From
The Pagan Family
by Ceisiwr Serith
At one end of your table put a bunch of dried ears
of corn and something harvested from your garden. Put the sun candle in the center with the bread next to it.
When all the food is ready and the table set with your best dishes,
establish sacred time. Then an
adult says:
“Today the wheel has come to a special point.
For half the year now
there has been more light than dark.
Since Midsummers, though, the light
has been fading
and today dark and light are equal
and tomorrow the dark half of the year will begin.
That is why we celebrate today.
It is the balance point between light and dark.
It is the beginning of the return of cold and dark.
To the light time as it leaves we say:
Hail and farewell!
Light the sun candle and then continue:
"To the dark
time as it comes in we say Welcome!
Be gentle with your cold, be loving in your dark.
Hold up the bread, the corn, and some of the
harvest, and say:
All summer the food has been
growing
and now Harvest is here.
These are both sacred grains:
Corn, the sacred grain of this country
Wheat, the sacred grain of our ancestors.
We bless them.
May they bless us.
Pass the
bread around, each person
taking a pieces and eating some.
Then eat your meal.
Afterwards, hang the corn on your front door, saying:
Hang here till Samhain comes
and the world grows darker still.
Hang there and bless our house
and all our coming in
and all our going out.
You may actually want to leave them there at least
until Thanksgiving, the Harvest Home of American culture.
In fact, the first, solar part of the ritual can be celebrated on the
equinox, and the second, harvest part on Thanksgiving.
Save part of the bread for offerings to your
household guardians and also for the spirits of the wild.
After the meal, blow out the sun candle, saying:
The sun has gone into the fruits of summer
and now it fades from the sky.