|
Ostara Memorial
-
Created and adapted by Matthew L. Schwartz in 2005 to remember T.J. Reinhardt. Ceremony here is left as it was when performed at our Ostara celebration.
Merry Meet
Welcome and Merry Meet, Friends and Loved Ones. We welcome those who share in our path and those who partake in a different one from our own. All are welcome here and all may feel safe. I'm Matthew Lee Schwartz, Secretary for the Pagan Student Association; with me is Christie Syphrit the Pagan Student Association President. Today we'll be functioning as your High Priest and Priestess with our other officers and members today functioning as Tower Guardians to preserve teh sanctity of the circle and that of our ritual and the Priestess' and Preist's of the Inner Circle.
Originally we were going to have just a ritual for Ostara today, so that we may welcome in Spring and celebrate what Ostara represents: Life, Death, and Rebirth. However, yesterday as most of you probably already know, we received the heart crushing news that our beloved friend and brother, T.J. Reinhardt, has passed away.
With his friends gathered here today and as the acting representative of those who walk the Pagan Path at this University, we will also have the honor of performing T.J.'s Last Rites. We are fortunate that T.J.'s friends could be gathered here today to take comfort with each other and celebrate his life, and at the same time mourn his passing, with us and with each other.
A Few Notes About the Ritual
At the end of the Ostara ceremony we will be performing the last rites. When that is completed and the Tower Guardians are dismissed you will find pieces of paper at the table and pens to write with. Please feel free to write whatever messages you would like to send to T.J. on it, draw a picture if you like, and then place them in the cauldron. We will light the cauldron at the end and your messages will be lifted to the heavens. You may use as many sheets as you like.
When we start the ritual, please feel free to come and go as you wish if you are on the outer circle. We ask that Pagan SA members stand on the inner circle and that our guests stand on the outer circle. Those who stand on the inner circle are reminded that you are not to leave until the ritual is completed and the Towers are dismissed.
Tower Guardians, please stand in between the two circles. Before you step into the circle, whether outer or inner circle, please be sure to make use of the hand rinsing basing to rinse and clean your hands. Those on the outer circle, we ask that you meditate as you take part with us in our ritual and send positive energy towards our circle.
Wecome Ostara
We'll begin with the welcoming of Ostara. Tower Guardians, please take your positions as we invoke the Towers in equal order and together, since today is that of balance.
High Priest:
Tower Guardians, North, East, South and West, we invoke you as we have done from generation to generation and in times of ages past. Please stand tall and sure and watch over us on this day. Allow no evil spirits or energy to enter and please keep all positive energy.
Goddess and God, Lady and Lord, we ask that you be with us today as we begin our ceremony with our High Priestess, honore and righteous that she be:
High Priestess:
Here we are on this day, Ostara, Lady Day, Rite of Eostre, the Vernal Equinox, and the first day of the planting season. We are here to understand life, death, and rebirth, and to give reverence to those who have endured each.
High Priest:
Today we stand at the gate between the living and the dead on this day when both light and dark are equal. We stand in balance and are here to witness the union of our Goddess, Mother Earth, the waxing Lady of the Moon, and our God, Green Man, the waxing Lord of the Sun. Conception... a necessary transition on the Wheel of the Year.
High Priestess:
Now is the time of the Great Rite between the beloved Maiden, one of the three faces of our Goddess, and her consort, the beloved Sun King, one of the three faces of our God.
High Priest:
These wise words are the gift of our Lady and our Lord, as told in times of past: "There is a time for every purpose under the heavens above, and there is a reason behind all things. Now is the time to sow that which will be reaped come fall and winter.
Dear cildren of the Earth, we reap not only what we sow in our harvest for food, but what we sow in life with our deeds, our words and our thoughts. Now is the time of the conception of the Divine Child, which is necessary to keep the Wheel of the Year turning as it has done since the days of old. This too is a time for us to reflect on our behavior of the past and what we will do to change it for the better in the future."
High Priestess:
As I plant these seeds into the earth, I symbolize the process of life. Through the Mother Goddess, this young seed will grow tall to the heavens. This plant will grow and will bear fruit. However, like all living things, this too shall one day pass on and succumb to death, as will we, and become buried in the ground from whence it sprang.
When it is buried in the ground, it will one day turn into the soil for another tree to grow and this tree will spring forth and provide us the air that we need to live and will sustain our life for us. As we pass on and leave this mortal plane, so too shall we return to the earth and provide for the life of another and continue the cycle of life.
Five Knightly Virtues Test and Last Rites
High Priest:
Like the legend of Sir Gawain's battle shield which bore our symbol of the pentagram to embody the five knightly virtues: Franchise, Brotherly Love, Chastity, Courtesy, and Pity, so too did T.J. embody all of these values:
Franchise by acting faithfully under the service of our Lady and our Lord, our Mother and our Father, blessed they be, since he discovered the path and singing their praises to all who would listen; and respecting those who did not wish to hear.
Brotherly Love by befriending all that he met in his path during his journey on the Mortal Plane and accepting all people as fellow humans.
Chastity by being virtuous of character at all costs.
Courtesy by showing respect and kindness to all those that he met, and placing the needs of others before his own.
Pity by showing sympathy, sorrow, empathy and compassion for all those who were in pain, even those who would have wished him harm.
High Priestess and Priestesses of the Inner Circle, acting as High Priest and representing the Priests of the Inner Circle, I present these before you as testimony of T.J.'s meeting the Five Virtues necessary for honorable burial. Does m'lady accept this testimony as meeting the requirements for Virtue? What say you, Yay or Nay?
High Priestess:
[Yay or Nay]
Yay, as High Priestess representing the Priestesses of the Inner Circle, I accept your testimony on their behalf and without objection. The five Knightly Virtues have indeed been met.
High Priest:
Then it is proven. Morrigan, Warrior Goddess, we ask you to watch over T.J. as he crosses into the Summerland for rest and peace before embarking on the next great journey of his life in whatever form that may take and in whatever plane he must now travel. May no one speak ill of him or dishonor his name, may those who mention his name treat it and his spirit as sacred and exalt all that he did and all of his virtues to all they may mention him to.
Close the Circle
High Priestess:
Goddess and God, Lady and Lord, we thank you for partaking in our ritual today. Stay if you like or go if you wish.
Tower Guardians, West, South, East and North, we thank you for partaking in our ritual today and for standing guard, go if you please or stay if you wish. To our brothers and sisters, and those who are in between, may the source of healing send peace to those who mourn and comfort to those who are bereaved.
So mote it be.
|
|
