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

Book I: T he Magick Circle 81
6. Communion
Holy Communion
By Oberon Zell-Ravenheart
Blessings
After raising and releasing all that energy,
we now move to the lighter and more joyous part of the ritual. This is a time of celebration,
sharing and fellowship, and an easing in the intense focus of energies that characterized
the previous phase of the ritual. In magick, as in life, the balance between gravity (the heavy
stuff) and levity (the light stuff) is very important. For this part of the ritual, there are three
main elements: Consecration, Communion (“sharing”) and Hiatus, often called “sacred
bullshit.” On the altar you should have an athamé (knife), a filled chalice (cup), and a pantacle
(or plate) with an uncut round of bread, or uncut fruit, such as apples.
Communion usually begins with the Consecration of the Sacraments. Consecrating means
“blessing for our use.” This is much like saying a food blessing before meals, except that
since the God and/or Goddess (or other beings of spirit we’ve previously invoked) are already
with us in the Circle, we don’t need to ask them again for their blessings. They are
already blessing us and all we do by their very presence. Instead, we what we do here is
charge our food and drink with Spirit—with the special essence of the Goddess and/or
God—recognizing that our nourishment and refreshment not only come from them, but
actually are part of them, which we are about to make part of ourselves.
Consecrations-T he Chalice & the Blade
The first part of consecrating the sacraments is done with the Athamé and the Chalice,
which is filled with water, fruit juice, wine, or mead; all are equally appropriate in any ritual,
depending on your preference. In the HOME Tradition, we always use water, as the concept
that “water shared is life shared” is an important part of our heritage. But we often
have a separate chalice of wine or fruit juice as well.
A ritual Chalice should be in the form of a beautiful stemmed goblet. It may be
made of any of a number of materials. Chalices of glass, ceramic, wood, silver (or
silver-plated), pewter, and even horn are all acceptable. But plastic is disdained for
all ceremonial purposes! A ritual Chalice, however, should never be made of brass
or copper, as it can then be used only for water. Fruit juice or wine must not be
used in an unlined brass or copper Chalice, as these metals become poisonous
in reaction with the citric acids in juices or wine. For the same reason, ceramic
Chalices must not have a lead glaze, and pewter Chalices must be nickel-free.
The classical Consecration of the Chalice and the Blade is often called the
symbolic Great Rite, for it represents the sexual union of the male and female
forces, a union which engenders all life. If you are doing this solitary, you should
hold the Chalice in your left hand, and the Athamé in your right hand, and
speak these lines yourself. If there are a priest and priestess (or any man and
woman) in the Circle, then she should hold up the Chalice with both hands while
he holds the Athamé above it, point down. The priest then lowers it into the
chalice, while saying something like this:
As the Athamé is to the male…
The Priestess continues:
So the Chalice is to the female.