This is a high-church version, based firmly on A.D.F.'s Order of Ritual, modified for a very mixed audience from the beloved's several communities. The deities mentioned are his, and would be re-worked as circumstances require. Hopefully various turns of phrase and prayers may be helpful even if the full script is less so.
Simple shrine – small
FW&T, big censer for incense offerings, if Fire can’t be kept going.
In Pagan paths, we
are taught that death is a part of the cycle of existence. No form can be
eternal – all arise from the womb of the world, and vanish again in their time
– but essence can endure. Many wise
people have believed that a soul, a spirit, remains alive after death, that
death is just the leaving of one form for another, while our eternal essence
carries on. We hope that this is so; yet, as long as human memory does not
fail, we can be sure of another sort of endurance – we endure in our deeds, in
the memories of those whose lives we have touched. The dead live in us, of that
we can be certain, even as we look outward into the unknown adventure that may
await us all.
So, we are
joined here by our memory, by our lives with ***, by our affection and by our sorrow. Let us
spend a few moments preparing our hearts….
2: Attunement/ simple Two Powers
• Take a few moments to
settle your body… and take a deep breath… let it out and take another… and
another…
• In our work, we remember
the impersonal divine as Fire and as Water…
• Just as every tree is
rooted in the deep, sustaining water that flows in the land, so each of us is
rooted deep in the rich, fertile power of the divine.
• Just as all life derives
its energy from the shining sun, as all are guided by the moon and stars, so
are we illuminated and guided by the shining fire of the divine.
• Take a deep breath… and
feel the deep in you, the light in you…
3: The Gate To Home
• It is by this flow, and
shining, that each of us is connected with one another, with the holy world in
which we live, and even with the Gods.
• So we will open our Gate.
The Gate Between is our Fire, which we feed… is our Well, to which we make
offering of silver… it might be a shining mist… a spiraling light… a deep
opening… an Oaken Door…
• When we open the Gate, we choose to open ourselves to the divine… in
ourselves, in the world, and in the realms of dream and story that we call
spirit…
• Today we make this Gate for
ourselves - to make our connection to ***… to his story, to our memory of him,
and to his spirit
• We also make this Gate for ***
– that this fire be a beacon to his spirit, that he see us and hear us, that he
see clearly his way forward in his next great adventure…
• Let the Gate be open…
4: The Invitations
• Now to the Sacred Fire we call
The Threefold Kindreds, spirits all
• Mighty and beloved dead
Be welcome at the Fire
• Wild Ones, Spirits of the Land
Be welcome at the Fire
• Eldest, wisest, Shining Gods
Be welcome at the Fire
• Holy Ones, accept our
offering!
• Likewise let us call to the
Gods of ***’s heart and hearth. In our ways we say that we are drawn to the
divine by the beauty and power of the gods, each of us drawn to the proper
beloved. On the altar in ***’s home the chiefest gods were the Goddess called
Brigid, the High One, and Manannan MacLir, the God of Wanderers.
• To the Lady of Fire and Water, the Daughter of the Sacred Fire, Brigid the
Foster-Mother we call. Often have you had gifts and honor from our ***, now we
ask you to see our fire and folk, to spread your cloak of love and comfort over
our kinsman as he enters the world of spirits. Grant him your rest and peace,
Mother of Healing, and in time, guide him to a gentle fate at the table of the
Dead.
We spill this offering to you
in ***’s name- - Brigid, accept our Offering!
• To the Grey God of the
Misty Border, the Sailor on the Seas, the King Without a Throne, to Manannan
MacLir we call. Often has our kinsman *** called to you, now we ask you find
him where he wanders, O Guide of Souls, and show him his right path. Let him be
welcomed in Tir na Marbh, fed on your ale and apples. Grant him a clear path,
Son of the Boundless, and guide him in time to his future home. We spill this
offering to you in ***’s name- - Manannan macLir, accept our Offering!
• Come to our
fire, spirits, join us in this remembering, in this blessing, of Anthony Joseph
Gooch, his life and his legacy.
5: Offerings to ***
• So
open your hearts, and fill your memory with ***… Let him be present in your
heart… call to him with the joy you felt in his life…
• ***,
we speak to you from this world you knew, though we know not where you are. We
keep this fire, for a time, to guide you to us, we kindle a fire in ourselves
in your memory.
• We
set this table for you… (drink) and (bread), in the old way, that you might be
certain of your welcome
• In the Mother’s Love be welcome
In the Joys of Life be welcome
Be
welcome here among those who remember you with love.
So be
it!
7: The Eulogies
8: Prayer of Sacrifice:
• Now, at last, we offer to the Host of the Feast of the Dead, to Donn MacMil,
whose death opened the way for us all. Receive this offering, Brown Bull,
Chieftain of welcoming, and receive with it our kinsman, *** into comfort and
his next work.
Donn, accept our offering!
• And again we offer to all the powers – to the Kindreds three, to the line of ***’s
forebears, to his allies among the spirits; to Brigid the Comforter and
Manannan the Guide, and again to Donn the Lord of the Hall of the Honored Dead.
Throw wide your gates, and welcome the bright spirit, the deep soul of our ***
among his friends and kin who await him.
Holy Ones, accept Our Sacrifice!
9: Thanks & GoodBye
• Before we end this formal
remembrance, it is proper for us to give thanks to all who have aided us.
• First we thank you, ***,
for being here with us. We will hold you in our hearts as we go from here, but
we do not hold you to your life. Let the gate be open for you and the fire
guide you, let the waters of the well sustain you, as you go on your way with
our offerings of love.
***, We Thank you!
• Remember again the Gate,
our connection with the divine… While we never truly banish that connection, we
must now turn our hearts away from the past, and toward the future.
• So let us close what we
have opened, let Fire be flame and Well be water, let the oaken door be shut,
the connection loosened for now…
Let the Gates be closed.
• We offer our thanks
to the Mother of All.
We offer our thanks to the Gods, Dead and
Spirits.
May the Three Sacred Kins
Bring joy to all beings, and renew the ancient
wisdom.
To the Fire, Well and Tree
We offer our thanks.
May Wisdom, Love and Power
Kindle in all beings and
renew the ancient wisdom.
To the Earth, Sea, and Sky
We offer our thanks.
May the ancient wisdom be
renewed, and may all beings
know peace, joy and
happiness
In all the worlds.
So be it
And so, our work is ended. Let us go now to our feast,
joined in fellowship.
No comments:
Post a Comment