Summer Solstice 2010
By Three Cranes Grove
Processional
We approach the Sacred Grove
With hearts and mind and flesh and bone
Join us now in ways of Old
We have come home.Outdwellers
Asuras of the celestial realm!
Panis of the upper air!
Dasa of the atmosphere!
With Indra beside me, we call you to interfere no more in our work here today. Accept this token (offer beer) as an act of good faith. Leave us be to do our work today, and we shall do no harm as we work in your space. Outdwellers, be at peace!Purification
Censing and aspersing as folk enter ritual space.
Spoken Chant:
By the Might of the Waters
And the Light of the Fires
This Grove is made whole and holy.
Opening statements
Greetings, Children of Earth, and Welcome to the Three Cranes Grove Summer Solstice Rite! Today, we are doing a Vedic rite, in honor of the Vedic Deities, the Gods of the Rg Veda. As an Indo-European-based faith, we honor those far Eastern kin whose roots are common to the Celtic, Norse and Hellenic pantheons that we held in reverence and have previously honored in our Grove. In addition to introducing ourselves to the Vedic pantheon, we will be honoring Savitr, the Great Stimulator of life, the personified Divine Power of the Sun who appears when Usas has removed the dark of night.
In addition, as we gather on Father’s Day, we honor those whose work in this lifetime has paved the way for us to even be here today with the freedom and growing acceptance to honor the Old Gods and the Elder Ways without fear.
Let us begin with a prayer.
Opening Prayer:
The spirits of the sky are above us.
The spirits of the land are around us.
The spirits of the waters flow below us.
Surrounded by all the numinous beings of earth and sky and water,
Our hearts tied together as one,
Let us pray with a good fire.
Earth Mother Prayer
All kneel and kiss/touch the earth.
Prthivi, Mother Earth, we begin by honoring you.
She, who with Dyaus Pitar, the Universal Father, embraces all.
Through ill-treatment you persevere and continue to serve and to provide,
Like a patient cow who feeds her calves.
Earth Mother, sustainer of all living things
Who rallies Vishnu against the demons that depredate and cause suffering for your children.
We hail and honor you for your continued gifts and patience.
Earth Mother, accept our sacrifice!
Folk: Earth Mother! Accept our Sacrifice!
Call for Inspiration
Vac, divine speech, we welcome you to our fire!
At your word, Gods and men alike are welcome.
In kind, we welcome and honor you.
You, who makes men exceedingly mighty,
You, who bends the bow of Rudra that his arrow may strike the hater of devotion,
You, who rouses and orders battle for the people.
Vac, who breathes the strong breath like the wind
Vac, who holds together all existence!
Fill our hearts with such fire of devotion
Grant strength of purpose and might of meaning to our words,
Spoken in the presence of the Gods
Vac, be with us and lend your divine power as our words escape our lips
Vac! Accept our sacrifice!
(Source: HYMN CXXV. Vak. – Rig Veda, tr. by Ralph T.H. Griffith, 1896 – http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rigveda/rv10125.htm)
Statement of Purpose
As our ancestors once did, so we do today, and so our children will do in the future.
At this time of year in the Vedic Lore, Indra, the Thunder God, defeats the demon of drought, Vrtra, and liberates the waters held captive in the sky. Savitr, the embodiment of Divine Light, agent and bestower of wealth fills the land with solar light so that growing things may fill the Earth. We gather to give thanks and praise for the gifts of the Gods in the height of the growing season when the power of the sun is at its greatest.
So let us join together as one folk to make our offerings in joy and reverence.
Grove Attunement
[Nine Breaths Meditation]
The waters support and surround us
The land extends about us
The sky stretches out above us.
At our center burns a living flame.
May all the Kindred bless us.
May our worship be true.
May our actions be just.
May our love be pure.
Blessings, and honor, and worship to the Holy Ones.
So Be It
(Re)Creating the Cosmos – Rev. MJD
Invocation to Agni
Gatekeeper Invocation and Gate Opening – Rev. MJD
Inviting the Three Kindreds
Ancestors
Ancestors of the highest heavens!
Those who have gone before!
We welcome you to our fires.
To Yama, the first man who reveals to us the Deities.
To our Pitrs, our Fathers, and to our Mothers, the first Ancestors,
Who commune freely with the Gods,
To the Heroes and Holiest of Men,
Now honored Chief among the Dead.
Meet us at the boundaries.
Join us at our Sacred Hearth and be warmed by our good fire.
Aid us and guide us as we walk the Elder Ways.
Ancestors! Accept our sacrifice!
Folk: Ancestors! Accept our Sacrifice!
Nature Spirits
The Children of Earth call out to the Spirits of Nature! The Noble Ones!
To those beings who are as representatives of the Gods themselves:
To Horse, to Bull, to Serpent and to Ass
To Cow, to Dog, to Monkey and to Frog
We honor and respect you as we respect the Gods whose spirits you reflect.
To those beings of this land about us who allow us to enter into your domain:
To Soma, The King of the plants and to the Mothers, the Healing Plants,
To the Vanaspati, Lords of the Forest and to Aranyani, the Jungle,
With hospitality and honor we call out to you.
Meet us at the boundaries.
Join us at our Sacred Hearth and be warmed by our good fire.
Aid us and guide us as we walk the Elder Ways.
Nature Spirits! Accept our sacrifice!
Folk: Nature Spirits! Accept our sacrifice!
Shining Ones
Shining Ones!
To those beings immanent and ever present!
To Agni, Lord of the Fire
And Usas, Goddess of the Dawn!
To Ratri, Goddess of the Night and
To Surya, God the Sun!
Hail Indra, Rudra, Varuna and Mitra!
We hail thee, beings who have won immortality,
We hail thee, beings who follow the Rta,
Keeping harmony throughout the Cosmos.
Shining ones of the Terrestrial Plane!
Shining Ones of the Atmospheric plane!
Shining Ones of the Celestial plane!
We call out to you and bring you honor!
Meet us at the boundaries.
Join us at our Sacred Hearth and be warmed by our good fire.
Aid us and guide us as we walk the Elder Ways.
Shining Ones! Accept out sacrifice!
Folk: Shining Ones! Accept our sacrifice!
Praise Offerings to the Kindreds
Have the folk brought praise?
We have.
Then come forward now with your offerings.
Deity of the Occasion – Savitr
Unlike Surya, whom we honor as the Sun, is bound in his course throughout the sky, Savitr, the Divine Embodiment of Solar light, even in the darkest of night, moves freely among the folk, granting gifts as the Bestower of Wealth and granting healing as the Banisher of Sickness to the folk who are loyal to him. Savitr is an agent Deity, a Deity of motion whose presence is evidenced by the mark he leaves upon our realm in his wake. Behind him he leaves good fortune, healing, Creation and Enlightenment.
The Children of the Earth call out to Savitr, The Creator, The Illuminator, The Master of Truth. Only through you are we granted the light of understanding, as the triple rays of the sun shine above the three heavens and descend upon the physical consciousness of men, passing through and carrying the knowledge of each of the three realms, reflecting the constitution of the universe. Hear our words as we call out to you:
Musical offering: Traci leads the folk in intoning “Saaaa-viiiii-taaaaaaar” as Missy chants a descant. (RV 5.12.2):
Folk: Savitr
O Perceiver of Truth, Chalk out many flowing streams of the Truth
Folk: Savitr
Neither static nor absolute, Divine Creator!
Folk: Savitr
Thou who rides the space between Heaven and Earth in Horse-drawn chariot,
Folk: Savitr
Banishing disease and tribulation.
Folk: Savitr
Thou who grants boons: heirs and good fortune.
Folk: Savitr
Ye of pale and dim luminescence,
Folk: Savitr
Helper from afar betwixt the darkest of night and the dawn
Folk: Savitr
(Savitr) Comes, Helper from afar, and chases away all distress and Sorrow!
All: Savitr!
Savitr, Creator and Increaser
“All forms he takes unto himself, the Seer, and he creates from them good for the twofold existence and the fourfold. The Creator, the supreme Good, manifests Heaven wholly and his light pervades all as he follows the march of the Dawn. In the wake of his march the other gods also reach, by his force, to the greatness of the Divinity. He has mapped out the realms of earthly light by his mightiness,-the brilliant one, the divine Creator.”
(RV 5.81.2-3)
Key Offerings to DotO
Savitr, we’ve offered freely from our voices.
Savitr, we offer to you now from our hands.
Savitr! Accept our sacrifice!
Folk: Savitr! Accept our sacrifice!
Praise Offerings for DotO
Have the folk brought praise for Savitr?
We have.
Come forward now with your offerings.
Final Sacrifice
So we have given of our love and our wealth
To the Powers, that they may know our intentions.
Now let our voices arise on the Fire
Let our voices sound in the Well
Let our words pass the boundary to the Otherworld.
Savitr, Kindred!
We give you our love,
Our respect, and our devotion
as we pray you…
Savitr! Kindred! Accept our sacrifice!
Folk: Savitr! Kindred! Accept our sacrifice!
Omen – Fire Scrye – Rev. MJD
Calling for the Blessings
Endless are the Waters
Joyfully flowing
Thoroughly cleansing
Never sleeping
Endlessly flowing in channels
Furrowed by Indra
The Great Bull
The Thunderer
Shining Ones, give us the Waters!
These are the Waters from the Heavens
Waters from the Earth
Waters gushing free.
Alone, Shining Waters
Roaring in blessings
Beautifully flowing to the ocean
Shining Ones, give us the Waters!
Presiding over the flowing Waters
Are the Shining Ones
Who know truth from falsehood.
Shining Ones, givers of Blessing
Knowers of cosmic order
Ceaselessly purifying
Shining Ones, give us the Waters!
Hallowing the Blessing
Here the flowing waters have arrived;
Here the flowing waters have come.
They have been won for us by the Kindreds
And they are now ours to drink deeply.
I call out these blessings and sing them into this water
That the tools of the Kindreds may be tools for my hands.
[Sing the omens into the waters by intoning “Awen”]
With these waters now blessed, we drink deeply of the gifts of the Kindreds!
[Pass out waters and Drink]
Chant:
May the Power of the Kindred be shown to me
May the Omens and the Blessings be shown through me
May the Blessings in the Waters fill my soul
May the wisdom of the Kindred make me whole.
Affirmation of the Blessing
Having now received these blessings, we seek to make first use of them as we honor those Fathers who first carved the path we walk today.
Working: Honoring the Fathers of Modern Paganism
Prepared book with the names of the Fathers of Modern Paganism who have gone before and the Fathers of Modern Paganism who still talk among us is read from and offered to the fire. Then, go around the circle and have every speak of their Fathers or a male role model.
Thanking the Deity of the Occasion
Savitr! Ye Creator God of Light, Wealth and Understanding! God of Healing and Enlightenment!
Savitr! We thank thee!
All: Savitr! We thank thee!
Thanking the Kindreds
Shining Ones
Shining Ones! We thank you!
All: Shining Ones! We thank you!
Nature Spirits
Nature spirits! We thank you!
All: Nature spirits! We thank you!
Ancestors
Ancestors! We thank you!
All: Ancestors! We thank you!
Thanking the Gatekeeper – Rev. MJD
Agni, we thank you!
All: Agni, we thank you!
Closing the Gates – Rev. MJD
Thanking Inspiration
Vac! We thank you.
All: Vac! We thank you.
Thanking the Earth Mother
Earth Mother, all that is left unused we return to you.
Earth Mother, Prithivi, we thank you.
All: Earth Mother, Prithivi, we thank you!
Ending the Rite
Go now, Children of Earth in peace and with the blessings of the Kindred as a fire in your heart.
This rite is ended!
Woot!
Recessional
“Fire in my Heart” by: Melissa Burchfield
