Imbolc with the Cranes

Brighid of the Mantle, encompass us… 02/01/2009 Blacklick Woods Metropark The experience of an Imbolc rite with Three Cranes was highly anticipated. Rich in Grove tradition, it has the most attendee participation due to the candle-lighting ceremony. We are blessed to have a Flame Keeper among us, and so the light of Brighid, kindled at Kildare and traveled across the Nine waves, was present at our rite. But the day did not start here. This day was also the Druid moon known as the “Stay at home” moon. Our Grove priest began at our Flame Keeper's home and lit a candle from the Kildare Flame. He then proceeded to visit the homes of all the Grove members who requested it and brought the light of Brighid into our homes. I do believe the grand total of members visited this morning was twenty. Mike had never been to my house, so it was nice for him to get a look at my personal space. There is something special about inviting someone into your home and it helps when they come bearing a gift like, say, the light of a goddess. I spent the morning singing and putting things in order. I had the communal rooms of my home blessed with the light of Brighid, but left my personal shrine space for Hestia. After Mike left, I did a small devotional in which I honored both Goddesses of the Hearth, noting the importance of recognizing the inherent value of the hearth as the sacred center of the family as well as the community at large, and using the belief that all fires are sacred as a means of tying them together. It was a good devotional. I really felt the fire kindle in my chest, and it continued to burn for most of the day. I think they like each other, and I also believe that Hestia was pleased with the way I handled this. The rite itself had a few easily camouflaged “hiccups,” but overall, our offerings were accepted. I did the grove attunement, the traditional Grove Crocus Meditation written by Jenni. Mike did a very powerful Waters of Life (Note to self: write a song to replace “Pour the Waters.”). I also performed “Blessing for Flame Keepers” during the working portion of the rite in which we collected and blessed the cloth to be used in the healing blanket (which is a story for another time). It went well! Overall, it was a very good rite. Liturgically speaking, it was not perfect, but there was an underlying theme of closeness among the grove members. There was a lot of bonding before, during, and after this rite, and I did note that the people drawn to one another were also the ones whose homes were blessed that morning. There are forces at work of which we are not always aware, and the Lady of the Lambs has drawn her children together during this Imbolc season. Omens for this rite include: Have our offerings been accepted? Fern/ The Alder "oracular vision and shielding"... yes! (the interpretation was due in large part to the shielding aspect of this few) What blessings do the kindred have for us in return? Uillend/The Honeysuckle "the core values found at the center of the labyrinth" What further uses do the kindred have of us? Ruis/The Elder "the queen under the mound remind us to let go of that which has outlived its usefulness in order to make room for the new" Taken together these might suggest:"Shielded and with the guidance of the kindred, we stand strong with our core values intact and treasured. We must be ready to surrender that which has outlived its usefulness and be ready for new growth." I find it interesting that since I am DIC-ing the next rite, I brought the Ancestors box home with me. Being a Hellene, my next personal high day rite (Wednesday) is Anthesteria. It is a time for recognizing the forces (kheres) and the dead whom you feel the need to placate for a day. I had already planned on a very Ancestor-oriented rite in which I make amends and peace with the Ancestors of my family with whom my relationships were not the best. In a rite where I confront the Ancestors of Blood, I will be surrounded by the Ancestors of the Grove, my chosen family. The significance of this cannot be put into words. It's just ironic that I, of all people and of all times, have the Ancestors of the Grove with me. The Kindred will provide for you the things that you need to help you along your path. This is just one more way that they are supporting me and solidifying that I have made the right choices thus far on my path.

Finishing the Dedicant Journey, and beginning the next...

What a journey.

These past few months, as I have said several times (kind of ad nauseum), have been amazing. I can't believe the growth that I have seen in myself! And at my age!

I have been asked to create a Hellenic rite for 3CGs Spring Equinox. I have a basic rite that I perform for devotionals with added cowbell for high days that follows the COoR. All I had to do was edit!

Spring Equinox is in honor of Persephone in an obscure holiday called Anthesphoria, or The Festival of the Flowers. Persephone is returning from the Underworld, and similarly to the Country Dionysia, each area celebrated at a local discretion when there were enough flowers to pick and make wreaths to hang on farm equipment and the like, so the Goddess would bless their growing season. Buying flowers for this was considered blasphemous. This is not a highly documented rite. Most information you will find about it is in the history of the Roman Florisertum, or Flower Festival, of which Anthesphoria is a precursor. Also, it was mostly carried out by the women and children and not directly tied to the state. No taxes, no records. You know how it goes.

So, in honor of my lady, Persephone, I wrote a rite with her as the Deity of the Occasion. I will still have to edit when I know what exactly the grove wants to do for the workings portion. They had said something about blessing tools and the like. But now that the main part of the rite is done, we can nit-pick it to death at the next liturgy meeting.

I am very grateful to have a grove that is allowing me to hijack a rite and perform it in a foreign hearth culture. I am part of the grove. I am part of the grove family. I am at home, and asking me to DIC this rite is proof of reciprocity.

Also, this is the last rite I need to cover for my DP. What a way to end the cycle! I began at Beltaine last year as a solitary with no intention of ever joining a grove, and I am ending with Spring Equinox as a full grove member and DIC to boot! It is almost too much, but I actually feel like I am ready. Not like the Yule fiasco *shudders*.

It is humbling to look back at the gifts I have been given on this journey. Since beginning the Dedicant path, the Kindred have given me everything I have asked for. Everything. I will probably weep through my Dedicant Oath (Druid moon in March!) because of it, but I don't care. May my tears be a gift to my gods.

What a journey.

Anthesteria: Preparing for The More Ancient Festival of Apollonius Sophistes (Dionysos)

Fellow Hellenes will not need an explanation of the festival, but for the non-Hellenes, I will begin with a description of the holiday.

In short, this is another festival for Dionysos. The new wine was ready. When the new jars were opened, the smell of the wine (which had not yet been diluted as is their normal practice) would attract the Ghosts of the dead, and they would come and drink. At sundown, the wine was watered down 1:4 with water, and in the morning a day of drinking begins. I mean, everyone drinks. They have important figures involved in drinking competitions to see who can drain their mug first. Similar to the Winter festivals of Dionysos (The Country Dionysia), there are drinking games among the common folk as well. They even had bands of drunken men in the back of carts who would go around shouting obscenities and insults at people and singing lewd songs.

During these three days the Greeks gave offerings and tolerated the presence of the ghosts of the dead, but on the end of the third day, they carry jugs of wine to the edges of the city and kick out the spirits. Kinda like, "Hey, we did our part and gave you stuff, now get out."

Then the wife of the King becomes Ariadne and sleeps with some guy who represents Dionysos.

Yay.

The coolest part is the Tree of Life. They had a tall pole that "grew" out of an omphalos-shaped base wound with ivy . "The Tree of Life Grows from the Navel of the World." hehe...I found the Hellenic World Tree.

The main reason I wanted to visit this festival is because of the focus and variation on the relationship between us and the Ancestors. I understand the importance of honoring the Ancestors, but there is a lot of baggage in my Ancestor's box. The Greeks thought of the dead more like we think of the Outdwellers, and Anthesteria was about honoring/recognizing the roaming spirits (Kheres) for one day and then kicking them out. This more than describes how I feel about my ancestors sometimes. I am moving past this point of view, but some days, I want to yell: "Out, Kheres! It is no longer Anthesteria!"

This year, I am going to let go of the past. I am going to embrace for one day all the hurts that have been inflicted upon me that I just can't get rid of. I will allow them to flow through me and then I will look at how much I have changed and rid myself of the hurt and sorrow and anger that I have been holding for far too long. Due to an inspired blog written by dubhlainn I am also going to be relieving the Oath I took in baptism as a Christian to Isu. I definitely forged a bond with my god as a Christian, just like the bonds I have with my current patrons. I think it is safe to say that I have evolved past and moved on from those promises I made (and I made a lot of promises). I am working through my guilt about being a Oath-breaker, and I think that formally recognizing the contributions that Jesus, The Holy Spirit and Father God made in my life and acknowledging that I am moving forward because of the foundation built at that time will aid me in letting go of a lot of other things. I also know that I cannot make my Dedicant Oath in March until I do this. This is one of the most important Oaths I am ever going to make, and I want to come into it pure of heart and mind with as much of my past clearly put behind me as possible.

I'll let you know how it goes. I know how much this is going to hurt, but sometimes the worst of jobs can also be the most rewarding...

Yuletide Blessings.

On December 14, 3CG performed the Yule Blessing Rite in full Nordic Fashion. Seamus and Tanrinia were our DICs, and the DotOs were Frigga and Odin.

I was called upon to do the Inspiration as our assigned Crane didn't show up. It was very rough. I learned that when one invokes Inspiration and feels an urge to sing, singing should ensue immediately. My words were not there, but my intent was true. To those who were not involved in the rite, I almost looked like I knew what I was doing.

We opened the Nine gates in Nordic Fashion. It was very beautifully done! I was inspired by the words our Gate-tender spoke, and I will most likely use them in solitary fashion in the future.

We did a blot during which much praise and honor was given to a myriad of the Kindred. There were some very meaningful and deeply moving speeches made over the horn!

Our omens were good, including Ingwaz, Perthro and Raidho. Raidho has been showing up quite frequently in our omens lately. Hmm....

I was in charge of Return Flow. It was awful for me! MJD told me that the only reason he knew things weren't going as planned was because we were sitting together before hand and he could see the signs of anxiety that he himself deals with before a rite. All in all, I again, managed to look like I knew what I was doing. I did nail the German words. :)

We then had a feast, in order to share our meal and merriment with the Kindred. It was a very nice touch to bless the hall and include the Kindred in our feast. I hope that this becomes a habit at Yuletide.

After our meal, we passed the horn to anyone else wanting to speak. It was an evening full of laughter and much grateful spirit. After we closed the gates, we finished tallying up our donations. The Grove issued a challenge: if we could raise $200 to go toward the purchase of baby formula for the shelters, the Grove would match it by half. Needless to say, the Cranes are donating $300 worth of formula for the cause. There were also several food items and toys going to the food bank and toy drive.

It was a great rite, and I learned a lot. I was called on to begin and lead all of the songs. As an aspiring Bard, I think this is very helpful, not to mention how moving it is to be entrusted with the music for the rites! I am glad that they have found me worthy to hold such an important role (read: important to me).

For the future, I must learn to operate in spiritual mode in public. Six years as a solitary have taken their toll on my tolerance for public speaking. I can sing in front of almost any crowd, but put me in front of a bunch of Druids and I freeze. Is it because I hold their opinion in such high esteem? Is it because I am unsure of my abilities? Is it because I feel inferior when compared to the other neopagan greats I have had the privilege of being in contact with? Who knows? I do know that I will be asking to perform more and more in our public rites. Maybe someday I can even be DIC! I am not ready now, but someday I will be, and I am confident that the Cranes will be supportive enough to lift me until I can fly on my own.

Drawing Down the Blessing.

At a recent Dedicant Meeting, we were reviewing our Samhain Rite. I played a guitar piece as stated in an earlier blog for the Return Flow portion of the rite. Several of us found that the music played while the water was passed amongst the participants helped to keep us focus on the rite and have a more meaningful experience. I have had problems experiencing the return flow with any sense of power when I am not at my home shrine, and I stated as much to them. After some brief discussions about why this might be, Seamus and MJD decided that I was to be in charge of the Return Flow portion of the Yule Rite this year. This way, I can do a comparison between the two and better analyze what might be blocking the flow of power for me.

I have been considering this task with great reverence. The Return Flow is one of the most powerful parts of ritual in my devotionals. I feel that trying to create that same sense of power in a public rite that I create at my shrine is a great responsibility. After no small amount of deep thought, it finally hit me why this is such an important item for me: Drawing Down the Moon.

I was a Wiccan for six years before I found Druidry, and as such I learned a thing or two about drawing the powers down upon yourself. I realized that when I do a Return Flow, I take the omen, the gift they give in return, and I focus my very being into placing that firmly into my cup that I may receive it. It was promised to me, and my offerings to them were accepted, so they have an obligation to pour forth that blessing, and my job is to harness and focus that blessing into a form that can be shared among the Kin.

Now that I know why this is such a big deal, I am hoping that my writing will come more easily. The version I do at home is somewhat Hellenic, but my Grove is doing a Nordic Yule with Odin as DotO. A little tweaking is definitely in order!

Wish me luck, and any suggestions would be helpful! It would be much easier if I could just do it with my guitar...

Samhain: In Honor of the Ancestors

At Samhain, we celebrate our Honored Dead and the God Cernunnos, Horned God, Keeper of the Ways. Samhain is the biggest grove rite of the year for Three Cranes, in terms of participant numbers, and this year was no exception.

Before the rite, we lit a circle of luminaries for light. Skarlett walked around the circle with incense, and I circled while playing my guitar to help clear the space. It was very centering. We processed in, offered to the Outdwellers, and entered our ritual space. AB said some beautiful words for divine inspiration, and AD did a deep breathing for grove attunement that was very grounding.

Our DIC was SB this year. He called on Cernunnos to assist us in opening the gates. After the greeting and offerings to the Kindred, we each tied a ribbon to a wreath with a few words for an ancestor. Seamus did an offering to the fallen dead, those who served, that was very moving. The Ancestors are still difficult for me to see as individuals. As a collective whole, I honor and offer to them with no problems, but when they are individualized, I am overwhelmed by emotion that I am only slowly learning to control. We offered the wreath to the fire and sang a chant as it burned.

Our omens were good: Perthro, Nauthiz and Berkano, Luck, Necessity, and Fertility. We are reminded during this time of year when all of nature is put to sleep to be mindful of our needs and remain fertile. The Kindred will be sure that our needs are met as long as we take the chance and trust in them. Our endeavors are necessary for internal growth. These are good omens.

During the return flow, while the cups of water were passed out, I performed Ian Corrigan’s repaganization of “Poor Wayfaring Stranger.” It helped to keep us focused on the rite and maintain the liminal state of mind. Several were moved to tears by the words of this piece. This is my first performance as a Bard, and I am humbled that my music was able to connect with the other participants. I have always known I was called to music, but after today’s rite, I think I might actually be able to realize this goal. I am sure it will be an uphill battle, as most journeys are, but the first taste of success has given me inspiration and motivation for moving forward as an ADF Bard. I am grateful to the Grove members for allowing me to perform this service and to the Kindred for providing me with the gifts that make it possible.

Troy of Athens took his Dedicant Oath. It was wonderful. His words and obvious dedication to Freyja moved me.

The rite ended well, and the potluck was terrific! We had a good variety of food and drink including several crock pots and hot mulled cider. Yum!

Samhain is about the Ancestors, and remembering them keeps them alive. Through us they are not forgotten, but live on. Hail, Ancestors!

Words to a song I wrote today.

In the midst of a crisis of faith, prayer is often the first to go, but this is exactly when you need to pray the most.

When I find myself alone again, and the world has got me down,
And no one cares about the hurts and heartaches that I’ve found.
I hear the call to enter into the realm my soul calls home,
To the place where all the gods and goddesses are free to roam.
I come before the Kindred with my brokenness and strife,
I pour my heart and soul into the story of my life.
I tell them all about the things I’ve done or I’ve ignored,
And sacrifice the gifts I bring in thanks, in praise, in joy.

And when I’ve finally laid myself to rest with tears upon my shrine,
I sit here where silence abounds,
And then Awen rains down.

Awen
Awen
Awen
Awen

When you’re feeling lonely, overworked or overjoyed.
The Kindred are awaiting you with knowledge to employ.
We are called to come into their presence and meet them in our hearts,
Offer up ourselves for all the gifts that they impart.
So when the whole world goes against you, and you feel laid to waste,
Meet your patrons, ancestors, and noble guides with haste.
Go to them, commune a while, and revel in their glow.
The most important gift they give is to know you’re not alone.

And after you've exchanged the gifts for gifts as we are called,
Take heart that all will soon circle ‘round
And then Awen rains down.

Awen
Awen
Awen
Awen