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Faerie Summer Solstice Ritual
2006 Saturday, June 24th at Sunset Moon Path Chapter, CUUPS by dragnfli Ritual Players: Major Domo – Aleph the Seeker The Bard – Ash the Silent Serpent Dance Leaders – Muunpillo & Red Orchard HPS – dragnfli HP – Jingles Fire Master & Firetenders (NOTE:
Firetenders should be at their fire just before the ritual
begins and throughout the ritual.
Please do not leave your lit fire unattended and be sure that it is
completely extinguished at the end of the ritual, i.e. with water. Thanks for your attention. From the Fire Faeries!) Fire
Master/Main Fire – Peter Patio
Fire – Matt * Shrine
Fire – Shaper Ritual
Circle Entryway - Left/Tigerlily(?) &
Right/Phoenix(?) The Elemental Quarter
Callers (NOTE: Quarter Callers - the
first person listed below for each direction - please put together teams for
your direction of yourself and two other people (3 total). Also, you will need to create an appropriate
Quarter Altar. A table and candle to
light when your quarter is called will be provided.) East - Chris, Sarasvati * & Iasis South – Kassandra, Lore & Marsha West – Deep Sea Star, Mac Mage (?) & Swamp
Witch (?) * North – Jeannetta *, Chahanpi Weaver & Saille
(?) Drum Mistress – Sophia Linus Drummers – whoever is interested that can follow Sophia's
leadership. Techno Wizard – Spelcastor (?) lighting & sound (?) have not asked ________________________________________________________________*
no email address RITUAL COSTUMES, RITUAL STAGING & PROPS
COSTUMES Everyone, except the
Bard, HP & HPS, should wear clothing appropriate for faeries of all
sorts. Quarter Callers &
Teams please wear colors
&/or costumes appropriate for your Direction. Wingsies, elf ears, colorful & flowing robes, dresses,
skirts, shirts, pants, and scarves, costumes, jewelry, and decorations and
tools of all sorts are encouraged. Bard, please wear appropriate Robes or other dramatic
outfit with accessories as you so will. HP and HPS to wear green, red and gold
robes and adornments RITUAL STAGING
& PROPS Ritual Starting Point –
The Church Patio Firepit Area (1)
hand-held torch (or some kind of lighting instrument) for the Bard (3)
tiki torches Patio Fire (1) "Doorway to the
Faerie Realm" on the NE side of the firepit area (this is a garden arch
with draped fabric, greenery, etc. flanked by columns outside with sage) (2) Cauldrons with Sage
& Charcoal to smudge people as they enter the Land of Faerie The Serpent Dance Route (7) Tiki Torches along path,
through Memorial Garden & Shrine, out to ritual circle Shrine Fire Boom Box with CD player –
batteries & remote control (in Memorial Garden) Ritual Music CD with Serpent
Dance music Main Ritual Circle (2) Tiki Torches/Fires for
NE Doorway to Ritual Circle (10) Tiki Torches (2 for Main
Altar, and 1 for the drummers, the quarters and cross-quarters) Main Fire (4) Quarter Altar Tables (4) Quarter Colored (yellow,
red, blue, green) Candles PA/Sound System with CD
player (next to Main Altar) Ritual Music CD with the
offering & closing music (1)
Table for Main Altar (3)
Altar Clothes (2)
Altar Candles (1)
Special Offering Candle Incense for Altar Bell (Saille) Ritual Tools & Elemental
Items (1) Flower Offerings Altar
Table (4) Large Baskets for
Offering Stuffs (to be placed under Main Altar) (4) medium Plates (4) small Jugs (4) Fabric Napkins Faeire Cakes made by Muunpillo Nectar (100+)
small Paper Cups Garbage Bags & Paper
Towels MUSIC Loreena McKinnitt The Mists of Avalon Soundtrack – "The Mystics Dream" 7:41 – Song #1 The Book of
Secrets – "Please Remember Me" 7:11 – Song #2 Elaine Silver Faerie Goddess – "By the Earth" 3:31 – Song #3 ________________________________________________________________________________ CREATING RITUAL SPACE The Scene Picture the rear of the church
including the patio, inside of the sanctuary and the entire rear yard of the
church, will be in total darkness immediately before the Pre-Ritual
Storytelling begins. The scene is one
of ancient mystery and hidden realms.
You can see the shadows of the trees and woods, the clouds, the stars,
and the waning moon will not be visible in the sky. It is a scene conducive to deeper thought and feeling, with
access to the Divine, and deep inner workings becoming manifest through
connection with the Old Ones, the Fey, the Faeries……. PRELUDE
– Seasonal/Ritual Story & Ritual Purpose Information HPS
& HP: (Take your place at the Main Altar.) Techno Master: (Take your place at the CD player in the Memorial Garden.) Firetenders: (Take your places at your firepits.) Serpent Dance Leaders:
(Take your places at the
“Doorway to Faerie”.) The Major Domo: (The Major
Domo will turn out the lights and call to everyone to gather to hear
the Stories of Old & to celebrate the Summer Solstice.) "Hear Ye, Hear Ye – everyone come to
listen to the stories of the Bard. The
Summer Solstice Ritual to follow."
(Say it a bunch of times till everyone is gathered on the church patio.) The Bard: (coming from
around the Butterfly Island from out of the darkness, She lights the patio fire
pit with her torch and begins telling the tales of the Summer Solstice. There will be a Doorway to Faerie [in the
NE] into the Ritual/Majikal Realm [path to the ritual circle] and 3 torches
around the fire pit area, which she will light one by one as she proceeds to
tell the stories, myths, lore and observances of the season.): "Long ago, in a time
and place as different from now as day from night, the Summer Solstice was a
time that stirred the Faerie folk to come and interact with the mundane world
and the humans who inhabited Her. In
the mundane world it is the longest day of the year, the prerequisite to the
beginning of the end of the seasonal year.
The Summer Solstice is the time of the year when the crops that were
planted in the Spring, around Imbolc and Oestara, are beginning to ripen. This is the first summer celebration of the
year; it is now Midsummer." "In the majikal world,
it is one of the three solar celebrations that remembers that the veil between
the worlds is at its thinnest, for this is the time when the days start to die,
bringing the winter and death, a time of crossing-over. It is therefore a good
time to deal with otherworldly matters.
It is a nite when the Fey roam the land, for though they come and go as
they please, they are still a part of the other realm and this is a
particularly strong time to for them to contact us.” “It is also the time of the
year when the Green Goddess, the Initiatrix who teaches the God The Mysteries,
is pregnant from the Beltaine nite rites.
It is recognized that the Oak King has given way so the Holly King can
reemerge, the Son and Lover of the Goddess, at Yule. It is in the summer, when light is the longest, that they meet in
union, and the strength of their passion sustains the world.” (Starhawk, 1999,
p53) "But tonight, tonight,
we will be focusing our attention on our Faerie friends, those elemental
beings, some would say divine messengers, who inhabit both the physical and the
ethereal realms." "There was once a time,
very long ago, when the Faerie Folk roamed about freely and all could say that
they had seen these beautiful and ugly, playful and tricky, otherworldly
creatures. The Faeries had great wisdom
to teach and joy to bring to the mortals, and there was a relationship between
them, each believing in the other." "It is a fact that when
you believe in faeries, you encourage them to visit you. It is said that the more you believe in
faeries the more often they will come to visit you and the bigger they will
get. In olden days, some of the Fey
were said to be much bigger than in modern times, larger than humans
often. Today, however, most folks who
are lucky enough to spot a faerie say they are smaller than us." "There are many
different religious and spiritual traditions worldwide who refer to the Old
Ones, the elemental beings and nature spirits by various names and guises in
their teaching, myths, folklore and art.
From Africa to Asia to Europe and the Americas, all have stories
recalling the spirits of nature and the other realms who have visited them and
helped them, or stymied them." "And as to their
temperament, well of course a few of the Faeries are, some mortals would say, a
little more mischevious than others, so care and consideration are always
advisable when dealing with them. And,
because there is no sense of human morality for the fey – they are AMORAL –
they may do things we may consider mean, or bad, or even evil BUT we must
remember not to impose our human ideas of right and wrong upon them. They operate under a different code of
conduct. They appear to operate under a
code of ethics that revolves around having fun, being truthful and honoring
their word. As you can see, these are
things humans sometimes have a hard time with." "Now the faeries of course
love a good party, and the night of the summer solstice was a night when the
faeries and the humans got together to celebrate the universal oneness of their
being with dancing, singing, chanting, drumming, trance work, meditation,
fires, divinations, rituals, and of course eating and drinking, especially good
faerie mead and English beer! Tonight
we will invite the fey to join us in our summer solstice rites, we will invite
them to participate with us in opening to the wider powers of the
universe. We will be safe and happy and
at one with Spirit in this rite, receiving and giving back to the Universe, and
the Divine in ourselves, and in each other." "Prepare now to dance
the serpent dance into the ritual circle.
We will be following the Dance Leaders through the Doorway
to Faerie. (light the smudging sage in
the cauldrons at the Doorway to Faerie) Please join in the chanting and singing
if you wish. Now, in the Celtic Faerie
tradition, we enter our ritual space having shaken off the pressures, burdens
and emotions of our mundane lives, entering our communal ritual space in
perfect love and perfect trust. So in
this spirit I will ask you all to reply in unison, as the faeries like a good
hurrah, first with a yeah, or, second with a nay, to my challenge: Do you all enter this ritual space in
perfect love and in perfect trust?
(PAUSE for a response) Any Nay
Sayers? (pause, if anyone responds
negatively, we ask them not to enter the land of faerie with us.) Then, please, follow me and enter now the
path to Faerie and onward to this Sacred Summer Solstice Rite!" OPENING RITUAL - Forming
the Ritual Circle Bard: (the Bard will lead Everyone out to the
Ritual Circle, and should be the first to step through the Doorway to Faerie.) Techno Master: (begin the
CD player with Song #1 - "The Mystics Dream" Loreena McKinnett [7:41] as soon as the Bard
steps through the Doorway to Faerie.) Serpent Dance Leaders: (Meanwhile,
the Serpent Dance Leaders, who have been in the Doorway to Faerie
will follow the Bard, and begin to lead the dance as soon as the music Song
#1 starts to play.) Bard: (will proceed to light the tiki torches on the
Pathway to the Ritual Circle and the Shrine Firepit as she leads everyone to
the NE entrance of the Ritual Circle.
She will proceed inside the circle moving sunwise, back to the entrance,
continuing to light the tiki torches as she goes, and forming the Ritual
Circle. She will then hand her torch to
the HP, who lights the Main Fire with it, and
join the other celebrants in the Ritual Circle.) Elemental Quarter
Teams: (the Elemental Quarter Teams will help to lead all
the people out to the Ritual Circle, please come forward and follow the Serpent
Dance Leaders and help folks get in the dance line.) Drum Mistress &
Drummers: (the Drum Mistress &
her Drummers will begin drumming as soon as she sees people coming out
of the Shrine and will continue to play the drums until Everybody has entered
the ritual circle, and all the Elemental Quarter Callers have
reached their Direction, or the HPS ques her to stop.) Quarter calls - Calling the Elemental Being (Directions)
HP: (Once everyone is in the Ritual Circle, the HP will light the main fire and begin): “We will now invite the Elemental Beings to our Rite. Let the drums sound.” Drummers: (drum while Quarter Team walks around the circle back to their direction to Call their Quarter.) HPS: “Let the words be spoken.”
East - “Sylphs, faeries and elemental beings of air, of
wind, of breathe, of mind, of knowing.
We do call upon and summon you to witness this rite and guard this
circle. So mote it be.” (Light Quarter
Candle)
HP: “Let the drums sound.” Drummers: (drum while Quarter Team walks around the circle back to their direction to Call their Quarter.) HPS: “Let the words be spoken.”
South:
“Salamanders and elemental beings of fire, of flame, of passion, of
soul, of understanding. We do call upon
and summon you to witness this rite and guard this circle. So mote it be.” (Light Quarter Candle) HP: “Let the drums sound.” Drummers: (drum while Quarter Team walks around the circle back to their direction to Call their Quarter.) HPS: “Let the words be spoken.”
West: “Undines, sprites and elemental beings of water, of healing, of
emotions, of heart, of imagination. We
do call upon and summon you to witness this rite and guard this circle. So mote it be.” (Light Quarter Candle) HP: “Let the drums sound.” Drummers: (drum while Quarter Team walks around the circle back to their direction to Call their Quarter.) HPS: “Let the words be spoken.”
North: “Elves,
gnomes, and elemental beings of earth, of nature, of sustenance, of body, of
manifestation. We do call upon and
summon you to witness this rite and guard this circle. So mote it be.” (Light Quarter Candle) invocation of the God & goddess
HP & HPS: (to be
standing near the Main Altar which will be in the North.) HP: (PAUSE) Prayer to the Great Mother "Lady, from you all
things emerge, and unto you all things
return. Please
bless this work we do now, That
we may feel it flowing from your pleasure and bounty And boundless intelligence. Lady,
from you all things emerge, And unto you all things
return. So now we give this work to
you. For though all is yours, It is possible to run from
your love. Instead we raise our faces,
like the child's to the mother, That we may live in your
pleasure, bounty, And boundless intelligence. So mote it be." (light left altar candle) HPS: Prayer to the Lord of the Dance "Most holy sacrament of
Selfhood, Who
forever lifts His divine head To be blessed and to bless, Please be with us now. You are Her chosen one, Her
anointed one. Bring us these mysteries. It is all pleasures to love
you. Make us smile with these
pleasures. You see the futures our
Mother breathes life into. Bring us your vision. You reside in us, So that we shine with our
own unique divinity, And are in ourself and of
ourselves God. Bless this work. So mote it be." (light right altar candle) HPS: (Everyone to
anoint their own foreheads with "spit & earth blend"
as HPS prays):
"Everyone please follow our example for a self-anointing, while we say
the prayer." "Goddess, bring the
body of God into our beings that like Him we may shine
and be loved by you. Lend
us earth and water, air and fire – Fill
us with these elements, these powers of creation, That we may tend them
because they are your garden, And
that we may be safe in this work, And happy and one with you. So mote it be." (prayers adapted from
DeGrandis,1999, 29-30) (light "Faerie Candle"
in center of altar together) STATEMENT OF RITUAL
PURPOSE HPS:
(to explain the Purpose & Intent of the Ritual) "The intent of this
ritual is to celebrate both the Summer Solstice, the ecstatic love of the
Goddess for the God, and the universal oneness of our being with the Fey and
with Spirit. Now that the fey have
joined us, they will assist us in opening to the wider powers of the
universe. We will receive from and give
back to the Universe, the Divine in ourselves, and in each other through the
flow of universal energies. The
following meditation includes breathing, listening, chanting and
trance-dancing. Please join in as
appropriate." Seasonal Meditation
HP:
(Slowly Ring Bell three times.)
"Now, ladies and gentlemen, please relax as we begin the
Meditation. (PAUSE) Close your eyes and
take deep breaths, in through the nose and out through the mouth. (PAUSE) Breathe in clean, new, energizing
air; (PAUSE) and breathe out any negative, old, stale breath that holds you
back. (PAUSE) Listen now, sisters & brothers, to the story of the season, a
story of love, unity and ecstasy, also of endings and pain. Imagine how some version of this myth could
be manifesting in your everyday, mundane existence. Allow its wisdom to open you to growth and
empowerment." (PAUSE, ring bell
once) HPS: (steps
to the center of the circle to read – be VERY DRAMATIC!) "This is the time of
the rose, of blossom and thorn, of fragrance and blood. Now on this longest day,
light triumphs, and yet begins the decline
into dark. The Oak King grown embraces
the Queen of Summer, the Green Goddess, in the love that is death
because it is so complete that all dissolves into the
single song of ecstasy that moves the worlds. So the Lord of Light dies to
Himself, and sets sail across the
dark seas of time, searching for the isle of
light that is rebirth. We turn the Wheel and share
his fate, for we have planted the
seeds of our own changes, and to grow we must accept
even the passing of the sun." (Starhawk, 1999, 205-207) (PAUSE –
Ring Bell Once - PAUSE) "(Ecstasy) is the song,
the energy and power that fills Unity.
There is nothing else but that song – no voice to sing, no ears to hear,
just the infinite and eternal song, the energy of which completely fills
eternity and infinity. This rhapsodic
song of bliss is what powers the cosmos and what gives it order and
harmony. It is the song that holds the
atoms together, the stars in their places, the galaxies in theirs (– it is what
brings the god & goddess together).
It keeps our hearts beating, and it is the love and trust that flows
through them." (Froud &
Macbeth, 2000, 54-55). (PAUSE –
Ring Bell Once - PAUSE) Bard: (to lead the
Chanting x 7) "She walks in
Brilliance of the Moon!" "He strides in Solar
Splendor!" HPS, HP & Quarter
Teams: (to begin
chant with Bard, CHANT x7) Drum Mistress: (play a simple accompaniment to the chant –
the chant tempo goes “da-da da-da da-da da-da! Da-daa da da-da da-da!” [8 counts, 7 counts] She-walks in-bril liance-of
the-moon! He-strides in So-lar
Splen-dor!) (When the chanting has
ended, Drum Mistress start the trance drumming and dance
for about 5-10 minutes as the energy seems to be flowing. Drum Mistress, please end the
trancing by slowing down and bringing folks back gently.) HPS: (Once
Everyone has stopped dancing and drumming, PAUSE and Ring Bell Once.) "In this time of Awareness - of Self,
the Fey and Divinity – allow yourself to be open to the flow of the Universe
and the ways in which you can experience new avenues of consciousness in your
life. What are your hopes and
dreams? In this time of Love, be aware
of the energy flowing within this Circle and, if you can, focus on allowing
yourself to free these Loving Energies, making them available to yourself, your
brothers & sisters, the Earth and the Spirits that inhabit Her. "
(PAUSE) GROUNDING & RELEASING
THE ENERGY
HP: (ring bell three times to
bring everyone back and pause)
"Now that you have merged with the Mysteries, and now that you have
freed your Loving Energies, reach your hands up to our Father, the Sky, and
then place them upon our Mother, the Earth, grounding yourself and your
energies, keeping what you need for yourself and letting go of the rest. Keeping open to the flow of the Universe and
its possibilities." (PAUSE)
OFFERINGS & LIBATIONSHPS:
(Signal the Quarter Teams to come forward now.) "In many traditions there is a sharing
of food and drink, representing sharing with and partaking of the God and
Goddess within the sacred spaces created.
It is also a good way to ground yourself after a trip to Faerie. With this in mind, the Elemental
Faerie Helpers will now pass out Faerie Cakes and Nectar to Everyone.” (PAUSE)
“Please wait for a moment before you partake until everyone has their
Offering. Also, after I have done so,
please libate into the fire. A libation
is an offering of a portion of your food and drink to the God and Goddess, a
sharing, in turn, of yourself with the Divine." Techno Master: (to begin
the CD player with Song #2 – "Please Remember
Me" Loreena McKinnett [7:11], as soon as the HPS has finished
speaking.) CLOSING RITUAL - Closing Statement
HP: (when Song #2 has
ended): "Thank you for participating in this ritual to honor the Oak King,
the Green Goddess, the Summer Solstice and the Fey. It is hoped that you feel more connected to the Gods, to the fey
and to each other. Faeries are here and
they appreciate all acts done to honor Them." The Blessing:
HPS: "And now, please close your eyes and open yourself to the
Blessing." (PAUSE) HP: "Holy
Mother, thank you for your gifts and blessings. Blessed be." (put out the left altar candle) HPS: "Lord, thank you for your presence and love. Blessed be." (put out the right altar
candle)
Releasing Elemental
Energies & Diety: HP:
"Elements of Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Spirit –– we thank you for
attending this rite. Stay if you will,
or go in Peace. Blessed be." HPS: (put out the
Offering Candle) The Elemental Quarter
Callers: (put
out elemental fires in order N, W, S, & E.) Close Ritual Space: Techno Master: (to begin
the CD player with Song #3 – "By the Earth"
Elaine Silver [3:31], as soon as the Offering Candle is extinguished.) Bard: (as soon as Song
#3 is over, the Bard will step forward and end the rite): “Let it be known that this rite is
ended. Merry Meet and Merry Part, and
Merry Meet Again. BLESSED BE!!! SO MOTE IT BE!!!” POST RITUAL Everyone to assist with the
putting away of tables, techo-stuff, props and tools, extinguish fires and tiki
torches, CLEAN-UP!!! _____________________________________________________________________________ BIBLIOGRAPHY
& REFERENCES* Andrews, Ted.
(2001) Enchantment of the
Faerie Realm: Communication with Nature
Spirits & Elementals.
Llewellyn: St. Paul, MN. Brielmaier, K.M. ed. (2005)
Llewellyn’s 2006 Astrological Pocket Planner. Llewellyn Worldwide: St.
Paul, MN. *De Grandis, Francesca.
(1998) Be a Goddess!: A Guide to Celtic Spells and Wisdom for
Self-Healing, Prosperity and Great Sex. Harper & Row Publishers:
San Francisco, CA. *Froud, Brian and Jessica Macbeth. (2000) The Faeries
Oracle. Fireside Books: New York. Mager, Marcia Zinn.
(1999) Believing in
Faeries: A Manual for Grown-ups. Saffron Walden/The C.W. Daniel Co.,
Ltd.: Essex, England. McArthur, Margie.
(1998) Wisdom of the
Elements: The Sacred Wheel of Earth,
Air, Fire and Water. The
Crossing Press: Freedom, CA. McCoy, Edain.
(2003) A Witch's Guide to
Faery Folk. Llewellyn
Publications: St. Paul, MN. *McKinnett, Loreena (199?) songs from the albums The
Mists of Avalon Soundtrack & The Book of Secrets. *Silver, Elaine.
(1997) Faeries Goddess - Silver Stream Music: Mt. Tabor, NJ. *Starhawk. (1999) The
Spiral Dance: The Rebirth of the
Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess, 20th Anniversary
Ed. Harper: San Francisco. Timotek. (1996) "Moon Awareness Guide." Doorway Publications. (flyer) |