Purification
Allow each person to wash hands & censing each person as they enter.
Purified by the water of the well, and the bright fire of Vesta, may you enter with a good heart.
Initiate the Rite
Welcome to our Beltane ritual! We are so thrilled you all could make it. Today we will be doing a Roman-styled ritual called Ambarvalia to honor Ceres and to celebrate the blessings of fertility in the world around us. As an official ADF Grove, we follow ADF’s Core Order of Ritual for High Day celebrations. Like many ancient Indo-European groups from which ADF draws inspiration, this ritual format works mostly in triads, rather than a dualistic or four-fold model that many other Pagan groups use. We typically use three Sacred symbols, the Fire, Well, and Tree, to represent the whole of this world and the Otherworlds. The first and last Deity we give offering to is the Earth Mother, who keeps and sustains us.”
Honoring the Earth-Mother
Tellus Mater, primal goddess of the earth, great mother of all. You who nourish and sustain us. Bright goddess of joy and prosperity, you are the source of continual creation from who all life flows. Tellus Mater, magnificent goddess, we thank you for the abundance you give to us and honor you now, before all others.
Make an offering of grain and says: “Welcome, Tellus Mater.”
All: Welcome, Tellus Mater.
Statement of Purpose
In this season, we welcome the beautiful colors that nature’s wakening brings to us. The grass is greening, tulips and daffodils flowering, and garden plants are ready to be put outdoors now that the soil has thawed. Today we come together to celebrate Ambarvalia and to honor Ceres, mother of abundance. Ambarvalia was a Roman festival of blessing the fields which happened around this time of year. The farmers and country people would walk around their fields and make offerings to Ceres and other deities of agriculture to ask for a successful harvest season. With respect and love for our ancestors, today we will celebrate this ancient rite in our own modern way. We begin this celebration by re-creating the cosmos through the Fire, Well, and Tree, using the Portal Song.
(Re)Creating the Cosmos
Silver to the Well. Gives offering of oil to the Fire. Gives incense to the Tree.
Opening the Gate(s)
We will now invite Ianus Pater, the god of beginnings, gates, and doorways to be our Gatekeeper and aid us in opening the Gates to the Otherworlds.
Ianus Pater, opener of doors,
Guardian of every household,
You embody beginnings and endings
And guide us through the gates.
Through your door, let our words reach the Kindreds .
Come forth and dwell in this space.
Through you, may our hearts be open.
Through you, may our homes be safe.
Through you, may all who join be welcomed.
And through you may our words travel past the portals.
Ianus Pater, magnificent God
Come forth and encounter this rite.
May your magic carry our words to Kindreds in all the realms. Ianus Pater, join your magic with mine, and together, let the Gates be open!
Motions opening of Gates.
All: Let the Gates be open!
Inviting the Three Kindreds
Now we will welcome the Kindreds to join us in this rite: the Mighty Dead, the Spirits of this Land, and the Shining Gods and Goddesses.
We now call to the great Gods and Goddesses, you who are worthy of worship. We welcome you now, so we may honor the gifts you give us every day. Shining Gods of all the realms, meet us at the boundary and guide us as we walk these paths. Welcome Shining Ones!
All: Welcome, Shining Ones!
We now call to the Mighty Dead, you who were here before us. We welcome you, so we may honor the gifts you have given us, and the sacrifices you have made to make our lives possible. Meet us at the boundary and guide us as we walk these paths. Welcome Ancestors!
All: Welcome Ancestors!
We now call to the Spirits of this Land, you who share this realm with us. We welcome you, so we may honor the gifts you have given us. Growing plants, creatures of the land, sea, and sky, meet us at the boundary and guide us as we walk these paths. Welcome Nature Spirits!
All: Welcome Nature Spirits!
Key Offerings
We now call to Ceres, glorious goddess of agriculture, grain, and fertility. Ceres, queen of the plow who cuts the earth, beautiful mother who sows the seeds and weeds the crops. You who protect your bounty and distributes its blessings, we call to you and ask you to join us in this rite! May your earth be fertile to increase our crops, and bring fertile growth to our lives.
Praise Offerings
At this time, if you have any specific ancestors, spirits, or deities that you would like to honor through prayer, story or offering, we welcome you to come to the altar. There are offerings available for you to use. You may choose to say some words in honor of those you are offering to, or you may speak your intentions in your heart.
Prayer of Sacrifice
After all are done, Amber give final offerings.
Hail to Ceres who brings life and growth to the world! Hail to the ancestors, the nature spirits, and all the shining Gods and Goddesses! Hail to all our kindred, in this world and others! Accept our offering! Mighty Kindreds, Accept our offerings!
All: Accept our offerings!!
Omen
Take Omen
We ask now, have the Kindreds accepted our offerings?”
Response
What blessings do the Kindreds gift to us?
Response
Calling/Hallowing/Affirming the Blessings
In our tradition, a gift often calls for a gift. Let the might of the Shining Ones, the wisdom of our ancestors, and the peace of the spirits of the land, flow into these waters. Life-giving Ceres, we ask that you hallow these Waters, bless our lives with light and growth and joy as we drink deep. Behold, the Waters of Life!
Pour and pass cups, saying:
Will you accept the blessings of the Kindreds?
After all have drunk:
By the blessing of all the Kindreds, may the continuing warmth of spring bring with it growing blessings in the lives of all of us gathered here. Where Ceres walks, there is life; this life now blossoms within our hearts and minds. Hail to the Kindreds!
Thanking the Beings
As we prepare to depart, let us give thanks to those who have joined us today!
Ceres, glorious goddess of the growth, harvest, and fertility, thank you for joining us in this rite, and for bringing the potential for development into our lives. Beautiful Ceres, we thank you!”
All: Ceres, We thank you!”
Shining Ones, Eldest and Brightest. May you continue to bless us as we walk this path. May there be peace between us until we meet once again at the gate. Shining Ones, we thank you!
All: “Shining Ones, We thank you!”
Spirits of Land, Sea and Sky. May you continue aid us in our journey. May there be peace between us until we meet once again at the gate. Nature spirits, we thank you!
(All) “Nature Spirits, We thank you!”
Ancestors of Spirits, Land, and Blood. May you continue to guide us as we walk this path. May there be peace between us until we meet once again at the gate. Ancestors, we thank you!
(All) “Ancestors, we thank you!”
Closing the Gate(s)
As this rite began, we asked Ianus to aid us in opening the gates to the otherworlds. Now we will close the Gates and thank him for his aid.”
Ianus, closer of doors, we thank you for your protection and guidance as we have walked between the worlds. May there be peace between us until we meet once again at the gates. Ianus, we thank you!
(All) “We thank you!”
We now, ask that you close the gates between the worlds once more. Let the focus burning towards the heavens once more become but flames. Let the mundus whose depths reach the Underworld once more become but water. Let the portus, pathway between all realms, become but wood. Let all be as it was before. Let the Gates be closed!
Thanking the Earth Mother
Tellas Mater, Goddess of peace and plenty, for your support and sustenance. We thank you!”
Closing the Rite
We have done as our ancestors have done, and as our children will do, and we have received their blessings. Let us go out in the world, purified and renewed from this rite and secure in the knowledge that our actions have pleased the Kindreds. This ritual is closed.
