Review: 14 November Spa Ritual @ UUCH

First let me just say, wow! Saturday night's ritual was proof that Hasaeti has power, and that our rite has the potential to be all that I (and others) have hoped and dreamed it might be.

I will go chronologically, as I witnessed, without breaking the confidences of querants, so I don't forget anything.

Before arriving at the Universalist church, I had done my own ritual to prepare. Earlier in the afternoon, I took advantage of a break in the rains from Ida to venture out into the old cedar grove near the Eno River where I live. I tend to personify these trees as ancestral land wights, and I sat in communion with them, asking for their favor in singing the land, in singing some power and energy into our rite. I felt they answered graciously, that my offering was well-liked. Back at home I cleansed and purified myself, and drank my never-fails "vocal pipe-snake" tea (hot water, apple cider vinegar, lemon, honey and ginger) as I dressed. I have relegated a cloisonne pendant from my great grandmother to use for Hasaeti. It features a long ship sailing through a fjord at sunset, reminding me of my sailing ancestors and the myth of Odysseus and the sirens. The sirens were the first exposure I had to the concept of galdr, or using vocal power to call energy to fulfill need. I also wore a new silver bracelet I purchased from the Trollbeads line of jewelry. I plan on expanding it's power with additional charms, but currently it has a troll-tree (think Ent) clasp and a charm that I'm calling "The Norns."

I warmed-up my voice en-route to the church, singing along with a play list I created just for seidr (Kari Tauring, Varttina, Gjallarhorn, Garmarna, Steeleye Span, Fairport Convention, Espers, and much more), with some additional singing in the parking lot before heading inside to help with set-up.

Then, the waiting. I was ready to start, but we were waiting on a final member of the group before we could cloister ourselves for our grounding and group mini-symbel. Vidholf always sinks me into trance with his words, what wise speech he chooses to use to set the mood. Unfortunately, I was unable to keep that mood as we waited for our guests to arrive for ritual. In the end, our audience came to five; a low number even for us. Discussion before the teaching wandered to suicide and accidental death, and I wondered how this conversation might color the ritual. No unsavory or wayward spirits seemed to join us once spa began, so I count it as negligible influence.

Our teaching started late, and ran nearly forty minutes. I did like that other members of the group beside the Guide (Thrundr) were able to elaborate and comment on the elements within the teaching, though that added a bit to the length. However, there were few questions, and the ritual was soon underway.

I will suggest we use UUCH again for this rite. There is plenty of space for audience and altar and high seat, and also the acoustics in that room are phenomenal. I hadn't noticed as we chatted before the rite, but the minute I started singing 'Dew Falls' to the lighting of the rune candles, I was surely grinning like a fool (on the inside). I have, in all my years of performing, sung unaccompanied only once in a better space (and that was in a tunnel on Gold Camp Road, on the side of a mountain in Colorado!). I could feel every ounce of the energy being raised through my voice, through the blazing runes, as it was all reflected back onto the altar, back to me. Twenty-four rounds were a pleasure to sing, and at many moments I felt as though I slipped out of myself briefly. The song to sing the seer/ess to the seat, into a deeper trance I moved up a few keys, mostly to test the space, and also because I had chosen to sing 'Dew Falls' in a lower register. And the acoustics of the room also helped with the ability to hear between seer/ess and querant.

Starr was our first seer/ess. Questions were not in short supply and she took about ten before stepping down and letting Moonfire take the seat. The questions were slow, mostly about jobs and spiritual paths, as is often the case. It felt as though Starr was truly tuned in, connecting with both querant and their need. She answered well.

Moonfire soon took the high seat. Something felt different for me singing the 'sending song,' it felt richer, more rooted somehow. It seemed to make a difference in how Moonfire felt as well, as she addressed a question for Odhinn that Starr felt unable to answer. What followed was a dedication, something very powerful indeed. Further interaction with Odhinn and Freyja before Moonfire was able to answer querants as her own seer/ess self. What followed was an equal combination of spa/seidrcraft well spoken from the high seat. This is what we should aspire to--wise speech, sound advice, service to our community...Moonfire handled her time in the seat impressively. I was proud to participate in what was turning out to be a very deep and powerful ritual.

Need presented itself for Odhinn to return, and Thrundr accepted the call. I sang the 'sending song' a third time, my mind focused on an invocation of the Allfather. What came out of my mouth left me shaking when I returned to my seat. I don't think I have ever sung like that before, and after the shock of it, I was amazed by the fact I'd accomplished it at all. (I would never dream of recording a spa session, for the privacy of the querants and for the sacredness of the rite itself. But I would love to have heard how that sounded outside my head! The seer/esses corralled me following the rite to compliment and announce their awe, and I admitted I was truly as awed as they. THAT is what I want to do with myself, whether it is in assistance of a seer/ess, hallowing space, invoking gods, or healing souls, and whether from the sidelines or from the high seat itself, I understand what it means to have a calling, a true duty to spirit after Saturday night, and I mean to do all in my power to fulfill that calling.)

Thrundr horsing* Odhinn I have seen before. (*Edit: I may have used the term "horse" a bit lightly, and I will correct that. This person does have a direct link to Odhinn, and in my experience with him in this state of direct contact, it feels a lot like speaking directly to Odhinn. There is a difference; thank you to Ule for pointing this out.) He mended fences after some heated debate, and I approached asking for continued guidance with regard to three runes he suggested as guides a little over a year ago, and had what some might term a small confrontation. However, I am not afraid of Odhinn, nor do I deny/defy Him. I do, however, question him on a regular basis. That is another entry. I got my answer, and will work on the agenda later.

Winding down of the rite went smoothly, with many participants needing repeated and additional grounding afterward. Many guests stayed on in fellowship for a half an hour or more, and that was a good sign that we had succeed in connecting with the community present.

I only have a few suggestions to raise during our 'post-mortem,' as a former member so lovingly named it. Point one, we need something else during the 'land-taking' portion of the rite. In a previous meeting, the use of vardhlokkur was discussed, as it appears in Erik the Red's Saga (ch. 4), and I had made some suggestions about going so far as to sing an enticement to the wights and spirits, or calling directions in Old Norse (though that might be a bit too Wiccan for some members of the group to accept it, though others would embrace it). Anything would be better than everyone sitting quietly and waiting for something to happen, even though something IS happening only mostly out of sight. Point two, energy management. It was better than it has been for members of the group in their various roles, but it felt slack in places to me.