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Wiccan Ritual Wiccan Spells
In typical rites, the Wiccans assemble inside a magic circle, which is marked using various means, in a ritual manner followed by a cleansing and then blessing of the space. Prayers to the God and Goddess are said, and spells are sometimes worked. At the start of a ritual of spell or even just a meeting the tradition is to cast a circle, wherein one asks for blessing from the Goddess and God and invokes the Guardians of each direction (the Guardians of the North, South, East and West), to be conveyed through pointing (usually using a wand or Athame). An altar is usually used during a meeting, ritual or spell, on which items that represent the need for circle are placed. Many Wiccans use a special set of altar tools in their rituals; these can include a broom (besom), cauldron, chalice (goblet), wand, Book of Shadows, altar cloth, athame (used in rituals to channel energy; it can be pronounced as AH-thom-AY, a-THAY-me, etc.), boline (or a knife for cutting things in the physical world), candles, stones, crystals, pentacle and/or incense. Representations of the God/Goddess are often also used; these may be direct, representative, or abstract. The tools themselves are just that — tools — and have no innate powers of their own, though they are usually dedicated or charged with a particular purpose, and used only in that context. For this reason, it is usually considered rude to touch another's tools without permission. A sensationalized aspect of Wicca, particularly in Gardnerian Wicca, is that some Wiccans practice in the nude, also known as skyclad. Though many Wiccans do engage in rituals while skyclad, others wear normal clothes or whatever they think is appropriate. Robes and even Renaissance-Faire-type clothing are not uncommon. Still others wear robes with stoles which represent their tradition and/or standing within the tradition. Wiccans typically mark each full moon (and in some cases new moons) with a ritual called an Esbat. They also celebrate eight main holidays called Sabbats. Four of these, the cross-quarter days, are greater festivals, coinciding with old Celtic fire festivals. These are Samhain (pronounced sow-en or sow-ain), May Eve or Beltane (or Beltaine), Imbolc (AKA Imbolg, Oimelc) and Lammas (or Lughnasad, pronounced LOO-nah-sah). The four lesser festivals are the Summer Solstice (or Litha) and Winter Solstice (or Yule), and the Spring and Autumn Equinoxes, sometimes called Ostara (or Eostar or Eostre) and Mabon. See also the Wheel of the Year. The names of these holidays are often taken from Germanic pagan and Celtic polytheistic holidays. However, the festivals are largely only similar in name, as they are not reconstructive in nature nor do they often resemble their historical counterparts, instead exhibiting a form of universalism. Ritual observations may display cultural influence from the holidays from which they take their name as well as influence from other unrelated cultures. This article is licensed under
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