The Home Shrine

This is my shrine! It lives in my bedroom on two shelves of my bookshelf. I use it for ADF high day rituals and daily devotionals as well as any other rituals I perform indoors. I also use it as a meditation altar by lighting the fire candle and a stick of incense to ground, center and focus before I begin a trance journey. I rearrange the shrine from time to time as I add or replace things, but this is what it looks like today:

 

This is the top shelf of my shrine, where the fire, well and tree reside. I also have other altar tools on this shelf.

 This is the bottom shelf of my shrine, where the idols reside. I also have an offering bowl, shot glass and incense burners for offerings.

 The right side of the bottom shelf has two incense burners, a plain wooden one for the gods and a leaf-shaped one for the nature spirits. There is a candle with grape motif for Dionysus, a Rafiki figurine representing Thoth, a wooden statue representing Herne, two Buddhas, an eagle representing my Dad, a key for the gatekeeper and a shotglass for drink offerings to the ancestors. 

 The left hand side of the bottom shelf has a wooden offering bowl for the principal kindred of a rite, a shell dish and candle for Aphrodite, a wooden statue of Gaia, a statue of Bast, a winged woman representing the Universal Mother goddess and a statue of Ma'at.

 The right hand side of the top shelf has the fire candle in a lantern, an athame, a bell, an antler representing the world tree, a piece of birch bark also representing the tree, a box containing divination bones, a pine cone for the nature spirits and a mini drum for the ancestors.

The left side of the top shelf has quartz crystals representing the Earth Mother, a wine glass with water and coins in it representing the well, a chalice for the blessing waters, a candle snuffer and a wand.

I would like to have a representation of the world tree that looks like a tree, a small cauldron for the well, and representations of the other gods I honour in my daily devotionals, who have touched my life such as Odin, Athena and Kali. I keep my wand and athame on my shrine because although I am practicing ADF, I also practice witchcraft and often use the same shrine for those workings.

May 4th, 2012 Beltane Ritual - ADF style

For this year's Beltane, I did a solo ADF ritual based on the COoR as outlined in the Dedicant Program Handbook pg. 60. I chose to honour the Greco-Roman hearth.

0 - Preliminary Rites

A) Claiming and Hallowing the Sacred Space:

Lit the fire, poured fresh water into the well, rubbed essential oil onto the bile.

B) Preliminary Meditation:

Explained aloud my intentions for the ritual, to honour the fertility festival, the greening of the Earth and Venus and Aphrodite. Closed my eyes and worked through the Two Powers meditation from memory.

I - The Procession and Opening Prayers

A) Musical Signal and Call to the Grove:

Rang a bell three times and circumambulated the space.

A1) Optional: Purification of the Folk:

Dipped my fingers in the well and drew a triskel on my brow with the waters

B) Opening Prayer:

Sang "We approach the sacred grove” song three times.

C) Earth Mother Offering:

Honoured Ceres as goddess of agriculture, fertility, grain crops and maternal relationships. Sang "Earth Mother I sing to your body" song three times and "Mother I feel you" nine times.

II - Opening the Grove

A) The Grove Attunement:

Sang "The leaves on the trees" song nine times with eyes closed

B) Described from memory that this was a time when the ancestors celebrated fertility by dancing the maypole, bonfires and stealing away to the woods to “conjure summer in”. Described some of the traditions I've experienced as a neopagan, including wearing a circlet of flowers, weaving, casting out the Carlene, washing my face in the morning dew and jumping a fire. Described the Goddesses Venus and Aphrodite as goddesses of fertility, love, sex and beauty.

C) Optional - Purification of the folk

1) Offering to the Outdwellers:

Lit an incense different from the other offerings in this rite, and placed it in the open window, asking the outdwellers and anyone who would disturb the rite to accept the peace offering.

2) Cleansing by smoke and water:

Lit a sage smudge stick and waved it around the sacred space, saying "Negative vibrations be gone from here, this is no place for harm or fear" three times. Dipped my hands in the well and symbolically washed hands and face with the water.

D) Honoring the Sacred Center:

Sang "Fire, Bright Fire" song three times while acknowledging the representations of fire, well and tree on the shrine. Offered coins to the well, essential oil to the fire and censed the bile with incense.

F) Opening the Gates:

Called upon Janus the god of portals, endings and beginnings to open the gates with "Gatekeeper Open the Portals" song. Lit an incense offering to Janus and visualized an arched doorway for the gods to emerge.

III - Offering to the Powers:

A) Triad Offerings:

Lit an incense offering to the gods, ancestors and nature spirits with the song "Gods and dead and mighty sidhe". Called the names of my matrons, cherished ancestors and several nature spirits of land, sea and sky.

B) Key Offerings:

1) Descriptive Invocation and offerings to the Patron Powers of the rite:

Called upon Venus and Aphrodite as goddesses of fertility, love, sex and beauty and honoured their symbols of shells, mirrors, water, roses and, myrtle. Lit a tea light candle on a seashell dish and a blue taper candle on a pillar adorned by two lovers, in offering to them.

Recited a poem to invoke Aphrodite: From Sappho:

Glittering-Minded deathless Aphrodite

I beg you, Zeus’s daughter, weaver of snares,

Don’t shatter my heart with fierce

Pain, goddess,

But come now, if ever before

You heard my voice, far off, and listened,

And left your father’s golden house,

And came,

Yoking your chariot. Lovely the swift

Sparrows that brought you over black earth

A whirring of wings through mid-air

Down the sky.

They came. And you, sacred one,

Smiling with deathless face, asking

What now, while I suffer: why now

I cry out to you, again:

What now I desire above all in my

Mad heart.

2) Praise Offerings

Recited a poem to Aphrodite:

 Sweet, Laughing Aphrodite

©2003 Christa Landon

Sweet, laughing Aphrodite,

born of the foam,

patroness of seafarers,

confidant of lovers,

Your fragrant season

is returning,

Make us ready

to bear you into our world:

Touch our eyes,

that we may recognize

the beauty you create everywhere.

Touch our hands,

that they may be gentle.

Touch our minds

that we may discover

the secret of harmony

which heals all discord.

Heal the hearts

of those who have been betrayed,

and draw them forth again to joy.

Recited a prayer to Venus:

Prayer to Venus As the Evening Star

By John Fletcher,

O Divine Star of Heaven,

Thou in power above the seven:

Thou sweet kindler of desires

Till they grow to mutual fires:

Thou, O gentle Queen that art

Curer of each wounded heart:

Thou the fuel, and the flame;

Thou in Heaven and here the same:

Thou the wooer, and the woo'd:

Thou the hunger, and the food:

Thou the prayer, and the pray'd:

Thou what is, or shall be said:

Thou still young, and golden tressed,

Make me by thy answer blessed.

C) Prayer of Sacrifice:

Sang "May my life be a gift to you" song, modifying it to include love, beauty and passion.

D) Taking of omen:

Shuffled the tarot deck while focusing on the taper candle and asked for omens for the near future. Drew three cards.

From the Gods: Two of water, Love. Given the context, I take this to mean romantic love, which I have been praying and offering for lately.

From the Ancestors: Two of fire, Will. Further to my last ritual, I believe this is a continuation of the Power omen I received. Not only will I have the power to create positive changes in my life, I will have the strength of will to use that power effectively.

From the Nature Spirits: Six of air, Clarity. I take this to mean that I will come to understand myself better and thus open the door to others' truths.

IV: The Blessing

A) Meditation on the Omen:

Closed my eyes and asked for visions of the blessings.

B) Calling for the blessing:

“Ancient and Mighty ones, I have honoured you. Now I pray you honour me in turn, as a gift calls for a gift. I thirst for the waters of wisdom, bounty and rebirth, for the blessings of Love, Will and Clarity, from the bosom of the Earth Mother. I open my heart to the blessing of the Great ones, and pray you hallow these waters.”

C) Hallowing the Waters:

Poured the waters into my chalice, held the chalice in the air and visualized the gods, dead and sidhe charging the waters with their blessings. Sang “Pour the waters, raise the cup” chorus three times.

D) Receiving the Blessing:

Sang "Power of the spirits" song three times as I drank thrice from the cup. Visualized each of the blessings entering me and running through my body.

V) The Working:

Wove a friendship bracelet to give to the next person I fall in love with, charging it with love and passion, depth and emotion. I used blue for emotion, red for passion and brown for depth.

VI) Closing and Ending:

A) Affirmation of success:

Acknowledged the feeling of Love, Will and Clarity in myself, blessings and magic planted and sprouting within me.

B) Thanking the powers:

Gave thanks to Venus and Aphrodite, Ceres, Janus, the nature spirits, ancestors and gods for their presence and blessings. Said "Go if you must, stay if you will, I bid you farewell".

D) Closing the gates:

Asked Janus as Gatekeeper to close the gates, clapped once to signify the closure.

E) Final Blessing and announcement of ending:

Said "Blessings be upon all who have attended this rite. The rite has ended. " And rang the bell three times. Extinguished the Fire.

Reflection:

I would have liked to have performed this rite outside, but it was windy and overcast, and I thought it might rain or the candles would keep blowing out, so I stayed in. I enjoyed performing the rite during the day, and placed my outdweller offering in the open window which seemed more appropriate than the far corner of my room this time. I was really excited to get the omens of Love and Will, because I have been making offerings to Venus and Aphrodite as part of my daily devotionals and asking for a lover and meaningful love relationship to be sent into my life, so I feel that this is a confirmation of blessings already on their way. Yesterday I decided to become a vegetarian, since I have been having a lot of trouble with trying to “eat healthier” in a general sense without any rules, so I feel that will power is needed to make any dietary switch, and making the choice every time I eat will take will power that I know I have somewhere in me, but knowing that the nature spirits are going to help me not only makes sense (we eat things that come from nature) but knowing I have support and that the spirits are paying attention will definitely help me make conscious choices. I liked calling Janus as the Gatekeeper and felt that summoning the gods, spirits and ancestors through him was effective and powerful. Ceres manifested in my generic Earth mother statue, who I usually call Gaia during my devotionals, which I thought was really cool. I didn't get many visions during my blessings meditation, but often I'll have interesting dreams the night after a ritual, so I expect them to be on their way. I would like to know more about the Clarity omen from the Ancestors. Perhaps the message there is “Time will tell.”

Beltaine, May Eve or May 1st.

At Beltaine the seeds are sprouting and it is finally warm enough to go out without a jacket.  Best known for the Maypole dances, this is the major fertility festival in neopaganism. It is common to joke about going a'Mayin' in the woods because of old traditions of singles meeting up outdoors to celebrate and fornicate during the festival before the men took the cattle to pasture for the summer. Another Celtic tradition was lighting a large fire and jumping over the hot coals for luck, or driving cattle through the dying embers to purify them of any lingering winter illness. In Ireland, these fires could not be lit until the high King lit the fire at Tara (Farrar 82). Beltaine is said to be named after the Celtic fire god Bel, a cognate of Ba'al. In Wicca, it is the wedding of the Lord and Lady (Cunningham 118). It can be celebrated by solitaries with weaving projects in lieu of a maypole dance. (Cunningham 119). The love chase and 'obby oss' are also traditional according to the Farrars (85). On the first of May, Romans honoured their household gods (Farrar 87). In the past I have washed my face in the morning dew on Beltaine for beauty and youth.

Works Cited

Cunningham, Scott. Living Wicca. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn, 2002.

Farrar, Janet and Stuart. A Witches' Bible. Blaine, WA: Janet and Stuart Farrar, 1984.

March 20, 2012 Vernal Equinox Ritual - ADF style

For this year's Spring Equinox, I did a solo ADF ritual based on the COoR as outlined in the Dedicant Program Handbook pg. 60.
0 - Preliminary Rites
A) Claiming and Hallowing the Sacred Space:
Lit the fire, poured fresh water into the well, rubbed essential oil onto the bile.
B) Preliminary Meditation:
Explained aloud my intentions for the ritual, to honour the coming of spring, the planting season, Sunna and Eostre. Closed my eyes and worked through the Two Powers meditation from memory.

I - The Procession and Opening Prayers
A) Musical Signal and Call to the Grove:
Rang a bell three times and circumambulated the space.
A1) Optional: Purification of the Folk:
Dipped my fingers in the well and drew a triskel on my brow with the waters
B)Opening Prayer:
Sang "Come We Now", the ADF Portal Song
C) Earth Mother Offering:
Sang "Earth Mother I sing to your body" song three times and "Mother I feel you" nine times.


II - Opening the Grove
A) The Grove Attunement:
Sang "The leaves on the trees" song nine times with eyes closed
B) Described from memory that this was a time when the ancestors planted seeds and grew sprouts, a time when they acknowledged the melting of the snow, the blooming of the first flowers and the return of the warm winds. Described some of the traditions I've experienced as a neopagan, including spring crafts and activities such as dying eggs and planting them in the soil for fertility. Described the Norse Goddess Eostre as the spring goddess of fertility, her symbols of flowers, bunnies, eggs, and chicks. Described Sunna as the sun in her chariot.
C) Optional - Purification of the folk
1) Offering to the Outdwellers:
Lit an incense different from the other offerings in this rite, and placed it in the far corner of the room, asking the outdwellers and anyone who would disturb the rite to accept the peace offering.
2) Cleansing by smoke and water:
Lit a sage smudge stick and waved it around the sacred space, saying "Negative vibrations be gone from here, this is no place for harm or fear" three times. Dipped my hands in the well and symbolically washed hands and face with the water.
D) Honoring the Sacred Center:
Sang "Fire, Bright Fire" song three times while acknowledging the representations of fire, well and tree on my altar.
F) Opening the Gates:
Called upon Heimdal, the gods' watchman, warder of the realms to open the gates with "Gatekeeper Open the Portals" song. Lit an incense offering to Heimdal and visualized the rainbow bridge Bifrost blazing across the sky.

III - Offering to the Powers:
A) Triad Offerings:
Lit an incense offering to the gods, ancestors and nature spirits with the song "Gods and dead and mighty sidhe"
B) Key Offerings:
1) Descriptive Invocation and offerings to the Patron Powers of the rite:
Called upon Eostre as goddess of spring and honoured her symbols. Lit an egg shaped candle in offering to her.
Called upon the Sunna at her equinox point as the days will now be longer than the nights. Lit a tea light candle in offering.

2) Praise offerings:
Read a prayer I wrote to the sun:
Vernal Equinox - 2011
"As the sun rises, it is victorious,
Conquering the night at last.
Its warm, golden rays are glorious
And signs of winter almost past.
With days and nights of equal length,
The sun gains power, shining on,
We benefit from solar strength,
melting, budding, early dawn.
The bulbs begin to sprout and rise,
Toward the mighty sun's bright rays
Mother Earth relaxes under skies
that wake her gently with longer days
That handsome sun sends rays of gold
Upon the birds whose songs are fair
As waning are the nights and cold,
Bright blessings in the warming air."

Recited a poem to Eostre "The Handing Over Of The Year" 2011 by RuneScape and sang “She changes everything she touches” chant nine times.

C) Prayer of Sacrifice:
Sang "May my life be a gift to you" song.
D) Taking of omen:
Shuffled the tarot deck while focusing on the egg candle and drew the top card. Recieved the Ace of Fire, Power. Understood it to mean that I am filled with inner power and now is a good time to start projects as they will be successful.

IV: The Blessing
A) Meditation on the Omen:
Closed my eyes and asked for visions of the blessing.
B) Calling for the blessing:
Chanted "Seed of what I wish to be" chant nine times.
C) Hallowing the Waters
and D) Recieving the Blessing
Sang "Power of the spirits" song three times as I poured the water and drank from the cup. Visualized the power entering me and running through my body.

V) Closing and Ending:
A) Affirmation of success:
Acknowledged the feeling of power in myself, of seeds planted and sprouting within me.
B) Thanking the powers:
Gave thanks to Sunna, Eostre, Heimdal, the nature spirits, ancestors and gods for their presence and blessings. Said "Go if you must, stay if you will, I bid you farewell".
D) Closing the gates:
Asked Heimdal to close the gates, and clapped once to signify the closure.
E) Final Blessing and announcement of ending:
Said "Blessings be upon all who have attended this rite. The rite has ended. " And rang the bell three times.
Extinguished the Fire. Allowed offerings to continue burning down.

I felt relaxed and open as I began the ritual. Breathing through the Two Powers meditation was a good way to settle deeper into ritual consciousness. I always respond to the sound of the bell ringing by turning my attention to the gods. As I visualized them crossing Bifrost when I called upon Heimdal to open the gates, I felt the presence of the gods. I also felt the powers as I worked the ritual. I especially felt them empowering me when I took the omen and received “The ace of fire - power” I changed from my original intention of hallowing the waters according to the Simple Rite of Offering on page 64 to singing “power of the spirits” as I poured and drank because it felt more appropriate at the time. I would like to try making offerings to the fire, well and tree in a future ritual, rather than just acknowledging them with song. I would have liked to have done this rite outside during the daytime, and if I do it again, I will make this change. Then I could feel Sunna shining down upon me and see the work of Eostre around me greening the earth.It would have been nice if I was familiar with Nerthus before the ritual, so I could have included her in the Earth Mother invocation.

Spring Equinox, approx. March 21st

Also known as the Vernal Equinox, this is a time where the day and night are of equal length. The first flowers push through the remaining snow and the ice and snow begin to melt away as the first rains of the year fall and the temperature rises. Although the Celts did not have a major celebration, they did recognize the change in season and begin to plant seeds. In the Norse tradition, this is the time of Eostre, the Teutonic Spring Goddess, who is celebrated at the following full moon. Also possibly a goddess of the dawn, Eostre had a month named after her, Eostremonath, during which feasts were held in her honour. There is only one source documenting Eostre, a few brief sentences by the Christian scholar Bede. As a fertility festival for Wiccans, who call it Ostara, many of the trappings of Easter such as flowers, chicks, bunnies and dyed eggs are part of the celebrations because they symbolize the fertility of the land. According to Graves, dyed eggs are also solar symbols. (Farrar 76) Wearing white and lighting a fire during ritual are symbolic actions that can be taken for Ostara (Cunningham 123). The heiros gamos is symbolic of the dying and resurrecting god who descends into the goddess to be reborn in various Mediterranean traditions at this time of year (Farrar 74), although human fertility is more suitable for Beltaine to most Neopagans.

Works Cited

Cunningham, Scott. Living Wicca. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn, 2002.

Farrar, Janet and Stuart. A Witches' Bible. Blaine, WA: Janet and Stuart Farrar, 1984.

The Two Powers

The Two Powers meditation is intended to ground and center the druid in the energies of earth and sky. It is meant to cause a harmonious influx and return of primal earth and sky power through the three energetic cauldrons of wisdom, love and power. The intention is to form an ever increasing connection to the earth, its primal and nourishing current of life-sustaining power and to the sky, with its illuminating, awakening power of light. It is useful to use this attunement technique before magic or ritual to get into the proper mindset for the working. The two powers are based in some of Indo-European lore's core concepts, for example the sacred fire and water, and as such the technique is a way to find affinity with the ancestors. It is a way to open the mind and heart to receive the gods and commune with the nature spirits.

In my experience, the two powers meditation has taken me away from the mundane world and returned me to an enchanted existence of dwelling in a sacred reality. As I become the world tree, I feel myself at the centre of the cosmos. It reminds me that the cosmos, as huge as it may be, is something I am intimately connected to. When I feel myself firmly rooted in the ground I feel a timelessness, like I am connected to something unfathomably ancient. When I feel myself connecting to the star, I feel a weightlessness as though I could grow on forever reaching to the heavens. Together, these feelings take me away from my body and into a trance state of soothing calmness. As I sink my roots deeper and raise my branches higher, I focus on the three cauldrons and open myself to any wisdom, love, strength and inspiration that I can collect from the waters below and heavens above. Sometimes I see crows settle in my branches, or imagine my roots pushing through the minerals of a beautiful crystal cavern and I am in awe of the mysteries of the beauty of nature. When I feel the waters flowing up my roots and through me, washing over my head and returning to the earth I feel refreshed and cleansed. When I feel the starlight shining down into me and through me like a lantern I feel energized. Together these feelings connect me to the chaos of potential and transformative power. I have found it particularly difficult to ground and centre on, for example, the subway on the way to work, but have found it profoundly meaningful to cozy up to a tree in the forest and do the two powers meditation in a natural setting.

Works Cited

Corrigan, Ian, Ed. The Ar n'Draiocht Fein Dedicant Program. 2005.

Mother Grove ADF, The. The ADF Membership Guide. 5th Ed. 2006.

The Three Kindred

There are three categories of entities in the ADF cosmology based on the Indo-European lore. They are the Shining Ones or gods; the Mighty Ones or ancestors and the Noble Ones or nature spirits. The gods are the greatest of all, the ancestors are humans who have gone before us and the nature spirits are our connection to the land and otherworld.

The Shining Ones or gods are an interwoven group of great and wise spiritual beings who form the fabric of cosmos and sustain the worlds. They are our strongest allies, they guide and protect us and deserve our worship. Most pantheons form a family, each deity with their own specific function and domain. They are independent free agents with mighty magic rather than aspects of greater archetypes. We make offerings to the gods because we believe they interfere with our lives, for better or for worse. We want to thank them and propitiate them so that we achieve the maximum good from our interactions with the gods. This reciprocal relationship is one of respect and reverence. The gods are associated with fire, the bright gate in ADF. Its flickering light can alter consciousness and its flames can burn up offerings and other tokens, both allowing us to communicate with the gods. It is my personal belief that the gods work in us and through us. I have been touched by the power of several gods from different pantheons. My matron deities are Hestia of the hearth and Ma'at of the scales. I have learned a chant to Hestia which I sometimes sing as I cook. I have held a ritual involving the negative confessions of Ma'at. I have worked with Ra, god of the sun and learned the sun salutations of the pharaoh. I have danced and drank with Dionysus of wine and revelry. My work with deities has been Greco-Egyptian in flavour, and I will continue my work with these gods on an individual basis. However, I think that to come to understand the gods further, adopting a single pantheon and familiarizing myself with the mythology and culture is key. To this end I am beginning to work with the Celtic gods, of whom I have had little exposure. I have been to rituals where Brigid, lady of poetry, smithcraft and healing is called, and I have become fond of her. I have heard stories of the Dagda, of the Calleach, and Cu Chullain. These stories open me up to a receptive mode where I am more aware of the possibilities that a relationship to these divine personalities can hold. When I am aware of the symbols and associations that the gods have, I am more able to see them at play in the world around me.

The Mighty Ones or ancestors are any of a number of humans in the realm of the dead. They are our family members and beloved friends who have passed on, our teachers and leaders, and those on the path of Paganism who have gone on before us. They are the wise and talented of the past, our folk heroes and celebrities, our war heroes and national forebears such as presidents and queens. As pagans we believe both in reincarnation and continued existence in a realm of the dead where spirits rest and become refreshed. As such, our relationship to the ancestors is one of seeking wisdom and advice and giving offerings to sustain them and appease them. The ancestors are associated with the deep gate in ADF, which is the well with its properties of memory and inspiration. Keeping out photos of loved ones who have passed on and sharing their stories are ways I stay connected to the ancestors. I sometimes recognize them briefly in the faces of strangers, or meet them in dreams where they may or may not look like themselves. I have set up an ancestor shrine in the past, decorating it with flowers, photos and objects of remembrance.

The Noble Ones or nature spirits are beings of many different kinds. They are magical, crafty and cunning. There are animal spirits, many of whom are domesticated allies and others who we consider wild. There are plant spirits and weather spirits or natural phenomena. Some are mortals, other are never-born. There are magic races from many lands who walk between the worlds. We honor them and occasionally ask them for help with our magic. Some of these allies are important to our spiritual development, such as spirit guides and totem animals, others are not as interested in us as we are in them and would rather be left alone. It is necessary to develop an understanding with those beings who are paying attention to you, a sort of reciprocation to show respect and foster positive interactions. Many of these spirits existed long before us, and will continue long after we are gone. As we dabble in the otherworld, it is important to have allies to help keep us safe and oriented. It is essential to give thanks and praise to these spirits, to let them know that they are honoured and that our gratitude for their involvement in our lives is sincere. There are also outdwellers, quite the opposite of allies, who would do us harm, cause chaos, play tricks on us, disrupt our rites and meditations and so on. It is important to appease these beings with offerings to show that we would respectfully like to keep our distance. Finally, there are also the allies who nourish us physically, our food. We must always be mindful that the plants and animals we consume have had lives of their own, and have given these lives for our sustenance. Although we do not have traditions such as Kosher or Halal in Paganism, where prayers are said over animals as they are slaughtered and butchered, I would hope that when hunting or culling a herd, modern pagans take the time to thank the animal spirits for their sacrifice.