The Grove has been recording our rituals, omens, and reactions for a full year now in a new book, called the Book of Three Cranes. This book details many things, and with Samhian and our fifth year anniversary, it seemed appropriate for me to go back over the book and review the past year. So, I sat down to transcribe it to place it on the Three Cranes Website. Here is what I wrote about that experience:
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Every so often, you make a mistake. You think, at first, that you are just transcribing a year worth of rituals. You think that you are merely copying what people wrote down a month ago, six months ago, or a year ago. You think that there are no surprises in the past, that there wasn’t anything that you missed.
And then you realize that you’re not just copying something down. You aren’t just rehashing the past, or repeating someone’s words.
No, you’re reliving the past. There is the first ritual Nick led. Here is where Bonnie first came to a Three Cranes rite. These three ritual omens spoke the same words to us from the Kindreds at three different times. There is a joy described, a sorrow felt, and a smile of pleasure at a ritual well-run or a mistake that’s a thousand times more amusing an hour later.
In this year of rituals, we celebrated our fifth anniversary. We began to talk about how we pray with a good fire. We shared laughter and pain, and expressed deep faith in each other. We filled 58 pages with good omens, changes in ritual style, criticisms and compliments. We showed pride in the canned goods and toys we collected, and we wrote blessings to the Grove and the community.
The voices of the People of Three Cranes came through, loud and clear.
And the future will have those voices to guide them, a strong vision to follow, and a standard of fellowship to live up to.
As I wrote on our fifth anniversary:
We make sacrifice to the Kindreds,
We pray with a good fire.
