The tradition of Sagh’ic-Tire Dhream is the way of the clan, of the family. All of the traditions of this path reflect the gathering of the community to bear witness and to share common dreams and wishes. It is our teaching to be pathfinders and seek for new beginnings and new possibilities out of the gifts we have. As the sun comes from the East and plunges into the West, as the Lightning thunders from the sky and sings to the Ocean, so is the journey of life and the coming together as dancers in reflection of each other. For the Sagh’ic the concept of marriage was a changing of status from individual to tribe, in a sense forming new tribal units or clans and was seen as a sharing of dream and song to form a different dream and song based upon the essences of previous dreams and songs. Marriages were always seen and acknowledged as a progression or continuation of a journey.
Within the tradition all ceremonies, rituals and ‘services’ are defined and focussed on the stories of Sagh’ic Tire Dhream.
Every ceremony here contains an element of re-enactment of a specific story; it is the story that defines the rubrics of the ceremony.
The General Rite – ‘short’ genderless ceremony – is centered around the basic creation story of the Ocean and the Lightning, replacing the gendered terms of ‘Ocean’ & ‘Lightning’ as appropriate with ‘Dark’ & ‘Light’. This ceremony is more shamanic/animist based rather than Sagh’ic Tire Dhream based)
The Traditional & Family Rites are centered around the story of Cear-Lin & Gar and their union with a re-enactment of the bartering of gifts and usage of fire & water ritual. These two Rites are deeply immersed in the Tribal stories and ceremonies and were/are always held a community gatherings.
The Sagh’ic did not differentiate marriages in which partners were of the same sex as all marriages were celebrated to create those new songs and dreams in service of the greater dream and song. As such they were and are determined by the Ancestral Spirits.
The same sex marriages, Traditional & Family Rites, equally relate to specific stories, those of Fin Grear & Du-Chearn the two hunters for the man to man ceremony and of Bear-Lin & Sam-Dura the daughters of the dew and rain for the woman to woman ceremony.
Appropriately the ritual rubrics contain elements of these stories in these ceremonies.
Handfasting Rite is one of the demonstration of a limited genderless contract of Union between two people. It can also be used as a Union Blessing Ceremony to follow Civil or other wedding ceremonies. Handfastings can not be legally registered, for this the couple should pursue appropriate wedding ceremonies and application must be made to the appropriate Civil Authority and in accordance with their legislation. A Handfasting is offered for the contractual period of one year and a day and can be repeated 3 times after which the couple should they wish should consider a binding marriage ceremony
Posadh na Marbh, this Rite is one of the witnessing, solemnising and affirmation by the community and the Ancestral Spirits of the Union between the song and soul of two who sang upon the Earth. The Rite here is used in the event of a proposed spouse dying before the appointed ceremony or when two intended spouses have died before their earthly marriage. This ceremony may only be undertaken under the following conditions;
- That it is undertaken with the 13 moon period after death
- That there is witnessed intent that marriage was the wish and desire of the deceased
- That should there be one of the couple living, they are aware that the marriage lasts, in the same way as if both were living and one dies, until the 14th moon after death, when they would be free if they choose to remarry.
- That the family of the deceased are in consensual agreement and are present for the ceremony
- That a duly registered certificate (or equivalent) of death is presented to the Aoghair before the ceremony
- That there is some physical presence of the deceased at the ceremony.
Sagh’ic Tire Dhream holds all the ceremonies sacred and as anchor points in the community and sees them as commitments to the community both temporal and spiritual. As many of these ceremonies especially the marriage ceremonies contain vows and promises (and humans being as human), Sagh’ic Tire Dhream has a ceremonial process to release participants from their vows. All the ceremonies are recognised by Sagh’ic Tire Dhream to be spiritually binding, regardless of State, Provincial or Country laws.
To be in line with societies tendency for divorce, the society has created (though not publicised openly) a Dis-envowment Ceremony that once legal process is complete, the couple may attend to have the vows reversed. This requires the couple to engage together in a witnessed ceremony which will in turn bring some healing to the divorce process and release both temporal and spiritual observance of those vows. This ceremony takes into account any children of that marriage as being descendents of a union of love rather than promise.
Sagh'ic Tire Dhream 