by Eilís Moonbrook

PREPARING AND CREATING SACRED SPACE

Prepare the space with incense and salt water. Cast the circle, then say:

1. The circle is cast,
2. built of love and trust,
3. never-beginning
4. and never-ending,
5. inner and outer,
6. betwixt and between.
7. Naught but love shall enter in,
8. naught but love shall come from within.

All: So mote it be!


WELCOMING THE ELEMENTS

Move sunwise to your quarter. As you invoke the element, feel it strongly within yourself and visualize it moving to fill the circle from the direction it calls home. Reach out and truly invite it. All of us should do this, not just the person verbally invoking. When the presence is strong, move on to the next element.

Spirit of the East, powers of Air,
Caressing breeze and roaring gale,
You who clear the intellect
And breathe new life into our souls,
We welcome you!

Spirit of the South, powers of Fire,
Light of the hearth and wild blaze,
You who drive the will
And consume the old to shape our lives,
We welcome you!

Spirit of the West, powers of Water,
Gentle wave and devouring flood,
You who fill our veins with emotion
And immerse us in the worlds' ebb and flow,
We welcome you!

Spirit of the North, powers of Earth,
Fertile soil and lightless cavern,
You who hold us steady
And give of yourself to sustain our bodies,
We welcome you!


WELCOMING THE LORD AND LADY

<We gather again at the altar and light their candles, reaching out in invitation as we chant, repeating the words until we strongly feel their presence.>

Triple Goddess Chant

Holy Maiden Huntress Artemis, Artemis. Maiden, Come To Us
Silver Shining Wheel Of Radiance, Radiance. Mother, Come To Us
Ancient Queen Of Wisdom, Hecate, Hecate. Old One, Come To Us 
(By Peter Soderberg)


Three-Fold God Chant 

Holy Green Oak King, Tower High, Tower High, Horned One Come To Us 
Holy Holly King, The Evergreen, Evergreen, Horned One Come To Us 
Shining Lord Pan Come Dance With Us Dance With Us, Horned One Come To Us 
(By Ivo Dominguez, Jr. to P.S.'s tune)


SHARING AND WORKING 

<sit down around the circle>

1. Tonight we honor the Mother, the Lady of the full fertile moon,
and the Lord in his many forms, without whose gifts we could not fully live.

2. With love and respect, trust and amity,
we bare ourselves before Them and before one another.

3. Now is the time to discuss our blessings, giving thanks,
sharing in the pleasant company of friends and kindred here.

4. It is also the time to discuss our worries and trials, our fears,
to lighten our loads and work together for transformation.

<Talk about whatever is on your mind, and be sure to mention it if there’s something with which you’d like the group’s magickal help.>

5. Tonight we also gather to work for the religious freedom of this land,
and to remember those who have suffered and died from intolerance
throughout the ages.

We all stand and follow the sixth person, who carries a candle around the circle sunwise, saying:

All: Sunwise we walk the sacred round,
As shining light fills this holy ground.
North and south and east and west,
in Freedom’s temple we shall rest.

Set the candle in front of the image of Lady Liberty.

1. Now we honor Lady Liberty with the words the sculptor Bartholdi used to describe his statue, which he titled, Liberty Enlightening the World:

Make the statue a woman because the symbol for Liberty has always been a woman. Women often represent great ideas. The Torch is a symbol of Freedom. It lights the way for people who love Liberty. The seven rays of her crown will enlighten the seven seas and the seven continents. Use mother, Charlotte, as a model for her face. Mother’s face shows strength and suffering. Model the statue’s arms after my fiancee’s beautiful arms. Give her clothes from ancient Greece, the Birthplace of democracy. Make her walk forward to show her progress toward freedom. The date of American independence, July 4th, 1776, will be on the tablet. The broken chains at her feet will show her escaping bondage. Make her really huge! Liberty is a big idea.

2. Hear now the simple statement upon which our liberty depends. These are the words of the First Amendment which are the foundation of our liberty, may they be honored and remembered by those who govern, and those who choose the governors. So mote it be!

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

3. Hear the words of The New Colossus, which Emma Lazarus wrote to be inscribed on the Lady’s pedestal:

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed sunset-gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name,
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows worldwide welcome, her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
‘Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp,’ cries she
with silent lips. ‘Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore;
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!’

Now it is time for the working itself, in which we use affirmation and visualization to focus the power of the archetype and direct it where it is most needed. The following litany should be read aloud. Its response after the reader states, And the Lady says, is Let there be Light!.
Through the world we struggle toward safe harbor, and the Lady says
Let there be light!

In despair we seek for hope and courage, and the Lady says
Let there be light!

In ignorance we seek for understanding, and the Lady says
Let there be light!

In danger we seek deliverance, and the Lady says
Let there be light!

When humans fear to see words written, then the Lady says
Let there be light!

When humans fear to hear truth spoken, then the Lady says
Let there be light!

When humans fear to find themselves mistaken, then the Lady says
Let there be light!

When humans forbid the livelihood of others, then the Lady says
Let there be light!

When humans forbid the self-defense of others, then the Lady says
Let there be light!

When humans forbid the love of others, then the Lady says
Let there be light!

When fear of the forbidden denies all other definitions, then the Lady says
Let there be light!

When fear of the forbidden denies all right to difference, then the Lady says
Let there be light!

When fear of the forbidden denies all others freedom, then the Lady says
Let there be light!

Though the fearful forbid it, we struggle still for liberty, and the Lady of Liberty lifts her torch above the shadows and says
Let there be light!

When we have praised the Lady, we can use the power of our own minds to transform her from an image to a reality.

Begin by visualizing a boatload of refugees entering New York harbor. Share their awe and excitement as the Lady emerges from the mists. Then, visualize a great crowd of people from many faiths and nations surrounding the Lady, asking her to protect them.

See her glow more and more brightly, changing from a verdigris copper statue to a living goddess, her image growing brighter until her torch bursts into real flames. She turns, and lets her light flood the land, then strides westward, northward, southward. Everywhere her light shines, pockets of darkness, ignorance, hatred, fear are burned awayracists in the south and north, capitalist greed in the cities, religious hatred by zealots and would-be Inquisitors, sexual hangups, war-mongering. Where she passes, the land glows, and people accept and rejoice in each other’s differences. She makes a circuit of the country, and returns to her pedestal, goddess of a land renewed.

When the vision is complete, visualize her turning back into a statue. Then the mists flow back, consciousness goes inward, and you return to mundane consciousness again.

Once everyone has recovered from the meditation, close with the following prayer:

Oh Lady Liberty, Mother of Exiles,
We call upon you as an aspect of the Great Mother,
to send forth your light to pierce the darkness of ignorance
and oppression until liberty enlightens the world.
Dear Goddess, with body of copper and soul of fire,
Lady of our homeland, reach out and renew
the promise of religious freedom on
which this nation was founded.
Help your children understand
that there are many ways of worshipping.
Flood them with the awareness
that differences are desirable and guarded by you.
Teach them equality of esteem
so they will learn tolerance of
those they do not understand.
As you stand there in your soft green robes,
welcome the return of your priestesses and priests.
Teach others not to fear us, for to fear us is to fear you.
We ask you now to join with the Goddesses
from other lands and accept our worship and our love.
Blessed be the Lady.

Go around the circle widdershins with the candle, saying:

Though this light shall go to ground,
Freedom’s power remains unbound.
East and west and south and north,
in Liberty we shall go forth.

Blow out the candle, and say:

The Lady lives, and will endure for as long as we honor here.
Though we say farewell to her now, when darkness threatens,
if we call upon her she will lift her torch
to bring light and uphold the liberties which are the foundation of this land.

FEASTING

All: All life is your own,
All fruits of the earth
Are fruits of your womb,
Your union, your dance.
Goddess and God
We thank you for blessings and abundance.
Join with us, Feast with us, Enjoy with us!
Blessed be.

CLOSING THE TEMPLE

Offer thanks to the elements.

Open the circle:

The circle is open,
but ever unbroken.
Merry we met,
merry we part,
and merry we meet again.