Ritual Mechanics

Ritual Mechanics

Passed 7/6/15

Reviewed by Rev. Chris Temple

Laura Fuller (Snow)

1. Explain why purification is important prior to ritual, and what you do to purify yourself before you lead a rite. Include any prayers said, items used, and any stage directions needed to help your reviewer understand what is happening. (min. 150 words, not including prayers, items, and directions)

               Purification is the step that readies the priest, the congregants, and the space for the ritual.  This is an important step in preparing for ritual because it cleanses you and helps you transition from the mundane to the sacred (Newberg, Step 2: Purification).  It prepares you both physically and mentally for the ritual.  It gives you mental queues that you are stepping away from daily life and into ritual space, into the sacred center.  There are three types of purification: adding something, removing something, and marking something (Newberg, Step 2: Purification).  My purifications tend to focus on removing something, with that something being distractions and tension from everyday life. 

               When I conduct a ritual, I start with a shower.  When I don’t have time or space, I at least wash my hands and face.  As I do this, I visualize whatever negativity I’ve been feeling being washed away in the water and down the drain.

               If I feel like there is negative energy in my space (my space being my living room), then I do some light housework before beginning a ritual.  Usually, though, my purification of space is very simple.  When it’s just me, I make a ‘hammer sign’ in front of my alter (drawing an inverted capital ‘t’ by making first a downward stroke and then a horizontal stroke from left to right because I’m right handed) and say “Thor, hollow and hold this sacred space.”  This is a common use among heathens taught in many introductory Asatru books such as A Practical Heathen’s Guide to Asatru (LaFayllve 186) to banish anything unfriendly from a space.  One theory suggests Thor was seen as the hallower among the Norse based on verse thirty in Þrymskviða, one of the Eddic poems.  In it, the giant Thrym lays Mjolnir in the bride’s lap to sanctify the marriage (Orchard Thrymskvida Verse 30) although this theory is not universally accepted (Orchard Endnotes for Verse 30).         

When leading a group ritual, I generally do not purify space, as our rituals here are usually outside in our Oak Grove.  While having a ritual outside does not automatically confer purity on a space, we are the visitors to the space rather than when I have a ritual in my living room.  Therefore it doesn’t seem to be good manners to go around casting the locals out of their homes.  Instead, we give an offering to the Outdwellers and ask them to leave us alone during our rite then invoke either Thor or Heimdall to guard us in our sacred space.  We want kindly spirits to feel welcome, even as we want to be protected from those who would cause us mischief or harm.  We asperse those attending the ritual with water.  At our most recent ritual, we followed the water with incense so that we had cleansing via removal and also cleansing by adding something.

              

2. Explain how you position your body and hands when inviting the Kindreds and making Key Offerings, what that position means, and why it is important to have a position that is (or several positions that are) consistent between rituals. (min. 100 words for description and meaning, min 150 for importance)

I adopt different positions for calling to the different Kindreds and Beings invited to my rituals.  The first deity invited to a ritual is the Earth Mother.  When I call to Her, I make sure that I am touching the Earth or the floor.  If I am outside and barefoot, I merely take a moment to feel the earth under my feet.  Usually, though, I am inside.  On my altar I have a small glass vial of dirt taken from various places I have lived or places that are important to me.  It includes some dirt from my grandmothers’ graves, some dirt from my family farm in Missouri, and some dirt from each of the houses I’ve lived in since becoming pagan.  I take it with me as a symbol of where I have been so that any house or land spirits that wish to join me when I move have something to move with.  In home ritual, I hold it in my hands while invoking the Earth Mother.  Then I put the vial down and make an offering of incense to the statue of Frigga (who I usually call on for this role). 

When calling on the Gatekeeper, I move the statue of Odin I keep on my altar so that it is in the center of the triangle made of well, tree, and fire.  Usually the statue is beside my statue of Frigg.  However when he is being invoked as Gatekeeper, I feel that it is important that he physically reside in the center of the gates.  Moving him there is my cue that I am preparing the gates to be opened.  I lay my hand (thumb really, since he’s about 8 inches tall) on His shoulder as I invoke him, then draw a Gar Symbol over him.  This is done by making an ‘x’ and then drawing a circle around it in a clockwise direction for opening.  The Gar symbol is a symbol for Odin’s spear Gungnir.   The term gar is from the Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰayso- (“pointed stick, spear”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰey- (“to drive, move, fling”) (Harper).  When I am outside and don’t have my statue or the small versions of the gates, I invoke the Gatekeeper by raising my arms up over my head and bending me back slightly so that my face is to the sky.  Perhaps because I see this as the opposite of the Earth and I usually pair Odin and Frigg in these roles, with Odin being one of the Sky Fathers.

When invoking the Three Kindreds, I light a candle for them, then hold my hands out in welcome.  Each of the Kindreds has a candle on my altar for this purpose.  When invoking the Shining Ones, I lift my hands up about level with my head to invoke them, arms bent at the elbow and palms facing the sky. When invoking the land spirits, I hold my arms out level with my shoulders and turn my palms to face either the altar (at home solo) or the group (if in a public ritual).  When invoking the ancestors, I lower my hands so that my forearms are at about a forty-five degree angle from my body, palms facing down to the earth. 

For the key offerings, I usually pour mead into a goblet.  Sometimes I have an offering that I will burn, which is done in a small iron cauldron.  Either way, before making the offering, I lift it up to eye level, spend a moment thinking about why I’m giving this particular thing as an offering, and then put it in the chosen receptacle and wait a moment for it to settle/burn.  Holding it up to eye level lets me see it and acknowledge it.  If I am doing a group ritual, if the offering is on behalf of the group rather than a personal thanks offering, I will hold it above my head if it is something solid or alcohol (not oil) so that everyone can clearly see it and feel connected to it before throwing it on the fire.  I think adopting this position is a holdover from my days of being Catholic and the part of the mass where the priest would hold up the consecrated host.  I was taught from a young age that this was the proper position to share that which was most sacred with the group.  As our offerings are most sacred, this is the position I have adopted when I make them.  I usually hold the offering in both hands, but in those instances where the offering is going to be a smaller part of a larger item (for example, if I am spooning oil onto the fire) I will hold up the whole and then when I go to make the offering, I hold the container in my left hand and separate out the part for the fire with my right as I am strongly right handed and have a lot more control that way.

The reason it is important to keep some part of the calling/offering position similar between rituals is because, much like the mental shift from purification, it tells our brains that we are doing ritual.  That this is something special.  Since what we are doing is building a connection with the gods, the more set the neural pathway is when we do this, the more successful our rituals will be.  Doing this also helps create group-mind among others at the ritual since they will know what to expect.  Having them do the same or similar motions, builds group unity and helps with the raising of power between and within members of the group (Bonewits Chapter 3).  Perhaps a more mundane reason is that when you use the same positions between rituals, it is one less thing you have to think about.  This allows the liturgist to pay more attention on other aspects of what they are doing, like channeling energy and creating connections to the Kindreds.  In performing public ritual, having simple gestures builds that same familiarity for those attending and can make new people feel involved when they have something to mimic.

3. Describe your meditation practice as it stands today. Include its regularity, any positions you may use or prayers you may say, and the method(s) you typically use. (min. 200 words)

When I meditate, I begin with a simple purification.  Usually I take a nice hot shower and visualize any distractions of a mundane nature leaving my body with the water.  I have some special soaps that I like to use to help give me a scent trigger for when I meditate as well. 

After I’m clean and dry, I lay down and systematically moving through my body from the crown of my head to the souls of my feet and visualize the negativity being swept out by a flow of positive energy.  I often flex and relax each group of muscles as I move through my body.  Doing this helps me relax, get comfortable, and more importantly, stay comfortable.

I meditate three times a week.  Tuesday night, Thursday night, and either Saturday or Sunday morning.  After preparing myself, I begin my practice with the Two Powers meditation.  From there, my meditation can take on any of several forms.  I enjoy toning (toning is the practice of repeating a single word or sound on a pitch and holding it), and frequently practice toning with the name of one of the runes.  Other times, I move from the Two Powers meditation into trance work.  I am particularly fond of the guided journey scripted by Diana Paxson in Trance-Portation titled Journey to Midgard (Paxson 259).  I don’t generally include prayers in my meditation practice, although I admit this is something of a blurry line and begs the question of what, exactly constitutes a prayer.  I do have rituals that I use, but they are not dedicated to a specific deity or kindred.  For example, when I do some of my trance work, I start out with a chant that has the words, “In the name of the cave/the dark grave/ and all who swing twixt/ bring darkness to light/ and into my sight/ the beings I now am seeking.”  I sing this three times to center myself, but it isn’t offered to anyone in particular.  It does, however, trigger for me that it is time to do trance work now.

4. Explain how two different active ADF Priests light a ritual fire. Describe the actions done, any prayers or magical work done. Explain how you light a ritual fire, including actions, prayers, and magical work you may do.

 Rev. Missy Burchfield has traveled a lot in her time as a druid.  Before she lights a fire, she wants to purify the space.  Lighting the fire is intentional in that it becomes sacred, so Missy wants to be sure the space is cleared out of what was done there before.  She purifies it and then she makes it part of the sacred center.  While some say having fire present is a purifying force, she feels that there needs to be a purification.  Sometimes it’s incense, sometimes it is water from unity cauldrons.  It’s important to lay a safe place to hold her fire and then build the fire from there.  Then she focuses on letting go to whatever that ground is holding onto.  Sometimes she makes offerings to the local wights so she is in tune with the local spirits.  Then she hallows the fire in part of the ritual (Burchfield). 

Rev. Michael Dangler doesn’t see a need to necessarily drill the fire, but he doesn’t like it when the fire making is too modern.  He prefers matches to lighters, no accelerant.  He shared that in Greek temples, sacred fires were lit by focusing the sun through glass filled with water.  He typically lights the fire before the ritual in case there are troubles, and will pray over the fire as he lights it.  The prayer changes based on the occasion, and they get longer the longer the lighting takes.  He believes that the best way to get ready to ‘stuff more things into a prayer’ is to sit around and read Vedic prayers since they had lots of things to say to the fire (Dangler).

Michael also points out that there’s the living flame and the not living flame that is a regular fire.  Ignis is the living flame, the fire that is sparked and created for the purpose of a living flame. The second flame devours the body in the pyre.  The two flames can exist in one fire, but the flame we’re working with in ADF is that living flame.  If the fire is kindled for non-ritual purposes, he will take the time to purify the fire by giving it the nine sacred woods (Dangler).

Rev. Sara Blackwelder said that she doesn’t usually do a huge fire because of ritual limitations.  Instead, for her the important part is the relationship with the Hearth Keeper and with the magic.  She also pointed out that her practices are evolving as she grows (Blackwelder).

She begins by joining her fire to the central ADF fire.  There was a song in Oak Leaves a few issues back that she really liked.  She sings that, repeating it three times until she feels a magic connection.  Then she goes into her hearth keeper portion.  Sometimes she veils as part of her hearth tending.  She said that when it comes to magical work, it’s more about feeling and making the connection and using music to help make the connection and build the energy that ties it all together (Blackwelder).

        Like Sara, I have never had an occasion to light a large fire for ritual purposes.  Instead, my fires have been limited to candles or a charcoal disc in my cauldron, and I generally light them with matches on my altar.  When I light them, I say: “Odin Allfather, Traveler between the Worlds, kindle this flame that it may carry my words and offerings between the Nine Realms and to all the beings I honor today who dwell therein.”  I try to use beeswax candles for the fire, and I often will use my fingernail to mark them with Runes for my purpose.

5. Describe three different methods of (Re)creating Sacred Space, as used by at least two different active ADF Priests. Explain the actions done, the reason for those actions, and any specific magical work the Priest does during the (Re)creating of Sacred Space portion of the ritual. Provide an original script with stage directions for (Re)creating of Sacred Space based on one of these methods.

Rev. Sara Blackwelder begins with a purification of the portals, which she does by a song she wrote for the purpose.  She follows this with the following prayer: “Water’s support and surround us, the land extends around us, the sky stretches above us, let us pray with a good fire,” (Blackwelder).

After that point, it depends on the ritual and the hearth culture.  She does a joining of the fire, well, and tree.  So for example if she’s doing Norse, she tries to touch into the wells themselves, and feel the connection with the deep realms.  For the fire, she doesn’t have a specific prayer, but she sees it as a connection to the living flame and says something along the lines of, “Bring our words and deeds above’ since the fire is bringing and connecting us to the powers of order.  The wells are chaos and the fire is order and the tree connects it all, it connects the entire sacred center.  She works with Heimdall a lot as the gate keeper, so she has a song that she uses to build the energy as an offering to him for his help in opening the gates.  She sees this part of the ritual as having a lot of magical work because you’re seeing it, and doing it and connecting the energy (Blackwelder).

Rev. Missy Burchfield spoke of using the props available.  You have a tree, well, and fire, and now she wants to set them apart and make them sacred.  She starts with a purification followed by offerings to them.  Incense or oil to the fire, incense to the tree, silver in the well.  Silver is especially “interesting” (her word) to her, because it is something that will leach into the water and kill organisms that might be living in the water and she sees this as one of the ways the ancestors might have made sure their water was safe to drink.  Granted, this is a way to purify the water, but also to poison it if we’re not careful.  She then incenses the tree (or asperses with water or whatever she’s using for an offering).  The idea being that she washes away the things that are counter to what she’s trying to do.  Once they are holy we can then use them to open the gates and talk to the Kindreds (Burchfield).

She does not perform a sacrifice to recreate the cosmos, but she does sacrifice to the gates.  The idea being that because we have made those offerings, they become sacred.  She often will sing the Portal song or use one of the other chants.  The words allow her to focus her energies that allow us to create.  Sassafras has a creation myth they tell, but she doesn’t tend to do this unless she’s working with a specific hearth culture and it really fits.  Usually, though, her rituals are already long (Burchfield).

Rev. Michael Dangler said he sees the idea of dismembering the giant, as well as the idea of the fire at the center of the world, the wells as the eye of the earth, the two powers meditation figures into that also.  It’s not just about describing the sacred space, it’s about connecting people directly to it (Dangler).

He looks at what recreating the cosmos is in the Core Order Of Ritual (abbreviated COOR), it’s making offerings to the sacred center, but there’s more to it than that.  A lot of the things we do through the ritual is pulling everything into the sacred center and it is all part of creating the sacred space.  Lighting the fire at the center of the ritual draws the fires together and connects them.  We open the gates prior to people entering the Sacred Center, then we connect the hallows.  So when you recreate the cosmos, it needs to be not just offerings but connect the people from where they start to where they end up.  The key aspect is making sure you’re seeing and receiving it yourself.  No one else can experience it if you don’t.  It doesn’t have to be complicated, but hitting on the formula can make a difference (Dangler).

 (Re)Creating the Cosmos:  While none of the priests I spoke with included a creation myth, they all said that it was important to be able to feel the connection to the sacred center while doing this part of the ritual.  Since I still feel most connected through the story, I am incorporating that part into this section.

Honoring the Fire: Light the Fire with a match.

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

Honoring the Well: Add silver to the Cauldron

Say: 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.

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

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.

*Yggdrasil literally translates as the Terrible One’s Steed (Ygg=Terrible One, Drasil=steed or horse) and is a reference/kenning to the nine nights Odin hung on the tree as a sacrifice to himself in order to win the runes (Simek 375).

        We as a society often use the words sacred and holy interchangeably.  They do have differences in their meanings.  Sacred implies that something is set apart and separate from the mundane, dedicated to the use of the gods and comes to English from Latin roots (Sacred).  Holy comes to us from the Proto-Germanic hālig which implied health with the implication that something was right and proper if it was healthy and good for you (Halig).  Both sacred and holy refer to things that are of the gods, but the relationship to the gods implied in the words is colored by the way the originating cultures viewed their relationship with the gods. 

6. Describe three different methods of Calling/Hallowing/Affirming the Waters, as used by at least two different active ADF Priests. Explain the actions done, the reason for those actions, and any specific magical work the Priest does during the Calling/Hallowing/Affirming of the Waters. Provide an original script with stage directions for the Calling/Hallowing/Affirming of the Waters based on one of these methods.

Rev. Michael Dangler started by pointing out that there are two kinds of waters.  Living waters flow and bring blessings while non-flowing waters are brackish and generally unsafe to drink.  They are still and unmoving.  When he calls for the waters, it’s for the living, flowing waters.    Some say all waters are sacred, but he is setting aside these particular waters and pouring blessings into them.  He calls for the waters to flow over the land, down from above.  He uses some of the wording Ian uses in ritual, where he’s telling people that these are the waters, this is where they’ve come from.  Typically he finishes by saying “Shining Ones give us the waters.”  After he’s made the call, then the waters in the pitcher are those waters of life, and he affirm that these are The Waters.  He also makes a point of repeating the omens between three and six times so that everyone has a chance to hear them a few times so that they remember them.  Once hallowed, he passes out the waters and then at the very end the folk need to say yes, we have received the waters.  They need to affirm it themselves (Dangler). 

He puts the omen into the waters in various ways.  He’s used the fire to shine the light through.  He’s used toning with vowel sounds and galdr, although he hasn’t tried with ogham.  He’ll repeat the omens, then ask people to think about how they can use it in their own lives and how the grove can use it.  How can we take them out into the world?  He’ll say something like, “See these omens as they flow up from below.  See it as it flows from the far edges over the land.  See it as it flows down from heaven.”  Consecration means to separate.  So he uses the sickle tool to cut apart those things we want to consecrate.  This signifies that these waters are cut off and separated from the other waters (Dangler).

Rev. Sara Blackwelder was especially interested in this topic, because it’s a part of her ritual practice that is still evolving as a priest.  It’s also a difficult part of the ritual because it’s a weird juggling of stuff in her hands, which is a mechanical issue (Blackwelder). 

But energetically, magically speaking, she feels those waters of chaos, the power of the wells coming up into the vessel with the waters of life.  The ancestral blessing they give us comes up and combines in the waters through that blessing.  The shining ones come through the fire of order.  The nature spirits are all around us, so feeling them and bringing them into the waters to share the blessings.  It’s about feeling it and bringing the energy and power together to fill the water with the blessings (Blackwelder).

Rev. Missy Burchfield had some other insights to share about how sometimes people wait to light the fire or pour the water until they’re hollowing the blessings.  Whatever makes it more real for you and ties people together (Burchfield). 

When asked how she divides out the three parts she admitted they mesh together for her.  They really are a big flow together.  “You call for it to come up and the powers to come in, and that’s the calling for me (Burchfield).”

She pointed out that we’ve spent all this time sending energy to the Kindreds, we have the omen from the seer, and this is the point where you can actually feel the energy flowing back.  It’s where you feel things are working.  Everything she’s done has been for a good purpose, and here’s the other half of the reciprocity.  Even though the three parts feel blended to her, she does make sure to separate them when she’s writing a liturgy (Burchfield).

Her group tends to call three omens, one for each of the Kindreds.  They call each one separately with the omen into the waters.  Then when all three are in the water, she tells the group that they have received this blessings.  It’s very well rounded to make sure you include all three parts.  She also encouraged the use of songs, and pointed out that there were lots of song options for this point in the ritual.  Sometimes she likes to intone this part of the ritual, as she feels it’s a good way to get people involved and it also helps get them to get that part of the energy to flow back into the water (Burchfield).

When putting the blessings into the water, she says her Wiccan roots show as she often uses Reiki to visualize the energy flow.  The water and all of the folk are vessels for the energy, so she tries to soak up as much as she can.  Like the two powers, she sees the energy moving.  Then she physically touches the vessel to send the energy into it.  She admits its “part woo and you have to just trust” (she doesn’t mention what the other part is, perhaps trust), but sometimes she can really feel it.  When you’re in touch with the worlds, you can sense and feel the way the worlds are responding to you (Burchfield).

One of the reasons we have the order of Bardic Alchemy is because part of how we do this is through bardic arts. The waters and the offerings to the Kindreds are the two places where attention breaks down in the group.  For the waters there are a load of songs you can use.  Drumming helps, too.  With heathens she will have a sumble in the middle of ritual.  Sometimes she will asperse the group or we pass out cups.  In those situations it’s important to tell a story or sing a song to keep people from breaking up into side conversations (Burchfield).

For my ritual script below, I intentionally start the number with 10 in order to correspond to that part in the Core Order of Ritual (COOR) as written for the Core Order of Ritual Tutorial (Newberg, Core Order of Ritual Tutorial).

10. Omen

Gods, Spirits, and Ancestors gathered here,

Have our gifts been well received?

11. Asking for the Blessing

(Deity of the Occasion),

Gifts we have shared with you.

Now we would ask

that you share your gift with us.

Draw first rune.  Interpret it. 

Spirits of the land,

Gifts we have given you.

Now we would ask

For a gift in return!

Draw second rune.  Interpret it.

Blessed dead who have come before.

A tribute we have offered you!

Now we would ask

That you offer us your blessings!

Draw third rune.  Interpret it.

12. Hallowing the Blessing

Hold the vessel of waters up so that all can see it.  Pass it over the fire or through the incense smoke. Instruct group to intone either the name of the runes drawn (galdr) or to simply intone.  Repeat the runes drawn and the interpretation and visualize the blessings being channeled into the water/mead while chanting the following:

Fill this mead with your blessings,

so that all who share in it are renewed.

13. Affirming the Blessing

The gods have granted us the blessings of _______________.

The spirits of the land have bestowed upon us the blessings of ________________.

The ancestors have smiled upon us with the blessings of ______________.

Do you accept the blessings of the Kindreds?

Drink now and accept their blessings!  (Drink water and pass the vessel or asperse the group.)

7. Describe three different methods of Opening the Gates, as used by at least two different active ADF Priests. Explain the actions done, the reason for those actions, and any specific magical work the Priest does during the Gate Opening. Provide an original script with stage directions for the Gate Opening based on one of these methods.

Rev. Michael Dangler most often does what we call spiraling the gates open.  It’s a hand motion where he stands in front of the gates, then draws a spiral over the gate with the hand while opening the gate.  He believes the key to opening the gates is seeing the gates open yourself.  It’s not a physical act, it’s a magico-religious action.  You won’t see manifestations.  You have to be believable it so other people can believe it, too.  It’s a theatrical choice, but a magical action.  See the gates open.  Water spiraling down.  Give people a variety of options to view.  Then affirm that the gates are open with a statement (Dangler).

Rev. Sara Blackwelder said watching Rev. Kirk Thomas open the gates is really cool.  For her own rituals, she uses tone and sound and the people there to help move the magic to open the gates.  She does the hand motions and uses her body as well, but she tries to use more sound (Blackwelder).

Rev. Missy Burchfield said she has seen many different and amazing ways to open the gates.  She begins with the gatekeeper meditation.  Her group rotates through hearth cultures, so she thinks it’s important to introduce the gatekeeper to the folk.  Physically describe them.  Make offerings together as a folk to start working with the energy.  She’s a big fan of hand gestures and will do a druid sigil: two parallel lines and a clockwise circle to open, counter clockwise to close.  She said if she can’t visualize it, they won’t either.  A little theater goes a long way (Burchfield).

Missy prefers to have a helper for juggling things.  Sometimes they have a sacrificer, someone whose job is to pick up the offerings and do the tangible part.  It changes the focus and makes her vocal offerings are more intense as well as making a big difference in the ability to execute things (Burchfield).

Opening the Gate(s)

After lighting the candle, draw a gar symbol over it.  This is done by making an ‘x’ and then drawing a circle around it in a clockwise direction for opening.  The Gar symbol is a symbol for Odin’s spear Gungnir.   The term gar is from the Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰayso- (“pointed stick, spear”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰey- (“to drive, move, fling”) (Harper).   As I generally invoke Odin as my gate keeper, and he is known in the lore for having claimed people and places by throwing his spear over them, I make the ritual symbol for his spear over the gates to invoke his power in claiming them.

Say: 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!

8. Explain the purpose and function of the Pouring of Waters for an ADF Unity Rite. Provide a script with stage directions for this portion of the Unity Rite. (min. 150 words for explanation)

The Unity Rite is a ritual done by ADF Clergy for the purpose of uniting all of ADF in one ritual setting.  During the Rite, water is poured out for ADF Solitaries and for each grove, which is called out by name in the order they were founded.  By calling each group by name, it allows all members of ADF to be represented in the Rite (ADF). 

The Pouring of the Waters can be done at various places in the Rite, but I personally think it works best as part of the Return Flow when we are calling the waters that are to be filled with blessings and separating them from all of the other waters of the world in our vessel.  During the rite, individuals and groups have a chance to share some of the water from their home into the cauldron, which then mixes together.  Putting the Pouring of the Waters as part of the Return Flow, we show the mixing and the blessings which then can be shared among the entirety of ADF.

The ADF Unity Rite must be led by a priest and is scheduled in advance (ADF) so that a cauldron may be brought and so that we can attempt to have a priest there.  While as an organization, ADF doesn’t have many things set aside only for their clergy, I think that having this organizational rite lead by a priest is a good choice.  This rite is the core of our organization in many ways.  It is a literal act of pouring out the waters for the entire organization.  That an ordained priest does this is fitting, because they are acting on behalf of all of us.

Pouring the Waters

Priest: ADF is like the mighty World Tree.  It is the strong roots that drink deep of the waters of the world and the broad branching canopy that basks in the warmth of the fires of the sun.  It grows in each of us as a seed sprouts and takes root in our hearts. 

We stand here today, together, in the presence of the Kindreds and together we make our Tree, our ADF stronger.

Ancestors of blood, of place, of heart who brought us where we are today, grant us your blessings and let our roots sink deep.

Nature Spirits who tend our vast forest, each in their own way, smile upon us and grant us your blessings and let our trunk grow strong.

Shining Ones, Holy Ones who breathe life into the world, share with us your light and grant us your blessings.

Kindreds!  Hear us!  Help ADF grow strong!  Help us to grow together!  Help us to prosper as a folk!

If you have brought water to this rite, add it now into our cauldron that it may become one water, one flow.

(Each Person or Group pours their collected Water into the ADF Unity Cauldron.  While people are adding the water, a priest reads out the list of ADF Groups so that all are represented and pours water out for each group’s name read, preferably at the base of the World Tree being used for the ritual.)

Works Cited

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Blackwelder, Rev. Sara. Liturgy and Ritual Mechanics Discussion at ADF Advanced Studies Retreat Jan Avende. 9 May 2015. Google OnAir Hangout. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijyOvAZKjdI&feature=youtu.be>.

Bonewits, Isaac. Neopagan Rites: A Guide to Creating Public Rituals that Work. LLewellyn , 2007. Kindle.

Burchfield, Rev. Missy. Liturgy and Ritual Mechanics Discussion at ADF Advanced Studies Retreat Jan Avende. 9 May 2015. Google Hangout. <Liturgy and Ritual Mechanics Discussion at ADF Advanchttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijyOvAZKjdI&feature=youtu.be>.

Dangler, Rev. Michael. Liturgy and Ritual Mechanics Discussion at ADF Advanced Studies Retreat n.d. Google On Air Hangout. 9 May 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijyOvAZKjdI&feature=youtu.be>.

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Newberg, Brandon. Core Order of Ritual Tutorial. 2007. website. 4 July 2015. <https://www.adf.org/members/training/dedicant-path/articles/coortutorial/index.html>.

—. Step 2: Purification. n.d. web. 18 May 2015. <https://www.adf.org/members/training/dedicant-path/articles/coortutorial/step-two.html>.

Orchard, Anthony. The Elder Edda: A Book of Viking Lore. Penguin Books, 2011. Kindle.

Paxson, Diana. Trance-Portation: Learning to Navigate the Inner World. Weiser Books, 2008. Kindle.

Sacred. n.d. website. 4 July 2015. <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sacred>.

Simek, Rudolf. Dictionary of Northern Mythology. Trans. Angela Hall. Suffolk: Boydell & Brewer, 2007. print.