Esbat Ritual Format
The following is a ritual format suitable for full moon esbat celebrations. During your year and a day of initial study, it is advisable to celebrate only the eight sabbats and the thirteen full moons. Later you can adapt this format for other workings, such as new moon and waning moon esbat celebrations.
Format
• Gather all your ritual tools
• Gather ritual objects for any magic you might plan to do during celebration
• Clear or cleanse chakras with an infusion of hyssop in water
• Cast your circle as usual
• After the invocations of the god and goddess, read the “Charge of the Goddess” (below)
• Practice any magic you have planned
• Cakes and wine
• Close the circle
The Charge of the Goddess
To begin, stand at the north of your circle. Turn your back to the northern perimeter so that you face the center of the circle. Hold the wand in your left hand and the athame in the right. Using the left hand (holding the wand) draw an upright triangle of manifestation in the air before you. To start, point the wand above your head and draw the left slant of the triangle. Draw the bottom and then the right side of the triangle. With your right hand (holding the athame) draw an upside-down triangle in the air before you. Start by pointing the athame at the floor, then form the right slant of the triangle. Form the level top and then finish with the left slant.
Fold your arms across your chest (in the sage/ crone piosition) and recite the charge:
Whenever you have need of anything, once in the month and better it be when the moon is full, then shall you assemble in some secret place and adore the spirit of me, who am Queen of all the witches. There shall ye assemble, ye who are feign to learn all sorcery, yet have not won its deepest secrets; to these will I teach all things that are as yet unknown. And ye shall be free from slavery; and as a sign that ye be truly free, you shall be naked in your rites; and ye shall dance, sing, feast, make music and love all in my praise. For mine is the ecstasy of the spirit, and mine is also joy on earth; for my law is love unto all beings. Keep pure your highest ideals; strive ever toward them, let nothing stop you or turn you aside. For mine is the secret door which opens upon the Land of Youth, and mine is the cup of the wine of life, and the Cauldron of Cerridwen, which is the Holy Vessel of Immortality. I am the gracious Goddess, who gives the gift of joy unto the heart of man. Upon the earth, I give knowledge of the spirit eternal; and beyond death, I give peace and freedom, and reunion with those who have gone before.
Nor do I demand sacrifice; for behold, I am the Mother of all living, and my love is poured out upon the earth. I am the beauty of the green earth, and the white moon among the stars, and the mystery of the waters, and the desire of the heart of man. Call unto thy soul, arise, and come unto me. For I am the soul of Nature who gives life to the Universe. From me all things proceed, and unto me all things must return; and before my face, beloved of Gods and of men, let thine innermost self be enfolded in the rapture of the infinite. Let my worship be in the heart that rejoicest, for behold, all acts of love and pleasure are my rituals.
Therefore let there be beauty and strength, power and compassion, honor and humility, mirth and reverence within you. And thou who thinketh to seek for me, know thy seeking and yearning shall avail thee not unless thou knoweth the mystery; that if that which thou seekest thou findest not within thee, thou wilt never find it without thee, for behold, I have been with thee from the beginning; and I am that which is attained at the end of desire.•
* Based on the “Charge of the Goddess,” as described by Stewart Farrar in What Witches Do, 1971. Versions of this traditional ritual charge also appear in the writings of Doreen Valiente, Charles Leland, and others.