prayer

Wisteria Summer Solstice 2015 – Opening Rite

This year at Wisteria Summer Solstice, Three Cranes Grove, ADF was again asked to lead several rituals throughout the festival. We did the opening rite, the main summer solstice rite, and the closing rite. We were asked to tie all three rituals together. The theme of the festival this year was “Weaving Deeper Roots.” The Opening and Closing both take more of a devotional format, and the Main Summer Solstice Rite follows the ADF Core Order of Ritual. I had the pleasure of writing the liturgy and leading these rituals with my grove mates. Here is the script for the Opening Rite:

Statement of Purpose
Welcome! We’re here to light the heart fire that will burn throughout the festival. This is a community flame. It is the hearth of our tribe, and it burns within us all. We gather together each year at this time when the sun rides high in the sky and shines brightly upon us all, filling us with the brightness and warmth of the summer sun.

Establishing Sacred Space
We are all Children of the Earth and here we weave out roots together. We may travel from all over, journeying through land, sea, and sky. Bringing those Spirits with us to share in our joy, revelry, and love. From all the realms we journey here to the Center, to meet around the fire at this sacred time and place.

Welcoming the Spirits
Three fires burn now to help us call to the Spirits and kindle the Sacred Fire at the Center of Worlds, where all space and all time blends together.
Here stands the Fire of Fellowship. As we forge the bonds of community and weave our roots together, let us call to the Ancestors…
Ancestors!
Those of our blood and my bone, who have given us life.
Those of our heart and our hearth, who have guided our steps.
Those of our friends and our folk, who strengthen and deepen our relationships.
Those Mighty Dead: poets, priests, and bards.
Heroes among the ancestors who have shaped our world.
It is to you we call out to and to you we sing praises.
By the Fire of Fellowship, as we all weave our many and diverse roots together in this time and place,
We ask you to meet us at the boundary, Ancestors!
Join us at our Sacred Hearth, and be warmed by our Good Fire.
Aid us and guide us as we walk the Elder Ways.
Ancestors, accept our offering!

Here stands the Fire of Inspiration. As we meld our voices as one, and uphold each other’s trunks, let us call to the Spirits of Nature…
Spriits of Nature!
Those of fur and feather, who run and fly across the land.
Those of root and stem, who grow deep into the earth and reach for the sky.
Those of stone and mineral, who enrich the soil and enrich our lives.
Those Totems, Guides, and Allies, you who teach us your ways to love and honor the Earth.
It is to you we call out to and to you we sing praises.
By the Fire of Inspiration, as we all meld our voices together and uphold one another in this time and place,
We ask you to meet us at the boundary, Spirits of Nature!
Join us at our Sacred Hearth, and be warmed by our Good Fire.
Aid us and guide us as we walk the Elder Ways.
Spirits of Nature, accept our offering!

Here stands the Fire of Blessing. As we make offerings together and all stretch our branches to the sky, let us call to the Shining Gods and Goddesses…
Shining Gods and Goddesses!
Those of the Heavens, who shine brightly upon us and give us nourishing rains.
Those of the Land, who provide for us and walk beside us in our path.
Those of the Underworld, who care for our dead and know the riches of the earth.
Those Patrons, you who take special interest in us and we worship with our heart, mind, and soul,
Devotees honoring you as you care for us.
It is to you we call out to and to you we sing praises!
By the Fire of Blessing, as we all make offerings together and stretch our branches to the sky in this time and place,
We ask you to meet us at the boundary, Shining Gods and Goddesses!
Join us at our Sacred Hearth, and be warmed by our Good Fire.
Aid us and guide us as we walk the Elder Ways.
Shining Gods and Goddesses, accept our offering!

Hallowing and Lighting the Fire
Now with the Three Kindreds called, we hallow these Three Fires.
Fire of Fellowship, burn bright and strong!
Fire of Inspiration, burn bright and strong!
Fire of Blessing, burn bright and strong!
Join together, light the heart fire, and burn bright and strong throughout the festival as the Children of the Earth weave our roots together and into the Land.
Children of Earth, Kindreds, Spirits all! Behold the Heart Fire!
Let it burn bright, sacred, and strong, building fellowship between us, inspiring us, and blessing us all!
This fire is for our community, for our tribe. We will all tend it throughout the weekend, as it burns bright within us all.
Go now in peace as the heart fire burns, and revel in our community as we have come home!

Evening Devotionals

I’m in a quiet, calm, and reflective kind of mood, and some nights, when it’s dark and quiet, it’s nice to just light the candles on my altar, enter that sacred space, and just be.  Just exist and do the work that calls to me and walk the path that sings in my blood and my soul. 

A few prayers spoken to invite those who I honor regularly, a few offerings made as I welcome them in. Then healing work for those who’ve requested it. And then contemplating the Fire, and knowing it’s okay that some nights this is all I do, and that it is exactly what I need to be doing. I am at peace and in the presence of the Kindreds. 

All Here are Children of the Earth.

As we come together to continue the good work we do as One Sacred Grove, 

Let us remember that all here are Children of the Earth.

As we speak, let our voices carry respect;

As we listen, let our ears hear honestly;

As we think, let our mind seek what is best for the community.

So be it!

Morning Ancestor Offerings

I greet my Ancestors this morning.
Those of my blood and my bone, who have given me life.
Those of my heart and my hearth, who have guided my steps.
Those of my friends and my folk, who strengthen and deepen my relationships.
Those Mighty Dead, poets, priests, and bards.
The Apotheothenai, Heroes among the ancestors who have shaped our world.
It is to you I call out to and to you who I make these offerings.
Bright greetings of the morning, my Ancestors!

Cradled in Silence

We all have times of crisis in our lives, but it is not that crisis that defines us.  Rather it is how we respond to that situation and how we cope with it.  In that moment of crisis, the thing I’ve always felt the most strongly is an overwhelming sense of being alone.  I want a connection at those times, but I can’t seem to find one or feel it at all.  A fellow priest and friend of mine is fond of saying “when you least feel like praying is when you need it the most,” but sometimes that is so incredibly hard.  Sometimes you can’t pray because you don’t have the words.  All you can do is cry, and you have nothing to offer but those tears that are flowing freely down your cheeks.  Even when you try to pray, you feel no connection and you hear no response back.  Rather than succumbing to this despair, feel it from new perspective.  When all you hear is silence in response to your most desperate prayers, perhaps it is because you are being held and rocked.  No words are needed.  
 
Kindreds, hear my prayer:
I don’t know where I am right now
I’m lost in body, mind and soul.
All I bring with me, all I carry now
Is sadness, tears, and an overwhelming sense of loss.
I can offer only what I have, no more than that.
Please, take what I bring, take what I carry,
And know that it comes from the depth of my soul.
 
Times like these, when I least feel like praying,
I come to you, and I open myself to you.
Please, Kindreds, hear me!
Your silence is all I hear from you now
As you hold me, rock me, and cradle me.
You are my shoulder to cry on,
My arm to lean on,
My ear to whisper to.
 
So, as I come to you
Offering the best I have in this moment,
Growing fearful that I can no longer hear your voice,
I know that you hold me, and rock me without words.
I know as I sob out, aching for comfort, to you,
you hear me Kindreds, as I am cradled in your silence. 

Prayer on Behalf of Another

I call through the fire!  I call through the well!
That my voice may be heard by those Spirits beyond.
I call out on behalf of NN, who needs your support.
May NN be filled with the blessings of your strength, wisdom, and love.
Let these offerings I make be offerings from NN,
that you may care for NN as you care for me.
Let NN’s heart be brightened as the Fire burns,
and NN’s soul filled as the Waters flow.
So be it!