Samhain Ritual
Adapted from the Farrar's Eight Sabbats for Witches
Opening. Blessing with incense and water.
High priestess hands athame to the air element. Invocation and invoking pentacle is drawn over the candle with the athame. Same with fire, then water, then earth.
Candle brought to high priestess. She reads:
"Dread Lord of Shadows, God of Life, and the Giver of Life---
Yet is the knowledge of thee, the knowledge of Death.
Open wide, I pray thee, the Gates through which all must pass.
Let our dear ones who have gone before
Return this night to make merry with us.
And when our time comes, as it must,
O thou the Comforter, the Consoler, the Giver of Peace and Rest,
We will enter thy realms gladly and unafraid;
For we know that when rested and refreshed among our dear ones
We will be reborn again by thy grace, and the grace of the Great Mother.
Let it be in the same place and the same time as our beloved ones,
And may we meet, and know, and remember,
And love them again.
Descend, we pray thee, in thy servant and priest."
High priestess walks doesil around the cauldron.
Maiden walks to the West candle and the high priestess says: "Behold, the West is Amenti, the Land of the Dead, to which many of our loved ones have gone for rest and renewal. On this night we hold communion with them; and as our Maiden stands in welcome by the western gate, I call upon all of you, my brothers and sisters of the Craft, to hold the images of those loved ones in your hearts and in your minds, that our welcome may reach out to them.
"There is mystery within mystery; for the resting-place between life and life is also Caer Arhianrhod, the Castle of the Silver Wheel, at the hub of the turning stars beyond the North Wind. Here reigns Arhianrhod, the White Lady, whose name means Silver Wheel. To this, in spirit, we call our loved ones. And let the Maiden lead them, moving widdershins to the center. For the spiral path inwards to Caer Arhianrhod leads to night, and rest, and is against the way of the Sun."
Maiden walks, slowly and with dignity, in a widdershins
When the Maiden reaches the center, she faces the high priestess across the cauldron and halts. The high priestess holds out her right hand at shoulder level, over the center of the cauldron, with the palm open and facing to the left. The Maiden places her own right palm flat against that of the high priestess.
High priestess: "Those you bring with you are truly welcome to our Festival. May they remain with us in peace. And you, O Maiden, return by the spiral path to stand with our brothers and sisters; but doesil-- for the way of rebirth, outwards from Caer Arhianrhod, is the way of the sun."
Maiden and high priestess break hand contact and the maiden walks slowly and with dignity in a deosil (clockwise) spiral back to her place by the West candle. The high Priestess waits until the maiden is in place and says "Let all approach the walls of the Castle."
The coven moves inward and everyone sits in a close ring around the cauldron (including the high priestess and the maiden). The high priestess renews the incense.
This is the time in the ritual for communion with dead friends. We each made peace with one that had passed on the year before and lit a candle for each soul. This is the time for cakes and ale and talk.
Free the Guardians and break the circle.
Feast for the dead.
