Kaleidoscope, the largest Pagan fest in Ontario, had an ADF ritual put together by the two protogroves of the province, Dancing Lights and Red Maple. Some thirty people attended, including the Arch Druid. One characteristic of this ritual was that each participant was given a memento, a wooden disk such as those used in divination. Those who wished were invited to consult, after the ritual, the seers present to have an individual drawing of one few that could be drawn on their personal disk, if they so chose. The omen below is the one for the ritual as a whole:
Past: Aspen, Success. The aspect of our past our deities are drawing to our attention is the successes that have been ours.
Present: Pine, Farsightedness. Our deities are indicating our present awareness of the significance of taking the long view. Some of us may recall this was the explanatory few from the Midsummer Rit we did for the Temple of the Sacred Grove.
Future: Rowan, Sight. This one is awareness in the near sense. To some afterwards, I used the analogy that this was the area of light illuminated by the torch lighting up the darkness of night. In context, there is the suggestion that good as it is to keep in mind the long term, we do well to be conscious of what is at our feet.
Explanatory Few: Birch, Beginning. Our deities are noting for us the significance of the newness of what lies ahead of us, indicating the extent to which we are now starting to proceed along our path into the future. This is something we may somewhat expect as we prepare to apply for our provisional grove status.
As the present few (luis/rowan) came up at this significant location in this ritual and was popular for those drawing specific fews from this diviner, here is the fuller entry in my personal notebook for the few:
Discernment, Sight: Luis is rowan, the opening of the eyes, gazing ahead, looking around, perceiving reality, noticing what is there. It is the sentry standing vigilant at the doors of the mind. It is the watch moving with torches to light the darkness of the night. It preserves the safety of the city of self, the castle of well-being. It illuminates the puzzles, perplexities and riddles, casting light on the pages of the scroll of the knowledge of life. It is the means by which we walk safely along the road of understanding. It is how we recognize where we are and what was hidden by the shadows ahead which it scatters.
A Grove ritual for those who were not at Kaleidoscope was also held August 8th, at the Tree Ring. This is the omen from that ritual:
Past: Yew, Soul. Our deities are drawing to attention that aspect of the past that is eternal, surviving, on going.
Present: Blackthorn, fate. As was predicted for our future in both rituals we conducted at Midsummer and is now confirmed, we are now where they said we would be, going through what cannot be avoided, moving through what has to be traversed.
Future: Vine, weaving. Our deities are informing us that our future is being woven from all we have experienced in the past; our sorrows and our joys, our successes and the blows we have received, all our laughter and tears, everything that was is being woven with our current higher ideals, aspirations and intentions into a garment fit to be worn tomorrow.