Outsider Offerings and Procession
The ritual begins outside, just before sunset. According to
the stats that I just found, sunset in Ottawa on the 29th of
October is at 4:25pm, so we’ll say 4:00 for gathering time, and
I’ll be aiming to start the ritual at about 4:20 or so. Don’t
forget Daylight Savings Time ends on the 29th, so this is really
5:00 subjective time.
Talkative Druid: The year has cycled once again, and
we have come once again to Samhain, the beginning and the end. For
the ancient Celts, it was a three-day long festival between the
end of one year and the beginning of the next, manifesting in
many ways.
It was to some degree a time of celebration. The work of the
harvest was over – and hopefully had gone well. It was to some
degree a time of mourning. The summer was over, and while their
winters weren’t Ottawa winters, they didn’t have central heating.
And it was in many ways a time of uncertainty, for boundaries
were dangerous places to the Celts, and the boundary of the year
the most dangerous of them all. It was a time when the dead
could come to speak – and it is this, far more than anything
else, that survived in the folklore of the Celtic peoples long
after most of the old ways had been forgotten, and that has
survived to the modern day in the traditions of Hallowe’en.
And so, as we try to walk in the ways that our ancestors
once walked, we gather at this boundary – a time of risk and
opportunity – to remember those who have gone before, and to seek
their wisdom.
Druid With Big Stick: We do not forget the dangers
of this time, however. We will withdraw inside, to safety,
and bar the doors behind us to keep out any who would will
us harm. And we acknowledge here and now those spirits abroad
this night, who would not join with us peacefully, and who carry
malice in their hearts. We leave you this – content yourselves
with it, and bother us not tonight.
Druid With Big Stick throws grain as far away from the
door as possible. The people process relatively quietly
(so as not to totally freak people in my apartment building
out) up to my apartment, locking the door behind. Get people
into the apartment with relatively little chaos.
Cosmology – Fires and Well
Druid With Big Stick: The doors are locked, and the
ways are barred to those who would enter without invitation.
And to the south, the entry point to the outside, I light a
fire for protection. May its light burn bright, to keep away
all danger.
Big Stick Druid lights big candle in the south.
Divining Druid: I bring this water, water brought
from the river to the North, water which shall be returned to
it. Let our words and offerings be carried by the water
to the realm of the dead.
Talkative Druid: And in the centre of the people,
I light new fire – a sacred fire, a fire for the Gods.
May it carry our words to them, and may we feel their blessings
in its flickering flame.
Grove Attunement
Meditative Druid says something meaningful here about
breathing, the fire, and the well. I should write something
out, probably, as a basis for it.
Opening of Gates
Gatekeeping Druid:
Mannanan mac Lir
Lord of the Misty Gates
Lord of the Isle of Apples
Lord of the Blessed Lands
I call to you
Mannanan mac Lir
Through the mists of the Otherworld
I search for you
I seek you out
A Mhannanan mac Lir, a tighearna na ngeatai, oscail na geatai duinn.
Mannanan mac Lir
Lord of the Gates I call to you
Stride through the mists
Your sword Answerer held high
Cut a path through the mists
Show us the way
Come to me, I call to you.
A Mhannanan mac Lir, a tighearna na ngeatai, oscail na geatai duinn.
Mannanan mac Lir
Lord of the Gates
Before you I stand
I ask for your permission
To open the Gates so that we may honour the Kindreds
I ask for your permission
To part the ways so we may walk the mists
A Mhannanan mac Lir, a tighearna na ngeatai, oscail na geatai duinn.
Mannanan mac Lir
Lord of the Gates
Son of the Ninth Wave
I call to thee
I offer you coins for safe passage
Silver for your wide-ranging sea
Accept this offering, oh my Lord
A Mhannanan mac Lir, a tighearna na ngeatai, oscail na geatai duinn.
Mannanan mac Lir
Lord of the Gates
Foster father of Lugh,
It is time
With your permission now given
Join your magic with mine
Let the fire shine as a gate
Let the well flow as a gate
By your will and mine, Mannanan mac Lir,
Let the Gates be opened!
A Mhannanan mac Lir, a tighearna na ngeatai, oscail na geatai duinn!
Kindred Offerings
Nature Druid walks to big balcony door, and opens it.
Druid With Big Stick stands behind Nature Druid, right next
to the protective Southern fire.
Nature Druid: Spirits of Nature, hear me now. I
stand at the edge of our space, and I invite all of you who
will respect and not hinder our work. We honour you. Without
you, neither we nor our ancestors could have lived. We leave
offering here – enter and join us if you will.
Nature Druid leaves bowl of milk inside the doorway,
and goes back to the rest of the people. People chant
“Fur And Feather” three times. (I’ll have chant lyrics
separately available.) Druid With Big
Stick keeps watching the door intently.
Talkative Druid goes to the central
fire, and stands behind it, facing towards the open door.
Talkative Druid: Ancient Gods, hear me now. All
of you who are still friendly to us, who bear us no ill will,
and who will aid and not hinder our work tonight, I invite
you into this space, and I make offerings to you. On this
night of all nights, when the walls between the worlds are
thin, enter and join with us. It is warm by the fire, and
it is cold outside.
Talkative Druid burns herbs and resins in the central
fire, and returns to his/her place. People chant “Hail to
the Gods” three times. Diviner Druid goes and
stands behind the well, facing the open door.
Diviner Druid: Ancestors, Spirits of the Dead,
hear me now. I speak to those that we remember. I speak
to those who are kin through ties of blood. I speak to those
who are kin through ties of friendship. I speak to those who
first lived in this land, and to those who came and made it
their own. I speak to those who first followed the path that
we now try to relearn. If you bear us no ill will, and if
you come in peace, I invite you into this space. Come and
share your wisdom and memory with us. We offer you these
coins, tokens of esteem.
Diviner Druid puts coins in well. People chant
“Mothers and Fathers of Old” three times. Druid With Big
Stick waits a bit, and once again closes and locks the door.
Specific Offerings
Talkative Druid: If anyone has offerings to
make, let them do so now.
Wait as necessary while people make offerings.
Taking of Omen
Talkative Druid: As we have made offerings, we
ask for wisdom in return. Ancestors, we ask for the voice
of your experience. We ask you for your knowledge of times
about which we can only try to imagine. We ask you for
the words which only those truly outside our world can
dispassionately make. We ask you what we must focus
on – where you feel we should place our energies – in order
to better learn and practice the old ways we profess.
Diviner Druid performs reading, and then interprets
it. We hope that it’s not a “we’re all doomed!” kind of
reading, and if it is then we listen and take heed,
and think an awful lot about it afterwards.
Sharing of the Cup
Talkative Druid: We have spoken to the Gods
and to our Ancestors, and they have spoken with us.
We stand in pride, honour, and friendship with the Kindreds.
And to seal that friendship, we share this cup with them.
Let us drink in wisdom. Let us drink in strength. Let
us drink in inspiration.
Diviner Druid pours from the cup into the well, and
passes it to Talkative Druid, who pours just a little onto
the candle, and passes it to Nature Druid, who pours some
into the milk bowl. Then the cup is passed around
the gathered folk.
Talkative Druid: We have made offerings to
the Kindreds, we have heard their words, and we have
shared the cup of friendship with them. Every time
that we offer to them, they become more aware of us,
and more aware of our needs. And so, we thank them,
and bid them farewell until we meet again.
Thanks to Ancestors and Kindreds
Diviner Druid: Ancestors, we thank you. Your
paths have brought us to where we are today. As we
remember your wisdom, let us also work to leave a legacy
for those who will follow us. We thank you for your
presence – stay if you will, go if you must.
Druid With Big Stick unlocks and opens the big
window door again, during this section, and stands
watching it.
Talkative Druid: Ancient Gods, we thank you
for your inspiration and your example. Let us continue
to learn about you, to better follow your ways. We thank
you for your presence – stay if you will, go if you must.
Nature Druid: Spirits of Nature, who nourish
us and clothe us, who are Danu’s children, we pray that
we may watch over you better in the future than we have
in the past. We thank you for your presence – stay if you
will, go if you must.
Druid With Big Stick waits a bit, and then closes and
locks the door again.
Closing of Gates and Grounding
Gatekeeper Druid:
The mists begin to close
As we walk the path back home
Mannanan mac Lir, I take your hand
And I thank you for our journey
We must tarry no longer
So I ask you Mannanan
To once again join your magic with mine
And let us close the gates
Let the fire be only fire
Let the well be simple water
By your will and by mine,
Let the gates be closed.
Meditative Druid: Lead people out of mild
trance that they hopefully might be in.
Talkative Druid: We have worshipped the Gods,
and it is well. This ritual is ended.