For reference, the text of the ritual can be found in the Spirit Valley Protogrove Public folder.
The ritual tonight was to Braid/Ffraid, a Welsh goddess not very unlike Brighid in Ireland. Braid is a goddess of wells, of health and fertility, of ale, and of dairy products. Our ritual, therefore, included a milk and ale blessing, both of which were quite short after the Braid invocation, and a tool blessing in which we blessed the implements of our crafts and spirituality with fire, water, and the power of the hearth goddess.
I think, in retrospect, it was good that the milk and ale blessings were short, despite the fact they felt a little truncated at the time. We rounded them out nicely with more calls for Braid to accept the offerings, so ultimately, it was a good choice.
The omen for tonight was Eamhancholl, Ruis, and On, which I interpreted to mean magic and shelter allowing us to move forward. Sinann added, as she does, that it seemed very appropriate with talk of PTSD that had been shared during sumbl earlier that night.
Unfortunately, the ritual ended later than I’d like, partially because we started a full half-hour later than I intended. A couple of our members didn’t even get to enjoy the feast afterward, but we sent them home with a plate so they could eat and get to sleep on time. I love my feast blessing this time and I think I’m going to use it for future rites.
In any case, I would call this ritual a success, if for no other reason than we tried something new and it brought everyone closer together. I’m very happy with our group, the rite was well-attended (well, for a small group such as ours, anyway), and we seem to attract someone new who at least spreads the word about the rites every time. So I’m happy for now. I’m pleased.
Mists and Ice 