Sacred Grove’s open circle for Samhain this year will be our first major attempt to hold the rite using ZOOM. This introduced some complications into the planning — How do you stand in a circle? Which way is East? And sealing the circle, in which we hold hands — needs some rework.

The ritual, as reworked, is included in this post.

Zoom meeting

Please note: No new participants will be admitted after 10 pm Eastern.

RedBird is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Sacred Grove Samhain
Time: Oct 31, 2023 09:45 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

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Meeting ID: 816 0350 3408
Passcode: 2RbSq4

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New Considerations

Open Circle

The open public circle concept implies that participants may have long familiarity with Sacred Grove and the Bhakti Wiccan Tradition or may be joining us for the first time without preparation or anywhere in between.

Samhain — Visiting our Beloved Dead

Welcome to the Samhain ritual of Sacred Grove Community Circle, in the Bhakti Wiccan Tradition of the Fellowship of the Sacred Grove.

I am RedBird, and I will fill the ritual office of Bard in this rite.

This room is sealed; no one else will be admitted. If you lose your connection during the ritual, we will do our best to readmit you. This is a working we are undertaking together, supporting each other, and we can hang around and chat once we have returned from our journey.

With our voices and our mutual intentions for this rite, we will join in building the Grove that is our sacred space in this new realm of cyberspace – and in our inner worlds.

As an anchor in this world, feel the Earth directly beneath you, firmly holding you and pulling toward its center. Take a breath, blow it out, and relax.

As an anchor in this moment, reach in your mind for the sky above you, mindful of the season and time. Take a deep breath, exhale with a sigh, and relax.

Take note, from where you sit, which way is east, south, west, north. If the space is unfamiliar, look for clues in what you can see out a window or on a map or determine from the street outside. Take a deeper breath, exhale with a sigh, and relax.

And we now turn our thoughts to this space we share together.

Imagine, if you will, that we are standing together in a circle in the twilight. To our East is a table bearing a sword. To our West is a table bearing a cup. To our South is a living tree. To our North are standing stones.

Once we have formally claimed this as sacred space, I will start the sealing of the Circle by greeting one of you by name and saying “We are one.” Please then greet someone else by name and say “We are one.” and likewise until we all have joined the Circle. Last person, please greet me, and we will all respond together “We are one.”

Once we have sealed the circle, we will move as one between the worlds seeking the Mystery.

Then, we will invite unseen others to join us in spirit, if they will.

Preparations

Warning

Bard speaks:

On this night when the Veil between the worlds is thin, when those who have gone before and we who still journey in Life may be permitted to visit in the care of the Lady and Lord, we approach the Mystery with awe and reverence.

Hear my warning. This is not safe. The Mysteries of Life, Death, and Rebirth have power we feel and cannot measure; they are part of our every moment, and we know them only vaguely. Those who have gone before have experience but cannot speak of all we might ask. They may hear the questions of our souls that we cannot speak for want of words – or volition. We may hear what we are not ready to hear.

We are children of Earth and Starry Heaven, beloved of the Lord and Lady, who seek to experience the Mysteries and open ourselves to Their guidance.

Let none remain who is unwilling to be changed by Their touch.

Claiming

Bard speaks:

Please respond to each of the claimings with “So mote it be!”

Sealing the Circle

Inviting the Guardians

The Mystery

Welcoming the Lord and Lady

The Working

The day is done, and the darkness
Falls from the wings of Night,
As a feather is wafted downward
From an eagle in his flight.

I see the lights of the village
Gleam through the rain and the mist,
And a feeling of sadness comes o’er me
That my soul cannot resist:

A feeling of sadness and longing,
That is not akin to pain,
And resembles sorrow only
As the mist resembles the rain.

Come, read to me some poem,
Some simple and heartfelt lay,
That shall soothe this restless feeling,
And banish the thoughts of day.

Not from the grand old masters,
Not from the bards sublime,
Whose distant footsteps echo
Through the corridors of Time.

For, like strains of martial music,
Their mighty thoughts suggest
Life’s endless toil and endeavor;
And to-night I long for rest.

Read from some humbler poet,
Whose songs gushed from his heart,
As showers from the clouds of summer,
Or tears from the eyelids start;

Who, through long days of labor,
And nights devoid of ease,
Still heard in his soul the music
Of wonderful melodies.

Such songs have power to quiet
The restless pulse of care,
And come like the benediction
That follows after prayer.

Then read from the treasured volume
The poem of thy choice,
And lend to the rhyme of the poet
The beauty of thy voice.

And the night shall be filled with music,
And the cares, that infest the day,
Shall fold their tents, like the nomads,
And as silently steal away.

The Day is Done By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

And our adventure awaits. Come with me to the north.
Just to the right of the standing stone, a path leads into a pine forest,

The Presence

At the gates of the temple, we are welcomed by our Host and Hostess into the great Hall of Celebration.

Though it seems the gathered company is large, the Hall is quiet, and guests are scattered. A scented mist swirls and softens the light.

When you have made yourself comfortable, you notice the Lady moving among the guests. She brings you a chalice, filled with a refreshing beverage that you have not tasted for many years, that brings happy memories to mind.

The Lord comes to you bearing a basket of fresh bread that is unlike any you remember tasting before – rich, moist, satisfying – and the piece in your hand seems enough for a meal in itself.

There is a table near at hand with a plate for the bread and place for the cup, so you can nibble and sip as you will.

The mists throughout the hall have grown thick, and the company has multiplied.

Someone is coming toward you – the mists lighten, swirl, and reveal a familiar, beloved face.

[Pause]

This is your time with your beloved. You may want to share the bread or share the cup in hospitality.

To notice. To remember. To speak, if you will.

[Pause]

As the mists swirl and grow thick once more, your Beloved may seem distracted by a call beyond your hearing. You may notice sounds of restlessness around you as others make their farewells.

Bard:

Bard brings the group together when it is time to leave.

The Return

Bard recalls everyone to the shoes we left outside, then uphill to the Sacred Grove and then to normal wakefulness, amid the Tree, the Sword, the Cup, and the Standing Stones.

The Closing

Thanking the Lord and Lady

Priest thanks Lady

Priestess thanks Lord.

Thanking the Guardians

Opening the Circle