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CONTENTS

1. About the Sabbat
2. Ritual
3. Recipes
4. Correspondences
5. Poems, songs and prose
6. Links
7. General

About

Ritual

OSTARA PRAYERS OSTARA RITUAL Opening Exhortation HPS: We gather on this blessed night to celebrate the season of balance of Ostara, where the Light overcomes the Darkness once again. We praise the bountiful young Goddess and Her son-lover for Their blessings of fertility, warmth and life renewed. Blessing of the Circle All: By the Maiden Goddess and the Dancing God, Who have woken from their winter slumber to bring the new green back to the earth, renew in us a warmth for all living things, to revere the Earth and Her treasures, and bring us to the glorious realisation of Life renewed within us. The invocation of the Maiden HPS: We bid Thee welcome, returning Maiden of many Names; Green-gowned Goddess awakening the drowsy year From its seasonal, wintry sleep! The ground stirs to greet Thy gentle footsteps As shoots of buoyant life break free In profusions of ecstatic colour Through the weakening grip of Winter-hardened earth. Thou art the Lady most lovely, Sweet Blossom of Spring, Perfumed in hyacinth; Thine arrival trumpeted by multitudes of yellow gleaming daffodils As the youthful Sun frames Thy form In virile beams of golden strength. Be pleased, 0 Lady, To revel among us While we celebrate Thy freshly-scented laughter Wafting gently upon warming winds As springtime showers fall softly Upon Thine earthen breasts of rolling land. Vernal Maiden of the Equinox, We invoke Thee To be here among us! HPS: We kindle this fire today In presence of the Holy Ones, Without malice, without jealousy, without envy, Without fear of aught beneath the Sun But the High Gods. Thee we invoke, 0 Light of Life, Be Thou a bright flame before us, Be Thou a guiding star above us, Be Thou a smooth path beneath us; Kindle Thou within our hearts A flame of love for our neighbours, To our foes, to our friends, to our kindred all, To all men an the broad earth. 0 merciful Son of Cerridwen, From the lowliest thing that liveth To the Name which is highest of all. (Adapted by Doreen Valiente from two Scottish Gaelic blessings in Alexander Carmichael's Carmina Gadelica) The High Priestess holds the phallic wand on high and walks slowly deosil round the cauldron to stand in front of the High Priest. She says: HPS: O Sun, be Thou arrived to conquer the Dark! The Maiden Goddess comes forward, and beside her is the old Dark Twin God. The Light Twin comes forward, and wrestles with the old God, who yields with a loud cry and returns to the outside circle, as the invocation to the victor continues. The Invocation of the Light Twin/Sun God HP: Let us give praise to the glory of the God celestial, Stretched forth upon the cosmic Cross, Soon to rise above The Circle of the Equinox! Sun of Righteousness! Sol Invictus! Solar Saviour! We hail Thy triumph Over the seasons of shadow! From Thy majesty proceeds the very Light of nations, The shining brilliance of illumined Truth, And the manifest splendour of the Sacred. Hallowed Blaze of Heaven, Thou art the living Light, Source of inspiration To sage and saint, priestess and prophet. Therefore we add to the adoration of the ancients As we ascribe to Thee Praise and honour, 0 Ascendant King of planetary gods! The priest will then set his staff in its place. Then he will take the can-dle-lantern [or candle], and going first to the eastern quarter and then to the western quarter he shall make the sign of the equal-armed cross with the candle-lantern [or candle] as he says the following words. HP: God of Light, God of Life, dying daily, Thou descendest into darkness; rising early, Thy radiance renews the day! The candle-lantern [or candle] is returned to its place by the priest. The ostara Blessings The priest will then pick up the platter containing the packet of seeds, the plant, and the coloured eggs. The priestess will then face the coven members along with the priest while she recites the following words. HPS: Tonight we celebrate the advent of Spring; time of birth, new life and resurrection, pregnant with promises of unfolding growth. Seed and kernel are sown in loam-dark furrows of living soil, soon to take root in magickal metamorphosis, Young flowers stretch their petals with hungry eagerness towards the returning warmth of the Sun. Mother hens brood watchfully over treasured eggs, protecting their future, feathered fluffs of life, soon to emerge into the light of day. In seeds, in plants, in fresh-laid eggs, we see cyclic symbols of Earth's fertility. The priestess then places her hands over the platter held by the priest as she begins to speak the following blessing. HPS: The blessings of our Lady and Lord be upon these seeds of Spring; embryos of vibrant colour and leaf-etched intricacy, that they may beautify the living garments of Mother Earth. The blessings of our Lady and Lord be upon this young and tender plant, that it may serve to remind us of our unity with grass and tree and twining vine. The blessings of our Lady and Lord be upon these eggs, dyed with the colours of life and Spring; emblems of the Divine Creatrix; microcosms of the Cosmic Womb. The priestess will then begin to lead a procession deosil around the circle as she takes the platter of seeds, plant, and eggs from the priest and holds it aloft while all join in the following chant. All: Seeds to bury, plants to rise, life is born from that which dies! When the priestess senses that the chanting should stop, she will return to the altar with the platter and instruct all present to stretch- forth their hands towards the platter to fully charge it with their accumulated power to complete the blessing. The platter will then be replaced on the altar. The Releasing of the Elements The priest will now introduce the next aspect of the ritual with the following words. HP: Spring is the season of rejuvenation when the Elemental Forces must be stirred once more to enhance the recurrence and renewal of the cycles of life. Let us exhort the Regents to bring again the greening of the covens with the advent of Ostara! The same four individuals who invoked the Quarters during the Opening Rites will now unsheathe their athames and take their respective positions at each of the quarters to which they have been assigned. Then starting with the caller of the eastern quarter and finally ending with the southern quarter, they will each raise their athame and begin to address the Elementals. East: Ye Powers of the East, Sovereigns of all Watery Realms, release now gentle showers and fresh-flowing streams that the thirst of the soil may be quenched! North: Ye Powers of the North, Sovereigns of Fire and Flame, release now the welcomed warmth of Sun and Sky, bathing the land with light and the pulsating rays of returning life! West: Ye Powers of the West, Sovereigns of elemental Earth, release now Thy fertility in the ploughing of the paddocks, the nests of birds, and the homes of all bush families! South: Ye Powers of the South, Sovereigns of Wind and Air, release now the breezes of dawn, bearing aloft the scent of Spring, refreshing the face of the Maiden's presence! The callers of the quarters will return to their places within the circle. Wheel Dance with Cords. The High Priestess arranges everybody round the cauldron, man facing woman as far as possible. The High Priest hands out the ends of the cords in accordance with her instructions, retaining one end of the final cord himself and handing the other end of it to the High Priestess. (If there is an odd number of people, with more women than men, he retains two cord-ends himself or, with more men than women, hands two cord-ends to the High Priestess; in either case, he must be linked with two women or she with two men.) When everyone is holding a cord, they all pull the cords taut, with the central knot above the cauldron. They then start circling deosil in the Wheel Dance, to the Witches' Rune, building up speed, always keeping the cords taut and the knot over the cauldron. The Wheel Dance continues till the High Priestess cries "Down!", and the coven all sit in a circle round the cauldron. The High Priest gathers up the cords (being careful not to let them drop on to the candle-flame) and replaces them on the altar. The Great Rite Preface HP: At this celebration of the Spring Equinox we rejoice in the Sun's phallic rays rising anew to meet the welcoming body of the youthful Maiden. We rejoice in the feelings of physical arousal and sexual discovery which enchant our youth with the blissfulness of erotic expectations. Words of Consummation Behold the Maiden's Cup of Expectation, yearning to be caressed by the lips of the Sun-drenched Lord; Her flower enveloped by His flame. Parting Prayers HPS: Goddess of Earth, clothed in beauteous array, we thank Thee for the hopeful exuberance of Life's renewal at this joyous season as we look with eager expectation for the splendour of Spring's fulfilment in the approach of Beltane's blessings. All Hail, Farewell, and Blessed Be! The priest will then stand before the altar facing east and lift up his staff and/or hands in a short prayer of parting to the Solar God. HP: Radiant Lord of Living Light, Thou hast risen above the dangers of the dark that the brightness of Thy beams might grace us with Thy glory and inspire us with hope for the fruitfulness of the coming season. We thank Thee for the confidence which Thy continuing ascendance evokes within us, for Thou art the living symbol of the Light which cannot be quenched, and we rejoice before Thee at this, the beginning of Thy season of strength! All Hail, Farewell, and Blessed Be! Closing Benediction HPS: This rite of the Spring Equinox is ended! May the grace of the Emerald Goddess be your portion, and may the rays of the Solar Lord shine ever more radiant until His fullness is upon us! Click here to go back to Contents.

Recipes

Correspondences

Poems

Prose poem on the Ostara Ritual, "Gaia", 28th September, 1997.

And as we filed into the circle, backwards over the besom, man to woman, woman to man, oil she touched to our foreheads and a sweet kiss on our lips; then raising her robed arms, casting the circle around us, she called out to the God and the Goddess, and lighting a candle, she rang the bell thrice.

"As above, so below; as within, so without; as the universe, so the soul."

Raising the sword from the altar, she marked out the five pointed star in the air. Then from her, we who stood at the four quarters took light for our lights and in turn we gave Water, Fire, Air and Earth to the circle.

And from the altar, taking a chalice of water, she raised it high, while taking a dish of salt, he put three pinches of salt in the water, mixing it with his sword. This water now sacred she took sunwise sprinkling upon us for health and protection.

So calling once more on the Great Ones, she lit the censer and opened the circle for places between the Worlds. Then we at the gates called to the Watchers, the Great Ones, the Mighty Ones, to guard and to bless us and witness our rites.

This completed, she lit the triple candle and spoke welcome to the Lady and Her Lord. Then raising his sword in salute, he called on the Old Ones, he called the Great Mother to come to us and enter the Woman. Likewise, raising her sword, she called to the Old Ones, she called the Sky Father to come to us and enter the Man.

And so the Spring Queen was welcomed, and I her Consort with her. And they took flowers and blessed them and they were given to all by a young Maiden in white and we called down from the Sky to a song of The Maiden, power and a blessing for Earth and this place where he who is gone walked, we planted the Tree in his name and he came.

Then we witnessed the rite of the Joining, where taking a chalice of wine, the priestess knelt to the priest, who lowered his knife to the wine, saying, "As the knife is to the man so is the chalice to the woman and the fruit of the union is for life," and they kissed and they drank. We in turn took the chalice with a kiss, holding it each to each, saying, "May you never thirst."

Then the priest knelt to the priestess, holding up a dish of sweet cakes which is the blessing of the Gods to our flesh. And kissing him, she ate and he ate and passed it to the maiden with a kiss. Thence passing to each, man to woman, woman to man, sealing "May you never hunger," with a kiss.

But what remained at the end, food and drink, we returned to the earth what was hers.

Somebody started singing, "We all come from the Goddess and to Her we shall return" and we answered, "like a drop of rain, flowing to the ocean; like a seed of corn, someday we shall be reborn".

Then being done with food and drink and kisses too, the God and Goddess were thanked for their presence, the candles were quenched, the four gates in turn were closed, their Guardians thanked and dismissed in peace, and the circle closed, as it opened, in Love. From the altar, the priestess spoke the last blessing, "Being One with the Mother and the Sky, though we move apart we are still together, and the circle that is open will never be broken." Thus at the last we turned each to each with the chant, "Here is my hand, here is my heart; may we ever merry merry meet to merry part, to merry meet again."

And the ritual ended, we passed one by one from the circle, embracing again the priest or the priestess as we went out into the warm Australian night.

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