Ritual Recap #1: Yule

So I haven't posted in a while, but I haven't fallen off the wagon. Yes, I let my DP work slide. However, I've retooled my schedule for the work, going forward.

Outstanding items:

• Performing my First Oath Rite (Week#2). I've written the oath, and it's published here. I'm going to use the sample ritual in the DPttWoY booklet. I'm hoping to do it tomorrow, as I'm off work and I just picked up a very nice new Well and Tree in the Cedarlight Grove  auction last night.
• Writing up my Yule essay (Week #3). The difficulty here is including too much information, and in finding information about how the ancient Irish may have celebrated the solstice. There are a few monuments, such as Newgrange, that line up with the sun rise (or in one case, IIRC, the sunset) of the winter solstice.

Week #4 is the first ritual recap. For me, this is Yule. I attended the Cedarlight Grove ritual last night. Our deities of the occasion were Thor and Freya. Heimdall was the Gatekeeper, and the rest of the ritual was in keeping with the Norse theme. We processed in singing "The Holly and The Ivy", a little off-key (I think singing in Pagan ritual wouldn't sound so pathetic if people would just go for it. Mumbling the words quietly so no one else can hear you singing doesn't really give a good effect. I'd have sang a bit louder myself if I could have seen the paper to read the words).

It was cold and very windy, and I'm a spoiled Wiccan who likes to have her rites indoors most of the time. However, there were two or three roaring fires, and I stood next to one of them. We arrived very late and missed the pre-ritual briefing and time to stake out a chair, so we had to stand for the whole ritual. That wasn't very fun... however, the Cedarlight ritual crew brought such mirth to the ritual, that I couldn't stay in a bad mood for long.

The Grove offered a beautiful hammer to Thor, and I enjoyed the creative use of multi-colored twinkle lights around the Tree to symbolize Heimdall's rainbow bridge. The sounding of the horn was comical, because it's really difficult to get a decent sound out of one of those horns! The lore of the season was imparted by a cute little play about Thor, Freya, and the Yule Goat. I was not aware of this Yule Goat thing before, so that was new.

Many brought praise offerings to the Gods. I did not, partly because I was in a rushed hurry to get things together for ritual (most of which was my own fault), and partly because I don't work with Norse Gods and don't feel much of a connection to them (despite my genetic ancestry being about 80% German). I did promise myself that I would take the time to bring offerings for Imbolc. While that will be easier, since Brigid is my patron, it will be my third Grove ritual (and hopefully my first as a Grove member) and it's just getting rude to show up and not have something for the Gods.

It was difficult to hear the Omen, as it was very windy, and I was all the way on the other side of the ritual space from the folks doing the Omen. The Yule Log was burned as a sign that the sacrifices had been accepted, and they were. With all the expensive beer flying around, I'm not surprised! This may only be my second Grove ritual, but this group does not stint on honoring the Gods.

The Gates were left open for the all-night solstice vigil, and we all went back inside for feasting and a fundraising auction. I won a little Well and a little Tree, photos of which will show up in a few weeks when I do the Home Shrine work. I also got an Isis Chalice for my husband, who works with the Egyptian Pantheon. And we had a lot of fun randomly talking about Doctor Who with one of the Grove members (whose name I will catch next time!)

So summing up...

• Positive ritual impressions: Norse pantheon work was interesting, as it's not my hearth culture. The printed ritual program allowed those of us who aren't really familiar with ADF rituals to follow along. Ritual space decorations were pretty. I definitely felt like I was walking with the Old Ones. And fire good.
• Not-so-positive ritual impressions: It was COLD, and once my toes started to go numb I found myself distracted from the praise offerings. I also had to stand up the whole time because there weren't enough chairs. It was hard to read the program because it was dark and I didn't have a flashlight. And it was hard to hear much of what was going on, I assume because of the wind, because the ritual space isn't all that large.

Lessons learned:

• I need to arrange things to get there early enough to hear the pre-ritual briefing. We were lost because we were late. We got no chairs because we were late. We had to park halfway down the street, and I didn't really get enough chance to ground myself prior to ritual. We were late because I didn't account for traffic on the way home from work, changing clothes at home, and rushing to Home Depot to pick up hand warmers. So going forward, I need to budget in an hour to get home from work, and everything needs to be ready to go. No stops for supplies and cash.
• Flashlights are good. If I pick us up a couple small clip-on book lights, those can easily clip to a piece of clothing and allow us enough light to see the ritual program without being distracting to others. I gave up following along after about 5 minutes because I couldn't see to read.
• If I want to talk to Grove leadership about joining up, it's going to have to be during a Sunday Rites of Caffeina, because it was an utter crush last night. I guess I should have expected that, as Yule is a popular holiday. And I want to get to the Rites whenever I'm not working, so that's not a hardship either. I was just sorry I didn't get more of a chance to socialize and ask questions.

This is not a verbatim piece of the ritual write-up I will submit with my DP documentation, as I haven't gone into detail on the COoR or anything like that. And I'll probably edit out some of the personal comments for length. I did really enjoy myself, and I'm glad I dragged myself out in the cold for it, because I didn't have anything planned to do alone at home and that would have pushed my year of rituals for the DP back again. However... going forward, I need to put more effort into planning praise rituals and participating in ritual. I know what's expected now, so there's no more excuses except laziness.

Blessed Yule! Hail the Gods!