Lughnasadh 2005 Order of Service

Welcome to our celebration!

Preparing ourselves for our time with the Gods and Spirits

• Blowing of the Horn to call us to begin the rite
• 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 - I Am the River Mother
• Unity chant - One Voice
• Statement of purpose: We honor Lugh, many-skilled king and father of our tribe, with this festival.

Declaring Center and opening the Portals

• Tree, Fire, and Well - Portal Song
• 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 - Mannanan Invocation

Acknowledging and honoring our guests

• Ancestors - our beloved dead
• Nature Spirits - the spirits of the land and its creatures
• Deities: Bríd, 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: We welcome and honor Lugh, father of our tribe, for whom we hold this festival.

Giving and Receiving

• Passing the bread - Direct your praise and energy to the bread 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 bread to the person next to you.
• Group praise - singing - Lughnasadh Dance
• Main Sacrifice - offering the harvest
• Omen of return - Reading the Runes
• Return blessing - Piñata
• Welcoming new members, officers, and guild members, and bestowing other honors
• Cauldron Blessing

Unwinding and closing

• Recessional - Now the Rite Is At An End

Songs for Lughnasadh 2005

Processional:
Come We Now As a People
© Ian Corrigan

Come we now as a people,
To gather together at Sacred Well,
Come we now as a people,
To gather in the warmth and the light of the Flame.

Mother Ana:
I Am the River Mother

I am the River Mother Water (2x)
I flow, I flow, I flow (2x)

Unity Chant:
One Voice
©1996 Marae Price

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.

Opening the Ways:
Portal Song
© Ian Corrigan

By Fire and by Water
Between the Earth and Sky
We stand like the Worldtree
Rooted deep, crowned high.

Come we now to the well....
...The eye and the mouth of Earth
...And silver we bring
...The waters of rebirth
...Together we sing:
CHORUS

We will kindle a fire
...Bless all and with harm to none
...And offerings pour
...A light 'neath the Moon and Sun
...Our spirits will soar.
CHORUS

Gather we at the tree
...The root and the crown of all
...Below and above,
...Together we make our call
...In wisdom and love.
CHORUS

Mannanan Invocation
©1996 Marae Price

We stand at the border and watch the mist close in.
Waves rolling, rolling,
Where shore meets the ocean, where land meets sea and sky,
We call to you, Manannan,
Manannan, Manannan,
We welcome you as you one day will welcome us.

Deity of the Occasion:
Lughnasadh Dance
©1999 by the SLG Liturgists

Chorus:
At your festival sound the horn, calling the people again
Child of Barleycorn, newly summer-born
Ripening like the grain, oh, ripening like the grain

Recessional:
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.

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