Midsummer 2006
Song:
Come, come whoever you are,
wanderer, worshiper, lover of leaving.
Ours is no caravan of despair.
Come, yet again come.1
Light Drumming: (Create a background sound that does not interfere with someone speaking.)
Greeter: The days have been getting longer, and now the sun is at its zenith. This is the summer solstice, the longest day of the year and the shortest night. Now the days begin to grow shorter. The Wheel of the Year continues to turn. As we enjoy green grass and beautiful flowers we begin to think of the coming harvest and the turning of the Wheel to Yule.
Welcome to our Circle and to our celebration. (Next is heavy drumming for a few minutes.)
Cast the Circle: (Walk the form of the circle with the athame pointing to the ground, symbolically drawing the circle.) All negative energies begone. This circle is consecrated to the Goddess and the God. It is a place of expectation and joy. It is our sacred space, in a place that is not a place and a time that is not a time. Let only love enter or leave. (After casting the circle) The circle is cast.
North: I call upon the spirits of Earth who dwell in the North. You know the source of life even as she bursts forth with multi-colored beauty. You make us aware of our strength and the dual nature of all things and we learn to appreciate the gifts of the Goddess. Be with us now. (Light the North candle)
All: Be with us now.
East: I call upon the spirits of Air who dwell in the East. You are necessary to life and your hot breath makes us aware of our mortality and the dual nature of all things. As we enjoy your embrace we learn to appreciate the gifts of the Goddess. Be with us now. (Light the East candle)
All: Be with us now.
South: I call upon the spirits of Fire who dwell in the South. Your awesome bodies protect and serve us in this time of welcome warmth. You make us aware of our frailty and the dual nature of all things. As we harness your power we learn to appreciate the gifts of the Goddess. Be with us now. (Light the South candle)
All: Be with us now.
West: I call upon the spirits of Water who dwell in the West. You are necessary to life for your substance is at the core of our physical being. You make us aware of our dependence and the dual nature of all things and we learn to appreciate the gifts of the Goddess. Be with us now. (Light the West candle)
All: Be with us now.
Spirit: I call upon the spirit of life who dwells within us all. You are the cycle of birth, death, and re-birth. You make us aware of transience and the dual nature of all things and we learn to appreciate the gifts of the Goddess. Be with us now. (Light the Spirit candle)
Call the Goddess:
"O Gracious Goddess, Lady of the Silvery Moon
I call upon you to attend this circle
Bless and protect this sacred space
with your wisdom, guidance and love" (Light the Goddess candle)
Call the God:
"Oh Gracious God, Lord of the Fiery Sun
I call upon you to attend this circle.
Bless and protect this sacred space
with your wisdom, guidance and love."2 (Light the God candle)
Witch 1: (Hold up the chalice of water) Blessings upon you oh water source of all life, mystery most profound. (Hold up the cup of salt) Blessings upon you oh salt, creature of earth, agent of transformation. (Hold up the athame) Blessings upon you who is the work of human hands. (Mix salt in the water, stirring deosil with the athame. Then pass the chalice round the circle, each person drawing a pentacle or spiral with the salt water on the forehead of his/her neighbor, saying, "Thou art God" or "Thou art Goddess")
Song:
For the beauty of the earth, for the splendor of the skies,
for the love which from our birth over and around us lies:
Source of all, to thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise.
For the wonder of each hour of the day and of the night,
hill and vale and tree and flower, sun and moon and stars of light:
Source of all, to thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise.3
HPS: Life is a process and this is one of the things that our rituals celebrate. The Earth is a living being and as all living beings is in constant change. At Midsummer the Goddess appears as Mother Earth and the God as the Sun King. He is also Jack-in-the-Green or the Green Man. If you look with love into dense foliage you will see his face in the cluster of leaves.
HP: The God is at the height of his power. He has chased away darkness and provided the warmth that the mother needs to produce her fruit. He is the Oak King, but soon will be replaced by the Holly King. He begins his journey into the corn. There is a lesson in this. Cherish the precious moments of your life so that when your harvest approaches you can celebrate the coming winter with faith that the Wheel will continue to turn.
HPS: This is the time of the rose, blossom and thorn, fragrance and blood. Now on this longest day, light triumphs, and yet begins the decline into dark. The Sun King grown embraces the Queen of Summer in the love that is death because it is so complete that all dissolves into the single song of ecstasy that moves the worlds. So the Lord of Light dies to Himself, and sets sail across the dark seas of time, searching for the isle of light and rebirth. We must turn the Wheel and share his fate, for we have planted the seeds of our own changes, and to grow we must accept even the passing of the sun.4
HP: The Tao uses the Yin Yang symbol. There are equal areas of light and dark. Within each is a bit of the other. This tells us that both light and dark are parts of life and that we are able to feel the one in the midst of the other. Judaism also teaches this lesson. The reason the groom breaks a glass with his foot before kissing the bride is to remind us of the destruction of the Temple. The Sabbath takes precedence over mourning, even during the first seven days.
HPS: Pagan ritual is full of apparent contradictions. At Yule we celebrated life in the dead of winter. Now, at the opposite side of the Wheel of the Year, we celebrate the Sun on the eve of its decline. Take a few minutes to think about this. (Wait three to five minutes.)
HP: Today we honor the Sun God. The Celts called him Belenus, Belenos, Belinu and other variants. His name means “The Shining One.” The Greeks and Romans called him Apollo. The Egyptians worshipped him as Aten and as Re. To the Hittites she was Arinna, and the Basque called her Ekhi. We use the European forms and recognize the sun as an aspect of the God, but as the Goddess and God together comprise the Sacred All there is no problem in recognizing the Sun Goddess.
Song:
We are one with the infinite sun
For ever and ever and ever,
We are one with the infinite sun
For ever and ever and ever.5
Witch 3: (Facing the food) For the fruit of the earth and the work of human hands, we thank you. For blessings and abundance, we thank you. What comes forth shall return in the eternal dance of Goddess and God. (Turning to face the circle) Join with us, enjoy with us. Blessed be.
HP: Thank you God for honoring us with your presence. Go if you must stay if you will. Blessed be. Extinguish the God candle)
HPS: Thank you Goddess for honoring us with your presence. Go if you must stay if you will. Blessed be. Extinguish the Goddess candle)
Spirit: I thank the spirit of life for watching over our ritual. Go if you must. Stay if you will. Blessed be. Extinguish the Spirit candle)
All: Blessed be.
North: I thank the spirits of Earth for watching over our ritual. Go if you must. Stay if you will. Blessed be.Extinguish the North candle)
All: Blessed be.
West: I thank the spirits of Water for watching over our ritual. Go if you must. Stay if you will. Blessed be.Extinguish the West candle)
All: Blessed be.
South: I thank the spirits of Fire for watching over our ritual. Go if you must. Stay if you will. Blessed be.Extinguish the West candle)
All: Blessed be.
East: I thank the spirits of Air for watching over our ritual. Go if you must. Stay if you will. Blessed be.Extinguish the West candle)
All: Blessed be.
Closing song: (holding hands in the Circle)
May the Circle be open, but unbroken,
May the peace of the Goddess be ever in your heart.
Merry meet and merry part and merry meet again.6
1. Adapted from Rumi. Come, Come Whoever You Are, # 188 in Singing the Living Tradition Unitarian Universalist Association, 1993.
2. From The Witchy Crypt
3. Folliott Sandford Pierpoint, For the Beauty of the Earth, #21 in Singing the Living Tradition Unitarian Universalist Association, 1993.
4. Starhawk, The Spiral Dance, page 189. HarperSanFrancisco, 1989
5. Earth Spirit Pagan Chant Library
6. Found at BryteUnicorn's Enchanted Forest
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