Rituals are a means of giving our lives a sense of order, of attuning to the cycles of our lives, of connecting to the energies around us, of moving between the worlds, and of creating change in our lives.

Rituals are a means of giving our lives a sense of order. Take a look at your own life and note any daily rituals you perform without even realizing it, starting with getting out of bed in the morning. Having something disrupt my morning ritual can make me feel "off" for the rest of the day, as if something isn't "right." Also, take a look at what happens after the death of a family member. The daily routines of life may seem pointless, may feel strange, but there is a comfort in them as they tell you "life goes on."

Rituals are a means of attuning to the cycles of our lives. By observing certain rituals, not just those of the Sabbats and moon cycles, we order our lives on a larger scale, marking the changes that we go through. These include the birth of a child, weddings, birthdays...indeed, any major life change can and should be marked my some sort of ritual or observance.

Rituals are means of connecting to the energies around us.
It's there all the time, but we aren't always aware of it. By the conscious use of ritual, we can slow ourselves down from the pace of daily life and feel our connection to life.

Rituals are a means of moving between the worlds.
The material plane, the one we live on, isn't the only one out there. Rituals allow us to move between the worlds, to visit the other planes.

Rituals are a means of creating change in our lives.
"Creating change in our lives" is the esssence of magick.

A Wiccan ritual brings a Wiccan closer to the Goddess and the God. Rituals basically involve; cleansing and consecrating the representations of the elements (salt, water, incense and a candle) creating sacred space, casting a circle, calling the quarters/corners (east,, south, west and north) invoking the Goddess and God, praying, celebrating nature, feasting and casting spells ( if you wish). Here is a list of what your average ritual involves. Please note that the instructions given are only the way I do things and I am by no means dictating to you and telling you the correct way to do things. There is no right or wrong way, as I said before, it is a matter of individual preference. All Wiccans have different ways of doing things, this is merely the way I peform my rituals.

Preparation

Before you begin you ritual have a sit down and think about what you want to achieve. If you are thinking of casting a spell think about what you'll need and if you should do the spell. If the ritual is celebrating one of the Sabbats, meditate on the spiritual meaning of the Sabbat and think about what is going on in nature at the moment. Once you have done this you need to cleanse yourself (it dosent matter whether you are clean before hand or not, the cleansing is not only cleaning yourself physically, but also spiritually). Have a ritual bath or shower (showers use less water so it seems better for our Mother Earth) while you are washing perhaps light candles or incense or symbolic oils. Basically, relax and prepare your mind, body and spirit for the ritual.

Grounding and Centering

Basically this procedure involves you meditating and feeling the calm within yourself. I personally like to sit on the ground with my legs crossed and breathe deeply for a while, I then visualise myself growing roots down into the earth from my spine (this can be done whether the ritual is indoors or outdoors). I basically relax and focus my attention on what I aim to achieve in the ritual. Another good idea could be to hold a crystal or gemstone whilst doing this - use a good grounding stone like smoky quartz.

Altar Devotion

Once you have set up your altar, begin in the east. Hold your projective hand (or wand, athame etc) above the burning incense. Envision a pure bright white light coming from your hand and bathing the incense. Cleansing and purifying it. Feel your personal power flowing through your projective hand, now say these or similar words;

"I bless, cleanse and consecrate thee o element of air, in the names of the Mother Goddess and the Father God, so be you cleansed. So mote it be."

Note, you can replace the "Mother Goddess and Father God" line with any other deity names that you like e.g. Cerridwen and Cernunnos etc. Repeat the following steps for the other elements (although some Wiccans wouldn't cleanse the salt as salt is already believed to be a cleansed substance, rather they would just bless it) simply changing the name of the element. Remember to go in the order east, south, west and north. Now add three pinches of the consecrated salt to the consecrated water, stir clockwise three times. Charge it with white light again. You've now created Holy water! (the Wiccan way obviously)

Sacred Space

Hold the burning incense in your projective hand , facing east. Now, still holding the incense, walk around your ritual working area in a circle three times clockwise, as you do so, think about the element of air, "see" it, feel it's elemental power flowing around you and charging the circle. Each time you go around in a circle say these or similar words;

"I charge and cleanse the circle with the element of air. In the names of the Mother Goddess and the Father God (again, add deity names if you wish) so be you charged"

On the third time round add "So mote it be" to the end of the verse. Repeat these actions for each of the elements. Note, when you are using the Holy water, change the verse slightly saying that you charge the circle with water and earth combined, sprinkling a little of the salt water in each "corner"of the circle i.e in each of the directions. You have now created sacred space!

Casting the Circle

Again , begining in the east and going clockwise, walk around the ritual working area in a circle three times using either your projective hand or wand/athame to channel your personal power (they both work just as effectively). As you walk around imagine a circle of light coming out the tips of your fingers (or wand, athame). Feel the energy flow through your hands out to form the circle. Say these or similar words;

I conjure thee, O great circle of power,in the names of the Goddess(insert Goddess name here) and the God(insert God name here) so that you will be for me a boundary between the world of men and the realms of the Mighty Ones. Naught but love shall enter in, and naught but love shall emerge from within.

Once you have walked the circle three times, kneel on the floor and gently pound the ground with your hand and say;

The circle is sealed!

You have now cast the circle and are outside the time frame of reality. Also, note that the circle is actually marking where a sphere of energy cuts into the earth. You are actually in a kind of ball of concentrated energy. To read more on the magick circle and it's uses click here

Calling the Quarters

You are now ready to invite the guardians of the elements into the circle to be present at your ritual. Begining in the east, stand in front of the incense and with your projective hand or wand, athame etc trace an invoking pentagram in the air (beginning at the top, as opposed to a banishing pentagram which begins at the bottom left point of the star) and say these or similar words;

Hail to the Guardians of the Watchtowers of the east, Powers of air, hear me, as I invite thee into the circle.

As you say these words meditate for a few second on the element of air. Repeat this exercise for each of the elements in the order I have mentioned before (east, south, west then north). Once you have done this you have now called the quarters. We call the quarters and invite the energies, elements or angels behind them so that they can guard the circle and lend their power to our magick

Invocation

Light the Goddess candle (if you have one) and look at any of the images you have of her on your altar. Think of the Goddess you wish to invoke, it may be your favoutite (patron) Goddess, or a goddess that you need help from for a particualar problem . Now get into the Goddess position (standing with your arms and legs wide apart) close your eyes if you wish, now concentrate on the Goddess and begin the invocation. Either use an invocation from a book, or one that you have written yourself. Feel free to use any of the invocations from my invocations page. I tend to use invocations from books or ones that i have changed a little. I sometimes make my invocations up on the spot and speak from the heart. If you simply want to invoke the Goddessas as "The" Goddess, as opposed to invoking a particualr deity, then I would recommend the following invocations from Scott Cunningham's "Wicca; A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner"

Gracious Goddess, You who are the Queen of the Gods, the lamp of night, the creator of all that is wild and free; Mother of woman and man; Lover of the Horned God and protectress of all the Wicca: Descend, I pray, with your Lunar ray of power upon my circle here!

Now light the God candle and think of the aspect you wish to invoke the God in, again, if you wish, feel free to use this invocation I got from the same book;

Blazing God, You who are the King of the Gods Lord of the Sun, master of all that is wild and free; Father of woman and man, Lover of the Moon Goddess and protector of all the Wicca: Descend, I pray, with your Solar ray of power upon my circle here!

You have now invoked the Lord and Lady, now proceed with any spell working, prayers or observances of the festivals. Once you have finished you are now ready for feasting.

Feasting

Traditional ritual food is cakes and wine, however you could eat whatever you feel is right. Alternatively you could have fruit and wine, or drink fruit juice as it is natural. Lemonade is apparently quite an appropriate drink to have if you are with a Lunar Goddess. Whatever, you are eating, take it out, pour the wine into a chalice or cup of some sort. Now, all you need to do is to bless the cakes and wine. For this I use the same blessing that I use for the elements. Once you have blessed the cakes and wine...eat and enjoy! Please note that many Wiccans close the ritual before eating, this is up to you.

Ending the Ritual

First of all you need to thank the Lord and lady for attending your ritual. Please note that although you are thanking them, you are not saying goodbye, as they are always with you. You can thank the Goddess and God seperately, or you could thanik them both together like this; With arms raised say;

I thank thee O Gracious Goddess and Mighty God, for attending my ritual. Please grant me the wisdom to see you in all nature. O Lord and Lady, Hail and Farewell!

Now you need to dismiss the elements. This time begin in the north and work you way round the elements in the opposite direction to signify undoing. With your projective hand or wand, athame etc trace a banishing pentagram in the air and say;

I thank thee O element of Earth depart in peace, Hail and farewell!

Repeat this for all the elements and remember to snuf out the deity candles and the fire candle with your fingers, as blowing out the candles is seen as disrespectful. The last thing to do is to open the circle. Do this by walking round the circle anti-clockwise three times chanting softly;

As you do this, envision the energy of the circle being sucked back into your projective hand, wand etc Congratulations, you have just completed a ritual! Another important thing to remember though, is to return yourself to your normal energy state by getting rid of that excess energy that is still with you. This process is known as earthing the power. There are many ways to do this, I ususally sit on the floor, relax, close my hands and place my palms on the floor, then visualise the energy travelling through my arms and fingers back into the earth. I know when to stop, you can feel the energy draining away until you returm to normal. Once this process is complete you should start packing your equipment away.