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

Book III: W heel of the Year 233
scrying-bowl. Come, children, and behold my reflection! (Pan leads audience in spiral
dance, taking the hand of one closest to left side of throne and leading everyone, hands
linked, deosil around Lady and Green Man in a wide circle, then in to view reflections in
bowl, then back out widdershins to original places in the Circle.)
So you see that I am in you and you are in me. But of course even this truth is only half
of the answer that you seek. You would get quite another perspective from my sister. If
you would truly penetrate to the depths of the mystery, you must seek her face as well.
(Turns back to the Green Man; they hold each other tenderly.)
Pan: (To the audience) Ah! The leprous White Lady, Queen of the Underworld, her dark and
cold magnificence! She who will hang your corpse like a side of beef in her great hall, where
worms and beetles may consume it. She who casts your mortal soul into her great boiling
cauldron and stirs and sings over it until you forget who you were. The fey and beautiful
Queen of Death! I advise you not to seek her dread company until, at the last, you must.
Seeker: Oh, but we must know the entire answer to our mystery—Lord Pan, we implore you
to take us to her dark castle.
Pan: Not on a bet! I’ve fulfilled my part of our bargain, now you’re on your own!
Seeker: What may we offer you to take us there?
Pan: Seekers, there ain’t enough virgins in the entire animal kingdom to make it worth my
while to take you on that journey. The way is dark, dangerous, cold, and dry. The Elementals
there are ferocious and have no mercy. And, were you to make it past them, you would
then face the Keeper of the Gates of Hell, whose appetite for flesh is boundless, whose
face is all your nightmares, whose heart is devoid of warmth and who has no known sense
of humor! No thanks. That ain’t my idea of how to spend a fine autumn evening. You’re on
your own and I’m out of here. (Splits)
Seeker: What will we do now? We can’t find our way alone and we can’t find peace until we
complete our quest.
(Lady looks sadly and lovingly at the Green Man. He steps forward and addresses the seekers:)
G.M.: I am the Green Man, who is born in the spring. Ancient folk called me Tammuz;
nowadays some call me John Barleycorn. I love the Lady the whole summer long and then
I am cut down with the grain in the fall. Now the harvest nears completion. There is
singing in every threshing room, the hay ricks stand for the drying, the corn and turnips fill
their bins, and my father the sun rides ever lower in the sky. I myself depart this day for the
realm of the Dark Lady, there to abide with her pale grace while the green world sleeps
beneath the winter storms. Since you be true seekers, I will guide and conduct you to the
Underworld, where that Lady waits to welcome me back to her side. But I cannot vouch
for your safety, for she is ancient, wise, and ruthless, and in her domain none may say her
nay. Yet I’ll give you a clue that may aid you: within her realm, the answer is always
‘Death.’ Do you still wish to come with me?
Seeker: Yes, with fear and trembling, but with steady hearts we thank you and will follow at
your command.
G.M.: (To Lady) Then I must bid you farewell, my Lady and my love, until the spring, when I
will, as always, return to you. (They embrace lovingly and tearfully.) My parting gift to you,
my Lady: grain which will nourish our folk through the winter, and the seed from which I will
spring. Farewell! (He brings a sheaf of wheat from under the small table and hands it to her.
She cradles it and weeps as they part. As he passes the table, he blows out the candle.)
Come with me now, children, as we seek the Queen of Darkness. (The spotlight is
turned off. Under cover of the sudden darkness, she slips offstage.)