"SAMHAIN"
(pronounced: SOW - WEN)
*The Druid New Year Begins with A Ritual for “Summer’s End”
in Australia, approx. April 30
Performed after Dusk.
ITEMS NEEDED:
ALTAR/FEAST TABLE/CHAIRS (indoors) & ENTRANCE TABLE (if outdoors.)
*Photos/mementos of people who have been loved/respected, and have “passed on,” who are to be
honoured and remembered this night.
*Lamp/Candle for the Dead. (Can be a hollowed out
turnip /pumpkin “head” or jack-o-lantern.)
*Barbecue meat (optional) and sundries for feast.
Apple pie/cream for dessert. Alcohol (optional)
*Bread and milk for libations. Libation bowl.
Sultanas/grain. Honey/Golden syrup.
Apples (one for each participant). Cutting knife and board.
*Druid/Celtic music, playing softly in background.
*Jug of purified/filtered water and a cup for each participant.
* A washing bowl for feet and a washing bowl for hands. Sponge and wash-cloth.
*Watering can with salted water.
*Essential oil (Rosemary, for remembrance, optional) for Anointing.
*White ribbon for head bands, one for each participant (optional).
*Druid Staff.
*SALT in a container. Representative of EARTH/NORTH.
*INCENSE in a holder. Representative of AIR/EAST.
*OIL LAMP/CANDLE. Representative of FIRE/SOUTH.
*Cup of WATER. Representative of WATER/WEST.
*Quartz crystal (GOD/MALE/ACTIVE ASPECT/the Infinite)
*White/Pearly Seashell (GODDESS/PASSIVE ASPECT/the Integral)
*2 White Candles (God/Goddess)
*Burning Bowl. Matches and Plate/Gas-lighter stick. Tongs for the bale-fire. Bell.
*Semi-precious gemstones (optional).
*Leaf, branch and flower decorations for Altar.
*Written prayers for burning. Including letters
to the Dead (optional).
*Tools for Divination. Torch for reading.
CREATING A SACRED SPACE:
With the Druid Staff, the Priest/Priestess, and Aides (optional), go throughout the area which is to be used and needs to be protected from ill-will and cleansed of
negative energies. E.g., If a house and yard, go throughout the house and yard, including the street frontage. Waving the switch up, down and around, the Priest/Priestess recites (with intensity of feeling and
power):
Mother/Father God,
Cleanse this place of Negative Energies.
Fill it with your Life Force,
Your Love, and Wisdom.
Protect it and All within it from harm or negativity.
As Above, So Below,
As Within, So Without.
Repeating this over and over, wherever they walk or stop until the whole area is covered.
LAYING THE ALTAR & FEAST TABLE:
THE ALTAR: (While facing North, with the
altar in front of you)
*Lay flowers/branches/leaves around the Altar’s edge.
*To the Left of the centre, put the Seashell, and then a White Candle.
*To the Right of the centre, put the Quartz Crystal, and then a White Candle. Outside this, place the Lamp/Candle
for the Dead; and the sultanas/grain, and honey/golden syrup.
*At the East side of the Altar, put the Incense.
*At the South side of the Altar, put the Oil Lamp/Candle (this position can be reversed with the salt if you live south of the equator, as
Australians do; follow your personal preference) .
*At the West side of the Altar, put the Water.
*At the North side of the Altar, put the Salt.
*Between the Water and the centre, place the Bell, the Burning Bowl, Prayers & Letters, Matches&Plate/Gas-stick.
*Lay the libation bowl, milk, bread, apples,
knife and board, to the South of the centre.
*Lay the Druid Staff on the Altar when not in use.
*Lay the Torch next to the Druid Staff when not in use. Divination tools also lie here.
*Lay gemstones in a circle around the Altar, or around the Burning bowl.
*Put the Washing bowls/sponge/cloth/watering can beneath the Altar.
THE RITUAL AREA:
*Place a chair for each participant in a circle around the Altar and
Feast Table.
*Place the Feast Table South of the Altar, within the circle. Put all
cutlery/plates/cups/food and drink on it (except for barbecue, which can be set up ready for cooking outside the circle). *Make sure there is plenty of room for movement within the circle of chairs around the
Altar and Feast table.
*Place the Entrance Table just outside the circle, and place upon it the
purified water/cups/anointing oil, and a torch for reading.
(The torch can be carried into the circle later)
CALLING THE ANGELS:
Taking up the Druid Staff, the Priest/Priestess stands pointing it to the North as
the Priest/Priestess recites:
Angels of the North, of Earth, of Taurus/Virgo/Capricorn,
Of Pentacles and Worldly Issues,
Of Protection, Nurturing and Growth,
Bless our Ritual and
Attend our Circle:
Heed our Prayers and carry them into the world,
That they may be Manifest
By the Laws of Right Action.
The Priest/Priestess stands pointing the
Druid Staff to the West,
(Sun-wise), as the Priest/Priestess recites:
Angels of the West, of Water, of Cancer/Scorpio/Pisces,
Of Cups and Issues of the Heart and Psyche,
Of Feeling and Inspiration and Refreshment:
Bless our Ritual and
Attend our Circle:
Heed our Prayers and carry them into the world,
That they may be Manifest
By the Laws of Right Action.
The Priest/Priestess stands pointing the
Druid Staff to the South,
(Sun-wise), as the Priest/Priestess recites:
Angels of the South, of Fire, of Aries/Leo/Sagittarius,
Of Wands and Issues of Creativity and Endeavour,
Of Light and Brightness and Love:
Bless our Ritual and
Attend our Circle:
Heed our Prayers and carry them into the world,
That they may be Manifest
By the Laws of Right Action.
The Priest/Priestess stands pointing the
Druid Staff to the East,
as the Priest/Priestess recites:
Angels of the East, of Air, of Gemini/Libra/Aquarius,
Of Swords and Issues of Knowledge and Balance,
Of Intelligence, Exploration and Union:
Bless our Ritual and
Attend our Circle:
Heed our Prayers and carry them into the world,
That they may be Manifest
By the Laws of Right Action.
ANOINTING & CLEANSING:
The Priest/Priestess stands at the entry point to the circle, where
the participants queue for entry. All participants have washed and may be bare-foot and bra-less (optional), with light-coloured clothes. (Men may be bare-chested) Each participant wears a
white ribbon tied across their forehead. The officiating
Priest/Priestess/Aides may also have a blue crescent marked on their
forehead.
The Priest/Priestess recites, with intensity/power, while the
Priest/Priestess/Aides pours water into a cup for each participant.
Drink this water to Cleanse yourself of Negative Energies,
That you may Recognise the Divinity within you
without Obstruction.
The Priest/Priestess/Aides gives the water to the participant, who drinks it all.
The Priest/Priestess recites with intensity/power, while the
Priest/Priestess anoints the Third Eye of the participant with a smear of
essential oil on their thumb.
This Oil Anoints your Psychic Centre so that you may
Communicate with the Divine more easily.
The Priest/Priestess recites:
Leave the troubles of the Mortal World behind you now
as you enter the Sacred Space.
Walk Sunwise, East to West, around the Circle
until you find your seat.
The ceremony continues until all are seated. When all are seated, the Priest/Priestess/Aides collect the washing bowls/sponge/wash-cloth/watering can from beneath the
Altar.
The Priest/Priestess/Aides pours water into the foot
bowl in front of the first participant (East of the circle entrance). He/She bathes the
feet of the participant as the Priest/Priestess recites:
Let this Water cleanse your Feet
so that the Energy of the Divine Earth
Flows into you more easily,
filling you
With Healing and Love.
The Priest/Priestess/Aides carries the used
bowl to behind the participant’s chair and solemnly empties it onto the ground, as the Priest/Priestess recites:
Let the Earth accept this soiled water
And restore it the Cycle of Life.
The Priest/Priestess/Aides places the foot bowl in front of the next participant (moving sun-wise, to the West), and places the hand bowl on the lap of the first participant, pouring
water into it, and washing the participant’s hands (wiping them dry with the squeezed sponge/cloth), as the Priest/Priestess recites:
Let this Water cleanse your Hands so that the Divine Energy
That flows through you from the Earth
May flow out more easily into the World around you,
Bringing Healing and love to All you touch.
The Priest/Priestess/Aides again carries the used
bowl to behind the participant’s chair and solemnly empties it onto the ground, as the Priest/Priestess recites:
Let the Earth accept this soiled water
And restore it the Cycle of Life.
This process continues around the circle, until all participants are bathed with salted water. (The Priest/Priestess/Aides wash each other or, if there is only one
leader, a member of the washed participants may wash the leader). Once all are bathed, the Priest/Priestess/Aides
sit in their chairs.
ENERGY RAISING:
The Priest/Priestess recites:
Now we are gathered together in this Sacred Space
To honour the Divinity within us and without Us.
Let us close our Eyes and meditate upon the Joy of Life’s Spirit.
Let us feel it’s Energies coursing around our Circle
from East to West and back again.
Around and around, building it’s Energy within us
Until it’s Colours blend into White
And fill us with Healing and Power.
Let this Energy link us together,
Making us One as we are naturally One.
As we have always been One
with each other
And with the Divine.
All meditate. When the Priest/Priestess feels ready and rested,
he/she rises and says:
All stand and move forward to join hands in a Circle.
The Priest/Priestess recites, looking up at the sky:
O Mother/Father God,
Answers to All Mysteries and yet
Mysteries Un-Answered,
In this Place of Power
We have opened ourselves to your Essence.
We have breathed your energies into our bodies -
Co-mingling, blending, mixing them with ours,
So that we may see the Divine in Nature and
Nature in the Divine, and
Divinity within ourselves and
All else.
All repeat after the Priest/Priestess:
Make us One with your Essence.
Make us One with your Essence.
Make us One with your Essence.
The Priest/Priestess says:
All shut your eyes and breathe in the Essence of God. Let it flow through you, through your heart centre and into the centre of our Sacred Space.
CIRCLING:
When the Priest/Priestess is ready, he/she says:
Three times around the Sacred Space
We circle sun-wise, holding hands and chanting:
All hold hands and move around the circle, sun-wise (East to West), three times, chanting with the Priest/Priestess:
O Gracious Divinity,
Bathe us with Enlightenment in this Magical Time.
Charge us with wonder and joy.
Help us to attune to the Energies adrift on
The Enchanted Air.
At the end of the circling the participants, except for the Priest/Priestess/Aides, resume their seats.
RECITALS & WELCOMING:
The Priest/Priestess recites:
Three fires are in every place: the fire of motion, the fire of warmth, and the fire of guests. Tonight, we welcome all guests into our Sacred Space and into our
homes, and light the fire of hospitality which contains all these three.
The Priest/Priestess/Aides lights the Lamp/Candle for the Dead, (or Jack-O-Lantern) and the Priest/Priestess recites:
We are come to celebrate the New Year for this is the time of Summer’s End, the time when the last seeds are sown and lie pregnant in their dormant phase before they burst
forth in Spring. For all beginnings must be seeded and all beginnings must grow in quiet and darkness, whether in our minds or in the world, until they can be born and manifest, and mature. And, in this time of
celebration, we remember those who have gone before us, who have passed into God, the Integral, and from our physical world
to rest and to be born again.
The Priest/Priestess recites:
Tonight we call on the Angels of this place, and the spirits of the land all around us, to be at peace with us and to walk lightly among us. We call upon the spirits
of rivers, oceans, mountains, and forests to be at peace with us and to walk lightly among us. We call upon the Angels and spirits to accept our offerings on this,
the night of the New Year.
The Priest/Priestess breaks bread and pours milk into the
libation bowl. He/she recites:
Tonight I honour my Ancestors, my friends and acquaintances, who have passed into God, the Integral, and from the physical world.
I remember you and bless you.
He/she speaks aloud by name those who he/she specifically wishes to remember. The Priest/Priestess/Aides repeats his/her words/actions, followed by (sun-wise) every participant.
When all except the Priest/Priestess/Aides are once again seated, the
Priest/Priestess recites:
On this night our Ancestors are close to us. The gates between worlds are open wide. We call upon our Ancestors, those known and unknown, to join us in
celebration on this night of Summer’s End. We call upon our loved ones who have passed into the Otherworld to be with us tonight. Let us remember you.
The Priest/Priestess recites:
Angels of the mists, Gatekeepers - you who lead the Dead from this world to the next, be with us this night and guide those of our Ancestors and friends, who are still in
the Otherworld,
in protection to join us in our rite.
The Salt is passed to each person by the
Priest/Priestess/Aides, and tasted before being passed on and replaced on the Altar at the end.
The Priest/Priestess recites:
Mother-God, the Integral, you who embrace the Dead as they leave our world for the next, be with us this night and support our Ancestors and friends from the Otherworld with
protection as they join us in our rite.
The Sultanas (or Grain) are passed to each person by the
Priest/Priestess/Aides, and eaten. The Priest/Priestess recites:
Tree of Life and Death, Cycle of Rebirth, we honour you this night and ask for blessings upon all who attend our rite.
The Golden Syrup or Honey is passed to each person by the
Priest/Priestess/Aides, and tasted.
An apple, for each two participants, is cut in half by the Priest/Priestess/Aide and passed to
each participant, who waits for the Priest/Priestess to recite before eating it.
The Priest/Priestess recites:
This Apple, cut crosswise, shows us a pentacle, symbol of life and the eternal youth of Spirit. In eating this symbol we acknowledge the Divine within us and the Cycle
of our lives, the Cycle of all life.
STORIES:
The Aides resume their seats. The Priest/Priestess asks for all participants with stories of their dead Ancestors or friends to relate them out loud, to tell us about those they wish to remember,
what it is they want to remember about them, anecdotes, etc. This continues until all are silent again. There is a period of silence to think
about the Dead and our memories.
The Priest/Priestess recites:
In this time of Summer’s End we remember what Death is and try to come to terms with it. Death is part of every aspect of our lives and occurs on all levels. It
does not come only to our bodies but to our relationships, to jobs, material wealth, to many things. It often leaves us with a sense of loss and grief. Yet Death is simply a state of transformation and change,
on any level, and if we can accept Death, if we can let life wash away our pain and sadness, and let go of past hurts and wrongs, then we realise that it is only one phase of our eternal life, that Death is not an end.
The Priest/Priestess recites:
On this night of Summer’s End, this New Year’s beginning,
We burn prayers to God, sending their smoke into the ether,
Dispersing them into the Cycle of Life
That they may be Manifest
By the Laws of Right Action.
On this night we lay the seeds of our future,
To gestate and unfold, as they should.
We ask our spirit guests to observe us and guide us in our actions,
To help us as they may,
To share with us our hopes and dreams,
And remember what it is to be mortal.
On this night we send letters to our dead
By burning them in the same way, and
Hope that our Loved Ones and Friends
May receive our thoughts with pleasure,
Resolving our differences,
Washing away the pains of the past,
Acknowledging the truth of our affections and sincerity.
Each participant, (sun-wise, East to West), takes up their Burning Prayers, or Letters to the Dead, and holds them with tongs over the Burning Bowl as the
Priest/Priestess/Aides ignites it (as often as necessary to completely char it all...) The Priest/Priestess/Aides rings the Bell throughout each burning. As each participant burns their
prayers, the Priest/Priestess recites, and the participant repeats after the Priest/Priestess:
Burn away the rubbish,
By the Powers of the Divine!
Heal what is unhealthy,
By the Powers of the Cosmos!
Progress what should move forward,
By the Powers of the Mortal World!
Let Right Action be the Path of My Life and
Right Knowledge be my Guide.
Heed me!
Heed me!
Heed me!
I laugh at all that negates me!
I laugh with joy for all God has given me!
I laugh with pleasure on this night
Of communicating with my Dead, for
The Knowledge that All Life is a Circle of Oneness.
The participant laughs until all the paper is thoroughly burnt, then recites:
By the Laws of Right Action
May Success be made Manifest
On all levels of my Life and in the lives of those I care for
In this world or the next.
Once all the prayers/letters have been burnt, the
Priest/Priestess recites:
May God heed our prayers and,
Like the Best of Parents,
Know what is best for us and
Help us to understand
What can be Manifest and
What cannot,
By the Laws of Right Action.
The Priest/Priestess says:
We ask the Blessings now of all our Guests, mortal and Divine, and Their Protection as we move from the Circle of Prayer
to Cook our Feast meal.
We hope they may enjoy our gathering and find it a merry one.
All participants then move to be seated at the Feasting table,
to cook the barbecue and set the table to eat and drink. There is a relaxed and happy atmosphere of joy and play. When the food is brought to
the table, some is put aside on a plate to honour the spirits, and some to honour the Divine. (It is later buried/emptied in/on the ground. It doesn’t really matter if animals/birds eat it).
The Priest/Priestess says:
Accept our offering in your honour, Divine Spirit, we thank you. And, though our spirit guests may no longer feast with us, we honour them with food and drink in their
memory, that they may know we will always set a place for them in our lives.
Before any food is eaten, the Dead are toasted, beginning with the “names we do not know”. Personal toasts are made around the table by each individual. The party begins.
After the Feast, the table is cleared and the tools of Divination are brought out, (optional), and those who wish to do so can give or receive readings for the coming year. When the divinations are done, the Samhain Blessing for the
New Year is ad-libbed by the Priest/Priestess, or a chosen participant.
The Priest/Priestess then recites:
We thank Mother-Father God, the spirits of the land, and the Angels of this place; and all the spirits of plants, animals, and earth, water, and air, for coming among us in
peace and blessing our rite. Walk in peace into the New Year.
The Priest/Priestess recites:
We thank the Ancestors and the Spirits of our Beloved Dead for
Coming among us and Blessing our Rite.
We remember you with Love,
For we will one day dwell among you again.
We wait for you return to the world of mortals.
Walk in peace into the New Year.
The Priest/Priestess recites:
Angels of the Gateway, you who lead the Dead from the physical world into God, the Integral, we thank you for your presence this night. May you guide the Dead back
through the gates between this world and the next, into the Sea of Consciousness, to await rebirth.
The Priest/Priestess recites:
Mother-Father God, you who embrace the Dead as they again leave our world for the next, we thank you for your presence this night. May you support the spirits of our
Dead as they return into the Sea of Integration.
The Priest/Priestess recites:
Tree of Life, Cycle of Rebirth, you who rule us all, we thank you for your presence this night. May you give our spirit guests rest and strength to come to rebirth.
DE-CIRCLING:
The participants join hands again in a circle and circle thrice in an anti-Sunwise direction, (West to East), as the Priest/Priestess
recites and the participants repeat after him/her:
We disperse the energies of this Circle,
Returning them to the Cycle of Life,
To the Divine Mind,
So that our Prayers may Progress and
Balance may be Restored.
We send the Energies of this Circle on their Way
Into Us, into Our Lives and
Into the Lives of those we care about.
All stop and reflect as the Priest/Priestess recites:
We thank you, Mother/Father God, again, for attending us,
For all the guidance and knowledge given us
and all the wisdom, strength and support of your
healing love toward us.
We give thanks for all you have done for us and with us, and
For all you will be to us and in us
As our lives unfold.
The Priest/Priestess recites:
We thank the Angels of the North, the West, the South and East; of Earth, Water, Fire and Air for attending us. May you heed our prayers for Right Action manifest in
our world.
We thank you for your Blessings upon us.
The Priest/Priestess recites:
We thank again all spirits who have attended our rites.
Go in Peace to God and rest.
DISPERSING THE ALTAR:
The mementos/photos are gathered up and given back to each person to
take home and light a candle beside to burn all night in memory of their loved ones.
The Lamp/Candle for the Dead is left to burn itself out (or until the next day).
The offerings for God, etc. are poured on the ground and/or buried.
The plant decorations on the Altar are dispersed on the ground.
All other items are put away, as well as the Altar,
chairs and tables.
REVELRY:
After all ceremony is cleaned up and dispersed, festivities may
continue among participants for as long as they wish (could be all night). These may include joyful dancing around a bonfire; Roasting apples and potatoes; Apple bobbing.
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