A Witches Bible - Janet Farrar, Stewar Farrar 1981
Rite of the Thirteen Megaliths
More Wiccan Rituals
Principles, Rituals and Beliefs of Modern Witchcraft
Our next ritual, which Janet wrote, also dramatizes archetypal concepts. We hope it is self-explanatory, as every effective ritual should be; but if ’explanation’ were all, the printed word would be enough. Ritual effectiveness lies in the awareness engendered, which is always more than the mere words.
In itself it is a simple rite, but it does call for the theoretical ideal coven of six man-woman couples and a leader (the High Priestess) which few covens ever achieve; we certainly never have. It might, however, be an interesting set-piece to stage on one of those occasions when two or more covens get together, by selecting a suitable cast of thirteen from the total gathering while the rest watch.
We ourselves have only been able to perform it a few times, for this very reason. But everybody enjoyed it, and it generated a strange and unexpected power from which we all benefited. One very new member remarked, after taking part in it for the first time, that it was also the first time he had directly felt psychic power, as compared with being psychologically aware of it. He thought this was because he had a specified part to play (Sol, as it happened) and was aware that each of us was making a unique contribution to the whole; which made the whole thing more real to him. A shrewd observation — and it taught us one of the benefits of such a ritual, namely that it reminds us that, even in ’ordinary’ group power-rising, each individual’s contribution is unique, and therefore valuable; and subsequent ’ordinary’ working is heightened by the lesson.
Incidentally, this problem of assembling a suitable cast for any given rite raises a point of tradition which is worth mentioning. When it is necessary, a woman witch may act the role of a man. She symbolizes this by buckling on a sword; and she acts as a man, and is regarded and treated as a man, for as long as she wears it. When Joan of Arc put on a sword, it is said that her followers of the Old Religion understood at once the significance on her act as Maiden of the realm. But the tradition insists firmly that in no circumstances may a man enact the role of a woman. See Gerald Gardner’s Witchcraft Today and also remember Carl Jung’s dictum: ’A woman can identify directly with the Earth Mother, but a man cannot (except in psychotic cases).’ (Collected Works, Vol. IX, Part 1, 2nd edition, para. 193.)
The perfect place to enact this ritual would of course be a megalithic circle, with each of the thirteen participants standing in front of one of the stones. But it can be just as well performed in the ordinary indoor nine-foot Circle.
The Preparation
No special preparation is needed for this ritual, apart from those made for a normal Circle; but it may be thought worth while for each of the participants to have his or her words written out on a separate piece of paper. This will save having to pass the script from hand to hand — which would be difficult anyway if the rite is in a large Circle out of doors.
If the rite is being performed on a special occasion, such as a multi-coven Festival, the ’producer’ has plenty of scope for equipping each participant with appropriate symbols, and robes if any. But this is not essential. What is essential is that each actor speaks slowly and with dignity.
The Ritual
The ritual requires the High Priestess, High Priest, six other women and five other men.
High Priestess and High Priest stand at the altar, and the remainder of the coven arrange themselves around the perimeter, man and woman alternately, deosil in the order of their allotted roles. (There will thus be a woman at each end of this ’horseshoe’.)
The Opening Ritual proceeds as usual, up to and including Drawing Down the Moon. The God- and Goddess-names used will be ones appropriate to the megalithic areas, such as Cernunnos, and Cerridwen, Dana or Anu.
After ’Here I charge you, in this sign’, High Priestess and High Priest stand with their backs to the altar, with him on her left, completing the ring of the coven.
All start circling slowly deosil without speaking, until the High Priestess calls ’Stand’ She will do this at a moment when she and the High Priest are once again in front of the altar. All then face inwards.
The High Priestess says:
’I am the first of the Old Ones. I have seen the dawn of time, from the suns beyond our earth. Men call me the Stone Goddess, old, steadfast, and wise.’
She then moves slowly and with dignity to the centre of the Circle. From there, she faces each person in turn as he or she is speaking.
The High Priest says:
’I am the second of the Old Ones. I opened my arms to the First One, and cooled her fire with my breath. I was the primordial movement, the first stirring of the winds. Men call me the Father of Chaos.’
The woman on his left says:
’I am the third of the Old Ones. I was the waters upon the face of the Two. From my depths all life was formed. My face was softened by the breath of the Second One. Men call me Mara, the Bitter One, the Sea.’
The man on her left says:
’I am the fourth of the Old Ones. I gave my warmth to the Three. From my brilliance the Third One was given beauty. Men call me Sol, the Sun.’
The woman on his left says:
’I am the fifth of the Old Ones. I gave my light to the darkness. Mine are the tides to rule. Though my brother the Fourth shows greater brilliance, I too have my beauty. Men call me the Virgin; also I am named Luna, the Moon.’
The man on her left says:
’I am the sixth of the Old Ones. I ride the Earth on cloven feet, or on wings of air. I am the hunter, and the hunted. Stag and horse, bird and beast are mine; and with the aid of the Fifth, whose call all must answer, I reproduce my kind. Men kill in lust for me. I am named Herne or Pan, Cernunnos or the Hornéd One.’
The woman on his left says:
’I am the seventh of the Old Ones. I am the Floral One; all laughter and joy are mine. With the Sixth, I call all living things to join our dance. I am the eternal She who knows not destruction. The silver fish are mine, as are also the spinners of webs, the weavers of dreams. Men know me as the Mother, and call me Great.’
The man on her left says:
’I am the eighth of the Old Ones. I am a mystery, for I am my own twin. My two faces are Life and Light. Sol and the winds that cool him are both of my essence. Men know me as the Mover and Fertiliser, and call me Air and Fire.’
The woman on his left says:
’I am the ninth of the Old Ones. With the Eighth, I am Wholeness, for I am Love and Law. The Father of Chaos and the Bitter Sea are my parents. Men know me as the Nourisher and Shape-giver, and call me Water and Earth. My brother the Eighth and I are the Quartered Circle of Creation.’
The man on her left says:
’I am the tenth of the Old Ones. I am the pupil of all the others. I begin with Four, and then have Two, and end with Three. From the belly I came, and to the womb I go. I am nothing, and yet I am Lord of All. I shall cease, and yet return. I am good, yet am I more terrible than those who have gone before. I am Man.’
The woman on his left says:
’I am the eleventh of the Old Ones. I too am the pupil. With the Tenth, I seek the Truth. There is no He without She. Mine is the great Cauldron of Creation, yet am I ever Virgin. I am even more terrible than the Tenth, for logic and reason are not mine when my little ones are destroyed by any of the others. I am warm yet cold, gentle yet destructive. I mirror the Stone One and the Floral One. I am Woman.’
The man on her left says:
’I am the twelfth of the Old Ones. Hide from my face if you will, but know that I am the most powerful of all. The Tenth and Eleventh dance with me, and even the Floral One weeps summer tears at my command. For I am an ever-turning Wheel. I am the Spinner and the Weaver, and I also cut the silver cords of Time. Men know me as Fate, and I am the Hermaphrodite.’
The woman on his left says:
’I am the thirteenth of the Old Ones. I am the Shadow of the Sanctuary, and the Silver Wheel of Arianrhod. I am feared, yet loved and often yearned for. I ride my white mare over the battlefields, and in my arms the sick and the tired find rest. We shall be together many times, for though I am the Victor, yet am I also the loneliest of all the Thirteen. To seek the Twelve is to know that I am but an illusion. Woe is to me, the Thirteenth One — and yet all joy is mine also; for from my embrace is renewed life; and to know me is to meet, know, remember, and love again. Men know me as Death — yet I am the Comforter and Renewer, the correcting principle in creation. The scythe and the victor’s crown are mine; for all the Thirteen, I am the only one who is not eternai.’
All the coven (except the High Priestess in the centre), moving forward if necessary, now place their hands on each other’s shoulders with their arms straight, as in a Greek dance, and start to circle slowly together deosil, saying in unison:
’We are the henge of Creation, the megaliths of old, the guardians of the path of knowledge, the thirteen keepers of the Sacred Circle.’
As the coven circle deosil, the High Priestess slowly raises her arms, fully outstretched, above her head. When she is ready for the circling to stop, she lowers them again slowly to her sides. The circling then continues till the next time the High Priest is at the altar, when he and the coven halt and lower their arms and stand facing inwards.
The High Priestess rejoins the High Priest at the altar, placing herself on his right. She kisses him, and the kiss is passed man-to-woman, woman-to-man round the entire Circle.
High Priestess and High Priest consecrate the wine, and the chalice is passed round deosil in the usual way till all have partaken. It is then replaced on the altar.
The High Priestess says:
’O Man, O Woman, come forth.’
The Tenth (Man) and the Eleventh (Woman) come forward and stand facing the High Priestess and High Priest. The High Priestess takes up the dish of cakes.
The High Priestess says:
’O Woman, O Man, it is for you to fathom the Mysteries which have here been shown. Thus it has ever been, since first we gave birth to you. Therefore it is to you we give this food, which being of the Earth, is the fruit of us all, that you may bless it for us all. For as you have need of the Gods, so also do the Gods have need of you.’
All say: ’So mote it be.’
The High Priestess hands the dish of cakes to the Man, and the High Priest hands an athame to the Woman. Man and Woman bless the cakes and they are passed round, in the normal way.