Panathenaea Ritual (Summer Cross-Quarter/Lughnasa)

In a detail of the Cavalcade in the Parthenon Frieze, a bareheaded rider, on horseback, gallops amid a clump of other horses and riders.

Date: August 2, 2020 3:00 pm

Three Cranes Grove, ADF, invites you to celebrate the Panathenaea with us! In Ancient Greece, the Panathenaea was a celebration held every four years, in the same years as the Olympic games, to honor the goddess Athena, goddess of wisdom, war, and crafts. As part of that celebration, musical, theatric, and sporting contests were held, and a peplos (a type of garment) was woven and presented to Athena. We welcome you to join us in celebration and worship, and to stay after for some quarantine- and family-friendly games!

3:00 — Zoom meeting begins
3:15 — Pre-ritual briefing
3:30 — Ritual begins

This rite will be held virtually, using Zoom to bring us together. We will be inviting all participants to participate at their home shrines if they have them, or in the shrine of their heart if they do not.

What you absolutely need:

  • a computer, tablet, or phone with an Internet connection in order to join the Zoom meeting
  • a beverage (of any sort): we’ll be blessing the Waters of Life with the blessings we receive, and each person’s beverage will receive those blessings.

Other things you may want:

  • Representations of the ADF-style Hallows: the Fire, the Well, and the Tree — our sacred centers, which we will join together. These can be actual bowls of water, candles, and figurines of trees, or drawings, or anything else that allow you to focus upon the mythic Hallows.
  • Offerings for the spirits. As is customary in Three Cranes rituals, there will be time for the folk to give offerings to the spirits that are dear to them, and to Athena.

How to use Zoom:

  • If you already know about Zoom you just need this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/337362382?pwd=VE9nU1FDWDZRMHMrUjA2WUFCdlIyQT09
  • New folks, you basically just need to click the link. If you’ve never Zoomed before, there’ll be a quick app download, but then you’re basically set!
  • You are more than welcome to turn on your video so we can all see each other’s faces in community, but the meeting’s set to have all participants muted, to avoid overwhelming background noise. Unless you’re asked to unmute, we ask you to leave your mic muted.
  • There’s a chat function in Zoom, and you’re very welcome to use it, both to participate in a textual way, and as a troubleshooting venue. For troubleshooting, we’ll have a couple tech folks there, though they may also be performing ritual parts — we’ll do our best!
  • Chat isn’t open by default. On a computer click “Chat” at the bottom of the Zoom window to display it. On mobile, click “Participants,” then click “Chat.”

Header image:
The Cavalcade V: Parthenon Frieze in London” by Egisto Sani, via Flickr. License: CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
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