Perform a Wiccan Ritual

To perform many rituals, it is sometimes helpful to have a template of sorts to work with. Here you can find an essential ritual that you can adapt to your own needs.

Steps

  1. Decide which ritual you want to hold. There are various common Wiccan rituals, a lot of which can be found in good books on Wicca. A well-known one is Drawing Down the Moon. Look up some more information about it.
  2. Plan. Consider numbers, and if more than one person will be present, plan in advance who will be calling which quarters, who will be leading which parts of the ritual, and so on. This will prevent confusion later on, which could disrupt the atmosphere and the energy build-up.
  3. Prepare the space.
    • If you'll be doing it indoors, give the room a good clean and a spiritual cleanse by smudging or sweeping.
    • If it's outdoors, clear the space of any rubbish or debris. Make sure that anyone going barefoot will be able to walk around if they need to. Prepare any practicalities such as a fire pit, etc. Appropriate any major props such as firewood, lanterns or an altar.
  4. Cleanse yourself by taking a bath or a shower and using some bath oils that you only use for if you're doing a ritual.
  5. Begin by Ground-and-Center yourself. Find your inner peace, and become good and relaxed. Shut out all the things from your mundane life that distract you.
  6. Gather anyone performing with you and cast your circle.
  7. Call the elements to be present in your space; Clockwise, starting at East:
    1. East, Air
    2. South, Fire
    3. West, Water
    4. North, Earth
    5. All, Spirit
  8. Take a moment to honour your deity/deities. A symbolic picture or sculpture helps to focus the mind, especially in group rituals where it helps to have everyone focused on the same thing.
  9. Visualize your goal and meditate on it. Take some time to cast your spell.
  10. Thank your God/Goddess.
  11. Thank the elements and release them in reverse order.
  12. Finally, open your circle. This will release any residual energy. Some like to do this as they release the elements.
  13. Take some time to come back to the now by Ground-and-Center yourself again. You can also do this by eating and drinking something, hugging a friend, patting yourself all over your body or visualizing roots growing into the ground to steady you.
    • Both solitary and group workings benefit from the sharing of wine and cake for grounding and blessing at this point. Pass wine and then cake or bread clockwise, being blessed and blessing the next person in turn. When everyone feels settled, discussion and expression is a great idea.
  14. When you feel ready, record your experiences in a Book of Shadows.

Tips

  • The ritual above can be changed to suit the need of the intent, the number of participants, etc. It's just a basic structure that will assist a practitioner that needs to do many rituals.
  • Gather together universal symbols and always keep them in one area near your altar. One of the best universal symbols to use is one that contains the four elements of Fire, Air, Water, and Earth.
  • Some simple ways of representing this can be a blue pillar candle on a glass or stoneware pedestal or dish designed for use with a pillar candle (the blue is Water, the lit candle is Air and Fire, and the pedestal is Earth).
  • Sandalwood incense also works in most rituals as it is good for protection, healing, spirituality and wishes.
  • You might be involved in a particular magical group that honors one particular deity or set of deities. Feel free to come up with your own template, either based on the one above or of your own invention. Having a template is very useful for the busy magical practitioner, and helps you to know your set-up in advance, keeping you focused.
  • You can also use the Magician card in the Rider-Waite Tarot deck as it has all four elements represented on the card. If you choose a representation of the four elements that doesn't have a candle, place a white candle (universal energy) next to it.

Warnings

  • State "and it harm none, so may it be" or a similar form of that expression so that you don't "accidentally" cause harm. A word to the wise - think hard before you cast a spell for ill intent or to manipulate another person against their will. The backlash the Universe will place on you is not worth the imagined gain.
  • Be respectful when you call to spirits, Gods and Goddesses, and the Elements. The idea is that you are working with beings from the spiritual plane if you open yourself up to them through opening your circle, and then act disrespectfully toward them, they can be disrespectful back, sometimes in surprising ways. If you know that you correspond heavily with a specific element, flare your elemental energy only when calling that element. Humble yourself and push your elemental tendencies down when calling the others. They will come to you more easily.

Things You'll Need

  • Book of Shadows
  • Symbols representing the elements
  • Symbols of the Gods\Goddesses
  • Incense for smudging and to represent Air
  • Tools that are needed to perform the ritual

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  • CoGWeb, the home page of the Covenant of the Goddess, an international organization of cooperating, autonomous Wiccan congregations and solitary practitioners. Here, you'll find information about the CoG organization and activities, as well as the religious beliefs and practices which comprise Wicca.
  • The Witches' Voice. Networking, information, activism.
  • Religious Tolerance.org's posting of the US Army Chaplain's Handbook's section on Wicca. An interesting resource, both this piece and the website in general.
  • [1] Same website's entry for Wicca/Witchcraft. No one will agree with all of this, but it is pretty comprehensive.
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