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Posts Tagged ‘ritual’

One of the things I’ve always liked is the idea of creating purified water for purification of self and space in ritual. While water, on its own, is obviously cleansing, it’s nice to have “extra” purified water. This comes out of the Hellenic tradition of creating Khernips – Lustral Water – which had specific uses in Greek polytheism.

Most recipes for traditional Khernips involves quenching a burning stick/twig/herb in water that may or may not have salt added. I like having the “land, sea, sky” representation of salt, water, and a burning herb, so this is the formula I’ve come up for making my own purification water.

You will need:

  • A bowl of clean water
  • Sea salt
  • A bay leaf, a sprig of laurel, or other dry herb
  • A source of flame

Then say and do the following:

I charge thee, o creature of water, by the moon which draws thy tides, cast out all imperfections and be purified.

I charge thee, o creature of salt, by the sun which draws thee forth, cast out all imperfections and be purified. (put a pinch of salt in water)

I charge thee, o creature of fire, by the smoke which rises to the sky, cast out all imperfections and be purified. (light a bay leaf, and extinguish it in the water)

Use any time you are cleansing something for ritual, or in combination with other magic. I find it to have been especially effective.

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Part of ADF’s core order of ritual is a moment we call Creating the Group Mind, which involves grounding and centering. Most groves work with what we call the Two Powers – fire and water – that represent the primal forces of creation. Water is down, dark, chaos, potential, swirling, magnetic. Fire is up, light, cosmos, order, creation, burning, electric. As they combine, we find the energy we use to do magic. Below is a quick and dirty two powers meditation that you’re free to use – it works well with both large groups and as a solitary practice. Enjoy!

Children of Earth, breathe deep and close your eyes. As we stand here, preparing to work the magic that is found in our ritual, let us pause and release all the tension we may be carrying. Relax your arms and shoulders, ease your jaw and your forehead, and breathe deep into your belly. Now, let us take nine breaths together, to find our center and order ourselves in this great work.

For the first breath, our roots reach deep into the earth.
For the second breath, we draw up the swirling, chaotic waters.
For the third breath, we are filled with the cool waters.

For the fourth breath, our branches reach high to the heavens.
For the fifth breath, we draw down the ordering, creative fires.
For the sixth breath, we are filled with the burning fires.

For the seventh breath, the waters and fires alight, turning into the druid’s mist.
For the eighth breath, they expand and pour fourth, filling our grove.
For the ninth breath, we open our eyes, one grove, to work our magic together.

(2018, Lauren Mart)

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This course is designed to provide specific instruction to our Priests about how to conduct ritual, and to encourage observation and creative improvement of our current methods of working ritual.

Several questions in this course ask how our Priests do certain aspects of ritual. You may either observe the Priest whose method you describe, or (if you are solitary or your Grove does not have an ADF Priest) ask one of our Priests what they do in this situation. It is highly recommended that you both observe the Priest doing this part and ask them about it, if possible (seek festival rituals or online videos), but it is not necessary. You may wish to provide video or pictures to help illustrate your answers to some of these questions, and this is permissible as well, but you must still meet the word requirement.

A Note on Word Counts and Descriptions: This course seeks a great deal of information in questions 4-8 about how others do certain parts in ritual, and there are no minimum word counts available. This is by design. The aim of these questions is to show that you are familiar with the methods you describe, and to show that you are able to develop your own method. Keep in mind that there is a general maximum of 1,000 words on questions with no minimum word count, but this maximum should not include any scripts or quotes from your sources.

The primary goal of this course is for students to enhance their skills to create and maintain effective ritual work that is consistent with the goals of ADF’s priesthood.

Course Objectives

  1. Students will demonstrate meditative and prayer discipline, along with other key practices required of ADF Priests.
  2. Students will demonstrate a working knowledge of key portions of the ADF Order of Ritual that are often expected of our Priests.

(more…)

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There are a number of theories relative to ethics and ethical behavior, however, a universal truth for resolving moral dilemmas, is non-existent. Ethics by definition is the systematizing, defending and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior. Ethics 1 will explore professional ethics as it applies to the ADF clergy-lay relationship.

Primary Goal

The primary goal of this course is for students to enhance their knowledge of professional ethics, as it relates to their work as ADF Clergy, through research, analysis, self-introspection and the development of a personal Code of Ethics.

Course Objectives

  1. Students will increase their knowledge of basic ethical concepts and explore the impact of these concepts on the clergy-lay relationship.
  2. Students will identify their own personal morals and values and examine the potential impact of their morals and values on their work as ADF Clergy.
  3. Students will utilize their existing knowledge of the ADF Nine Virtues and as well as newly acquired knowledge of other widely accepted ethical principles and codes to develop a personal Code of Ethics.

1.    Find and provide an appropriate definition, discuss your understanding, and provide illustrative examples for each of the following seven terms: morals, values, personal bias, professional boundaries, confidentiality, right and wrong (100 words each minimum, not including definitions)

Morals

1 a :  of or relating to principles of right and wrong in behavior :  ethical moral judgments
b
 :  expressing or teaching a conception of right behavior a moral poem
c
 :  conforming to a standard of right behavior took a moral position on the issue though it cost him the nomination
d
 :  sanctioned by or operative on one’s conscience or ethical judgment a moral obligation
e
 :  capable of right and wrong action a moral agent

(Merriam Webster)

Morals are the principles by which one makes decisions about what is right and wrong in behavior. Societies have morals (or moral-like structures) that guide them, as well as individuals having their own ‘moral compasses’, so to speak. Often a society’s hot button issues (our current ones seem to be gay marriage and abortion) come about when individual morality conflicts with societal morality. My ninth-grade civics teacher always said that legislating morality didn’t work, but I’ve come to believe, as an adult, that it’s restrictions on morality that are hard to legislate. Permissive moralities are still moralities, they’re just a lot easier to maintain laws about. Ethical dilemmas come about when a person’s morality conflicts in some way – either with itself, or with society.

Values

3 :  relative worth, utility, or importance – a good value at the price – the value of base stealing in baseball – had nothing of value to say

(Merriam Webster)

Values are the big picture ideas from which definitions of right and wrong are derived. They are bigger than “right and wrong” in the sense that morals dictate behaviors specifically, where values are principles on which morals are built. Much like morals, values can exist at a societal or personal level, or on a group level such as within a grove. Nine Waves Grove values study and learning, so we make decisions about our group meetings that emphasize and prioritize those things that we value. It would not be morally wrong to prioritize something else as a grove, but that is what we have chosen to value, as our group began as a study group, and we would like to continue that tradition. If, over time, our values change, we can change the way we structure our behavior to mirror those changing values.

Personal Bias

3 a :  benttendency
b :  an inclination of temperament or outlook; especially :  a personal and sometimes unreasoned judgment :  prejudice
c :  an instance of such prejudice
d (1) :  deviation of the expected value of a statistical estimate from the quantity it estimates (2) :  systematic error introduced into sampling or testing by selecting or encouraging one outcome or answer over others

(Merriam Webster)

Biases are a tendency for a person to think or respond a certain way in certain situations, especially in a way that is unfair to or slanted towards a certain outcome, regardless of the actual details of the situation. Systemic biases in a culture can be inherited, and often are inherited, by the members of that culture as personal biases – often in subtle and insidious ways. A good example of a systemic bias is found in resumes and job hunting, where names that are non-white-sounding are judged more harshly than stereotypically Western names, even by people who have been trained not to have racial bias affect their decisions. Personal biases like this often get in the way of treating a situation fairly, and should be identified and sought to root out as much as possible.

Professional Boundaries

1 :  something that indicates or fixes a limit or extent – Those two trees mark the boundary of our property. The mountain range that forms the country’s northern boundary

(Merriam Webster)

Professional boundaries set limits on interactions between professionals and the groups they serve. They prevent misbehavior (and the implication of misbehavior) of a sexual, personal, financial, or religious nature. Especially, they prevent someone in a position of power (like a clergyperson, but also like a doctor, teacher, or employer) from interacting with people in their organizations in a way that is inappropriate. My primary experience with professional boundaries is in the workplace, where sexual, religious, and political conversations are not relevant to our work, so I do not engage in those conversations with coworkers, and my bosses do not expect me to be forthcoming with my thoughts on those kinds of subjects. Boundary setting is especially important in the Neopagan community, where often political, religious, and sexual values are different than within the wider society.

COnfidentiality

1 :  marked by intimacy or willingness to confide – a confidential tone

2 :  privatesecret – confidential information

(Merriam Webster)

Confidentiality is the status of something as private or secret between two (or more) parties. This can be explicit, such as someone pulling someone aside for a conversation and asking specifically that the contents of the conversation be kept private, or implicit, such as within relationships where the details of the relationship are understood not to be public. In some religions, the relationship between laity and clergy is understood to be confidential in certain situations (such as within the sacrament of reconciliation in the Catholic Church), and sometimes those bounds of confidentiality are so strong as to be respected within a court of law. In a Neopagan clerical sense, confidentiality is something I would seek to uphold, simply because I value being trusted by my grove, but as always, the mandatory reporting requirements in Texas (and my own personal morals) would require that I break confidentiality if I thought someone was harming a child, for example.

Right and Wrong

Right:

2 :  being in accordance with what is just, good, or proper – right conduct

Wrong:

2 :  something wrong, immoral, or unethical; especially :  principles, practices, or conduct contrary to justice, goodness, equity, or law

(Merriam Webster)

Right and wrong are exceptionally subjective measures that vary wildly from culture to culture. In the broadest sense, ‘right’ action upholds the laws of the society, and ‘wrong’ action breaks those laws. Personal morals, however, might dictate doing a ‘wrong’ action (from a societal standpoint) because it is ethically the ‘right’ thing to do. Civil disobedience is perhaps the most well-known action of this type. As well, individuals must weigh their actions versus their own sense of right and wrong in a challenging situation. Morals, values, ethics, and fairness all weigh into an individual sense of right and wrong, leading to a lot of ‘gray’ area between black and white polarities. These grey areas are seen even in the legal system, where one person killing another person can be judged more or less harshly depending on the circumstances of the killing. Someone accidentally hitting a pedestrian with their car will usually get a much lighter sentence than someone who premeditates and brutally murders another person intentionally, despite the law regarding “one person killing another person” as wrong.

2.    Self-awareness is key to the implementation of professional ethics. Discuss how your personal morals, values, bias and ability to maintain adequate boundaries, confidentiality and determine right from wrong might both positively and negatively impact your professional relationships. (200 words minimum)

All of the topics in question 1 have instances where they could create potential conflicts – either internal or external – along the path of being a public, pagan clergyperson. For myself, I tend to hold myself to very strict standards, especially where confidentiality is concerned, but also in terms of doing the right thing for myself and for my group. The one place where I struggle now, and expect to continue to struggle in the future, is in maintaining adequate boundaries. Not necessarily in a sexual or professional sense (that’s something I don’t think I will need to worry about), but in the sense of maintaining an appropriate amount of distance and “proper behavior.”

When I started Nine Waves as a study group, I was the de-facto leader, but I was not a clergyperson. Over the years, I have begun to act as clergy for the group that is now my grove, but in general, the members who have been around since the beginning treat me more as a friend than they do as a priest. This is fine, as they certainly are my friends, but I worry that there will be the perception of bias or improper conduct there. I’ve also felt a sometimes heavy burden as a Grove Organizer and then Senior Druid to constantly act as an ambassador of ADF, and I expect that will only grow, serving to enforce my need for boundaries and ‘right’ behavior – where that expectation of myself will be higher than I would put on others. As well, I can find it easy to get excited and not set good boundaries for myself and my time, which is not so much a question of right and wrong as it is a question of maintaining my own personal health and well-being.

My personal values and morals are not likely to conflict in professional relationships with most pagans, but in Texas, it is possible that I will run into pagans who have very different morals and values than I do, especially where it comes to race, sexuality, and gender-orientation. I expect my own professionalism will be the best way for me to navigate those interactions, as well as my virtue practice with ADF. I can be hospitable without compromising on my values and morals, and I can ensure that my group does the same.

3.    Discuss how an individual learns to determine right from wrong and explain the factors that influence this determination? (100 words minimum)

Learning right from wrong is a process that starts from very early childhood, with the first expressions of consciousness. As I watch my niece and nephew grow up (they are currently two and a half years old), they are like little sponges, absorbing the culture, morals, and ethics of the people around them. They learn from what they do, from what they are told, and from the media that surrounds them. Some of my own formative memories come from interactions with my parents, but also from the television shows Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers Neighborhood – both shows that teach fairness, tolerance, understanding, and compassion to children, as well as helping them grow into (what I would call) ‘good people.’

As children grow up and enter school, societal factors grow much larger in their determinations of right and wrong, and peer pressure especially becomes a much larger factor that extends well into the teenaged years.

Even as adults, though, our determinations of right and wrong can and do develop, whether from interaction with others, life experiences, or our own changing perceptions of the world. Religions, social groups, political movements, and (increasingly) social media all affect how adults make decisions about right and wrong behavior. Like teens though, if surrounded by enough voices to do something more or less ethical, our morals and values can change. My own morals and values have changed dramatically since I left college, largely due to my surrounding myself with people whose beliefs I respected, and through the complete abandonment of my childhood religion.

4.    Describe several reasons why an individual would strive to “do the right thing”? (100 words minimum)

I can think of two primary arguments for why someone would strive to ‘do the right thing’, one internal, and one external.

As an external argument, a person would do the right thing because it comes with some sort of feedback that they see as positive. Whether an actual monetary reward, social appreciation, a feeling of belonging, or otherwise feeling rewarded for making the correct decision, the attitudes and opinions of those around us often influence the way we behave and can pressure us (in a good or bad way) into ‘doing the right thing’. This audience can also be ‘cosmic’, in the sense of karma or other forces that may judge a person’s actions on a grander timeline and scale. Though John Wooden says that “The true test of a man’s character is what he does when nobody is watching,” having an audience definitely influences why people do the right thing.

As an internal argument, many of us also have values and ethics that we strive to live up to. ADF’s nine virtues are perhaps a strong reminder of the internal compass that we place on ourselves. We do the right thing because it fulfils our values and promises to ourselves. This is the argument that places how we feel about ourselves next to how others feel about us, and weighs our personal opinion as more important. This is also the ‘right decisionmaking’ that happens when there isn’t anyone around to see that we make the right choice, but prefer to do so to live up to our own moral compass.

5.    Discuss how an individual’s values relate to the decision making process. (100 words minimum)

Values, as defined in question 1, are the big picture ideals around which we base our morals and ethics as people. These big picture ideals might be things like ‘tolerance’, or ‘compassion’, and they serve as the foundation of our decision-making process most of the time. We weigh our decisions against what our values say is important, and (ideally) make decisions that are in line with those values the majority of the time. Emma Restall Orr defines decision making axes as: intuition and conscience, emotion and feeling, rational sense, balancing pleasure and pain, religious law, social and political law, rights, and personal freedom (Orr 68-95).

These can be looked at through a lens of win/loss – when there is a decision to be made, and a person sees that they will ‘win’ from that decision, in the sense of gaining something or being closer to their own ideals, they will usually decide to act according to their values. Similarly, if something is viewed as a loss – even if it’s a loss of integrity or other personal judgment – they will usually decide not to act in a way that is contrary to their values. In the ‘gray area’ between moral absolutes, multiple values may come into play, and decision-making gets more complicated.

6.    Discuss the importance of ethics to the clergy-lay relationship. Do you believe a clergy person has ethical responsibilities? If so, what are these responsibilities? (300 words minimum)

Ethics are extremely important in the clergy-lay relationship because of the expectations placed on that relationship and the expectations placed on the clergyperson. The folk of ADF do not expect a simple fire-priest or liturgist, they expect pastoral care and counseling because of our culture’s relationship to priests in other, specifically Abrahamic, religions. Whether or not the ADF priest wants those responsibilities, the folk will frequently expect that kind of care and consideration based on the society in which we find ourselves, and so there is an ethical component to priesthood that is important to consider.

Perhaps the most immediately obvious in this is confidentiality – when people approach a priest, they do so expecting to find a person who will listen to and help them with issues (often moral dilemmas!) without the threat of those conversations becoming part of the public discourse, especially within a grove. Whether or not the priest can actually help solve the problems, people expect that the nature of those interactions will stay private. As well, they expect that priests will be people of virtue and ethics, and will be able to help them navigate their own ethics and values.

Above all, clergy must interact with the folk with a sense of trust and fairness, especially because of the power (whether perceived or actual) that priests have within the structure of a religious group. This type of power dynamic can distort relationships in the same way that bosses/reportees, teachers/students, and even older/younger relationship dynamics can work within families. Priests hold positions of leadership, and as such there are expectations of trust and fairness, especially in a group like ADF where the folk give the mantle of priesthood to the priests. Those expectations may not be entirely fair, and they may not be entirely realistic (see: The Dogma of Archdruidic Fallibility), but they are important to consider when defining what behavior is ethical as a clergyperson.

7.    Discuss the meaning of confidential privilege, the laws in your state that provide for this privilege and the extent to which it applies to clergy-lay communications in your community. (200 words minimum)

Confidential privilege is the assumption in a court of law that communication between a clergy and a lay person when made privately and not intended for further disclosure. Within the state of Texas, ADF clergy fall under the designations of clergy members, and thus fall under the statutes of Rule 505 about confidential privilege. The exception to this is when there is abuse that has happened or is believed to have happened, per Sec. 261 of a minor, or per Sec. 48 of the elderly or persons with disabilities.

Within ADF, however, we do not have a religious doctrine that privileges the clergy-lay communication with confidentiality in certain situations. That does not mean that ADF clergy should not strive to act ethically when things are told to them in confidence, however, it does mean that on an organizational level we are not required to do so. This is probably for the best, as it allows our clergy to act within the laws of their particular states.

Rule 505: Privilege for Communications to a Clergy Member

(a) Definitions

(1) A “clergy member” is a minister, priest, rabbi, accredited Christian Science Practitioner, or other similar functionary of a religious organization or someone whom a communicant reasonably believes is a clergy member.

(2) A “communicant” is a person who consults a clergy member in the clergy member’s professional capacity as a spiritual adviser.

(3) A communication is “confidential” if made privately and not intended for further disclosure except to other persons present to further the purpose of the communication.

(b) General Rule. A communicant has a privilege to refuse to disclose and to prevent any other person from disclosing a confidential communication by the communicant to a clergy member in the clergy member’s professional capacity as spiritual adviser.

(c) Who May Claim. The privilege may be claimed by:

(1) the communicant;

(2) the communicant’s guardian or conservator; or

(3) a deceased communicant’s personal representative.

The clergy member to whom the communication was made may claim the privilege on the communicant’s behalf—and is presumed to have authority to do so.

(Varghese)

SUBCHAPTER B. REPORT OF CHILD ABUSE OR NEGLECT; IMMUNITIES

Sec. 261.101. PERSONS REQUIRED TO REPORT; TIME TO REPORT. (a) A person having cause to believe that a child’s physical or mental health or welfare has been adversely affected by abuse or neglect by any person shall immediately make a report as provided by this subchapter.

(b) If a professional has cause to believe that a child has been abused or neglected or may be abused or neglected, or that a child is a victim of an offense under Section 21.11, Penal Code, and the professional has cause to believe that the child has been abused as defined by Section 261.001 or 261.401, the professional shall make a report not later than the 48th hour after the hour the professional first suspects that the child has been or may be abused or neglected or is a victim of an offense under Section 21.11, Penal Code. A professional may not delegate to or rely on another person to make the report. In this subsection, “professional” means an individual who is licensed or certified by the state or who is an employee of a facility licensed, certified, or operated by the state and who, in the normal course of official duties or duties for which a license or certification is required, has direct contact with children. The term includes teachers, nurses, doctors, day-care employees, employees of a clinic or health care facility that provides reproductive services, juvenile probation officers, and juvenile detention or correctional officers.

(b-1) In addition to the duty to make a report under Subsection (a) or (b), a person or professional shall make a report in the manner required by Subsection (a) or (b), as applicable, if the person or professional has cause to believe that an adult was a victim of abuse or neglect as a child and the person or professional determines in good faith that disclosure of the information is necessary to protect the health and safety of:

(1) another child; or

(2) an elderly person or person with a disability as defined by Section 48.002, Human Resources Code.

(c) The requirement to report under this section applies without exception to an individual whose personal communications may otherwise be privileged, including an attorney, a member of the clergy, a medical practitioner, a social worker, a mental health professional, an employee or member of a board that licenses or certifies a professional, and an employee of a clinic or health care facility that provides reproductive services.

(d) Unless waived in writing by the person making the report, the identity of an individual making a report under this chapter is confidential and may be disclosed only:

(1) as provided by Section 261.201; or

(2) to a law enforcement officer for the purposes of conducting a criminal investigation of the report.

8.    One of the main principles of ethics is to “do no harm”. Discuss the meaningof this principle as it applies to the clergy-lay relationship. (100 words minimum)

Harm is an incredibly difficult concept to gauge, and striving always to “do no harm” is a largely impossible task. However, as an ethical guideline, if we expand it from “do no harm” to “do the least amount of harm, to the smallest number of people,” it becomes a much more applicable structure to clergy ethics. As clergypersons, ADF priests are often found in leadership roles, whether in local groves, in larger communities, or on the national scale of the organization. As leaders, they are tasked with making decisions, and it’s a useful exercise to examine what the downstream costs are in terms of who might be harmed by a decision – from the grove, to the larger community, to the priest themselves. Ethical decisions will always have consequences, and it is nearly impossible to make a difficult decision that will not have both positive and negative consequences in the long run, but evaluating potential harm is at least a good starting place for a priest making a difficult decision.

9.    Compare and contrast the Nine Virtues described in the ADF Dedicant Path and prominent values in the dominant culture of the country in which you live. (200 words minimum)

ADF’s nine virtues are Wisdom, Piety, Vision, Courage, Perseverance, Integrity, Fertility, Hospitality, and Moderation. These virtues allow me to live as both an American and an active ADF member, though the variations of their practice are different within the two social groups for sure.

Wisdom – the virtue of knowing the truth and essence of a situation – is especially valued in American society as the ‘wisdom of elders’, but we find wisdom in many places. Those of us who are around the Unitarian Universalists often find that they value the wisdom that comes from quieter voices, and seek it even in unlikely places.

Piety, in ADF, is defined by right action in a religious sense. American piety is twofold, encompassing both religious belief and patriotic duty. While this is generally (at least in mainstream society) expressly confined to Christian religious practice and the strongly conservative, often Christianity-laced expressions of patriotism, more Americans are valuing the piety that comes from other religions, and those who have stood up to the face of American culture often do so from a sense of patriotic piety.

Vision is strongly emphasized in American culture. We like visionaries, people who see the world for what it could be, instead of simply the way it is right now, and we also really like it when people have the Courage and Perseverance to stick to those visions and make them into a new reality.

Integrity, which I often conflate as much with wholeness as with right action, is something that individuals must strive for, and while some Americans do value it, others place value in other, flashier virtues. I would say that, however, integrity is baked into our national mythology with stories such as George Washington not being able to tell a lie, and Abraham Lincoln’s ‘Honest Abe’ moniker.

Fertility, to Americans, is more often regarded as fecundity and related to sex, I think largely because of the associations our culture has with Puritanism. However, when explained, most people think creativity and being prolific with ones gifts are virtues worth cultivating.

ADF’s strong focus on hospitality is not always a virtue that Americans understand. While we instinctively cultivate relationships with our communities, the American ideal is much more individualistic than any of the Indo-European cultures would have recognized, and that triumph of the individual over their society often works counter to how reciprocal hospitality works. As well, American society places a lot of emphasis on the responsibilities of the host, and less on the responsibilities of the guest.

Moderation, however, is a virtue that Americans often say they find as an ideal, but as our society was founded by religious zealots seeking freedom, most often American moderation is found in our willingness to let each other do as they will, and to define one’s own boundaries for themselves. As such we value moderation as a society, but many individuals struggle with being moderate in their beliefs, especially in today’s political climate, which is exceptionally polarizing.

Overall, I find that ADF’s virtues are not in conflict with my living in American society directly, but the emphasis in the two groups is often different enough to be notable. I find it especially interesting that the so-called ‘warrior virtues’, of courage, perseverance, and integrity, are the ones that translate the most easily, while the producer virtues are the ones that are the most different. This is especially interesting when you think of the agricultural basis of so much of our society, and I do wonder if my understanding of American culture would be different if I lived in a rural community instead of in the large city where I currently reside.

10. The Nine Virtues described in the ADF Dedicant Path are proposed as a starting point for individuals embracing a value system inspired by traditions of the past. Utilizing the ADF nine virtues, develop a Code of Ethics for your use as ADF Clergy. Describe how you derived this code from the Nine Virtues and how you would apply this Code. (No minimum word count for the Code; however the Code must contain a minimum of five principles; 300 words minimum for the description)

I will nurture the fire of piety in myself and others. As a Priest, I will maintain my own spiritual practices and nurture spiritual practices in others. I will tend the fire of piety.

I will be kind and encourage kindness. As a Priest, I will seek always to be kind to others, and when I am faced with a challenging person or situation, I will first ask how I can be kind in that situation or to that person.

I will walk the path of justice. As a Priest, I will seek to correct the many injustices in the world, as much as it is within my power to do so, even if I can only act in the microcosm that is my smaller community.

I will act with integrity and fairness. As a Priest, I will be a person worthy of trust, and as unbiased and impartial as I can be in each situation that requires it.

I will uphold the laws of nature and ecology. As a Priest, I will remember that nature lives according to laws and that I must act within those laws. I will seek to minimize my negative impacts on the environment and to maximize my positive impacts.

I will uphold the dignity of all persons, human and non. As a Priest, I will remember that I serve the Gods, the Folk, and the Land, and thus all beings are worthy of dignity and respect.

And if I may steal from the Methodists the quote most often attributed to John Wesley, I will seek to:

Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as you ever can.

(“John Wesley”)

I found this question both difficult and easy. Difficult to begin, but once I began, I found that my last four years as a Dedicant and my last two years as a Senior Druid prepared me well for writing out what kind of Priest I would strive to be. As with any code of ethics, my values are on display here, and many of those come directly out of ADF’s nine virtues.

  • Wisdom, in that all of these virtues will require wisdom and in that they come out of my collected wisdom from my time living as a human on planet Earth.
  • Piety, in that the first thing I focus on is the fire of piety that I seek to nurture in myself and in others, and in the way that all of my values are influenced by my dedication to the Kindreds.
  • Vision, in that this is a vision statement for my future as a Priest, and in that I must have the ability to see something through to the future in order to create that reality for myself.
  • Courage, in that some of these statements will be difficult, and I must be courageous in facing hard decisions.
  • Perseverance, in that none of these principles will be easy to uphold all of the time, and that I must work at it, in the long haul, to become the Priest I wish to be.
  • Integrity, in that justice, trust, fairness, loyalty, and dignity all stem from being a person of integrity.
  • Fertility, in that these principles will encourage my own spiritual growth, and ideally the spiritual growth of others – whether in ADF or outside of our organization.
  • Moderation, in that I must always know where my boundaries are, and I must always know what is possible – even if I will always strive to do just a little bit more, it is good to be balanced. As well, moderation and balance are some of the laws of ecology, which I find as a Druid it is important to maintain.
  • Hospitality, in that all things come down to relationships, and I, as a Druid Priest, must be willing to embody *ghosti as often and as strongly as possible, for it is on those relationships that the rest of this code of ethics will fall.

Any code of ethics is only as good as the Priest who follows it, and I intend to post this publicly, as well as to share it with my grove. I must be accountable first to myself, but second to them, as I walk the path of Priesthood in ADF.

Works Consulted

–. The ADF Leadership Handbook. Tucson, AZ: ADF Publishing, 2014. PDF file. 28 August 2017.
<https://www.adf.org/system/files/members/publications/leadership-handbook/leadership-handbook.pdf&gt;.

“Bias.” Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 3 Sept. 2017.

“Boundary.” Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 3 Sept. 2017.

Hereford, Z. “Healthy Personal Boundaries and How to Establish Them.” Essential Life Skills.net. Web. 3 Sept 2017. <http://www.essentiallifeskills.net/personalboundaries.html&gt;.

–. “John Wesley.” Wikiquote. Web. 25 Sept 2017. < https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Wesley >.

“Moral.” Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 3 Sept. 2017.

Orr, Emma Restall. Living With Honour: A Pagan Ethics. Hants, UK: O Books, 2007. Print.

“Right.” Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 3 Sept. 2017.

“Value.” Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 3 Sept. 2017.

Varghese, Benson. “Rule 505: Privilege for Communications to a Clergy Member.” TexasEvidence.com. Web. 25 Sept 2017. < http://texasevidence.com/article-v-privileges/rule-505-communications-to-members-of-the-clergy/&gt;.

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Students will develop new (or document existing) personal and/or family worship customs, such as morning devotions, meal offerings, or seasonal observances. Students will research worship customs of ADF and/or from a chosen Indo-European culture-whether historical or reconstructed and begin to implement these customs within the home setting (or other personal, rather than large group, context). These personal and/or household rituals or other observances may be either reconstructions of culturally specific practices, or based more upon modern ADF liturgical format, or a combination of the two. Household practices and rituals should include all interested members of the household, with options for the inclusion of children encouraged when applicable. Worship should be practiced weekly at a minimum, although daily practice is encouraged.

A specific aim of this course is to experiment and expand practice where possible: to that end, new practices and prayers should be a large part of the journal turned in for the final question.

NOTE: This course assumes the student is working with at least one hearth culture. In completing the Dedicant Path documentation, the student will have begun to explore this culture, including the reading of at least one book as the subject for a review. For students who may wish for further study—or who may wish to explore another cultural focus—the following books are possible resources to consult as needed.

The primary goal of this course is for students to develop and implement regular personal and/or family worship customs in the home setting.

Course Objectives

  1. Students will increase their knowledge of personal and/or family worship customs of ADF and/or from a chosen Indo-European culture and be able to compare these customs to those of public ritual.
  2. Students will demonstrate the implementation of new (or document existing) personal and/or family worship customs through regular journal entries documenting and describing this practice.

1.    What three factors (“subcategories”) does Bonewits identify as determining the impact of “familiarity” on the success of a ritual? Briefly discuss the ways in which personal or family-only ritual is aided or hindered by these factors when compared to public group ritual. (Minimum 100 words)

Bonewits identifies three subcategories for intra-group familiarity: knowledge, affection, and group identity (Bonewits 57). Knowledge is both knowing each other and knowing the material – if you know, for example, “how well the other members of your group can chant, or drum or visualize, you have a better idea how to blend your energies with theirs to create the group mind” (57). Affection is fairly obvious – bonds of genuine friendship or love within a group will enhance the ability to perform ritual, as the “psychic and psychological barriers that most people keep between themselves will be fewer and more easily set aside” (57). Group identity is most effective when it is most specific – Bonewits gives the example that “We are of the (Gardnerian) Wica” is more effective than just “We are all witches”.

Personal or family-only ritual is aided largely by the first two – in small group ritual, you typically know everyone (or get to know them) and that knowledge and working history creates the bonds of friendship that Bonewits calls ‘affection’ in this case. Both of these are largely lost in large group rituals, where things are most often open to the public and where complete strangers may show up. In some ways, this may actually work counter to the ideals of knowledge and affection, especially with members who are more shy or reticent around new individuals to a meeting. However, group identity, especially if it is well cultivated during the ‘creating the group mind’ step of the COOR, can be very strong within a large, even public group ritual. A well-orchestrated public ritual does its best work when everyone feels – at least for the moment – as though they are part of a community that is working together, and thus that is an obstacle that can be overcome in public group ritual.

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2.    What six methods of prayer does Ceisiwr Serith describe? Briefly suggest an example of how you might employ each in your personal worship practices. You may include worship with a group if applicable. (Minimum 200 words)

Praying through words

Perhaps the most obvious method of prayer for me is prayer through words. I have found, through my practice, that there is power in words spoken aloud that is not there in words spoken silently ‘in your head,’ though obviously in public places like at work this is often the only option. My prayer practice is largely done out loud, even if sometimes sotto voce, which doubles as practice for group prayer. As a Senior Druid, I do a lot of group prayer with my grove, and that is done intentionally through using my voice to create atmosphere and tone for the people who have joined us around the fire.

Praying through Posture

Serith mentions both kneeling and prostration as prayer postures familiar to a Western audience, but I find that I most often stand to pray, as my altar is on top of a small bookshelf that is about waist height. I do make use of the orans position quite frequently (which I was rather appalled to learn is restricted in some churches only to priests!), both in private prayer and especially in public prayer. I also try to use my hands in group practice as directive of where the prayer is “going” – whether up to the sky for the Sky Father, down to the earth for the Earth Mother, or into the Hallows.

Praying through Motion

Serith mentions circumambulation as one type of prayer through motion, which is a type of prayer that I use more often in group ritual. In my private practice, most of my praying is done at an altar that is butted up against a wall, so it’s hard to walk about. However, if I am doing a blessing or a cleansing, I use the motion of my body to mirror the motions of the prayer through the space.

Praying through Dance

Serith calls dance the “ultimate form of praying with motion” (24), and it is a prayer form that I almost never use in my own practice, public or private, which I think I might want to reconsider. The act of dance can be very sacred, and can also facilitate a trance state that is very helpful when directing energy in prayer. This is a form of praying that I’d like to explore more, though I often feel ‘funny’, for lack of a better term, when dancing alone in my apartment.

Praying through Music

Music can be either accompaniment to dance, or the sung or chanted prayers themselves. I particularly enjoy sung prayers and have memorized a number of songs and chants to use in core order rituals. My grove uses these extensively, led by our bard and his guitar, but they are equally powerful with just a voice or voices. Praying through song changes the pace of the ritual and can add great affect to both group and private ritual, and is something I do often.

Praying through Gestures

Gestures are “somewhere between postures and motions” and are “things done with the hands and arms” that have their own meaning (Serith 27). I especially like the description of prayer gestures as a “little dance” – a dance performed with only one part of your body (27). I use gestures in ritual frequently; identifying things, showing the motion or flow of energy, directing participants, and channeling offerings.

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3.    What arguments does Ceisiwr Serith make in support of set prayers (as opposed to spontaneous prayers)? Discuss how these arguments apply (or do not apply) to solitary Pagan prayer. (Minimum 200 words)

Serith makes the argument that set prayers involve “a relationship between the pray-er, the prayer, and the one prayed to,” where this relationship is “expressed through the words of a prayer” (66). He argues that while the words of a set prayer may be identical each time they are prayed, each prayer event is “no more identical to those before it than each performance of a particular piece of music is the same as another” (66).

He also argues that ancient Paganism had set prayers – some of which have survived until today – and particularly mentions the Rg Veda and Roman prayer books. As well, there are times when we want to pray, but we can’t find the words (66-7). At these times, such as at a funeral or other times of great personal distress, set prayers allow us to be comforted and to give up having to think about or try to find the right words.

Group prayer is also, by nature, set prayer – people “need to know what to say, so they can say it together” (67). This type of prayer serves both its function as a prayer and also as a way of bringing people together.

The most important rationale, according to Serith, for set prayers is a phenomenon that he calls ‘deepening.’ “The more often a prayer is said, the deeper it sinks into your consciousness. Eventually, it sinks into your unconscious mind” (67). At that point, you are no longer simply saying a prayer; it has become a part of who you are and how you think.

In my personal, private practice I have found that there are times for set prayers, and there are times for extemporaneous prayers, and it would do my practice a huge disservice to abandon one or the other. Serith’s own Cosmos Prayer is a huge part of my practice, and is a prayer that I hope is slowly ‘deepening’ into my consciousness. As well, my daily Earth Mother and Gatekeeper prayers are fairly set at this point. However, I also find that if I want to do a core order, I am less likely to stress less about what is being said if I have a prayer to start from, but don’t feel obligated to speak it identically every time. In my journal below I have included two full Core Order rituals that I use, but I rarely use one entirely from start to finish, despite having most of them memorized. I’ll feel inspired, or be in a hurry and need to hit the high points, etc.

For myself, then, I find Serith’s arguments for set prayers to be compelling, and use them in my practice frequently, but then, I come from a Catholic background (albeit having been born in an American Baptist family) so my love of set and memorized prayers is fairly unsurprising.

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4.    Keep and submit for review a journal documenting the development and observance of the personal/household worship customs described above covering a period of not less than four months, including one observance of a seasonal festival, such as one of the eight ADF High Days. Entries are to be not less than weekly. The text of individual prayers and longer devotional rituals should be provided as frequently as possible. Regular practices occurring less than weekly will be considered if they are documented as revivals or reconstructions of historically-attested observances occurring less than weekly.

All Liturgy Practicum 1 Journals are previously posted on this blog, in the category Liturgy Journal 1, and can be read there.

Works Consulted

Bonewits, Isaac. Neopagan Rites: A Guide to Creating Public Rituals that Work. Minneapolis: Llewellyn Publications, 2007. Print.

Serith, Ceisiwr. A Book of Pagan Prayer. Boston, MA: Weiser, 2002. Print.

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Introduction:

This course is the first of two intended to provide an introduction to the practice of liturgical writing. Topics covered in this first course are primarily foundational: the purposes of ritual; the use of source materials; and the nature and forms of heightened language (or, for the purposes of this course, poetics) applied to writing liturgical material, such as prayers.

This course also assumes a familiarity with the ADF order of ritual and completion of the ADF Dedicant Program. While much of the content of this study guide is couched in general terms, the student will be asked to apply those general concepts to a consideration of how they are exemplified by ADF liturgical practices and having those practices in mind while reading the material will be helpful.

Course Objectives

  • Students will analyze and discuss a variety of purposes fulfilled by the ADF Core Order of Ritual.
  • Students will identify techniques utilized within effective poetic expression and begin to incorporate these techniques within their liturgical writing.
  • Students will be able to create a prayer appropriate for use in high day ritual and select an appropriate offering to accompany the prayer.

1.    Describe how ADF’s order of ritual expresses the following concepts: “Serving the people”; “Reaffirming shared beliefs”; “Reestablishing the cosmic order”; “Building enthusiasm”. (Min. 500 words)

  “Serving the People”

ADF’s Core Order of Ritual is a type of service in and of itself, for it was designed to be a shared, public Neopagan liturgy. Isaac’s vision was one where ADF groves held rituals in public, for their entire communities, in a way that was normal and affirming to all who might come and worship the kindreds with us. Public ritual is a service that groves provide, and a service that ADF clergy provides at festivals, to the various communities that they serve and are a part of.  This service allows people to strengthen their ties to the kindreds and to their gods and spirits through offerings and receiving the blessings, and it facilitates the building of social structures as well, which are ever more and more important in today’s often frantic society.

“Reaffirming Shared Beliefs”

The first steps of the Core Order are about reaffirming shared beliefs. We process into the space together, often in song, as a show of solidarity of spirit and purpose. Each member is purified, but then we create the group mind, often through the Two Powers meditation, establishing our connection to each other, to the powers of the Earth and Sky, and maintaining our sacred space within the worlds. We then state our purpose for being in ritual, a step that is both about reaffirming our shared purpose and beliefs and that teaches newcomers what to expect in the ritual. These steps form the “set up” at the beginning of any Core Order ritual and provide a shared system of belief and a feeling of community that pervades the rest of the ritual. As each offering is made, the community responds in kind – “Accept this offering” and “Accept this sacrifice” – as each offering is both personal and communal. Our shared beliefs are upheld when we make offerings together. (Newburg)

“Reestablishing the cosmic order”

The cosmic order is maintained through our ritual actions each time we do ritual, in the “middle” of the setup of a Core Order ritual, after the affirmation of shared beliefs and the introductory parts of the ritual.

While world-creating aspects of liturgy “are sometimes present just to commemorate the creation… more often they are also meant to orient the ritual participants to other parts of the universe and to all the other beings in it” (Bonewits 31). Bonewits says that the first step of this part of the ritual is “defining a ritual center,” which ADF does through creating the sacred center in the Fire, the Well, and the Tree, as well as the three “worlds” of Land, Sea, and Sky. This requires creating a “center of the world” (Eliade, in Bonewits 31), which is the place where the deities created everything and a place where you can have access to anywhere in the various worlds. This is usually represented by the axis mundi – the Tree in ADF’s cosmology, which can be represented by any number of axes, including Yggdrasil, Irminsul, Omphalos, and Bile.

ADF then completes this sacred center by opening up a gate, with the aid of a Gatekeeper spirit (or spirits), through which all of the energy of the ritual will flow, both inwards to the other realms and then back outwards to the participants in the ritual.

“Building Enthusiasm”

Building enthusiasm is the creation of energy that is raised for the benefit of the spirit or spirits that are the central focus of the ritual itself. This preliminary power raising can be done by “singing or chanting, by a sacred dance, or by formal evocations or invocations” (Bonewits 33). In ADF ritual this is typically done through a combination of song and evocative prayers, where calls are made and energy is raised through offerings that are poured into the fire. Drama is key here, and a boring evocation with no poetry or ‘magic’ will often fall flat, where the same or similar evocation given with oomph and a flair for the poetry of the situation can be truly inspiring. The peak of this power-raising is the Prayer of Sacrifice, where all of the good intent, offerings, energy, love, and praise of the community is focused through the gates in a big final push to the gathered spirits (Newburg).

ADF ritual also builds another kind of enthusiasm – the enthusiasm for community and shared experience. Often if a group is feeling flat or dull, performing ritual together can spark life and energy back into the core of the group. This enthusiasm is built through our ritual structures, and brings us back full circle on this question, as it feeds back into the idea of serving the people.

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2.    Create a prayer of praise, offering, or thanksgiving to a deity modeled on a mythic, folkloric, or other literary source of at least 75 words. Include a summary of what your sources were and how you utilized them (summary at least 150 words).

Hail Frey, Lord of the fields!
Beautiful lord of the Vanir
Golden of hair as the fields of wheat and corn,
Bringing riches of heart and hearth to the folk.

We hail you with the grain that springs forth
And falls again to nourish us.
We hail you, mighty boar in flight,
Lord of Frith that is bound to land,
You who can warm the cold heart,
Warrior without a weapon
Who give your prosperity to all of your kin,
You guide and sustain your descendants.

Lord Ing, Providing god,
God of the bees and the barley,
You who make the grain spring forth,
We sacrifice this, our first loaf,  to you
As the grains are sacrificed for us each year.

I have an ever deepening relationship with Frey, and have since I was working on my Mental Discipline requirement for my Dedicant work in 2012. Over the years, I’ve collected a number of books about him, and read all of his myths multiple times, but I’ve found that in popular culture this multi-faceted deity gets flattened to only be about fertility.  Ann Sheffield, in her Frey: God of the World, summarizes the kennings that are used to describe Frey in the Poetic and Prose Eddas. I consulted this list extensively. Some of the kennings that Sheffield quotes include:

  • Most renowned, most glorious among gods
  • Harvest-god, god of prosperity
  • Foremost, best of gods
  • Beli’s bane
  • Bright
  • Sacrifice-priest
  • Freyja’s brother
  • Battle-wise
  • Wealth-giver
  • (one who) guides, governs the people
  • People’s ruler of the gods
  • Fair, beautiful
  • Wise
  • Temple-priest
  • Chieftain
  • Mighty
  • Providing
  • Shining
  • Njordh’s son
  • Vanir-god
  • God of the world
  • Weaponless, unarmed

These kennings and bynames come from the Skirnismal, Gylfaginning, Ynglinga Saga, Grimnismal, Skaldskaparmal sections of the Poetic and Prose Eddas, by Snorri Sturlusun, or poets that he quotes (Sheffield 2-3). I noted that most of these references are to Frey as a giver of wealth and prosperity, and thus made that the focus of this prayer of offering, which references as well the first-loaves that were a common offering around this time of year (early August). I also make reference to Gullinbursti – Frey’s boar of golden bristles – which also comes from the Skaldskaparmal section of the Prose Edda. The reference to Bee and Barley is a reference to Beyla and Byggvir, Frey’s servants as quoted in the Lokasenna portion of the Prose Edda. The reference to warming the cold heart is to the story in Skirnismal where Frey sends his servant Skirnir to woo the Jotun-maid Gerda, who then becomes his wife.

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3.    Discuss a poem of at least eight lines as to its use of poetic elements (as defined by Watkins): formulaics, metrics, and stylistics. Pay particular attention to use of meter and phonetic devices, such as rhyme and alliteration. (Minimum 100 words beyond the poem itself.)

Riddle Forty-three:

Ic wat indryhtne              aethelum deorne
giest in geardum,            tham se grimma ne maeg
hungor scethan                 ne se hata thurst,
yldo ne adle.                  Gif him arlice
esne thenath,               se the agan sceal
on tham sithfate,             hy gesunde aet ham
findath witode him         wiste ond blisse,
cnosles unrim,               care, gif se esne
his hlaforde                hyreth yfle,
frean on fore.                  Ne wile forth wesan
brothor othrum;              him thate bam scetheth
thonne hy from bearme          begen hweorfath
anre magan                       ellorfuse,
moddor on sweostor.    Mon, se the wille,
cythe cynewordum        hu se Cuma hatte,
edtha se esne,                 the ic her ymb sprice.

(Porter 74)

I know of a lofty stranger
in the yards, beloved by noblemen,
whom sharp hunger cannot harm,
nor hot thirst, old age or sickness.

If the servant serves him kindly,
who must go away on that journey —
they will find at home, certain
and unharmed, happiness
and a hot meal, countless children.
But sorrow, if the servants
obeys his lord poorly,
his master along their way.

Brother does not fear brother,
who injures them both,
when they both depart, eager for yonder
from the lap of a single kinsman,
mother and sister.

Let the one who wishes to
name this stranger in familiar words,
or else the servant,
who I’m talking about here.

(Hostetter)

John Porter calls the Anglo Saxon riddles a collection of “lyric poems”, and defines these riddles as “metaphor, transformation and analogy, poetic perception, verbal play, language under creative imagination, ‘making it new’” (Porter 7). These poems are the essence of Old English poetry, and provide classic examples of the highest valued portions of their poetic forms – primarily alliteration and rhythmic forms. I have included both the Anglo-Saxon original and a readable translation for the analysis here, since it’s hard to analyze alliteration in a translation.

Formulaics is the use of repeated words and phrases, sometimes across languages, which serve as a poetic cue to the reader and to the poet (Watkins 12-19). While Watkins primarily compares the Vedic and Greek poetry for shared words and phrases that share syntax and meaning, the Old English literature is not discussed – perhaps because by the time it was written down it had branched so far from the original languages as to only share formulas with closer, sister-languages such as Old Norse and other Germanic languages.

Even so, this riddle is an exercise in poetic formulas from top to bottom, and – in fact – is a sort of poetic formula by its very nature, being that a riddle is in some ways an elaborate kenning for a greater topic. As well, there are formulaic pieces within the riddle as well, the most prominent of which is part of the key to solving the riddle. John Porter says that the answer to this riddle is “the body and the soul” (the stranger and the servant). Thus would the “single kinsman, mother and sister” be the earth itself (Porter 135). The oral traditions of poetry that Watkins discusses were incredibly successful thanks to these formulas, and the Anglo-Saxon language is no exception. There is very little written in Anglo-Saxon, and what we do have was written post-conversion.

Metrics is the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetic forms, as well as the use of pauses, or caesura, mid-line (Watkins 19-21). The basic pattern of the lines in Riddle Forty-three is two half lines that are connected by alliteration (consonants with consonants, vowels with vowels), where the alliterated words have more stress. Each line includes a caesura mid-line.

Stylistics is all of the other linguistic features that distinguish poetry in a language, like alliteration, parallel structure, simile and metaphor, rhyme, repetition, and others (Watkins 21-27). As is typical of Old English poetry, there is no rhyme scheme in this 16 line riddle – and in fact there is no rhyme scheme in any of the riddles, which vary dramatically in length. Alliteration, however, there is in plenty – giest, geardum, grimma, maeg (line 2), his, hlaforde, hyreth (line 9), bearme, begen (line 12). The greater style of all of the riddles is one of extended metaphor – the subject of the riddle is compared to or described as many things in an attempt to get the listener to correctly guess the riddle’s subject.

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4.    Create a prayer suitable for the main offering of a High Day rite which includes invocation of at least one deity suitable to the occasion, description of the offering and its suitability to the occasion, and the purpose of the offering, totaling at least 100 words. Any stage directions necessary for performance of the offering should be included.

This invocation was made to Sunna at Nine Waves’ Midsummer ritual in 2016 and 2017.

Radiant Sunna, whose rays wash the land in light,
All nature vibrates with your energies
And the Earth is bathed with warmth and life
Fire of sky and air, your brightness draws us forth.
You are called ever-glow, day-star, and all-bright seen
Daughter of Mundilfari, you mark our days,
And with your brother you tell the time for us

Shine brightly upon us, Sunna,
On this the feast of your strength and speed
Your longest journey is today,
Let your light shine upon the fields in our hearts and minds
And may the harvest grow strong and tall there
Let your light shine upon the land around us
And may the harvest grow strong and tall there

May your blessing fall on our homes and all the crops we have sown
Until the time of harvest draws near.

Shining Sunna, accept our sacrifice!

(Throw sunflowers into the fire.)

(163)

Works Consulted

–. Anglo-Saxon Riddles. Trans John Porter. Little Downham, Ely, Cambs: Anglo-Saxon Books, 2003. Print.

Bonewits, Isaac. Neopagan Rites: A Guide to Creating Public Rituals that Work. Woodbury, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 2007. Print.

Dickins, Bruce. Runic and Heroic Poems. London: Cambridge University Press, 1915. Print.

Hostetter, Dr. Aaron K. “Exeter Book Riddles.” Rutgers University. Web. 1 August 2017.
<https://anglosaxonpoetry.camden.rutgers.edu/exeter-book-riddles/&gt;.

Newburg, Brandon. “Ancient Symbols, Modern Rites: A Core Order of Ritual Tutorial for Ár nDraíocht Féin.” ADF. Web. 1 August 2017. <https://www.adf.org/members/training/dedicant-path/articles/coortutorial/index.html&gt;.

–. The Poetic Edda. Trans. Carolyne Larrington. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. Print.

–. The Poetic Edda. Trans. Lee M Hollander. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 1990. Print.

Sheffield, Ann Groa. Frey: God of the World. Lulu.com, 2007. Print.

Sturluson, Snorri. Edda. Trans. Anthony Faulkes. Clarendon, VT: Everyman Press, 1995.

Watkins, Calvert. How to Kill a Dragon: Aspects of Indo-European Poetics. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995. Print.

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This week I have decided to add a little to my daily practice, and then I may stick with it for awhile.

My (almost) daily routine is as follows:

Light lamp
Light incense

Cosmos Prayer:

The waters support and surround me
The land extends about me
The sky stretches out above me
At the center burns a living flame
May all the kindreds bless me
May my worship be true
May my actions be just
May my love be pure
Blessings, and honor, and worship to the holy ones

Prayers to Earth Mother and Gatekeeper, the two beings that I am tasked with developing relationships with as part of this journey through Clergy 1:

Eorthan Modor, I am your child. Uphold me today and always, as I honor you and walk the elder ways.

Eostre, She who walks the paths of Dawn. Guide me today and always, and may your light shine upon my path as I walk the elder ways.

This week in the grove meeting we are doing a full moon ritual, which should be fun and also good practice. Everyone who wants a speaking part will be drawing randomly from a hat, and we’re going to try to get everyone used to improvising our ritual pieces.

Last weekend, I got to practice my clergy discipline routine of having a monthly “retreat day”. It was spread out over two days, because it’s hard for me to take 24 hours entirely out of my (admittedly probably overscheduled) life, at least every single month.

This is the basic text of the monthly retreat ritual that I am working on. As I change and update it, I will update here. I’m actually pretty happy with this ritual though – it’s a full core order, takes about 20 minutes to do. I typically go for more explicitly poetic ritual pieces, but for some reason this one is what I came up with. It’s a variation on another ritual that I used to use, and I’m really happy with how it turned out for solo practice.

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I think it’s about time I repost and update my daily practice, since it’s been a few years since I’ve talked about it, and it has evolved a bit. First, though, my altar has some new items that I want to show off!

Altar - April 2016

This is just the working surface (which you can tell is used, by the amount of ash that I continually fight to keep cleaned up). I have a shelf full of deity and spirit icons/tokens above the tree, but it’s hard to get a picture of both that looks good.

The new items are the incense burner on the left, and the oil lamp in the middle.

Both are made by blacksmith David Cohen, at Dark Moon Forge in Austin. I’m lucky enough to know David in person, having met him at the Texas Imbolc Retreat the last two years, and he is a wonderful artisan. I purchased the incense burner from him last year, and then a few weeks ago he was posting on Facebook about the new oil lamps he was making to gauge interest. Typically he doesn’t do mail-order items, preferring to sell his wares in person in the Austin area, but I asked very nicely, and he mailed me my new lamp.

I had to wait a few days to get the lamp oil in (I’m using Firefly Clean Lamp Oil, since it’s odorless and smokeless), which was agonizing, but I’m SO happy with how it looks. I’ve tried various configurations of candles for the fire representation on my altar over the years, and never found anything I truly loved. I also had problems with candles getting weird and needing to be replaced because they were only lit for 5-10 minutes at a time. This lamp will burn for any amount of time, and I just love the leaf handle (which does allow me to carry it around, but since it’s an open container of lamp oil, I’ll have to be super careful with anything like that). I still love and burn lots of candles, but for my altar, I see myself using this oil lamp for a good long time.

Regardless, if you happen to be in the Austin, TX area, I can’t recommend Dark Moon Forge highly enough.

As for my daily practice, I first posted about it in June of 2014 as I was working on my first pass at the Liturgy Practicum class, before I had started on the Clergy Training Program. I typically do this practice at my mid-morning “coffee” break (I don’t drink coffee, but I like to get up around 10:30 or 11 and stretch a bit.)

Not a lot has changed, but I have added to it slightly, and I still feel like it’s not quite finished.

(Three breaths to center self)

Hail to you, Hertha, Earth Mother – may I always be supported as I walk in your ways.

The earth is below me, the heavens above me,
The flame lights the way! (Light lamp)

The earth is below me, the heavens above me,
The well flows within! (Fill/touch well)

The earth is below me, the heavens above me,
The tree spans the world! (Bless tree)

Let us pray with a good fire! (Light incense)

Eostre, Guardian of the Gates of Dawn, hold fast these gates that I may speak into the worlds.

I make offering to the gods.
May their power be with me this day. (Cense altar shelf)

I make offering to the ancestors.
May their wisdom be with me this day. (Cense altar shelf)

I make offering to the nature spirits.
May their blessing be with me this day. (Cense altar shelf)

The waters support and surround me
The land extends about me
The sky stretches out above me
At the center burns a living flame
May all the kindreds bless me.
May my worship be true
May my actions be just
May my love be pure
Blessings and honor and worship to the holy ones.

Mighty, Noble, and Shining Ones, thank you for your blessings and your presence.
Eostre, Guardian of the Gates of Dawn, thank you for keeping fast the ways.
Hertha, Earth Mother – thank you for upholding me always.

(Three breaths to center self)
(Extinguish lamp)

I always think it needs a daily rune draw, but I haven’t managed to figure out a good way to do that. If I leave my runes on my altar, I forget about them when I need them for ritual or study group meetings, and though I have a journal specifically for readings, I never seem to remember to write down what I drew. (I have a working memory like a rusty sieve these days.)

I also feel like I should make some kind of offering to the deities I’m working with by name (Ing Frea, Hela, Frige), as well as to my ancestors and house spirits, but I also don’t want to have a 15 minute practice. I’ll never remember to do the whole thing if it’s going to take more than just a few minutes. Perhaps I need to have a weekly practice to make specific offerings. Or maybe I need an evening practice to do?

I’ve talked to other ADFers, and they seem to have more “built in” practices – an offering to the ancestors with breakfast coffee, and the like. I have trouble starting anything like that due to just sheer forgetfulness, but with all the beings I’d like to be building *ghosti with, maybe I need to just send myself a bunch of reminders!

Anyway, this is obviously a work in progress – I try to balance as much oomph as I can get into a small bit of time, knowing that I’m most likely to actually do the offerings that way, and so far it works nicely.

Any thoughts you might have on polishing this into something a little more “complete” feeling would be really nice!

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The 2015 Spring Garden was almost a complete failure – the only thing that did well were the beans. So I’m back (from outerspace) with a new plan, some more mulch, a trash can full of compost, and plans to really *magic it up* this year. I am not content to just put the garden in the ground. This garden needs magic, or I fear it will go the way of last year’s garden, and I will get no tomatoes and be sad.

The container garden contains only herbs and one yellow squash plant that I’m attempting to make work. We’ll see:

  • cilantro
  • Italian oregano
  • straight neck yellow squash
  • scallions (green onions)

The actual garden bed contains:

  • Tomatoes (Arkansas Traveler, Globe, Sweet 100, Sweet Million, Yellow Pear, and Juliet) – almost all cherry tomatoes this year
  • TAM Jalapeno (3)
  • Sweet Banana Pepper (3)
  • Clemson Spineless Okra (4 hills of 2 plants)
  • Bush Blue Lake Beans (3 full rows)
  • Eggplant (Japanese Long)
  • Genovese Basil

The whole thing (except the bean rows, which haven’t sprouted yet) is mulched thickly with cedar shavings, which will hopefully help with weeds.

I’ve also got an order in for some “seed bombs” (mammoth dill, italian parsley, genovese basil, and mixed romaine) to toss in my garden bed with the aloe and the lime tree, to try to make something out of an otherwise useless little corner of garden. If it doesn’t work, I’m not super sad, but the seed balls look easy to use and sprout, and the bed gets lots of sun. That bed currently only contains the out of control aloe plants and Frank. Frank is my 15 year old oregano plant. He’s very hardy. At his largest, he was the size of a coffee table, but he’s much smaller than that now.

In the past, my most successful garden came after I blessed it with a drink that came out of a very powerful ritual. Next week is our Spring Equinox ritual, and so I think I will make extra of our sacred drink (remind me to post on that sometime) and use it to bless the garden. It’ll have strong blessings in it, and I can do a ritual myself to bless the ground. I’ve made a small earth mother talisman for our Druid Mooncast workings, so perhaps she will come and participate as well.

I really *really* don’t want another failed garden. It was so hard last year to look out and see it overtaken with weeds, not producing any fruit at all. I know I went and got a new job and spent the month of May living somewhere else, which didn’t help, but it still feels personal. So this year, I’m doing my best to ensure success.

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2. Describe some of the roles individuals might take on within the context of ritual. (minimum 100 words)

Priest/ess – The person leading the ritual, who is often (but not always) the leader of the group. S/he will make the primary sacrifices, and will be in charge of making sure the rest of the liturgy goes off as planned. Also in charge of improv/control when things get out of hand. The Priest/ess is responsible for the energy created in a ritual, and usually directs that energy as needed or determined by the purpose of the rite.

Bard – The person who leads the chants and praise offerings. Preferably someone with a strong voice and some ability to sing. Skill with an instrument is beneficial, but not required. May lead magical workings, depending on the working involved.

Seer – The person who takes the omens and interprets them for the group. May also have other roles in the ritual.

Fire Warden – The person who makes and tends the fire. Also the person who puts the fire out, if it gets unruly. Arm this person with a fire extinguisher, especially in an enclosed or otherwise flammable space. Especially necessary in windy or difficult conditions, it’s important to have someone specifically assigned to control the fire so that the other ritual participants don’t have to worry about it. This is a crucial role and one to which a single dedicated person should be assigned, and they should be able to keep at least part of their attention on the fire at all times.

Liturgist – The person who writes the liturgy itself. This role can be performed by any of the above, depending on the number of willing volunteers in a group, and may or may not overlap, as this is a pre-ritual position primarily. (This is the function that I am most often tasked with, and also most worried about doing – a well written ritual can be easily ruined by bad participants, but a poorly written ritual is hard to save.)

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