Press Kit: Fact Sheets

Symbolism of Ritual

Sprinkling attendees with water and salt:
This helps bring the participants out of the everyday world and lets their subconscious know that they are about to enter sacred space. Rather than worship in a church, we create ritual space wherever we are performing our rites.

Casting the circle:
We cast the circle to protect the participants from negative forces as well as to keep energy raised inside the circle until we are ready to release it. Finally, it is one more tool to bring ourselves completely into sacred space and remove ourselves from the outside world.

Calling the Quarters:
We invite the elements of earth, air, fire, and water, which are connected to the directions of North, East, South, and West, to join us in circle to add their energy to the ritual as well as help protect us while we are in sacred space.

Calling the God and Goddess:
We invite the God and Goddess to join us in our rituals which honor them and the cycle of seasons.

The Charge of the God and Goddess:
Much like the Apostle's Creed, these statements detail the attributes and desires of the God and Goddess and remind us of their power and nature.

Chanting:
We chant to raise energy for whatever our purpose is. Today we are raising energy to bless the food we received from the food drive. By blessing it, we ensure that it will be used for the purpose for which it was gathered and food will continue to be in abundance.

Cakes and ale:
We offer food and beverage (in this case bread and juice) to each other to ensure that we will never go hungry or thirsty as well as to offer each other a blessing.

Stamping our feet and yelling:
This releases the energy we called up back into the earth and the air where it came from. Excess energy remaining in the body can make one feel drunk or spacey.

Releasing God and Goddess and Quarters:
As a sign of respect we thank them for attending our circle and release them.

Opening the circle:
We open the circle to release the sacred space we have created and return ourselves to the everyday world.

The High Priestess leads the ritual and acts as a representative of the Goddess for our proceedings. All circles (except those exclusively for men) have a High Priestess. She is also traditionally the leader of her coven, as well as teacher and advisor. One must have experience and training in the craft to earn the title of High Priestess.

The High Priest acts as a representative of the God for our proceedings. He is also a teacher and advisor, although usually secondary to the High Priestess.

Altar:
On the altar will be the items to represent the elements:
air - feather
earth - crystal
water - bottle of chalice well water
fire - red candle
Pomegranate or corn dolly to represent the Goddess Ear of corn to represent the God