Order of Service - Midsummer 1999

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 - 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
• Meditation, grounding and centering
• Unity chant - We Are a Circle Moving
• Statement of purpose: We celebrate the apex of the Sun during the Solstice and honor the Sun god Bel.

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

Acknowledging and honoring our guests

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

Giving and Receiving

• Passing the Bull (no joke): Direct your praise and energy to the solar bull 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 bull to the person next to you.
• Group praise - Mediosaminos; Processional around the Bilé
• Main Sacrifice - sacrificing the Bull
• Omen of return
• Return blessing - lemonade
• 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!

Midsummer Songs 1999

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:
We Are a Circle Moving

We are a circle moving
One with another, we are
Moving together, we are one. (2x)

I am spirit and I flow in you.
You are spirit and you flow in me.

Opening the Ways:
The Portal Song (by 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

Group praise:
Mediosaminos

Greetings, Sun of the Seasons,
As you walk in the high heavens;
With your strong steps upon the high void,
You are the joyous mother of the stars,
You lie down in the abyss of destruction,
Without suffering harm or scathe,
You rise up like the peaceful wave
Like a young queen in flower.

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

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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