Our grove, the Grove of Four, rarely holds open rituals, but here is one we crafted for Lughnasadh a few years ago.
A lovely, granite-topped hill, covered in wild blueberries and scratchy green lichen, was our setting. Our group processed through the forest silently, flanked on either end by two grove members. Once the ritual site was reached, the two other grove mates smudged each person entering the space with sage. The group circled in silence in the hot, late afternoon.
Once everyone was present, a grove member drew a circle with his staff around the group, putting out the intention for peace in that place. Another called to the spirits of the place, finding acceptance, after which the group was asked to center. We did this by drawing consciousness to the senses of smell, touch, taste, hearing and sight, paying close attention to the spirits surrounding us, above and below, until everyone was fully present.
Next, one of our members led a particular garden meditation we do on occasion, helped with steady drumming. Within the garden, however one imagines it, is a sanctuary, a safe and sacred place for one’s own soul work. Those meditating were asked to go into their garden (which could be a wild jungle as easily as tidy postage stamp plot) and find a symbol of the season, a gift they could bring back to their sanctuary. This they did.
Out of the quiet of meditation, another member spoke of the early harvest, of our connection to and dependence on the earth, and of our responsibility to it and our community. Two of the grove gave everyone little round homemade corn cakes. The circle gently expanded and moved, as the group was asked to go forth and make a connection to something nearby – a rock, a bit of moss, a tree – and commit to honoring the earth, thinking of how they would do that in the year, remembering the season of bounty, filled with thankfulness. Sharing a bit of the corn cake with the one with which they had connected, and then eating some, they were called back to the circle by a horn, bringing the rest of the corn cake back to be gathered in a basket for a ritual burning down at the campsite after the rite. All were invited to share any words of inspiration with the group.
Bread and water were offered in the center of the circle, then offered to each other with blessings of “May you know abundance” and “May your thirst be quenched”, or other words that came in the moment. Spirits of place were thanked, calls to the directions made, and the rite ended with all leaving in silence in the dusk, filled with gratitude and fresh commitment.