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festivals and the odd workshop. These days I am more active in the Abus Coritani and
celebrate the Sabbats with them.
We meet in various locations, always outdoors, whatever the weather, form a circle, call the
quarters and hold our ritual. Some of us dress up for the occasion. Some choose not to and it’s
all fine – people should do whatever they feel comfortable with. For me, it gives me a sense of
ceremony and special occasion. It links me with the history and tradition of the ceremony. I
also like to wear the symbol of our group and other pagan symbolism as it makes me feel more
connected with my beliefs. This is the same for altar tools and paraphernalia. Such things are
used by all faiths in their worship and again, in paganism help to make those connections with
the earth’s energies.
Some choose to focus on a Deity and for some it is more a connection with Mother Earth, or
the Earth’s energies and we manage to accommodate a variety of different “disciplines” ( for
want of a better term) although many of our rituals have a Druidic flavour because several of
our key members are Druids.
The energy is very important to the group and the circle, as it really is the whole point of the
exercise, and for that reason there is a degree of seriousness and commitment required. For
that reason we do ask that we have met anyone who would like to come to ritual beforehand,
in some other context -such as a Moot. It might seem a bit pedantic but we have learned by
our mistakes in the past as we have had people whose agenda was to “save our souls” and
proselytise their own particular rhetoric. Our group is child friendly and we don’t fret too much
to a little disturbance but it is important for people to put their focus and energies into what we
are doing as well as they can. We usually perform a visualisation and light/ body exercise
which I find brilliant for focusing and making that connection with Gaia.(Mother Earth – I
commune with her daily.) Our Larger rituals are usually for celebrating the Sabbats, so fairly
simple. We occasionally hold “open” rituals to which anyone is welcome and there may be a bit
of performance art or theatrical poetry involved just to keep it interesting. We also hold rituals
for other reasons, such as protection, anti- fracking and blessings, also Handfastings and
Naming ceremonies, any major life event really.
Ritual is an aspect of paganism -like any other aspect -which is a matter of personal choice and
comfort and not for everyone. Of course at times we attract the simply curious and that is fine
too.
Namaste
Jean D. Hopman (Luna Hare)