Candlemas Ritual
Here's an old Candlemas Ritual from the Coven of the New Pathways, circa 1994. If you wish to use in part or in whole, feel free.
Before the altar lay the biddy and parapetic wand and two unlit white candles in holders, a bouquet of greens with early spring flowers and a dark shawl, broomstick and cauldron set a south gate, by it are twigs of evergreen, holly, bay, rosemary and boxwood.
HP give P Fivefold kiss:
Blessed be thy feet, that have brought thee in these ways,
Blessed be thy knees that shall kneel at the sacred altar,
Blessed be thy phallus without which we would not be,
Blessed be thy breasts, erect in form and strength,
Blessed be thy lips, that shall utter the sacred names.
P gives HP fivefold kiss:
Blessed be thy feet, that have brought thee in these ways,
Blessed be thy knees that shall kneel at the sacred altar,
Blessed be thy womb without which we would not be,
Blessed be thy breasts, erect in beauty and strength,
Blessed be thy lips, that shall utter the sacred names.
Together they say:
As I will
So mote it be
With the free will of all
and harm to none
This is done!
P take wand in hand and stands back to altar and says:
Goddess of our hopes and need,
You whom our desires feed,
Hear our cry before the Moon,
Let our passions nightly swoon,
Earth is ours and Earth is Thine,
Let our pleasures be like wine,
Celebration of Your place
All bow down before Your face,
Hail to the Triple Goddess.
The P draws the invoking pentagram of earth in the air towards the HP and says: Blessed Be!
He then steps to one side and the women of the coven prepare Brigid's bed... they lay the biddy and the phallic wand side by side heads towards the altar. They place candlesticks on either side and light the candles. They stand around the bed and chant:
Brigid has come and Brigid is welcome.
The HP summons the two women to assist her in assuming the Triple Goddess roles. The mother stands with her back to the center of the altar, the P crowns her with the crown of lights. The maiden and crone see that all is becoming. The crone stands beside the mother and P drapes shawl about her shoulders. The maiden takes her place and is given the bouquet of flowers by P. He goes to the South and says:
Behold the Three Formed Goddess;
She who is ever Three...maiden, mother and crone.
Yet she is ever one.
For without Spring there can be no Summer,
Without Summer no Winter.
Without Winter no new Spring.
The Charge (Based on the ritual used by Stuart and Janet Farrar)
Priest:
Listen to the words of the Great Mother;
She who is of old and was also called among men Freya, Cerridwyn,
Brigid and by many other names.
Whenever you have need of anything,
Once in the month,
And all the better it be, when the moon is full,
Then ye shall assemble in some secret place and adore the spirit of Her,
For She is Queen of all the witches.
There shall ye assemble,
Ye who fain to learn all, yet have not won its deepest secrets;
To these she will teach things that are yet known.
And ye shall be free from slavery,
Ye shall be naked at the proper times in your rites,
Ye shall dance, sing and feast, make music and love all in Her praise.
For Hers is the ecstasy of the spirit and also the joy of on earth;
For Her law is love unto all beings.
Keep pure your highest ideal; strive ever towards it!
Let naught stop you or turn you aside.
For Hers is the secret door which opens upon the land of youth,
Hers is the cup of the wine of life, and the cauldron of Cerridwyn,
Which is the Holy Grail of immortality.
She is the gracious Goddess,
Who gives the gift of the joy of life unto the heart of man.
Upon earth, She gives peace, and freedom.
And reunion with those who have gone home before.
Nor does She demand sacrifice;
For behold,
She is the mother of all living, whose love is poured out upon the earth.
When he has finished, the maid takes the broom and sweeps her way slowly doesil around the circle ritually clearing out all that is old and worn out.
The Mother and crone walk behind her, when done they assume their positions before the altar. The P kneels before the cauldron, he picks up each of the evergreen twigs and lights it in turn from the burning cauldron, then blows it out and puts it inside the cauldron. As he does this he says:
Thus we banish Winter,
Thus we welcome Spring,
Say farewell to that which is dead,
And greet each living thing.
Thus as we banish Winter,
We welcome Spring.
He then goes to the mother, extinguishes the candles, the maiden lays down her bouquet, the crone her shawl beside the altar, the P steps aside and the three women fetch the biddy, wand and the candles which they extinguish.
