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    • Mission & Vision
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  • Services
  • Calendar
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    • Prairie Tidings (Church Blog)
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Mountain Ancestors Grove, ADF

Prairie Tidings: Our Church's Blog

At our Center, There is Reciprocity: Reflections on the Omens from Solstice/Full-Moon Rites

6/20/2016

 
On Saturday, June 18th, our grove held our annual Summer Solstice rites, and for those who came, I'm impressed that we all made it through our rite... since thermometers were reading 100 degrees (f), May your piety not be rewarded with sunburns. 

As is our custom, we asked for an omen after we all made our offerings at the triple center. The omen is the blessing offered to the folk from the Kindred, after proper sacrifice has been made. When we afford the Kindred their own identities and individuality, we must also allow for an honest conversation to take place.

Mechanically speaking, if the proper offerings have been made, correct markers noted in ritual, and appropriate relationship affirmed, we have done our part in the *ghosti (being in reciprocal relationship) with the Kindred. Ritually, we have said, ‘we offer these things so we may be blessed from You.’ The omen is their response to our offerings and petitions.

I’ve explained this process to my friend’s daughter by equating the omen to someone’s response to asking them a favor. If I ask a friend to help me move, and I have mowed his lawn, watched his home while he was away, and changed the oil in his car, he is more likely to respond yes; however, as an individual, he could respond in ANY way… including denying my request. If we see the Kindred as real things, and not aspects of a larger, universalized whole, then it is the most beautiful expression in the relationship we have with them to interpret their answer through the omen… good, ill, or anywhere else on the spectrum. 

I absolutely LOVE the omens parts of our rites. I’m most grateful to be able to have a direct response from the Kindred Three in relation to the work just performed. Even if the omen is to wait and not know right now… I at least KNOW that I’m expected to not know. The relationships built with the Three could not last without their offering omens (and other blessings), and is as necessary as me making my offerings to them. You know… reciprocity, and all that. 

It's during this time we receive a blessing in return for our offerings, for reciprocal hospitality-practice is at the heart of what we do. 

For both the Solstice rite, and for the full-moon rites that followed later in the evening, in the middle position of both readings was the rune-stave for gift giving/reciprocity/hospitality... the stave, Gebo. At the heart of who we are, there is reciprocal-hospitality. 

It's common to hear it said around our Fire, that "... it's all about hospitality." This idea of right-relationship with hosting, as well as guest-ing, is everywhere. It's in how we pray, how we listen, and how we offer to another. It's in how we build relationships, how we approach the unknown, and how we engage humanity. 

When practicing hospitality and reciprocity with the Kindreds, we have to interpret what they're trying to tell us sometimes... with humanity, we don't need to interpret arcane symbols or uncover hidden meanings. We simply need to offer and listen, and that requires mindfulness. 

Be present. Be in right-relationship. Be the vessel for the blessings of the Kindreds. 

May our Omens shine through us all. 

A Joyous Affair: Rev. Badger's Ramblings from HearthFire Sanctuary 2016

6/2/2016

 
By Rev. Wm. E. Ashton, ADF

Our day began at 5am as we drove from Northern Colorado to Black Forest, thoughts of what we’ll need to do for setup and preparation to receive our first guests taking up the majority of our conversation. This would mark our grove’s third year of offering Beltania Festival a 24 hour-a-day place to pray, have access to professional clergy and pagan psychotherapists, and receive guidance and blessings on their individual paths. Each year since the beginning, we’ve received nothing but incredible feedback from our guests for our service, and to see “regulars” returning to receive the next piece of life’s puzzle from “the Druids of HearthFire” is a blessing for all those who have given their time to this community service project.


To read more about how HearthFire came to be, and our previous adventures in sleep deprivation, click here.


I mention being deprived of sleep above, half in jest, and half in seriousness. We’ve learned much from the first time we lit the Fire, and each year, we get a little more safe and sane… including scheduled rest time, meals, and more trained, available volunteers. Even though we’ve grown and left behind our extreme asceticism from the first HearthFire, we still go twenty-four hours a day from the time the festival opens to just before it ends, and our warm Fire, and welcoming presence can be seen on each of our guest’s faces.


HearthFire isn’t all straight-forward and simple… just like the folk it serves, there’s an inherent diverse complexity. Challenges arise.


This year’s gifted firewood was damp and not fully cured, so keeping the Fire burning too extra vigilance, as well as oil. We took the challenge as an opportunity to practice, and held the space.


This year, during one of our scheduled mid-day rites, a guest in the middle of pious devotion, accidentally tipped over the 3’ tall pillar where our Well lives… the Well that holds all the offerings of coin given to folks’ ancestors. Down it came in the middle of things at the center of the Cosmos, holy water and shining offerings cascading across the courtyard… and then something tremendous happened:

Nurturing community arose.

Our guest was reassured that accidents happen (I like to say when things like that arise, “It’s a live show, folks”), comforted, and nurtured through what they experienced as very embarrassing. The folk in attendance all smoothly got up from their seats and went to work upholding the Cosmos… some to help the person who spilled the Well, others picking up sacred coins on their hands and knees in silence, while others yet started emptying their water bottles (a sacred act in and of itself in a high-plains desert ecosystem) into the Well refilling it.


No jokes were made, no ill feelings arose… in fact, there was a sense of peaceful joy in the whole scene.


We call what we do our ‘religious practice’, and that’s actually very skillful to do so. You see, when we make our offerings, build relationships, and receive guidance in our practice, we know what to do when it’s not ‘practice’ anymore. The questions we constantly need to ask ourselves is can we do what we do and see what we see when “shit gets real”?


The good Druids of HearthFire Sanctuary continue to put that question to the test…


… and our results are positive. 
Blessings, one and all!

    About the Name: Prairie Tidings

    One of the many names for a group of Magpies is "a tiding" of magpies. In 2015 this blog was used as a place for Rev. William, and Rev. Missy to share their experiences as church leaders, as well as goings on at the grove, opinions, and essays. After we got some dedicants trained in our unique work, it was unanimously decided by our board of directors to open the blog to all members of our church. So, we're a group of "MAGpies" (a tiding) sharing news, happenings, and our thoughts (tidings) with you all. 

    Thank you all for your continued support and interest in our work!

    ​MAGpies, please make all blog submissions to Rev. William, as he's managing the website. 

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