Imbolc 2001 Order of Service

Welcome to Our Celebration!

Before we begin...

Enjoy the antics of the Fool and other entertainments, greet each other, and check out the Raffle items before the Briefing. Words to the songs we will be singing are on the back of this sheet.

Preparing ourselves for our time with the Gods and Spirits

• Processional and purification - Come We Now As a People
• Bardic Invocation for our eloquence and inspiration
• Welcoming the Allies, the spirits of the people and their gods who lived in this land before us
• Honoring our Mother Ana
• Meditation, grounding and centering
• Unity chant - One Voice
• Statement of purpose - A poetic introduction to the goddess Bríd & our ritual of honoring her as hearth mother, giver of inspiration & healing.

Declaring Center and opening the Portals

• Tree, Fire, and Well
• Acknowledging the Outsiders - the forces of chaos and change
• Invocation of Manannan mac Lir, our Lord of the Dead, to guide and protect us in the Otherworld

Acknowledging and honoring our guests

• Ancestors - our beloved dead
• Nature Spirits - the spirits of the land and its creatures
• Deities: Lugh, Aren, Danu, and Bel (feel free to offer a silent welcome to your own gods)
• Archetypes - acknowledging the three societal functions within us
• Deity of the Occasion: Bríd

Giving and Receiving

• Passing the basket: Direct your praise and energy to the basket to build a group offering. While you hold it, you may give praise or thanks to the gods silently or in the form of a vocal or physical offering. When you finish, pass the basket to the person next to you.
• Group praise - dancing, The Way to the Well
• Main Sacrifice: burning the Bríd Cross, and offering the basket
• Omen of return
• Return blessing - Brat Bríd / bread
• Cauldron blessing
• Welcoming new members, officers, and guild members, and bestowing other honors

Unwinding and closing

• Recessional - In the Company of Friends

And afterwards... Join us for a potluck and socializing, and don't forget to get your Raffle Tickets!

Imbolc Songs 2001

Processional:

Come We Now As a People*

Come we now as a people
Together, to gather at the sacred well.
Come we now as a people
To gather in the warmth and the light of the flame.

Unity:

One Voice**

I join my voice to yours, we are one voice
Our words ring out together to call us home
I join my heart to yours, we are one heart
One breath, one mind, one grove, we are one

Group Praise:

The Way to the Well

We will never, never lose our way
To the well of her memory
And the power of her living flame, It will rise, it will rise again.

Closing:

In the Company of Friends**

Join your heart once more with your comrades
Ere you turn your face to the wind
And walk the road from this holy place
In the company of friends

* by Ian Corrigan
** Copyright © Marae Price

Note to Parents: Children are welcome to stay and attend the ritual with you, but only if they are supervised. If they decide to leave and go back to Child Care, they may not return to the rite.

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