Hawthorn Heart-Healing Ceremony

Time of year: can be used any time of the year but is especially powerful in May, at Beltane, during the 6^thmonth of the Celtic calendar

Setting: around a hawthorn tree if possible. If indoors have a central tree shape (use hawthorn branches, etc)

Purpose and intention:  small group heart healing – for the emotional, physical and spiritual hurts we carry

Note: this ceremony can be adapted for use as a Community Healing Ceremony in times of community challenges

Ceremonial elements: welcome and introduction, grounding and invocation, song, acts of personal protection and healing, readings, body prayer, sharing the healing cup, dance and closing

Ingredients:  service sheet with the song, Ogham symbol, and the group responses;

candles - one large central candle in a lantern if outdoors, one taper, tealights (in jars if outdoors) for each participant; 

hawthorn thorns, berries, tea, roots, bark, branches, leaves, and flowers (only very dilute form due to potency of hawthorn for some people!);
if these elements are not available, consider using rose. Do ensure
there are thick gloves available so that nobody pricks their finger

hawthorn tree if outdoors, small tubs of earth for each person and a bowl of water for washing hands; three readers (can be done by one person)

Key:   words in black are spoken by the celebrant; words in purple are spoken by all participants; words in green, brown and blue are for the three readers

METHOD

Welcome & introduction to themes and what to expect! (allay fears)

Welcome to this healing ceremony. I invite you to participate in whatever way feels right for you in the moment, actively or simply by being present. You will not be required to DO anything yet the invitation is there to sing, dance, sit, stand, lie down, and to speak.

Should you feel overwhelmed, return to your breath, take a step back (or push your chair back a little) and simply notice how you are feeling. You are welcome to take time out and return as well but do let the person next to you know so that we know you are ok.

Grounding & Invocation - Celebrant invites all by saying:

Just for this moment, lay aside your ordinary life and step into this extraordinary circle

Just for this moment, let the burdens of your heart rest in the shelter of this circle

Just for this moment, hand over your worries and let joy bubble up from your toes, spreading through your body and radiating out through your being to touch one another round the circle

Just for this moment, breathe in love and breathe out love in this healing circle

Just for this moment put down the heaviness of the world and welcome Spirit into this circle.

All together:          I Open my Heart, Let the Transformation begin!

We open our Hearts, Let the Transformation begin!

Instructions (where possible thorns and berries will be harvested for this)

We will move slowly into and around the circle as we
chant or speak these words carrying hawthorn thorns,
berries, leaves, twigs. 

Take your time to slow down, allow yourself to connect
with the ground beneath your feet, the air around you,
and the breath within you

Chant the first verse of Hawthorn Heart Song (Saliha 2012)

(Use the first line repeated to simplify – it can still be harmonised and sung in a round)

and start to walk slowly into the circle carrying the hawthorn thorns and berries

You grow my heart (6x)

[Heart-light flowing out to connect with all beings]

Once everyone has settled into the circle, allow the chant to continue a few more times and then return to silence

[Low lighting]   

Protection (if ceremony indoors - each person will have a little pot of earth in which to bury their paper):

Thorns might bring to mind wounding (Jesus’ crown of thorns)
and hindering access (the prince trying to reach Sleeping Beauty!;
hedging) and we will come back to this shortly, yet thorns are present
in order to protect the tree from plant-eating animals and symbolically
the thorns of the hawthorn represent the psychic protection needed for
all spiritual journeys.

Who/what do you feel that you need protecting from today?
Write or draw on a piece of paper - this is for your eyes only. 

I invite you now to place a thorn on the paper, fold the paper
up as small as you like and bury it near the roots of the hawthorn
(or in your pot of earth)

Celebrant speaks the words of the second verse of the Hawthorn Heart Song then all invited to sing it before returning to silence.

You hold my heart (6x)
[Deep within your own glowing centre]

SILENCE after the following words:

Sometimes thorns can cause harm to ourselves or to others.
In silence let us take a few moments to meditate on times,
places and people where this has happened in our lives.

So now we will pour the healing balm of light on to these
thorny parts of ourselves.

As you are ready please take your tealight to the central candle
and, using the taper, light your tealight.

Return to the circle placing your lit candle over the buried thorns
and paper (either on the ground if outside or on top of the
earth-filled pot if inside).

As you settle back into the circle, I invite you to say your name
and, if you are comfortable to, speak into the healing circle what
it is that you desire healing.

Leave a pause before moving on to the next verse of the song

Celebrant speaks the third verse once then everyone invited to sing it

You heal my heart (6x)
[Holding shadow and light in the centre of our one heart]

Celebrant introduces the readings:

Hawthorn (Crataegus oxyacantha) is often called the May Tree. It is connected with the 6th month of the Celtic Tree calendar, (May 13-June 9). The young leaves were traditionally known as “bread and butter” as farm workers would pick them and chew on them to stave off hunger pangs as they did the early morning milking before breakfast.

Hawthorn is used for hedging, creating boundaries. Its trunk can be cut through to allow it to bend to horizontal allowing plants to be interwoven. It then grows back along the trunk, unharmed by this seemingly brutal action. It is believed that it was hawthorn that was used to make the crown of thorns worn by Jesus. Now we hear more about the hawthorn and why we are using it:

FIRST VOICE: 

Hawthorn reminds us that love can be beautiful, and to beware its hidden thorns. If this feels significant to you today you may need to look into matters of the heart. Like the hawthorn tree in flower, love is sometimes delightfully joyful. Long and steady relationships bear fruit that sustain us through life's cold and difficult passages. But beware the thorns hidden among the fruits and flowers. It has been said that a true lover's heart is always half broken, and that we tend to hurt those we love best.

SECOND VOICE: from OGHAM The Celtic Oracle by Peter Pracownik and Andy BaggottIntuition is the guide and protector on the spiritual path especially during times of dramatic change and growth. Listen to your heart, not your head, for the parts of your being that are wild and unconditioned by society have much to teach you at this time…Remember, everything is significant. An open heart nurtures an open mind.Huathe (PRONOUNCED Hoo-ah or Oo-ah)The Ogham symbol for hawthorn is used in Celtic Reiki and its essence represents the energy of cleansing and preparation. It clears the mind of negative thoughts and mental confusion, offering clarity. It gives patience and offers stillness.

THIRD VOICE: from THE CELTIC TREE ORACLE by Liz and Colin Murray: The Hawthorn card represents cleansing and chastity, bringing protection from the inner magical realms - in other words, a period of restraint, waiting or keeping oneself to oneself. Concentrate on mental rather than physical activity as a prelude to the spiritual fertilization, growth and harvesting what will follow, providing such preparation has been properly made as the pure white flowers of the Hawthorn turn to glowing red haws in the autumn

BODY PRAYER:    

Stand or sit as you are able and feel free to change position. The aim here is to move comfortably – think of all the different shapes that trees make – tall and bendy, short and solid, pollarded, missing limbs, etc.  All of us can be tree-like!·      What shape are you as a tree?

·      Are you strong, upright and even?
·      Are you leaning to the left? Or to the right?  

Perhaps this brings back memories, good or not-so-good, from Music and Movement at primary school! Notice this. Draw yourself up as tall as you can, visualising an upright tree tall and strong;Now be an unloved tree, bowed over, limp and weak  “You hold my heart” Feel your trunk filling with nutrients and feel those nutrients coursing through you until you find yourself upright and strong once againRepeat this sequence slowly and notice how your mood, your energy, your heart changes  “You grow my heart” Now lean out to the left with your left arm, letting your torso bend as well if this is comfortable for youReturn to the centre and then lean out to the right with your right armNow we hold hands and lean to the left, return to the centre and lean to the right (repeat a few times so long as all comfortable) “You heal my heart” 

SILENCE        Please sit, stand, walk, or lie down as we stay in silence for a few minutes

SPOKEN TOGETHER THREE TIMES SLOWLY:

I honour the energy of hawthorn for cleansing and restraint.

I will choose what I place within my body and empty myself of
all that violates my personal well-being.

Blessed be

Pray Peace

On your service sheet you have a picture of the Ogham symbol for H, the 6^th letter of the Celtic alphabet - Hawthorn (Hoo-ah) so let us draw this symbol in the air three times, reminding ourselves of the HEART, of HEALING, AND of HEALTH

Now stay seated or stand as you are comfortable:

·      Right hand across at heart level facing palm out to the left

·      Raise the left hand to meet the right in prayer position

·      Bring the hands across the body to the left staying in prayer position

·      Extend the right arm up to the sky and press the left hand down towards the earth

·      REPEAT THREE TIMES

Now we take the movement from the Ogham symbol to the theme of heart health and self-healing:

·      Bring the hands together in prayer, touching your thumbs to your solar plexus

·      Raise the hands to your throat chakra

·      Raise the hands to your Third Eye

·      Turn your palms up and look upwards

·      Return the hands together above your head

·      Return to the solar plexus

·      Take right hand on to abdomen and cover with the left

·      Cup your hands and visualise drawing out of your being all that you wish to be rid of, all that you desire to be cleansed of

·      Then turn the palms outwards and push away 

·      If standing, step your Right leg back as you bring the hands back in and take a deep breath in

·      Stay with Right leg back as you cup the hands again and, breathing out, push the hands away

·      Repeat once more

·      Now step the Right leg in and repeat the sequence with the Left leg back.

SHARING THE CUP

We now connect even more deeply with one another, sharing the Cup. 

·      Hawthorn tea protects us through its antioxidant properties;
it improves heart health, and reduces anxiety;

·      It supports matters of the heart – physical, emotional, and spiritual.

Please take the cup, sip the tea and hold the cup for a few moments, meditating on these properties. Then pass the cup with these words:

I share this healing cup with you, we are one

Allow for a period of silence, even if it is just a few moments

The circle is open as our hearts are now open. I invite you to speak to the circle, sharing what is in your heart. Indicate that you wish to speak by picking up your tealight (in tub if indoors). Place it down when you have finished. If there is felt to be a need for silence I will lift my tealight and hold it until the circle is clear again. After a period of time we will then move into the final verse of our Hawthorn Heart song:

CELEBRANT speaks the words then all join in singing (and dancing as moved):

Dance with my heart (6x)
We are one, we are dancing with the heart of all life

To close the ceremony the celebrant invites everyone to step forward together, pick up their tealight, hold it up high in gratitude to Spirit and to one another for this sacred space, then extinguish the light before replacing the tealight on the ground and stepping back.

CELEBRANT (with joy!):   “Our hearts have been opened,
the transformation is underway!”

And all respond by singing the final verse of the song as they turn and leave the circle.