how to use this book
Do What Works Best for You
You’re free to use this book in any way you choose, but there are some features within it that I think are worth mentioning. Every ritual in this book is unique. No two circle castings or quarter calls are alike. What resonates most with you might not be what resonates most with me, so you’re free to cherry-pick the parts you like the best.
For instance, you might really like how the watchtowers are invoked in the Lammas ritual for covens, and want to use those calls instead of the ones included with an Imbolc rite. That’s great! This book is designed for you to mix and match the ritual bits you like best, which is why every section in every ritual is clearly marked.
Though all of the rituals in this book are labeled as being for solitaries, covens, or circles, there’s no reason a circle ritual can’t be used in a coven setting, or a solitary rite with a large group. With a little bit of adaptation, most of the workings in this book can be utilized for whatever circumstances you find yourself in. Just remember that a ritual designed for twelve people will have to be adjusted a bit if it’s going to be used for fifty. In my own practice, I adapt rituals I originally wrote for my coven into larger rites. Use what you think will work regardless of how I (or anyone else) presents it.
Rituals truly come alive only when they are brought to life in a magick circle. Reading a ritual is no substitute for actually engaging with it. I want you to use these rituals if they appeal to you, and I want you to feel free to adapt them and change my wording if you need to. The earliest Modern Witches borrowed extensively from a wide range of sources, reassembling and rewriting various bits to serve their needs. I don’t see why today’s Witches should be any different.
The rituals in this book are generally quite long and wordy. (My magickal name is Verbose, and for good reason.) I really don’t expect people to read them verbatim. Think of them more as a starting point than an ending one. I’m also not sure people actually talk with the same tone, cadence, and style that most rituals are presented in. What’s most important is that what you’re saying during ritual makes sense to you and those you’re circling with. Sometimes that might require simplifying some long instructions or moving away from ritual “Witch speak” to something more familiar.
Most of the rituals in this book are written in script format, meaning the person doing the talking is clearly indicated, with their lines following thereafter. Spoken parts are in italics, with actions and movements appearing as standard text. I’m not sure this is the best way to write out ritual, but it works for me and is the most common format in Pagan and Witch books. Generally, how rituals are presented in this book mirrors the way I write them down in my own personal practice.
The majority (but not all) of the group rituals in this book were originally written to be shared with my wife, with the two of us in the roles of High Priestess and High Priest. Because of that, you’ll see those two terms pop up in a lot of the rituals. I don’t believe that a ritual needs both a female and a male leader to be effective, and two High Priestesses is certainly just as effective as a High Priest and a High Priestess, or just one High whatever. In other words, gender doesn’t really play a role, despite it appearing to do so on occasion.
Over the years I’ve debated ditching the terms High Priestess and High Priest and replacing them with something like officiant, but that just sounds too clinical to my ears. In the Reclaiming tradition of Witchcraft, everyone is a High Priestess and there are no High Priests, which is another great work-around. I know of some traditions that use the term Reverend instead of Priest, and if people are comfortable with that, great. (To me, it sounds far too Christian.) What’s most important is to use terms that appeal to you and those you practice with.
I think ritual is better when as many people as possible are involved, which means I usually have individuals other than the High Priestess/High whatever calling the quarters and casting the circle. Generally these individuals also help out in other ways, perhaps by taking a speaking part during some of the more elaborate rituals or by distributing cakes and ale near the end of the rite. Of course you don’t have to conduct your rituals this way, and sometimes circumstances mean one or two people have to do almost all of the heavy lifting during ritual.
The rituals in this book contain several “things left unsaid.” In most covens and groups, it’s standard operating procedure to repeat certain phrases typically said at the end of pronouncements, invitations, and other forms of magickal work. Phrases such as “Blessed be,” “So mote it be,” and “Hail and farewell” fall into this category, though instructions to repeat such things are not indicated in this text. Whether a group or coven wants to do that is really up to them, and including those callbacks seemed rather redundant to me anyway. The same goes for instructions like “pass out the cakes and ale.” That seems like kind of a no-brainer to me, and just how people distribute such things will vary from group to group. In my coven, we all drink from the same chalice. I’m sure there are other groups that prefer not to do that.
The use or non-use of candles is treated the same way throughout the book as well. I know people who are adamant about lighting candles at every quarter and for every deity they call. In my own practice, I’ve mostly moved away from this, especially when outside. Unless a ritual specifically calls for the use of a candle, I don’t make a big deal out of candle lighting. It’s something you can do or not do, and it’s not something that has to be done in the Craft. Use candles when it’s appropriate for you and when you think they’ll stay lit.
Many covens use songs and elaborate chants in their rituals, but trying to express musicality on the printed page is difficult and probably not necessary in the era of YouTube. Add songs, chants, and musical circle castings and quarter callings to your rite if you choose! That’s more than acceptable. I just lack the ability to convey that in the rituals included in this book.
Standard Altar Setup and Materials Needed
I love ritual tools, which is probably why I’ve written three books about them. I have three athames, eight chalices, and a whole bunch of other stuff I probably don’t actually need. When performing a sabbat ritual, I like to have an altar full of ritual tools, even though I know it’s not really necessary. Elaborate tools are not required in Witchcraft, and everything a beginning Witch needs is generally already in their kitchen. However, my standard alter setup tends to look like this (figure 4):
• Athame (can be substituted with a wand or your own fingers)
• Chalice or cup (generally containing drink for cakes and ale)
• Something representing air (incense, a bird feather, etc.)
• Something representing water (a bowl of water, a seashell, etc.)
• Something representing fire (a candle, chili pepper, etc.)
• Something representing earth (a bowl of salt or rice, a rock, etc.)
• Statue(s) of the Goddess and the God (or objects or candles representing them)
• Pentacle 18
• Wand (less necessary if you have an athame)
• White-handled knife (for physical cutting; some people just use their athame)
• Spirit candle
• Libation bowl
These are the tools I tend to always have on my altar, though most of the rituals in this book are simple enough that you can probably get by without most or even all of them. Because there are a variety of rituals in this book, I don’t use all of these items for every ritual, and some rituals call for additional tools such as a small cauldron or a bowl and pitcher. When additional materials are required for a ritual, they are listed in the “Materials Needed” section included with each ritual.
Every ritual in this book begins with a brief explanation of the rite, along with the things that make it unique. Sometimes staging information is included with that opening material, and this is especially important with the larger circle rituals since they often require additional preparation. There are also a few instances where I include the history of the working in the rite if it’s based on historical sources.
Figure 4. Standard Altar Setup
There are many types of Witchcraft in the world today, but most of the rituals in this book follow the Wiccan-Witchcraft formula. I have two simple reasons for this style choice. The first is that it reflects my personal practice, and the second is that Wiccan-Witch ritual is the most familiar type of ritual in the modern Pagan and Witch world. It’s a ritual language that most of us are familiar with, so it’s easily understandable. But fear not, those of you who are tired of Wicca, as there are also rituals in this book in the style of what has come to be known as Traditional Witchcraft.
What’s most important are the rituals and sabbats themselves, and it’s probably time we got to them.
18. The pentacle is probably the one tool that can’t be readily found in your kitchen or backyard. However, one can easily be made out of a paper plate. I spend a lot of time talking about pentacles in The Witch’s Altar (co-written with Laura Tempest Zakroff), also published by Llewellyn in 2018.