Create an altar facing North.
Place two candles on the altar. One to symbolize the God and one to symbolize the Goddess.
If you've an incense pot, place it between the candles. Place the bell, Chalice/cup and
the bread/cake in front of the candles. You may now begin your ritual.
Sit down on the floor and face the altar. Let your mind relax. As you're about to enter
into a sacred space beyond time and sense, try to forget about all the mundane events. Let
yourself feel the rhythm of the earth. Let the glowing candles remind you of the ancient
Pagan days... of the time where all things are wild and free. Take this moment to forget
about all the on-goings of life and feel yourself partaking the mystery with the Gods.
When you feel relaxed and calmed, stand up, ring the bell and greet:
" Hail Goddess and God,
thy child of the starry
heaven and the holy earth
now greets you upon this
secret hour. Grant blessings
on this ground wherein
I may uphold this sacred rite!"
Place the bell back on the altar and face the east. Hold both your hands out, standing in
the position like the letter Y. And thus invoking the Guardian of the East,
" Lord of the Rising Sun, deliverer of the first light,
come now as I ask you to, guard this space with thy might!"
Now, face the south and invoke the Guardian of the South,
" Lady of the Wild Woods, thou who tenders the magical hearth,
come now as I ask you to, guard this space with thy love"
Now, face the West and invoke the Guardian of the West,
" Lord of the Timeless river, reaper who takes us back home,
come now as I ask you to, guard this space with thy wisdom"
Now, face the North and invoke the Guardian of the North,
" Deathly Goddess of the Night, keeper of the cauldron of youth,
come now as I ask you to, guard this space with thy truth"
As you invoke, feel that the Guardians are really there to uphold your sacred space. They
are there to protect you from any evil spirits or negativity that might harm you in your
working.
Turn your back to the altar, facing south and do the sign of the Horn God - sticking out
only the second and the last finger while closing your thumb, middle and fourth finger. Do
the sign on both hand while reciting...
" Greatest fire of
the deep red earth,
Father of Old Faith,
Lord of Light and
resurrection. You
who walk the green
earth and kiss our
mother with love
and compassion. We
call thee in this hour
to show us the way,
the way of wisdom!"
Now turn around, Take the bell, ring it while circumambulate the space three times
(walking around your ritual space in circle clockwise). Place the bell back on the altar,
bow three times facing the altar, kneel in prayer and invoke:
" Queen of every hive,
Goddess of delight!
We call upon thy most
holy name! You who
rule the kingdom of
life and death, you
who bless the grail
of immortality and
grant all men
poetry and insight.
Without you there
is none. Now we ask
you to give hallows
to this space wherein
the worship may
take place. Great Mercy!"
Now is a time for meditation/parthworking, spell crafting or reflecting upon what you've
learned in your life. You may also spend this time to communicate with the Gods, asking
them for directions in your life. This is a time for you to attune yourself with the
Divine forces of nature, therefore, let yourself have a good time. You may like to listen
to some nice music or perhaps read a good book or maybe write your journal or perform a
dance... this is a time of expression and coming into the hallowed ground, this is an
opportunity to be free.
After you're finish with your workings, you may begin the cake and wine dedication. You
may now pour the wine (or any other drink) into the chalice/cup (or you could've already
poured it in before the ritual began and leave it on the altar). Take the chalice in your
hands and lift it to the north, saying,
" Silent Mother with tender care
charge upon this grail with love
sanctifying wisdom with thy luminous breath
enhancing our spirit in this sharing."
By saying the prayer, you're invoking the Holy Grail, which holds the sacred water from
the other world. This drink now is charged with holiness and when you drink, you drink the
virtues and the wisdom of the Gods.
After you're drunk, take the bread on the plate and offer it to the north, saying:
" May the partaking of this bread
brings wisdom and faith.
May the blessings of the Gods
bring humility and love."
Take the leftovers, a small portion of the drink and the bread and place it on your altar
or a home shrine, if you're outside, place it under a tree. And say the following offering
prayer,
" Queen of the Sacred Castle, accept my offerings
Old one of Life and Death, accept my offerings
Fae-folks of the mound, accept my offerings
Spirit of the Land, accept my offerings
Ancestral kith and kin, accept my offerings
Guardians of this rite, accept my offerings
Fetches of Light and darkness, accept my offerings"
" The offerings are made
and the blessings are given,
for what is taken is truly given
and what is given is truly taken,
herein lies the mystery.
Hail and farewell,
this rite has ended."
Ring the bell and thus ending the rite. The rite should not be more than 20 minutes long,
this simple structure gives space to the middle slot where practitioners are encouraged to
spend the time either working magick, writing journals or communicating with the Gods.
)O(
We shall now go through the meanings of each
ritual procedure. Before one is to enter the sacred space, it is advisable that the
practitioner takes a bath to cleanse the body. This has a psychological effect to
symbolically cleanse away all the negativity that has gathered up on the person throughout
the entire day's mundane dealings.
The practitioner is then encouraged to relax the mind. This is an important step. Bringing
in the troubles of the mundane into the sacred space not only disrupts the concentration
of the practitioner, but also bars the practitioner from feeling closer to the Divine. If
the practitioner is to work magic, the will is not focused and hence may affect the
magical working.
The bell is used as a sacred tool to announce ritual commencement. The sound of the bell
rings out loud to the universe. It is a declaration of beginning. The sound of the bell
travels in vibration and it reminds us of the creation by the word of God. The greeting
prayer then follows with a simple but firm acknowledgement that we are coming before the
Gods. The practitioner asks blessings from the Gods to begin the ritual.
In the next procedure, which is the invocation of the Guardian Spirits, these are Quarter
Calls to invite certain Divine entities that will uphold and consecrate the sacred space
we stand in.
In the East stands the Lord of the Rising Sun, he brings light to the world and is the
force of creation and beginnings. In the South stands the Lady of the Wild Woods, she is
the soul of nature, the motherly Queen who gives the gift of joy and growth unto the heart
of man. In the West stands the Lord of the Timeless River, he is the God of age-ing, he
holds wisdom and understanding. IN the North stands the Deathly Goddess of the Night, she
is death herself, revealing the final truth when her destructive forces come and peal away
our pretensions.
In the next step, the prayer to the God is done by having the back face the altar and
doing the sign of the Horned-God on both hands. This is an ancient rite of prayer to the
power of the God whose power is believed to reside in the Northern land, coming from the
Great Goddess herself.
The next step involves circumambulating around in circles, symbolizing that we journey
through the universe to pay homage to the Goddess herself. As we kneel down, we humble
ourselves before her presence and ask for blessing in the proceedings of the ritual.
After finishing spending your time performing your magical workings, it is time to
dedicate the cake and wine to the Gods. This is a ritual meal in which the practitioner
partake the mystery of the Gods when the cake and the wine is sanctified as the 'blood and
the body' of the Gods.
Offerings are then done to various Divine beings, including the Gods, nature spirits and
our familiars. The offerings are given back to the source from which we draw. It is a
thanksgiving to the Divine for blessing us and upholding this ritual. It brings us closer
to the world beyond.
)O(
Written by,
Armon Cain
Comments - armon_cain@yahoo.com
Copyright 2002 |
