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Secular events, such as graduations, have their own secular rituals. Nevertheless, it is nice to recognize them with a religious one as well.
This is written to be part of an ADF ritual, but could easily be adapted for other ritual formats, or even be done as a stand-alone ritual. The Deity of the Occasion is one of learning, such as Ogmios, Hermes, or Vāc.
Perform your basic grove ritual, up to the point where the Waters of Life have been consecrated. Then the Priest goes to stand some distance from the Hallows, facing away from them. A large container of water, a washcloth, and a towel are brought, and the graduate is called. They go to stand in front of the Priest. A parent (or both), of the graduate (or another mentor if the graduate doesn't have parents) goes to stand behind them, slightly to the side. The Priest says:
[Name}, the time has come for you to pass from one state into another,
and so we purify you, washing away one state so that you might pass without excess baggage into the next.
A parent (or both) washes the graduate's face, hands, and bare feet with the washcloth, drying them with the towel. The Priest then says:
Do you pass willingly into your new life?
One or both of the parents whispers the answer into the graduate's ear, and they repeat it:
I pass into my new life,
willingly I pass into my new life.
The Priest then says:
Then wash away yourself your old one.
The graduate washes their face, hands, and feet with the washcloth, and dries them with the towel.
The Priest turns and walks two or three steps away. They are then give a staff, and turn to face the graduate. The Priest draws a line in the ground with the staff, and says:
Having come unwillingly to the border,
Having come willingly to the border,
Cross into your new life.
The graduate walks towards the line, followed by their parent(s). At the last moment, the parent(s) push them across the border. The graduate is steadied or helped to their feet by someone (or two) on the other side, and the priest says:
Stand steady in your new life,
stand with grace,
and live a life of beauty.
The Priest gives their staff to someone, and in return is given a gift for the graduate. (This might be a card with money or a check inside it, or something appropriate to the graduate's new life -- a laptop computer for someone going to college, for instance.) The Priest says:
It is through giving that new relationships are formed,
and so I give you this.
The Priest does so, and then says:
It is said (and said truly) that a gift demands a gift.
But it is not I who gives you this gift, but your new life.
Give it in return a life well-lived.
One more gift you must give,
not today, but at a future date,
when it will be a someone else, now too young,
who will be graduating.
I bind this on you:
give a gift then, and bind the generations together.
The Priest pauses while the graduate puts the gift down, and then says:
Welcome to this new stage in your journey:
Welcome aboard!
The Priest hugs the graduate.
The others go in turn to the graduate, and also give a gift and hug them, saying:
Welcome aboard!
There may be those who aren't close enough to the graduate to give a gift, or may not be giving one for some other reason, but they still welcome the graduate.
After all have done this, the Priest says loudly:
Holy Kindreds,
People of the Earth,
I present you [name].
All clap and/or make other celebratory noises. When this has died down, someone brings the Waters of Life to the graduate. They (or the Priest) say:
Receive the strength of the Waters of Life.
The graduate drinks, returns the Waters, and goes back to their place. A new divination is taken for the coming life of the graduate, and then the ritual continues as usual.
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