Order of the Red Grail
Nebraska Community


Samhain, 1995


Clear out the area

Sweep the circle area deosil.

Erect the altar in the North.

Let the folks come in.

As folks come in Maiden will stain their lips with pomegranate juice andgive them seeds.
Light the quarter candles.

With tool, trace the outline of the circle.

HP - Takes up the smudge stick and cleanses the HPS, who does likewise forhim.

HP - Smudge coveners deosil.

HPS welcomes HP, in perfect love and perfect trust. HP welcomes personbeside him, and on around the circle (in perfect love and perfect trust)

HPS - charges Athame - passes it through the elements on the altar. Says:

I call the earth to bind my spell
Air to speed it's travel well
Bright as Fire it shall glow
Deep as tide of water flow
Count the elements fourfold
And in the fifth the spell shall hold.

HP takes up bowl of salt and says:

Blessed be the salt that purifies that which it touches;
Bones of the Earth, Bane of the unclean.
Be consecrated and aligned to our purpose:
To make whole that which is broken,
To heal that which is unwell,
To rejoice in the glory of the Earth, our mother.
As it is willed, so mote it be.

HP places bowl back on altar an picks up the chalice of water and placesthree pinches of salt into it. Hands it to the HPS who says:

Salt and water, Inner and outer, Soul and Body be cleansed!
Cast out all that is harmful.
Take in all that is healing.
By the power of the Lord and Lady,
As it is willed, so mote it be.

HPS designates a covenor to asperge the circle. She hands them the chaliceof salt water aspergium. Asperger begins in the East, sprinkles the quarterthree times and says:

With Salt and Water I cleanse the East (South, West, North).

When the Asperger has finished, the tools are returned to the altar.
HP designates a covenor to cense the circle. He hands the censer (or smudgestick) and a feather to the covenor. The censor shall begin in the Eastcensing the quarter three times saying:

With Fire and Air I Charge the East (South, West, North).

Casting the circle:

HP faces the altar, takes up Athame and says (Form X shape).

I Invoke Thee, O Circle of Power and Peace,
To be a meeting place of love and joy and truth,
A shield against all danger and a space between the worlds.
I bless and consecrate thee in the name of the Lord and Lady.
As it is willed, So mote it be.

HP Casts the Circle.

Friends of the East, we do ask that you join us this night
To witness this rite and guard this circle.
So mote it be.


and so on. When doing Spirit in center:

HPS

Spirit, Spirit, we invoke thee!
Source of all, we bid thee come
Make this circle one of wholeness
Where all paths may meet as one.

Then Momma Earth:

HPS

Earth, our Mother, We honor you,
for without you we would not be.

Proclaim:

HPS

In the heights and in the Deep
Watch and ward eternal keep
The magick circle now is cast
We stand between the worlds
Where Earth and Heaven meet as one.

HP Invokes the Lady
HPS invokes the Lord


Welcome folks to the circle. State intentions - celebrating Samhain, community,and so forth. Pass around the tokens of friendship (spider rings) thateach may take something from the ritual which is tangible.

Guide in unison four cleansing breaths.
With the fifth breath, resonate the "OM", repeating as necessary.
When done, pause to stabilize and integrate the energy.
HP reads the Grail Mediation while all visualize astrally:

And so it was that in the time before time as seed was sownfrom heaven and laid within the sweet and fertile body of Mother Gaia. And that seed was as a bright and glowing emerald deep within her heart,waiting in darkness to be awakened. In those days, the women and men wholived and moved on Gaia's breast were simple folk. Yet they loved welltheir mother, the Earth. They honored the forces of Heaven and Earth, thelong dance of the seasons, the waxing and waning face of the silver moon. Theirs was a covenant of love and stewardship with the living planet, keptthrough ancient rites of magick and celebration. In the sacred places wherethe vital energies of Earth and Sky wed in holy union, they cast their circlesand raised up the very bones of the land in henge and barrow and dolmen. Such was the strength of their devotion that they awakened a relationshipof transformation between the mother and her children. Thus was the emeraldseed transformed into a holy cup, an emerald chalice, a sacred grail. Fromthe cup of her heart Gaia poured forth her love to her children: Endlesssweet clear waters, bounteous fruits and grains, ample tokens of the hunt. Ages passed and the ancient was were overthrown or forgotten. Sacred sitesand temples grew neglected and Gaia's children no longer met to keep therites and celebrations which nurtured their mother. They sullied her fieldsand waters, cut down her sacred groves, slew her beasts and slew each other. Gaia wept for the arrogance of her children, wept for their petty and selfishways. And yet, even in the days of darkness which fell upon the earth,there were yet a few who felt the heartbeat of the mother, who heard herweeping as she called out to them: "Remember! Remember the covenantbetween us!"

We, the Children of Gaia, must once again take up our place as celebrantsof the sacred union of the celestial and the telluric. Through our ritesand invocations the divine light of spirit is drawn down into each of us. We transform that light within our hearts, offering it up to renew theheart of Gaia. As we honor the Goddess, we honor the light within ourselves.


HPS:
"Samhain is a time when the veils between the land of theliving and the land of the dead are the thinnest, and we can talk to ourbeloved dead once more. It is a time to honor the dead, to honor the ancestors,and to honor our own past lives.

This is also a time when the veils between the inner world and the outerworld are thinnest, the veil between the Ego and the Self. The Shadowgrows in strength at this time of the year, giving birth to legends of monstersand beasts roaming the nights."

"Look into yourselves at this time. There are things about you, deepwithin you, that you may find ugly. There are things about you which youneed to change, and things you need to be rid of. Look deep within andwrite out these things upon the provided squares of parchment. We willsit in silent meditation till all are done."

- drumming can be done now -

HP: Now, one by one, it is time to approach the cauldron. Beside thecauldron is a black candle. Light the parchment and drop it into the cauldron. As it burns, remove your mask and place it beside the cauldron (or on thefloor). Contemplate what it is that your are removing, and what face isnow being shown.

Raise energy, use the Witches Rune.

Cakes and Wine

Open the Circle
Thanks to the Lord and Lady.
Release the Quarters.
Merry Meet.

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