March 2017 WATERritual
Spring Equinox & World Water Day: Returning to Life!
By Diann L. Neu, Mallory Naake, and Hannah Dorfman
Photo © 2017 Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics, and Ritual
Listen to the audio of our March 2017 WATERritual here.
Preparation: Set your ritual space with your favorite spring elements or decorations, a bowl (well), and a pitcher of water.
Call to Gather
Return to life! On the day after the Spring Equinox, when day and night are equal, and on the eve of World Water Day, we gather for a ceremony to restore our personal, collective, and national balance. Let’s pause and take a deep breath as we celebrate the return of spring, give thanks for the life-giving element of water, and pray for healing of our country and the cosmos.
Name the Circle
Let us introduce ourselves. Speak your name, say where you are geographically, and tell us what spring is like in your neighborhood.
Song: “Sacred Creation” Rufino Zaragoza, OMF © 1990
Praise Spring with the Chinook Blessing Litany
Reader 1: We call upon Earth, our planet home, with its beautiful depths and soaring heights, its vitality and abundance of life. With all creation,
All: Teach us, and show us the way.
Reader 2: We call upon the mountains, the high green peaks and meadows filled with flowers, the knobs and the foothills. With all creation,
All: Teach us, and show us the way.
Reader 1: We call upon the waters that rim the Earth, horizon to horizon, that flow in our rivers and streams, that fall upon our gardens and fields. With all creation,
All: Teach us, and show us the way.
Reader 2: We call upon the land that grows our food, the nurturing soil, the fertile fields, the abundant gardens and orchards. With all creation,
All: Teach us, and show us the way.
Reader 1: We call upon the forests, the great trees reaching strongly to the sky with Earth in their roots and the heavens in their branches. With all creation,
All: Teach us, and show us the way.
Reader 2: We call upon creatures of the fields, forests and seas, the wolf and deer, the eagle and dove, the great whale and dolphin, the orca and salmon. With all creation,
All: Teach us, and show us the way.
Reader 1: We call upon all who have lived on Earth, our ancestors and friends, who dreamed the best for future generations. With them,
All: Teach us, and show us the way.
Song: “Sacred Creation,” Rufino Zaragoza, OMF © 1990
Give Thanks for Water with the words of Aurora Levins Morales in “The Shalom Report: Water is Life! The Sacred Waters of Life Must Not be Poisoned By the Dakota Oil PipeLine,” the Shalom Center, November 14, 2016
We are made of water: Salty rivers run in our veins, lymph ebbs and swells, saliva and tears leak into the air and dry. We are always changing: wide seas into clouds, rain into puddles, rivers into muddy fields that run along ditches into the sea. We flow, freeze, boil, rise, disperse, are hurled this way and that. We declare that we are the blue edge of glaciers, the great ocean swell, stagnant teeming ponds, months long tropical downpours, the delicate tracery of frost on a dry leaf, rusty drip of a faucet. We are the shape of what’s happened to us. We are caught up in doing, and whirl through our lives, suffering, joyful, filled with doubt. And yet we return to ourselves again and again, to the Self that is all there is. We are made of water, called to find our true level by that great force of love we call gravity. We are made to trust our destination. We are not lost.
Prayer for Rain/Water | Tefilat HaGeshem inspired by and adapted from the work of Rabbi Jill Hammer in “The Shalom Report: Water is Life! The Sacred Waters of Life Must Not be Poisoned By the Dakota Oil PipeLine,” The Shalom Center, November 14, 2016.
In Tefilat HaGeshem, the prayer for rain, we name the vital necessity of water for our bodies and for our planet. Worldwide people are asking the world to act for justice, to honor water and to pray for strength and healing, especially for the women who are charged with protecting the water through action and song.
And so we pray for water, calling out to our matriarchs—Rebecca, Rachel, Leah, and Miriam—and with them indigenous women, water protectors and warriors fighting for water around the world. (Pour water into a communal well after each response.)
Reader 1: Our God and God of our ancestors, remember Rebecca:
Remember the kind one who carried a pitcher of water
To the servant she gave water
In Charan for the camels, she drew water
Response: For Rebecca’s sake, grant water.
(Pour water into the well.)
Reader 2: Our God and God of our ancestors, hear Phyllis Young of Standing Rock Sioux, lifelong water protector:
I am “Woman Who Stands By The Water” and my other name is “Woman Who Loves the Water.” I was given those names by my people because it’s been my life struggle to protect the water.
We want no pipeline. We want no oil going through our river, through our land. We want alternative
energy sources—the sun is our brother.
We’re at a new threshold of human rights.
Response: For Phyllis’ sake, grant water.
(Pour water into the well.)
Reader 3: Our God and God of our ancestors, remember Rachel:
Remember the younger one who to the flock gave water
Her lover kissed her near the well of water
At Ramah for her children, her eyes wept tears of water
Response: For Rachel’s sake, don’t hold back water.
(Pour water into the well.)
Reader 4: Our God and God of our ancestors, honor Mary Grey for building Wells for India:
Since 1987, WATER colleague Mary Grey has been working in partnership with local voluntary organizations on water-related projects in north-west India.
Wells for India works with the poorest and most marginalized communities in rural Rajasthan, irrespective of caste, religion or ethnic background. The focus is on water: the provision of sustainable water, with a strong emphasis on rainwater harvesting. The aim is to support rural communities to source sufficient clean water for drinking, cooking, washing, crops, and animals.
Response: For the sake of Wells for India, grant clean water.
(Pour water into the well.)
Reader 5: Our God and God of our ancestors, remember Leah:
Remember the Mother of Children who at Yabbok was first to cross the water
Her eyes were tender from crying tears of water
Her son lived out his days at the edge of the water
Response: For Leah’s sake, grant water.
(Pour water into the well.)
Reader 6: Our God and God of our ancestors, remember Berta Cáceres for fighting against Dam building in Honduras:
Berta dedicated her life to working for the rights of indigenous Lenca people of Honduras. Cáceres cofounded and led the National Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) which among other things, fights against the internationally funded Agua Zerca hydroelectric dam project. The project would hurt the environment, violate Lenca land rights, and cut off their water supplies. On March 4, 2016 Berta was assassinated in her home as a direct result of her peaceful environmental and indigenous activism.
Response: For the sake of Berta and the Lenca people of Honduras, let the waters flow.
(Pour water into the well.)
Reader 7: Our God and God of our Ancestors, remember Miriam:
Remember the sister who watched the baby crying in the water
She sang and rejoiced after the people of Israel crossed the water
In Kadesh she was buried near gurgling water
Response: For Miriam’s sake, don’t hold back water.
(Pour water into the well.)
Silent Reflection
Look into the well, the bowl of water, and see your reflection. What is looking back at you? (Pass the well around for a time of silent reflection.)
Blessing with Water
Listen to these words from the prophet Amos:
“I can’t stand your religious meetings.
I’m fed up with your conferences and conventions.
I want nothing to do with your religion projects,
your pretentious slogans and goals.
I’m sick of your fund-raising schemes,
your public relations and image making.
I’ve had all I can take of your noisy ego-music.
When was the last time you sang to me?
Do you know what I want?
I want justice—oceans of it.
I want fairness—rivers of it.
That’s what I want. That’s all I want.” – Amos 5:21-24 (The Message)
“…let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” – Amos 5:24 (NRSV)
Together let us bless ourselves with oceans of justice and rivers of fairness in order to continue the work for justice and fairness. (Pass the well around a second time; each one blesses herself with the water.)
Reflection & Sharing
What are you learning from Earth and water? How are you working to protect them? (Sharing)
Song: “Wade in the Water,” traditional from Songs of Zion, Nashville, Abingdon © 1981
Refrain: Wade in the water, wade in the water children,
Wade in the water, God’s gonna trouble the water.
See that band all dressed in white, God’s gonna trouble the water.
The leader looks like an Israelite. God’s gonna trouble the water. R.
See that band all dressed in red, God’s gonna trouble the water.
It looks like the band that Moses led. God’s gonna trouble the water. R.
Sending Forth by Hannah Dorfman © 2017
As we return to life, let us carry the promise of spring in our hearts.
Let us find balance as we promote equity,
so that all may share in Earth’s bounty.
Let us find pause as we welcome new light,
so that all may recognize Earth’s beauty.
Let us honor all creation as we act for justice,
so that all may celebrate the Earth.
Blessed and restored, let us cherish the water that gives us life.
Let us wash ourselves in oceans of justice,
so that we may stand in solidarity with water protectors worldwide.
Let us nourish ourselves from rivers of fairness,
so that we may find the strength to conserve and heal our waters.
Let us connect with the element that runs through our veins,
so that we may act for justice for water everywhere.
Take Action
- Follow the Ecumenical Water Network (EWN) “Seven Weeks for Water 2017,” a weekly Lenten pilgrimage of water justice in Africa. EWN is an initiative of the World Council of Churches.
- Watch the documentary “Bless the Water,” Wednesday, March 22 at 5 pm PT.
- Watch the two-part Viceland documentary series “Sacred Water: Standing Rock”
© 2017 Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual (WATER). Planned by Diann L. Neu dneu@hers.com, Mallory Naake mallory@waterwomensalliance.org, and Hannah Dorfman hannah@waterwomensalliance.org.
