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

180 Creating Circles & Ceremonies
that person is. Just give the person a smile
that honors how special they are. Now realize
that you are looking at a person who embodies
part of the soul of Gaia. You are looking
at one of the many faces of Gaia.
Take a moment to think of an action that
you can take in the next three months that will
support the awakening of Gaia. It can be an
environmental project, a research project, a
political decision, a personal goal.
When you have decided on your action,
take turns speaking it to each other. Look the
other person in the eye and speak to them as
though you are making a promise. You are in
the living presence of Gaia. (Pause.)
Now all please form once again into one
large Circle. (Pause while they do so.)
Now reach down and touch the Earth.
Touch Gaia. Reach out and touch your own
face. Touch Gaia. Reach out and take the hand
of the person next to you. Touch Gaia.
P: (Leaves the Circle, if he is in it, and comes
to stand beside PRIESTESS.) We thank
Gaia for her presence. And we thank the
children of Gaia for their presence.
Ps: Thank you Mother Earth,
Thank you Sister Water
Thank you for our birth,
192. T he W itches’ Ballad
Oh, I have been beyond the town
Where nightshade black and mandrake grow
And I have heard and I have seen
What righteous folk would fear to know
For I have heard, at still midnight
Upon the hilltop far, forlorn
With note that echoed through the dark
The winding of the heathen horn
And I have seen the fire aglow
And glinting from the magic sword
And with the inner eye beheld
The Horned One, the Sabbat’s Lord
We drank the wine, and broke the bread
And ate it in the Old Ones’ name
We linked our hands to make the ring
And laughed and leaped the Sabbat game
From your sons and daughters!
Thank you Father Sun,
thank you Air in motion;
Thank you every one—
Earth, Sun, Air, and Ocean!
P: The Circle will open in a moment and
we will go where we will go. But ere we depart
to our fair and lovely realms, we must
remember, my friends. We must remember to
be conscious and to act consciously. Remember
your promise.
For we are Gaia, and we have changed
the world. As you walk away, look for what
is changed. For the newness that has awakened.
For what you want this world to be.
That is the Real World. That is the spirit of
Gaia smiling at you.
Try to notice at least one new thing every
day. Accept that as reality. Whatever else
that you encounter, invoke the power of evolution
and know that change is inevitable.
We are going to close with a chant to turn
the world around. When you finish this chant,
if you believe in what we have done, turn
around and embrace the people around you.
Embrace Gaia.
DISMISSAL CHANT:
“We come from the mountains, etc.”
Oh, little do the townfolk reck
When dull they lie within their bed
Beyond the streets, beneath the stars
A merry round the Witches tread
And round and round the circle spun
Until the gates swung wide ajar
That bar the boundaries of earth
From Faery realms that shine afar
Oh, I have been and I have seen
In magic worlds of Otherwhere
For all this world may praise or blame
For ban or blessing naught I care
For I have been beyond the town
Where meadowsweet and roses grow
And there such music did I hear
As worldly-righteous never know
—Doreen Valiente