Ordination Ritual of the Raven Queen

Invocation of the Raven Queen

Ancient goddess, greatly feared

Maiden, Mother, and Crone all adhered

Independent, cunning, and strong

The Raven Queen, The Raven Queen.

Through the dark and fog she treads

To the misty river's edge

To wash the clothes and the threads

Of those, not yet, but destined dead

The Raven Queen, The Raven Queen.

With piercing fiery-angered cries

Over the battlefields she flies

Gathering skulls and hoisting them high

The Raven Queen, The Raven Queen.

Hymn: The Ravens

With wings as black as night, what death holds sway

By powers strong and ancient, death’s favored creature

Spirits burst to song at the Queen’s passing

With dark song filling the air, tulips wilt turning bare

As they pass through the morning air

Bird of mourning wears death’s sting

Thirteen times it calls Thine soul bids goodbye, Shadowlands ever near

Rite of Unbinding and Binding

That which is done may be undone

Branded, consecrated to another by blood

Brought, in an act of love and desperation

Now, to be reconsecrated to another, not by blood, but by choice

Request to Serve

Winged Lady, I humbly ask to be taken into your priesthood,

So that I may serve you and all mortals.

Give me the wisdom to guide those who have passed into their next life,

The strength to guide those who have passed unjust to their place of rest,

And the will to guide those who would harm themselves or others and protect them from themselves.

References and Design Notes

One of the player characters in D&D campaign was joining the priesthood of the Raven Queen, and I wanted a short ceremony for them to go through. I largely adapted material written about other deities of the underworld; largely replacing that deity's name (or names) with a reference to the Raven Queen instead.

"Invocation of the Raven Queen" Adapted from "The Morrigan" by Rachel Bukner

"The Ravens" Adapted from "Raven: a poem of morality" by Thomas Laufey

"Rite of Unbinding and Binding" by me.

"Request to Serve" Adapted from "Prayer to Haides and Persephone" by Eagle-of Zeus