Mabon 2004
Drumming
Get Acquainted Chant: 1
Going around the circle, fill in the name of each person:
(Name) is here, (Name) is here, all manner of good things will come to her/him now.
Purification Ritual: The people calling the quarters go from person to person using a representational element of each of the four directions. East, South, West, North.
Cast the Circle: Welcome and Introduction to Mabon: 2
Greeter: Welcome to Mabon. . . a tradition of many names and practices throughout the world. It is a time of equal day and night, giving thanks for the harvest, striving and attaining equal inner and outer balance. It is also a time of community and kinship with the land, all creatures, and all beings in all worlds. As such, we offer special honor to the dead and ours spirit allies at this time. The form of the symbolic owl — sacred to the pre-Celtic crone Goddess in the spirit of Mabon, takes us to the shadows and helps us see what needs to be seen. Mabon. . . the time of reflection and inner harvest; gathering the bounty and seed. In this way, the wheel turns bringing us back to Samhain, where we begin our cycle.
HPS: Here is the balance of day and night, yet at no point doers time stand still. Throughout the year, the mighty wheel turns and turns again. Death comes to, but so does life as children are born to grow an develop.
HP: As surely as the sun rises, so comes death to each and every one of us. Yet, he comes as a friend to take us to his bosom and to join us once again with the Goddess and with those who have gone before. For death is but the doorway to life, and life itself leads to death.
Dance and Chant with Shakers: HPS: (leads the participants out of the center in a dance while chanting Ancient Mother. She goes once, deosil/clockwise, around the outside, but inside the circle, and back again. HP brings up the rear. As the witches pass each other on the return trip they each greet each other with a bow. HPS leads everyone back inside.)
Chant:
Ancient Mother, I hear you calling, 3
Ancient Mother, I hear your song
Ancient Mother, I hear your laughter
Ancient Mother, I taste your tears
Ancient Mother, I hear you calling,
Ancient Mother, I sing your song
Ancient Mother, I share your laughter
Ancient Mother, I dry your tears
Call the Quarters:
East: Hail spirits of the East, powers of Air. We call upon you to blow staleness away. fill our lungs with air and clear our minds. Come by the air that is her breath. Send forth your light. Be here now.
All say: Be here now!
South: Hail spirits of the South, powers of Fire. We call upon you to warm our hearts and let our passions glow. Come spark of life, by the fire that is her bright spirit. Send forth your flame. Be here now.
All say: Be here now!
West: Hail spirits of the West, powers of Water. We call upon you to rain on us, quench our thirst, and let us laugh and weep. Come tides, by the living waters of her womb, send forth our flow. Be here now.
All say: Be here now!
North: Hail spirits of the North, powers of Earth. We call upon you to to keep us centered and our bodies strong. Keep us mindful of Mother Earth. Come stone, by the earth that is her body. Send forth your strength. Be here now.
All say: Be here now!
Call the God: Horned God filled with love, fierce with passion, join us now. Gentle one, untamed one, awakener of desire, be here now. Lover of men as well as women, young boy, old man, join us now. Opener of the gates of life and death, we need your energy, we call for your presence. Be here now.
All say: Be here now!
Call the Goddess: Great Goddess, ground of being, joy of life, join us now. Laughing one, dewy maiden, playful, beautiful one, be here now. Sky sailing, pregnant moon, full blown rose, mother of all beings, join us now. Ancient crone, gatherer of the dead in whose arms we shall sleep, be with us now. Maiden, Mother, Crone, be with us now. Comforter, nourisher, source of life, we need your energy, we call for your presence. Be here now.
All say: Be here now!
Witch One: Please take an apple and reflect on the joys of life and on the blessings you enjoy. (takes the bowl of apples from the altar, gives each person and apple and takes one for her/himself. Cuts the apple cross-wise with the boline and opens it showing the pentacle to everyone.) Behold the symbol of life within the fruit!
Witch Two: With all life lie the seeds of future lives. Let us give thanks to the gods for this bounty. As you finish contemplating you may eat your apple.
Reflections with Music: Giuliani's Andante from Concerto for Two Mandolins and Viola)
(Allow time for everyone to eat their apple)
Shared Reflections
Song With Drumming:
The Lord is Good to Me 4
Oh the Lord's been good to me
And so I thank the Lord
For giving me the things I need:
The sun and the rain and the apple seed.
The Lord's been good to me.
Oh the Lord's been good to me
And so I thank the Lord
For giving me the things I need:
The sun and the rain and the apple seed.
The Lord's been good to me.
Feast Blessing: 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. Join with us, enjoy with us, blessed be.
Song: Amazing Grace 5
Amazing grace,
how sweet the Earth,
that bore a witch like me.
I once was burned, now I survive.
Was hanged, but now I sing.
'Twas grace
that drew down the moon,
and grace that raised the seas.
The magick in the people's will,
shall set our Mother free.
We face the East,
and breathe the winds
that move upon the Earth...
from gentle breeze to hurricane,
our breath will bring forth change.
Turn toward the South
and feel the fire
that burns in you and me.
The spirit's flame shall rise again
and burn eternally.
We greet the West,
our soul's awash
in tides of primal birth.
Our pain, our blood, our tears and love
shall cleanse & heal the Earth.
Reach in to North
and know your roots
down deep ancestral caves.
We find the wisdom of the Crone,
of circles we are made.
Amazing grace
how sweet the Earth
that bore witches like we.
We once were burned, now we survive;
were hanged, but now we sing.
1. Cycles of Rituals P. G. Misty Sheehan, Continental Women and Religion at Unitarian Universalist General Assembly 2003
2. This ritual is based on the Autumn Sabbat in Wicca for Life by Raymond Buckford. Some excerpts are also taken from a ritual written by Jeff Kroon from a book called Mabon
3. Source unknown
4. From: Melody Time: Johnny Appleseed, Kim Gannon and Walter Kent
5. Original lyrics by John Newton. It is not known who wrote these lyrics.
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