Ritual of the Mists

This ritual is intended to be done when there is lots of fog in your area. This Ritual and prayer is to bring you closer to Manannan Mac Lyr, Keeper of the Mist, Ruler of Tir Na Og, and keeper of the Well of Wisdom. Personally when I have done it I have felt strangly drawn into the mists as if the Ancestors were calling me into them to join them. Someday I might go ahead and go but as of yet, I haven't. If at all possible, try to do this ritual in a place with trees and open land. I have done it outside my home but my home is too connected to this world. I have done it in a park, and the effects are much much cleaner and crisper there.

Items needed:
Staff
Robe
Object w/ Double spiral
Object w/ Triskele
Bread as a sacrifice to the land spirits

First thing to do is to feel the mists around you, Alert your senses to it. Remember that the Mists are an Inbetween area, not sky, not water. Get your bearings, realize that you are in an inbetween state. At this time you should be wearing your robe.

Becoming aware of the Center of the Three realms
The first thing to do, is to become aware of the three realms. Land, Sea, and Sky.
Hold the object with the Triskele firmly in your hand and do the following:

Bend down and touch the ground, and say - "I stand firmly upon the land."
Stand up and hold your arms out to the sides - "The sea surronds me."
Bring your arms over your head and finally say - "The sky spreads itself above me."
Bring your hands down over your heart and say - "I acknowldge the three realms."


Acknowleding the Mists:
Take the staff and pound it on the ground three times. Take the staff and hold it straight out from your body (like it is an extension of your arms) and turn around three times (counter clockwise) as if you were cutting the mists in half.

Bring the staff and wave it over your head three times. (This movement is like acknowledging the three realms. Hitting the ground with the staff contacts it with land, cutting the mists gives it contact with water, and waving it over your head give is contact with the air)

Next face North (the direction of the four cities, and the place that the Tuatha de Dannan came from)

Take the staff and draw a double spiral in the air, and say the following words:

"Manannan Mac Lyr, Lord of the Mist, Ruler of Tir na mBam, Keeper of the double gate of the otherworld. I am here seeking knowledge of the mists and the otherworlds. I come bringing sacrifices for the land spirits. I come in complete awareness and in harmony with the three realms. Watch over me as I travel the mists, keep me from harm as I travel here in the inbetween. Grant me, oh Manannan, the gift of knowlege from the well which is yours to protect, from which the five rivers flow, into which the nuts of knowlege drop, into which swim the salmon of knowledge."

"I acknowledge the shroud of the mists,
The mists that protect the otherworld,
the otherworld where the Well of Wisdom lies,
the Well of Wisdom that contains all knowledge,
knowledge, which is the key to our lives,
our lives that are in service to the Gods,
The Gods that live in the otherworld,
The otherworld that is protected by the mists,
I acknowledge the shroud of the mists."

Take the sacrifice, break it into several parts and then put them on the ground as a sacrifice to the land spirits.

At this point the formal part of the ritual is over. What I will do is I will begin walking through out the park or the place I am at and seeking the mists. Becoming familair with how different the land is when the mists come and envelop it.

When I am about to leave the place I am at, I then end with a prayer to the Gods and Goddesses of the Tuatha De Danann to keep me save as I travel the mists back to my world.

Acknowlegements: I first want to thank Taine Bwca and Erryn Darkstar for their help and direction. Much of this ritual comes from what they have taught me.

Copyright © 1995 John Gibson
All Rights Reserved
May be reposted as long as the above attribution and copyright notice are retained