Ocean II - The First Tidal Sacrament

Summary

The first Tidal Sacrament took place on 7 September 2025. The attendees consisted of myself and two others. I would consider this event to be a success and it leaves me feeling good about the future, even though I was initially not as prepared as I would have liked. I was worried when I learned I would only have two in attendance instead of four, but it was conducive to what became a very emotional, meaningful, and intimate experience.

Preparation & Equipment

I had prior plans earlier in the day that required me to be out of the house. In advance over the past couple weeks, I’d gathered some supplies, including glasses for the Saltwater Rite, a woven plate with an articulated mesh dome (very cool), and lancets. However, some of the more vital materials were handled only hours before the sacrament. I went to the beach and consecrated an earthenware cup that was sent to me by my partner some time ago and picked up rope from a hardware store soon before returning home. I hadn’t anticipated this very far in advance like I had with seawater, but the rope turned out to be one of the more vital pieces of equipment and I plan on picking up much more for future net tying. I found a couple thicknesses of cotton rope at a hardware store near Chinatown/Southie - one bundle for the standing line and the thinner bundle for the working line.

Upon returning home, I changed into different clothes and was a little late on getting everything prepared, and both of my friends arrived before everything was set up and ready. In addition to this, I hadn’t had time to prepare seawater in advance, but I ended up having the time to get everything sorted without my delays being an issue for anyone. Earlier in the morning, I was watching videos on how to tie nets, however it wasn’t until we all had our hands on the rope towards the end that I really picked up on how to actually tie the knots. I cut the cords before the invocation while getting everything set up and I was able to get my friends to participate by having them hold the working lines; the first section of the net is already prepared and we won’t need to do this part next time, however they did seem to appreciate having something physical to hold onto, so it’s worth considering having everyone hold the net or have something else to hold during the sermon next time.

When I began planning, I created a document that I intend to modify to suit my needs and to reflect the actual practice. The core elements of service did remain the same and I was able to do most of the things that I initially anticipated, however in practice I ended up modifying the approach.

Running the sacrament

Something I considered ahead of time is that the people in attendance do not have a strong, preexisting relationship to magic or abyssal elements. I think this worked out in my favor because it felt important to me to streamline the approach I had planned.

With everything finally set up and ready to go, I reviewed my planning document, which included a modified version of my original approach that I wrote up sometime in the past couple days. I had some relaxing drone music playing. I stood at the center of the room as my friends sat on the couch and I expressed that I was nervous about this. My friends were supportive and I recognized pretty quickly that by standing while they sat, I was creating distance. I opted to sit at the end of the couch (it’s configured in an L shape) to avoid feeling like I was giving a performance and to approach them on the same level and from their side. This allowed me to avoid stage fright, unnecessary distance, and being the object that everyone is looking at, which would make it feel like a presentation. I didn’t want a presentation, and this format physically brought us closer together - I could speak softer and it felt nice. It felt less like a performance or a heavy-handed service and more like a friend telling a story about the things that are important to her, which is what this was.

I did technically begin with the address, approaching it as casually as I could manage to ease everyone into the service. I asked about things they were looking forward to, and sometime during that time I transferred myself and my laptop to the couch.

I followed with the invocation. The transition between the address and the invocation did feel distinct, however it didn’t feel jarring. I think that if I’d been positioned differently and that if I had, say, a speech laid out, it would’ve perhaps felt jarring. I expressed that it meant a lot to me that they were there and I talked about how I’d been looking forward to this. I mentioned how just earlier in the day, I’d been out to the sea to consecrate the vessel for the Saltwater Rite and I discussed the weather out there, gray and overcast with a light rain. From there, the segue into the invocation was very natural. I mentioned how invoking the spirit involves her coming to us as much as it involves us going to her. “We must imagine ourselves standing at our mother’s knees, the tide lapping and whispering to us, because we are so small and so young compared to her vastness.”

From here, I was able to set the scene for everyone and they closed their eyes on their own for this part. I described the small waves pushing themselves up onto the beach. I related a thing that happened earlier in the day, where seawater filled my shoes while I was submerging the cup. I invited them to imagine the same - the water is cold, but not for long, and rises as the traffic around us fades out of view. The ships in the distance crawl over the horizon and the birds empty out of the sky and there are fewer and fewer people around us until it is only you.

“Pick a wave in the middle distance and allow it to come to you. Far off in the distance, waves are roaring, but this one is close, about the size of a small dog coming to meet you. Just tall enough for you to feel it when it passes below your knees, but not so big to knock you over.”

I described the connectedness of all living things and how you can feel the ocean’s hands around you, first around your feet and legs but then even in dry air, you know that she wraps you up in her love. You can hear her voice in the waves.

The transition into the sermon was natural. I think it helped that I only had ideas written down. I didn’t use all of them. I wish I remembered everything I said because it felt very eloquent and meaningful. I asked how you connect with something so ancient. I think I talked about how you can feel it when you stand before her, how her presence is so overwhelming that it’s hard to see it and not look on it with anything other than love. When I’m far away, even, I know that she is there, in the rivers and streams and in the fiber of the world. I mentioned how between gut bacteria in your stomach and all the fish in the ocean and you and I in the entirety of the world, there is no difference between these things. The abyss is a lung, in a way, expanding and contracting and bringing us further and nearer, allowing us our room to thrash and panic when we need the space and pulling us together as we get as close as we possibly can to one another.

There is a difference between feeling alone and being alone - wherever you are, something living has passed through or will pass through, and necessarily is passing through as you are, with all the life you carry around and inside of you. And even without that, when you acknowledge the distance between each other as its own kind of living thing, as the thing which surrounds us, it becomes easier to know that you will never be alone again. That’s how we connect with it.

I asked about what ancient things want - after all, what do we offer them? Time passes differently for the ocean. Without her, little life would thrive, and she is so generous and loving as to give all that she has without asking. I discussed how the void and the abyss are not empty, but full of life, growing and changing and passing by each other and changing each other. We offer it the love we return for our mother and the abyss. I think I said more about this but I don’t remember exactly.

I related again to the weather at the ocean earlier and recounted the story of my first interaction with the Pacific, my mother bringing me out there on a similar day. I contrasted it with a story of water at night, how different it feels when she is calm and you can see only into darkness, knowing that it does not mean absence, that our perception is one of lack but that it could not be further from the truth. I recounted the story of almost killing myself in the Gulf of Mexico and learning, even at what was my lowest time then, the difference between feeling alone and the knowledge of the abyss. I recounted my first time visiting the Atlantic at night again at Castle Island.

“There is love in dark spaces and deep emptiness. All distance is filled with something, and these vast empty spaces are filled with life and love, waiting for you.”

I said a prayer, with a modified version of the mantra for balance:
“You know that you are in her presence. You are at your center. You are at your balancing point. Her waters are in your blood as much as you are in hers. You are part of her, but distinct, and you exist because of your boundary lines. She tells you that all living things must eat, sleep, breathe, drink, reflect, and move freely. She provides these for us, near or far, no matter how alone or removed you may feel, because the void is not empty. It is full with life and love. And so we honor this tradition. And we honor her name, for she loves us so dearly.”

We held hands for the prayer. The prayer began with gratitude individually to my friends for being present, and to the ocean that she provides this opportunity for us to gather. I said the prayer above and continued, “we find each other even as we are adrift, even as space increases or decreases, no matter where we are, because the sea is determined to pull us together to form an island. We have each other, even when we are not together.”

I performed the Saltwater Rite. At the beginning of service, I had a very small sip and I was not prepared for how salty it was. Nonetheless, I still said, “we’re gonna drink seawater and it’s going to rule because you’ll have a piece of the ocean inside you just as well as the outside.” Going into this, I didn’t really have a solid plan of what to say, but by the time my first friend was taking the rite, I knew what it was about very certainly.

I stood over her very closely and spoke softly about how it meant a lot to me that she personally could be there. I handed her the saltwater. I said something close to, “with this, her salt in your blood will be carried with you wherever you go, and one day it will be returned to her.” It feels very clear to me that this is the point of the rite - she enters us and becomes part of our blood as we are part of hers.

Seawater is not good for you, by the way. The first friend to take the rite tried to hold off on drinking anything else, but after a few moments had to follow it with freshwater (as I expected). My second friend did not! She was just fine, which felt wrong because when I took the rite myself, it was apparent to me very quickly how hard it was hitting me. It was incredibly salty and I felt cold and weak. I drank a considerable amount of freshwater, but even still it was difficult to remain in a kneeling position and I sat on my side for a few minutes. Both of us who sustained effects from the saltwater felt a tingling in our mouths.

We took a short break while I intended to do a little cleaning, but the saltwater was still hitting me. After this point, we began to tie the net. I took a little time to find the video I was referencing and I explained the purpose of the net, about how it represents the fiber and fabric of the abyss, connecting us all. I explained much earlier on at the very beginning of service about blood being offered, and it was almost time for it.

Tying the net was not as difficult as I expected, but it did involve interpreting the instructions for my friends and showing them how to do it, which was nice because I was able to demonstrate side-by-side as they tied too, checking their work. At this point, one of them was getting pretty tired because of the drone music (it had been putting her to sleep for a little while) so I changed it to some house music which initially felt a little silly, but ended up being very engaging for this task. During this task, I explained the relationship of eyes, teeth, and the abyss.

After the working lines were secured to the standing line and we went across and tied the first rank of knots, we had a material we could begin attaching things to. I collected the offering at this point, being sure each of us had fabric for this. With both attendees, I took their hands one at a time and wiped their right ring fingers with alcohol and lanced them to collect blood onto cloth. “With this offering, we return some of our salt to the sea to honor her.”

We tied our offerings to what exists of the net and we all held it together and prayed. I thanked my friends for being here and thanked the ocean and the abyss again for bringing us together, and that she continues to provide us with the resources to endure our hardships. After this, I kept music on as we cleaned up a little and we went to a convenience store to get ice cream. We returned and had snacks and chatted for a while.

Reflection on planning

In the modified doc, I outlined general ideas of what to cover in each step of the sacrament with some things to say verbatim if it helped, largely leaving the rest up to me to decide how to approach in the moment. While this had the potential to leave me stranded, in practice it afforded me a great deal of flexibility. Going forward, I think I’ll continue this bullet points approach.

I definitely need to get a significant amount of rope. After this net is complete (I intend for a rank of knots to be completed with each sacrament) we’ll start on a larger one that I’ll prepare ahead of time. I feel very good about how I approached this and I felt comfortable changing things on the fly. It felt authentic and sweet and my friends and I were each moved. I feel like I adhered well to the guidelines I set for myself and I’m confident about next time.