A word of explanation is in order.

Our grove's heritage draws on the Roman, Irish and Proto-Indoeuropean traditions. None of these cultures have left records that indicate that they celebrated prominent solstice or other midsummer festivals. Our charter with ADF expects us to hold an open ritual around the solstice, so we conduct an ongoing experiment in what American ritual forms would look like had the national founders originated in pagan traditions, rather than Abrahamic ones.

The ritual is founded on American traditions like public speechifying. Offerings of bells are made into the mundus, and divination is performed by flipping quarter-dollar coins.

Nemos Ognios American Independence Ritual, 2011

Ceisiwr Serith, Liturgist

The Priest plays “Fanfare for the Common Man,” and all gather at the processional site. As the song plays, the Fire Tender purifies everyone, and all then process to the space, all in silence. When they arrive and the music is over, the Fire Tender says:

Inspire us, O Muse, in what we will say today. When we call upon Minerva, may she open the gates. When we call to sweet Liberty, may she be here with blessings. When we speak of the Ancestors, may they live again. Inspire us, O Muse, inspire us today.

All sit. The Priest sits in middle of the south, the Fire Tender in middle of the north, and any guests where they will (but not in front of the mundus or where the flag and poles will go.) the Fire Tender lights the oil lamp and says:

We call forth the fire of the Enlightenment which inspired, which guided, which lit the way, for those who founded this nation: may it guide us as well.

The Priest says:

Of the day the Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence, John Adams wrote:

I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward, forevermore.

Today we celebrate the founding of this nation, and dedicate ourselves anew to what it stands for. We will do this by reminding ourselves of the values at the root of our way of life, telling stories of how people in the past lived them, challenging ourselves to live them too. In this way, we will worship Liberty, the ancient goddess who is never old.

The Fire Tender says:

The Founding Fathers often spoke of Minerva as the one who brought knowledge into the world, and through knowledge the Enlightenment within which America was born. We consecrate this fire to her and call on her to open the way to the knowledge of the Ancestors whose stories we will relate today. Minerva, Goddess of Teaching and Learning, Open the Way!

All:

Minerva, open the Way!

The Fire Tender:

Minerva, Patron of Writing and Speech, Open the Way!

All:

Minerva, open the Way!

The Fire Tender:

Minerva, Protector and Friend of Liberty, Open the Way!

All:

Minerva, open the Way!

The Fire Tender:

Open the way, Minerva: Let the Gates be open!

The Fire Tender lights a stick of incense from the oil lamp, saying:

We call upon the gods, we call upon the goddesses, we call upon all the deities, those who dwell in the Upper Realm: as witnesses and honored guests: Shining Ones, come to our ritual and be honored. Come, come to our ritual!

All:

Come, come to our ritual.

The Fire Tender scatters mixed grain, while the Chthonic Celebrant says:

We call upon the spirits of this land, those who dwell in the Middle Realm, as witnesses and honored guests: Land Spirits, come to our ritual and be honored. Come, come to our ritual!

All:

Come, come to our ritual.

A guest opens the mundus and pours the silver in, while the Priest says:

And in this ritual, we will especially call upon the Ancestors, who dwell in the Lower Realm, as witnesses and honored guests: we will call them by telling their stories, giving them the honor, hard won, which they desire and deserve. Ancestors, come to our ritual and be honored. Come, come to our ritual!

All:

Come, come to our ritual.

When the guest has sat back down, the Priest says:

Since we’ll be talking about outstanding people today, I’d like to start with one of the members of the oldest people of this land, those who lived here before the Europeans arrived, the Pawtucket Indians.

He reads the description of a witch doctor of a local tribe. The Champion pours cornmeal into mundus, while the Fire Tender says:

Honored be the dead of the first people of this land. We feed you with corn, feed us with what we require.

The Priest says:

Americans believe that we are the government, that we should only have the laws we’ve all decided on. The first Americans who made this real were the Pilgrims. They ended up landing in a place they hadn’t intended to go to, one with no government. They had to make one themselves. This meant answering the basic question of government: “Who decides?” They agreed to form what they called

The Chthonic Celebrant says:

“a civil Body Politick.”

The Priest:

And it would be this community, it would be themselves, who decided to enact

The Chthonic Celebrant:

“such just and equal Laws ... as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the General good of the Colony.”

The Priest:

They would be the ones who made the laws, and those laws would be “just and equal.” I am honored that some among them are my ancestors, so I will offer to them on the behalf of our own “civil Body Politick.”

He offers into the mundus, saying:

You made the beginning of great things, and passed on to us great ideas.

He returns to his place and says:

Probably our most important value is that everyone gets to think for themselves. The most important part of this is religion. If we can’t think for ourselves in that basic a thing, how can we think for ourselves in anything? At first, most of the colonists didn’t realize this. But a few brave people did, and they acted. One was Roger Williams, who founded Rhode Island. He set up a place where everyone could believe in whatever religion they wanted. This is what he did:

The Priest tells the story of Roger Williams.

The Champion offers into the mundus, while the Fire Tender says:

Roger Williams knew that it is only by allowing others to believe freely that we can believe freely ourselves. We thank you for your wisdom, and make this offering to you.

The Priest:

George Mason and James Madison knew it to, when they wrote in June of 1776 that religion

The Chthonic Celebrant:

“can be directed by reason and conviction, not by force or violence; and therefore, all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience; and that it is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian forbearance, love, and charity towards each other.”

The Priest:

We’ve carried this principle farther now, and know that it is any kind of religion whose believers need to show “forbearance, love and charity” to others. But for writing such bold words, we make offerings to Mason and Madison.

The Champion offers into the mundus.

The Fire Tender says:

Freedom of belief is the root of Liberty. But if Liberty is to be enjoyed, it must be put into practice. Liberty put into practice is Justice, and that’s another of our beliefs. Justice has to be for everyone, or it’s for no one. And we each have to stand up for that, even if it’s hard. One of the most important of the Founders of this country, John Adams, had to do that, when in 1770 he agreed to defend the British soldiers accused in the Boston Massacre.

She tells the story of the Boston Massacre, and what Adams did.

The Priest:

So today we make an offering to John Adams, praying for the same courage and wisdom when we have to make the same kind of choice.

The Champion offers into the mundus.

The Priest says:

Of course, when you choose to stand up for the right, that doesn’t mean we get to do the wrong. Sam Adams and his fellow Patriots knew this when on December 16, 1793, they boarded ships in Boston harbor. They were there because the British government had put a tax on tea. Maybe a tax was needed, because the colonists needed to pay for the British army that had fought the French and Indian War to protect them, but the point wasn’t whether the tax was necessary, but whether it was just. The colonists hadn’t had any say in making the law about this tax, so they didn’t think they had to follow it. When the British government sent tea to America, and refused to unload it until the tax was paid, but also refused to let the ships leave without unloading it, Adams and his comrades, the Sons of Liberty, took action. They disguised themselves as Indians, climbed aboard the ships, broke open the chests of tea, and threw it overboard into the harbor. Two things stand out here. First, the disguises didn’t fool anyone, and no one really expect them to. This means that the Sons of Liberty, especially Sam Adams, could have been arrested for what they did. But they did it anyway, because they believed in what they called “No taxation without representation.” The other thing is that they destroyed only the tea. They didn’t touch any other cargo, or anything else on the ship. They even swept up after themselves. In other words, maybe they used violence, but they used only the violence necessary to get the job done. And they respected the property of others when they did that.

The Champion offers into the mundus.

The Priest says:

So for knowing that we shouldn’t use any more force than necessary, and not harm innocent people, We make offering to Sam Adams and his Sons of Liberty.

The Fire Tender says:

Sometimes, though, it takes more than throwing tea overboard to get our rights respected. Sometimes, unfortunately, it takes war. So the colonists started to organize groups of men, whom they called the “Minutemen,” because they were expected to be ready at a moment’s notice. They started stockpiling gunpowder and ammunition. When the British found out about this, they decided to march out of Boston to Lexington and Concord, where the supplies were kept and the colonists’ leaders were living, and seize them all. But the Americans in Boston found out about the plan. Fat lot of good it did them, though, if they couldn’t get the message to Lexington and Concord. In those days, Boston was practically an island, with only a small neck of land connecting it to the rest of the colony, and with only one road through that. The British had blocked that road, of course. So the colonists sent out three messengers. The most famous of these was Paul Revere. He told his fellow Patriots to put lanterns in the steeple of the North Church when the British were ready. He rowed across the harbor to where he could get to Lexington and Concord, and watched for the lanterns. The code was to hang one if they British were coming by land, and two if they were going to ferry troops over and march up the same way Revere had gone. When he saw two lanterns, he set out. He was captured on the way, but the message got through, and the Minutemen were warned in time. True to their name, they turned out at Lexington and Concord, and waited in their small numbers for the greatest army on earth. When the British got to Lexington, there was a standoff for a while, and then someone, no one knows who, fired, and a battle was fought. The British then moved on to Concord, where there was another short battle. The British had to retreat back to Boston. The colonists sent out messengers all around, and soon there were Minutemen all up and down the road to Boston, firing on the British troops as they marched. The British army would have been destroyed if reinforcements hadn’t come out of Boston to rescue them. Even so, when they got back to Boston, the Minutemen, soon joined by others, besieged the British until they eventually had to load their army onto ships and sail away.

The Champion offers into the mundus, including the piece of the beam from Old North Church. The Priest says:

We offer to Paul Revere, ready to tell everyone that Liberty was threatened, and to the Minutemen, who were willing to fight for it at a minute’s notice. They faced almost certain defeat, but, even in their deaths, attained victory, because they started a Revolution that’s still going on.

The Fire Tender says:

But why bother? Why fight? Why is it so important to risk our lives to defend Liberty? Thomas Jefferson told us when he wrote that

The Chthonic Celebrant:

“We have counted the cost of this contest, and find nothing so dreadful as voluntary slavery. – Honour, justice, and humanity, forbid us tamely to surrender that freedom which we received from our gallant ancestors, and which our innocent posterity have a right to receive from us. We cannot endure the infamy and guilt of resigning succeeding generations to that wretchedness which inevitably awaits them, if we basely entail hereditary bondage upon them. Our cause is just. Our union is perfect. We will, in defiance of every hazard, with unabating firmness and perseverance, employ for the preservation of our liberties; being with one mind resolved to die freemen rather than to live slaves.”

The Fire Tender:

Why, then? Not just to free ourselves, but so we can look our children in the eyes and say, “we have kept you free.” They’ve done this for us, and now we have the duty to do it to the future, remembering Benjamin Franklin’s words,

The Chthonic Celebrant:

“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”

The Fire Tender:

In these times when we are often faced with the choice between Liberty and Safety, we need to remember the words of Jefferson and Franklin.

The Champion offers into the mundus, while the Fire Tender says:

We offer to Jefferson and Franklin, dedicating ourselves to the virtues of dying free rather than living slaves, of valuing Liberty over safety.

The Priest says:

Liberty isn’t just private. Not only do we have to win it for ourselves, not only do we need to pass it on to our children, but we also need to proclaim it to the world. We need to let people know what we stand for, and why. When things had reached their breaking point, then, not only did the colonists decide to declare that they were independent, and no longer colonists of Britain, but citizens of a new country, they wrote their declaration down and published it to the world. They explained why they were taking this step, and they told everyone why they believed it was right. In the process, they told us what our new country stood for. It stood for all the things we’ve been talking about so far: a government that belonged to the people and that was there to protect their rights. It stood for Liberty. This is what they wrote.

He stands, holding the Declaration, and begins to read it. When he reaches the part which says: WE, therefore, the Representatives of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, in GENERAL CONGRESS All stand, and the Fire Tender picks up the Liberty pole and takes it to the east, where she erects it and stands next to it.

When he is done, the Priest looks up and says:

With these words, the foundation of Liberty in this country had been built.

The Fire Tender lights the Liberty lamp from the Minerva lamp, using a match as an intermediary, and says:

Established today, for us and for our descendants, is Liberty, Mother of Exiles, always young, her torch bright and clear, a beacon fire guiding us.

She lights a stick of incense from the Liberty lamp, and pushes it into the ground in front of the Liberty pole, while the Priest says:

The goddess Liberty has been worshiped for thousands of years, dating back at least to the ancient Romans. While she has sometimes been forgotten, and seen as just symbolic, she has still watched over this country. It was the Romans, however, who last worshiped her properly, who last erected temples and altars in her honor and made offerings to her. So today we give her again the kind of offering they would made, the sweet smell of incense. Be honored, Liberty, by your children.

All:

Be honored, Liberty, by your children.

The Fire Tender returns to her place, sits down, and says:

The question remained, and remains today: If we are to win Liberty, we must destroy that which opposes it. But if we are to keep Liberty, we must put something in its place. This was on the minds of the Founders even as the Revolutionary War was being fought. It was on the mind of Abigail Adams when she wrote this:

The Chthonic Celebrant:

I am more and more convinced that man is a dangerous creature; and that power, whether vested in many or a few, is ever grasping, and, like the grave, cries "Give, give." The great fish swallow up the small; and he who is most strenuous for the rights of the people, when vested with power is as eager after the prerogatives of government. You tell me of degrees of perfection to which human nature is capable of arriving, and I believe it, but, at the same time, lament that our admiration should arise from the scarcity of the instances. If we separate from Britain, what code of laws will be established? How shall we be governed so as to retain our liberties?”

The Priest says:

We’ve spoken of our growing awareness of Liberty, and heard of the preparation of a foundation in this land. But what shrine would be built here? It remained for the Founders to start the building, to form a country whose source is Liberty, to establish as a challenge to the world a people dedicated to the unfolding of the ideals of the Declaration.

The Fire Tender goes to where the flag is and says:

They met in Philadelphia, in the same hall were they had voted for independence, and set to work. They argued, they compromised, they wrote. In the end, they had a document which put into form the first floor of the building which is the shrine of Liberty. Only four pages long, it has lived through the years, changing as we become more and more aware of the true meaning of Liberty. But that awareness was summed up in its very first sentence, which we call the Preamble.

She picks up the flag and says:

This is that sentence;

The Chthonic Celebrant:

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, ensure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure for the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

The Fire Tender walks towards where the flag will be placed. She tries to time it so as to reach the spot right before the words “do ordain and establish.” As they are spoken, she turns around to face the others and takes the covering off the flag.

After a short pause, she erects the flag and lights a stick of incense from the Liberty torch. She pushes it into the ground, while the Priest says:

Under the blessings of Liberty, fed with the wisdom of the Ancestors, our country is well-established. If it should betray the principles upon which it was founded, however, it will lose its soul and die a well-deserved death. May the flag speak those words in our hearts, so that whenever we see it we will hear them and will renew our dedication to Liberty.

The Fire Tender says:

It is our custom for each of us who desires to make their own offerings to those they want to honor. This is a particularly good day for that, for one of the founding principles of America is the importance of the individual, but another is the importance of community. So making offerings as individuals in the midst of a community is a proper thing to do; E Pluribus Unum; that is to say, Out of Many, One. In the same letter to Abigail in which John Adams described how Independence Day should be celebrated, he spoke of both the struggle and the promise that America would involve. This is what he wrote:

The Chthonic Celebrant says:

“I am well aware of the toil, and blood, and treasure, that it will cost us to maintain this declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet, through all the gloom, I can see the rays of ravishing light and glory.”

With this last bit, the Fire Tender lights the sparklers and pushes them into the ground, one in front of each pole. She then returns to her place and says:

Today, we want to use this time to tell each other more about those who performed that labor, and are still doing it, who shed that blood, and are still doing it, who gave that treasure, and are still doing it. We ask for stories of these people, not only those whose work came before the Declaration and the Constitution, but those who came after. So I ask, then, have the folk brought praise?

The Priest says:

They have.

Praise offerings.

Divination. When it is positive, the Priest says:

Annuērunt Coeptis.

All:

Annuērunt Coeptis

The Fire Tender brings the pitcher of Waters from by Liberty to the center, saying:

We are nourished from the ancient spring; from Liberty, our reason for being.

At the same time, the Priest brings the pitcher of Waters from by the mundus to the center. After the Fire Tender speaks, the Priest says:

We are nourished from the ancient spring; from the dead we receive our lives to place in Liberty’s service.

They then pour the Waters together into the bowl, while the Priest says:

We are nourished by Liberty in this land, flowing with milk and honey.

They sit down.

The Fire Tender holds the Waters over the flame a moment, then lifts them up and says:

The source of our values: Behold the Waters of Life!

All:

Behold the Waters of Life!

She holds the Waters over the flame a moment, then lifts them up and says:

The continuation of our ways: Behold the Waters of Life!

All:

Behold the Waters of Life!

She holds the Waters over the flame a moment, then lifts them up and says:

The hope of our future: Behold the Waters of Life!

All:

Behold the Waters of Life!

Then the Fire Tender ladles some of the Waters into the small silver bowl, saying:

May the Kindreds always receive their due.

She brings the small bowl to the flag and Liberty pole, puts it down, and returns to the center. The Waters are distributed, but not drunk yet. When all have been served, the Priest says:

John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both died on the same day, the 50th Independence Day. A month or two before then, some local worthies came to Adams and asked him to provide a toast for the July 4th festivities. John Adams surprised and disappointed them by giving them a two-word toast. But the old man knew what he was doing, and his toast summed up the spirit of the day perfectly. So let us drink that toast. Independency forever!

All:

Independency forever!

All drink. Then the Fire Tender says:

Goddess Liberty, we pray to you today. Grant freedom to all your children, no matter their country. We take time today to remember the examples of freedom we have seen in our time. We remember the citizens of Berlin, who knew that the best use for a wall is to dance upon it. We remember those who stood in the Russian Parliament Square, and waited for the tanks to come. We remember those who died in Cairo to celebrate an Arab spring. And we remember those who struggled and failed, such as the martyrs of Tiananmen Square, who, after raising a statue to you, faced the tanks and lost. We will not forget.

The Priest sets up the statue of the Goddess of Democracy, lights a stick of incense and puts it into the sand, and returns to his place. The Fire Tender continues:

We will not forget. Give us the courage to earn our freedom and to regain it if it is stolen. We ask this of you who are the source of all Freedom.

All:

Amen.

The Fire Tender says:

The work is not ended. The Declaration of Independence was not an end. It was a foundation, a place from which to beginning the unfolding of Liberty. The Constitution was not an end. It was the first floor of the shrine of Liberty, the beginning of Her unfolding. For America is not a geographical location, or a government, or even a group of people. America is an idea, and this idea is not completely fulfilled. Martin Luther King spoke of this:

The Priest says:

When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

The Fire Tender walks around the space, lighting people’s candles, saying:

Liberty is not a gift. She is not something for us to sit back and enjoy. Liberty is a responsibility; A responsibility and a challenge – to contribute our toil and our treasure, and, if need be, our lives, to the unfolding of the American Idea, that all are equal, that all have the inalienable right to rule themselves. And so Martin Luther King said as well:

The Priest:

I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

The Fire Tender:

And he gave us a hymn with which to celebrate and mourn:

Begin to ring bells. All join in.

The Priest:

Let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania! Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado! Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California! But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia! Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee! Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

The Fire Tender says:

Let freedom ring: In our hearts In our lives In our land: Let freedom ring.

The Priest says:

Let it ring to the world. May all see the challenge of the American Dream. And may the whole world hold us accountable if we stop its unfolding.

The ringing increases. The Priest says:

Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof!”

Ring bells louder and louder. At crescendo, the Priest shouts:

The rite is not ended!

Recess, with the Fire Tender and the Priest carrying the two fires, to the deck and let the bells grow quiet. The Fire Tender leads, and plants the liberty torch in the tub. As each person arrives at it, they plant their candle by it.

After the feast, the Fire Tender and the Priest thank the Kindreds and close the gate.