Spirit Has Gone Out Of Them
PR: Of what, then, do we partake? PREC: THE WATERS-OF-SLEEP.
PR: Then give me the Waters-of-Sleep.
The Consecration
(The Priest/ess takes the chalice from the Server, who fills it if it is not already full. The Priest/ess then consecrates its contents with the follow-mg)
O Dalon Ap Landu, descend once again into these waters, and hallow them. Give us to know Thy power and the promise of life that is to return.
change of blessings. Then the Druid/ess takes the last sip returning the remainder on the altar or fire, saying:
PR: To thee we return this portion of thy bounty, O our Mother, even as we must return to thee.
The Meditation
(Here follows an appropriate reading, from any Nature-oriented scripture that the Priest/ess may choose, read by the Druid/ess or by someone appointed for that purpose. After this comes a few BRIEF words of meditation from the Priest/ess and a period of silence and private mediation (usually two or three minutes in length—though longer with some Groves) by all. Eventually, the Priest/ess signals the end of the Service with:
The Benediction
PR: Go forth into the world, secure in the knowledge that our prayers will be answered, that the bounty of life will return to the face of the Earth, and then will the Earth-Mother shower Her blessings upon you:.
Drawing the Sigil in the Air
The Priest blesses the Grove with three Sigils in the air, left to right, saying:
Peace! Peace! Peace!
Ordinations
No ordinations are normally done in the Winter Half of the Year.
The Communion
The Priest/ess drink from the chalice and blesses the Preceptor with the words, "the waters-of-sleep," and the marking of the Druid Sigil in the air.
The Preceptor returns the blessing and receives the chalice from the Priest/ess. The Preceptor drinks, blesses the Server, is blessed in return, and gives the Server the chalice. The Server drinks, then goes around the circle of the Grove (usually clockwise) blessing each person, handing them the chalice, letting them drink, being blessed in return and taking the chalice to the next person. The Server does not drink more than once.
In some Groves, the Priest/ess may merely turn to the left and exchange blessings with the person to that side, letting the chalice be handed around the circle by the members of the Grove.
In either method, the last person in the circle should not finish the contents of the chalice. This is returned to the Priest/ess with a last ex- 100
Ordination of Second Order Druids
To be inserted after the consecration and before the meditation in the Order or Worship. It can of course be the sole purpose of the Order of Worship, or an incidental part. It is generally only done in the Summer Half of the Year as it requires Alcohol or Potent-Sugar water. Usually the PRIEST of the service asks if anyone wishes to enter the Second Order after having consecrated the Waters..
The Ordeal
(Hand the candidate all the remaining waters-of-life) PR: Take and drink—all of it!
(Return to the Order of Worship, usually at the Meditation, which may be just watching the staggering initiate!)
Another alternative is to bring the aspirant forward during the Order of Worship's invocation and after asking the Questions, shown below, have the aspirant respond to the normal Catechism of the Waters. After the Consecration of the Waters, proceed to the Sealing to the Second Order.
(NOTE Have everybody sip the Waters before the initiate, but leave plenty for her/him to drink. It is often a good idea to consecrate a second chalice to ensure that enough Waters will be ready for the Aspirant's ordeal.)
Invocation
O Earth-Mother, bountiful and ever flowing forth, we Thy children, invoke Thy blessing upon this aspirant to serve thee.
Questions
PR: Do you, in full consciousness, promise to serve faithfully the Earth-Mother, ministering to Her followers, and following you duties as a Druid of the Second Order to the best of your ability? Do you?
Aspirant: I do. (or close enough)
PR: Do you understand from whence comes the source of all life, and the nature of the source of all life? Do you?
Aspirant: I do.
PR: Do you understand the partaking of the waters-of-life, and the sacrifice of life that we offer-up to our Mother? Do you?
Aspirant: I do.
PR: Are you ready, then, to be sealed up to the service of the Earth-
Mother? Are you? Aspirant: I am.
Sealing to the Second Order
(PRIEST dips fingers in consecrated waters and makes a Sigil on forehead of the candidate every time the word "seal" is spoken in the following:)
In the name of the Earth-Mother;
I seal you to Her service in the house of the spirit of the South. I seal you to Her service in the house of the Spirit of the North. I seal you to Her service in the house of the Spirit of the West. I seal you to Her service in the house of the Spirit of the East. Finally, I seal you to the service of the mighty, the blessed, all powerful and fertile All-Mother Earth, thus consecrating your life to Her cause.
Unlike the other Orders of Reformed Druidism, there is not fixed liturgy of ordination. There is a general custom which can be elaborated upon as the Priest sees fit.
Usually the Priest will ask for aspirants to the First Order as the waters are about to be passed around. The Priest will go to the aspirant and ask if the aspirant believes in the two Basic Tenets of Reformed Druidism:
1. The object of the search for religious truth, which is universal and a never-ending search, may be found through the Earth-Mother, which is Nature; but this is one way, yea, one way among many.
2. And great is the importance, which is of a spiritual important, of Nature, which is the Earth-Mother; for it is one of the objects of Creation, and with it do people live, yea, even as they do struggle through life are they come face-to-face with it.
If the aspirant replies affirmatively, the Priest takes the chalice and dips their fingers in the Waters and draws the Druid Sigil on the forehead of the aspirant. Then the aspirant drinks some of the Waters. The Priest then declares them to be a First Order Druid.
If there are several aspirants, say a dozen, instead of going through each separately, they may be ordained as a group with separate head-annoitings.
Another custom has developed at Carleton of anyone of the first or second orders being able to ordain another person into their own orders, in the absence of an existing Priest.
The 13-Fold Mystery
I am the wind which breathes upon the sea, I am the wave of the ocean, I am the murmur of the willows, I am the ox of the seven combats, I am the vulture upon the rocks, I am a beam of the sun, I am the fairest of plants, I am a wild boar in valor, I am a salmon in the water, I am a lake in the plain, I am a word of knowledge, I am the point of the lance of battle, I am the God who created in my head the fire,
Who is it who throws light into the meeting on the mountain?
Who announces the ages of the moon?
Who teaches the place where couches the sun?
Invocation
I invoke the land of Erinn, Much-coursed be the fertile sea, Fertile be the fruit-strewn mountain, Fruit-strewn be the showery wood, Showery be the river of waterfalls,
Of waterfalls be the lake of deep pools, _
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