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(Number 435)
THE MEANING OF RITUAL IN WORKING MAGICK
Wiccan rituals are ceremonies that honor the God, Goddess, and the
Earth, and strengthen our bond with them. They are usually performed
to attune us with the lunar and solar cycles of the Earth and for
working magick. Magick is worked during ritual to improve the life of
the Witch on the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual levels,
depending upon the needs of the Witch. Wiccan rituals are also held
to celebrate rites of passage, such as birth, coming of age,
marriage, becoming an elder, and death.
I have added this posting for the many people that are stuggling
beginners we have in our group and for those solitaires who have all
written in to me trying to fathom just what "ritual" is all about and
are finding the whole thing confusing. How, what, when and why and
is it ok if.... are among the many questions, so I hope that I can
help those people in this rather long posting.
I must add here that you can actually make your ritual area and
rituals themselves to be as simple, or conversely, as dramatic and
flamboyant as you personally want. The reality after all, is found
deep in your heart and your personal relationship with the Goddess,
God and Ancient Powers, not so much in the trappings of an Oscar
winning production, (although this certainly helps get one into a
wonderful mood to achieve real magick).
If you belong to a proper Coven, ritual is an important bonding time
with your Coven-mates. If you are practicing as a Solitary, ritual
develops your relationships with the Gods on an intensely personal
level. Most Witches who are members of a Coven still perform
solitary rituals occasionally for some "quality time with Mom and
Dad", (so to speak), or to do personal spells and meditations.
So, what is a Wiccan ritual? There are nine basic components of
Wiccan ritual: purification of self, purification of space, creation
of sacred space, invoking the God and/or Goddess, ritual observance
(stating the purpose of the ritual), energy raising, earthing the
power (the Simple Feast), thanking the God and/or Goddess, and
opening the circle. I will discuss each of these steps in detail and
as before, bullet them for easy reading and digestion.
The quality of one's clothing, or robes, (or as in most Wiccan groups
around the world, the lack of them) is another cue to one's inner
being that sacred activities are about to take place, as well as
another way to show respect to the Deities. The people attending the
ritual therefore either dresses in special ceremonial robes or else
strip down to a state of ritual nudity. The latter makes
them "skyclad,", and for those who are interested, the word came from
a Jain term for naked sages living in the woods and abandoned all
social concerns and class distinctions in their quests for
enlightenment.
Almost all Wiccan groups use a circle as the shape of their sacred
space. Some have this shape physically marked on the ground or
floor; but most do not - which is why it often turns into a "magic
oval".
Most will have candles or torches set up, either just inside or just
outside of the circle's line, at the North, South, East, and West
intersections of two invisible lines drawn through the center of the
circle. The spots are called "Quarter Points" or often just "the
Quarters." Whether the directions are marked accurately with a
compass or loosely as the room or other factors make convenient,
varies considerably.
Some Traditions have the altar outside this circle when the rite
begins; others place it inside either at the center or near to one of
the Quarter Points, (invariably north).
Salt and water are usually exorcised and/or blessed by the presiding
clergy, sometimes along with other substances such as incense, oil,
candles, etc. These items are used, either before or after the
circle is "cast" (symbolically formed) to exorcise and/or bless the
circle as a whole and/or all the people in it. As with the personal
purifications mentioned above, exorcisms done in Neopagan rituals
have little to do with banishing evil spirits and much to do with re-
tuning the spiritual energies of the objects and/or persons involved
to make them appropriate for the work at hand - much as a cook who
had been chopping garlic would take care to wash his or her hands and
the knife before beginning to chop the apples for a pie (at least we
hope so!)
I - RITUAL IN WORKING MAGICK
A. The Need to Change the Wiring in our Brains.
1. Learning to work magick requires that a certain amount of
neurological re-patterning of our brains takes place.
· To be effective, we have to change the way we use our brains.
· How to "use' our inner self and subconscious.
· How to raise and release power.
· Magick requires the development and integration of the right
hemisphere way of thinking with the left hemisphere way of thinking.
· The spatial, intuitive and holistic patterns of awareness
that characterize the right hemisphere modes of consciousness must be
able to communicate and work in harmony with the verbal, analytical
and linear patterns of awareness so characteristic of the left
hemisphere.
· A person's growth, creativity and personality is deeply
influenced during this process and it eventually leads to a person
who is truly functional as a whole person.
· The real language of magick is expressed in `symbols'
and `images'.
2. Images bridge the gap between the verbal and non-verbal modes of
awareness.
· Symbols and images implant certain ideas in what Starhawk
calls the `Younger Self' who passes them on to what she refers to
as `High Self'. These are of course, the conscious mind and
subconscious.
· By allowing the critical and analytical functions of `Talking
Self' to relax, `Younger Self' may respond fully and emotionally to
what happens during your magickal workings.
3. Ritual, which is defined as, "a specific set of images and
symbols attached to certain actions", allows us to deliberately alter
our states of consciousness so that we may perform works of magick.
· All humans relate to their environment through symbols and
rituals.
· Except during rare occasions, we do not experience our
environment directly.
· Our left hemisphere patterning awareness developed so we
could safely ignore anything in our environment, which was not
potentially dangerous.
· A direct benefit of this survival tactic however, was the
ability to 'concentrate', which allowed us to examine the world
around us and led to experimentation.
· Experimentation led to better ways of doing things, such as
making tools, and thus technology was born. It has served as a goad
and a goal since then.
· The way our left hemisphere works is actually fascinating,
4. Working as a filter of all the stimuli coming into the various
senses of a human, the left hemisphere examines everything closely
and then files the new sensory data away as images, tastes, smells,
etc., where it stays in memory.
· The majority of this activity occurs when we are young and
enchanted with the world around us.
· Maturity is usually judged by the degree to which your
enthusiasm for examining the world around you has diminished.
· Ironically, when you become too mature, you withdraw from the
world around you and lose interest. This is usually marked by a
tendency to live in your memories instead of the present. This
condition is commonly called old age and people who give-in to living
in the past are then called senile.
· Those of us who never lose our sense of `wonder toward all
the world has to offer' are often accused of having never `grown up'
or if, we have managed to live long enough, to be going through
our `second childhood.'
· As we approach something in our normal everyday activities,
we receive an image from our eyes and then a part of our brain
searches through our memory for an image that matches the one at
which we are looking.
· If there is already an image on file, even if it is not a
perfect match, the image on file is fed to that part of our brain,
which `sees' what we are approaching.
· In this instance, assuming that we have not associated the
image in memory with something dangerous, we will walk past the
object without paying it any attention, or actually `seeing' the
object.
· If there is not an image on file we will stop and examine the
new object as if we were seeing it for the first time, which, of
course, `we are'.
· Then having classified and categorized it, we then file it
away in our memory for future reference and continue on our way,
oblivious to our surroundings once again.
· This behavior allows us to concentrate on more abstract
things, than worrying if our favourite armchair is going to have us
for brunch.
5. An extension of this type of behavior is the formation of
habits. Habits are ways of interacting with our environment, based
on assumptions made, using our stored images and experiences as a
true picture of reality.
· In effect, habits are pre-programmed responses to everyday
occurrences.
· A little known fact relating to habits is, that habits do
fulfill a psychological need.
· And you cannot break a habit, you can only replace it with
another that meets that same psychological need.
II - RITUAL ETIQUETTE
B The Ritual Bath
1. Before performing a ritual, it is necessary to prepare yourself
for the work ahead.
· As many Singaporeans only have showers and not long baths, as
most western households seem to have, the ritual bath can be done by
taking a pinch of salt and any oils into the shower and then standing
or sitting under the stream of water and emptying one's mind.
· A ritual bath washes away the dirt and grime of the everyday
world along with the tensions of the mundane world
· For those with a long bath; draw a hot bath and add some
essence, oils or perfume that makes you feel good. If you have
studied the uses of oils and scents in magick, you might want to tune
your additives to the work to be done.
· Turn off all the lights and light a single white taper or
small candle.
· Make sure that it is in a candle holder, that will handle it
without you worrying about it setting fire to anything, or spilling
wax where you do not want it. Votive candles and holders work very
well for this.
· Light a stick of incense or place some on a glowing coal in a
censer that you have.
· Place some sea salt in a white dish or small bowl.
· Being so close to the sea, it is easy to collect sea salt by
just taking some ocean water home and letting it evaporate in the
direct sunlight until all that is left is the salt crystals.
· If you cannot get sea salt, you might want to use some
iodized, or rock salt, from the market. It is essentially the same
thing, but personally I like the idea of making or collecting my own
salt.
· You should have some purified water in a cup or vial.
· Fresh spring water or stream water is ideal but most of us
living here have to make do with bottled water from a store.
· Rainwater, collected, strained, and kept in glass bottles is
a good substitute though.
· It is definitely preferred that you do not use tap water
because of the additives in it.
2. The following is a very simple ritual for consecrating the ritual
bath.
· Lock the doors and unplug the phone.
· This is to ensure that you are not disturbed.
· Once the bath is drawn and any oils have been added to it as
desired, take the candle and make three slow passes over the water as
you say the following evocation.
(a) "By this creature of fire do I purify this ritual bath. May all
impurities flee before its light."
(b) Set the candle down so that it is out of the way but still sheds
light on your work.
(c) Take up the dish of salt and, sprinkling three pinches of the
salt into the water say the following. "By this creature of earth do
I purify this ritual bath. All impure creatures may not approach
it."
· Set the dish of salt aside and pick up the incense or censer
and make three passes over the water as you say the following
evocation.
(a) "By this creature of Air do I purify this ritual bath. May my
hopes and aspirations rise upon the smoke to be carried by the winds
to the Lady."
(b) Set the incense aside and pick up the water. Pour the water into
the bath. You may form patterns that appeal to you if you like and
say the following. "By this creature of water do I purify this ritual
bath. May this bath contain the Waters of Life that spring forth
from the Heart of the Mother."
· Settle into the bath and soak until the water starts to get
too cold to stay in, or until you have fully relaxed and left the
tensions of the world behind, which ever comes first.
· This is a good time to meditate on the work you wish to do.
· Dry off with a freshly cleaned white towel that has been
allowed to dry in the sunlight if possible.
· Again, the colour of the towel can be coordinated with the
work you intend to do.
· Apply any anointing oils that you plan to use and go to your
working site.
· There are provisions made for `emergency' ritual baths in the
event that you cannot take a real bath, as we've already discussed
above by taking showers if no alternative is present.
· These provisions just involve dousing yourself with any
specially prepared solutions and the salt that serve the purpose.
· These are not so much favoured so much as they do not allow
any time for real relaxation and meditation, unless you sit and let
all the stress and dark thoughts wash away with the stream of water.
C Handling Ritual Tools
1. A Witch's tools are more personal than their toothbrush.
· Generally, it is considered extremely bad form to handle
another person's tools without prior permission.
· Some Covens maintain ritual tools that they only allow their
own members to handle.
· If you are a guest, it is always best to avoid offending
anyone by `not handling anything' unless it is specifically offered
to you.
D Entering and Leaving the Circle
1. A witch's magick circle is designed to keep the power
raised `within it' contained and concentrated.
· Leaving and entering the circle during the ritual tends to
weaken it and for this reason it is not encouraged.
· Animals and small children can pass through the barrier of
the circle because they live in a `state of grace' under the
protection of the Goddess.
· Even so, animals and children should be kept out of the
ritual area unless they are a specific part of the ritual because
they become distracting.
· When it cannot be helped, the High Priestess (or High Priest)
will open, or `cut' a door in the circle so that people who need to,
can pass in or out of it.
· Naturally, after the person has passed through, the High
Priestess (HP) will set a guard, or close (seal) the circle again.
· Walking across the barriers of the circle is considered to be
extremely disrespectful and only someone who wants to test the
patience of the High Priestess and High Priest will do it knowingly.
D Movement Within the Circle
1. Movement within the circle is in accordance to the order found in
nature.
· As you face south you can track the Sun and Moon from your
Left to your Right.
· This is the order of how we move in the circle, from side to
side when doing things such as lighting candles, etc.
· Continuing the movement from the west to the north and back
to the east, we have actually inscribed a circle in a clockwise or
Deosil, pronounced Jeshil, (as the sun travels) motion.
· Deosil is the direction the Circle is cast in, and all
circular movement within the Circle should thus be in a clockwise
direction for positive effects.
· There are certainly times when we move in a counter clockwise
direction and is usually for banishing or other special circumstances
and is explainedby the HPS and HP on why we are doing it.
· The general rule though is "move in a clockwise direction."
· It must be pointed out though that some Traditional
Witchcraft practices always move in an anti-clockwise direction, but
that is another matter and does not relate to standard Wicca
traditions.
2. Each Coven maintains its own practices for giving salutes during
invocations, evocations and blessings.
· Invoking and banishing pentagrams are also used in setting up
the Circle and during other rituals acts.
III - CREATING MEANINGFUL RITUALS.
A Creating Sacred Space
1. We `define' a new space and a new time whenever we cast a Circle
in the Craft to begin a ritual.
· The Circle exists outside the boundaries of ordinary space
and time. We say it is "Between the worlds of the seen and the
unseen".
· It is a space in which alternate realities meet, in which the
past and future are open to us.
· Casting the Circle is an enacted meditation.
· We create an `energy form' which serves as a boundary that
limits and contains the movement of subtle forces.
· In group work, it is usually the High Priestess or her
assistant, (or High Priest in special circumstances, who casts the
Circle).
2. Casting the Circle is the formal beginning of the ritual.
· It is the complex `cue' that tells us to switch our awareness
into a deeper mode.
· In ritual, we `suspend disbelief' just as we do when we are
watching a play or reading fiction.
· In the a few permanent stone circles of the Megalithic era,
where rituals might have been enacted for thousands of years, great
reservoirs of power were probably built up.
· There was no need to draw out the circle as we do today,
because the stones defined the sacred space.
· Casting a temporary circle as we do today probably began
during the time of persecution when tearing down stone circles was a
popular sport of Christian mobs.
· In Starhawkian Wicca and some of the other heterodox Trads,
the circle casting, Quarter Point Invocations, exorcism/blessing of
the circle and people, etc., can be done completely or fragmentarily,
and in any order or all at once, depending upon the consensus and/or
whims of the participants.
3. To further the `destruction' of our circles, the church ordered
that Christian churches be erected over the old sacred spots in the
countryside. In the Old Country, it is common to find ancient
churches built `near', but usually `not on' the site of an ancient
Holy Well, usually of the Goddess. (As was done at my favourite
sacred place back home on the Isle-of-Man, where a church was built
in approximately 400 AD "adjacent" to a Holy Well dedicated to the
Goddess. The original walls still exist on the church, although it
was built-on later a few centuries ago and there are original Celtic
crosses scattered around the ground – It's where I can sit for hours
by the old Holy Well).
B Evoking The Guardians of the Watchtowers
1. The concept of the quartered circle is basic to the Craft, as it
is to many cultures and religions.
· The four directions each correspond to, and resonate with, a
quality of the self, to an Element, a time of day, and year, to tools
of the craft, symbolic animals and forms of personal power.
· These correspondences are usually set down in a table similar
to the one in the back of `The Spiral Dance' and provide the basis
for visualizations throughout the ritual.
· Constant visualizations of these connections create deep
internal links, so much so, that physical actions during ritual can
trigger the desired inner states.
2. The Guardians of the Watchtowers are energy forms.
· They are the Spirits, or Wraiths, of the four Elements.
· They bring the Elemental energy of Earth, Air, Fire, and
Water into the circle to augment our human power.
· The vortex of power created when we evoke the four Quarters
guards the circle from intrusions and draws in the higher powers of
the Goddess and God.
· The circle keeps and maintains the powers raised within it,
more than it is to keep anything out.
· Each Movement in a Ritual has Meaning
3. When we move deosil (or sunwise), we follow the direction the sun
appears to move in, and draw in power.
· Deosil is the direction of increase, of fortune favour and
blessing.
· When we move `widdershins', or counter clockwise, we move
against the path of the sun.
· This direction is used for `decrease' or `banishing'. (Or as
carried out by some ancient Traditional Witchcraft traditions as the
standard way of movement).
D Cosmic Power Times
1. Some traditions even assign one of the four seasons to each of
the four Elements.
· When this is done, they will orient their altar to face that
quarter which represents the season that is being honoured rather
than always pointing north or east. (Some traditional witches always
face west).
· The East is associated with Air and the Spring, South is
associated with Fire and Summer, West with Water and the Autumn and
the North with Earth and Winter.
· Depending on the time of day or night, some traditions even
encourage facing towards one of the four directions to draw power and
perform magick appropriate to the Element used.
· Generally, as we've just said, the Craft always faces north,
but there are those that face east.
· You may also use the following format some traditions use in
that, from sunrise to noon you can face East, Noon until sunset face
South, sunset to midnight face West and midnight to sunrise face
North.
· I personally find all this too complicated and disconcerting
for many Covens and follow the original tradition of facing north.
E Raising the Cone of Power
Raising energy is a part of most rituals, especially if spells have
been cast. If no spells have been done, energy can be raised to heal
the Earth. Energy can be raised in many ways. The most common are
dancing and chanting. "Dancing" is a term I use loosely, because
these dances often consist of everyone racing around the circle, with
an occasional leap or twirl.
Movement raises energy; so don't feel that you have to do some
graceful and complex series of steps in order to do it "right". Just
make sure you move clockwise, or deosil, to bring something to you
(money, love, etc.), and move counter-clockwise, or widdershins, to
move something away from you (a bad habit, extra weight, etc.).
Chanting is another way to raise energy. You can chant the vowels,
use a chant from a book or tape, or make up your own. Remember, the
more power you put into your voice, the more energy you will raise.
Many people say, "Oh, I can't sing!" You don't have to sing. Chanting
is not singing. Just open your mouth and let sound flow out. You
don't have to hit a certain note. Just chant "Aaaaah" over and over,
increasing volume and intensity until you feel the air throbbing and
the hair on your arms is standing up.
No matter the method you use to raise the energy in your circle,
continue until you feel it peak. If you belong to a coven, the High
Priestess or High Priest will give a signal when this has occurred.
If you are a Solitary, you'll have to use the trial-and-error method
until you become familiar with the feeling. When the energy peaks,
it is released by a sudden cessation of movement and sound.
Everyone "lets go", sometimes by physically dropping to the ground.
Again, visualize the energy shooting out of the circle to carry out
your desires.
When the energy has been released, you will need to ground by eating
something. Trust me on this one. You might feel great (albeit out of
breath!) but if you don't ground yourself, you'll end up spacey and
irritable and might get a headache.
The Simple Feast is ritually blessed food that is shared with the
coven. Common fare for a lunar esbat would be milk and cookies. For
the holidays, the food and beverage usually correspond to the season.
For example, apple cider and pumpkin bread could be served for
Samhain. The Priest and Priestess bless the food and pass it around
the circle. While everyone eats, stories can be told, songs sung, or
you can discuss insights you had during the meditation. Basically,
this a time to relax and enjoy the company of your Coven. If you are
a Solitary, allow yourself time to relax and eat, and bask in the
glow of the ritual you've performed.
1. Energy is raised in Coven rituals and most often molded into the
form of a Cone.
· This is called the `Cone of Power'. The base of the cone is
the circle of Coveners; (its apex can focus on an individual though,
an object, or a collectively visualized image.
· At times the cone is allowed to rise and fall naturally
without being sent anywhere.
· At these times the cone is used to renew the Coveners'
personal power.
· It may also be sent off in a burst of great `Force', directed
by one person who may be apart of the circle, or may stand in the
center serving as the focal point.
· Rhythmical drumming, hand-claps and dance movements, or a
myriad of other arcane or specialized methods may all be used to
raise the Cone of Power. It is very important to feel the power
raising inside though, until it forms an almost orgasmic force which
is suddenly released to do the Coven's bidding.
F Energy Patterns
1. Mechanics of the procedure might look something like this:
· Center (at balance point of energy in body)
Ground (to object or to the earth at the center of the physical space
you are whirling around) Increase energy within your body
Focus (on purpose of work)
Direct (to place of sending, setting up resonance)
Release (at peak of cone)
Ground (residual energy)
Center (re-establish personal balance)
2. Two practitioners can make use of polarity theory to more readily
raise energy. This theory holds that energy moves from positive to
negative (imagine filling a cauldron), so two people facing each
other cycle energy within their own bodies, and then cycle energy
between them.
3. Three practitioners form a pattern reminiscent of triskel designs
in celtic art. As you add each person, the pattern will change and
needs to be taken into account by the main person focusing the
energy. If all are focusing the energy, clear agreement about how
and when it is to be focused and released gets extremely crucial.
G The Release
1. This is the trickiest part of raising the cone, requiring a sense
of timing and an awareness of the level of energies. The "drop" or
release is called when the energy peaks, and before it falls back
2. Like raising sexual tension and releasing it, the cone may
plateau and drop slightly in energy before climbing to an even higher
peak just before releasing. An inexperienced person may not know
this, or the group may only be able to raise a limited cone at
first. This must be practiced and practiced to get it right,
whether alone or in a group.
IV - FORMAT OF A TYPICAL RITUAL
A Creating Sacred Space
1. The High Priestess or assistant casts the circle.
· The circle can be marked out by stones, chalk, rope, salt or
any other natural material, or simply visualized.
· No one is allowed to enter the circle until it has been
properly cast.
· Once cast, other members of the ritual enter the circle
through a pre-arranged `door' in the circle.
· Usually in the north-east.
B Evoking the Guardians of the Watchtowers
1. The guardians are evoked, one at a time and welcomed.
· The circle can be purified by that Element assigned to each
Guardian, as the Guardian is evoked or later, after all the Guardians
have been evoked.
C Invoking the Goddess and the God, or Drawing down the Goddess, or
God.
1. Many traditions invoke the Goddess in all their rituals.
· Some invoke the Goddess and God at Sabbats and the Goddess
only at Esbats.
· Some traditions invoke either the Goddess or the God, in
accordance with the Season.
· Some traditions invoke both the God and Goddess, if
applicable to the ritual.
D Feasting
1. The ritual feast can consist of eating a simple meal of ritual
cakes and wine or a full-blown feast in honor of the Goddess and God
and the season.
· It is traditional to pour a libation from the chalice out
onto the ground `for the Goddess' before anyone else has a drink.
· Some traditions have a modest meal of cakes and wine and
then, after the circle is over, settle down for some serious
feasting.
· Some traditions, (such as the OAM) celebrate the Goddess Frya
on Her day, (Frya's day) – Friday by having a feast dedicated to Her.
E Working Magick / Raising the Cone
1. Any magickal work or healing is usually done at this time.
F Grounding of the Cone of Power
1. Some traditions perform a ritual to rejuvenate the Earth Mother
by grounding any unused energy raised during the formation of the
Cone of Power.
· After any raising of power, it is important to
always "ground" all the participants.
G. Thanking the Goddess and/or the God
1. A formal declaration of thanks for attending the rites and for
any special favours granted.
H Thanking and releasing the Guardians
1. A formal thanking and leave-taking of the Guardians.
I Closing the circle
1. Either the circle will be banished so that it cannot be
discovered, or a maintenance spell will be placed upon it to allow it
to retain and grow in power.
V - OVERVIEW
Wiccan ritual is a powerful and meaningful way of communing with the
Deities. Intention is everything, so as long as your heart's in the
right place, you have nothing to worry about. Remember to always mind
the Wiccan Rede of "Harm None" and to live you faith between
rituals. Pray often and be kind to the Earth. Remember that the
Charge of the Goddess tells us that all acts of love and pleasure are
Her rituals.
There is some confusion in the Wiccan traditions and literature over
the use of the terms "open" and "closed" when referring to
the
magical state of the circle. Some groups will say "the circle is
closed" early in the rite to indicate that the magical barriers have
been fully erected (after casting and exorcism/blessing, etc.) and
that therefore no one is to enter or leave without special permission
and precautions (ritual "gate" making).
Others will say, "the circle is closed" at the end of the rite, to
mean that the ceremony has come to a close. Conversely, some
traditions use the phrase, "the circle is open" at the other's same
early stage of the ritual in the sense of being "open for work" or
the Gates between the worlds being open for communication with the
Other Side.
Still other groups will say "the circle is open" to mean that the
ceremony is over and the magical barriers have been taken down. This
conflicting use of terms can be very confusing until you find out how
a given group functions. Originally, the circle was opened at the
beginning and closed at the end, following the Masonic practice
of "opening" and "closing" lodge ceremonies (whence Gardner
took the
terminology).
This whole collection of variations in Wiccan ceremonial patterns
fits roughly within the "Common Worship Pattern". Some Wiccan
Traditions match it more closely than others. It has been my
experience that Wiccan ritual can be far more powerful and effective,
both thaumaturgically and theurgically, if a liturgical design is
chosen that is as close a match as possible to the Common Worship
Pattern. This can be accomplished most easily by adding the missing
steps from that pattern.
One thing you might notice if you attend many Wiccan rituals is that
they tend to be "top-heavy" - half to two-thirds of their liturgical
structure consists of setting up sacred space and doing the
preliminary power raising (calling the Guardians of the Quarters,
etc.), with the supposed purpose for the rituals, the Drawing(s) Down
and spell casting or rites of passage, taking much less time, and the
unwinding of the liturgy being positively zoomed through.
Perhaps these rites would be less top-heavy if extensive trance,
dancing, or other mana generating and focusing methods were used for
spell casting and/or rites of passage, instead of the five minutes'
worth common in current Wiccan rites.
However, I believe that perhaps Gardner reasoned that modern
Westerners need more time and effort to escape mundane reality than
folks from other times and places did, so he deliberately elaborated
the opening parts of the liturgy. Be that as it may, the ritual
design presented next inserts the missing parts of the common worship
pattern and makes the middle of the ritual more important than the
beginning or the end.
VI - SOME THOUGHTS ON THE EVOLUTION OF WICCAN RITUAL
Undoubtedly (insofar as anything in this mish-mash of magick can be
undoubted, the "convergent evolution" thing has a place in the
development of the various traditions.
ie. hitting on similar manifestations of one True Thing. An
algorithm stays the same, no matter how you code it.
Some of the interesting divergences, for instance...
The Quarters: Always a lively discussion, such as, - Air's in the
East. No, it's in the North, etc. The traditional post-GD
attributions stem from a system attributed to Egypt, and Egyptian
climate. The traditional Wiccan ones make sense in the context of
Northern Europe, especially in Britain. (At least the Brit-Trad ones
do).
The ceremonial (solar variety) magician concentrates on the Equinoxes
and Solstices as his major milestones in the wheel of the year,
whereas Wicca sticks with the Cross-Quarters as their main events.
Again, the solar calendar is an Egypto-Sumerian bugaboo, and more
important to agricultural peoples (or so it is suggested) whereas the
Cross-Quarters fit the rhythm of birth and growth in herd animals,
and thus suggest a tradition that evolved in the herding cultures of
the early Celts and Britons (who did not succumb to the siren song of
agro-economy until much later).
How rigorous these arguments are is open to dispute - they may just
be attempts to correlate anthropology and tradition. But they
suggest areas of emphasis that separate the two paths, and suggest
further the different aspects of Reality that drive them.
So now, just to re-cap on everything, for those of you brave enough
to have read this far.
VII - THE PATTERN OF A GENERIC WICCAN RITE
What follows is a generic expansion and ordering of the steps for a
Wiccan ritual. I have done rites this way for decades now, with great
success. I sincerely suggest that people experiment with adapting
their liturgies to match this pattern.
The numbered items are the observable steps of the ceremony as it is
performed.
Preliminary Ritual Activity
· (A) Briefing
· (B) Individual Meditations & Prayers
· (C) Sacred baths, other personal cleansing
(D) Setting up the altar and ritual area
1st Phase: Starting the Rite & Establishing the Groupmind
· Clear-cut Beginning: Consecration of Time
o (1) Announcement of Beginning
· Consecration of Space & of Participants
o (2) Blessing of the Elemental Tools
o (3) Casting of the Circle
o (4) Blessing/Exorcism of Altar, People, and Circle
· Centering, Grounding, Linking & Merging
o (5) Opening Unity Meditation/Kissing Dance
o (6) Specification of Ritual Purpose & Historical Precedent
(7) Specification of Deity(ies) of the Occasion & Reasons for Choice
2nd Phase: Recreating the Cosmos & Preliminary Power Raising
· Invoking the Gatekeepers/Defining the Circle as Center
o (8) Inviting the Guardians of the Quarters
(9) "Between the Worlds" Chant or Affirmation
3rd Phase: Major Sending of Power to Deity/ies of the Occasion
· (10) Descriptive Invocation of Goddess (optional: and God)
· Primary Power Raising (a.k.a. "Cone of Power")
o (11) Participants generate mana by dancing, singing,
chanting, etc.
· Any Sacrifice
(12) Releasing of energy raised (a.k.a. the "Drop")
4th Phase: Receiving and Using the Returned Power
· Preparation for the Return
o (13) Meditation upon Personal and Group Needs
o (14) Induction of Receptivity
· Reception of Power from Deity(ies) of the Occasion
o (15) Drawing Down the Moon
o (16) Instruction from the Goddess; the Charge
o (17) Optional Activity: Drawing Down the Sun
o (18) Optional Activity: Instruction from the God; the Charge
o (19) Optional Activity: the Great Rite (or in step 23)
o (20) Cakes and Wine (Blessing and Passing)
o (21) Acceptance of Individual Blessings
· Use of the Power Received
o (22) Reinforcement of Group Bonding
o (23) Optional Activity: Spell Casting or Rite of Passage
(24) Optional Activity: Second Ritual Meal with Conversation and/or
Instruction
5th Phase: Unwinding and Ending the Ceremony
· Thanking of Entities Invited, in Reverse Order
o (25) Thanking the Goddess (optional: and God)
o (26) Thanking of Guardians of the Quarters/Closing Gates
o (27) Affirmation of Continuity & Success
· Unmerging, Unlinking, Regrounding & Recentering
o (28) Closing Meditation/Kissing Dance
· Draining off Excess Mana
o (29) Charging of Tools
· Deconsecration of Space
o (30) Circle Closing
· Clear-cut Ending: Deconsecration of Time
(31) Announcement of End (a.k.a. "Merry Meet and Merry Part")
I hope that cleared up any misunderstandings for the newcomers and
might even have been somewhat interesting for the "old hands" out
there. I hope I have managed to answer the many questions that have
been written into me from all those that have emailed me. In the
meantime, Merry Meet, Merry Part and Merry Meet Again.
B*B
Azaz
Degree System
within Wicca Working Tools of Wicca
Elements of Witchcraft More Witch
Stuff
Theban
Script
With Thanks
