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A Newsletter for Shining Lakes Grove, A.D.F.
For a
few months now, I’ve been doing temporary work as a driver for a
floral shop, doing deliveries. This has given me the chance to visit
places I haven’t been too often before, including hospitals and
funeral homes. On any given day, there’s a good chance I’ll be
taking flowers for both a newly born person and a newly dead one. And at
this time of year, the connection between those two is important.
(Let me throw in the usual aside when I’m talking about SLG’s cosmology and its ancient Celtic origins—you don’t have to agree with this 100%, or even 1%, to be a part of our group. SLG and ADF are both orthopraxic (“right action”) groups, where the emphasis is on doing our group ritual in a particular way. We are not orthodoxic (“right opinion”) and I know I have far better things to do with my time than make sure you think exactly the same way I do.)
The ancient Irish saw Samhain (“summer’s end”) as the boundary day between winter and summer. Because of the liminal (boundary/border) nature of the day, it was also seen as the time when the veil between our world and the Otherworld was at its thinnest. This was the time to leave food for one’s Ancestors, and to share food with one’s mortal neighbors as well, strengthening community bonds with the living and non-living alike.
Mannanan,
our Grove’s gatekeeper god, was very important at this time of year,
as he was the one who guided the newly dead to the Isle of Apples (a.k.a.
Avalon). This is why we honor him specifically at our evening Samhain
rite. The Isle of Apples was said to be west of Ireland, in the Atlantic
Ocean, which ties in with the connection between the sea and the
Ancestors.
It was believed that the Otherworld was full of folks who had died in our world, and those who were still waiting to be born into our world. I’ve heard tales that the Irish would cry at a birth, because they thought that someone in the Otherworld had died, and that they similarly cheered at a funeral, because it meant someone had been born into the Otherworld.
The practice of burying the placenta of a newborn infant ties in with this belief. Since the placenta brought the child’s spirit into this world, it must be dealt with properly, or the spirit may decide to return to the Otherworld! The placenta is buried near a tree, and the tree is asked to protect the placenta until it has finished decomposing. Our Grove has done this once so far, for Sean Adelmann, and we’ll be doing it again soon for his younger brother Aidan—if we can pick a date without rain!
And as I think of planting and trees, I come right back to flowers, which our modern culture uses to honor those newly born and those newly dead. It’s important not to overlook the connections between our modern traditions and the ancient practices we study and recreate. Even after September 11th, I’m still delivering flowers to people are being born and getting married. Honoring our Ancestors reminds us that life does indeed go on.
Yours in service to the Kindreds and the Grove,
Rob
Henderson, Senior Druid
* Matthew Blair resigned his office after the election, and the Leadership Council elected Deanna Justice to fill this term. So congratulations to Deanna, too!
As I enter my second year as Chronicler (thanks to everyone who voted for me!), I am once again facing the bane of any editor: a lack of words to publish!
I’ve appreciated the efforts of the Senior Druid to submit an article for each issue, and I’m also grateful for the other articles and news items I’ve received from other folks.
But we need more!
Thus I encourage, urge, and even beg you to help me make this newsletter a more worthwhile service to our Grove community by sending me your words. You don’t even have to write an actual article (though these are very welcome)—you can submit essays, announcements, book reviews, poems, artwork, or generally deep thoughts for publication.
Yes, I know we have a Grove e-mail list for such things, but nothing beats hard copy—and remember, while the e-mail list is for SLG members only, Shining Lakes News is distributed more widely (such as to other Groves, some non-SLG pagans in southeastern Michigan, and general distribution at places like Crazy Wisdom).
The preceding pathetic plea for material brings me to another topic—the potential return of our Grove journal, Ripples. (Yes, you read that correctly.) I would like to produce at least one issue of Ripples this year, but I can only do that if I have stuff to publish! We accept a wide variety of material (including what I indicated above for SLN). In addition, I can assist with any editorial questions you may have. So call or e-mail me, and let’s get this project started!
Genevieve Stoyak, Chronicler
(734) 495-0813
gstoyak@hotmail.com
The
Magicians’ Guild is continuing its series of Runic Meditations led by
local Guildmaster Rodney Cox. The next session will be November 11 at 2 pm
at Guild House (appropriately enough!). For more information, call Rod at
(734) 697-2514.
These beautiful cards come with a foil-embossed winter scene on the front, and the message “Season’s Greetings” inside. They cost 50 cents each, or ten for $4. Envelopes are included.
Senior Druid
Rob Henderson
robh@cyberspace.org
Assistant Senior Druid
Rodney Cox
UberRod@aol.com
Administrator
Don Clayton
wittke@home.net
Scribe
Deanna Justice
sjdeannaj@hotmail.com
Pursewarden
Rodney Cox
UberRod@aol.com
Chronicler
Genevieve Stoyak
gstoyak@hotmail.com
Outreach Coordinator
Andrea Grover
Youth Activities Coordinator
Rob McCabe
taliesin1959@aol.com
Magicians' Guild
Rodney Cox
UberRod@aol.com
Warriors' Guild
Rodney Cox
UberRod@aol.com
Healers' Guild
Rodney Cox
UberRod@aol.com
Naturalists' Guild
Fred Wark
fllwark@htonline.com
Producers' Guild (unofficial)
Gen Stoyak
gstoyak@hotmail.com
Those without e-mail access can contact our officers at our snail-mail address or phone number.
Shining Lakes News (©2001) is published eight times a year by Shining Lakes Grove, A.D.F., P.O. Box 1732, Ann Arbor, MI, 48106, (734) 697-2514. For information about SLN, contact the Chronicler at (734) 495-0813 or gstoyak@hotmail.com. For information about Shining Lakes Grove, contact the Senior Druid at (248) 446-0730 or robh@cyberspace.org.
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