Nemos Ognios begins and ends its meetings with a short ritual. These are actually two parts of one ritual, making the metting itself part of the ritual.
Opening ritual:
In the center of the kitchen table is an oil lamp. Around it, arranged so as to be convenient for those who will be using them, are a small pitcher and bowl of milk, a bowl of water, matches, a pitcher of honey water (one tablespoon honey to one cup water, with a tablespoon or so extra to sweeten it some more; make enough for each person to have their cup at least two-thirds full, plus enough for two more), a large bowl to pour the honey-water in, a ladle, and enough cups for everyone, plus two. One of the extra cups will be for the Kindreds, and the other to stand as a symbol of hospitality, the idea being that if an unexpected guest were to show up they could be accommodated. The large bowl and the pitcher are to the left of the person who will be pouring the honey water. This ritual is generally performed in my house, where I have an icon of Brighid next to the stove, with an oil lamp in front of it. If it were to be performed elsewhere, there should be either an oil lamp or a candle by the stove. The offering to the hearth goddess is performed by a guest as a thanks to the house spirits for their hospitality. In accordance with ancient tradition, this should be done by a woman or girl if possible.
All gather about the table, and are purified, either by passing a bowl around so each can do their own purification, or, if there are too many for this, by sprinkling, with the prayer:
May we be pure that we might cross through the sacred.
May we cross through the sacred that we might attain the holy.
May we attain the holy that we might be blessed in all things.
Next someone who doesn't live in the house pours the milk into its bowl and says:
We offer thanks to the spirits of this home
for protecting and blessing us while we are here.
She takes the bowl and brings it to the Brighid’s lamp. When she has returned, someone says:
Let us pray with a good fire
and lights the lamp.
Another person sings, making the appropriate gestures:
The waters support and surround us
They make a semi-circle with both their hands, extending upwards from a point. They sing:
The land extends about us
The put their hands in the middle of the top of the semi-circle, palms downward, and bring them out to the ends of the semi-circle. They sing:
The sky stretches out above us.
They make another semi-circle upwards from the edge of the other one, with their hands meeting at its top. They sing:
At the center burns a living flame.
They hold both their hands, joined together, out towards the fire, and then bring them in to touch their heart. They sing:
May all the Kindreds bless us.
May our worship be true.
Others: May our worship be true.
Singer: May our actions be just.
Others: May our actions be just.
Singer: May our love be pure.
Others: May our love be pure.
All: Blessings, and honor, and worship to the Holy Ones.
(The parts for the main singer and those for the others overlap. Preferably, the last three lines of the singer are in one breath.)
Then someone else says:
Open the gates for us, Janus
All: Open the way.
The same person: God of beginnings, all that is new.
All: Open the way.
The same person: You who guard the sacred door,
All: Open the way.
The same person: From the land of the gods,
To the land of men,
All: May sacred power flow.
May Janus be our guide to the gods.
Next follows this prayer to Xaryomen, with someone singing the Proto-Indo-European words, and the others speaking the reply in English (which is a translation of the Proto-Indo-European):
Xaáryomen Dhétispotei,
Xáryomen, Lord of the Law of the People.
Sumenēsṇs prions dōtōr
Giver of well-disposed friends.
Suwester zdhi.
Be our good Herdsman.
Wedhe nōs som
Bring us together.
Xrneu nōs sḗm.
Make us one.
Tebhyo sṃgénse spendemes.
May we worship you as one people.
The person who has sung the PIE:
Unite us Xáryomen,
make us one,
All: May we come before the gods
speaking with one voice.
Someone pours about a third of the honey water into the remaining bowl and says:
We make offering to the gods.
May their wisdom be with us this day.
The same person pours another third of the honey water into the bowl and says:
We make offering to the ancestors.
May their power be with us this day.
The same person pours the rest of the honey water into the bowl and says:
We make offering to the land spirits.
May their blessing be with us this day.
They hold the bowl over the flame a moment or two, and then put it on the table to the right of the lamp.
Someone says:
Called to our presence
with prayers and libations,
the Kindreds are here
with blessings and friendship.
The lamp is left to burn during the meeting.
When the meeting is over, everyone gathers around the table again. The person who earlier poured the honey-water into the bowl holds it over the flame a moment or two, then ifts it up and says:
The Kindreds have blessed us with their presence.
May we go on our way, filled with their blessings.
They put it on the table to the left of the flame. Then then ladle the Waters into cups. They first fill one and put it on the table, saying:
May the Kindreds always receive their due.
They fill the rest and distribute them. The last cup they exchange with another member. All drink. When all have drunk, the person who earlier prayed to Xáryomen says:
Xáryomen, who guards society's peace,
you have joined us together in our worship today.
Though the rites may end and the people scatter
may our fellowship remain strong.
Xáryomen, we thank you for your presence and blessings:
who guides our grove in the way of the dhétis:
may we grow and flourish
under your benevolent gaze.
All say:
Tód hestu.
The person who earlier prayed to Janus says:
Janus, who opens the ways,
who guards the gate:
be always our guide to the sacred land.
Watch over and bless us.
Connect us with that which is holy.
Connect us with that which is sacred.
The person who earlier lit the lamp extinguishes it and says:
Extinguished without
but burning within.
All: The living fire flames within us.
Ritual with commentary:
All gather about the table, and are purified, either by passing a bowl around so each can do their own purification, or, if there are too many for this, by sprinkling, with the prayer:
May we be pure that we might cross through the sacred.
May we cross through the sacred that we might attain the holy.
May we attain the holy that we might be blessed in all things.
[In Indo-European thought, there is a distinction between what might be called the "sacred" and what might be called the "holy." The sacred is that which is set apart for the gods; it is to an extent tabu, and is therefore dangerous. It might be thought of as that which separates us from the divine. The holy, on the other hand, is unreservedly beneficent. It is the blessing which the gods give. In ritual terms, the sacred is the border to ritual space, which must be crossed if one is to get to the holy, which is the fire in the center.]
Next someone who doesn't live in the house pours the milk into its bowl and says:
We offer thanks to the spirits of this home
for protecting and blessing us while we are here.
She takes the bowl and brings it to the Brighid’s lamp.
[Brighid is the goddess of the hearth in my home. It is a widespread Indo-European custom for the hearthfire to be tended by a woman or a girl (or more than one). In the case of a public hearth, it was tended by unmarried women or girls: the nuns of Brighid in Kildare, the Roman Vestal virgins, and the widows that tended the hearth of Hestia in Greece. In the case of Vedic rituals, which were performed for the sake of a particular person, the hearth fire (the gāhapatya) was tended by his wife. The meaning of this is that the hearth defines the ownership of wherever it is, and in the patriarchal Indo-European cultures this meant the woman or women of the household. By having unmarried women tend a public hearth, the Indo-Europeans prevented the land as a whole from being passed into the possession of any hearth tender's husband. In this ritual the hearth is a public one, so, first, it should not be offered to by the owner of the house, and second, if possible it should be offered to by an unmarried woman or girl. Since the goddess of the hearth is also the goddess of hospitality, it makes sense that a guest make the offering, as a representative of all the guests, in thanks for her gift of hospitality.]
When she has returned, someone says:
Let us pray with a good fire
[This line is from Rig Veda 1.26.8.]
and lights the lamp.
Another person sings, making the appropriate gestures:
The waters support and surround us
They make a semi-circle with both their hands, extending upwards from a point. They sing:
The land extends about us
The put their hands in the middle of the top of the semi-circle, palms downward, and bring them out to the ends of the semi-circle. They sing:
The sky stretches out above us.
They make another semi-circle upwards from the edge of the other one, with their hands meeting at its top. They sing:
At the center burns a living flame.
They hold both their hands, joined together, out towards the fire, and then bring them in to touch their heart. They sing:
May all the Kindreds bless us.
May our worship be true.
Others: May our worship be true.
Singer: May our actions be just.
Others: May our actions be just.
Singer: May our love be pure.
Others: May our love be pure.
All: Blessings, and honor, and worship to the Holy Ones.
(The parts for the main singer and those for the others overlap. Preferably, the last three lines of the singer are in one breath.)
[This song begins with a description of the Indo-European cosmology, with sea, land, and sky. The gestures trace the shape of each. The last section first asks for blessings from the three functions of Indo-European ideology -- the priestly/juridical, warrior/physical force, and fertility/prosperity (in that order) and then offers in ways appropriate to these functions (this time in reverse order). The two portions are hinged by invocation of the fire, which is both cosmological, existing at the point between the Cosmic Tree and the Well, and ritual, being the fire of offering at the center of ritual space. "Living Flame" is doubly meaningful; first, that is what we call our fire of offering, and secondly, it is the meaning of the second word of the name of our grove, "Nemos Ognios."]
Then someone else says:
Open the gates for us, Janus
All: Open the way.
The same person: God of beginnings, all that is new.
All: Open the way.
The same person: You who guard the sacred door,
All: Open the way.
The same person: From the land of the gods,
To the land of men,
All: May sacred power flow.
May Janus be our guide to the gods.
[In Ár nDraíocht Féin, an important part of ritual is the invocation of a deity who will aid us in approaching the other gods. Since one of the founders of Nemos Ognios worshiped in the Roman tradition, we early on adopted Janus, Roman god of beginnings and of doors, for this function, and as one of the patrons of the grove.]
Next follows this prayer to Xaryomen, with someone singing the Proto-Indo-European words, and the others speaking the reply in English (which is a translation of the Proto-Indo-European):
Xaáryomen Dhétispotei,
Xáryomen, Lord of the Law of the People.
Sumenēsṇs prions dōtōr
Giver of well-disposed friends.
Suwester zdhi.
Be our good Herdsman.
Wedhe nōs som
Bring us together.
Xrneu nōs sḗm.
Make us one.
Tebhyo sṃgénse spendemes.
May we worship you as one people.
The person who has sung the PIE:
Unite us Xáryomen,
make us one,
All: May we come before the gods
speaking with one voice.
[Another part of ADF ritual is an action of unity, to make those who are worshiping a single people, who might therefore approach the Holy Ones with unity. In this way, any offering made in the course of the ritual is one given not just by the person performing the action, but by everyone. Since the other founder of Nemos Ognios worshiped in the Proto-Indo-European tradition, we chose a PIE god for this function, and as a second patron of the grove, Xáryomen, god of social unity.]
Someone pours about a third of the honey water into the remaining bowl and says:
We make offering to the gods.
May their wisdom be with us this day.
The same person pours another third of the honey water into the bowl and says:
We make offering to the ancestors.
May their power be with us this day.
The same person pours the rest of the honey water into the bowl and says:
We make offering to the land spirits.
May their blessing be with us this day.
[The sacred drink of the Proto-Indo-Europeans was mead. We use honey water in case there is someone present who can't drink alcohol.'
They hold the bowl over the flame a moment or two, and then put it on the table to the right of the lamp.
[The honey water is transfered, through the fire of offering, from the mundane side (left) to the sacred side (right).]
Someone says:
Called to our presence
with prayers and libations,
the Kindreds are here
with blessings and friendship.
[The Kindreds are the deities, the ancestors, and the nature spirits.]
The lamp is left to burn during the meeting.
When the meeting is over, everyone gathers around the table again. The person who earlier poured the honey-water into the bowl holds it over the flame a moment or two, then ifts it up and says:
The Kindreds have blessed us with their presence.
May we go on our way, filled with their blessings.
They put it on the table to the left of the flame. Then then ladle the Waters into cups. They first fill one and put it on the table, saying:
May the Kindreds always receive their due.
[The honey water is now transferred back to the mundane world, having been blessed by being in the presence of the Holy. Part of the honey water is given again to the gods, just as part of a sacrifice was given, in ancient times, into the fire as an offering after the animal had been made holy by being sacrificed, and the rest was consumed by the people present.]
They fill the rest and distribute them. The last cup they exchange with another member.
[The last exchange is so that everyone is given a drink; the ladler doesn't give one to themselves.]
All drink.
[The ritual now unfolds in the reverse order from which it was created.]
When all have drunk, the person who earlier prayed to Xáryomen says:
Xáryomen, who guards society's peace,
you have joined us together in our worship today.
Though the rites may end and the people scatter
may our fellowship remain strong.
Xáryomen, we thank you for your presence and blessings:
who guides our grove in the way of the dhétis:
may we grow and flourish
under your benevolent gaze.
All say:
Tód hestu.
[Proto-Indo-European for "So be it.]
The person who earlier prayed to Janus says:
Janus, who opens the ways,
who guards the gate:
be always our guide to the sacred land.
Watch over and bless us.
Connect us with that which is holy.
Connect us with that which is sacred.
The person who earlier lit the lamp extinguishes it and says:
Extinguished without
but burning within.
All: The living fire flames within us.
[This is a ritual primarily centered on giving and hospitality. There is an extra cup and extra honey water for the unexpected guest. The goddess of hospitality is offered to first. The honey water is given to the Kindreds. The Kindreds give it back to us, blessed by them. We give some of their gift back, keeping the cycle open. The ladler gives the cups out, and is given one in turn.]
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