Ostara for PAN Full Moon Circle 2005
by Blayze

All participants to start at the bottom of the Hill. 

9 people will be wearing the moon cords.
9 women carrying chalices of water
5 men with lit candles
4 elemental guardians carrying their elements

Within the circle:
Quarter lanterns at each point already lit
Moon bowl in the centre holding the candle crown
Beside altar will be Green Cloak, Stag helmet, spear, branch of leaves.

Participants spiral up to the hill, HP leads, quarters are at the end with the HPS coming last. The Quarters drop out at their appropriate points and hold up their elements.

When all get to the top of the Hill, the HPS begins the chant:

"Three times around, three times about, a world within, a world without."

All to join in chant and circle (with the exception of quarter guardians) around the top of the Hill three times.

When the HPS stops and the chant has reached climax, Water and Earth come forward and mingle salt and water.

Water & Earth: We bless and consecrate this water and salt, in the names of our Gods and our Ancestors

They take the salt water around the circle and then leave the chalice and salt bowl on the altar. They then go back to their quarters.

Fire and Air come forward and incense is lit from candle.

Fire and Air: We bless and consecrate this fire and air, in the names of our Gods and our Ancestors

They take the censer around the circle and then leave the fire candle and censer on the altar. They then go back to their quarters.

HPS: The circle is cast. Blessed be.

Quarters are called.

	Fire 	I call upon the flames of light and warmth to witness this rite. Powers of Fire guard us… so mote it be.
	Earth	I call upon the stones of the earth to witness this rite. Powers of the Earth guard us… so mote it be.
	Air I call upon the winds of the world to witness this rite. Powers of Air guard us… so mote it be.
	Water I call upon the waves of the ocean to witness this rite. Powers of Water guard us… so mote it be.

HPS To the God:

	Beloved is the hunter who rules the wood
	The wood is a land without end
	Without end is the bounty of tree and stag
	Majestic is thy realm
	Thy realm entwines the secret glade as the vine reaches to the skies
	The skies are warmed by thy radiant face 
	Thy power undimmed by the velvet cloak of night

	By the last light of the sun
	We call to thee O Horned one of forest and glade
	We call to thee from crowned hills and sacred vales 
	Lord of the Hunt, Protector of Game 
	Warrior, King and lover of the Queen of night
	We call to thee 
	Shining one, Radiant one
	We invoke thee!
 
HP To the Goddess:

	Beloved is the mistress of the velvet night
	The velvet night is bejewelled with stars
	The stars are the pearls of the ocean deep
	The ocean deep is thy hidden realm
	Thy hidden realm is full of the bounties of mystery and spirit
	Spirit is called by the tides
	The tides are the silvered rays of thy glorious face
	Turning darkness into light

	By the rising of the silvered moon 
	We call to thee Lady of the rivers and streams 
	We call to thee from endless oceans and sacred pools
	Lady of the tides, of the cycles of life 
	Mother, Queen and lover of the lord of the sun
	We call to thee
	Silvered one, flowing one 
	We Invoke thee!

HPS: Welcome to the Full Moon, tonight we honour the Moon as we stand on the cusp of equal day and night. Maidens I call thee forth to libate the waters!

9 Maidens come forth with their chalices of water, they each pour one into the bowl of water. They take their chalice to the moon altar and leave them there, then re-join the circle.

Maidens" We libate to the Moon"

9 cord dancers come forth to dance over the bowl.

HP and HPS and Quarter guardians circle the dancers chanting the Witches Rune. All in the circle to clap and stamp.

When power is raised, cords are laid across the bowl.

HPS picks up the cords and takes them to the altar.

She calls forth the 5 men holding the candles.

HP hands the first man a taper, the man lights the taper from his candle and lights one of the candles on the crown.

This is repeated until all candles on the crown are lit.

As each man lights the candle he says:

"We honour the growth of spring"

Spring Maiden is brought the centre. She is cloaked in green.

Women form one outer circle, men the inner circle. Women clockwise and men anticlockwise. They dance in two concentric circles with the Maiden and HPS at the centre.

Everyone to chant:

"The Moon goes round the Earth
The Earth goes round the Sun
When Day and Night are equal
The greening has begun"

When chanting peaks, all to drop to the ground .

HPS begins Invokation of the Spring Maiden

SPRING INVOKATION

FROM THE BOWER OF THE GREEN EARTH WE CALL THEE
MAIDEN OF THE SPRING STARS,
VIRGIN MOON AND REFLECTED SUN,
THE POWER OF GROWTH IS WITHIN THEE.

VIRGIN QUEEN WE CALL FORTH THY DANCE
UPON THE GREEN HILLS AND FIELDS,
FLOWERS BLOOM BENEATH YOUR FEET
AND THY CROWN IS WOVEN OF BLOSSOMS, WILD AND FREE.

YOU ARE THE CAULDRON OF REBIRTH WHOSE WATERS
QUENCH THE THIRST THAT LIES BETWEEN WINTER AND SUMMER,
SHIMMERING BETWEEN NIGHT AND DAY.

MAIDEN WE CALL TO THEE,
LET THE SAPS RISE AND THE BUDS UNFURL.
MAIDEN OF SPRING WE INVOKE THEE!

At the end of the invokation, HPS places the candle crown upon the Maiden's head.

The Maiden takes a branch and dips it into the water, she says the Charge Of the Spring Maiden as she walks around the participants asperging them.

 CHARGE OF THE SPRING MAIDEN

I AM SHE WHO GRACES THE WILD WOODS.
I MAKE LIFE RENEW WITHIN THE LAND.
FERTILE FIELDS ARE MY DOMAIN,
AND ALL WHO LOOK UPON MY FACE ARE REBORN.
MY VOICE IS THE GENTLE WIND.
I TEACH THE LEAVES MY SONG AND THEY
SING OF PEACE AND NEW LIFE.

I AM THE MEMORY OF PURE WHITE SNOW
GRACED WITH SHOOTS OF GREEN.
MY BIRTH WAS GENTLE AND YOURS MAY BE ALSO.

MAIDEN AM I!, VIRGIN AM I!
REMEMBER ME WHEN PASSIONS OVERWHELM.

DARKNESS AND LIGHT ARE MET WITHIN ME.
I AM THE THRESHOLD UNKNOWN,
THE MYSTERY OF FERTILITY YET UNTESTED.
I AM THE GATEWAY TO THE BEGINNING,
AND I STAND GUARD AT THE TIME OF ENDINGS.

I AM SPRING, I AM POWER, I AM GODDESS!

She comes back to the centre and says:

"You have been blessed by the tides of Spring. Sit now, and close your eyes. Hear the story of Ostara"

HPS to recite the story of Ostara, whilst the maiden moves to the altar and meets the HP. The HP is given the Maiden's cloak and she crowns him with the Stag Horns, passing the power into him. HP takes up spear and moves to the centre of the circle.

"There is a place that stands outside of time and space... a land far away, yet only an indrawn breath from where we stand. A land that is at once Mighty in breadth, yet small as a mist shrouded isle in the midst of a great sea. A land that reflects our lives as we mirror the Land. It lies where three hazels grow, at the meeting of long roads, at the fording place of a stream. It is under the Hills and above the Waves... it spirals through the sky and is formed of glass that shimmers by the light of Moon and Sun.

The Stones of the Earth remember and renew this Place... the trees draw nutrients from it's soil and our blood flows in its mighty rivers. This is the land of Vision and Magic, the place whree our seasons turn and the Wheel of Life is danced in ever returning circles

It is the calm before the dawn. The smell of night blooming flowers is carried by a light breeze. A full moon hangs overhead, sending silver beams to illuminate the paths of the forest. A flash of white can be seen through the trees. 

Into a clearing lit by the moon lightly steps a Maiden clothed all in silver and white. Vines of spring flowers are entwined up her arms and her girdle is hung with ivy and and silver disks. At her waist is a silver flask. Upon her head is a shining silver crown, glowing with tall candles, heady with the scent of honey.

She begins to dance in an ever tightening spiral towards the centre of the clearing. There at the centre lies a large flat stone with a rough bowl carved into its surface. She takes the silver flask from her waist and leaps across the stone, continuing her dance. Twice more she leaps and joy and wild abandon light her face.

Suddenly she stops. A faint glimmer of rose-gold light apperas from the East. She pours the contents of the flask into the bowl of the stone. She kneels before it and kisses the symbol of an equal armed cross surrounded by a circle that is carved into the side of the stone. As she bends her head, the flames atop her candle crown touch the surface of the liquid within the bowl and it ignites.

The Sun rises in the East and the clearing is now bathed in gold.

The flames in the stone bowl leap higher as the dawn light grows more intense, echoing the Maiden's joyous leaping but a moment before. She raises her head from the stone and looks to the East. From out of the glow of the risen sun a figure walks.

It is a Youth wearing only a loincloth. His hair is burnished copper and falls to his shoulders. The buds of small antlers poke up from his brow. He has the look of one entranced as he walks through the trees.

The Maiden moves toward him. He looks at her with a start and falls to his knees in awe of her beauty. As she moves closer to the Youth, flowers burst forth from grass bent beneath her step. Her gown of white and silver ripples in the sunlight. the vines at wrist and waist entwine her body to form stiff green embroidery of leaves and flowers. The candle flames upon her crown dance in time to the flame in the bowl and the light in her eyes.

At last she stands in front of him, and taking his hand she gently helps him to his feet. She motions for him to follow her and begins to dance around the clearing once more, leaping and spiralling across the grass with flowers bursting into bloom behind her. He moves awkwardly at first, his knuckles white and his face full of confusion. But as the dance progresses his face lights with a joy to mirror hers. They dance and twist and leap around the clearing until a riot of leaves and flowers cover the ground. 

He begins to take on the rose-gold glow of the sun as a sheen of sweat coats his skin. The sun is now high overhead as they have danced the morning away. She draws him towards the stone in the centre of the clearing and bring him to stand before the flames. They leaps up high and form a twisting spiral pillar of light at his presence. The light caresses his skin and entwines his limbs. Where the light touches him, whorls and spirals leave their mark. From fresh skinned youth his body is covered in tattoos of shimmering bronze, copper and gold, his eyes glowing with reflected and inner light.

She releases his hands from her grip and reaches down to the ground. With one smooth movement she lifts the greenery of the clearing like a cloak and settles it about his shoulders.

He stands cloaked in the green world with the Sun shining from his eyes.

He grows taller and stronger, muscles rippling under the golden skin.

She takes the flaming crown from her brow and places it upon his head. Instantly it shades to gold and the metal twists and writhes to form two large antlers, man tined upon his own brow. The buds of his youth are now only reflected in the buds of flowers bursting forth upon his cloak.

He laughs with joy and ecstasy.

The sun is sinking lower in the sky now, but before it sinks into the west she kisses him on the lips. Their bodies grow rigid with desire, his arms encircle her as they kiss.

But suddenly the Maiden is no longer there. A shining spear is held in the newly crowned King's arms. The shaft entwined with silver filligree and green enamel. The head a silver flame, pure as the moonlight.

The King has found and accepted his power. Day and night equal but the Sun Crowned King is now in the ascendancy of his power. He sinks down upon the stone, cradling the silver spear like a lover whilst the sun sinks into the West.

All that remains is a forest clearing lit by the newly risen moon and a lonely figure glowing gold and shining in the dark, head bent over a spear. Weeping at beauty and power and waiting for the new dawn to arrive.

Open your eyes.

In the centre of the circle now sits the Young Stag, cloaked in green and cradling the spear in his lap.

He stands and says the Charge of the Sun God

Charge of the Sun God:

I am He who rides the dawn wave
to break on the Western Shore.

I am the Spear, the flight of birds
I am the Sword, the scent of battle 
I am the Shield, guardian of fertile earth.

My blood is the golden tide that awakens the Land
My heart the red rending of sacrifice to come.

I give green gift to the leaves of the trees
Yet shroud my face lest they fall too soon,
For Might and Mercy are within me
And Honour is my domain

I am the budding horns of kid and kine
I run with hooves of burnished bronze
Across fields that ripen at my touch

I am Lord of Forest and Field
My chariot, the endless sky
I am the core of men and the sum of all
And I stand in the rays of the Sun.

Stag to help each person from the ground and say the "The Moon goes round the Earth" chant to them as he leads them back to the edge of the Circle.

When everyone is back in place, the Stag blesses the cakes and wine and the HPS and Elemental Guardians serve them.

Farewell Quarters

Thank Lord and Lady

Dryghton

Close circle.