VOTE! 2010 LUGHNASADH/IMBOLC RITUALS

[Earthwoman]

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[Earthwoman]

This is an online group ritual I created and conducted 2-3 years ago.


Online Group Ritual of Lughnassadh


The ritual area will have been set up, cleansed and consecrated.

HPS: Set the container of water upon the pentacle. With the athame, take three scoops of salt and add them to the water, saying as you do so, “One for the body, one for the mind, and one for the spirit. Joined together, they are One.” Mix three times, deosil, saying, “In the name of all that is Holy, this water is sanctified for the good of All. So mote it be.”

HPS: Cast the sacred circle, deosil: “By the power of Spirit, immanent and omnipotent, I do cast this Circle of perfect love and perfect trust: a world between worlds, in a time outside of time. This is sacred ground.”

HPS: Consecrate the circle three times. While wafting a feather, say, “I consecrate this circle with the element of air, so that only love may enter and remain. So mote it be.” Then, while carrying a lit stick of incense (or candle), say, “I consecrate this circle with the element of fire, so that only love may enter and remain. So mote it be.” Then, sprinkle the water and say, “I consecrate this circle with the elements of water and earth, so that only love may enter and remain. So mote it be.”

Cut open a doorway so that others may enter.

HPS: Smudge oneself, and then everyone in the circle (“projected smudging”)

Seal the doorway after everyone has entered.

HPS: Call the Quarters. Say the following:

“Hail, O Spirit of the East, Element of Air, represented by the Rising Sun and the Flying Hawk: I bid thee to attend this Circle of perfect love and perfect trust, as we observe and honor the bountiful season of Lughnassadh.” Feel the energy of the Eastern Elemental as it appears.

“Hail, O Spirit of the South, Element of Fire, represented by the Noonday Sun and the Rutting Stag: we bid thee to attend this Circle of perfect love and perfect trust, as we observe and honor the bountiful season of Lughnassadh.” Feel the energy of the Southern Elemental as it appears.


“Hail, O Spirit of the West, Element of Water, represented by the Setting Sun and the Jumping Salmon: we bid thee to attend this Circle of perfect love and perfect trust, as we observe and honor the bountiful season of Lughnassadh.” Feel the energy of the Western Elemental as it appears.


“Hail, O Spirit of the North, Element of Earth, represented by the Midnight Sun and the Standing Bear: we bid thee to attend this Circle of perfect love and perfect trust, as we observe and honor the bountiful season of Lughnassadh.” Feel the energy of the Northern Elemental as it appears.


HPS: Invoke Deity (feel free to ad lib):

“O Blessed Lady as Mother, heavy with Child, we honor Thee. May all of Life’s blessings be fruitful, through Thy bounty.”

“O Blessed Lord, as protective Father and precious Child, unborn: we honor Thee. May all of Life’s blessings be perpetual, through Thy bounty.”

HPS: Say the Druid Prayer for Peace.

Statement of Purpose (HPS): “We gather together to celebrate the season of Lughnassadh, the first harvest. This is a time of joy, of celebrating a bountiful harvest and its role in sustaining life, mundane and spiritual.”

HPS: “A harvest may be literal—agricultural bounty; however, a harvest may be more abstract: goals that have been set and are coming to fruition, new friends, a new career or relationship, a pregnancy.” [feel free to ad lib]


HPS: Share one of this season’s “first harvests.” What is the goal or accomplishment? Name any “blights” that have threatened this “first harvest.”

Allow each in the circle to share a “first harvest,” as described above.

As a group, meditate upon these personal harvests prospects of continued success of these harvests.

HPS: Begin the Feast:

Hold up one of the “cakes” and then break off a piece in honor of the Lady and Lord and place it gently on the ground, saying, “May the earth be relieved of hunger. May you never hunger.”

Hold up the chalice then pour off a libation in honor of the Lady and Lord, saying, “May the earth be relieved of thirst. May you never thirst.”

Go around to each member in the circle and offer a portion of the “cakes”, saying to each one, “May you never hunger.”

Go around to each member in the circle and offer a sip of the “wine” from the chalice, saying to each one, “May you never thirst.”

HPS offers the last “cake” and “wine” to herself.

The group at this time may converse together about whatever seems appropriate in the circle.

HPS: Bid the Lady and Lord farewell:

“Oh Blessed Lady, we honor Thee as fruitful Mother. We bid Thee farewell, yet hold Thee in our hearts, forever.”

“Oh Blessed Lord, we honor Thee a loving Father. We bid Thee farewell, yet hold Thee in our hearts, forever.”


Bid the Quarters farewell.

“Hail, O Spirit of the North, Element of Earth, represented by the Midnight Sun and the Standing Bear: we thank you for attending our Circle of perfect love and perfect trust. Go in peace.” Feel the energy of the Northern Elemental as it departs.


“Hail, O Spirit of the West, Element of Water, represented by the Setting Sun and the Jumping Salmon: we thank you for attending our Circle of perfect love and perfect trust. Go in peace.” Feel the energy of the Western Elemental as it departs.

“Hail, O Spirit of the South, Element of Fire, represented by the Noonday Sun and the Rutting Stag: we thank you for attending our Circle of perfect love and perfect trust. Go in peace.” Feel the energy of the Southern Elemental as it departs.

“Hail and farewell, O Spirit of the East, Element of Air, represented by the Rising Sun and the Flying Hawk: we thank you for attending our Circle of perfect love and perfect trust. Go in peace.” Feel the energy of the Eastern Elemental as it departs.

HPS: Uncast the circle, widdershins.

HPS: “The circle is open, but never broken. Go forth in peace and love.”

[wyeuro]

This is a Croning ceremony – a rite of passage for a woman who has finished child-rearing and is now mature and free. It can of course be modified to reflect individuality. it is written to be embedded in a standard OBOD ceremony.
In preparation: a crown (wrapped) and small gifts for the participants from the cronee are placed on central altar or other convenient surface in full view of all.

Rituallist: I proclaim the Rite of the The Spiral of Life
for the croning of (name)
in the … Grove.
I give (name) greetings.
Saturn has twice returned to where it
was at the time of your birth.
You have finished childrearing.
You have been a maiden,
and you have been a mother,
and now you are ready to become a crone.

Birch Spirit as Birth Guardian: As a spirit unborn you called together
father and mother, bodies and souls,
ancestors, past lives, dreamings, pathways:
you grew brand new from a single cell.
On (time of birth)
you entered through the womb of life
into the arms of family love,
you entered the universe of human experience,
of perception and understanding,
you entered the succession of seasons,
of the circles and spirals of time and event
and you became a human child,
growing stronger every day.

East: Like a bird in the wood,
around and around you flew,
you wove wakes in the shining air,
in the radiant peace of the east.
From the family to the greater community
you learned the established practices of our culture,
you took up the symbols of holiness and power,
you drank the nectar, spoke the ancient vows,
submitted to the curses of life, blessed the blessings
and learned to love the law,
and so became a maiden, fit for life.

North: As a flame in the fire
you went to work with a will
embraced the fuel, did the magical work of transformation
in the joyful peace of the North.
In the great crescendo of life
of motherhood and family,
of culture and community,
of work and of play,
as part of the vital fabric of the earth’s experience
there you matured, suffered, triumphed,
learned much, taught much,
did bright deeds of generosity,
erred often, and sinned sometimes,
and yet still loved goodness and just laws.

West: As a fish in the flood, questing,
you navigate instinctively.
you dream the mystic visions of the waters
in the deep inner peace of the west.
Now let the harvest be abundant,
as it ripens from the seeds and flowers
of your childhood and youth.
Since quiet questing, patient industry
and the simple apiration
of a steady mind with a good conscience
are the rich rewards of a life lived truthfully
and humbly in search of health and wisdom.

South: As a clod of clay, flesh of the earth,
you will come to know and cherish
the solid logic in the forms and forces of reality
in the still, silent peace of the South.
Now as your material body ages,
you will have learnt the hard lessons,
won the difficult harvests, stored the gains
and gathered the bountiful rewards
of living upon the material planet
as a material being. You will age,
you will approach death itself as we all must.
Yet you will not fear this death in its time,
knowing that it is the doorway to new lives.

Yew Spirit - the Death Guardian: From the earth came your body,
from the unknown came your soul,
and finally they will return,
replete with each other’s imprint,
your soul to the unknown, your body to the earth,
the memory of you to the mythos
of the ancestors, or to oblivion
in a world that keeps on turning
through the cycle of the seasons
and the spinning spirals of the day.

Rituallist: As a maiden you learned to be useful.
As a mother you gave your heart and soul.
As the crone you will share your wisdom
bringing understanding to the world
and foresight to the young.
(picks up crown)
This croning is the crowning of your life.
Perhaps the words are related –
older women once wore crowns
though they were not queens.
(placing crown on (name)’s head)
Yet, within the circle of this crown
you are queen of your own dominions,
as every woman is when she is croned.
You are queen of your own soul
queen of your own mind
queen of your own experience.
autonomous, empowered and free.

Cronee: I am grateful to the guardians of birth
who helped me into this world.
I remember with affection and something more
the children with whom I played
and the teachers who gave me my lessons
while I was a growing girl.
I am grateful to them all.
I am also grateful
to the friends of my adolescence
and those who prepared me for adult life.
My family, friends and teachers
both human and other,
animals and angels
and the beings of all worlds.
And my co-workers, comrades-at-arms
my fellow humans, I am grateful
to have been so blessed and so sustained
through hard times and good
in so many ways by so many.
(invoking)
Gaia, you have been good to me
Given me more than you’re able to give others.
I go forward with a right good will
in trust and affection with you
to bring help to the hurt,
provisions to the needy
healing to the sick
wisdom to the bewildered
and comfort to the weary
in the best way I can till I can do no more.

To you who have spoken the ritual words for me,
and to you who have listened, I am especially grateful,
because you are here to revive that consciousness
of magic, and the ritual response that sanctifies
the stages of my life as they ought to be sanctified,
without which life is less.

For this reason I ask each of you to accept this gift.
(goes round circle then returns to centre)

I came into this circle today a matron
a maturing woman with a lot of memories
and I’ll leave it a crone, autonomous and free.

All: (return to places ready to resume ceremony)

[Earthwoman]

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