SASSAFRAS-SPEAK:

A glossary and F.A.Q. for the lexicon used by Sassafras Grove and/or ADF

LEGEND:

PRONUNCIATION:

ADF / Ar nDraiocht Fein, a Druid Fellowship

Prounced "arn REE-ockt fane" (Irish for "Our own Druidism"). Our parent organization,ADF, was founded by Isaac Bonewits in 1984. ADF is primarily an American organization and now has close to 1500 members worldwide. While friendly with the many other Druid groups in Britain, the US and elsewhere, ADF is unique from the others primarily in two ways. First, ADF is a "Neopagan" organization with a focus on worshipful relationships with the Deities, Nature Spirits and Ancestors. Some of the British Druid groups are more accurately described as philosophical brotherhoods and do not promote actual polytheistic religious activities. Second, many "Druid" groups, religious or philosophical, are exclusively Celtic in the motifs and content they utilize. From its inception ADF has chosen to address and utilize content not only Celtic material but extended to the whole range of ancient subcultures derived from the Indo-European language tree. So although the term "druid" was initially an ancient Gaulish word, it has over the last 1000 years become an English word as well and therefore we consider it not really so illogical to refer to our form of Neopagan activity as "Druidism" even though it operates at times in other cultural motifs than "Celtic"... (see the below for further clarification).

See below: "Druid" "Neopagan Druidism" "Indo-European"

Ancestor Dolls

( SGI: a Sassafras innovation, not originally found in other groves)

Over the years, members of Sassafras Grove have been making physical representations of their ancestors. These “dolls” have been made of various materials, including clay, straw, and cloth/stuffing. These dolls serve as physical foci for honoring our ancestors, both ethnic and spiritual. Each doll can represent an individual ancestor, a specific family line, or one’s broader ethnic ancestry or hearth culture. Often we have chosen to include specific “ancestor links” such as a grandmother’s pendant, a piece of grandpap’s favorite shirt, or a lock of our own hair as a part of these dolls in order to deepen the tie between the doll and our ancestors themselves. Sassafras usually holds an ancestor doll workshop in October where members’ work on these dolls together. Members are encouraged to bring their dolls to the Dumb Supper and to all High Day rites, especially Samhain. See: ANCESTOR DOLLS

Bardic Circle

Bardic skills are prized and encouraged in ADF. Periodically Sassafras Grove holds bardic circles where we come together to share traditional and original stories, poems and songs. We either hold them as separate public events or as a part of a larger event such as the Lughnassad and Beltane picnics. Non-performers are always welcomed and encouraged!!! Sometimes we have a theme, sometimes we don’t.

The Bile (bee-lay)

( SGI – a Sassafras' innovation: a fire on top of the Bile…)

Although an ornate pole ( bile – Irish: “sacred tree”) used as an emblem of the World-Tree or axis mundi is commonly found central to the ritual furniture of most ADF groves rites, back around 1994-95, Sassafras Grove started a custom of mounting a Sacred Fire-pot to the top of the Bile-pole. Sassafras remains one of the only groves doing this but the custom does show signs of spreading to other groves.

The Blessed Ones

( SSL / see “The Kindred”)

A Sassafras grove term for what is referred-to elsewere in ADF by the more clinical term “The Deities”. An instructive and reverential term Earrach coined, “The Blessed Ones” (prn. "bless-ed...") is based on some Celtic and Indo-European linguistic inspiration where others considering the same factors sometimes use “The Shining Ones” or ”The Radiant Ones” as being at the root of most IE terms for the Gods and Goddesses.

Blessing Rite

We use the term “Blessing Rite” to designate non-High Day rites that are open to the public. These rites are typically shorter and simpler in nature than our High Day rites, and they give the public an opportunity to experience an ADF rite on a more intimate scale. They also serve as an opportunity for members to try out new liturgical ideas and take risks that might not be appropriate for our larger and more highly attended High Day rites. While our High Day rites are typically held in honor of one or two primary deities, these rites tend to focus more on deepening our connections with the Three Kindred.

Brigantia

( SSL: Sassafras Specific Lexicon)

Sassafras Lexicon for what other ADF groves and pagans call Imbolc or Candlemas, a high day occurring around Feb.1st through Feb 4th: the Feast of Brigid. Brigid, assumed by scholars to be the origin of the patron saint of Ireland St Brigid, is synonomous with the sovereignty goddess Brigantia in Britain and similarly under a number of related names on the continent.

Brigantian Liberation Front (BLF)

( SGI a Sassafras Innovation )

The Brigantian Liberation Front or BLF is a special interest group within Sassafras Grove dedicated to exploring Women’s Mysteries. Membership is open to all female members of Sassafras Grove. It was initially formed at a business meeting when Earrach joked about a “ladies' auxiliary” as a possible subgroup within the Grove. The female members present indignantly declared, “Auxiliary to what? We are the Grove!” Thus the BLF was born. The BLF maintains its own Yahoo Group on which it discusses all official BLF business. Past activities have included attending Heartland Chenille Canopy retreats and holding Full Moon rites.

Business Meeting

Business meetings are meetings where the officers and members of Sassafras Grove meet to discuss official business. The only business meeting mandated by our bylaws is the Annual Meeting, which is described thusly in Article VIII, Section 1:

The Annual Meeting of Sassafras Grove shall be held in the Greater Pittsburgh Area, at a time and place convenient to all members of the Grove, on a date falling between May 1st and August 15th, inclusive. Should members fail to duly notice or convene an Annual Meeting, such a meeting shall be deemed duly called and noticed if it is convened at half past noon on the last Saturday of August. The Annual Meeting shall be chaired by the Steward.

Officer elections are held during the Annual Meeting. Typically we also hold a business meeting in January in order to set the calendar for the year.

Chenille Canopy

The Chenille Canopy is a women’s group within ADF. Beginning as a Heartland Region Women’s retreat on Easter weekend 2004 at the home of Liafal of Stone Creed Grove near Cleveland, OH, the Chenille Canopy has grown to become an ADF-wide phenomenon. The Canopy has hosted High Tea at the Wellspring festival, and other regions have held their own retreats. The first retreat was conceived by Liafal and Jenni Hunt of Three Cranes Grove as a chance for the women of their region to get together, compare notes, and support each other in their leadership roles within their Groves and within ADF. Since the first retreat, one has been held every six months.

The name “Chenille Canopy” came about as Diana was crocheting a chenille “something.” Someone joked that it could be a chenille tent for Wellspring, and someone else suggested that it should be a canopy because it was more inclusive than a tent. The Chenille Canopy exists for the benefit of all women who are members of ADF. It provides protection for new ideas, a safe haven for discussion and problem resolution as well as a supportive structure for women to pursue higher visibility roles within the organization. The Chenille Canopy maintains a Yahoo list open to all female ADF members. You can join by sending a blank email to chenillecanopy-subscribe@yahoogroups.com, and you can visit the Chenille Canopy web site at http://users.adelphia.net/~selenetawny/chenille/chenille.html.

Circle Casting and Quarters-Calling

In ADF we don’t cast a circle around our working-space, nor do we call “the Guardians of the Watchtowers”.

This can be very disconcerting to persons trained in Wiccan ways since the magic circle is seen as both keeping unwanted influences “out” while keeping desired influences “in”. Wiccan rites are typically private and involve a group of people who know and trust each other and as a consequence some Wiccans are reluctant to even participate in public magical rites. To Wiccans the circle is both a fortress and a temple.

Gerald Gardner and the other early Wiccans in the late 1940’s lifted these techniques directly from Christian diabolism and necromantic magic from the late Middle Ages. Historically, circle-casting and quarter-calling is not attested to in the lore of any known Indo-European pagan traditions and should be seen as a practice deeply embedded in the Christian world-view. ADF relies on an assumption of the goodness of the natural world (or at least its neutrality) and operates its rites based on seeing certain objects or locations central to the working space (the cauldron, the bile’-pole, the fire, etc.) as focii or sources for the outward-emanation of a potent field of sanctity, streaming out to fill the area with blessing and thereby providing whatever “protection” that might be needed.

The Creation Myth

( SGI: a Sassafras innovation)

Inserted just after (or in place of) the Salutation of the World Tree in the beginning of the ”Second Tier” of the ADF Standard Liturgy, as adapted by Sassafras Grove. The placement of this brief story of the creation of the World and the origins of our people is not (yet) used generally by the rest of ADF although some groves have adopted it or experimented with it. See Earrach’s article on the website for why we feel it should be an essential part of our rites. Also see “The Myth of the Eternal Return” by Mircea Eliade.

Dedicant Program

Designed to ground new members of ADF in the core principles and practices of Our Druidry, the Dedicant Program (DP) serves as ADF’s foundational study program. Students work their way through three triads of study, encompassing meditation techniques, introduction to personal piety and ritual, Druidic ethics, mythology, history, and lore. Each member of ADF receives a copy of the program with their membership packet. Many resources exist to help members through the DP, including an email list, a mentorship program, and “Dedicant Buddies” at the national level and a Dedicant Study Group within Sassafras Grove. The Dedicant Program is by no means mandatory, but it is a wonderful way to deepen one’s spiritual path and learn a lot about ADF and Neo-Pagan practice in general. Having completed the DP is quickly becoming a prerequisite for certain leadership positions within ADF.

"Druid" (ADF Neopagan Druidism)

“DRUID” was the word in ancient Gaul and Britain for the magician-priests who served the religious needs of their tribe. In ADF, we use the term Druid in a similar but modern sense. We are not ancient pagans, we are Neopagans interested in seving our Neopagan communities by providing quality public Neopagan religious celebrations and services. Although our organization has many functions promoting personal spiritual development and private religious work, ADF’s primary mission has always been to offer an accessible and non-exclusive form of pagan worship and celebration to our local communities.

Admittedly we are not practicing “Ancient Celtic Druidism” – nor are we trying to reconstruct it since no one knows what that was like but we are fulfilling a clearly “druidic” role within contemporary Neopaganism, therefore ours is by definition a NEOPAGAN Druidism.

Druid Moon

Periodically Sassafras Grove meets to celebrate the “Druid Moon” with an informal blessing rite. The Druid Moon is held to be the first quarter moon, taken from the following reference of the Roman historian Pliny the Elder speaking of the rites of the Druids of ancient Gaul: "The Mistletoe…is gathered with due religious ceremony…on the 6th Night of the Moon. . .." Druid Moon is a members-only rite and is typically held at the home of a member, although they have been held in public places as well such as Point State Park. Often as part of the rite each member discusses their “From, Through and To” for the past month, i.e. we speak about where we were spiritually last month, what has happened in the last month, and what we plan to do in the next month. Our informal rule is that we do not do a Druid Moon ceremony if the first quarter moon falls close to a High Day or Public Blessing Rite. An easy way to remember when the Druid Moon occurs is to look at the moon. When it looks like a “D” in the sky, it’s Druid Moon. - - D is for Druid!

See Earrach’s article “On the Sixth Day of the Moon” on the Grove website (Writings and Art)

Dumb Supper

Also known as the “Ancestor Dinner,” the Dumb Supper is held at a member’s home each October in the weeks leading up to Samhain. It is open to all Sassafras Grove members and their significant others. Each person makes a dish (or a few dishes) that is either representative of their ethnic ancestry, the personal favorite of an honored loved-one who has passed on, or a family favorite. We dress-up and bring out the “good china” for this event, and we leave an empty place at the table for our ancestors. Attendees are encouraged to bring their ancestor dolls, pictures, and other ancestor memorabilia for the ancestor altar. At the beginning of the dinner, the host/ess opens the door to invite our ancestors to join us. Each person takes a turn serving a bit of their dish(es) to the ancestors’ plate, and then we each partake in the bounty. The entire meal is eaten in silence, and some years we have even conducted the pre-dinner preparation in silence as well. After dessert, the host/ess takes the plate outside and bids our ancestors farewell. At this point we can finally speak and share our experiences.

Elements ( Why no Earth, Air, Fire and Water ? )

Elemental "powers" and systems of correspondence based on the classical set of four elements figure heavily in the lore of the magical systems and mystical religious groups which gave birth to Neopaganism. Unfortunately, there is little to nothing in the historical record to support the use of this symbol set by pre-Christian "pagan" cultures, other than by the ancient Greeks who initially developed it, not in a religious context, but rather, in their scientific philosophy 2200-2600 years ago. There is no sign of the pagan cultures north of the Alps (Gauls-Celts-Germans, etc.) ever having used the clasical set of four elements in any context. The use of them seems to have become important in the magical and alchemical systems developed in the Mediterranean Christian and Islamic cultures, and then, only well into the first millenium of Common Era.

In ADF public liturgies we do not use four "elements", although we do recognize and employ the more ancient and pan-Indo-European system of seeing the world as being sub-divisible into sets of Sacred THREE's:
*Underworld/Middleworld/Upperworld;
*From/Through/To;
*Sacred Sovereignty/Force/Fecundity;
*Well/Fire/Tree, etc.

Files Section

Yahoo Groups web pages provides users with a variety of programs, including file sharing. Many important Sassafras documents can be found here, organized into folders such as “High Days,” “Business Issues,” and “Omens.” If you’re looking for business meeting minutes, outlines and notes about past rites, etc., the Files Section of the Sassafras Grove Members Yahoo Group is the place to check. Much of this information is also being posted on the Sassafras Grove Web site, but it is still a place to share works in progress and other members-only documents.

Grove Vigil

The Grove Vigil is held yearly or when there is interest, usually in August. It is an overnight “ordeal” night-hike to a cave dubbed by Earrach “The Cave of the Morrigan”, located adjacent to our holy-hill “the Tor” in the South Hills. While it is not mandatory for membership, it is available to anyone who wants a more “initiatory” experience in as part of their membership in Sassafras Grove. See: The TOR: Our Holy Hill.

High Day

ADF has adopted the Neopagan calendar of the Solstices and Equinoxes along with the Cross-Quarter Days midway in-between. In Sassafras Grove, we typically call them by the following names:

As an ADF Grove, Sassafras is required to hold a public worship service for each of the High Days, within two weeks of the traditional dates. Much more detailed information about each High Day can be found in other parts of the grove website.

Indo European (IE)

A family of languages thought to have branched-off from a common root language now referred-to as Proto-Indo European (PIE) that existed some 4000-6000 years ago. At the time of the Roman Empire all the languages of Europe and the British Isles were members of this family; all except Etruscan and the existing ancestors of what are now Basque, Hungarian and Finnish.

The Celtic languages and the Romance languages were on the same ("Celto-Italic-Tocharian") sub-branch of the IE language tree. English, German and the Scandinavian languages were on another sub-branch called the "Western-Germanic" Branch.

Other, eastern, members of the PIE legacy were Persian, certain periods of Hittite and some old languages from the Indus valley including Sanskrit.

Indo European is the common linguistic-cultural ground which ties these various sets of ancestral cultures together and ADF has chosen to work within this set exclusively. For a very good series of introductory articles on IE Studies, visit Cei's website: http://www.ceisiwrserith.com/

The Kindred

When referring to “The Kindred” (the three classes of Spirit-Folk / Dwellers in the Three Worlds) ADF generally uses the terms: “Nature Spirits, Ancestors, and Deities”. Current since virtually the point in history where ADF formulated the concept, the following terms have remained in use in Sassafras Grove:
“The Worldly Spirits”, “Ancestors”, and “The Blessed Ones”.

Lore Meeting

Lore Meetings are held approximately two weeks before each High Day. They are open to the public. At each Lore Meeting, we come together to compare notes on what is known about the history and traditions of the upcoming High Day and discuss how we might best prepare to greet each station on the Wheel of the Year both collectively and individually. Lore Meetings serve as a "kicking-off" point, helping us to transition to the next point on the Wheel. We think of them as sort of a "pep-rally" where we gear up for the upcoming holiday by discussing our personal traditions and learning about the Grove's theme for this year.

Ritual Planning Meeting

Ritual Planning Meetings are held in the weeks leading up to the upcoming High Day rite. They are open to all Sassafras Grove members. Typically the primary liturgist or a small group of liturgists have a vision for the rite, and they handle most of the planning. As the Grove has gotten larger, we are striving to have preliminary planning meetings attended by the primary liturgists and a final planning meeting that is open to all members of the Grove. Any member who has a drive to work as a primary liturgist on a particular High Day rite is encouraged to speak up and make their desire known. Sassafras Grove strives to train all its members as liturgists, and we believe that the best way to learn is by doing, supported by the more experienced members of the Grove.

"Sassafras Grove"?? - What's with the name?

Sassafras was one of the earliest (the 6th?) ADF groves established. The original custom suggested for naming a local grove by the organization's founder Isaac Bonewits was to consider finding a type of tree symbolic of your region or grove-philosophy. Earrach, our grove's founder felt on a general (and a personal-) level that the Sassafras was very close to the "soul" of Southwestern Pennsylvania and a fine emblem for our grove.

For more detail, Earrach's essay Why Sassafras?in this site's "Writings and Art" section.

Sassafras Grove Web-Resources

• This, our main public website, www.sassafrasgrove.org...

Sassafras Grove maintains three Yahoo Group email lists:

• Sassafras Grove Announce: This list serves to inform all interested parties about the activities of Sassafras Grove, including High Day Rites, Lore Meetings, Workshops, Blessing Rites, and Bardic Circles. Membership is open to the general public, but only moderators can post.
• Sassafras Grove Discuss: We aim to use this list as a forum to explore topics related to the Grove itself, Our Druidry and Neo-Paganism in general. It is open to the general public.
• Sassafras Grove Members: Usually called the “Members List,” this list is open to all Sassafras Grove members. It is the primary means of communication among the members of the Grove. We use it for planning, discussion, announcements, questions, and general communication purposes. (see also "Files Section")

The Tor

Adjacent to a small public park in the South Hills, “The Tor”, as we call it, is a large hill from which much of southwestern Allegheny County can be seen. It has been the site of a number Sassafras Grove rites over the years. For more about its significance to the Grove, see Earrach’s article: The TOR: Our Holy Hill

Women’s Rite

Women’s rites have been done in the past as part of the Brigantian Liberation Front. Some examples include Full Moon rites and the Brigantia Women’s rite held a few days before the Grove Brigantia rite.

The "Worldly Spirits" / "Spirits of This World"

( SSL: Sassafras specific lexicon – as yet not used in other groves)

A Sassafras term for what is now referred-to elsewere in ADF
by the less inclusive term: “The Nature Spirits”.

When referring to the Kindred (the three classes of Spirit-Folk: Nature Spirits, Ancestors, and Deities) ADF initially struggled with this one among the three sub-categories. In some contexts (particularly Celtic,) the common term heard in ADF for some time was “the Sidhe” (prn: “shee”) –Irish: the Faery Folk and/or heroic race of spirits living “under the hill(s)”. This, being too culturally specific, gave way to the current ADF term “Nature Spirits” which seems too limited and imprecise: Are we speaking of the just the Spirits of the Creatures, or are we still including the Fair-Folk? And what about the “Genius Locii”(spirits of a place: mountain, river, valley, spring, grove, cave, etc.…)?

So, in 1994, Sassafras opened this category up to being
“The Spirits of this World”, a kindred itself comprised by the sub-triad of:

*Nature Spirits - the Creature and Plant Spirits,
*Worldly Spirits - The "other" spirits of This World, who live “with one foot in this world”
(The Fey-Folk or their equivalents from other cultures)
*Spirits of Place –
the “Genius Locii" or spirits of a specific location.

-This sub-triad has since collectively been referred-to in Sassafras' rites by the shorthand term "The Spirits of this World" - - rather than ADF’s more limited standard “Nature Spirits”.