When people think of conducting a ritual, there is usually some hesitation on account of intimidation – don’t be afraid or intimidated. The knowledge required to connect to the Earth and to your gods is instinctual and already within you – it just needs to be activated. As with all things, practice makes perfect, and practice makes confident. There are many elements to consider when planning out a ritual (and we will delve into many of them) but first let’s get some general things out of the way:
What is a ritual?
A ritual in its most basic form is giving life to some underlying mythology, story or system through action. It has more structure, takes more magical power, energy and time compared to a spell. Rituals have more to do with acting out something symbolic and is a more complicated magical working than most. Some examples of popular pagan rituals include esbat rituals, sabbat rituals, casting a circle or interacting with and calling upon the gods.
What is a spell?
A spell can be an incantation or a prayer of some sort that sets an intention out for something. Spells can be used as part of ritual work. Some examples of spells can be money spells, love spells, and fertility spells.
That said, it is important to remember that everyone has a unique magical practice, and that is perfectly okay. For many practitioners, spells and rituals look slightly different than what I have described – and that is okay. Making your practice uniquely your own is an important and powerful thing. Rituals can be as simple as you wish, as you will see.
The following rituals are meant to be a basic guide to follow and you are encouraged to make them your own. These are solitary rituals so they can be performed easily by the modern witch, with little to no resources. However, these rituals can easily be adapted to work for a group or to be something more elaborate – as always, stay curious and be creative.
- Self Initiation Rite
It is perfectly fine if you are a witch or practitioner unwilling or intimidated by the idea of self-initiation. Imposter syndrome runs rampant and many witches find themselves questioning their practices, “am I an authentic witch?” “Am I a real witch?” Yes, you are. You don’t have to be part of a coven to be a witch. You don’t have to be solitary to be a witch. You don’t have to choose between being solitary or being part of a coven – you can do both, if you wish.
A self initiation rite is a powerfully transformative ritual because it gives the witch more confidence and validation in her beliefs and power, allows her to connect with and introduce herself to the gods and officially begin her journey on her path. Here is how to go about it:
- Take a magical bath or shower. Purification is very important here, because not only are you stripping yourself of physical oils and debris, you are also eliminating lingering spiritual debris and negative energies. Infuse your bath with some oils, relaxing scents or an herb pouch consisting of rosemary and sage (both herbs related with purification). During your bath, visualize the negative energies and spiritual debris leaving your body. You are clean, pure and healthy.
- Wear something special. You do not have to go all out if you don’t wish to – remember, the power of symbolism is key. Special is subjective: an important item of clothing or a meaningful accessory can be powerful tools. Pay attention to the colors with which you adorn yourself – white and purple are associated with ritual purification.
- Go to your place of power, or visualize it. This could be an altar, out to the park, in your garden or wherever it is that you feel the Earth’s powers the strongest. It is perfectly fine to meditate on this also if you cannot go to an actual location itself. If you have gods, now is the time to make contact with them; it is best to speak out loud if you can, but if you can’t it is okay to whisper or direct your thoughts towards your gods. They can hear you. Introduce yourself to them and mark your intention – “God and Goddess, I thank you for the fruits of life and knowledge with which you have blessed me. I hear you and I feel you. I welcome you here to this place, and wish to dedicate myself to you today.”
- Enact a symbolic death of your past self. This can be something as simple as cutting a lock of hair, blindfolding yourself, or wearing a ribbon or string on your person and cutting it free. You are truly reborn now. Meditate on this, sing or say a prayer – whatever feels right and comes to you naturally.
- Light a candle and dedicate yourself to your gods if you have them, or to the Earth. Say out loud if possible: I, (your name), am now a witch/Wiccan, dedicated to the Earth and all its bounties and beauty.
- Reflect and feel the love and warmth of sacred energy around you. If you have offerings to share with the gods, do so now.
2. Casting a magic circle
A magic circle is extremely important because it marks the boundary between the sacred and the mundane. It is difficult to focus on and work with sacred energies and magic if there is no one place they can be held in to work with. Marking sacred space gives you clarity, increases the power you can imbue your rituals and spells with and helps contain this energy to one place so you can easily diffuse it safely after your magical workings are finished. It is not a good idea to leave magical energy scattered around your home.
If it seems intimidating, relax! Soon enough this will become second nature to you.
- Consecrate some salt, water, and incense if you have these items. You can do this by calling upon your deities, saying an incantation out loud (“with the power and grace of the God and Goddess, the Lady and Lord, this item is free of impurity) and drawing a pentagram if you can.
- Mark the boundary of your circle with physical objects if this is possible. These objects can include rocks and stones, a cord, some candles or whatever is convenient.
- Mix together your salt and water (these will represent the elements of Earth and Water) and walk deosil around your circle (north, east, south, then west). As you do this, visualize a magical boundary forming around you.
- Next, once you are back at north, take your incense and walk deosil again. Visualize an additional bright and vivid magical boundary forming.
- Once at north again, now you seal the circle with the divine power that lies within you. If you feel that you cannot direct it from inside yourself, visualize the Earth giving you power, and feel the warmth of it rising from your feet, up your body til it reaches your power directing tool of choice (a wand, or even your finger will do). Walk deosil, sealing the circle with your power. As you do this, you may call on the elementals to guard your circle if that is important for your practice. This can be as simple as uttering at the north point: Guardian of the North, Earth, I invite you to lend your strength to my circle. Continue this for all directions if you feel it necessary (east is the element of air, south is the element of fire, west is the element of water).
- There you have it – you have cast your circle to use for any kind of magical practice or working that you have going on. After you are finished with your spell or ritual, you can do the same again in reverse to close the circle, making sure to thank the elements and the gods if you invited them to your circle. “Thank you for all for being with me. Merry do we come here, merry do we leave, to merry come again. Blessed be.”
3. Esbat Rituals
Esbat rituals are very common for a pagan or Wiccan practitioner owing to the fact that these occur during at least twice a month (for the new moon and the full moon). Attuning yourself to the moon is very important for various reasons: it allows you to connect with the Earth and its cycles, as well as allowing you to connect with the Goddess.
For the New Moon:
Remember that the new moon marks the Goddess in Her mysterious form, but that as the moon waxes toward being full, that is the time to wish for the fruition for the things you desire – abundance, love, self-clarity. Plan your magical workings for this.
For the Full Moon:
At this time, the Goddess is in Her Mother phase (if you subscribe to the Maiden, Mother and Crone philosophy which marks the different stages of the Goddess’ life/Her development). This is an incredibly powerful time. As before, as the moon wanes it is best to practice spellwork that takes something away from you (like stress, relationship problems and so on).
Each esbat ritual will be adapted differently based on the lunar phases and personal circumstances, so I will provide a general overview that you can easily customize:
- Cast a circle.
- Invite your deities. Address the Goddess in whatever stage she is in.
- Clap 3 times and speak an affirmation to your gods. Thank them, offer them your love. Make them an offering of wine or juice, or whatever you wish to offer to them.
- Speak directly to the Goddess. “You are Maiden, Mother and Crone – the Lady of Wisdom, Strength and the Mysteries. You mark the passage of time through all its stages. It is with you that all begins and it is with you that all shall end – you are the very cycle of Life itself. I thank you.”
- Read a poem, prose, or offer anything to her that you wish. Meditate on what you have said and the presence or energies that you feel.
- Conduct any spellwork that you wish to carry out.
- Once your work is finished, raise your arms and declare once more your devotion to the gods, declare their attributes and thank them. REMEMBER: IF YOU DO NOT BELIEVE OR FOLLOW A DEITY, YOU CAN STILL DO THIS ENTIRE PROCESS AND HONOR THE EARTH DIRECTLY INSTEAD.
- Proceed to the end of your ritual. Ground your energies. Close the circle.
A very important type of ritual that I will not discuss in this post because it requires its own is the sabbat ritual. The sabbat rituals are rites that pertain to the Wheel of the Year and the 8 main sabbats (Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Litha, Lughnassadh, Mabon and Samhain). Since each of these are distinct, they will be discussed later on.
That said, the pagan rites for self-initiation, circle-casting and esbat rituals are powerful and incredibly important. As demonstrated, they can be done as simply as possible, with little to no extra accessories or elements required. You do not need to buy anything to increase the potency of your magical workings. Everything you need is already within you – it just needs activation through action. So please, be intimidated no more and give these a try. Blessed be.