Supplies
food for the dead
bowl of water
matches
torch/lantern
cutting board and knife
wine
bowl of pomegranate seeds
Feast of the Ancestors 2006, CST/UU,
Written by Joel E. Tishken
Participants should assemble in the front
lawn. Each will have with them their food for the dead. The Escorts should
assemble before the crowd, with the officiant.
Officiant reads: Tonight we celebrate the end of the
harvest, the beginning of the dark half of the year, the Feast of the Ancestors,
the Day of the Dead, and All Saints Day. Tonight the line between our world and
the next world is at its most permeable. We are reminded tonight that life and
death can be seen as one. Every end has a beginning; every beginning an end. We
celebrate the last harvest and offer its produce to our beloved ancestors. We
here perform our own symbolic death--to initiate our own rebirth and renewal.
We imitate the life cycle and recall the life cycle of the Earth as well. The
Earth is also dying, of sorts, but will reemerge from dormancy with new vigor
and life. We symbolically transcend the realms of life and death to illustrate
the simultaneous duality and unity of life. We stand now in the world of life.
We begin our journey into the Underworld.
Feminine Escort reads: I am the Escort of the Dead. To the
Welsh I am Ceridwen, the Dark Mother. To the Chinese I am Niutou (Cow Head), escort of the
newly dead. To the
ancient Egyptians I am Nephthys, friend of the dead. To the Romans I am Iris,
the Divine Messenger. To the Greeks I am Hekate, Queen of the Ghosts.
Masculine Escort reads: I too am the Escort of the Dead. To
the Yoruba I am Ogun, the carver of the paths. To the Chinese I am Mamian (Horse
Face), escort
of the newly dead. To
the Romans I am Mercury, the Divine Messenger. To the Greeks I am Hermes,
escort of the dead.
All assembled repeat,
as directed by the officiant (except escorts): By these Divine names we invoke you,
Escorts of the Dead.
The Escorts should now instruct the
participants to form into a double-file line. The Lord and Lady of the Dead
should be at the front of the lines. The Escorts will then proceed to the front
of the lines, in front of the Lord and Lady of the Dead. They will then lead
the lines up the drive to the closed gate. Together, in unison, they will open
the “gate” to the underworld
Escorts together read: We have cast open the gate to the
underworld. We invite you to enter…
Escorts alternate
reading each name:
the Land of the Shades…the Lower Realm…the Underworld… the Other Side…
Hades…Hel…Di Yu…Annwn…the Fields of Aaru… Ti-na-nog… Tuonela… Amaravati…
Adlivun…Yomi… Mitlan… Bulu… Lua-o-Milu… the World of the Ancestors.
One Escort will pick up the water and
the other Escort the fire. The Water Escort will purify each participant by
dipping a finger into the water and “dotting” it upon the forehead of the
participant with the words: “Be purified.” The
Water Escort should purify the Lord and Lady of the Dead first, then the
officiant, and then proceed to the remainder. (Note: the Escorts do not
need purification because they can transcend the realms.)
Once the Lord and Lady of the Dead
have been purified, the Fire Escort should proceed to each torch in sequence lighting
it with the words “May thy path be illuminated.” (Proceed slowly as this will
take less time than the task of the Water Escort.) The Lord and Lady will
follow the Fire Escort, followed by the rest of the participants. The Water
Escort will be the last one in. After all the torches have been lit, and the
path to the underworld is made clear, the Lord and Lady of the Dead and the
Officiant will proceed to the area of the altar. The
Lord of the Dead will pick up the wine; the Lady will pick up the bowl of
pomegranate seeds.
Once all have been assembled, the Lord and Lady read below:
Lord of the Dead reads:
Welcome to my
kingdom. I am the Lord of the Dead and am called by many names: Hades to the
Greeks, Dis Pater to the Romans, Nergal to the Babylonians, Velnias to the
Lithuanians, Arawn to the Welsh, Yama to the Chinese, Osiris to the Egyptians,
Kanaloa to the Hawaiians, Supay to the Inca, Pana to the Inuit, and Cizin to
the Maya.
Lady of the Dead reads: Welcome to my kingdom. I am the
Lady of the Dead and am also called by many names: Kore to the Greeks,
Proserpina to the Romans, Hel to the Norse, Isis to the Egyptians, Niamh to the Irish, Kali to Hindus, Sedna to
the Inuit, Rohe to the Maori, and Maman Brigitte in Vodoo.
Officiant reads: We are now in the realm of the
dead. Even the dead must be nourished and invoked to survive. We here provide
them with a libation to nourish them. A libation must always be poured upon the
ground to ensure the dead receive it. Pour out a libation (officiant takes the
wine from the Lord) and invoke aloud the name of several of your ancestors.
The Officiant demonstrates by
invoking his own ancestors and passing the wine back to the Lord.
It is the Lord’s duty to pass the
wine to participants in any order (including the Escorts), take the wine back
after their libation is through, and then pass it to the next participant,
directing them to the spot of libations.
After a participant pours their
libation, the Officiant will take them to the cutting board where he will half
or quarter their produce, if needed.
The Lady will direct them to toss their
produce into the “wilderness” leaving it on the ground as nourishment for the
dead. The Lady will tell participants to take their time, offering silent
prayers as they wish. As participants finish, the Lady will give each of them
at least one pomegranate seed and direct them to eat it. They will then proceed
back to the group where libations are being poured.
After everyone has 1) poured
a libation, 2) offered a sacrifice and 3) eaten a pomegranate seed, the
Lord and Lady will also do so themselves with the Officiant serving as
assistant.
Officiant reads: We have nourished the Earth with
the products of the harvest. These products will perish upon the ground, but from
their death will come new life. The Earth will lie dormant in this dark half of
the year, but we can be assured of its return. The mother Demeter mourns the
absence of her daughter Kore, but Kore always returns to her mother’s arms and
the Earth will be reborn once again.
We have also nourished our ancestors with food and drink. By
invoking their names, we have insured their survival in this realm. We have
joined them here in their own realm to embrace our own mortality and
immortality. By eating of the pomegranate, we have forged a connection between
ourselves and the Underworld, insuring we will always be a part of it, and it a
part of us. Hades had Kore eat of the pomegranate ensuring her return to the
Underworld each year at this time.
We now walk back out of the Underworld, having embraced
Death, and therefore also Life. The cycle of Life, Death, and Rebirth are one.
We proceed to the land of the living as reborn creatures.
As we return to the land of the living, the dead may choose
to come with us. It is important that we do not look back to see, but keep our
eyes focused upon the path ahead so the dead may live within us in our world.
Take heed from the tale of Orpheus whose beloved Eurydice was
sent back to the Land of the Dead because he looked back to check if she was
there. Had he remained focused upon living as much as dying, he could have
combined the two so his beloved Eurydice continued to live within him.
The Water Escort should instruct everyone
to form into two lines again. The Water Escort will lead the group out. The
Lord and Lady should be second to the last out and the Fire Escort the last one
out.
Upon entering the land of the living,
the Water Escort will once again purify each participant so any impurities of
the land of the dead might be removed.
As
the group is reentering the land of the living and becoming repurified,
the Fire Escort should extinguish the torches in silence, beginning with the
one deepest in the land of the dead. The Fire Escort will then extinguish each
in turn, ending with the one closest to the gateway. The Fire Escort will then
step through the gateway and both Escorts will close the gateway together. In
unison they will say “This
gateway to the underworld is now closed. But the dead lives within the living
and the living within the dead.”
Officiant reads: The dead are among us. The dark
half of the year has begun. The Earth is dormant. We await her return.