A Year of Ritual

A Sourcebook for Ritual

Ritual is an essential part of life because it helps us find our true selves. We are not just physical and mental creatures we are also spiritual. We have this thing called a soul and for some of us we cannot shove it in a closet and keep it locked away. It will pound on the door for attention. We know that we must acknowledge this part of ourselves, otherwise we feel incomplete. Ritual provides the means to hand ourselves over to spirit and to participate in the great dance of life.

Entering into ritual helps us awaken to what is eternal within ourselves. When we do this, we find where we fit in the web of life that surrounds us and touches everything in the universe.

This connection also extends over time because as we engage in traditional celebrations with the Sabbats, we connect ourselves with those who have gone before us. In a sense we also project out to the future to those who will follow in our footsteps. Our energy becomes part of a spiral that stretches through time and space.

Ritual is not a passive event. That part of us that we awaken cannot be stuffed into a box to await the next ritual. The energy that we raise changes us slightly each time so that when we go back into the world at large, we take some of the energy, some of the magic with us. Through ritual we are transformed and we learn that we become transformers. As the chant suggests, “we are the weavers, we are the web” – we realize that we can weave and transform our lives.

While this book provides ideas, words and direction for ritual, the most important part must be supplied by you – faith in your beliefs. Without this vital ingredient, ritual is only a performance. Use this book as a framework for your truth and live the magic.

A Year of Ritual Includes:
• An introduction to ritual, the Sabbats and Esbats
• A guide for creating your own rituals
• An easily-modified script for twenty seasonal and lunar celebrations
• Rituals presented in group and solitary format
• Preliminary and background information for each ritual
• A special ritual as tribute to the author's favorite author, J.R.R. Tolkien
• Glossary and pronunciation guide for Elvish, Gaelic and Latin words used in the rituals

You can find several of the rituals from the book in the Pagan Resources section of this website.