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A Samhain Ritual

By Crone

The altar should be set with a black cloth, a smoldering cauldron, black votives at the corners or at direction altars, with a single white taper at the center. Adorn the central altar and direction altars with arrangements of dark dried flowers, reeds, and grasses. A figure of the goddess as crone should be present. (This can easily be made from a black scarf or cloth.) Wear a dark robe with a hood. If a loved one or beloved pet has made the transition to the Summerland during the year, you may choose to include a small photograph on the altar. Near the cauldron, have a bowl with a few short sturdy twigs and dried leaves.

From: http://clubs.users.cnu.edu/peso/Holidays.htm

Grounding and Centering:

Focus on your altar and the meaning of this season with these words:

“Within the cycle of life, there comes a time when the light is dim and energy has retracted. It is a time to honor our dead and those in their declining years. It is a time to look forward to the life that grows ever out of death.”

Cast the Circle deosil with athame or wand extended, repeating this chant:

“Crone and sage, crone and sage,

Wisdom is the gift of age.

Hoof and Horn, Hoof and Horn,

All that dies shall be reborn.”

After returning to the altar, invoke the spirits of the directions, lighting the black votive on the direction altar or on that corner of your main altar with these words:

“Spirit of East I do invite

To join my circle in dark of night.

Your Air now brings me winds so chill.

My rushing life becomes quite still.

My thoughts and words in somber quest

Invoke you now with all the rest.

Spirit of South I need your light.

I need your warmth on this dark night.

I beg you, make the shadows go.

I seek creative passion so.

Be with me on this night so black

With fire and heat which now I lack.

Spirit of West, of water clear

Please join me; bring your presence near.

I need your insight as I strive

To reckon death, then be alive.

I need your feelings deep and strong

To move me like a sacred song.

Spirit of North, of sacred Earth

Be here through death and through rebirth.

Nurture me in this awesome task

Here in the dark, is what I ask.

As darkness deep within is found,

Please join me on your hallowed ground.

Goddess, Crone of the dying light, of the death of the year,

Be with me as I honor the close of a cycle.

Bless me with your wisdom as the end draws near.

I request your presence and your reassurance

That the end is but another beginning;

That as the light goes, yet it will come again;

That death brings with it the promise of life to come.

Guide me that I might know your gift for my loved ones,

That they will rest and be reborn, refreshed and renewed.

I am now in that place,

In that sacred space between the worlds.

I am where my ancestors have gone.

I am where my loved ones watch me.

I am in a world beyond time

Where the goddess guides me

Where I am one with the world

Where I open my heart and mind

Where I love and learn.

Blessed be.”

Honoring those who have gone on to the Summerland:

If you have a photograph on your altar, hold it close, or hold in your heart a loved one who has made the final transition. If you have no one in your life who has made this transition, honor the many lives wasted in war and crime. Say these words:

“Do not stand at my grave and weep

I am not there, I do not sleep

I am a thousand winds that blow

I am the diamond glints on snow

I am the sunlight on ripened grain

I am the gentle autumn rain

When you awaken in the morning's hush

I am the swift uplifting rush

of quiet birds in circled flight

I am the soft stars that shine at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry

I am not there. I did not die.”

("I Am Not There" - This poem or elegy has been attributed to Mary Elizabeth Frye 1932).

Magickal Working:

Samhain marks the New Year. You have looked back at losses of the past. Now look ahead. As you look to the New Year, you must look within. Take a twig from the bowl and holding it in your hands focus on a strength you have which you would take with you into the New Year. Say these words as you drop the twig into the cauldron:

“I am strong and empowered by my ______. As this twig adds power to the flames I know my ______ adds to the strength of those I touch.”

Take a dry leaf from the bowl, and holding it in your hands, focus on something of yourself you would leave behind with the passing year. Say these words as you drop the leaf into the cauldron:

“Be gone from me, ______. I have no use for you in my life. As this leaf turns to ash in the flame, so _______ burns and is gone.”

Light the white candle while focusing on an attribute or skill you wish for yourself in the coming year. Look into the flame as you say these words:

“My wish is for ______. I know a wish alone will not bring this to me. I am empowering myself here and now to take steps in the new year to create for myself this ______.

I face the New Year with joy and love,

Things to keep, to acquire, to be free of.

To insure that the magick will come true,

I will help it happen in all that I do.”

Opening the Circle:

“Thank you Goddess Crone for your presence here.

I ask you always to be near.

On this night and in this hour

I have felt your magick power.

I thank directions spirits all

For coming with my opening call.

You are of the goddess; go with her now.

My thanks for your presence during my vow.

Thanks for her sweet breath which is air,

And thanks for the fire, her spirit fair,

Thanks water which fills her place of birth,

And thanks for her body, our sacred Earth.

I go forth from this sacred space

Into the New Year

Empowered to be more

Than I have been.

So mote it be and blessed be.”

First published in The Controversial Cauldron - the group newsletter of Email Witches

Crone is an active member of the UU (CUUP’s) and has been a member of Email Witches since 2004

Best wishes and Blessed Be

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Correspondence Tables:

Incense / Candles / Colours / Magickal Days / Stones and Gems / Elements and Elementals

Traditions:

Traditions Part 1 - Alexandrian Wicca / Aquarian Tabernacle Church (ATC) / Ár Ndraíocht Féin (ADF) / Blue Star Wicca / British Traditional (Druidic Witchcraft) / Celtic Wicca / Ceremonial Magic / Chaos Magic / Church and School of Wicca / Circle Sanctuary / Covenant of the Goddess (COG) / Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans (CUUPS) / Cyber Wicca / Dianic Wicca / Eclectic Wicca / Feri Wicca /

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Other things of interest:

Gods and Goddesses (Greek Mythology) / Esbats & Full Moons / Links to Personal Friends & Resources / Wicca/Witchcraft Resources / What's a spell? / Circle Casting and Sacred Space / Pentagram - Pentacle / Marks of a Witch / The Witches Power / The Witches Hat / An esoteric guide to visiting London / Satanism / Pow-wow / The Unitarian Universalist Association / Numerology: Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / A history of the Malleus Maleficarum: includes: Pope Innocent VIII / The papal Bull / The Malleus Maleficarum / An extract from the Malleus Maleficarum / The letter of approbation / Johann Nider’s Formicarius / Jacob Sprenger / Heinrich Kramer / Stefano Infessura / Montague Summers / The Waldenses / The Albigenses / The Hussites / The Native American Sun Dance / Shielding (Occult and Psychic Protection) / The History of Thanksgiving / Auras - Part 1 and Part 2 / “Doreen Valiente Witch” (A Book Review) /

Sabbats and Festivals:

The Sabbats in History and Mythology / Samhain (October 31st) / Yule (December 21st) / Imbolc (February 2nd) / Ostara (March 21st) / Beltane (April 30th) / Litha (June 21st) / Lammas/Lughnasadh (August 1st) / Mabon (September 21st)

Rituals contributed by Crone:

Samhain / Yule / Imbolc / Ostara / Beltane / Litha / Lammas / Mabon

Tools:

Tools of a Witch / The Besom (Broom) / Poppets and Dolls / Pendulums / Cauldron Magick / Mirror Gazing

Animals:

Animals in Witchcraft (The Witches Familiar and Totem Animals) / Antelope / Bats / Crow / Fox / Frog and Toads / Goat / Honeybee / Kangaroo / Lion / Owl / Phoenix / Rabbits and Hares / Raven / Robin Redbreast / Sheep / Spider / Squirrel / Swans / Unicorn / Wild Boar / Wolf / Serpent / Pig / Stag / Horse / Mouse / Cat / Rats / Unicorn

Trees:

In Worship of Trees - Myths, Lore and the Celtic Tree Calendar. For descriptions and correspondences of the thirteen sacred trees of Wicca/Witchcraft see the following: Birch / Rowan / Ash / Alder / Willow / Hawthorn / Oak / Holly / Hazel / Vine / Ivy / Reed / Elder

Sacred Sites:

Mystical Sacred Sites - Stonehenge / Glastonbury Tor / Malta - The Hypogeum of Hal Saflieni / Avebury / Cerne Abbas - The Chalk Giant / Ireland - Newgrange /

Rocks and Stones:

Stones - History, Myths and Lore

Articles contributed by Patricia Jean Martin:

Apophyllite / Amber / Amethyst / Aquamarine / Aragonite / Aventurine / Black Tourmaline / Bloodstone / Calcite / Carnelian / Celestite / Citrine / Chrysanthemum Stone / Diamond / Emerald / Fluorite / Garnet / Hematite / Herkimer Diamond / Labradorite / Lapis Lazuli / Malachite / Moonstone / Obsidian / Opal / Pyrite / Quartz (Rock Crystal) / Rose Quartz / Ruby / Selenite / Seraphinite / Silver and Gold / Smoky Quartz / Sodalite / Sunstone / Thunderegg / Tree Agate / Zebra Marble

Wisdom and Inspiration:

Knowledge vs Wisdom by Ardriana Cahill / I Talk to the Trees / Awakening / The Witch in You / A Tale of the Woods / I have a Dream by Martin Luther King /

Articles and Stories about Witchcraft:

Murdered by Witchcraft / The Fairy Witch of Clonmel / A Battleship, U-boat, and a Witch / The Troll-Tear (A story for Children) / Goody Hawkins - The Wise Goodwife / The Story of Jack-O-Lantern / The Murder of the Hammersmith Ghost / Josephine Gray (The Infamous Black Widow) / The Two Brothers - Light and Dark

Old Masters of Academia:

Pliny the Elder / Hesiod / Pythagoras

Biographies

A "Who's Who" of Witches, Pagans and other associated People

(Ancient, Past and Present)

Remembered at Samhain

(Departed Pagan Pioneers, Founders, Elders and Others)

Pagan Pioneers: Founders, Elders, Leaders and Others

Abramelin the Mage / Agrippa / Aidan A Kelly / Albertus Magnus - “Albert the Great” / Aleister Crowley - “The Great Beast” / Alex Sanders - “King of the Witches” / Alison Harlow / Allan Bennett - the Ven. Ananda Metteyya / Allan Kardec (Spiritism) / Alphonsus de Spina / Amber K / Ann Moura / Anna Franklin / Anodea Judith / Anton Szandor LaVey / Arnold Crowther / Arthur Edward Waite / Austin Osman Spare / Balthasar Bekker / Biddy Early / Barbara Vickers / Bridget Cleary - The Fairy Witch of Clonmel / Carl " Llewellyn" Weschcke / Cecil Hugh Williamson / Charles Godfrey Leland / Charles Walton / Christopher Penczak / Christina Oakley Harrington / Cornelius Loos / Damh the Bard - "Dave Smith" / Dion Fortune / Dolores Aschroft-Nowicki / Donald Michael Kraig / Doreen Valiente / Dorothy Morrison / Dr. John Dee & Edward Kelly / Dr. Leo Louis Martello / Edain McCoy / Edward Fitch / Eleanor Ray Bone - “Matriarch of British Witchcraft” / Eliphas Levi / Ernest Thompson Seton / Ernest Westlake / Fiona Horne / Frederick McLaren Adams - Feraferia / Friedrich von Spee / Francis Barrett / Gavin and Yvonne Frost and the School and Church of Wicca / Gerald B. Gardner - The father of contemporary Witchcraft / Gwydion Pendderwen / Hans Holzer / Helen Duncan / Herman Slater - Horrible Herman / Heinrich Kramer / Isaac Bonewits / Israel Regardie / Ivo Domínguez Jr. / Jack Whiteside Parsons - Rocket Science and Magick / James "Cunning" Murrell - The Master of Witches / Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone / Jean Bodin / Jessie Wicker Bell - “Lady Sheba” / Johann Weyer / Johannes Junius - "The Burgomaster of Bamberg" / Johann Georg Fuchs von Dornheim - the “Hexenbrenner” (witch burner) / John Belham-Payne / John George Hohman - "Pow-wow" / John Gerard / John Gordon Hargrave and the Kibbo Kith Kindred / John Michael Greer / John Score / Joseph “Bearwalker” Wilson / Joseph John Campbell / Karl von Eckartshausen / Lady Gwen Thompson - and "The Rede of the Wiccae" / Laurie Cabot - "the Official Witch of Salem" / Lewis Spence / Lodovico Maria Sinistrari / Ludwig Lavater / Madeline Montalban and the Order of the Morning Star / Margaret Alice Murray / Margot Adler / Michael Howard and the UK "Cauldron Magazine" / Margaret St. Clair - the “Sign of the Labrys” / Marie Laveau - " the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans" / Marion Weinstein / Martin Antoine Del Rio / Matthew Hopkins - “The Witch-Finder General” / Max Ehrmann and the "Desiderata" / Michael A. Aquino - and The Temple of Set / Monique Wilson / Montague Summers / Nicholas Culpeper / Nicholas Remy / M. R. Sellars / Mrs. Maud Grieve - "A Modern Herbal" / Oberon Zell-Ravenheart and Morning Glory / Old Dorothy Clutterbuck / Old George Pickingill / Olivia Durdin-Robertson - co-founder of the Fellowship of Isis / Paddy Slade / Pamela Colman-Smith / Paracelsus / Patricia Crowther / Patricia Monaghan / Patricia “Trish” Telesco / Paul Foster Case and the “Builders of the Adytum” mystery school / Peter Binsfeld / Philip Heselton / Raven Grimassi / Raymond Buckland / Reginald Scot / Richard Baxter / Robert Cochrane / Robert ‘von Ranke’ Graves and the "The White Goddess" / Rosaleen Norton - “The Witch of Kings Cross” / Rossell Hope Robbins / Ross Nichols and the " Order of Bards, Ovates & Druids" (OBOD) / Rudolf Steiner / Sabrina Underwood - "The Ink Witch" / Scott Cunningham / Selena Fox - founder of "Circle Sanctuary" / Silver Ravenwolf / Sir Francis Dashwood / Sir James George Frazer and the " The Golden Bough" / S.L. MacGregor Mathers and the “Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn” / Starhawk / Stewart Farrar / Sybil Leek / Ted Andrews / The Mather Family - (includes: Richard Mather, Increase Mather and Cotton Mather ) / Thomas Ady / T. Thorn Coyle / Vera Chapman / Victor & Cora Anderson and the " Feri Tradition" / Vivianne Crowley / Walter Brown Gibson / Walter Ernest Butler / William Butler Yeats / Zsuzsanna Budapest /

Many of the above biographies are briefs and far from complete. If you know about any of these individuals and can help with additional information, please contact me privately at my email address below. Many thanks for reading :-)

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