0: The Sacred Beach is in the Dining Hall at Camp Clifton. The celebrants hallow the Beach; the Fire is lit, the Well is filled with ocean water, the Palm Tree is blessed.
Purpose
Today, we consider how we worship, and we realize that there is room for creativity. We look at our lives, and we see that the Gods wish to be worshipped in a way relevant to who we are, in a manner that has meaning to us.
Similarly, they enjoy song, story, and poem. We have come together tonight to pay tribute to the Bardic Arts. Tonight we do homage to the spirits of great bards, our ancestors who enjoy good food, good drink, and good stories. We worship tonight with the words of an American bard, Jimmy Buffett, to show one way our modern lives can be a strong source of our worship.
Tonight, we sail from the Port of Indecision to some more navigable waters. We will honour the Powers with song and story, and we will call to those who we may not yet know as our patrons. Eventually, to the Port of Indecision we shall return.
Procession
With a drum beat (“Cuban Crime of Passion”), conga into the space the hallows deosil. Each person sets up a lawn chair or sits on a bench, then the Druids give the opening prayers.
Fire and Water: Seer draws water from the Ocean and Bard lights a censer from the Fire. They quickly cense and asperge the company as they enter.
Opening Prayers
A: Universal Spirit: Senior Druid speaks:
You who are without name
You who are without gender
You who are without form
Spirits which exist in all Creation
We, the Children of the Earth
Call out to you
And ask that you bless this work and our lives.
So be it.
All: So be it!
B: Earth Mother: All kneel and touch or kiss the earth. The Seer speaks:
O beloved mother of all
From whose starry womb
The green earth springs
You who are the bearer of all life
You who are the Mother of all Gods
We pray you bless and uphold this rite.
All: So be it!
C: Awen: The Bard invokes, saying:
Power of inspiration that attends us
Voice of the Fire of Wisdom,
Voice of the Well of Inspiration
I call on you to place the clear heart in us
Come into our hearts’ shrine
Guide our rite in the way of Truth
O power of inspiration in this holy place
O power of inspiration at this holy time
So be it!
All: So be it!
Purification
Outdwellers: An offering of a small dashboard Hula Girl is made to the south of the Grove, saying:
Though there are fins to the left,
Though there are fins to the right,
Though we are the only bait in town:
We ask that you accept this gift
And consider us the remora
Just beyond the reach of the big white teeth
Of the sharks that can swim on the land!
Grove Attunement
A special Two Powers meditation.
It’s a surprise!
Fire, Ocean and Palm Tree
Offerings to the Sacred Center. The seer positions herself at the Ocean, the bard at the fire, and the Senior Druid at the Palm Tree. Offerings are placed given when the song states:
Mother Mother Ocean
We have heard you call
We’ve wanted to sail upon your waters
Since we were three feet tall.
In your belly you hold the treasures
Few have ever seen:
Most of them dreams.
(Offering to the Ocean)
A Sunset framed by lightening bolts
Burns a lasting memory
And a string of tiny twinkling lights
adorn the sausage tree.
While the embers from the log fire
Flicker, fly, and twirl
Then drift off toward the cosmos
From the Far Side of the World.
(Offering to the Fire)
Where no bird flies by my window
No ship is tied to my tree
Love is a wave building to a crescendo
Ride if you will, ride it with me
(Offering to the Palm Tree)
Opening The Gates
The Senior Druid makes an offering to the Coconut, saying:
Coconut,
You who ride the waves to distant shores,
You who have seen the Otherworld,
Open the ways for us.
Guide us as we follow your random paths,
Guide us as we ride the Sacred Waves.
Share your magic with us,
Ward us as we travel to meet the Kindred.
Coconut, accept our sacrifice!
All: Coconut, accept our sacrifice!
An offering of oil is given to the Fire. The Senior Druid then conjures the Gates, making an opening triskel on the Fire and Ocean, saying:
Now, Coconut,
Join your magic with mine
And let the Fire open as a gate,
Let the Ocean open as a gate,
Let the Palm Tree be the crossroads of all Worlds.
Open as a current to our voices and to the Spirits.
Let the gates be open!
All: Let the gates be open!
Kindred Offerings
The druids make proper offerings to each of the Kindred, standing at the fire.
Ancestors
[Son of a Son of a Sailor/Cheeseburger in Paradise]
(Seer)
Haul the sheet in as we ride on the wind that our
Forefathers harnessed before us.
Hear the bells ring as the tide rigging sings.
It’s a son of a gun of a chorus.
But a son of a son, son of a son, son of a son of a sailor.
Son of a gun, load the last ton
One step ahead of the jailer
I’m just a son of a son, son of a son, son of a son of a sailor
The sea’s in my veins, my tradition remains.
I’m just glad I don’t live in a trailer.
Heard about the old time sailor men,
They eat the same thing again and again;
Warm beer and bread they say could raise the dead:
And they remind us that they are far too thin.
Ancestors, accept our sacrifice!
(an offering of beer and bread is made to the Ancestors)
All: Ancestors, Accept our sacrifice!
Nature Spirits
[Savannah Fare You Well]
(Bard)
There is something in the wind tonight
Some kind of change of weather
Somewhere some devil’s mixing fire and ice together
I got a feeling that the dark side of the moon is one the rise
Black as a crow’s feather
Now I could stay another day or two
But what’s the use of stalling
Deep in the winter even holdout leaves start fallin’
Lately every night above the declarations of our love
I hear the road callin’
It’s such a fragile magic
A puff of wind can break the spell
And all the golden threads are frail as spider webs
Nature Spirits, fare you well.
Nature Spirits, accept our sacrifice!
(a lei is hung on the palm tree)
All: Nature Spirits, Accept our sacrifice!
Deities
[Perfect Partner]
(Senior Druid)
Those Patrons who are named
Deities whom we know,
And those of this place
Whom we may not know:
Come to our fire and warm with us
Enjoy the drinking and feasting
And listen to our praises!
To those Patrons whom we have not found
Let us know that
The worse thing that can happen
Is you steps on our toes
But till we take that first step with you
How will we know
That you could be the perfect partner
You can take it in your stride
You won’t try to lead or follow
The perfect partner by our side,
Deities, accept our sacrifice!
(an offering of scented oil is poured on the fire)
All: Shining Ones, Accept our sacrifice!
After all the offerings have been made, the druids recenter the company.
Key Offerings
Senior Druid speaks, saying:
Welcome to the Gods and Goddesses, the Mighty Dead and the Noble Sidhe!
To all of you who have gathered at our fire, we pray you join us in worshipping the patrons of this holy rite here at our sacred beach.
Praise Offerings:
Each person is invited to dedicate a story, song, or poem to a Deity, Patron, or Power. This is, effectively, the first round of the Bardic Circle.
Final Sacrifice and Omen
The druids prepare the final offerings and say:
So we have given of our love and our inspiration
To the deities.
Now let our voices arise on the Fire
Let our voices sound across the Ocean
Let our words pass the boundary to the Otherworlds.
Shining Ones,
We give you our love
Our respect, and our devotion
as we pray you…
Shining Ones, accept our sacrifice!
All: Shining Ones, accept our sacrifice!
All are led to send their energy through the gates to the powers, meditating on the deities and the nobles. Then Senior Druid speaks:
Having sacrificed to the Powers
Let us open to them
Asking what blessings they offer us in return
And the needs they have of us.
Put it on the coconut telegraph
All the celebration and the stress
Put it on the coconut telegraph
In twenty-five words or less!
Runes are drawn from a coconut shell. The seer then interprets the omen, leading the company to contemplate the things they would ask of the powers, especially as suggested by the omen. Company re-centers in preparation for the blessing.
The Blessing
A: The litany of the waters:
Senior Druid speaks:
Ancient and Mighty Ones we have honored you
We pray you honor us in turn
For a gift calls for a gift
Hear your children:
Shining Ones, give us the Waters!
All: Shining Ones, give us the Waters!
B: Hallowing the waters:
[Boomerang Love]
Margaritas are poured and elevated. Senior Druid speaks:
Now we both know, we’re now in different orbits
Different islands, different worlds
Though we really are the same
we’re just glad, glad we started talking
Finally realize no one is to blame
We’ve been riding on a boomerang love
can’t let go
Running fast, movin’ slow
What’s the right way, who is to say
Tension and suspension
On a boomerang boomerang boomerang love
Shining Ones:
Hallow these waters!
Behold the Waters of Life!
All: Behold the Waters of Life!
Each person receives a Margarita or Boat Drink, and the stories start. Drinks are served all evening.
Work
Bardic Circle
The circle is brought back together once everyone’s material is exhausted, and all are re-grounded and centered.
Closing
When all is done, the druids lead a resettling, then begin to close the grove, saying:
The Great Ones have blessed us
With joy in our hearts
Let us carry the magic from our sacred Beach
Into our lives and our work.
Each time we offer to the Powers
They become stronger
And more aware of our needs and our worship.
So now as we prepare to dock once more at the Port of Indecision
Let us give thanks to all those who have aided us.
O Patrons of those here, We thank you!
All: We thank you!
O Gods and Goddesses of elder days, We thank you!
All: We thank you!
O Spirits of this land, We thank you!
All: We thank you!
O Ancestors, our Kindred, We thank you!
All: We thank you!
To all those Powers that have aided us, we say again…
We thank you!
All: We thank you!
Druids renew the company’s centering once more, signaling the return to common awareness and ease of access to the centered state. Then any unused offerings, return flow, incense, water etc. is given to the earth, saying:
Mother of all
To you we return all we leave unused
Uphold us now in the world as you have in our rite.
We thank you!
All: We thank you!
The druids go to the center. They speak:
O Coconut, wanderer of the ways
For your presence and power
Your guiding and guarding we say…
We thank you!
All: We thank you!
Druid makes the closing sign over the hallows, saying:
Now by the Keeper of Gates and by our magic
We end what we began.
Now let the Fire be flame.
Let the Ocean be water.
Let the Palm Tree be only a potted plant.
Let all be as it was before.
To the Port of Indecision we have returned.
Let the Gates be closed!
All: Let the Gates be closed!
Go now, Children of the Earth
In peace and blessings
The rite is ended!
The bard leads a proper chant as the company processes out of the Grove (“Walk with Wisdom”).
