Posts Tagged ‘gardener’

New Officers, an Anniversary, and a New Crane!

Sunday, September 20th, 2009

Over the past seven years, it has been my deepest pleasure to work with the members of this Grove. Today, it was a deep pleasure to hand over the “reins” of leadership to a new Executive Committee: we have elected a new Senior Druid, lees, and a new Secretary, Irisa. Our Treasurer remains Maggie, but we find ourselves in new territory: not only is this the first time all our officers have been women, but this is also the first time they have all been redheads!

The ritual today included the oaths of two of our officers (Irisa was visiting the Pittsburgh Grove, and will be installed at the next Druid Moon rite), but it also included the retirement of our old statue of Garanus and the presentation of a new statue. Our old statue was honoured one last time, and presented to the folk and to the new statue, allowing each to acknowledge the other for a moment before I gently kissed the old wooden statue and placed it on the ritual fire, a sacrifice to the patron of this Grove, Teutates.

It was a moving experience, taking the old statue around the fire: Garanus had seen so much through those eyes, and watched over so many of our rituals. While the Garanus statue is not considered to be the Crane himself, it is an icon that represents the Crane to many of us. I saw tears in the eyes of many of our members, and felt my own eyes sting with joy and reverence as I carried the statue around.

When I lifted the statue, I uttered a prayer:

Garanus Crane,
You have guided us,
Walked with us,
Watched over us.

Garanus Crane,
See now this statue of wood,
The icon we have gazed upon so long.

Garanus Grane,
See through its eyes the new statue.
Know that we honour you with it as our new focus.

Garanus Crane,
For guiding, walking, and watching,
We honour you.

We offer this icon now to Teutates,
God of our Tribe.

I then kissed the head of the statue, knelt, and placed the wooden statue on the fire. I reflected on this Grove, on how it has grown and on where it has been, and I smiled.

One day, we will retire this new statue, too. And I pray that we will do so on land that is ours, in a permanent nemeton.

As the statue of the crane went up in flames, I knew: we have and will continue to pray with a good fire.

    -Rev. Michael J Dangler

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Revisions to the Grove Book, and the Gardener

Sunday, January 25th, 2009

[Due to an internet outage at the Grove Priest's house, the past two entries appeared late. If you'd like to see them, follow the links: "A Growing Grove, and Actions that Speak" | "A Prayer for a New President".]

Recently, the Grove began work on a second edition of The Fire on Our Hearth, correcting a few typos and mis- (and missed) attributions while adding a significant number of prayers and rituals. So far, the list of things to add is at 30 pages, and we’ve given a “turn it in by” date of Feb. 14th, so the new edition might be out by March 1st at the latest.

I fell in love with this Grove all over again when we put the first edition of FooH together: hearing the Voice of the Cranes come to life within the book and watching how it had developed was an amazing thing. Now, as we approach twice as many members (!), it’s developing in many new ways that I hadn’t expected, as well.

With new members bringing a wealth of work from their previous traditions (or Groves) along with them, it seems that the Voice of the Grove might get a bit more muddled: this is not the case, though. This Grove has never been terribly. . . controlled. . . in terms of what we do and what we don’t do. Though guided by the Gardner’s Hand, we know this Gardener well enough to realize that he’s a patient sort of person: he doesn’t weed the garden unless it’s absolutely necessary. When something new and different sprouts in this Grove, the Gardener watches it, waits on it, and seems to know before anyone else just how it will fit within the Grove’s greater tapestry.

Looking out on this garden that grows around, within, and most certainly with the Grove, it is easy to see that everything has its place and that everything is in that place, even if it didn’t seem possible when it first sprouted.

As we return to the Fire on Our Hearth, reorganizing, re-working, and building it up, we know that the Gardener has been doing the same with us, and will continue to do so for as long as this Grove stands, rooted deep and crowned high.
    -Rev. Michael J Dangler

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Yule, and feasting with family

Sunday, December 14th, 2008

This evening, our Grove came together to celebrate Yule. This ritual was different than many others we have done, as the potluck was in the middle of the ritual, rather than after the ritual as we usually do it. As a result, this was probably our longest ritual on record, lasting a full two hours.

We tried many new things in this ritual as well: it was a sumbel format, which morphed into a blot; we utilized a pre-recorded attunement; and the aforementioned move of the potluck into the middle of the rite. Some things worked and some things need work, but that is the way of our rituals.

At one point, when passing around the horn, Seamus looked over to me and said, “Look around the room: we’ve come a long way from you and Joe in the darkness.” I had to agree, though I let him make the toast regarding that point (honour was given to Teutates, the gardener whose hand has always guided this Grove). I was somewhat more consumed with the omens we had received:

  1. Have our offerings been accepted? Ing – God from the east, yes.
  2. What do the Powers offer in return? Perþo – companionship in the hall.
  3. What further need do the Powers have of us? Raðio – travel, movement in partnership.

What I saw in these omens was a real feeling of having traveled and moved over time, forming partnerships and moving with the folk in good ways, always watching out for one another. As a result, we have grown and changed and become the people that we always wanted to be: the People of Three Cranes.

While the origin of the word “yule” is rather obscure, we know it comes from the Old Norse jól, a 12-day festival of the Pagan Norse. Beyond that, the meaning of the word itself really is anyone’s guess (even the Oxford English Dictionary doesn’t hazard a guess). Still, it is a joyful time, and tonight’s ritual was also full of joy for all of us: together under one roof, sharing in joy and fellowship along our path.
    -Rev. Michael J Dangler

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Reviewing a good harvest

Sunday, October 12th, 2008

After last week’s Druid Moon (and the ADF Clergy Retreat, which I somehow forgot to mention), there’s a sense of renewed vigor within the Grove, with new interest being shown in our Dedicant study group and the number of events in general starting to wane, there is much to be happy about in what we have harvested in this year.

This year we planted much as a Grove: we increased our already impressive levels of community service; began a serious partnership and co-sponsorship with The 6th Night Grove, ADF, of the Summerland Festival; welcomed many new members; and worked hard to add 12-13 moon festivals to our calendar.

All of this seems impressive when laid out upon the page like this, but what it came down to was that our members were strongly committed to building and growing this Grove. They’ve done a marvelous job, whether new to the Grove or old hands.

This Grove has a long way to go, and we’re taking steps in the directions we know we need to go: increasing our advertising, opening more doors to service (and each other), and deepening our connections to the Kindreds.

I hope to see this Grove build on the vigor that we have at this time, and I know that it will. We are, after all, guided by a Gardener whose touch is gentle yet firm, and who has a plan for us.
    -Rev. Michael J Dangler

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Maintaining the Garden

Sunday, May 4th, 2008

Three Cranes Grove, ADF, has always focused strongly on the image of a gardener, largely unknown in terms of form and identity, who tends this Grove, encouraging new growth, culling damaging weeds, and introducing new and exciting things that seem to fit just right after a time of wondering how the heck it’s ever going to fit with the whole.

Of course, there’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes of the Grove’s rather smooth outer-workings that make it look like it’s running without a single hiccup, much as a beautiful garden belies the work the gardener put into it.

The nuts-and-bolts of renting space, finding meeting places, creating agendas, collecting dues, and keeping all our paperwork in order is what really allows us to show up on a Sunday afternoon, unpack some gear from a rubber tub, and bring some magic into the lives of the Folk while offering the Kindreds a place at our shared table. The lion’s share of this is done by the Grove Officers: the actual legwork of booking a room is done by our Scribe, and our Senior Druid puts our agendas together and makes sure we’re all going to show up at the same place.

But it’s the Grove Members who come to the meetings, who voice their hopes and concerns, their ideas and their thoughts that really make this Grove tick. A business meeting isn’t just a place to find out how much money is in the account, but it’s a place to determine how the Members want it spent. When we go to schedule our rituals, it’s not about what the Officers can make it to, but about what the Members can come to as a whole.

Grove business meetings aren’t just about business; they’re about fellowship, too. That’s why we start every meeting with a prayer instead of a roll call, and why we have occasionally turned to omens when a really difficult decision came up. Doing what is best for Our Fellowship, though, requires Our Fellowship to be there, and to voice their opinions.

We have been blessed recently in having a larger turnout at our business meetings than we did in the past: we’re averaging closer to 6-7 people instead of three Officers and the occasional fourth Member. It’s a pleasure to see our membership taking such an interest in the way our Grove is run, and I hope to see more members in the future.

Each of us is a gardener in this Grove. Each of us lends a helping hand to another, or whispers encouragement and love to the others. Each of us helps to maintain this Grove. Sometimes, it involves the joy of watching it bloom at a High Day rite, but other times, the joy of tending a Grove is in caring for the small sprout that breaks through the surface of the soil, stretching for the sunlight, months from blooming but ever so fragile and beautiful.

And each of us is watched over by the other gardeners in this Grove, and by the gentle hand of the Gardener who guides us all.
    -Rev. Michael J Dangler

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