Ring Out, Solstice Bells

(Jethro Tull – 1976)

Now is the solstice of the year,
winter is the glad song that you hear.
Seven maids move in seven time.
Have the lads up ready in a line.

Ring out these bells.
Ring out, ring solstice bells.
Ring solstice bells.

Join together beneath the mistletoe.
by the holy oak whereon it grows.
Seven druids dance in seven time.
Sing the song the bells call, loudly chiming.

Ring out these bells.
Ring out, ring solstice bells.
Ring solstice bells.

Ring out, ring solstice bells.
Ring out, ring solstice bells.

Praise be to the distant sister sun,
joyful as the silver planets run.
Seven maids move in seven time.
Sing the song the bells call, loudly chiming.

Ring out those bells.
Ring out, ring solstice bells.
Ring solstice bells.
Ring on, ring out.
Ring on, ring out.
Ring on, ring out.
Ring on, ring out.
Ring on, ring out.

LISTEN

Song to Brighid

by Lisa Thiel

Blessed Woman come to me
Woman of the Fires,
Woman of Poetry
Blessed Woman come to me
woman of Healing,
Woman of Skillful Means

Blessed woman of the land
Guide my heart and guide my hand
Blessed Woman of the streams
Guide my soul and guide my dreams
Blessed Woman come to me
Woman of the fires
Woman of Poetry,

Blessed Woman come to me
Woman of Healing
Woman of Skillful Means.
Blessed Woman of the hills
Heal all wounds and heal all ills
Blessed Woman of the flame
Awaken me to renew again

 

LISTEN

Festival of Light

by New Troubadors

(Words by David Spangler; Music by Milenko Matanovic)

LYRICS

This is the Festival, the Festival of Light

Sing for the candles burning brightly through the night

Sing for the light abroad that guides our destiny

Sing for the light of love that builds community

 

Sing for the wise ones, men and women who

Light up our way with visions that are true

Sing for our children who are candles of the dawn

Giving us the promise that our light will carry on

 

This is the festival, the festival of light

Sing for the love that shall make this world ignite

A flame with a beauty that awakes in every heart

Sing for the will that can make that fire start

 

Follow the light that leads within us to the birth

Of love and harmony, and peace for all upon the earth

 

We are the festival, we are the light

We are the candles burning brightly in the night

 

We are the festival, we are the light

We are the candles burning brightly in the night

 

We are the festival, we are the light

We are the candles burning brightly in the night

NOTES

Used many times for the Annual Winter Solstice Service.  Esp the first one in 1994.

http://lorianpress.com/troubs.htm

 

Responses for a Cremation

by Ruth Burgess

Into the freedom of wind and sunshine
We let you go
Into the dance of the stars and the planets
We let you go
Into the wind’s breath and the hands of the star maker
We let you go
We love you, we miss you, we want you to be happy
Go safely, go dancing, go running home

Responses for a Burial

by Ruth Burgess

Into the darkness and warmth of the earth
We lay you down
Into the sadness and smiles of our memories
We lay you down
Into the cycle of living and dying and rising again
We lay you down
May you rest in peace, in fulfillment, in loving
May you run straight home in God’s embrace

Instructions

By Arnold Crompton

When I have moved beyond you in the adventure of life,
Gather in some pleasant place and there remember me
With spoken words, old and new.

Let a tear if you will, but let a smile come quickly
For I have loved the laughter of life.

Do not linger too long with your solemnities.

Go eat and talk, and when you can;
Follow a woodland trail, climb a high mountain,
Walk along the wild seashore,
Chew the thoughts of some book
Which challenges your soul.

Use your hands some bright day
To make a thing of beauty
Or to lift someone’s heavy load.

Though you mention not my name,
Though no thought of me crosses your mind,
I shall be with you,
For these have been the realities of my life for me.

And when you face some crisis with anguish.

When you walk alone with courage,
When you choose your path of right,
I shall be very close to you.

I have followed the valleys,
I have climbed the heights of life.

Death Is Nothing At All

by Canon Henry Scott-Holland

Death is nothing at all
I have only slipped away into the next room
I am I and you are you
Whatever we were to each other
That we are still
Call me by my old familiar name
Speak to me in the easy way you always used
Put no difference into your tone
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow
Laugh as we always laughed
At the little jokes we always enjoyed together
Play, smile, think of me, pray for me
Let my name be ever the household word that it always was
Let it be spoken without effort
Without the ghost of a shadow in it
Life means all that it ever meant
It is the same as it ever was
There is absolute unbroken continuity
What is death but a negligible accident?
Why should I be out of mind
Because I am out of sight?
I am waiting for you for an interval
Somewhere very near
Just around the corner
All is well.
Nothing is past; nothing is lost
One brief moment and all will be as it was before
How we shall laugh at the trouble of parting when we meet again!