We Shall Mourn As The Sun Sinks Daily Lower But Still Yet Be Glad For What The Mother Does Still Give Us To Live With
We know, Mother, that as there is Bealtaine there must be Samhain, and as there is Samhain there must be Bealtaine.
WE KNOW, BELENOS, THAT AS THERE IS MIDWINTER THERE MUST BE MIDSUMMER, AND AS THERE IS MIDSUMMER THERE MUST BE AGAIN MIDWINTER.
As the sun began to climb, it must now begin to sink.
AS IT NOW BEGINS TO SINK, IT MUST CLIMB AGAIN.
All that comes must pass away. We praise thee, our Mother.
ALL THAT PASSES AWAY MUST COME YET AGAIN. PRAISE BE TO THEE, BELENOS.
Incantation to Midsummer
Given at Ma-Ka-Ja-Wan
O glorious sun, Won the fight, Light over dark, Stark nigh recedes, proceed to thy fullest, Best day today, May thy radiance Dance over all, Fall to give Living strength from on highs
Thy power goes through all, Belenos
KSWSKK«
Danny Hotz, Nelson, Fisher, unknown woman, & Frangquist, Hill of Three Oaks, 1964
The Invocation
Lord, overlook these three errors that are due to our human limitations:
Thou art everywhere, yet only here do we seek thee;
Thou art without form, yet in these forms do we honor thee;
Thou hast no need of prayers and dedication, yet of thine own self do we gather that which we dedicate to thee;
Lord, overlook these three errors that are due to our human limitations.
Here shall the priest and Preceptor together draw the sign upon the ground, and the priest shall step into it.
The Praise
Priest: Let us praise the Earth-Mother! She has smiled on her children.
Chorus: Three times since Beltane has the moon gone before us in her full glory, and three times has she fully hidden her glory from us.
Priest: In those three months the Earth-Mother has quickened the Earth and brought forth life upon it; and in these three months to come she will bring forth the fruit of this life.
Chorus: Yet as the moon now waxes near to full only to wane again, so at Samhain will the Earth-Mother withdraw from us a while.
Priest: Even so we praise her, for now at Lughnasadh the life which has grown through Samhradh comes to fruition, that we her grateful children may gather it to endure and remember her until she returns again at Beltane.
BOTH: Let us gather and praise the bounty of the Mother!
The Dedication
Priest: Our praise has mounted up to thee on the wings of eagles, our voices have been carried up to thee on the shoulders of the winds. Hear now, we pray thee, our Mother, as we offer up this dedication of life. Accept it, we pray thee, in token of the dedication of our hearts, and grant us awareness of thy presence with us.
(Here shall the priest place a stalk of wheat (or of field grass) upon the altar)
Priest: Hast thou accepted our dedication, O our Mother? I call upon the spirit of the North to give answer... of the South...of the East....and of the West.
Priest: Praise be, our dedication has been accepted. The Mother smiles on her children and brings forth of her bounty.
The Response
PRIEST: Of what does the Earth-mother give that we may know the continual flow and renewal of life?
PRECEPTOR: THE WATERS-OF-LIFE.
PRIEST: From Whence do these waters flow? PRECEPTOR: FROM THE BOSOM OF THE EARTH-MOTHER, THE NEVER CHANGING ALL-MOTHER.
PRIEST: And how do we honor this gift that cause life in us? PRECEPTOR: BY PARTAKING OF THE WATERS-OF-LIFE.
PRIEST: Does the Earth-Mother give any sign on this day of Lughnasadh to assure us that she will sustain life while she sleeps?
PRECEPTOR: OF THIS AT LUGNASADH WE KNOW BY THE
HARVEST-BOUNTY OF FOGHAMHAR. PRIEST: What token does the Earth-Mother give of this bounty to come?
PRECEPTOR: IN TOKEN OF THIS BOUNTY SHE HAS MIXED THE WATERS OF LIFE WITH THE GRAIN OF THE EARTH AND THE FRUIT OF THE TREE. Priest: Give me this token.
The Consecration
PRIEST: O Dalon Ap Landu, Lord of Groves, sprung from the Mother of all life, who is herself sprung from the life of us all: hallow this thy fruit by thy sevenfold powers, and by the three ways of day and one of night. Impart thy power to thy fruit that we who partake of it may know our unity with all life. Cleanse our minds and heart and prepare us for meditation.
(Here shall the cider be passed to all present. Then shall the priest pour the remainder on the altar, saying:)
To thee we return this portion of thy bounty, even as we must return to thee.
The Reading and the Meditation The Benediction
Priest: Go forth into the world of men, secure in the knowledge that our dedication has found acceptance in the Earth-Mother's sight, and that her presence is with us always if we do but open ourselves to her. May the peace of the Mother find each of you.
A reading for Lughnasadh
(From the Kekchi Indians of Guatemala)
Thou, O God my Lord, Thou my Mother, Thou my Father, Thou Lord of hill and valley. Now, after three suns, and three days, Shall I begin to gather my maize Before Thy mouth, before Thy face. A little of Thy food and drink gave I to Thee. It is almost nothing, that which I give to Thee, But I have plenty and good Of my own food and drink; Thou hast revealed it to my soul and to my life: Thou my Mother, Thou my Father. I begin therefore the harvest, But I am not this day ready for the harvest Without Thy word, and without Thy countenance. Who knows how many suns, how many days I reap? It is no quick matter to harvest from among the weeds. I can only complete it slowly. Who knows till when I can speak to Thee, Thou my Mother, Thou my Father, Thou celestial one, Lord of hills and Valleys? I will again speak to Thee: Wherefore not, my God?
From A.C. Bouget. Sacred Books of the World. Baltimore, Penguin Books (A283), 1967. p. 31.
Fall Equinox
Carleton 1987 by Heiko and Jan I. The Processional
II. The Opening Invocation to the Earth Mother III. Readings IV. The Sharing of the Waters of Life
A. Responsive Reading
Of what does the Earth Mother give that we may know the continual flow and renewal of life?
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