Rite of the Well of Wisdomby Rowan Fairgrove, 7/99Celebrants: Priest Priestess Fili or Bard Props: altar stones for all cakes & ale
Create Sacred Space
An altar in the center is set with 3 candles - blue, green & yellow - set in a triangle. Symbols/Images of the Gods, Ancestors and Land should also be present. The Priestess stands at the altar and says:
Priestess: The sky above us (draw spiral three times above) She lights the three candles for the realms and says: The fire of inspiration infuses the realms and links all beings to the inner fire of divinity. Call Witnesses
Priest: Hear us, O Mannanon, Horseman of the crested waves When the calling is complete All say: We stand outside of time, in a place not of earth, as the Old Ones did before us we join together in His name.
Priestess: Hear us, O Boann, Opener of the Bright Well When the calling is complete All say: We stand outside of time, in a place not of earth, as the Old Ones did before us we join together in Her name.
Priest: Hear me, O Ancestors Be welcome in our midst.
Priestess: Hear me, O Spirits of the Land
When the calling is complete All say: Be welcome in our midst. The Story
A bard or fili steps forth and tells the story of the Well of Wisdom (while thetale is told the stonesand cancles should be passed out to all) A very long time ago, in the Elder days of the world, when upon the earth plane no intelligence flew nor swam nor walked the ways of this world, there lived a young woman. She lived in the Otherworld which lies just a twist away from this world. And where she lived there was a well in the keeping of her parents. Beside this well of sweet water there grew nine trees, and marvelous trees they were for leaf and flower and plump hazelnut grew side by side, knowing no season in their growing. And as each hazelnut ripened it fell into the well where it nourished nine salmon of uncommon size and great wisdom. Silver they were on top to rival the hoards of the Lady Moon and radiant pale beneath as her light over the world. And each hazel they ate made them wiser and put another speckled mark upon their gleaming sides.
The young woman travelled both her world and this world and she wondered that there was no wisdom in this world. Beings lived and died and no spark of thought illuminated their living. She used to sit beside the well and tell the salmon tales of her travels and wonder whether there was any way to share the wisdom of her parents' well with the folks of the earth world. And over time as she spoke to the salmon they grew and grew with the wisdom and nuts until nine salmon in a small well were not finding life as comfortable as they once had and they asked her to free them. Troubled, she went to her parents and asked why the salmon were kept in the well and asked if they could be freed to swim the wider waters of the world. Her parents were upset that she had been talking to the salmon and told her never to go to the well again. Then they fell to quarrelling with each other over whether the knowledge of evil that would be released would overset the value of the knowledge and wisdom that would be released. The young woman crept away and felt very troubled by her parents' strife and worried about the fate of the salmon in the well.
For several weeks she stayed away from the well as her parents had commanded. But she found she could not sleep and her days no longer rang with happy song and sunlight. She felt terrible to disobey her parents but at last she crept to the side of the well and found that two of the salmon had died of their confinement. In her anguish she told the salmon that she would release them into the world so that they would be free and so that the peoples of the earth world would have the spark of thought and wisdom in their lives. She began to circle the well, going in the direction against the course of the sun (for she knew that the path from the Otherworld to this turns that way as the path from the earth world to the Otherworld goes with the sun), once around she passed and a second time and a third. Upon the end of her third course the sides of the well burst asunder and five streams flowed out of the well. The salmon and the young woman were swept up in the streams and carried out into the earth world. The salmon, being water bred, survived as they had been, but the young woman was swept away and felt herself dissolving so that she was a part of the flow itself. She gave herself in wisdom and compassion to the peoples of the earth world and thus water flows in all beings of earth, for we are become her children. And still today the hazelnuts fall and tumble into the well and flow out through the five streams which are the streams of our mortal senses and if we pay attention to what our senses tell us we can gain wisdom as did the salmon of the well.
The Priest comes to the altar and says:
Priest: We honor the realms
The Priestess comes forward and says: Each person has within three cauldrons with them to catch the the flowing inspiration of our senses. The first cauldron, the wellspring of life, our connection with the Realm of Water, is activated with song. So to begin our rite we will chant together. Envision a cauldron upright in the abdomen, the energy within swirling more freely and well as we chant.
The Priest comes forward and says: The next cauldron, our connection with the Realm of Earth, is activated by study, learning and meditation on natural objects. Hold the stone that you have been given and envision a cauldron upright in the chest, the energy within swirling more freely and well as we contemplate the stone. Learn from it all that you may. (a harp or drumbeat in a heartbeat rhythm may be played whilst the folk contemplate their stones) The Fili comes forward and says: The final cauldron, our connection with the Realm of Sky, is activated by inspiration from the Otherworld. Rather than studying as we did the stone, you must float and relax, seek to move into a receptive state. We will dim the lights and in darkness float and await the spark. You will remember your visions when the light returns. (The lights are doused and the harp or drumbeat returns. When the time is right the fili, priest and priestess standing back-to-back simultaneously light candles [lighters rather than matches are probably best] and shout, "Imbas!" Cakes & Ale
Bless the food and share it with each of the witnesses Priestess: I bless this bread. Priest: I bless this ale.
Both: We bless the Land that nurtured it and the Sun that gave it power. Close
Priestess: Spirits of the Land, Foundation of growth and life
Priest: Ancestors, Parents of all that lives
Priestess: Ainé, Lady of the Nine Hazels
Priest: Mannanon, Lord of the Cup of Truth Snuff three candles for the realms and say:
Priestess:The fire of inspiration infuses the realms
The sky above us (draw spiral three times above) Notes: Each person has within three cauldrons with which to catch the the flowing inspiration of our senses. These cauldrons are somewhat analogous to chakras. The positions of the cauldrons, upright or inverted, indicate whether they are activated to catch the flow. The first which is housed in the abdomen, is simply the Cauldron of Warming and is activiated in all people for it represents the wellspring of life, our connection with the Realm of Water. The second cauldron, the Cauldron of Motion (or Vocation), is in the torso and is turned upright by learning and acquiring skill, it is our connection to the land. The third cauldron, Cauldron of Knowledge (or Wisdom) is in the head and to turn it we must receive illumination/ inspiration from the Otherworld. This is the cauldron of the realm of sky. For more information see: |
Copyright 1999 Rowan Fairgrove. May be freely performed but may not be reprinted without permission.
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