Imbolc/Candlemas
St. Brigid's Day
First Hour: Gathering/Preparation for Ritual
OPENING CIRCLE
One: We form a circle and convene
sacred space by joining hands with the left hand up to receive, and the
right hand down to give – this allows the energy to flow easily from
person to person among us and around the circle.
[Introduce ourselves by name.]
Take a deep breath together, you might want to close your eyes, and
make this first connection as a group.
Take another deep breath together and expand our group mind out to
include this house where we will be working this evening – so that we
are surrounded by our intention to create a safe and sacred space
around us.
And a third deep breath together, grounding ourselves and solidifying
our connection to one another and opening ourselves to the energies
that each one of us brings to the circle.
All: We come from the East and the West, the North
and the South, to celebrate the return of the Light and the Mystery of
the Recognition of the Christ
INTRODUCTION TO IMBOLC/CANDLEMAS
[Colors: Black, White, and Red; Themes:
Wheel of the Year; Pilgrimage, Soul Friends, Thresholds; St. Brigid and
the Triple Goddess: Poetry, Smithcraft, Healing; Presentation of
the Lord, purification of Mary 40 days after the birth]
[Make Individual Brigit’s Crosses out of dried grasses – see Kindling
the Celtic Spirit, Mara Freeman, pp. 64-65]
Readings: “St. Brigit of Kildare,” Wisdom of the
Celtic Saints, p. 69, ff
“The Return of Bride,” Rekindling
the Celtic Spirit, p. 60
LIGHT THE SACRED FIRE
[hearth fire or red jar candle]
Chant: We will never lose our way to the well of her memory,
And the fire of her living flame,
it will rise, it will rise again
Ritual for Imbolc/Candlemas
INVOCATION
One: As of old
humans placed themselves in time and space, so we who are still
earthbound seek to align ourselves – as above, so below, as without, so
within.
Another: Spirit residing in the East, Beings of Air
and Light, galactic winds, stars’ timeless shimmer –
All: Welcome ancient ones!
Another: Spirit residing in the South, Beings of
Fire, our own home Sun, supernovas that form new worlds –
All: Welcome ancient ones!
Another: Spirit residing in the West, Beings of
Water, medium of Earth life, elements that flow, and shift shape to
conform –
All: Welcome ancient ones!
Another: Spirit residing in the North, Beings of
Earth and darkness, Creation’s mystery whose process we cannot fathom –
All: Welcome ancient ones!
Chant:
Gathered Here in the Mystery of this Hour
Gathered here in one strong body,
Gathered here in the struggle and
the power,
Spirit, draw near!
SCRIPTURES FOR THE PRESENTATION OF THE LORD – MEDITATIVE READINGS
Malachi 3:1-4
See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the
Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The
messenger of the covenant in whom you delight – indeed, he is coming,
says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming,
and who can stand when he appears?
For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; he will sit as
a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of
Levi and refine the like gold and silver, until they present offerings
to the Lord in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and
Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in
former years.
“Sun” The Universe Story, Brian Swimme, Thomas Berry, pp. 63-64
Psalm 84
“The Cosmic Christ Needing to be Born” The Coming of the Cosmic Christ,
Matthew Fox, pp. 136-137
Luke 2: 22-40 (Simeon and Anna in the Temple)
CANDLEMAS RITUAL
One: I am older than Brigit of the
Mantle, I put songs and music on the wind before ever the bells of the
chapels were run in the West or heard in the East. . . . And I have
been a breath in your heart, and the day has its feet to it that will
see me coming into the hearts of men and women like a flame upon dry
grass, like a flame of wind in a great wood – Fiona MacLeod
[Each one lights a tea light from the white candle or hearth fire using
a taper, and shares poetry, dreams, songs, thoughts/comments on the
readings]
MILK & HONEY EUCHARIST
[Goat’s milk, honey, bread, wine, grape juice.]
One: The Eucharist is about the universe loving us
unconditionally still one more time and giving itself to us in the most
intimate way (as food and drink). Interconnectivity is the heart
of the Eucharistic experience: God and humanity coming together, God
and flesh, the flesh of wheat, wine, sunshine, soil, water, human
ingenuity, stars, supernovas, galaxies, storms, fireballs -- every
Eucharist has a 15-billion-year sacred story that renders it holy.
The gratitude from which the Eucharist derives its very name
(eucharistein means “to give thanks” in Greek) is not just our
gratitude toward the Source of all things; it is also the universe's
gratitude for our presence and for our efforts at contributing, however
imperfectly.
The Eucharist is heart food from the cosmos – the “mystical body
of Christ” and the Cosmic Christ or Buddha nature found in all beings
in the universe – to us. Christ is the light of the world, which
we now know is made only of light. Flesh is light and light is
flesh. We eat, drink, sleep, breathe, and love that light.
The Eucharist is also our hearts expanding and responding generously:
“Yes, we will.” We will carry on the heart-work called
compassion, the work of the cosmos itself. (Matthew Fox, Sins of
the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh, p. 271)
Invitation
One: Ho, everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters; and those who have no money, come, buy and
eat! Come, buy wine and milk without price, for our God calls us
away from oppression and greed to a realm of justice and love;
God calls us away from famine and poverty to an abundance of milk and
honey.
All: We have ignored God’s Call
and abandoned the Wisdom that Jesus taught us, but we remember when we
share this Feast.
Consecration
One: Wisdom orders all things well: First the grain, then
the ear, then the full grain in the ear. [Break the Bread]
All: Blessed be Godde, Shekinah, Holy One, Sophia!
One: To inherit Wisdom is as sweet as the honeycomb. [Hold up the
Bowl of Honey]
All: Blessed be Godde, Shekinah, Holy One, Sophia!
One: In kinship with Wisdom there is immortality, and in
friendship with her, pure delight. [Pour the Milk]
All: Blessed be Godde, Shekinah, Holy One, Sophia!
[Pass bread, then honey, milk, and wine/juice. Bread may be
dipped in the honey; milk, wine, and juice sipped from the common cups]
Third Hour:
Feast and Open the Circle
Menu: Milk and late winter foods, e.g., spinach quiche,
cheeses & crackers, salads; Brigid’s Bannock (oatmeal cake:
see Kindling the Celtic Spirit p. 64); oatmeal cookies, custards
SENDING:
[Join hands as in the beginning]
One: Grateful for the Elements that gave themselves
to create Being: roses, giraffes, humans –
All: We go forth from this place.
One: Mindful of the Cosmic Christ Consciousness, born
anew with each awakening –
All: We go forth from this place.
One: Our circle is open and unbroken. Merry
meet, merry part, and merry meet again.
All: Shalom! Ho! Blessed be! Amen!
