Faerie Summer Solstice Ritual
2005
Saturday, June 18th at Sunset
Moon Path Chapter, CUUPS
by dragnfli
Ritual Players:
Major Domo – Aleph the Seeker
The Bard – Ash the Silent
Serpent Dance Leaders – Star & Emily
HPS – dragnfli DECORIUS ilfngard
HP/Fire Master – Ken (in charge of getting all 3 firepits and 22
tiki torches set-up)
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.
Thanks for your attention.
From the Fire Faerie!)
Main
Fire – Ken
Patio
Fire – Father Pat
Shrine
Fire – Keith
Ritual
Circle Entryway - Bandora and Faelin
The Elemental Quarter
Callers
(NOTE: Quarter Callers please
put together teams for your direction of yourself and two other people. Also,
you will need to create a Quarter Altar. A table and candle to light when your quarter is called will be
provided.)
East – Dragonfly
South – Saille Honor
West – Max, the Witch of the West
North – Fionn Stormwing
Drum Mistress – Debe
Drummers – whoever is interested that can follow Debe's
leadership.
Techno Master –
________________________________________________________________________________
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 Druid Garb or Other
Dramatic Clothing as you so will.
HP to wear green and HPS to wear red.
RITUAL STAGING
& PROPS
Ritual Starting Point –
The Church Patio Firepit Area
(1)
hand-held torch for the Bard
(3)
tiki torches
Patio Fire
(1) "Doorway to the
Faerie Realm" on the NE side of the firepit area (garden arch with draped
fabric)
(2) Cauldrons with Sage
& Charcoal to smudge people as they enter the Land of Faerie
The Serpent Dance Route
(7) Tiki Torches along path
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 (1 each
for the Main Altar, 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 Moon
Pillow
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 waxing moon will 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, playful, 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
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
elemental 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 doing."
"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 or 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? 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 and join the other celebrants in the Ritual Circle, though
remaining near the Main Fire so that she can take over tending it when the HP
needs to work at the Main Altar.)
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.)
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.)
HP: “Let the drums sound.”
Drummers: (drum while Quarter Team walks around the circle back to their direction to Call their Quarter.)
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.)
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.)
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)
HP & HPS: (to be
standing near the Main Altar which will be in the North.)
HPS: (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."
HP: (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."
HP: (light right
altar candle)
HPS: (Everyone to
anoint their own foreheads with "spit & earth blend"
as HPS prays):
"Everyone please follow my example for a self-anointing, while I
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)
HP: (light
"Faerie Candle" in center of altar move over to the Main Fire and
tend it)
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."
HPS:
(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 now 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 Elemental Spirits that inhabit Her.
" (PAUSE)
HPS:
(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.
Now is also the time to place any flower offerings you might have onto
the Offering Altar. "
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.)
HPS: (when Song #2 has
ended): "Thank you for attending this ritual in honor of 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."
HP: (make your
way over to the Main Altar to extinguish altar candles.)
HPS: "And now, please close your eyes and open yourself to the
Blessing." (PAUSE) "Holy
Mother, thank you for your gifts and blessings. Blessed be."
HP: (put out the
left altar candle)
HPS: "Lord, thank you for your presence and love. Blessed be."
HP: (put out the
right altar candle)
HPS: "We pray the Mother
keep us mindful, and stay with us in the union of all things. So mote it be."
Releasing Elemental
Energies & Diety:
HPS:
"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."
HP: (put out the
Offering Candle and then return to tending the Main Fire.)
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!!!”
_____________________________________________________________________________
BIBLIOGRAPHY
& REFERENCES*
Andrews, Ted.
(2001) Enchantment of the
Faerie Realm: Communication with Nature
Spirits & Elementals.
Llewellyn: 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.
*Maynard, Jim.
(2004) Jim Maynard’s
Pocket Astrologer 2005.
Quicksilver Productions: Ashland,
OR
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.
Ravenwolf, Silver. To
Ride A Silver Broomstick: New Generation Witchcraft. Llewellyn Publications: St. Paul, MN.
*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)