Our Liturgy

Our Standard Liturgy: We use the ADF Core Order of Ritual to organize our rites and ceremonies. Here is a brief outline of how our rituals are organized.

Liturgical Language:

• Ritual/Rite: The specific religious ceremony planned and performed by the Protogrove.

• The Folk: The assembled participants of the ritual.

• The Kindreds: The non-human beings we interact with as part of our rites and practices.

  • The Ancestors and Descendants: The ancestral spirits and the potential of future generations who work with us.

  • The Hidden Peoples: The fairies, land spirits, and beings of nature who work with us.

  • The Shining Ones/Godden: The deities and divine beings who work with us. We use Godden rather than Gods to create a more gender inclusive worship space. 

  • The Outdwellers: beings who wish humanity harm or mischief. We don’t worship them but make offerings to create a truce with them.

• The Gates: The three component parts of the cosmic picture as defined by ADF. They are the fire, the well, and the cosmic backbone/tree. These gates allow us to connect with the cosmos and establish a sacred center. 

• The Gatekeeper: A deity or spirit asked by the Folk to  help open the gates and connect the center to the cosmos. 

• The Omen: The divination done during the rite to determine if our offerings were accepted and what the blessing/gift given in return is.

• The Return Flow: The latter half of the ritual where the folk are given a blessing by the Kindreds. Used to also refer to the gift itself sometimes.

• Ghosti: A Proto-Indo-European term meaning reciprocity. It implies the correct social connections we seek through worship and sacrifice to the Kindreds. It is a state of hospitality, generosity, and gifting that underlies ADF ritual. 

• Frith: An Old Norse term denoting a state of connection and peace that brings people together. Used to describe the state of fellowship and worship we engage in.

• Grith: An Old Norse term denoting a state of truce which we use to describe our desired relationship to the Outdwellers. 

• Blót: An Old Norse term used to describe the ritual sacrifice. We sometimes use this to describe our rituals. 

Core Order of Ritual

Pre-Ritual Briefing

• Explain necessary information to Participants

Initiating the Rite

• Musical Signal: A musical signal/processional to begin the rite

• Grounding and Centering: Preparing ourselves for the rite and creating group mind

Purification

• Purification: Removing unnecessary energies and preparing ourselves and our space for the rite. 

Honor the Earth Mother

• Honoring the Earth Mother: Honor the Earth Mother. We make an offering in thanks.

Bardic Inspiration 

• Honoring Inspiration: Honoring the spirit of inspiration to create greater eloquence and creativity in the rite. 

Statement of Purpose

• Officially state the goals, intent, and purpose of the rite in ritual space.

Recreating the Cosmos

• 3 Gates: Set up the triadic cosmos using the first sacrifice or Portals cosmology. In ADF this is centered on the 3 Gates of Fire, Well, and Tree. Fire is always necessary while the other two are optional. This step connects us to the cosmos, creates our sacred center, and the cosmic order in the Indo-European tradition. We use a Norse cosmology to connect with the cosmos.  

Opening Gates

• Honor the Gatekeeper: This step is used to evoke a deity or spirit to open the gates we set up at our sacred center. This opens the way to the cosmos and for the Kindreds to reach us and vice versa. This is visualized in many ways. 

• Open the gates: Official ritual act of opening the gates and connecting the whole cosmos at the sacred center. 

Inviting the 3 Kindreds

• Invite each Kindred: We use this step to invite the 3 kindreds to our rite and create a powerful space to do our rite. The Land spirits, Ancestors, and Shining Ones (Godden) are called. We make an offering to each in turn in thanks for their presence.  

• Establish grith with Outdwellers: We make a apotropaic offering to the outdwellers (beings that mean harm or mischief) to create a truce (grith) during the rite. 

Key Offerings

• This is the space of any important ritual activities, seasonal activities, inviting the beings of the occasion, and preparing for the main sacrifice. This will vary based on the rite and the purpose of the ritual. Ritual plays and dramas are a great way to do this.

Prayer of Sacrifice

• Main offering: We make the main offering of the rite to the beings of the occasion with a prayer and appropriate actions of sacrifice. This will vary by ritual. We use the same proclamatory statement to make our sacrifices reach the Kindreds.

Omen

• Offerings accepted?: We use this step to do divination via the Seer to determine if our offerings were acceptable to the Kindreds. This requires us to receive a positive sign (no action needed) or a negative sign (more offerings need to be given). Oaths, spoken prayer, songs, and poetry are all good backup offerings. If the offerings. If the omens are negative 3 times, we conclude the rite.

Asking for Blessing

• Blessings received: In the spirit of reciprocity, a gift requires a gift. The Kindreds will likely give a gift in return in the form of blessings. This is determined by divination and explained to the folk by the Seer. 

Hallowing the Blessing

• Sanctify and imbue the blessings in the cup: We put the blessings in the waters of life (usually mead for small groups or aspurging water in large groups). This allows us to distribute the blessing to the folk. We reiterate the blessing and put it in the return flow. We always ask the folk if they accept the blessings to build consent. 

Affirming the Blessing

• This step is used to distribute the blessing and give the folk the chance to contemplate the blessing for themselves.

Workings

• This step is used for special workings such as rites of passage, weddings, blessings, healing, or extra magical activities.

• Gebeorscipe: In State College, we have a tradition of doing Gebeorscipe in this step. This is a toasting ritual where there are 3 rounds. The Godden are toasted in the first round, Ancestors (dead and human) are toasted in the second round, and open toast in the third round. The toasts should be done with something other than water as is tradition. Water toasting is bad luck.

Thanking the Beings

• Thank and farewell the Kindreds: We use this step to thank the Kindreds and bid them farewell as is polite.

Closing the Gate

• Thank and farewell to Gatekeeper: We thank the Gatekeeper and ask them to help us close the gates.

• Close the Gates: We ritually close the gates and make the space as it was. 

Thanking the Earth Mother

• Thank and farewell to the Earth Mother: We thank the earth mother and bid her farewell with an acknowledgement of her constant closeness to us. 

Closing the Rite

• End the rite: The rite should be firmly and clearly concluded. A finishing grounding and centering may be done if there is extra energy that needs to be dispersed. There should be time for food and hanging out after, if  possible.