Ritual Elements

Fully revised and expanded with fresh insights, this new edition of The Elements of Ritual is a must-have resource on Wiccan ritual. Not only does it teach you step-by-step how to cast a circle, but it also explains why each step is important. Deborah Lipp looks at every phase through an elemental lens, revealing the process (earth), mythology (water), mystical inspiration (fire), and theology (air) behind it. The Elements of Ritual now features updates throughout on gender and polarity as well as all-new sections on the history of elemental associations and raising the cone of power. This edition also includes alternate orders for the traditional steps of ritual. You will learn how to write your own rituals, discover new ideas on magical tools, and use meditations to deepen your understanding of Wicca's most enduring rite.

A high priestess explains the theology and theory of every phase of Wiccan ritual, along with offering practical how-tos and much esoteric, hard-to-find information.

Awaken the Elemental Magic Within Deeply poetic and rich with passion, this book helps you expand your relationship with earth, air, fire, water, and spirit through personal reflections and hands-on explorations. With brilliant contributions from members of the international Reclaiming community, this empowering book provides spells, exercises, practices, and perspectives that are taught in Reclaiming's foundational class, Elements of Magic. Discover techniques for grounding, casting a circle, trance, and visualization, as well as guidance for working with breath, raising energy, and charging an intention. If you long to experience the ecstatic practice of magic, Elements of Magic is for you. Foreword by Starhawk Praise: "Gede Parma and Jane Meredith have excelled themselves in putting together one of the most comprehensive compilations of practices found in the Reclaiming Tradition."—Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone, teachers and authors of The Inner Mysteries and Lifting the Veil "Elements of Magic is a soulful and grounded offering that honors the past while inviting the future."—Ivo Dominguez Jr., author and elder in the Assembly of the Sacred Wheel "In this approachable, engaging guide, Jane Meredith and Gede Parma seamlessly weave together an introduction to Reclaiming and a course in the foundations of natural magic."—Thorn Mooney, Gardnerian priestess and author of Traditional Wicca "Reclaiming has so much to offer with its insights into community work, activist magic, and bringing healing to this planet ... This book is like a dandelion seed-head, spreading wild wisdom and ecstatic practice."—Tony Rella, author of Circling the Star "Elements of Magic will be a valuable resource for those who seek a spiritual connection to our world, whatever their tradition."—Diana L. Paxson, author of Trance-Portation

Ritualized violence is by definition not haphazard or random, but seemingly intentional and often ceremonial. It has a long history in religious practice, as attested in texts and artifacts from the earliest civilizations. It is equally evident in the behaviors of some contemporary religious activists and within initiatory practices ongoing in many regions of the world. Given its longevity and cultural expanse, ritualized violence presumably exerts a pull deeply into the sociology, psychology, anthropology, theology, perhaps even ontology of its practitioners, but this is not transparent. This short volume will sketch the subject of ritualized violence, that is, it will summarize some established theories about ritual and about violence, and will ponder a handful of striking instantiations of their link.

The Art of Ritual takes you through every step of ritual format from the basics to the more unusual. What ritual is, how to create it, work with it and all the different aspects and stages of putting a ritual together and how to get the best out of it whether you are a solitary or within a group. From set up through the entire process including the cake...this book covers just about all you should need to know to give you the best ritual experience. Drawn from the author's own teachings and experiences this book also shares a variety or different ritual scripts and suggestions along with those from members of her coven.

Reconnect with the natural world using the magick of the five elements of earth, air, water, fire, and spirit—written by one of the grand dames of witchcraft and magick. For more than a thousand years, alchemists and magicians have worked with the four elements of the universe. While most spiritual seekers have a basic knowledge of these four elements, and the more nebulous fifth element, spirit, few realize that the energies of the elements are a key to their magical practice. Elemental Magick offers readers insight into the inner teachings of the elements. Author D. J. Conway explains in depth the forces behind the elements and how they provide a framework for literally everything in the universe. She also explains the all-important and powerful element of spirit that belongs to each of the other elements and how these intimate connections allow the magickal energy to flow in a continuous circle of existence. By learning how to work with and balance the elements and their spirits, readers will better understand the larger process of balancing one’s life with the world around them.

This book covers the psychedelic ayahuasca tourism in Peru, with its facet-rich psychological, pharmacological, anthropological, and sociological aspects. The reader gets an interdisciplinary insight into the historical development and the current state of ayahuasca research. Findings from three empirical studies are presented, which the author has won in a 4-year field research: How do common standards develop in this particular form of psycho-spiritual tourism? Why are people from developed nations and urban centres heading to the Amazon to ingest the psychedelic beverage Ayahuasca? How do they experience such ceremonies and retreats? Which insights, personal meaning and effects do they gain and how do they integrate their experiences into the everyday life?

Creating Circles and Ceremonies is the accumulation of decades of circles, ceremonies, rituals, Mystery plays, initiations, rites of passage, and other magickal workings co-created by the Zell-Ravenhearts, today's foremost Wizard/Witch couple. For more than 30 years, Oberon and Morning Glory have traveled widely throughout the worldwide magickal community--participating in gatherings, conducting workshops, and creating rituals for groups large and small. They have met and made Magick with the leaders of many traditions: Celtic Shamanism, British Dianic, Italian Strega, Welsh Witchcraft, Faerie Trad, Ceremonial Magick, Ozark Druidry, the New Reformed Order of the Golden Dawn (NROOGD), Hinduism, Native American tribes, Greek and Egyptian mythology, and the futuristic Church of All Worlds. Here, in one easy-to-read volume, is their collection of chants, invocations, circle-castings, quarter-callings, spells, and ceremonies. It is also a "kit" to use to assemble your own rituals, for any season or reason: Book I presents a basic ritual outline. Each element is followed by numerous examples which may be "plugged in" to customize your own ceremony. Book II gives numerous examples of actual ceremonies: Esbats (full Moons) and special occasions; Rites of Passage; Mysteries and Initiations; spells and consecrations. These can be adapted and modified as needed for any size group--from small family gatherings in your living room, to huge outdoor celebrations involving thousands of people. Book III provides an assortment of full rituals and ritual elements for celebrations of the eight great seasonal festivals called the Wheel of the Year. Versions of these have been commemorated for millennia in most traditional cultures of the Northern Hemisphere; and today are universal throughout the worldwide Pagan community.