Seasons of Wicca: The Essential Guide to Rituals and Rites to Enhance Your Spiritual Journey - Ambrosia Hawthorn 2020
Wiccan Rites
Rituals to Enhance your Spiritual Journey
Both Wiccan rituals and rites are forms of ceremony, but Wiccan rites focus specifically on important transitional periods in a person’s life, such as birth, marriage, and death. Rites are often more formal than rituals, though not always. This chapter will detail common Wiccan rites and basic instructions for how to perform them, but each rite can be modified to suit your particular practice.
DEDICATION
Dedication is the practice of devoting time or effort to a particular purpose. In Wicca, this translates to dedicating yourself under oath to the religion and its practices. Many Wiccans choose to perform a formal self-dedication ritual when they begin practicing, though others simply start identifying as Wiccan. If you feel inclined to ceremonially validate your entrance into Wicca, a dedication ritual may well suit you.
Remember that the only person that makes you “officially” Wiccan is you, so as you prepare to perform a dedication, you should be spiritually ready to make a commitment to the craft on your own terms. If you want to follow a specific, established tradition rather than your own eclectic practice, you can often find dedication or initiation rites in books or from members of a coven.
DEDICATION RITE
This is a formal ceremony in which one dedicates oneself to the practice of Wicca and to deity. Some Wiccans opt to perform their dedication rite on the night of a new moon, whereas others choose a day when they feel ready.
Rite Setting
Altar or outdoors
Tools and Supplies
Wand or athame
5 taper or votive candles—in elemental colors (alternatively, use crystals)
Fire-safe plates or candle holders and incense holder
Lighter or matches
Deity representation—statues, candles, or images of the God and Goddess
1 cone or stick incense—peppermint, frankincense, pine, myrrh, bayberry, or cinnamon
Blessing oil
Offering of choice—bread, baked goods, crafted items, or foraged flowers and herbs
For the blessing oil
1 ounce carrier oil (e.g., jojoba or olive)
6 drops frankincense essential oil
Small glass bottle with lid
PRIOR TO THE RITE
1.Shower or bathe, visualizing all old or unwanted energies leaving your being. If you wish, you can use soaps or bath bombs to enhance purification for this rite.
2.Wear special clothing or a ritual robe to further distinguish and elevate this rite from other rituals.
3.Cleanse the altar.
4.Blend together the blessing oil by combining the carrier oil and essential oil in the glass bottle.
PREPARING THE ALTAR
Set up the altar with the tools and supplies. Place the elemental candles on fire-safe plates in a pentacle configuration or facing their respective cardinal directions. Light the candles. Place the deity representation at the top of the altar.
THE RITE
1.Cast a circle of protection. Hold the wand or athame as an extension of your hand to gather and direct energy as you call upon the elements. Starting from the east and ending north, call upon the element of air for mental clarity, the element of fire for power, the element of water for fluidity, and the element of earth for stability.
2.Invoke your chosen deity by saying: “Lord and Lady, I invite you to join this circle tonight. Lend me your guidance and grant me your blessings.”
3.Light the incense on a fire-safe plate and meditate for 10 to 20 minutes, thinking about what it means to dedicate yourself to Wicca.
4.When you feel ready, dip your fingers in the blessing oil. Anoint your forehead and say your commitment and promise to the elements and deity of your choice: “I pledge my dedication to the elements, the divine, and this path. Guide me on this journey and walk beside me. As I will it, so mote it be.”
5.Thank your deity of choice for their presence tonight: “Lord and Lady, I thank you for your presence and assistance tonight. Accept the offering I created for you and go if you desire or stay if you’d like.”
6.Extinguish and release the elements in reverse order by beginning facing the north and ending east, thanking each element for their assistance and bidding them farewell. Then open the circle by saying: “I open this circle and release the energy back into the earth.”
7.Extinguish the candles and incense or allow them to burn out.
8.Cover the offering overnight. The next day, dispose of any cooked or foraged offering items by burning them or returning them to the earth. Take any offerings with nonorganic materials to a landfill or recycle them appropriately.