Long Island Open Circle
Imbolc 2006
(Greeting)
(LBRP)
HP and/or HPS: Blessing/cleansing of participants, individually:
By the power and grace of Them Who made us, be ye freed of all burdens ye have borne here.
Then, to all:
Wherefore I charge you that ye come unto the Gods in the beginning: for if ye take but one step on this Path, ye must inevitably arrive at the end thereof.
Volunteers light quarter candles and call elementals:
East / Air
Hail, Air, Force of Thought!
Breath of Mind, Image and Word,
We call upon your influence
To inform our Rites and guard our Circle!
South / Fire
Hail, Fire, Force of Will!
Spark of Life, Warmth, and Light,
We call upon your influence
To energize our Rites and guard our Circle!
West / Water
Hail, Water, Force of Devotion!
Wave of Love, Passion, and Desire,
We call upon your influence
To impassion our Rites and guard our Circle!
North / Earth
Hail, Earth, Force of nature!
Rock of Health, Wealth, and Sustenance,
We call upon your influence
To solidify our Rites and guard our Circle!
HP walks thrice deosil about the Circle, cutting circle with athame or wand, reciting…
I call up this Circle by and for the glory of the Lord and Lady.
I carve and cast this Circle by and for the glory of the Horned One and the Great Mother.
I empower and establish this Circle by and for the glory of the most ancient Gods, alive before Time, and deathless after Time’s end.
HP stops at Altar and declares:
So mote it be!
HPS invokes Watchtowers:
East
Behold the realm of the Rising Sun.
As the dawn is the beginning of a new light,
So too is new life borne upon the wandering winds
Out of the Womb of the Great Mother.
East, Air, Dawn, and the new life of the Sun’s course in Spring,
I call and summon you to attend these Rites and guard this Circle.
South
Behold the realm of the Noonday Sun.
As the procession of the Sun reaches its triumph at meridian,
So too is spiritual fire the consummation of the one will of the Lord and Lady
And the seed of the passion behind all love and happiness.
South, Fire, Noon, and the shining power of the Summer Sun,
I call and summon you to attend these Rites and guard this Circle.
West
Behold the realm of the Setting Sun.
Here are the gates of the Underworld,
The embrace of the Goddess,
The threshold of death and initiation.
West, Water, Evening, and the portal of the Sun’s descent,
I call and summon you to attend these Rites and guard this Circle.
North
Behold the realm of the Sun at Midnight.
As seeds take root while hidden in the womb of the Great Mother,
So are our needs and desires protected in the depths of spiritual earth until due time has come for their manifestation.
North, Earth, Midnight, and and the black Sun of the darkest depths,
I call and summon you to attend these Rites and guard this Circle.
Participants (one by one deosil, taking each others’ hands):
Hand to hand the circle is cast.
HP:
The circle is cast.
We stand between the worlds.
This is the place that is no place,
And the time outside of time.
Invocation of the God and Goddess
HP and HPS together:
The unveiling of the company of heaven.
HPS, lighting Goddess candle:
I am the blue-lidded daughter of Sunset; I am the naked brilliance of the voluptuous night-sky. Invoke Me under My stars! Sing the rapturous love-song unto Me! Burn to Me perfumes! Wear to Me jewels! Drink to Me, for I love you! I love you! I am above you and in you. My ecstasy is in yours. My joy is to see your joy.
HP, lighting God candle:
Come! All ye, and learn the secret that hath not yet been revealed. I am the flame that burns in every heart of man, and in the core of every star. I am Life, and the giver of Life, yet therefore is the knowledge of Me the knowledge of death. Come! Lift up thine heart and rejoice! Thrill with the joy of life and death!
HP and HPS together:
Every man and every woman is a star.
Guided Imbolc meditation:
Settle yourself. Close your eyes. Feel your body relax. Feel as the tensions drain away from your face, your neck, your shoulders, your arms, your torso, your legs, ankles, and feet. Sense the whole of your body, calm, heavy in its relaxation.
Center yourself. Feel for the calm, comfortable center in which you are whole. Ground yourself. Extend yourself into the Earth, your Mother. Feel your roots grow into the ground as you complete your connection with Her again.
This is the time of Imbolc, the midpoint between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. The Sun has begun his journey back to full strength. He is potential, waiting to be realized. The days are lengthening as the nights shorten. Each day the Sun brings a little more warmth, foretelling the thaw to come. For now, however, the Earth remains in slumber, Spring only a faint whisper.
The plants, which we see as nearly dead, are working to form the new buds and flowers that will come out in the Sun and bloom on through the seasons. The trees may be leafless, but if you look closely, every day, you can see the small changes in the limbs that show the signs of rebirth happening. The same is happening within us all.
This is an exciting time; it is a time where all things are possible in our minds. Where we can look and see what it is that we want to accomplish in the growing time and see that we take the necessary steps to create an emotional and spiritual soil that will support the changes.
We need to clear the soil in our inner garden and sketch out what it is we want to plant come Spring. There are dead leaves and old weeds and even some big tree stumps left over from last season that need to be dealt with. The garbage that needs to be taken out is there as well.
Allow yourself the ability to let go of the emotional hurts and the painful memories of things past and see the leaves cleared away from your soil. Pull up those stubborn weeds that are loss and self-doubt. The tree stumps are the things we have in our lives that are old hurts we have not been able to let go of. They are things that are deeper-seated than we care to admit and, even though we try to remove them, they seem to stay and remind us that they are there.
See them as they are, unstable and old, not happy and strong. Instead these memories are weak and only able to stay in our spiritual soil because we have not had the inner strength to pull them up. Define them and ask yourself if their persistent presence in your growing field is worthwhile. If the memory is one that makes you uncomfortable, or is one of emotional hurt or even if it is something small, it may still hold you back from growing. Let it go if it has no redeeming features.
If you allow it, and if you are ready to see these hurtful memories go away, see the hand of the Goddess reach down and pluck them up. As you see this, remember to allow the hurt and pain and hollowness to be removed as well.
Feel the energy of unconditional love coming into your spirit and filling all the places where the leaves and the weeds and even the tree stumps had been. Let the warm energy flow through you and fill you. Feel as it fills you from your toes to your knees to your hips and then to your ribs. Allow it to heal each and every cell as you are filled. See the shimmer just above your skin as the energy climbs through your ribs and then to your shoulders. Allow the light of love to fill your fingertips and work its way upward.
As your neck and head fill, allow it to flow over the outside of yourself as well and feel the refreshing energy cleansing and healing. As the energy runs down your body, let it go. Follow its progress as it flows down through the floor and then through the basement to the Earth below. See the Earth Mother catch it in Her hands, taking it away to be recycled into renewed energy that shall have positive aspects.
HP:
This night we celebrate the beginning of new Light and of new Life. The days are growing longer, and all around us we can feel the Earth our Mother breathing more deeply, awakening, preparing to bring forth the New Life of Spring to come.
HPS, lighting candle:
Like the flame growing brighter in this cauldron, the seed that was planted awakens and grows. All the seeds we have planted, all our own needs and wants, grow along with it as the Wheel turns and the Light returns.
HP:
For the Child who stirs to life tonight in the Goddess’ womb shall be the God, and He shall be the strength of the Summer Sun, and shall bring our dreams and desires to fruition in His rising.
HPS:
Let each of us come forward therefore and light a candle of our own from the candle in the cauldron – the spark of Light and Life in the Mother’s womb – and place it on the altar. See as you do this the spark of your own needs and desires leaping into life with the candle’s flame. Know that as you commit your wants into the care of the Gods, they must surely come forth as blooming Spring follows the barren Winter.
(Candles are lit and placed on Altar)
Cakes and ale:
HPS holds outstretched hands over the bread and wine; HP holds his hands over hers.
HPS:
For I am the Full Moon among the Stars, and I am the Foundation Stone of Heaven, the Cornerstone of the Celestial Temple. And My Lord is the Sun and
the ripened grain, ground between the miller’s stones to sustain the life of the body.
HP:
And when joined together they are Mind, the reflection of the Cosmos in the soul and body of Woman and Man, born of the living Gods of Heaven and Earth.
Eat and Drink
Circle closingVolunteers release the quarters, extinguishing candles:
North / Earth
Hail, Earth, Force of Nature! Guardian of the Watchtowers of the North! We thank you for attending our rite; and ere you depart to your fair and lovely realms, we bid thee Farewell.
West / Water
Hail, Water, Force of Devotion! Guardian of the Watchtowers of the West! We thank you for attending our rite; and ere you depart to your fair and lovely realms, we bid thee Farewell.
South / Fire
Hail, Fire, Force of Will! Guardian of the Watchtowers of the South! We thank you for attending our rite; and ere you depart to your fair and lovely realms, we bid thee Farewell.
East / Air
Hail, Air, Force of Thought! Guardian of the Watchtowers of the East! We thank you for attending our rite; and ere you depart to your fair and lovely realms, we bid thee Farewell.
HP:
Remember all ye that existence is pure joy; that all the sorrows are but as shadows; they pass and are done; but there is that which remains. For your holy place shall be untouched throughout the centuries; though with fire and sword it be burnt down and shattered, yet an invisible house there standeth, and shall stand.
HPS:
Go therefore:
Walk in peace and strength and wisdom
And in the fullness of the love of the Gods.
HP:
Lady and Lord, go if You must, and stay if You will.
The Circle is opened, but unbroken.
Merry meet, merry part, and merry meet again!
Long Island Open Circle
www.liopencircle.org