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

Book I: T he Magick Circle 45
your memories more conscious and available for use in both magick and ritual. Over time,
you can consciously develop an Elemental inventory – sort of a “sensory reference library”
of personal experiences with each of the Elements. This inventory will help you access your
authentic connections to these diverse forces, and can be brought forward in the present and
used in invocation. It will give you the knowledge you need to embody and invoke a very
specific quality of Elemental power from each direction in order to empower your ritual or
magickal working.
Prior to speaking your invocation prepare yourself energetically, and trust that the poetry
of the season is alive inside you. Embody the frequency, the resonance, the vibration of the
Elemental power you are inviting. Let your words emerge from your center. As each Element is
invoked, allow the tone of your voice change in range, pitch, quality of sound, and meter of
delivery. Like tuning into the band wave frequency on a radio, dial up each directional “station”
to hear the Elemental music clearly. Make an authentic connection to the quality of Elemental
energy you seek. For example, Air sounds in the environment tend to be very soft, breathy, and
relatively high pitched. Air words are clear, thought provoking, clever, and should give the
feeling of expansive open spaces or soaring in their delivery. Fire sounds in the environment are
those that are relatively high-pitched, clear, bright, shrill, carry well over distance, and seem to
cut through other sounds. Fire sounds grab our attention by irritating our nerves. Fire words are
simple but passionate, higher pitched, with a faster-paced delivery; they rise, outburst, or simmer
(as seasonally appropriate), with sibilance accentuated. In contrast, Water sounds in the environment
are soft but definite, midrange in pitch, and give us the feeling of caressing or stroking.
These are sounds that cause us our muscles to relax. Water words flow in a stream of consciousness.
They are dreamy and poetic, with connective phrasing and rhythmic undulation in their
delivery. Finally, Earth sounds in the environment are definite or heavy, low-pitched, and often
“sub-sonic.” These are sounds that seem to rattle our bones. Earth words are solid like large
stones, simple but carrying much weight. Delivery of an Earth invocation would be slower
paced, and with a deeper pitch.
When you are speaking an invocation in a group ritual, remember that you are the conduit
between the Elemental energies and the will of the participants in the ritual Circle. You will need
to project your voice, speaking out so that everyone present can hear and feel the invocation.
This is particularly critical if you are outside where sound can easily be lost. Personal ritual
invocations need not be spoken with such projection, but it is still best to speak them aloud.
Speaking aloud gives the Elemental forces within you an opportunity to come fully forward. It is
a form of self-witnessing. How and what you hear within ritual space may be different than how
and what you hear in a state of ordinary consciousness. Try invocation both ways, aloud and
silent, in order to hear, see, and feel the differences for yourself. Experiment with the power of
your own voice to come into resonance with the power of the Elements. Make lots of magick!
Summoning the Elements—Generic
By Oberon & Crow Dragontree
Here is a generic approach to Quarter calling, with little variation from Quarter to Quarter.
Something this simple may be used for many rituals, as it requires very little effort to
memorize. This is useful if you are having newcomers or visitors taking part in the ceremony
and you want to give them a way to participate that won’t be too challenging.
Four people are selected before the ritual begins, and given, respectively, a censer of
burning incense, a lit red candle, a chalice of water, and a bowl of salt. The celebrant representing
the Eastern Quarter stands in the east, holding the incense. Strongly and confidently
call out something like this:
Hail to the Ancients of East and Air!
We call you to our Rite!