This BOS is made entirely from items submitted by either myself (I have indicated in the table of contents when the information is gathered from another book of shadows such as The Riders of the Crystal Winds Book of Shadows which does appear within these pages in its entirety The code *RCW* is the indication of the afore mentioned text.)or the author(s)( persons who have sent items to the BOS) mentioned in the Book these are items that are of usefulness to all and can be used and reused. All Items submitted will fall under copyright. Items may be printed by any Pagan but, not sold All other printing and or distribution is a copyright infringement. In other words before you grab ask. If you print and distribute these items give credit to the author of the item. Questions?

     Candidates for initiation should be in good mental and physical
health. They should also be of legal age and sought out the Craft of
their own free will.

     Before being accepted into the Coven (s)he should spend
sometime learning about the Craft and magic and such. (S)he should
know about practices that most people get uptight about. She should
be told that initiations are perfectly safe and voluntary. Also, if at
any time prior to taking the oath she wants to back out, she can do
so with out fear or other recriminations.

     The candidate must chose a Craft name. This name should not be a
common American name and must have personal meaning to the
candidate.

     Traditionally the apprenticeship lasted for a year and a day. This
is a good idea if it can be done. Before (s)he can be initiated, the
Coven must vote. A single no is sufficient to not allow the candidate
to be initiated into that particular Coven.

     This ritual is written for use in the woods. There has to be a
path
leading from the staging area to a clearing where afire can be lit. To
save time, the fire should be setup but not lighted.

     The bathtub should be set up along the path and filled with warm
water and the other ingredients. The water will also have to be
consecrated.

     The candidate should be brought to the staging area by their
sponsor. She should be wearing clothing that can be cutaway easily
by a sword without undoing buttons or stepping out of pants legs.
The candidate should be lead down the path by the sponsor.After a
little ways a member of the Coven, the Challenger,should step onto
the path. They might want to wear a mask. They take the sword that
they carry and say:

     "Who comes to the gate?"

The candidate, coached before hand, answers:

     "It is I, (new Craft name), child of earth and starry heaven."

Challenger:

     "Who speaks for you?"

Sponsor:

     "It is I, ________ , who vouches for her."

The Challenger holds the point of the sword up to the candidates
heart, and says:

     "You are about to enter a vortex of power, a place beyond
     imagining, where birth and death, dark and light, joy and pain,
     meet and make one. You are about to step between the worlds,
     beyond time, outside the realm of your human life.
     You who stands on the threshold of the dread Mighty Ones,
     have you the courage to make the essay?
     For know it is  better to fall on my blade and perish than
     to make the attempt with fear in thy heart!"

The apprentice answers:

     "I tread the path with perfect love and perfect trust."

The Challenger replies:

     "Prepare for death and rebirth."

And the Challenger takes the sword and cuts off the apprentices
clothing till she is standing naked. The Challenger grounds their
sword to the Earth. The Challenger should then blindfold the
candidate and tie a cord around their wrists and one ankle while
saying:

     "And She was bound as all living things must be,
     who would enter the Kingdom of Death. And Her feet were neither
bound nor free."

The candidate is led to the tub and bathed, while still blindfolded, by
the rest of the Coven. While being bathed, she must remain quiet. She
is helped from the tub and dried off.The candidate is then carried to
the Circle. Everyone in the Coven, starting with the High Priest
(Priestess in the case of a man), kisses her and says:

     "Thus are all first brought into the world,
     and thus are all first brought into the Coven."

The High Priest (Priestess in case of a man) now leads the candidate
to each of the four corners and introduces her to the Guardians, of
course going deosil.

     "Hail Guardians of the Watchtowers of the East and all the Mighty
Ones of the Craft. Behold _________(new name), who     will now be
made Priestess and Witch."

The candidate is brought back to the altar. The High Priest kneels
and gives her the Five Fold Kiss; that is, he kisses her on both feet,
both knees, womb, both breasts, and the lips,starting with the right
of each pair. He says, as he does this:

     "Blessed be thy feet, that have brought thee in these ways.
     Blessed be thy knees, that shall kneel at the sacred altar.
     Blessed be thy womb, without which we would not be.
     Blessed be thy breasts, formed in beauty.
     Blessed be thy lips, that shall utter the Sacred Names."

For the kiss on the lips, they embrace, length-to-length, with their
feet touching each others. When he reaches the womb, she spreads
her arms wide, and the same after the kiss on the lips.The candidate
is then measured with the other piece of cord,from head to toe. The
cord is cut. She is then measured around the head and chest and
knots are tied to mark these lengths.The High Priestess rolls up the
cord, and asks the candidate:

     "Are you willing to swear the oath?"

The candidate answers:      "I am."

The High Priestess asks:

     "Are you willing to suffer to learn?"

The candidate answers:      "Yes."

The High Priestess takes the apprentice's hand, and with a needle
properly purified by fire and water, pricks her finger,squeezing a
few drops out onto the measure. The candidate then kneels, and
places one hand on her head and the other beneath her heel and she
repeats what is read to her. The High Priest says:

     "This is the Charge of the Coven:
     That I will keep secret what I am asked to keep secret and never
divulge the names or dwelling places of our people unless by their
consent.
     That I will learn and try to master the Art Magical;
but
ever remember the rune: "What  good be the tools without  the inner
light?  What good be magic without wisdom sight?"
     That in due course I will strive to find a worthy pupil in magic,
to whom in future years I can hand down the knowledge I acquire.
     That I will never use the Art Magical merely to impress foolish
persons, nor for any wrongful end.
     That I will help the Craft of the Wise, and hold it's honor as I
would my own.
     That I consider these vows taken before the Elder Gods;and that
if I betray this Charge I accept as my just reward that retribution of
destiny which overtakes those who basely betray the trust and
confidence that others have placed in them.  Know that none can
escape the fate, be it curse or  blessing, which they make for
themselves, either in this life or in another life.

The High Priestess says:
     "Repeat after me: 'I, ________, do of my own free will most
solemnly swear to protect, help and defend my sisters and brothers
of the Art and to keep the Coven's Charge.
     I always keep secret all that must not be revealed.  This do I
swear on my mother's womb and my hopes of future lives, mindful
that my measure has been taken, and in the           presence of the
Mighty Ones.'
     All between my two hands belongs to the Goddess."

The candidate repeats the oath. The Coven shouts:

     "So mote it be!"

The High Priest says:

     "Arise and be anointed"

The High Priest then makes an X mark on the initiates
forehead,breast and genitals while saying:

     "May your mind be free. May your heart be free. May your body be
free.
     I give you the Craft name of ______"

The rest of the Coven members grab her suddenly, lift her if possible
and carry her three times around the Circle, laughing and shrieking.
They then lay her face down before the altar and press her into the
ground. Gradually the pressure changes to stroking. They chant her
new name, raising a Cone of Power over her. The blind fold is
removed and she is told:

     "Know that the hands that have touched you are the hands of love.
Thus are all first brought into the world, and thus are all first
brought into the Coven."

The Charge of the Goddess is spoken and any other myths, mysteries,
and secrets are revealed. She is also told the Coven names of all the
members. The High Priestess returns the measure, saying:

     "In the Burning Times, when each member of the Coven held the
lives of the others in their hands, this would have been kept and be
used against you should you endanger the others. But in these more
fortunate times, love and trust prevail, so take this, keep it or burn
it, and be free to go or to stay as your heart leads you."

The service goes on as usual, be it New or Full Moon or Sabbat.Before
the Circle is opened, the new initiate is taken to the four corners
again and introduced to the Guardians again.

Starhawk; "The Spiral Dance: Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the
Goddess"; HarperRow 1979 Valiente, Doreen; "Witchcraft for
Tomorrow"; Phoenix Publishing 1985

Transcribed to computer file by Seastrider
 
 
 
 

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NEO-PAGAN RITUAL

     I'll try to summarize, but if you're really interested, track down
Starhawk's THE SPIRAL DANCE for further details.  Most scholars
divide  ritual into two classes:  1) theurgic, and 2) thaumaturgic.  In
fancy  words, this means that either you are praying to make your
self "a better person" or "closer to God/ess" or "to be saved from
your sins", or you are praying for the God/ess to intervene in the
world around you - prayers for peace, for money, for health, etc.

   Neopagan ritual partakes of both aspects, to some extent.  In a
typical ritual, various techniques (as old as humanity) are used to
"raise the  power," then the power is focused via magickal symbols
to contact the God(s) and/or Goddess(es) who are being called upon.
He/She/They take that magickal energy, augment it, and return it to
the circle.  The High Priest/ess then focuses that energy on the
target - the object or person to be affected, if any - then any
energies that remain (or the total energy, if there is no magickal
target) are returned to the Gods, via a processes called "grounding."

   To paraphrase Uncle Isaac's wonderful book on the subject, you
have the wind-up, the pitch, and the follow-through.

   The windup uses any ritual techniques that are appropriate to a)
the setting, b) the purpose of the ritual, c) the deities being
contacted, and d) the skills of the participants.  The universals are
chanting, dance, and "ritual theatre."  There are, of course, others.
   The "pitch" uses beautiful, poetic imagery in guided meditations
and ritual movement.  Occasionally (if possible), this uses music and
dance.  Once the gods are contacted and the energy flows, it is
concentrated in an object - usually cakes and wine, but occasionally
by other means - and distributed, symbolically to all the
participants.  Having partaken of the energy thus raised, the guided
meditations direct the people in focusing their energy on the purpose
at hand.

   Finally, the High Priest or Priestess goes through a "follow-
through", which involves dissolving the "group mind", reassuring
people that what we have worked is done and was effective, and then
"grounding" any loose energies, so that when the group leaves the
ritual circle, they are back in their normal minds.

   As I write, it occurs to me that the real answer to your question
lies in that last sentence - "back in their normal minds."  Neopagan
ritual is a collection of tools and techniques for altering your
consciousness, temporarily, to a place where the Gods and Goddesses
are real and near, where we as their children and lovers and friends
can worship them, and where the magick we work can come true.
Having convinced ourselves of this, we act on it, then return to our
daily lives refreshed.

   (Gods, what a bunch of gibberish!  You would have been better off
reading the books!)

   Anyway, I tried.  Anyone else (esp. Black Dragon if he shows up
again, as he's worked at least as much ritual as I) please feel free to
add or comment.  Was this the kind of answer you wanted, Curly?

                   - Reverend Talespinner, O.S
                     Clan Destiny Chapel of Eris & Dionysus
                     (aka, Brad Hicks)
 
 
 
 

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A Celebration of  M A Y   D A Y

                   --by Gwydion Cinhil Kirontin

                 *     *     *     *     *     *
                "Perhaps its just as well that you
              won't be here...to be offended by the
               sight of our May Day celebrations."
                 --Lord Summerisle to Sgt. Howie
                      from "The Wicker Man"
                 *     *     *     *     *     *

    There are four great festivals of the Pagan Celtic year and the
modern Witch's calendar, as well.  The two greatest of these are
Halloween (the beginning of winter) and May Day (the beginning of
summer).  Being opposite each other on the wheel of the year, they
separate the year into halves.  Halloween (also called Samhain) is
the Celtic New Year and is generally considered the more important
of the two, though May Day runs a
close second.  Indeed, in some areas -notably Wales - it is
considered the great holiday.

    May Day ushers in the fifth month of the modern calendar year, the
month of May.  This month is named in honor of the goddess Maia,
originally a Greek mountain nymph, later identified as the most
beautiful of the Seven Sisters, the Pleiades.  By Zeus, she is also the
mother of Hermes, god of magic.  Maia's parents were Atlas and
Pleione, a sea nymph.

    The old Celtic name for May Day is Beltane (in its most popular
Anglicized form), which is derived from the Irish Gaelic "Bealtaine"
or the Scottish Gaelic "Bealtuinn", meaning "Bel-fire", the fire of the
Celtic god of light (Bel, Beli or Belinus).  He, in turn, may be traced
to the Middle Eastern god Baal.

    Other names for May Day include: Cetsamhain ("opposite
Samhain"), Walpurgisnacht (in Germany), and Roodmas (the medieval
Church's name).  This last came from Church Fathers who were
hoping to shift the common people's allegiance from the Maypole
(Pagan lingam - symbol of life) to the Holy Rood (the Cross - Roman
instrument of death).

    Incidentally, there is no historical justification for calling May
1st "Lady Day".  For hundreds of years, that title has been proper to
the Vernal Equinox (approx. March 21st),
another holiday sacred to the Great Goddess.  The nontraditional use
of "Lady Day" for May 1st is quite recent (within the last 15 years),
and seems to be confined to America, where it has gained
widespread acceptance among certain segments of the Craft
population.  This rather startling departure from tradition would
seem to indicate an unfamiliarity with European calendar customs,
as well as a lax attitude toward scholarship among too many Pagans.
A simple glance at a dictionary ("Webster's 3rd" or O.E.D.),
encyclopedia ("Benet's"), or standard mythology reference (Jobe's
"Dictionary of Mythology, Folklore & Symbols") would confirm the
correct date for Lady Day as the Vernal
Equinox.

    By Celtic reckoning, the actual Beltane celebration begins on
sundown of the preceding day, April 30, because the Celts always
figured their days from sundown to sundown.  And sundown was the
proper time for Druids to kindle the great Bel-fires on the tops
of the nearest beacon hill (such as Tara Hill, Co. Meath, in Ireland).
These "need-fires" had healing properties, and sky-clad Witches
would jump through the flames to ensure protection.

                 *     *     *     *     *     *
                 Sgt. Howie (shocked):  "But they
                 are naked!"
                 Lord Summerisle:  "Naturally.
                 It's much too dangerous to jump
                 through the fire with your
                 clothes on!"
                 *     *     *     *     *     *

    Frequently, cattle would be driven between two such bon-fires
(oak wood was the favorite fuel for them) and, on the morrow, they
would be taken to their summer pastures.

    Other May Day customs include: processions of chimney-
sweepsand milk maids, archery tournaments, morris dances, sword
dances, feasting, music, drinking, and maidens bathing their faces in
the dew of May morning to retain their youthful beauty.

    In the words of Witchcraft writers Janet and Stewart Farrar, the
Beltane celebration was principly a time of "...unashamed human
sexuality and fertility."  Such associations include the obvious
phallic symbolism of the Maypole and riding the hobby horse.  Even a
seemingly innocent children's nursery rhyme, "Ride a cock horse to
Banburry Cross..." retain such memories.  And the next line "...to see
a
fine Lady on a white horse" is a reference to the annual ride of "Lady
Godiva" though Coventry.  Every year for nearly three centuries, a
sky-clad village maiden (elected Queen of the May) enacted this
Pagan rite, until the Puritans put an end to the custom.

    The Puritans, in fact, reacted with pious horror to most of the
May Day rites, even making Maypoles illegal in 1644.  They
especially attempted to suppress the "greenwood marriages" of
young men and women who spent the entire night in the forest,
staying out to greet the May sunrise, and bringing back boughs of
flowers and garlands to decorate the village the next morning.  One
angry Puritan wrote that men "doe use commonly to runne into
woodes in the night time, amongst maidens, to set bowes, in so
muche, as I have hearde of tenne maidens whiche went to set May,
and nine of them came home with childe."  And another Puritan
complained that, of the girls who go into the woods, "not the least
one of them comes home again a virgin."

    Long after the Christian form of marriage (with its insistence on
sexual monogamy) had replaced the older Pagan handfasting, the
rules of strict fidelity were always relaxed for the May Eve rites.
Names such as Robin Hood, Maid Marion, and Little John played an
important part in May Day folklore, often used as titles for the
dramatis personae of the celebrations.  And modern surnames such
as Robinson, Hodson, Johnson, and Godkin
may attest to some distant May Eve spent in the woods.

    These wildwood antics have inspired writers such as Kipling:
              Oh, do not tell the Priest our plight,
              Or he would call it a sin;
              But we have been out in the woods all night,
              A-conjuring Summer in!

And Lerner and Lowe:
                 It's May!  It's May!
                 The lusty month of May!...
                 Those dreary vows that ev'ryone takes,
                 Ev'ryone breaks.
                 Ev'ryone makes divine mistakes!
                 The lusty month of May!

    It is certainly no accident that Queen Guinevere's "abduction" by
Meliagrance occurs on May 1st when she and the court have gone a-
Maying, or that the usually efficient Queen's guard, on this occasion,
rode unarmed.

    Some of these customs seem virtually identical to the old Roman
feast of flowers, the Floriala, three days of unrestrained sexuality
which began at sundown April 28th and reached a crescendo on May
1st.

    By the way, due to various calendrical changes down through the
centuries, the traditional date of Beltane is not the same as its
astrological date.  This date, like all astronomically determined
dates, may vary by a day or two depending on the year.  However, it
may be calculated easily enough by determining the date on which
the sun is at 15 degrees Taurus.  British Witchesoften refer to this
date as Old Beltane, and folklorists call it Beltane O.S. ("Old
Style").
Some Covens prefer to celebrate on the old date and, at the very
least, it gives one options.  If a Coven is operating on "Pagan
Standard Time" and misses May 1st altogether, it can still throw a
viable Beltane bash as long as it's before this date.  This may also be
a consideration for Covens that need to organize activities around
the week-end.

    This date has long been considered a "power point" of the Zodiac,
and is symbolized by the Bull, one of the four "tetramorph" figures
featured on the Tarot cards the World and the Wheel of Fortune.  (The
other three are the Lion, the Eagle, and the Spirit.) Astrologers know
these four figures as the symbols of the four "fixed" signs of the
Zodiac (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius, respectively), and these
naturally align with the four Great Sabbats of Witchcraft.
Christians have adopted the same iconography to represent the four
gospel-writers.

    But for most, it is May 1st that is the great holiday of flowers,
Maypoles, and greenwood frivolity.  It is no wonder that, as recently
as 1977, Ian Anderson could pen the following lyrics for Jethro Tull:

            For the May Day is the great day,
            Sung along the old straight track.
            And those who ancient lines did ley
            Will heed this song that calls them back.

                              THE END

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MIDWINTER NIGHT'S EVE:   Y U L E
================================
by Mike Nichols
 
     Our Christian friends are often quite surprised at how
enthusiastically we Pagans celebrate the 'Christmas' season.  Even
though we prefer to use the word 'Yule', and our celebrations may
peak a few days BEFORE the 25th, we nonetheless follow many of the
traditional customs of the season:  decorated trees, carolling,
presents, Yule logs, and mistletoe.  We might even go so far as
putting up a 'Nativity set', though for us the three central characters
are likely to be interpreted as Mother Nature,Father Time, and the
Baby Sun-God.  None of this will come as a surprise to anyone who
knows the true history of the holiday, of course.
 
    In fact, if truth be known, the holiday of Christmas has always
been more Pagan than Christian, with it's associations of Nordic
divination, Celtic fertility rites, and Roman Mithraism.  That is why
both Martin Luther and John Calvin abhorred it, why the Puritans
refused to acknowledge it, much less celebrate it (to them, no day of
the year could be more holy than the Sabbath), and why it was even
made ILLEGAL in Boston!  The holiday was already too closely
associated with the birth of older Pagan gods and heroes.  And many
of them (like Oedipus, Theseus, Hercules, Perseus, Jason, Dionysus,
Apollo, Mithra, Horus and even Arthur) possessed a narrative of
birth, death, and resurrection that was uncomfortably close to that
of Jesus.  And to make matters worse, many of them pre-dated the
Christian Savior.
 
    Ultimately, of course, the holiday is rooted deeply in the cycle of
the year.  It is the Winter Solstice that is being celebrated, seed-
time of the year, the longest night and shortest day.  It is the
birthday of the new Sun King, the Son of God -- by whatever name
you choose to call him.  On this darkest of nights, the Goddess
becomes the Great Mother and once again gives birth.  And it makes
perfect poetic sense that on the longest night of the winter, 'the
dark night of our souls', there springs the new spark of hope, the
Sacred Fire,the Light of the World, the Coel Coeth.
 
    That is why Pagans have as much right to claim this holiday
asChristians.  Perhaps even more so, as the Christians were rather
late in laying claim to it, and tried more than once to reject it.
There had been a tradition in the West that Mary bore the child Jesus
on the twenty-fifth day, but no one could seem to decide on the
month.  Finally, in 320 C.E., the Catholic Fathers in Rome decided to
make it December, in an effort to co-opt the Mithraic celebration of
the Romans and the Yule celebrations of the Celts and Saxons.
 
    There was never much pretense that the date they finally chose
was historically accurate.  Shepherds just don't 'tend their flocks by
night' in the high pastures in the dead of winter!  But if one wishes
to use the New Testament as historical evidence, this reference may
point to sometime in the spring as the time of Jesus's birth.  This is
because the lambing season occurs in the spring and that is the only
time when shepherds are likely to 'watch their flocks by night' -- to
make sure the lambing goes well.  Knowing this, the Eastern half of
the Church continued to reject December 25, preferring a 'movable
date' fixed by their astrologers according to the moon.
 
    Thus, despite its shaky start (for over three centuries, no one
knew when Jesus was supposed to have been born!), December 25
finally began to catch on.  By 529, it was a civic holiday, and all
work or public business (except that of cooks, bakers, or any that
contributed to the delight of the holiday) was prohibited by the
Emperor Justinian.  In 563, the Council of Braga forbade fasting on
Christmas Day, and four years later the Council of Tours proclaimed
the twelve days from December 25 to Epiphany as a sacred, festive
season.  This last point is perhaps the hardest to impress upon the
modern reader, who is lucky to get a single day off work.  Christmas,
in the Middle Ages, was not a SINGLE day, but rather a period of
TWELVE days, from December 25 to January 6.  The Twelve Days of
Christmas, in fact.  It is certainly lamentable that the modern world
has abandoned this approach, along with the popular Twelfth Night
celebrations.

    Of course, the Christian version of the holiday spread to many
countries no faster than Christianity itself, which means that
'Christmas' wasn't celebrated in Ireland until the late fifth century;
in England, Switzerland, and Austria until the seventh; in Germany
until the eighth; and in the Slavic lands until the ninth and tenth.
Not that these countries lacked their own mid-winter celebrations
of Yuletide.  Long before the world had heard of Jesus, Pagans had
been observing the season by bringing in the Yule log, wishing on it,
and lighting it from the remains of last year's log.  Riddles were
posed and answered, magic and rituals were practiced, wild boars
weresacrificed and consumed along with large quantities of liquor,
corn dollies were carried from house to house while carolling,
fertility rites were practiced (girls standing under a sprig of
mistletoe were subject to a bit more than a kiss), and divinations
were cast for the coming Spring.  Many of these Pagan customs, in an
appropriately watered-down form, have entered the mainstream of
Christian celebration, though most celebrants do not realize (or do
not mention it, if they do) their origins.

    For modern Witches, Yule (from the Anglo-Saxon 'Yula', meaning
'wheel' of the year) is usually celebrated on the actual Winter
Solstice, which may vary by a few days, though it usually occurs on
or around December 21st.  It is a Lesser Sabbat or Lower Holiday in
the modern Pagan calendar, one of the four quarter-days of the year,
but a very important one.  This year (1988) it occurs on December
21st at 9:28 am CST.  Pagan customs are still enthusiastically
followed.  Once, the Yule log had been the center of the celebration.
It was lighted on the eve of the solstice (it should light on the first
try) and must be kept burning for twelve hours, for good luck.  It
should be made of ash.  Later, the Yule log was replaced by the Yule
tree but, instead of burning it, burning candles were placed on it.  In
Christianity, Protestants might claim that Martin Luther invented
the custom, and Catholics might grant St. Boniface the honor, but the
custom can demonstrably be traced back through the Roman
Saturnalia all the way to ancient Egypt.  Needless to say, such a tree
should be cut down rather than purchased, and should be disposed of
by burning, the proper way to dispatch any sacred object.
 
    Along with the evergreen, the holly and the ivy and the mistletoe
were important plants of the season, all symbolizing fertility and
everlasting life.  Mistletoe was especially venerated by the Celtic
Druids, who cut it with a golden sickle on the sixth night of the
moon, and believed it to be an aphrodisiac.  (Magically -- not
medicinally!  It's highly toxic!)  But aphrodisiacs must have been the
smallest part of the Yuletide menu in ancient times, as
contemporary reports indicate that the tables fairly creaked under
the strain of every type of good food.  And drink!  The most popular
of which was the 'wassail cup' deriving its name from the Anglo-
Saxon term 'waes hael' (be whole or hale).

    Medieval Christmas folklore seems endless:  that animals will all
kneel down as the Holy Night arrives, that bees hum the '100th
psalm' on Christmas Eve, that a windy Christmas will bring good
luck, that a person born on Christmas Day can see the Little People,
that a cricket on the hearth brings good luck, that if one opens all
the doors of the house at midnight all the evil spirits will depart,
that you will have one lucky month for each Christmas pudding you
sample, that the tree must be taken down by Twelfth Night or bad
luck is sure to follow, that 'if Christmas on a Sunday be, a windy
winter we shall see', that 'hours of sun on Christmas Day, so many
frosts in the month of May', that one can use the Twelve Days of
Christmas to predict the weather for each of the twelve months of
the coming year, and so on.
 
    Remembering that most Christmas customs are ultimately based
upon older Pagan customs, it only remains for modern Pagans to
reclaim their lost traditions.  In doing so, we can share many
common customs with our Christian friends, albeit with a slightly
different interpretation.  And thus we all share in the beauty of this
most magical of seasons, when the Mother Goddess once again gives
birth to the baby Sun-God and sets the wheel in motion again.  To
conclude with a long-overdue paraphrase, 'Goddess bless us, every
one!'
 
 

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The High Priest places a pinch of salt on each member's tongue,and
says:
     "My body is salt,
     Taste the breath of death."
 
     The High Priestess leads the spiral inward, until the members are
huddled together. She leads an improvised trance induction, slowly
suggesting that they crumble to the Earth and sleep. As all lie down,
they are sent into a deeper trance with a multivoiced induction. As
it fades out, they are told,
 
     "You are entering a space of perfect freedom."
 
     Time is allowed for trance in the state of suspension before
birth.
 
     The High Priestess approaches one of the coveners, stands by her
head with her legs apart, and pulls her through,symbolically giving
her birth. She becomes part of the birth canal; they continue the
process with the other coveners, the birth canal growing longer. The
men of the coven take the newborns one by one and lay them back
down to sleep, telling them:
 
     "Sleep the sleep of the newborn."
 
     As all sink back into trance, they are guided into a visualization
of their hopes for their new life to come.Priestess smear honey on
their tongues, one by one, saying:
 
     "Taste the sweetness of life."

     A new chant begins softly, builds in power as it gradually wakes
the sleepers, who join in on repeating lines:
 
     "Set sail, set sail,
     Follow the twilight to the West,
     Where you may rest.
 
     Set sail, set sail,
     Turn your face where the sun grows dim,
     Beyond the rim, beyond the rim.
 
     Set sail, set sail,
     One thing becomes another,
     In the Mother, in the Mother.
 
     Set sail, set sail,
     Make of your heart a burning fire,
     Build it higher, Build it higher.
 
     Set sail, set sail,
     Pass in an instant through the open gate,
     It will not wait, it will not wait.
 
     Set sail, set sail,
     Over the dark of the sunless sea,
     You are free, you are free.
 
     Set sail, set sail,
     Guiding the ship of the rising sun,
     You are the one, you are the one.
 
     Set sail, set sail,
     Into the raging wind and storm,
     To be reborn, to be reborn.
 
     Set sail, set sail,
     Over the waves where the spray blows white,
     To bring the light, to bring the light.
 
All:
     We are awake in the night!
     We turn the Wheel, to bring the light!
     We call the sun from the womb of night!"

The High Priestess says:
 
     "He sets his face to the West, but in the East arises!"
 
All: "Who is that?"
 
P:     "Who goes down in darkness?"
 
All: "Who is that?"
 
P:     "Who sails?"
 
All: "Who is that?"
 
P:     "The Renewer."
 
All: "Who is that?"
 
P:     "Who brings the golden fruit."
 
All: "Who is that?"
 
P:     "Unstained."
 
All: "Who is that?"
 
P:     "Whose hands are open?"
 
All: "Who is that?"
 
P:     "Whose eyes are bright?"
 
ll: "Who is that?"
 
P:     "Whose face is shining?"
 
All: "Who is that?"
 
P:     "Mornings hope."
 
All: "Who is that?"
 
P:     "Who passes the gate?"
 
All: "Who is that?"
 
P:     "Who returns in light?"
 
All: "Who is that?"
 
P:     "A glow between twin pillars."
 
All: "Who is that?"
 
P:     "A cry between thighs."
 
All: "Io! Evohe! Io! Evohe!"
 
High Priestess: (leading, repeated by all)
 
     "Queen of the sun!
     Queen of the Moon!
     Queen of the horns!
     Queen of the fires!
     Bring to us the Child of Promise!
 
     It is the Great Mother
     Who gives birth to Him,
     It is the Lord of Life,
     Who is born again!
     Darkness and tears
     Are set aside,
     When the sun comes up again!
 
     Golden sun,
     Of hill and field,
     Light the earth!
     Light the skies!
     Light the waters!
     Light the fires!
 
All: Io! Evohe! Io! Evohe!"
 
The High Priest lights the fire and point candles, and all begin
chanting:
     "I who have died am alive again today,
     And this is the sun's birthday! (repeat)
 
     This is the birthday of life and love and wings,
     And the gay great happening illimitably earth.
 
     We are born again, we shall live again! (repeat).
     The Sun Child, the Winterborn King!"
 
Build a Power Chant, focused on reawakening life. Share feasting and
friendship, ideally until dawn. Before ending, the High Priestess
says:
 
     "The Dark God has passed the Gate,
     He has been reborn through the Mother,
     With Him we are each reborn!"
 
All:
     "The tide has turned!
     The light will come again!
     In a new dawn, in a new day,
     The sun is rising!
     Io! Evohe! Blessed Be!"
 
Open the Circle.
 
Starhawk; "The Spiral Dance: Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the
Goddess"; HarperRow 1979

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YULE IN BRITAIN
Copyright 1987, Tana Culain
 
Midwinter has long been a traditional time for celebration and
merrymaking in Britain. All of the activities at midwinter were
meant to ensure that the season would renew itself and the days
would begin to grow longer again. Greenery was brought into
decorate the house: evergreen to symbolize the promise of life to
come even in the darkest winter; the mistletoe, believed to hold the
life of the host tree even when the tree itself appeared to
be dead in winter; and the holly and ivy, symbols of male and female,
both of course necessary for new life. Carols, some of which survive
to this day, such as the Gower Wassail, were sung.  The earliest
carols consisted of taking hands and singing while
dancing in a ring or around a bush, May tree, or even an apple tree (as
in the case of the Apple Tree Wassail, sung in hopes of a good crop of
cider the following year).
 
The Wassail Carols in particular date back to the Viking invasions of
England, about 700 A.D. , when the greeting was Ves heill. By Anglo-
Saxon times, the greeting had evolved into Waes thu hal, meaning "be
whole" or "good health". The response was "drink  hail" , meaning "I
drink and good luck be to you". People would travel from house to
house in the village bringing good wishes and carrying an empty
bowl. The master of the house being wassailed was expected to fill
the bowl with a hot spicy ale and then it would be passed around to
the carolers.
 
Midwinter was also a time for exchanging gifts and for feasting.
Turkey only dates to the 1500's. Much more common were boar,
geese, capons, swans, and pheasants. Minced pies were originally
made with meat, and with the coming of spices to England during
the Crusades, plum pudding became quite the traditional dish. Plum
pudding makes a great dish for cakes and wine in the Yule circle,
especially if you pour warmed brandy over it and set it afire before
the blessing.

While I am writing about midwinter customs in Britain because our
heritage in .K.A.M. is largely Celtic in origin, the Isles do not have
a
monopoly on Yule. The Romans celebrated Saturnalia for seven days
around the Solstice, and it was a time to look ahead
and rejoice in the longer days to come. Slaves and masters switched
places at table, and presents were exchanged. The Persian Mithraists
held December 25th as sacred to the birth of their Sun God, Mithras,
and celebrated it as a victory of light over darkness. And in Sweden,
December 13th was sacred to the Goddess Lucina, Shining One, and
was a celebration of the return of the light. On Yule itself, around
the 21st, bonfires were lit to honor Odin and Thor.
 
Midwinter has always been a Pagan holiday, so much so that during
the 1600's the Christian Christmas was recognized as a celebration
based on Pagan customs and was outlawed in England and many of
the colonies in America.
 
(Text version of the Journal has "Gower Wassail" here)
 
A Monthly Rune (Traditional)
 
January     By this fire I warm my hands
February     And with my spade I delve my lands
March     Here I set my seeds to spring
April     And here I hear the birds to sing
May      I am as light as bird in the treetop
June     And I take pains to weed my crop
July     With my scythe my mead I mow
August     And here I shear my corn full low
September     With my flail I earn my bread
October     And here I sow my wheat so red (Winter wheat)
November     At Martinmas I kill my swine *
December     And at Yule I drink red wine
 
* Martinmas, November 11, is a christianization of the Pagan Celtic
Hallows when the herds were culled

Recipe for Wassail for 8
 
3 red apples
3 oz brown sugar
2 pints brown ale, apple cider, or hard cider
1/2 pint dry sherry or dry white wine
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
strips of lemon peel
 
Core and heat apples with brown sugar and some of the ale or cider
in an oven for 30 minutes.  Put in large pan and add rest of spices
and lemon peel, simmer on stove top of 5 minutes. Add most of the
alcohol at the last minute so it heats up but does not evaporate.
Burgundy and brandy  can be substituted to the ale and sherry. White
sugar and halved oranges may also be added to taste.

Plum Pudding
 
1/4 lb. flour
1/4 lb. currants
1 tsp. salt
1/4 lb. sultanas (small raisins)
1 tsp. allspice
2 cooking apples, peeled, cored and chopped
1 tsp. ginger
1 ounce cut mixed (citrus) peel
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 oz. shredded almonds
pinch fresh grated nutmeg
Juice and grated rind of 1 orange and 1 lemon
1/4 lb. fresh breadcrumbs
1/4 lb. molasses (treacle)
1/2 lb. shredded suet
4 large eggs
1/4 lb. brown sugar
2 tbsp. brandy
1/4 lb. dried chopped apricots
1/4 lb. prunes
1/4 lb dates
 
 Sift flour, salt and spices into a large bowl. Stir in breadcrumbs,
suet and sugar. Add fruits, peel and rind. Beat lemon and orange
juice, molasses and eggs together and add to
other ingredients.  Steam for 6 hours -- a coffee tin filled with the
mixture and placed in a steamer in a covered pan does well.  A little
vinegar and lemon juice in the water will prevent the pan from
discoloration.  After steaming cover in a cool place and let age as
long as possible -- usually about 5 weeks.  To serve, re-steam for
another 3 hours.  Remove from tin, douse with warm brandy and set
it ablaze!
 
If you haven't got six weeks before Yule to prepare a proper pudding
(I never do) a tinned one from Crosse & Blackwell will do fine. Just
be sure to always heat the pudding first, no matter who made it, or
all the warmed brandy in the world won't help. And don't forget the
hard sauce!
 
 
 

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WITCHES LESSER BANISHING RITUAL OF THE PENTAGRAM
by Paul Hume

The following text was an addendum to some Wiccan friends of  mine
written in 1986.  It followed a fairly standard instruction  in the
Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram, with which they  were not
familiar.  We were feeling out some linking techniques  leading to a
proposed joint ritual involving several Wiccans and  two ceremonial
qabalists (one Thelemite - ie. myself, and  another).  While events
conspired to torpedo this project, some  interesting ideas came
along on both sides.  The goal was a set of  brief rituals meaningful
to both traditions which we could  practice individually, thus
building up a group current prior to  the date of the proposed rite
(Samhain of that year).   Herewith my notes on "The Wiccan
Pentagram" ritual which  evolved during this project.  My primary
source of God Forms  was Paul Huson's MASTERING WITCHCRAFT
which was my main source of information on Wicca at the time  (I've
done considerable study elsewhere since).
 
NON-SOLAR SYMBOLISM
 
 A ritual can be modified in many ways, to refit it for a different
set of symbols, for example.  I have taken the liberty of doing  some
research into alternate symbols for the Lesser Ritual of the
Pentagram since I know that you work a lunar-feminine current
(Wicca) whereas I use more solar-masculine symbols in my  current
(Thelemite).  The
Qabalistic Cross This might be used as is, though you could use the
English if you  don't feel that the Hebrew is relevant.  I am sure you
recognize  the words as being similar to the end of the Lord's Prayer
in the  King James Version:  'Unto thee, the Kingdom and the Power
and  the Glory, forever!  Amen.'  I would point out that this formula
was around a long time before Christ, much less the translators  of
the Standard Revised Version of the Bible.  If you dislike such a
specifically Christian form, it may be  replaced with the words
KETHER (KEH-THER), MALKUTH,  GEBURAH, GEDULAH (or Crown,
Kingdom, Power, Mercy), the  spheres of occult energy that you are
invoking with the Q-Cross. The mental images remain the same.  You
could even avoid these Hebrew symbols entirely, using  Names and
formulae more suitable to raising the cone of power,  which is what
you are doing here in Wiccan terms.  See the  'Wiccan Cross,' below.
 
The principle is:
     1)  Invoke strongly the presence of the Supreme Creative
Principle as you conceive it (or in your case, Her) to be.       Your
Name for the Goddess as Creatrix would be most suitable.

     2)  Draw down power from this Godhead and project it through
your body into the Earth.  Invoke strongly the Supreme symbol  of
Creation in your Tradition:  maybe the God - as Son of the Goddess
and Lord of the Trees, and as John Barleycorn, the ever-      born and
dying One.

     3)  Establish on your right side the Active Principle - Yang - the
Projective Energy of the Universe.  A God image, I should      think.

     4) Establish on your left side the Passive Principle - Yin - the
Receiving Energy of the Universe.  A Goddess force I feel.

     5) Strongly visualize yourself at the center of these axes
between the Infinities.  This centers you at the middle of the Sacred
Space to be created - the still point at the center of the universe.
 
The Pentagrams
 
     Again, the pentagram should be used.  This symbol is universal  to
many, many systems of magick, including Wicca, as you know.   The
five-pointed star has supreme power over the Elements:  Spirit, Fire,
Water, Air, and Earth.  It drives off negative  influences and attracts
positive ones.  It is an essential part of  the rite and there is no
symbol that can take its place as effectively.

The Names
 
     I prefer using the Hebrew God-Names as is.  In this connection
they express formulae that govern the Elements and are no  more
religious than E=MC squared.  However, there are  equivalent Wiccan
God-Names, which I describe in the next  section, as substitutes for
the Archangels.  The use of the same  Names to activate the stars
and to invoke the Elemental force is  quite in keeping with the
Wiccan tradition, which does not use  the same hierarchical system
of God-Name, Archangel, Angel,  Ruler, Spirit, etc. that Qabalism
does.

The Archangelic Invocation
 
     Instead of the Hebrew Archangels I described, you could use
Wiccan Deities to invoke the 'pure' form of the Elements.
 
AIR-EAST:  The Air image in Wicca seems to be masculine and
relates to Herne, the Black Man, the messenger of the Gods, or the
Sky Gods:  Odin, or Lug as the rising Sun God.  The God can be
imagined as riding through the night sky, at the head of the Wild
Hunt, or rising above the branches of the world-ash. Instead of the
Sword given to Raphael, the God might carry a staff, or spear, or
wand, which is attributed to Air in most Wiccan traditions.
 
FIRE-SOUTH:  The Fire image is definitely masculine and relates to
the Horned God:  Cernunnos, Lucifer, call Him what you will. He
stands in the hot light of the noonday sun, radiating fiery energy.  He
would bear an Athame or sword, which is the  weapon of Fire in most
Wiccan styles.
 
WATER-WEST:  The Water image is the Maiden, the mistress of  the
Moon and the Tides:  Aradia, Artemis, Venus rising from the waves.
Her image is lit by the silver light of the moon, upon a tranquil reach
of water or the foaming sea. She might hold the chalice, symbol of
water (alternatively, the  cauldron might be envisioned).
 
EARTH-NORTH:  The Goddess in Her aspect as Earth Mother is  here:
Hertha, Habondia, Demeter.  She stands beneath the  golden, life-
giving sun surrounded by the fruits of the Earth. Before her, a platter
flows with good things of the Earth, for the       disk/shield/platter
is the pentacle, magick instrument of Earth.  These are only bare
sketches of the magickal images that a witch might use to replace
the Qabalistic images of the traditional pentagram ritual.  I offer
them for what they are worth.
 

A few points to note:
     1)  the phases of the sun used in the Archangelic images
(East:Dawn; South:Noon; West:Sunset; North:Midnight) are not the
same, nor are they as important to Wicca.  Instead, the poles of  day
and night are established:  Night for the East-West axis and  Day for
the North-South axis.
     2)  the male-female poles are established with the masculine
images (Herne and Cernunnos) attributed to the active Elements  (Air
and Fire) and the feminine images (Aradia and Habondia) to  the
passive Elements (Water and Earth).  Note that one figure of  each
gender stands in light, and one in darkness.  This male-
female/positive-negative/active-passive polarity is central to
virtually all systems of magick, eg. the yin/yang symbol in  oriental
systems.  I may be betraying solar-phallic tendencies by  these
assignments, and you may want to use different attributions:
TheMaiden can be Air and the Mother switch to  Water, with the
Hunter moving into Earth, for example.   Heck, the dual God Forms
should perhaps be invoked in each  quarter.  eg. Venus/Adonis
imagery in East or South,  Hertha/Herne in West, etc.
 
The Star Of David
 
     The last line of the Invocation refers to a 'six-rayed star' and
the
mental work calls for imagining a Star of David.  This is not a
specifically Jewish symbol in this context.  The six-pointed star,  or
hexagram, is the Qabalistic symbol par excellence of initiation  and
spiritual illumination.  The upward-pointing triangle  represents the
aspiration of the magician to the Gods, and the  downward-pointing
triangle represents the divine power,  flowing down to the world.
These meet at the moment of  magick and the interlaced triangles
forming the hexagram  symbolize the power of this meeting.  Should
you prefer not to use the Star of David, you can replace  the mental
image with any symbol showing the meeting of your  soul and the
power of the Goddess.  This can even be a private  symbol, one that
is meaningful only to you.  Alternatively, you  can just envision the
sphere of white light from the Q-Cross, as a  symbol of divine
power.  Replace the words about the 'six-rayed star' with some
descriptive form: 'the seal of the Goddess,' or 'the sign of my
Awakening,' or simply 'the light Divine.'

WICCAN PENTAGRAM RITUAL
 
     Rubric  [This is a form of the rite incorporating the changes in
symbolism discussed above]
     WICCAN CROSS  Face East.  Touch forehead.  Say  IO EVOE HERTHA
('Blessed be Hertha,' or  other Name by which you worship the
Goddess as Creatrix)  Touch solar plexus or genitals.  Say IO EVOE
CERNUNNOS  ('Blessed be Cernunnos,' or other name by which you
worship  the Horned God as the Earth)  Touch right shoulder.  Say EKO
EKO AZARAK ('Hail, hail force of  fire')  Touch left shoulder.  Say EKO
EKO AMELAK ('Hail, hail to the  glory')  Extend arms in form of a
cross.  Say IO EVOE ('Blessed be.')  Clasp hands upon breast and say
'So mote it be.'
     CIRCLE OF PROTECTION  Trace pentagram in East.  Say HERNE.
Trace circle of protection until facing South. Trace pentagram in
South.  Say CERNUNNOS. Trace circle of protection until facing West.
Trace pentagram in West.  Say ARADIA. Trace circle of protection
until facing North. Trace pentagram in North.  Say HABONDIA. Finish
tracing circle, closing it in the East.
 
     INVOCATION OF THE GREAT GODS  Return to center of circle and
face           East.  Extend arms in form of a  cross.  Chant:
          Before me HERNE The Huntsman
          Behind me ARADIA The Maiden
          On my right hand CERNUNNOS, the Horned God
          On my left hand HABONDIA, the Great Mother
          About me flame the pentagrams
          And above me shines the light of the Goddess.

Repeat the Wiccan Cross.  Rather than performing this in the rather
measured cadences of  Qabalistic Ritual, a form of dancing and
chanting more pleasing  to the God-forms of Wicca might profitably
be  devised.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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The Vibration of God-Names
--------------------------
 
 In the LBR, the vibration of the god-names "charges" or "enlivens"
the pentagrams in the air.  This is difficult to describe, but easy to
recognize. There is a feeling of presence in one of these charged
warding images -- though not necessarily a feeling of true
externality or separate intelligence.
 
 We are told to "vibrate" the names.  The description and illustration
of the "vibration" given in Liber O have been known to mislead people
into hilarious  postures.  What the picture most resembles is the
skulking monster from the movie The Mummy.  To the modern eye, it
is remarkable how truly unclear a photograph can be.
 
 I didn't learn how to vibrate a god-name until I signed up with yet
another occult order and was taught it in person.  I wouldn't wish the
ensuing experience on anyone, so here is a description which I hope
will be adequate in print.
 
Vibration phase i -- The Sign of the Enterer (1-4)
--------------------------------------------------
 
 1. Stand upright.  Blow all the air out of your lungs.  Hold your arms
straight out at your sides.
 
 2a. Close your eyes and inhale nasally, imagining that the breath is
the name. The exact nature of this imagination differs from person
to person.  Thus, you imagine yourself inhaling the name into your
lungs.
 
 2b. As you inhale, sweep your forearms smoothly and deliberately up
so that your fists rest on your temples.
 
 3. Imagine the breath moving down through your torso slowly, and
through your pelvis, your legs, and finally to the soles of your feet.
(Don't do this so slowly that you are hurting for air when the name
reaches your feet!)
 
 4a. The instant the inhaled vibrational name hits the soles of your
feet, imagine it rushing back up and out.
 
 4b. Simultaneously, throw yourself forward, thrusting your left foot
forward about twelve inches (or thirty centimeters) and catching
yourself on it.  Your hands shoot forward, together, like a diver.  You
bend forward at the waist so that your torso winds up parallel to the
floor.
 
 4c. The air in your lungs should be blown out through your nose at
the same time, but imagine the name shooting out straight ahead.
 
 Steps 3-4 are known as the Sign of the Enterer, or of Horus.  This
symbolizes powerful active energy.  The Enterer should be something
of a "rush".  The vibrational name is projected outwards into more
tangible manifestation -- in this case, in the pentagrams of the LBR,
which are charged by the force of the projected god-names.
 
 It is highly inadvisable to omit the portion of step (4b) which reads
"catching yourself on it."  But again, I have no desire to infringe on
your freedom of choice.
 

Vibration phase ii -- The Sign of Silence (5)
---------------------------------------------
 
 5. Finally, withdraw into a standing position, left arm hanging at
your side, right forefinger on lips, left foot pointing ninety degrees
out from the body.
 
Step 5 is called the Sign of Silence, or of Harpocrates.  This Egyptian
god was mistakenly believed (at the turn of the century) to pertain
to silence, because his finger or thumb was touching his lips.  This
gesture is now believed to be a symbol of childhood; this correction
appears in the World card of Crowley's "Book of Thoth" Tarot deck.
Harpocrates was the god of the Sun at dawn, and so symbolizes
wonder, beauty, potential, growth. So, step 5 may be done in this
academically corrected light instead.
 
However, the "hush" gesture of the Golden Dawn Sign of Silence is
adequate for the modern occultist, even if deprived of A Divine
Identification.  It is a common gesture, at least in the European
culture, meaning silence. Silence perhaps balances the ultra-active
Sign of the Enterer better than does the more scholarly
positive/active "Sign of Harpocrates the Rising Sun", and silence is
surely no alien concept to mystics.
 
The Invocation
--------------
 
The pentagrams are given form by the drawing, life by the vibration,
identity by the four-part prayer of steps (x) to (xiv).  Some people do
very elaborate visualizations of angelic guardians on each of (xi) to
(xiv).  Because of my tragic personal deficiencies, I am content with
strong feelings of presence, identity, and divinity in each of the four
directions.
 
A horizontal cross is built up step by step as you say, "Before me
Raphael", etc, with you at the center; and the position of your arms
forms a vertical cross, a renewal of the Qabalistic Cross from the
start of the ritual. You may feel a quite peculiar rising and expansion
when both of these crosses are formulated.  One has become the
center of the geometry of the space, and it is like a little world in
itself, cut adrift from the mundane currents of everyday experience.
 

 Steps (xv) and (xvi) are when the real banishing takes place, during
"For about me flames the pentagram, and in the column stands the
six-rayed star." A great pulse of force is emitted during these steps,
imposing the personal will on the space and clearing it of all hostile
influences.
 
After this is done, the invoked "archangels" maintain the banishing
effect, guarding in all four directions.  Of course this talk of angels
is all bullshit -- the importance lies in the psychological effect.
Whether there  "really is" an archangel standing there keeping out
inimical spirits is not important.  The "feeling of cleanliness" is
what matters.
 
Concluding Cross
----------------
 
The final Qabalistic Cross is an affirmation of the completeness and
symmetry of the ritual, and also a new self-consecration.  This is
more efficacious than the previous Cross because it is done in a
banished environment.
 
One is now ready to do a formal invocation, an evocation, a
meditation, or whatever the overall purpose may be.  The LBR is a
preliminary ceremony, although it has a beneficial effect in itself.
It can profitably be done as a stand-alone ritual, but you should
move on.  The LBR should keep away the horrible ickies that turn so
many novices away from Magick.  Its mastery is a first step to
adeptship.

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TOOLS:  Drinking Horn
        Hammer (Mjollnir)
        Sword
        Pentacle/Stone
        Bowl of Salt
        Water
        Censer & Incense

CELEBRANTS:
        White Priestess (Skadi)
        Gold Priest     (Freyr)
        Red Priestess   (Freyja)
        Red Priest      (Heimdallr)
        Black Priestess (Vala)
        Black Priest    (Odin)

Procession, consisting of Soulers (any small number) and White
Mare.

Skadi takes the sword around the circle with these words:

        SHARP BRIGHT STEEL THE CIRCLE SCRIBES;
        CARVING, CLEAVING WORLD FROM WORLD.

Freyja banishes the circle with the hammer and these words:

        MANKIND'S FRIEND, BY MJOLLNIR'S MIGHT
        BANISH BEINGS THAT BODE US ILL!

She stands in the center and to each quarter and above and below she
makes the Hammer-Sign, saying,

        HOLY HAMMER, HALLOW AND HOLD US.

Vala seals the circle, carrying pentacle and bowl of salt, saying,

        STOUT STONE SHIELD US, SHUT THE CIRCLE.

Skadi asperses the circle (Vala follows with censer) with these
words:

        BE ALL BLESS'D WHO BIDE HEREIN,
        BY STONE AND SEA, BY STORM AND SUN.

Now Heimdallr takes the sword and calls the quarters as follows:

        WISDOM'S WAIN,  EAST WIND I CALL THEE!
        THOUGHTS THY THANES  THAT THRIVE IN NEWNESS.
        BREATHE AND BLESS,  BLOW ALL CLEAN;
        WATCH AND WARD,  O WIND OF MIND.

        SUMMER'S SAVOUR,  SOUTH WIND COME NOW!
        BRIGHT THE BLESSINGS  YOU BEAR WITH YOU.
        STRONG OF SPIRIT,  SUN-LIKE FIRE;
        WATCH AND WARD,  O WIND OF SOUL.

        WILD AND WET,  WEST WIND I SUMMON!
        SEA-SPRAY BEARING,  SINGING, SHOUTING;
        BEATS THE EARTH'S BLOOD  IN THY BREAST;
        WATCH AND WARD,  O WIND OF HEART.

        WHITE WITH WINTER,  NORTH WIND, WAKEN!
        STONE'S STRENGTH BRINGING,  SNOW-CLOAKED WIND.
        FROM THE FROST-REALMS,  FRESH AND CHILL,
        WATCH AND WARD,  O WIND OF FORM.

The Priestesses and Priests stand opposite each other, and each one
of the pair invokes the other, as follows:

Skadi (to Freyr)
        LORD OF LIFE, HAIL LAND-MASTER!
        GOD OF GRAIN THAT GROWS AND DIES
        AND RISES REBORN, FULL OF RICHNESS;
        FALLOW FIELDS SHALL YET BE FERTILE --
        SPRING SAP RUNS AS STIRS YOUR PHALLUS --
        BLESS BARREN EARTH, LET IT BEAR AGAIN!

Freyr (to Skadi)
        SHOW-SHOES STRIDING, HAIL SWIFT HUNTRESS!
        WILD ONE, FREE AND WILLFUL GODDESS,
        BOW AND BLADE YOU BEAR BESIDE YOU,
        FINDING FOOD TO FEND OFF HUNGER.
        WINTER WILL NOT LEAVE US WANTING;
        GIVE GOOD HUNTING, GRANT US SKILL!

Freyja (to Heimdallr)
        STANDING STEADFAST, HAIL FAR-SEER!
        WATCHFUL ONE, ON RAINBOW WAITING,
        HORN AT HAND TO ROUSE THE HEROES,
        NEWS YOU KNOW FROM NINE WORLDS OVER.
        PEOPLE'S PARENT AND OUR PATRON,
        OPEN OUR EYES TO ALTERED SIGHT.

Heimdallr (to Freyja)
        VANIR BRIDE, HAIL VISION-GIVER!
        CAPPED IN CAT-FUR, CLOAKED IN FEATHERS,
        DRUMMING FOR THE DANCE OF DREAMS,
        YOU HASTE TO HUNT OUT HIDDEN THINGS.
        SCANT NOW THE SCREEN THAT HINDERS SIGHT;
        LET US LEARN THE LORE OF TRANCE-WORK.

Vala (to Odin)
        ONE-EYE, WANDERER, GOD OF WISDOM,
        HUNT-LORD, HAIL, WHO LEADS THE HOSTING!
        NINE NIGHTS HANGING, KNOWLEDGE GAINING,
        CLOAKED AT CROSSROADS, COUNCIL HIDDEN.
        NOW THE NIGHT, YOUR TIME IS NEAR US --
        RIGHT ROADS SEND US ON, RUNE-WINNER.

Odin (to Vala)
        EVERY AGE YOUR EYE HAS WITNESSED,
        CAULDRON-KEEPER; HAIL, WISE CRONE!
        REDE IN RIDDLES IS YOUR RATION --
        WYRD-WEAVING AT THE WORLD-TREE'S ROOT.
        ELDEST ANCIENT, ALL-KNOWING ONE,
        SPEAK SECRETS TO US, SEND US KENNING.

Odin reminds everyone what the festival is about, as follows:

Odin:   SO COMES THE SOULS'-DAY.  SUMMON FOR FEASTING
        ANCESTORS, ANCIENTS, HONOURED AND BLESSED;
        LET IN BELOVED ONES, LEND THEM YOUR BODIES --
        WHOM DO YOU HALLOW?  HAIL THEM BY NAME!

Allow a few minutes for everybody to name the ancestor they want
to welcome.  Then Vala gives this admonition:

Vala:   AS ANCIENT ELDERS YOU LEARN FROM AND HONOUR,
        LET NOT THE LIVING ONES MOULDER ALONE.
        NEAR IS THEIR KNOWLEDGE  NEARER THAN SPIRITS',
        SEEN WITHOUT CEREMONY, SIMPLY FOR ASKING.

Both:   GRANDMOTHERS, GRANDFATHERS, GREAT BE THEIR BLESSINGS
        PAST ONES AND PRESENT  WE DANCE THEM ALL POWER!

All the Celebrants but Heimdallr form a circle facing outward;
Heimdallr goes to the West, and all say:

        WIDE ARE THE WORLDGATES; NOW THE WIGHTS WANDER.
        WELCOME WITHIN ARE THE DEAD WHO WERE OURS;
        REST FROM RIDING HERE, REVEL AND FEAST HERE;
        COME IN, OLD KINSFOLK, KEEPERS OF WISDOM!

 Heimdallr cuts the Soulers' Procession into the Circle on "Come in",
and moves to stand with the other Celebrants while the Soulers
dance slowly around singing:

        WELCOME WINTER, WANING SEASON,
        NOW WITH NIGHT THE NEW YEAR COMES;
        ALL WHO HONOUR ELDER KINSFOLK
        DANCE THE DEAD TO EARTHLY DRUMS.
        SOULS RESPECTED SAFEGUARD LIVING
        HOUSE WE'LL HOLD, AND HALLOW HEARTH;
        BLESSINGS BE ON THOSE WHO BIDE HERE,
        AND INDEED ON ALL THE EARTH!

The Celebrants begin also to circle, dancing in character, starting
widdershins then spiraling in and out to end deosil, as in the
meeting dance, while the Soulers encourage the outer circle to dance
also.  The intent should be for luck in the new year, and better
connection with our Ancestors (as well as better treatment of our
Elders!).  WE ARE THE OLD PEOPLE, and BLOOD OF THE ANCIENTS are
appropriate and may be sung in polyphony...

As the providers of food, FREYR and SKADI bring forward the feast.
Some food should be laid out for the ancestors, and people should be
encouraged to let the ancestors use their senses for a while to enjoy
the food with them.  The Soulers in particular should receive Soul
Cakes.  A strong magical gesture would be for people to bring
forward canned and other non-
perishable food (which can be later given to a food bank or similar
organization).

Freyr speaks as follows:
        CAKES TO US CARRY, CORN FROM THE STOREHOUSE;
        WINE DEFIES WINTER, WARM WITH CAUGHT RIPENESS;
        MILK MADE TO CHEESES, MEAT DRIED AND SALTED;
        LAST OF THE LAND'S FRUITS ERE THE LONG SLEEP.

Skadi speaks as follows:
        GOOD NUTS AND GAME-FOOD ARE HUNTERS' GUERDON;
        SLEEPING EARTH'S SECRETS YIELD TO THE SEEKER
        TRUE BURIED TREASURE: ONIONS, POTATOES
        FOREST SHALL FEED US WHILE THE FIELDS REST.

Both say (if there is to be food donation):
        ALL WHO HAVE AUGHT TO OFFER, NOW BRING IT;
        WIGHTS, BEAR YE WITNESS  WORK WITH THE GIVERS.
        FEEDING OUR FELLOWS, LET US BE FED SO,
        SOPS FOR THE SPIRIT OR SUP FOR THE FLESH.

[If there is to be scrying and divination, it should be done now in a
quiet space marked off as separate from the feasting-place.  FREYJA
and HEIMDALLR lead the scrying and VALA and ODIN lead rune-work,
with the following optional speeches:

Heimdallr:
        LET THE LOTS TUMBLE, LOOSING THEIR LEARNING;
        WORD-WOOD AND WIT-STONES, WON THROUGH ORDEAL.
        COME UP AND CAST THEM, WHILE WORD IS CLEAREST
        AUGERS MAY ANSWER   AUGHT THE YEAR HOLDS.

Freyja: WIDE ARE THE WORLDGATES, WINDOWS ARE OPEN;
        SIGHTS MAY BE SEEN NOW, ELSETIMES BUT SCARCELY.
        CRYSTAL AND CAULDRON   CAPTURE THE VISION;
        MYSTERY'S MEANING   SPEAKS TO THE MINDFUL.]

Note: it is entirely appropriate for partying to go on inside the
sacred circle (people can get up and move around), so that the Dead
have the opportunity to enjoy their day before we bid them farewell;
the circle should be cast large, with this in mind.  The only
constraint is to open in sufficient time to clean up the hall before
the rental time runs out. The circle is opened as follows:

Heimdallr:
        TO WATCHING WINDS, WE WISH FAIR WANDERING;
        FAN US SWEET FRAGRANCE; HAIL, FAREWELL!

ALL:    TO SLEEPLESS SOULS, WE WISH SWEET RESTING;
        FRIENDS WILL KEEP FAITH; FAREWELL NOW!

        GODS AND GODDESSES, GO WITH PRAISES!
        FINISHED OUR FESTIVAL; HAIL, FAREWELL!

Celebrants ground with this formula:
        AS FROM THE EARTH OUR ENERGY COMES,
        INTO THE EARTH THE EXCESS FLOWS;
        EARTH AND ALL EMPOWERED ALIKE
        BE IT SO!

Skadi:  SEE: THE CIRCLE IS SEVERED THUS [she cuts]
        MERRY MEET, MERRY PART, MERRY MEET AGAIN!

B*B
Leigh Ann
ThelemaNet - Hail Eris! * (415) 548-0163 (Opus 1:161/93)