Ordination Portfolio

Laura (Snow) Fuller

Ordination Portfolio CTP-1

Submitted January 25, 2016

Approved for Ordination March 9, 2016

Ordination Ceremony April 1, 2016

1.      A personal statement of Vocation. This statement should include the following information:

v When did you hear the call to the path of ADF Priesthood? What did it sound like?

I think I have known that I was being called to a religious vocation from the time I was a teenager.  The problem was that it took me a long time to figure out just what path I was being called to.  Before I found ADF, I attended many different churches, tried many different paths, but none of them felt quite right.  I began trying to discern just what I was feeling, though, while I was in college.  I spent some time visiting several female monastic communities, thinking perhaps I was meant to be a nun.  Looking back, I’m fairly sure the idea of me as a nun is ridiculously hilarious, but at the time, I was trying to figure out what exactly I was searching for.  The nuns at the convents were probably horrified when they met me, but one of them gave me some very good advice: wait and see what my path was meant to be.  When I found it, I would walk it.  It’s been almost twenty years since I had that conversation with her, and I don’t even remember her name, but the advice was spot on.  I just had to be patient enough to find it.

I was in my late twenties when I left the Catholic Church.  I still felt called to a life of service and for a time I explored other paths.  I tried some of the more liberal Christian traditions, but they felt wrong to me.  I slowly accepted I wasn’t really a Christian.  The fundamental belief of Christianity based on the concept of Original Sin was meaningless to me, and I entered an identity crisis.  There was this gaping hole in my identity, and nothing to fill it.  For several years, I wandered, drifted, with no ties to a religious community which was a painful thing for me. 

It was almost by accident that I stumbled upon Asatru.  I was helping a friend do some research for her wedding, and she wanted to do a Viking themed wedding.  Fortunately, it was the age of the internet, and in my searches I found some Heathen groups online.  Something immediately clicked for me; the idea of a folkway appealed to me.  Not the idea of being folkish, but the idea of a recreation of the pre-Christian traditions that had been lost.  I jumped in with both feet.  However, even as my connection to my Gods began to grow, my dissatisfaction with the Heathen community grew in proportion.  The bickering and fighting, the online drama, but mostly the overt racism of some of the leaders made me question my choice, even as I felt this growing connection to the ancestors and my chosen gods.

I would say it was a stroke of luck that led me to ADF at that point, but I don’t truly think it was.  My life has always seemed directed to me.  Just as my dissatisfaction with the Heathen community grew, I attended a workshop let by two ADF Priests.  That workshop led to my joining the local grove, just to see what they were really about and what I saw there convinced me that this, finally, was where I belonged. For the next year, I struggled to manage the oaths I had made within the Heathen community and my pull to all things ADF.  It was a balancing act but as my other time bound oaths were completed, I threw myself wholly into ADF.

By this time, I had moved away from that wonderful, amazing grove and was stranded alone in the middle of the Northwoods.  It was during that time that I completed my Dedicant Path work and began to consider what should be next for me. It did not take long for me to realize that what came next was the Clergy Program. Every ADF event I attended continued to affirm for me that hard or easy, I knew what I needed to do. 

I’m not sure there’s any other way I can really put into words just what that call sounded like.  It wasn’t a sound so much as an itch.  It was more a nagging feeling that wouldn’t stop and instead pushed me until took those steps.  It was the poke from behind when I wavered, constantly being reminded by rune draws that it was the stamina of the Sun that would see me through the path I had been set upon.  It was the support of those around me and their encouragement to push myself, to reach higher, to not stop.  It was also the sense of peace when I accepted the call and began doing the work of the training program. Finally, FINALLY, I was doing what I was meant to do.

v What form do you expect your vocation to take?

While I believe that the priesthood is a calling, what form an individual’s vocation takes can be as varied as the people heeding that call.  In a large organization like the Catholic Church, that doesn’t bode a problem.  However we currently have so few priests in ADF that it can be harder to tease out the strands of strength and need to find the right fit.

First and foremost, I am and have always been a teacher.  This is true in both my professional life and my personal life.  I enjoy teaching.  I get great joy in bringing new knowledge to people, in seeing their eyes light up when they make a connection for themselves for the first time, in giving them ideas that make them discover their own truth.  As an ADF Priest, I think this is one of the most important parts of our vocation. This is the active principle of leading people to the Fire, and of feeding their individual flames so that we all burn a little brighter in what can seem to be the darkness of the mundane world.  I feel that it is important as a priest to be well read and knowledgeable, but additionally to have that next level of discernment to know when to provide an answer or to know when to instead ask a question.

Second, I feel that my vocation is one of service. That service can and does take many forms but it includes using my professional skills in risk management, facilitation, grant writing and non-profit management that I’ve acquired as a Community Development professional.  Skills that could be of benefit to the organization and sharing them with my chosen community gives me great joy.

As a priest, there is also some expectation of ceremonial work.  I also enjoy this aspect of priesthood, although I think that it is truly only a small piece of what a priest does.  However, being able to provide that service to grove and community is also something I look forward to.

v Do you feel prepared to become an ADF Priest now? Do you see further work that you will need to do to prepare yourself for the work ahead?

I think this is a difficult question to answer, since until we actually are priests, we cannot see clearly just what areas will be a challenge and need further work.  This is especially true given the nature of ADF and the different expectations different members have of the priesthood.  Like any major life altering momentous decision, whether that’s marriage or parenthood or the priesthood, you cannot actually be ready until you take that first step, settle into the new responsibility, and make it work.  I am ready to do that, knowing that I will have mentors and support for those moments when I feel like I’m drowning and in over my head.  I feel that the training, to this point, has given me the tools I need to find the answers I don’t have, and unlike many pagan organizations, ADF has enough structure to support its clergy over the speedbumps that will inevitably come.

Just like no one can ever truly be ready until they are on the path itself, part of knowing how best to prepare to me is instead an acceptance that we never stop learning, even in death. There are more books to read, more places and people to visit and meet, more masters at whose feet we need to sit and learn.  It is accepting that even though you are in a role as teacher, there will be times you still need to be a student.  There are things in which you are expert, and things in which you are beginner. I embrace this and I welcome the challenge.

2.      Your answer to the exit standard for Discipline 1

When, as a shiny new ADF Clergy Student, I first read the guidebook, I remember conflicting thoughts of there being a lot of work to do and at the same time, that it was heavily book based.  Now, as I am finishing up the courses for the First Circle work, I laugh at my earlier self.  Yes, there is a lot to learn from books, but it is the way those books impact practice that gives true growth to a Clergy Student.

The bulk of this work, for me, has been done at my home shrine.  This is partly because for the first half of my working on the courses, I was a solitary.  When I could manage the trip during the Northern Wisconsin winter, I made a point of visiting the closest protogrove, some three and a half hours away.   Because my time with a group was limited, it forced me to rely on myself to build my practice and discipline, but it also allowed me to deepen my personal relationships with the Kindreds.  While these studies have opened my eyes to the relationships between the various Hearth Cultures and the murky depths to which their common roots go, the solitary nature of the first part of my journey cemented my relationships to those Gods, Ancestors, and Spirits I worshipped as a Heathen before coming to ADF.

As a Heathen Druid, a large part of my practice has been finding (or borrowing) ways to combine a more traditional Germanic path with the various practices of ADF.  In some cases, that has been easy, but in others it has been very difficult.  I recognize that this is something that every Hearth Culture has to do, and for some it is more of a stretch than others, but when I first began on this path the ‘six-week-ish countdown’ was occasionally frustrating.  I found this to be more the case when I was practicing as a solitary.  Since moving this summer, I have managed to find a community to practice with which is a very different experience both in terms of having community worship and in the benefits and irritations of sharing rituals.  While I think having the time in Wisconsin was good for me because it forced me to grow as a liturgist in writing my rituals, now that we are forming a protogrove and I am working with others it is making me learn a new and different set of skills.  Public ritual is a very different beast than worshipping at your home shrine and I am grateful to my new friends and grove-mates for supporting me in the learning process of making this transition.

Because I had been working with the Norse Gods for about five years before stepping foot on the ADF Clergy Student Path, and because my relationships with the Norse Gods started with Skadi and Odin, when I began working with a Gatekeeper, I chose to honor Odin with this role.  This was partly because I already considered him one of my patrons, but mostly for his skills as a magician to aid me in the magical work and because of his knowledge of the paths between the worlds given his penchant for wandering in the Eddas.  Over the course of this last year, I found my relationship with him deepening in many areas, and I attribute this to my growing partnership with him in this role.  I have no doubts that he has been the instigator in many of the trials I have faced personally, religiously, and professionally, but then, he never promised me that the path would be easy.  Only that it would be worth it.

Choosing an Earth Mother was a bit more difficult as I did not have a particularly strong relationship with any of the more agrarian goddesses and it isn’t a concept that resonated with me.  Unlike working with Odin, finding the right Earth Mother for me took time and I eventually came to accept that because the Earth is in a constant state of change, it was all right to honor different Goddesses and their connections to the earth in this role.  Because the Earth wears many faces during the year, it was all right to call upon Her by different names.  While I am a true polytheist and I don’t think that the different Goddesses are merely faces of her, I do think that the Earth takes on different Aspects, and so we can be connected to Her in different ways at different times. 

It is only when I accepted this that began to really feel a connection to the Earth Mother.  I think, looking back, that a part of my disconnection was that I never felt at home in Wisconsin.  I never felt any desire to put down roots there, and I think this kept me from any real or strong connection to the Earth Mother while I lived there.  During those early rituals, I tended to name Nerthus as the Earth Mother, which felt like a generic use of a typical convention, not any particularly strong relationship.

When I moved to Ohio in August is when my connection to Her began to blossom.  I have a long commute for work of about 45 minutes each way on the curving mountain roads of the Appalachian region.  I make this morning drive around dawn, and get to see the earth still cloaked in mist as she wakes up.  It was when this started that I began to really feel a connection to the Earth Mother, and because I live and work in the mountains, and because the region is in a state of environmental emergency, this connection has deepened significantly in the last few months when I connected Skadi to this role.  I have always felt a deep kinship to Skadi.  She is a goddess of the wild places and she expects an effort of her followers.  She is a huntress, and so she is concerned with the health of the herd and their environment.  When she married Njord, she placed herself firmly in the role of mother to his children, and we see her offering advice to Freyr in the lore about how to win his wife.  She later marries Odin and they have many children together according to Heimskringla, Snorri’s other work which tells the tales of the Norse Kings.  As a step-mother, a mother to dynasties, and as a goddess of the wild places, I finally felt confident in calling on her as Earth Mother, particularly when I was working with the nature spirits. 

When I am crafting a ritual for the protogrove, I usually appeal to Frigg as the weaver of Frith to take this role instead, unless the ritual is more agrarian in nature, in which case I call upon Jord, whose name is cognate to Earth and is named as the mother of Thor.  These different faces then of warrior, frith weaver, and fertile land have come to represent the roles the Earth plays to me and while my initial intention of working solely with one goddess in this role has gone out the window, my relationship with the idea of the sentient Earth who supports and nourishes us has grown.

This entire process has been one of growth, but it hasn’t all come in the areas I first thought it would.  While I made significant process in some of my magical studies, especially in trance work which I never thought I would be good at, the bigger changes have been in other more personal areas.  One of those areas has been in journaling.  While I am a creature of habit, I am not a creature of routine.  Very few parts of my day have a pattern to them.  That makes things like eating at the same time or journaling tricky.  Knowing this about myself, when I was working on the coursework that required long term journaling, I had to consciously restructure my environment to allow me to complete it.  While it was frustrating to try and force my chaotic life (especially when I was moving interstate or worse, driving back and forth to interviews) into some form of routine that would allow me to get my practice in, the feeling of accomplishment when I completed those journals was amazing.

Perhaps it is fitting that this course, this final work (at least for this circle), is titled Discipline instead of Reflection because Discipline has been what has gotten me through the hurdles, the bumps, and the times when I just didn’t want to keep working on this.  I never considered myself a disciplined person before, but over the last year that is exactly what I have become.  Over and over again I have drawn Sowilo from my rune bag when asking for guidance.  Sowilo, the rune of the sun and the stamina she needs to complete her journey through the sky.  It has come to be my symbol for completing these first circle courses.  Working through these courses and rising to meet the various challenges that I have faced in the last year have shown me that I can complete the things I set out to do, no matter what obstacles I face.  I am a woman of my word, and my word is the most important thing I have.  And that, at its core, is what the discipline of being a priest is to me.

3.      Your code of ethics and description of that code (Ethics 1, question 10)

Code of Ethics for Laura “Snow” Fuller:

v    Confidentiality.  I will be worthy of the trust others show in me by maintaining confidentiality for all communications shared with me in my role as priest and counselor with the sole exception of those things I must, by law, report to the authorities.

v    Discrimination.  I will fight discrimination, both within myself and my community.  I will avoid acting in a discriminatory manner against anyone both inside and outside of ADF.  When I witness acts of discrimination, I will work to rectify it to the best of my ability and will bring other resources to bear should my own not be sufficient.

v    Responsibility.  I will accept responsibility for my actions and, should my actions bring harm, I will work to not only correct the action for the future but right the wrong done.  Further, I shall be responsible to the Kindreds and ADF as I work on their behalf as a Druid and Priest.

v    Self-Reliance.  I will rely on myself and stand on my own two feet, allowing myself to remain free on conflicts of interest.

v    Sustainability.  I will embrace sustainable living practices that honor the Earth, the Kindreds, and my communities. 

v    Continuing Education.  I will seek to continue to grow in knowledge and continue to learn and stay up to date with my understandings of the world, the cosmos, ADF, the Kindreds, and my community.  I will share what knowledge I gain, as we often learn more about ourselves and our topics when we teach and engage in discussion.

This code of ethics reflects the Nine Virtues of ADF in the following ways:

Wisdom:  Continuing Education and seeking to continually grow in knowledge shows wisdom in understanding that there is never an end to learning.   Further, in sharing what I learn, I grow in wisdom myself and aid others in their own pursuit of knowledge.

Piety: In being responsible to the Kindreds and to ADF, I embrace piety through providing and participating in public ritual.  Further, part of teaching and sharing knowledge with others is the understanding of traditions and right practices.

Vision: In adopting a code on nondiscrimination, I utilize vision.  In order to foresee needs to the community, such as handicap accessible sites for rituals or non-alcoholic choices at rituals for those who abstain from alcohol, I need to embrace and practice the virtue of Vision. 

Courage: There are many times when as pagan and priest, you face adversity.  Courage is needed to stand up for the ethical dilemmas you face and ‘do the right thing’ anyway.  ADF requires priests to use their real names.  While I am ‘out’ as a pagan at work among my co-workers, my career requires I work with volunteers and children, many of whom would be horrified at my religious beliefs, yet when asked, I am honest about them.  Courage also means doing the right thing when facing discrimination in my community and facing down those who would discriminate against others both in my role as priest and in being a human being. 

Integrity: Integrity is implicit in Confidentiality.  If I cannot be held to my word, if my honor is meaningless, then no one would trust me with their problems and concerns, especially of a confidential nature.  Integrity is also an important part of self-reliance, since avoiding a conflict of interest is also a part of honor and honesty.

Perseverance: Perseverance is seen throughout this code of ethics, but can be especially seen as part of living a sustainable lifestyle and building sustainable communities.  Not giving up in the face of disagreement and frustration is an important part of sustainability.  Perseverance is also important in continuing my education and never saying I’ve done or learned enough but instead continuing to push myself to learn and grow.

Moderation: Moderation is implicit in living a sustainable lifestyle and building a sustainable community.  Moderation requires forgoing some of the more instant gratification and pleasures for the long course.

Hospitality: Hospitality is seen both through building relationships with the Kindreds under Responsibility and in the relationships of teacher and student as I continue my education.  Hospitality is the core of much of our ethic and thew as we consider the relationship of giving and receiving, and as such it underscores much of this code of ethics.  It is also part of confidentiality, as that is a giving of Honor and sometimes of place and support through a person’s troubles.

Fertility: Creativity and Industriousness are implicit as part of continuing my education and in living a sustainable lifestyle.  Hard work pays off in the end for both aspects of my code of ethics.  Fertility is part of what keeps lit the desire for knowledge and self-improvement.  It also brings joy to the Responsibility of building deeper relationships with the Kindreds.

4.      One entry from your Liturgy Practicum 1 journal that you feel represents your personal work best.

April 21

Earth Day

While Earth Day is not considered a holiday by a lot of people, I’ve been celebrating it as a religious holiday since 2009. The first year, I started a compost pile and dedicated it to Nerthus, offering her the weeds I’d pulled as a tribute of my slain enemies.  In following years, I’ve taking the compost from the pile and added it to the garden, turning it into the soil and starting the next pile for the new year.  

This year, I am in a new home and there is still snow on the ground up here in Northern Wisconsin.  So instead of the compost pile, I spent the evening making offerings to the land wights and Nerthus at my inside altar and asked for their blessings of fertility for the coming year.  I started an indoor windowsill herb garden as a small project.

I also wrote this Invocation to the Earth Mother.  I am still groping towards how I want to practice around the concept of Earth Mother.  I don’t really feel the concept resonating with my hearth culture.  I know that the intent is to have the title be applicable to the variety of goddesses who have earth aspects, but there often feels like a gap between intention and practice.

That said, I grew up reading Clan of the Cave Bear, and while I know the whole Myth of Matriarchy is a myth (thank you Eller), there is still some comfort in the idea of personifying the Earth as the Great Mother who loves and protects her children.  So, to that concept, I wrote this invocation.

Hail the Earth Mother!

Giver of life!

Blanketed in the snow of winter,

The soft green haze of early spring,

The golden wheat standing in the field,

Or the gentle leaves of many hues settling on your breast.

Hail the Earth Mother!

Giver of life!

Your moist flesh brings forth the flowers that tempt the bees.

Your lush meadows fatten the cattle,

Your golden grains turn into bread and beer.

A mighty harvest to sustain us through the long cold.

Hail the Earth Mother!

Giver of life!

Accept our offering that you may continue to bless us

Now and for Generations to Come!

5.      The Introspection piece from the Practicum work for Magic 1 for Priests (question 10)

Over the last year as I have worked through the various courses of the Clergy Training Program, a deeper self-awareness has been key to mastering the various arts that we are called to study.  That is no less true of Magic, and I believe there are several reasons for this.

First, Magic in all its forms (I’m including trance and divination work in this as well), is work.  It is something that we have to constantly work on in order to become better at it.  It is the flexing of a mental muscle that requires strengthening.  But like any other muscle, in order to give it the best work out, we have to know what its limits are, what its endurance is, what will make it fail and how to support and nourish and build it back up when it does.

Second, if we accept that magic is real, that we are doing real things when we work by magical means, then self-awareness is key to doing this work in an ethical manner. We are manipulating the world around us and the people in it.  When are we helping others, when are we hurting them?  When are we impacting their free will to do for themselves?  What are the possible repercussions of what I’m doing?  There are so many possible pitfalls in this sort of work if we are not careful.  Having self-awareness may not enable us to avoid all of the possible mistakes we will make, but it does help us to know in what areas our judgement might be compromised.  This is especially true given that there are several Indo-European traditions that have baneful magic associated with them, my own included. 

Along a similar line, self-awareness is important given how much of the work of a magician relies on interpretation and communication with other beings, planes, and Kindred.  Introspection about the relationships we have formed with those other beings can help us make better determinations of omens, and help us better understand who and what we are seeking for ourselves and our communities.

In order to continue to pursue self-knowledge, I have maintained a practice of weekly rune casting as well as trance journey work for myself.  I find that having the chance to look at myself through those tools gives me an insight into what’s going on in my life that might have a bearing on my work.  I also have found it helpful to ask my friends who read runes to read mine from time to time.  Just like the importance of a therapist seeking support, having someone else do the same work for you that you are doing for others brings about some balance.  Lastly, I have taken up the practice of keeping a journal (something I NEVER thought I’d do but did get in the habit of in these courses) so that I can keep track of changes over time in my practices, my understandings, and my work.  The last I find the most helpful, to be honest, since it gives me a place to pour out my thoughts and emotions and then later critically examine them. 

6.      An example of one group ritual script for a High Day that is substantially original to you.

Ostara Celebration

Note: Throughout the ritual I use the term officiant.  I did this because I wanted to indicate a call and response pattern.  The person who is acting as officiant can change throughout the various parts of the ritual.

1. Initiating the Rite:

Process to the altar.  When standing before the altar, lift hand and draw the Hammer Sign (inverted capital T).

2. Purification:

One person asperses the area and the people with water, while a second follows with incense or smudge.

Officiant: Thor, Mighty Friend of Man, Hallow and Hold this Sacred Space!

Response: Hail Thor!

3. Honoring the Earth Mother:

If outside, bend and place a hand upon the earth. 

Officiant: Frigg, Lady of Fensalir, as the marshy banks soften and the land around you melts, bless the world that its life is renewed!  Hail Frigg!

Place offering for Frigg (small cake) in the offering bowl if inside.  If outside, add it to the fire or bury it in the ground or place it on the ground to be left.

4. Statement of Purpose:

Officiant: Today we celebrate the arrival of Spring!  The seasons turn, and the Earth Awakens. Winter’s back breaks under the onslaught of Thor’s Mighty Hammer!

5. (Re)Creating the Cosmos:

Honoring the Fire: If not yet lit, light the fire.  Either the officiant or a designated person should make an offering to the fire such as a cone of incense or a handful of grain.

Officiant: May the sparks that quickened Creation light a fire within me!  Sacred Fire, burn within us!

All: Sacred Fire, burn within us!

Honoring the Well: Add silver to the Cauldron

Officiant: May the Waters of Wyrd that Feed the Cosmos fill us with life!  Sacred Waters, flow through us!

All: Sacred Waters, flow through us!

Honoring the World Tree: Incense the Tree or make an offering to the tree.

Officiant: Yggdrasil, Steed of Odin, Supporting the Worlds!  Sacred Tree, grow within us!

All: Sacred Tree, grow within us!

Officiant: After slaying Ymir, Odin and his brothers carefully took the body apart.  As they piled his flesh, it grew solid for them to stand on.  His bones they piled into mountains and his teeth became rocks.  His hair took root and became the trees and grasses.

His blood running free became the waters.  

Then they took his skull and heaved it aloft to form the heavens while his brains became the clouds.

We stand here upon his flesh, the World tree grows beside us connecting Midgard to the Realms of the Gods and the Dead.  The rivers flow beneath and around us, renewing our lives.  Here beside us burns the living flame that transforms our sacrifices and carries them to those we would praise.

6. Opening the Gate(s)

Odin, Rider of Sleipnir, who moves with ease between the worlds, who visits lands others dare not enter, who better than you to assist us in our travels?  Odin, Allfather, Open the Way!  Part the Mist!  Open the Gates!

All: Open the gates. 

This continues as a chant to build energy, growing in volume, until the officiant raises their hands.

Officiant: THE GATES ARE OPEN!

7. Inviting the Three Kindreds

Ancestors:

Officiant:

Blessed Dead, you who came before us, whose lives shaped us, whose deeds built our wyrd.  

Your bones lie in the land around us.  

Your blood and sweat and tears made it fertile.

You are not forgotten!

Be welcome here!

(Pour offering of mead)

All: Be welcome here!

Land Wights:

Officiant:

Allies living in the land!

Elves and Wights both great and small!

Be welcome at our hearth!

You are not forgotten!

Be welcome here!

(Pour offering of mead)

All: Be welcome here!

Aesir and Vanir:

Officiant:

Gods of Land, of Sea, and of Sky!

Shining ones of ancient knowledge!

Holy ones!

You are not forgotten!

Be welcome here!

(Pour offering of mead)

All: Be welcome here!

8. Key Offerings: Honoring Ostara

Officiant:

Ostara, Lady of Spring

Bright Dawn lighting the Eastern Sky

The world begins to wake.

The days to lengthen.

(Pour offering of mead)

ALL: HAIL OSTARA!

The first green begins to spread over the land.

The animals give birth.

The world begins to wake.

The days to lengthen.

(Give offering of fresh butter)

ALL: HAIL OSTARA!

Life Quickens at Your Call!

The pulse of the earth, thrumming at your feet!

The world begins to wake.

The days to lengthen.

(Give offering of fresh egg)

ALL: HAIL OSTARA!

9. Prayer of Sacrifice

Officiant:

Lady of the Dawn!

We give to you of the bounty of spring!

Help us banish Winter from the land until the seasons turn again!

Ostara, accept our offerings!

ALL: Ostara, Accept our offerings!

10. Omen

Gods, Spirits, and Ancestors gathered here,

Have our gifts been well received?

(Draw runes for omen)

11. Asking for the Blessing

Lady of the Dawn,

Gifts we have shared with you.

Now we would ask

that you share your gift with us.

12. Hallowing the Blessing

Fill this mead with your blessings,

so that all who share in it are renewed.

13. Affirming the Blessing

Ostara has caused the world to wake.

Drink now and share in her renewal.

14. Workings (none at this time)

15. Thanking the Beings

Officiant:

Lady of the Dawn, Ostara, we thank you for your blessings on us today,

For the growing warmth of spring,

For the quickening of the land.

ALL: Ostara, we thank you!

Holy Gods who order our world, we thank you for your blessings today and every day!

ALL: Holy Gods, we thank you!

Spirits of the Land who dwell among us, neighbors here on Midgard, we thank you!

ALL: Land Wights, we thank you!

Beloved Dead, whose wyrd we inherit, whose lives brought us here, we thank you!

ALL: Ancestors, we thank you!

16. Closing the Gates

Officiant:

Odin, All-Father, traveler between the lands!

Our ritual is at an end.  

Aid us in parting the mists and closing the gates that we may once more be wholly in the realm of Midgard.

ALL: Seal the Way!  Close the Gates!

A reverse of the opening, this starts with a demand on the part of the people to close the gates, but their voices should quiet until they are whispering, the officiant’s hands slowly lowering down to the hallows until they make a cutting or some other pre-arranged movement.

Officiant: This tree is once more a tree.  This well, once more a bowl.  This sacred fire once more a flame.

17.  Thanking the Earth Mother

Frigg, Lady of Fensalir, the world has quickened, life is renewed.  

Thank you for your blessings!

ALL: Thank you for your blessings!

18. Closing the Rite

Go now and spread the joy of spring throughout Midgard!

The Rite is ended!  Hail the Gods!

7.      An example of one solitary ritual script done at your altar for any occasion.

This is the first time I’ve celebrated Walpurgisnacht with an ADF style ritual.  In the past I’ve done this by lighting a bonfire and keeping a vigil with friends.  This year, I was alone for it.

I tried to write this ritual using continental Germanic deities.  Usually I’ve worked more with the Norse or Anglo-Saxon versions, but this time I wanted to try and keep it closer to the traditions around magic and Walpurgisnacht from the Brocken.  It was performed outside where I had a fire pit and a big rock as altar, late at night (around 11).

The Omen was taken by runes.  I pulled Sowilo, Ansuz, and Jera.  I interpret this as there has been a long journey to bring me to this point, which is a focus on my relationships with the Kindreds.  What needed is an understanding that there is a cycle to everything, and that I should keep on moving through the cycle and trusting in and honoring the Kindreds.

Walpurgisnacht Ritual

1. Initiating the Rite:

Standing before the altar, lift hand and draw the Hammer Sign (inverted capital T).

Hail Donar!

2. Purification:

Asperse the area with water.

Donar, Mighty Friend of Man, Hallow and Hold this Sacred Space!

3. Honoring the Earth Mother:

Bend down and place a hand on the earth, feel its life pulsing beneath you.

Erdenmutter, I stand here today on your mantle, growing green once more with new life.

Accept this offering that you may continue to provide for us, your children.

Throw offering into the fire.

4. Statement of Purpose:

Today is a day when the veil between the worlds is thin!

Today is a day of magic!

Today, I seek to honor the Blessed Dead and ask for Frau Holle’s blessing on my magical endeavors!

5. (Re)Creating the Cosmos:

Honoring the Fire:

May the sparks that quickened Creation light a fire within me!  

Honoring the Well: Add silver to the Cauldron

May the Waters of Wyrd that Feed the Cosmos fill me with life!  

Honoring the World Tree: Incense the Tree.

Irminsul, Mighty Tree Supporting the Worlds, grow within me.

6. Opening the Gate(s)

Wotan, far traveler who moves with ease between the worlds, who visits lands others dare not enter, who better than you to assist in my travels?  Wotan, Open the Way!  Part the Mist!  Open the Gates!

7. Inviting the Three Kindreds

Ancestors:

Blessed Dead, you who came before me, whose lives shaped me, whose deeds built my wyrd.  

Your bones lie in the land around me.  

Your blood and sweat and tears made it fertile.

You are not forgotten!

Be welcome here!

(Pour offering of mead)

Land Wights:

Allies living in the land!

Elves and Wights both great and small!

You are not forgotten!

Be welcome here!

(Pour offering of mead)

Aesir and Vanir:

Gods of Land, of Sea, and of Sky!

Shining ones of ancient knowledge!

Holy ones!

You are not forgotten!

Be welcome here!

(Pour offering of mead)

8. Key Offerings: Honoring Frau Holle

Frau Holle,

Spinner and Weaver,

Teacher and Wisewoman.

Tonight is a night when the veils are thin.

Tonight is a night of magic.

Tonight is a night of power as the world is reborn!

(Pour offering of mead)

This winter you shook your blanket of snow upon the land

But as the days grow warmer, it melts.

It runs into the fields and streams

Refreshing and renewing the world!

Now is the time of fertility

Now is the time the world awakens to your magic

The first green begins to spread over the land.

The animals give birth.

The world begins to wake.

The days to lengthen.

(Give offering of wool roving)

9. Prayer of Sacrifice

Mother Holle, You who lead the Wild Hunt

You who reward the industrious!

We give to you of our labors

We give to you of the bounty of spring!

Call back your winter from the land until the seasons turn again!

Grant me your fertility in thought and deed!

Frau Holle, accept my offerings!

10. Omen

Gods, Spirits, and Ancestors gathered here,

Have my gifts been well received?

(Draw runes for omen, see above for mine)

11. Asking for the Blessing

Lady of the Wild Hunt,

Gifts I have shared with you.

Now I would ask

That you share your gift with me.

12. Hallowing the Blessing

Fill this mead with your blessings,

So that I might be renewed, my skill and magic to grow!

13. Affirming the Blessing

Frau Holle has pulled back her blanket of snow!

She has seen my industriousness!

14. Workings

Settle by the fire and keep the vigil until sunrise. During the vigil, spinning, trance work, or just experiencing the night long vigil are all appropriate. When the sun begins to rise, continue with the rest of the ritual.

15. Thanking the Beings

Mother Holle, thank you for your blessings,

For the melting of the snow,

For the quickening of the land.

Holy Gods who order our world, thank you for your blessings today and every day!

Spirits of the Land who dwell among us, neighbors here on Midgard, thank you!

Beloved Dead, whose wyrd I have inherited and whose lives brought us here, thank you!

16. Closing the Gates

Wotan, traveler between the lands!

This ritual is at an end.  

Aid me in parting the mists and closing the gates

That I may once more be wholly in the realm of Mittilagart.

Seal the Way!  Close the Gates!

17.  Thanking the Earth Mother

Erdenmutter the world has quickened, life is renewed.  

Thank you for your blessings!

18. Closing the Rite

Pour out the offering bowl.

8.      One working from the Practicum work for Magic 1 for Priests (one answer from questions 7-9)

Healing Work:

Second Merseberg Charm:

One example of healing magic from the Germanic peoples is found in the Second Merseburg Charm.  The Merseburg Incantations are two poems written in alliterative verse found in 1841 at the Cathedral at Merseburg in Germany among many other literary treasures.  They were found on leaf 84a of Parchment Manuscript No. 68.  The manuscript itself dates from the tenth century; however, the language, style, and meter within the document indicate an earlier date.  In modern times, the Charms were first published in a paper by Jacob Grimm in 1842 (Germanic Mythology).  The second charm tells the story of how Baldur’s horse turned up lame while the gods were in the woods and how it was healed.  While one of the major contributions of this charm is the naming of several of the Aesir on the Continent (first stanza), it also gives us the charm that the gods used to heal the horse and which has been used as a basis for healing magics among the Germanic peoples (second stanza).

Phol and Wodan

rode into the woods,

There Balder's foal

sprained its foot.

It was charmed by Sinthgunt,

her sister Sunna;

It was charmed by Frija,

her sister Volla;

It was charmed by Wodan,

as he well knew how:

Bone-sprain,

like blood-sprain,

Like limb-sprain:

Bone to bone;

blood to blood;

Limb to limb

like they were glued.

There are really three parts to this charm.  The first tells us what happened, the second is who it happened to, and the third is the incantation for the healing itself.  Many of the Old English healing charms called for an exorcism of whatever was injuring the patient and before this could be done, the magician/healer had to tell who they were so that they would demonstrate their authority in the task (Hall 201).   Then, with their authority established, they would command the healing to happen with their trained will.

My Healing Rite:

One of my grove-mates has been having trouble with her Gallbladder, although the doctors cannot figure out what is causing it.  It is not life-threatening enough that they want to take it out, but it’s making her uncomfortable.  She and I talked about the pain she’d been in, and she agreed to let me use her as a test subject for my healing work. 

While the Germanic healings called for exorcising elves, in modern practice we have a firmer understanding of the causes of illness and injury, even if we don’t know why a particular individual is taken by any given illness.  With that in mind, I sought to balance the traditional model of the charm with a modern understanding of medical practice while still following the formula of the older way.  Further, I wanted to write a charm that she could use herself when she was experiencing pain.

Together we performed an ADF style COoR Ritual, invoking Eir as the Deity of the Occasion and Odin as Gatekeeper to lend us his magic for the working.  She made offerings to Eir (I didn’t ask what).  Then I made offerings of Apple Cider Vinegar for its healing properties, mead as a gift, and a bouquet of dandelions because of their link to the gallbladder (Odinsson 115).  Once the offerings were made, I had my friend lay down in front of the altar and close her eyes.  I held my hands over her chest in the general gallbladder region, and invoked my charm, the whole time picturing in my head the changes we wanted to see happening inside her body.

Sludge and blight

Gathered here

Cause unknown

Has grown with fear.

Listen now

Be charmed by me

Out we cast

No more to see

Eir’s good hands

To now make whole

This body healed

Both Heart and Soul!

Ritual Script

1. Initiating the Rite: Toning of the rune Kenaz 

2. Purification – Aspersing with water.

3. Honoring the Earth Mother –

Jord, Great Earth Mother, You who birthed the Protector of Man, support and protect us in our working today.

4. Statement of Purpose:

Today we come together to give praise to Eir, Healer to the holy Aesir, and ask for her blessings on this healing work.

5. (Re)Creating the Cosmos

Honoring the Fire: Light the Fire

May the sparks that quickened Creation light a fire within me!  Sacred Fire, burn within us!

Honoring the Well: Add silver to the Cauldron

May the Waters of Wyrd that Feed the Cosmos fill us with life!  Sacred Waters, flow through us!

Honoring the World Tree: Incense the Tree.

Yggdrassil, Steed of Odin, Supporting the Worlds!  Sacred Tree, grow within us!

6. Opening the Gate(s) 

Odin, Rider of Sleipnir, who moves with ease between the worlds, who visits lands others dare not enter, who better than you to assist us in our travels?  Odin, Allfather, Open the Way!  Part the Mist!  Open the Gates!

7. Inviting the Three Kindreds

Ancestors:

Blessed Dead, you who came before us, whose lives shaped us, whose deeds built our wyrd. 

Your bones lie in the land around us. 

Your blood and sweat and tears made it fertile.

You are not forgotten!

Be welcome here!

(pour offering of mead)

Land Wights:

Allies living in the land!

Elves and Wights both great and small!

Be welcome at our hearth!

You are not forgotten!

Be welcome here!

(pour offering of mead)

Aesir and Vanir:

Gods of Land, of Sea, and of Sky!

Shining ones of ancient knowledge!

Holy ones!

You are not forgotten!

Be welcome here!

(pour offering of mead)

8. Key Offerings 

Eir, you who heal the Gods, we ask that you attend us in this rite. 

(Pour offering of Apple Cider Vinegar)

Praises are sung through time of your healing hands. 

(Pour offering of Mead)

We ask that you bring your Healing to bare on our friend, that she may enjoy long life!

(Make offering of Dandelions)

9. Prayer of Sacrifice

Handmaid of Frigg, Lady of Healing, Eir, accept our offerings!

10. Omen

Runes were drawn.  Fehu: the flowing wealth of prosperity. Nauthiz: the fire that burns away sickness and breaks stasis.  Jera: the turning of the wheel, the cycle of life.  I call this a good omen.

11. Calling (asking) for the Blessings:

Lady Eir, we have shared our gifts with you.

Now we would ask that you share your gift of healing with us.

12. Hallowing the Blessing

Fill this mead with your blessings, so that all who share in it are renewed.

13. Affirmation of the Blessing

This mead is filled with the blessings of the kindreds, drink of it now and receive their blessings into yourself. (Horn is passed)

14. Workings: Gallbladder Healing

At this time, my friend who was to be the recipient of the healing work laid down before the altar.  I held my hands over her in the region of her gallbladder and visualized the healing energy of Eir, which we had just accepted with the horn, flowing into her while I chanted my charm:

Sludge and blight

Gathered here

Cause unknown

Has grown with fear.

Listen now

Be charmed by me

Out we cast

No more to see

Eir’s good hands

To now make whole

This body healed

Both Heart and Soul!

Once we were done, we toned Kenaz together three times and she stood to rejoin the rite.

15. Thanking the Beings

Eir, you who heal the Gods are also friend of Man!  Thank you for your aid in this rite!  Know that you are always welcome among us!

Shining Ones!  We thank you for joining us at our sacred fire! 

Spirits of the Land, we thank you for being with us here in the heart of our grove!

Spirits of the Dead, we thank you for sharing our ritual with us!

16. Closing the Gate(s)

Odin, Allfather, we ask your help as once more this tree is but a tree, this well is but a cup, and this fire is but a flame.  Odin, Traveller between the realms, help us to close the gates!

17. Thanking the Earth Mother

Jord, Earth Mother, giver of life, we thank you for your blessings today and everyday as you grant us what we need for life!

18. Closing the Rite

This rite is ended, go in the Blessings of the Kindreds!

Works Cited

Germanic Mythology. The Merseburg Incantations. n.d. Website. 15 December 2015. <http://www.germanicmythology.com/works/merseburgcharms.html>.

Hall, A. "CALLING THE SHOTS: THE OLD ENGLISH REMEDY GIF HORS." Neuphilologische Mitteilungen: Bulletin of the Modern Language Society 106.2 (2005): 195-209. archive. 20 December 2015. <http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/3052/1/calling_the_shots1.pdf>.

Odinsson, Eoghan. Northern Plant Lore: A Field Guide to the Ancestral Use of Plants in Northern Europe. Self-Published, 2012. Kindle.