Friday, August 8, 2008

Friday Form A Circle - Darksinger's Mabon Ritual

* Darksinger's Mabon Ritual * September 26, 1998;

by Donald Henry Naff aka Darksinger can be found at Blue Cat's Den

This is another one that has been in my collection for year - the file was created in March of 2004 LOL. Luckily though, I followed the included link, and this one still works :) Also, you will notice that the author of this particular ritual happens to be of the same mind as I regarding the directions/elemental associations - always a plus in my book!

I. Ingathering and Focus

To leave the mundane world behind, we gather before the altar. Let all who gather do so in perfect love and perfect trust, open to the kinship that exists between us as children of the Lord and Lady. Please join with me to focus our intent by following along with this chant. The words are easy:

"Oh, Great Spirit
Earth, Sun, Sky and Sea
You are inside
And all around me."
We will continue for several minutes. Please chant or listen as you choose.

II. Casting the Circle
As we walk the circle, we join with ageless multitudes in creating sacred space. Let us celebrate all the circles and cycles in our lives with chant and dance. Please join hands and circle clockwise, in the direction of the rotating earth. The words are naming of the parts of the cycles, followed by the word, "circling" repeated four times. We'll celebrate each cycle three times, continuing our dance. I've taken a popular chant and given it a little twist. Here are the words:

"Dawn, Daylight, Evening, Night, Circling, Circling, Circling, Circling.
North, East, South, West, Circling, Circling, Circling, Circling.
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, Circling, Circling, Circling, Circling.
Birth, Life, Death, Rebirth, Circling, Circling, Circling, Circling.
As above so below.
Feel the energy flow
between us.
We are now between the worlds."

III. Honoring the Elements and Welcoming their Guardians
To me, the Elements and their Guardians are best honored in the directions where they most obviously manifest physically in a particular location. As a result, you will notice my directions are somewhat different than most traditions.

"To the East, we stand at the foot of the mighty Chugach mountain range. Only short weeks ago, it was covered in the verdant splendor of summer. Now it wears the lovely multi-colors of autumn, now it is crowned with the pure-white snows of coming winter.
It is here we honor Thee, Guardians and Powers of Earth!
Hail, well met, and welcome to our Circle! Blessed Be!

To the South, we look into the warmer realms, lands where the sun's energy is more strongly felt. We remember the warmth of the summer sun upon our faces, and welcome the coming of the time when it moves within, as the hearthfires of home and the deep fires of the heart and soul. It is here that we honor Thee, Guardians and Powers of Fire!
Hail, well met, and welcome to our Circle! Blessed Be!

To the West, we stand on the shores of the Cook Inlet, gateway to the mighty Pacific Ocean. Though ice and snow will soon dot its surface, the endless dance of its ebb and flow
most clearly seen in summer never ends below, reminding us of the mystery within each of us. It is here that we honor Thee, Guardians and Powers of Water!
Hail, well met, and welcome to our Circle! Blessed Be!

To the North, we face the realms of the Dancing Aurora, the North Star, and the wide-open tundra. Here the awesome pinnacle of Denali guides our vision ever upward towards the mysteries above us. The icy breath of the North Wind now replaces the warm caress of summer breeze. It is here that we honor Thee, Guardians and Powers of Air!
Hail, well met, and welcome to our Circle! Blessed Be!

Within the Circle, at the Center, we acknowledge the energy that fills all things. We know it in the vibrational dance of atomic particles and in the mystery that brings life from the chemicals and current which make us up. It is here that we honor Thee, Guardians and Powers of Spirit!
Hail, well met, and welcome to our Circle! Blessed Be!"

IV. Invocation of Lord and Lady

"Hail to Thee, Lord of Light! As that Great Solar Orb which most dramatically shows your brilliant face begins to fade but never ceases to touch the Earth with its energy, so may we realize the strength within each of us to face loss and adversity.
Hail, well met, and welcome to our Circle! Blessed Be!
Hail to Thee, Lady of Life!

As the Mysterious Lunar Orb which most dramatically shows us your shining face is more apparent as the days grow shorter and the nights grow longer, so may we appreciate the depths of our souls and the profound miracle of existence, which is often best seen as darkness encroaches into life.
Hail, well met, and welcome to our Circle! Blessed Be!"

V. Naming
"Now, each person, in turn, please state your full name. Do so with pride, acknowledging your rightful royal place in the Universe as a Divine Being."
After each person states his or her name, the rest of the Circle will please restate the name and add,

"Thou art Goddess, Thou art God!"

VI. Healing
I like to include a healing section in each ritual I do. To do this, at this time, please name people, out loud or just within your heart, who you believe can use some healing positive energy sent their way. It is totally acceptable to include yourself. After we have named all we wish to name, please join me in the following chant:

"By the will of all here gathered,
And the Pow'r of Lord and Lady,
All now filled with health and strengthened,
Blessed Be! Blessed Be! Blessed Be!"

VII. Mabon
A Time of Harvest and Release Mabon is an interesting celebration because two aspects of existence that may not normally be seen as belonging together are celebrated. However,
their juxtaposition makes the dual nature of life readily apparent. This is the time of harvest, where we look back over the past year and acknowledge our gratitude and thanksgiving for those things that we have gained. It is also the time when, as the light and dark times are equal, at the threshold of the increasing night, we are reminded of loss and of those things which we would like to be rid of. I would like for us to celebrate these divergent aspects of this Holy Day. To celebrate Thanksgiving, I have found a reading in the Unitarian Universalist hymnal that I would like to use as a guideline. To start, let's go around the Circle and name something we are grateful for. Preface your joy with the word, "For..." (ex. "For the joy of friendship...") Be aware you always have the right to pass. As each person states their joy, we all will join in and say:

"We give thanks this day."

When we run out of things we wish to acknowledge, we will go around the Circle and read the items below, each person reading one, and then all respond with the same chorus, ending with the paragraph in Italics read together. Here are the words of the reading:

"For the expanding grandeur of Creation, worlds known and unknown, galaxies beyond galaxies, filling us with awe and challenging our imaginations:
We give thanks this day.

For this fragile planet earth, its times and tides, its sunsets and seasons:
We give thanks this day.

For our human community, our common past and future hope, our oneness transcending all separation, our capacity to work for peace and justice in the midst of hostility and oppression:
We give thanks this day.

For high hopes and noble causes, for faith without fanaticism, for understanding of views not shared:
We give thanks this day.

For all who have labored and suffered for a fairer world, who have lived so that others might live in dignity and freedom:
We give thanks this day.

For human liberty and sacred rites, for opportunities to change and grow, to affirm and choose:
We give thanks this day.

We pray that we may live not by our fears but by our hopes, not by our words but by our deeds. So mote it be!"

To celebrate the coming of the dark, let us again go around the Circle and name something which we would like to let go of." As each person names their item, the Circle will then repeat it in unison, with the words,

"Be Gone! Be Gone! Be Gone! So mote it be!"

As you work on releasing these things you have named, remember that all the people in this room have focused their energy and intent on helping you be successful in your endeavor. May this energy help insure your success.

VIII Watersharing

Now we will participate in the most sacred ritual of the Church of All Worlds. As we know due to modern exploration, water is extremely rare on the Martian surface. In the "new myth" created by Heinlein in Stranger in a Strange Land, it is, then, the most valuable substance of the Martian civilization. Sharing that substance with another being becomes the greatest sign of kinship. Truly they said, "Water shared is Life shared." It is in this spirit of kinship that I will ask each to take a drink of cool water from the Chalice, and then pass it on to the next person. As you pass the Chalice on, say to the person to whom you are giving it,

"Drink deeply. Never thirst!"

IX Opening the Circle

"Lady of Life! Lord of Light! Guardians and Powers of the Elements of Creation and Existence! We thank you for your presence here this day! As you are continually present in our lives, may we remember that we, too, are Divine. Blessed Be!"

Close your eyes now and see the Circle around us. See it dance and sparkle with living multicolored energy. Now watch it begin to shrink until it is tiny...small enough to enter your being. See it pass within you. Feel it as its energy works on your being, fills you with joy, and protects you, comforts you and heals you. As this ritual Circle is now open, know that the Circle within you is with you always. Please join hands and join with me in
singing the following:

"The Circle is open yet unbroken,
May the Love of Lord and Lady live on in ev'ry heart!
Merry Meet, and Merry Part, and Merry Meet again!"

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