Ritual by Farrell J. McGovern,
Acting Senior Druid,
Red Maple Grove, ADF
Ritual Briefing:
ADF Ritual is fundamentally different from Wiccan Ritual. We do not
invoke the Four Directions of the Pythagorean elements of Fire,
Water, Earth and Air. Instead, we call upon the three realms, Land,
Sea and Sky.
We also don’t create a “sacred space” by casting a circle, as we see
all of nature to be sacred already. But we do open gates to the
Otherworld, The bowl of water becomes the Well, connecting us to our
Ancestors, The tree reaches into the Sky and connects us to the
Realm of the Gods, and the Land we stand on connects us to the
Spirits of This Land.
Today’s ritual will leaner ritual wise, since the focus of this
celebration is the games of skill, which are an offering to Lugh the
“McGyver” of the Celtic pantheon, and his mother Tailtue.
Meditation:
Ask for Quiet…
“We will now ground, and prepare ourselves for the today’s ritual.
“First, we will take three deep breaths…
“Breath in….(hold)…and exhale
“Breath in….(hold)…and exhale
“Breath in one last time….(hold)…and exhale.
At the sound of the nine notes, the ritual will begin.
Start:
Three sets of harmonics on 12-string guitar.
“Today, we gather to celebrate Lughasadh, where we honor the McGyver
of the Celts, Lugh. He decreed that in celebration and remembrance
of his mother Tailtue, that every year at this time we shall hold
games of skill. That is what we shall do today.
“Through our games, we offer homage to Lugh, his mother Tailtue, and
our guide to the Other-realm, Manannan.
“We shall now officially welcome you all, and purify you in
preparation for the Games!”
(Caycee takes bowl of Water, dips her finger into it, and flicks the
water onto the head of each person (this is called “aspering”), and
says to each:
“In the Name of Lugh, I welcome you, I bless you, and I purify you.”
The aspereged may reply in any way they choose.
“We now make contact with the Otherworld, so that the Gods may more
clearly hear and see what we do today!
(Do Manannan chant x 3, call the Mists to the Otherworld)
“The Mists between the Worlds have come, and we touch the realm of
the Gods”
Outsiders:
“You whose will not harmonize with ours today in our stated purpose
Your function we honor. Your purpose we respect.
For you are among the many faces of the great Mystery.”
We give you fruits of the Earth:
“As a gift calls for a gift,
we offer and pray,
asking only this:
Till the harmonics sound,
and the rite is done,
let there be peace between us!”
(Throw 3 coppers to the outsiders)
“We ask the Nature Spirits to come, share and participate in
our games today. We welcome the Nature Spirits!”
All: Nature Spirits Welcome!
“We similarly ask the Ancestors, those of our Path, of our Blood,
and of the Land to come, share and participate in our games today. We
welcome the Ancestors!”
All: Ancestors be Welcome!
“Ask you have asked us, Lugh, today we gather to engage in games of
skill in honor of your Mother. We ask you to come among us and witness our
offering of our games”
ALL: “Lugh, hear our call”
“Lugh, you honor us with your presence”
“We Now call upon one of our bards for Inspiration in our
challenges!”
Michael Does his thing
To All:
“Today we stand before the Gods and honor them with our skills and
our laughter. Play fair, for the Gods are watching…Let the Games
Begin!”
LUGHANSADH GAMES 2002!
- Water Balloon Race
(run length of field and back carrying two water balloons, if a
balloon bursts, you were disqualified) - Chakram skill throw
(We used an Aerobee, a ring that is aerodynamically shaped,
skill throw consisted of choosing either the 50 point (near)
target, or the 100 point farther target, and then trying to get
the “chakram” as close to the stated target as possible. Each
participant got 5 practice throws, and three actual throws. Skill
is not just in the throw, but in choosing an “easy” but less
rewarding goal over a harder, but more rewarding goal.) - Chakram distance throw
(Again, using the Aerobee, we were going to see who could throw
the fathest, but wind and lack of a big field convinced us to
cancel this event) - Blind Jedi
(Stolen from Silver Fox Grove where it was called “Blind Samuri”,
I called it Blind Jedi since I like the name better. Basically the
two competitors are blindfolded, then spun around and moved and
generally attempt to make sure they don’t know where the other
person is. Everyone else stands in a loose circle around the two.
At the Go, each attempts to find the other using “The Force”, and
whoever can touch the other with two hands first wins.) - BREAK
- Foot Race
(Simple, run a distance, first one across the finish line wins.
Cancelled due to the 40 Degree C heat) - Water Balloon Melee
( To start, each person gets two water balloons, all competitors
form a loose circle, then all turn facing outwards. At the go,
each person takes 10 strides, then turns and attempts to hit the
others with their water balloons. There is a bucket of water
balloons in a “safe” area, basically 10 meters around the bucket.
You can go and get refills, but only two balloons at a time.
Battle continues until either no one is dry, or you run out of
water balloons. The person who is the dryest wins. - Michael consults the Ogham to see if our offerings are accepted,
Closing Ceremonies:
Announcements
“We thank all who have participated in these games today! We hope you
will return when the Wheel of the Year once more comes around to this
celebration. I speak for all members of Red Maple Grove when we say how much
we appreciate your attendance and participation”“Lugh, we thank your for your presence today. Stay if you will, go
if you must…Hail and Farewell!All: Hail and Farewell!
“Ancestors, we thank you for your presence, and hope you enjoyed
yourselves today. Stay if you will, go if you must…Hail and Farewell!All: Hail and Farewell!
“Nature Spirits, thank you for your part in today’s games, and we
hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. Stay if you will, go if you
must…Hail and Farewell!All: Hail and Farewell!
“Manannan, Son of Lyr, we ask you to pull back the Mists that
connect our world to the otherworld for now, and we thank you for your
services. Stay if you will, go if you must…Hail and Farewell!All: Hail and Farewell!
“And to all who we have not named, we thank you too. This rite has
ended.”(optionally, we can sing “Walk with Wisdom”) (We did)