My full fae report on GoG’s Autumn Ritual
by NejWas steeped in fae for a month. Fascinated with silver, shiny, greenery and milk. I made a lot of pudding. I was terrified/horrified when Norma first suggested Jenniforensic and I run a faery ritual. I declined. *They* were pretty fond of the idea and led me back to it repeatedly, until I acquiesced. *They* gave us exactly what we needed to pull it off, and all was well. I had never planned for anything as large as the turnout we usually get at GOG, but the ritual wound up being small, gray and intimate-feeling—between the seasons, between the worlds . . . between two weather fronts! *They* had a bit of fun with us as well, giving Norma grief over the e-vites, Justin a close encounter of the trickster variety as well as brain fog over my morning wake-up call the day of, and Josh and Deb cell phone weirdness when they had said they’d be available for last minute pep talking or store runs. Jenniforensic developed a predilection to wander off towards plants or jewelry displays in the middle of sentences the week before....
Jenniforensic and I were allowed to decorate the bilé, and were pleasantly surprised with the results of greenery, garland and baubles woven up and around it, with a low faery altar in front. A number of lovely shiny jingly pretty things had been left for Maedb and Arwyn by ritual’s end. [These items were divided between Jenniforensic and I. My share adorned my home shrine for awhile, and were left in a circle among other offerings to our friends in the woods behind my apartment, a place I often go to leave gifts for the fair folk. All items are now gone, presumably accepted. :)]
Maedb took a liking to the green silk dress I wore for the ritual; trading it for jeans and a t-shirt afterwards was helpful in beginning to reel Nej back into my body. It was a relief to return to the mundane after over a month of prep.
The ritual felt, well . . . magickal. It was a wonderful feeling to be invited to bring a very personal part of my life to share with the grove. And, between the people, the atmosphere (both ritually and literally—I wound up with quite a sinus headache that evening!), it felt like I was able to bring a chunk of the otherworld through into Norma and Ed’s living room.
The blending of Chuck’s throat singing and little ankle bells for the clear opening was an absolutely inspired suggestion—thank you whoever you were! The stage was set for a light, ephemeral, yet tinged-with-dark atmosphere. Betty’s Earth Mother was good, although my navel lint or something must have attracted my attention, and I don’t remember what she said . . . (did I mention I was feeling really really fey?)
I did a meditation on the quiet, the space between the sweet, overripe end of summer richness and beginning of the crisp cool fall.
We opted to skip the horizontal directions, which at that point were already irrelevant.
Peg invoked the well for us . . . (I *did* attend this ritual did I not?!?) Akasha-Deb invoked the fire within by asking us . . . “what do YOU give a fuck about?!?” Nora gave an eloquent and fitting invocation of the tree and it managed to bind the whole thing together . . . (thank you, Nora)
Josh invoked Manannan and kept gates for us. He was a cranky creaky and effective summoner.
Justin’s outsiders invocation was eloquent, devout and perfect for the occasion. He invoked reason, intellectualism, skepticism, famous philosophers, our doubting “Scully” side of the brain to step outside and have a beer. Amazingly, he even made it back to enjoy the rest of the ritual. *grin*
Ed? invoked Lady Brigid as our muse and Norma helped us belt out the most rousing rendition of Her song I have heard in a good long while. It was awesome to see Norma burn and smirk with Brigidness, and not have to run anything or speak intelligibly. In a departure from our usual practice, Nature Spirits came before Ancestors. Call it priestessly blunder or getting whomped by those skittering giggling creatures that had already all but taken over the ritual, it’s your decision. They were invoked by Maggie?! (are you sure I actually attended?)
The Goddesses and Gods were invoked, according to my notes, by Norma (maybe I dreamt there was a ritual?)
Erica gave a memorable Ancestors invocation that I think is my new all time favorite—“The Ancestors—They’re DEAD!!” We sang a swinging’ version of “Mothers and Fathers of Old” replete with finger-snapping.
Maedb and Arwyn, the guests of honor, were then invoked—Ladies first, naturally. I hosted Her, Jenniforensic offered space for Him. Maedb and I had a brief argument over the amount of space I was willing to give Her . . . As owner of this body (sometimes?) I won out, citing relative difficulty remaining partially present and coherent from the git go and having responsibility to run the ritual and be a spotter for Jen, who had only had her first formal drawing down the night before . . . and She pouted.
We/they then retired to “hold court” and accept praise offerings. There were many beautiful bits of poetry and prose, tangles of shiny ribbon, bells, earrings, creamy treats and other things. Our guests were quite tickled and honored.
Ed did 1950s clip art divination which fit the mood of the ritual perfectly.
We did waters, drank up and thanked everyone and everything that had honored us with their presence.
I planned a clear ending to help bring everyone down a wee bit: we all inhaled and stomped on the exhale to ground out some (with the possible exception of Ed, who in the most delightfully mirthful and devilish way opted *not* to stomp and lose some of the glamour, rendering him more fae than kittens in tinsel). Good starchy meaty food was then shared, which also was a big help. When the glitter left I was left one very exhausted, but relieved little human. My thanks to those who sat, fed and nursed me through coming down. I had journeyed a little further out than I had thought! :)