Arrange the altar, light the candles and censer, and cast the circle of stones. Recite the Blessing Chant, page 132. Invoke the Goddess and God. Stand before the altar and say, with wand upraised:
I celebrate the noon of summer with mystic rites.
O great Goddess and God,
all nature vibrates with your energies
and the earth is bathed with warmth and life.
Now is the time of forgetting past cares and banes;
now is the time for purification.
O fiery sun, burn away the unuseful, the hurtful,
the bane, in your omnipotent power.
Purify me! Purify me! Purify me!
Lay the wand on the altar. Take up the herbal petition and light it in the red candle on the altar (or, if outdoors, the ritual fire). When it is burning, drop it into the cauldron (or some other heat-proof container) and say:
I banish you by the powers of the Goddess and God!
I banish you by the powers of the sun, moon and stars!
I banish you by the powers of earth, air, fire, and water!
Pause, seeing the hurts and pains burning into nothingness. Then say:
O gracious Goddess, O gracious God,
on this night of Midsummer magic
I pray that you charge my life with wonder and joy.
Help me in attuning with
the energies adrift on the enchanted night air.
I give thanks.
Reflect upon the purification you have undergone. Feel the powers of nature flowing through you, washing you clean with divine energy.
Works of magic, if necessary, may follow.Celebrate The Simple Feast. The circle is released.
Midsummer Lore
Midsummer is practically the classic time to perform magics of all kinds. Healings, love magic, and protections are especially suitable. Herbs can be dried over the ritual fire if you’re celebrating outdoors. Leap the fire for purification and renewed energy.
Fresh fruits are standard fare for Midsummer.
Lughnasadh
(August 1)
Place upon the altar sheaves of wheat, barley or oats, fruit and breads, perhaps a loaf fashioned in the figure of the sun or a man to represent the God. Corn dollies, symbolic of the Goddess, can be present there as well.
Arrange the altar, light the candles and censer, and cast the circle of stones. Recite the Blessing Chant, page 132. Invoke the Goddess and God. Stand before the altar, holding aloft the sheaves of grain, saying these or similar words:
Now is the time of the first harvest,
when the bounties of nature give of themselves
so that we may survive.
O God of the ripening fields, lord of the grain,
grant me the understanding of sacrifice as you prepare
to deliver yourself under the sickle of the Goddess
and journey to the lands of eternal summer.
O Goddess of the dark moon, teach me the secrets of rebirth
as the sun loses its strength and the nights grow cold.
Rub the heads of the wheat with your fingers so that the grains fall onto the altar. Lift a piece of fruit and bite it, savoring its flavor, and say:
I partake of the first harvest,
mixing its energies with mine
that I may continue my quest for the starry
wisdom of perfection.
O lady of the moon and lord of the sun,
gracious ones before whom the stars halt their courses,
I offer my thanks for the continuing fertility of the earth.
May the nodding grain loose its seeds to be buried
in the Mother’s breast,
ensuring rebirth in the warmth
of the coming spring.
Consume the rest of the fruit. Works of magic, if necessary, may follow. Celebrate The Simple Feast. The circle is released.
Lughnasadh Lore
It is appropriate to plant the seeds from the fruit consumed in ritual. If they sprout, grow the plant with love and as a symbol of your connection with the Goddess and God.
Wheat weaving (the making of corn dollies, etc.) is an appropriate activity for Lughnasadh. Visits to fields, orchards, lakes, and wells are also traditional.
The foods of Lughnasadh include bread, blackberries and all berries, acorns (leached of their poisons first), crab apples, all grains, and locally ripe produce. A cake is sometimes baked, and cider is used in place of wine.
If you do make a figure of the God from bread, it can be used for The Simple Feast.
Mabon
(Circa September 21)
Decorate the altar with acorns, oak sprigs, pine and cypress cones, ears of corn, wheat stalks, and other fruits and nuts. Also place there a small rustic basket filled with dried leaves of various colors and kinds.
Arrange the altar, light the candles and censer, and cast the circle of stones. Recite the Blessing Chant, page 132. Invoke the Goddess and God. Stand before the altar, holding aloft the basket of leaves, and slowly scatter them so that they cascade to the ground within the circle. Say such words as these:
Leaves fall,
the days grow cold.
The Goddess pulls her mantle of earth around her as
you, O great sun God, sail toward the west
to the lands of eternal enchantment,
wrapped in the coolness of night.
Fruits ripen, seeds drop,
the hours of day and night are balanced.
Chill winds blow in from the north wailing laments.
In this seeming extinction of nature’s power,
O blessed Goddess, I know that life continues.
For spring is impossible without the second harvest,
as surely as life is impossible without death.
Blessings upon you, O fallen God,
as you journey into the lands of winter
and into the Goddess’ loving arms.
Place the basket down and say:
O gracious Goddess of all fertility,
I have sown and reaped the fruits of my actions, good and bane.
Grant me the courage to plant seeds of joy and love in
the coming year, banishing misery and hate.
Teach me the secrets
of wise existence upon this planet,
O luminous one of the night!
Works of magic, if necessary, may follow. Celebrate The Simple Feast. The circle is released.
Mabon Lore
A traditional practice is to walk wild places and forests, gathering seed pods and dried plants. Some of these can be used to decorate the home; others saved for future herbal magic.
The foods of Mabon consist of the second harvest’s gleanings, so grains, fruits, and vegetables predominate, especially corn. Corn bread is traditional fare, as are beans and baked squash.
Samhain
(October 31)
Place upon the altar apples, pomegranates, pumpkins, squashes, and other late autumn fruits. Autumn flowers such as marigolds and chrysanthemums are fine too. Write on a piece of paper an aspect of your life that you wish to be free of: anger, a baneful habit, misplaced feelings, disease. The cauldron or some similar tool must be present before the altar as well, on a trivet or some other heat-proof surface (if the legs aren’t long enough). A small, flat dish marked with an eight-spoked wheel symbol should also be there.*
Prior to the ritual, sit quietly and think of friends and loved ones who have passed away. Do not despair. Know that they have gone on to greater things. Keep firmly in mind that the physical isn’t the absolute reality, and that souls never die.
Arrange the altar, light the candles and censer, and cast the circle of stones.Recite the Blessing Chant, page 132. Invoke the Goddess and God.
Lift one of the pomegranates and, with your freshly-washed white-handled knife, pierce the skin of the fruit.Remove several seeds and place them on the wheel-marked dish. Raise your wand, face the altar, and say:
On this night of Samhain
I mark your passing, O sun king,
through the sunset into the land of the young.
I mark also the passing of all who have gone before,
and all who will go after.
O gracious Goddess, eternal Mother,
you who gives birth to the fallen,
teach me to know that in the time of the greatest darkness
there is the greatest light.
Taste the pomegranate seeds; burst them with your teeth and savor their sharp, bittersweet flavor. Look down at the eight-spoked symbol on the plate; the wheel of the year, the cycle of the seasons, the end and beginning of all creation. Light a fire within the cauldron (a candle is fine). Sit before it, holding the piece of paper, gazing at its flames. Say:
Wise one of the waning moon,
Goddess of the starry night,
I create this fire within your cauldron
to transform that which is plaguing me.
May the energies be reversed: from darkness, light!
From bane, good! From death, birth!
Light the paper in the cauldron’s flames and drop it inside.As it burns, know that your ill diminishes, lessens, and finally leaves you as it is consumed within the universal fires.*
If you wish, you may attempt scrying or some other form of divination, for this is a perfect time to look into the past or future. Try to recall past lives too, if you will. But leave the dead in peace. Honor them with your memories but do not call them to you. †
Release any pain and sense of loss you may feel into the cauldron’s flames.
Works of magic, if necessary, may follow. Celebrate The Simple Feast. The circle is released.
Samhain Lore
It is traditional on Samhain night to leave a plate of food outside the home for the souls of the dead. A candle placed in the window guides them to the lands of eternal summer, and burying apples in the hard-packed earth “feeds” the passed ones on their journey.
For food, beets, turnips, apples, corn, nuts, gingerbread, cider,mulled wines, and pumpkin dishes are appropriate, as are meat dishes (once again, if you’re not vegetarian; if you are, tofu seems ritually correct).
* Using, once again, any of the invocations found in “Prayers, Chants, and Invocations,” page 153, or your own words.
* Thank the flowers for their sacrifice before picking them, using a collection formula such as can be found in “An Herbal Grimoire” elsewhere in this Book of Shadows.
† Find a book of flower cooking or simply make spice cupcakes. Ice with pink frosting and place a fresh carnation petal on each cupcake. Stuff nasturtium blossoms with a mixture made of cream cheese, chopped nuts, chives, and watercress. They’re hot!
* This is just what it sounds like. On a flat plate or dish, paint a large circle. Put a dot in the center of this circle and paint eight spokes radiating out from the dot to the larger circle. Thus, you have a wheel symbol—a symbol of the sabbats, a symbol of timelessness.
* The cauldron, seen as the Goddess.
† Many Wiccans do attempt to communicate with their deceased ancestors and friends at this time, but it seems to me that if we accept the doctrine of reincarnation, this is a rather strange practice. Perhaps the
personalities
that we knew still exist, but if the
soul
is currently incarnate in another body, communication would be difficult, to say the least. Thus, it seems best to remember them with peace and love—but not to call them up.
STAND IN THE
ritual area. Still your thoughts. Breathe deeply for half a minute or so until composed and calm. Turn your mind to our deities.
Face north. Lift both hands to waist height, palms down. Press your fingers together, creating two solid, flat planes. Sense solidity, foundation, fertility. Invoke the powers of
earth
through the gesture.
Moments later, turn toward the east. Raise your hands a foot higher, your palms facing away from you (no longer parallel with the ground), and elbows slightly bent. Spread your fingers and hold this position, sensing movement and communication. Invoke the forces of
air
through the gesture.
Face south. Lift your hands fully above your head. Keeping the elbows straight, grasp your fingers into tight fists. Feel force, power, creation, and destruction. Invoke the forces of
fire
through the gesture.
Turn to the west. Lower your hands a foot or so. Bend the elbows, turn your palms upward and cup them, pressing the thumbs against the forefingers. Sense fluidity, the ocean, liquidity. Invoke the forces of
water
through the gesture.
Face north again. Throw your head back and raise both hands to the sky, palms up, fingers spread. Drink in the essence of The One, the unknowable, unapproachable ultimate source of all. Sense the mysteries within the universe.
Lower your projective hand but keep your receptive hand high. Pressing the third, fourth, and fifth fingers against the palm, lift the forefinger and thumb to create a rough crescent shape. Sense the reality of the Goddess. Sense her love, her fertility, her compassion. Sense the powers of the moon in the gesture; the force of the eternal seas—the presence of the Goddess.
Lower your receptive hand; lift your projective hand. Bend down the middle and fourth fingers toward the palm, and trap them with the thumb. Lift the forefinger and little finger up to the sky, creating a horned image. 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 your projective hand. Lie down flat. Spread your legs and arms until you’ve created the pattern of a 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 God.