Basics:
Ritual and Deities
This is not an introduction to Witchcraft book, so I’m not going to go into a play by play on how to perform a ritual. However, in the following chapters I make some assumptions on what you might already know. Just in case you don’t already know, here are some basic bits of information to help you get through the rituals.
As with anything I teach or write, please make adjustments to any of these exercises and rituals to fit your favorite way to make magick. And if you have lots of experience with ritual and magick, feel free to skip this section.
I split rituals into five basic sections. Each of these areas can be moved and adjusted to fit your needs. This is how I prefer rituals to flow, and a lot of this skeleton comes from the way rituals are laid out in the Reclaiming Tradition of Witchcraft. However, there are lots of other ways to create rituals. Start here and then make them your own.
Tools
Before moving into the parts of ritual, I first want to address the tools that will come up in this book. No tools, except for your body, are required to do the work of the Beauty Pentacle. In many of the rituals, an athame is suggested. This is a sacred ritual knife that is used only for magickal purposes. If you don’t have an athame, substitute a wooden wand or the first two fingers of your dominant hand to direct the energy instead of the ritual knife.
Orientation
It’s a good idea to know the directions of your space before starting a ritual. In many of the exercises in this book, you will be asked to call the directions or the elements. Knowing where north, south, west, and east are in your home will make it easier for the rituals going forward. It is also helpful to determine the directions when you do rituals outdoors. This is all part of becoming more familiar with your environment.
Ritual Section One: Cleansing & Grounding
In all religious systems there are rules about your level of cleanliness before you enter the temple space. This isn’t just about getting the dirt out from under your nails or scrubbing the back of your neck. Yes, part of it is about your physical cleanliness, but it is also about the cleanliness of your spiritual body. When entering a holy place, you want to treat it with respect. As Witches and Pagans, everywhere is our holy place. So, we have a lot to live up to.
One of the foundations of my spiritual practice is cleansing. It is always a good time to do a cleansing. I’m often asked by my spiritual counseling clients if they should cleanse. My response is always, “If you felt the need to ask that question, then the answer is yes.” People take a shower every day. People soap up their armpits and shampoo their hair, never putting any thought into how dirty their spirit body might be. It is difficult for the Beauty Pentacle to run clearly and cleanly through your body when your spirit body is not a clear and clean channel. Having a regular spiritual cleansing practice will help the power of the Beauty Pentacle to integrate more easily.
We can’t help but pick up gunk in our spirit bodies. It is just part of being human. Maybe you cut someone off on the freeway; you felt bad and waved an apology, but they were pissed nonetheless and sent that barb of negativity right to you. You may have had a fight with your teenager, a jealous co-worker, or someone projecting their bad day onto you. The gunk that collects in our spirit bodies may not be any fault of our own, but taking the time and space to clean it up is necessary.
The simplest way to cleanse is to incorporate it into your current bathing routine. In a coming section of this book, I share some recipes for herbal mixes, including a spiritual cleansing mix. You can use these as part of a regular cleansing practice. Ideally, you want to perform a spiritual cleanse at least once a week. But add a cleansing into your day anytime you feel drained or have had a particularly bad day.
Some ways to cleanse include burning herbs and smudging 2 yourself in their smoke, making a spray to spritz around your aura, making a tisane (herbal tea) to add to your bath, asperging yourself with holy water or salt water, using a rattle around your body, or putting together a salt scrub to use in the shower. Any of these options are effective ways to cleanse your spirit body.
While you are taking the action for your physical and spirit body, it is important that you also shift your mental and emotional energy too. Breathe and release the mental chatter. Focus on your breathing to calm you down and center your focus. Turn your awareness into your belly, your breathing, and your feet on the ground to calm you. Look at three things around you, take a moment to hear three things happening in the distance, and touch three things with your fingers. Connect with your senses to bring yourself into the present.
As you do the work of the Beauty Pentacle, you may notice old stories coming to the surface. You may find that issues you thought well healed are arising again. One way to help process some of these old hurts is with cleansing.
Grounding is a practice of connecting to the earth below you in order to channel energy more effectively. The earth is an excellent magickal partner. She will take from you what no longer serves and compost it, while at the same time filling you up with clean energy and power. Folks occasionally get “ritual hangover” where they feel wiped out, drained, or a little sick after doing big magick. This is very much like how it feels to be hung over from drinking too much alcohol. One way to avoid this problem is to stay grounded, keeping a thread connected to the earth and draining off excess energy or siphoning in more energy when you are starting to feel overwhelmed or depleted.
There are simple ways to ground:
• Place your feet on the ground, breathe deeply, and release any thoughts or distractions that are keeping you from being fully present. Fill your lungs and cycle the air through your blood and body with focused intention.
• Visualize roots sinking into the earth from your feet and branches moving into the sky from the top of your head. Release anything that doesn’t serve the work you are doing. Clear the channels of earth and sky with you between them.
• Place your hands on the center of your body with your eyes closed. Pull in your energy and send that down to the center of the earth. Draw up the power of the molten core of the earth into your body, allowing it to clear out what doesn’t serve the magick and bring you into a state of presence.
Ritual Section Two: Sacred Space
After you prepare yourself for the ritual, the next step is to create the ritual space. Again, for Witches and Pagans the world is sacred. We are not looking to make a bubble for our ritual and claim that only the inside is sacred and the rest of the world can go to hell. Rather, we are acknowledging that the world is always sacred, and in this space we strive to honor that.
The creation of sacred space is the part of a ritual where you make a container in which you hold your magick. Sometimes a spell or a ritual needs a little time to cook. You cook it in your sacred space. Most often this is done by “casting a circle” or making an energetic boundary between where you are working and the rest of the world. This container holds your ritual until you are ready to release it.
During this part of the ritual, you may also choose to invite in guides and allies. This is the point where there may be elemental invocations (or evocations). Deities may be called at this time. Ancestors may be invited in. Again, this is not to say that they are not always with us, but rather we are setting aside that specific time and place to honor them and work more intentionally with them.
Ritual Section 3: Tofu (or, the Meat of the Ritual)
This is the part of the ritual where you do the thing. In a spell or ritual you are going through all the steps of creating sacred space in order to DO something. That something is the meat or tofu. This can vary greatly depending on your intention, the participants, what you hope to achieve, and how much time you have. This may also be the point where you build up the energy for the ritual: sing a song, dance around the room, or raise energy in some other way.
Ritual Section 4: Good-Byes
The good-byes are the closing down of what you have built up. This is the part of the ritual where you release the energy that has been created throughout your working. You say good-bye and thank you to all of the entities, guides, allies, and elementals you may have invited in, and you open up—or release—the energetic boundary that you created.
Ritual Section 5: Cleaning Up
Sometimes there are remnants of a ritual that need to be cleaned up. And there may be some self-care needed too. Don’t take the post-ritual experience for granted.
Self-Care: After ritual or intense personal work, make sure that you drink plenty of water. It may also be important for you to eat and refill your body. Notice what your body needs and take care of it. You may notice feeling tired after an intense experience, and you may need to make space after your ritual for downtime and relaxation. Be cautious of the desire to numb yourself. It is better to go for a walk outside rather than plunge into a Netflix binge.
Natural Items: After a ritual you may have natural items to dispose of. Food or drink can be left outside or poured into a sacred place for offerings. Don’t eat the food or drink the drinks that you gave as offerings. If you have flowers or plant remnants from a ritual, you can dry these or compost them.
Altar Pieces: Your altar may be filled with extra items or tokens from a ritual. You may choose to leave these or clear them up. Make sure you treat your items with the reverence they deserve. Don’t allow your ritual space to become too cluttered, or conversely, don’t ignore it and allow it to become dusty and unused.
Deities of this Work
It is not a requirement of the Beauty Pentacle to work with godds. (I used the spelling godds as a word that is more encompassing of deities of all genders.) However, including deities in your work with the pentacle can be helpful and informative. Deities can help to reveal layers of beauty in the world that we might not see on our own. The godds in this chapter are selected because they have already been integral in the development of the Beauty Pentacle. However, any godd can help you with this work. Consider this a jumping-off point.
Charge of the Goddess
The Charge of the Goddess, originally written by Doreen Valiente and then later adapted by Starhawk, is a creed that is used by Witches and Pagans all over the globe. Not only is it beautiful, but in the charge we hear the voice of the Goddess come through. We hear her advice and suggestion on how to best connect with her. The lessons of the Beauty Pentacle are found within the words of the charge.
“Listen to the words of the Great Mother, Who of old was called Artemis, Astarte, Dione, Melusine, Aphrodite, Cerridwen, Diana, Arionrhod, Brigid, and by many other names: Whenever you have need of anything, once a month, and better it be when the moon is full, you shall assemble in some secret place and adore the spirit of Me Who is Queen of all the Wise.
You shall be free from slavery, and as a sign that you be free you shall be naked in your rites. Sing, feast, dance, make music and love, all in My Presence, for Mine is the ecstasy of the spirit and Mine also is joy on earth. For My law is love unto all beings. Mine is the secret that opens the door of youth, and Mine is the cup of wine of life that is the cauldron of Cerridwen, that is the holy grail of immortality.
I give the knowledge of the spirit eternal, and beyond death I give peace and freedom and reunion with those that have gone before. Nor do I demand aught of sacrifice, for behold, I am the Mother of all things and My love is poured out upon the earth.
Hear the words of the Star Goddess, the dust of Whose feet are the hosts of Heaven, whose body encircles the universe: I Who am the beauty of the green earth and the white moon among the stars and the mysteries of the waters, I call upon your soul to arise and come unto me. For I am the soul of nature that gives life to the universe. From Me all things proceed and unto Me they must return. Let My worship be in the heart that rejoices, for behold, all acts of love and pleasure are My rituals.
Let there be beauty and strength, power and compassion, honor and humility, mirth and reverence within you. And you who seek to know Me, know that the seeking and yearning will avail you not, unless you know the Mystery: for if that which you seek, you find not within yourself, you will never find it without. For behold, I have been with you from the beginning, and I am That which is attained at the end of desire.”
I keep a copy of the Charge of the Goddess on my beauty altar. I often recite it when doing magickal workings. When I’ve been to public rituals or workshops where it is used, I recite the words along with the ritualist. It unifies us in our practices and shows us a map of diving into the beauty of the world.
Nephthys
When I first created the Beauty Pentacle, it was from inspiration from the goddess Nephthys. As I mentioned earlier in this book, the Beauty Pentacle was born from a weeklong intensive. That year, the mythological story we were using as our guide for the week was about the goddess Isis, who is the sister of Nephthys. As the week progressed, more and more I found myself hearing the voice of Nephthys while we did our work together. More and more I became aware of this “forgotten” sister. Even now, many years later, I pay homage to Nephthys as the divine inspiration for the Beauty Pentacle.
Origins
In ancient Egyptian mythology, Nut (the sky goddess) and Geb (the earth god) loved each other very much. They were connected in a holy union, holding each other through eternity. Together the two of them started the population of the world. Nut gave birth to four children who went on to rule over all of the realms. It took Nut four days to birth her children, the first being Osiris, the second Isis, the third Set, and the final child, Nephthys.
Isis and Nephthys are seen over and over again as the counterpoint to each other. Where Isis stands as the guardian of the portal of life and birth, Nephthys stands as the guardian of the portal of life and death. Although she was not a ruler of the underworld, she served as guide for the transition into that realm.3
Her name translates as “Lady of the House,” and she was often seen with the hieroglyph for “house” in the crown she wore. Myths of her official rulership are murky, but she was the main mourner for Osiris, which suggests a position of high status.4 She did give birth to Anubis, son of Osiris, who serves as psychopomp in Egyptian mythology, leading the souls of the dead to the underworld.
Where Nephthys was “ruler of the house,” Isis was “ruler of the throne.” 5 Here again we see the two sides of a similar coin. Isis took her place among the wealthy and the ruling class, whereas Nephthys held reign in the homes of common people. We have a lot of information about Isis that has survived over time, but very little about Nephthys. I imagine that these two sisters have a lot in common and hold the power and balance of everything between them. Nephthys serves as the spiritual opposite to her sister. One might say playing second fiddle for all of history.
Nephthys and Beauty: The Bright Shadow
You may be wondering how this goddess connects to working with the Beauty Pentacle. I believe that this goddess is why the Beauty Pentacle exists. She is the guardian of the bright shadow. Worship of Isis spread throughout Europe, making it as far as England.6 But the reach of Nephthys didn’t make it as far. If Isis is birth and Nephthys is death, then both of their roles are needed for society. The two are equally important, but the worship of Isis made it around the world while Nepthys lived in the shadow of her sister. Getting stuck in the brilliance of another spirit is part of the work of the bright shadow.
Nephthys had to find her power and value while being second fiddle to her sister. She had to find a way to celebrate her bright shadow when no one else in the world could see it. This is why she is the goddess to call upon when you are having trouble seeing your own gifts. If you have ever been accused of hiding your light under a bushel, Nephthys will understand. She can help you to remember how beautiful you are. She can guide you to see the beauty in the world when you might be under the false impression that there isn’t any left. She can show you that there is beauty in things that others might find ugly. Nephthys can show you how to step into your bright shadow and shine.
Because of her relationship with death, Nephthys can help you to find beauty in death, endings, and difficult transitions. Painful experiences are no less beautiful than joyful ones. This doesn’t mean that difficult times should be sugarcoated or we should live in denial, but rather, we need to find a way to still see and experience beauty even in the most difficult times. This is true power.
Aphrodite
As my work with the Beauty Pentacle evolved, I started to call upon Aphrodite. She felt like an obvious deity to help me take this work to the next level. Aphrodite has been the goddess called upon in many Beauty Pentacle classes and weekend workshops. She is a gentle guide, but also demanding. Aphrodite smiles a sweet smile, motioning for you to look at yourself in the mirror, and then of course, to look at her. She is a goddess of adoration, and through that power she helped me to deepen the flow of the Beauty Pentacle.
Origins
Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of beauty, desire, sexuality, and love. Even folks who aren’t familiar with any goddesses at all have likely heard of Aphrodite. She was born when the Titan Cronus severed the genitals of Uranus and tossed them into the sea. There was a great churning of the salty sea water and out of the foam rose the luscious goddess called Aphrodite. She is born of the sea with no mother, only the waves of the ocean. Her name translates as “sea foam.”
So captivating was this goddess that Zeus had her married off as quickly as possible to the blacksmith Hephaestus in an attempt to prevent other deities from fighting over her.7 This didn’t work out as Zeus wanted. Hephaestus did all that he could to make Aphrodite happy, but he was not enough for the goddess of love. The god of war, Ares, often caught her eye and got her attention and affection. Even while married, she followed her own rules and had many dalliances with other godds and mortals alike. She also possessed a magick girdle that allowed the wearer to bring forth feelings of love and lust in others.8 Aphrodite understands the power of beauty and desire and lets nothing stand in her way of enjoying life to the fullest.
As a goddess of love and beauty, she requires her devotees to prove how much they love her. She has high expectations, and when her devotees don’t live up to them, her punishments can be swift and harsh. But there is no other goddess that understands the importance of beauty and how to live a beautiful life.
Aphrodite and Beauty: Self-Love
Aphrodite is an important guide of this work because she can show us how to connect to our own beauty. No one could resist the beauty and power of this goddess, and this went beyond just her physical looks. She carries with her an understanding of what it is to be beautiful. Aphrodite is joyful and glamorous. She celebrates her beauty, she revels in it, and she can show you the way to do the same.
The goddess of beauty is the perfect guide in learning how to honor our personal inherent beauty. Aphrodite holds up a mirror and points out all the perfection that exists within you. Life is beautiful, you are beautiful, the world is beautiful. Aphrodite can help show you the truth of that. Aphrodite demands to be honored and she will tell you that you deserve to be honored too. Don’t settle for second best, don’t sell yourself short, and don’t doubt your own beauty—ever.
Aphrodite is the goddess to call upon when you need to love yourself and appreciate your own beauty: internal and external. She is the goddess to help you break the blocks you may have been holding onto around acknowledging your beautiful self. This goddess stands at each point of the Beauty Pentacle—beauty, devotion, creativity, desire, expression—and holds the way open for you to explore. All the while she will remind you, you are beautiful. Accept nothing less.
Freya
In the early life of the Beauty Pentacle, Freya added her power to its flow. She was able to help shift the pentacle into a tool of power. Freya helped the Beauty Pentacle move from its soft and sweet origin into something hard and fierce. There is no other deity that understands the importance of beauty in our lives more than Freya, because she understands how precious life is. Freya carries a lust for the pure pleasure of being alive, and she can help us connect to our own lust for life, and lust in other things too.
Origins
Freya is a fertility goddess from the Norse pantheon that also rules over love and war. She represents fertility, sexuality, and guards over crops, music, flowers, and Fae beings. She is one of the “old” godds coming from the Vanir, the race of deities that existed before Odin and his tribe of the Aesir invaded.9 Her father is the god of the sea, Njord, and her twin brother, Freyr, is also a god of fertility and wildness.10
Her name literally translates as “Lady.” 11 There are many arguments that she was a much larger fixture in the Norse and Germanic worlds than has been retained through the years and small smatterings of writing we have left, but we can’t know that for sure. However, the fact that her stories survived the battle between the Aesir and the Vanir would lead me to believe that she was an important fixture to the Norse and Germanic people. Freya served as a bargaining piece of the Vanir in keeping the peace.12 It is likely the invading peoples of this time were unable to stop the worship of this goddess and incorporated her into their pantheon.
The fragments of myth we have left of Freya tell us of her mysterious missing husband Od that she cried amber tears for, that she had a beautiful amber necklace called Brisingamen, that she had a powerful cloak that turned the wearer into a falcon, and that she was given first choice of the fallen warriors to bring to her realms.13 Through all of her trials and tribulations she carries a tender warrior’s heart.
Freya and Beauty: The Warrior’s Heart
Freya is the warrior and lover. She knows when to fight and when to make love. She isn’t afraid to celebrate her body. She isn’t concerned about what others think. She also understands how important it is to surround yourself with beautiful things and the value of having beauty in your life. Freya is not afraid.
This fierce goddess can open you up to your own fierceness. She reminds us that beauty requires bravery. Being willing to step into beauty, notice it, call to it, and share it with others is an act of bravery. Freya connects the work of the Beauty Pentacle to the warrior’s heart. The warrior who isn’t worried about the what ifs, but steps forward into the lushness of life and celebrates every song, blossom, kiss, caress, whisper, bite, and memory.
Freya is the goddess to call on when fear is keeping you blocked. Ask for Freya’s help when you feel undeserving of beauty in your life. Allow Freya to smash through the cultural expectations of what beauty should be, should look like. None of that is true, real, or valid. Beauty is what beauty does. Freya stands as your champion, calling beauty into your life with a warrior’s call to arms.
Dionysus
As the tool of the Beauty Pentacle continued to evolve, Dionysus started to share his power with it too. This joyful godd connects to the power of the Beauty Pentacle because he celebrates all of life. He revels in the wild, the wine, the luxury, the music, the sex. His stories are filled with tales where he has to prove himself, uncover deceit, fight for his life, and through it all he continues to find a way to celebrate. He always finds a way to celebrate. Always.
Origins
Dionysus is a Greek deity who is the youngest of the godds and the last to take a seat on Mount Olympus. He was twice born, once from his mortal mother and then again from his god father, which is what made him more than just a demigod.
The most well-known story involving the birth of Dionysus starts with Zeus falling in love with a mortal woman named Semele. Semele insists that Zeus show her his true form in order to prove his love to her. However, the true form of an Olympian is more than a mortal can handle. But she insists and upon revealing his true form, Semele is incinerated. However, Zeus is able to save the baby and gives him to nymphs to take care of. There are also tales that he is the son of Persephone, giving him two mothers.14
The tales and myths also described Dionysus as a god who loves deeply and passionately. He loves across genders, understanding that love goes beyond physical form. He travels with a band of wild women, is married to a mortal who became immortal—Ariadne—and travels the world spreading joy and mystery wherever he goes.
Dionysus and Beauty: The Celebration
So often we make spiritual work into work. It can be hard, challenging, difficult, or triggering. Dionysus asks us if a different perspective is possible. What if the work of it doesn’t have to be work, but rather play? What if there is space for our spiritual pursuits to be fun and celebratory? What if we can honor and celebrate beauty and feel like our cups are filled up and overflowing from enjoying all the world has to offer?
Dionysus can show us the way to celebration. This wild godd can help us to revel in the beautiful things. He can take us out into the world to see the miracles that surround us. He can help us to laugh in glee at the flight of a bird, dance with pure abandon while walking through the trees, and weep with joy at the sight of a cloud formation. The world is filled with wonder, and Dionysus can help us to see it.
When overcome with sadness or depression, call on Dionysus. When you are living on, and through, social media, Dionysus can help lead you back into nature. His mysteries are both vast and subtle. He can help you to see the beauty in the big and the small because it is all beautiful. Call on this godd when you need help remembering how to let your heart sing. Call on this godd when you’ve forgotten that shedding tears can be not only cathartic, but ecstatic. Call on Dionysus as a guide to step back into your wild self.
Deities of Beauty
These four godds have guided me in my work with the Beauty Pentacle, and I feel certain that there will be more that will join the team as it goes on. Each godd that comes into contact with the Beauty Pentacle leaves their individual mark on the power of this tool. If you already have a relationship with a specific deity, call on them when running the Beauty Pentacle through your body and see how their energy may fit with the energy of the Beauty Pentacle.
2. The word “smudge” is an English word and can refer to the process of burning herbs and using the smoke to cleanse the spiritual body. This is not referring to a Native American practice; however, the practices are very similar.
3. Jeremy Naydler, Temple of the Cosmos (Rochester: Inner Traditions, 1996), 256.
4. Margaret A. Murray, The Splendor That Was Egypt (London: Biddles Ltd, 1984), 102.
5. Murray, The Splendor That Was Egypt, 106.
6. Murray, The Splendor That Was Egypt, 105.
7. Charlene Spretnak, Lost Goddesses of Early Greece: A Collection of Pre-Hellenic Myths (Berkeley: Moon Books, 1978), 55.
8. Thomas Bulfinch, Bulfinch’s Mythology, (New York: Crown Publishers, 1979), 6.
9 . Kevin Crossley-Holland, The Norse Myths (New York: Random House, 1980), 8.
10. Patricia M. Lafayllve, Freya, Lady, Vanadis: An Introduction to the Goddess (Denver: Outskirts Press, 2006), 15.
11. Lafayllve, Freya, Lady, Vanadis, 15.
12. Lafayllve, Freya, Lady, Vanadis, 16.
13. Lafayllve, Freya, Lady, Vanadis, 15.
14. Vikki Bramshaw, Dionysos Exciter to Frenzy (London: Avalonia 2013), Kindle.