Order of Service - Summer Solstice 2003

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. Also, you may want to write down anything negative in your life that you want to get rid of, and give it to the Kupalo doll.

Preparing ourselves for our time with the Gods and Spirits

• Processional and purification - We Approach the Sacred Grove
• 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
• Unity chant - Single Threads
• Statement of purpose: We celebrate the apex of the Sun during the Solstice and honor the first father Bel and first mother Danu.

Declaring Center and opening the Portals

• Tree, Fire, and Well - Portal Song
• The opening of the ways
• 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: Lugh, Aren, and Bríd (feel free to offer a silent welcome to your own gods)
• Archetypes - acknowledging the three societal functions within us
• Deity of the Occasion: Bel and Danu

Giving and Receiving

• Passing the sun wheel: Direct your praise and energy to the sun wheel 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 sun wheel to the person next to you.
• Group praise - offering corn meal to the fire
• Main Sacrifice - sun praise, offering the sun wheel to the fire
• Omen of return - runes
• Return blessing - lemonade, the burning of the Kupalo
• Cauldron Blessing
• Welcoming new members, officers, and guild members, and bestowing other honors

Unwinding and closing

• Recessional - Let Us Journey On

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

Song Sheet - Summer Solstice 2003

Processional:
We Approach the Sacred Grove

We approach the sacred grove,
With hearts and minds and flesh and bone.
Join us now in ways of old.
We have come home.

Unity:
Single Threads
©1996 Marae Price

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

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.

Closing:
Let Us Journey On
(author unknown)

Let us journey on
Children of the Earth
Carry the nemeton's blessings
Into our lives and work

As we journey on
Children of the Earth
Let the nemeton's blessings
Bring peace to home and hearth

Note to Parents: Children are welcome to stay and attend the ritual with you, but only if they are supervised.

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