Performed at Kaleidoscope Gathering, August 1, 1999.

 

Pre-Ritual Activity

 

 

• Explain the goals of druidic ritual, the differences between druidic
  ritual and Wiccan ritual.
• Rehearse the chants quickly.
• Gather people at the first firepit.

 

Procession to the clearing

 

The chime is rung three times (by Frances), and Mike Demers makes a quick opening prayer to the Gods, asking the blessing of all of them upon the ritual.
We then process to the clearing grove, singing the chant :
By the Earth Beneath Us, By The Sea Surrounding Us,
By the Sky Above Us, We Come Unto the
Gods.

 

Purification

Once the clearing is reached, people enter and form a
circle deosil.
Mike: As we prepare to enter sacred space and sacred time,
we cleanse ourselves with the powers of the three elements, to leave behind the
normal world for a while.
Three people take a goblet of water, a daub of
mud, and a smudge of incense, and purify the participants with them. The
purification lines for each of the elements are:
May the waters of life
heal you.
May the winds of the world cleanse you.
May the
strength of the land protect you.

Grove Meditation

Karen performs the grove meditation. I don’t know
what’s happening with this, so I really hope she does.

Statement of Historical Purpose

Ian: We stand, as the people of the
land, in the heart of the heat of summer, at the peak of warmth. Food is
plentiful, heat is almost too plentiful, and life is good. But this very time of
abandon and abundance is also an element of warning. The days are getting
shorter, and the nights are lasting longer. Soon the harvest will have to be
brought in. In this time of light, we draw together, as people have since the
beginning of recorded history, to thank the Gods for the presence of the summer,
and to ask their help preparing for its end.

Declaration of the Center

Mike: And as we draw together, we
recognize that in the infinite nature of the universe, all places can be the
center, as this one is now. In the center of this circle lies the center of the
world, radiating out from here. Here the three realms meet – the sky above, the
rock below, and the river beside. And here, in between the realms, in the center
of the world, we invite our guests.

Invocation of Mannanan

Karen sings the first verse of the Mannanan
chant, and then is joined by everyone present.
We stand at the border,
and watch the mists come in
Waves, rolling, rolling.
Where land meets
the ocean, where Earth meets sea and sky,
We call to you, Mannanan.

Mannanan, Mannanan,
We welcome you, as you one day will welcome us.

 

Karen pours water on the ground slowly from a chalice.

Karen: In this place where land, sea, and sky come together we ask
Mannanan mac Lir, Lord of the Mists to come to us, lifting the veils between our
world and others. We ask that you stay with us for our working, giving safe
passage to all those who might wish to come through the mists and join us in
this sacred space.

Call for Bardic Inspiration

Mike McKenny has a four-line call to Ogma
written, asking his blessing and inspiration. I don’t have the text for it,
though. That’s OK, it’s his baby.

Acknowledgement of the Outdwellers

Frances: We are aware, however,
that there are also those who might not feel drawn to join us at this time of
worship, and whose presence might even hinder our work. To you, we offer the
fruits of the harvest past, the fruits of the harvest to come. A gift demands a
gift, and so we ask you not to disturb us.
Frances scatters barley or
grain on the ground.

Invitation of the Nature Folk

Mike D: Those who feel the call to
join us this day are, on the other hand, more than welcome, and we ask and
invite their presence. We invite all of the neighbouring nature folk of the
three realms, spirits of the sidhe.
Folk of the air,
Blow always at our
backs
Helping us along our paths.

Folk of the water,
Lend us
your wisdom to follow our course
Like your rivers and streams.

Folk
of the earth,
Keep our roots always strong
That our works might be
bountiful.

Invitation of the Ancestors

Unsuspecting Bystander: We also welcome
the spirits of our ancestors, of the dead who feel the call to join us at this
gathering. We invite our own ancestors – the dead who we are close to ourselves.
We invite the heroes of our peoples, those who have lived in this space where we
now worship, and those who have inspired us through the actions of their own
lives. Come and join us if you will.

Medb Call

Ian: We have invited many to come and join us already, but
the most important are yet to come. On this day, in the height of the summer, in
the near-stifling heat and the company of friends, we invite Medb, warrior-queen
of Connacht. Come, Medb, and share our drink and our company.
Ian drinks
deeply from the cup. Join us Medb,
Our lady of sweet intoxication,

Our lady of rampant desire.
Join us Medb,
Our lady of madness,

Our lady of wild abandon.
On this day, come to us with your power, your
pride, your wild, insatiable, unquenchable lust for life and its fullest, and
share it with us. Let us drink in our blessings at the end of the summer, and
let us celebrate our gathering with all of our might. Give us your…

Somewhere around here Ian gets interrupted by Puck.

Lugh Call

Puck: (Interrupting) Enough. [pound spear for emphasis] As
well as the celebrations, there are preparations to be made for the winter. The
harvest will be brought in soon, and food must be put away and stored. Each
night grows longer, and we cannot celebrate forever. In this spirit we invite
Lugh of the Long Hand, craftsman and planner. Lugh, help us prepare mentally and
physically for the coming seasons. Join us in the gold of the harvest and the
red of the autumn leaves, and ready us for the long winter nights.

Offerings to the Gods

Puck: Lugh, we welcome you as a guest, and we
share with you this bread. Bless our harvest, that we shall reap everything that
we need.
Puck takes some bread, and places it on the ground in the
center. The loaf is then passed around the circle.

Ian: Medb, as our guest, we share with you this cup. Let your wild spirit
flow in us when we need it. Ian pours some mead from the cup onto the
ground, and then passes the cup around the circle.

Tale, Oath, and Boast

Mike: This time of summer has always been a
time of gathering. And so, as we sit in this place with our guests, we tread in
the paths of our ancestors. One of the oldest traditions of gathering is that of
story telling, and so we shall tell stories for our distinguished guests.

We shall pass this cup three times, and when each person receives the cup, we
ask that they shall tell a short story. The first should be a tale of bold
exploits, of courageous daring, of mad victory. The second should be an oath, a
plan, a formal acknowledgement before the Gods of a deed that you will do by
this time next year. And the third tale should be a boast to the Gods, of crazy
exploits that with their aid you will achieve in time.

The cup is passed
three times as described. This will take a while.

Omen

Puck: We have told many stories ourselves, but we have not yet
heard from our distinguished visitors.
Ian: Lady Medb!
Puck: Lord Lugh!
We ask from you, also, a tale, an oath, and a boast that you might share with
us. We ask that you speak to us as a group, in the falling of the runes, and we
also ask that you speak to us as individuals, in the sounds of our hearts, in
the whisper of our minds.
Ian and Puck pull out three runes for each of
Lugh and Medb. Puck ponders how to interpret them while Ian and Mike drum and
all chant.
Listen to the beat, to the beat of the heartbeat.
Listen
to the beat of the heartbeat drum.

When Puck looks ready, she does a group reading of a tale, an oath and a
boast from each deity

Closing

Mike: We have been blessed, in this time in sacred space to
celebrate, in the company of Gods and Men. We have been blessed, and with joy in
our hearts let us carry the magic from this grove into our lives and work.

Ian: Every time that we offer to the powers, they become stronger and more
aware of our needs and our worship. So now, as we prepare to depart, let us give
thanks to those who have aided us.
Puck: Lugh, thank you for joining us,
with your wisdom to plan for the year to come.
Ian: Medb, thank you for
joining us with your boldness and courage, as we live in this moment of now.

Unsuspecting Bystander: Ancestors, we thank those of you who have come
through the mists to join us in our time.
Mike D: Folk of Nature, Earth,
Sea, and Sky, we thank you for you presence in this circle.
Mike McK: Ogma,
Lord of Knowledge, thank you for granting us the wisdom to speak well in this
rite.
Karen: And thank you Lord Mannanan for keeping the mists open, that
passage might be free. And now, Keeper of the Mists, we end what we began – let
the mists close. Let this place be only rock, and let us return to the world of
the human, the world of the everyday, where the powers do not show themselves as
strongly.

 

Frances rings the chime.
Mike: Go now in peace and blessings. This
rite is ended.