Adapting Ritual to Scale
It is nearly dark, and in fifteen minutes more than eight hundred people have moved through the labyrinth, singing in turn the three parts of a glorious song celebrating the time of growth. They have formed a layered circle a hundred feet around, and our team comes to the center to face them for the final rounds. With a hand-and-drum signal, the final verse begins, and on the last word, “Moon,” the team all sweep their outstretched arms out, and all eight hundred singers stop on a dime! We gather the participants inward and bless our sunflower seed gift and the wishes collected over a week, now part of the shining sunflower raised over the fire. The Ritualista circles it with her oak staff focused upon it, calling all to empower the wishes and memories that they may grow in the coming year. With a sharp grounding thud, she plunges her staff to the earth and the fire erupts! Drumming and dance fill the night.
Celebrate the Fullness ritual
You may have the opportunity to take a ritual you have written or offered and rework it for a larger or smaller audience. Many of the methods covered in this book for creating effective ritual in groups can be applied and adapted for use in smaller groups or extremely large groups of 500 or more. Most of the rituals included were designed for between 100 and 200 people. At that size you can include a path-working or other experience that offers an intimate interaction with each person in some form. It still requires careful planning to execute well. When you expand your audience above 200 there are significant changes and adaptations that must be made to create something that will flow well and not last for hours! Adapting a medium-size ritual for a smaller audience is much easier.
The ritual described in the introduction of this book, “The Union of the Elements,” was originally an arc of three separate rituals that we combined for a smaller audience. Each part was essential to include to make the whole complete. The first two rituals each contained a personal interaction with a different prop, which were then combined into one for the final ritual. With a smaller audience, we were able to join these experiences together and embrace all three.
When scaling down an existing ritual outline, consider it an opportunity to refine the details of your ritual. It is just as satisfying to create an excellent experience for 25 people as it is for several hundred, and it is a chance to reach to the essence of your ritual intention. Assess what elements were fundamental and most effective in the larger version and vision how you can add more depth. When time concerns are reduced, you can do more one-to-one interaction with each participant.
Plan to keep your sacred space small so each person can see and be aware of the action, and of each other. If you used a swift gateway entry process, consider including a challenge or blessing relevant to the intention. Make every portion a time for personal interaction with your team. If you have included a path-working, you can double the intensity by adding sounds or smells to whispered words or actions. You will need strong modeling by your team to get a song or chant going, but you should have extra time at the ritual gathering to make sure everyone is familiar with the tune or words.
The most difficult part will be energy raising, as in a smaller group people tend to be more inhibited about moving or singing loudly. Have a plan to stimulate involvement by using your team to draw people out and closer to the center. We all feel freer in a tightly knit crowd and not being observed as the center of attention. Allow time at the ritual ending for all the participants to connect with each other. Here a slow spiral dance works well so participants have the time to look directly into each other’s eyes.
Scaling Up
Scaling up is harder than scaling down and requires consideration of more factors. What worked well for 50 people may be a disaster for 200. Take the time to look at each portion of your outline and vision the effects of increased numbers at each point. Wherever people are restricted in their passage, there is the potential it will become a “choke” point that causes waiting and disengagement. Anything that you are handing out or any activity that is individually experienced will need more time to complete and more team involvement.
Example
The “Gratitude” ritual in chapter Two worked great for about 120 participants. To revise the script and team roles for 400 participants, here are some changes we would consider:
- • Create two identical paths of five veils each, and have one whisperer say all the lines at each veil, keeping the team number the same.
- • Send four to six participants at a time down each path as a group.
- • Have both paths join at the sixth veil and deities.
- • Assign ten whisperers double duty upon entering the circle. Five would assist the deity pair with multiple bowls of grapes and handing them out. Spread the other five whisperers around the center of the circle and have them each recite the spoken lines in turn (spoken by Ritualista 1 and Ritualista 2 originally) facing outward toward the participants as the grapes are passed out.
- • Keep the spiral dance at the ending, but lead it much slower for a large group.
With these changes, essentially the same ritual could be expanded in size, staying within the same basic time frame with the same size ritual team, and providing two paths, five extra veil gateways, and a lot more grapes to distribute!
Processions
Once a ritual gets over a couple hundred people, you must apply some special techniques to accommodate a gate entry. The group could be broken into several processions designed to take different routes and speeds to arrive with staggered timing at the ritual site. When a very large procession is arriving at the same time, it may be necessary to have multiple entry gates, like highway toll booths. Use multiple entry gateways that either all provide the same experience or offer varying experience if you have a large enough ritual team to support them. Your participants will naturally gravitate to the shortest line, keeping any waiting times minimal. Having your procession move right into sacred space avoids any gateway slowdown, but you will still need a team of greeters to guide people to suitable placement.
Often a large procession will arrive all at once to the ritual site. Use two people holding a 4 x 10-foot veil to slow them into manageable groups by lifting the veil to float like a parachute until a dozen or so pass under and then dropping the veil to halt entry for a time. This can also be a method to offer a smaller group path-working as part of the entry process.
In large rituals (300-plus), a gateway can be used to break participants entering en masse into individuals, pairs, or more manageable groups of 5 to 15 people. Plan for a team of guides to aid the process. A hundred people will form a single-layer circle nearly a hundred feet across. When a ritual exceeds 150, use gracious guides to help divide the circle into several layers (at least one extra layer per hundred people). Use your modeling skills with sweeping hand and arm motions to alternate layers left or right of a dividing guide to fill the space. You might even add floor marking tape (outside, use garden lime) for white lines that visually direct people to form multiple layers. This is not the time to start barking crowd-control orders; plan ahead to make it as silent and painless a process as possible! You may want to direct people of shorter stature, those with children, those with chairs, or limited mobility people into the inner ring. This ensures more will be able to see and hear. Prepare your team with instructions to adapt to participants’ responses. If someone does not wish to go where directed, as a gracious host you must honor their choice.
In the “Ritual of the 13 Moons” we needed to provide 12 different experiences that participants would rotate through. We developed an entry process where we counted participants as they entered and formed a large circle. We used guides to divide and then lead them into 12 individual circles to receive each experience as a smaller group of about 12 people. A ritualista then used our hourglass prop to determine a set time for the experience to be completed and sounded a gong. A guide led each group to form the next experiential circle in the series. After 12 gongs, all 150 people had had the same 12 experiences.
Limit Waiting
We all hate to wait in line, and in a ritual it can destroy any engagement you have built or hope to maintain. When a ritual audience exceeds 300, the ritualista is wise to exclude experiences that are designed for an individual.
A 20-second experience will take an hour and 40 minutes for 300 individuals to pass through—and likely much longer!
1 experience every 20 seconds = 3 per minute = 100 minutes for 300 people
Add four more people offering the experience and take people in pairs:
- • 4 experience stations, taking 2 people at a time
- • 8 experiences every 20 seconds = 24 per minute = 12–13 minutes for 300 people!
Practice any limited group experience you plan and time how long it takes. Multiply by the projected audience (divided by small group size) and add a generous cushion to fully realize how long this requires your participants to wait and stay engaged. A reasonable guideline is to have two to four people offering the same experience for every hundred people you expect in your audience. Remember, people will wait, both for the experience and also for the balance of the audience to complete theirs. Don’t be afraid to offer some intimate interactions, but apply these design principles to mitigate any waiting time.
Provide for a participatory or entertaining activity during a wait time. We have a few strong singers to lead people in song or chant at either or both ends of a choke point. Understand this only works for about 30 minutes, at which point you lose both the lead voices and the engagement. We have also used a jester character, drumming, fire spinners, or a child-friendly activity to keep waiting people engaged. Keep any time-passing activity related to your intent, so those who are waiting stay in ritual mode. A ritual can sometimes be designed so once the waiting is passed, participants enter sacred space and then join right in an ongoing activity, eliminating an after-wait.
In large-scale ritual, whatever intimate experience is offered must be worth waiting for. Vision what you wish to offer and design it to work effectively for a small group instead of an individual. If you’re including a blessing or offering a bit of food or libation, plan to have multiple team members provide the service. Establish dividing reference points so each server will know where in the group they start, and where they will meet those already served. Here directional altars or other marked reference points can help, as well as having some costuming that denotes team members for an easy visual reference of their location.
Assign team members to critical roles in minimizing waiting. Have a person who regulates the entry into any choke point. People can be so polite that they slow a process down, or tire of waiting and crowd an intimate experience. Have a team member assigned as a handler to monitor path-working and help solve problems. One person can’t see the whole process, and without someone who can travel the whole path at the first sign of a slowdown and alleviate problems, they will continue and worsen. Most of your team will be occupied creating an experience and not be able to help. If a participant is really slow, whether in thoroughness or limited mobility, we often make sure they are first or last in a line. The handler could empower others to pass slow participants rather than wait. They may also advise team members on the path ahead to simplify the experience if it is too time-consuming.
Be Effective
In a large-scale ritual, you need to be realistic and sensitive to your team members’ endurance, commitment, and abilities. It can be difficult to keep the team energized when they are performing a lengthy duty. It is just as important that they stay engaged, offering their authentic self, and don’t succumb to fatigue or skimp under pressure. It is easy to say, “Just say this line to the next 200 people who pass by you,” but doing that effectively may not be possible for many of your team.
In a 100-foot-diameter circle, every speaking person must project their words. All the great words you wrote will be wasted if they can’t be heard. Make it a top requirement for speaking roles, and test their abilities in rehearsal with someone listening 100 feet away. Even then most people will naturally become quiet when put in the spotlight. Have a team member assigned for each speaker to focus on across the space while speaking and a hand signal to direct them to increase their volume. Blocking exactly where each role player should stand can be critical in large ritual. Have ritualistas speak across the center of the space—for instance, from the North if speaking to the South direction. A team member located in the center may need to rotate slowly as they project for most of their words to be heard. Practice this in rehearsal! In very large rituals (over 500), the background crowd noise is difficult to overcome when speaking. In rituals of this size, consider employing several unison speakers to either simultaneously speak from different areas or form a speaking chorus to deliver key lines. This takes practice and rehearsal so the words are clear and the message overcomes any group dissonance. If you enter the ritual and find people too spread out to hear, warmly invite them closer “so you can see them,” rather than give a harsh verbal direction to move in. Consider every other solution before resorting to electronic methods of amplification. We’ve witnessed its use a few times, but never effectively.
A rehearsal, and maybe several, is vital when offering a large ritual. Despite all your visioning, it is the place where the reality of what you have planned really confronts you. This is the time to assess where any problems might occur, and to change the ritual outline or details to prevent them. It should be clear who is directing the rehearsal, and they should give strong leadership to listen, pay attention, and limit any distractions during rehearsal. Usually you will be the ritualista who takes this role and can make any final decisions and adjustments.
Practice all the lines and blocking of the speakers and any entrances and exits. You may find areas that are just too complex or beyond the scope of your team. Now is the time to simplify—better to have a smooth delivery than an awkward but grand plan. Make sure everyone is familiar with any cues, what sound or event triggers the next, and whom to look to for leadership during each part. Check your ritual stage during rehearsal for any lighting or visibility issues or any sensory distraction that may intrude later. Moving a prop, altar, or ritualista’s position can make a world of difference.
If you haven’t worked with your team on general presentation before rehearsal, you need to spend some time cheerleading their own engagement in their role. Stress the importance of being sincere and welcoming in every interaction during ritual. This will be more important than any “mistake” they might make. You will probably have many specialist team members who may just help with an entry, or a song, or one speaking part. They all need to know at least the overall ritual outline, signals, and cues, and whom to look for when they need guidance. You need them to understand they should join in with any team modeling, even if they are instructed to become a participant once their role is complete.
When a large group enters a sacred space unimpeded, there may be an aimless sort of milling about trying to find their proper place while waiting for everyone else to arrive. Have silent greeters who use gentle sound and motion with modeling to guide them to their places, not a verbal commanding tone.
As we mentioned before, getting a large group to begin moving is difficult and getting them to stop can be even harder! A clearly costumed leader can get movement started by exaggerated modeling after a sound (chime or gong) signal to draw attention. The same process will usually work to stop a moving mass, but it may be harder to get their attention. If the movement is part of an energy-raising action, follow the energy raising. Do not attempt to meddle with the movement even if your leadership mind says it needs to stop. Ride that energetic wave. Until fatigue is sensed and growing among the participants, adapt your plans to allow it to continue. Participants are engaged and invested at this time, so feel the joy of success and be patient!
Songs and Chants
Several hundred people singing or chanting in unison is an amazing addition to a ritual. Limit your ritual to songs or chants that are easily learned, and tunes that don’t demand a great vocal range. Be sure to go over the song thoroughly, rehearsing at your gathering location prior to beginning, and have the lyrics printed and available. A song or chant that is adapted to use a call-and-response method is effective to garner involvement in a crowd. Be creative and add hand, arm, or body movements to energize participation.
The ritual included with this chapter used a three-part song that was the heart of the ritual, but to use something this complex in a ritual for 800-plus people took a lot of preparation and planning. First, we had the luxury of a morning gathering for several days prior to the ritual, during which we spent a few minutes every day teaching each part to participants. We had six to eight people with strong voices to begin and lead each part in the ritual, who had rehearsed separately all week. We provided the lyrics by printing them out in bold marker on muslin tabards worn by all our singers. That way the words were visibly reinforced for participants as they passed by.
Ending an engaged group song or chant is often accomplished with a gong or strong visual signal for the group to pay attention. In this ritual, the group passed through the simple labyrinth and moved out to form a multilayered circle, all singing the last part. At this point all of our singers came to the center and faced outward to the crowd. As the final verse repetitions approached, Judy held up her hand with three fingers up, and counted them down until the final verse. The drum accompaniment stopped for the last verse, and at the end of the last phrase all the singers flashed their arms rapidly out from their chest to fully extended and down. All 800 people stopped singing at the same moment. This crisp ending was as energetic as the voices in unison!
Ritual: Celebrate the Fullness (for 150 Participants)
Location: Sacred Harvest Festival, 2007
© Judith Olson Linde and Nels Linde
When we offered this ritual for about 150 people, it was so powerful that we found the ending was not strong enough—no one wanted it to be over at this point! We decided that, given the opportunity, we would strengthen the ending. We were offered the opportunity to adapt this ritual for about 800 people at Pagan Spirit Gathering in 2012. (See the following ritual.) The three-part song incorporated in the ritual, “Dark of the Moon,” by Karen Beth, is used with permission and has been recorded by Libana.34 These are the lyrics:
Part 1: Dark night, starry night, new beginnings. Dark night, starry night, will come to be.
Part 2: Dark of the moon, new beginnings. Plant a seed. Dark of the moon, come tonight.
Part 3: Dark of the moon, new beginnings. Dark of the moon, plant a seed tonight.
Dark of the moon, what we envision will come to be by the full moonlight.
Ritual intent
Celebrate the gifts of Divinity. Fill your vessel and those of our community.
Ritual description
This ritual is all movement and song. Plant the spiritual seeds for the coming year and touch the healing waters. Process from the Heart Chakra (gathering place).
Ritual setup and supplies
A central fire was lit at the ritual circle. A gravity-powered, hand-filled fountain was set up to the left of the labyrinth entrance and covered to hide it. A simple labyrinth of three circles winding to the central circle and fire was laid out with lines of barn lime. At the center fire were three people in chairs with baskets of planting soil and little cups. A smudger and a team member handing out sunflower seeds were at the labyrinth entrance gate.
The Fountain
This was a large, primitive, fired-clay mask. It was designed to mount on two rebar poles in the ground. Behind the forehead was a small bucket with a drain hole with tubing to allow a trickle of water out the mouth. Colored twine hair hid the back and on the ground below was a decorative basket-bucket to catch the excess water. A team member with a small pitcher poured water into the head/top bucket, causing a stream of water to run out the mouth. The surplus was collected and used again from the bottom bucket, creating a continuous streaming fountain.
This used an approximate 60-foot circle, laid out with 6-foot-wide paths marked in white lime. The procession entered and encountered:
- • [S1] = Four singers offering the first set of lyrics (all singers faced the procession and began singing as they were reached)
- • [S2] = Four singers offering the second set of lyrics
- • [S3] = Four singers offering the third set of lyrics
- • [C] = Three people handing out cups filled with soil, one to each participant
- • [F] = A person handing out a sunflower seed to plant in their cup
- • [M] = The fountain maiden continuously filling the fountain to water each cup
Team members
Ritualista, smudger, seed giver, three soil givers, maiden at the fountain. Twelve singers spread out along the pathway. Four are singing each verse while holding placards with the words of each. Two wranglers, one at the center, one at the exit just past the fountain.
Ritual script
As the procession reached the entry gate, a wafting smudge and a seed were given. Participants were guided into the labyrinth by the Ritualista, past the first four singers, and counterclockwise into the outer circle to part 1 of the song. After completing the circumference back to the exit alley, participants reversed clockwise into the middle inner circle, where the next four singers started part 2 of the song. As participants reached the exit alley again, they reversed counterclockwise into the inner circle as the next four singers began part 3 of the song. The Ritualista took the whole labyrinth line around the fire into the center, where each festivant was given a cup of soil (and another seed if they dropped theirs) and shown by demonstration to plant it.
Still singing part 3 of the song, they were then led out the exit alley past the now unveiled and flowing fountain to water their seed. The line turned clockwise and re-formed outside the former outer circle that was now slowly moving into the center. This new circle held all the participants by the time it returned to the fountain. All were singing: “Dark of the moon, new beginnings, dark of the moon, plant a seed tonight … ”
Once all had re-formed the outer circle, a three-beat drum cue was given, and the whole ritual team slowly gathered and walked to the center as the song slowed into a crescendo end. “So mote it be!” “Merry meet, merry part, and merry meet again!”
Ritual: Celebrate the Fullness (Adapted for 800 Participants)
Location: Pagan Spirit Gathering, 2012
© Judith Olson Linde and Nels Linde
Ritual context
Adaptation for Pagan Spirit Gathering (PSG). Requests included the integration of a burnable prop, the inclusion of several honored guests as principal speaking parts, a time for Selena Fox to speak, and a change from the gift of a cup with watered earth and a seed, to energized seeds in a bag to take home and plant. The ritual should end with the burning of the prop and an energy raising. The ritual process was adapted to accommodate 800 people and to flow smoothly without any backup or waiting. The ending was modified to end with a powerful celebration on the last night of the festival. The ritual was produced without a hitch and was completed in about 40 minutes!
Ritual intent
Celebrate the gifts of Divinity. Manifest your wishes for our tribal community in the coming year. Receive and nurture the seed of your PSG experience to empower a new beginning for yourself under the new moon.
Ritual description
This ritual incorporates movement and song. Receive the spiritual seeds for the coming year. We encourage limited mobility people to arrive at the ritual circle 15 minutes early to secure participatory seating, or just join in the procession! A sacred space will be prepared for your arrival. Children are most welcome!
Program invitation
We’ll be teaching the song and creating a sunflower composed of our wishes for the coming year for our tribe, beginning at Tuesday’s New Moon morning meeting. We need many voices and much help to support this ritual! Please stop by the Hawkdancing booth anytime to contribute to the ritual, work on the song, or add your wishes!
The three-part song incorporated in the ritual, “Dark of the Moon,” by Karen Beth, is used with permission and has been recorded by Libana.35
Advance participant preparation
The prop was a 4-foot-diameter sunflower design cut from ¼-inch plywood. It had small petals cut on the edges and a small stem to affix to a 2 x 4 for placement atop the central bonfire. The center 40-inch circle had 800 ¼-inch holes drilled in a double helix pattern on the sunflower. It was painted on both sides with green petals and a spiraling yellow, orange, and red center. Each morning for the five days before the ritual, the sunflower was taken to the morning meeting, where festival participants were encouraged to write on 4-inch squares of tissue paper (yellow, orange, and red) their wishes for themselves and the community, which they wanted to grow and bloom in the coming year. Each wish was rolled into a tube and inserted through a hole in the sunflower, and both ends were fluffed so it remained in place. This completed sunflower with wishes was used to decorate the final fire of the gathering. On Saturday morning, the ritual day, the early arrival of limited mobility people at the procession was explained. The three separate verses of the song “Dark of the Moon” were taught in preparation at three separate meetings.
Photo from Harmony Tribe Photo Archives
Nels helps festivants insert written wishes into the sunflower prop.
Ritual setup and supplies
The final fire with the sunflower prop was laid at the ritual circle. A simple labyrinth pathway (12 feet wide, marked with lime) wound from the entryway into the central fire. All along this path’s boundaries, and marking the turns of the path inward, stood 18 song leaders, each wearing a muslin chest tabard with the song part lyrics written on them. These lead singers worked on one of the three song parts all week, so that six for each verse could be spread around the three continuous winding concentric paths leading inward.
At the center fire, the path was split around the fire and then opened to a wide path leading directly out to the circle edge. Six “toll booth”-style lanes were on the entrance side of the fire, leading outward. Each lane had two people in a line offering a small bag and sunflower seeds. These were staggered so, like at a toll booth, as people reached this point they could easily see which had the shortest line and move to that lane. At the circle edge (next to the entrance) were limited mobility people in chairs directing people deosil as they passed through to form a multilayered circle after they exited the labyrinth.
This used an approximately 110-foot circle, laid out with 12-foot-wide paths marked in white lime. The procession entered and encountered:
- • [P] = Two people offering printed lyric sheets if desired
- • [S1] = Six singers offering the first set of lyrics (all singers faced the procession, wearing a tabard with their lyric, and began singing as they were reached)
- • [S2] = Six singers offering the second set of lyrics
- • [S3] = Six singers offering the third set of lyrics
- • [B] = Six people handing out a small drawstring bag, one to each participant
- • [F] = Six people handing them a sunflower seed to put in their bag
Supplies for 1,000:
- • 400 pounds fine garden lime (eight 50-pound bags) for labyrinth marking
- • 1,000 small drawstring bags
- • Bowl of water and a green branch for circle casting
- • 1,000+ sunflower seeds in six containers
- • 600+ 4-inch squares of yellow, orange, and red tissue paper
- • plywood sunflower with mounting pole
- • 200 printed lyric sheets (eight per page on 25 pages); only hand out to those who want them
- • Tools: hatchet, post-hole digger, fire kit, three lime shakers, rope, hammer, screwdriver
Ritual team
Ritualista 1, Ritualista 2, four guest directional callers, Selena Fox, 18 ritual singers, 12 aides distributing seeds and bags, drumbeat player, two greeters, several wranglers.
Ritual script
All ritual players and limited mobility folks were called to the circle 15 minutes before the procession start. All 18 ritual singers were in place, as were the 12 aides handing out sunflower seeds and small drawstring bags in the toll booths and those seated at the exit. Many with limited mobility or folks in chairs can be incorporated here! Seated helpers were given tasks and set up.
As the camp procession took place, a simple, silent circle blessing with water by Ritualista 2 and a sacred space casting by Ritualista 1 were made for the assembled team awaiting the procession arrival. The guest directional callers silently called the quarters in their own way.
The procession began and wound through the whole camp with this chant and alternating drumbeat:
Sing tonight [boom—boom] Plant a seed [boom—boom] Dream tonight [boom—boom] Come tonight [boom—boom]
A lead caller shouted the upcoming words during the double drumbeat so the procession could join in as an echo.
The procession reached the labyrinth gate, the procession stopped, and the drums were silenced. A lone voice started the first song part, then a bass drum gave support with a slow walking beat. The labyrinth walk began (four to six people wide) with the second song repetition. Two people were seated at the entrance to hand out lyrics to those who wanted to carry one (optional). The path looped back the opposite way at the entry and toll booth exit path three times.
The 18 lead singers wearing lyric placards were stationed at the turns and along each path. As the path completed a circumference and reversed inward, the festivants were led by the singers to change to the next part of the song’s round, and then again for the third part of the round. This third part of the round was maintained until all festivants exited through the toll booth lanes.
At the circle edge, people in chairs directed the exiting procession deosil to form the circle. As the assemblage all passed by, deeper into the labyrinth, the supporting singers turned to support the next part of the song round. When their part of the labyrinth emptied, they joined in the procession toward the center, emptying the circle.
As the last people left the toll booths, all inner-circle aides and singers followed, bringing all supplies out to the circle edge. All were singing: “Dark of the moon, new beginnings, dark of the moon, plant a seed tonight … ” When everyone had exited, the song ending was cued by the lead singers backing into the circle facing outward into the circle of participants. Ritualista 1 held up three fingers, signifying three song verses left, then two, then as the bass drumbeat stopped Ritualista 1 held up one finger. As the last verse ended, the 18 lead singers swung their arms from the waist outward as the final phrase “dark of the moon” was emphasized. All 800 people stopped on cue!
The lead singers moved to join the participants, and Ritualista 1 said, “Please step in closer, so we can all hear each other.” The lead singers motioned for the circle of people to step in closer to meet them. The circle was tightened. The four quarter callers stepped in and voiced their words facing the direction of their call to be heard across the circle. They were offered these words to use or could speak in their own words, their choice:
In the West facing East: “We thank the East and ask the blessings of sweet air upon this symbol and our future and for attending this rite.”
In the North facing South: “We thank the South and ask the blessings of transforming fire upon this symbol and our future and for attending this rite.”
In the East facing West: “We thank the West and ask the blessings of healing water upon this symbol and our future and for attending this rite.”
In the South facing North: “We thank the North and ask the blessings of rich earth upon this symbol and our future and for attending this rite.”
They rejoined the circle when finished.
Selena Fox, Ritualista 1 (Judy), and Ritualista 2 (Nels) all entered the center of the circle. All words were delivered facing outward and VERY loud!
Selena Fox, holding up a bag and a seed:
“We hold a symbol of our experience this week and of our tribe and spirit over the ages. It is the seed of what is to grow for us in the coming year. Nurture this gift and take it home to keep as a symbol, or to plant, or to offer under the approaching full moon.”
Ritualista 2, focusing on the center fire:
“We call on our tribal spirit to bless this flower, as we send it forth to empower our wishes and our future. We thank Spirit, grateful for that feeling of community that sustains us through the times of struggle and pain.”
Ritualista 1, circling the fire with her staff focused on the sunflower prop:
“As this rite comes to an end and we prepare to celebrate, let us each take a moment to focus on memories of the week, memories of joy, friendship, fellowship. Moments of promise, wonder, or renewal. And know that these memories will sustain us through the coming year until we meet here once again. For each of us, may our intent take root, grow, flourish, and blossom, with the aid of the waxing moon. So mote it be!”
Ritualista 2 had moved to the bass drum to trip the fire-starting switch (laid underground) when Ritualista 1 finished. As Ritualista 1 stomped her staff to the earth, the fire erupted. Ritualista 2 started a drumbeat and the singers led participants in a 20-minute dance around the fire as the sunflower wishes were burned and empowered. All the energies were thanked and released silently as the circle emptied.
Dark of the Moon Lyrics:
part 1 [:Dark night, starry night, new be—ginnings;
Dark night, starry night, will come to be:]
part 2 [:Dark of the moon, new be—ginnings, plant a seed:
Dark of the mo—ooon, come tonight:]
part 3 Dark of the [:Moon, new beginnings, dark of
the moon plant a seed tonight,
Dark of the moon what we envision
will come to be in the full moonlight.
Dark of the:]