Drawing Down the Moon

Items needed: wand, athame, and anointing oil.

_________________ invoke the Goddess with:

“Mother Goddess of Full Moon light, by whatever names we call Thee - _________________ - we know that You hear us. All loving, strong, birthing, healing You are. Grant that we may be more like You as we integrate the qualities of Your diving Motherhood into our beings. So mote it be, hail and welcome!”

_________________ invoke the God with:

“Wild Hunter God, by whatever names we call Thee - _________________ - we know that You hear us. With You the Goddess creatures us all to be wild and free. Grant that we may learn to enjoy the fullness of change. So mote it be, hail and welcome!”

Everyone lay your hands over your heart and say:

“May the blessings of the Mother Goddess be upon me. May She grant us a compassionate heart and fire us with passion. May She teach us the joys of creation and the reward of loving parenthood. We honor the power of our births; we honor our respective mothers. May others see the Mother Goddess within us through our warmth, in our ability to nurture and heal. Through us runs the love of the God and Goddess.”

_________________ proceeds to draw down the moon on the acting High Priestess of the ritual. The HPS stands with the wand in her right hand and the athame in her left hand held against her breasts in the Osiris or God position – the two shafts grasped in her clenched fists, her wrists crossed, and the shafts crossed again above them. The acting HP kneels before the HPS and invokes:

“I invoke and call upon thee,
Mighty Mother of us all, bringer of 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 daughter and priestess.
Here, speak with her tongue,
Touch with her hands,
Kiss with her lips,
That her children may be fulfilled.”

_________________ anoints the HPS right and left food and says:

“Blessed be thy feet that have brought thee in these ways.”

_________________ anoints the HPS right and left knee, then says:

“Blessed be thy knees that shall kneel before the sacred altar.”

_________________ anoints above her pubic hairline and says:

“Blessed be thy loins …that bring forth the life of man. (…that give and receive pleasure.)”

The acting HPS opens her arms and widens her stance into the Goddess or ‘blessing’
position.

_________________ anoints the HPS’s left and right hand before saying:

“Blessed be thy breasts formed in strength and beauty.”

_________________ says:

“Blessed be thy lips that shall speak the Sacred Names.”
(Hug at this point, if you want to kiss then do so.)

Everyone, except the HPS, spread their arms outwards with the palms forward.

Everyone say:

“Mother, ancient and divine,
Say to us, o children Thine,
All we assembled at Thy shrine,
Thine the knife and Thine the kiss;
The seven pointed star of love and bliss –
Here we charge You, in this sign.”

The High Priestess makes the Dissolving Fire Pentagram (from the lower right to
the top) in the air with the wand. Afterwards, place the wand on the center altar and the HPS resumes the Goddess position.

Acting High Priestess says:

“All ye assembled here tonight,
Bow before my spirit bright.”

The members bow their heads.

Everyone, except the HPS, says together:

“Aphrodite, Arianrhod,
Lover of the Horned God,
Mighty Queen of witchery and night
Inari, Hecate, Ashtaroth,
Morrigan, Etain Nisene,
Diana, Brigid, Melusine,
Are You named of old by men,
Artemis and Cerridwen,
Hades’ Mistress, Heaven’s Queen.
Descend we pray, to our Circle here!”

_________________ says:

“Listen to the words of the Great Mother; She who of old was also called among men Artemis, Astarte, Diana, Melusine, Aphrodite, Bastet, Cybele, Arianrhod, Isis, Inari, and by many many other names. Then, as now, we honor Her spirit bright.”

Acting High Priestess says:

“Whenever ye have need of anything, once in the month, and better it be when the moon is full, then 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 truly free; ye shall dance sing, feast, and 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 ideals; strive ever towards it; let naught stop you or turn you aside. For Mine is the secret door that opens upon the Land of Youth, and Mine is the cup of the wine of life, and 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 aught in sacrifice; for behold, I am the Mother of all living things, and My love is poured out upon the earth.”

_________________ 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 continues:

“I who am the beauty of the green earth, and the white moon among the stars, and the deep blue mystery of the waters, and the red desire in 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 return; and before My face, beloved of Gods and men, let thine innermost divine self be enfolded in the rapture of the infinite. Let My worship be within the heart that rejoices; for behold, all acts of love and pleasure are My rituals. And therefore let there be beauty and strength, power and compassion, honor and humility, mirth and reverence within you. And thou who thinks to seek for Me, know that thine seeking and yearning will not avail thee unless thou knows the Mystery – that if that which thou desires thou does not find within thee, then thou will never find it without. For behold, I have been with thee from the beginning; and I am that which is attained at the end of desire.”

If the HPS is so moved by the Goddess to speak or share her visions, she may do so.

Works of magick may be performed now.

All recite the Witches’ Rune:

“Darksome night and shining moon,
Hearken to the witches’ rune.
East, then south, west, then north,
Here come we to call thee forth.

Earth and water, air and fire,
Work ye unto our desire.
Wand and pentacle, cup and sword,
Hearken ye unto our word.

Cords and censer, wand and knife,
Waken ye into life.
Power of the Witches’ Blade,
Come ye as the charm is made.

Queen of Heaven, Queen of Hell,
Lend your aid unto our spell.
Horned Hunter of the night,
Work our will by magick rite.

By all the power of land and sea,
As we do will, so mote it be.
By all the might of moon and sun,
Chant the spell and be it done!”

Everyone help the HPS to ground out; surround her and lightly slap her arms, legs,
back, etc. while she grounds to help her return to normal time and place. Afterwards she should be sure not to drive or walk around outside until she is sure that her mind and body have recovered from drawing down the moon.

_________________ blesses the cakes with:

“Shining Sun Lord, we offer these cakes in Your honor,
As we eat them, fill us with the power of Your spirit.
Blessed be.”

_________________ blesses the chalice with:

“Lady of the Full Moon, we offer this wine in Your honor,
As we drink it, fill us with the nectar of Your love.
Blessed be.”

Eat the simple feast, then open the Circle.

Phaedra's Notes:

This was originally written at the bequest of WinterWolf, HP of Dragons of the Sacred Circle. It takes from some older versions of this rite and mixes them together along with a few wording changes. When I put this together I wanted it have a connection to how it had originally been done but still have it have strong connotations to those of us performing it now. I feel that I succeeded, mainly because it has been used with other groups with great success.

During the anointing of the High Priestess there are dual line for the blessing of the loins. I did this purposely so that it could be used on someone other than myself, I get the line "... that give and receive pleasure" because I cannot have children. I leave the option in because I know that there are many women who choose to be child-free, or they might be barren like myself.

This is a rather long ritual, but I have never felt drained or sluggish after performing it. I normally feel very effervescent, which is the general consensus of those who have performed it with me. I wouldn't want to do it every month because it does require a deep communion with the Goddess. I will be perfectly honest; I’ve never felt that the Goddess ‘took over’ my body when I performed this. I would get pictures in my mind’s eye and strong hunches that I should share the vision with a certain person or persons, so there is that.