Liturgical cycles
Liturgical cycles
Life
is cyclical with years and seasons following one after another in a
dynamic and constant process of renewal. Our liturgical year follows
this naturally occurring repetitive pattern in a living process of
worship. We also have other liturgical cycles to consider in the cycles
of lives and the rites of passage that we celebrate from birth to
death. Organizations, tribes and local congregations also have
liturgical cycles through which they move and progress. Our modern
calendar of worship is based around the four festivals of the ancient
Irish sacred year. In order to understand the structure of the cycle we
must cast our imaginations back many generations to the time when these
festivals were celebrated as part of the sacred culture of Ireland, a
time when society, and religion worked around an agriculturally based
system. The first division that we see in this distant world of people
who lived upon the land was the sectioning of the year into two halves
a dark or winter half and a light or summer half. We must realize that
the people had two major periods to their agricultural cycle a period
when the people were upon the hearth and together and a period when the
people were scattered upon the fields. As summer ended, the herds were
brought down from the far fields and hills with the animals that would
not be wintered over being slaughtered and the meat stored, the
warriors and everyone who was out in the fields and forest came
together and then all hands were available to help in the harvesting of
the fields and storing the food. When harvest ended the people would be
together as the cold season descended and they spent much time inside
with short days and long nights. During this time of being indoors the
people would take care of tasks that were suited to this turn of season
and things such as sewing, weaving, weapon and tool repair would be the
primary work as hands were kept busy while the people sat together at
the hearth. At this time of togetherness the tales and poems would be
told so that the people could hear them and learn the traditions of the
people. Due to the recent harvest, food was plenty and the people were
together with a warm fire, work to do and tales to hear. And as the
days lengthened it would become time to plow and plant and the
livestock would be nearing their birthing time. The people would take
care of preparing the fields and once the seeds were in the ground many
of them, especially the young men, would take to the forests and hills
to do different kinds of work. The herds had to be taken to the far
meadows for grazing and would need to be tended and protected, warriors
would be moving about protecting herds and the land from outsiders.
This was a time when people would be turning their hands to the outside
tasks of an agricultural way of life. Winter had fallen right after the
harvest and so was a time of plenty but as summer advanced food stores
dropped because the herds were not yet ready for slaughter and the
fields not yet ready for harvest but the fact that many of the
adolescents and young adults are out in the fields living off the land
helps the supplies in the settlements last longer. And so the life of
the people breathed, and inhalation which brought the folk together to
spend the cold and dark time on the hearth and an exhalation which
would send them out for the long days upon the fields to farm and herd.
It was within this tidal flow of agricultural life that the worship of
the gods was maintained. The
completion of harvest when the people were together was an excellent
time for a festival and so Samhain was celebrated to thank the gods for
the harvest, and to mark the end of the old year as the light faded and
the cold came. An old year and old world passed away at this time and
the flame of that world was allowed to die. But a new flame was ignited
to warm and light another year and establish a world recreated and
reordered. As was the way in that society of long ago is our way now
and still we celebrate Summer’s end by coming together for our rite of
Samhain, our spiritual new-year where we light new fires, pour new
waters and start or religious life cycle of worship for another turn of
the seasons. In
the depths of winter there is a change in the tide and though still
cold and still driving the people inward they felt the change and saw
it in the animals. The wombs of the animals quickened and the new herd
to be born soon could be seen growing within, lactation began and the
milk started to flow. The prosperity of the new year was starting to
show itself and could be seen and felt. At the hearths scattered across
farmsteads another rite was celebrated, often by smaller groups
gathered peacefully around the warming fire was held the rite of
Imbolg. The peaceful and intimate celebration of home, hearth and hope
where life could be seen renewing. We too enjoy the feast of Imbolg, we
come together inside and we celebrate our hope, our families our homes.
The season of light stands just around the corner and we can see the
approach clearly. From the grave of winter’s death will spring leaves
and flowers, with fields and forests once again green. In
a rush of activity the world changed and the people stepped from the
dark of winter to the light of summer and the hands that plied crafts
at the hearth now turn to the fields to plow and to plant. Bealteinne,
the rite of the good fire is held with new flowers decorating the
ceremony held outdoors on the new green. The fields are planted and the
herds and young men who guard them are driven forth with blessings into
the hills and far meadows to find grazing. And a new peace descends,
one which is rife with bright activity but devoid of the smells of many
people and animals crowded together, also lessened is the chatter so
comforting at the start of winter and maddening by the end. The good
fire burns for us also and we have the rite of Bealtienne to bless and
embrace the bright season when we can garden though not with the same
imperative need, our activities turn also to the outside and we can
take to the forests, rivers and lakes when we can sail, camp and hike.
Scattering to the winds, we take our summer vacations and we see less
of one another as we are just generally more out and about. Across
the year from the peaceful rite on the hearth came the festival and
rite of Lughnasadh when the world was warm and life raged in the
hearts. Fields were planted but not yet ready for the big harvest,
herds were growing and fattening but not yet ready for slaughter.
Energy was high, youth was strong and work was at a short lull. There
was time to travel and the people could join together in a large
multi-day festival where they could arrange contracts, discuss laws and
settle disputes. There would be contests and games where people could
test and demonstrate their prowess. Craftspeople would have their wears
available and the people could trade for the things that they needed
but could not make at home. And there would be a special peace between
tribes and clans and even those at war would not fight at this time and
place. And a massive rite was held in honor of Lugh, his folk and
especially his foster-mother Tailtui. In our time Lughnasadh is still
celebrated and we have a rite to honor Lugh, and feast to celebrate his
wedding and we have games to mark the funeral of Tailtui. There is
running, jumping, throwing and all sorts of demonstrations of physical
strength and skill. We are alive with the energy of the season and the
heat of the summer burns and boils in us. In
the dark and the light halves of the year these four rites were and are
marked and celebrated. Now, so many generations removed from that
ancient world we touch it still as we worship the same gods at those
same points of the original cycle. Our spiritual life and our rites of
worship turn through a yearly cycle of two halves plus one day out of
time giving us a year and a day, half in the dark time and half in the
light time. Our modern activities have changed in many ways yet in some
ways they are similar. A time of work and school, a time of vacation
when we travel and move about more. Winter still drives many of us
inside and summer allows us to get out. Different
groups place their celebrations of these rites through the year in
slightly varying ways. Some people and groups will celebrate these
festivals on a standardized calendar with certain dates always being
the date for a rite or the weekend closest to the date being the actual
celebration. Others may follow local seasonal changes very closely with
specific local events dictating the scheduling of rites. Some will
schedule according to lunar events with specific points in the phases
of the moon indicating when a holy day shall be noted. There are those
who will arrange these high day rites according to solar or other
astronomical events. These festivals exist in our faith with myriad
methods for scheduling but there existence continues. Some
of the people and local congregations of Comhaltacht Draiocht have also
adopted another set of festivals which are not of Celtic origin and
which blend a solar schedule of rites into the agricultural rites.
These rites are celebrated on the solstices and equinai and have been
adopted from various sources some people adopting them based on their
use among non-Celtic peoples and others adopting them based on their
presence during the Neolithic age in areas that would become Celtic
during the Iron age. There is no broad agreement on the appropriateness
of these additional solar feasts within Comhaltacht Draiocht as a body
with some folks feeling that since they are not Celtic in origin they
should not be celebrated and other folks feeling that though they are
not Celtic they have come to serve a spiritual need and so should be
celebrated. Where these additional rites are concerned each individual
and group will decide the appropriateness of these particular rites to
their personal and small group spirituality. Due to the pluralistic
ethical views taught in our faith both sets of practices are considered
correct and acceptable. In addition to
the standard four Celtic holy days and the often incorporated solstices
and equinai some individuals and local groups adopt into their annual
cycle of rites other rites which may be based on local traditions or
very specific local spiritual practices. Each person and local group
will build, through practice, a set of ritual traditions which meet
their spiritual needs and this is the nature of the structure of our
Fellowship. So we see that there are many options for rites during the
year with some groups having four only while others have eight or more. |
|