The Spiral Dance Part 7

because of our struggles & magic may a greater circle be cast of love & social harmony.

blessed be.

VALERIE'S RHYMING INVOCATIONS i THE FOUR QUARTERS.

East: Quicksilver messenger Master of the crossroads Springtime step lightly Into my mind Golden One whisper Airy ferryman Sail from the East on the wings of the wind.

South: Desert flower, flaming will Crackle with energy under my skin Red lion roaring Pulses racing Roaming the South I am open: come in.

West: Pearl-gray warrior Ghostly quest Prince of Twilight Sailing West Intuition, sundown lady Ancient serpent of the Sea Pearly Queen of twilight waters Silverfoot come silently.

North: Mother of mountains, mother of trees, Mother of midnight, mother of earth.

Root and leaf and flower and thorn, Come to us, come to us, out of the North.

INVOCATIONS FROM THE SUMMER SOLSTICE RITUAL (STARHAWK).

[With these, begin in the North]

Earth my bone, my body, Mountain my breast Green gra.s.s and leafy tree My trailing hair, Rich dark dust, oozing mud Seed sending white root deep, Carpet of molding leaves, Be our bed!

By the earth that is Her body, Powers of the North send forth your strength.

Air, my breath, breeze of morning, Stallion of the dawn star, Whirlwind, bearing all that soars in flight, Bee and bird, Sweet fragrance, Wailing storm's voice, Carry us!

By the air that is Her breath, Powers of the East send forth your light.

Fire my heart, burn bright!

My spirit is a flame, My eye misses nothing.

A blaze leaps from nerve to nerve Spark of the solar fire!

An answering heat rises, unbearable delight!

The flames sing, consume us!

By the fire that is Her spirit, Powers of the South, send forth your flame.

Water my womb, my blood, Wash over us, cool us.

Waves sweep ash.o.r.e on white wings, The rush, hiss, the rumble of stones As the tide recedes, That rhythm, my pulse, Flood, gus.h.i.+ng fountain, We pour ourselves out, Sweep us away!

By the waters of Her living womb, Powers of the West, send forth your flow.

The energy field created by a circle can also be used for protection. This can be done very simply: EXERCISE 37: PROTECTIVE CIRCLE Visualize a circle or bubble of white light around yourself, with the energy running clockwise. Tell yourself it is an impenetrable barrier no harmful forces can cross. If you have time, perform the Circle Visualization or quickly call each of the four elements in turn.

EXERCISE 38: PERMANENT PROTECTIVE CIRCLE.

(A permanent circle of protection can be established around your home or place of work. The following ritual can be done alone, or in a group with each person carrying one of the objects.) Ground and center. Go around the house widders.h.i.+ns with a bell, a broom, and charged salt water. Ring the bell to scare away negative energies. Sweep away unwanted forces with the broom-or use a wand to wave them out.

Sprinkle each entrance-each window, door, mirror, and major water outlets-with salt water. Also sprinkle the corners of every room. If necessary, perform a Banis.h.i.+ng as in Exercise 22. Do the Salt-Water Purification.

Now go around the house clockwise, with salt water, athame, and incense. Draw an invoking pentode at each entrance with the athame, and then with salt water. Concentrate on forming a seal of protection that cannot be broken. Finally, with the incense, charge each entrance and corner, inviting good forces to enter. Say, Salt and sea, Of ill stay free, Fire and air, Draw all that is fair.

Around and around, The circe is bound.

Formally cast a circle in the room you will use for rituals. Chant and raise power to fill the house with protection.

Then thank the G.o.ddess, earth the power, and open the circle.

You can reinforce a protective circle by visualizing it. Do so before magical work or sleep.

The circle is cast; the ritual is begun. We have created the sacred s.p.a.ce, a s.p.a.ce fit for the G.o.ds to enter. We have cleansed ourselves and centered ourselves; our mental bonds have dropped away. Free from fear, we can open to the starlight. In perfect love, and perfect trust, we are prepared to invoke the G.o.ddess.

CHAPTER 5. The G.o.ddess.

Between the Worlds.

THE CHARGE OF THE G.o.dDESS.

Listen to the words of the Great Mother, who of old was called Artemis, Astarte, Dione, Melusine, Aphrodite, Ceridwen, Diana, Arionrhod, Brigid, and by many other names: "Whenever you have need of anything, once in the month, and better it be when the moon is full, you shall a.s.semble 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 upon the door of youth, and Mine is the cup of wine of life that is the Cauldron of Ceridwen that is the holy grail of immortality. I give the knowledge of the spirit eternal and beyond death 1 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 upon the earth."

Hear the words of the Star G.o.ddess, 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 1 am the soul of nature that gives life to the universe. From Me all things proceed and unto Me they must return. Let My wors.h.i.+p 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 compa.s.sion, honor and humility, mirth and reverence within you. And you who seek to know Me, know that your 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, 1 have been with you from the beginning, and I am that which is attained at the end of desire."

(Adapted by Starhawk from Doreen Valiente) The symbolism of the G.o.ddess has taken on an electrifying power for modern women. The rediscovery of the ancient matrifocal civilizations has given us a deep sense of pride in woman's ability to create and sustain culture. It has exposed the falsehoods of patriarchal history, and given us models of female strength and authority. Once again in today's world, we recognize the G.o.ddess-ancient and primeval; the first of deities; patroness of the Stone Age hunt and of the first sowers of seeds; under whose guidance the herds were tamed, the healing herbs first discovered; in whose image the first works of art were created; for whom the standing stones were raised; who was the inspiration of song and poetry. She is the bridge, on which we can cross the chasms within ourselves, which were created by our social conditioning, and reconnect with our lost potentials.

She is the s.h.i.+p, on which we sail the waters of the Deep Self, exploring the uncharted seas within. She is the door, through which we pa.s.s into the future. She is the cauldron, in which we who have been wrenched apart simmer until we again become whole. She is the v.a.g.i.n.al pa.s.sage, through which we are reborn.

A historical and/or cross-cultural overview of the G.o.ddess and her symbols would itself require several volumes, and I will not attempt it in the limited s.p.a.ce of this book, especially as much good material is already available.

Instead, I will limit myself to discussing the G.o.ddess as seen through Witchcraft, and focus on her function and meaning for women and men today.

People often ask me if I believe in the G.o.ddess. I reply, "Do you believe in rocks?" It is extremely difficult for most Westerners to grasp the concept of a manifest deity. The phrase "believe in" itself implies that we cannot know the G.o.ddess, that She is somehow intangible, incomprehensible. But we do not believe in rocks-we may see them, touch them, dig them out of our gardens, or stop small children from throwing them at each other. We know them; we connect with them. In the Craft, we do not believe in the G.o.ddess-we connect with Her; through the moon, the stars, the ocean, the earth, through trees, animals, through other human beings, through ourselves.

She is here. She is within us all. She is the full circle: earth, air, fire, water, and essence- body, mind, spirit, emotions, change.

The G.o.ddess is first of all earth, the dark, nurturing mother who brings forth all life. She is the power of fertility and generation; the womb, and also the receptive tomb, the power of death. All proceeds from Her; all returns to Her. As earth, She is also plant life; trees, the herbs and grains that sustain life. She is the body, and the body is sacred. Womb, breast, belly, mouth, v.a.g.i.n.a, p.e.n.i.s, bone, and blood-no part of the body is unclean, no aspect of the life processes is stained by any concept of sin. Birth, death, and decay are equally sacred parts of the cycle.

Whether we are eating, sleeping, making love, or eliminating body wastes, we are manifesting the G.o.ddess.

The Earth G.o.ddess is also air and sky, the celestial Queen of Heaven, the Star G.o.ddess, ruler of things felt but not seen: of knowledge, mind, and intuition. She is the Muse, who awakens all creations of the human spirit. She is the cosmic lover, the morning and evening star, Venus, who appears at the times of lovemaking. Beautiful and glittering, She can never be grasped or penetrated; the mind is drawn ever further in the drive to know the unknowable, to speak the inexpressible. She is the inspiration that comes with an indrawn breath.

The celestial G.o.ddess is seen as the moon, who is linked to women's monthly cycles of bleeding and fertility.

Woman is the earthly moon; the moon is the celestial egg, drifting in the sky womb, whose menstrual blood is the fertilizing rain and the cool dew; who rules the tides of the oceans, the first womb of life on earth. So the moon is also Mistress of Waters: the waves of the sea, streams, springs, the rivers that are the arteries of Mother Earth; of lakes, deep wells, and hidden pools, and of feelings and emotions, which wash over us like waves.

The Moon G.o.ddess has three aspects: As She waxes, She is the Maiden; full, She is the Mother; as She wanes, She is the Crone. Part of the training of every initiate involves periods of meditation on the G.o.ddess in her many aspects. I don't have s.p.a.ce to include all of these, but I will share with you the meditations on the three aspects of the moon: EXERCISE 39: WAXING MOON MEDITATION.

Ground and center. Visualize a silver crescent moon, curving to the right. She is the power of beginning, of growth and generation. She is wild and untamed, like ideas and plans before they are tempered by reality. She is the blank page, the unplowed field. Feel your own hidden possibilities and latent potentials; your power to begin and grow. See her as a silver-haired girl running freely through the forest under the slim moon. She is Virgin, eternally unpenetrated, belonging to no one but herself. Call her name "Nimue!" and feel her power within you.

EXERCISE 40: FULL MOON MEDITATION.

Ground and center, and visualize a round full moon. She is the Mother, the power of fruition and of all aspects of creativity. She nourishes what the New Moon has begun. See her open arms, her full b.r.e.a.s.t.s, her womb burgeoning with life. Feel your own power to nurture, to give, to make manifest what is possible. She is the s.e.xual woman; her pleasure in union is the moving force that sustains all life. Feel the power in your own pleasure, in o.r.g.a.s.m. Her color is the red of blood, which is life. Call her name "Mari!" and feel your own ability to love.

EXERCISE 41 : WANING MOON MEDITATION.

Ground and center. Visualize a waning crescent, curving to the left, surrounded by a black sky. She is the Old Woman, the Crone who has pa.s.sed menopause, the power of ending, of death. All things must end to fulfill their beginnings. The grain that was planted must be cut down. The blank page must be destroyed, for the work to be written. Life feeds on death-death leads on to life, and in that knowledge ies wisdom. The Crone is the Wise Woman, infinitely old. Feel your own age, the wisdom of evolution stored in every cell of your body. Know your own power to end, to lose as well as gain, to destroy what is stagnant and decayed. See the Crone cloaked in black under the waning moon; call her name "Anu!" and feel her power in your own death.

The triad of the moon becomes the pentad, the fivefold star of birth, initiation, ripening, reflection, and death.

The G.o.ddess is manifest in the entire life cycle. Women are valued and respected in old age, as well as youth.

Birth and childhood, of course, are common to all cultures. But our society has not, until recently, conceptualized the stage of initiation, of personal exploration and self-discovery, as necessary for women. Girls were expected to pa.s.s directly from childhood to marriage and motherhood-from control by their fathers to control by their husbands. An initiation demands courage and self-reliance, traits that girls were not encouraged to develop. Today, the stage of initiation may involve establis.h.i.+ng a career, exploring relations.h.i.+ps, or developing one's creativity. Women who have missed this stage in their youth often find it necessary to go back to it later in life. The later stages of life can only fully be experienced after the initiation is completed and an individualized self has been formed.

The stage of ripening is also called consummation, and it is the stage of full creativity. Relations.h.i.+ps deepen and take on a sense of commitment.A woman may choose to mother children or to nurture a career, a project, or a cause. An artist or writer reaches her mature style.

Creations, whether they are children, poems, or organizations, take on a life of their own. As they become independent, and their demands diminish, the stage of reflection is reached. With age comes a new initiation, this one less physically active but deepened by the insights of experience. Old age, in Witchcraft, is seen very positively, as the time when activity has evolved into wisdom. It brings about the final initiation, which is death.

These five stages are embodied in our lives, but they can also be seen within every new enterprise or creative project. Each book, each painting, each new job is born first as an idea. It undergoes an initiatory period of exploration, which is frightening at times, because we are forced to learn new things. As we grow comfortable with a new skill or concept, the project can be consummated. It exists independently; as we let go, other people read the book, view the painting, eat the food, or apply the knowledge we have taught. Finally, it is over; it dies, and we go on to something new.

The pentacle, all five-lobed leaves, and five-petaled flowers are sacred to the G.o.ddess as pentad. The apple is especially her emblem, because, when it is sliced crosswise, the embedded seeds form a pentacle.

The nature of the G.o.ddess is never single. Wherever She appears, she embodies both poles of duality-life in death, death in life. She has a thousand names, a thousand aspects. She is the milk cow, the weaving spider, the honeybee with its piercing sting. She is the bird of the spirit and the sow that eats its own young. The snake that sheds its skin and is renewed; the cat that sees in the dark; the dog that sings to the moon-all are Her. She is the light and the darkness, the patroness of love and death, who makes manifest all possibilities. She brings both comfort and pain.

It is easy to respond to the concept of G.o.ddess as Muse or Mother, to inspiration, nurturing, and healing power.

It is more difficult to understand the G.o.ddess as Destroyer. Judeo-Christian dualism has conditioned us to think of destruction as synonymous with evil. (Although, G.o.ddess knows, the Jehovah of the Old Testament was far from all sweetness and light.) Most of us live removed from nature, cut off from the experiences that constantly remind more "primitive" people that every act of creation is an act of aggression. To plant a garden, you must dig out the weeds, crush the snails, thin the seedlings as they reach toward the light. To write a book, you must destroy draft after draft of your own work, cutting apart paragraphs and striking out words and sentences.

Creation postulates change; and any change destroys what went before.

The Creatrix-Destroyer is manifest in fire, which destroys all it feeds on in order to create warmth and light. Fire is the nurturing hearth, the creative fire of the forge, the joyous bonfire of celebration. But the G.o.ddess is also the raging fire of anger.

The power of anger is difficult to face. We identify anger with violence, and women have been conditioned to feel that our anger is wrong and unacceptable. Yet anger is a manifestation of the life force. It is a survival emotion, a warning signal that something in our environment is threatening. Danger triggers a physical, psychic, and emotional response that mobilizes our energy to change the situation. Being human, we respond to verbal and emotional attacks as threats, which arouse anger. But when we cannot admit our own anger, instead of recognizing the threat in the environment, we experience ourselves as wrong. Instead of flowing outward to change the environment, our energy becomes locked into internal efforts at repression and control.

The G.o.ddess liberates the energy of our anger. It is seen as sacred, and its power is purified. Like a forest fire in undisturbed wilderness, it sweeps away the underbrush so that the seedlings of our creativity can receive the nouris.h.i.+ng sunlight. We control our actions; we do not attempt to control i feelings. Anger becomes a connecting force that spurs honest confrontations and communications with others.

I have spoken of the G.o.ddess as psychological symbol and also as manifest reality. She is both. She exists, and we create Her. The symbols and attributes a.s.sociated with the G.o.ddess speak to Younger Self and, through it, to the Deep Self. They engage us emotionally. We know the G.o.ddess is not the moon-but we still thrill to its light glinting through branches. We know the G.o.ddess is not a woman, but we respond with love as if She were, and so connect emotionally with all the abstract qualities behind the symbol.

Many shapes and symbols represent the G.o.ddess. Eyes, which schematically are also b.r.e.a.s.t.s, symbolize her nurturing powers and the gift of inner sight. The crescent represents the moon: a waxing and waning crescent, back to back, becomes the labrys or double ax, the weapon of G.o.ddess cultures. Triangles, ovals, and lozenges, the shapes of the female genitals, are her symbols, as well. As part of an initiate's training, she is taught to visualize symbols, to meditate on them and play with them in her imagination until they reveal their meaning directly. Any symbol or aspect of the G.o.ddess can be a basis for meditation, but as I have s.p.a.ce for only one example, I will choose the double spiral: EXERCISE 42: THE DOUBLE SPIRAL.

Ground and center. Visualize a double spiral. When you see it clearly, let it grow until you stand within it, and follow it inward, moving counterclockwise. It becomes a maze of high, clipped hedges, then a labyrinth of stone walls; its winding turns are the pa.s.sageway to a hidden secret. As you move through the spiral, the world dissolves, form dissolves, until you are in the hidden heart where birth and death are one. The center of the spiral s.h.i.+nes; it is the North Star, and the arms of the spiral are the Milky Way, a myriad of stars slowly revolving around the still center point. You are in Spiral Castle, at the back of the North Wind. Explore it in your imagination. See who you meet, what you learn. You are in the womb of the G.o.ddess, floating free. Now feel yourself pushed and squeezed, moving out through the spiral, which is now the v.a.g.i.n.a pa.s.sage of rebirth. Move clockwise through the double spiral of your DNA. Now it becomes a whirlwind-fly with it. Let it become the twining tendril of a plant-a crystal-a sh.e.l.l-an orbiting eectron. Time is a spiral-the cycles endlessly repeating, yet always moving. Know the spiral as the underlying form of all energy. As you emerge, let it return to its small, abstract, symbolic form. Thank it, and let it disappear.

The Charge of the G.o.ddess, at the opening of this chapter, reflects the Craft understanding of the G.o.ddess. It begins with a long list of G.o.ddess names, drawn from many cultures. These are not seen as separate beings but, rather, as different aspects of the same Being that is all beings. The names used may change with the seasons or preferences of the speaker: for example, the G.o.ddess might be named Kore in the spring, after the Maiden aspect of the Greek G.o.ddess. A Witch of Jewish heritage might call on the ancient Hebrew G.o.ddess as As.h.i.+mah or Asherah; an Afro-American Witch might prefer Yemaya, the West African G.o.ddess of the sea and love. In most traditions of the Craft, the inner name of the G.o.ddess is recognized to embody great power, and so is kept secret, revealed only to initiates. The outer names often used are Diana, for the G.o.ddess of the moon, and Aradia, her daughter, whom legends say was sent to earth to liberate people by teaching them the arts of magic.

"Need of anything" refers to both spiritual and material needs. In Witchcraft, there is no separation. The G.o.ddess is manifest in the food we eat, the people we love, the work we do, the homes in which we live. It is not considered ign.o.ble to ask for needed goods and comforts. "Work for yourself, and you will see that Self is everywhere," is a saying of the Faery tradition. It is through the material world that we open ourselves to the G.o.ddess. But Witchcraft also recognizes that when material needs are satisfied deeper needs and longings may remain. These can only be satisfied by connection with the nurturing, life-giving forces within, which we call G.o.ddess.

The coven meets at the full moon, in honor of the G.o.ddess at the height of her glory. The tides of subtle power are considered to be strongest when the moon is full. The G.o.ddess is identified with the fructifying lunar energy that illumines the secret dark; the feminine, tidal, pulsating power that waxes and wanes in harmony with woman's menstrual flow. The sun is identified with her male, polar self, the G.o.d, whose festivals are celebrated at eight points of power in the solar cycle.

The G.o.ddess is the liberator, and it has been said that "Her service is perfect freedom."5 She is the liberator because She is manifest in our deepest drives and emotions, which always and inevitably threaten the systems designed to contain them. She is love and anger, which refuse to fit comfortably into the social order. To be "free from slavery" once meant that, within the ritual circle, all were equal, whether they were peasant, serf, or n.o.ble in the outside world. Slavery, today, can be mental and emotional as well as physical: the slavery of fixed perceptions, of conditioned ideas, of blind beliefs, of fear. Witchcraft demands intellectual freedom and the courage to confront our own a.s.sumptions. It is not a belief system; it is a constantly self-renewed att.i.tude of joy and wonder to the world.

The naked body represents truth, the truth that goes deeper than social custom. Witches wors.h.i.+p naked for several reasons: as a way of establis.h.i.+ng closeness and dropping social masks, because power is most easily raised that way, and because the human body is itself sacred. Nakedness is a sign that a Witch's loyalty is to the truth before any ideology or any comforting illusions.

Rituals are joyful and pleasurable. Witches sing, feast, dance, laugh, joke, and have fun in the course of rituals.

Witchcraft is serious-but not pompous or solemn. As in Hasidic Judaism or Bhakti Yoga, joy and ecstasy are seen as the pathways to the Divine. The "ecstasy of the spirit" is not separate from "joy on earth." One leads to the other-and neither can truly be realized without the other. Earthly joys, unconnected with the deep, feeling power of the G.o.ddess, become mechanical, meaningless-mere sensations that soon lose their appeal. But spiritual ecstasies that attempt to escape the senses and the body become equally arid and rootless, draining vitality instead of nouris.h.i.+ng it.

The law of the G.o.ddess is love: pa.s.sionate s.e.xual love, the warm affection of friends, the fierce protective love of mother for child, the deep comrades.h.i.+p of the coven. There is nothing amorphous or superficial about love in G.o.ddess religion; it is always specific, directed toward real individuals, not vague concepts of humanity. Love includes animals, plants, the earth itself-"all beings," not just human beings. It includes ourselves and all our fallible human qualities.

Ceridwen is one of the forms of the Celtic G.o.ddess, and her cauldron is the womb-cauldron of rebirth and inspiration. In early Celtic myth, the cauldron of the G.o.ddess restored slain warriors to life. It was stolen away to the Underworld, and the heroes who warred for its return were the originals of King Arthur and his Knights, who quested for its later incarnation, the Holy Grail. The Celtic afterworld is called the Land of Youth, and the secret that opens its door is found in the cauldron: The secret of immortality lies in seeing death as an integral part of the cycle of life. Nothing is ever lost from the universe: Rebirth can be seen in life itself, where every ending brings a new beginning. Most Witches do believe in some form of reincarnation. This is not so much a doctrine as a gut feeling growing out of a world view that sees all events as continuing processes. Death is seen as a point on an ever-turning wheel, not as a final end. We are continually renewed and reborn whenever we drink fully and fearlessly from "the cup of wine of life."

The love of the G.o.ddess is unconditional. She does not ask for sacrifice- whether human or animal-nor does She want us to sacrifice our normal human needs and desires. Witchcraft is a religion of self-celebration, not self-abnegation. Sacrifice is inherent in life, in constant change that brings constant losses. Offerings: A poem, a painting, a pinch of grain may express our thankfulness for her gifts, but only when they are made freely, not from a sense of obligation.

In the Star G.o.ddess pa.s.sage, we see the imagery of the celestial encircler, the moon, the waters, the green earth from which all proceeds and to which all must return. She is the "soul of nature," which vivifies all things.

Any act based on love and pleasure is a ritual of the G.o.ddess. Her wors.h.i.+p can take any form and occur anywhere; it requires no liturgy, no cathedrals, no confessions. Its essence is the recognition, in the midst of pleasure, of its deepest source. Pleasure, then, is not superficial but becomes a profound expression of the life force; a connecting power linking us to others, not the mere sensation of satisfying our own isolated needs.

Witchcraft recognizes that any virtue becomes a vice unless it is balanced by its own opposite. Beauty, when unsustained by strength, is vapid, lifeless. Power is insufferable when untempered by compa.s.sion. Honor, unless balanced by humility, becomes arrogance; and mirth, when not deepened by reverence, becomes mere superficiality.

Finally we learn the Mystery-that unless we find the G.o.ddess within ourselves we will never find Her without.

She is both internal and external; as solid as a rock, as changeable as our own internal image of Her. She is manifest within each of us-so where else should we look?

The G.o.ddess is "the end of desire," its goal and its completion. In Witchcraft, desire is itself seen as a manifestation of the G.o.ddess. We do not seek to conquer or escape from our desires-we seek to fulfill them.

Desire is the glue of the universe; it binds the electron to the nucleus, the planet to the sun- and so creates form, creates the world. To follow desire to its end is to unite with that which is desired, to become one with it, with the G.o.ddess. We are already one with the G.o.ddess-She has been with us from the beginning. So fulfillment becomes, not a matter of self-indulgence, but of self-awareness.

For women, the G.o.ddess is the symbol of the inmost self, and the beneficent, nurturing, liberating power within woman. The cosmos is modeled on the female body, which is sacred. All phases of life are sacred: Age is a blessing, not a curse. The G.o.ddess does not limit women to the body; She awakens the mind and spirit and emotions. Through Her, we can know the power of our anger and aggression, as well as the power of our love.

For a man, the G.o.ddess, as well as being the universal life force, is his own, hidden, female self. She embodies all the qualities society teaches him not to recognize in himself. His first experience of Her may therefore seem somewhat stereotyped; She will be the cosmic lover, the gentle nurturer, the eternally desired Other, the Muse, all that he is not. As he becomes more whole and becomes aware of his own "female" qualities, She seems to change, to show him a new face, always holding up the mirror that shows what to him is still ungraspable. He may chase Her forever, and She will elude him, but through the attempt he will grow, until he too learns to find Her within.

To invoke the G.o.ddess is to awaken the G.o.ddess within, to become, for a time, that aspect we invoke. An invocation channels power through a visualized image of Divinity. In some covens, one Priestess is chosen to represent the manifest G.o.ddess to the rest. In our covens, She is invoked into each member of the circle.

An invocation can be a set piece of poetry or music, sung or spoken by an individual or the group. In our covens, we usually chant as a group, sometimes wordlessly and spontaneously, sometimes using a set phrase that is repeated over and over again. A multivoiced chant will sometimes involve one Priestess repeating a simple "ba.s.s" line-"All That Is Wild and Free," for example- while another chants a repeating cycle-"Green Bud Leaf/Bud Leaf Bright," and so on (see below)-and a third chanting a long poetic piece, while the entire coven softly chants the vowel sounds. It is impossible to reproduce the effect on the printed page, unfortunately, but the bare words follow. When you use the invocations given here, please play with them, experiment with melodies and plain-song incantings, rearrange them, combine them, interweave them, change them, and take inspiration from them to make your own: REPEATING CHANTS (TO THE G.o.dDESS).

MOON Mother Bright Light Of All Earth Sky We CALL You.

LUNA Momma s.h.i.+ny s.h.i.+ne COME.

HAIL Old Moon Secret WISE One HAIL Old Moon Secret WISE One.

She s.h.i.+NES For All She FLOWS Through All. All That Is WILD And Free All That Is WILD And Free.