Prior to this rite you should have made ready a wooden wand. This should be a branch from an oak or hazel tree, peeled of
its bark, and about 13 inches long and half an inch thick. Place the wand upon your altar within the Circle.
Prepare a dish of earth and place it upon the altar beside the wand.
Cast the Circle and invoke the Goddess and the God. After the invocation, dance and chant to raise power for magical activities
and then earth the power into an unlit candle, placed inside the cauldron, at the center of the circle. Chant the following
(or make up your own!):
Beltane!
I dance with delight
on Beltane's night.
All senses freeing,
I dance for being.
The flower and the flame
of love's own rite
shall blossom. Sun
embrace Earth, bright.
Light the candle to the Sun. This is the Beltane fire, our modern substitute for the hilltop bonfires of our ancestors. The
Bel fire is an invocation to the Sun God to bring blessing and protection for the coming year. This is sacred fire with healing
and purifying properties. As you light the candle, be aware of its power and significance. Say:
I light this candle to the Sun.
Now take up a dish of earth. Bless it in the name of the Goddess. Lay your hands upon it and say:
I bless, consecrate, and set apart this earth,
in the name of the Triple Goddess. May this
be sacred earth, set apart for magic. For
earth is of the Goddess, being her sacred body.
Remember that the Goddess is not only of the Moon, but also of the Earth and of the farthest stars. She is the Triple Goddess
of the Circle of Rebirth, the Mother of All Life.
Decorate the dish of earth with flowers.
Now, take a wooden wand and oil it with vegetable oil. Bless it in the name of the Lord of the Day, the youthful, ardent one,
the Lord of Life, the God of the greenwood. Pass it swiftly through the candle flame, the Bel fire, so that it becomes magically
imbued, 'charged', with power. Place the wand upon the dish of earth, saying as you hold it there:
As the wand is to the earth,
so the male is to the female
and the Sun to our blossoming world.
Joined, they bring happiness.
May the God of Life give ___ {something you want, for example, peace on Earth)
May the Goddess bring it forth!
Sit quietly for a while, and picture the blossoming of what you have desired in life. The spells and invocations of all of
us, all working on themes like these, must eventually bear fruit, because life is on the side of peace. Leave the earth and
wand upon the altar.
Walk deosil three times around the circle, then spiral into the center. Go evenly, with grace, meditatively. Sit beside the
candle flame, allowing yourself to feel peaceful. Gaze into the flame.
The last part of the ritual is different depending on whether you are man or woman.
For a Woman: Visualize a red rosebud in your womb. Always your womb is the source of your creative power, whether you
are pregnant with a child, an idea, a work of art or an intention. Close your eyes and picture the light from the candle streaming
into your womb so that the rosebud blooms, unfolds. Hold the image for a while, feeling the silkiness, smelling the scent,
the freshness, seeing the color of the fully open rose within you. Feel the strength and power of your own fully blossomed
capabilities. Say:
I am woman,
strong to conceive and to create,
to give birth and to tend.
As I am daughter of the Goddess,
and blessed by the God, may I ___ {name what you wish to bring forth in life. For example, bring healing to others or write
my book whatever matters to you}
Feel the strength and creative force within your womb, the center of your being. See the power being channeled, flowing into
the desire you have just voiced. Open your eyes. Always, the rose is within you.
For a Man: Visualize a bright flame. This burns within your sexual center, a point at the base of the stomach, just
above the pubic hairline. It is your own male strength and energy which may rise through your body to be released as giving,
fertilizing power, in any form, or may be the potency which impregnates, creating a physical child. It is the force which
blesses and bestows, a healing and creative energy, like the shining Sun. Visualize also that you are sitting in a garden
and that a rose tree is in front of you, the roses in bud. Say:
I am man,
and in my passion is beauty,
in my warmth is life.
As I am son of the Goddess,
and blessed by the God,
I offer my strength and vitality to ____ {name the area of life, the place, activity, or commitment you choose}
Visualize the light streaming from you to a rose upon the tree causing it to unfold, to blossom. Your flame is lowered by
this effort. Much has gone out of you, the flame sinks down. Wait and watch, until a pink light streams from the rose towards
your body. At its touch the flame resurges. It burns higher and stronger than before. Open your eyes. The flame is always
within you.
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