Bardic inspiration is one of the more recent developments in ADF ritual.  It is not a required part, but it has become rather common as I have seen it as part of rituals all across the country.  What are we doing here besides calling on another being?

The general idea is that we call on an inspired being, generally someone associated with the bardic arts, and ask them to inspire us.  One turn of phrase I like to use is to ask them to "give us silvered tongues".  In other words, put the words in our mouth that we're trying to say, and have it come out in a pretty way.  In general, this has worked well for the rituals I have participate in that called on a bardic being.

So who do you call?  It obviously varies by culture, but the common ones I've seen are beings that are associated with poetry, song, or writing.  It is also common to see someone that owns an object dealing with one of those skills to be called.  The Scandinavian cultures, specifically the Norse, have another being that is a bit different.  I'm talking about Kvasir, who is literally the mead of inspiration.  Long story short, Kvasir was a man that was created out of the treaty at the end of the war between the Æsir and Vanir, and possessed great knowledge and wisdom.  He was later killed and his blood mixed with honey to create a mead, and this became known as the mead of inspiration, which through a few adventures finally made it to Asgard.

So, we come to the calls to the beings.  In general for me they follow a similar formula.  We name who we are calling.  We then describe what skills they bring that we want help with.  This is important if we're calling on a being that has multiple skills.  We then state what we want from them.  Finally, we give them something as thanks for them helping us.  The following is an example from a Lughnassadh ritual where we called on Brighid for inspiration.

Brighid!

Goddess of poetry!

We call on you today to aid us with our words today.

Give us inspiration.

Send the words that need to be said through our mouths.

Give us the silvered tongues of the bards of old.

May we speak what we need to say, and do what we need to do.

Brighid! Accept our Sacrifice!