The Ritual Gathering
Searles O'Dubhainn
searles@summerlands.com
Sun Oct 24 15:18:38 1999
The Ritual Gathering*p*Perhaps we should call it the "meeting place on the mountain" or "the old spot by the river" or any of a number of other images that I can recall from poem, song, and story.  Clearly, a Celtic ritual is held at a place which represents boundaries between realms.  The nemetons of Gaul are constructs that represent such separated "in between" places.  The gathering places in Ireland seem to be mounds, trees, stones, and unusual spots on rivers (bends, fords and forks mostly).*p*All of the Celtic sacred sites I've every seen or heard about, have a sacred center and then they have other ritual objects about them.  In Gaul, the surrounding objects and the center were many times pits for votive offerings.  The entire structure would then be surrounded by a trench or a fence which were associated with the remains of sacrifice and also served as a boundary between the mundane and the sacred.  Most of these enclosures were oriented to the East or North.*p*What I'd like to see in Celtic ritual would be these things:*p*The Prelude:*p*The call to ritual, the gathering, the processional.*br*...*br*1. The establishment of the center (Bi/le, pole, stone, pit, fire, well,altar)*p*Where are we?*p*2. The harmony of the elements (I am a wind, a wave, a flame, an animal...etc.) or perhaps even the challenge of the gatekeepers and the response, "I am a soldier, a carpenter, a poet, an artificer, a healer....etc. or even the poetic response: I am a ray of the sun, etc.)*p*Who are we?*p*3. The circumnavigation of the Three Worlds (Land, Sea, Sky...in that order.  Honoring the folk of each with song, praise and remembrance as wecircle. Also building power.)*p*Where do we go?*p*4. Calling out to the gods (Chants to the deities in general and particularly to the specific deity being invoked)*p*Who do we seek?*p*5. The Statement of Purpose (This is more a statement of what we are doing, asking from the gods, and what we are prepared to offer in return, even ourselves if necessary.  This should be the center of ritual. It can also involve a story that gives examples of this from the ancient traditions)*p*What do we ask?*p*6. The Purification (sprinkling with water, walking between fires or jumping them, jumping a pit, being challenged by a blade, climbing stairs and ladders or whatever, chanting, dancing, ritual acts of power)*p*How are we worthy?*p*7. The Sacrifice (Votive offerings, communions, libations, incenses, oaths, promises, songs, dances, sexual acts)*p*What do we offer?*p*8. The Blessing or Working (reading the signs, the omens, the words of the priests, the seers and the poets)*p*What do we receive?*p*9. The Thanksgiving and the Praise (Dancing, Singing, Reflection, General Celebration appropriate to the rite or the spirit of the moment)*p*How do we respond?*p*Postlude:*p*The dismissal, the recessional, the meal, the drinking, the songs, the dance, and the frolic.*p*I may have left out a few things and probably have not completely thought about each aspect of the above rituals.  They represent my experience with  ritual and what I know about the ordering of things in a Celtic tradition.  I'm sure the form and the items of the above ritual outline will evolve as I consider them and as I receive critiques, but many of these ritual aspects are, none-the-less, valid IMO. *p*The ritual that I attended at Wellspring (ADF) contained many of these same aspects and I am glad to say, I enjoyed it more than any previous Pagan public ritual that I have attended (that is to say, until I attended the Keltrian Gathering at Gaia in Kansas in 1999).  There's room for improvement in every ritual and there's certainly room for more involvement of each of us and the participants in any ritual.  Let's iron out ritual forms (if not liturgy).  Let's do it in fine Celtic fashion using knowledge of ancient ritual, modern ritual formats that work and any new ritual forms that the gods give to us.*p*Many Blessings,*p*Searles*p*"Ní fili nad chomgne comathar nad scéla uile."*p*----------*br*