Sexy Witch
Page 17
You may call the four quarters (air, fire, water, and earth), or five (the four already listed, plus center, or the four already listed, plus the ancestors), or seven (the five already listed, plus above and below). You can also invoke Goddess, and God, if you desire.
With all callings, it is traditional to close with a statement such as, “So it is,” or “So mote it be,” or “Fire (or Earth, or She, or He) is here.”
Working in this more intuitive manner, callings might go something like this:
For East
Spirits of air, I call upon you to bring clarity, inspiration, and ease of communication to this circle. I call the spirits of dawn, new ideas, and freedom of thought. Please be present here, and bring your blessings to this circle. So it is.
For South
Spirits of fire, I call upon you to bring passion, warmth, and transformation. I call upon fire to warm and transform this sacred space. Bring your heat, desire, and light. Burn bright in this circle. So it is.
And so on, through the other quarters and whatever energies/entities you choose to call.
The quarters are called in a clockwise progression, starting in many traditions with east/air, or with north/earth in some others. Starting from east, the progression would be east, south, west, north. Then, if you choose, you may call center, or the ancestors. Then Goddess, then God. Or, you may call east, south, west, north, Goddess, God, and then the ancestors. Again, intuition is key. Do what feels right to you.
Releasing the Quarters and Spiritual Entities
At the end of the ritual, the entities and quarters that have been called will be released. Releasing goes in the opposite order as calling, starting with the last entity or quarter called and working back to the first. Releasing can be very simple, such as, “Spirits of earth, thank you for your presence, and your blessings on this circle.”
Or, you can get as flowery as you’d like. In the tradition I grew up in, we would end the releasing with the statement “Go if you must, stay if you will.” You can use whatever wording feels right.
Here are some concepts to work with when releasing:
• Expressing gratitude to the entities who attend.
• Granting them permission to move on if they must.
• Recognizing that they are ever present, and that it is our attention that leaves them.
The Most Obnoxiously Option-Oriented Ritual Outline
You Have Ever Seen!
If you choose to take all of the steps offered so far, here’s how the ritual will look:
1. Perform the banishing.
2. Cast the circle by circumambulating three times clockwise.
3. Call the quarters.
a. Call air.
b. Call fire.
c. Call water.
d. Call earth.
e. Call center.
f. Call Goddess.
g. Call God.
4. Next, move on to the ritual outline for the week.
a. Setting space (breathing, lighting of source candle).
b. Consecration of altar (placing devotional items).
c. Consecration of writing and art.
d. Honoring with treats, water, and wine (communion).
e. Ending of ritual.
5. Opening the circle.
At the end of the circle, the practitioner “undoes” what she did at the beginning. Everything must be undone in the opposite order of how it was done—last to first. It’s like you are walking back out into the world, and you want to retrace your steps. Starting with the last invocation, release each deity, guardian, or entity that you called. The releasing will move around the circle counterclockwise.
6. Releasing the quarters.
a. Release God energy.
b. Release Goddess energy.
c. Release center.
d. Release earth.
e. Release water.
f. Release fire.
g. Release air.
7. Open the circle by circumambulating counterclockwise three times.
8. Perform the banishing counterclockwise.
Remember, you can use as many or as few of these elements as you’d like. If you choose to use just the outlines as they are presented in the sections devoted to each week’s ritual, the following is the basic outline, though there will be some variations from week to week:
• Setting space (incense, breathing, lighting of candles).
• Consecration of writing, art, and altar.
• Bead consecration.
• Honoring with treats, water, and wine (communion).
• Ending of ritual.
[contents]
ritual one
Your Body Is a Temple
★ Suggestion: Consider consecrating your temple artifact (see “Magickal Act: Visiting the Temple” in chapter 1).
What You Will Need
• A bead. This week’s bead should represent the body as temple, or the concept of sacred space.
• A platter of luscious morsels to eat. I recommend dates, figs, and other rich, sweet, dried fruits, as well as chocolate, cherries, and honey.
• Wine, if desired. See “Wines” in Appendix I.
• Incense. See “Incenses” and incense recipes in Appendix I.
How-To
• Build the altar with the items listed here and on the main altar list on page 140, or integrate any items not already present into your self-love altar (see “Magickal Act: Creating an Altar to You! Invoking Self-Love” in chapter one for more info). Your altar should be pleasing to the senses, and functional. For comfort and ease in ritual space, place everything you need near where you will be seated.
• Make sure the charcoal is lit. It takes a few minutes for the charcoal to be ready for the incense.
Outline
• Banishing (optional).
• Circle casting (optional).
• Calling of quarters and spirit entities (optional).
• Setting space.
Sprinkle a pinch of incense on the charcoal.
Focus on breathing deeply into your belly. As you breathe you may want to walk around the space once, thinking of the qualities that this blend of resins will bring to the space: love, purification, safety, healing, and connection with spirit. Then sit before your altar. Breathe consciously for a few minutes, letting the scent of the incense permeate your body, inside and out, and allowing your cells to absorb the positive qualities of the incense. Perform this step until you feel present in your body, and in ritual space.
Record the following script in advance, or read it in ritual space:
Breathe deeply, allowing your breath to expand your chest, and then even more deeply, letting your breath expand your belly, your lower abdomen. As you breathe, allow the smoke of this special blend of incense to enter your body and infuse each cell with blessing. Let this magickal and sacred blend of scents fill you with love, purification, safety, healing, and connection with spirit. As you breathe, allow your body to become the sacred temple where you worship.
Once you are fully present in your body, open your eyes, and come present in the space. Take a moment to feel the energy you have already created by centering here in this sacred space. Say:
I am in sacred space.
As you light the mother candle, say:
Lighting this flame, I invoke the sacredness of the body. I invoke the awareness that my body is a sacred temple that I consecrate to the purpose of my own growth, experience, and empowerment. I invoke not only self-acceptance but self-devotion.
From the source candle, light your personal candle. As you light this candle, say:
As I light my flame, I drop deeper into that space that allows for healing. I know my body as a sacred, wonderful temple. A space sacred and powerful. A space where I
know the truth of my own being. I drop deeper into that space inside where I have true self-devotion, where I know that each act of self-love, self-adoration, and self-definition is a sacred act. The place where I alone define the boundaries of my temple; this sacred temple that is me.
As you place your lighted candle on your altar, say:
With this light I create a sacred circle that allows honor and devotion to grow, and my light shining becomes a beacon in the darkness that allows each seeker to find her own way home.
Consecration of Writing, Art, and Altar
Once your candle is placed on the altar, it is time to consecrate the items you created during the week. This may be one piece of writing and one piece of art you have created during the week, or it may be all of them. It depends only on how much time you want to devote to being in ritual space.
Lay whatever items you want to consecrate in front of the altar. You may compose your own words of consecration, or you can use the ones I offer here. Say:
I consecrate these works to the unfolding of self-awareness. May this act serve me, and may it serve all beings through the revelation of awareness. May my increasing awareness and presence serve to bring awareness of presence to all beings everywhere throughout space and time. So it is.
Take time to witness, honor, and cherish each item you are consecrating. Read your writing out loud if it feels comfortable (voicing words may add to their power). You may also want to pass the items through the smoke from the incense, or do some other act of purification and consecration.
If you feel inclined to add to your altar, this is the time to do it. What item from this week’s exploration would like to live on your altar for the duration of your initiation cycle?
Bead Consecration
After you have consecrated your artifacts, consecrate this week’s bead. Say:
I consecrate this bead in the journey of body-love. May it serve as a reminder to me that my body is a sacred space.
Place the bead in your bead pouch.
Honoring with Treats, Water, and Wine
Bless the food, water, and wine. Say:
This food is not just a symbol of, but the true substance of, nurturance, and of the cycles of life. May the sacrifice of this that I am about to ingest feed my body, my spirit, and my soul. May I always experience, receive, and honor my hungers. May all true hungers be fulfilled.
Water is life. Life, and regeneration, and healing. Let this water remind me of my origins; of the womb, and of the blessed sea, the birthplace of life and that which forms the flow.
This wine is the blood of willing sacrifice. It represents the cycles of life, death, and birth. It offers succor, and a doorway to new perception. May this wine bless me with the awareness of choice, and with divine vision and ecstasy.
Take time to honor your body with treats, water, and wine. As you eat and drink, sit in awareness of the magick of transmutation: how the food, water, and wine affect your senses, and how these edible items become part of the very fabric of your cells. Allow gratitude, honor, and acceptance of and for the elements you are bringing into your body.
Ending of Ritual
Sit before the altar again, and breathe, and then say:
Mine is the temple. As I walk through the world, I know that my body is a sacred vessel. It is consecrated to me, and to my unfolding and empowerment. As I learn to love and honor my body as the beautiful temple, wondrous tool, and amazing vehicle for transformation that it is, I become closer to the divine gift of creation.
Now, as I breathe again, inhaling the sacred scents, I prepare to walk forward into the world. I carry sacred space everywhere I go, and all I need is to remember: My body is sacred. My breath is sacred. My bones and blood and sweat and tears are sacred. My laughter is sacred, my voice is sacred, and my skin is sacred. I claim this mantra: this temple is mine.
Turn your focus inward, close your eyes, breathe, and relax. Allow yourself to slowly come back to the world you inhabit, the room you are sitting in, and your daily life. As you open your eyes, give yourself a hug, remembering that even as you reenter the world, your body remains a sacred temple of creation and empowerment.
• Releasing of quarters and entities (optional).
• Opening of circle (optional).
• Banishing (optional).
[contents]
ritual two
I Love Me!
★ Suggestion: Consider consecrating the t-shirt you made this week, and an additional item to add to your altar (see “Magickal Act: D.I.Y. Fashion Statement” in chapter two).
What You Will Need
• A bead. This week’s bead should in some way represent body pride.
• Treats, as desired.
• Wine, if desired. See “Wines” in Appendix I.
• Incense. See “Incenses” and incense recipes in Appendix I.
How-To
• Build the altar with the items listed here and on the main altar list on page 140, or integrate any items not already present into your existing altar. For comfort and ease in ritual space, place everything you need near where you will be seated.
• Make sure the charcoal is lit.
Outline
• Banishing (optional).
• Circle casting (optional).
• Calling of quarters and spirit entities (optional).
• Setting space.
Sprinkle a pinch of incense on the charcoal.
Focus on breathing deeply into your belly. As you breathe you may want to walk around the space once, thinking of the qualities that this blend of resins will bring to the space: love, purification, safety, healing, and connection with spirit. Then sit before your altar. Breathe consciously for a few minutes, letting the scent of the incense permeate your body, inside and out, and allowing your cells to absorb the positive qualities of the incense. Perform this step until you feel present in your body, and in ritual space.
Record the following script in advance, or read it in ritual space:
Breathe deeply, allowing your breath to expand your chest, and then even more deeply, letting your breath expand your belly, your lower abdomen. As you breathe, allow the smoke of this special blend of incense to enter your body and infuse each cell with blessing. Let this magickal and sacred blend of scents fill you with love, purification, safety, healing, and connection with spirit. As you breathe, allow your body to become the sacred temple where you worship.
Once you are fully present in your body, open your eyes, and come present in the space. Take a moment to feel the energy you have already created by centering here in this sacred space. Say:
I am in sacred space.
As you light the mother candle, say:
Lighting this flame, I invoke body pride. I invoke the courage and power to be present in my body, to love my body, and to worship my body. I invoke the power of self-definition. I invoke the clarity and fullness of nurturance. I invoke a spirit of resistance and of celebration. I invoke power, and I invoke love. I invoke not only self-acceptance but self-devotion.
From the source candle, light your personal candle. As you light this candle, say:
As I light my flame, I drop deeper into that space that allows for healing. I know my body as a sacred, wonderful temple. A space sacred and powerful. A space where I know the truth of my own being. I drop deeper into that space inside where I have true self-devotion, where I know that each act of self-love, self-adoration, and self-definition is a sacred act. The place where I alone define the boundaries of my temple; this sacred temple that is me.
As you place your lighted candle on your altar, say:
With this light I create a sacred circle that allows honor and devotion to grow, and my light shining becomes a beacon in the darkness that allows each seeker to find her own way home.
Consecration of Writing, Ar
t, and Altar
Once your candle is placed on the altar, it is time to consecrate the items you created during the week. This may be one piece of writing and one piece of art you have created during the week, or it may be all of them. It depends only on how much time you want to devote to being in ritual space.
Lay whatever items you want to consecrate in front of the altar. You may compose your own words of consecration, or you can use the ones I offer here. Say:
I consecrate these works to the unfolding of self-awareness. May this act serve me, and may it serve all beings through the revelation of awareness. May my increasing awareness and presence serve to bring awareness of presence to all beings everywhere throughout space and time. So it is.
Take time to witness, honor, and cherish each item you are consecrating. Read your writing out loud if it feels comfortable (voicing words may add to their power). You may also want to pass the items through the smoke from the incense, or do some other act of purification and consecration.
If you feel inclined to add to your altar, this is the time to do it. What item from this week’s exploration would like to live on your altar for the duration of your initiation cycle?
Bead Consecration
After you have consecrated your artifacts, consecrate this week’s bead. Say:
I consecrate this bead in the journey of body-love. May it serve as a reminder to me that my body is a sacred space.
Place the bead in your bead pouch.
Honoring with Treats, Water, and Wine
Bless the food, water, and wine. Say:
This food is not just a symbol of, but the true substance of, nurturance, and of the cycles of life. May the sacrifice of this that I am about to ingest feed my body, my spirit, and my soul. May I always experience, receive, and honor my hungers. May all true hungers be fulfilled.
Water is life. Life, and regeneration, and healing. Let this water remind me of my origins; of the womb, and of the blessed sea, the birthplace of life and that which forms the flow.