DRAWING DOWN THE MOON
DRAWING DOWN THE MOON
In this ritual the Goddess becomes
incarnate
in the HighPriestess.
The High
Priestess
stands in front of the altar with her
back to
it. She holds the wand in her right hand
and
the scrounge in her left.
She
crosses her
wrists and crosses the wand and scrounge
above them while holding them close to
her
breast.
The High Priest stands in
front of
her and says:
"Diana, queen of night
In all your beauty bright,
Shine on us here,
And with your silver beam
Unlock the gates of dream;
Rise bright and clear.
On Earth and sky and sea,
Your magic mystery
Its spell shall cast,
Wherever leaf may grow,
Wherever tide may flow,
Till all be past.
O secret queen of power,
At this enchanted hour
We ask your boon.
May fortune's favor fall
Upon true witches all,
O Lady Moon!"
The High Priest kneels before the High
Priestess and gives her the Five Fold
Kiss;
that is, he kisses her on both feet,
both
knees, womb, both breasts, and the lips,
starting with the right of each pair. He
says, as he does this:
"Blessed be thy feet, that have
brought thee in these ways.
Blessed
be thy
knees, that shall kneel at the sacred
altar.
Blessed be thy womb, without which we
would
not be.
Blessed be thy breasts,
formed in
beauty.
Blessed be thy lips, that
shall utter
the Sacred Names."
For the kiss on the lips, they embrace,
length to length, with their feet
touching
each others.
When he reaches the
womb, she
spreads her arms wide, and the same
after the
kiss on the lips.
The High Priest
kneels again
and invokes:
"I invoke thee and call upon
thee,
Mighty Mother of us all, bringer of all
fruitfulness;
by seed and root,
by bud and stem, by leaf and
flower
and fruit,
by life and love do I invoke
thee to
descend upon the body of this, thy
servant
and priestess."
During this invocation he touches her
with
his right forefinger on her right
breast,
left breast, and womb, repeats the set
and
finally the right breast.
Still
kneeling, he
spreads his arms out and down, with the
palms
forward and 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
adore.
Thy foot is to my lip
(he kisses her right foot)
my prayer up borne
Upon the rising incense
smoke;
then
send
Thine ancient love, O Mighty
One,
descend
To aid me, who without thee am
forlorn."
The High Priest stands up and steps
backwards. The High Priestess draws the
Invoking Pentagram of Earth in the air
with
the wand and says:
"Of the Mother darksome and
divine
Mine the scrounge, and mine the
kiss;
The five point star of love and
bliss
Here I charge you in this
sign."
The High Priestess should be in a trance
now.
This is a good time to do the Charge or
the
Witches' Creed.
When the Charge or Creed is finished,
the
Goddess must be dismissed.
It is bad
magical
practice not to do so.
The High Priest faces the Priestess and
says:
"We thank you Our Lady for
attending
our rites.
We bid you farewell till
next we
call you.
Blessed Be."
Taken From:
Farrar, Janet and Stewart; "Eight
Sabbats For
Witches";
BOOK of SHADOWS
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