A Witches Bible - Janet Farrar, Stewar Farrar 1981

The Opening Ritual
The Frame
The Sabbats and Rites for Birth, Marriage and Death

With this basic Wiccan ritual, we set up our Temple — our place of worship and magical working. It may be in a living-room with the furniture pushed back; it may be, if we are lucky enough to have one, in a room which is set aside for the purpose and used for no other; it may be, weather and privacy permitting, in the open air. But wherever we hold our Sabbat, this (in one form or another) is its essential beginning, just as the Closing Ritual given in Section III is its essential ending.

The Opening Ritual is the same for each of the Sabbats; where there are differences of detail, or of the furnishing or decorating of the Temple, these will be indicated at the beginning of each Sabbat Section.

The Preparation

The Circle area is cleared and an altar set up at the Northern point of its circumference. (See Plate 1.) This altar may be a small table (a coffee-table is ideal) or merely a cloth laid on the floor. Arranged on the altar are:

· the pentacle in the centre

· the North candle, behind the pentacle

· a pair of altar candles, one at each side

· the chalice of red wine or of mead

· the wand

· the scourge of silken cords

· a small bowl of water

· a small bowl with a little salt in it

· the cords (red, white and blue, nine feet long each)

· the white-handled knife

· each witch’s individual athame (black-handled knife)

· the incense-burner

· a small hand-bell

· a dish of cakes or biscuits

· the sword, on the floor in front of the altar, or on the altar itself.

A supply of the chosen incense, and matches or a cigarette-lighter, should be handy by the altar. (We find a taper useful for carrying flame from candle to candle.)

A candle is placed at each of the East, South and West points of the circumference of the Circle, completing the four ’elemental’ candles which must burn throughout the ritual. (The elemental placings are East, Air; South, Fire; West, Water; and North, Earth.)

Music should be available. For ourselves, we have built up a small library of C-120 cassettes of suitable music, transferred from discs or other cassettes, with each piece of music repeated as often as necessary to fill the whole sixty minutes of one track. Cassettes are ideal, because they can be played on anything from stereo hi-fi, if your living-room has it, to a portable player if you are meeting elsewhere. It is a good idea to adjust the volume to suit the loudest passages before the ritual, otherwise you may be unexpectedly deafened and have to fiddle with it at an inappropriate moment.

Make sure the room is warm enough well in advance — especially if, like ourselves and most Gardnerian/Alexandrian covens, you normally work skyclad.

Only one place outside the Circle itself needs to be clear — the North-East quadrant, because the coven stands there to begin with, waiting for the High Priestess to admit them.

Take the phone off the hook, light the incense and the six candles, start the music, and you are ready to begin.

The Ritual

The High Priestess and High Priest kneel before the altar, with him to her right. The rest of the coven stand outside the North-East quadrant of the Circle.

The High Priestess puts the bowl of water on the pentacle, puts the point of her athame in the water (see Plate 2) and says:

“I exorcise thee, O creature of water, that thou cast out from thee all the impurities and uncleanliness of the spirits of the world of phantasm; in the names of Cernunnos and Aradia.” (Or whatever God and Goddess names the coven uses.)¹

She lays down her athame and holds up the bowl of water in both hands. The High Priest puts the bowl of salt on the pentacle, puts the tip of his athame in the salt and says:

“Blessings be upon this creature of salt; let all malignity and hindrance be cast forth hencefrom, and let all good enter herein; wherefore do I bless thee, that thou mayest aid me, in the names of Cernunnos and Aradia.”¹

He lays down his athame and pours the salt into the bowl of water which the High Priestess is holding up. They then both put down their bowls on the altar, and the High Priest leaves the Circle to stand with the coven.

The High Priestess draws the Circle with the sword, leaving a gateway in the North-East (by raising her sword higher than the heads of the coven as she passes them). She proceeds deosil (clockwise)² from North to North, saying as she goes:

“I conjure thee, O Circle of Power, that thou beest a meeting-place of love and joy and truth; a shield against all wickedness and evil; a boundary between the world of men and the realms of the Mighty Ones; a rampart and protection that shall preserve and contain the power that we shall raise within thee. Wherefore do I bless thee and consecrate thee, in the names of Cernunnos and Aradiar.”

She then lays down the sword and admits the High Priest to the Circle with a kiss, spinning with him deosil. The High Priest admits a woman in the same way; that woman admits a man; and so on, till all the coven are in the Circle.

The High Priestess picks up the sword and closes the gateway, by drawing that part of the Circle in the same way as she did the rest of it.³

The High Priestess then names three witches to strengthen the Circle (which she has already established in the Earth element) with the elements of Water, Air and Fire.

The first witch carries the bowl of consecrated water round the Circle, deosil from North to North, sprinkling the perimeter as he/she goes. Then he/she sprinkles each member of the coven in turn. If it is a man, he ends by sprinkling the High Priestess, who then sprinkles him; if it is a woman, she ends by sprinkling the High Priest, who then sprinkles her. The water-carrier then replaces the bowl on the altar.

The second witch carries the smoking incense-burner round the perimeter, deosil from North to North, and replaces it on the altar.

The third witch carries one of the altar candles round the perimeter, deosil from North to North, and replaces it on the altar.

All the coven then pick up their athames and face the East, with the High Priestess and High Priest in front (he standing to her right). The High Priestess says:

“Ye Lords of the Watchtowers of the East, ye Lords of Air; I do summon, stir and call you up, to witness our rites and to guard the Circle.”

As she speaks, she draws the Invoking Pentagram of Earth with her athame in the air in front of her, thus:⁴

After drawing the Pentagram, she kisses her athame blade and lays it on her heart for a second or two.

The High Priest and the rest of the coven copy all these gestures with their own athames; any who are without athames use their right forefingers.

The High Priestess and coven then face the South and repeat the summoning; this time it is to “Ye Lords of the Watchtowers of the South, ye Lords of Fire …”.

They then face the West, where the summoning is to “Ye Lords of the Watchtowers of the West, ye Lords of Water, ye Lords of Death and of Initiation …”.

They then face the North, where the summoning is longer; the High Priestess says:

“Ye Lords of the Watchtowers of the North, ye Lords of Earth; Boreas, thou guardian of the Northern portals; thou powerful God, thou gentle Goddess; we do summon, stir and call you up, to witness our rites and to guard the Circle.”

All the coven replace their athames on the altar, and all but the High Priestess and High Priest go to the South of the Circle, where they stand facing towards the altar.

The High Priest now proceeds to ’draw down the Moon’ on the High Priestess. She stands with her back to the altar, with the wand in her right hand and the scourge in her left, held against her breasts in the ’Osiris position’ — the two shafts grasped in her clenched fists, her wrists crossed, and the shafts crossed again above them. (See Plate 10.) He kneels before her.

The High Priest gives the High Priestess the Fivefold Kiss, kissing her on the right foot, left foot, right knee, left knee, womb, right breast, left breast and lips. (When he reaches the womb, she opens her arms to the ’blessing position’.) As he does so, he says:

’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,⁵ without which we would not be.

Blessed be thy breasts, formed in beauty.⁵

Blessed be thy lips, that shall utter the Sacred Names.”

For the kiss on the lips, they embrace, length-to-length, with their feet touching each other’s.

The High Priest kneels again before the High Priestess, who resumes the ’blessing position’, but with her right foot slightly forward. The High Priest invokes:

“I invoke thee and call upon thee, Mighty Mother of us all, bringer of all fruitfulness; by seed and root, by bud and stem, by leaf and flower and fruit, by life and love do I invoke thee to descend upon the body of this thy servant and priestess.”

During this invocation he touches her with his right forefinger on her right breast, left breast and womb; the same three again; and finally the right breast. Still kneeling, he then spreads his arms outwards and downwards, with the palms forward, and says:⁶

“Hail, Aradia! From the Amalthean Horn

Pour forth thy store of love; I lowly bend

Before thee, I adore thee to the end,

With loving sacrifice thy shrine adorn.

Thy foot is to my lip …”

He kisses her right foot and continues:

“… my prayer upborne

Upon the rising incense-smoke; then spend

Thine ancient love, O Mighty One, descend

To aid me, who without thee am forlorn.”

He then stands up and takes a pace backwards, still facing the High Priestess.

The High Priestess draws the Invoking Pentagram of Earth in the air in front of him with the wand, saying:⁷

“Of the Mother darksome and divine

Mine the scourge, and mine the kiss;

The five-point star of love and bliss

Here I charge you, in this sign.”

With this, Drawing Down the Moon is complete; the next stage is the Charge.⁸ The High Priestess lays down the wand and scourge on the altar, and she and the High Priest face the coven, with him on her left. The High Priest says:

“Listen to the words of the Great Mother; she who of old was also called among men Artemis, Astarte, Athene, Dione, Melusine, Aphrodite, Cerridwen, Dana, Arianrhod, Isis, Bride,⁹ and by many other names.”¹⁰

The High Priestess says:

“Whenever ye have need of any thing, once in the month, and better it be when the moon is full, then shall ye assemble in some secret place and adore the spirit of me, who am Queen of all witches. There shall ye assemble, ye who are fain to learn all sorcery, yet have not won its deepest secrets; to these will I teach things that are yet unknown. And ye shall be free from slavery; and as a sign that ye be really free, ye shall be naked in your rites; and ye shall dance, sing, feast, make music and love, all in my praise. For mine is the ecstasy of the spirit, and mine also is joy on earth; for my law is love unto all beings. Keep pure your highest ideal; strive ever towards it; let naught stop you or turn you aside. For mine is the secret door which opens upon the Land of Youth, and mine is the cup of the wine of life, and the Cauldron of Cerridwen, which is the Holy Grail of immortality. I am the gracious Goddess, who gives the gift of joy unto the heart of man. Upon earth, I give the knowledge of the spirit eternal; and beyond death, I give peace, and freedom, and reunion with those who have gone before. Nor do I demand sacrifice; for behold, I am the Mother of all living, and my love is poured out upon the earth.”

The High Priest says:

“Hear ye the words of the Star Goddess; she in the dust of whose feet are the hosts of heaven, and whose body encircles the universe.”

The High Priestess says:

“I who am the beauty of the green earth, and the white Moon among the stars, and the mystery of the waters, and the desire of the heart of man, call unto thy soul. Arise, and come unto me. For I am the soul of nature, who gives life to the universe. From me all things proceed, and unto me’ all things must return; and before my face, beloved of Gods and of men, let thine innermost divine self be enfolded in the rapture of the infinite. Let my worship be within the heart that rejoiceth; for behold, all acts of love and pleasure are my rituals. And therefore let there be beauty and strength, power and compassion, honour and humility, mirth and reverence within you. And thou who thinkest to seek for me, know thy seeking and yearning shall avail thee not unless thou knowest the mystery; that if that which thou seekest thou findest not within thee, thou wilt never find it without thee. For behold, I have been with thee from the beginning; and I am that which is attained at the end of desire.”

This is the end of the Charge.

The High Priest, still facing the coven, raises his arms wide and says:¹¹

“Bagahi laca bachahé

Lamac cahi achabahé

Karrelyos

Lamac lamec bachalyos

Cabahagi sabalyos

Baryolas

Lagozatha cabyolas

Samahac et famyolas

Harrahya!”

The High Priestess and the coven repeat “Harrahya!”

The High Priest and the High Priestess then turn to face the altar with their arms raised, their hands giving the ’Horned God’ salute (forefinger and little finger straight, thumb and middle fingers folded into palm). The High Priest says:¹²

“Great God Cernunnos, return to earth again!

Come at my call and show thyself to men.

Shepherd of Goats, upon the wild hill’s way,

Lead thy lost flock from darkness unto day.

Forgotten are the ways of sleep and night —

Men seek for them, whose eyes have lost the light.

Open the door, the door that hath no key,

The door of dreams, whereby men come to thee.

Shepherd of Goats, O answer unto me!”

The High Priest and High Priestess say together:¹³

“Akhera goiti — akhera beiti!”

— lowering their hands on the second phrase.

The High Priestess, followed by the High Priest, then leads the coven into the Witches’ Rune — a ring dance deosil, facing inwards and holding hands (left palms upwards, right palms downwards), men and women alternately as far as possible. The High Priestess sets the pace — and may sometimes let go of the hand of the man in front of her, and weave the coven after her, in and out like a snake. However complex her weaving, no one must let go, but all must keep moving, still hand-in-hand, till the line unravels itself. As the ring-dance proceeds, the whole coven chants:¹⁴

’Eko, Eko, Azarak, [repeat first three lines three times]

E ko, E ko, Zomelak,

Eko, Eko, Cernunnos,

Eko, Eko, Aradia!

Darksome night and shining moon,

East, then South, then West, then North;

Hearken to the Witches’ Rune —

Here we come to call ye forth!

Earth and water, air and fire,

Wand and pentacle and sword,

Work ye unto our desire,

Hearken ye unto our word!

Cords and censer, scourge and knife,

Powers of the witch’s blade —

Waken all ye into life,

Come ye as the charm is made!

Queen of heaven, Queen of hell,

Hornèd hunter of the night —

Lend your power unto the spell,

And work our will by magic rite!

By all the power of land and sea,

By all the might of moon and sun —

As we do will, so mote it be;

Chant the spell, and be it done!

’Eko, Eko, Azarak, [repeat first three lines until ready]

E ko, E ko, Zomelak,

Eko, Eko, Cernunnos,

Eko, Eko, Aradia!

When the High Priestess decides it is time (and, if she has been weaving, has restored the coven to a plain ring), she orders:

“Down!”

The whole coven drops to the ground and sits in a ring facing inwards.

This is the end of the Opening Ritual. If the meeting were an Esbat, the High Priestess would now direct the particular work to be done. If it is a Sabbat, the appropriate ritual now begins.

One other short ritual should be set down here, to complete the picture: the Consecration of the Wine and Cakes. This takes place at every Esbat, usually after the work is over and before the coven relaxes within the Circle. At a Sabbat, both wine and cakes have to be consecrated if the Great Rite is actual (see Section II); if the Great Rite is symbolic, consecration of the wine is an integral part of it, leaving only the cakes to be consecrated by the usual ritual.

Consecration of the Wine and Cakes

A male witch kneels before a female witch in front of the altar. He holds up the chalice of wine to her; she holds her athame point downwards, and lowers the point into the wine. (See Plate 17.)

The man says:

“As the athame is to the male, so the cup is to the female; and conjoined, they become one in truth.”

The woman lays down her athame on the altar and then kisses the man (who remains kneeling) and accepts the chalice from him. She sips the wine, kisses the man again and passes the chalice back to him. He sips, rises and gives it to another woman with a kiss.

The chalice is passed in this way around the whole coven, man-to-woman and woman-to-man (each time with a kiss) until everyone has sipped the wine.

If there is more work to be done, the chalice is now returned to the altar. If the coven is now ready to relax within the Circle, the chalice is placed between them as they sit on the floor, and anyone may drink from it as he or she wishes; the ritual passing-and-kissing is necessary only for the first time round. Nor, if the chalice is refilled during this relaxation, does it have to be re-consecrated.

To consecrate the cakes, the woman picks up her athame again, and the man, kneeling before her, holds up the dish of cakes. (See Plate 3.) She draws the Invoking Pentagram of Earth in the air above the cakes with her athame, while the man says:¹⁵

“O Queen most secret, bless this food into our bodies; bestowing health, wealth, strength, joy, and peace, and that fulfilment of love which is perfect happiness.”

The woman lays down her athame on the altar, kisses the man and takes a cake from the dish. She kisses him again, and he takes a cake. He then rises and passes the dish to another woman with a kiss.

The dish is passed in this way round the whole coven, man-to-woman and woman-to-man (each time with a kiss), until everyone has taken a cake.