FallFling 1994 (?) Ritual

Guide leads group of people to first station. Person there uncovers candle and rises up and says:
The gates of life and death are opened; the Sun Child is conceived; the dead walk, and to the living is revealed the Mystery; that every ending is but a new beginning. We meet in time out of time, everywhere and nowhere, here and there, to greet the Lord of death who is Lord of Life, and the Triple Goddess who is the circle or rebirth.

PAUSE

Helper:
I bring you a branch
Of Emain's apple tree,
With silver twigs and
Crystal buds and blossoms.

PAUSE

You stand at the gate to the Otherworld. All is before you. You must have the courage in your heart to go on, for you will discover things yet unknown about yourself. The veil will be lifted, and what was hidden will be revealed. To guide you in your journey, and aid in your safe return from the Isle of Emain, I give you the Silver Bough.

Helper:
A fatal morning I laid out
Dreading no injury,
And thinking long, fell fast asleep
Beneath an apple tree.
Then by it came the elfin Queen
And laid her hand on me.
And from that time since ever I mind
I have been in her company.

As helper finishes last lines, person gives each an apple branch.

Guide leads group to second station. Person there is standing with their back to the approaching group, holding out cloak to hide fire. Person says as they approach:

Pearl-gray warrior, ghostly quest;
Prince of twilight, sailing West!
We are in sight of the far shore.
See the light on the waves, a beacon.
Evil wraps itself in glamour
To catch us unaware
Cast off the veils that cloud your sight!
For here all is revealed in light.
On last line, person then moves around, revealing the fire, and says:

This is a time of fire: defiant fires to hold back the dark, illumination, passion, energy, transformation, and new beginnings. Find the flame within yourself which will purify you and cleanse away the evil spirits of the coming winter.

Person gives them each a small candle to light from the fire.

Light your own candle from my fire of strength, and carry it with you to guide you in your journey tonight.

After most light their candle, Guide leaps over fire, and leads group to next station.

Guide leads group to third station. Person there says:

The fire is seemingly left behind. You now enter the realm of water, and descend into the Underworld. It is cold; It is dark; it is your own unconsciousness. Be aware, but do not be afraid. The water is creativity, intuition, power, introspection, and the harbinger of change.

Helper:
It is the great cold of the night, it is the dark.
The woman lives, she passes, she dies.
It is the great cold of the night, it is the dark.
Fear lives, it passes, it dies.

From the Isle of Emain we receive the apple, the passport into our unconscious, our subsistence while in the Underworld and the key to our safe return.

Hand them the apple wedges.

Take this time to look deep within yourself, into your unconscious. Gaze into my cauldron; see your past; see your future. Look while you will, then withdraw and meditate on what you find.

PAUSE while people look into cauldron. As some start withdrawing, helper says quietly:

Helper:
It is the great cold of the night, it is the dark
The woman lives, she passes, she dies.
It is the great cold of the night, it is the dark.
Fear lives, it passes, it dies.

Guide leads groups to fourth station. Person there says, as they arrive:
Your journey is almost complete.

PAUSE

The Silver Bough facilitated the beginning of your journey into the realm of Emain. Its flowers have borne the apple, which provided you nourishment at your darkest hour and guaranteed your safe return to the world of the living.

Slices an apple in half, shows it to people.

Now see the mystery of the apple. Within its core is revealed the five-pointed star, the pentagram of rebirth, renewal, and new life. The number five speaks of overcoming the limitations of the four elements and enables the opening of minds beyond the bounds of the material world.

This is the night when the veil that divides the worlds is thinnest. Tonight the King of the Waning Year has sailed over the sunless sea that is the womb of the Mother and steps ashore on the Shining Isle, the luminous world egg, becoming the seed of his own rebirth. The fiery passion of the king has been tempered by the wisdom of the sea and the height consciousness of the Mother has been revealed.

She pours water into Freddie, who does his thing.

So Mote It Be! ( people repeat: So Mote it Be!)

Rings bell.

Group leaves, Guide leads them to the top of the hill.

Have helper bring 2nd Freddie, lit, for next group.