Lady Ament-Drake's Samhain (Hallow's Eve, Hallowe'en) Ritual 2009

Lady Ament-Drake’s
~ SAMHAIN RITUAL 2009 ~
Inspired by and crafted to link-in with Maeve Selene’s Elgin Area Pagans Rite.

Needed for the Rite:

Candles for the Elements, Lord, and Lady
A Candle for Ancestors Altar
Pictures/Representations of Ancestors and passed Loved Ones
3rd. Eye Oil,
Black cord
Paper and Pens,
Cauldron
Offering dish,
Salt and Water Vessels & Salt and Water,
Juice, Cakes, & Pumpkin Seeds
Pomegranate, Apple, Knife

THE CEREMONY

Call the Quarters
I call to the North, home of the Element of Earth,
Spirit of the Soil, nourisher, nurturer, bountiful one,
be with us now, give to us your protection and aid us in our work,
Blessed Be.

I call to the East, home of the Element of Air,
Spirit of Wind, inspiration, communication, freedom,
be with us now, give to us your protection, and aid us in our work. Blessed Be.

I call to the South, home of the Element of Fire,
Spirit of Flame, sacred fire, giver of life and knowledge,
be with us now, give to us your protection and aid us in our work,
Blessed Be.

I call to the West, home of the Element of Water,
Spirit of the Rains, intuition, place of purification, and rebirth, be with us now, give to us your protection and aid us in our work,
Blessed Be.

Call The Lady & Lord
O' Gracious Goddess,
Grandmother of us all,
You who are known by many names,
Anu, Persephone, Demeter. Hecate, Ammit, Cerridwen,
and many more,
We invite and welcome you to join our sacred circle
as we celebrate this year's ending and the new year's beginning,
Hail great Lady, we rejoice at your arrival!
Blessed Be.

O'Gracious God,
Grandfather, Son, Lover - all one,
You who are known by many names,
The Dagda, Hades, Zeus, Thanatos, Anubis, Cerrnunnos,
and many more,
We invite and welcome you to join our sacred circle as we celebrate this year's ending and the new year's beginning.
Hail great Lord, we rejoice at your arrival!
Blessed Be.

Call The Spirits (at the Ancestor Altar)
As the old year ends and the new begins, the veil between the Worlds is thin and Spirits and other Entities may cross easily from the Otherworld into our own. We welcome and invite all those of peace and good-will who wish to join us as we celebrate the turning of the wheel of life. To those who are not of peace, who wish only to cause harm and dissension; we banish you to the outer darkness for this night. By the power of the Ancient Ones you may not enter in! So Mote It BE!

Cast The Circle
I cast this Circle in Love and Light - A Bridge in the Darkness made of pale Moonlight. A Place that is Nowhere, Time of Never and Always, we seek to Live within You and with Death to safely cross ways. Only Positivity may enter, only Positivity may leave – so that Positively we may both Celebrate and Grieve.

The Circle is Cast – three by three – so mote it be!

We stand now within a place that is not a place, in a time that is not a time, On a day which is not a day. Charged and Protected by Power and Love.
Receive now the blessing of The Ancient Ones – the symbol of Life.
May this oil, Magickally Charged, open your senses to the Otherworld and to the Spirits and other Entities here assembled. Infusing you with Pure Light and the Twilight Vision.
Blessed Be.

Salt and Water Ceremony
I Charge you, o creature of Water, that by this act you may be Cleansed and Purified,
So that you may be fit to Bless this Sacred Circle.
In the names of The Goddess and The God, I consecrate this Water.

I Charge you, o creature of Earth, that by this act you may be Cleansed and Purified,
So that you may be fit to Bless this Sacred Circle.
In the names of The Goddess and The God, I consecrate this Salt.

(Take Salt/Water mixture and Aspurge the Circle.)

Rite of Mysteries
This is the time of the growing dark, The God, bright lord of the sun, begins his journey to the isle of apples, to rest and await his re-birth at Yule.
The season dies, the earth lies fallow, sleeping. This is the time for introspection, for inner growth and learning. For meditating on the cycles of life.

(Hold up the pomegranate, cut, hold up again)
Behold! The fruit of life which is death--- taste of death,
(eat pomegranate seeds and reflect on the aspects of life and how all life moves toward death.)

(Hold up the apple, cut, hold up again)
Behold! The fruit of death which is life!------taste of life, (eat apple and reflect on death and how death transforms into life.)

The Story of Persephone
And the mighty Zeus lay with Demeter of the Earth, and in Her time was born to Demeter the sweet and beautiful Kore, whom her Mother cherished above all.
One day as Kore was gathering flowers on the plains of Enna, singing to herself and making the flowers blossom ever more brightly, the ground opened up beneath her and Hades – the Lord of the dead, grabbed her and abducted her down into his realm.
Demeter came to look for her daughter when she did not return, but saw no signs of what had happened. In grief and loneliness she roamed the earth, searching for her daughter.
Now Demeter is Lady of Bounty, and in those times before Kore’s abduction, she was so joyful that the Earth gave constant bounty, and this was The Golden Age of Man.
As Demeter lost her joy in the loss of Kore, so did the Earth wither and the bounty withdraw, and for the first time Men knew hunger.
In despair, as their flocks dwindled, and their families began to die, people came increasingly to the Temples and begged for the return of fruitfulness.
Zeus, who sees all from his throne on Olympus, came to realise he must do something, or the people would be lost, and no one would remain to worship the Mighty Gods. Demeter, who now instead of being the picture of fruitfulness, was old as a crone, and withered, took to her the name of Hecate. And Zeus called to Hecate and gave her audience, and told her what had become of her beloved daughter.
Hecate was enraged. And as many a wise crone does when angered, she made a plan. Using her withered stature to her advantage, she stole down to Hades realm disguised as one of the souls come to the land of the dead. She stood at the bank of the River Nyx called Acheron and awaited the ferry that takes the shades into the impassable realm of Hades. She stood as still as death, with the impassive look of a shade – lost. When Charos with his ferry reached her she spoke no word to betray her life, but when bade to speak only opened her mouth and took from it a coin to pay her way across.
And so she came in front of Hades, in her turn at the procession of souls before the throne of the Underworld. And in her turn she saw her daughter, now called Persephone, ruling by Hades side. And so in joy she shed her withered form, and stood before the twin thrones, mighty Demeter once more. And Hades knew that the reckoning for his deed was nigh.
Demeter demanded the return of her daughter, which was her right never having relinquished her unto any man. But Hades was a clever God and had provisioned for such an outcome.
‘Whosoever enters the Land of Dead may not return,’ He spoke the bare truth to Demeter ‘as Whosoever has tasted Death shall no more taste of life’. And on Persephone’s face was the horror of realisation.Ah, but The Maiden was no fool either, and so a grin spread across her faith, as she pulled a Pomegranate from her pocket. ‘But my Lord,’ said she, ‘I ate but 3 seeds from the fruit you have given me, I have not tasted of the whole fruit.’
And so the argument between Hades and Persephone & Demeter ensued. It lasted many days and nights, until the procession before the throne was backed right to the edge of the river, and no new souls could pass.
And so it fell to Zeus to solve the matter, so that the procession might continue as it ought.
‘As Persephone has tasted of the fruit’ said He, ‘She must be owned by the Land and Lord of the Dead. But as she did not eat of the whole fruit, so she must be allowed to leave her throne and return to her Mother on the Earth.’ ‘Three seeds she ate, and so three shall be the division, that for one third of the year Hades may keep her, but the remainder she shall be free to walk the Earth’.
And so it came to pass that when She returned Above, she was Kore, and with the return of her the joy and the blossoming returned. And when she had stayed awhile with her Mother, fruitfulness was borne upon the Earth. But when her time came each year to descend to the Realm Below, her Mother again wore the face of Hecate the Crone and ruled the Earth in bareness. And so came the Seasons of the Earth.

The Preparation for the New Year
This is the beginning of the fallow time. The harvest has come, the fruits of the earth have been gathered in preparation for the long dark of winter. That which we have sown in the past year has reached its time of completion.
We now look forward toward the coming year. Though the fields lie fallow they hold within them the seed of promise of re-birth.
We also look forward to the promise of things to come in the New Year. Before we can begin to build for the New Year we must first rid ourselves of any residual negative energies. (Use black cord to make a braid) With this cord we shall weave all the negative energies left from the last year into a braid. (Once braids are made set alight and place in the Cauldron) See all the negative energies leaving.

Ancestors Meditation & Offering
We will now take a few minutes to commune with our Ancestors (and Deceased Loved Ones). Go to the Working Altar, which has been set as the Ancestor Altar. Focus on your Ancestors. Take some time to connect with them, to celebrate their lives and mourn their deaths. Offer to them pumpkin seeds as symbols of Returning Life and as a form of connection to the energy and land of the living. Ask the Ancestors for guidance to help you decide what things you need to bring into your life for the New Year. When you feel you have an answer write it down on a piece of paper. Thank the Ancestors for their guidance and return to the Prime Altar.

Paper Wish Spell
Using the guidance of the Ancestors, write on the paper what you wish to manifest in the New Year.
Fold the paper. Light it and stand by the Cauldron.
As the paper burns chant:

O'Gracious Lady,
O'Great Lord,
By your power, let this symbol of those things which I wish to manifest in the coming year-- go forth into the All to strengthen and work for the accomplishment of my desire.
By the power of the old ones, By the power of my will,
For the good of all and to harm none,
So Mote It BE!

Cakes and Ale
By the Powers of The Ancient Ones – Lord and Lady
By The Powers of The Elements – Earth, Air, Fire, and Water
By the Powers of Those Who Came Before
And By My Power
I do consecrate these Cakes, that they may be for us The Body of The Lord, connecting us with The Sacredness of the Cycle of Life, Death, and Rebirth, and the Sacredness of Our Bodies. So Mote it Be.

By the Powers of The Ancient Ones – Lord and Lady
By The Powers of The Elements – Earth, Air, Fire, and Water
By the Powers of Those Who Came Before
And By My Power
I do consecrate this Juice, that it may be for us the Life Blood of The Goddess, connecting us with The Sacredness of the Cycle of Life, Death, and Rebirth, and the Sacredness of The Earth. So Mote it Be.

Thanking the Quarters
Element of Earth, whose home is the North,
Spirit of the Soil, nourisher, nurturer, bountiful one,
We thank you for joining us, giving us your protection, and aiding us in our work.We’d like you to stay, but if you must go, go where you must. Hail and Fair Thee Well. Blessed Be.

Element of Air, whose home is the East,
Spirit of Wind, inspiration, communication, freedom,
We thank you for joining us, giving us your protection, and aiding us in our work.We’d like you to stay, but if you must go, go where you must. Hail and Fair Thee Well. Blessed Be.

Element of Fire, whose home is the South,
Spirit of Flame, sacred fire, giver of life and knowledge,
We thank you for joining us, giving us your protection, and aiding us in our work.We’d like you to stay, but if you must go, go where you must. Hail and Fair Thee Well. Blessed Be.

Element of Water, whose home is the West,
Spirit of the Rains, intuition, place of purification, and rebirth, We thank you for joining us, giving us your protection, and aiding us in our work.We’d like you to stay, but if you must go, go where you must. Hail and Fair Thee Well. Blessed Be.

Thanking The Lady & Lord
O' Gracious Goddess,
Grandmother of us all,
You who are known by many names,
Anu, Persephone, Demeter. Hecate, Ammit, Cerridwen,
and many more,
We thank you for joining us in our sacred circle as we celebrated this year's ending and the New Year's beginning. Great Lady we bid you to stay if you will, or go if you must. We bid you Hail! And Fare Thee Well.
Blessed Be.

O'Gracious God,
Grandfather, Son, Lover - all one,
You who are known by many names,
The Dagda, Hades, Zeus, Thanatos, Anubis, Cerrnunnos,
and many more,
We thank you for joining us in our sacred circle as we celebrated this year's ending and the New Year's beginning. Great Lord we bid you to stay if you will, or go if you must. We bid you Hail! And Fare Thee Well.
Blessed Be.

Thank The Spirits (at the Ancestor Altar)
We thank those who Sired and Bore our Forefathers, our deceased Family, Friends, Familiars – all Loved Ones, for being with us this night. As we miss you we do emplore you to stay if you will, please go only if you must. We do bid you Hail! And Fare Thee Well. Blessed Be.

Open The Circle
This Circle was cast in Love and Light - A Bridge in the Darkness made of pale Moonlight. A Place that was Nowhere, Time of Never and Always, we were granted the boon of Living within Sacred Space and were allowed with Death to safely cross ways. Only Positivity was let to enter, only Positivity does leave – so that Positively we may continue to both Celebrate and Grieve. The Circle is now Open – three by three – so mote it be! Merry Meet, Merry Part, Merry Meet Again!