Midsummer 2005

Items needed: a yellow candle, anointing oil, a small pouch filled with Midsummer herbs (enough pouches for each person attending).

Purify self and cast Circle

_____________ invoke Goddess with:

“Gentle Goddess, Queen of Life, All-Mother, by whatever names we call Thee - __________________ - we know that You hear us. Come to us here; hear our desire for you to join in our Midsummer rite as we celebrate the overwhelming power of light. From the heavens to our side, descend – Hail and Welcome!”

______________ invoke God with:

“God of Summer, Lord of Light, All-Father, by whatever names we cal Thee - __________________ - we know that You hear us. Come to us here; hear our desire for you to join us in the celebration of the triumph of light over darkness. From the heavens to our side, descend – Hail and Welcome!”

_______________ say:

“This is the time of the Sun's greatness, the time of Summer’s strength, and the zenith of the year. The Wheel of the Year turns onwards into this joy-filled moment of warmth and as we feel the heat of the grown God as His rays softly kiss the Earth's skin with growing ardor and self-knowledge. The Goddess has busied herself in her growing and fertile strength and now lies before him in all her mature splendor. Still and secure in the beauty of fulfilment she offers life grown from her body and his warmth back to that same life which is part of her as he shines golden light on all who partake of the wealth. We raise our voices with the teeming, giving and receiving life all around us as we turn the Wheel and give thanks for Summer.”

____________ say:

"With the Sun God at the height of His power and majesty,
The waxing of the year is accomplished,
And the reign of the Oak King is ended.
With the Sun God at the height of His splendor,
The waning of the year begins.
The Holly King must slay His brother the Oak King,
And rule over the Goddess' land until the depth of Winter,
When His brother shall be born again.
The spirit of the Oak King is gone from us,
To rest in the Underworld;
Until, with the turning of the Wheel,
The season shall come when He shall return to rule again."

______________ say:

“Light, oh golden light
I feel your coming and know your going.
The time of your great shining is here
And in the fire of my spirit, I nurture your flame.
I rest comfortably under your rays
And know the fulfillment of
Fertility brought to fruition.
With the Earth, I recline in joyful bounty and rejoice
To feel your light on my skin as she does.
Now to the life of all I offer all the life I have,
One to the other given and received
In a constant cycle of the wheel
Whose turning never ceases. “

______________ ring the bell three times to remove any lingering negativity.

______________ say:

"Oh great Goddess and God,
All nature vibrates with Your energies
And the Earth is bathed with warmth and life.
Now is time of forgetting past cares and banes,
Now is the time for purification.
Oh fiery Sun,
Burn away the non-useful, the hurtful, the bane,
In Your glorious power.
Purify me! Purify me! Purify me!"

____________ take the yellow candle and envision the power the sun filling the
candle.

Hand the candle to _____________ who will dress it with the oil, start at the top and
coat the candle to the middle, then go from the bottom to the middle.

____________ light the candle and say:

“Behold, I light this blessed and purified this candle, charging it to be an agent of the light that illuminates our lives.”

Everyone choose an herbal pouch. Take a moment and fill the pouch will all the
worries, stresses, and negativity of the year; allow it all to take residence in the midsummer herbs. When done, light the pouch from the yellow candle and say:

“I banish you by the powers of the Goddess and God
I banish you by the powers of the Sun, the Moon, and the Stars
I banish you by the powers of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water!"

Everyone visualize the negativity of the past year burning away to nothingness. Then all say together:

“We call upon the powers imbued in these herbs,
gently smoldering in the midsummer fire,
herbs of the earth,
herbs of fire,
your scent fills the night air,
and drives away our worries and cares.
Oh gracious God and Goddess,
On this night of Midsummer magick
We pray that You charge our lives with wonder and joy.
Help us to attune with the energies
Adrift on the enchanted night air.
We give thanks.”

____________ visualize tying a knot around the candle to bind the spell. Say:

“I bind this spell by power of the three,
May it be for the greater good of all,
And bring harm to none.”

_____________ say:

“During this time of greatest light, we have rid ourselves of the darkness that has been plaguing us. In order to stop it from returning we must fill that space with something beneficial. Take a moment to see the light of the sun, the light of the God, filling you and transforming that space into a beneficial habit that you are in need of. This is the true magick of Midsummer.”

_______________ hold the athame and says:

“See in this blade, the essence of the God, the creative spark of light and life.”

_______________ hold the chalice and say:

“See in this chalice the womb of the Goddess, the fertile darkness from which all life springs.”

_______________ lowers the athame into the chalice and both say together:

“Behold, existence is made manifest,
Two made one,
Male and female,
Light and darkness,
Matter and spirit,
As above,
So below,
As within,
So without,
Infinite balance is created in the union of all things.”

Works of magick may follow.

The wine was blessed during the Great Rite. Pass the chalice around and everyone
drink from it, at the end add a small amount to the libation dish.

______________ bless the cakes with:

“Abundant Lord of the Grain, we offer these cakes in Your honor,
As we eat them, fill us with the power of Your spirit.”

Eat the simple feast and open Circle.

Eidolon Moon's Notes:

For this ritual I was a little out of whack because I had just torn down my ritual room (we had been told that we'd be moving) so I only had my little fire elemental altar for our rite. That was OK because it was just Michael and I, this was planned to be a fairly simply Midsummer since we wouldn't be working with a larger group.

I really needed the purification part, I was rather worried about my grandmother and I was having problems at work with one of my bosses. His idea of a good time was to do his best to piss me off... and it was working. By the end of the ritual I was feeling very clear headed and much calmer. It did help me to deal with my boss and not let his needling get to me so much (thank Goddess!).

This was the first year that I performed the symbolic Great Rite with my husband... usually it was other's in the group doing it or I would do it with Maia. I was a little surprised at the sexual tension that doing the symbolic Rite brought up, I have never had that happen before. It made me think that perhaps Michael and I would have a strong working relationship since we have a fairly strong marriage.

Overall I left this sabbat refreshed and ready to let the world tackle me. I knew I had to get off my butt and start figuring out things both spiritually and in real life, this ritual helped center me for that task as well as giving me the right frame of mind to start such a project.