Requiem
for Charline Palmtag
Sunday,
October 29th, 3:00 – 7:00 pm
Berkeley
Fellowship of Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Hall
Cedar
& Bonita, Berkeley CA
Priestess makes
“housekeeping announcements”: The sequence of events, location of restrooms,
turn off cell phones. If the ritual is to be filmed, those who don’t want to be
shown in the film should move out of the way of the camera.
Priest (Scott West):
My sisters and my
brothers, we have gathered here to honor the memory of Charline Palmtag, known
also as Iris, who died quietly in in her sleep in the early morning hours of
August 25, 2023.
We hold this rite
for her soul’s peace, for the comfort of families and loved ones, and to ease
our own sorrow.
In doing so, we
affirm the light that shines through our darkness, and life that transcends
mortality to return again.
We do this ritual
in the names of the many Gods she loved and served, among them Dionysios,
Hephaestos, Hermes, the Green Man, the Horned Lord, Shiva, Poseidon, Osiris,
Pan.
As I light this
candle, may They be with us.
Priestess (Annie
Agard) lights the black pillar candle on the altar
and names Charline’s patron Goddesses.
And in the names
of the many Goddesses she loved and served, among them Iris, Athena, Aphrodite,
Hestia, Hathor, Brigid, Inanna, Baba Yaga, Hecate.
As I light this
candle, may They be with us.
Song Leader (Kitty):
We welcome you all to join us in the song “Metamorphoses”, whose words
you will find in your programs.
All sing:
METAMORPHOSES (Diana
Paxson)
From the seed
springs the tree,
From the cloud
falls the rain,
After cold comes
the sun--
Barren fields
wave with grain.
FROM THE DARK COMES THE DAY,
OUT OF DEATH LIFE IS RAISED,
IN DESPAIR HOPE IS BORN,
MAY THE LADY BE PRAISED!
As the night
turns to dawn
And the winter to
spring,
As the dark moon
grows new,
Time transforms
everything. CHORUS
Lightning flares
from the storm,
From the spark
leaps the flame.
Though the body
be changed,
Still the spirit
is the same. CHORUS
Now from sleep I
awake
And from death I
arise.
Growing old, I am
young,
And my soul seeks
the skies. CHORUS
Casting the Circle: Mary Mulvehill
Calling the
Quarters:
Set up a small table for each
quarter, with Elements on the altars. Quarter Priestesses seated by their
altars.
Air (Isa):
Lights incense.
This is the air.
This is the first
breath I took when I left my mother’s body.
This is the hope
of the dawn.
This is the
inspiration of the stars.
This is the last
sigh that will leave my lungs.
This is the
truth.
Be welcome.
Fire (Annette):
Lights candle.
This is the Fire.
This is the heat
of my passion.
This is the
crucible of my life.
This is the
smithy where my courage was forged.
This is the
hearth of the home of my heart.
This is the ember
that remains.
This is the
truth.
Be welcome.
Water (Gaia):
Lifts up the bowl of Water.
This is the
Water.
This is the sea
of my blood and my tears.
This is the
cradle that rocks me.
This is the love
that surrounds me.
This is the flow
that will heal me.
This is the tide
that will carry me into the dream.
This is the
truth.
Be welcome.
Earth (Mary Anne):
Lifts up the symbol of Earth.
This is the
Earth.
This is the flesh
that I live in.
This is the rock
of my foundation.
This is the field
of my growth.
This is the
harvest of days.
This is the tomb
that will shelter my bones.
This is the
truth. Be welcome.
Song Leader: The next song,
which you will find in your program, is “Elemental Grace.” The words are by
Charline, sung to the tune of “Amazing Grace.”
All Sing:
Elemental Grace (tune: Amazing Grace) (Charline Palmtag)
On hawk-bright
wings, my prayer will rise
To greet the
rising sun.
The grace of
dawnlight fills the skies;
Another day’s
begun.
The glare of
transformation’s flame,
Like lightning
from above,
Can purge the
trembling heart of shame
And grant it
grace to love.
Beneath the
silver dreaming sea
Lie reefs of
hopes and fears.
A moonlit tide
pours over me
The healing grace
of tears.
From field and
forest, grove and glen,
Abundant grace
does flow
To rocks and
trees, to beasts and men;
Forever be it so!
Priestess:
Join me in prayer to the Queen of Earth an
Heaven. You will find the words in your program.
All:
Oh, Thou Eternal
Queen of Earth and Heaven,
First
manifestation of the One,
We come to Thee
humbly,
As suitors, as
children, as grandchildren,
Seeking Thy love.
Thou art the
Bride of the Soul,
The Mother of all
Living,
The gatekeeper to
that which lies
Beyond the things
we know.
How often have we
forgotten Thee,
Harmed Thine
other children,
Broken Thy laws!
Therefore, we
pray to Thee
From Thine
innocence to believe in us,
From Thy love to
forgive us,
And from Thy
wisdom to give us peace.
So mote it be!
Song Leader introduces
the song:
“Seek Ye the Lady” (Charline Palmtag)
Vibrant Maiden,
calm, serene,
Coursing free the
wildwood green,
O grant I may the
chase endure;
Let my heart,
like Thine, be pure.
Seek ye the Lady, find in Her your rest.
Live in the Lady, sheltered at Her breast.
Follow the Lady – may She guide our days.
Honor the Lady – hear our song of praise.
Fruitful Mother,
in Whose arms
I am safe from
all alarms,
Stay Thou beside
me through my years;
Share my joys and
dry my tears.
Chorus
Potent Wise One,
be my guide
As I near the
other side.
Let now Thy
wisdom armor me
As I follow,
trusting Thee.
Chorus
Maiden, Mother,
Matriarch,
Proud we wear Thy
sacred mark.
O Thou Whose
power created all,
Heed Thy
children, hear our call.
Chorus ]
Priest:
Every life lost
leaves its work behind. Charline leaves her children and grandchildren, her
dedication to the Gods, her teaching and leadership in their behalf, and the
words she wrote in their praise.
Priestess
delivers the Eulogy.
Mary: “Crossing the Bar” (Alfred Lord Tennyson)
Sunset and
evening star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be
no moaning at the bar,
When I put out to sea
But such a tide
as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound and foam;
When that which
drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again from home.
Twilight and
evening bell
And after that the dark!
And may there be
no sadness of farewell,
When I embark;
For tho’ from out
our bourne of time and space
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my
Pilot face to face,
When I have crossed the bar.
Song Leader introduces
the song:
“The
Lady Looked Up” (Charline
Palmtag)
Long, long ago,
when the world was young,
In the dreamtime
now gone by,
When all of the
stars in the sky were hung
And the wind sang
a lullaby,
The Lady stirred
in Her dreaming sleep,
For this was the
season of birth,
And out of Her
dream they began to creep,
All the children
of her earth.
And the Lady looked up,
And the Lady looked down,
And She laughed at Her
children gathered ‘round,
And She opened Her mouth and a
song came down
To Her little ones standing
there.
The song She sang
was an endless song
Full of roses and
moonlight and rain,
And the trees
grew tall, and the grass grew long,
And her children
knew pleasure and pain.
For such is the
way of the Song of Life,
Its harmonies
moving and strange,
With stanzas of
happiness, measures of strife,
And the cyclical
cadence of change.
And the Lady looked up,
And the Lady looked down,
And She smiled on Her children
gathered ‘round,
And She opened Her hands and a
blessing came down
On Her little ones standing
there.
The Wheel of Time
rolled down through the years
And Her children
forgot who they were.
Obsessed or
bemused by their hopes and fears
They lost their
connection with Her.
With lackluster
eyes and indolent feet
They gave up
their place in the Dance.
In city and
countryside, byways and street
They survived as
the victims of chance.
And the Lady looked up,
And the Lady looked down,
And She mourned for Her
children scattered ‘round,
And She opened Her eyes and
the tears came down
For Her little ones standing
there.
But some who
remembered the sound of Her voice
Held fast to the
way of Her will,
Reminding their
kinfolk that theirs was the choice,
For the Lady
abides with us still.
On two feet or
four feet, by fin or by wing,
Together in
wonder they stand
And lifting their
voices Her beauty they sing
Their music
restoring the land.
And the Lady looks up,
And the Lady looks down,
And She sees all Her children
gathered ‘round,
And She opens her heart and
Her love comes down
To Her little ones standing
there.
Priestess:
Join me in Charline’s prayer to the Eternal
Source. The words are in your program.
All:
“To
the Eternal Source” (Charline
Palmtag)
Oh Holy and
Eternal Source,
Whence comes all
life
And to Whom, when
our days here are accomplished,
We shall return,
We pray Thee
grant to our beloved sister
Thy love and Thy
mercy
In the turning of
the Wheel.
Thou Who art all
beginnings,
Who keepest the
Book of our Days,
Receive her in
tenderness
For the love she
bore Thee.
Thou to Whom her
life was given,
Welcome her into
Thy holy presence
And let her
homecoming to Thee
Be a joy and a
blessing unto her soul.
Priest:
“Farewell”
(inspired by Sufi sources, Gibran and Khayyam - Charline Palmtag)
Our sister has
taken that path which we all must one day walk,
And our mourning
for her is deep and sorrowful.
We shall miss her
presence, her humor, and her honesty.
Our longing for
her will be a silence in our hearts
Where once her voice echoed,
Yet she would not
have us sorrow overlong
For she has but
taken another step along that Path
Which leads to
the ineffable Mystery of Divine Union.
For what is it to
die
But to stand
naked in the wind
And to melt into
the sun?
And what is it to
cease breathing
But to free the
breath
That it may rise
and expand
And seek God
unencumbered?
Why, if the soul
can fling the dust aside
And naked on the
air of heaven rise,
Were it not a
shame—were it not a shame for it
In this clay carcass
crippled to abide?
Only when we
drink from the river of silence
Shall we indeed
sing.
And when we have
reached the mountain top
Then we shall
begin to climb,
And when the
earth shall claim our limbs,
Then shall we
truly dance.
Priestess: “The Charge of the Goddess”
(traditional, modified)
Our sister is
gone before us
To sing and dance
in the Lady’s presence,
Holding fast to
the promise we have been given:
I Who am the beauty of the green earth
And the white moon among the stars
And the mysteries of the waters,
And the desire of the heart of man,
I call unto thy soul.
From Me all things proceed
And unto Me all things must return.
Mine is the secret door that opens upon
the Land of Youth,
And
Mine is the cup of the Wine of Life
And the Cauldron of Rebirth,
Which
is the Holy Grail of immortality.
I am the one who gives the gift of joy to
the heart of man.
Upon
the earth I give the knowledge of the spirit eternal
And
beyond death I give peace and freedom,
And
reunion with those who have bone before.
For
behold,
I
have been with thee from the beginning,
And
I am that which is attained
At
the end of desire.
Priest:
Let
us affirm for one last time
The
faith and devotion by which Charline ordered her life.
The
words to this are in your program.
All:
Affirmation of Faith (Liturgy of the Lady)
I
am the beloved of the Lady,
And
She dwells in me.
Those
who come to me hungry, I will feed.
To
those who come to me thirsting, I will give drink.
Those
who come to me sorrowing, I will comfort.
Those
who come to me laughing, I will greet with joy.
I
will not fear loss,
For
in the lady all is found.
I
will not fear death,
For
in the Lady I am reborn.
I
will not fear the world,
For
all it holds belongs to the Lady,
As
do I.
Priestess:
May the Lord
guide our sister Charline in safety and in trust;
May the Lady
receive her in blessing and in love;
May the turning
of the Wheel give her peace.
SO MOTE IT BE!
Priestess:
As we depart, we honor and remember the Goddesses
whom Charline loved and served, Iris, Athena, Aphrodite, Hestia, Hathor,
Brigid, Inanna, Baba Yaga, Hecate.
(Extinguishes
black candle.)
Priest:
And her beloved Gods, Dionysios, Hephaestos,
Hermes, the Green Man, the Horned Lord, Shiva, Poseidon, Osiris, Pan.
(Extinguishes the
white candle.)
Priest:
Our ritual now is ended,
but though we extinguish these lights and
close this temple,
the light of life will continue to burn in
our spirits,
and from our sorrow, new life and hope
will be born.
Releasing the
Quarters: Elemental Priestesses in turn lift
up each Element and speak the words given.
Earth:
I honor the
Earth:
the flesh that I
live in,
the rock of my
foundation,
the field of my
growth,
the harvest of
days,
the tomb that
will shelter my bones.
I honor this
truth.
Blessed be!
Water:
I honor the
Water:
the sea of my
blood and tears,
the cradle that
rocks me,
the love that
surrounds me
the tide that
will carry me into the dream.
I honor this
truth. Blessed be!
Fire:
I honor the Fire:
The heat of my
passion,
The crucible of
life,
The smithy where
my courage was forged,
The hearth of the
home of my heart,
The ember that
remains.
I honor this
truth. Blessed be!
Air:
I honor the Air:
The first breath
I took when I left my mother’s body,
The hope of the
dawn,
The inspiration
of the starts,
The last sigh
that will leave my lungs.
I honor this
truth.
Blessed Be!
Opening circle: Mary.
Kitty: Join us in the song “Pagan Grace”, whose
words you will find in your programs.
All sing: Pagan Grace tune: “Amazing Grace” (Charline Palmtag)
Through times of
sorrow, pain and grief, love’s grace sustains my soul,
Restores my heart
with sweet relief and keeps my spirit whole.
In dark oblivion
long I slept ‘til Time and Change were done,
Then waking,
found a promise kept: The gift of Moon and Sun.
Within the
ceaseless round of Time my soul begins to grow.
My feet the
sacred mount will climb; A taste of grace I’ll know.
And when in joy I
wake once more to blessed Beauty’s face,
I’ll know what
lies beyond the door; the sweet abode of grace.
***
BREAK FOR FOOD AND DRINK ***
INFORMAL
WAKE
On the altar:
Punch bowl, ladle, small paper cups, chalice.
Bottles of
Slivovitz and Tequila.
Priestess:
We
have prayed for the safe passage of our sister Charline,
And the consolation of those
who loved her.
What is the legacy of this
life now ended?
What
are the memories that sustain us?
Priest:
The Gods
bound life with death,
and out of death create life
anew.
We are the children of earth
and starry heaven,
And what is remembered lives.
As this chalice passes, pour
into it your memories.
Pass the chalice,
into which people invisibly put their memories. Some may wish to read aloud
some of Charline’s work. When the cup returns to the altar,
Priest
blesses the bread:
May this bread remind us that we
are all part of the circle and will one day take this journey.
May this bread help us to
remember Charline, those in the Craft who have gone before, and our own
ancestors.
May we be nourished now among
the living.
Priestess
pours the invisible contents of the cup into the punchbowl and blesses it:
Here
is the womb of memory,
For
what is remembered, lives.
As we drink of it, may our spirits be
renewed!
The bread is
passed around the circle, with the words:
May you never
hunger.
Priestess
ladles drink into small paper cups, which are placed on a tray. Also on the
tray are the Slivovitz and Tequila with extra cups so that people may serve
themselves if they wish.
May all your
thirst be eased.
The punch is
non-acholic. Also have some of Charline’s favorite Slivovitz or Tequila if you wish.
Priest carries
the tray around the circle for people to serve themselves, with the words:
May all your
thirst be eased.
Song leader (Diana) introduces this song: The words to
the chorus are in the program.
All sing:
RAISE HIGH THE CUP, SEND ROUND THE HORN,
AND WE WILL PRAISE THY MEMORY,
REJOICING, EVEN AS WE MOURN,
THAT WE HAVE HAD THY COMPANY—'
As Earth has nourished us so long,
at last we must feed Earth again,
and like the ending of a song,
we mourn the fragile lives of men.
Chorus
And yet, a much-loved melody
may play itself within the ear,
and of a sudden, memory
renews thy presence for us here.
Chorus
So let us all embrace, dear friends,
and love each other faithfully,
and pray that comrades, at our ends,
will praise our names with revelry.
Chorus
Priestess:
Let us pray to
the Gods who watch over us all:
Light
the darkness that lies upon our souls;
As you have cut
the thread of life, break also the bonds of grief that constrain our spirits,
Lest
our love bind her whom we would set free.
Free
us from regret, and leave only the joy of her memory.
SO
MOTE IT BE
All chant:
When we are gone,
they will remain, Earth and Fire, Wind and Rain.
They will be here
when we return, the Wind will blow, and the Fire will burn.
Priestess:
It is done.
