Opening the Circle 1996 CO1

Don't be a messy witch, clean up the Circle when done. That means thanking the Great Spirit for attending, releasing the quarters and opening the circle. Forgetting these very important steps can lead to some very uncomfortable 'cockroaches' in Sacred Space and in daily life.  These are merely some examples to guide and ignite the imagination.

Opening the Circle, 1996

May those who guide us with their light, protect us in the dark and walk beside us on the roads traveled, this Circle is open but unbroken, merry meet, merry part and merry meet again.

Opening the Circle

May the circle be open - but unbroken

May the Love of the Goddess be ever in your heart

Merry meet, and merry part, And merry meet again

May the circle be open - but unbroken

May the Love of the Spirit be ever in your heart

Merry meet, and merry part, And merry meet again

May the circle be open - but unbroken

May the Love of the Sun God be ever in your heart

Merry meet, and merry part, And merry meet again

Opening the Circle

Thus I release the East and West, Thanks to them from Host to Guest.  Thus I release the South and North, with ‘Blessed Be’ I sent them forth.  The Circle’s open, dance we so, out and homeward shall we go. Earth and Water, Air and Fire, to celebrate our Earth's desire. As Autumn leaves fall, as does the rain, the season’s turning once again. By Fin and Feather, Leaf and Tree, our circle’s done, So Mote it Be

 

Opening the Circle

Eve of Work and Night of Pleasure, Happiness circles now full measure.  Earth and Fire, Air and Water, Heaven’s Queen and Moonlight’s Daughter, Bless this company as we leave, Carry His protective seed.  Blessings of the God upon you, This circle is now open but unbroken. Blessed Be!

 

Opening the Circle

Equal night and equal day, Soon the light will fade away. Equal day and equal night, This circle fades as does the light. Thus the magick we invoke, Fades anon like wisps of smoke. Until we next decide to play. So Mote it Be

Opening the Circle

Open now this sacred space, Send all dragons back to place, Fare thee well and safe return.

 

Opening the Circle

Farewell, O positive Devas of this land You may commune within this magick circle when ere you please.  Find protection, peace, and solace here.  May our love and good thoughts travel with you.  Until we meet again.  Blessed Be.  May this circle be open, but unbroken.

 

Opening the Circle

May the wind be always at your back; And the road rise up to meet you.  May the sun shine warm upon your face; And the rains fall softly on your fields. Until we meet again, may the Lord and Lady, Hold you in the palms of Their hands.

  

Opening the Circle

Dear Lord and Lady, We thank you for today, walk beside us all the way. Keep us safe from all that would, cause us heartache if it could. Guard our eyes and ears and lips, give us strength to come to grips, with each new problem we must face and some courage just in case. Never let our footsteps stray, ‘lest perhaps we lose our way.  And whatever may befall, keep us humble through it all. If a weight must be our share, make it one that we can bear. And through shadows of the night, hold us close till morning light.

Go Mbeannaigh

          (Gaelic, Ireland - Blessed Be)

Sonqongi Apukuna Wak'aychasunkiku

          (Quechua, Peru - May the Heart of the Mountain bless you)

Xut Kala Xetl

          (Tlingit, Alaska - Blessed Be)

Magickal Herbs 1995 CO1

Magickal Herbs – Where to begin

2-hour class - $75.00

Spellwork Vs Draws
    Ethics & Morals
    Actions & Re-Actions

Handle w/Care
    Paper or plastic, Glass or metal
    Fridge, Freezer, or Broom Closet

Grow where you’ve been planted
    Tapping into the energy
    Creating the energy

Choose or be Chosen – knowing the difference
    Following your instincts
    Garden, Grocery, Herbal Shop

When is too many too much
    Recipes & Research
    Following the K I S S method

Go Mbeannaigh

          (Gaelic, Ireland - Blessed Be)

Sonqongi Apukuna Wak'aychasunkiku

          (Quechua, Peru - May the Heart of the Mountain bless you)

Xut Kala Xetl

          (Tlingit, Alaska - Blessed Be)

Lady Day Nichols 2003

LADY DAY

The Vernal Equinox, by Mike Nichols 2003

Now comes the vernal equinox, and the season of spring reaches its apex, halfway through its journey from Candlemas to Beltane. Once again, night and day stand in perfect balance, with the powers of light on the ascendancy. The God of Light now wins a victory over his twin, the God of Darkness. In The Mabinogion myth reconstruction that I have proposed, this is the day on which the restored Llew takes his vengeance on Goronwy by piercing him with the sunlight spear. For Llew was restored/reborn at the winter solstice and is now well/old enough to vanquish his rival/twin and mate with his lover/ mother. And the Great Mother Goddess, who has returned to her Virgin aspect at Candlemas, welcomes the young Sun God’s embraces and conceives a child. The child will be born nine months from now, at the next winter solstice. And so the cycle closes at last. 

We think that the customs surrounding the celebration of the spring equinox were imported from Mediterranean lands, although there can be no doubt that the first inhabitants of the British Isles observed it, as evidence from megalithic sites shows. But it was certainly more popular to the south, where people celebrated the holiday as New Year’s Day, and claimed it as the first day of the first sign of the zodiac, Aries. However you look at it, it is certainly a time of new beginnings, as a simple glance at nature will prove. 

In the Roman Catholic Church, there are two holidays that get mixed up with the vernal equinox. The first, occurring on the fixed calendar day of March 25 in the old liturgical calendar, is called the Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (or B.V.M., as she was typically abbreviated in Catholic missals). Annunciation means an “announcement”. This is the day that the archangel Gabriel announced to Mary that she was “in the family way”. Naturally, this had to be announced since Mary, being still a virgin, would have no other means of knowing it. (Quit scoffing, O ye of little faith!) Why did the church pick the vernal equinox for the commemoration of this event? Because it was necessary to have Mary conceive the child Jesus a full nine months before his birth at the winter solstice (i.e., Christmas, celebrated on the fixed calendar date of December 25). Mary’s pregnancy would take the natural nine months to complete, even if the conception was a bit unorthodox. 

As mentioned before, the older Pagan equivalent of this scene focuses on the joyous process of natural conception, when the young Virgin Goddess (in this case, “virgin” in the original sense of meaning “unmarried”) mates with the young solar God, who has just displaced his rival. This is probably not their first mating, however. In the mythical sense, the couple may have been lovers since Candlemas, when the young God reached puberty. But the young Goddess was recently a mother (at the winter solstice) and is probably still nursing her new child. Therefore, conception is naturally delayed for six weeks or so and, despite earlier matings with the God, she does not conceive until (surprise!) the vernal equinox. This may also be their handfasting, a sacred marriage between God and Goddess called a hierogamy, the ultimate Great Rite. Probably the nicest study of this theme occurs in M. Esther Harding’s book, Woman’s Mysteries. Probably the nicest description of it occurs in Marion Zimmer Bradley’s The Mists of Avalon, in the scene where Morgan and Arthur assume the sacred roles. (Bradley follows the British custom of transferring the episode to Beltane, when the climate is more suited to its outdoor celebration.) 

The other Christian holiday that gets mixed up in this is Easter. Easter, too, celebrates the victory of a God of light (Jesus) over darkness (death), so it makes sense to place it at this season. Ironically, the name “Easter” was taken from the name of a Teutonic lunar Goddess, Eostre (from whence we also get the name of the female hormone, estrogen). Her chief symbols were the bunny (both for fertility and because her worshippers saw a hare in the full moon) and the egg (symbolic of the Cosmic Egg of Creation), images that Christians have been hard pressed to explain. Her holiday, the Eostara, was held on the vernal equinox full moon. Of course, the church doesn’t celebrate full moons, even if they do calculate by them, so they planted their Easter on the following Sunday. Thus, Easter is always the first Sunday, after the first full moon, after the vernal equinox. If you’ve ever wondered why Easter moved all around the calendar, now you know. (By the way, the Catholic Church was so adamant about not incorporating lunar Goddess symbolism that they added a further calculation: if Easter Sunday were to fall on the full moon itself, then Easter was postponed to the following Sunday instead.) 

Incidentally, this raises another point: recently, some Pagan traditions began referring to the vernal equinox as ‘Eostara’. Historically, this is incorrect. Eostara is a lunar holiday, honoring a lunar Goddess, at the vernal full moon. Hence, the name “Eostara” is best reserved to the nearest Esbat, rather than the Sabbat itself. How this happened is difficult to say. However, it is notable that some of the same groups misappropriated the term ‘Lady Day’ for Beltane, which left no good folk name for the equinox. Thus, ‘Eostara’ was misappropriated for it, completing a chain reaction of displacement. Needless to say, the old and accepted folk name for the vernal equinox is “Lady Day”. Christians sometimes insist that the title is in honor of Mary and her Annunciation, but Pagans will smile knowingly. 

Another mythological motif that must surely arrest our attention at this time of year is that of the descent of the God or Goddess into the Underworld. Perhaps we see this most clearly in the Christian tradition. Beginning with his death on the cross on Good Friday, it is said that Jesus “descended into hell” for the three days that his body lay entombed. But on the third day (that is, Easter Sunday), his body and soul rejoined, he arose from the dead and ascended into heaven. By a strange ‘coincidence’, most ancient Pagan religions speak of the Goddess descending into the Underworld, also for a period of three days. 

Why three days? If we remember that we are here dealing with the lunar aspect of the Goddess, the reason should be obvious. As the text of one Book of Shadows gives it, “As the moon waxes and wanes, and walks three nights in darkness, so the Goddess once spent three nights in the Kingdom of Death.” In our modern world, alienated as it is from nature, we tend to mark the time of the new moon (when no moon is visible) as a single date on a calendar. We tend to forget that the moon is also hidden from our view on the day before and the day after our calendar date. But this did not go unnoticed by our ancestors, who always speak of the Goddess’s sojourn into the Land of Death as lasting for three days. Is it any wonder then that we celebrate the next full moon (the Eostara) as the return of the Goddess from chthonic regions? 

Naturally, this is the season to celebrate the victory of life over death, as any nature lover will affirm. And the Christian religion was not misguided by celebrating Christ’s victory over death at this same season. Nor is Christ the only solar hero to journey into the Underworld. King Arthur, for example, does the same thing when he sets sail in his magical ship, Prydwen, to bring back precious gifts (i.e., the gifts of life) from the Land of the Dead, as we are told in The Mabinogi. Welsh triads allude to Gwydion and Amaethon doing much the same thing. In fact, this theme is so universal that mythologists refer to it by a common phrase, “the harrowing of hell”. 

However, one might conjecture that the descent into hell, or the Land of the Dead, was originally accomplished, not by a solar male Deity, but by a lunar female Deity. It is Nature herself who, in spring, returns from the Underworld with her gift of abundant life. Solar heroes may have laid claim to this theme much later. The very fact that we are dealing with a three-day period of absence should tell us we are dealing with a lunar, not solar, theme. (Although one must make exception for those occasional male lunar deities, such as the Assyrian God, Sin.) At any rate, one of the nicest modern renditions of the harrowing of hell appears in many Books of Shadows as “The Descent of the Goddess”. Lady Day may be especially appropriate for the celebration of this theme, whether by storytelling, reading, or dramatic reenactment. 

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Go Mbeannaigh    (Gaelic, Ireland - Blessed Be)

Beannaichte Be    (Gaelic, Scotland - Blessed Be)

Sonqongi Apukuna Wak'aychasunkiku

   (Quechua, Peru - May the Heart of the Mountain bless you)

Xut Kala Xetl     (Tlingit, Alaska - Blessed Be)

Seja Abençoado     (Portuguese, Portugal - Blessed Be)

Ritual Outline Esbats 1996 CO1

Esbats are normally small, private, gatherings of 1-13 people. Smaller groups allow for more focused intent and energy. Esbats often follow the phases of the moon when doing any kind of spell work. Remember that Magic is performed on a stage, and Magick is created in the heart.

Ritual Outline Esbats, 1996

Altar Devotions

Purify the Area

Salute

Cast Circle

Call Quarters

Anoint

Unite energies

Invocation

Name the Working

Perform the Work

Raise Power

Cakes and Ale

Salute

Release Quarters

Open Circle

Feast

Ritual Outline

What is the main Purpose/Reason/Intent behind the Ritual/Ceremony?
How will you support that intent energetically?
Date?  Time?  Who will you invite?

Circle Assignments

Who will be responsible for:

     Setting up the Altar
     Cleansing/Purifying the Space and the Participants
     Statement of Intent to the Circle
     Grounding the Participants and unifying the group
     HP/HPS Casting the Circle
     Calling the Quarters (Four Directions)
     HP/HPS Invoking the God/Goddess
     Raising energy
     HP/HPS Focusing energy
     Directing energy
     Releasing the Quarters (Four Directions)
     Earthing/Grounding the participants
     HP/HPS Opening the Circle

Go Mbeannaigh

          (Gaelic, Ireland - Blessed Be)

Sonqongi Apukuna Wak'aychasunkiku

          (Quechua, Peru - May the Heart of the Mountain bless you)

Xut Kala Xetl

          (Tlingit, Alaska - Blessed Be)

Circle Etiquette 1995 CO1

Circle Etiquette 1995 

2-hour class - $75.00

Attending Open/Public Rituals

     How to dress

          Street clothes, Ritual Robes, Skyclad
     

     Arrive on time

          It’s not just late, it’s rude

     When to go, when not to go

     Inside or Outside, be prepared

Smudging & Blessing

     What to leave outside

     Open mind & open heart

Entering Sacred Space

     What to expect
          Fluffy Bunnies, Wolves w/Fangs, Spiritual Beings

     

     Responding to the Challenge
          In perfect Love, and perfect Trust

     Widdershins or Deosil

     Don’t touch, be respectful

Participating

     When to speak, when to listen 

     Creating the energy

     So Mote it Be, Blessed Be, Hail & Farewell

Cakes & Ale

     Following your instincts

     Decline with grace
          Allergies and addictions

Feasting & Community

     What to bring

Go Mbeannaigh

          (Gaelic, Ireland - Blessed Be)

Sonqongi Apukuna Wak'aychasunkiku

          (Quechua, Peru - May the Heart of the Mountain bless you)

Xut Kala Xetl

          (Tlingit, Alaska - Blessed Be)

Healing Circle 2011 CO1

Healing Circle, 2011

Purify the Area

Cast Circle

Smiles and laughter and times of fun this Circle casting has now begun. As above, so it is below, keep out all that would cause us woe. Around the Circle, throughout and about, healing within, healing without. All health come in, all illness flee, and by our will, so Mote It Be!

Call Quarters

Eastern Waters where Trade Winds blow, we call to you, your powers bestow. Wisdom and truth within us to see, Be here now, so mote it be.  Enter our circle and be blessed

Southern Waters with Tropical heat, we ask you to aid our Magickal feat. Passion and creation within us to see, Be here now, so mote it be. Enter our circle and be blessed

Western Currents where deep waters flow, we call to you, your powers bestow. Courage and healing within us to see, Be here now, so mote it be. Enter our circle and be blessed

Northern Secrets locked in icy sheet, we ask you to aid our Magickal feat. Success and stability within us to see, Be here now, so mote it be. Enter our circle and be blessed

Anoint

Unite energies

Invocation

The Lord and Lady have always been there for us, since before time was. They were there in the scents of the Earth in the whisper of the Wind in the warmth of the Sun in the refreshing coolness of a Mountain Stream.

They have always been there for us, even before we understood. They are there in the Magick of the Moonlight in the wonder of a Sunrise in the freedom of an Open Field in the comfort of a Sheltering Forest.

Tonight, we ask them to join our Circle and be with us as we celebrate laughter and light, growth and mystery, and bring physical, emotional and spiritual healing into our lives.

Name the Working

Raise Power

Deep in my Bone the Goddess is alive

Deep in my cells and blood the Life Force is strong

Deep in my heart and spirit I believe I will heal

Perform the Work

I heal myself with this water. By the power of the Ancient Ones, in the names of those who have gone before, I am free. By my will, so Mote It Be.

Magick mend and candle burn, sickness end; good health returns.

Great Rite

The glass I hold in my hand represents water from a rushing water fall - this symbolizes the energy of the God.

The bowl I hold in my hand represents water from a serene pool - this symbolizes the energy of the Goddess.

As the water from the falls represents the male and the water from the pool represents the female, the two joined together represent the healing energies of the God and Goddess flowing as one.

Cakes and Ale

We ask the God and Goddess to bless this food and drink.  All that we do is in service and in honor to the God and Goddess.  May we never hunger - May we never thirst.  So Mote It Be!

Thank Spirit

Release Quarters

Elemental Waters you have protected us well The lessons learned will continue to dwell. We release you now as we lift the spell Go with our blessing, Hail and Farewell. We bid you well as you depart, may there be peace between us. May you always Blessed Be.

Open Circle

As again we walk around this Circle to release though the boundary now is gone, our laughter will not cease. May those who guide us with their light, protect us in the dark and walk beside us on the roads traveled - this Circle is open but unbroken, merry meet, merry part and may we merry meet again!

Feast

Go Mbeannaigh  

(Gaelic, Ireland - Blessed Be)

Beannaichte Be 

(Gaelic, Scotland - Blessed Be)

Sonqongi Apukuna Wak'aychasunkiku 

(Quechua, Peru - May the Heart of the Mountain bless you)

Xut Kala Xetl 

(Tlingit, Alaska - Blessed Be)

5 Senses Esbat 2000 CO1

This Circle works best if you have someone who can sign what is being said.

5-Senses, New Moon 2/4/00

(Altar is in the East, done only in black, grey and white.  High Priest and High Priestess are dressed in black and white, with two secondary assistants dressed in grey.  A secondary Altar is in the West decorated with nothing but multicolored candles and ten colored boxes marked - Touch, Smell, Taste, Sound & Sight.  Secondary's will be seated to either side of the secondary Altar)

Anoint

(Participants are led through a gauntlet of 10 people, 

each representing one of the five senses)

North-Touch:    Welcome to our Circle, we invite you to enjoy the sense of Touch. (Offer hand shake or hug to each participant)

East-Smell:    Welcome to our Circle, we invite you to enjoy the sense of Smell.  (Offer a choice of oils and anoint each participant)

South-Taste:    Welcome to our Circle, we invite you to enjoy the sense of Taste.  (Offer a bowl of skittles candies to each participant)

West-Sound:    Welcome to our Circle, we invite you to enjoy the sense of Sound.  (Offer a choice of tambourine or drum to cleanse each participant)

Spirit-Sight:    Welcome to our Circle, we invite you to enjoy the sense of Sight.  (Offer a choice of multicolored ribbons to be tied onto each participant)

Purify the Area

(As people settle into their places around the Circle the High Priest and High Priestess walk around the inside of the Circle with incense, water and salt,  greeting people, talking and cleansing the area.  People are encouraged to drum or clap and the HP HPS may wish to walk the Circle more than once)

Statement Of Intent

(This is where you need to fill in what you will say to greet people and teach them about the Celebration they are attending)

Cast Circle

(As the HPS walks the inside of the Circle with the Athame, the HP stands in the center and follows her movements and signs everything she speaks)

From the North and the East to the South and the West then back to the North again.  A boundary between the worlds is constructed.  Within this Circle we stand between space and time.  We are protected and in the perfect place for new growth and perception.

Call Quarters

NORTH:    Essence of the North, we bid you welcome.  We ask you to join us in our Circle of rebirth and growth.  Join us with your gentle touch that gives life and encourages growth in all as we share this moment that will help guide many throughout the coming year.  We welcome you with arms open and joy in our hearts for this celebration of rebirth, renewal and reiteration.

EAST:    Essence of the East, we bid you welcome.  We ask you to join us in our Circle of new life and hope.  Bring with you the aromas that remind us of the past as we share this moment that will help guide many throughout the coming year.  We welcome you with arms open and joy in our minds for this celebration of light, love and life.

SOUTH:    Essence of the south, we bid you welcome. We ask you to join us in our Circle of release and relief.  Entice us with the flavors that warm and excite our lives as we share this moment that will help guide many throughout the coming year. We welcome you with arms open and joy in our souls for this celebration of emotion, energy and exhilaration.

WEST:    Essence of the West, we bid you welcome.  Send to us the vibrations that create the sounds of our lives as we share this moment that will help guide many throughout the coming year.  We welcome you with arms open and joy in our bodies for this celebration of insight, intuition, and involvement.

Altar Devotions

(HP stands at the main Altar and signs as HPS lights ALL the candles on the secondary Altar, when she is done the HP then lights all the candles on the main Altar except the God & Goddess candles, in silence)

HPS: (While lighting the candles)

Let what I feel fill me, but not consume me;

Let me follow what I feel, but not be forced;

Let me become the kind of soul, who never clings too hard,

who lets go and yet loves; Let me imagine better worlds,

yet work in this one; Let me touch, and treasure, even

people I can never hold, and let me learn from all my losses;

Let me out and let me in, Let me see and let me be,

a window - maybe broken - but through which a bit of air and sunlight comes.

Unite energies

(Group OM)

Invocation

(HP signs first to draw in the Goddess, then HPS speaks the same words)

We call forth the Goddess, Great Mother, to witness this rite.  You have let the Earth rest and slumber all winter. Now it awakens and the Earth is filled with illuminations, help us to become enlightened also. Instill in us the sight of those things that remain unseen.

(HPS speaks first to draw in the God, then H/P signs the words)

We call forth the God, Sun King, to witness this rite.  Your light gains strength and ends the Earth’s rest.  Now as your brightness warms the Earth and the beginnings of new growth can be seen, help us to grow also.  Enable us to see the wonders of the mundane world around us.

Name the Working

 

Raise Power

(Each quarter has something to toss into the Circle - balloons, beach balls, bean bags, cat toys.  Participants are invited to keep the toys in motion to raise energy and enjoy themselves.  HP & HPS focus the energy raised over the secondary Altar to be used at a given signal to energize the boxes on the Altar.  When the signal is given everyone stops participating and allow the toys to fall to the ground)

Perform the Work

(Take the boxes from the secondary Altar and offer the contents around the Circle

Touch-Stones, Smell-Flowers, Taste-Skittles, Sound-bells, Sight-Ribbons)

North:    We are the sense of Touch, we invite you to experience Touch and in so doing heighten and renew your own senses.

East:    We are the sense of Smell, we invite you to experience Smell and in so doing heighten and renew your own senses.

South:    We are the sense of Taste, we invite you to experience Taste and in so doing heighten and renew your own senses.

West:    We are the sense of Sound, we invite you to experience Sound and in so doing heighten and renew your own senses.

Secondary:    We are the sense of Sight, of things both seen and unseen, we invite you to experience Sight and in so doing heighten and renew your own senses.

Cakes and Ale

HP:    From the Golden rays of the Sun, to the fertile Earth, to the stalk of wheat, to bread…May you never hunger.

HPS:    From the Silver beams of the Moon, to the quiet Earth, the vine of grapes, to wine…May you never thirst.

Release Quarters

 

Open Circle

HPS:    This Circle has served us well. It has protected and aided us.  It had stood as a boundary between time and space. I now open this Circle. From the North and the West to the South and the East then back to the North again.  This Circle is open but unbroken.  Merry Meet, Merry Part and Merry Meet again.

Feast

Go Mbeannaigh

          (Gaelic, Ireland - Blessed Be)

Sonqongi Apukuna Wak'aychasunkiku

          (Quechua, Peru - May the Heart of the Mountain bless you)

Xut Kala Xetl

          (Tlingit, Alaska - Blessed Be)

Yuletide Carols 1996 CO1

 

Yuletide Carols, 1996

Lady Moon     (To Little Town of Bethlehem)

Lady Moon shines softly down

To light the earth below

As we her children gather here

Around the Yule fire’s glow

We wait for mornings dawning

First light of holy birth

Our Lady turns the wheel of life

Her sun returns to Earth

With joy we’ll greet his dawning

A new year has begun

With increased light is bright new hope

Reborn is everyone.

Wiccan Wonderland     (To Winter Wonderland)

Pagans sing, are you listenin’

Altar’s set, candles glisten

It’s a Magickal night, we’re having tonight

Dancing in a Wiccan Wonderland

Blades held high, censer smoking

God and Goddess, we’re invoking

Through Elements Five, we celebrate life

Dancing in a Wiccan Wonderland

(Chorus)

In a circle we can light a Yule fire

And await the rising of the Sun

It’s the Great Wheel turning for the new year

Loaded with abundance and great fun

Queen of Heaven, is in her place

Triple goddess, now the Crone face

Above and below, She’s the Goddess we know

Dancing in a Wiccan Wonderland

Now the God, is the provider

Supplying game for our fire

Above and below, He’s the Horned One we know

Dancing in a Wiccan Wonderland

(Chorus)

Later on, by the fire

Cone of power, gettin’ higher

It’s a Magickal night, we’re having tonight

Dancing in a Wiccan Wonderland

Joy To The World     (To...guess what?)

Joy to the world! the Lord has come

Let earth receive her King.

Let every heart prepare him room

And Heav’n and Nature sing

And Heav’n and Nature sing

And Heav’n, and Heav’n and Nature sing.

Joy to the world!  The Sun returns

Our Lady gives Him birth

The living light will warm our hearts

And wake the sleeping Earth

And wake the sleeping Earth

And wake, and wake the sleeping Earth.

Light we the fires to greet our Lord

Our light, our life, our Lord

Let every voice sing praise

And Heav’n and Nature sing

And Heav’n and Nature sing

And Heav’n, and Heav’n and Nature sing.

Silent Night     (To...you guessed it!)

Silent Night, Solstice Night

Quiet rest, dim the light

Turning ever the rolling wheel

Bring the winter to comfort and heal

Rest your spirit in peace,

Rest your spirit in peace.

Silent Night, Solstice Night

All is calm, all is right

Nature slumbers in forest and glen

Filling streams she wakens again

Sleeping spirits grow strong, 

Sleeping spirits grow strong.

Silent Night, Solstice Night

Silver Moon, shining bright

Snowfall blankets the slumbering Earth

Yule fires welcome the Sun’s return

Hark the light is reborn,

Hark the light is reborn.

Gods rest ye, merry Pagan folk

Gods rest ye, merry Pagan folk, let nothing you dismay.

Remember that the Sun returns upon this Solstice day!

The growing dark is ended now and Spring is on its way -

O, tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy.

O, tidings of comfort and joy.

The Winter's worst still lies ahead, fierce tempest, snow and rain.

Beneath the blanket on the ground, the spark of Life remains!

The Sun's warm rays caress the seeds to raise life's songs again -

O, tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy.

O, tidings of comfort and joy.

Within the blessed apple lies the Promise of the Queen,

For from the pentacle shall rise the orchards fresh and green!

The Earth shall blossom once again, the air is sweet and clean -

O, tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy.

O, tidings of comfort and joy.

Gods rest ye, merry Pagan folk, let nothing you dismay.

Remember that the Sun returns upon this Solstice day!

The growing dark is ended now, and Spring is on its way -

O, tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy.

O, tidings of comfort and joy.

Pagan Phrases 1995 CO1

Pagan Phrases, 1995

These are phrases you'll hear a lot in Pagan groups; what they mean, and how they should be used. It's polite to repeat any of these terms.

Blessed Be - Similar to 'aloha' this can be used as a 'hello', a 'goodbye', or a 'you are loved'. You'll hear it used often during Ritual or Circles, very much like the use of Amen.

So Mote it Be - literally translates to 'So may it be' and is often used to denote something is 'done' and now in the hands of God/Goddess.

Merry Meet - means 'We meet happily'. A welcoming gesture that can be used with friends, family and strangers alike.

May you never Thirst - you'll hear this one a lot during Cakes & Ale in Circles...and any time someone hands you a drink of any kind. It's polite to return the blessing with a slight nod of the head or by lifting the glass to honor the person giving you the drink.

May you never Hunger - the other one you'll hear often during Cakes & Ale in Circles...and any time someone hands you food of any kind. It's polite to return the blessing with a slight nod of the head or by lifting it to honor the person giving you the food.

Merry Meet, Merry Part, Merry Meet Again - refers to life, death, and reincarnation. Often used as a 'goodbye'. I see you today, I might not see you tomorrow, I look forward to seeing you again in this life or the next.

A typical Circle challenge is - 'How do you enter this Circle?' 

The response should be - 'In perfect love, and perfect trust.'

If no response ask - You enter this circle with Perfect Love and Perfect Trust, do you do so willingly?

Response - Yes

Go Mbeannaigh

          (Gaelic, Ireland - Blessed Be)

Sonqongi Apukuna Wak'aychasunkiku

          (Quechua, Peru - May the Heart of the Mountain bless you)

Xut Kala Xetl

          (Tlingit, Alaska - Blessed Be)

Candlemas Nichols 2003

Candlemas

The Light Returns, by Mike Nichols 2003

It seems quite impossible that the holiday of Candlemas should be considered the beginning of spring. Here in the Heartland, February 2 may see a blanket of snow mantling the Mother. Or, if the snows have gone, you may be sure the days are filled with drizzle, slush, and steel-grey skies—the dreariest weather of the year - in short, the perfect time for a Pagan Festival of Lights. And as for spring, although this may seem a tenuous beginning, all the little buds, flowers, and leaves will have arrived on schedule before spring runs its course to Beltane. 

“Candlemas” is the Christianized name for the holiday, of course. The older Pagan names were Imbolc and Oimelc. Imbolc means, literally, “in the belly” (of the Mother). For in the womb of Mother Earth, hidden from our mundane sight but sensed by a keener vision, there are stirrings. The seed that was planted in her womb at the solstice is quickening and the new year grows. Oimelc means “milk of ewes”, for it is also lambing season. 

The holiday is also called “Brigit’s Day”, in honor of the great Irish Goddess Brigit. At her shrine, the ancient Irish capitol of Kildare, a group of nineteen priestesses (no men allowed) kept a perpetual flame burning in her honor. She was considered a Goddess of fire, patroness of smithcraft, poetry, and healing (especially the healing touch of midwifery). This tripartite symbolism was occasionally expressed by saying that Brigit had two sisters, also named Brigit. (Incidentally, another form of the name Brigit is Bride, and it is thus she bestows her special patronage on any woman about to be married or handfasted, the woman being called “bride” in her honor.) 

The Roman Catholic Church could not very easily call the Great Goddess of Ireland a demon, so they canonized her instead. Henceforth, she would be ‘Saint’ Brigit, patron saint of smithcraft, poetry, and healing. They ‘explained’ this by telling the Irish peasants that Brigit was ‘really’ an early Christian missionary sent to the Emerald Isle, and that the miracles she performed there ‘misled’ the common people into believing that she was a Goddess. For some reason, the Irish swallowed this. (There is no limit to what the Irish imagination can convince itself of. For example, they also came to believe that Brigit was the ‘foster mother’ of Jesus, giving no thought to the implausibility of Jesus having spent his boyhood in Ireland!) 

Brigit’s holiday was chiefly marked by the kindling of sacred fires, since she symbolized the fire of birth and healing, the fire of the forge, and the fire of poetic inspiration. Bonfires were lighted on the beacon tors, and chandlers celebrated their special holiday. The Roman Church was quick to confiscate this symbolism as well, using “Candlemas” as the day to bless all the church candles that would be used for the coming liturgical year. (Catholics will be reminded that the following day, St. Blaise’s Day, is remembered for using the newly blessed candles to bless the throats of parishioners, keeping them from colds, flu, sore throats, etc.) 

The Catholic Church, never one to refrain from piling holiday upon holiday, also called it the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary. (It is surprising how many of the old Pagan holidays were converted to Maryan feasts.) The symbol of the purification may seem a little obscure to modern readers, but it has to do with the old custom of “churching women”. It was believed that women were impure for six weeks after giving birth. And since Mary gave birth at the winter solstice, she wouldn’t be purified until February 2. In Pagan symbolism, this might be retranslated as when the Great Mother once again becomes the young Maiden Goddess. 

Today, this holiday is chiefly connected to weather lore. Even our American folk calendar keeps the tradition of “Groundhog Day”, a day to predict the coming weather, telling us that if the groundhog sees his shadow, there will be “six more weeks” of bad weather (i.e., until the next Old Holiday, Lady Day). This custom is ancient. An old British rhyme tells us that “if Candlemas Day be bright and clear, there’ll be two winters in the year”. Actually, all of the cross-quarter days can be used as inverse weather predictors, whereas the quarter days are used as direct weather predictors. 

Like the other High Holidays or Great Sabbats of the Witches’ year, Candlemas is sometimes celebrated on its alternate date, astrologically determined by the sun reaching fifteen degrees Aquarius, or Candlemas Old Style. Incidentally, some modern Pagan groups have recently begun calling the holiday itself ‘Brigit’, presumably as shorthand for “Brigit’s Day”. This lexical laziness is lamentable since it confuses a Deity name for the proper name of the holiday. The same disconcerting trend can be seen in the recent practice of referring to the autumnal equinox as ‘Mabon’, which is more properly the name of a Welsh God-form. 

Another holiday that gets mixed up in this is Valentine’s Day. Ozark folklorist Vance Randolph makes this quite clear by noting that the old-timers used to celebrate Groundhog Day on February 14. This same displacement is evident in Eastern Orthodox Christianity as well. Their habit of celebrating the birth of Jesus on January 7, with a similar postdated shift in the six-week period that follows it, puts the Feast of the Purification of Mary on February 14. It is amazing to think that the same confusion and lateral displacement of one of the old folk holidays can be seen from the Russian steppes to the Ozark hills, but such seems to be the case! 

Incidentally, there is speculation among linguistic scholars that the very name of “Valentine” has Pagan origins. It seems that it was customary for French peasants of the Middle Ages to pronounce a g as a v. Consequently, the original term may have been the French “galantine”, which yields the English word “gallant”. The word originally refers to a dashing young man known for his “affaires d’amour”, a true gallant. The usual associations of V(G)alantine’s Day make much more sense in this light than their vague connection to a legendary ‘St. Valentine’ can produce. Indeed, the church has always found it rather difficult to explain this nebulous saint’s connection to the secular pleasures of flirtation and courtly love. 

For modern Witches, Candlemas O.S. may then be seen as the Pagan version of Valentine’s Day, with a de-emphasis of hearts and flowers and an appropriate reemphasis of Pagan carnal frivolity. This also realigns the holiday with the ancient Roman Lupercalia, a fertility festival held at this time, in which the priests of Pan ran through the streets of Rome, whacking young women with goatskin thongs to make them fertile. The women seemed to enjoy the attention and often stripped in order to afford better targets. 

One of the nicest folk customs still practiced in many countries, and especially by Witches in the British Isles and parts of the U.S., is to place a lighted candle in each and every window of the house (or at least the windows that face the street), beginning at sundown on Candlemas Eve (February 1), allowing them to continue burning until sunrise. Make sure that such candles are well seated against tipping and guarded from nearby curtains, etc. What a cheery sight it is on this cold, bleak, and dreary night to see house after house with candlelit windows! And, of course, if you are your coven’s chandler, or if you just happen to like making candles, Candlemas Day is the day for doing it. Some covens hold candle-making parties and try to make and bless all the candles they’ll be using for the whole year on this day.

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Go Mbeannaigh    (Gaelic, Ireland - Blessed Be)

Beannaichte Be    (Gaelic, Scotland - Blessed Be)

Sonqongi Apukuna Wak'aychasunkiku

   (Quechua, Peru - May the Heart of the Mountain bless you)

Xut Kala Xetl     (Tlingit, Alaska - Blessed Be)

Seja Abençoado     (Portuguese, Portugal - Blessed Be) 

Song of the Goddess 1996 CO1

Song of the Goddess, 1996

Wicca, A Guide For The Solitary Practitioner

by, Scott Cunningham

I am the Great Mother, worshipped by all creation and existent prior to their consciousness.  I am the primal female force, boundless and eternal.

I am the chaste Goddess of the Moon, the Lady of all magic.  The winds and moving leaves sing my name.  I wear the crescent Moon upon my brow and my feet rest among the starry heavens.  I am mysteries yet unsolved, a path newly set upon.  I am a field untouched by the plow.  Rejoice in me and know the fullness of youth.

I am the blessed Mother,  the gracious Lady of the harvest.  I am clothed with the deep, cool wonder of the earth and the gold of the fields heavy with grain.  By me the tides of the Earth are ruled; all things come to fruition according to my season.  I am refuge and healing.  I am the life-giving Mother, wondrously fertile.

Worship me as the Crone, tender of the unbroken cycle of death and rebirth.  I am the wheel, the shadow of the Moon.  I rule the tides of women and men and give release and renewal to weary souls.  Though the darkness of death is my domain,  joy of birth is my gift.

I am the Goddess of the Moon, the Earth, the Seas.   My names and strengths are manifold.  I pour fourth magic and power,  peace and wisdom.  I am eternal Maiden, Mother of all, and Crone of darkness, and I send you blessings of limitless love.

Go Mbeannaigh

          (Gaelic, Ireland - Blessed Be)

Sonqongi Apukuna Wak'aychasunkiku

          (Quechua, Peru - May the Heart of the Mountain bless you)

Xut Kala Xetl

          (Tlingit, Alaska - Blessed Be)

Charge of the Star Goddess 1995 CO1

Charge of the Star Goddess, 1995

Listen to the words of the Great Mother, who of old was called Artemis, Astarte, Dione Melusine, Aphrodite, Ceridwen, Diana, Arionrhod, Brigid, and by many other names:

Whenever you need anything, once in the month and better it be when the moon is full, you shall assemble in some secret place and adore the spirit of  Me who is Queen of all the Wise.  You shall be free from slavery, and as a sign that you be free you shall be naked in your rites.  Sing, feast, dance, make music and love, all in My  presence, for Mine is the ecstasy of the spirit and Mine also is joy on earth. For My law is love unto all beings.  Mine is the secret that opens upon the door of youth, and Mine is the cup of wine of life that is the Cauldron of Ceridwen, that is the holy grail of immortality.  

I give the knowledge of the spirit eternal, and beyond death I give peace and freedom and reunion with those that have gone before.  Nor do I demand ought of sacrifice, for behold,  I am the Mother of all things and My love is poured upon the earth.

Hear the words of the Star Goddess, the dust of whose feet are the hosts of heaven, whose body encircles the universe:

I who am the beauty of the green earth and white moon among the stars and the mysteries of the waters, I call upon your soul to arise and come unto me.  For I am the soul of nature that gives life to the universe.  From Me all things proceed and unto Me they must return; and before My face, beloved of Gods and of men, let thine innermost divine self be enfolded in the rapture of the infinite.  

Let My worship be in the heart that rejoices; for behold - all acts of love and pleasure are My rituals.  Let there be beauty and strength, power and compassion, honor and humility, mirth and reverence within you.  

And you who seek to know Me, know that your seeking and yearning will avail you not unless you know the Mystery:   for if that which you seek, you find not within yourself,  you will never find it without.  For  behold, I have been with you from the beginning; and I am that which is attained at the end of desire.

From:   To Stir A Magick Cauldron

by, Silver RavenWolf