News From Women's Alliance for Theology, Ethics & Ritual

Women's Harvest Festival: A Ritual, by Diann L. Neu

Call to Gather

Preparation: 4 candles, cider, bread, apples, honey

Welcome to our Women's Harvest Festival. We celebrate and give thanks for a harvest that is often overlooked: the contributions of women. We honor the ancestors who have passed on to us over the generations their wisdom and insights, their memories of the past and present. We honor women who have gone before us and made the world a more livable place for us and for the next generations. we intertwine our stories with women of ancient traditions, women of recorded history, women who have been disappeared, and grandmothers and mothers.

The four candles on the table symbolize the four parts of this ceremony. We invite women from the North, South, East and West to join us in our harvest festival.

Bless the Bread and Cider

Blessed are you, Source of Creation, Who Brings forth bread and drink from the earth.

Gratitude to Women of Ancient Traditions

Light a Candle

We are grateful to the women of ancient traditions and ask them to be with us now.

Share the Apples and Honey

Let us share apple and honey together; by this, we reclaim the apple as a positive symbol of women's history. We as women need to reach for knowledge, break taboos, and know that it is good. The honey symbolizes our hopes that our memories of the past will help sweeten the future. Take a piece of apple and dip it in the honey.

Bless the Daughters of the Great Mothers

May the blessings of Gaia, Lilith and Eve, Sarah and Hagar give you strength for your journey.

Song: "You Can't Kill the Spirit..." (original words by Naomi Little Bear, additional lyrics by the Women of Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp)

"You can't kill the spirit, She's like a mountain

Old and strong, she lives on and on and on."

Sending Forth

By claiming what is ours from the past, we enable our daughters to create the future. Let us go forth, giving thanks for what has been and opening our selves to the power of gratitude for the future. Happy thanksgiving to all and to our families!

For additional prayers, please visit the Women's Alliance website at www.waterwomensalliance.org