Samhain

Samhain Ritual- 2011

This Ritual was pieced together and adapted from Rituals I found online. Please feel free to use it and adapt it as you see fit. We put dirt on the ground when laying the circle rope so we do not catch fire to the grass. The torches and the circle rope being lit on fire gives a very magical feel to the Rite, but it is dangerous, please be VERY careful if you do it. We soak the circle rope and torches in citronella before the Rite so it burns well.

HP: Let it be known that the Samhain Rite is beginning. Let only those who come of their own free will join us and please leave all negativity behind. Please gather around the fire.

HPS: Good Fey, you are welcome to join us

HP: Let us call the quarters

(All four quarters should step forward towards the fire holding their unlit torch. Each quarter should read their quarter call and when all four are done, all quarters should light their unlit torch in the fire. Together the four quarters will turn around and walk to the circle rope that is laid out on the ground around everybody and light the rope, as the rope is being lit/catching fire, everyone will do the “Circle is cast and we are between the world things like normal)

EAST
Hail to thee Guardians of the Watchtowers of the East, the powers of air. Whirling wind of dancing rites, waltz the leaves, grant them flight. Cold blows Samhain winds , as we celebrate our kin . Blessed Be!.

SOUTH
Hail to thee Guardians of the Watchtowers of the South, the powers of fire. Cauldron of burning light, torch the fires, fill the night. Ignite the dark, warm all hearts across the land, while amidst the ancient stones we stand. Blessed Be!.

WEST
Hail to thee Guardians of the Watchtowers of the West, Crystal sea of welling souls, we call to thee from grassy knolls. Embrace the waters of life reborn, caressing us from night till dawn. Blessed Be!.

NORTH
Hail to thee Guardians of the Watchtowers of the North, the powers of earth. Guard ye well the dormant seed, wrap all that lives in restful sleep. Chant which beckons the Hunter's horn, Dark King and White Stag both reborn. Blessed Be!

EVERYBODY: The circle is cast and we are between the worlds, beyond the bounds of time, where night and day, birth and death, joy and sorrow meet as one.

HPS: I now do call the Eternal God, the Great Skyfather, Greenman,. Send they Spirit forth! Through the darkness of this night, O Great Lord, please join us. Blessed Be.

HP: I now do call the eternal Goddess, Earth Mother, Send they Spirit forth! Through the darkness of this night, O Great Lady, please join us. Blessed Be.

HP: Once again we meet to turn the wheel. It is the festival of Samhain, the eighth and final spoke of the wheel. On this night, we perceive that the boundaries between the worlds are thin, less defined. The souls of either realm might look beyond the veil and glimpse the other side and perhaps pass through. Our Lord Sun has become the Lord of Shadows. The days grow shorter, the nights colder. The world dies so it can be reborn.

HPS: Sorrow not, my friends! Remember that all that dies shall be reborn! And through death comes life!

EAST:  Mists gather in the valleys and pour down the ancient riverbeds to the darkening sea. Gone the fires of autumn's glory, lost to the legions of cloud-swept days and chilling rains. Gone the wild geese flying southward, gone the last of summer's bounty. Mornings rimed with silver frost, evenings gathering gloom for sitting round the hearthfires glow.

HP and HPS: Hearken now, the darkness comes!

SOUTH: In the vale under the moor, the village speeds it's frantic pace. Thatcher's finish repairs on thick round roofs to hold out the snows of winter. Children bring in the last of the nuts and withered fruits from the woods. The wheat is threshed and winnowed on the chilly breeze. Woodsmoke rises from the hearthfires and axes ring in the clear air. Down from the moors come the cattle and sheep to the winter fields, come too the pigs from the forest glades. The smell of blood is thick in upon the air as those animals chosen for the slaughter are slain and cured against the winter's needs. The planting begun at Beltane is now the harvest.

HP and HPS: Hearken now, the darkness comes!

WEST; In the great forests that lie across the land, the leaves form a thick carpet upon the ground upon which treads the King Stag, velvet gone from his crown of horn, challenging all with his trumpeting cries. The bear and the fat squirrels seek their dens. The wolves stir in the cold, and their voices rise in songs to the moon. Now is the time of the Hunter. His shadow flies across the midnight sky, His horn sounds in the wind like thunder, His red-eyed hounds fly on before.

HP and HPS: Hearken now, the darkness comes!

NORTH: She who stands guardian now is no longer the soft Maiden of spring, nor yet the Mother full of the heat of summer. It is Cerridwen now, the Crone, the Hag, who stands without. In dreams and trance you see her, holding the cauldron into which all that live must go. Holding the cauldron that is Death. Gone too the young Lord of Spring, the Summer King. Now is the time of Herne the Hunter, wild master of the Winter's night. Harsh he is and full of fire, Lord of Death made manifest.

HP and HPS: Hearken now, the darkness comes!

EAST: And in the turning of the year, the walls of time and space become as air, until life and death are as one and departed souls walk again among the living. Here on this most sacred night, as the old year died and the new was born, around the fires the people gathered in celebration. There was wine and cider from the vines and groves, bread from the fields of winnowed wheat, and meat steaming from the slaughter. A great feast and celebration of life to take into the darknss.

HP and HPS: Hearken now, the darkness comes!

SOUTH: And as the earth moved onward into the darkness, the veil between the worlds grew thin, and strange beings walked upon the land. See now the pooka shake his tangled mane, the sidhe come forth from out the hollow hills, listen as the bean sidhe sings forth her terrible cry. And against this army of eldritch power, men did wield a greater weapon as fires sprang forth upon the hilltops and lit the standing stones and village greens. Dancing, swirling, leaping past the fires, the people held back the powers of the night with light and music until the dawn came once more.

HP and HPS: Yet still the darkness comes!

WEST: Turn and turn again the Earth did in its endless dance among the stars. Gone now the villages that lay beneath the downs and among the wolds. Gone the straight track and winding sheep path. Gone the King Stag and the shaggy bear. Yet still we hear an echo of that time and place as we sit to honor our blessed dead, as our children dress as monsters and play in the shadows. We hear the whisper of the Goddess in our hearts, and sometimes, late at night we hearken to the cry of the Hunt high in our crowded skies.

HP and HPS: Hearken, for the darkness comes!

NORTH: And we, the spirit children of that ancient age, we remember. Though we labor not in the fields of waving grain, yet do we too now bring in our harvest. We gather to ourselves the fruits of our projects begun in the spring of the year and ready ourselves for a time of rest and introspection. We unburden ourselves with that which is no longer needful for our survival through the winter of the year.

We the children of this ancient age remember too our honored dead who speak to us again as the walls of this world grow thin. We pass the Cup of Remembrance as we think upon one who has gone before. We remember the good times and the bright things we treasure from their memories, and we allow them to fly free. We make our peace with She who waits for all.

We remember the fears of the darkness, and in our masquerade and games, we come to terms with Death and with change. For such is the meaning at the heart of the feast.

So prepare you now as the darkness comes. Ready the harvest of your hopes and dreams. Light the fires against ignorance and fear. For remember also, that the darkness is but one turn upon the Wheel, it is the darkness of the womb. And the Death we all must face is merely the doorway to the Life to come.

HP and HPS: Hearken now, feel the darkness

(Give everybody a moment)

HP: On this eve of Samhain we have come to honor those that have passed beyond the veil. The Moon must decline, darken, and die. Beyond life are the realms of shadow; the journeys unknown and the visions undreamed. For the soul seeks its own level, rests, and gains a time and a place to be reborn.

HPS: Tonight we honor our loved ones who have passed beyond the veil, we remember them and tribute them. We ask all of you to help us build a cairn to them. Let the cairn stand as a monument of our love and remembrance of them. When the basket of stones comes around please take a stone for each being you want to tribute. Please take a marker and write their name of one of the stones.

(give everyone a few moments)

HP: A few months ago my family and I lost a furry friend, he had not been with us long, but in the short time that he was here he really found a place in our hearts. We buried Moose here in the yard and built a funeral cairn on top of his grave to pay tribute to him and the joy he brought into a life. To us, that cairn has become a special place where we pause each day to tribute a lost friend, to remember that the wheel turns and to thank the Goddess for taking care of our friend.

HPS: We would ask that you all share this special place for us, and place your tribute stones amongst those we laid for Moose a few months ago. Let your stone rest here in our altar area so that Moose’ burial cairn becomes one for all that we have loved and have passed beyond the veil. Let all who come into the altar area take a moment to remember, for none are truly gone of they are remembered.

HP: Please all, come up one by one and lay your stones, feel free to take a moment to say something about the people you are tributing if you’d like.

(Once everyone has place their tribute stone)

HPS: Please return with me to the fire.

HP:  its been a hard year, we have lost many that we hold dear to our hearts. We have wept and cried tears of grief and loss, and though we know that the wheel turns, it does not always sooth our saddened hearts. At times like this when the grief seems unbearable, we need to hold onto our family and friends and take strength  and comfort from them. (Have everyone around the circle hold hands)

HPS: The Goddess gave us dear friends for she knew life would not always be easy and we would need them. The God gave us dear friends for he knew death would be hard and that we would need their love and strength. I look around this circle and know that the God and Goddess care and that I am blessed.

(Give everyone a moment and then let go of hands)

HP: Now, dear friends let us end this special night with toasts and thanks and the simple Feast

(Cakes/drinks for God/Goddess/ fey and the Dead)

(Pass around drinks and cakes)

HP: May we never Thirst

HPS: May we never Hunger

(Everybody should make a toast going around the circle)

HP: Dark Mother, your cauldron is a well of death and rebirth
Dark Father, your sword both protects and annihilates
Today the last of the Harvest is complete
We give thanks to you for your sacrifice
With your divine guidance and protection
We are ready to step into the new year.
May we have good health, prosperity and joy

HPS: Every beginning has an ending
And every ending is anew beginning
In life is death, and in death is life.
Watch over us, our loved ones, our brothers and sisters, here and departed,
Who, tonight are joined together again for fellowship and celebrations
Bless us all as we light our bonfires, our hearth fires,
And the eternal fires in our hearts.
Guide us and Protect us,
Tonight and throughout the coming year,
Our Thanks!
Blessed Be!

HP: Let us thank the guardians

EAST
Hail to thee Guardians of the Watchtowers of the East, the powers of water. We thank you for joining our Samhain celebration tonight. As ye depart to your mighty realms, we bid thee Hail and Farewell, and harm ye none on your way. So Mote It Be.

SOUTH (air)
Hail to thee Guardians of the Watchtowers of the South, the powers of air. We thank you for joining our Samhain celebration tonight. As ye depart to your mighty realms, we bid thee Hail and Farewell, and harm ye none on your way. So Mote It Be.

WEST (fire)
Hail to thee Guardians of the Watchtowers of the West, the powers of fire. We thank you for joining our Samhain celebration tonight. As ye depart to your mighty realms, we bid thee Hail and Farewell, and harm ye none on your way. So Mote It Be.

NORTH (earth)
Hail to thee Guardians of the Watchtowers of the South, the powers of earth. We thank you for joining our Samhain celebration tonight. As ye depart to your mighty realms, we bid thee Hail and Farewell, and harm ye none on your way. So Mote It Be.

HPS: Merry Meet, Merry Part, and Merry Meet Again !
The circle is open, yet never broken.
Blessed Be!




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