Lughnassad 2000 –
This was my first ritual with ADF, and was held by 6th Night Grove, and some members of Triskele River Grove also attended. The location was Glen Helen. The ritual was outdoors on a warm day, with Amergin presiding over the ritual. My friend Mitty had gone with me, but since he's Christian, he stayed out of the circle.
I went into the circle barefoot, which might have been a mistake. There were wasps everywhere that day, and they had a tendency to hang out near the feet.
This is where I first experienced the 2 Powers meditation, and it was awesome. I'd never really felt the power and presence of my Gods in ritual before that, but they were there for that ritual.
Summerland 2000 –
This turned out to be the largest number of people I had ever seen at one ritual. 6th Night was hosting the festival, and thus the ritual was led by Amergin. The Rite was held at Camp Clifton.
At this rite, I saw Inish give her Dedicant's Oath, and she also gave an awesome rendition of the Sayings of the High One.
My main feelings about this rite were a sense of community and belonging. It was kinda like coming home.
Samhain 2000 –
Again with 6th Night, we actually did two rites.
The first rite was very informal. We went to Ft. Ancient State Park and made offerings of tobacco and apples to the native spirits.
The second rite was a full ADF Rite for Samhain. The Rite was at Amergin's house, in his backyard Nemeton. I remember the Morrigan was invoked, and the Runes showed good omens (though Hagalaz was among them). I also met Sydney there, another person from Columbus (6th Night is based in Dayton).
Overall feelings: belonging.
Imbolc 2001 –
This rite included both 6th Night and Triskele Rivers. The patrons of the rite were Dagda and Brig, and I believe that Antonyus of Triskele presided. To be honest, I don't remember much of this one.
Beltaine 2001 –
I know I have a picture of this somewhere. . . Anyway, there were four rites at this Holy Day:
A) Welcome Ritual -
Triskele and 6th Night welcomed us in. Antonyus presided over this ritual
B) Main Rite –
There were three main groups represented here: Triskele River Grove, ADF; 6th Night Grove, ADF; and the Pagan Student Association at Ohio State. Since this ritual, the OSU PSA (through me) has been invited to and has attended a ritual with ADF each Beltaine.
There was a sense of togetherness that I haven't felt in the Ohio River Region (soon to be the Heartland Region now) until very recently. Antonyus of Triskele presided over the main rite, and some things stick out in my mind:
There was a lot of power. It just kept building.
There were two dogs present, both of whom decided that drinking from the sacred well was a good idea right in the middle of the rite. It was pretty funny.
There was an actual handfasting going on in the main ritual, and the couple playing the God and Goddess (Lugh and whatshername) were handfasted with the God and Goddess's merger. This was also the first time I ever saw real nudity at a ritual.
There were two fires set up outside the circle that we walked between to get to the maypole. It was the most successful maypole I had ever attended.
C) Mens' Ritual –
One of my friends had been to a Mens' ritual before, and it had left a bad taste in his mouth. He refused to come, but I think even he would have enjoyed this one. Antonyus led.
D) Closing ritual –
I remember that Antonyus also lead this one.
I left the weekend with a great sense of community and beauty. It was amazing.
Summerland 2001 –
Again this was hosted by 6th Night. This was one of my more amazing experiences with Summerland. There were three rituals at work here:
A) Opening ritual –
Amergin presided at this ritual. The thing I will always remember is that I saw the Earth come alive and MOVE while we were doing the Two Powers meditation. I feel like I wasn't supposed to see it, but I did. It was awesome to watch the ground physically move. I felt such power with that ritual, I can't describe it.
B) Unity Rite –
I felt so close to my friends at this ritual, and the strength of the ORR became very evident in this ritual. It was a feeling of beauty and closeness.
C) Sydney's Shamanic journey –
While actually not a part of the official program for Summerland, Sydney's journey was quite an experience. It consisted of walking, moving, and enjoying everything. It's really hard to describe what I saw and did.
Autumnal Equinox 2001 –
6th Night ritual, held at AC's. It was right after Sept. 11, and I remember Amergin warning people what his praise offering was going to be: divine justice from the Morrigan. A lot of us sought closure at that ritual, as well as protection, healing, and cleansing. I was barefoot that day (how I prefer to experience rites), but I had no ritual garb. I could still feel the power, though.
Amergin made a large sacrifice to Morrigan, and the result was that I felt cleaner. No one denied his calls for justice.
I felt a cleansing feeling more than anything else.
Samhain 2001 –
Again celebrated with 6th Night, we returned to Ft. Ancient and gave cider, tobacco, and apples to the spirits. We also rebuilt a ritual circle there.
I felt a connection to the place, and also felt the spirits thanks.
The main rite was at AC's again, and the purpose was mainly death, rebirth, and more healing. The Morrigan and Dagda were the Patrons for the rite, and the runes again showed Hagalaz. There were many questions with that ritual. I found myself seeking answers.
I also did a personal ritual that Samhain. On Isaac Bonewit's site, there was a call to help "close the gates" that had been opened on Sept. 11. So I did this. I invoked Cernunnos and Morrigan. I felt closure with this ritual.
Winter Solstice 2001 –
Location was Deer Run, and rebirth was the purpose. The patrons were Maponis and Cerridwen, and we sought to bring back the sun. The floors were cold as ice, and the fireplace was dumping smoke into the lodge instead of letting it out the chimney, but it was a good rite. I also mapped out the altar setup.
I received a feeling of belonging from the ritual.
Imbolc 2002 –
The location was Glen Helen, and Duir gave his dedicant's oath. I didn't know anyone could have so many patrons J Anyway, this got me to thinking about my own, and I resolved to do mine that day. The Patrons of the rite were Dagda and Brigid, and we all received Brigit's Crosses and individual candles with a burning flame to take home (mine didn't make it)
Power and hope were the feelings from this ritual.
Spring Equinox 2002 –
Also held at Glen Helen, the patron deities were Caer and Angus Mac Og. The theme was reawakenings, and mostly I just remember the feelings of hope that came with the ritual.
Beltaine 2002 –
This ritual was at AC's, and I actually participated as the young God Maponis. Another PSA member was the May Queen, Aine. I didn't get to participate in the maypole dance, but I did get to make fun of the old people trying to dance the pole. It was, in all, a very fun time.
Summer Solstice 2002 –
I played the Seer at this rite, and it was held at the UU Church in Yellow Springs. There were nettles everywhere, and there was the burning of a wicker man as a sacrifice. That was an awesome thing to watch. The potluck afterwards was a lot of fun, and I took a feeling of fullness from the ritual.
Lughnassad 2002 –
I'm not sure that 6th Night put enough effort into this, since my Lughnassad rituals are always the least remembered. I can't even remember where it was. Of course, as part of 6th Night, it's partially my fault for this, too. But 6th Night was also preparing for Summerland at this point, and Lughnassad always fell a bit to the side.
Summerland 2002 –
There were four rites that I attended here.
A) A set of welcoming prayers –
I was uncomfortable with this set of prayers, due to their reliance on the Directions and other Wiccan elements. There was also an admission of disunity, which I thought was a bad idea at a "Unity" weekend.
This left me very uncomfortable.
B) A handfasting –
Seeing Selene and Orion get handfasted was one of my favourite memories. Of course, half of a tree fell into the circle just prior to the ceremony, which made for an amusing omen, I thought.
The calling of quarters was done here, and they were offset by one direction (as anyone who had attended the opening prayers knew), but I think that's what you get when you ask a Druid to call quarters.
And the mead was excellent. The feelings of joy and happiness were extremely prominent after this ritual.
C) Unity Rite –
This was my Dedicant's Oath, and you can find a rundown elsewhere in my Dedicant's material. The feeling I got from the rite was one of unity, though.
Autumn Equinox 2002 –
Done in Highbanks MetroPark in Columbus, this was the inception rite for Three Cranes Protogrove, ADF, of which I am the Grove Organizer. Two of us showed up, but we had fun. We invoked Teutates and Brigantia. It was simple, quick, and painless. We made a good run, and had no difficulties.
I really got a feeling of fellowship from this.
Samhain 2002 –
Held at the same place as the Autumn Equinox rite, we ran into all sorts of problems. First, it was two dark, and we only had one flashlight and a low fire. We had some trouble finding the proper sacrifices, and not enough ribbons for the work. We made proper sacrifices, I think.
I definitely got the feeling of discord, but it was constructive. We were taught what not to do in the future.
Yule 2002 –
This rite was at the UUCE. We were hoping to do the ritual inside, but we were locked out, and it was painful cold. Our ritual also was written to be done inside, so I hadn't brought my best sacrifices. We got a fire started out back, and the circle was far too tight around the fire (with good reason!). One person was just there to observe, so did not participate in the rite.
We received a failure from the omens twice, but were finally accepted. We also had problems with the candles we were using because of the bitter wind.
Despite all this, I had very good feelings from the rite. I thought we did it very well.