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WATER
Now it is time for the toast, and we include here a different and more complex example of how the toast might be done. As always, it is only an example from which you may develop your own ideas.
For this toast you will need two different liquids –one dark, one light. For example: red grape juice and white grape juice. The Priestess will take the darker drink, the Priest the lighter one. You will also need a large Chalice or a pitcher and paper cups if you prefer.
This version of the toast includes only the drink, and no food.
The Priestess will begin –she can say something like:
PRIESTESS
“In the Beginning was the Goddess, and She was alone and without form. She was the first Darkness, and She slept alone in the boundless sea which was before creation. Yet as She slept, She dreamed. And from Her dreams came ideas and desires. And She came to know that She desired more. And so She created the God.”
PRIEST
“And the God came forth in a blast of light and fire, where before there had only been darkness. As the Goddess was Darkness, He was Light. As the Goddess was Yin, He was Yang. He danced for joy at the moment of creation, and His heart burned with the beauty that was life.”
PRIESTESS
“And the Goddess saw that the God was beautiful. And She desired to be one with Him again. She sought counsel of Her Higher Self and was told ‘To Rise You Must Fall.’ This meant that She could not bring the God back into Her, but to unite with Him She must enter into the physical world which He had become.”
PRIEST
“And so the Goddess separated off the many souls from Herself. They were as Her children, yet they were also Herselves for She Herself was the spark of light within them. And She sent the souls into the physical world and placed them into physical forms: and thus Goddess became one with God again.”
The Priestess raises her bottle –imagines it filled with the Divine energy shining out in all directions.
PRIESTESS
“Behold, in the name of the Goddess, may this wine be blessed.” [note: its ok to call it wine even if its fruit juice –the term is symbolic.]
The Priest now raises his bottle and likewise imagines it filled with the Divine energy, shining out in all directions.
PRIEST
“Behold, in the name of the God, may this wine be blessed.”
The Priestess and Priest now pour their two beverages simultaneously into the Chalice or pitcher, uniting them even as the Goddess and God are united through the miracle of INCARNATION.
PRIESTESS AND PRIEST TOGETHER:
“Behold, we are jointly blessed.”
PRIESTESS
“Behold, may this cup of love be as a bond between ourselves and the Goddess and God, from Whose Divine Love we and all things proceed, and also between us one another, united in perfect love and perfect trust here within this Circle.”
Now pass the Chalice around the Circle or pass out paper cups and take the pitcher around the Circle to fill them –according to preference.
EARTH
Now you will close the ceremony and open the Circle.
Begin by giving thanks to the Ancestors and the Deities.
PRIESTESS
“Beloved Ancestors, You Who have gone before, Your wisdom and Your example guide us. We pray that You will be with us and aid us as we go forward, that we may call upon the strength and knowledge of the past, even as we build the future. We thank You for Your presence and Your aid this night, and at all times. May You Blessed be in all things. We offer You our love and our respect! We bid You Hail and Farewell!”
ALL
“Hail and farewell!”
PRIESTESS
“Divine Father God –Son, Brother, and Consort of Our Lady –You are the Lord of the Dance, Master of Time and Space: You give form to what She creates and turn the Wheel that life may progress forward. We thank You for Your presence and Your aid this night, and at all times. We offer You our love, and our respect! We bid You Hail and farewell!”
ALL
“Hail and farewell!”
PRIESTESS
“Divine Mother Goddess, Lady of the Full Moon, Mother and Mistress of Existence –You are the source and sustenance of all life! Your love lights our path through darkness, and Your wisdom guides us on our walk through life. You care for us as a Mother for Her children –for truly You are our Divine Mother! We thank You for Your presence and Your aid this night, and at all times. We offer You our love and our respect! We bid You Hail and farewell!”
ALL
“Hail and farewell!”
Now thank each Quarter. Start in the North.
PRIESTESS
“Hail unto You, O Guardians of the Watchtower of the North, Powers of Earth and Integration! We thank You for Your presence here this night. May there be peace between us, now and always. Stay if You will, go if You must. We bid You hail and farewell!”
ALL
“Hail and farewell!”
Then the Priestess uses her Wand to pull down the tower of white light which she erected when she called the Quarter.
Continue through the other Quarters in the same way.
Now the presiding Cleric, here presented as the Priestess, takes up her Athame and points it toward the Eastern Quarter. She devokes the Circle, walking Tuathal. As she does this, she imagines the Magic Circle disappearing, the light returning back into the tip of the Athame. As she opens the Circle, she might say:
PRIESTESS
“Behold: As Above, So Below! As the Universe, So the Soul! As Within, So Without! May the Circle be Open, but never Broken! Merry Meet –Merry Part –and Merry Meet again!”
Finally, again cleanse and release all excess energy.