Excerpts From The
Holly Threshold / House Blessing |
| Welcome Celebrant: Welcome, everyone! We're glad you could all be here tonight as we celebrate Wendy's arrival into her new home. My name is Adrienne Jones; I'm a certified Celebrant, and Wendy has asked me to officiate this house blessing on her behalf. Wendy, we’re here tonight in love and support of you, to bless your new home and your new life as a single woman finding yourself, in some ways, for the first time. You’ve come out of your old life with strength and determination, and spent some valuable time in a transitional place, which was your parents' house. No matter how eager you’ve been to get into your own space and hang your own pictures, you’ve expressed to me many times how grateful you’ve been every day for their kindness, presence, and love. Now it’s time to leave that middle place, with respect and gratitude, and cross the threshold into your own home. Your door is decorated with holly, gathered from the woods around you. Holly speaks of the death and rebirth of winter, and symbolizes the evergreen aspect of the whole psyche. The Druids decorated their huts with holly during the winter as a friendly and hospitable abode for woodland spirits. We put holly on your door to keep unwelcome spirits out, mark your home as a place with positive spiritual intent, and celebrate the evergreen nature of your new life! As we pass over the threshold I split this branch in two, that you might pass from your old world into the new one... ******** Wish Bowl Wendy, you've told me how aware you are of the lessons you've been learning, and the intentions you have for yourself as a result. You’ve said you desire to not Settle for less than what makes you happy. You intend to Look Out for yourself, and to make your Needs known and speak your Truth. You are learning who you are in the safe quietude of this home, listening to your uninterrupted inner voice. You’re getting a handle on what you wish for yourself, and having fun doing it. I’m sure your friends have wishes for you, too. Would anyone like to speak a wish for Wendy now? (Each person present speaks a wish: Peace, Strength, Space, Resolution, etc.) This is a Wish Bowl. All of you who are gathered here may add any additional wishes and affirmative thoughts you have for Wendy, as they come to you. It will be here all evening, so please feel free to write down your thoughts as they come to you... ******** Blessing the House The Despacho is a frequently performed, versatile Peruvian ritual that can be used for any purpose. Sarah learned this in Peru and obtained her ritual tools from a shaman there who had been practicing for many years. Sarah puts on a CD of traditional Peruvian music, and brings us out onto the balcony where she has set up her Mesa, a handwoven cloth designated for ritual. On the Mesa is a pottery bowl with a small chunk of incense-laden peat material from a shaman’s store in Cuzco. When it is lit and blown out it produces “white smoke,” purifying and fragrant. Under the peat are small pieces of blessed “fatwood” that keep it burning for the duration of the ceremony. These are used sparingly, as trees are scarce in Peru. Also on the Mesa are special items containing energy – small stones, crystals, a painted clay whistle, an 8” “trilogy” – a statue containing the stacked images of a snake, a puma and a condor, carved from a single piece of black stone. They represent the three parts of the earth: the snake, below earth, the puma, the earth itself, and the condor, the sky. Anyone else may place a small item of personal significance on the mesa before the ceremony and leave it there to absorb the energy generated. We sit cross-legged on the balcony around the small table containing the Mesa. In the silence, Sarah lights the peat and sprinkles some powdered incense on it. She then hands each of us three leaves – in Peru these would be sacred Coca leaves, but since we have an abundance of Holly tonight, we are using Holly leaves. These are “wish leaves,” and are held in the fingers shiny side up and spread like playing cards. Celebrant: Our friend Sarah will now perform a special ceremony from Peru. Sarah: We’re here to bless Wendy and her new home, with smoke, good wishes and sacred leaves. We “breathe” our energy into the leaves, by stroking each one or literally breathing onto them and holding them close. In the leaves we put our wishes and blessings for Wendy, one wish for each leaf... ...Sarah takes the bowl which is billowing sweet white smoke, and gently surrounds each of us with its purifying essence... ...it is time for the circle to speak. The objective is to say a few positive and thoughtful things to each person around the mesa, being supportive, wishing them well. The leader begins and others follow as they are moved: “Wendy, I wish for you a peaceful home, health for your animals, a perfect Christmas,” etc... When everyone has spoken the ceremony is concluded by releasing the leaves. Sarah: Now we’ll return the leaves to the earth, where they belong, taking our good wishes and intentions with them. They can be buried under a stone or in a little hole, tossed into the wind or released in any way respectful of the earth and her products. This will make sure your wishes and energy are returned to the earth, the Original Grantor of Life and Good Will. This makes them come true because all good comes from Pacha Mama – Mother Earth. We rise as we are moved, and toss our leaves over the balcony into the dark woods, still redolent with the music of crickets. The smoke has burned out; we retrieve any tokens we’ve placed on the Mesa, Sarah folds up the cloth in a certain way for storage (with all the small things still on it), and we go inside to eat together, and drink wine, and talk about where to hang pictures. ******** |
|
