Ritual Preparation
- Gather the necessary tools
- Select two candles for your alter, in shades of green.
- Select four additional candles for the elemental quarters. You
can maintain the color scheme if you wish, or select a color that
represents the energy of that quarter. For instance, you might chose
a light shade of blue to represent the Water essence of the West
quarter and a fiery red to represent the Fire essence of the South
quarter.
- Choose your favorite ceremonial broom. You can often find a
straw ornamental broom at local craft shows/stores.
- Choose your favorite serving trays or dishes. You can find
some inexpensive brass or silver serving trays and goblets at a
variety of gift stores.
- Set aside your ceremonial cakes and wine on the serving trays. A
special decanter to hold the wine. If you don't partake of wine, use
your favorite grape juice or apple cider. Some people like to make
juice from the fruit they have gathered and use this as the wine for
the festival. Peach wine with apple muffins are a wonderful example
of a harvest combination.
- Select a bell, you might want to add a decorative ribbon or wrap
a vine of flowers around the handle to coincide with the colors of
the harvest festival.
- Choose a gift for honoring the God/Goddess on this harvest day.
One of our favorite methods of gift giving on this Sun festival is
to burn incense. We select a few stalks of the herbs we collected
from the harvest, like sage and lavender. We set them out in the sun
to dry for about 1-2 weeks prior to the festival. Then we conduct a
small general ceremony to bind the herbs together into a smudge
stick with cotton yarn. The yarn is wrapped tightly around the herbs
in a clockwise spiral. The stick should be about 4-6 inches long,
then set it out in the sun again until the day of the festival,
making sure it stays dry. We light this smudge stick as our offering
of energy and sweet odors to the God/Goddess.
- A decorative pillow or rug to lie or sit on for your meditation.
Prepare ritual space
Clean the area, not just energy wise but dust and vacuum your space. If
your space is outside, you might clean any fallen branches, weeds or
even clear any animal indications that may have been deposited in the
area. The most important part is to clear and cleanse the space.
Prepare body
It's just as important to prepare yourself as it is your space. On the
day of your ceremony take a shower or bubble bath. Make sure your ritual
cloths (whether a robe or just jeans and a t-shirt) are clean. Take time
to have a meditation to align your energies, prepare your energies for
the spiritual work ahead and open your chakra centers.
Open Circle
Finding the compass points, directing the ritual and speaking the
blessings is usually performed by a High Priest or Priestess within a
coven. If you are a solitary witch, then YOU are the High Priest or
Priestess. For our example we will simply refer to the director of
ceremonies as the Priest.
The Priest should find compass North, where the ritual will begin with
calling in the quarters starting with the North. Set your circle
according to the directions. If you are conducting the ceremony alone,
you might chose to use a rope of natural fibers to outline your
ceremonial circle. If you're performing the ceremony in a coven, mark
the location of the quarters so everyone will know where to stand when
the circle is drawn. The Priest should guide everyone through the steps
for setting up a Door Between the Worlds by raising the vibration of the
group and/or area.
Close your eyes and imagine a divine white light emerging from the solar
plexus of each person and then raising up toward a center point over the
circle. Many call this establishing a "cone of power". Imagine this
light spinning clockwise rising your energies and awareness. If your a
solitary witch, you will imagine the light beginning at your solar
plexus and then moving out to fully encompass your ritual space. Each
Quarter Master will then be directed to call the Watchtowers or
Elemental Quarters it's usually the choice of the Priest, but each
person should call upon the same force. Some witches call Angels, Spirit
Guides, or just the elements. It's up to you or your coven. Just as
which direction to start with is up the individuals. Many witches begin
with the North, where others begin with the east.
Your prayer to summon the directions can be stated in a variety of ways.
From old English to a modern statement. Here's an example:
Facing North the 1st QuarterMaster states:
"To the God & Goddess of the Sun, the Watchtowers of the North and
the elements of Earth, we call upon your wisdom, summon your energy
and love to witness this rite of growth, grounding and blessings to
the Mid-Summer season."
- Light the Northern candle and ring the bell once.
If you are a solitary, turn to the East, or if in a
coven the 2nd QuarterMaster faces East and states: "To
the God & Goddess of the Sun, the Watchtowers of the East and the
elements of Air, we call upon your wisdom and summon your energy for
clear communications to spirit and divine knowledge and
understanding."
- Light the Eastern candle and ring the bell once.
Turn to the South and state: "To the God &
Goddess of the Sun, the Watchtowers of the South and the elements of
Fire, we call upon your wisdom and summon your energy for
purification of mind/body/spirit. We ask for your divine protection
over all things that share their beauty and growth with us this
year."
- Light the Southern candle and ring the bell once.
Turn to the West and state: "To the God &
Goddess of the Sun, the Watchtowers of the West and the elements of
Water, we call upon your wisdom and summon your energy for
understanding our own inner emotions and spiritual evolvement during
this summer season. So that we might learn, grow and nurture as the
garden nurtures our bodies."
- Light the Western candle and ring the bell once.
Invocation to Spirit
The Priest should guide everyone through the steps to:
Call your personal Spirit Guide and solicit their assistance during the
ritual. Your personal guide can assist you to maintain focus and
concentration during the ritual as well as, aid in your tasks within the
circle.
You might call upon them like this:
"(State your guides' name), I call upon your guidance and love to
assist me during this spiritual celebration. To help me maintain my
focus, energy and alignment for divine purpose and work."
- Light a candle for your guide and ring the bell twice.
- Call your deity and solicit their assistance aligning yourself
with the deity. In most covens the High Priest/Priestess will summon
the deity. In other covens each person will call upon their chosen
deity and align their energies (this is the method we prefer most.
It empowers each individual instead of setting one person above the
rest). Which ever you prefer light a candle for each deity you
summon upon the alter and ring the bell three times for each deity
called.
"I believe in the spiritual existence of myself as a perfect image
of (deitys' name). In this reflection that is my physical
embodiment, I align myself and my faith in the supreme guidance of
my soul with the ancient powers and wisdom of (state the deitys'
name once more)."
State Your Purpose
The Priest should state the intent of the gathering. For a Sabbat you'll
state your purpose of honoring, as well as, the God and Goddess of the
season. You'll continue by blessing the cakes and wine for the ceremony.
For Midsummer celebration you might say something like:
"I/we have come to honor the nature kingdom, the powerful rays of
the sun and nurturing of the giving mother earth. We/I honor the
prosperity given by the Father God and the many blessings of the
summer months. Through fun and sun shine, growth and peace,
abundance and prosperity we give our thanks for these blessings."
Honor The God/Goddess
The Priest should preside over the steps to honor and dedicate the
items for the festival.
The Priest should preside over the steps to Honor and Dedicate the items
for the festival. Perform manual and visionary tasks by pulling in
images of the Sun God as the Oak King, and the Mother Goddess.
Imagine the rays of the sun touching the fields and helping your garden
to grow. Imagine the energy of the Goddess touching the vines and stalks
causing them to bloom and bear forth their fruit, flowers and
vegetables. You should state your honor and gratitude as well, something
like this:
"To the shining God of the sun we offer our thanks and
gratitude;
To the Goddess who nurtures growth we give homage to your love and
light.
For the beauty you have provided in field and flower, we honor you
both on this your night of the Mid-Summer Solstice."
- Light the candle you chose to represent the Yule festival and
ring the bell seven times.
Dedicate offerings.
Whether you're conducting a ritual of honor or for work, you should
present an offering that is commiserate with the event. We like to make
an offering of energy through a fragrant bouquet. We light the smudge
stick we prepared and allow the sage and lavender to blaze for a few
moments. We say part of our prayer, then blow out the flames and allow
the incense to continue to smolder. Then we complete the prayer and
place the incense in a special holder, we like to use a brass bowl
shaped in the fashion of a miniature cauldron.
For the prayer itself, we say something like this:
- Hold the smudge stick in your left hand and light it with the
right. Then hold up the burning stick with both hands.
"We offer this gift as a symbol of our love and thanks to the Oak
King; We honor the Sun God and his rays of light that bring forth
the flowers."
- Lower the smudge and blow out the flames, allow the stick to
smolder. Again with both hands hold the stick up to the Goddess
"We share the fragrance of this offering with the Mother Goddess for
her nurturing, We honor the elements of rain and fair weather that
she has given for our heart and garden."
- Set the smudge in the bowl. As you place it on the alter say:
"We give thanks for the growth of our garden; And we share in the
blessings of it harvest yet to come."
- Now ring the bell nine times.
For Honoring
Partake of cakes & wine that you have set upon a platter. For this
festival, an offering of bread or cakes baked with any of the fruits
that have ripened in your garden is a perfect way to honor the
God/Goddess.
(Some covens like to serve the cakes upon small dishes, while others
prefer to hold the cakes in their hand. Which ever you chose, the cakes
should start on a platter for the dedication. The wine starts in a
special decanter and is poured into ceremonial goblets. Once again
different covens have different rituals. Some provide individual cups,
much like silver shot glasses, while others insist each witch bring
their own goblet.)
To dedicate your cakes and wine, you might say something like:
- Hold the plate of cakes up using both hands and say:
"On this eve of the Mid-Summer festival we come to honor and share
in our bounty. We offer these cakes made of wheat and apple and this
wine made of peaches."
- Ring the festival bell three times, then walk up to each person
in the circle and allow them to take a cake from the tray with the
right hand. Make sure there's one or two cakes left for the
God/Goddess. When everyone has received a cake, hold it in both
hands and raise it up to the God; then say:
"With the partaking of this cake I take into my body the essence of
the Oak King, the God of the Sun, Light and Grain. I align my spirit
and soul with the physical well being of my body and mind; As the
Oak King is the teacher and bridge builder between the earthly and
divine worlds."
- Each person eats their cake.
- With your right hand grasp the neck of the decanter. With your
left hand hold your chalice, then pour the wine. When everyone has
their share of wine, each person raises their goblet to the Goddess
and says:
"With the partaking of this wine I take into my body the essence of
the Goddess, I align my soul with the nurturing life and the love of
the mother within."
- Each person drinks half their wine, then holds the goblet up
again.
"We ask the God of the Sun and Goddess of Life to accept this wine
as our offering of honor and thanksgiving on this the festival of
Mid-Summer's Eve."
Some people like to pour the remaining wine from the goblets into a
large cauldron. As a symbolistic gesture that we are all one and all
part of the divine. Some covens go a step farther and light the wine
allowing it evaporate into the ethers through the flames. And others add
to the ceremony and pour the wine onto the ground, making a circle and
pentagram with the liquid.
Meditation
The Priest should guide everyone through a brief meditation. No matter
what your ceremony is for, we believe you should add a moment of
meditation to the event. In this altered state a witch can contact the
God/Goddess and engage them in a private ritual.
You can use this time to thank them for the gifts they brought you, the
enjoyment of tending the garden, sharing the summer activities with your
family and so on. In our view, the Sabbat ceremonies are not the time to
ask for something for yourself. This is a time of honoring what the
God/Goddess have already given you. You might ask for clarity of vision
or better understanding of the messages they provided you with the
growth of the garden and the tasks you were given to maintain and enjoy
it.
Conclude your meditation by closing your chakra centers.
Thank the Deities and Spirits
The Priest should guide everyone through a statement of thanks.
This is one of the more important steps to any ritual. You spent a good
deal of time asking for their assistance, calling the quarters, your
personal spirit guide and the deities, so be polite and spend time
thanking them as well.
Here's a simple example:
- Stand facing the alter, hold your hands together as if you are
praying, only open the top slightly at the thumbs as if you're
making a bowl with your hands. Then state:
"I, (state your magik name), thank the God, Goddess, Divine Spirits
and the Watchtowers of the Four Corners for watching over this
ceremony. By the light and love of All that Is, we honor the
blessings we have received on this day. Many blessings to each and
all as we walk along the path of enlightenment forever."
Close the Circle
The Priest should guide everyone through a process of closing the
circle.
Mentally and verbally close the circle. You don't want to leave the
gateway between worlds open for several reasons. You could be inviting
forces you don't necessarily want around you. You can also be
maintaining a state of heightened perception. While this is great for
ceremonies and ritual work, it isn't necessarily good for daily
activities. If you find yourself saying "I feel out of it today", then
you need to close your senses and get grounded. This is another reason
for closing the circle.
- Imagine the "cone of power" you established at the beginning of
the ritual, slowly coming down and dissipating back within the solar
plexus of each person. Move to the center of the circle, holding a
ceremonial sword or knife. Starting in the North, turn
counter-clockwise and state: "We give thanks to the God and Goddess
once more. We honor each other in this state of divine experiences.
And we close this circle that binds us to spirit, and can never be
broken. (You should be able to complete this statement and a
full circle at the same time.)
- Snuff out the candles (don't blow them out). (Some people
like to leave the two ritual candles burning during the night until
they burn out by themselves. Then, if they last, you use these two
on the next day of the festival as you continue our honor of Oak
King and Mother Goddess.)
We prepare a special meal and invite family or friends to join us. These
two candles are placed as the center-piece of the table. If the original
candles have extinguished before the meal, we will light another candle
from the flame of the original; allowing all candles to burn as long as
they can.
Physically close the circle by exiting over the broom. Pick up the broom
and sweep away any energy that may have been left over.
Clean your working area and prepare your offerings, gifts and candles
for burial. If there are any cakes left over from the ritual, set them
outside for the animals and spirit folk. Pour out any left over wine on
the ground. Once again some people like to pour out the drink in the
shape of a pentacle. Wash all dishes and clean all tools.
Ritual Is Concluded
Finally, some people like to share their experiences during the ritual.
Some even carry the festival on and hold a party to share in some of the
fruits, vegetables and breads they labored over. For the solitary, now
is a good time to record the events and make notes about what you felt,
what you did and didn't do that you might like to do next time