Liturgy Practicum 1: Domestic Cult Practice in ADF, Question 4, Entry 12

Week beginning 10/30/06 - Changes, and Samonios, not Samhain

There's the change I need to make. I can see it clearly.

I've been having trouble with something in particular recently, regarding this paradigm shift I've been working out. Moving my life from one that is completely mundane to one that is very much about the sacred and about being a priest is hard for me.

Today, I saw that I'm afraid of the shift in some ways. In others, I'm not at all. I see its utility and its necessity, and I see the way the shift could go without it, and that's also attractive in its own right.

Esus, guide me to cut the right branches, to cut them the right length, and to cut them with the knowledge that I have to.

This shift isn't chaos magic. It's a reunderstanding of myself, a deeper hope, a stronger dream. It is acceptance and strong movement at once. It is like standing in the middle of a violent storm, and seeing all the ways things can go, and knowing you have to choose, that the storm won't stop until you give it direction, that it will continue to consume you.

What makes us happy is not always what is best for us.

What is best for us doesn't always make us happy.

The doors that open match the doors that close, and things move to make sense in ways you never expected.

I know, I'll get some crap for being vague.

But I find it clear. I really do.

And that, alone, is scary. But I've learned nothing in my relationship with Esus if I haven't learned that sometimes, the scary is what you really need to do, because it's the best thing.

The trick is doing the scary stuff right.

That couldn't be me in the gorilla disguise. . . I found myself repeating on Monday. And it's true: it really couldn't.

Early in this week, after the Samhain rite for the Grove, I started thinking about my own Samhain rite.

And then I realized I didn't want to do a Samhain rite. I am, I admit, kind of tired of "Samhain." I want to do Samonios finally, for a change, for something new.

On Friday, I wrote the following prayer to Inspiration, to be said at my Samonios rite:

Thursday, November 02, 2006:

I reach deeply within myself;
 seeking, searching.
My eyes turn inward and see deep;
 seeking, searching.
My fingers reach out, feeling forth;
 seeking, searching.
My ears are open, listening;
 seeking, searching.
My nose sniffs for any sign here;
 seeking, searching.
My tongue tastes the sweet nectar now;
 seeking, searching.
Here it is, within me, calling;
 seeking, searching.
Here I am, to greet it, hold it;
 seeking, searching.
Here we are, together, tightly;
 holding, knowing.
Inspiration, I call to you;
 hold me, know me.

I really like this invocation.

I have noticed, in the past week, that my devotions have suffered immensely from my move away from doing sunrise and sunset rituals. This is hard for me, and I'm struggling a lot to make things work for me. It's hard, as I have come to rely on them for a lot of spiritual support. I look forward to starting them again, to being back in tune with the rhythms of the sun, which it was surprisingly easy for me to drop out of.

Finally, here is the Samhain Ritual I wrote, running from the new COoR from the Clergy Retreat.

1. Enter Space

2. Prepare Space

Light candles
Fill well

3. Opening Prayers

Earth Mother

I stand firm on you, Earth Mother
You are a keeper of vision,
The one in whom the portal is rooted
The one who offers me passage
The one to whom I must always return.
Earth Mother, you support me
Support and uphold my rite.

Inspiration

I reach deeply within myself;
 seeking, searching.
My eyes turn inward and see deep;
 seeking, searching.
My fingers reach out, feeling forth;
 seeking, searching.
My ears are open, listening;
 seeking, searching.
My nose sniffs for any sign here;
 seeking, searching.
My tongue tastes the sweet nectar now;
 seeking, searching.
Here it is, within me, calling;
 seeking, searching.
Here I am, to greet it, hold it;
 seeking, searching.
Here we are, together, tightly;
 holding, knowing.
Inspiration, I call to you;
 hold me, know me.

4. Purpose

Celebration of Samonios, honouring Cernunnos, honouring the Dead.

5. Purification

Outdwellers → no need
Space → taken care of before
Self → taken care of before, but include a "reminding" of purification

6. Gatekeeper

Garanus

One foot in the water, Crane
One foot on land.
One eye in the blue sky, Crane
Always between.
The realms are you plaything
Ever your joy
Guide me through them this day
Old Ways I walk.
No one knows better, Crane
The ways between the worlds.

Opening the Gates

Garanus Crane
Open the gates
     Fire comes first
     Well is second
     The Tree is third
Open the Gates
Garanus Crane
Open the Gates.

7. Calling to All: Chthonics/Mids/Uppers¹

Calling to the Upper Kindreds

High in the Heavens, Heroes and Holy
Beyond the visible reaches of the Sky
Beyond the Veil of the Stars and Sun
Those Kindred that shine with light from Above
Shining Ones, Ancestors, Nature Spirits
Far-Seeing and Brightly clothes in gold light
Come to my Fire, offerings for Thee
A welcome to the Powers of Heaven
Be comfortable in my abode tonight.

Calling to the Middle Kindreds

Here among us are Gods and Dead and Sidhe
Standing within mists, coming to meet us
Coming nearer as we give offering
Standing next to us in our times of need.
In trees and streams, under foot, in the air
The Spirits of Place surround us always
Their songs reach our ears, their beauty our eyes
I call welcome to Spirits of this Realm
Be comfortable in my abode tonight.

Calling to the Chthonic Kindreds

Down below our feet, deep within the ground
In the fertile womb of the Earth Mother
Are denizens of Dark, unknown to us:
Gods of the Earth, Ancestors, and Earth-Kin.
Our bones will rest here though our soul will rise
Now we pour libation to these Kindred
Knowing their place in life and the Cosmos
I welcome the spirits of Dark Earth.
Be comfortable in my abode tonight.

8. Key Offerings

Cernunnos, Antlered God,
I call out to you now.
You sit in doorways,
seeing both directions

Open the Veil you hold,
part it like warm butter.²
Allow the Ancestors
to come forth this dark night.

Cernunnos, Between Ways,
Accept this offering!

Praise should now be offered to Cernunnos, and to the Ancestors.

9. Prayer of Sacrifice

Cernunnos, Guardian,
You who have spread the veil,
You who have brought our ancestors,
I ask that you return them,
That you close the veil.
Whisper to them that they are not forgotten,
And allow them to leave any blessings they may.
Cernunnos, Accept this sacrifice!

10. Omen

Take as usual.

11. Calling the Blessings

Cernunnos, Shining Ones!
We have given and you have answered us in kind!
I call now for the blessings you offer
Pour them out to us,
Offer them now!

12. Hallowing

Within this cup, the outpouring of your love
Within this cup, the reciprocal flow of return
Consecrate these waters with your power, Shining Ones
That I may drink deeply from them.

13. Affirmation

Indeed the cup is blessed,
and by drinking deeply,
I am blessed in turn.
It wells within me, mingling,
and completes me.

14. Workings

None.

15. Thanking

In reverse order: Cernunnos, Lower/Mid/Upper Kindreds, Other Powers, Gatekeeper

16. Closing the Gates

Garanus Crane
Close the gates
     The Tree comes first
     The Well second
     Fire is third
Close the Gates
Garanus Crane
Close the Gates.

17. Thanking the Earth Mother

Earth Mother, to you I will return all I have left unused.
Uphold me now in life as you have in this rite.
I thank you!

18. Closing the Rite

This rite is ended!

And that ritual was my Samonios rite, possibly one of the first rituals ever written specifically with the new COoR in mind.

On a final note, these were the omens from the Three Cranes Grove, ADF, Samhain Rite (not my personal rite, above):

Dagaz: a new day.

Kenaz: the torches in the hall.

Isa: continue, keep working, watch for danger, don't stagnate.

Notes from Samonios Rite:

¹ - I decided on a different kind of "Three Kindred" invocation because of the High Day involved. Rather than doing "NS, Ancestors, Deities," I chose to do "Kindreds of the Heavens/Middleworld/Underworld", and each invocation deals with the 3 Kindred as you can find them in each realm. As I look back on it, I like it even more.

² - I think I was thinking about Agni, what with the "butter" and stuff. But it works for me.

Content © 2003 - 2006, Michael J Dangler
Updated on 11/06/2006. Site Credits / Email Me!
Basic site design from ADF.org
(Yes, I stole it!)