Three Cranes Grove, ADF, invites you to celebrate Midsummer, the time of the Summer Solstice, with us. This being an election year, we will honor two archetypal deities found throughout the Indo-European lands, the Land and the Sovereign, whose blessings are bound together: the Sovereign serves the Land and its people, and the Land blesses the Sovereign. If there is fault in the Sovereign, the Land withers, and no longer blesses the Sovereign. We pray and work magic on this High Day to call for a just and righteous Sovereign to serve the Land and its people.
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
- 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 the Land and the Sovereign.
- In addition, grove members will be calling on numerous other spirits, as is customary in ADF ritual. Each ritualist will be giving an offering to the spirit they call on, and you are welcome to offer to them as well. For this rite, those spirits are
- The Earth Mother
- The power of Inspiration
- Garanus Crane, the Gatekeeper
- The Ancestors
- The Nature Spirits
- The Shining Ones
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.”
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Header image: Detail of “Le Printemps.” Jean-François Millet. 1868-1873. Musée d’Orsay, Paris, France.
