Earth Mother, We Sing To Your Spirit

This past May, I went to Brushwood in New York, the site where Starwood is held, as well as the site of ADF's nemeton. The Wellspring festival was being held there, which is put on every year by Stone Creed Grove.

One of the themes for this year's festival was "Celebrating the Earth Mother". The Earth Mother is the first deity invoked in the standard ADF liturgy. Each ADF Grove, and each ADF member, may have their own view of who she is. Some see her as a Gaia figure, encompassing all life on this planet. Others see her as a goddess of the soil, the one who nurtures plant life to its fruition. And others see her as a goddess of place, encompassing a watershed region or some other geographical feature. Regardless of our images of her, we all agree that she's important to our workings. So we agreed to give her extra attention this year, culminating in the installation of an Earth Mother idol in the ADF nemeton.

On Thursday morning, Skip Ellison (ADF Vice ArchDruid) gave a presentation on Earth Mothers from various cultures. He brought some of the emmer wheat that he grows on his farm, and we each planted three seeds in a small pot and did a meditation to bring ourselves closer to the Earth Mother through nurturing these seeds. I thought the meditation was very effective, and a great way to start the Earth Mother-oriented activities.

During the day on Saturday, several folks worked together to decorate the pillar that would become the Earth Mother idol. Unfortunately, I was taking a nap (recovering from the night before) and didn't get to take part in the creative process. (Ah well. Never overestimate the value of sleep before a big rite, that's what I say.) The idol was made from a wooden pillar about five feet tall, decorated with engraved copper plates representing her face, breasts, and genitals, and various symbols all around done in acrylic paint.

The rite was to begin around sunset, so about a hundred folks gathered outside the nemeton and spent some time going over the chants, in case anyone didn't already know them. Once the ritual leaders had prepared the space, we made our procession to the nemeton itself, with torchbearers in front to guide our way.

The rite itself went very well. Sometimes it can be awkward when people from several ADF Groves are participating in a ritual, since there are small differences in the way each Grove runs its own rites. But the planning session had addressed those concerns, and folks with speaking parts knew what they were expected to say and do.

The opening and closing portions of the rite were from the usual ADF standard liturgy. For the central portion of the rite, the three women who were closest to giving birth (two of them pregnant, one trying) carried the Earth Mother idol into the nemeton and placed it into its hole, while other folks filled the hole with dirt and surround the idol with stones to keep it standing. Fox (ADF ArchDruid) gathered the folks who had brought water from their own watersheds, and as he called out the names of those local river goddesses, we each anointed the idol. I had brought water from Ana, our Grove's goddess of the Huron River, and joined in the anointing. After that was done, the group chanted while all of the participants got to make their own personal offerings, from stones, flowers and fruit to a giant Mother's Day card.

Earth Mother, we honor your body
Earth Mother, we honor your bones
Earth Mother, we sing to your spirit
Earth Mother, we sing to your stones
- "Earth Mother Chant", by Anon.

Paradox, the acting Seer, took the omen for the rite using the Runes. She drew Uruz (the wild bull, the phallus and the drinking horn), Raitho (riding, journey, travel), and Laguz (water, the depths, mysteries). Her interpretation of the omen: "By pooling our waters, we made a connection between the spirits of all these rivers. We joined our strengths. That connection between the river mothers will allow us to have contact with our home base of power, our land, even when we are in the territory of another one of these mothers. They now communicate with each other. We travel, but we stay connected to our local mother, as long as we are with one of those mothers who has been joined in the cauldron."

I personally felt a very strong connection to the greater Earth Mother during the rite, as well as a connection to Ana, our Grove's own river mother. It was one of the most powerful ADF rites I've been to in a long time, and certainly the best one I've seen at a large festival. If you attend Starwood this year, or if you come to Wellspring next year, I hope you get a chance to visit our nemeton and see our new addition!

Rob Henderson
Senior Druid, Shining Lakes Grove, ADF

Web Hosting · Blog · Guestbooks · Message Forums · Mailing Lists
Allwebco Web Templates · Build your own toolbar · Free Talking Character · Audio, Fonts, Clipart
powered by bravenet.com