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Temple of the Sacred Spiral
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RITUALSCONTENTS
1.
Ritual Theory and Technique
2.
Basic
Ritual for Temple of the Spiralled Web
3.
Pagan
Banishing Rite of the Pentagram
4.
Yule Ritual
8.
Litha Ritual
10. Mabon Ritual
11. Samhain Ritual
12. Full Moon Ritual
13. New Moon Ritual
14. Naming Ritual
15. Adulthood Ritual
17. Parenting Ritual
18. Elderhood Ritual
19. Requiem Ritual
22. Healing Ritual
24. Planetary Cleansing Ritual
Copyright Colin Low 1990
1.Introduction
2. Magical Consciousness
3. Limitation
4. Essential Steps
5. Maps & Correspondences
6. Conclusion
These notes attempt to say something
useful about magical ritual. This is difficult, because ritual is invented, and
any sequence of actions can be ritualised and used to symbolise anything; but
then something similar can be said about words and language, and that doesn't
prevent us from trying to communicate, so I will make the attempt to say
something useful about ritual, and try to steer a path between the Scylla of
anthropology and sweeping generalisations, and the Charybdis of cultish
parochialism. My motivation for writing this is my belief that while any
behaviour can be ritualised, and it is impossible to state "magical ritual
consists of this" or "magical ritual consists of that", some
magical rituals are better than others. This raises questions of what I mean by
"goodness" or "badness", "effectiveness" or
"ineffectiveness" in the context of magical work, and I intend to
duck this with a pragmatic reply. A magical ritual is "good" if it
achieves its intention without undesired side effects, and it is
"bad" if the roof falls on your head. Underlying this definition is
another belief: that magical ritual taps a raw and potentially dangerous (and
certainly amoral) psychic force which has to be channelled and directed; traditional
forms of magical ritual do that and are not so arbitrary as they appear to be.
An outline of ceremonial magical ritual
(in the basic form in which it has been handed down in Europe over the
centuries) is that the magician works within a circle and uses consecrated
tools and the magical names of various entities to evoke or invoke Powers. It
seems to work. Or at least it works for some people some of the time. How
*well* does it work? That's a fair question, and not an easy one to answer, as
there is too much ego at stake in admitting that one's rituals don't always
work out. My rituals don't always work - sometimes nothing appears to happen,
sometimes I get unexpected side effects. The same is true of those magicians I
know personally, and I suspect the same is true of most people. Even at the
mundane level, if you've ever tried to recreate a "magical moment" in
a relationship, you will know that it is hard to stand in the same river twice
- there is an elusive and wandering spark which all too often just wanders.
In summary, I like to know why some
rituals work better than others, and why some, even when that elusive spark is
present, go sour and call up all the wrong things - these notes contain some of
my conclusions. As I have tried to lift the rug and look underneath the
surface, the approach is abstract in places; I prefer to be practical rather
than theoretical, but if magic is to be anything other than a superstitious
handing-down of mumbo-jumbo, we need a model of what is happening, a causality of
magic against which it is possible to make value judgements about what is good
and bad in ritual. Traditional models of angels, spirits, gods and goddesses,
ancestral spirits and so on are useful up to a point, but these are not the end
of the story, and in penetrating beyond these "intermediaries" the
magician is forced to confront the nature of consciousness itself and become
something of a mystic.
The idea that the physical universe is the
end product of a "process of consciousness" is virtually a first
principle of Eastern esoteric philosophy, it is at the root of the Kabbalistic
doctrine of emanation and the sephiroth, and it has been adopted by many
twentieth century magicians as a useful complement to whatever traditional
model of magic they were weaned on - once one has accepted that it is possible
to create "thought-forms" and "artificial elementals" and
"telesmic images", it is a small step to admitting that the gods,
goddesses, angels, and spirits of traditonal magic may have no reality outside of
the consciousness which creates and sustains them. This is what I believe
personally on alternate days of the week. On the remaining days I am happy to
believe in the reality of gods, goddesses, archangels, elementals, ancestral
spirits etc. - in common with many magicians I sit on the fence in an
interesting way. There is a belief among some magicians that while gods,
goddesses etc may be the creations of consciousness, on a par with money and
the Bill of Rights, such things take on a life of their own and can be treated
as if they were real, so while I take the view that magic is ultimately the
manipulation of consciousness, you will find me out there calling on the Powers
with as much gusto as anyone else.
The principle function of magical ritual
is to cause well-defined changes in consciousness. There are other
(non-magical) kinds of ritual and ceremony - social, superstitious, celebratory
etc - carried out for a variety of reasons, but magical ritual can be
distinguished by its emphasis on causing shifts in consciousness to states not
normally attainable, with a consequence of causing effects which would be
considered impossible or improbable by most people in this day and age.
The realisation that the content of
magical ritual is a means to an end, the end being the deliberate manipulation
of consciousness, is an watershed in magical technique. Many people,
particularly the non-practicing general public, believe there is something
inherently magical about ritual, that it can be done, like cooking, from a
recipe book; that prayers, names of powers, fancy candles, crystals,
five-pointed stars and the like have an intrinsic power which works by itself,
and it is only necessary to be initiated into all the details and hey presto! -
you can do it. I believe this is (mostly) wrong. Symbols do have magical power,
but not in the crude sense implied above; magical power comes from the
conjunction of a symbol and a person who can bring that symbol to life, by
directing and limiting their consciousness through the symbol, in the manner of
icing through an icing gun. Magical power comes from the person (or people),
not from the superficial trappings of ritual. The key to ritual is the
manipulation and shifting of consciousness, and without that shift it is empty
posturing.
So let us concentrate on magical
consciousness, and how it differs from the state of mind in which we normally
carry out our business in the world. Firstly, there isn't a sudden quantum jump
into an unusual state of mind called magical consciousness. All consciousness
is equally magical, and what we call magical depends entirely on what we
consider to be normal and take for granted. There is a continuum of
consciousness spreading away from the spot where we normally hang our hat, and
the potential for magic depends more on the appropriateness of our state for
what we are trying to achieve than it does on peculiar trance states. When I
want to boil an egg I don't spend three days fasting and praying to God; I just
boil an egg. One of the characteristics of my "normal" state of
consciousness is that I understand how to boil an egg, but from many
alternative states of consciousness it is a magical act of the first order. So
what I call magical consciousness differs from normal consciousness only in so
far as it is a state less appropriate for boiling eggs, and more appropriate
for doing other things.
Secondly, there isn't one simple flavour
of magical consciousness; the space of potential consciousness spreads out
along several different axes, like moving in a space with several different
dimensions, and that means the magician can enter a large number of distinct
states, all of which can be considered different aspects of magical
consciousness.
Lastly, it is normal to shift our
consciousness around in this space during our everyday lives, so there is
nothing unusual in shifting consciousness to another place. This makes magical
consciousness hard to define, because it isn't something so extraordinary after
all. Nevertheless, there is a difference between walking across the road and
walking around the world, and there are differences between what I call normal
and magical consciousness, even though they are arbitrary markers in a
continuum. There is a difference in magnitude, and there is a difference in the
"magnitude of intent", that is, will. Magic takes us beyond the
normal; it disrupts cosy certainties; it explores new territory. Like new
technology, once it becomes part of everyday life it stops being "magical"
and becomes "normal". We learn the "magic of normal living"
at an early age and forget the magic of it; normal living affects us in ways
which the magician recognises as magical, but so "normal" that it is
difficult to realise what is going on. From the point of view of magical
consciousness, "normal life" is seen to be a complex magical
balancing act, like a man who keeps a hundred plates spinning on canes at the
same time and is always on the point of losing one. Magical consciousness is
not the extraordinary state: normal life is. The man on the stage is so busy
spinning his plates he can spend no time doing anything else.
A characteristic of magical consciousness
which distinguishes it from normal consciousness is that in most magical work
the magician moves outside the "normally accessible" region of
consciousness. Most "normal people" will resist an attempt to shift
their consciousness outside the circle of normality, and if too much pressure
is applied they panic, throw- up, become ill, have hysterics, call the police
or a priest or a psychiatrist, or end up permanently traumatised. Sometimes
they experience a blinding but one-sided illumination and become fanatics for a
one-sided point of view. Real, detectable shifts in consciousness outside the
"normal circle" are to be entered into warily, and the determined
ritualist treads a thin line between success, and physical and psychical
illness. A neophyte in Tibet swears that he or she is prepared to risk madness,
disease and death, and in my personal experience this is not melodramatic - the
risks are real enough. It depends on temperament and constitution - some people
wander all over the planes of consciousness with impunity, some find it
extremely stressful, and some claim it never did them any harm (when they are clearly
as cracked as the Portland Vase). The grosser forms of magic are hard to do
because body and mind fight any attempt to move into those regions of
consciousness where it is possible to transcend the "normal" and
create new kinds of normality
The switch into magical consciousness is
often accompanied by a feeling of "energy" or "power".
Reality becomes a fluid, and the will is like a wind blowing it this way and
that. Far out.
There are several traditional methods for
reaching abnormal states of consciousness: dance, drumming, hallucinogenic and
narcotic substances, fasting and other forms of privation, sex, meditation,
dreaming, and ritual, used singly and in combination. These notes deal only
with ritual. Magical ritual has evolved organically out of the desire to reach
normally inaccessible regions of consciousness and still continue living sanely
in the world afterwards, and once that is understood, its profundity from a
psychological point of view can be appreciated.
The concept of limitation is so important
in the way magical ritual has developed that it is worth taking a look at what
it means before going on to look at the basics of ritual. We are limited
beings: our lives are limited to some tens of years, our bodies are limited in
their physical abilities, and compared to all the different kinds of life on
this planet we are clearly very specialised compared with the potential of what
we could be, if we had the choice of being anything we wanted. Even as human
beings we are limited, in that we are all quite distinct from oneanother, and
guard that individuality and uniqueness as an inalienable right. We limit
ourselves to a few skills because of the effort and talent required to acquire
them, and only in exceptional cases do we find people who are expert in a large
number of different skills - most people are happy if they are acknowledged as
being an expert in one thing, and it is a fact that as the sum total of
knowledge increases, so people (particularly those with technical skills) are
forced to become more and more specialised.
This idea of limitation and specialisation
has found its way into magical ritual because of the magical (or mystical)
perception that, although all consciousness in the universe is One, and that Oneness
can be perceived directly, it has become limited. There is a process of
limitation in which the One (God, if you like) becomes progressively structured
and constrained until it reaches the level of thee and me. The details of this
process (sometimes called "The Fall") lies well outside a set of
notes on ritual technique, and being theosophical, is the sort of thing people
like to have long-winded arguments about, so I am not going to say much about
it. What I *will* say is that magicians and mystics the world over are
relatively unanimous in insisting that the normal everyday consciousness of
most human beings is a severe *limitation* on the potential of consciousness,
and it is possible, through various disciplines, to extend consciousness into
new regions; this harks back to the "circle of normality" I mentioned
in the previous section. From a magical point of view the personality, the ego,
the continuing sense of individual "me-ness", is a magical creation
with highly specialised abilities, an artificial elemental or thoughtform which
consumes all our magical power in exchange for the kind of limitation necessary
to survive, and in order to work magic it is necessary to divert energy away
from this obsession with personal identity and self-importance.
Now, consider the following problem: you
have been imprisoned inside a large inflated plastic bag. You have been given a
sledghammer and a scalpel. Which tool will get you out faster? The answer I am
looking for is the scalpel: a way of getting out of large, inflated, plastic
bags is to apply as much force as possible to as sharp a point as possible.
Magicians agree on this principle - the key to successful ritual work is a
"single-pointed will". A mystic may try to expand consciousness in
all directions simultaneously, to encompass more and more of the One, to
embrace the One, perhaps even to transcend the One, but this is hard, and most
people aren't up to it in practise. Rather than expand in all directions
simultaneously, it is much easier to *limit* an excursion of consciousness in
one direction, and the more precise and well-defined that limitation to a
specific direction, the easier it is to get out of the bag. Limitation of
consciousness is the trick we use to cope with the complexity of life in modern
society, and as long as we are forced to live under this yoke we can make a
virtue out of a necessity, and use our carefully cultivated ability to focus
attention on minutiae to burst out of the bag.
What limitation means in practise is that
magical ritual is designed to produce specific and highly *limited* changes in
consciousness, and this is done by using a specific map of consciousness, and
there are symbolic correspondences within the map which can be used in the
construction of a ritual - I discuss this later. The principle of limitation is
a key to understanding the structure of magical ritual, and a key to successful
practice.
To summarise the last two sections, I
would say the characteristics of a "good" ritual are:
1.
Entry into
magical consciousness and the release of "magical energy".
2.
A limitation of
consciousness to channel that energy in the correct direction, with minimal
"splatter".
Without the energy there is nothing to
channel. Without the limitation, energy splatters in all directions and takes
the path of minimal psychic resistance to earth. A magical ritual is the
calculated shifting and limitation of consciousness.
There is never going to be agreement about
what is essential in a ritual and what is not, any more than there will ever be
agreement about what makes a good novel. That doesn't mean there is nothing
worth discussing. The steps I have enumerated below are suggestions which were
handed down to me, and a lot of insight (not mine) has gone into them; they conform
to a Western magical tradition which has not changed in its essentials for
thousands of years, and I hand them on to you in the same spirit as I received
them.
These are the steps:
4.
Statement of Intention and Sacrifice
5.
Main
Ritual
The Circle is the place where magical work
is carried out. It might literally be circle on the ground, or it could be a
church, or a stone ring, or a temple, or it might be an imagined circle
inscribed in the aethyr, or it could be any spot hallowed by tradition. In some
cases the Circle is created specifically for one piece of work and then closed,
while in other cases (e.g. a church) the building is consecrated and all the
space within the building is treated as if it is an open circle for long
periods of time. I don't want to deal too much in generalities, so I will deal
with the common case where a circle is created specifically for one piece of
work, for a period of time typically less than one day.
The Circle is the first important magical
limit: it creates an area within which the magical work takes place. The
magician tries to control everything which takes place within the Circle
(limitation), and so a circle half-a-mile across is impractical. The Circle
marks the boundary between the rest of the world (going on its way as normal),
and a magical space where things are most definitely not going on as normal
(otherwise there wouldn't be any point in carrying out a ritual in the first
place). There is a dislocation: the region inside the circle is separated from
the rest of space and is free to go its own way. There are some types of
magical work where it may not be sensible to have a circle (e.g. working with
the natural elements in the world at large) but unless you are working with a
Power already present in the environment in its normal state, it is useful to
work within a circle.
The Circle may be a mark on the ground, or
something more intangible still; my own preference is an imagined line of blue
fire drawn in the air. It is in the nature of consciousness that anything taken
as real and treated as real will eventually be accepted as Real - and if you
want to start a good argument, state that money doesn't exist and isn't Real.
From a ritual point of view the Circle is a real boundary, and if its
usefulness is to be maintained it should be treated with the same respect as an
electrified fence. Pets, children and casual onlookers should be kept out of
it. Whatever procedures take place within the Circle should only take place
within the Circle and in no other place, and conversely, your normal life
should not intrude on the Circle unless it is part of your intention that it should.
Basically, if you don't want a circle, don't have one, but if you do have one,
decide what it means and stick to it. There is a school of thought which
believes a circle is a "container for power", and another which
believes a circle "keeps out the nasties". I subscribe to both and
neither of these points of view. From a symbolic point of view, the Circle
marks a new "circle of normality", a circle different from my usual
"circle of normality", making it possible to keep the two
"regions of consciousness" distinct and separate. The magician leaves
everyday life behind when the Circle is opened, and returns to it when the
Circle is closed, and for the duration adopts a discipline of thought and deed
which is specific to the type of magical work being undertaken; this procedure
is not so different from that in many kinds of laboratory where people work
with hazardous materials. The circle is both a barrier and a container. This is
a kind of psychic sanitation, and in magic "sanity" and "sanitary"
have more in common than spelling.
Opening a Circle usually involves drawing
a circle in the air or on the ground, accompanied by an invocation to guardian
spirits, or the elemental powers of the four quarters, or the four watchtowers,
or the archangels, or whatever. The details aren't so important as practicing
it until you can do it in your sleep, and you should carry it out with the same
attitude as a soldier on formal guard duty outside a public building. You are
establishing a perimeter under the watchful "eyes" of whatever
guardians you have requested to keep an eye on things, and a martial attitude
and sense of discipline creates the right psychological mood.
The Gates in question are the boundary
between normal and magical consciousness. Just as opening the Circle limits the
ritual in space, so opening the Gates limits the ritual in time. Not everyone
opens the Gates as a separate activity; opening a Circle can be considered a
de-facto opening of Gates, but there are good reasons for keeping the two
activities separate. Firstly, it is convenient to be able to open a Circle
without going into magical consciousness; despite what I said about not
bringing normal consciousness into the Circle, rules are made to be broken, and
there are times when something unpleasant and unwanted intrudes on normal
consciousness, and a Circle can be used to keep it out - like pulling blankets
over your head at night. Secondly, opening the Gates as a separate activity
means they can be tailored to the specific type of magical consciousness you
are trying to enter. Thirdly, just as bank vaults and ICBMs have two keys, so
it is prudent to make the entry into magical consciousness something you are
not likely to do on a whim, and the more distinct steps there are, the more
conscious effort is required. Lastly - and it is an important point - I open
the circle with a martial attitude, and it is useful to have a breathing space
to switch out of that mood and into the mood needed for the invocation. Opening
the Gates provides an opportunity to make that switch.
The invocation to the Powers is often an
occasion for some of the most laboured, leaden, pompous, grandiose and turgid
prose ever written or recited. Tutorial books on magic are full of this stuff.
"Oh glorious moon, wreathed in aetherial light...". You know the
stuff. If you are invoking Saturn during a waxing moon you might be justified
in going on like Brezhnev addressing the Praesidium of the Soviet Communist
Party, but as in every other aspect of magic, the trick isn't what you do, but
how you do it, and interminable invocations aren't the answer. On a practical
level, reading a lengthy invocation from a sheet of paper in dim candlelight
requires so much conscious effort that it is hard to "let go", so I
like keep things simple and to the point, and practice until I can do an
invocation without having to think about it too much, and that leaves room for
the more important "consciousness changing" aspect of the invocation.
An invocation is like a ticket for a
train, and if you can't find the train there isn't much point in having the
ticket. Opening the Gates gets you to the doorstep of magical consciousness,
but it is the invocation which gets you onto the train and propels you to the
right place, and that isn't something which "just happens" unless you
have a natural aptitude for the aspect of consciousness you are invoking.
However, it does happen; people tend to begin their magical work with those
areas of consciousness where they feel most at home, so they may well have some
initial success. Violent, evil people do violent and evil conjurations; loving
people invoke love - most people begin their magical work with "a free
ticket" to some altered state of consciousness, but in general, invoking a
specific aspect of consciousness takes practice and I don't expect immediate
results when I invoke something new. If interminable tracts of deathless prose
work for you, then fine, but I find it hard to keep a straight face when piety
and pomposity combine to produce the sort of invocations to be found in print.
I name no names.
I can't give a prescription for entering
magical consciousness. Well devised rituals, practised often, have a way of
shifting consciousness which is surprising and unexpected. I don't know why
this happens; it just does. I suspect the peculiar character of ritual, the way
it involves the senses and occupies mind and body simultaneously, its numinous
and exotic symbolism, the intensity of preparation and execution, involve
dormant parts of the mind, or at least engage the normal parts in an unusual
way. Using ritual to cause shifts in consciousness is not exceptionally
difficult; getting the results you want, and avoiding unexpected and undesired
side-effects is harder. Ritual is not a rational procedure. The symbolism of
magic is intuitive and bubbles out of a very deep well; the whole process of
ritual effectively bypasses the rational mind, so expecting the outcome of a
ritual to obey the dictates of reason is completely irrational. The image of a
horse is appropriate: anyone can get on the back of a wild mustang, but
reaching the point where horse and rider go in the same direction at the same
time takes practice. The process of limitation described in these notes can't
influence the natural waywardness of the animal, but at least it is a method
for ensuring that the horse gets a clear message.
If magical ritual is not to be regarded as
a form of bizarre entertainment carried out for its own sake, then there has to
be a reason for doing it - healing, divination, personal development,
initiation, and the like. If it is healing, then it is usually healing for one
specific person, and then again, it is probably not just healing in general,
but healing for some specific complaint, within some period of time. The
statement of intention is the culmination of a process of limitation which
begins when the Circle is opened, and to return to the analogy of the plastic
bag, the statement of intention is like the blade on the scalpel - the more
precise the intention, the more the energy of the ritual is concentrated to a
single point.
The observation that rituals work better
if their energy is focused by intention is in accord with experience in
everyday life: any change involving other people, no matter how small or
insignificant, tends to meet with opposition. If you want to change the brand
of coffee in the coffee machine, or if you want to rearrange the furniture in
the office, someone will object. If you want to drive a new road through the
countryside, local people object. If you want to raise taxes, everyone objects.
The more people you involve in a change, the more opposition you encounter, and
in magic the same principle holds, because from a magical point of view the
whole fabric of the universe is held in place by an act of collective intention
involving everything from God downwards. When you perform a ritual you are
setting yourself up against a collective will to keep most things the way they
are, and your ritual will succeed only if certain things are true:
1.
you are a being
of awesome will.
2.
you have allies.
The universe is changing, there is always a potential for change, and if your
intention coincides with an existing will to bring about that change, your
ritual can act as a catalyst.
3.
you limit your
intention to minimise opposition; the analogy is the diamond cutter who
exploits natural lines ofcleavage to split a diamond.
Suppose you want to bring peace to the
world. This is an admirable intention, but the average person would have no
more effect (with or without magic) on the peacefulness of the world than they
would if they attempted to smash Mount Everest with a rubber hammer. Rather
than worry about the peacefulness of the whole world, why not use your ritual
to create a better relationship with your spouse, or your boss, or someone who
really annoys you? And why not work on the specific issues which are the main
source of friction. And try to improve things within a specified period of
time. And do it in a way which respects the other person's right to continue
being a pain in the arse if they so wish? This is the idea behind focussing or
limiting an intention. Having said all this, there are a lot of people in the
world who would appreciate some peace, and perhaps your grand intention to bring
peace might catch a wave and help a few, so don't let me put you off, but as a
general principle it is sensible to avoid unnecessary opposition by making the
intention as precise as possible. Think about sources of opposition, and about
ways of circumventing that opposition - there may be a simple way which avoids
making waves, and that is when magic works best. Minimising opposition also
reduces the amount of backlash you can expect - quite often the simplest path
to earth for any intention is through the magician, and if there is a lot of
opposition that is what happens. [The very act of invoking power creates a
resonance and a natural channel through the magician.]
I try to analyse the possible outcomes and
consequences of my intentions. There is a popular view that "if it harms
none, do that you will". I can think of many worse moral principles, and
it is better than most, but it is still naive. It pretends that it is
theoretically possible to live without treading on another person's toes, it
leaves me to make unilateral decisions about what is or is not harmful to
others, and it is so wildly unrealistic, even in the context of everyday life,
that it only seems to make sense if I intend to live in seclusion in a
wilderness living off naturally occuring nuts and berries (having asked the
squirrels for permission). If it is used as a moral principle in magic, then it
draws an artificial distinction between magical work and the "push me,
push you/if it moves, shoot it, if it doesn't, cut it down" style of contemporary
life. It completely emasculates free-will. I prefer to believe that just about
anything I do is going to have an impact on someone or something, and there are
no cute moral guidelines; there are actions and there are outcomes. The aim is
not to live according to guidelines, but to understand as fully as possible the
consequences of the things we do, and to decide, in the light of our
understanding (which has hopefully kept pace with our power), whether we are
prepared to live with the outcomes.
And so to sacrifice. There is a problem
here. The problem arises from the perception that in magic you don't get
something for nothing, and if you want to bring about change through magic you
have to pay for it in some way. So far so good. The question is: what can you
give in return? There is a widespread belief that you can sacrifice a living
creature, and while most magicians (self included) abhor the idea, the
perpetuation of this idea is still being used as a stick to beat the magical
and pagan community about the head. The issue is further complicated by the
fact that if one looks at surviving shamanistic practices worldwide, or looks
at the origins of most religions, ritual animal sacrifice is endemic. That
doesn't make it right, and I have an unshakeable prejudice that it isn't an
acceptable thing to do, but I am only too aware of my hypocrisy when I order a
chicken curry, so I'm not going to stand on a soapbox and rant on about it.
What I prefer to do is to examine what the
notion of sacrifice means. What can one legitimately sacrifice? You can't
legitimately sacrifice anything which is not yours to give, and so the answer
to the question "what can I sacrifice" lies in the answer to the
question "what am I, and what have I got to give?". You certainly
aren't any other living being, and if you don't make the mistake of identifying
yourself with your possessions you will see that the only sacrifice you can
make is yourself, because that is all you have to give. Every ritual intention
requires that you sacrifice some part of yourself, and if you don't make the
sacrifice willingly then either the ritual will fail, or the price will be
exacted anyway. I don't have a rational justification for this statement, and
it certainly isn't based on "karma" or a paranoid feeling that
accountants are everywhere; the belief was handed on to me as part of my
magical training, and having observed the way in which "magical
energy" is utilised to carry out intentions, it makes sense. Each person
has a certain amount of what I will call "life energy" at their
disposal - some people call it "personal power", and you can
sacrifice some of that energy to power the ritual. Sacrifice does not mean
turning the knife on yourself (and there are plenty of people who do that).
What it means in ordinary down-to-earth terms is that you promise to do
something in return for your intention, and you link the sacrifice to the
intention in such a way that the sacrifice focuses energy along the direction
of your intention. For example, my cat was ill and hadn't eaten for three
weeks, so, as a last resort, fearing she was about to die of starvation, I
carried out a ritual to restore her appetite, and as a sacrifice I ate nothing
for 24 hours. I used my (real) hunger to drive the intention, and she began
eating the following day.
Any personal sacrifice which hurts enough
engages a deep impulse to make the hurt go away, and the magician can use that
impulse to bring about magical change by linking the removal of the pain to the
accomplishment of the intention. And I don't mean magical masochism. We are
(subject to all caveats on generalisations) creatures of habit who find comfort
and security by living our lives in a particular way, and a change to that
habit and routine causes some discomfort and an opposing desire to return to
the original state: that desire can be used. Just as a ritual intends to change
the world in some way, so a sacrifice forces us to change ourselves in some
way, and that liberates magical energy. If you want to heal someone, don't just
do a ritual and leave it at that; become involved in caring for them in some
way, and that *active* caring can act as a channel for whatever power you have
invoked. If you want to use magic to help someone out of a mess, provide them
with active, material help as well; conversely, if you can't be bothered to
provide material help, your ritual will be infected with that same inertia and
apathy - true will, will out, and in many cases our true will is to flatter the
ego and do nothing substantive. I speak from experience.
From a magical perspective each one of us
is a magical being with a vast potential of power, but that is denied to us by
an innate, fanatical, and unbelievably deep-rooted desire to keep the world in
a regular orbit serving our own needs. Self- sacrifice disturbs this
equilibrium and lets out some of that energy, and that is why egoless devotion
and self-sacrifice has a reputation for working miracles.
After invoking the Powers and having
stated the intention and sacrifice, there would seem to be nothing more to do,
but most people like to prolong the contact with the Powers and carry out some
kind of symbolic ritual for a period of time varying from minutes to days.
Ritual as I have described it so far may seem like a cut-and-dried exercise,
but it isn't; it is more of an art than a science, and once the Circle and
Gates are opened, and the Powers are "in attendance", whatever
science there is in ritual gives way to art. Magicians operate in a world where
ordinary things have complex symbolic meanings or correspondences, and they use
a selection of consecrated implements or "power objects" in their
work. The magician can use this palette of symbols within a ritual to paint of
picture which signifies an intention in a non-verbal, non-rational way, and it
is this ability to communicate an intention through every sense of the body,
through every level of the mind, which gives ritual its power. I can't say any
more about this because it is personal and unique to every magician, and each
one develops a style which works best for them.
Once the ritual is complete the Powers are
thanked and dismissed. This begins the withdrawal of consciousness back to its
pre-ritual state.
The final steps are closing the Gates
(thus sealing off the altered state of consciousness) and closing the Circle
(thus returning to the everyday world). The Circle should not be closed if
there is any suspicion that the withdrawal from the altered state has not been
completed fully. I like to carry out a sanity check between closing the Gates
and closing the Circle. It sometimes happens that although the magician goes
through the steps of closing down, the attention is not engaged, and the
magician remains in the altered state. This is not a good idea. The energy of
that state will continue to manifest in every intention in everyday life, and
all sorts of unplanned things will start to happen. A related problem is that
every magician will find sooner or later an altered state which compensates for
some of their perceived inadequacies (in the way that many people like to get
drunk at parties), and they will not want to let go of it because it makes them
feel good, so they come out of the ritual in an altered state without realising
they have failed to close down correctly. This is called obsession, and it is
one of the interesting difficulties of magical work.
Closing down correctly is important if you
don't want to end up like a badly cracked pot. If you don't feel happy that the
Powers have been completely dismissed and the Gates closed correctly, go back
and repeat the steps again.
If consciousness is imagined as a space we
can move around in, then it is a space of several dimensions. An indespensible
tool for any magician is a method for describing this space and its
dimensions, a method to specify the
"the coordinates of consciousness", like giving a map reference. The
magician uses such a descriptive method to say "this is where I want to
get to", and you can imagine a ritual as a vehicle which transports him or
her to the destination and back again.
A descriptive method of this type is one
of the most obvious and characteristic features of a particular magical
technique, because states of consciousness are usually described using a dense
mesh of symbolism and metaphor, and if a magical tradition has been around for
any length of time it becomes identified by the details of this symbolism.
Given the tendency for maps to be confused with territory, there is a tendency
for symbolism to take on a life of its own and become completely detached from
authentic magical technique. People confuse magical symbolism with magic; its
use as a coordinate system is lost, vast tomes of drivel are written, and every
manner of absurdity follows.
I am a Kabbalist by training and use a map
of consciousness called "The Tree of Life". This map has been
coloured in using a thousand years of symbolism, and the result is called
"the Correspondences", and it is a system which allows me to navigate
around the dimensions of consciousness with some precision. There are many
other maps, some well worn by history, some not, and my choice is a matter of
personal preference. It works for me because of the kind of person I am, but it
is only a map and I wouldn't pretend that there was anything intrinsically
special about it.
Many magicians operate within a religious
framework. The Christian Mass is a magical ritual par excellence, and there are
several other magical rituals associated with Christianity. Some magicians work
within a pantheon - Graeco-Roman, Egyptian, Scandinavian, Aztec or whatever.
Some (e.g. Crowley) invent their own religion. A characteristic of all these
systems is that they provide a complex mesh of symbol and metaphor, a map for
the magician to work within. For any pantheon it is usually straightforward
(with some bending, stretching and hitting with a hammer) to identify a
personification for the following aspects of consciousness:
And once we have gods and goddesses (or
saints) to personify these qualities, a weave of metaphors and associations
elaborates the picture; the Moon is instinct, fire is both destructive and
energetic, death is a sythe, air and mercury are "the same", and so
on. The meaning of a symbol is personal - white means "death" to some
and "purity" to others. What matters is that the magician should have
a clear map, and with it the ability to invoke different aspects of
consciousness by using the symbolism of gods, goddesses, archangels, demons or
whatever. It does not matter whether the magician believes in the literal
reality of the territory or not, as long as he or she treats the map with
respect and does not muddy the water by dabbling with too many different maps.
There are two principal ways in which maps become muddled, and as the main
theme of these notes is the precise use of limitation in conjuction with
magical consciousness, I think it is worth mentioning what I see as potential
pitfalls. The first pitfall is mixing systems; the second is working with other
people.
There is a tendency nowadays to muddle
different systems of correspondences together, to add Egyptian gods to a
Kabbalistic ritual, to say that Tanith is really the same as Artemis, or that
Cybele and Astarte and Demeter are "just" different names for the
Mother Goddess, to find parallels between Thor and Mars, between Kali and
Hecate, between the Virgin Mary and Isis, until, like different colours of
paint mixed together, everything ends up in shades of muddy brown. This
unifying force is everywhere as people find universal themes and try to make
links between groups and systems.
It is (in my opinion) a bad idea to mix
systems together in a spirit of ecumenical fervour. Correspondences are like
intentions: the sharper and more clearly defined they are, the better they
work. Despite a few similarities, the Virgin Mary is nothing like Isis, and
Demeter has very little in common with Astarte. Syncretism usually takes place
slowly over the centuries, so that for most people there is no distinction
between the classical Greek and Roman pantheons and Mercury is a synonym for
Hermes, but to do it in real-time in your own head is a recipe for
muddle-headedness.
Symbols can be diffused when people work
together in a group. It is a mistake to believe that "power" is
raised in direct proportion to the number of people taking part in a ritual.
Unless people have been trained together and have similar "maps",
then the ritual will have a different effect on each person, and although more
power may be raised, it will be unfocussed and will probably earth itself
through unexpected channels. When people begin working together there will be a
period of time when their work together will probably be less effective than
any one of them working alone, but after a time their "maps" begin to
converge and things start to improve dramatically. There is nothing magical
about this - it is a phenomenon of teams of people in general. I don't like
"spectator rituals" for this reason; you are either in it or your are
out, and if you are out, you are out the door.
Does it matter what map, what system of
correspendences a person uses? Is there a "best" set? This is an
impossible question to answer. What can be said is that working within any
magical framework incurs a cost. The more effective a magical system is at
limiting, engaging and mobilising the creative power of consciousness, the more
effective it is at ensnaring consciousness within its own assumptions and
limitations. If a person works within a belief system where the ultimate nature
of God is pure, unbounded love, joy and bliss, then that closes off other
possibilities.
Without sitting in judgement of any set of
beliefs, I would say that the best belief system and the best system of
correspondences is one which allows consciousness to roam over the greatest
range of possibilities, and permits it the free-will to choose its own
limitations. And that is a belief in itself.
The gist of these notes is that ritual is
a technique for focussing magical power through the deliberate use of limitation.
Limitation comes from the belief system of the magician, and the set of
correspondences used to create symbolism within the ritual. Further limitation
comes from the structure of the ritual itself, and ultimately from the
statement of intention. With practise these elements add up to a
single-mindedness which can shift consciousness out of its normal orbit.
These rites are used as the framework for specific
rituals - sometimes all are used, other times only parts are used. In addition,
shorter and "express" versions are provided (YET TO COME). The rites
derive from a syncretic process from the works of the Farrars (Eight Sabbats
for Witches), Shadwynn (The Crafted Cup), Edain McCoy (The Sabbats), Morwyn
(Web of Light) and others, as well as our own words.
The
basic form of the Rituals is as follows:
1. Opening Rites:
1. Purification of Self and Space
2. Admitting the participants through the Gate
3. Creating the Circle and blessing it with the elements
4. Invoking the Guardian Powers
5. Declaring the Circle Sealed
2. Drawing Down the Luminaries - not done for every
ritual
1. Drawing Down the Moon
1. Fivefold Kiss
2. Invocation of the Goddess
3. Charge of the Goddess
2. Drawing Down the Sun
1. Fivefold Kiss
2. Invocation of the God
3. Call of the God
3. Specific Rite for the Occasion
4. Cone of Power and Witches' Rune
5. Great Rite - not done on all occasions
6. Simple Feast - Cakes and Wine - Libation to the Gods
7. Closing Rites
1. Parting Prayers
2. Dismissal of the Guardians
3. Opening of the Circle and Final Blessing
4. Blessing over the Meal/Feast
First all have a ritual purifying bath with oils appropriate for the
occasion, then either dress in ritual robes or remain skyclad. Commence the
Journey to the Sanctuary chanting the following.
All: Gracious Gaia, consecrate us as we
journey through this passage of life to sanctify our workings this night (day).
Great Pan, create in us the muse of beauty and poetry that we may raise
our voices in praise of all Life and dance in Joy of Love.
Stop at the southeast corner of the Sanctuary as the High Priestess
invites the coven to a brief meditation on the ritual theme.
HPS:The Wheel of the Year turns on and on,
Bringing us to and from each season, and from and to another.
What will be is, what was will be.
All time then and now resides in this sacred space.
We gather together on this Sabbat night
ADD IN SPECIFIC RITUAL INTRODUCTORY
ACCLAMATION.
Let all who would honour the Goddess Gaia
and Her Consort Pan
Enter into Their protective Circle.
The coven meditates on this for a minute in silence, then the High Priestess
and the High Priest enter the Circle and go to the Altar.
HPS: (lights the Goddess candle):
The watchers in the darkness,
The seekers after wisdom,
These shall all behold a great light.
HP: (lights the God candle with a
taper lit from the Goddess candle):
As the darkness flees before this light,
Let all that is profane be far from here.
HPS: (lifting wand or hands before
the altar)
Lady of the Dreamtime, Goddess of the Serpent-wrapped Land,
Our hearts yearn for a place to worship Thee, O Hallowed Gaia.
Invoke for us now the magick
Of bushland creeks, standing stones, sandy shores and soaring cliffs,
That we might praise Thee in unobstructed freedom.
HP: (raising his athame or
hands before the altar)
Assist us as we erect a Temple out of Time,
Where future, present and past have lost their boundaries,
That we might continue the quest for the Cauldron of Regeneration.
Both: We ask these things that we might
honour thee, Our Lady,
For Thou art the Origin of All and the very Life-spring of eternity.
The High Priestess takes the Chalice of water, raising it into the air
with both hands:
HPS: Blessed be thou creature of Water,
that thou cleanse thee of all impurities and uncleanliness of the world and
become for us as pure as the day thou was first formed, in the Names of Gaia
and Pan.
The High Priestess inscribes the pentagram over the Chalice as she
replaces it on the altar.
The High Priestess takes the dish of salt, raising it up and says:
HPS: Blessed be thou creature of Earth;
let all malignity and hindrance be sealed off, and become for us as pure as the
day thou was first formed, in the Names of Gaia and Pan.
The High Priestess inscribes the Pentagram over the Salt as it is
returned to the altar. She mixes three pinches of salt in the Chalice, and
stirs three times anticlockwise.
HPS: Let the Earth and primeval Ocean mix
to form the tears of the Goddess, Holy Gaia.
The High Priestess now blesses the High Priest by making the sign of the
banishing Pentagram on the his forehead using the salt water, saying these
words:
HPS: By this moisture from the body of
Gaia,
be purified as we assist one another in these sacred rites.
The High Priest now repeats the process for the High Priestess, saying:
HP: By this moisture from the body of
Gaia,
be purified as we assist one another in these sacred rites.
The High Priest lights the Lamp, raising it up and says:
HP: Blessed be thou creature of Fire; burn
away all iniquity and rise to the Heavens above and become for us as pure as
the day thou was first formed, in the Names of Gaia and Pan.
He now sets up the incense, then raises it up and says:
HP:Blessed be thou creature of Air; blow
away all impurities and foul spirits and become for us as pure as the day thou
was first formed, in the Names of Gaia and Pan.
The High Priest now lights the Incense with the lamp.
HP: Let the Flame of the God's will burn
the Incense of our love spiralling as sacred smoke to the glory of Pan.
He censes the High Priestess, who censes him in turn.
HP: By the charge of the Goddess Gaia,
Whose Open Door is the Pathway to Life,
I bless this entrance for the seekers of Truth and Joy.
The High Priest takes the Broom, or else his wand and bars the
doorway, asking each covener in turn as he/she steps to the Doorway:
HP: You who would approach the Mother of
all Mysteries,
How do you presume to enter?
Covener: With joyous heart and truthful
mind; in perfect Trust and perfect Love.
The High Priest draws back the Broom and the High Priestess anoints the
covener with the salt water, tracing the Banishing pentagram upon the forehead
as she utters these words of purification:
HPS: By this moisture from the body of
Gaia,
Be purified as you enter this mystical space.
The High Priest censes each covener as they pass by him, and he says to
each in turn:
HP: Enter now through the mystic Gateway;
Prepare yourself for the presence of the Goddess and God!
The High Priestess kisses the men, the High Priest the women.
HPS: You have crossed over the threshold
of the sacred Circle.
You have stepped upon that invisible land
Beyond the doors of day where light and dark are lost
In hues of ever-dawning dusk.
Assist me now to strengthen this Circle, lend me your magickal powers.
The High Priestess (or High Priest) now takes her Athame,
and with it in her right hand pointing to the ground, visualises drawing a circle
of light around the altar, of at least nine feet diameter, enclosing the
Quarter Candles, and forming a sphere over the heads of those in the circle and
for an equal distance under the ground. Each Covener turns to face her as she
circles around the Circle. She walks deosil (anti-clockwise) around the
boundaries, saying:
HPS: I conjure thee, O Circle of Power, by
the power within me
Flowing through this my sacred Athame of my Higher Self,
That thou beest a meeting-place of love, joy, truth and trust;
A shield against all wickedness and evil;
A boundary between the world of humanity and the realms of the spirit;
A rampart and protection that shall preserve and contain the power
That we shall raise within thee.
Wherefore do I bless thee and consecrate thee, in the names of Gaia and
Pan.
Hear me, O Gaia! Hear me O Pan.
The High Priestess now strengthens the Circle with the Element of Earth
and Water, sprinkling (asperges) the Holy Water around the perimeter of the
Circle, going deosil. The coven supports her with their thought bent to lend
power to the strengthening the Circle.
HPS: Sacred Cup filled with the Earth of
solid trust and Water of the tears of desire, strengthen this Circle and bring
perfect Trust and fulfilment of Desire to all within.
The High Priest now circles deosil with the Censer, swinging it from back
to front, as he says:
HP:Holy Censer smoking the Fire of courage
and the incense of Love, strengthen this Circle and let there be steadfast love
within this sacred place.
All: As above, so below, (All
point up, then down with their right hands)
As within, so without, (All point right then to their hearts
with their right hands)
As the Universe, so the soul" (All raise both hands with
their heads gazing upwards, then cross their hands over their chests and bow
their heads).
The High Priestess and High Priest bless the hourglass, the symbol of
Time and raise it up and say:
HP & HPS:Blessed be thou creature of
Time; put away all evil and move to the Heavens above and become for us as pure
as the day thou was first formed, in the Names of Gaia and Pan.
The High Priestess and High Priest bless the bells, the symbol of Sound
and raise it up and say:
HP & HPS: Blessed be thou creature of
Sound; ring out all evil and become for us as pure as the day thou was first
formed, in the Names of Gaia and Pan.
The High Priestess and High Priest bless the flames, the symbol of Light
and raise it up and say:
HP & HPS: Blessed be thou creature of
Light; drive out all shadows and shine in our hearts and become for us as pure
as the day thou was first formed, in the Names of Gaia and Pan.
The High Priestess and High Priest bless the gems, the symbol of Thought
and raise it up and say:
HP & HPS: Blessed be thou creature of
Thought; meditate on the Good and become for us as pure as the day thou was
first formed, in the Names of Gaia and Pan.
The High Priestess and High Priest bless the Candle of Motion and raise
it up and say:
HP & HPS: Blessed be thou creature of Motion;
change us and become for us purer than the day thou was first formed, in the
Names of Gaia and Pan.
The High Priestess and High Priest bless the Candle of Stillness and
raise it up and say:
HP & HPS: Blessed be thou creature of
Stillness; transform us and become for us as pure as the day thou was first
formed, in the Names of Gaia and Pan.
The High Priestess and High Priest bless the Candle of Union and raise it
up and say:
HP & HPS: Blessed be thou creature of
Union; heal us and become for us as whole as the day thou was first formed, in
the Names of Gaia and Pan.
The High Priestess and High Priest bless the whole candelabra, symbol of
Spirit and raise it up and say:
HP & HPS: Blessed be thou creature of
Spirit; enter in to transfigure us so we become as pure as the day we were
first incarnated, in the Names of Gaia and Pan.
They show the candelabra to all the Coven.
HP & HPS: Behold the Candelabra of the
Soul! Let its presence seal this Circle with all our power.
All: I am Goddess! I am God!
They hold the candelabra up and circle deosil with it, letting all
coveners touch it as it passes. All should kneel as it passes them. It is then
placed on the altar and all kneel facing it in a moment of silent adoration.
All perform the Pagan Cross, standing facing east with legs apart:
All: I am one with the heavens above,
(athame on forehead, then raised up)
the earth below, (athame drawn down to groin)
the sun on my left, (stretch left hand out to the left)
the moon on my right, (stretch right hand out to the right)
and with all that will ever be; (cross hand over the chest)
so mote it be. (bow head)
The High Priest now faces the coven, turning away from the altar, and
inscribes an Invoking Pentagram as he says:
HP:I dedicate this circle to the Great
Goddess in all Her many manifestations:
She who is the Triple Will,
She who is the Queen of Heaven,
She who is Supreme, Ruler in the Astrals, the Earth, and the Underworld;
And to Her Horned Consort,
The Satyr Lord
And the Sacred Stag;
He who is the Dancer of the Dance,
And the Dying and Rising God.
HPS: Unto Thee,
High and Holy Lady and Lord,
This sacred, magickal Circle is dedicated
For all the positive work
Of Wiccan Pagan Craft.
Both: And as we will, so mote it be.
The High Priestess and the Priest now stand in the Pentagram position and
face each other as the Circle is sealed. They recite together:
All: Here is the boundary of the Circle of
Love.
Naught but Love shall enter in,
Naught but Love shall emerge from within.
Charge this by Your powers, Immortal Ones!
The Covener at each Quarter lights the candle, performs the ritual act
for that element, then raises the athame, he/she performs the relevant Invoking
Pentagram for that element. The rest of the coven face that Quarter, and assume
the relevant mudra for that element. Then the covener for that Quarter declaims
the invocation, kisses the athame blade and lays it on his/her heart. She/He
then lunges forward with the left foot, both hands to the centre of the
Pentagram, (left index finger pointing, athame in the right hand pointing into
the Pentagram). The Covener cries out the Deity Cry, then steps back, assuming
the mudra till all Quarters are done, while the High Priestess and High Priest
circle deosil and stop at the next Quarter.
East:Sister Dolphin, ye Powers of the
East, ye Powers of Water and Lady of the Moon; thus do we stir you to be
present here to witness our rites and to guard the Circle.
East:Great Ones before Time!
The ritual action is pouring water onto the ground; the mudra is forming
an inverted triangle with the hands over the pubic area.
North:Brother Cockatoo, ye Powers of the
North, ye Powers of Fire and Warrior of Mars; thus do we stir you to be present
here to witness our rites and to guard the Circle.
North:Lady and Lord!
The ritual action is lighting the lamp or burner ; the mudra is formed by
holding the hands in the shape of an upright triangle over the head.
West: Old Woman Wombat, ye Powers of the
West, ye Powers of Earth and the Earth Mother, Australis, thou Guardian of the
Southern portals, thus do we stir you to be present here to witness our rites
and to guard the Circle.
West: Gaia and Pan!
The ritual action is to sprinkle earth onto the ground; the mudra is
formed by putting both arms out to the side, hands facing down
South:Brother Brolga, ye Powers of the
South, ye Powers of Air and Mistress of Venus; thus do we stir you to be
present here to witness our rites and to guard the Circle.
South:Goddess and God eternal!
The ritual action is to light the aromatherapy burner; the mudra is
formed by raising both arms above the head, hands facing upwards.
Above: Old Man Roo and Grandmother Emu, ye
Powers Above, ye Powers of Light and Thought, Sun Rays and Ruler of Jupiter;
thus do we stir you to be present here to witness our rites and to guard the
Circle.
Above: Great God Pan!
The mudra is formed by placing both hands together, and arms fully
extended above the head.
Below: Old Woman Spider and Grandfather
Kookaburra, ye Powers Below, ye Powers of Time and Sound, Mistress of Saturn
and Lord of Mercury; thus do we stir you to be present here to witness our
rites and to guard the Circle.
Below: Great Goddess Gaia!
The mudra is formed holding both hands together, with arms pointed
straight down between legs.
Centre: Sister Koala, Brother Platypus,
Cousin Goanna, and Mighty Rainbow Serpent, ye Powers round and in the Centre of
All, ye Powers of Motion, Stillness, Union and the Spirit, Lords of Uranus and
Neptune, Prince of Chiron and Dark One of Pluto; thus do we stir you to be
present here to witness our rites and to guard the Circle.
Centre: God and Goddess are One!
The mudra is formed by crossing arms over the chest.
The Covener at each Quarter lights the candle, performs the ritual act
for that element, then raises the athame, he/she performs the relevant Invoking
Pentagram for that element. The rest of the coven face that Quarter, and assume
the relevant mudra for that element. All sing the Invocation, then the covener
for that Quarter kisses the athame blade and lays it on his/her heart. She/He
then lunges forward with the left foot, both hands to the centre of the
Pentagram, (left index finger pointing, athame in the right hand pointing into
the Pentagram). The Covener cries out the Deity Cry, then steps back, assuming
the mudra till all Quarters are done, while the High Priestess and High Priest
circle deosil and stop at the next Quarter.
Cantor/All:Eastern Ocean / devotee of the
moon,
Gentle sculptor / of babes in the womb,
Spring of jubilation / courage and tears,
Giver of the sweet love / that soothes all our fears.
Come to us - be here now! Deity Cry: Great
Ones before Time!
Northern fire / white rays of the sun,
Source of Will / that always is done,
Heat of passion / longing and need,
You who push the green one / out of the seed.
Come to us - be here now! Deity Cry: Lady
and Lord!
Western mountain / body of the earth,
Finite treasure / of infinite worth,
Cave of transformation / childbirth and death,
Suckler of the wild ones / who curl upon your breast
Come to us - be here now! Deity Cry: Gaia
and Pan!
> Southern winds / The breath of the
soul,
World view forming / Sacred and whole,
Wind of knowledge / simple and wise,
Bringer of the lightning / that strikes in our minds.
Come to us - be here now! Deity Cry: Goddess and God eternal!
The High Priestess and the High Priest stand back to back, the High Priestess facing northwest, the High Priest facing southeast, as they begin the Ritual of Gestures. Still all thoughts, breathe deeply for a minute until composed and calm and turn thoughts to the Goddess and God immanent within and transcendent without.
Face East. Form an inverted triangle with both hands over the pubic region. Sense fluidity, the ocean and the power of Water.
Turn to the North. Form an upright triangle with both hands above the head. Feel force, power, creation and destruction, and the power of Fire.
Turn to the West. Lower both hands to your sides, and with hands facing palms down to the earth, move the arms slightly away from the body. Sense solidity, foundation and fertility, and the power of Earth.
Turn to the South. Raise both arms above the head in a V position, with palms facing up. Sense movement, communication and the coolness of the power of Air.
Face East again, and throw back the head and raise both hands to the sky, palms up, fingers spread, and with legs apart (the Pentagram position). Drink in the essence of the mysteries of the Universe, the One, the unknowable, unapproachable ultimate source and destination of all.
Now go to the altar, and raising athames and standing in the Pentagram
position, recite:
All: Air, Fire, Water, Earth,
Elements of Astral birth,
We call you now, attend to us!
In the circle rightly cast,
Safe from psychic curse or blast,
We call you now, attend to us!
From cave and desert, sea and hill,
by wand, blade, cup and pentacle,
We call you now; attend to us!
This is our will, so mote it be!
Lower the projective hand, but keep the receptive hand high. Pressing the third, fourth and fifth fingers against the palm, lift the forefinger and thumb to create a crescent shape (the Goddess position). Sense the reality of the Goddess, her love, her fertility and her compassion. Sense the powers of the Moon in the gesture; the force of the Seas - the presence of the Goddess.
Lower the receptive and lift up the projective hand. Bend down the middle and fourth fingers toward the palm and trap them with the thumb. Lift up the little and forefingers up to the sky, creating a horned image (the God position). Sense the reality of the God. Sense the power of the Sun in the gesture; the untamed energies of the woodlands - the presence of the God.
Lower the projective, then lay down flat. Spread legs and arms to make the
pattern of the pentagram. Sense the powers of the elements running through you;
merging and coalescing into your being. Sense them as emanations from the One,
the Goddess and the God. Meditate, commune and communicate with the Universe.
The High Priestess and High Priest step back and with the whole coven, raise
their athames and stand in the Pentagram position. They recite the Declaration
of the Circle's Sealing.
All: ,
The Lady of the Oceans before,
Mother of the Earth behind,
Lord of the Fiery Sword on the left,
The Lord of the Wild Winds on the right
Above us shines the Six-rayed Star,
Below us tolls the Bell of Ages,
And about us and within flames the Sacred Pentagram.
HP: This is a time that is not a time,
In a place that is not a place,
On a day that is not a day,
Between the worlds and beyond.
Declaration Of The Circle's Sealing
All: May the powers of the One,
The source of all Creation,
all-pervasive, omnipotent, eternal;
May the Goddess and the God;
May the powers of the Spirits of all living things,
And the Rulers of the elemental realms;
May the powers of the stars above and the earth below,
Bless this place, and this time,
And we who are with You.
The Chakra Prayer is now performed. As it is said, visualise each chakra as
a sphere of spiralling energy of the appropriate colour, just in front of each
vertebra, or behind the third eye, or just underneath the skull. Draw up the
energy from the Earth, through the feet and legs to the buttocks, and feel it
go into the Chakra, cleanse it of the negative emotions, sending them out from
the front of your body, then continue up the back to the next chakra. Place
both hands in front of your body overlying each chakra. The Motion chakra
spirals down from the Heavens to the pubes, so make wavy movements with your
hands down, the Stillness chakra spirals up from Earth to the head, so make
wavy movements with you hands up, the Union Chakra moves down between the last
2 chakras, and the Soul chakra flows out as the Aura, so move the arms outwards
at the side of the body, till you finish in the Pentagram position. The last
verse is said in this position.
All: Gracious Gaia and Mighty Pan, Triple
Goddess and Horned God,
Let me become an instrument of Your Love, Trust, Truth and Joy;
Where there is doubt,
let my spirit of Earth sow trust;
Where there is rejection,
let my spirit of Water flow desire;
Where there is aimlessness,
let my spirit of Time bring purpose;
Where there is fear,
let my spirit of Fire flame courage;
Where there is hatred,
let my spirit of Air waft love;
Where there is deceit,
let my spirit of Sound tell truth;
Where there is ugliness,
let my spirit of Light show beauty;
Where there is injustice,
let my spirit of Thought bring understanding;
Where there is stagnation,
let my spirit of Motion bring growth;
Where there is discord,
let my spirit of Stillness bring peace;
Where there is injury,
let my spirit of Union bring healing;
Where there is sorrow and tears,
let my spirit of my Higher Self bring joy and laughter;
For my body is a Temple of the Spirit,
And mine eyes are the windows to my Soul;
Truly, I am God, I am Goddess!
Hail Gaia! Hail Pan!
These are only done on Moon or Sun Rituals, or Rite of Passage Rites, not
on Sabbats.
The High Priest and the High Priestess now stand. The High Priestess stands
with her back to the altar, carrying wand and scourge in the Osiris position (arms
crossed at the wrists over the breasts and crossing the wand and scourge as
well). The High Priest kneels before her and gives her the Fivefold Kiss,
kissing tenderly each body part as they are said in the Kiss.
HP: Blessed be thy feet, that have brought
thee in these ways;
Blessed be thy knees, that shall kneel at the sacred altar;
Blessed be thy sex, that giveth joy and love;
Blessed be thy breasts, formed in beauty;
Blessed be thy lips, that shall utter the Sacred names.
The High Priest again kneels in front of the High Priestess with his hands
on her feet as he says:
Invocation to the Goddess.
HP: SPECIFIC GODDESS INVOCATION FOR THE
RITUAL
The High Priest touches the High Priestess's right breast, then left breast
then womb then right breast again as he invokes Gaia. The High Priestess
now puts her right foot forward while the High Priest kneels with his hands
outstretched above his head as he says:
HP: Hail Gaia! From the light behind the
stars
Pour forth thy store of love; I lowly bend
Before Thee, I adore Thee to the end;
With loving sacrifice thy shrine adorn.
Thy foot is to my lip [kiss right foot], my prayer upborne
upon the rising incense smoke; then spend
Thine ancient love, O Mighty One, descend
To aid me, who without Thee am forlorn
The High Priest stands and takes a step back. The High Priestess draws the
pentagram with her wand, (and slips off her robes if she is wearing them) and
says:
HPS: Of the Mother darksome and divine,
Mine the scourge, and mine the kiss,
The five point star of love and bliss -
Here I charge thee in this sign.
Both now stand facing each other as the High Priestess declaims the Charge
of Gaia.
High Priest: Now listen to the words of
the Great Mother, who was of old also called among men and women Gaia,
Rhiannon, Holy Sophia, Artemis, Astarte, Athene, Dione, Melusine, Aphrodite,
Cerridwen, Dana, Arianrhod, Isis, Brighid and Olwen the fair, and also by many
other names. At her altars, the youth of the ancient world made due obeisance.
High Priestess: Whenever ye have need of
any thing, once in the month, and better it be when the moon is full, then
shall ye assemble in some secret place, and adore the spirit of me, who am
Queen of all witches.
There shall ye assemble, ye who are fain
to learn all sorcery, yet have not won its deepest secrets; to these will I
teach things that are as yet unknown.
And ye shall be free from slavery; and as
a sign that ye be really free, ye shall be naked in your rites; and ye shall dance,
sing, feast, make music and love, all in my praise. For mine is the ecstasy of
the spirit, and mine also is joy on earth; for my law is love unto all beings.
Keep pure your highest ideal; strive ever
towards it, letting naught stop you or turn you aside; for mine is the secret
door which opens upon the land of youth, and mine is the cup of wine of life,
and the Cauldron of the Goddess, which is the Holy Grail of immortality.
I am gracious Gaia, who gives the gift of
joy unto the heart of woman and man. Upon earth, I give the knowledge of the
spirit eternal; and beyond death , I give peace, and freedom, and reunion with
those who have gone before.
Nor do I demand sacrifice; for behold, I
am the Mother of all living, and my love is poured out upon the earth.
High Priest: Hear ye the words of the Star
Goddess; she in the dust of whose feet are the hosts of heaven, whose body
encircles the universe.
High Priestess: I am the beauty of the
green earth, and the white moon among the stars, and the mystery of the waters,
and the desire of the heart of man. I am within all Creation yet am more than
all.
Call unto thy soul; arise, and come unto
me; for I am the soul of nature, who gives life to the universe. From me all
things proceed, and unto me all things must return; and before my face, beloved
of the Gods and of men and women, let thine innermost divine self be enfolded
in the rapture of the infinite.
Let my worship be within the heart that
rejoiceth; for behold all acts of love and pleasure are my rituals. And
therefore let there be beauty and strength, power and compassion, honour and
humility, mirth and reverence within thee.
And thou who thinkest to seek me, know thy
seeking and yearning shall avail thee not unless thou knowest the mystery: that
if that which thou seekest thou findest not within thee, thou will never find
it without thee. For behold, My name is Immanence for I have been with thee
from the beginning; and I am that which is attained at the end of desire.
The High Priest now stands with his back to the altar, holding the athame
and cords in the Osiris position, while the High Priestess kneels before him
with her hands on his feet. She now gives him the Fivefold Kiss, kissing
tenderly each body part as they are said in the Kiss.
HPS: Blessed be thy feet, that have
brought thee in these ways;
Blessed be thy knees, that shall kneel at the sacred altar;
Blessed be thy sex, that giveth joy and love;
Blessed be thy breasts, formed in strength;
Blessed be thy lips, that shall utter the Sacred names.
The High Priestess again kneels in front of the High Priest with her hands
on his feet.
Invocation to the God.
HPS:SPECIFIC GOD INVOCATION FOR THE RITUAL
The High Priestess touches the High Priest's right breast, then left breast
then groin then right breast again as she invokes Pan. The High Priest now puts
his right foot forward while the High Priestess kneels with her hands
outstretched above her head as she says:
HPS: Deep calls on height, the Goddess on
the God,
On him who is the flame that quickens her,
That he and she may seize the silver reins
And ride as one the twin-horsed chariot.
Let the hammer strike the anvil,
let the lightning touch the earth,
Let the lance ensoul the grail,
Let the magic come to birth.
In Gaia's name do I invoke Thee, Mighty Father of us all -
Pan the dancing God and Lord of Light -
Come in answer to my call!
Descend, I pray Thee, in Thy servant and priest.
The High Priestess rises and stands back. The High Priest draws the
pentagram with his athame.
HP:Of the Father darksome and divine,
Mine the sword and mine the Kiss,
the five point star of love and bliss -
here I charge you with this sign.
Both stand and face each other as the High Priest declaims the Call to Pan.
High Priestess: Listen to the words of the
Great Father, who of old was called Pan, Iesu, SunLord, Osiris, Adonis, Zeus,
Thor, Cernunnos, Herne, Lugh and by many other names:
High Priest: My Law is Harmony with all
things.
Mine is the secret that opens the gates of life
And mine is the dish of salt of the earth that is the body of Pan
That is the eternal circle of rebirth.
I give the knowledge of life everlasting,
And beyond death I give the promise of regeneration and renewal.
I am the sacrifice, the father of all that might be,
Of the unseen, of soaring imagination and dreams of the soul,
And my protection blankets the earth.
High Priestess: Hear the words of dancing
Pan, the music of whose laughter stirs the winds, whose voice calls the
seasons:
High Priest: I who am the Lord of the Hunt
and the Power of the Light,
Sun among the clouds and the secret of the flame,
I call upon your bodies to arise and come unto me.
For I am the energy of Life and all beings.
Through me all things must die and with me are reborn.
Let my worship be in the body that sings,
For behold all acts of willing sacrifice are my rituals.
Let there be desire and fear, anger and weakness,
Joy and peace, awe and longing within you.
For these too are part of the mysteries found within yourself;
I am the spark within the soul of every being, the giver of Life.
Yet is the knowledge of me the knowledge of death, the Lord within yourself.
My name is Transcendence for within me, all beginnings have endings
And all endings have beginnings.
Then follows the RITES SPECIFIC FOR THE
RITUAL eg, Sabbat, Moon, or Rite of Passage Rituals, often with a dance or
chant, called the Witches' Rune, to help raise a Cone of Power.
The Great Rite is done in full only at
Sabbats and the Rites of Passage, and even then, the shortened version can be
performed. The Rite is done symbolically, unless the rite is between and for a
committed couple, with no witnesses save the Deities.
Now follows the Preface proper for the Rite, said by either High Priest or
other covener.
Following this, the High Priest gives the High Priestess the Fivefold Kiss,
kissing each body part in turn:
HP: Blessed be thy feet, that have brought
thee in these ways;
Blessed be thy knees, that shall kneel at the sacred altar;
Blessed be thy sex, that giveth joy and love;
Blessed be thy breasts, formed in beauty;
Blessed be thy lips, that shall utter the Sacred names.
The High Priestess then lies down, head facing South, and in the Pentagram
position. The High Priest covers her with a veil from breasts to knees. The bell
is rung three times. He takes the athame and chalice in each hand outstretched
and says:
HP: Assist me to erect the ancient altar,
at which in days past all worshipped;
The great altar of all things.
For in old time, Woman was the altar.
Thus was the altar made and placed,
And the sacred place was the point within the centre of the Circle.
As we of old have been taught that the point within the centre is the origin of
all things,
Therefore should we adore it; [High Priest kisses High Priestess on
lower abdomen]
Therefore whom we adore, we also invoke, by the power of the Lifted Lance.
[High Priest touches his own groin and continues]
O Circle of Stars, [High Priest kisses High Priestess on lower
abdomen]
Whereof our father is but the younger brother, [High Priest
kisses High Priestess on lower abdomen]
Marvel beyond imagination, soul of infinite space,
Before whom Time is ashamed, the mind bewildered, and the understanding dark,
Not unto thee may we attain unless thine image be love. [High Priest
kisses High Priestess on lower abdomen]
By moon-ray's silver shaft of power,
By green leaf breaking from the bud,
By seed that springeth into flower,
By life that courseth in the blood, [High Priest kisses High
Priestess on lower abdomen]
By rushing wind and leaping fire,
By flowing water and green earth,
pour us the wine of our desire,
From out the Cauldron of Rebirth. [High Priest kisses High Priestess
on lower abdomen]
Queen of Space, O Jewel of Light,
Continuous one of the heavens, [High Priest kisses High Priestess on
lower abdomen]
Let it be ever thus,
That men speak not of Thee as One, but as None;
And let them not speak of Thee at all, since Thou art continuous.
For Thou art the point within the Circle, [High Priest kisses High
Priestess on lower abdomen]
Which we adore; [High Priest kisses High Priestess on lower abdomen]
The point of life, without which we would not be. [High Priest
kisses High Priestess on lower abdomen]
And in this way truly are erected the holy twin pillars, [High
Priest kisses first the left breast, then the right breast]
In beauty and in strength were they erected,
To the wonder and glory of all beings. [High Priest removes the
veil, then rings the bell three times.]
[The High Priestess rises and kneels in front of the High Priest and takes the
Chalice, holding it with both hands.]
Secret of Secrets,
That art hidden in the being of all lives,
Not Thee do we adore,
For that which adoreth is also Thou.
Thou art That, and That am I. [High Priest kisses High Priestess on
lower abdomen]
I am the flame that burns in the heart of every being, and in the core of
every star.
I am life, and the giver of life.
Yet therefore is the knowledge of me the knowledge of death.
I am alone, the lord within ourselves,
Whose name is Mystery of Mysteries.
[High Priest kisses High Priestess in the following pattern: on the
lower abdomen, then right foot, then left knee, then right knee, on left foot,
on lower abdomen; then on the lips, the left breast, the right breast, and
finally the lips again. The High Priestess rises to her feet, still holding the
Chalice.]
Make open the path of intelligence between us;
For these truly are the Five Points of Fellowship -
[The High Priest slowly lowers his athame into the Chalice, using both
hands.]
Foot to foot,
Knee to knee,
Lance to Grail,
Breast to breast,
Lips to lips.
By the great and holy name Pan;
In the name of Gaia;
Encourage our hearts,
Let the light crystallise itself in our blood,
Fulfilling of us resurrection.
For lo! There is no part of us that is not of the Gods."
[The High Priest lays aside his athame, rings the bell three times, and
places the Chalice back on the altar. ]
The bell is just rung three times and the Wine and Cakes are
consecrated. [Cakes only, unless Great Rite is omitted]
Consecration
of the Wine - done only if the Great
Rite is omitted.
The High Priestess kneels before the kneeling High Priest, holding the
Chalice with both hands. The High Priest lowers his athame into the Chalice,
saying:
HP: As the athame is to the male,
HPS: So the cup is to the female;
All: And conjoined, they become one in truth.
HP: Behold the Mystery aright -
The Five True Points of Fellowship . . .
Here where the Lance and Grail unite,
And feet, and knees, and breasts and lip.]
The High Priest lays aside his athame, rings the bell three times, and holds the High Priestess's hands as she holds the Chalice. They raise the chalice up and recite the WORDS OF CONSUMMATION SPECIFIC FOR THE RITUAL.
Then the High Priestess spills some on the ground (or in the pot of earth at
the South Quarter) as a libation to Gaia, saying Her Sacred Names as she does
so. The High Priest kisses her on the lips, and she sips the wine; she then
kisses him on the lips, and he sips the wine. He then passes the Chalice with a
kiss to the next woman who sips the wine and passes it to a man with a kiss,
and so on.
Consecration
of the Cakes.
The High Priestess takes her wand and kneels in front of the kneeling High
Priest who holds up the plate(s) of food to her. She draws an invoking
pentagram over the food with her wand as she says:
HPS: O Queen most secret, and powerful
Lord of the Harvest, bless this food into our bodies; bestowing health, wealth,
strength, joy and peace, and that fulfilment of love which is perfect
happiness.
The High Priestess lays aside her wand, rings the bell three times, and
holds the High Priest's hands as he holds the Chalice. First he spills some
crushed food on the ground (or in the pot of earth at the South Quarter) as a
libation to Pan, saying His Sacred Names as he does so. The High Priestess
kisses him on the lips, and he eats some of the consecrated food; he then
kisses her on the lips, and she takes some food. She then passes the cakes with
a kiss to the next man who takes some, passes it to a woman with a kiss, etc.
HPS: Who is Goddess?
All Women: I am Goddess!
HP: Who is God?
All Men: I am God!
HPS & HP: Who is Goddess and God?
All: All living things are Goddess and God!
Youngest: And who are we?
All: We are the children of the divine. And we ourselves are divine.
We are part of the creative forces of Life that moves the Universe,
The great, the small, the macrocosm, the microcosm,
The above and the below. We are part of all that is.
PARTING PRAYERS ARE ADDED HERE
All face the current direction with the correct mudra while the Covener
draws a Banishing Pentagram in the air, then kisses the athame and lays it over
the heart, as the covener declaims the farewell He/She snuffs out the candle,
and all bid farewell as they break the mudra, and turn to the next direction.
East: Sister Dolphin, ye Powers of the East, ye Powers of Water;
We do thank you for attending our rites;
And ere ye depart to your pleasant and lovely realm,
We bid you hail and farewell.
All: Hail and farewell (assume
the Pentagram position).
North: Brother Cockatoo, ye Powers of the
North, ye Powers of Fire;
We do thank you for attending our rites;
And ere ye depart to your pleasant and lovely realm,
We bid you hail and farewell.
All: Hail and farewell (assume
the Pentagram position).
West: Old Woman Wombat, ye Powers of the
West, ye Powers of Earth;
We do thank you for attending our rites;
And ere ye depart to your pleasant and lovely realm,
We bid you hail and farewell.
All: Hail and farewell (assume
the Pentagram position).
South: Brother Brolga, ye Powers of the
South, ye Powers of Air;
We do thank you for attending our rites;
And ere ye depart to your pleasant and lovely realm,
We bid you hail and farewell.
All: Hail and farewell (assume
the Pentagram position).
Above: Old Man Roo and Grandmother Emu,
Ye Powers of Above, ye Powers of Light and Thought;
We do thank you for attending our rites;
And ere ye depart to your pleasant and lovely realm,
We bid you hail and farewell.
All: Hail and farewell (assume
the Pentagram position).
Below: Old Woman Spider and Grandfather
Kookaburra,
Ye Powers of Below, ye Powers of Time and Sound;
We do thank you for attending our rites;
And ere ye depart to your pleasant and lovely realm,
We bid you hail and farewell.
All: Hail and farewell (assume
the Pentagram position).
Centre: Sister Koala, Brother Platypus,
Cousin Goanna, and Mighty Rainbow Serpent,
Ye Powers of Around and the Centre of All,
Ye Powers of Motion, Stillness, Union and the Spirit;
We do thank you for attending our rites;
And ere ye depart to your pleasant and lovely realm,
We bid you hail and farewell.
All: Hail and farewell (assume the Pentagram position).
Now all move slowly widdershins (clockwise) around the circle, athame and
wand pointed to the perimeter of the Circle, visualising the circle being
sucked into the athame and wand. The Priest, carrying the lit candelabra, and
rest of the coven leave the Circle area.
Finally, the Priestess snuffs out the Day, the God, then the Goddess candles.
She faces the coven outside the sacred space and says:
HPS: Go now, the Rite of -------- is
ended.
For though we move apart now,
We are ever together for we are one in the Spirit of Gaia and Pan.
FINAL BENEDICTION IS ADDED HERE
Blessed be in the Names of Gaia and Pan,
By the powers of Air, Fire, Water and Earth (performs invoking
Pentagram),
By the powers of Time, Sound, Thought and Light,
By the powers of Stillness, Motion, Spirit and Union;
The Circle is open but never shall be broken.
Merry meet and merry part.
All: And merry meet again. Blessed be!
The Rite is ended and the Circle is opened. The Candelabra is carried into
the feasting area where all feast and make merry.
Holy Mother Earth,
Yours is the power
To grow, to destroy, to give birth.
We conjure You now
By seed and by shoot,
By flower and fruit,
By light and by love
From below and above
In Your ancient names:
Gaia, Isis and Sophia.
Grant us the blessings of Your body;
Thank You for the blessings of Your body!
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<CENTER
The Pagan Banishing Rite can be used in any situation and place, without props, even candles, wherever a protection or purification is required; eg meditation space, facing a stressful situation, etc. The Rite can easily become an Invoking one by using Invoking Pentagrams instead of Banishing ones.
Its structure is:
All perform the Pagan Cross, standing facing east with legs apart. Each word
of the Pagan Cross should be drawn out so that each consonant and vowel sets up
a physical and subtle body vibration.
All: I am one with the heavens above, (athame
on forehead, then raised up)
the earth below, (athame drawn down to groin)
with the sun on my left, (stretch left hand out to the left)
and the moon on my right, (stretch right hand out to the right)
and with all that will ever be; (cross hand over the chest)
so mote it be. (bow head)
Then starting in the East, light the candles (optional to use candles),
inscribe the Pentagram (optional between Banishing Earth Pentagrams for each,
or else the specific Banishing Pentagram for each element) and step forward
with the left foot, and thrust both hands into the centre of the Pentagram,
uttering firmly the Deity Cry for each direction. Then step back, kiss the
athame (or projective hand) and lay it over the heart. Perform the Up, Down and
Centre Pentagrams at the centre of the space.
East: Old Ones before Time!
North: Lady and Lord!
West: Gaia and Pan!
South: Goddess and God eternal!
Up: Great God Pan!
Down: Great Goddess Gaia!
Centre: Goddess and God are One!
Facing east, and in the Pentagram position, recite the Invocation to the
Guardians.
All: The Lady of the Oceans before,
Mother of the Earth behind,
Lord of the Fiery Sword on the left,
Lord of the wild winds on the right,
Above us shines the Six-rayed Star,
Below us tolls the Bell of Ages,
And about us and within
Flames the Sacred Pentagram.
The Chakra Prayer is now performed. As it is said, visualise each chakra as
a sphere of spiralling energy of the appropriate colour, just in front of each
vertebra, or behind the third eye, or just underneath the skull. Draw up the
energy from the Earth, through the feet and legs to the buttocks, and feel it
go into the Chakra, cleanse it of the negative emotions, sending them out from
the front of your body, then continue up the back to the next chakra. Place
both hands in front of your body overlying each chakra. The Motion chakra
spirals down from the Heavens to the pubes, so make wavy movements with your
hands down, the Stillness chakra spirals up from Earth to the head, so make
wavy movements with you hands up, the Union Chakra moves down between the last
2 chakras, and the Soul chakra flows out as the Aura, so move the arms outwards
at the side of the body, till you finish in the Pentagram position. The last
verse is said in this position.
All: Gracious Gaia and Mighty Pan, Triple
Goddess and Horned God,
Let me become an instrument of Your Love, Trust, Truth and Joy;
Where there is doubt,
let my spirit of Earth sow trust;
Where there is rejection,
let my spirit of Water flow desire;
Where there is aimlessness,
let my spirit of Time bring purpose;
Where there is fear,
let my spirit of Fire flame courage;
Where there is hatred,
let my spirit of Air waft love;
Where there is deceit,
let my spirit of Sound tell truth;
Where there is ugliness,
let my spirit of Light show beauty;
Where there is injustice,
let my spirit of Thought bring understanding;
Where there is stagnation,
let my spirit of Motion bring growth;
Where there is discord,
let my spirit of Stillness bring peace;
Where there is injury,
let my spirit of Union bring healing;
Where there is sorrow and tears,
let my spirit of my Higher Self bring joy and laughter;
For my body is a Temple of the Spirit,
And mine eyes are the windows to my Soul;
Truly, I am God, I am Goddess!
Hail Gaia! Hail Pan!
Now perform the Pagan Cross again, but extinguish all candles first.
All: I am one with the heavens above, (athame
on forehead, then raised up)
the earth below, (athame drawn down to groin)
with the sun on my left, (stretch left hand out to the left)
and the moon on my right, (stretch right hand out to the right)
and with all that will ever be; (cross hand over the chest)
so mote it be. (bow head)
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<CENTER
Chalice Light Gif: © Robin Wood 1997, Used with Permission
Blessed be and Never Thirst from Kim and Quenten.
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