#kirk thomas

Witches&Pagans #34 - Creating Ritual

Whatever your path, whether you are a devotional Polytheist, a Wiccan priest/ess, a root worker and witch, an arch-Druid or a naturalist Pagan, doing ritual is almost certainly part of your spiritual path. In this issue, we explore the many diverse ways in which ritual creates, nurtures, connects and reinforces our bonds to the Gods, the Spirits of Nature, and to each other in community.

 This special issue features:

“Getting to Know Your Story: A Talk with OBOD Chief Druid Philip Carr-Gom.” Gail Nyoka chats with the renowned English druid about the elements of ritual, Druidism, and following the Awen.

"Eolas ar Senchais: Illuminating Ancient Celtic Ritual.“ It’s sometimes difficult to know real lore from invented nonsense, so what’s a Celtic-inspired ritualist to do? Author and druid Sithearan NicNeoid leads the way down the road to authentic knowledge of these ancient paths.

“Druid Ritual Style.“ The rituals of Ar nDraiocht Fein (“Our Own Druidry” in Gaelic), are known for their careful design and elaborate nature. ArchDruid Kirk Thomas lays out the structure, meaning, and theology of these foundational rites.

“Eleusis by the Sea: Wandering Witch at Spring Mysteries.” Natalie Zaman takes a personally significant journey to meet the Gods at the yearly ritual drama held by the Aquarian Tabernacle Church.

“Forged in Flame: Creating a Reclaiming Beltane Ritual.” Irisanya draws back the curtain on the art of creating the legendary rituals of the Reclaiming witchcraft tradition.

PLUS “We Come from the Land Down Under: Retrofitting Ritual for Southern Hemisphere Pagans” by Lee Pike.

Our columnists also weigh in on ways to bring meaning into your solitary (and family) rituals, including:

Raven Grimassi in “Solitary Ritual & Aligning Ourselves with Power"

Hecate Demetersdatter in “How to Create a Successful Group Ritual"

Deborah Blake in “What’s Your Ritual Style?”

Jason Mankey in “Was Your Last Ritual a Disaster?"

Diotima Mantineia in “Astrological Timing for Your Next Working"

H. Byron Ballard in “Ritual and Theatre?”

Shirl Sazynski in “The Names of the Gods”

Christopher Penczak in “By Love, Will, and Wisdom”

Thorn Mooney & Eurus in “Two Many Witches”

88 pages, published in June 2017

Throughout the summer at White Mountain Druid Sanctuary, Kirk Thomas has been working on building a Shrine to the Goddess Samona.  She has been identified as the local river goddess of White Salmon River in Washington State. Kirk made a trek up Mt Adams to find the headwaters of her river and came upon a spring that fed into the source of the river.  After some meditating, the name Samona came about. Most likely this entity has always existed - now is just the time we are discovering her. Because she IS the land and water of our geographic area, it seemed imperative to get her Shrine built now so we could make offering of thanks for all that our local environment provides.  (For more detail on this, see this post). 

The only thing missing is some Yakety Sax. But I give you: Rev. Kirk Thomas, Archdruid of ADF, spinning to open the Gates in the Trillium 2016 main rite, in GIF!

So I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. One of the really neat things about living in Portland is the proximity to ADF Archdruid Kirk Thomas’ spiritual retreat Trout Lake Abbey. Trout Lake Abbey is an ADF Druid and Bhuddist retreat, complete with a bed and breakfast, and a “hostel”. (The quotes are because it’s honestly to nice to call it that). 

If you can’t make it to the Columbia ADF Ancestor ritual on November 7th, consider a trip out to Trout Lake Abbey, in Trout Lake Washington for the weekend of October 31st, or just on Saturday, for Kirk’s public Samhain ritual. If you mention you’re a member of ADF, you can get a discount for spending the night as well. Ritual itself however is free. 

Kirk leads a public ritual for each of the 8 high holy days and all are welcome. Please bring a potluck dish!

TFH - December 29th, 2014