Kristen's Amazing Quotes
from Grove of the Other Gods Samhain Ritual and Overnite Vigil!

"Didn't get some of things I would've liked to,
but writing in the dark is somewhat difficult." --Kristen

 

As people arrive

Attempting to bring about the Christian Apocalypse:
"...poking the eye of a Kali statue ... it's that kind of bad idea."

Jewish Rastafarians:
"...wearing his hardcore yamuka, and it's like, 'it's on now'..."

N, on Norma being unable to see her impressive dress during the ritual:
"Yeah, well, I was fresh out of glow-in-the-dark body paint."

Reefer Madness:
"It'll make you jump out of a window in like ten minutes."
"Samhain'll make you jump out a window faster."
"The correct answer is...Samhain Madness."

Broken Flashlight:
"Someone gave it to me and said, please for the love of the gods, make it work.
And I said, yes ma'am, just please stop hitting me. I find it's a good answer
for most things."

Doing Nothing for our Reputation:
"He called again today."
"Oh god."
"I was a bitch to him."
"Oh good, what did you do?"

"Ritual seppuku at midnight!"
"No, that's what we're doing at 3."

"Silence."
"Or violence!"
"-Silence-."

"Stop making fun of the fathers of Bozo the Clown."

Um, Thanks, I think?
The cameraman threatened to concentrate on one of the attendees all night.
"There will be so many pictures of you on the web it'll be scary."

"Towed. Toad. Hahahahaha..." Mark playing with a red stuffed frog.

Norma raffling her skull for the grove treasury:
"Take a chance, if I die it'll be famous."
"Die, Norma, die."
"I wish things like that wouldn't be said."
"It's okay, I'm down with it."

Don't Want to Know:
"Does she energize your throat chakra?"
"Not really."
"Well, she energizes my throat chakra - in my pants!"

"-hag."
"Never say that in front of someone who's about to turn --THIRTY!"

Pre-Ritual Briefing Mayhem

And We're Off, to...a Ringing Start:
"Come on in."
--cell phone goes off--
"Oh shit."

"Now we're going to see what it's like to be in communal darkness."

"Are you going to tell us a story?"
"I'm going to tell you a story about a ritual."

"For this ritual I want all of you to be my willow volunteers"
"You are responsible for the people around you, because we can't do it any
other way in the dark -- and that is the point of this ritual."

"That couch was meant for three people; if there's more, someone gets the goose seat."

"You look kind of earth-mother-like."
"Wrong story." (D as Raggedy Ann)

"Cthulu ritual, yay!"
"Not this time...."

Lyrics to ADF's Manannan Song:
"You are not singing, Mannanan, come kick my ass."
"It's the same thing."
"He's going to be gentle this time or he's not going to get any beer."
"He knows you're lying, because I'll give it to him anyway."
"That's why you're a popular girl."
"And that's all we're going to say about that."

Outsiders:
"I was going to say disruptive, but never mind."

"Alec Tribeck doesn't want to be at this ritual?"

Nej, coming in late:
"What am I?"
"You're the directions."

On Brigid's Jig:
"If you want to do the jig, you'll have to sing it. I don't want to get fired."

"Better the Brigid you know than the Brigid you don't."

Three Times the Charm:
"...but don't do that with the ancestors' song, or we'll be here all night."
"Um, Norma? We are going to be here all night...."

"Well, fake it."
"That's pretty much what I do in every ritual."
"That's the pagan way."

Future Ritual Ideas:
"I know, we haven't done --gags."
"Just think of the pictures."
"Isaac, in a place where he can't speak -- I think that's dress rehearsal for
hell for him."

About the All-Praise:
"I thought it would sound like nothing. What it sounds like is a rush of
power in the form of noise."

About the Magickal Working:
"What is the magickal working for this ritual? Passing out the fucking waters
in the dark."

Dubious Qualifications:
"You're a rock climber, you can pass out waters."
"Yeah, but the rocks don't move, they've been there for thousands of years."

Willows:
"Grounding? That's failure talk."

"The willows are all of you. When the lights are out, the willows are --you."

"Take care of your brothers and sisters."

"Grabbing my shoulder while I'm holding coffee is iffy for all concerned."

It Had to Be Said:
"Nothing to see here folks."
"These are not the druids you're looking for."

The Ritual

"Old ones who gave life to everything that is, give to us your presence."

Five Minutes In, and We've Lost the Well:
"If I were a well, I would be..."

Meditation:
"While it's dark here, just sit in nothing for a minute. Sounds get louder.
You can feel the presence of other people in the room."

"Bring some of that Samhain up into you."

"Most of us live with such a tight hold on our consciousness. And all of us
do that for security. But all you really need is the ground, and each other."

"Let yourself be more than that little skin. Let yourself be the magnificent
thing that you are when you let go of limitations."

Invoking The Directions:
"If you imagine where the bilé is, where you hear Norma's voice coming from,
is Southeastish [...] the Melody Bar.... the Roxy... [...]
say the names of places that are gone..."
"The couch against the wall is Westish [...] Towards the kitchen is Northish." [...]
"And above us, there used to be a lot more of an ozone layer."
"But we are at Norma & Ed's and here there are memories too."

"...light as a feather, stiff as a board that didn't work."

"Those drunk guys at the Greasetrucks."

"Places can be ghosts too."

(Interruption) :
"I'm going to kill who ever owns that cell phone!"
"Why does it have to be that song?"
"And, of course, the reason I don't want it to be that song is because it has memories."

Well:
"The well of the ancestors is unimaginably deep, unimaginably wide."
"It collects all of our experiences, and keeps them. What was, still is."
"Well of Memory, give us sweet, deep water. Good memories, memories that
stir our hearts."

Fire:
"It brings life, it brings vision, it brings memories."
"Because one candle in a dark room can be an tremendous amount of light."

Tree:
"Full of decay and what life once was, and has the potential to be again."

Manannan:
"As big, as unfathomable as a grey and angry ocean -- as present and human and
approachable as your dear friend, your patron, the patron of this grove."

Outsiders:
"It's memory that makes us restless. It's memories that make us know where
we were - and we know we don't want to be there again.

"Listen to us all fidget. And when the lights are on, you don't hear that."

"And now he's going down to the bar down the street. "
"Wouldn't be the first time."
::J returns::
"He loves to prove you wrong, doesn't he."
"Yes, he does."

"The city isn't like the suburbs. The city needs change. "

Brigid:
"There are always candles in Brigid's kitchen, as there are in this
kitchen."

"Brigid, who is creative, and sings even when it is hard."

Ancestors:
"So, so you think you can tell Heaven from Hell,
blue skies from pain.
Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?
And did they get you to trade your heroes for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change?
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?
How I wish, how I wish you were here.
We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year,
Running over the same old ground.
What have you found? The same old fears.
Wish you were here." *
"I miss you, Dan."

Nature Spirits:
"I'm tired of being silent."
"Nature doesn't get hands, they have to communicate with us other ways."
"What does it sound like when they bloom, when they grow, when they die."
"The sound of cities-"
"Where the fuck is my car?"
"Fucking tourists!"
"Surbubia."
"My car won't start."
"-goddamn deer!"
"The country."
"Cicadas!"
"Got a pretty mouth there, son."
"The car -not- starting."
Nature spirits!

Gods and Goddesses:
"They have seen our bloodlines rise and fall."
"Ra Ra Ra!"

[We sing Gods and Goddesses like a bar song. ]
"Damn, we sound better in the dark."

Memory (Mnemosyne):
"Before a soul would leave Hades, there was a small cult that believed they
should drink from the stream of memory, instead of Lethe, forgetfuless."

"Memory, daughter of Earth & Heaven, mother of the nine muses. She is the
one who gave everything a name. She helps us to know ourselves. She puts
each of our experiences in the context of the ones who came before."

"Without you, we're nothing to each other, and we're nothing to ourselves."

Ancestors:
"You are the ancestors, you are the descendants. You can be outside of time."

"Access those ancestors anytime, because they're always there."
"The building blocks of life have always been here. And you've always been
here."

Our Own Past Lives:
"There are bits of you scattered through time. That star shines through. "
"-and I ask, who's honoring you this Samhain? Who's burning a candle for you?"

"Names are a silly tag, they're only for right now."

The Omen (candle scrying):
"We're all inside the cauldron. All of us together. A collective."
"So what you folks are saying is we're invoking Cerridwen whether we mean to or not."

"Stepping away from some of the things we thought we understand in order to
understand other people. Turn down our personal shield to help others. You
might want to think long and hard about taking a sip. It's asking you to
open your heart, and that's a bitch of a hard path. That's the warrior's path."

"It's a talkative candle."
"It is."

Passing the Waters:
"Time to go back."
"Back to Hackensack?"
"No, not yet."
"Are you going to vanish in a puff of logic now?"

"You're charging the water with life and yourself."

Thank-Yous:
"Thanks Easter Bunny."
"Ground your asses, children."
"Say your names."

Grounding Meditation:
"That why we're here tonight, isn't it? Because we chose to grieve."

Thank-Yous:
"Oh, Mannanan, we love you."
"In what way?"

"Three legs he has, you know."
"Three legged, triskele, and the one eyed-"
"-hey, now!"
"You shower with him."
"Thanks, Vigil."

"Mannanan, you flaming wiseass, we thank you."

"Dear gods, make it stop."

"Bet he's a horse."

Post-Ritual Vigil

Marshmallows on skewers:
"Skewer, I barely knew her!"
"What does that matter?"

"It's raining peeps!"
"It's a miracle!"

"As we gathered under the marshmallow tree?"

"The peeps are on fire! We don't need no water, let the motherfuckers burn!"

"That's why everyone does this: it's not to praise the gods, it's just to
get the buzz."
"Ummmm.... not all of us, you know..."

"I don't want to go to ADF, gee mom, I wanna go home!"

 

(* Wish You Were Here, copyright Roger Waters, Lupus Music, Ltd. 1976)