Performing A Ritual

Performing A Ritual

As with everything to do with Druidry performing a Ritual is another personal thing with no right or wrong way of doing it.  A Ritual can be as simple as a solo meditation on a hill, in a quiet room in your house or in your garden, where ever you feel is good for you.  It can also be a more elaborate group Ritual with your Grove if you belong to one.

How you perform the Ritual is entirely up to you, I have recently had conversations with fellow Druids about casting a circle for a Ritual, there are many views on this, roughly about as many as there are Druids so you can see how it is a personal preference.

Druids Consider the whole of the earth in which we belong as a sacred space and as such the need to cast a circle isn't necessary.  I cast a circle most times when I want to make a specific focal point for my Ritual, it reduces my sacred space to a confined area for working in.

As with all things I do as a Druid I do them my way, feel free to do it like this or find your own way as I have said it is a persanal choice.

 

My Rituals

I tend to do most of my daily rituals in my garden, where I know they can be carried out without any disturbance or interuption, for the bigger seasonal Rituals to do with the wheel of the year I like to go out to a hill top or a wood, somewhere where I can be in and work with nature in all its glory.

My Rituals all have a very similar format which I use and can easily remember and confidently recite.  The thing a bout a Ritual is it is not just words, anyone can read words from a book, or a script, actors get paid thousands to do this very thing, we as Druids are not actors though, when we speak words they are felt, they come from our hearts and our very being, they are words that resonate within us, I feel when I carry out a Ritual a sense that everything I say and feel has been built up inside me from the very beginnings of time, I feel that as I stand on a hill with my arms raised to the sky that many many years before me my ancestors would have been standing on a similar hill with their arms raised to the sky. 

The feeling I get as I perform a Ritual is so very hard to explain, it is a mixture of emotion, the sense of belonging, the feeling of being one with all that is around you now, in the past and in the years to come.  A Ritual is not just a spoken script it is journey that has been undertaken throughout all time. 

Performing a Ritual for One of the Seasonal Festivals

I start as I always do by grounding myself, if I can, I like to perform my Rituals barefoot so I can feel the ground beneath them, I can feel the energy of Mother Earth entering me.  I sit for a while taking in my surroundings and becoming part of the place.

I then take three deliberate deep breaths, one for the ground beneath my feet, one for the sky above me and a final one for the rivers and seas that surround me.

I place a candle at each cardinal point as I walk my circle and one in the centre as my focal point. (I have started to use small gel burners, they are pretty resistant to the weather but also in these dryer climates they are safer as they are contained.)

I stand in the centre and chant the Awen 3 times, I turn to the North raise my hands in the air and ask for there to be peace in the North, as I do this I envisage the peace of my words radiating from me and heading out to the North, I then do this for the South, West and finally East, I then slowly spin on the spot asking for peace throughout the whole world.

I then cast my circle walking clockwise from the east consecrating it with water and fire, (I usually use a Sage smudge stick for this and I also use moon water that I make at the full moon). I walk back into the middle of my circle and prepare to open the quarters.

I walk to the candle (gel burner) at the East point raise my hands in the air and say "Spirits of the East, the element of Air, to the the Hawk of Dawn soaring high above in the endless skies I invite you to enter my sacred circle to guide and protect me for the time of my Ritual.  Hail and Welcome" I then light the candle.

I walk to the candle (gel burner) at the South point raise my hands in the air and say "Spirits of the South, the element of Fire, to the the Great Stag calling and rutting in the heat of the chase I invite you to enter my sacred circle to guide and protect me for the time of my Ritual. Hail and Welcome" I then light the candle.

I walk to the candle (gel burner) at the West point raise my hands in the air and say "Spirits of the West, the element of Water, to the the Salmon of Wisdom swimming in the pools of inspiration I invite you to enter my sacred circle to guide and protect me for the time of my Ritual. Hail and Welcome" I then light the candle.

I walk to the candle (gel burner) at the North point raise my hands in the air and say "Spirits of the North, the element of Earth, to the the Mighty Bear who walks upon the Earth I invite you to enter my sacred circle to guide and protect me for the time of my Ritual. Hail and Welcome" I then light the candle.

I walk to the candle (gel burner) at the Centre of my Circle raise my hands in the air and say "Spirits of the Place, Spirits of the Time, Ancestors I invite you to enter my sacred circle to guide and protect me for the time of my Ritual. Hail and Welcome" I then light the candle.

I then recite the Druid Prayer chant the Awen again 3 times, I then carry out the Rite, this will change depending upon the Ritual I am doing. I then sit in quiet meditation for about 20-30 minutes

Once I have done this I stand in the centre of my circle and recite the druid vow and prepare to close the quarters and end my Ritual.

I walk to the North point raise my hands in the air and say "Spirits of the North, the element of Earth, to the the Mighty Bear who walks upon the Earth I thank you for your guidance and protection for the time of my Ritual. Hail and Farewell" 

I walk to the West point raise my hands in the air and say "Spirits of the West, the element of Water, to the the Salmon of Wisdom swimming in the pools of inspiration I thank you for your guidance and protection for the time of my Ritual. Hail and Farewell"

I walk to the South point raise my hands in the air and say "Spirits of the South, the element of Fire, to the the Great Stag calling and rutting in the heat of the chase I thank you for your guidance and protection for the time of my Ritual. Hail and Farewell"

I walk to the East point raise my hands in the air and say "Spirits of the East, the element of Air, to the the Hawk of Dawn soaring high above in the endless skies I thank you for your guidance and protection for the time of my Ritual. Hail and Farewell"

I walk to the Centre of my Circle raise my hands in the air and say "Spirits of the Place, Spirits of the Time, Ancestors I thank you for your guidance and protection for the time of my Ritual. Hail and Farewell"

I now delare this Ritual Closed