Alban Elfed Rite

Copyright 2002

Paul and Maude Stephany

RITUAL ITEMS NEEDED:

Drinking Horn (or Chalice/Goblet)

Cider or Mead

Apples (enough for one per participant)

Harvest Offering for the Land (appropriate to place or region)

Drum

Staff

Incence (Charcoal and Resin preferable)

LEADERSHIP REQUIREMENTS:

For the purposes of this rite, no specific leaders are outlined, as each group may divide ritual responsibilities as they deem appropriate. At a minimum, a Bard and a Celebrant are suggested.

GATHERING:

(Bard or appointed leader leads chant as participants approach designated circle. Repeat as many times as deemed necessary)

CHANT: "We Approach the Sacred Grove" (words and chant created by Sean Miller, used with permission)

"We approach the Sacred Grove

with heart and minds

and flesh and bones.

Join us now in ways of Old;

We have come home.

(Light incense to designate start of ritual)

INVITATION TO WORSHIP:

(Celebrant): Today we celebrate the autumnal equinox; the end of the season of growth and the beginning of a period of darkness and rest.

As we celebrate the harvest of the fields, so we acknowledge our own personal harvests. Remembering these harvests, we give thanks to the land which sustains us and the ancestors whose teachings have helped us to grow.

THE REDE:

(http://www.echoedvoices.org/Sep2002/Mabon.html)

(Story may be read in entirety by the Bard, or divided among participants as deemed appropriate)

AFFIRMATION:

(Celebrant) Just as there is a harvest of the fields, we recognize the need to nurture and harvest those sleeping seeds of potential within us. (Celebrant picks up apples and distributes them to each celebrant)

(Celebrant) These are the seeds of our knowledge. Let our minds be as the fertile fields: giving nourishment as they grow and produce a harvest to the benefit of all.

(All in Unison)

Around me are the fields; my ancestors, family and friends who would nourish me with their knowledge.

Within me lie the seeds of potential.

Above me lies the wisdom to use these seeds for the benefit of all.

Below me is the strength to scatter these seeds for future generations.

I am the seed of my ancestor’s dreams. Within my dreams are my descendants.

OFFERING:

(Celebrant)

Remembering all we have been given, we now return a part of the gifts given us by others.

Giving Thanks to the Land for having nurtured and given forth the fruits of our physical harvest, we now offer a part of what we have been given.

(Celebrant places harvest offering at designated point �?preferably at base of a tree)

(All in Unison)

Giving Thanks to the Ancestors, we offer these apples as a symbol of the seeds that they have planted within us.

(Each participant eats a portion of apple and places the remainder alongside the harvest offering)

(Celebrant)

To the Fey, we give thanks for their lessons that these shining seeds lie within us; and their reminder that we must nurture them. We share this cider(mead) with our thanks.

(Celebrant drinks from horn, and passes the horn around to each participant. Upon its return, Celebrant spills remainder at point of offering)

CLOSING:

(Celebrant)

We now close this rite, ever mindful of our connection to the past and our responsibility to the future. Through the months ahead, let us remember our obligation to nurture the seeds within.

(Celebrant Taps Staff 3X on ground)

This rite is now Ended.

(All)

So Mote It Be

(Bard leads participants away from the gathering point with closing chant)

"Mothers and Fathers of Old"

"From far beyond this mortal plane,

Mothers and Fathers of Old.

We pray that you return again.

Mothers and Fathers of Old.

To share with us their mysteries

And secrets long untold;

Of the ancient ways we seek to reclaim,

Mothers and Fathers of Old.

(author unknown, as taught by Ian Corrigan)

 

this page courtesy of  The Bardic Hall 

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 ~ 2001 Indigo Bridge Cooperative