By: Dominique Miller (If you choose to use this ritual in your own celebrations or share it in any forum, please include the proper credits as I have done below.)
We sit (or stand) in a circle and read The Charges Of The God, Goddess, Crone and Dark Goddess. This can be done either before or after the ritual, but I prefer to read it before. Although these are charges most commonly read during rites of initiation, I find it to be a welcome reminder of the reason for the season.
The Charge Of The Goddess
(Credit for this version to be given to Doreen Valiente)
The High Priest (if applicable):
"Listen to the words of the Great Mother;
she who of old was also called among men
Artemis, Astarte, Athene, Dione, Melusine,
Aphrodite, Cerridwen, Cybele, Arianrhod,
Isis, Dana, Bride and by many other names..."
The High Priestess:
"Whenever ye have need of anything,
once in the month, and better it be when the moon is full,
then shall ye assemble in some secret place
and adore the spirit of me, who am Queen of all the witches.
There shall ye assemble,
ye who are fain to learn all sorcery,
yet have not won its deepest secrets;
to these will I teach things that are yet unknown.
And ye shall be free from slavery;
and as a sign that ye be really free,
ye shall be naked in your rites;
and ye shall dance, sing, feast,
make music and love,
all in my praise.
For mine is the ecstasy of the spirit,
and mine also is joy on earth;
for my law is love unto all beings.
Keep pure your highest ideal;
strive ever towards it;
let naught stop you or turn you aside.
For mine is the secret door
which opens upon the Land of Youth,
and mine is the cup of the wine of life,
and the Cauldron of Cerridwen,
which is the Holy Grail of immortality.
I am the Gracious Goddess,
who gives the gift of joy unto the heart of man.
Upon earth, I give the knowledge of the spirit eternal;
and beyond death, I give peace and freedom
and reunion with those who have gone before.
Nor do I demand aught in sacrifice;
for behold,
I am the Mother of all living,
and my love is poured out upon the earth."
The High Priest:
"Hear ye the words of the Star Goddess;
she in the dust of whose feet are the hosts
of heaven, and whose body encircles the universe..."
The High Priestess:
"I who am the beauty of the green earth,
the white moon among the stars, and the mystery
of the waters call unto thy soul;
Arise, and come unto me.
I am the soul of nature who gives life to the universe.
From Me all things proceed, and unto Me all things must return.
Before My face, beloved of gods and of men, let thine
innermost divine self be enfolded in the rapture of the infinite.
Let My worship be within the heart that rejoices,
for behold, all acts of love and pleasure are My rituals.
Therefore let there be beauty and strength, power and compassion,
honor and humility, mirth and reverence within you.
To thou who thinkest to seek Me, know that thy seeking and
yearning shall avail thee not, unless thou knowest the Mystery.
If that which thou seekest thou findest not within thee,
thou wilt never find it without.
For behold, I have been with thee from the beginning; and
I am that which is attained at the end of desire."
The Charge Of The God
(Credit for this version to be given to The Elder Ray Fagan)
To be read by the HP or HPS depending on who is in attendance and available:
"Whenever you have need of my strength and power,
or when my sun reaches a spoke of the great wheel,
then shall you assemble into a holy place and cry out for the king stag, who is the sacred King of all witches.
I am the king stag, who leads and protects the herd.
I am the white hart who is chased but can never be caught,
the wild goat who would give his last breath to create new life,
the unicorn and the dragon of legends ancient wrought,
and the dark horned hunter who strikes terror into the night!
I am the sun and the wind and the sea.
I am the storm and the lightning and the thunder.
I am the stone and the fire and the steel.
I am the blade which can cut men asunder.
I am life, and I am death. I am nature.
Love me and respect me -- or fear me.
The choice is yours.
I am the lusty young satyr who spawned you,
the loving father who raised and protected you,
and the wise old man who taught you wisdom during your life
and understanding during your death.
I will be there each time you are born,
each time you fall in love,
and when you die,
for I do love you.
These are the three great magicks which you shall learn at my hand:
birth, love, and death.
For these are the three greatest changes of life;
and what is magick, but the ability to effect change?
The secret of life is that it is incomplete without death.
The secret of death is that it is but a doorway to new beginnings.
The secret of love is that it never dies.
Serve me with strength and gentleness.
Protect mine with courage and mercy.
Worship me with mirth and with reverence.
Sing, dance, make music, and make love,
all in my name, for all acts of love and joy are my rituals.
And remember, if you find not that which you seek within yourself,
you shall never find it without;
for behold, I have been with you from the beginning
and am that which is attained at the end of desire."
The Charge Of The Crone:
(Credit for this version to be given to Jim Garrison)
"I am the Queen of Magick and the Dark of the Moon,
hidden in the deepest night.
I am the mystery of the Otherworlds
and the fear that coils about your heart
in the times of your trials.
I am the soul of nature that gives form to the universe;
it is I who awaits you at the end of the spiral dance.
Most ancient among gods and mortals,
let my worship be within the heart that has truly tasted life,
for behold all acts of magick and art are my pleasure
and my greatest ritual is love itself.
Therefore let there be beauty in your strength,
compassion in your wrath,
power in your humility,
and discipline balanced through mirth and reverence.
You who seek to remove my veil and behold my true face,
know that all your questioning and efforts are for nothing,
and all your lust and desires shall avail you not at all.
For unless you know my mystery,
look wherever you will, it will elude you,
for it is within you and nowhere else.
For behold, I have ever been with you,
from the very beginning,
the comforting hand that nurtured you in the dawn of life,
and the loving embrace that awaits you at the end of each life,
for I am that which is attained at the end of the dance,
and I am the womb of new beginnings,
as yet unimagined and unknown."
The Charge Of The Dark Goddess:
"The Dark Goddess speaks to us,
through the mouths of Lilith, Kali, Tiamet, Hekate,
Nix, the Black Madonna, Nemesis and Morgaine...
I am the Darkness behind and beneath the shadows.
I am the absence of air that awaits at the bottom of every breath.
I am the Ending before Life begins again,
the Decay that fertilizes the Living.
I am the Bottomless Pit,
the never-ending struggle to reclaim that which is denied.
I am the Key that unlocks every Door.
I am the Glory of Discovery,
for I am that which is hidden, secluded and forbidden.
Come to me at the Dark Moon and see that which can not be seen,
face the terror that is yours alone.
Swim to me through the blackest oceans
to the center of your greatest fears--
the Dark God and I will keep you safe.
Scream to us in terror, and yours will be the Power to Forbear.
Think of me when you feel pleasure, and I will intensify it,
until the time when I may have the greatest pleasure
of meeting you at the Crossroads Between the Worlds."
"The wheel of the year has turned and it is once again the time of the harvest. The grain god has died and gives us his body that we may eat of it and gain strength. The time of the harvest is an important and auspicious time for pagans of all types and of all backgrounds. It is time to celebrate the bounty that we have gathered this year. The seeds of our desires which have been sown since the time of Imbolc are now becoming ready to be reaped. It is time to take stock of our accomplishments and to think about that which no longer serves us and to ready it for the reaping, that it may be sacrificed. Following in the traditions of our Witch and pagan brothers and sisters of olde, we gather the fruits of our labors and we discard that which no longer serves us. We take stock of our lives. We give ourselves credit where credit is due for our accomplishments and the steps we have taken to accomplish much more and we consider what we need to ready for sacrifice. We give thanks to the grain god for his sacrifice this Lammas night. Blessed be."
(Cakes and ale are to be served BUT NOT EATEN at this point)
"Life, growth, love, death and rebirth...
the wheel has come full circle once more.
The god of the harvest has died that we may consume him,
Giving us strength in the months to come."
The high priestess hands everyone the poppet or ingredients to make one, saying:
"We create these dolls in our own images to symbolize ourselves in our many aspects and to symbolize all that we sacrifice and the knowledge of why we must do so, that we may thrive and flourish as the year progresses and the wheel turns."
When everyone has completed their dolls, the High Priestess says:
"The god of grain is dying.
The first of Mother Gaia's yearly sacrifices return to the earth which is her body.
We call upon the gods of the harvest and we ask them
for their blessings.
Tammuz and Lugh,
Adonis, Dumuzi,
Cernunnos and Attis,
Mercury and Osiris.
Each year, you are born to live in our fields
and each year, you die and give to us the nourishment
of your body and the wisdom of your spirit as part of the
cycle-the wheel of the year, which turns ever more as it
ever has done."
Hold hands and sing these verses:
"Hoof and horn, hoof and horn,
all that dies shall be reborn.
Corn and grain, corn and grain,
all that falls shall rise again."
Another way to sing Hoof And Horn is to sing Hoof And Horn is to sing the words above for the first verse and We All Come From The Goddess as the second verse in rounds. I also like layering those two songs together.
"We All Come From The Goddess"
"We all come from the Goddess
And to her we shall return,
Like a drop of rain
Flowing to the ocean"
(Optional second verse)
"Sage and crone,
Sage and crone,
Wisdom's gift shall be our own
Crone and sage,
Crone and sage,
Wisdom is the gift of age"
Or
"Earth my body,
water my blood,
air my breath and
fire my spirit."
Or
We can do rounds of each song as one (half of the group singing each song) if we have a large enough group.
Depending on whether we are having an indoor celebration or an outdoor one or according to each member's personal preference, we can hold onto our dolls and sacrifice them at Imbolg or we can sacrifice them in the fire now.
We all hold our bread aloft and say:
"Months ago, we planted seeds,
and through the summer watched them grow.
We have tended the fields of our lives,
and now we are blessed with the fruit of the the seeds which we've sown.
The harvest has arrived!
Thank you, lord of the harvest for the gifts we have received and for those yet to come.
We eat this bread, grain transformed by fire, in your name and we honor you for your sacrifice."
The HPs says:
"May you reap the blessings of the harvest."
Once everyone has eaten their bread and sipped from the cup, take a moment to reflect on what you have harvested for yourself this season and whwha seeds you want to sow in the year to come.
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