All rituals take place in a purified and sacred space. We create a temple, preferably outside in nature (and in that sense, all of Nature is our temple), but also indoors when it is problematic to be outside. We draw our circle, and it is within the circle that we work and do our rituals, and the circle is something we all have in common.
All rituals take place on at least two levels - the external, what you actually do, and the internal level of each individual who participates. Participating in a ritual almost always also means making an inner journey.
The purpose of performing rituals is to establish contact with the Divine within ourselves and outside ourselves. On the surface, they often appear as dramatisations of ancient myths and legends.
Performing these rituals together also means that we open up to each other, that we see each other in a different way, feel kinship, unity, - we become fond of each other, - something that is also reflected when we are together otherwise. We undress both physically and mentally and remove all masks. The rituals expand our consciousness, expand our senses. It's no longer possible to hide anything from each other (it's quite deliciously liberating!).
The rituals also send you on a psychic journey during the year. You get to know yourself better, and thus also others. It increases your understanding of others, why they act the way they do, what processes they go through.
All our rituals are also a celebration! We celebrate life and death, the forces of life and love.
The Sabbaths.
We have eight Sabbaths. Four of these are closely linked to the Sun's passage across the sky: Winter Solstice (mid-winter, Christmas), Spring Equinox, Summer Solstice (midsummer), Autumn Equinox. The other four are Imbolg, Beltane, Lammas and Samhain. All these days (or nights) have been celebrated since time immemorial, and they were important to ensure a new year's growth, as well as to give thanks for and celebrate the bounty the Earth had provided. Most of the ancient festivals have since been taken over by the Church, which, unable to eradicate these paganised holidays, which were deeply rooted in the lives and consciousness of ordinary people, tried instead to give them a new content.
The Sabbaths follow the annual cycle, and so you can start anywhere. I choose to start with
Samhain - the night of 1 November (Halloween; All Hallows' Eve).
Samhain is the last autumn festival and in many ways forms the transition between autumn and winter. The harvest has long since been reaped and it's time for the slaughter. The autumn leaves have mostly fallen to the ground, covering the seeds that lie in the earth and are protected by it until they become next year's sprouts and crops.
The god appears in his aspect as the Dark Lord, ruler of death and rebirth (Hades, Pluto). The goddess appears as the queen of the underworld at his side, or as the crone, the old wise woman (the Moon's waning aspect) (Hel, Hecate).
Samhain is often seen as the witches' New Year (from ancient Celtic tradition). It is the night of the year when the veil between the worlds is at its thinnest. The dead are invited to come and take part in the rituals and festivities (this has also long been celebrated in Catholic countries, but now we also see here in our Protestant Norway that people have started to light candles on the graves of their loved ones on this day or night). It is also the night of the year that is best suited for divination (all forms of divination).
With the arrival of winter, we also enter a more quiet and introspective period. It is a time for wisdom and meditation.
Yule - Christmas (we like to spell it "yule" to distinguish it from the Christian Christmas.) Winter solstice - 21 December, mid-winter, the longest night of the year. The sun turns, the days are getting lighter. The Goddess gives birth to the Sun Child - the light is born. - Rebirth.
Imbolc - 2 February ( light mass.) According to our old calendar, this is the first day of spring. Usually it doesn't look very "springy" at the beginning of February here (sometimes there are a few snowdrops), but what Imbolc represents is hope, the certainty of everything that is hidden in the earth and waiting for, or has already begun, to sprout.
We celebrate the return of the Goddess from her time as Queen of the Underworld, and she appears here in her virgin aspect (Idun, Artemis, Diana, Aradia). The god is the King of the Forests, Pan, the young, wild and merry.
Spring equinox - 21 March. Day and night are of equal length. God and Goddess, light and dark, feminine and masculine are one. The warmth of the God (the Sun) allows for the fertility of Mother Earth and we sow the first seeds of spring.
Beltane - the night of 1 May (Walpurgis Night). Both the God and the Goddess appear in their love and fertility aspects, and Beltane marks a fertility festival where God and Goddess devote themselves to each other in the sacred and ecstatic union that is the condition for all growth and creativity.
Midsummer - (summer solstice) 21 June. The longest day of the year. The Sun God is at the height of his power.
The Goddess, the Queen of Summer, carries the Children of the Sun under her heart. All of nature is in its finest flowering splendour - everything is fruitful. It is a celebration of joy, but at the same time we know that the days are getting shorter, and in order to feel joy we must also feel sorrow.
Lammas - 1 August. It is autumn. The harvest is at the door, the grain is being reaped. The god appears as the Corn King - he is one with the grain. The goddess begins to emerge in her dark aspect. She comes with her sickle, and the God willingly sacrifices himself out of love and lets his power enter the grain. Through his sacrifice, the God gives us the bread, which symbolises eternal life and rebirth, and next year's seed. The God now changes aspect and becomes the Dark Lord.
Autumn equinox - 21 September. Day and night are of equal length. Light and darkness are in balance, but the darkness is growing. Nature is at rest. The God and Goddess give us the abundance of their fertility. We celebrate the harvest. What we sowed in the spring, we have now harvested, whether physical or psychic seeds, and now comes a time for rest and reflection. - At the autumn equinox, we often use the legend of Demeter and Persephone (where Persephone descends to the underworld of Hades).
Then we're back at Samhain, where we started.
The Crone