Imbolc 1998 Order of Service

Welcome to Our Celebration!

Before we begin...

Be welcomed, 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 - We Are A Family Coming Home
• 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 - Ana, Come Be With Us
• Meditation, grounding and centering
• Unity chant - Single Threads
• Statement of purpose - We celebrate the coming end of winter, enjoying the last days of gathering together around the cozy hearth before the activities of summer begin.

Declaring Center and opening the Portals

• Center, Fire, and Well - We honor especially the Fire and the Well as sacred to Bríd.
• 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, our goddess of the Hearth. As is traditional, we call to her three times, and her image is brought in from outside and placed in her bed.

Giving and Receiving

• Passing the Bríd Cross: Direct your praise and energy to the cross 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 cross to the person next to you.
• Main sacrifice - Make your personal offering to the community, lighting a candle on the altar.
• Group praise - We Will Never Lose Our Way
• Omen of return - Runes
• Return blessing - Passing the Cauldron blessing and bread; receiving the Brat Bríd
• Welcoming new members, officers, and guild members, and bestowing other honors

Unwinding and closing

• Recessional - Now the Rite Is at an End

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

Imbolc Songs 1998

Processional:
We Are a Family Coming Home
©1998 Mama Moon

We are a fam'ly coming home.
We are gath'ring at the hearth.
Bríd will be welcomed at our home.
Bríd will join us at the hearth.

Ana honoring:
Ana, Come Be With Us
by the Shining Lakes Grove Bardic Guild

Ana, come be with us,
May your blessings ever flow,
Ana, still and quiet,
Take our love beneath the snow.

Blessed Mother, Ancient and renewing,
Blessed Mother, take our love below.

Unity:
Single Threads
©1996 Marae Price and Kami Landy

Single threads entwined in weaving
Are our hearts and minds and souls
As the branches weave the forest
So our joining makes us whole.

Group Praise:
We Will Never Lose Our Way
(trad.)

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:
Now the Rite Is at an End
©1996 Paul Kershaw and Marae Price

And now the rite is at an end, again we're parting ways
May truth and honor be your friend and lucky be your days
I'll hold you dearly in my heart, I'll hold you in my mind,
And though our branches grow apart, our roots shall be entwined.

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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