I used the Winter Solstice liturgy from Solitary Druid Fellowship (a recently-added branch off of ADF). I have to say, it was really nice having a pre-made liturgy intended for solitary practice. It’s difficult being fairly new to ADF liturgy and feeling that I need to significantly adapt an existing ritual intended for groups or make my own ritual. This made it easier, and as I’ve noticed that my anxiety issues have previously interfered with doing rituals, especially with new groups of people, I needed some “easy”.
That didn’t mean I didn’t avoid the ritual until December 31st, ten days after I had intended to do the ritual … *sigh*…
But hey, I did it, and it was great. It was awesome to feel such a connection to my spiritual path. It’s honestly been a while since I’ve felt that. The best was the omen. I used the Druid Animal Oracle deck, and drew three cards for three questions:
- How was the offering received? = Blackbird
- What is the Kindreds’ response to the offering? = Hind (white deer) reversed
- Any other wisdom that the Kindreds would like me to learn? = Fox
After the ritual, my husband (who is supportive but not particularly inclined to participate) informed me that a herd of ten deer, does and yearlings, had passed through our yard near the end of the ritual. He took a picture for me:
After he told me this, we saw two stragglers (a doe and a yearling) pass by and head the same direction, making an even twelve … and were soon thereafter followed by a stag. The synchronicity of it being the last day of the year (12 months) and the last day of Yuletide (12 days), along with a deer (albeit a white one) showing up in my omen, was powerful and heartening.
Happy end of 2012, everyone! It was not the easiest year for me, and I’m pretty happy to see it go, and to also welcome a new year with new possibilities.
That is lovely, that the deer and the white stag appeared
Thanks for sharing the link to the Solitary Druid Fellowship; I’m definitely going to check that out. I like my rituals to be personalized, but I have found that it is simpler for me to start with a pre-made liturgy and then gradually add my own modifications.