(An idea I’ve been toying with for a few years now, as an attempt to use sound to move the energy and the participants’ ritual focus around the circle to aid with the Opening of the Gates without requiring anyone to run around the circle waving a stick and accidentally knocking things over. Not that I’ve ever seen anyone do that.)
The Opening
(D1 D2 and D3 should be positioned evenly around the circle, with D2 to the left of D1 and D3 to the right of D1 so the motion of the sound is clockwise. Lines should be read slowly at the beginning, then with gradually increasing speed as the lines get shorter.)
D1: When the rays of the sun wander down from on high
The leaves store the light and the heat of the sky
D2: While the deep and dark waters are swirling around
And slowly seep up to the top of the ground
D3: And the root drinks the cool and the leaf draws the heat
The tree is the place where those opposites meet
D1: The Fire sends out sacred light
And smoke to touch the heavens’ height
D2: The Well moves water through the earth
To join the realms of death and birth
D3: The Tree attaches every world
With root grown down and branch unfurled
D1: The Gods are in the light
D2: The Dead may join our rite
D3: The Realms we now unite
D1: Open the Fire
D2: Open the Well
D3: Open the Tree
D1: The Fire
D2: The Well
D3: The Tree
D1: Fire
D2: Well
D3: Tree
D1, D2, D3 together: Let the Gates be open!
All: Let the Gates be open!
—
The Closing
(D1 D2 and D3 should shift around so the motion of the sound is now counterclockwise. Start with fairly quick speech, then slow down as it progresses. Or not, I can see a case being made for either. Experiment on your own and let me know how it goes!)
D1: Now we close the Three Portals connecting our rite
To Land, Sea, and Sky, and the dark and the light
D2: May the Kindreds accept what we offered this day
The blessings of *ghosti- will show us the way
D3: May the magic and wonder we’ve worked in this place
Resound through the Gates and across time and space
D1: The Fire joined us to the Sky
Our prayers it carried up on high
D2: The Well connected to the Sea
To help us see what we can be
D3: The Tree aligned us with the Land
And all the worlds where allies stand
D1: And now we close the Fire
D2: And now we close the Well
D3: And now we close the Tree
D1: Close the Fire
D2: Close the Well
D3: Close the Tree
D1: The Fire
D2: The Well
D3: The Tree
D1: Fire
D2: Well
D3: Tree
D1, D2, D3 together: Let the Gates be closed!
All: Let the Gates be closed!
