Writing a Ritual :
OK, you are in a Coven and they tell you to write the ritual for the next Sabbat... What do you do? You can't say forget it. You could ask that someone else do it. But you don't.
The first thing you do is pull out your BOS. Is there a ritual in there for the next Sabbat? AH, Yes there is - you quickly copy it and you are finished!!
NO!!
You read over it. Will it work with this group (it may have been done with this group). Next you read up on the Sabbat. Now you know what the Sabbat is about... What do you thinks needs to be said by the ritual? Now check a book or two and read the rituals they have for the Sabbat.
Now you are ready to start. Lets say, for the sake of this lesson this is your first time writing a ritual that's going to be performed. First make an outline of what you want done and in what order it should be done. Now you have the bones, you need to add the flesh. Being a Sabbat you are going to want a mystery play of some kind. Do you have enough people in the Coven to have people take parts and act out a small play or would it be better to just have one or a few people tell a story relating to the Sabbat. Then, are there any games or songs that go along with the Sabbat? If so figure out where you want to put them.
Now that you have the flesh on it, its time to clothe it. Is there anything needed that is not part of the normal circle setup? Any props needed? Blessing oil? What color candles, what flavor incense. Plan all this out, so when you are doing the ritual something will not come up missing.
Pros and Cons of pre casting a Ritual.:
When you are planning a ritual it is always nice to have an idea of how many people are going to be there. And even better is to know who is going to be there. Then you can write the ritual with HouseFly doing a certain part that only he can do.
But the day of the ritual comes - HouseFly has the flu and can't make it. And you wrote the part in such a way that ONLY HouseFly could do it... Because of this it is nice to write with someone in mind, but have it written so you can replace the person if they don't show. If there are going to be 13 people and you write it for 13 have some of the parts that can be doubled up with out problems. And its always nice to have some parts for ALL this way if 14 shows up they will at least have a little to do.
USING OLD RITUALS:
If you have a ritual that you like, and the Coven likes, it can be used over and over again. These rituals usually have no set amount of people needed and do not need any certain person. An Esbat can become just an outline ritual - it's done every month the same - with just changes in the Magick and Business. Inserting new members when needed.
Because of this some BOS will only have one ritual per Sabbat, one for Full Moon Esbat, New Moon Esbat, and special occasions. While others will have several for each event.
DISCUSSION:
How would you write a ritual?
QUESTIONS:
1. What are the differences between a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Degree Witches?
2. What are the two basic purposes of consecrating tools?
3. How do you consecrate Salt and Water?
4. What is a Cone of Power?
5. What is Drawing Down the Moon?
6. What is Drawing Down the Sun?
