270 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
270 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
PRE-INITIATORY DEDICATION RITUAL
|
|
|
|
by Ashta'ar-Arthura and Cleindori
|
|
for the Proteus lineage
|
|
and anyone else who wants to use it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
premise: "Every Witch is a Pagan; not every Pagan is a Witch."
|
|
|
|
|
|
There are many ways to honor Nature in our lives. For some, regular
|
|
participation in Pagan circles is a way to stay attuned to seasonal rhythms, an
|
|
enrichment and support for their real work in the world, a way of finding
|
|
community. An artist, a doctor, a mother, a counselor - such people may find
|
|
joy and sustenance in Pagan celebration eight times a year, or even at each
|
|
Moon, but wish to pursue it no farther. They are the Earth Mother's children,
|
|
as fully as are Her priests and priestesses. Their lives contribute as much as
|
|
ours to the re-creation of Pagan community, the restoration of ecological
|
|
sanity. A window is not opened by lifting one side.
|
|
|
|
Others of us find in active priesthood our life's work, our art form. We
|
|
will dedicate a larger proportion of our time and energy to the religion
|
|
itself. We are the producers of ritual and ceremony, not the consumers. Not
|
|
because we are better, holier, or more devoted; but because this is where our
|
|
talents, and our delight, seem to lie.
|
|
|
|
In our observation, people often spend some time exploring the community,
|
|
reading, attending public circles or festivals, perhaps creating personal
|
|
rituals or meditations for themselves. For some, this time of exploration
|
|
fosters a hunger. They wish to study more formally, explore more
|
|
systematically, aim for initiation into the priesthood of the Goddess.
|
|
|
|
In the old days, such people would have been initiated before being taught
|
|
anything of importance. The need for secrecy was so dire that even the simplest
|
|
information was withheld. Indeed, no public festivals or Pagan circles existed
|
|
as places of exploration and discovery. Probably we lost many potentially
|
|
talented leaders by having no adequate channels in; but however much we
|
|
diminished, this is how we survived. The time for simple survival, thankfully,
|
|
is past. Now is the time for re-seeding.
|
|
|
|
At the very end of the initiation, the candidate is declared to be "a
|
|
Witch and a Priest/ess." We were not willing in Proteus to make this
|
|
declaration before the Gods until the person had demonstrated to us their skill
|
|
and capacity as a ritual leader. Nor were we willing to allow a candidate to
|
|
make the commitment involved in accepting initiation until s/he had experienced
|
|
ritual leadership. We ask for a minimum year and a day of study, and
|
|
demonstration of competence by creating and conducting a Circle for our group.
|
|
There is enough material publicly available now that we can easily provide
|
|
this training without going into the oathbound rituals in our Book of Shadows.
|
|
|
|
This decision created its own problems. By withholding initiation for a
|
|
year, we were leaving an equally important life passage unmarked - the point at
|
|
which a person decides and formally begins to study for the priesthood. That
|
|
moment should surely be celebrated! Moreover, there are commitments short of
|
|
the initiatory oath that are appropriate at this point. What follows is our
|
|
first approximation of a pre-initiatory dedication ritual.
|
|
|
|
We more than welcome feedback from our family on this one. We plead for
|
|
it!
|
|
|
|
|
|
logistics:
|
|
|
|
In this model, one coven elder agrees to enter into an apprenticeship
|
|
relationship with the candidate. While this would most typically be the coven
|
|
leader of the opposite gender to the candidate's, there may be good reason to
|
|
choose some other elder instead. The decision is made by four people: the
|
|
candidate, the elder who will be primary teacher, and both coven leaders. We
|
|
recommend consulting with all elders of the coven if at all feasible.
|
|
|
|
We strongly recommend giving the candidate a list of the questions s/he
|
|
will be asked several days in advance, so s/he will know what commitments are
|
|
required before entering the Circle. We also recommend encouraging the
|
|
candidate to respond as fully as possible, rather than with a simple yes or no.
|
|
Elegant language is less important at this moment than giving the candidate the
|
|
opportunity to state her or his feelings and values within a Circle and before
|
|
the people whose company s/he aspires to join - and the exercise in personal
|
|
clarification that inheres in deciding what to say.
|
|
|
|
The ritual here presented can be elaborated, and we recommend it, as time
|
|
and inclination allow. Some examples: in addition to the ritual welcome, each
|
|
coven member might offer the candidate some advice, or a blessing, or some
|
|
personal statement about Witchcraft and the process of learning involved. Small
|
|
gifts - a crystal, a homemade dream pillow - might be offered as talismans for
|
|
the voyage of discovery now beginning. Cakes and wine, with toasts to the
|
|
new student, might follow.
|
|
|
|
|
|
ritual:
|
|
|
|
[in Circle, with all coven members present, and teaching elder at altar,
|
|
candidate steps to center carrying athame or other working tool]
|
|
|
|
elder: (c's name), what do you seek?
|
|
|
|
candidate: I seek to study Witchcraft. I ask you to teach me.
|
|
|
|
elder: Do you understand that Witchcraft is the priesthood of the Old Gods
|
|
and Old Ways of Nature, and that every Witch is a priestess or priest?
|
|
|
|
candidate: [respond]
|
|
|
|
elder: Do you understand that initiation into that priesthood will change
|
|
your life forever, in ways that you cannot now foresee?
|
|
|
|
candidate: [respond]
|
|
|
|
elder: Do you understand what priesthood requires: that, if you become a
|
|
Witch, you serve the Lady and the Lord by serving Their People, to the fullest
|
|
of your ability?
|
|
|
|
candidate: [respond]
|
|
|
|
elder: Knowing these things, do you want to study Witchcraft and its
|
|
related arts until you know enough to decide whether this is truly your Path?
|
|
|
|
candidate: [respond]
|
|
|
|
elder: Do you understand that Witchcraft is one of many means to serve the
|
|
Old Gods and awaken the Old Ways, and that even this is not your way after all,
|
|
you may learn and grow while you are here? Can you accept that the decision may
|
|
be no?
|
|
|
|
candidate: [respond]
|
|
|
|
elder: Teaching what I love is a great joy. But I can only teach in joy if
|
|
I know that what I love will be used and shared with care and honor. Before I
|
|
am willing to teach you, there are three things and a fourth that you must
|
|
promise to me:
|
|
|
|
Will you respect and protect the confidence of all who you meet in
|
|
the Circle and all who seek our aid, revealing their identities to no one
|
|
except by their explicit permission?
|
|
|
|
candidate: [respond]
|
|
|
|
elder: Will you practice and teach the Craft for love alone, using this
|
|
knowledge or teaching it only as a free gift, as I give it now to you, never
|
|
accepting payment for it in money or goods or labor?
|
|
|
|
candidate: [respond]
|
|
|
|
elder: Will you promise never to use what I teach you to affect another
|
|
person, avoiding not only baneful magic but all well-intentioned meddling,
|
|
unless you have that person's explicit permission?
|
|
|
|
candidate: [respond]
|
|
|
|
elder: And if time brings fullness, as all here hope and expect it will,
|
|
when you teach new students of your own, will you require these three pledges
|
|
of them, along with their pledge to similarly bind their own students, so that
|
|
all that spring from this line may be so pledged?
|
|
|
|
candidate: [respond]
|
|
|
|
elder: [ONLY PROCEEDING IF ALL RESPONSES HAVE BEEN AFFIRMATIVE] This
|
|
being so, I consent to teach you. This is how I value my labor - that I will
|
|
plant only good seed in good soil, to become fruit both sound and sweet. I
|
|
will teach you, I will learn from you, I will learn with you. So we begin by
|
|
exchanging our pledges. Place your hand on this athame and repeat after me:
|
|
|
|
I, (name), here and now pledge
|
|
To you (name), to the Gods,
|
|
to all in this Circle
|
|
And, most truly, to myself,
|
|
That I will explore the Path called Witchcraft
|
|
Its lore and its symbols;
|
|
its rituals and its deeper meanings
|
|
Sharing with you my joy in discovery
|
|
and all my doubts and qualms.
|
|
Exploring all questions with open mind and heart.
|
|
Until I know surely whether or not
|
|
I am for the priesthood
|
|
and Witchcraft is for me
|
|
In token of this pledge I swear
|
|
on this tool of my power
|
|
To devote myself, from this moment on,
|
|
to learning the ways of Witchcraft
|
|
|
|
[cover candidate's hand on tool with own hand]
|
|
And I make this pledge to you in return
|
|
|
|
For the lesser knowledge, which can be taught,
|
|
I will be your teacher.
|
|
For the greater knowledge, which must be discovered,
|
|
I will be your guide and your friend.
|
|
For the questions and perplexities of the path,
|
|
I will be your companion.
|
|
To answer when I may; or simply
|
|
to be silent as you seek your own answers
|
|
And when the time comes to choose
|
|
whether you will enter the priesthood,
|
|
I will share with you
|
|
all I have observed and thought.
|
|
And may the Gods prosper our work together.
|
|
|
|
Know that although I am your primary teacher, this Circle is not
|
|
made of the two of us alone. All here are dedicated to the Old Ways and each
|
|
has unique knowledge. All of us learn from and with each other. You, too, bring
|
|
the learning of a lifetime and the fresh insight of a beginner's questions.
|
|
Together we are more than the simple sum of each of us alone. Go around the
|
|
Circle, now, and accept each person's greetings.
|
|
|
|
coveners: [embrace candidate in turn and say] I am _______. I am your
|
|
friend. In time, I may be your sister (or brother).
|
|
|
|
candidate: [respond with same formula]
|
|
|
|
elder: [bless the athame or other working tool that candidate brought
|
|
into Circle]. I return this working tool to you with my blessing. Accept it,
|
|
as I have accepted your pledge. Use it now, as your first ritual act.
|
|
|
|
candidate: [go to each quarter and salute in any way s/he knows] Powers of
|
|
the East (South, West, North) I, ______, call on you to witness my pledge and
|
|
ask you to bless my time of exploration. [silent salute in East].
|
|
|
|
elder: -------, be welcome in the Circle! [embrace, almost certain to be
|
|
followed by group hug].
|
|
|
|
all: SO MOTE IT BE!
|
|
|
|
|
|
STUDENT'S PLEDGE - alternative versions
|
|
from Coven Risingstar
|
|
|
|
|
|
#1
|
|
|
|
And the need cannot be denied,
|
|
for I am the Mother's child
|
|
And have come back to the forsaken ways
|
|
|
|
Teach me, Lady Queen*,
|
|
Child of our Mother,
|
|
The words of respect She would have us know,
|
|
The rituals by which we worship
|
|
Her Who birthed us of Herself.
|
|
Guide me in the Way
|
|
That nurtures all and harms none
|
|
As I seek to regain that
|
|
which was lost so long ago.
|
|
|
|
And, finally,
|
|
walk beside me as Sister, (or Brother)
|
|
for we are both children of the Mother
|
|
|
|
|
|
#2
|
|
|
|
And the need cannot be denied'
|
|
for I am the Mother's child,
|
|
and have come back to the Ways of Old
|
|
|
|
Teach me, Lady Queen*,
|
|
Child of our Mother,
|
|
The words of respect She would have us know
|
|
The rituals by which we worship
|
|
Her who birthed us out of Herself
|
|
Guide me as I seek what no other can teach me,
|
|
that which is mine but so long denied.
|
|
|
|
And, finally, walk beside me as Sister (or Brother)
|
|
We are both children of our Mother.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
* I think I would substitute something like "Teach me, Elder Priest/ess"
|
|
or, better yet, simply "Teach me, friend" for this line. - Judy
|
|
|