About the Author Deborah Lipp has been teaching Wicca, magic, and the occult for nearly forty years. She became a Witch and High Priestess in the 1980s, as an initiate of the Gardnerian tradition of Wicca. She has appeared in a wide range of Pagan media, including WitchLit, Lunatic Mondays, Desperate House Witches, Llewellyn’s Magical Almanac, and Green Egg. She has lectured on Pagan and occult topics on three continents. As an active “out of the closet” member of the Pagan community, Deborah has appeared in various media discussing Wicca, including Coast to Coast AM radio, an A&E documentary (Ancient Mysteries: Witchcraft in America), television talk shows, and the New York Times. As a pop culture writer, she’s perhaps best known as the co-founder of Basket of Kisses, the premier Mad Men blog. She is also a contributor to Mad Men Carousel by Matthew Zoller Seitz. In “real life” Deborah is a technology systems professional. She lives with her spouse, Melissa, and an assortment of cats in Jersey City, NJ, three blocks from a really great view of Freedom Tower. Deborah reads and teaches Tarot, solves and designs puzzles, watches old movies, hand-paints furniture, and dabbles in numerous handcrafts. Follow her @DebLippAuthor on Twitter and Instagram.
Llewellyn Publications Woodbury, Minnesota
The Elements of Ritual: Air, Fire, Water, and Earth in the Wiccan Circle Copyright © 2003, 2024 by Deborah Lipp. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, including internet usage, without written permission from Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd., except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. First Edition 2003, eight printings Second Edition, Revised and Expanded, 2024. First Printing Cover design by Verlynda Pinckney Interior art by Llewellyn Art Department Llewellyn Publications is a registered trademark of Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd. Photography is used for illustrative purposes only. The persons depicted may not endorse or represent the book’s subject. “The Lady of the Evening” poem on pages 162–63 from Diane Wolkstein and Samuel Noah Kramer’s Inanna, Queen of Heaven and Earth reprinted with permission. Excerpt from “The Witches’ Rune” by Doreen Valiente on page 52 reprinted with permission. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data (to come) ISBN: 978-0-7387-7550-0
Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd. does not participate in, endorse, or have any authority or responsibility concerning private business transactions between our authors and the public. All mail addressed to the author is forwarded, but the publisher cannot, unless specifically instructed by the author, give out an address or phone number. Any internet references contained in this work are current at publication time, but the publisher cannot guarantee that a specific location will continue to be maintained. Please refer to the publisher’s website for links to authors’ websites and other sources. Llewellyn Publications A Division of Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd. 2143 Wooddale Drive Woodbury, MN 55125-2989 www.llewellyn.com Printed in the United States of America
Other Books by Deborah Lipp The Way of Four: Create Elemental Balance in Your Life (Llewellyn, 2004; reissued by Crossed Crow Books, 2023) The Way of Four Spellbook: Working Magic with the Elements (Llewellyn, 2006; reissued as Magic of the Elements by Crossed Crow Books, 2023) The Study of Witchcraft: A Guidebook to Advanced Wicca (Red Wheel/Weiser, 2007) The Ultimate James Bond Fan Book (Sterling and Ross, 2006; currently self-published) Merry Meet Again: Lessons, Life & Love on the Path of a Wiccan High Priestess (Llewellyn, 2013) Tarot Interactions: Become More Intuitive, Psychic & Skilled at Reading Cards (Llewellyn, 2015) Magical Power For Beginners: How to Raise & Send Energy for Spells That Work (Llewellyn, 2017) The Complete Book of Spells: Wiccan Spells for Healing, Protection, and Celebration (Rockridge Press, 2020) The Beginner’s Guide to the Occult: Understanding the History, Key Concepts, and Practices of the Supernatural (Rockridge Press, 2021) Bending the Binary: Polarity Magic in a Nonbinary World (Llewellyn, 2023)
For Susan Carberry Dedicated High Priestess and mentor, beloved friend … I owe every word to you.
Contents List of Illustrations … xi Acknowledgments … xiii Acknowledgments to the New Edition … xv Foreword by Thorn Mooney … xvii Introduction to the New Edition … 1 Chapter 1: The Wiccan Circle Step-by-Step … 7 The Steps of Ritual … 9 Alternate Steps of Ritual … 10 Chapter 2: The Four Elements … 13 The Universe in a Nutshell … 13 The Qualities of the Elements … 14 Where Do the Elements Come From? … 22 Alchemy and the Elements … 24 Is There a Fifth Element? … 24 The Elements of Religion … 27 Elemental Structure of This Book … 28 Chapter 3: Preliminary Steps … 31 Alternate Order … 31 Preparation … 31 Grounding and Centering … 74 Declared Opening and Stated Purpose … 82 Chapter 4: Making the Ritual Space … 87 Alternate Order … 87 Sacred Preparations … 87 Casting the Circle: Making the Space … 103 Calling the Quarters … 119 Chapter 5: The Center … 143 Alternate Order … 144 The Steps … 145
x Contents
Invoking the Gods … 145 Giving Offerings to the Gods … 173 Raising the Cone of Power … 195 Cakes and Wine (Receiving the Blessings of the Gods) … 198 Using the Blessings … 233 Chapter 6: Closing the Circle … 243 Alternate Steps … 244 When to Close the Circle … 244 Thanking the Gods and Dismissing the Quarters … 244 The Final Steps in Closing the Circle … 254 After the Circle Is Over … 261 Chapter 7: A Ritual Script … 265 Preparation … 265 Grounding and Centering … 266 Clearing the Space … 268 Declared Opening and Stated Purpose … 268 Sacred Preparations … 268 Casting the Circle: Making the Space … 270 Calling the Quarters … 272 Invoking the Gods … 274 Giving Offerings to the Gods … 274 Cakes and Wine (Receiving the Blessings of the Gods) … 276 Using the Blessings … 278 Thanking the Gods … 279 Dismissing the Quarters … 280 Uncasting the Circle and Declared Ending/Reconnecting to Earth … 281 Conclusion … 283 References and Bibliography … 285 Index … 289
Illustrations Aristotle’s Four Essences … 23 Alchemical Elemental Symbols … 24 Pentagram, with Spirit on Top … 25 Alchemical Squared Circle: The Symbol of the Philosopher’s Stone … 27 Shiva Nataraja … 51 Yin-Yang Symbol … 56 Ankh … 63 Pentagram for Invoking and Banishing … 94 Spherical Circle (With One Person’s Head Sticking Out) … 108 Egg-Shaped Circle (Fully Enveloping All Participants) … 108 Incomplete Circle … 128 Pentagon … 135 The “Venus” of Willendorf … 165 Energy Peak … 178 Coven Standing Around the Altar … 186 Blocking for Cakes and Wine … 217
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Acknowledgments There are more people to thank than I can possibly name. Everyone I have ever done ritual with has made a substantial contribution to this book—if I tried to name you all, I’d surely omit someone. For starters, all the members, friends, and guests of Stormcircle Grove— even if you only attended one circle, I promise I remember you! Also, the members, friends, and guests of the Jersey Shore Pagan Way, Circle Web, Primavera Grove, Gnosis Heart Grove, Coven of the Fiery Swans of Bhrighid, and Coven Lotus Flower. Special thanks are due to Barbara Giacalone, Nial Hartnett, Constance Doane, Lesley Carey, and Isaac Bonewits, all of whom performed rituals that influenced me strongly, and from all of whom I may have stolen inspiration. Nial and Isaac also read portions of this book for me. Janet Farrar gave brief but appreciated help. Patricia Monaghan has been my friend and role model. Donald Michael Kraig and the late Scott Cunningham did more than encourage me to write, they demanded it. Thanks, too, to Jeff Rosenbaum and the folks at A.C.E., who have been making space for me to teach for darn near twenty years. Thanks to my brother Daniel Goldfisher, you have been an invaluable source of legal advice as well as general support. Triple portions of thanks to Isaac Bonewits, who has taught me so much, and who has been as understanding and helpful as it is possible for an ex-husband to be. My daughter has tolerated more than any child should, with two parents echoing that same refrain, “Not now, dear, I’m writing.” The fact that she admires my work makes me very proud.
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Acknowledgments to the New Edition Elysia Gallo, my editor and friend, gets the first acknowledgment because she was excited about the idea of doing this and got me committed to it before I realized I was in over my head. Clever woman! In looking at the original acknowledgments, I feel my heartstrings pull, seeing that Isaac Bonewits, Patricia Monaghan, Donald Michael Kraig, and Jeff Rosenbaum have all passed away since the first publication of this book. I miss them all deeply. May their memories be always for a blessing. May they return, and remember, and may I love them again. Thanks are owed to Skip Ellison, who gave me the Tarot reading described in the introduction. Most of the covens I acknowledged are also no longer in existence. It’s the nature of Wicca to change and grow, and that means some things cease to exist, in the service of new things arising from their ashes. Today, I am indebted to the members and guests of Anahata Wiccan Grove, Temenos Praesepe, Acorn Garden Grove, and the Queens Coven, among others. I want to especially thank Carrie Tron-Marraccini, Vicki Bloom, and Shane Mason for their ritual skills and knowledge, which I have soaked in to the best of my ability. I work full-time at a day job, walk away from the computer long enough to eat and stretch, and get back to the desk to write. Thus I must always and eternally thank Professor Spouse. She not only tolerates me, she brags about me. And feeds me, which is no small boon.
xv
FOREWORD by Thorn Mooney
The late 1900s was a wild time for anyone trying to be a Wiccan. Especially if you happened to be a young person with relatively limited means, few resources, and no (near as you could tell) actual Wiccans to tell you what was what. Access to the internet was limited until the very end of the last decade, and there were comparatively few books to choose from. Imagine, if you weren’t there, developing an intense curiosity—maybe the result of something you saw in a movie, or because you were having weird experiences out in the woods or while playing with a deck of tarot cards you found at a garage sale—and not having anyone to ask about it. Maybe not even knowing that it was Wicca you were looking for. It might take ten minutes to load one of the eight or nine websites you’d found, and you sort of just had to trust that the information there was reliable. It probably wasn’t, but it was also probably the best anyone could do at the time. We learned from the few books that we had, recycled that information on our own websites (I spent countless hours on mine … it was beautiful, I promise), and hoped that older, more experienced practitioners would season what we knew with anecdotes from the past. Most scholars weren’t taking Paganism, Wicca, witchcraft, and magic as a whole very seriously, which meant that there was very little reliable historical information to know, so we turned to myth, romance, art, and intuition (and we got plenty wrong). If we were lucky, we made it onto listservs where coven leaders, initiates, and other sorts of potential mentors and teachers hung out. What we didn’t know we filled in with our best guesses and trial-and-error. I accidentally started a fire trying my first spell, and I was dead convinced that Wicca was the ancestral tradition of my Celtic ancestors. It sounds funny now, I know, but I really can’t overstate the depth of my longing for magic at that time. It was something a lot of us were experiencing—thousands of us. And most of us felt very alone in that longing.
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xviii Foreword by Thorn Mooney
Now imagine the relief that came with the increased access available only a few short years later. More books, faster internet connections, more websites, and eventually social media. There was also a wider variety of witchcrafts (including Wiccan witchcrafts) to choose from and learn about. Historians, anthropologists, sociologists, and religious studies scholars all began to share what they had painstakingly gathered, and we knew more about our past. More and more experienced practitioners began to write books, and the markets for those books expanded. There were more festivals, open rituals, and conferences. It was infinitely easier to connect with others, to share our paths, and learn from each other, especially if we were solitary. The downside for folks coming in later was that the seemingly infinite number of choices was overwhelming. And that’s only become more true today. It’s a wonderful problem to have. While I will always be grateful to the authors of my first books—who inspired me, made me feel seen, and pointed the way—it was the authors of my next books that really shaped me into the practitioner I am today. Those authors who were equipped with both their own deep wells of firsthand experience, coupled with the rigor that our rapidly changing magical communities were coming to demand. It was they who helped me move beyond the unsureness of being a beginner and into the confidence of an actual practice. When I had learned more and was starting to hit walls, to ask deeper questions, and to develop my own convictions as a practitioner, it was this new wave of teachers whose books I turned to. At the fore of that group was Deborah Lipp. Deborah Lipp’s books were some of the first to ask for more from me as a practitioner. She wasn’t the sort to just hand you a ritual or a set of magical instructions and send you on your way, with nothing but creativity and hope for the best to push you along. As a reader, I felt respected by Deborah Lipp. She knew I could handle more. She knew I wanted to know the whys behind what I was doing, and also where things had come from. She shared her experiences, her sources, and her insights, as well as her critiques. She was quick to point out where people had been wrong in the past, or where we could collectively do better. She wanted to see Wicca presented as the cohesive, profound tradition that it was, and it’s because of her that so many of us stuck around when we began craving something beyond those first exciting inklings of magic. When the initial shine gave way to something that felt more like hard work, Deborah Lipp handed me a toolbox. The Elements of Ritual explains the whys and hows that get left out of so many books about Wiccan magic. Lipp touches on the questions that plague so many beginners: What exactly are we summoning in circle? How do we make adjustments according to our own
Foreword by Thorn Mooney xix
circumstances? What do people mean when they say Wicca is a “fertility religion”? How do you begin writing your own rituals? At the same time, she challenges experienced practitioners to really think deeply about all of those ingrained actions that maybe we’ve never interrogated before. A lot can happen in twenty years, and the way we talk about Wicca has shifted substantially. Deborah Lipp has continued to be a pillar in our community. The circle is foundational in Wicca—a map of the universe itself. Here, then, is your compass. Thorn Mooney June 2023, Raleigh, North Carolina
Introduction to the New Edition
If this is your first time reading The Elements of Ritual, welcome to the pages of a book I love. If you’re revisiting an old friend, welcome back. I want to say, “I cannot believe it’s been over twenty years since The Elements of Ritual came out!” In a way, that’s very true, I can’t believe it. In a way, I can totally believe it—I’ve lived every day of those twenty-plus years. And in a way, it feels like even longer. The Elements of Ritual was my first book. I wanted so badly to write a book, and I spent so long trying to write one and failing. My first “book” was based on a theory that I had, and I did so much research that I disproved my own theory. That was no fun at all. I then spent years trying to turn the remaining pieces into a good book anyway. I was determined to write a book before I turned forty. Finally, a Tarot reading told me to scrap it entirely and start something new. I started a book—I don’t even remember what that one was— but got enticed by the first one, and was soon back to being bogged down in a tangle of disconnected paragraphs that would never become anything. While I was staring at the mess, the outline to The Elements of Ritual came to me all at once, in a single stroke, so fast I could barely write it down. Once I had the outline, it was easy. Ten years of spinning my wheels and getting nowhere, and then in (exactly) nine months, The Elements of Ritual was conceived, gestated, and born—before I turned forty (although it was published after that milestone). There are a lot of things that have changed in the last twenty years: things in Wicca and the occult, things in the world, things in me. It was tricky to determine how many of those changes should be reflected in a new edition. I updated a lot, but it turns out that if I sat down to write The Elements of Ritual today, it would be a different book. That’s natural, I suppose—I’ve grown and changed in two decades, as well I should have. But I don’t want this to be a different book, just an updated one. The Elements of Ritual is much beloved, and 1
2 Introductiuon to the New Edition
I don’t want to change its DNA, just grow it up a little (or a lot). You can decide for yourself if I’ve succeeded. Wicca has changed enormously since the first edition of this book. In the public mind, it has gone from something either unknown or mistaken for Satanism to something most people have at least heard of, and may be bemused by. From evil to cute in twenty years. Of course, the Wicca that I practice is neither evil nor cute, but public perception has never been reality. It’s not just for outsiders that there’s been change. Wicca was a much larger percentage of the Pagan/occult/polytheistic community in 2003 that it is today in 2023. Nonetheless, I knew plenty of non-Wiccan Pagans and occultists back then. When I wrote the book, I made a conscious decision to do a deep dive into the form of Paganism I knew best, which was and is Wicca. There were too few “deep dive” books and too many lighter books for everyone, in my estimation. I think there’s value in reading The Elements of Ritual even if you’re not Wiccan, because the approach, the idea of how to look at ritual, translates across many paths, yet I stand by my decision to write deeply about one particular path. In 2003, the internet was a newer thing, and social media didn’t exist. Seekers after Wicca were heavily dependent on books, and almost every book on the market was an introductory text—“Wicca 101.” It sure felt to me, as a reader, that I was reading the same book, with a different cover and a different author, over and over. Yet there was so much that remained unsaid. The Elements of Ritual was my attempt to say it. In order to describe details and depth, it was necessary to take a stand: Wicca is this and not that. This remains true. You can’t just randomly assign the word “Wicca” (or indeed, any word) to any ol’ thing and have it make sense. As a wise person once said, words mean things. “Wicca” means something. In the 1970s and 1980s, it was very common to see the ritual style of Wicca used in Pagan rituals that were not Wiccan. This has largely, but not entirely, fallen away. We definitely live in an occult world in which people call things Wicca that are not, and people do Wiccan things while stating it’s not Wicca. It can all get kind of muddy, and undermines my commitment to words meaning things. So, let’s see if a list helps. Here are some defining features of Wicca: • Rituals use a cast circle that is considered an enclosed space. • Ritual tools are placed on the altar, including a personal knife known as an “athame.”
Introduction to the New Edition 3
• Four quarters are called in the four directions, almost always corresponding to the four elements. (There may be additional directions summoned, and a fifth element of Spirit might be used.) • Rituals are lunar (“esbats”) and solar (“sabbats”). • Holidays (sabbats) are part of the “Wheel of the Year,” which is almost always eight holidays consisting of the solstices, equinoxes, and the “cross-quarter” days that fall halfway between each (that is, Beltane—May 1st—is about halfway between the Spring Equinox and Summer Solstice, and so on around the wheel). • Wicca has always venerated both female and male energies, and is today likely to venerate nonbinary energy as well. In general, either rituals place women in positions of authority, or authority and leadership in rituals are gender-neutral. • Theology is either duotheistic or polytheistic, but always includes the divine feminine—one or more goddesses. That’s basically it. Traditional Wicca is initiatory, with initiation passed from an already initiated person, and that initiation generally includes an oath of secrecy. But nontraditional (a.k.a. “eclectic”) Wicca will usually have no such rules, and there are far more eclectic than traditional Wiccans. Some Wiccans consider the “Wiccan Rede” (“An’ it harm none, do what you will”) to be a firm law that may not be broken and an essential part of Wicca, but many others do not. (The word “rede” means “advice,” not “law.”) The use of the word “Witchcraft” as synonymous with “Wicca” was the norm twenty years ago. Witches were many things then, as they are now, but this usage was completely accepted since Wicca was almost the only form of witchcraft you’d see in the Pagan/Neopagan/occult community. In the original edition of this book, where I used “Witchcraft” as a synonym for the religion of Wicca, I used a capital W, since names of religions are always capitalized; whereas when I used the word to refer to the practice of witchcraft, I did not capitalize. Nowadays, the subtle distinction between Witchcraft and witchcraft doesn’t make sense. There are a lot of Pagans and others who practice witchcraft but not Wicca. This was unusual twenty years ago but ordinary today. I’ve searched for and corrected that usage, and have generally looked for more modern ways of describing Wiccan, Pagan, and witchcraft practices. I will still refer to Wiccans as witches, since that is common within Wicca, and since Wicca is accurately understood as a type of Pagan witchcraft.
4 Introductiuon to the New Edition
The first edition of The Elements of Ritual largely used a model of Wicca in which “the Lord and the Lady” were represented by a male High Priest and a female High Priestess in most rituals. These deities were understood to be embodiments of polarity as expressed through gender. Today, I have a more complex understanding of polarity, and indeed have written a book on the subject.1 In addition, almost everyone has a more complex understanding of gender. Many Wiccans no longer practice in the way I describe above; they may have multiple officiants who may or may not have titles like Priest or Priestess. They may work with deities unrelated to polarity, although most will have one god and one goddess as the primary deities in each ritual. (This is true even in same-sex groups. Men’s covens—usually queer—will almost invariably have both goddess and god on the altar; same-sex women’s groups may have one or more goddesses, and may or may not include a god.) Many other Wiccans do continue to practice with a male Priest and a female Priestess, although most will have an understanding that “male” and “female” refer to the identity of the person, and not necessarily their body parts. To accommodate these newer understandings, I have adapted and updated several, but not all, sample rituals. I have noted where “Priest” and “Priestess” might be replaced by different titles, and where deities might be different than described. I have, though, left the majority intact and left it to the reader to make their own adaptations as they see fit. The sensibility of Lord and Lady, and Priest and Priestess, was so much a part of the original edition that changing it too much risked turning this into an entirely unrecognizable book. To be more gender-inclusive, I have also changed most pronouns to the singular “they/them,” unless I am referring to a specific individual of a specific gender. In addition to adding nuance to gender and polarity, I added a lot of new material to this edition. This includes historical material on the four elements, occultism, and alchemy. Significantly, I’ve added a lot about alternate steps used in ritual, other than the ones I present. Some of this is merely a change in order, and an expanded discussion on why that change is used, and some are additional steps. Some of this has been incorporated into the sample ritual script that constitutes chapter 7. I’ve modernized little things throughout, so that you’re no longer reading about cassette tapes and movies on VHS. It felt silly not to. A word on cultural appropriation: In 2003, the occult community was certainly discussing cultural appropriation, but that discussion has become more nuanced and more widespread. At the time, I knew many people who were practicing Neopaganism (Wicca or 1. Lipp, Bending the Binary (Woodbury, MN: Llewellyn, 2023).
Introduction to the New Edition 5
otherwise) blended with traditions from other cultures, such as Native ones. At the time, I advised readers to seek qualified Native teachers. This no longer seems sufficient. Native tribes generally object—often strongly—to non-Natives using their traditions. It is respectful and appropriate, then, to avoid appropriating their language, customs, and objects for Wicca and other European-rooted practices. There were a few references in the original edition that have been removed based on a more up-to-date understanding. There are also a lot of references to Hinduism in the original edition, and most of those remain. Since there are over a billion Hindus in the world, it’s impossible to say how Hindus in general feel about anything—there’s enormous diversity in a population that size. Many Hindus recognize modern Paganism as a kindred practice, while many others do not. I have attended several mandirs (Hindu temples) in the US and India, and have always found everyone welcoming, provided I was respectful—the temples are open to all. But Hindus, and indeed many other traditions, might be uncomfortable seeing their gods shoehorned into a foreign ritual, such as a Wiccan circle. There was a habit in many Neopagan traditions, including Wicca, of treating gods in a kind of “plug and play” manner, inserting any deity into any ritual. In chapter 5, I discuss the nature of gods at some length. Your experience of who they are is, of course, your own, but my sense is that, whoever they are, they should be treated respectfully. Hindu deities, for example, are respectfully worshiped in a puja, not a Wiccan circle. In the last twenty years, some of the people I referred to in the first edition passed away, and I have edited the text to refer to them as dead rather than as living. Other people I referred to have transitioned their gender, and I reference them now by their correct names and genders. In 2019, Susan Carberry, to whom this book is dedicated, passed into the Summerland. She was my first and most important teacher in the Craft, a true High Priestess. She seemed unassuming when you first met her, but she had an astonishing charisma. She could announce to her group that we were going to a festival, or a flea market, or the beach, and everyone would show up, no questions asked. I’ve never been able to match that kind of magnetism. She was funny and smart, opinionated and gossipy. She left home at sixteen and built a life for herself through hard work and a voracious appetite for knowledge. She had an enormous library and read everything. There will never be anyone in my life to replace her. May her rebirth bring her to me, to love her again. Deborah Lipp September 2023, Jersey City, New Jersey
Chapter One
The Wiccan Circle Step-by-step
Wicca is one of the fastest-growing religions around. Interest increases every year, and information, once scanty, is everywhere. Walk into any bookstore and you’ll find two dozen books that tell you how to cast a Wiccan circle. Probably because most of these are still geared toward the beginner, they don’t really bother to tell you why. The Elements of Ritual takes a unique approach to ritual. When you finish reading it, you’ll know far more than how to cast a circle (and how not to cast a circle). You’ll know what every step of the circle-casting ceremony means, why it’s there, and what it accomplishes. You’ll know several alternative approaches to each step, and you’ll be empowered to write your own effective, powerful ceremonies using sound magical, theological, and pragmatic principles and avoiding common mistakes. Every Wiccan ritual follows a pattern, and that pattern exists for a purpose. The ritual flows from one step to the next, and each step, and the order of steps, makes sense and is part of a cohesive whole. The reason for this is simple—a Wiccan circle casting exists in the context of an entire religion. A religion should be consistent, functioning as a whole. Its rituals should flow from its theology, its theology should flow from its myth, and vice versa, all around in a circle of wholeness. Certainly there are religions out there—even very popular ones—that are jury-rigged together like the engines of the Enterprise (“I can barely hold her together, Captain!”). There are theological doctrines that seem to be little more than ex post facto justifications for meaningless or questionable practices. There are saints who were invented by the Church to justify the worship of Pagan deities who predated them. I think any religion that cobbles itself together like that is at risk of collapsing under its own weight. Many religions, though, feel they have no choice, being unwilling to adjust established or entrenched practices or beliefs. Sometimes belief outstrips ritual; sometimes 7
8 Chapter 1
either of them outstrips myth. Historically, dominant or invader religions have absorbed local or conquered religions—and the result limps around with a third leg. The ancient Egyptians struggled to create an overarching system based on dozens and dozens of local cults and hundreds of years of gradual changes, and the results contradicted themselves in innumerable ways. In Wicca, we’re in the unique position of having options. We can tailor the ritual to be more consistent with what we actually believe. We can adapt the ritual to the stories we tell. We can reexamine our beliefs in light of our practices or our stories. We can bring all these religious activities together in harmony. Ritual should be consistent with the religion of which it’s a part. Ritual should also be consistent with itself. It should be obvious, but perhaps is not, that to enact a ritual is to make a statement—in fact, to string together a series of statements. Some of these are statements of belief, some are statements of intention, and some are statements of mood. Those statements should not contradict each other. I should not say “This is solemn” and “This is silly” in the same sentence (unless I’m doing a ritual about paradox). I should not say “There is only one Goddess” and “There are many goddesses, each unique” in the same ritual. So, when looking at a pattern for Wiccan ritual, we’ll look at the ritual as it exists in the context of what Wiccans believe and say, at what the ritual itself seems to believe and say, and also at plain old practicality. What makes sense? Some things are awkward, some are boring, some require more props than will fit in the room. There are mundane, Earthbased considerations in every ritual, and those should be examined as well. Finally, we need to ask a question that is rarely asked: Does the ritual work ? This means asking: Do we touch the gods? Are we elevated and exalted by it? Does it satisfy our spiritual needs? Some of these questions are remarkably practical—if we place the steps in the right order, the meaning will shine through with a mystical strength. The first thing we’re going to do is review the basic steps of Wiccan circle-casting—not as a ritual script, but as a series of principles. We’ll spend most of the book discussing various ways to turn each step into a piece of ritual script. Once we have an outline, we’re going to shift gears briefly to discuss one of the most important concepts of Western magical thought: the four elements of Air, Fire, Water, and Earth, what they symbolize and what they mean to Wicca. The elements are, in my opinion, the building blocks of any occult education. What better way, then, to analyze, dissect, experiment with, and experience our ritual pattern than by using the elements? Each element has its own qualities, and so each
The Wiccan Circle Step-by-Step 9
step of the ritual will be looked at, in turn, through the lens of each elemental quality. When we’re all finished, there will be a sample ritual script, based on the pattern we’ve worked out. First, though, let’s start with the pattern itself.
The Steps of Ritual 1. Preliminary Steps A. Preparation (Before You Begin) a. Preparing the Location b. Preparing the Participants c. Preparing the Ritual Space B. Grounding and Centering C. Declared Opening D. Stated Purpose 2. Making the Space A. Sacred Preparation: Consecrations B. Casting the Circle: Making the Space C. Calling the Quarters 3. The Center A. Invoking the Gods B. Giving Offerings to the Gods C. Cakes and Wine 2 (Receiving the Blessings of the Gods) D. Using the Blessings (Work) a. Acts of Magic b. Rites of Passage or Season c. Teaching or Play d. Divination
2. Cakes and Wine is sometimes called Cakes and Ale. It is typical for this name to be used even in groups that do not use alcohol at all, although I’ve heard some people get cute and call it Cookies and Milk.
tting
10 Chapter 1
4. Closing: Reverse the Steps A. Thanking the Gods B. Dismissing the Quarters C. Uncasting the Circle (Optional) D. Reversing the Grounding and Centering (Optional) E. Declared Ending/Reconnecting to Earth You’ll notice that there are sections, or phases, to the rite. There are the preliminary steps, in which we get ready to begin, and then formally begin. In the next phase, the sacred space is created, and we’ll see that this phase has mythic properties, as creating the circle recapitulates creating the universe itself (tall order!). Phase three is the center, which I almost called the “mystic center” but rejected on grounds of corniness. Corny or not, the central phase is the mystical core of the rite and the heart of the Wiccan religion. This is where we meet the gods, in a complex and beautiful interchange of energies. Eventually, we wind down from that, and then it’s time for the final, closing phase.
Alternate Steps of Ritual Not every Wiccan tradition follows the same steps. Here are some variations you might see. 1. Preliminary Steps A. Preparation is always first. The next preliminary steps might be: B. Declared Opening C. Grounding and Centering D. Stated Purpose Or: B. Declared Opening C. Stated Purpose D. Grounding and Centering
The Wiccan Circle Step-by-Step 11
2. Making the Space Alternates include: • The addition of a step for Clearing the Space before any other step • Placing Calling the Quarters before Casting the Circle • Placing Calling the Quarters before Consecrations • Using Calling the Quarters instead of Casting the Circle 3. The Center Alternates include: • Raising the Cone of Power before Invoking the Gods • Raising the Cone of Power after Invoking the Gods • Raising the Cone of Power after Giving Offerings to the Gods • Placing Cakes and Wine after Work • Giving Offerings to the Gods during Cakes and Wine • Giving Offerings to the Gods after Cakes and Wine • Variations on the order of the steps within Cakes and Wine 4. Closing: Reverse the Steps Any alterations above will change the order, and the order of reversal will naturally change as well. If you call the quarters before casting the circle, you’ll dismiss the quarters after uncasting the circle, and so on. Before we can proceed with examining the ritual more closely, let’s learn about the four elements, because we’ll be using them on practically every page thereafter.
Body, Mind & Spirit / Wicca / Rituals
Includes a new foreword by Thorn Mooney, author of The Witch’s Path
MORE M EAN ING FUL RITUAL,
Many books tell you how to cast a Wiccan circle. Deborah Lipp’s seminal work tells you why. Fully revised and expanded with fresh insights and updated language, this new edition is a vital addition to your bookshelf. A High Priestess with decades of experience, Lipp looks at every ritual step through an elemental lens, revealing the process (Earth), mythology (Water), mysticism (Fire), and theology (Air) behind it. In addition to sharing modern information on gender and polarity, she provides all-new sections on the history of elemental associations and how and when to raise and release the cone of power. The Elements of Ritual teaches you what each ritual step means, why it’s there, what it accomplishes, and how it is performed. This edition adds alternate orders and new options for the traditional steps, empowering you to create your own rituals. Packed with how-to and hownot-to instruction for practitioners who want to go beyond the basics, this guide deepens your understanding of Wicca’s most enduring rite. Practical, sophisticated, and highly relevant over twenty years later, The Elements of Ritual will help your creative and magical abilities flourish. Deborah Lipp has been teaching Wicca, magic, and the occult for over thirty-five years. A Gardnerian witch and High Priestess, Deborah has been featured in many Pagan publications and has appeared in various media, including Coast to Coast AM radio, the A&E documentary Ancient Mysteries: Witchcraft in America, and the New York Times. She is an international speaker and the author of more than ten books, including Magical Power for Beginners and Bending the Binary. Visit her at DeborahLipp.com. © Marshall P. Reyher Facebook.com/LlewellynBooks Twitter: @LlewellynBooks Instagram: @LlewellynBooks
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