Saturday, December 27, 2014

God is XYZ, pt.3: The Paradox



God is XYZ, pt.3: The Paradox

(Read the first and second parts here and here.)

For a long time now I have purposely withheld my personal opinion about the Nature of the Gods and any belief I may hold or not about them. My reason is a simple one. I have had a hard time putting just what I believe into articulate words I can intellectually grasp, let alone so that another can understand what I am babbling on about.

Part of the issue, and a minor part at that, is I largely don’t actively engage in a belief based paradigm. I practice. Sure that which I do, Contemporary Pagan Initiatory-based Witchcraft (feel free to toss Mystery-based, Orthopraxis, and Oath-bound in that description too), is a practice that interacts with the world with an Oligotheistic lens. As such, one would assume that my own practice begotten beliefs would fall into one of the forms of Polytheism common to such a practice.

Truth be told, it is a bit more complicated than that. Please understand, I am not in saying this in any way trying to say anyone else’s beliefs, to include those that solely subscribes to one of these –isms, is any less valid or complicated. I am just saying that my own take on the Nature of the Gods is complicated, or maybe I am making it that way.

The most common short list –isms that I encounter in the Craft are Monotheism, Monism (arguably a form of Polytheism or Monotheism depending on whom you ask), Polytheism whether “hard” or “soft” (to include Oligotheism, Duotheism, Henotheism), Agnostic, and Atheism. Yes, all of that under the same roof. Easily so too, because orthopraxis embraces that belief belongs to the individual not the group.

The problem that I have with explaining my beliefs about the Nature of the Gods is that there is an apparent paradox in that I wholeheartedly feel that each and every one of these is simultaneously wrong and correct all at the same time. How is that for not making any new friends or pissing off the ones you have?

Sure I invoke, pray to, ritual with, and a whole host of other interactions with a whole legion of spirits, beings, and Gods and Goddesses. I also assert they are all real too. It is just the nature of this realness exists in various contradictory forms all at once. From the logical arena of arguers this view is ridiculous and so full of rhetorical holes that a sunken ship is more likely to stay afloat. To that, I simply say “So? My Craft is a Mystery Religion.”

The thing is I believe that any Gods and Goddesses and the Self are of the same nature (that whole Natural Theology thing)... and the Self is paradoxical. The Self has no birth, no death, it is not coming from anywhere, it is not going anywhere, it is not the same as anything, it is not different than anything, there is no being, and there is no non-being. All of this is true about the Self and about the Divine (no matter how you chop it up, or not).

I think that the Nature of the Gods (and the Self) can best be described with the four following statements, of which all are equally true. The Craft is a mystery religion and when we sit in the place where the mind accepts them all then we truly open the door for the Gods to enter, or at least so I believe:

The Gods and/or Goddesses are not this.
The Gods and/or Goddesses are not that.
The Gods and/or Goddesses are not both.
The Gods and/or Goddesses are not neither.

So there you have it, my belief. I think I will dub it “Superpolyoligotheisticmonoagnodocious” or I guess we could just go with continuing to call it “Witchcraft” cause that already covers all of that. Anyway, at the end of the day I still hold to the whole idea that one’s practice is paramount and that the Nature of the Gods is irrelevant to such, so let’s not get too wrapped up in concrete definitions that deny very real aspects of the divine.

 Boidh Se!

-Spanish Moss

"Lost in a thicket bare-foot upon a thorned path."

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Shrouded Feast of the Dread Lord: Autumn Equinox

In a few days the Autumn Equinox will be upon us, for the majority of Contemporary Paganism, though not all by far, it is a day of feasting often described akin to a Pagan Thanksgiving. For the Witch though, there is also traditional lore and rites through the practice of which will act as the catalyst of specific mysteries. Sure there is still feasting, but for the Witch there is at least an additional reason for the feast that is directly related to the cycle of our Gods at this time. This is not to say that much of the same lore is not shared, it doesn’t have to be an either or paradigm, only to say that as a mystery based Craft the focus of the Witch is upon such Work.

This festival is Second Harvest, the first was at Lammas and the third is yet to come. The First Harvest, amongst other things, is the reaping of the Sun’s Heart Harvest when our Lord sacrifices his worldly presence to descend into the Underworld. The Second Harvest is the revealing of that which lay within the Shroud ; that which is without the Jewels and Regalia of this world.

The feast laid upon the table consists of the foods common to the harvest at this time, and these too are symbolic of this tide-time. The first food that is traditional at this time is wine and the second is harvested food from trees (think fruit and nuts).

Primarily, wine is a harvest food that relates to our Lady (though not always). Wine, especially Red, as is traditionally used in rites related to the Moon is symbolic of the Blood of the Moon Goddess. This is not a reference to Her moon-tide, at least in this particular context, but is a reference to blood in the same manner as one might say that family is of the same blood. You see the Blood of the Moon Goddess is keyed to the Daughter of the Moon, the earthly aspect of our Lady, the personal immanence of the Celestial Her. The harvest of wine is the harvest of our Lady as She manifests on the earth. It is Her harvest as it relates to the seasons, the cycles of life. This is relevant because it is at this equinox when this face of our Lady descends into the Underworld to join the Lammas King now turned Lord of the Tomb. Not to mention, wine is also a food associated with the dead, think Underworld.

The second category of harvest foods at this feast speak of Him. One of the faces He shows us is the Face in the Greenwood, the same face formed in the branches and leaves of the Tree. These foods are the fruits and seeds (nuts, etc). Fruit is the end result of labor and sacrifice and here it is implicative of His past Lammas sacrifice. More so though, the fruit is the provider of seed. Seeds then are symbolic of the forthcoming rebirth made possible by death. In fruit the Witch is reminded of His harvest, but in seed reminded of the continued turn of the Wheel as a herald to the eventual dawn of Yule-tide and reemergence of our Lord from the chthonic unto manifestation. The flesh of fruit or husk of seed are as the veil is; a Shroud.

Our Lord at this time sits upon His throne in the Mound. He is a seed in the belly of the earth standing between the worlds of potential and manifestation. He at this time is as the Veil is that covers the radiance of the Sun.

Our Lady presides over the feast whereby our own inner Sun under death’s shroud is honored, revealed to the eyes, and promised to dawn. Then She descends into the cavernous gates unto the Underworld. She is the Hand turning the Wheel and Her mystery is the other half revealed. She is as the Underworld is; She is the grail, the cauldron of immortality.

Along seven gates She must pass, each demanding a harvest of Her worldly ties. Having laid aside a small collection of jewels and garments our Lady on Earth will stand bound in the presence of the Shrouded Dread Lord under the Mound. Stripping Her seven stars from the Crown was but only the first mystery, a bearing of the naked inner. It is a harvest of revealing. When we have descended into our own labyrinth and come to stand before what is shrouded there, the Sun found there will burn away everything of this world. As with Her own descend, what is revealed then is the true harvest revealed and it then that She is unbound and able to ascend the Throne.

This is the Feast of the Shrouded Dread Lord, it is the Feast of Her Seven Fallen Stars, and it is the Feast of Revealing. Happy Autumn Equinox! Welcome the Harvest Home!




Boidh se!

-Spanish Moss

“Lost in a thicket bare-foot upon a thorned path.”

Friday, September 12, 2014

What to do?

It is a strange thing recognizing the signs of descent and or ascent. It is even stranger recognizing the moment when with one hand She rips the ground from beneath one’s feet while simultaneously with the other hand creates wings. It is liked being plucked from one landscape and dropped into another.

The hang man’s noose becomes the umbilical cord, the womb from which is birthed a new world. The fated landscape is a tomb painted in the blood of the past, murals of every step upon this thorned way. Ladled therefrom the stars are poured out into a heavenly crown towards which the antlered tines of the oak yearn to draw lips to lips.

What to do? What to do?

Continue to Craft, that is all one can do.

Boidh Se!

-Spanish Moss

“Lost in a thicket bare-foot upon a thorned path.”

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

13 Adorations

A couple of years ago a Brother in the Arte wrote up some adorations for our Lady and our Lord, which he graciously shared with me (amongst others). I have been using them for a little over a year now in my personal work. It has been a marvelous experience, and so for the moment I plan to keep using them.

Sometime this past year, as part of a ritual I put together, I decided to write my own adorations for use in that specific rite for our Lady. I wrote it inspired in the format he used but otherwise let the gnosis of our Lady bubble, froth, and spill onto the page as it would. I have not, however, worked with this set in any depth. Perhaps for a future round of workings I will.

Whereas I have no plan of divulging the rite used, nor the original adorations, I thought that as the author of this particular iteration of adorations that I would share a bit of this aspect of my Craft. Consider it a peak into the thicket.

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Thirteen Adoration of Our Lady the Moon

Thee I adore, O Mother of the Starry Heavens.
Thee I adore, Thou Cauldron of Transformation.

Thee I adore, O Illuminator of Hearts.
Thee I adore, Thou Governess of Secrets.

Thee I adore, O Queen clad in Silver and White.
Thee I adore, Thou Wild Huntress Enthralled.

Thee I adore, O Grace of Sovereignty.
Thee I adore, Thou Wheel of Weaving.

Thee I adore, O Primal Cry in the Night.
Thee I adore, Thou Reaper of Time.

Thee I adore, O Beauty of Beauty.
Thee I adore, Thou Purifier and Mover of Tides.

Thee I adore, O Beckoning Seductress.
Thee I adore, Thou Forge of Ecstasy.

Thee I adore, O Scribe of the Constellations.
Thee I adore, Thou Mirror of the Earth.

Thee I adore, O Perfumed Seer of Visions.
Thee I adore, Thou Keeper of Silence.

Thee I adore, O Daughter of the Gate.
Thee I adore, Thou Fire in the Head.

Thee I adore, O Maid of the Horns.
Thee I adore, Thou Shaper of Initiation.

Thee I adore, O Mother of Birth.
Thee I adore, Thou Song of Eternity.

Thee I adore, O Hag-Crucible of Blood.
Thee I adore, Thou Chalice of Return.

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Boidh Se!

-Spanish Moss

“Lost in a thicket bare-foot upon a thorned path.”

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Insistent Little Bugger

Every few months I get bitten by a bug. It is one that for several reasons I have continued to put off for a few years. You see there is a part of me that craves teaching others—craves it like the Sun chases the Moon.

To me it is not about sitting high and mighty or any other egotistical approach. Nor is my desire about me being a teacher of the Craft, though I have trained and initiated before. There is too much responsibility and duty, and risk if these are not taken seriously or properly, for students to be taken merely for the sake of indulging the ego. I cannot accept any such approach for myself, which is fine since my own impetus doesn’t come from there.

It is easy to fall into the ego trap though, after all students tend to put their teacher on a pedestal. On one hand, this can be used by the teacher for their own ego work. There are, however, easier and better methods of doing such that do not rely on students putting them on a pedestal. It can be damaging to the teacher to want to be on that pedestal, needing students that put them there. There is a fallacy here. At some point, the teacher will fall off that pedestal, and there is no climbing back up. Every teacher on a pedestal will fall. If the teacher liked being there because of ego and tries to return to that position, they will lose their student, doing them and the Craft a disservice.

Nonetheless, teachers will be placed on pedestals, even when they don’t want to be. They too will fall… which is a good thing. As one of my own various teachers likes to point out, the teacher doesn’t really begin to teach the student until they fall off the pedestal and the two become equals. My simple advice to students out there, if your teacher suddenly falls short of your expectations and doesn’t attempt to twist the truth so as to appear perfect, but instead admits their own flaws as a human, it is not the time to quit. There are always other factors to be concerned with, so take this advice only as part of it. For instance, if there is abuse or exploitation then quitting needs to happen immediately! That is assuming the relationship could not be avoided at all. My advice given doesn’t apply there. If you as a student are training with a creditable teacher and they fall before your eyes, take it not as a sign of their failings as a teacher but as a sign that the relationship has evolved into a space of vast potential.

Long side tangent over, my own desire to teach is about witnessing. Through passing the Craft on, I get to stand in wonder as another’s Craft blossoms before my eyes. It is the spark of understanding suddenly shinning in the eye that I crave. That is all the teacher does anyway; “Here is the praxis. Here is how you Craft. Go, the rest is on you.”

I have over the course of the past couple of years turned people away seeking with me. They are all lovely people—truly. The main reason I have done so is due to my own frequent moving. I feel it would be a disservice to take a student on only to move away and I am not sure I am up to teaching at a distance, though technology in that arena has developed a long way from the ole snail-mail correspondence course. Additionally, I was undergoing an immersion into a new praxis and Tradition. As a result, it is certainly not the time to teach. There are other reasons as well, but a blog is not the place to discuss such. Let’s just say they tie deeply into my own Craft.

So why even bring all of this up? Quite frankly, writing blogs helps me to explore corners of my thoughts, most of which gets omitted. Such is the case with this post as well. The oath-bound or praxis specific stuff goes into my private and closed blog. Everything else either gets written here, not written at all, or deleted after being written. So there you have it, all this is just about me digging into parts of my Craft. I don't think any of this will make the bug go away though.  

Boidh Se!

-Spanish Moss

“Lost in a thicket bare-foot upon a thorned path.”

Monday, August 4, 2014

Guest Post: Magickal Body By Anna Anima Mundi



Magickal Body

A Guest Post By:
Anna Anima Mundi


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***A VERY SHORT BIO***

Anna Anima Mundi is a licensed massage therapist, reflexologist, Reiki master/teacher, and high priestess in the Western Mystery Tradition. She is fascinated by the intersection of mental processes, physical processes, and spiritual states of being. A devotee of Isis and Thoth, she perceives Their intelligence in science and medicine as well as metaphysics. She lives in eastern North Carolina with her husband and priest and several fur kiddoes.

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Contemporary Paganism is well-known for holding the natural processes of the Earth in high regard - of seeing Spirit in Earth. And as the chant goes, " Earth my body / Water my blood / Air my breath and / Fire my spirit."  Unlike many other religions, we regard our appetites for sex, sleep, food, and play as avenues to the Divine, not barriers.

As a massage therapist, I have come to understand the Power and Potential inherent in every human body to help access the realms of the Divine more fruitfully. Meditation, focus, raising "energy" to empower magick, are all physical processes that take place throughout the whole body, not just in our heads. Devoting a bit of attention to the body's needs will yield huge dividends in the quality of one's magickal Work. We take care in choosing athames, herbs, incenses and the like; but the most important magickal tool happens to be the Earthly home of our spirit - the body!

Our root traditions of 50+ years ago actually validated the human body as magickal instrument. Of the "Eight Paths to Power" described by Gerald Gardner, many emphasize the physical:  breath control, the dance, chanting, etc.  But our modern practices often do not utilize these effective tools-- perhaps because of the physical ills that a modern lifestyle brings? A sedentary, indoor, fast-food lifestyle impedes the free flow of physical vitality that assists our spiritual activities; chanting, dancing, breathwork and the like become difficult and unpleasant. Happily, this can be corrected fairly easily for the purposes of magick.

There is another aspect to this picture: while the body affects our magick, magick and the Power it employs also affects the body; it's a two-way street. And, not always for the better: psychic work is well-known to be exhausting, and intense magick can cause unwanted physical symptoms or even actual illness. Anyone who does a lot of psychic, energetic, or magickal work should pay close heed to their body's needs, because they will surely change.

With this in mind, here are some "first steps" to helping our bodies become effective magickal tools that work our Will:

Movement. Being sedentary stiffens the extensive web of tissues that connects our skin, muscles, organs, blood vessels, and bones. These tissues (the "fascia") naturally have a jelly-like quality and are actually considered to be a "liquid crystal." These tissues are currently being studied by scientists as the matrix that carries the chi that acupuncture affects! Stiff fascia stagnates our energies very quickly, in multiple ways. Here are two simple ways to reverse this:

(1) Once or twice a day, and especially before you meditate or do any kind of magick or ritual, take five minutes and move all your joints through their range of motion. Start by rotating your ankle about five times to the right, and then an equal number of times to the left. Point your toes and then your heels an equal number of times.  Move up your whole body and explore all the ways each joint can move. Do not force anything, but do try to move to the full extent that each joint can. If you have a painful joint, go easy on it. You will feel more energized, and this will increase the effectiveness of your metaphysical work.

(2) Explore bending and stretching. When you stretch, go only to the edge of discomfort. Take a breath, and as you exhale, see if you can go just a smidgen more. Then slowly move out of the stretch. Keep in mind that there is no competition! if you can only bend a tiny bit, that's okay. It will loosen tissues and unlock stagnate energies.

If you are very serious about your magickal practice, consider adopting a yoga practice. After all, it was invented to help the body access metaphysical states more easily. You do not have to be young, thin, strong, and flexible to do yoga. Find a 10-minute beginner's sequence online or check out local studios. Even twice a week can be effective. Qi gong is another practice highly suited for magicians.

Hydration. You do not have to drink tons of water every day to be healthy. However, you do have to drink more water than coffee, tea, soda, etc.  Water helps keep that liquid crystalline connective tissue soft and pliable and able to convey magickal Power.  Also, magickal energy runs "hot" and increases your need and thirst for water. (This includes energies such as Reiki, too.)

Proper food. There is no one, right magickal diet. The best overall magickal diet is the one that makes you feel the best.  For some people, this may be vegetarian. For others, it may be low-carb/meat centric. Do not let ideology stand in the way of finding out what's right for you.

Doing a lot of magickal or energy work will often cause changes in your body that may impel you to alter your diet in unexpected ways. You may develop food sensitivities, such as to grain, dairy, certain fruits, or preservatives and other food additives. You may have cravings. You may suddenly be unable to tolerate meat or some other food - or you may need more of it to ground or rebuild tissues. This is not necessarily a sign of illness but of increasing sensitivity on all levels - from psychic to physical.

You may want to experiment with your diet to induce psychic changes. Eating meat does not mean you can't be psychic, of course - many great magicians and psychics are omnivores. But it is true that the quickest way to increase sensitivity is to go veggie for a few days. Vegan is better; raw vegan makes one even more sensitive. This is the big reason why magickal orders will have you fast before an initiation - it literally makes you more open to the subtle forces they are invoking into your aura.

Breath. Blood carries Power. Breath fuels Blood. Altering your breath is the quickest way to altering your consciousness. Deep belly breathing engages the calm-inducing part of your central nervous system, and energizes you simultaneously. It can change and harmonize brain waves. A few minutes every day spent doing comfortable belly breaths will make you healthier and happier. Conversely, the shallow breathing many of us adopt engages our adrenal glands to pump out stress hormones. From a magickal point of view, belly breathing and simple (but profound) techniques such as four-part breath or alternate-nostril breathing will clear and focus your mind and immediately engage that magickal state of consciousness.*

This essay is just a very tiny summation of body/magick interaction. A whole book can be written about it (and in fact, one well-known occultist is doing just that). These easy body-centric practices will help you with grounding, raising energy for spells, chakra work, and all your other magickal endeavors. Happy magicking!

* You can google "four part breath" and "alternate nostril breathing" for instructions on these techniques.

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I’d just like to say that there is really some good stuff in there. Also, I could not agree more that working with the body and the energies thereof are essential to the Work of the Craft. After all, the body is one third of the ole mind-body-soul triangle.

Once again, I just want to say thanks for writing this. Thanks. It is appreciated.

Boidh se!

-Spanish Moss

“Lost in a thicket bare-foot upon a thorned path.”

Thursday, July 31, 2014

Lammas: Sitting Upon a Throne of the Eternal Harvest

Tonight is when it is traditional to celebrate Lammas, and to conduct rites that unite this tide with the Work in which we do. It is a time referred to as First Harvest, and it is the first of three harvest festivals marked upon the Witch’s calendar.

To seize the full potential bounty, spiritually speaking, from our work then the nature of the Harvest, and furthermore the nature of First Harvest, needs to be understood. In such a moment of understanding the knowledgeable Witch with the will and courage to do so can reap the Sun from their Heart Vessel. The Witch will be as is their spiritual center, the same universal naval that permeates the whole of all existences.

As I have said before, the inherent nature of the cycle, transience, is the only permanence. This, however, is not the whole story of the truth. The very nature of continuous transformation has certain qualities; one of which is a harvest that never ends. Likewise, the land, that which is the upholder of the transient, that which appears to come, go, age, die, and be born, is also eternal. The landscape is simply that which is manifested in this very moment from the potentiality of all the yet to come. Part of what the Craft is designed to do is to ensure that this landscape is sustaining, nurturing, fulfilling, and able to feed the whole of the Kingdom.

Tonight marks the point upon the Wheel in which we honor the first reaping. Note that Lammas is not until tomorrow. You see, tradition dictates that the Tide of Lammas is born from the womb of the night before. First Harvest is all about being mindful of the now. Death looms for us all, however, now is the time of sitting and seeing the fruits of labor. It is sitting in the knowing, intimate heart knowing, not head knowing, that the harvest that begun in the now will not only sustain but is everlasting. In fact, the harvest is the first sign, first omen if you were, of the continuation of this cycle.

First Harvest is also a time of sacrifice. The crops must be reaped in order to be of benefit. There is much labor and work to be done to keep the harvest from dying in the field or soiling improperly prepared. The Work is worth it though. In the end, the spiritual fields and landscape will be cleared revealing in this moment to the eye of the Witch that which the crops have obscured. Admiring this view, the Witch sits and prepares the next harvest in their feast of sacrifice. It is a feast of false-self consumption, a feast that will keep during the winter, and it is a feast that will reveal the Sun.

Harvest, eat, and celebrate; Lammas-tide is here!

Boidh se!

-Spanish Moss

“Lost in a thicket bare-foot upon a thorned path.”

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Margot Adler: Honor, Initiation, and Ritual

Margot Adler died.

The news, as with many things, brings on a flood of emotions. Stirring thoughts walk in wanting to take up a bit of awareness before they transition back to the source from whence they came.

Elders and early shakers and movers of this community have died before, in fact all are destined to, but this particular death strikes a particular chord in this moment of awareness that reverberates across the spectrum of memory to an earlier time. From the depths of the well of memory, I stand before my Dad’s bookshelf deciding on which book to read to learn more and settle on a dusty tomb… I am at circle waiting for ritual to start and in conversation with the Priestess I mentioned starting to read “Drawing Down of the Moon” and discussing different aspects she points out… I am sitting on my bed flipping from index to page number as I look for specific information… I stare hypostatized at the cover, drawn inward… I stand with my feet in a stream… I contemplate the metaphysics of magick… I remember… there and here unite in this moment.

As many of you know, I am a second generation Contemporary Pagan. Whereas my introduction to our Craft came via my Dad taking me to the Church of Rhiannon, it was through his books that I got to know my own place in it at the time. “Drawing Down of the Moon” was one of those books. As a result of this, the death of this Elder touches upon those memories and evokes emotions that cry out for a perceived personal lose. Looking closely I can see that the sense of loss is the vehicle for something more, something vastly more encompassing. These emotions carry forth a sense of the entirety of my Pagan youth and the connection therewith, they carry gratitude to this person whom I never met that shaped much of the core of what followed, and they carry an understanding of the inevitable truth that even in this moment shapes the dance.

In this moment, her initiation into the Halls of the Mighty Dead echoes a shadow of the mystery received. Death, it is here. It is now. It is both universal and intimately personal. It is a point upon the Wheel that often draws pain and suffering up in the hearts of those that long for the Initiated Dead. This is a transformative experience, a crucible, whereby the Initiated Dead reach back across the veil as teachers. If we allow them, they will rip the curtain of illusion away in a moment of transcendence and immanence revealing a taste of the eternal.

Even in death, our Elders teach on. They are our Mighty Dead. They are our Ancestors of Spirit.

I would like to share a simple rite of offerings and communion with the journey of the Host of the Mighty Dead. On one hand it is an offering unto an Ancestor of Spirit and their journey, on the other hand it is an offering of our own journey, but at the crossroads where the two meet it is an offering uniting all incarnations that have, will, or are permeating the Wheel.

Rite of the Ancestor Wheel

The following items are needed:
Bottle of Red Wine (not sweet).
Black Candle.
Loaf of Bread.
A Bell or similar (rattle, drum, horn, etc).
Ancestor Token*

(Note: Best done outside)

Begin by ringing the Bell once. Then place the Ancestor token on the ground in front of you.

Ring the bell six times.

With the opened bottle of wine and starting in the West begin pouring the wine on the ground around you into a circle so that the ancestor token is the center of the circle (Alternately, if you are inside you can pour the wine into a large vessel, such as a cauldron, while facing the West. Just drop a dime into the vessel right before pouring the wine. This dime is no longer yours, do not reuse or spend, it can be buried at the roots or a tree or tossed into flowing water such as a river.). While pouring either paraphrase or say the following:

“Hail (ancestor’s name), accept this offering of labor and pleasure in honor of your memory throughout time. May it echo unto your past manifestations and energize the lessons and experiences of those lives.”

Continuing pouring around the circle until there is but a few drops remaining. Drink these last few drops and say or paraphrase:

“Echo unto and energize past manifestations.”

Next in the North West of the circle of poured wine (or approximate), place the black candle.

Ring the bell seven times.

Light the candle and say, or paraphrase:

“Hail (ancestor’s name), accept this offering of warmth and light in honor of your memory of this life. May it comfort and guide you in this time of crossing the veil.”

Cup your hands around the candle’s flame, close enough to feel the warmth but not burn. Make sure you can still see the flame. Say:

“Guide and comfort in the turning and cycle of the Wheel.”

Go to the North with the loaf of bread. Ring the bell six times.

Begin to tear small pieces of bread from the loaf and while walking sun-wise around the circle drop the pieces just outside the parameter of the wine circle, creating a second circle of bread pieces (or if inside drop them onto an altar placed in the North specifically for this). While doing this say:

“Hail (ancestor’s name), accept this offering of nourishment and prosperity in honor of your drawing tide. May it echo into your future manifestations and energize the lessons and experiences of those lives.”

Continuing dropping bread around the circle until there is only one small piece left. Eat it and say or paraphrase:

“Echo into and energize future manifestations.”

Go back to the center of the circle and pick up the ancestor token.

Ring the bell once.

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Blessed be the Mighty Dead!



Boidh Se!
-SM

“Lost in a thicket bare-foot upon a thorned path.”
*In this instance, in honor of Margot Adler, a copy of “Drawing Down the Moon.”