Full Moon, February 2001

Theme: Cleanse, Renew

Priestess Lights the Lamp of Art with the words:
"The fire is lit; the ritual has begun."

HPS1:
"We lie frozen in this season of snow and ice. Our limbs are stiffened with weather-wise aches, our homes full of stale, stuffy air, and our spirits hibernate with the earth. But beneath the wintery landscape...she stirs. Her consciouness rises from the earth-womb, rising to meet the sun, as He journies toward the Earth Mother, to warm her to life. Can you feel the stirring in the earth? Can you hear her breath quicken in anticipation? We must make ready our lives for the reawakening of the earth, and for the return of the sun! We must remove the stuffiness form our hosues, the dust form our relationships; we must stretch our arms and legs, and gather the old to make way for the new. Now, in this time of pre-beginings, we shall cleanse ourselves for this sacred work. It is the Cleansing Moon, the Wild Moon, when Life stirs deep within our Mother the Earth. It is the Snow Moon...for the Ice Moon has passed, and the legnthening days herald the return of the sun!"

Priestess:
"So we gather our sorrows, our regrets, and our grudges, and we release them to The Wheel. We prepare our lives for the freshness of spring...for the return of the Maiden and the young Lord of Spring."

HPS2:
"We will cleanse our minds and our hearts this day; we will release old hurts and bid them farewell for the lessons they have taught us. We will prepare a place for new experiences in our lives, for new faces, new relationships and new opportunities. We accept the turning of The Wheel."

Dedicate:
"As above, so below. As within, so without. We will reflect the newness we see around us; we now focus our Will to harm none, yet to do what we wish -- we will heal through renewal...and through renewal, heal. So mote it be."

Coven echos:
"So mote it be."

Salt-Water Purification
HPS2 takes the cup, Priestess the salt.

Priestess puts her hand over or in the salt and says:
"I exorcise thee, Creature of Earth, that you may aid me in these workings of the Cleansing Moon. I cast out all that is impure, and what remains is simply an instrument for the servant of the gods."

HPS2puts her hand over the water in an attitude of blessing and says:
"Blessings be upon thee, Creature of Fire. May you transform negative to positive, wounding to healing, impure to pure, mundane to magickal within this sacred circle."

Priestess adds three measures of salt to the cup of water and says together with HPS2:
"Earth is added to Water; purpose is added to that which is blessed. May this sacred philter act to prepare what it touches for the hands of the gods."

HPS2 aspurges the circle area.

Air-Fire Charging
HPS1 takes the charcoal, Dedicate takes the incense.
Dedicate puts her hand over the incense in an attitude of blessing and says:
"I exorcise thee, Creature of Air, that you may aid me in these workings of the Cleansing Moon. I cast out all that is impure, and what remains is simply an instrument for the servant of the gods."

HPS1 puts her hand over the charcoal in an attitude of blessing and says:
"Blessings be upon thee, Creature of Fire. May you transform negative to positive, wounding to healing, impure to pure, mundane to magickal within this sacred circle."

Dedicate adds incense to the charcoal. Together, Dedicate & HPS1 say:
"Air is added to Fire; purpose is added to that which is blessed. May this sacred smoke act to bring the hands of the gods into our lives." Dedicate charges the circle area.

HPS1 casts the circle

Calling the Quarters/Elements

Dedicate Calls the Northern Quarter:
"Hail, Guardians of the Watchtowers of the North, Powers of Earth.
Fertile Field, Mountain stone
Standing tree, weathered bone.
Powers of stability,
Here and now, come to me.
I call you up by newer name;
New or old, the songs remain.
I greet you by the song of welcome,
Hail to you, hail and welcome."

Coven echos:
"Hail and welcome."

HPS2 Calls the Eastern Quarter:
"Hail, Guardians of the Watchtowers of the East, Powers of Air.
Golden eagle, morning dawn.
Brightest feather and birdsong.
Powers of acuity,
Here and now, come to me.
I call you up by newer name;
New or old, the songs remain.
I greet you by the song of welcome,
Hail to you, hail and welcome."

Coven echos:
"Hail and welcome."

HPS1 Calls the Southern Quarter:
"Hail, Guardians of the Watchtowers of the South, Powers of Fire.
Phoenix wild, Passion's flame,
Force of Will, blood red stain.
Powers of verility,
Here and now, come to me.
I call you up by newer name;
New or old, the songs remain.
I greet you by the song of welcome,
Hail to you, hail and welcome."

Coven echos:
"Hail and welcome."

Priestess Calls the Western Quarter:
"Hail, Guardians of the Watchtowers of the North, Powers of Earth.
Moon-called tide, winding stream,
Emotion's sway, intutition dream.
Powers of perceptivity,
Here and now, come to me.
I call you up by newer name;
New or old, the songs remain.
I greet you by the song of welcome,
Hail to you, hail and welcome."

Coven echos:
"Hail and welcome."

Coven Calls to the Akashic:
"Hail, Guardians of the Watchtowers of Center, Powers of Spirit.
As above, so below,
When one is called, four will go.
Powers of Sacred Unity,
Here and now, come to me.
I call you up by newer name;
New or old, the songs remain.
I greet you by the song of welcome,
Hail to you, hail and welcome."

Coven echos:
"Hail, and welcome."

Priestess calls the Goddess:
"Holy Lady, Mother of All
To you we look, to you we call.
Sacred sister, mirror of self,
I am thirteenth, you are twelveth.
Aged crone, your wrinkled face,
A map of wisdom, time's own lace.
We call on you in full moon's time,
The Cleansing Moon, spoke in rhyme.
Goddess come, Oh, Lady bless,
We ask no more; we give no less.
We light a flame to honor you,
Hail and welcome, Lady true."
Lights goddess candle

Dedicate calls the God:
"Holy Lord, Father of All
To you we look and to you we call.
Sacred brother, our other self,
The half most hidden; our inner wealth..
Wizened Sage, with mossy beard,
you are mebraced as well as feared.
We call on you in full moon's time,
The Cleansing Moon, spoke in rhyme.
Our Lord, come, Horned One, bless,
We ask no more; we give no less.
We light a flame to honor you,
Hail and welcome, Lord so true."
Lights god candle

HPS2:
As We come to cleanse our selves this moon; to clean out old and useless emotional baggage, to lighten our load so that we may make merry in the glory of the coming spring. To this end we will banish those things in our lives we wish to be rid of, things that hamper our spiritual and emotional growth, and we purify our lives and our selves to receive the gifts of the renewed Earth and the returning Sun Lord."

Coven will share things they feel comfortable with concerning things they want to get rid of. Taking pieces of paper, they write them down. They can pass them around for others to write on/comment on as well. Then, everyone gets to go out on the porch for a little burning...of the papers in the cauldron. A door is cut with the words, "We make a gate, to take our troubles and our burdens out of the circle. May we return to the circle with our spirits lifted."

As each paper is tossed onto the flames, the person should try and release the anger, hurt, disappointment, etc., that they have written down. They can choose to simply say, "I release you," or they can say, "I release my anger towards *****," or "I give this pain to the gods to keep for me; I no longer need it," or whatever they want to say. This goes on until everyone is done. then, we move inside for cleansing. A gate is reopened with the words, "We return, our burdens and our troubles given up to the gods. We now seek to purify ourselves, and in doing so, to heal."

Once in the circle, smudging and anointing and such things will go on. I don't want to script it, as I think it should be inspired and sur-of-the-moment (besides, there is plenty of scripted stuff here, isn't there?).

After the group is cleansed, the present themselves o the elements and the gods, declaring, "I am (Craftname or real name), I am free! I am purified, blessed by my sisters, and can stand whole in the light of the Old Ones!" The other coveners cheer her, with cries of "Blessed be," "Yay (Craftname or real name)," and other encouraging things.

Then we get down to raising energy for the second time as a group. HPS1 Deleo (HPS12) has asked us to charge a candle for her friend, Mike. Since it is a blue candle and thus in the sphere of Water, I'd like to propose that we use the visualization of water "washing away the illness." I'll explain more. Oh yeah: I'm gonna try and lead this one. Unless HPS2 wants to? :-)

The candle is now empowered. We'll seal it and earth the excess energy with a visuaization by either HPS2 or HPS1.

Cakes and Ale

Priestess & Dedicate will do the honors of the wine blessing, and HPS2 & HPS1 will do the cakes. Make up your own words, have a ball! :-)

Bidding farewell to the gods and the elements, uncasting the circle.

Dedicate bids farewell to the God:
"Horned Ones, aged and fair,
We say farewell, but no despair.
Stay if you will, go if you must,
In perfect love, in perfect trust.
I say in rhyme, though not a spell,
Hail to thee, and farewell."
Blows out God candle

Priestess bids farewell to the Goddess:
"Haloed One, aged and fair,
We say farewell, but no despair.
Stay if you will, go if you must,
In perfect love, in perfect trust.
I say in rhyme, though not a spell,
Hail to thee, and farewell."
Blows out Goddess candle

Coven bids farewell to the Akashic:
"Hail, Guardians of the Watchtowers of Center, Powers of Spirit.
As above, so below,
When one is called, four will go.
Powers of Sacred Unity,
Here and now, go from me.
I bid farewell by newer name;
New or old, the songs remain.
I say in rhyme, though not a spell,
Hail to thee, and farewell."
Blows out Spirit candle

Priestess bids farewell to the Western Quarter:
"Hail, Guardians of the Watchtowers of the North, Powers of Earth.
Moon-called tide, winding stream,
Emotion's sway, intutition dream.
Powers of perceptivity,
Here and now, go from me.
I bid farewell by newer name;
New or old, the songs remain.
I say in rhyme, though not a spell,
Hail to thee, and farewell."
Blows out Water candle

HPS1 bids farewell to the Southern Quarter:
"Hail, Guardians of the Watchtowers of the South, Powers of Fire.
Phoenix wild, Passion's flame,
Force of Will, blood red stain.
Powers of verility,
Here and now, go from me.
I bid farewell by newer name;
New or old, the songs remain
I say in rhyme, though not a spell,
Hail to thee, and farewell."
Blows out Fire candle

HPS2 bids farewell to the Eastern Quarter:
"Hail, Guardians of the Watchtowers of the East, Powers of Air.
Golden eagle, morning dawn.
Brightest feather and birdsong.
Powers of acuity,
Here and now, go from me.
I bid farewell by newer name;
New or old, the songs remain.
I say in rhyme, though not a spell,
Hail to thee, and farewell."
Blows out Air candle

Dedicate bids farewell to the Northern Quarter:
"Hail, Guardians of the Watchtowers of the North, Powers of Earth.
Fertile Field, Mountain stone
Standing tree, weathered bone.
Powers of stability,
Here and now, go from me.
I bid farewell by newer name;
New or old, the songs remain.
I say in rhyme, though not a spell,
Hail to thee, and farewell."
Blows out Earth candle

HPS1 extinguishes the Lamp of Art with the words:
"The flame is extinguished; the ritual is ended."

Priestess:
"The circle is open, but remains unbroken."

Dedicate:
"Merry Meet, Merry Part, and Merry Meet Again."