and life to the land.
Sacred Sun, accept my offering.
Final Offering
Offer oil or spirits.
Offerings made, freely given by
head, heart, and hand.
I offer freely of my words, of my
love, and of my stores.
May my words rise high through the
Fire.
May my words drop into the Well.
May my words echo through the Tree.
May they carry my offerings
throughout the Realms.
Kindreds, All, accept my offerings!
Omen
Prepare to take an
omen using your preferred method.
May the true sight be upon me.
May the true words be mine.
May the Kindreds grant me the wisdom
and wit
To understand their blessings.
Take and interpret your omen.
Waters of Life
Prepare a cup of water
or your preferred beverage.
During this time of the year when
the waters of the sky come down in soft, icy stillness, I reflect on the magic
that lies within them:
All waters are, by their very
nature, sacred
Welling up from the Underworld
carrying the wisdom of the Ancestors
To pool where it will in the middle
realm
Where it is kissed by the Sun and
rises
High into the sky to pool among the
heavens
And rain down upon the Earth
To be drawn back into the land and
prepare to repeat the dance,
The Dance of the Waters.
For a time, I set these Waters
apart,
Water that quenched the thirst of
beggars and kings alike,
That they may hold the blessings
offered to me by the Kindreds, Three.
Just as I place my offerings into
the Fire that they may be transformed into a form that is useful to the
Kindreds,
So, too, do I ask that their gifts
be transformed into a form that I may receive.
Ancestors, send your blessings up
and fill this cup from the Well of Wisdom.
Ancestors, grant me your blessings
in the Waters.
Noble Kin, fill this cup from the
Spring of Renewal.
Noble Kin, grant me your blessings
in the Waters.
Shining Ones, send your blessings
down and fill this cup from the Cup of Inspiration.
Shining Ones, grant me your
blessings in the Waters.
Raise the cup as you
speak the following:
Blessings, flow through me, sustain
me, renew me!
Behold! The Waters of Life!
Drink from your cup,
spending a moment of quiet reflection on the omens you have received and how
these may be made manifest in your life.
Thanking the Beings
Ancestors who’ve gone before,
Noble kin and Spirits of Nature,
Shining Gods, Goddesses, and
Deities,
For all your aid and guidance,
I give you full honor and thanks.
Kindreds, All, I thank you.
Thanking the
Gatekeeper and Closing the Gates
Gatekeepers, All, for all your aid,
You have my full honor and thanks.
Gatekeepers, I thank you.
As you speak each of
the following, trace a clockwise spiral above each Gate to close it.
May the Well be but water once
more.
May the Fire be but flame upon my
shrine.
May the Tree be but wood, and
May all be as it was before,
Save for the blessings our work has
made manifest before me.
Gatekeepers, let the Gates be
closed.
Thanking the Earth
Mother
Earth Mother, All Mother, Our
Mother,
For all you have given to me,
For upholding and supporting me,
Earth Mother, I thank you.
Thanking Inspiration
For honeying my words and silvering
my tongue.
Spirits of Inspiration, I thank
you.
Closing the Rite
After closing the
rite, extinguish the flame or leave it to burn safely, as desired.
May the work done here today be the
seeds of blessings to blossom in the year to come. This rite is ended.
