Samhain 2018, using Silver Spiral's standard ritual format 2.2. Performed on November 4th, 2018, for a group of 4 people.
Materials and Tools:
Ritual broom, representations of the elements, a singing bowl, ancestor cards (cards from naturalpagan.org, plus a custom one for one ancestor per participant, and a custom one with a blank “gift” section for each participant), one pen per participant, ritual food on a plate, a pitcher of sparkling water, an offering bowl or plate and an offering goblet, an athame, one goblet per participant.
Before Beginning:
Territory acknowledgement:
Before we get started, I would like for us to acknowledge that the ritual that we are about to participate in is taking place on unceded traditional territories of the Musqueam First Nations. Even as we honour our ancestors, we also have to know that our history on this land is problematic, even if that makes us uncomfortable.
Preparation:
One person sweeps the space with the ritual broom while saying (repeatedly if necessarily):
With purpose and intent, I cleanse this space.
Everyone holds hands and closes their eyes while the ritual leader leads the breathing meditation:
Breathe... [Pause for full breath in and full breath out.] Breathe... [Pause for full breath in and full breath out.] Breathe... [Pause for full breath in and full breath out.] Feel the ground beneath you. [Pause for full breath in and full breath out.] Feel the air around you. [Pause for full breath in and full breath out.] Come home to your body. [Pause for full breath in and full breath out.] Prepare to enter sacred space. Blessed be.
All repeat: Blessed be.
Building Sacred Space:
We will start the circle casting in the West and we will include Centre.
The space cleanser picks up the singing bowl.
The circle caster picks up the element's representation from the altar and says:
We cast this circle in honour of [element].
All repeat:
We cast this circle in honour of [element] to create and open sacred space.
The space cleanser rings the singing bowl. The circle caster places the element's representation in that quarter of the altar/table.
The circle caster repeats with each of the other elements in clockwise order, ending with Spirit. After the last circuit, the circle caster says:
The space is set. The circle is cast. Blessed Be.
All repeat: Blessed be.
The direction quarter caller for the West says:
To the West, I send this call: Water, bless us with your gift of the same ocean our ancestors crawled from as we celebrate Samhain and every day. Blessed be.
All repeat: Blessed be.
Repeat with the other quarters:
To the North, I send this call: Earth, bless us with your gift of the same carbon molecules that have been in all our ancestors as we celebrate Samhain and every day. Blessed be.
All repeat: Blessed be.
To the East, I send this call: Air, bless us with your gift of the same cycle of oxygen for carbon dioxide as the first ancestors breathed as we celebrate Samhain and every day. Blessed be.
All repeat: Blessed be.
To the South, I send this call: Fire, bless us with your gift of the same sun our ancestors worshiped for how it gives life as we celebrate Samhain and every day. Blessed be.
All repeat: Blessed be.
To the Centre, I send this call: Spirit, bless us with your gift of memory and knowledge as we celebrate Samhain and every day. Blessed be.
All repeat: Blessed be.
Invocations:
One person invokes the Goddess:
Lady of the spiral of history, Goddesses of our tribes past, present, and future, we invite you to our rite. Blessed Be.
All repeat: Blessed be.
Another person invokes the God:
Lord of the endless cycle of nature, Gods of our tribes past, present, and future, we invite you to our rite. Blessed Be.
All repeat: Blessed be.
Centre:
The cards are handed out in stacks such that they will be dealt and read in order starting from "Spacetime" and through "Community Builders", then each person will have their own ancestor's card to read. The leader will read "Spacetime" and then place it in the centre of the altar, then each person, going clockwise, will read their next card and place it to start creating a spiral outwards from that first card. This will continue until every card has been placed on the altar.
Then everyone will close their eyes for a short meditation:
Breath deep and feel your feet sink into the floor.
Breath deep and feel the crown of your head float to the sky.
Breath deep and feel roots from your feet spread into the ground below you.
Breath deep and feel branches from your head reach into the sky.
Breath deep and feel the roots from your feet push deep into the centre of the earth.
Breath deep and feel the branches from your head grow up into space above the earth.
Your roots reach back into history. Slide down them to where they start at the Big Bang, then move up to the first elements, the first bacteria, then the first animals... Move up the roots and our ancestors gift us with jaws, with lungs, with eyes, with hair... Move up the roots and our ancestors gift us with the ability to use tools, to harness fire, to communicate, to travel... Move up the roots and our ancestors gift us with animal companions, farms, physical communities, virtual connections...
Come back from your roots into your body and breath deep.
Your branches reach forward into the future. Slide up them. What are we creating? What gifts are we offering the future? How will we be remembered when we are the ancestors?
Explore this question: What is your gift as a future ancestor?
When you have an answer to this question, come back from your branches into your body and breath deep, then open your eyes.
As people ground and open their eyes, the leader passes out a personal card for each person with a pen. After everyone has written something for their gift section, each person will read it and add it to the end of the spiral of cards.
Food and Drink:
One person holds the plate of food while another blesses it:
By the Divine, this offering is blessed, and we share this food in the spirit of community. Blessed be.
All repeat: Blessed be.
The person who blessed the food puts a portion of the food in the offering plate or bowl and says:
To the gods and goddesses of our tribes.
The food is passed clockwise with each saying to the next: Blessed be.
When the food has been returned to the altar, one person holds the pitcher while the other lowers the athame into it and says:
As the athame is to the lover, so the chalice is to the loved, and joined they are one in truth.
The person holding the pitcher pours a portion into the offer goblet and says:
To the gods and goddesses of our tribes.
As the pitcher is passed clockwise, each fills their neighbour's goblet while saying Thou art God or Thou art Goddess. The recipient responds: Blessed be.
Once all the goblets have been filled and the pitcher is returned to the altar, the leader toasts: May you never thirst. All respond with Blessed be and drink.
Devocations:
The same person who invoked the God thanks Him:
Lord of the endless cycle, Gods of our tribes past, present, and future, thank you for your blessings. Go in peace. Blessed be.
All repeat: Blessed be.
The person who invoked the Goddess thanks Her:
Lady of the spiral of history, Goddesses of our tribes past, present, and future, thank you for your blessings. Go in peace. Blessed be.
All repeat: Blessed be.
Closing Sacred Space:
We will devoke in reverse order starting in the Centre.
All turn to face the direction and the direction quarter caller says:
To the [direction]: [Element], thank you for your gifts. Go in peace. Blessed be.
All repeat: Blessed be.
The space cleanser picks up the singing bowl again.
The circle caster walks the circle counter-clockwise to take down the circle. They stop at each quarter to salute it and the singing bowl is rung. When they are done all five, circle caster says:
The circle is open, but never broken. Merry meet, merry part, and merry meet again!
Samhain: The Spiral of the Ancestors by Melissa Hope is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.