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

238 Creating Circles & Ceremonies
into your shadow and cast it into the cauldron! (All do this and go forward at random to
let their crepe paper fall into the cauldron.) It is done, and bravely! Therefore, I grant you
passage from this place. Mark well the way, my children, for you will walk this path again!
And that you pass safely the hungry ghosts and demons who feed on mortal flesh, I give
you this gift: new shadows and true faces! (Black satin ribbons with tiny mirrors sewn on)
Go, now, for the moment of your respite from here may pass sooner than you wish! But
will you stay and feast, my sister? We have much to talk about!
Lady: Alas, my work is unfinished until winter lays its cloak upon the land. So I will accompany
my children to our home in the great world above. (They embrace.) Come, Pan, give
me your arm. Perhaps we can find a bite to eat and some time for a game…of chess.
(Pan grins and winks at the seekers. The Lady smiles and winks at the Queen and Green
Man. All exit and join in the Circle.)
(Enter the Wise Woman/Wizard)
Wise Woman/Wizard: Well met now! You have completed your quest to meet the Lady
and you got more than you bargained for, perhaps. Still, they do say: All’s well that ends
well. As you leave the Circle and return to the world, remember these lessons you have
learned this night and use them wisely as you seek the balance in your
lives and for the Earth. The Circle is opened with these words:
All from air, into air
Let the misty curtains part.
All is ended, all is done,
What has been must now be gone
What is done by ancient Art
Must merry meet and merry part—
And merry meet again!
Wiccan Rite for Fall Equinox
The place of meeting should be decorated by wreaths and wrappings of grape or
blackberry vines, as well as mushrooms and possibly a barley sheaf and some quince, if they
are available. If there will be singing, music, and rhyme before the rite, it should concern drinking,
celebrations, and good times. If there is dancing, the Priestess and Priest should see that it
is fast, bright, and cheerful. Pork, mushrooms, roast apples, and wine aplenty are traditional.
The Great Circle shall be cast in the usual manner. To begin the rite, the Priestess stands
before the mirror, facing it with her athame held out in salute. She invokes:
Lady of the Willows, Mother of the Sacred Child, grant to the witches of thy Craft an
understanding of thy mysteries.
She drops her arms after the salute. The Priest comes beside her and also looks into the
mirror, saluting with his athame and saying:
Thou son of the Goddess, half-divine and yet half-human, whose shape did ever change
into any manner of beast, whose body is as barley and wine and whose soul is as the
bright sun, grant unto these witches thy strength, thy passion, thy joy, and the visions
and prophecy which are thine.
They turn about and the Priest begins preparation for the dance as the Priestess proclaims
with cheer:
Oh sweet upon the mountain the dancing and the singing, the madding, rushing flight.
Oh sweet to sink to Earth outworn to be one with the Godling, to know all of his powers,
to know all of his ecstasy. It is for this we dance; to know the freedom and the magick of
the horned son of the Lady.