Witches Haven

Yule Ritual 2005

We are going to use some sound vibration to ground and to centre ourselves for this ritual.

First, close your eyes. Let your arms fall lose at your sides. Allow your body to relax; you are among family and friends. Take a deep breathe, let it all out. Allow your mind to empty of all the thoughts, worries and fears from this world. Take another deep breathe and when you exhale, exhale those concerns, the worries, the fears.
Take another breathe and feel your body relax. We have ritual ahead of us. This world has no place here. It is a time that is not a time, a place that is not a place. This is ritual.

Now we’ll use sound vibration to centre and prepare; keep your eyes closed and we will do the ohm. As you do the ohm, I will be calling the Watchers to attend our circle. You will be aware of my words – you will feel the Watchers as They arrive to celebrate, to protect and to join us in welcoming the new year.

Spirit of the North –
Watcher of the Earth
Winter’s long sleep
Come around again.
We call to you.
We ask you to attend this circle.
Protect and guard us.
So Mote it be

Spirit of the East
Watcher of the Air
Chill Winter winds
Come around again.
We call to you.
We ask you to attend this circle.
Protect and guard us.
So Mote it be.

Spirit of the South
Watcher of the Fire.
Hearth flame.
Come around again.
We call to you.
We ask you to attend this circle.
Protect and guard us.
So Mote it be

Spirit of the West.
Watcher of the Water
Frozen torrents
Come around again.
We call to you.
We ask you to attend this circle.
Protect and guard us.
So Mote it be

Please open your eyes. The circle is cast, the Watchers are with us and we now prepare to celebrate Yule, our Solstice.

Tonight we will call on the Morrighan to aid us in the battles ahead. The Morrighan is not to be trifled with; an awesome presence to invoke. Goddess of battle, strife and fertility, the year 2006 will include all these things. We will face our own personal battles, we will face strife among us and around us but we will also be graced with fertility. Justice and order must prevail.

The God we invoke will be Cernunnos. He is both Holly and Oak King. The Warrior, the Hunter, the Lord of the Rade. He is destruction, he is battle but he is also growth, fertility and expansion. He is Pan, Janus and Dagda. He is the masculine – unbridled carnal expression. Determined in love and determined in battle. He is the victor, not the defeated.
We must learn to fight our battles and not allow our enemies or those who wish us harm to triumph due to our own inertia or apathy. We are from warrior stock; all of us gathered here tonight to welcome the Sun’s return. When the sun rises on the morning after Solstice – so starts a new year.

Perhaps our peers can rest and allow others to take charge but we cannot. This year will bring about many changes for us and we cannot allow any quarter to be surrendered. To do so would dishonour the Goddess and God we invoke here, tonight.

Morrighan
Mistress of the Dark Moon
Standing on the fields of battle, with howling hounds
With watchful ravens.
Torches blaze your way before you.

We ask your presence here tonight.
To guide and protect us.
You are our Goddess – a Great Goddess of Witches.
Strength, power and wisdom.
Guide us with your visions, with your magick.
Rain upon our enemies, your justice, your judgement.
You stand beside us on the field of battle.
Our Great Comrade in Arms.
Surround us.
Be here with us now.
Pure and true.
That which we have sought outside ourselves, you offer
To us always.
Hail and Welcome Great Morrighan.

INVOCATION TO CERNUNNOS
Cernunnos, You who are all.
All that is blessed, all that is pure,
That which is wild in the heart of woman, of man and of Earth
Buried deep behind the walls we build to hide it

Sword raised, You defeat all who would threaten us.
Please offer Your protection to us.
You glide through the trees, fleet-footed and strong-armed.
The Warrior, the Protector, Dark Lord of the Rade
You bless that is just and true.

You stand beside us on the field of battle.
Our Great Comrade in Arms.
Surround us.
Be here with us now.
Pure and true.
That which we have sought outside ourselves, you offer
To us always.
Hail and Welcome Great Cernunnos.

Welcome to all of you at this Solstice time. The days grow longer at this time of year. The New Year has begun.

It isn’t enough to observe Yule with words, candles and ritual. Being Pagan is not something we pull out on special days. It isn’t something we remember to be, once a week or a few times a year.

We aren’t the tree-lovers or Green Peacers that many would have us believe we are bound to be. If we are to stay true to our interpretation of our Gods, of our Goddesses then we cannot allow ourselves to surround our lives in cotton candy and daisies. Our Gods and Goddesses are strong aspects; they are warriors and they are protectors. They stand for truth, they stand for justice but most important – they stand for knowledge and the wisdom that will follow.

The coming year will be a difficult one for us; it will be a difficult one for our peers. Change is in the wind. The die is cast. We will be called upon to fight for what we know to be right. We will be called upon to be fair and to be just but not to throw down our arms. We are our own connection between the divine and our mundane lives.

All of us are guilty of apathy in this past year. We have roads that we must travel but we’ve all looked within to pull out excuse after excuse. The time for that has ended. 2005 was a year of searching. 2006 must be the year of battle toward what we have a duty to become.

The Asatru have Nine Virtues to which they must adhere and 2006 should see us all abiding by the Virtues of our brothers. We all – all of us gathered here for Solstice, have the Norse blood coursing through our veins. Be it through Ireland, Wales or Scotland – the Norse blood call is strong and should never be ignored.

We have a duty in this coming year to abide by the Norse song in our veins. The Nine Virtues represent all that we need to bind around us in 2006.

Courage - Bravery or boldness, the ability to stand and fight in the face of any threat.
Truth - Honesty and the ability to standby what is true.
HonourReputation, renown. Your personal worth as well as that of your family's.
Fidelity - Troth or loyalty to those around you be that family, friends, or fellowship.
Discipline – Self-control, the ability to be in command of oneself, at all times, in all circumstances.
Hospitality - The ability to make a guest feel welcome.
Industriousness - The ability to work hard in maintaining one's self and family.
Self Reliance -ability to rely on one's self without the aid of others.
Perseverance - Steadfastness or the refusal to give up even when things are rough.

All of these virtues will see us through; they will allow us to walk in dignity, with pride while those around us fall. We are Warriors. We are the Truth.

Now is the time to request of the Goddess and the God to walk with us during the coming year. To aid us to live according to these virtues. To understand what it means to have courage, to act in truth, always with honour and fidelity. Live with discipline and extend our hand in hospitality. As with our ancestors, ask that our Deities give us the strength and determination to remain industrious and self-reliant. To have the perseverance to see these 9 virtues through to their end. In promising to adhere to these virtues, we honour our Gods and our Goddess. We embody the Morrighan and the God, Cernunnos. We do not have the right to dishonour them by being less than these virtues demand of us.

David and I will now perform the ceremony of the Great Rite and we ask you to meditate on the symbolism. The joining of the light and the dark, of the male and the female. The creation of life and the whole. Perfect balance.


Great Rite.

Without the Goddess, without the God
There can be no life.
Without balance - there is chaos.
As the God is to the Goddess.
As the Deities are to us.
May this simply ritual manifest the sacred joining.

This liquid represents the life force; Blessed Be

This bounty, represents the fruits of the joining; Blessed Be.

May you never thirst.
May you never hunger.

We will now bid farewell to the Morrighan and to Cernunnos.

Morrighan
Mistress of the Dark Moon
Standing on the fields of battle, with howling hounds
With watchful ravens.
Torches blaze your way before you.

We sincerely thank you for your presence here tonight.
Guiding and protecting us.
You are our Goddess – a Great Goddess of Witches.
Strength, power and wisdom.
Guide us with your visions, with your magick.
Rain upon our enemies, your justice, your judgement.
You stand beside us on the field of battle.
Our Great Comrade in Arms.
You have surrounded us.
We will not fail.
We will be pure and true.
That which we have sought outside ourselves, you offer
To us always.
Stay, if you will;
Leave if you must.
So Mote it Be.

CERNUNNOS
INVOCATION TO CERNUNNOS
Cernunnos, You who are all.
All that is blessed, all that is pure,
That which is wild in the heart of woman, of man and of Earth
Buried deep behind the walls we build to hide it

Sword raised, You defeat all who would threaten us.
Please offer Your protection to us.
You glide through the trees, fleet-footed and strong-armed.
The Warrior, the Protector, Dark Lord of the Rade
You bless that is just and true.

You stand beside us on the field of battle.
Our Great Comrade in Arms.
Surround us.
Be here with us now.
Pure and true.
That which we have sought outside ourselves, you offer
To us always.
Stay, if you will; Leave if you must.
So Mote it Be.

Before I bid farewell to the Watchers; I think the time has come to ground ourselves.

Close your eyes. Let your arms fall lose at your sides. Feel the strength and the power of the God and the Goddess around you. Feel your body fill with that strength – it is deep inside you and fills your being. They are with you, they are in you. Know that this strength, this power is always available to you. Take what you need for now and channel the rest into the living earth. Take a deep breathe, let it all out. As the breathe leaves you, allow some of this tremendous power, this strength be sent to the earth below your feet. Allow this strength to heal the earth and allow her to do battle.

Spirit of the West.
Watcher of the Water
Frozen torrents
Come around again.
We thank you for your protection.
We thank you for your strength.
Hail and Farewell.
So Mote it Be.

Spirit of the South
Watcher of the Fire.
Hearth flame.
Come around again.
We thank you for your protection.
We thank you for your strength.
Hail and Farewell.
So Mote it Be.

Spirit of the East
Watcher of the Air
Chill Winter winds
Come around again.
We thank you for your protection.
We thank you for your strength.
Hail and Farewell.
So Mote it Be.

Spirit of the North –
Watcher of the Earth
Winter’s long sleep
Come around again.
We thank you for your protection.
We thank you for your strength.
Hail and Farewell.
So Mote it Be.

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