Creating Circles and Ceremonies: Rituals for All ... - reading...

Rituals for All Seasons & Reasons XI
HOME. Many people in the San Francisco Bay Area took these classes and were trained in
the HOME liturgy. As they became more proficient, many composed and added their own
contributions to this growing body of materials. Anodea herself blossomed as a Bard during
this period, composing and performing many hauntingly evocative poems, songs, and rituals
that enriched our liturgy and our ceremonies. She became High Priestess of the Church of All
Worlds, as well as President of the Board, and served in those roles for many years
Perhaps the most remarkable factor of the HOME Tradition was that we never created
a “Common Book of Shadows,” which would provide a compendium of set rituals to be
used for every purpose. Indeed, each ritual we conducted over these past three decades was
a unique creation, never performed before, and likely never to be performed again.
When Morning Glory and I moved from Coeden Brith in 1985, the original envisioned
purpose of HOME—that of “establishing and maintaining a wilderness sanctuary and religious
retreat/training center”—was transferred to Annwfn, which Gwydion had bequeathed
to the Church of All Worlds. Our unique HOME Tradition continued to be the unifying
designation for the rites and rituals we had developed during those years on the land, and
which we have continued to practice, refine, and expand upon to the present day.
A “Branch Description” of HOME dated March 28, 1992, listed HOME’s purpose as
“being responsible for making the CAW vision real through well-conducted and appropriate
rituals and festivals.” The responsibilities of HOME were listed as: “ensures that each Sabbat,
festival or other ritual occasion is properly scheduled, staged, promoted and staffed,” and
“keeps a library of ritual scripts, Books of Shadows, props and other pertinent information.”
“Functions” were listed as: “creates, reviews, stages public festivals and rituals; assembles
guidelines for rituals; engages in outreach to other Pagan and religious groups; provides
coordination for Clergy.”
Over the years, people inspired and trained in the HOME Tradition have continued to
“create and conduct the CAW’s rituals and ceremonies.” These have included not only our own
Wheel of the Year cycle of Sabbats—especially Beltane, Litha, Samhain, and Yule—but also
special events, ceremonies, initiations, handfastings, and rites of passage. Lifeways continued to
conduct classes and disseminate rituals using the materials developed as the HOME Tradition.
HOME Cooking
In the Spring 1993 issue of CAW’s membership newsletter, Scarlet Flame, there appeared
the first solicitation for a “CAW Book of Shadows,” asking CAW members (“Waterkin”)
to submit their contributions to Aeona Silversong. As materials came in, Aeona organized
them into basic categories, from which emerged a provisional Table of Contents. Morning
Glory went through our personal collection of HOME ritual materials as well as Books of
Shadows from the various Traditions we had studied and worked with, selecting appropriate
additions and conceptualizing the organizational structure and presentation. Meanwhile we
continued to solicit, collect, organize, and create new materials. When Liza Gabriel joined
our family in the mid-90s, she began working with Morning Glory to sort and categorize the
growing collection, scanning many pages of typed materials onto disk so they could be used,
and spending many hours correcting the errors of such scans.
By Autumn of 1996, we had enough materials to determine that HOME Cooking would
comprise a three-volume set, to be published in loose-leaf format. At the Highlands of Tennessee
Samhain Gathering that year, we arranged with Nybor for cover art. Anodea contributed many
of her lessons from “Magick 101,” and wrote up introductions to various sections, while I drew
a bunch of illustrations. In December, as soon as we got an office and computer set up at our
new home on the V-M Ranch, I began compiling and formatting the book, finally presenting the
first draft of Book One: The Magick Circle, to Brigit , our patron goddess, at Oimelc of 1997. It
contained 66 pages in a hard loose-leaf binder with cover art by Nybor. Each copy had to be
hand-copied, punched, collated, and bound—by me and a few dedicated volunteers.