I participated in the Lughnasadh 2010 ritual with Ocean's Tide Grove. Three grove members - Anthony, Steven, and Noel - attended, along with me. Anthony was the Priest for the rite, but each of us had particular sections to perform. We met in a picnic area at the Lincoln Woods State Park in Rhode Island.

Since this was a Lughnassad ("festival of Lugh") ritual, we honored Lugh "the victorious and the long-armed" and also Fliodhas "woman of the woodlands, protector of animals and keeper of the herd of plenty". We invoked Brighid, "goddess of creative expression" for Bardic Inspiration. Manannan mac Lir was our Gatekeeper. The Outsiders we appeased for this Celtic ritual were the Fir Bolg and the Fomorians, who had opposed the Tuatha Dé Danann when they arrived in Ireland.

We prepared for the ritual by setting up a roaring fire in the fire pit, decorating a nearby tree with a drinking horn, and filling a bowl with water. Thus: Fire, Tree, Well. We dug an offering pit and placed our ritual objects and offerings around the area, close to where they would be used during the ritual. When we were ready, we began outside the ritual area.

We are here to welcome the first harvest, to give thanks to the Earth and the Kindreds that we have survived and prospered to see the fruits of our efforts over the past year, We honor Lugh, the victorious and the long-armed, and we honor Fliodhas, woman of the woodlands, protector of animals and keeper of the herd of plenty.

We established our sacred Grove: the Fire, the Well, and the Tree, invoking Land, Sea, and Sky, and finished consecrating the space.

We called to Manannan mac Lir to open the gate between our world and the Otherworld, offered soda to the Outdwellers outside the ritual space, and invoked Brighid for Bardic Inspiration.

We honored and invited the three Kindreds: the Ancestors, the Nature Spirits, and the Gods, offering bread, bird seed, and oil, respectively.

The Priest recentered us and we prepared to make our Key Offerings. We honored Lugh Samildanach and offered him ale, bread, and fruit. We honored Fliodhas and offered her milk, flowers, and grain.

We each gave personal offerings to the three Kindreds.

We prayed and sang some more and sought an omen. The Priest cast the runes:

	Kenaz
	Þurisaz
	Raðio

The Priest interpreted the omen as ideas, meeting opposition with conflicting ideas, and steady progress. We each meditated on how we could use these blessings, and called the blessing down to the drinking horn full of ale, poured some ale into individual cups, and drank.

We thanked Lugh and Fliodhas, the three Kindreds, Manannan mac Lir, Brighid, and the Earth Mother.

The Priest regrounded us, we closed the gates, affirmed continuity with our Ancestors, ended the rite, and processed out. We ended with three strikes on the chime.

I felt that my own participation worked well enough. I read from a script, rather than having my parts memorized (since I'd not seen this ritual before), but I'd looked my parts over carefully before we began, and I said my parts without stumbling and with appropriate ritual drama, in my opinion. I had brought some grapes for use as a personal offering to the Kindreds. I probably should have brought specific offerings for each Kindred, but I didn't know enough to do that.

I learned a lot about how an ADF ritual works, but the main thing I took away from the experience was that I need to work on my Mental Discipline sooner rather than later; although the Two Powers meditation was intended to lead us into an appropriate "mind space" (as Steven called it, later), I can't say that I entered it. I did my best to visualize as directed, but really did not succeed. I did not feel the presence of Others at the ritual. I DID feel good about participating, and after we were done felt very satisfied and "right".

When our Priest interpreted the omens, he invited us to consider them as blessings offered to us by all those we'd invited and honored and to meditate on how we could use them in our own life between now and the next High Day. I considered my own situation: I am about to (temporarily) uproot and move across country with my son, in order to remove him from his current bad situation and also to try to deal with certain problems my mother-in-law is having. I felt that I could certainly use Inspiration, tempered with Opposing Ideas, especially since the end result is to be Steady Progress towards my goals. The Kindreds know, I certainly need their help.