Grove of the Other Gods ADF
Spring Ritual Trance Journey to Manannan Mac Lir
03/23/03Sources:
Voyage of Bran mac Ferbal in the Land Beneath the Wave
Defense of the Chair
Cormac's Adventure in the Land of Promise (Cormac’s Cup)
Manannan's Crane Bag (From a poem in a collection known as Dunaire Fionn
P.90 Colluquy of the Sages
Manannan's stories in the Mabinogion
Manannan as Trickster and Lover and King
(From the Cauldron of Poesy lectures by Erynn Darkstar and Tain Bwca)
Lady Gregory's stories
Our own combined experiences at the beach....
A Script of Sorts(!)... by Jen Martin (Jenniforensic) and Edwin Chapman:Norma blows conch shell to open ritual
Earth mom - Make offering - Norma
beach meditation -Jen
Close your eyes and draw in a deep breath... and hold... and exhale... and another... and hold... and exhale... listen to the sound of my voice...
As you breathe in, feel the air begin to grow just a little more damp... and heavy... you smell salt, taste it on your lips... and exhale, adding the moisture of your own breath to the salty breeze...
As you listen to my voice, you hear the constant roar, the ebb and flow, of the gray ocean... rising, falling... rising, falling... even as you stand on the reassuringly firm but giving sandy earth... rising, falling... you find yourself breathing in tune with the gentle cadence of the crashing ocean...
You are standing on the dunes of a beautiful beach at the cusp of sunrise... look around yourself, really look... what do you see there? This is your beach... what makes it your own... ? This place is yours and no one else’s... it lives in your mind and in your heart...
Look up into the gray sky above, tinged with the slightest rays of the young sun at dawn... what colors do you see there... ? Could it be purplish, as the steel-gray dawn begins to give way to the rising sun... ? Do you see the wispy clouds high above, outlined in the light heralding the coming of day... ? It feels misty and damp in the pre-dawn fog...
Look about you, into the dunes... what do they look like for you... ? Do you see wood pilings sticking up through the sand, like the bones of a long-dead giant still sleeping beneath the surface of the beach?... I s it rocky, with jagged boulders forming a path leading out into the sea... ? What else do you see... ?
As you listen to the cadence of the ocean, turn your gaze to look upon it... how does it greet you... ? Do you hear its voice bidding you welcome to this sacred place, feel the ocean damp against your skin... Do you smell the briny deep as it travels along the currents of the breeze... ? What else do you see here, in the peaceful pre-dawn? Take a moment to absorb your surroundings...
outsiders -Ed
Look at what you are wearing.... the air is heavy and misty, the breeze is slight... but you feel safe, warm, and you can leave behind those things you don’t need on the beach... feel free to remove your shoes and socks if you want to... anything else that might encumber you...
You might notice that you’ve got a purse or a bag or that you’re wearing a backpack... What’s in it? Is it heavy with the cares of the world? All sorts of stuff that you don’t need on your voyage? Why not leave it here? Leave your cares, your tensions, your cell phone, your laptop, your books and your business... Set your purse or pack down on the sand... notice how good it feels to take that weight off your shoulders. Leave it all here on the shore, you’ll pick it up when you get back... your life outside the magickal world will be waiting for you... it’s ok to leave your stuff here, it’s your beach...
Take a last glance around - look back up the beach - we are leaving behind all those who don’t need to come with us, those outsiders who might trouble us are staying behind - they’re off for a drink at Jack and Bill’s down the boardwalk. They wonder why we’re not coming with them, as it’s happy hour, but, hey, they understand we’ve got magickal stuff to do... places to go, people to see...
make offering to outsiders..
Get in boats - Jen makes first offering to Manannan
There... that feels better, doesn’t it?
As you look toward the ocean, you see a tall, stately figure in robes as grey as the steely sky, fuzzy in the pre-dawn mist... He beckons you, waving you forward with a gesture that communicates friendship and welcome...
The sea has calmed to a gentle ebb and flow... ebb and flow... you can see a boat beached just at the shoreline, waiting for you... you know that this boat is yours... what sort of a boat is it... ? Is it a simple skiff, a raft of wood, a dugout canoe?... Or might it be a grand yacht, glowing white as the dawn begins to emerge ever so slightly... ? See this boat, remembering every detail... it is, after all, yours... Run your hand along the bow... what does it feel like... ?
Sit down in your boat, make yourself comfortable... are you sitting on a wood bench or vinyl seating... ?
Look out toward the horizon... there is your guide, misty and grey, seemingly several steps in front of you on the surface of the water... with a wave of his hand, your boat pushes out from the beach and onto the water, and you feel just the slightest bump where the boat leaves the sand and floats into the ocean...
Your boat feels solid around you and you feel the clear, calm ocean cradle you gently but firmly as you move peacefully forward, following your guide in the distance...
voyage out -Ed {adapted from Voyage of Bran mac Ferbal in the Land of Promise}
Manannan beckons to you, his waves carry you out in gentle swells... you can feel the boat gently rocking, smell the salt in the spray. You let your fingers dangle in the water. It’s warm, briney, alive. Fish of all size glisten in the water... seahorses, too, and all sorts of sea creatures...
The rising sun is bright, the mist is clearing a bit, and now light sparkles on the water... Manannan says that to him it looks like a plain of bright flowers.... perfect rosy-coloured flowers ... although it still looks like the sea to you...
You watch speckled salmon leap from the sea, and you’re told that in Manannan’s eyes they are calves, they are coloured lambs, who cavort like friends... and so they are...
As far as you can stretch your glance, the waves pour like honey in the land of Manannan mac Lir... The sun is shining on the sea, on which you ride... the mist is lifting, the magickal bright hue of the sea, on which you are carried, yellow and azure spread out all around you... and while you believe you’re sailing in a boat, in Manannan’s eyes you are riding in a chariot... what looks like the sea to mortals, is land to Manannan mac Lir.... and as he says this, you begin to see it too... You ride quickly now, you’re in a chariot or a coach, racing across the land, but the way is smooth, not rough...
and though you see much in Mag Mell, there are many things on its surface you can’t yet see... you look around... the landscape becomes clearer... the surface more and more like land... what do you see as you ride along in the Land of Manannan mac Lir...?
sacred fire - 3 circles of fire - (Defense of the Chair) - Jen
And we have arrived, in the Land of Promise, the blessed province of Manannan Son of Lir, “where no one is afflicted with age or illness,” a place of beauty, and happiness, and peace. And blessed, indeed, are we to be in this glorious place, beloved of Manannan, “surrounded by three circles of fire,” fire that nourishes life, that protects, that manifests Spirit, that brings us light and warmth. Fire that is just as important to us who dwell in this realm as it is to those in Manannan’s Country. The fire of the sun grows stronger as winter draws to a close and spring begins to peek over the horizon, melting the last of the lingering white Mantle of Brid, releasing the nourishing water into the earth, allowing the cycle of growth to begin anew... Sacred Fire, accept our offering...
well - fountain Ed (Cormac’s Cup)
We’re approaching a large fortress in the midst of a plain, a fortress with a wall of bronze around it... the gates to the fortress have been left open for us, they are expecting us... inside the fortress are four more great fortresses, and in the center a vast palace, its beams bronze, its posts and wattling white silver... and its roof thatched with the feathers of countless white birds...
a host of fairy horsemen surround the house, and part to let us through... we left our outsiders at Jack and Bill’s on the beach, everyone here is a guest of Manannan. Outside the palace, we see a man kindling a fire with a huge oak tree... they’re preparing for a celebration...
In the center of the courtyard you see a great shining fountain, a sacred spring with five streams of water gushing forth... and many people are quenching their thirst in that water as it splashes high up out of the fountain and rushes away in five directions... the fountain makes a powerful roar, yet sounds like tiny bells where it splashes down into the streams... light swims in the water, and you see that there is magick here... magick that encourages growth, magick that nourishes the springtime... we approach the fountain and honor it with our offering... Sacred well, accept our offering...
sacred tree -Jen (Cormac’s Cup)
Looking at the fountain, you see nine trees growing over it... purple hazels, the Hazels of Boann. Their roots reach deeply into the earth, and their branches soar into the sky above, shading the fountain. As they lean over the water, the trees drop their nuts into it... .. one... .. by... .. one... .. by... .. one... .. There are five salmon in the water, and they take the husks from the nuts and let them go floating down the stream, gently flowing into the arms of the sea, into the arms of Manannan... .. Sacred well, accept our offering...
the door -Ed
Across the courtyard, and up three steps, you see a door - the door to Manannan’s Palace, his place between the worlds... See the door before you... note its texture, its shape... it’s a magickal door, different for each person who wishes to enter... we’re told that some will see runes carved on the door, some will see writing in their own language... some will see designs, intricate and fascinating... magickal signs and sigils... some will see a plain door, wooden or steel, or the door to a hovel, while others will see a golden door of magnificent size, the door to a palace...
reach out your hands to the door....
knock once each for well, fire and tree -Jen-
Before we knock on this door, the door that is/are the gates, we call out to Manannan:... We stand at your door, dear Friend and Guide, Gray One to whose beautiful and happy home we have traveled long, here to celebrate with you, to share our joy and friendship. To be with you, though, we need to ask you once more to aid us along our way, dear Manannan, Sun-Dappled Wanderer, Wise Trickster and Honorable One, we will do all we can where we are, if you will but allow this well to be a gate (knock), this fire to be a gate (knock), this tree to be a gate (knock)... and Manannan MacLir, Keeper of the Ways Between the Worlds, LET THE GATES BE OPEN !
We thank you, Manannan, for opening the gates once more. Now that we are in this space, well and truly between the worlds. (You can open your eyes if you wish to, take a deep breath...)
Thank you Manannan - second offering to Manannan made
Now we are well and truly... in the otherworld... lets take a deep breath, hold it, now exhale slowly.. you can open your eyes if you wish to...We’re going to bring our friends into this sacred space, beginning with Brigid...
(From here we pretty much followed the standard ADF liturgy... )
(Ed cue Betty for Brigid invocation) Make offering to Brigid
Jen cues up Ancestors, Nature Spirits, Goddesses and Gods... Makes offerings
Main Manannan Invocation! Ed and Jenn alternate - Third offering to Manannan
(For the main invocation for Manannan, we bounced back and forth off each other, which was really rather cool. We invoked him with attributes as “dear Teacher and Friend,” “Gray-eyed Instructor,” “Salt-bearded mariner,”... I didn’t write them down... )
We are here to entertain and praise our host and our company, and give them gifts! Praises...
Big end-of-praise thingie: Ed throws a cup of whiskey in the fire
(After the praise, I said that we need to take a rest after all of that... why not sit next to the fountain? ... and we described it as the fountain from Cormac’s Cup, and we explained that each of the 5 streams carries its own blessings, and the blessings of each of the 5 senses (read the omens for senses) go into the fountain that was the Waters of Life.)
Use ocean drum...
Ed reads from Cormac’s Cup:
(OK - everyone sit back and get into a comfortable position again... take a deep breath and hold it... exhale slowly... try to ground yourselves a bit... Do you remember the fountain we saw earlier... the great shining fountain, its five streams of water gushing out, inexhaustible... all those people gathered around it, drinking.... the hazels hanging over it... the salmon swimming around it...? We turn to our Host, and say, “So, Manannan, what’s with the fountain?”)
Manannan tells us (Cormac’s Cup):
“The fountain which thou sawest, with the five streams, are the five senses through which knowledge is obtained. And no one will have knowledge who drinks not a draft out of the fountain itself and out of the streams. The folk of many art are those who drink of them both.”
Each of the five streams carries its own blessing... one for each sense... will the five senses and the five omen readers step forward? We’ll take an omen to determine what each sense will bless us with, or what changes we need to make as we use each sense...
Omens read.... one for each of the senses... (An omen reader was assigned to each of the people representing a sense and pouring the waters)
Jen: Pourers, pour the five streams of the senses into the bowl of consciousness... let our heightened senses enhance our skills and talents... let us be blessed by these waters...
Five pourers pour simultaneously into the bowl
(Jen- We used the old consecration phraseology which I liked.
We had water.
We brought water from all over for the well.
To get out I don’t have much of a script... we pretty much reversed the journey with Manannan saying “C’mon, I’ll take you home!”)
Ed: And now we’ll ask the Earth Mother to bless those waters also, in our standard way:
Of what does the earth mother give that we shall know of the continued renewal of life? THE WATERS OF LIFE and from whence do those waters come? FROM THE BOSOM OF THE EARTH MOTHER, THE EVERCHANGING ALL MOTHER and has she given forth of Her bounty? YOU BETCHA
Jen: The Old Gods have not returned... because they have never left us... They support the earth at our feet, and dance in the sky above us.
Jenn blesses the waters with the sickle.
Behold, the waters of life- (group repeats, with feeling...)
Passers-out, come on up and pass out. Let’s all get blessed. Hold onto your water until everyone has a cup.
The Waters of Life!
Everybody who wants to chugs a cup
And now we bless our Grove’s well:
Will the 5 senses come up and each pour a cup from their jug into the grove well.
Does anyone have water from their own special places they’d like to place in the well...
let us know where it’s from... WATER ONLY PLEASE!
Water from Nine Waves goes into well... Jenn, I, Norma, Betty, Deb, Sage, Carol and Patrick
visited the Jersey summerlands Wednesday....Pt. Pleasant... gathering Manannan’s Magickal 9-waves...
Jen: Bless Well.
Where the well runs deep it runs with the water of our own wells... mixed with the water of the other worlds...
Jen: Thank Kindreds
Ed: Thank Brigid....
Let’s settle down and take a deep breath again... hold it... exhale slowly... relax... close your eyes...because its time to go... the fairy folk part for us and wish us well... lets all gather together... as we say our goodbyes and slowly wander out of Manannan’s Palace in the otherworld... we walk past the fountain, with its circle of trees, and as we watch the fountain changes from a gate to back a magickal fountain... and as we watch, the trees change from gates back to trees... the fire in the distance changes from a gate to a magickal fire... and with Manannan’s help, we say, Keeper of the Ways Between the Worlds, Let the gates be Closed! “Let the Gates be Closed!”
Manannan will walk us home, on those three legs of his...
Jen takes them to the boats and over the sea to the beach
Ed has them collect their stuff - dont litter the beach
OK you see all the bags and backpacks and purses that you left here before... well, it’s time to pick up all of that again... you don’t have to open your baggage up here! just pick it up and throw it in your car or something... we don’t want to litter the astral beach...
Jen gets them off the beach and back to Sue’s
Let’s all wave Good-bye to Manannan - Keeper of the Door at the Hinge of the Seasons...
We look forward to seeing you in the Warmth of Summer!
