| Marking the Transition |
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Roles: East, South, West, North High Priestess High Priest Mentors (all others present)
Tools needed: Typical altar items (chalice, athame, etc.) Incense: Frankincense, Cedar, Sage, Myrrh, Sandalwood
Notes: Have a drummer with experience at playing during a guided meditation. As this is ideally held at twilight, have a fire ready to be lit at the end of the working. He’ll need the warmth when he returns. The fire is ideally in the south, and contained within the circle. The adults present should be there because they were invited to act as Mentors for the Youth during his time of transition. Each should have spent time contemplating their own adolescence and considering the one piece of advice they wished someone had given them. That is the wisdom they will offer as a blessing. Ideally, this ritual will take place outdoors in a wild, private place and the youth will also have done preparatory work to create a (mental) Place of Power. Note: My ritual framework is essentially Wiccan, feel free to revise and modify to meet your personal needs.
A Ritual to Mark the Transition from Child to Adolescent (Male)
HP: Be it known that our circle will now be cast. Let none be here but by their own free will, in perfect love and perfect trust.
East: Greetings to you, Guardians of the East! Muses of Inspiration and Creation (all respond: So Mote it be!)
South: Greetings to you, Guardians of the South (all respond: So Mote it be!)
West: Greetings to you, Guardians of the West (all respond: So Mote it be!)
North: Greetings to you Guardians of the North (all respond: So Mote it be!)
HP: Let all who wish to meet with our Lady and Lord this night enter now at the Eastern Gate.
HPS: Mighty Mother! Dread Father! (all respond: So Mote it be!)
Invocations
HP: Father of Death, Father of Night Bring the night, cease our breath HPS: Maiden, Warrior, Mother, Crone, Flower, sword-blade, ivy, bone, Help us make ourselves our own, Maiden, Warrior, Mother, Crone*
HPS or HP: Relax and get comfortable. (For a guided meditation this long, lying down is best.) (The drummer begins, using a slow and rhythmic beat.)
you come to your Place of Power take time to look around this Place reacquaint yourself with all that you have put here.
When you are ready, see that there is a path to one side of your Place of Power. This path turns into a soft, leaf-covered woodland path between tall trees. Note the season. See the colors of the trees and forest all around you. Listen to the natural sounds of the forest. Smell the distinctive scent of the season. The path begins to lead uphill, getting steeper. The trees slowly thin.
You find yourself climbing up a steep hillside. The path is getting bare and rocky. The path curves around a bend, and you can't see what's on the other side.
Stop a moment. There is a creature waiting around the corner to meet you and show itself to you. It could be an animal with fur, or feathers, or scales, or hide. It could be one that doesn’t exist in the physical world. This creature is your totem. It will help you during your transition years.
Walk around the corner and meet your totem. Greet it and thank it for coming to you. Ask (politely!) for its name.
Talk with the animal, and ask it how you can bring it more clearly into your life. It may give you something to carry, or tell you to look for a physical object to carry as a remembrance.
Ask it if it has anything to tell you now. When you feel it is time, thank it once again for showing itself to you.
Turn and begin to walk back down the path. (The drummer should alter the beat to a faster one. The fire should be quietly lit.)
Walk down the path toward the forest. Retrace your steps, walking back down the leafy path. Return to your Place of Power. Stop a moment to once again enjoy this special place, knowing you can return at any time.
Take the path once again, back to the wild place, feeling how good you feel how strong, how balanced. Increase your breathing as you walk, returning to the physical world. Slowly Open your eyes Blessed be!
(At this point, give time to let the youth relate his experience, if he wishes.)
HPS: <Youth> stands on the threshold, at the perilous border between child and adult. Who here has wisdom to offer for the times ahead?
(One by one the adults step forward and offer their wisdom. Each should end with “you stand on the threshold, your journey is yours alone, but you are not alone.” High Priest and High Priestess should go last.) HP: <Youth> do you have anything to say to us?
(<Youth> can speak if he wishes. If nothing else, it polite if he says thanks <g>.)
HPS: Maiden, Warrior, Mother, Crone, Flower, sword-blade, ivy, bone, You helped us make ourselves our own, Maiden, Warrior, Mother, Crone
HP: Father of Death, Father of Night Guardians of the North! (all respond: Blessed be!)
West: Guardians of the West! We are grateful for your emotions tonight! (all respond: Blessed be!)
South: Guardians of the South! (all respond: Blessed be!)
East: Guardians of the East! (all respond: Blessed be!)
HPS: The circle is opened yet remains unbroken Blessed be!
~written by Lisa Mc Sherry, September 2008 * written by Sabai, circa 2002
This ritual may be reproduced, as long my name remains attached as follows: author: Lisa Mc Sherry, www.cybercoven.org, written September 2008. |
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