Samhain 2007

Before the circle starts everyone draws a slip of paper from a cauldron. On the paper is written a libation which they will say as they pour the pomegranate juice into the cauldron.

There are two realms used in the ritual. The main circle area and the Otherworld (either temple or circle). A veil is set up between these two areas. Use the black shrouded bower. At the gateway a sword and broom are placed after the circle has been cast.

Circle is cast widdershins by HP, with everyone walking backwards carrying their unlit pumpkins. Quarters are called.

Central Invokation.

In the centre of the circle is a cauldron filled with warm wine. The HP places a bag of mugwort to steep within the wine. 

HP: 	It is Samhain. The time when the veil between the worlds is thin and we gather to honour those who have gone before. Magic is in the air and the Otherworld encirlces us in its embrace. I ask you all to pour a libation to the Season and the night.

HP picks up the jug of pomegranate juice and says his libation line. The jug is then passed to the next person to say theirs and so on around the circle.

I pour for our ancestors
I pour for the land
I pour for the waters
I pour for the flames
I pour for the winds
I pour for the rains
I pour for the fields
I pour for the forests
I pour for the mountains
I pour for the skies
I pour for the trees
I pour for the stag
I pour for the salmon
I pour for the boar
I pour for the raven
I pour for the serpent
I pour for the heroes
I pour for the Gods
I pour for the family
I pour for the hearth
I pour for the memory
I pour for the gateway

In the darkest area of the circle (under the pine tree) the Calliaech awaits. 

The HP then calls the Callieach as he stirs the brew.

HP:  		O Lady Of The Hidden Realms
Queen Of Night
Thy face shines beyond star, beyond earth

Shrouded in Mystery
Formed and Unformed
Stillness, thy song divine.

Thy cauldron awaits thee
Thy womb and thy birth

O wine of the witches' poured forth
thou art the moment before before time began

Mirror of all that was and will be!
No veil can betray thy countenance.

Thy cauldron awaits thee on the windswept crag 
Thy cauldron is filled by the depths of the deepest pool
Thy cauldron is warmed by the heart of passion's flame
Upheld by the root of all things,
The serpent's egg entwined

We call to thee on the darkest night
As between the worlds we fly. 

Callieach walks around the ring of dancers. 

Callieach: 	I am with you as I have always been and will be. 
I am the bones of the earth, the blood upon the tide
I am the hazel wand, the blackthorn staff
The stone that time cannot wear down.
I am the bearer of prophecy.
I bring the gift of love between the worlds
when the veil is thin, when the leaves fall
When the branches are bare
And your Ancestors await ...

She makes her way to the centre. The HP gives her the Cup Of The Dead.
She fills it from the cauldron and drains the whole cup. She hands the Cup to the HP.

Callieach:	You have called to me and I am here. 
You have gifted me and so I will gift you.
My gifts are many... but all are double edged.

I will gift to one of you the ability to travel between the worlds... for a time.
But for this one so-chosen, I also have a task.
A task not yet revealed.
A task for one of your men. 

Everyone forms two circles in the centre around the cauldron. They place their pumpkins in the circle between the two rows.  The men on the inside, the women on the outside. The women begin to circle widdershins chanting as the Callieach invokes. She also walks widdershins.

Chant F:	Lady Darksome & Divine
Spin the wheel of fate & time

Chant M:	chant for the father, 
		chant for the son
chant for the challenge of the chosen one

Callieach:	O Lord Of The Forest
King of Night’s embrace
Green and Golden is thy ever-changing face

Whisper thy hidden Mystery
In the fall of the leaves
That shroud thy branches
Strong and bold
Green and gold

Sweet is thy sap,
Thy blood rising in the dawn
Bearer of secrets from deep within thy verdant realm.

Wild and untamed
Thy song is carried by eagle, robin and wren

Thy Truth, the acorn that calls to rampant boar
Thy spirit crowned in Sovereignty!

We call to thee O Green Man
Send thy leaves to leap and spin

From root and branch
Thy sacred dance
Let thy magic doth begin! 

When the Callieach finishes the invokation she grabs one of the men and spins him into the centre of the circle.

The women change their chant to:

Chant: 	Spin, spin, spin.... 

Chant until it peaks. Everyone drops to the ground.

Callieach takes the cup from the HP and re-fills it. She gives the Cup to the Chosen Man to drink.

Whilst he still holds the cup she takes a pouch from her neck and asks the Chosen Man to draw an Ogham from it.

She then holds up the Ogham and tells the group what it means in relation to Samhain.

She puts the Ogham back into the pouch and takes the Cup from the Chosen Man. She re-fills it and with a dipped finger, she marks the Ogham upon his brow.

Cailleach:	I mark thee with the sign of ___________. You are now the Green Man whose leaves whisper 		between the worlds as they fall between the earth and the sky.

		To all of you here gathered, I ask you to pass the cup between yourselves. Men, please turn to 		face the women and as all of you drink, call to your beloved dead, your ancestors and your 			teachers. 

The Cup is handed to a man and then passed back and forth around the circle (women to man) as the men and women face each other.

Each person is to name who they would call. A specific name, their teachers or their ancestors. Then they sip and pass the Cup along.

As the cup is passed the Callieach masks the Chosen Man with a Green Man Mask (autumn leaves). The HP takes up the cloak and gives it to the Callieach to cloak the Green Man.

When the Cup has passed to all the Callieach takes it again.

She re-fills the Cup and then calls for Guardians of the Gateway to come forth.

The two women who will stand as Guardians come forward. She hands the Cup to the each of them to drink again. They are then crowned with autumn leaves. HP passes crowns to Callieach and takes the cup to the altar.

The two women are led to the gateway and take up their positions facing each other. One guardian holds a sword, the other a broom.

The Callieach takes the Green Man's hand and says to him.

Callieach: 	You are my chosen one.
I gift to you the power to move between the worlds
Your task is to bring the light of the Beloved Dead back to this realm, so that all here gathered may feast with them this Samhain night.
However first you have to pass the dread portal. Remember the sign I gave to you. That will be your key.

Callieach leads Green Man to the Guardians. 

Guardians (in unison):
I mourn for you, as I rejoice
I weep at your passing, as I lead you on
I am the face on both sides of the door
With twin eyes to see what was and will be
And twin hearts to break and be healed.
I stand with one foot in the world of Men
And the other in the land of the Gods
Light bends between my hands
A rainbow bridge.
I am the Gateway, the places in between
The portal of the sign of the tree.

What tree is the key to all and to none?

Green Man: answers with tree name

Guardians: 	Then take my hand and I will lead you home.

Guardians take his hand and pull him through the gateway to send him on his journey. They place the broom and the sword inside the circle but on either side of the gateway.

HP: 		Now the time of waiting has begun. Gather the symbols of your beloved dead to you.

Everyone gathers their pumpkins.

All to sit and make themselves comfortable. 

Callieach begins to sing Fireflies. All who know it can join in. Keep singing until the Green Man returns.

The Green Man comes back to the Gateway with the large lit pumpkin.

The Guardians let him through. He goes to each person around the circle and they light their pukmpin from his taper.

The two female guardians are given plates of food by the HP. They take the food around and place a portion before each person as a feast for their beloved dead.

All to contemplate for a time. The Cup Of The Dead is passed around the circle once more. This time it is held up before each of the pumpkins for the Ancestors to drink. The participants in the circle do not drink in this round.

HP puts the lid on the cauldron (upside down) and the large pumpkin is placed upon it in the centre of the circle.

He then gives the Green Man an Apple and a Pomegranate. He gives to the Callieach a knife.

When a suitable amount of time has passed, the Callieach takes the Apple from the Green Man and cuts it in half saying:

Callieach: 	Behold the Fruit Of Life which holds the seeds of Death

Green Man then gives her the Pomegranate.

Callieach cuts it saying:

Callieach: 	Behold the Fruit Of Death which holds the seeds of Life.

The pomegranate and the apple are placed in a basket and passed around the circle for all to observe.

Callieach: 	There is death in life and life in death. You have seen and felt the mystery of both. 
You have called to, and feasted with, your beloved dead. But now the time has come to bid them farewell before I lead their spirits home. 

		Repeat after me: 
		We give thanks to our Beloved dead / for feasting with us this Samhain Night.
		We give thanks to our Ancestors / for feasting with us this Samhain Night
		We give thanks to our Teachers / for feasting with us this Samhain Night
		The time to say farewell has come
		The land beyond the veil awaits thee
		Go, go departed shades between the gates of love
		We send our flames to light thy way.

All blow out their candles. Caillieach  goes to the Green Man. She kisses him and removes his mask. She hands it back to him as he masks her. She removes his cloak and hands it back to him. He cloaks her. She kisses him farewell. She takes up the large pumpkin. She walks once around the the circle with it.

The two female guardians move to the gateway and take up their positions on either side of it. They each hold a bowl of water with an aspergum of hazel and blackthorn.

Guardians: 	Mistress of Darkness, bearer of spirits' flame
		By the hazel wand and the blackthorn staff
		By the Ancient spring that flows beneath the Yew
		We bid thee farewell and safe journey.

Guardians asperge the Caillieach. The Cailleach passes through the gateway with the large pumpkin. The Guardians place the bowls and aspergum on the other side of the gateway and then close it. They place the sword and the broom across it.

The guardians then take a basket each and collect the food left from the feast - the offerings for the ancestors. The Apple and the Pomegranate are then placed on top of the offerings. They hold the basket up before the altar.

Guardians: 	By Stone of Stone and Bone of Bone, Seeds and Blood and Souls are sown. 
		From death comes new life, to the earth will these be returned with the blessings of Samhain.

(they can say a line each)

Guardians place the basket before the altar. They then take up the cakes and ale and take them to the HP for blessing.

HP performs cakes and ale.
He gives cakes and ale to the Green Man first, then to the Guardians and then to the rest of the circle.

Farewell Quarters

HP closes circle.

Feast