You will need for the altar:
Universal Source or Personal Deities candle
Your regular altar set-up
Yellow candle or a candle of color choice to represent that which you are leaving behind for the coming year (enough for all participants) and candleholders, You can ask that each person bring their own to the circle.
** Divination tools! **


Samhain Ritual


Cleanse the circle area with your besom (broom).

Cast the circle in your normal manner.

Have everyone ground and center themselves, and bless and welcome all.

Pastor: Once again we meet to turn the wheel. It is the festival of Samhain, the eighth and final spoke of the wheel. On this night, we perceive that the boundaries between the worlds are thin, less defined. The souls of either realm might look beyond the veil and glimpse the other side and perhaps pass through. The days grow shorter, the nights cooler. Divination is at it's peak of performance.

Pastor: The Cosmos tonight provides a mirror of your soul. Reflecting the cycles of your life that you create. On this night of darkness, look to the mystery of the season to release that which has been completed. Look at and acknowledge that which has come to an ending within your own life and bid it a final farewell, even though this may bring you pain, it must be done.

(Invoking the watchtowers)
EAST (Air)
Hail to thee Guardians of the Watchtowers of the East, the powers of air. Whirling wind of dancing rites, waltz the leaves, grant them flight. Samhain calls, the winds of change, as tonight we celebrate the strange. Hail and welcome.

SOUTH (Fire)
Hail to thee Guardians of the Watchtowers of the South, the powers of fire. Cauldron of burning light, torch the fires, fill the night. Ignite the dark; warm all hearts across the land, while amidst the ancient stones we stand. Hail and welcome.

WEST (Water)
Hail to thee Guardians of the Watchtowers of the West, the powers of water. Crystal Sea of welling souls, we call to thee from grassy knolls. Embrace the waters of life reborn, caressing us from night till dawn. Hail and welcome.

NORTH (earth)
Hail to thee Guardians of the Watchtowers of the North, the powers of earth. Guard ye well the dormant seed, wrap all that lives in restful sleep. Hail and welcome.
(Evoke the Universal source and personal deities)
Pastor: I now do call upon all Ancient ones, and I call them in the ancient way, as the Ancient one of the Day, who in this season has become the Ancient Lord of the Shadows. Send thy Spirit forth! Through the darkness of this night, O Ancient one, return from the Summerland, Pierce our Sacred Sphere with thy vibrant presence. Flow through the body of this, thy servant and Priest, and through it touch the light of Deity within us all. Blessed Be.

Pastor: (evokes into the ancient one)
I call once again upon the Ancient one, who brings forth and nurtures life, who cuts the cord, they of wisdom and mystery. Be with us now, Fill everyone now, and through it touch the deity within us all. Blesses Be.

(Light the candles)

Pastor:
And as does the cycle of the Moon ever begin to wax and wane and to grow forth again, as do the seasons from one to the next flow in smooth rhythm...so will my children know their own pattern in both worlds. Repeat after me:
And ye shall say these words...
I will love and harm none
I will live, love, die, and live again
I will meet, remember, know and embrace love once more
For the free will of all
And with harm to none
As I do will, it is now done...So Mote It Be.

Pastor: On this eve of Samhain we have come to honor those that have passed beyond the veil. The Moon must decline, darken, and die. Beyond life are the realms of shadow; the journeys unknown and the visions undreamed. For the soul seeks its own level, rests, and gains a time and a place to be reborn.
Charge your yellow candles and light them from the Deity candles of the altar. You can bring them home and finish letting them burn, or you can place them in the West where the departed souls have left, and let them burn out there. Your candle is a symbol to your ancestor, or loved one, that you remember them and honor that memory.

Pastor: At this time of our New Year, we evaluate old habits, and old ways, and decide what to bring forth into our next year and what to leave behind. Spend a few moments in deep thought about what you need to leave behind. Since the ancient one will be going down to the Underworld now, it will take with it whatever you give it to take. When you are ready, go and meet with the ancient one, it is awaiting you. Bring with you those things which you need to banish from your life and leave them with it. The ancient one will transform what is negative into positive, which is the nature of magickal transformation.
When you approach the Ancient one, speak to it what you're giving to it, so that as you say it, so it must be.

(All approach the Deity Candle, one by one. Remind them if necessary to be silent on their return, or they can hum a chant or sing in a very low voice.)

(Now is a time for those who wish to, to do divinations. In our group we encourage this to be done only for ourselves, as we can divine for others at another time. Since this is Sacred Samhain Space, the divinations can be especially powerful.)

(Dismiss Watchtowers)

EAST (Air)
Hail to thee Guardians of the Watchtowers of the East, the powers of air. We thank you for joining our Samhain celebration tonight. As ye depart to your mighty realms, harm ye none on your way. We bid thee Hail and Farewell.

SOUTH (Fire)
Hail to thee Guardians of the Watchtowers of the South, the powers of fire. We thank you for joining our Samhain celebration tonight. As ye depart to your mighty realms, harm ye none on your way. We bid thee Hail and Farewell.

WEST (Water)
Hail to thee Guardians of the Watchtowers of the West, the powers of water. We thank you for joining our Samhain celebration tonight. As ye depart to your mighty realms, harm ye none on your way. We bid thee Hail and Farewell.

NORTH (earth)
Hail to thee Guardians of the Watchtowers of the South, the powers of earth. We thank you for joining our Samhain celebration tonight. As ye depart to your mighty realms, harm ye none on your way. We bid thee Hail and Farewell.

Open the circle, Merry Meet, Merry Part, and Merry Meet Again!




-- Edited by RevDavcurand at 09:32, 2005-10-20