The Real Witches’ Book of Spells and Rituals

After the Sacred Space has been created one person should step up to the Altar, take some of the consecrated and blessed water and place it into the small dish. They then add a little of the blessed Salt, and inscribing an invoking Pentagram say,

‘I call upon the Old Gods to bless and consecrate this water that it may banish all that is not needful to us. May it take away all outside influences, distractions and negativity. May it leave us pure and free to work our Rites and magic.’

They kiss their forefinger and say, ‘Blessed Be’.

That person then places the cloth over their forearm and holding the bowl with both hands takes it to each person in the Circle, moving Deosil at all times. As the bowl carrier steps in front of a person, that person will place the tips of all their fingers into the water and visualize all their negativities draining down through their arms and fingers and into the water. When they have finished they remove their fingers and, using the cloth on the carrier’s arm, dry their fingers. They say ‘Blessed Be’, which is echoed by everyone. The carrier then moves on to the next person. Once everyone has finished, the carrier passes the bowl to the last person, who holds it so that the carrier can also perform this Rite. Lastly, the bowl is placed to the rear of the Altar. Later it should be carefully disposed of either down the drain or on a patch of land where you are not trying to grow anything, as the negative influences contained in the water can and do interfere with the growth of plants.

In our Coven we tend to reserve a special bowl for this so that any residual negativities cannot contaminate future workings. Alternatively, you can cleanse the vessel by placing it overnight in the light of the Moon or by placing it under running water for 10 minutes whilst visualizing all negativities being washed away.

THE RITE OF SELF-BLESSING

As mentioned above this is a good Rite to perform if you wish to practise working Ritual. It is also beneficial if you are feeling down, or if you feel the need to become closer to the Goddess, perhaps prior to meditation or divination.

To perform this Rite you will need something with which to anoint yourself. This can be a perfumed oil, some wine, or even salt and water prepared as in the above Rite of Banishment of Unwanted Influences. Place some of your chosen anointing liquid into a small dish, draw an invoking Pentagram over it and say,

‘I call upon the Goddess to bless and consecrate this oil (water/wine etc.), to make it pure and fit for this my Rite. Blessed Be.’

Then, kneeling before the Altar, take a few deep breaths to centre yourself and visualize the Goddess standing before you. Take your time to picture her in as much detail as you can, imagine her smiling lovingly at you. Then say,

‘Bless me Mother for I am your child.’

For each of the following steps dip your finger in the oil and anoint the mentioned part with just a smear. Anoint your eyes (on the eyebrow to avoid getting oil into your eyes) and say,

‘Blessed Be my eyes that I may see thy path.’

Anoint your nose and say,

‘Blessed Be my nose that I may breathe your essence.’

Anoint your mouth (just above the lips) and say,

‘Blessed Be my mouth that I might speak of thee.’

Anoint your heart (the centre of your chest) and say,

‘Blessed Be my breast that I may be faithful to thee.’

Anoint just above your pubic bone and say,

‘Blessed Be my womb (for a woman or phallus if a man), that bringest forth life, as thou bringest life eternal.’

Anoint your knees and say,

‘Blessed Be my knees that shall kneel at the Sacred Altar.’

Anoint your feet and say,

‘Blessed Be my feet that I may walk in thy ways.’

Lastly, wrap your arms about yourself and visualize the Goddess holding you, as a mother holds her child, and say,

‘Bless me Mother for I am thy child.’

Remain where you are for a few moments feeling the love of the Mother Goddess surrounding and enfolding you. Then rise and return Deosil to your place in the Circle so that the next person can take their place at the Altar.

THE FIVE-FOLD KISS

This is similar in many ways to the Rite of Self-Blessing, however the Five-Fold Kiss is given by one person to another. It may be performed to welcome a new Initiate, or to confer blessing upon individuals within the group. The Five-Fold Kiss can be performed within gender or, as is more usual, between genders. Here, to avoid confusion with lots of he/she’s etc., I have denoted the recipient as Priestess and the giver (or kisser) as Priest, but you can adjust the gender to suit your circumstances.

The Priestess (receiver) stands, feet slightly parted (for balance) with her arms to her sides. She should look straight ahead and focus on the Goddess and the God, rather than watching the Priest’s movements. The Priest kneels in front of her and says,

‘Blessed Be your feet, which have brought thee in these ways,’

and kisses first her right then her left foot. He says,

‘Blessed Be thy knees, which shall kneel at the Sacred Altar,’

and kisses her right then left knee. He says,

‘Blessed be thy womb, which bringeth forth the life of man,’

and kisses her on the lower belly. (Where a Priestess is giving the Five-Fold Kiss to a Priest she kisses him in the same place but would say ‘phallus’ rather than ‘womb’.) He then rises to his feet and says,

‘Blessed Be thy breast, formed in strength and beauty,’

and kisses her right then left breasts. He kisses her on the lips and says,

‘Blessed Be thy lips, that shall utter the Sacred Names.’

Finally he says, ‘Blessed Be,’ and everyone echoes him.

DRAWING DOWN THE MOON AND

THE CHARGE OF THE GODDESS

Some groups will perform this Rite at every Ritual, others will use it as a method of power raising at Esbats and still others will only perform it at the Major Sabbats. In Drawing Down the Moon, the Goddess is invoked into the Priestess (usually the High Priestess) by the Priest (usually the High Priest), and the words she then speaks (The Charge) are the words of the Goddess. The Charge may be derived from Valiente’s Charge of the Goddess, it may be written by the High Priestess, or the Priestess may speak the words which come to her at the time. In a previous work I attributed the Charge to Gerald Gardner, however, it has since become almost universally believed that his High Priestess Doreen Valiente wrote the original. She wrote several versions and these have been altered and added to by other Witches over the years; the one below is just one of many versions now to be found in the modern Craft. I usually recommend to Priestesses that they should memorize the Charge, even though when the time arrives they may find that other words will come to them.

The Priestess stands with her back to the Altar, preferably facing towards the Moon. The Priest commences by giving her the Five-Fold Kiss (see above).

The Priestess now allows her hands to move slightly away from her sides until they are at the 5 and 7 points of the clock with her palms facing forward. Whilst he continues she should look over his head and focus on allowing the spirit of the Goddess to enter her.

With the forefinger of his strong hand the Priest then touches the Priestess in the sigil of the First Degree: right breast, left breast, womb and right breast, whilst saying,

‘I invoke thee and call upon thee Mighty Mother of us all, bringer of all fruitfulness, by seed and root, by stem and bud, by flower and fruit do I invoke thee to descend upon this the body of thy servant and Priestess.’

He then kneels and, spreading his arms outwards and downwards, says,

‘Hail Aradia, from the Amalthean Horn. Pour forth thy store of love. I lowly bend before thee, I adore thee to the end. With loving sacrifice thy shrine adorn. Thy foot is to my lip.’