Charges of Scouting's Spirit Ashes

Many charges have been used when sprinkling the old ashes into the new flames. Any of the following may be used; a pause has been added to show where the ashes are to be added.

This charge is rumored to be written by Baden-Powell himself and could be added to any ash ceremony

"We carry our friendship with us in these ashes form other campfires with comrades in other lands. May the joining of the dead fires with the leaping flames symbolize once more the unbroken chain that binds scout and guides around the world." . . . "With greetings form scouts of all nations everywhere."

Here is a charge that was written and used for dedicating a campfire to the Twin Towers and Pentagon victims. It could be used when doing other memorials with only a few alterations to the text

"In memoriam of September 11th, 2001 and of those who lost their lives in our time of crisis, we bring our fears and hopes and dreams to Scouting, who's unbroken spirit binds persons of all colors, nationalities, and beliefs in friendship. We hope that our undauntable scout spirit will help us transcend the difficulties ahead and unite all scouts in a world family to combat terrorism everywhere. As we add these cold ashes with the glowing flames" . . . "we hereby re-dedicate ourselves to our Scouting ideals and its fundamental tenet of belief in God. Let us not haze or terrorize others and seek a world without violence."

Here are two Charges that were found elsewhere on the web

"From the North, the South, the East and the West the spirits of the past campfires are here with us tonight, carrying fellowship in the these ashes from other campfires, thus uniting us with friends and comrades in other lands." . . . "May the joining of the dead ashes from campfires of long ago with the leaping flames of our campfire tonight symbolize once more the unbroken chain binding Scouts and Guides around the world. Greetings from all campfires of the past."

"May the joining of the past fires with the leaping flames of this campfire, symbolize once more the unbroken chain that binds scouts and guides of all nations together. With greetings form our brothers and sisters around the world, I will add these ashes, and the fellowship therein, to our campfire." . . . "The ashes I spread into this campfire carry memories of past campfires dating back to <year>. I will now charge these ashes to this campfire."

Here is a whole ceremony, with stage directions, that was written with a modernized version of the Baden-Powell's charge

(A person inters the staging area with the Spirit Ashes hidden within an appropriate historic scout or army uniform. Even O-A or mountain man regalia will do. Then repeats from memory the following as if he/she were a story teller.)

It all started in 1907, next to a campfire like this one, where the sea could be heard breaking on two shores of sand, and where the Night Hawks where doing their night calls among a grove of pines and firs. The 21 boys who listened to yarns of war sat on the hard red clay, and looked off into a couple of boggy ponds to see if they could actually see the enemy in the overgrown rushes, so realistic were those stories.

The man telling the stories about his adventurers on the front lines was wearing a plain flannel shirt and tie, with a long white streamer hanging from his left shoulder seam. His unpopular shorts were long, hanging almost to his stockings, and his Tribly cap looked like it had been in his pocket at some point during the day. The boys' clothes were almost the same but they wore a shoulder knot of yellow, red, green or blue and a donkey-style hat that was held up in the front with a makeshift fleur-de-lys badge.

(Pause and hold up the ashes.)

Yes, that's when these ashes started, at Brownsea Island, where Lord Baden-Powell tried his experimental Boy Scout Camp over a hundred years ago. Although they were removed later, these ashes actually contain microscopic particles from that very fire. Since then they have picked up particles from around the world; from 54 countries and 41 U.S. States. They have particles from 49 Jamborees, over 237 Woodbadges, 54 Order of the Arrow ceremonial fires, Soil from Baden-Powell's grave, ash form three scout camps destroyed by Mount St. Helen's Volcano, and ash from the 9-11 Twin Towers.

(Pause)

Thus we bear the very spirit of scouting with us in the form of these ashes from other campfires, from other scouts in other lands and times.

(Add this optional line if there are other ashes to be added)

Let all those with ashes come forward to join me.

(Add ashes to the flames, and pause to let others do the same if the optional line was used)

May the joining of these ashes with the roaring flames represent the unbroken chain that binds scouts and guides around the world. With Greetings from Scouts of All Nations. Please continue the tradition.

(Exit Stage.) (Historic information from "Baden-Powell; The two lives of a Hero," by William Hillcourt.)