Simplified Rituals
Today I was reading Scott Cunningham’s book, Living Wicca - A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner. It’s been my goal to read a chapter a week and learn from it, something I haven’t done for quite a while, so I’m starting it up again. I read Chapter 11 - Simple Wiccan Rites, and it’s basically about performing rituals, rites and celebrating esbats and sabbats when you’re short on time, don’t have all your ritual tools with you, and haven’t really prepared for it. (This seems to sum up my life completely, lol). It was interesting reading how he’d made do with a sachet of salt from a restaurant, a paper cup of water, a butter knife and a birthday candle. Not exactly the traditional image of a ritual scene, but an amusing one, and shows how you improvise when on the move, going away on holiday or on a short trip. You don’t have to take your whole altar with you, and it wouldn’t be practical to. Sometimes you can perform rituals without any tools, using visualisation and either speaking the words aloud, or thinking them in your mind. The book says you can then do the ritual in the presence of others or when you might be disturbed (i.e. on holiday or staying at a non-pagan friend‘s house). Also particularly handy if you live in a non-pagan friendly household.
The Simplified Ritual
- Cast a Circle - using visualisation and/or using your finger as an athame or wand
- Invoke the Goddess and God (speak out loud or think your words)
- State the reason for the rite (be it sabbat, full moon, or special need)
- State something about the occasion or ask for Their assistance, if appropriate
- (Maybe followed by Meditation upon meaning of the occasion)
- Thank the Goddess and God for their attentions
- Close the Circle (take up the energy, if possible, eat something, if nothing else, taste a bit of salt)
You may also want to recite memorised invocations, or say many more words. You can obviously adapt this how you like and to the circumstance.
I often miss sabbat celebrations and rituals because I’m not prepared, don’t have in what I need, or lack privacy (a whole bunch of excuses, I know). So I really enjoyed this chapter and think I may put it into practice. The Full Moon is coming up on April 9th, The Wind Moon, according to Patti’s Paganism/Wicca Blog, “a time to welcome new beginnings, and do magic related to conceiving new ideas and projects. What do you want to see taking root and growing in your life?”
So I think I may look up some of the Spring Full Moon Rituals, and adapt them in this way. I only have a couple of days before the Full Moon, but maybe that’s all I need? No need to worry about whether or not I have all the ingredients, tools or accessories for the ritual, I have the most important ingredient with me always - myself!