I performed my Samhain ritual about 2am on Nov. 1 (after watching the original Amityville Horror).

I set up my alter with a black candle, an orange candle, amber incense, water, and a cauldron with a tea lite candle in it. I meditated on the meaning of the holiday…those who have passed and the start of new things. I invited the God and Goddess, lit the candles and meditated more. I had wrote something I wanted banished from my life on a piece of paper. I lit the candle in the cauldron and put the paper in to burn away the negativity. I meditated on it being gone. I then thanked the God and Goddess for being there and ended the ritual.

I was able to get my Mabon ritual in early in the morning yesterday…about three-ish.
I set up my alter with a fall leaf, amber incense, an ivory and an orange candle, pentacle, water, athame, and chalice of milk (wish I would have had apple cider). I cast my circle, invoked the elements, and called upon the God and Goddess. I meditated upon fall, the changing of the season, the harvest. I thanked the God and Goddess for being there, drank the milk in their honor, and bade them goodbye. I bade the elments goodbye as well and closed the circle.

Felt good to do a ritual again.

Unfortunetly, I haven’t been able to get a Mabon ritual in….yet. In a small apartment with 2 kids, it’s very hard to get the time to do it. The night of Mabon, my youngest was up late and by the time he went to bed, I was too exhausted from the day. I was going to get set up last night for a ritual, but then my youngest again stayed up til after 1am and my oldest woke up around 2am and wouldn’t go back to sleep. Arrg! So I’m gonna try for tonight and hope it all works out. Just a few days late, but I’m still looking forward to celebrating. Merry Mabon!

It’s been a lot cooler here the past couple of days…Mabon having ushered in the fall. Though we are considerably cooler than usual, I’m not complaining.

News is in on how bad hurricane Rita was. And she wasn’t all that bad. She had reduced to a catagory 3 at landfall and didn’t cause major damage in Texas. Parts of New Orleans was back under water, as one of the weakened spots on the levee broke…but no new damage was caused.

BEAUMONT, Texas - Hurricane Rita slammed into Texas and Louisiana early Saturday, flooding coastal towns, sparking fires and knocking power out to more than 1 million customers, but largely sparing vulnerable Houston and much of the region’s vital oil refining industry.

New Orleans, already reeling from Hurricane Katrina, escaped the worst of the storm, but some of its poor neighborhoods flooded anew as engineers scrambled to repair weakened levees. Rescuers used boats and helicopters to reach hundreds of residents along the Lousiana coast, where the storm surge reached 15 feet.

Rita made landfall at 3:30 a.m. EDT as a Category 3 storm just east of Sabine Pass, on the Texas-Louisiana line, bringing top winds of 120 mph and warnings of up to 25 inches of rain, the National Hurricane Center said. Weakening steadily, it was downgraded to a tropical storm with top sustained winds of 65 mph as it moved north past Lufkin in the afternoon.

Early this morning (about 3am…yes I like that time for rituals…lol) I performed a Lughnasadh ritual, celebrating the first harvest and height of summer. (I kinda forgot this sabbat was so soon in August, so I didn’t bake any breads or anything…and I have no harvest fruit )

I set up my alter as follows:

• orange candle on the left
• athame on the left
• white candle on the right
• pentacle in the center
• chalice of water (didn’t have apple juice) on the pentacle
• amber incense in the east
• lava rock and another red rock in the south
• bowl of water in the west
• bowl of salt in the north

I lit the candles and incense and then cast the circle with the athame. I invited the God and Goddess. Then I sat down and meditated on the purpose of the ritual. Since ‘K’ was sleeping on the couch, I did the ritual in my head. I thanked the God and Goddess for blessing me with what I have and asked for continued blessings. I drank to the God. Then I meditated more on the harvest time and the God and Goddess. In ending, I thanked Them for attending, then uncast my circle.

I have been “winging” rituals for the last few times now, and I must say, I like it so much better than trying to follow what’s outlined in a book or on paper. It’s more real and relaxing when you just go with the flow.

Happy Lughnasadh!

Our money situation has been pretty bad, lately…what with ‘J’s workman’s comp checks suddenly stopping mid-month with no warning. We went to try to get emergency aid from the county that Friday when we found out we wouldn’t have an income anymore (2 weeks ago), but they turned us down, saying we weren’t considered an emergency. So we scheduled an appointment and that was this past Friday.

In the early morning hours (about 3am) on Friday, I set about getting ready for a desperate money ritual…to ensure that the county would indeed be getting something to us…at least to pay rent and buy food.
Everyone was sleeping out in the living room (since the bedrooms get so hot), so I took my ritual items back to my bedroom and set them up on the bed-shelf that is the headboard.

• white candle (for the Goddess)
• green candle (for the money)
• patchouli incense
• pentacle

I set up the pentacle in the middle and put the white candle on the left side and the green candle on the right side. I put the incense in front of the pentacle.
I lit the white candle and cast the circle around me…inviting the God, Goddess, and Elementals to attend. I meditated on why I was there and then lit the incense and green candle. I meditated on having enough money to pay rent and the bills and to buy food. I asked the God and Goddess for help should they feel I truly needed it, as long as it harmed none. I meditated until both candles burned down to the nub and the incense burned out. I then thanked the God and Goddess and Elementals for attending and uncast my circle. I spread the ashes of the incense in my bed, visualizing it was money and that when I laid down for sleep, it was money I was rolling in.

A few hours later, we got up to go to the appoinment. After all the paperwork was done, we were granted money that very same day! The ritual was a success and the God and Goddess were smiling on us that day. I thank Them for Their help, and I thank anyone who was thinking of us and lighting candles in our behalf.

I performed a full moon ritual for the first time in months, in the early morning hours. I also added to it a plea for money, since we are in dire needs right now.
I have been so distracted by other things latley, that I really haven’t been doing any of my rituals. And it’s hard to do a ritual when my 3 year old is sleeping on the couch. But this time I figured out what I can start doing….instead of saying the words out loud, I can visualize what I want to say and say it my head…then I get the ritual done, but I don’t wake my 3 year old in the process.

So……
I set up my alter as follows:

• salt was at the North end (for Earth)
• incense (rose) was at the East end (for Air)
• red candle was at the South end (for Fire)
• water was at the West end (for Water)
• silver candle in the middle to represent the Goddess
• wand was on the left side near the incense
• green candle was in front of the salt (for money)

I stood in front of the alter, held the wand and meditated on the purpose of the ritual. I then cast my circle, concentrating on the power of the wand. I lit the candles (all but the green) and set the incense smoking. I then followed an outlined full moon ritual I found online.
I faced South (my window) and thought something like this:

My Lady of the Moon,
I come to you to bring you my love and my devotion.
May you grant me the joy of your presence.

Then I mentally divided the circle into four quadrants by visualizing a line of silvery moonlight from the Southeast to the Northwest, and from the Northeast to the Southwest. I went to the East, taking the incense with me and thought:

Sweet Goddess, the gentle breeze is the touch of your loving hand,
the wind of storm a reminder of your strength.
The sound of the trees in the wind is your voice,
and the fragrance of the flowers borne on the wind is your gift of
beauty.

I then visualized the quadrant filling with moonlight.
Next I replaced the incense on the alter and took the red candle to the South. Again visualizing the quadrant filling with moonlight, I thought:

Most loved Lady, the light of the candle
is a guide along our path leading to you;
its warmth the reassurance of your presence and your love.
The light of the sun is the knowledge you impart to us,
driving out ignorance and those things which can survive only in
darkness.

At the West with the water:

Lovely one, the quiet pool is the serenity of your being.
The vast sea where life began on this planet is the
vast sea of your being whence all life came;
its waves are the ebb and flow of the universe you rule.

At the North with the salt:

Goddess of all, the fertility of the earth is a sign of your fertility,
whence all life rose.
The solidity and permanence are still of it are still less than yours.
The earth’s fertility feeds our bodies, and your fertility feeds our souls.

I then went to the center of the circle, which was now filled with moonlight. I sat down and felt the moonlight all around. This is the Goddess. Breathing slowly, I visualized the moonlight not only surrounding me, but entering me … becoming one with the Goddess. I sat like this for a little while, then began to slowly come back to myself. I visualized the moonlight leaving me, flowing out of my body.

At this point, I lit the green candle and meditated on having enough money to buy food and pay our bills. No more, no less…just enough. I sat and meditated on that for a little while.

Once done, I stood up and I pictured the moonlight leaving each quadrant, flowing back to its source and thanked the Goddess for Her presence.

I felt energized afterward and at peace. And this was the first ritual I’ve ever done that I have more at ease….probably because I was following my heart in what I did and thought instead of ridgedly following something out of a book. It was organized…but more loosly than before….and it made me feel more comfortable doing it.

Tonight being the zenith of the full moon, I performed a ritual in honor of the Goddess. But I did much more than that. I decided to move my usual ritual area from the dining room (in front of the computer) to the living room in front of our big window. It gives a much better view of the moon than the walls in the dining area.

So, to start the night out, I cleansed myself in water with a few drops of olive oil added to it. Would have taken a cleansing bath, but didn’t want to wake the boys and spoil the ritual. I then cleansed the new ritual area by taking the smudging sage and, at each direction, cleansing all negativity from the area. I then asked the Goddess and God to bless the area and visualized their energies flowing through it.

Next, I started the full moon rite itself. (After consoling my woken up 3 yr old and geting him back in bed.) I constructed the same rite as I did last month. Instead of re-typing it, read it here. Before ending the full moon rite, I performed a consecration of my pentacle pendant. I put the pendant on the alter pentacle and touching it with the tip of my wand said:

I consecrate you, O pentacle of silver,
to cleanse and purify you to serve me within and without the circle.
In the names of the Mother Goddess and Father God,
you are consecrated.

I then sent energy into the pendant, cleansing it of all negativity and past associations. I sprinkled it with salt, passed it through the incense smoke, through the candle flame, and sprinkled it with water. Then I held it up to the sky and said:

I charge you by the Old Ones:
By the omnipotent Goddess and God:
By the virtues of the Sun, Moon and Stars:
By the powers of Earth, Air, Fire and Water
that I shall obtain all that I desire through you.
Charge this by your power, Old Ones!

I then performed my own dedication rite. ‘My own’ meaning I made it up as I went along, so I won’t be typing it out here…as I can’t recall all of what I said. My first dedication rite was performed at Litha (June 21) last year, using Scott Cunningham’s version. I technically started studying the Pagan path in March of last year, so that is why I decided my year-and-a-day dedication should be now. I presented myself the pentacle pendant as a gift for sticking with my studies for this long and choosing this path as one I will follow.

Once the dedication rite was complete, I ended the full moon rite.

I felt energized afterward. It’s now 4am and I don’t really feel tired. I recall feeling this way last year at my first dedication as well.

Just finished with my Ostara ritual. I thought I had done one last year, but looking back at my notes, I didn’t start doing rituals until Litha. So this is my first Ostara ritual. As with my other rituals, I kept is small and simple … although it lasted longer than any of my previous rituals.

First, here’s a little information on the sabbat. Ostara, also known as the Spring or Vernal Equinox, is one of 2 dates where day and night are equal (the other being Mabon). After this day, the days gradually get longer as the light triumphs over the dark, until Midsummer. The Goddess is honored in her maiden persona, and the God as youthful. The sabbat takes its name from Eostra (Ostara), the Goddess of the Dawn, the Saxon Goddess who heralds the triuphant rebirth of the Sun and the return of the greening season. Rabbits (hares) were companions of Eostra, and She is still often pictured with a hare by Her side.
Ostara is the beginning of the fertility festivals. Buds begin to push their way to the earth’s surface to reach the sun’s light; animals in the wild feel the ancestrial instinct to breed, the energies of Nature shift from the cold of winter, to the warmth of spring. It is a time of new beginnings, of saying good-bye to the old and making room for the new.
Symbols of this holiday include eggs, rabbits, and flowers of all kinds. The modern secular activity of dying Easter eggs are remnants of ancient Pagan traditions. The Anglo-Saxons painted eggs with their hopes and dreams and presented them as a gift to Eostra. These eggs were then buried in the Earth, so that the Earth-Mother would know the dreams of her children, in hopes that She would see fit to hepl them realize their desires.

On to the the ritual!
I set up my alter with my candles (Goddess and God, Fire, and a yellow one for the Sabbat), incense (jasmine), athame, chalice of milk (don’t have wine), bell, water, salt, colored Ostara eggs, offering bowl, parchment, feather pen and ink and the papers outlining the ritual.
I cast my circle, invited the Goddess and God by chanting:

Blessed be this Sabbat circle
In the divine name of Ostara
Ancient goddess of fertility and spring
In her sacred name
And under her protection
Is the Sabbat rite now begun

I took the athame in my right hand and kneeled before my alter. With the blade held over my heart I said

Blessed be the fertility goddess,
Blessed be her springtime rite,
Blessed be the sun god king,
Blessed be his sacred light.

I then placed the athame over the third eye region of my forehead and said

The sun has crossed the celestial equator,
Giving sun and moon equal hours.
Goddess spring is reborn at last,
Her beauty gives life
To the trees and flowers.
Blessed be the divine green goddess
She is the creatress of all living things.
Blessed be the lord of the greenwood.
To goddess and god
This song I sing.
Awaken one, awaken all
And hear the voice of the goddess call.
Blessed be our mother earth,
May she be filled with peace.
Magick, and love.
The goddess breathes life.
The goddess gives life.
The goddess is life.
She reigns supreme.
So mote it be!

I then sat and meditated for a little while on spring and everything coming into bloom and the Goddess and God running through the springtime meadows.
Next, using the parchment, feather pen and ink, I write down my desires for the coming year. I cut paper into strips, one desire per strip. Holding the folded strips up to the Gods, I say

This is a joyous time, a time for planting.
With joy and trust, I place these requests
in the hands of the Goddes and Her Lord.

I then light each slip of parchment with the Fire candle and set it to burn in the cauldron. After placing the last strip in, I say

These though-seeds I do willingly place
into the hands of the Lady and Her Lord,
that these desires and dreams may
manifest and become reality.
By the free will of All, and
with harm to none,
as I will, so shall it be done.

I sat down and ate the eggs and drank the milk in honor of the Goddess and God, leaving a bit of each in the offering bowl.
Once finished, I then thanked the Goddess and God for attending the ritual in their honor. I closed the circle.

Merry Ostara!

I performed the full moon ritual on Feb. 25, in the early morning hours. I donned my purple velvet “witch” dress, with my ritual pentacle around my neck.
I set up my alter as follows:

• alter pentacle was in the center
• salt was at the North end (for Earth)
• incense (rose) was at the East end (for Air)
• red candle was at the South end (for Fire)
• water was at the West end (for Water)
• ivory candle on the left side to represent the Goddess
• wand and bell on the right side

I lit the candles and set the incense smoking and followed Cunningham’s opening of the circle, described below, in my tool consecration entry. I then followed an outlined full moon ritual I found online.
Once the circle was cast, I sat and meditated on the purpose of the ritual … which was to honor the Goddess (no magick was involved this time). I then stood up and said:

My Lady of the Moon, who is called Diana,
Artemis, Levanah, Isis and by any other names,
I come to you to bring you my love and my devotion.
May you grant me the joy of your presence.

Then I mentally divided the circle into four quadrants by visualizing a line of silvery moonlight from the Southeast to the Northwest, and from the Northeast to the Southwest. I went to the East, taking the incense with me and kneeling, said:

Sweet Goddess, the gentle breeze is the touch of your loving hand,
the wind of storm a reminder of your strength.
The sound of the trees in the wind is your voice,
and the fragrance of the flowers borne on the wind is your gift of
beauty.

I then visualized the quadrant filling with moonlight.
Next I replaced the incense on the alter and took the red candle to the South. Again visualizing the quadrant filling with moonlight, I said:

Most loved Lady, the light of the candle
is a guide along our path leading to you;
its warmth the reassurance of your presence and your love.
The light of the sun is the knowledge you impart to us,
driving out ignorance and those things which can survive only in
darkness.

At the West with the water:

Lovely one, the quiet pool is the serenity of your being.
The vast sea where life began on this planet is the
vast sea of your being whence all life came;
its waves are the ebb and flow of the universe you rule.

At the North with the salt:

Goddess of all, the fertility of the earth is a sign of your fertility,
whence all life rose.
The solidity and permanence are still of it are still less than yours.
The earth’s fertility feeds our bodies, and your fertility feeds our souls.

I then went to the center of the circle, which was now filled with moonlight. I sat down and felt the moonlight all around. This is the Goddess. Breathing slowly, I visualized the moonlight not only surrounding me, but entering me … becoming one with the Goddess. I sat like this for a little while, then began to slowly come back to myself. I visualized the moonlight leaving me, flowing out of my body.
I stood up and moved again to the East. As I spoke, I pictured the moonlight leaving each quadrant, flowing back to its source. I did this at each quadrant, until all light has returned to the moon.
At the East:

My Lady, guide my thoughts.
Let them lead always closer to you.

At the South:

Gracious Goddess, guide my actions.
Let them always help and never harm others or myself.

At the West:

Lovely One, guide my emotions.
Let them be healing and touched always by you.
At the North:
blockquote>Sweet Goddess, let me mind always be fertile and strong,
that I may grow always toward you.

I returned to the East and said:

Queen of Heaven, I thank you for your presence,
both now and always.
My love and devotion are yours.
Blessed be!
All spirits who have joined me tonight may depart, with my love.
Return to your proper places.

I ended the rite by ringing the bell and I closed the circle as per Cunningham and the consecration ritual.

This was my first full moon ritual, and though I didn’t really stumble through it, I didn’t feel all I would have liked to. Next time, the kitchen light will be off and I will do it by candlelight alone. The light was kind of distracting.

I performed the consecration of tools ritual in the early morning hours of Feb. 23rd. I ordered (via online) and received some alter tools and wanted to consecrate them prior to the Full Moon ritual I wanted to perform the next night.

I set up my alter as per the diagram in Scott Cunningham’s book, Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner, and cast the circle as he has written, ommitting the “Circle of Stones” part and just saying “circle”.
I lit the candles (Goddess, God, and red) and set the incense smoking (sandlewood). I lifted the athame I was previously using and touched it’s blade to the water, saying:

I consecrate and cleanse this water
that it may be purified and fit to
dwell within the sacred circle.
In the name of the Mother Goddess and the Father God
I consecrate this water.

I visualized the athame cleansing the water from all negativity.
I then touched the salt with the athame, saying:

I bless this salt that it may be fit
to dwell within the sacred circle.
In the name of the Mother Goddess and the Father God,
I bless this salt.

I then faced North with my athame held at waist level and drew a circle around my alter as I walked clockwise around it, all the while visualizing a bluish energy emanating from it. As I walked I said:

Here is the boundry of the circle.
Naught but love shall enter in,
Naught but love shall emerge from within.
Charge this by your powers, Old Ones!

Once I reached North again, I took the salt from the alter and walked with it clockwise around the circle, sprinkling it along the circle. Next, I carried the incense around the circle, then the red candle, then sprinkled the water … the four symbols of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water … purifying the circle.
I then faced North again and held the athame up, visualized a greenish mist and said:

O Spirit of the North,
Ancient One of the Earth,
I call You to attend this circle.
Charge this by Your powers, Old Ones!

I faced East, visualized a yellowish mist and said:

O Spirit of the East,
Ancient One of Air,
I call You to attend this circle.
Charge this by Your powers, Old Ones!

I faced South, visulized a crimson mist and said:

O Spirit of the South,
Ancient One of Fire,
I call You to attend this circle.
Charge this by Your powers, Old Ones!

I faced West, visualized a bluish mist and said:

O Spirit of the West,
Ancient One of Water,
I call You to attend this circle.
Charge this by Your powers, Old Ones!

This circle is complete. Now the consecrate ritual.
I consecrated the alter pentacle first, by touching it with the point of my athame and saying:

I consecrate you, O pentacle,
to cleanse and purify you to serve me within the circle.
In the names of the Mother Goddess and Father God,
you are consecrated.

I then sent energy into the tool, cleansing it of all negativity and past associations. I sprinkled it with salt, passed it through the incense smoke, through the candle flame, and sprinkled it with water. Then I held the pentacle up to the sky and said:

I charge you by the Old Ones:
By the omnipotent Goddess and God:
By the virtues of the Sun, Moon and Stars:
By the powers of Earth, Air, Fire and Water
that I shall obtain all that I desire through you.
Charge this by your power, Old Ones!

I then used the pentacle to consecrate all other tools (new athame - which I then used for the rest of the ritual, wand, new chalice, scrying bowl, bell, cauldron) by placing them on it and reciting and doing the above consecration rites.

Once the rite was ended, I faced North, held up the athame and said:

Farewell, Spirit of the North.
I give thanks for your presence here.
Go in power.

I recited the same for East, South, and West … replacing the element in each and facing that direction. I then stood facing North for a few moments.
I then took the blade of the athame at waist level and pierced the circle. Moving clockwise, I visualized the energy from the circle being sucked back into the athame. Once I reached North, the circle was no more and the ritual was done.