Rituals

This is a simple ritual for Self Dedication that I wrote myself. I am assuming that you already know how to cast a basic circle, but if you don't , there are links on this page to sites that contain rituals for Circles.

Need:
salt, incense(protection and consecrating type), sage, water, 4 white candles for the quarters, 1 large white pillar for your Mother candle, 1 large red pillar for your Father candle, consecrating oil (like myrrh), offerings for Deity, self
Time:
New or Full Moon
Planetary Hours:
Hours of the Moon or Sun
Day:
Sunday or Monday (if possible)

What to do:

Start by smudging with sage around your home to clear away any negativity and/or excess energy. Don't forget closets, cabinets, bathrooms, and basement. After you smudge your home, take a ritual bath or shower, envisioning the water as glowing white with cleansing energy, and removing all negative and/or excess energy from you, leaving you clean and fresh, pure in spirit, mind, and body, and filled with the energy of the Lord and Lady, and Their Love. Dry yourself slowly, while visualizing every inch of your body glowing with the love and power of the Lord and Lady that was instilled within you by the water. You can remain Skyclad or don a ritual robe or some sort of comfortable clothing, so long as you remembered to smudge it.

Gather all of your supplies together onto your Altar or table top you will be using, and cleanse and consecrate it all for the night's work. Arrange the items as they belong, on small white candle in each quarter, the pillars in the center, salt in the North, incense in the East, Athame in the South, and water in the West. The rest can be placed where ever you feel is appropriate. Cast your circle, beginning in the East, and ending in the North. You may use standard calls or your own to open the Quarters, but ask them to witness your rite and protect your circle from all unwanted energy and negativity. Say something like" Hail to the (direction), Element of (which element it rules), I ask thee to come to this Circle to witness this rite of Dedication, and protect it from all intrusion". Do not forget to carry each element around the circle (salt, incense, water, athame) as you do each quarter. Just be sure to remember what you say when you call them, so that you can properly release them when you are done. You can encircle your house with the circle and make it into permanent sacred space for yourself when you take down the circle, by saying that though the circle is uncast, it's protection shall remain around your home. This is what I did and it only has to be redone on average every six months.

After you open all the Quarters, it is time to call Deity. Stand in the center in the God position, arms over chest, and as you slowly open them up to the Goddess position, say something like this:" Lord and Lady, I ask Thee to come unto this Circle, cast to bear this Rite of Dedication of myself to your service. Come and witness and bestow upon me your blessings and love, and grant me any knowledge you deem I should have on this night." When you feel Their presence, you should begin your ritual in earnest. Pick up your water and your Athame and raise them over your head. Ask that the be cleansed of all negativity and excess energies. Place them back on your altar, and pick up the salt, doing the same. Take your Athame and scope up some of the salt on the blade, then sprinkle it in the water. As you sprinkle it say" With this salt from the earth I consecrate this water. May it be blessed and pure." Stir it Deosil with the blade of the Athame saying:" As the Chalice is to the Lady, so the Blade is to the Lord, and together they are one. May their energies fill this water." Stir until the salt is completely dissolved and while doing this visualize it filling with the Lord and Lady's energy and love. When the water glows with power, tap the blade gently 3 times on the rim of the chalice, and say "It is done".

Sit or kneel in front of your Altar(depending on it's height) and begin with your statement(s) of purpose and the Articles of your Path( what you promise to try to uphold, ie: rules you set for yourself). State this loudly in a clear voice. When you are done, hold the chalice up and ask the Lord and Lady to fill you with their love and light, and guide you daily as you walk the Path. Take a small sip of the water, letting it sit on your tongue for a moment to taste the salt and water, feeling the energy being absorbed into your body, filling you with light.

Pick up the oil, and put a small amount on your power finger( the one that tingles the most when you work magick, ritual, or just does when you pick up something special). You will annoint each part of your body as you say the following:
" Lord and Lady,
Bless my mind( third eye chakra) that I may learn to see within,
Bless my eyes that they may see the truth and the way,
Bless my mouth that it may always speak in truth and kindness,
Bless my heart that it may be always filled with love,
Bless my hands that they may always work for good,
Bless the center of my being (solar plexus) that I may always be filled with purity in power,
Bless my knees that I may remember to be humble,
Bless my feet that I may never stray from the Path.
Lord and Lady Bless my being that I may serve you well."

After doing this, light the Mother candle and say
" Lady may I be filled with your light every time I gaze upon this symbol of your being."

Now light the Lord candle and say
" Lord, may I be filled with your strength every time I look upon this symbol of your being."

Sit in a comfortable chair and meditate on these candles for as long as you like, and pay attention for any messages you may receive. If you fall asleep, don't worry about it. When you wake up, take down the circle, extinguish any flames, and feel yourself as a new person. Save the Lord and Lady candles, they should be burned for 15 minutes every moon phase. When they are almost done, buy new ones, light them from the old ones, and places them on top of the old ones to build upon them. Bury the other candle leftovers (quarter candles) in your yard (or a flower pot if you have no yard). If your offerings where food, leave it outside, if it was a piece of jewelry or another object, bury it or toss it into a moving body of water. If it was incense, burn it and scatter the ashes to the winds.

When you write your statement and Article(s), you should think on what it is that the Lord and Lady mean to you personally and what type of person you wish to be, and what you wish to do from now on in life. I wrote myself a set of rules that I always try to follow, and a statement on what Wicca and the Lord and Lady mean to me. Keep these two items to look at and read when ever you feel lost or confused.

This is a fairly simple thing to do. All you need is yourself and the outdoors. To get in touch with the Elements, you must be in them, and feel them around you. Go outside, someplace where it is fairly quiet and you will not be disturbed or interupted. Think back to when you were a child. Remember the first day of Spring, after a cold winter, when you went outside and stood with your face to the Sun? Remember the feel of the warmth on your body, the feeling of waking up again? Remember the feel of the still cool breeze as it carressed your skin, making you alternate between warm and cool? Remember the first Spring rain as it touched your skin while you were out playing in it? Remember how it felt to lay on the warm Earth after playing for a long time, the comfort and love you felt?

This is all you need to do again. Be as a child when you walk outside and look around you. Feel things as you did then. Remember how you loved Nature, and love it again the same way. Tune yourself in to the natural cycles of the Earth and all Her energies, become one with them. Remember how it felt to swing high and feel your hair blowing in the wind? Do it again and recapture the feeling.

Preparing Ritual Meals is a kind of cooking with intent. The intent for most meals follows with what the ritual is for, with the exception of cakes for the after ritual feast. These would be made with the intent of Blessings of the Lord and Lady Their continued aiod and guidance as you follow the Path, or what ever it is your Tradition uses the cakes to symbolize.

To cook with intent, you need only to focus on what energy(s) it is you want to charge your food with. If you are cooking for prosperity, then envision energies associated with that purpose combining with your food. If you can add herbs that correspond to the purpose, it makes it that much stronger.Below I havelisted a few of the ingredients I use when I cook with intent, and the purposes they correspond to. You can also go to my Herbal Correspondences Page for more info.