Wednesday night a few of us Grovies gathered to initiate B. into the Bardic Grade, or more specifically to reignite his journey on the Druid path. The site which watched over us is one the Grove has been using for many years, and you can feel the openness of the place, and the welcoming breeze to our work. A beaver splashed noisily as we set up the circle, which entertained my son no end.
I love our Grove for so many reasons: the camaraderie, the pool of knowledge, the creative spirit…but most of all I love the humor and kindness that all of our Grovies possess. We can pull of sober when it’s required, but if someone flubs a line, it is always smoothed over with a smile and some fancy word-work.
This was my first time acting as Grove Mother, with my friend A. as Head Druid. Part of me feels like I should have been nervous, but most of me was just excited to give B. the best initiation experience that we could. I think we met that goal.
Each of the Grovies had a gift for B. once the ceremony was completed. Mine was a set of meditation beads set up around nines and threes. The center bead was a “thunder egg” aka geode, the large rounds were banded agates, the counter beads were petrified wood, the start/end bead was ceramic, and the three tail beads were red jasper. Our initiate was a Pisces, so I hope this brings some Fire and Earth to his studies.
Afterwards, we did as all good Druids do: we hit the local pub for post-ritual noms. Grounding and centering never tasted so good! May B. complete his Bardic journey with the love of the gods, goddesses, and all goodness.
The Druid's Well 
Oh wow, that meditation bead set is really Fiery and Earthy, yeah. 😀
Speaking of flubbing ritual lines, have you ever seen Four Weddings and a Funeral? The scene with the priest going “the Holy Spigot” during the wedding makes me laugh till I cry no matter how many times I’ve seen the movie. 😛 It’s good to recover from these with grace and humor, though.
That looks like a beautiful site for the Grove…
(you should visit Oregon sometime… the land here is something else)
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No, I haven’t seen that, however, Holy Spigot may not be that far off… :p
I love this site for ritual. There’s a promontory out into the middle of the pond which feels almost like an island. The center of the circle is crisscrossed by white pine roots, which create several runes including Giefu, Wynn, Tyr, and Sigel–all good qualities for an initiate to stand upon (literally!).
One of these days I would like to make it out to the Left Coast, and when I do, you’ll be the first to know.
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I hope I can find a Grove to join and learn from and I hope the people in it are as wonderful as what you describe 🙂 The Initiation sounds wonderful and the meditation beads you made is gorgeous!
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Thank you for your kind words about the meditation beads. 🙂 I, too, hope you can find a place, be it solitary or with others, where you can grow and learn. Best of luck!
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