High Holy Days

The primary intention of Druidic ritual is the re-forging of the links between humankind, the natural world and the Gods and Spirits who support both. For thousands of years human culture lived in more or less intimate communion with the unseen worlds. Over the centuries these ties have been weakened, until our modern materialism is endangering the very air and water that sustains our life. We seek to reconnect with the powers of Land, Sea and Sky, honoring the Spirit that is within them, as well as their physical realities.

As with any religion, we also seek blessings for our families our communities and ourselves. We open our hearts to the flow of divine blessings that come from our Gods. We also seek to awaken that same divine spark in our own souls, so we can bless the world in return.

Our Grove celebrates the eight Neopagan High Holy Days. We also celebrate holidays from other Hearth Cultures representing the needs of our membership. For more information, read these pages.

Date	Holiday	Hearth Culture	Earth Mother	Deities of Observance*	Gatekeeper	Event
December 21	Yule	Norse	Jord	Odin and Frigga	Heimdall	Winter Solstice
February 1	Imbolc	Celtic	Danu	Brigid	Manannan mac Lir	First day of February
March 20	Ostara	Germanic*	Nerthus	Ostara	Hama	Spring Equinox
May 1	Beltane	Celtic	Danu	Belenus and Belisama	Manannan mac Lir	First Day of May
June 21	Litha	Baltic	Zemyna	Menulis and Saule	Gabija	Summer Solstice
August 1	Lughnasadh	Celtic	Danu	Lugh and Tailtiu	Manannan mac Lir	First Day of August
September 23	Mabon	Greek	Gaia	Demeter and Persephone	Hermes	Autumn Equinox
November 1	Samhain	Celtic	Danu	Morrigan and Dagda	Manannan mac Lir	First Day of November

* Deities of Observance (DoO) is the Grove's typical honored deities for ritual. The DoO can be changed at the request of the Presiding Druid or the Grove Liturgist. Ostara celebrates the Goddess of Dawn who is prevelent in many IE hearths. Though we always celebrate a Dawn Goddess (Eoster, Ostara, Ausrine, Ushas, Eos, etc.), it may not always be the Germanic Hearth.

Principles of our Rites

Ritual: The outer form of our worship, like all ceremonies, is made up of spoken prayers, invocations and statements combined with formalized actions designed to create sacred space and time.

Sacrifice: A central action of our rites is the giving of gifts to the Powers. Sacrifice strengthens the Gods and the Spirits to which they are made. We offer flowers, incense, food and drink, precious metals and gems, poetry and song to our Deities, but never blood.

Trance: The skills that bring the celebrants together at our rites are the techniques of meditation and trance. By concentrating our minds on the symbols, words and actions of our ritual, we relax the barriers between the Otherworlds and the World of the Living.

Articles about ritual

Omens, the Seer, and Divinations - why we do it in ritual and what it means.