Lunar Eclipse Ritual
Tonight there was a lunar eclipse. My coven held an esbat then. The weather was perfect: a cold, clear night with little wind. A light dusting of snow glowed on the frozen ground. As the eclipse progressed, the sky turned to a flawless black, and all the stars came out, burning with a far blue fire. The Milky Way trailed across the sky. The moon was high and white, reduced to a sliver of brightness, covered by dusky orange-tinted penumbra and inky black umbra. We watched the shadow crawl across the moon's face.
We stood on the well-cap, holding the Quarter candles. In the candlelight and the starlight our breath plumed orange and silver, like dragonfire. We cast circle and called the Quarters. I read "The Charge of the Star Goddess." We invoked the power of the eclipse for breaking bad luck and bad habits, and bringing positive change.
She changes everything She touches,
And everything She touches, changes.
We released the circle and the Quarters. Blew out the candles. Admired the softness of the shadows and the sharpness of the stars, and the clarity of a calm winter night in which magic and science walked hand-in-hand.
These things are holy to us. So mote it be.
We stood on the well-cap, holding the Quarter candles. In the candlelight and the starlight our breath plumed orange and silver, like dragonfire. We cast circle and called the Quarters. I read "The Charge of the Star Goddess." We invoked the power of the eclipse for breaking bad luck and bad habits, and bringing positive change.
She changes everything She touches,
And everything She touches, changes.
We released the circle and the Quarters. Blew out the candles. Admired the softness of the shadows and the sharpness of the stars, and the clarity of a calm winter night in which magic and science walked hand-in-hand.
These things are holy to us. So mote it be.