A willow priest or priestess (or just a willow) is the terminology my druidic grove uses. It means that the person who willows is responsible for keeping track of real world matters. Before a ritual, a willow will often answer the phone or the door if it's at someone's house.
Before the ritual the willow will make sure to know of anyone's special needs (for example, I may feel I'm going to be more emotional during this ritual because I just lost someone close to me, so I would tell the willow this so s/he knows that I anticipate that I might need him/her. For another example, I may know that salt does not work to ground me so I would want to tell the willow that).
During the ritual, the willow would keep one foot on the ground, energy wise and keep an eye on everyone. In my grove, a willow will only help if asked or if it is a clear emergency (someone having a heart attack for example-- though most willows aren't medically trained, it just means they need to find someone who is, make the 911 call, etc.) because everyone is different energy wise. Some people want help grounding, some people want to be left alone. Some people are better helped by friends than a stranger, etc.
If someone asks for a willow's help, s/he may want a tissue, a hug, or help grounding. Usually the willow will take the person aside out of the ritual space so the person can get help and so the ritual can continue.
Post ritual, the willow will help anyone who needs help, like in the ritual space, but also will then help the people who ran the ritual by making sure that they have something to eat and something to drink because after a ritual, people want to talk to the people who ran it and the people who ran it often need the most aftercare and typically are the least likely to be able to successfully self administer it -- it's too easy to get distracted by other people, cleaning up, and being affected by the ritual as well. The people running the ritual may make some requests of their own of the willow (can you please help make sure I get five minutes alone to breathe, I'm a vegetarian, can you please make sure I get my grounding pouch in my hands post ritual, etc, etc).
Thank you for sharing that. I understand how the terminology makes sense, one foot in each world, etc.
Ironically, I think I'd be awful in such a role at Thresholds rituals because I spend so much of my daily life and my own gathers/parties and even other moments of Thresholds doing just that. There are times I have to take that other half-step out of physical reality.
Before the ritual the willow will make sure to know of anyone's special needs (for example, I may feel I'm going to be more emotional during this ritual because I just lost someone close to me, so I would tell the willow this so s/he knows that I anticipate that I might need him/her. For another example, I may know that salt does not work to ground me so I would want to tell the willow that).
During the ritual, the willow would keep one foot on the ground, energy wise and keep an eye on everyone. In my grove, a willow will only help if asked or if it is a clear emergency (someone having a heart attack for example-- though most willows aren't medically trained, it just means they need to find someone who is, make the 911 call, etc.) because everyone is different energy wise. Some people want help grounding, some people want to be left alone. Some people are better helped by friends than a stranger, etc.
If someone asks for a willow's help, s/he may want a tissue, a hug, or help grounding. Usually the willow will take the person aside out of the ritual space so the person can get help and so the ritual can continue.
Post ritual, the willow will help anyone who needs help, like in the ritual space, but also will then help the people who ran the ritual by making sure that they have something to eat and something to drink because after a ritual, people want to talk to the people who ran it and the people who ran it often need the most aftercare and typically are the least likely to be able to successfully self administer it -- it's too easy to get distracted by other people, cleaning up, and being affected by the ritual as well. The people running the ritual may make some requests of their own of the willow (can you please help make sure I get five minutes alone to breathe, I'm a vegetarian, can you please make sure I get my grounding pouch in my hands post ritual, etc, etc).
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Thank you for sharing that. I understand how the terminology makes sense, one foot in each world, etc.
Ironically, I think I'd be awful in such a role at Thresholds rituals because I spend so much of my daily life and my own gathers/parties and even other moments of Thresholds doing just that. There are times I have to take that other half-step out of physical reality.
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