A Simplified Version of ADF Ritual

A Simplified Version of ADF Ritual

All gather about a table. In the center of the table is an oil lamp or a long burning candle. There are also two bowls, a bottle of beer, and a pitcher of mead or apple juice. Someone says:

We propitiate the Outsiders.
May they not disturb our rites.
May we form our Cosmos
in the midst of Chaos.

Someone pours the beer into one of the bowls and takes it outside. It is left there until the following day. If that is not possible, it is poured out on the ground. When the person comes back in and joins the others, someone says:

Let us pray with a good fire.

Someone lights the lamp or candle. Then someone pours about a third of the mead or apple juice in the remaining bowl and says:

We make offering to the gods.
May their power be with us this day.

Someone pours another third of the mead or apple juice in the bowl and says:

We make offering to the ancestors.
May their wisdom be with us this day.

Someone pours the rest of the mead or apple juice in the bowl and says:

We make offering to the nature spirits.
May their blessing be with us this day.

Someone says:

The waters support and surround us.
The land extends about us.
The sky stretches out above us.
At the center burns a living flame.
May all the kindred bless us.
May our worship be true.
May our actions be just.
May our love be pure.
Blessings and honor and worship to the Holy Ones.

Then perform such work as you wish; offerings, a meeting, or whatever. After the work, return to the table and once more gather around it. Someone holds up the bowl and says:

The kindred have blessed us with their presence.
May we go on our way, filled with their blessings.

Someone carries the bowl outside and leave it overnight or pour it out. When that person returns to the table, someone extinguishes the fire and says:

Extinguished without
but burning within.
The living fire flames within us.

This ritual may be used for a variety of purposes. It was originally written for opening and closing a grove meeting, but it can also be used as a solitary rite. If used that way, the "work" portion can be removed, a devotional rite to one's patron can be inserted, or magical work can be done. The ritual can even be used to open and close informational meetings, presentations, etc.

I have left the division of labor in this ritual up to the participants. Everything may be done by one person, or each part by a diffferent person, or any variation in between. "Let us pray with a good fire" is from the Rig Veda 1.26.8, O'Flaherty's translation.

There are two references to the three functions in this ritual. The first is the section "May our worship be pure, may our actions be just, may our love be pure." In this section, the functions are in the order 1, 2, 3. In the section "Blessings and honor and worship to the Holy Ones," they are in reverse order, 3, 2, 1.

 

Page Information:
"A Simplified Version of ADF Ritual." submitted by CeisiwrSerith on 15 May, 2019. Last modified on 19 February, 2022.
Page URL: https://www.adf.org/rituals/general/simple-adf-ritual.html

Related Pages: General Rituals


Request Update or Rate this page ~ Flag for Archive ~ Highlight for Featuring
 ~ Submit an article or ritual for the website ~