Invoking the deities; statement of purpose
Our focus this lesson is on invoking the deities into our circle and declaring our statement of purpose.
Invoking the deity/deities is a very important part of your ritual. This is where you invite the Goddess and God into your circle to watch or aid you in your Rite, where you demonstrate your willingness to open yourself to the God and Goddess.
Before you think about invoking anyone, you need to figure out what you are going to do during this ritual. This is your statement of purpose. This will dictate your choice for circle castings, quarter calls, deities etc.
Once you have a goal in mind, it is time to think about which deity/deities will work best with that goal. Do you work with just the Lady and the Lord or do you work with a particular pantheon of deities? If you work with a pantheon, which deity/deities rule over what it is you are doing in your ritual?
For instance, if you were doing a healing ritual, you may want to call on the Celtic god Bran and goddess Airmid or the Roman god Apollo. Some rituals have their deities built in. For instance, Imbolg is a ritual honoring Brigit, the goddess of light.
An important note: While you are not limited to any one pantheon in your practice, it is highly suggested that you limit yourself to one pantheon per ritual. It is not a good idea to mix and match deities within the same circle.
If you scroll down the page on this link, you will find links to descriptions of some of the major deities in several pantheons.
The basic idea behind invoking the Goddess and/or God is to invite them to come into your sacred space.
Here is an example of a basic Goddess and God call.
Goddess Mother, hear my cryAcross the world, my spell shall flyTo ask of thee upon this nightPlease aid me in my magick Rite Father God to thee I callLord of forest and oak tallI ask of thee upon this nightAid me with your magick might
As with the quarter calls, you need to think of what it is you want the Goddess and God to do. Do you just want them to be present? Do you want their help or guidance? To you want them to aid with their power?
If you have written an invocation, make sure you have this part of your ritual memorized; it is important that you concentrate on the words you are saying, not the act of reading them.
Again, this is an area where you may eventually begin just speaking from the heart when you ask the Goddess and/or God to join you in the circle. Just remember, don't ever order a deity to do you bidding.
It is common practice to invoke the Goddess first, but again, do what feels right for you.
Exercise 1
Write two invocations for the Goddess and God: Yule is our next Sabbat. Write an invocation that could be used for that ritual. For the second ritual, write an invocation you might use if you were going to do a working circle for one of the following topics: money, love, protection, psychic ability. Include who you would call and why.
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Statement of Purpose
Now you have your deities, along with the quarters, present. The next step is to tell them why they are all here. Some Witches leave this step out. Personally, I like to state my purpose, not only to keep me focused, but also to get all the spirits and energy "on the same page."
A statement of purpose can be very simple and direct: I have asked you here tonight to help with …. Or I have invited you into my circle to join with me in the celebration of…
Or again, you can speak from your heart and be a little more elaborate and detailed in what it is you plain to do. For example: I asked you to join me today to lend me your power and aid in the healing of Joe whose cancer has come back and needs our help to put him back in remission. You could then continue on to explain why Joe deserves their help and why he is so important to you.
For me, the statement of purpose part of the ritual is a time for a heart-to-heart with the deities. I tell them exactly what's going on, why I am here and what I would like to accomplish. I am always careful to never demand anything and to always be polite.
This is a time to be humble. It is not a time to play all-powerful witch making orders right and left, less smiting begins (not really, but it still isn't a good idea to make demands on the deities).
Thanking the Deities
As with the Quarters, you want to thank the deities when you are done. Please do not be so brass as to "dismiss" them. They are not your minions and won't take to kindly to that act. Just simply thank them for their time and wish them a safe journey back. Again, feel free to speak from your heart with this.
Exercise 2
Write a thank you to the deities that compliments the two invocations you wrote in Exercise 1.
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A summary so far:
At this point, you know have basically everything you need to do a celebratory ritual. You know how to structure a rite: creating sacred space, casting a circle, calling the quarters, invoking the deity and stating your purpose. The last two lessons will focus on common questions that arise during rituals such as how and why do you raise energy and what do you do with the energy once it is there
End of Lesson Four
lesson four
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