Beltane Group Ritual

[Helen Milano]

Earth


Earth, matter made from rock and soil. It is pulled by the moon as the magma
circulates through the planet heart and roots suck molecules into biology.
Earth pours through us, replacing each cell in the body every seven years.
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, we ingest, incorporate, and excrete the earth, are
made from earth.
I am that. You are that. So mote it be.

Water

Water - blood, lymph, mucus, sweat, tears, inner oceans tugged by the moon,
tides within, and tides without.
Streaming fluids floating our cells, washing and nourishing through endless river
ways of gut and vein and capillary.
Moisture pouring in and through and out of you, of me, in the vast poem of the
hydrological cycle.
You are that. I am that. So mote it be!

Air

Air the gaseous realm, the atmosphere, the planet's membrane.
The inhale, and the exhale. Breathing out carbon dioxide to the trees and
breathing in their fresh exudations.
Oxygen kissing each cell awake, atoms dancing in orderly metabolism,
interpenetrating.
That dance of the air cycle, breathing the universe in and out again, is what you
are, is what I am. So mote it be.

Fire

Fire, from our sun that fuels all life, drawing up plants and raising water to the
sky to fall again replenishing.
The inner furnace of your metabolism burns with the fire of the Big Bang that
first sent matter-energy spinning through space and time.
And the same fire as the lightning that flashed into the primordial soup catalyzing
the birth of organic life.

Preliminary to the invocation of the Gods, the Priest says:

You were there, I was there, for each cell of our bodies is descended in an
unbroken chain from the beginning of life, each atom of our bodies was created
in the foundries of the stars, the stuff of which first formed at the Big Bang.
Through the desire of atom for molecule, of molecule for cell, of cell to organism.
In that spawning of forms death was born, sex was born, before we divided from
the plant realm.
So in our sexuality we can feel the ancient stirrings that connect us with the planet
and all of life. We come from an unbroken chain ­ through fish learning to walk
the land, feeling fins turning to wings, to legs.
We come from Gaea, We are of Gaea. Great Mother, Gaea. Queen of Earth.
Great Goddess Come to us.
Before plants grew, or fish swam. Before mountains rose or water ran. There
was Gaea. She was before time. She was alone in the timeless span before
creation, she existed to herself, and of herself alone. Gaea desired love, and for
this purpose she formed from herself a lover, she formed the over arching
heavens, Uranus.
From her union with the heavens came all of creation. we are all made from
Gaia.

All Chant:

She's been waiting waiting She's been waiting so long, She's been waiting for her
children to remember to return. repeat....

Great Queen whose passion molded the heavens, We who are the fruit of thy
passion invoke thee.
Bestow upon this gathering thy abundance. Grant us your passion and your
creativity. For we are of you.
We are formed of your body. What life we have is your life. We are part of you.

Gaea advancing from the east.

I have many names: Gaea I am, and Demeter. In the east I am known as Kwan
Yin.
The wind is my breath, the rain my blood, the heat of the sun is the fire of my
life. Know that I am in you and you are in me.
For I am divided for love's sake, for the chance of union. I formed my lover from
myself.
From our union all life came. But he became estranged, He forgot that we are
one, he sought mastery and control, but all he found was separateness and
isolation.
His separateness is his sterility, his castration. Know that when you love, it is me
that you love; when you desire it is me that you desire; but know also that when
you hate, when you despise, it is yourself that you hate, yourself that you
despise.
Let us celebrate this season of birth and passion, but remember that all of us are
entwined.

Takes the cup of wine, makes a cross and says:


Drink this wine, fruit of my body, my blood. May it raise your passions and that
you find love.

Passes wine to the circle, takes up the cakes and says:


Eat these cakes for they are my body that you may become strong that you may
fulfill your passion.
Two of you will find tokens in the cakes, while all have my favor you two are
chosen to lead this gathering in the celebration of our connectedness, for as you
dance around the maypole the ribbons will be woven together just as your lives
are woven together in this web of life. So mote it be!

The Chosen couple lead the may dance.

All chant

At the end elements are dismissed:

Fire

Thank you for your energy, for your heat and warmth.
Go if you must, stay if you will. Hail and Farewell.

Air

Thank you for the breath that allows us to live, for your oxygen that allows us to
live.
Go if you must, stay if you will, Hail and Farewell.

Water

Thank you for your fluidity, for our thirst
Go if you must, stay if you will. Hail and farewell.

Earth

Thank you for bring substance to our lives. For grounding this rite in your being
Go if you must, stay if you will, Hail and Farewell.

The circle is open

Feast

[Billie]

Thanks your doing good and posting alot

[Alex Warren]

samhain, lumhnasa, beltane are all Irish words woo hoo up the irish. lol. happy to celebrate my wiccan hritage. lol

[Billie]

lol are you a wiccan ? Alex? we do have some on here

[Alex Warren]

no i'm not well I never really tried it. really real wiccan. thats cool. how bout you.

[Billie]

no i would like to be it would be really cool

[Phoebe Halliwell]

helen you did loads on the elements well done ;D

[Helen Milano]

thanks and I'll admit I am one of the wiccans on here and happy to answer any questions on wicca lol

[Billie]

yea i have a question what is a wiccan i know its a werid one but is it a wich?? or just someone that does spells?

[Helen Milano]

1) What is Wicca?

A: Wicca, sometimes called "The Craft of the Wise" is one of many earth-based religions. The religion which is closest to Wicca in America is probably Native American Shamanism. Traditional Wicca was founded by Gerald Gardner, a British civil servant, who wrote a series of books on the religion in the 1940's. It contains references to Celtic deities, symbols, seasonal days of celebration, etc. Added to this were components of ceremonial magic and practices of the Masonic Order. A more recent form is Eclectic Wicca which involves a combination of Wiccan beliefs and practices, combined with other Pagan and non-Pagan elements. The various traditions of Wicca are part of the Pagan or Neopagan group of earth-based religions.

2)Whom do Wiccans worship?

A: Many Wiccans believe in a deity that is largely unknowable -- sometimes called "The One" or "Spirit". However, they believe that they can comprehend the male and female aspects of the deity, whom they call the God and the Goddess. There is a belief that the deities of the ancient pantheons such as the Greek, Roman, Celtic, and Etc. are simply one aspect of "Spirit" and when one of these is called upon you are still worshipping "Spirit".

3)Is Wicca a form of Satanism?

A: NO! Wiccans do not believe in Satan or Hell as they believe that to give evil a name and a form is to invite it into existence and that man creates enough evil himself without giving it a seperate form.

4)Do Wiccans use magick to harm others?

A: No, as the Wiccan Rede states, " An it harm none, do what thou wilt.", which simply put means that as long as your magick does not harm yourself or others then do what you wish with it. To harm others or to coerce their free wil would be strictly forbidden. Also the following would apply to harmful magick- Three-Fold Law: "All good that a person does to another returns three-fold in this life; harm is also returned three-fold." You wouldn't want to harm another another just to have it come back at you three times as hard.

5)Isn't the Pentagram/Pentacle a Satanic symbol?

A: No, the Pentagram is an ancient Pagan symbol that sometimes is used to represent the 5 points of the human body with arms and legs outstreched and has been used by many religions thoughout history. The Satanists inverted this symbol and adopted it as their own but the upright pentacle is not Satanic.

6)Do Wiccans have a Bible?

A: No. A bible is more like the word of a deity revealed through a prophet. Witchcraft is a Pagan folk-religion of personal experience. Witchcraft in the old times was much the same as the beliefs of the Gnostics, Druids, and many other religions. The teachings were passed along by spoken word through long periods of personal instruction with an Elder of the Craft. This approach was taken because the power and knowledge could be misused in the wrong hands. Therefore, by using only the spoken word, the old masters could ensure those who wished to follow the path had a true understanding and their hearts were in the right place as their knowledge of the mysteries grew. Unfortunately, when the medieval church began its attempts to convert and eliminate rival belief systems, the teachers were either killed outright or went underground resulting in much of the ancient knowledge being lost. These days Wiccans are still seeking this knowledge to rebuild their history and the Craft itself.
A Book of Shadows could be considered a bible in a generalized manner. A BOS is more like a workbook, journal, or diary, meaningful to the person who keeps it. This book contains rituals, discoveries, spells, poetry, herb lore, etc. Covens almost always keep a similar group book.

7)Can I be both Wiccan AND Christian?

A: Generally no. You would have to bend the rules of Christianity to conform to being a Wiccan and therefore you could not be truly considered a Christian once you did that. Some of the main belief differences for Wiccans and Christians are as follows.

• Wicca has generally accepted the equality of men and women. Christianity has historically reserved positions of power in the church, the rest of society and the family for males.
  
  
• Wicca regards responsible sexual behavior as a gift of the Goddess. Christianity has tended to have a negative and restrictive view of sexual behavior.
  
  
• Wicca generally accepts all sexual orientations as normal and natural: heterosexual, homosexual and bisexual.
  
  
• Wicca is largely an oral tradition, and has no holy text that corresponds to the Christian Bible.
  
  
• Most Wiccans reject the concept of Heaven and Hell, and embrace reincarnation. The concept that a person must believe certain things or behave in a certain way to achieve salvation and avoid being tortured in Hell for all eternity is foreign to Wicca.
  
  
• Wiccans feel close to nature and are highly concerned about its preservation.
  
  
• Wiccans do not attempt to convert. In particular, they do not usually dedicate, teach, or initiate potential Wiccans unless they are 18 years or older and are able to make an informed decision of their own free will.
  
  
• Where possible, and where safe, Wiccans prefer to perform their rituals out-of-doors.
  

[Phoebe Halliwell]

WHAOOOOOOOO the took ages to read but really worth it

[Alex Warren]

wow that is really interesting. I never knew there was so much involved.

[Helen Milano]

Lol if you do't want a lot to read I'd suggest not asking about herbs or dream reading. However I love them both. Oh I also have a lot of stuff about crystals aswell.

[Billie]

cool so much info so how i can become one?

[Helen Milano]

Most wiccians have an initiation then study for a year and a day then have a full dedication. This can be done in a coven or by yourself.